DISCLAIMER: It's Paramount's galaxy.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: C/7. AU where Seven and Chakotay are trapped within a graviton ellipse when investigating the Ares IV wreckage during the episode "One Small Step." They discover more than they bargain for inside.
I've decided to try something different for me and write the five AUs from "Possibilities" simultaneously. I'll post the first chapter "teaser" for each over the next few days and then go from there (expanded from what was in the original). Reviews are always welcome.
#
THE GRAVITON ELLIPSE
Stardate 53293.7
"Delta Flyer, report."
Paris, Seven and Chakotay were running out of time. Paris was working in the cramped access panel just behind the pilot's seat to install a 21st century piece of machinery into the 24th century shuttle. Amazingly, despite the hundreds of compatibility issues that could crop up, he thought they had a good chance to get it to work and restore power to their vital systems. "We're trying to integrate the distributor. Stand by, Captain." He attached the final component and turned to Seven who was at one of the shuttle's consoles. "Try bypassing the power couplings."
"No effect," Seven responded. She was still in her EVA suit she had used to go over to Ares IV and retrieve the distributor. Not only had she returned with the vital piece of equipment, but also gigaquads of data from the Ares IV mission and the remains of Astronaut John Mark Kelly himself.
Paris continued to tinker with the distributor. It was either going to work or not. "Resequence the ion modulators, see if that does it."
Suddenly there was the tell-tale sound of systems powering up. "Power conversion in process," Seven confirmed.
Paris moved over to Seven's station to see for himself. "We have propulsion, shields," he observed.
"The plasma flow is still fluctuating." Seven was not happy with what she saw.
"Stay on top of it," Paris replied and moved over to the pilot's position and started prepping for departure. "Paris to Voyager."
"Go ahead."
"Open the shuttlebay doors. We're coming home."
"Acknowledged."
"Laying in an escape trajectory," Paris said, marking their route to avoid the wreckage contained within the ellipse. The space was littered with debris, and they had only a chance to explore a fraction of what the ellipse contained. The Ares IV discovery had been exciting, but he'd be happy to get out of here quickly. Besides, Chakotay was laid out in the Flyer's rear section and needed medical attention.
At Voyager's tactical station Tuvok examined the parameters of the graviton ellipse. A fascinating and dangerous phenomenon to be sure. Millions of terajoules of subspace energy not only generating an intense electromagnetic field, but also level 9 gravimetric distortions. By his calculations, the Away Team on the Delta Flyer only had four minutes before the ellipse was gone. "The ellipse is returning to subspace," he said.
"The Flyer?" Janeway asked as she stepped up to Ensign Kim at Voyager's science station.
Kim studied the sensor readings. "They're approaching the perimeter. Two thousand meters, eighteen hundred."
"The anomaly's submerging," Torres interrupted from the helm. She was struggling to keep Voyager in position just outside the anomaly's disturbance perimeter. Graviton eddies swept past the ship on all sides.
"Are we in tractor range?" Janeway asked.
"Not yet," Tuvok replied. The readings were fluctuating wildly as the ellipse neared the normal space threshold.
"Take us closer," Janeway commanded stepping up to Torres at the helm.
"Captain?" Torres didn't want to get any closer. She was having enough trouble as it was.
"Do it," Janeway ordered.
Tuvok shook his head. "They're still out of reach. Another three hundred meters."
"Closer," Janeway urged.
"We'll be pulled right in with them," Torres complained. Voyager began to shake as the inertial dampers couldn't compensate for the extreme gravimetric forces. There was a sudden eddy that buffeted the ship and moved it further away. Torres had to fight with the controls to keep the vessel steady.
"Just a few more meters."
"We're too close!"
They were running out of time. That last eddy had affected their progress. "I still can't get a lock with the tractor beam," Tuvok said. "I believe, however, they're close enough for transporters." It was their only option and a last ditch effort.
"Get them out of there!" Janeway barked.
"Locking onto their comm badge signals," Tuvok replied. "Energizing."
Voyager continued to shake violently. "Transporter room," Janeway said into the comm. "Report."
There was a hesitation. "Paris here. You've beamed over me and the remains of Kelly. You have to go back for Seven and Chakotay. Lock onto their biosignatures."
"We have to move now," Torres shouted with alarm. "The anomaly's submerging and the gravimetric shear is too strong!"
"Tuvok!" Janeway shouted.
"There's too much interference," Tuvok replied. "There's no signal to lock onto."
Janeway grimaced, but knew it was time to retreat. "Reverse thrusters, full impulse!" she commanded and then turned to Tuvok. "What happened?"
"I locked onto what signal I could, their comm badges," Tuvok replied. "It is apparent neither Commander Chakotay or Seven of Nine were wearing their comm badges and one of the badges must have been in the proximity of the remains of Mister Kelly."
"It's too late now," B'Elanna observed. She looked back at the Captain who was still standing next to the helm, her eyes haunted. "They're trapped. The ellipse has completely submerged into subspace."
Janeway looked out the main viewscreen and backed up. The ellipse was gone and with it her friends. Only the star-studded blackness of space stared back at her. She fell back heavily into her command chair and a gasp caught in her throat. She had lost them both…
#
Sparks continued to erupt from the pilot console where just moments before Tom Paris had sat. Seven could still clearly recall the look of surprise on Tom's face as he turned to face her when the transporter beam engaged. Almost immediately after losing its pilot, the Delta Flyer veered significantly from the intended trajectory and the gravimetric shear almost ripped the craft in two. A half minute of chaos followed before the inertial dampers were finally able to compensate for the Flyer's erratic motion. Seven moved over quickly to cut the power to the affected panel. Auto-pilot had already kicked in and the computer was now trying to stabilize the Flyer and bring it out of its tumble. She studied the remaining readings and nothing catastrophic or life threatening presented itself. Of course the orange blur out the main window made it clear they were still within the anomaly, and so the prospect of surviving in the long term was negligible. That was irrelevant now. She decided to let the computer do its job and moved towards the aft compartment of the Flyer. There was something she had to check immediately.
For a brief moment, Seven's heart sank when she discovered that Commander Chakotay was no longer on the table in the rear of the Flyer. Almost right away, however, she heard him struggling and realized he was still aboard. The relief she felt almost overwhelmed her. He had fallen off the far side of the table and was attempting to get up. She moved over quickly to assist.
"What happened?" he said, leaning on her heavily as she helped him stand. He had still not recovered from the injuries he sustained from the plasma discharge during their initial attempt to leave the ellipse
"Our final effort to escape the ellipse has failed," Seven responded as she helped him back up onto the table. "We were almost to the perimeter, but not far enough for Voyager to use a tractor beam."
"We're trapped?"
"Yes. The ellipse is back in subspace."
"Is Tom alright?"
Seven hesitated. "It appears Voyager used the transporter when the tractor option failed, but for some reason, only transported Lieutenant Paris from the Flyer when we reached the apex of our trajectory." Then something occurred to her as her mind cleared. She scanned the rest of the room and noticed Lieutenant Kelly's remains were also gone. "I believe I have an explanation. They must have used our communicators to boost the signal. Unfortunately, neither of us were wearing our communicators at the time of transport."
Chakotay reached for where his communicator would be on his chest, but as Seven said, it wasn't there. Then he recalled it was removed when Tom treated some of his internal injuries and glanced over to the counter where it had been placed. Sure enough, it was gone. Too bad they hadn't thought of that fallback possibility before their attempt to leave the ellipse. Chakotay's head was still spinning from when the inertial dampers had failed and he didn't feel well. He lowered himself down to the table until he was resting on his side. "What's our status?" he asked weakly as he closed his eyes.
Seven frowned. "Thrusters are functioning and currently stabilizing our profile, but likely the core is still offline and impulse engines inoperable. I imagine we're at minimal life support and wouldn't be surprised if hull integrity has been compromised." To emphasize the point, there was a sound outside the Flyer as a piece of debris impacted. Seven looked about the compartment. The creaks afterwards throughout the ship were not that encouraging. No doubt, they were surrounded by a great deal of debris and collisions would be unavoidable. In time, just as with Ares IV before them, the Flyer with the two of them inside would become part of the ellipse's debris field. "In short, Commander, your juvenile interest in paleontology and insistence on recovering the Ares IV module has condemned us to death within this anomaly." She couldn't quite hide the disgust in her voice, but regretted saying it out loud almost immediately. Anger would be of little use now. She glanced down to Commander Chakotay and realized he hadn't heard anyway, having fallen back unconscious. That's what his body probably needed most. To make sure it was nothing more serious, she found a medical tricorder and scanned his vitals. He still had a concussion and they would have to do something about his internal injuries, but there was nothing immediately life threatening.
She retrieved a blanket from the floor and placed it over him, moving him more towards the center of the table while she did so to reduce the risk of an additional fall. First order of business was to ascertain ship's status, and then determine how best to treat Chakotay's injuries. With the ellipse now subsumed into sub-space, escape was likely impossible, but she couldn't dwell on these thoughts. There might still be a chance when the ellipse re-entered regular space. How long that would take was anyone's guess, but they needed to be ready when the opportunity occurred.
One small step at a time.