The Missing Week
Chapter One
"Captains log, supplemental. The Tu'Lonn, a very peaceful race that control most of this sector of space, agreed to let us pass through their territory at a low warp speed. They believe that high warp factors damage space-time, so we must adhere to their wishes. I have restricted warp speed to a factor of four, which will put us through their space in about three weeks. They also require weekly stops at one of their many space stations, to file a flight plan. It is a welcome change of pace for everybody… as it adds a sense of normalcy in our lives… no matter how short lived.
--
Captain Janeway lay back in her lounge chair and yawned. She was attempting to read a Cardassian Mystery, although she really couldn't get into it. Her door chimed, creating a welcome interruption.
"Come." She said, and pried herself out of the chair. Tom Paris walked into the room carrying a padd.
"Sorry, did I disturb you?" He said cautiously, noticing how sleepy she looked.
"No, I was just trying to enjoy a book. Ever read Cardassian literature?"
"Tried once, never got past the first page." He chuckled a reply.
"What can I do for you Tom?"
"Well, Harry, B'Elanna and I were throwing ideas around and we think we discovered a way to re-enforce the warp core on the Delta Flyer by tying in a level ten forcefield generator into the surrounding power couplings. In the event of a core breach, the explosion could theoretically be contained long enough after ejection of the core to allow the Flyer to escape the area. I wanted your approval to make the modifications."
"Sounds like a great idea. You could let the engineering teams do it though, why are you asking me instead of going through the engineering channels?"
"Well, I figured since the Flyer is sort of my project, and there really isn't much to do around here while we are in Tu'Lonn space anyway…"
"Point taken." Janeway grinned. "Permission granted. Use whatever resources necessary to make the modifications, and give me a status report as soon as you can."
"Thank you captain. Here are the specs for the forcefield generator…" he handed her the padd he was carrying. "… and enjoy your book."
After Tom left the room, Janeway skimmed the forcefield specifications on the padd he provided her. She sat the padd down, and picked the novel back up only to be interrupted by the comm activating.
"Bridge to Janeway." Tuvoks strong voice came over the speakers in her quarters.
"Go ahead." She replied.
"We are two hours away from the next Tu'Lonn space station, you wished to be notified."
"Thanks, I am on my way." She replied, and put the novel back down. After ordering a coffee-to-go from the replicator, she walked down the corridor to the turbolift. As soon as she entered it, she felt the ship surge foreword rapidly, as if the velocity increased too fast for the inertial dampers to keep up. Red alert activated automatically, as Tuvoks strong voice boomed over the comm line again.
"All senior staff report to the bridge immediately."
Moments later she ran out of the turbolift onto the command deck.
"Report!" She boomed as she exited the lift.
"There is a large subspace disturbance directly in front of us! Its like a rupture in subspace!" Harry said from the ops station.
"Where did it come from, and why didn't our navigation sensors pick it up before we were on top of it?" Janeway asked.
"Unknown." Tuvok replied. "However, it seems that it is acting like a magnet to our warp drive. It is pulling us in."
Tom Paris walked out of the turbolift, and relieved the ensign manning the helm.
"Tom, disengage the warp drive!" Janeway said, as the ship started to shake.
"The warp field won't collapse! The drive won't shut of, Captain! Our velocity is now at warp seven, and increasing!" Tom yelled over the shaking noise of the ship.
"Harry, what's going to happen when we come into contact with that thing?" Janeway directed her attention to her ops officer again.
"I cannot even begin to know, Captain! I don't even know what it is yet, sensors cannot make heads or tales of it!"
"Can we use the deflector to alter our course away from it?"
"I don't see how, it's pulling us in at an alarming rate!" he replied.
"We just hit warp nine! Impact with the disturbance in ten seconds!" Tom yelled from the helm.
-Warning, inertial dampers are offline. Switching to secondary systems.
"Janeway to all hands, brace for impact! Repeat, brace for impact!"
"Captain, the velocity indicator says we just passed warp eleven!" Tom yelled.
"What? That's impossible!" Janeway said as she gripped her arm rests.
"Impact!" Tuvoks strong voice rang out over the bridge. Janeway winced and closed her eyes, as she heard the sound of the ship tearing apart right out from under her.