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Stardate 52143
Now I really do wish Arturis hadn't been so vengeful and self-destructive. If he'd still been here, the adaptation of his slipstream drive to Voyager might have been successful. When we tried to use our version, Voyager slipped out of the slipstream corridor. We almost crashed into a planet. If Tom hadn't discovered evidence of a phase variance, which might cause the slipstream corridor to become unstable, who knows what might have happened? We needed more precise detail to steer our ship through it. Harry volunteered to take the more maneuverable Delta Flyer a few seconds ahead, to send the phase variations back to the ship and keep us on course. The corrections caused the slipstream to disperse, but we'd traveled 10,000 light years closer to the Alpha Quadrant in those few minutes, cutting our projected journey by about ten years.
We won't be able to try using the quantum slipstream drive again anytime soon. We don't have enough benamite, a necessary component of the engine, for one thing. B'Elanna and Seven now believe the shape of Voyager's hull will make it difficult to create a stable corridor that's wide enough to allow for adjustments to our course if needed. We were able to use the corridor Dauntless made to rescue the captain and Seven because it actually expanded as Dauntless flew through it, and Tom flew Voyager in its wake. Once the slipstream corridor dissipated, we fell into normal space in an area between star systems, so there wasn't anything in our way our shields couldn't handle. We did get quite a jolt when Voyager slipped sideways in the one we were trying to create. Thanks to the course correction Commander Chakotay and Harry sent us from the Delta Flyer, however, we were able to get out before losing control of the helm.
Addendum
Tom, Harry, B'Elanna, and I talked over what happened in the Mess Hall this evening. When Tom complimented him on "saving our bacon" with the course correction he sent us, Harry looked very apologetic and insisted he never got around to sending his correction. He was glad he hadn't, because he's been looking over his calculations, and he isn't sure things would have worked out for us if he had. Tom and B'Elanna insisted he was being too modest.
While Harry was saying this to us, Seven came into the Mess Hall to obtain one of her Nutritional Supplement shakes (which look like, and apparently taste, just like an ordinary chocolate milkshake). I watched her hesitate when her drink was ready. I'm quite certain she was listening to us. A very strange expression crossed her face, but she left too quickly for me to ask her about it. When Tom, B'Elanna and I left Harry to go to our quarters an hour later, we passed the captain just outside the Mess Hall door, just as she was going through. The captain greeted us perfunctorily; she looked somewhat distracted. The only person still in the Mess Hall at that time was Harry, and I saw her approach him. I was curious, but Tom and B'Elanna called me to the turbolift. I didn't want to make them wait, so I left. I'll ask Harry about it in the morning.
While we were in the turbolift on the way to our quarters, the three of us discussed whether what we've learned about Steth's folding space vehicle might make it a better option for faster-than-warp travel. Tom and B'Elanna both think that drive would be easier to install on a much smaller vehicle, like the Delta Flyer, than on anything as big as Voyager. For now, we all agreed, more research is needed before we try any other exotic drives. The Warp-10 experiment had unfortunate consequences for Tom and the captain. No one wants to try that again, even if we should find more of those ultra-high-grade dilithium crystals that were used to power the late, lamented Cochrane. The transwarp experiment failed, almost killing Tom and B'Elanna (thanks to the Caatati's untimely intervention). Now the slipstream drive has also failed. Everyone on Voyager could have been killed!
What we need to find is a nice, safe, stable wormhole!
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