Beyond the Nebula
Author Note: This is my first story on fanfiction, and I will try to update it as much as possible. Voyager is one of my favourite shows, so I figured I would write about it. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or shooting me a PM.
Chapter 1
Seven was standing in Astrometrics, scanning the sector for any sign of... well, anything really. Voyager had recently passed through a wave of mutagenic particles, and the crew was still recovering from the effects. On the bridge, Captain Janeway would be instructing her officers to double their scans, while Seven was assigned to locate the source of the wave. She had located several phenomena that could provide a source for the radiation, except for the fact that they were all less than 12 light years away, while the particle wave density indicated a source at least 28 light years out. Long range sensors weren't picking up much of anything, and there was a source of electromagnetic interference past 30 light years that Seven couldn't explain. With her scans reaching a conclusion, she headed for Cargo Bay 2 to regenerate, while Captain Janeway made her way to the Mess Hall for some relaxation.
Janeway entered the Mess Hall, still feeling slightly queasy from the particle wave. The Doctor had treated the entire crew for radiation poisoning, but the feelings of uneasiness were still there. Neelix approached the captain, offering her a coffee. Black, as always. Janeway stared at the coffee until she forced herself to take it. Drinking the coffee, she felt slightly better. She sat down at a table in the middle of the room, allowing herself to listen to a conversation that was happening between Tom Paris, Harry Kim, and B'Elanna Torres. They appeared to be having a mild argument. Tom was arguing with Kim and Torres.
"I think we can do this! Honestly, if we just stabilize the power output in the Quantum Slipstream Drive, we should be able to predict the outcome." Paris seemed very sure of himself.
"No Tom, we can't risk it. Remember what happened the last time you tried transwarp? You already made the history books, so just drop it." Lieutenant Torres was swift in her denial.
"B'Elanna is right, Tom. Even with the newest modifications to the Transwarp Drive, there would be a 60% chance of destruction. We can't risk losing you or the Flyer to an experimental form of propulsion!" Ensign Kim seemed to be ending that statement with a bit of drama. Janeway had heard enough. She knew that if she didn't chime in, heads would roll. Besides, she needed to know what was going on, remembering the last time Tom went into transwarp. She recalled the horrifying results of the mission, and refused to think of it any further before approaching the three officers.
"Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt, but did I hear the word 'transwarp' emanating from over here?" She was not going to let this experiment happen. Ever. Paris was quick with a response.
"Oh! Captain, we didn't see you there. We were discussing the possibility of utilizing an upgraded Transwarp Drive to re-investigate our theories about the warp speed barrier..." He obviously wasn't letting go of this.
"Well, Tom, remember the theory of infinite velocity and occupying every point in the Universe simultaneously and being turned into an alien and..." The list went on for a good 40 seconds more. This gave Kim an excellent idea.
"I know! Why don't you talk to Seven, Tom? The Borg have used Transwarp successfully in the past, perhaps we can use Borg technology to modify the Transwarp Drive and make it stable enough for use on Voyager, get us home faster." He had an idea there, but perhaps a bit risky for Janeway. Either way, she left the Mess Hall wishing them luck in their endeavours. She had changed her mind about never letting the experiment happen again, but she was still very cautious, expecting Seven to shoot down their fantasy with some sort of Borg techno-babble and simple logic. At least she hoped so. She was entering the turbolift when the thought struck her. Coffee would go incredibly well with a muffin. With this in mind, she headed back to her quarters. While she was preparing her snack, Seven awoke from her regeneration cycle. Icheb was working at the console.
Seven got out of the alcove and went over to the console. She stared at Icheb's work. He was busy studying the effects of radiation on different genomes. He had hypothesized a few months back that there was a certain genetic pattern to even energy lifeforms, which kept them "alive". Mostly this research had involved simulating large doses of lethal radiation on different lifeforms, then checking to see if they were either still alive or functioning at the atomic level. So far, all the test subjects in the holodeck had died. Painfully, and rather horribly. This didn't deter Icheb; after all, they were only holograms... Seven finished this line of thought, said good morning to Icheb, and proceeded to Astrometrics.
Scanning the sector provided the same results as the previous days. The usual electromagnetic interference was still unidentifiable, the radiation spikes were occurring only within nebulae now, and there were still no signs of other vessels in the area. Today, scanning produced an asteroid belt rich in dilithium metal. Inevitably, the captain would end up harvesting it, so she may as well inform the captain. Other than that, scans produced nothing out of the ordinary. There was a pre-warp civilization on a nearby planet, but they were going through Earth's equivalent of the Medieval Era, and would be unable to locate Voyager. The surrounding stars and nebulae were exhibiting usual levels of radiation and space matter. Another day of sensor data for the computer to pore over, while Seven would spend most of her time analyzing Earth culture. The Doctor had recommended this as her next social exercise, even though she knew virtually everything about Earth from her time as a Borg drone. The console displayed an unusual energy pattern, and she began to analyze it. It was a mutagenic wave. Curious about it, Seven began to scan the area, providing her with something to do.
The Doctor was preparing the latest batch of hyposprays for treating the crew who were exposed to the mutagenic particles in the wave. Unfortunately, there was still a small amount of the mutagenic wave left in sickbay. The Doctor had been performing an experiment within a containment field when the wave hit, and the frequencies caused the containment unit to trap some of the radiation. The computer was in the middle of dissipating the radiation since it wasn't of any use to Voyager; they already knew what it was. The console bleeped, indicating that the radiation had dropped below 20% concentration. This was good. The decontamination was proceeding faster than expected. With the hyposprays ready, The Doctor sat down at his desk, working on a way to inoculate the crew against the new radiation.
Harry, B'Elanna, and Tom were in engineering, working on the Transwarp Drive. With Seven busy analyzing the mutagenic wave, they were stuck sifting through Borg technology logs that had been converted to Starfleet files. Unfortunately, the data concerning transwarp was relatively incomplete, with only a few sections on theory and a simple prototype device being detailed. The three set to work trying to modify the Transwarp Drive to meet a standard that would allow them to convince Captain Janeway that their flight was absolutely necessary in terms of exploration and discovering what lay beyond the 30 light year "electro-wall", referring to the electromagnetic interference that blocked all sensors past that point. Of course, stabilizing the Transwarp Drive would mean that the vessel would only create a conduit, and not occupy every point in the Universe simultaneously, so Harry was thinking of a way to hit transwarp, collect all the data, and then return to Voyager, without interference from anything. This line of thought was quickly interrupted by the ship shaking, and the bridge calling "Red Alert!" The Transwarp Drive would have to wait.