CHAPTER THREE: MADEN VOYAGE

While waiting for the crew to come aboard Captain Kenneth Lutgen was sitting in his ready room looking over the status reports before he could leave the station and embark on his mission. While he was looking over them his door buzzed, "Enter!"

Stacy and Val entered the ready room and was standing in front of the Captain "so was it hard to get hear, did you have a problem getting aboard?"

Then as if she was confused, "No sir we did not have a hard time sir!"

Slowly Captain Kenneth Lutgen comes about and says, "Ensign, relax before you strain something, despite Starfleet Protocol I do not like being called sir, Captain will be fine, sir will do in a crunch!"

"Yes Captain!"

"So are you ready to get to the bridge and on the way?"

As if she was anxious Stacy respond, "Yes Captain, we are!!"

"Well then follow me and we will be on our way!"

Aboard the bridge Captain Kenneth Lutgen takes his post and calls out "Are we ready to leave docking port?"

"Yes Captain we have cleared our departure with ops control and we are ready to go!"

"Ok then give the orders and lets get on our way!"

"Ensign Val are you ready to take over your station? Follow me! Ensign this is your station she is all your!"

"Yes sir!"

"It's not crunch time yet Ensign, I'll let you know when!"

Everyone in anticipation and ready for the unknown and what they are about to discover they all hear the first officer announce, "Lt commander, clear us with ops control, and prepare for thruster movements, Ensign ready thrusters!"

Then as Captain Lutgen sits in his chair on looking the bridge he then turns and gives the order, "Take us out 1/2 half impulse speeds, engage!"

The outer lights come on and the engines make a small purr and slowly they begin to make movement, everyone aboard looks out the view screen as they are going out into space unknown, not knowing that they will be heading for the journey of a lifetime!!!! While waiting for the Captain to call her to the bridge for her help in maneuvering through the bad lands, she was thinking about what the Maquis was doing and if any of her old friends were still alive, Stacy made it to the mess hall looking out into the crew men that were recreating and eating and laughing she looked and thought boy I wish I had the same things and the same friends and then I also wish that I never had the life that I had. While looking across the room she saw the first officer and the Doctor talking to Ensign Val, While they were to her they kept looking at her and making dirty faces at her, Stacy knowing what they were telling looked at the replacator and said, "Tomato soup!"

Then if it were nothing the replacator said, "Their are 14 kinds of tomato soup, Bolinas, Vulcan, terrian."

Then out of irritation she said plain tomato soup, then the replacator said to her, "Please specify, Hot or Cold..."

Then out of anger Stacy said, "Hot plain tomato soup!!!"

Then out of know where like magic came her soup, she looked on to where Val sat along with the doc and the first officer, they moved away and left Val by herself to think about the information they gave her, then as if to be friendly and as to not known what was being said about her she said, "So How are you today?"

Then out of dismay Val turns around asks, "Is it true, was the accident your fault?"

"The accident, well yes it was, yeah I know I could have lied and gotten away with it all but the ghost of those three dead officers came in my sleep and thought me the true meaning of Christmas!!"

"I do not understand, if all you had to do was lie and keep your mouth shut then why just because of that!"

Then in the middle of their conversation the Captain pages Stacy, "Stacy Jennings"

"Yes Captain!" Come to the bridge, we are approaching the Bad Lands!" Simultaneously Stacy & Val get up and run to the bridge, upon getting to the bridge the Captain and the enacting security officer were at the security station, looking at a sensor read out of the last known position of the Maquis ship, while looking and talking the First Officer came over and said, "We have received word from the Cardassians of the ships last known position before entering the bad lands!"

While looking at the charts Stacy noticed that their was an entrance to were the ship would of went to avoid the plasma storms, offering her opinion Stacy said, "If I were them I would have turned to the course and heading 352 mark 0 so that way we would avoid the plasma storms!"

Then the Captain asked the Security Officer, "Are their any class "M" planets in the area?"

"Yes and that would put us on this course 326-56-0!"

"First Officer adjusts our course to match!"

"Yes Captain!"

On the way to his chair Captain Kenneth Lutgen was watching Stacy waiting for her to slip up but yet watching her and thinking about how a beautiful girl could end up in a penal colony, then as if to make the ride worse Ensign Val sends out alert

"Captain we are being scanned and a displacement wave is moving toward us!"

Then as if it were not important the Captain yells "Analysis Ensign Val?"

"I do not know Captain!"

"First Officer any suggestions?"

"Maybe if we create a diversions beam from the aft deflector we can disrupt it!"

"Do it!"

While all of this commotion is going on Stacy was observing the movements Stotty made in hopes that if anything to the ship and if needed she could pilot Voyager through saftly and without any damage being done if any!! While the first Officer is doing what he is told Val yells, "No effect, the wave will intercept us in 5,4..."

Then as the Captain should he yells "All hands, brace for impact!!"

Everyone running to grab things to hold on to or going the their stations the First Officer running to his as the wave hits the ship, throwing it into space like a rag doll damaging the ship far beyond what the Captain ever thought would happen. Then as the ship came to a stop and everyone gets up and looks around the red alert is going off and everyone is stunned Stacy steps in to look at Stotty and the Captain looks at the First Officer, when he realizes that he is dead Captain Lutgen looks over and asks "How is Stotty?"

Stacy looks at the Captain and replies, "She is dead Captain!"

While all the commotion is going on Val's station gets a report. "Captain, their is something our their!"

"I need a better report then that Ensign!"

"If these sensors are working correctly, we are over 70 thousand light years from our original position, we are on the other side of the galaxy, wait there is something else out their!"

"Can you get the view screen operational?"

"Hold on I thinks I got it!"

Then as if it were magic, the view screen gave a clear as day picture, this thing in the outer