Capitan Picard proudly looked around at his crew, standing, or sitting at their various stations on the bridge. They had done it again. They had performed beautifully in another exceedingly stressful mission and succeeded in averting another Romulan/Federation war. Now the Enterprise was headed back to Earth for repairs to the ship and some much needed shore leave. Most of the crew would be taking advantage of this opportunity. Most of the crew. He would be staying behind as usual, but that was of no importance. After all, he didn't like vacations. They took up too much time and nothing was accomplished.
"Sir," Wesley Crusher said, "we're picking up something unusual on the sensors."
"Well," Captain Picard replied, "What is it?"
"It looks like a hole sir."
"A hole? What kind of hole? Is it a black hole?"
"No sir, just an ordinary hole."
"An ordinary hole? In space there are no ordinary, run-of-the-mill holes. Look again, there has to be something different about it."
"Sir," Lieutenant Commander Data cut in, "it indeed appears to be – as you say – an ordinary, run-of-the-mill hole."
"We're being sucked in, sir," Wesley was starting to panic.
"Reverse, Warp seven."
"The warp engines are still under repair, sir,"
"Dammit! Full impulse!"
"It's not working sir!"
It was no use. The Enterprise was sucked into the hole at speeds beyond the warp scale despite the fact that the warp drives were inoperable. The occupants of the entire ship froze in terror as the stars gradually disappeared and blackness surrounded the ship. It seemed to last an eternity, but really took no more than five minutes. Then they were out among the stars again, staring at the heart of the terran system.
However bizarre the "hole" was, it was quickly forgotten, because earth was now within their field of view, and there were people aboard who wanted shore leave ASAP.
"Pull us in to dock at the spaceport, Mr. Crusher."
"Sir," Wesley sounded confused, "the spaceport isn't here."
"What on earth do you mean by that?"
"It's not there sir. It just – isn't there."
"It is true sir," Data cut in, "the spaceport is not there. However, the sensors are detecting a large hole in the ozone layer."
"A hole in the ozone layer? I thought we took care of that in the early 22nd century," Wesley said, confuzzled.
"We did," said Picard, "I'm certain of it."
"So," said Commander Riker, "We know where we are…"
"The question," Picard said, "is when?"