Alan watched as their runabout slid smoothly out of the Disquisitive's shuttlebay, and arced gracefully towards the anomaly. Watching their home of the past 4 years shrinking into a tiny dot in the distance before being replaced by the white trails of warp travel, he thought wistfully, I hope we get to see it again. It may be an old Ambassador class; one of the last ships of its kind, but it's home. And its crew is family.
Daniel, on the other hand, was full of enthusiasm. He tapped his right foot sporadically in anticipation, and clutched the armrests of his chair tightly. The chair's moisture absorbers were pushed close to their limit as its user sweated profusely.
"We are nearing the anomaly, Petty Officers Steward and Thompson," the runabout's computer informed them. "Would you like to continue on your current course?"
"Of course," Daniel answered. The runabout slowed to .1c as it scanned the anomaly with its comprehensive sensor suite, searching for hazards within. After the computer had ascertained that there were none, the runabout accelerated slightly to .25c, and rapidly closed the distance between it and the anomaly.
And then they were in. The tiny craft rocked as it was buffeted by intense gravitational fields, but it resolutely continued its preordained course. Terrible energies buffeted against its feeble shields, and the tiny craft rocked like a leaf in the wind.
Within the runabout, Daniel and Alan felt as if their souls (if they existed) were being shaken out of their bodies. "Wha-what's happening?!" Alan shouted above the deafening roar within the craft.
"It appears that the anomaly is destabilising, Petty Officers Steward and Thompson. This is strange indeed; the telemetry indicated that the anomaly would remain stable for a rather significant period of time. Perhaps the phase variance of the sensors was not properly calibrated?" the computer answered calmly, albeit at maximum volume.
Just then, the computer detected a failure within the runabout's systems; one that would greatly reduce the effectiveness of the inertial dampers. In less than a nanosecond, it engaged all the necessary safety protocols to preserve the lives of its crew.
Scanners online. Pattern buffers engaged. Physical composition of two occupants: Petty Officer Steward, Petty Officer Thompson: saved. Pattern buffer mode: storage.
Steward's vision was blurry and his mouth was parched and dry. He had almost lost consciousness when his head bumped against the bulkhead. Turning his head, he noticed some kind of warm liquid making its way down the nape of his neck. Then he was surrounded by nimbus of blue light. And then there was darkness.
200 milliseconds before the Senegal was hit by a 10 billion G gravitational wave, and 20 microseconds before the inertial dampers failed completely, the two occupants of the small vessel disappeared.