Archer woke up with a gasp, his eyes popping open, seeing nothing but a dull reflection of dim light on the ceiling of his quarters. He shivered suddenly, realizing that in his sleep he had thrown half of the blankets off the bed and onto the floor, where they gathered in a tangled pile.
A cold tingle rushed through the Captain's body as he slowly remembered his second encounter with the Ambassador and four Captains. Black hole. Wormhole. Threat. Destruction. Power. Andromeda.
Quickly pulling on the nearest clothing he could find – his uniform – he sat down at the monitor on his desk and searched through the Vulcan database for information on black holes and wormholes, scolding himself after a moment before switching to the English version of the database. He saved every scrap of information he could find onto his computer, then went through the Denobulan database, again saving every bit of information he could find. As an afterthought, he went back through the databases for information on the Guardians. He found none.
Downloading the information onto a padd before logging out of the system, he quickly washed up in his bathroom before heading down to the mess hall for a quick coffee and breakfast, skimming the information on the padd. He sat down at a table alone, refusing anybody who asked to sit with him. Hoshi was one of the people who he turned away.
"I can translate body language, you know." She told him.
"Then you know now is not a good time." He said, taking a sip of coffee. She gave him an 'if-you-insist' look before finding somewhere else to sit.
After finishing up his meal, he went to the bridge where he immediately summoned T'pol to go into his ready room with him. Sitting down at his desk, he motioned for the Vulcan to take a seat across from him.
"Is it possible for a black hole and a wormhole to coexist within one another?" Archer asked, wasting no time. His thoughts were wild as a river, and he wouldn't spend time trying to cover up that he'd discovered something urgent.
T'pol barely looked shocked at such a random question, but she knew it was logical for him to ask her, since she was his science officer.
"Not much is known about wormholes at this point, but it would be highly doubtful that one would be able to exist within a black hole." She said emotionlessly.
"How much is not much?"
T'pol raised an eyebrow. "Vulcan scientists know the basics of wormholes. What they do, how they work, but we can only theorize from simulations what might happen in certain circumstances, or what makes worm holes function. What do you need to know?"
Archer shook his head dismissively. "Is it possible for a wormhole to exist in the center of the galaxy, and connect to another galaxy?"
T'pol hesitated a moment. "How far away might this other galaxy be?"
Archer thought for a minute, trying to find the best way to imply the Andromeda galaxy without actually saying it. "Within the local group, close to the Milky Way."
"I am not certain, Captain." She answered after a moment's pause. "Why do you need to know?"
"I don't need to." He answered quickly. "Just curiosity."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Janeway rubbed her fingers along her forehead, straining to organize her thoughts and think straight, think harder. She took a sip of coffee and tossed her padd down on the desk with a rattling clank. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the blackness, trying to calm down her whirlwind of thoughts. Blackness. Black holes. Her thoughts exploded again.
The sudden chirping of the door chime startled Janeway. She growled under her breath before mumbling "Come."
Seven of Nine entered, hands clasped behind her back, and stopped in front of the Captain's desk. "You wished to see me."
"Did I?"
"Do you not remember? You contacted me in Astrometrics because you wanted to talk to me about something."
Astrometrics. Of course. "Yes, I remember." Kathryn said, standing up. "I'm sorry, I can't think straight today. I should have gone down to see you."
"Are you feeling ill, Captain?" Seven asked, not even a hint of concern on her smooth, ex-Borg face.
"No, I'm fine. Come with me."
They went down to Astrometrics in silence, Kathryn too wrapped up in what had happened last night to talk. What had happened? Had she really been in the Guardian's embassy, talking with two legendary Captains, her role-model, and the Captain of Deep Space Nine? Where was the Embassy? In the Alpha Quadrant? Because it sure was a long way away from the Hell that was the Delta Quadrant.
When they reached Astrometrics, Janeway immediately went to the main console, digging up information about the Andromeda galaxy and the center of the Milky Way.
"Captain?" Seven asked, confused about Janeway's behaviour.
"See what information you can find about the Andromeda Galaxy, and put it up on the screen." Janeway stopped working her console, and watched as information popped up and gathered on the large screen.
"Seven, do the Borg know of any species that live in the Andromeda Galaxy?"
"No. Only one Borg vessel has ever left the Galaxy, and it didn't survive long in open space. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious. I've always been curious about the Andromeda galaxy." This was partially true. She had seen the Andromeda galaxy many times through the telescope she owned as a girl. It was one of her favourite observing sights, and she sometimes took quick shots of it with her camera.
Seven gave her a curious look, but continued digging up piles of information.
"Stop there!" Janeway said suddenly when a map of the galaxy popped up on the viewer. The map showed the four quadrants of the Andromeda, with brief data on each. "Zoom in to the center." She ordered, and the image moved and the center grew until it took up all the space on the screen.
Oblivious to almost everything else, Janeway stepped up onto the platform, getting closer to the screen, reading the information.
"Do you know if there's a wormhole in the center?" She asked no one in particular.
The console behind her beeped, and Seven reported "Unknown."
"Is there a wormhole in the center of our galaxy?"
"No." Seven said again.
Janeway turned around. No? "The black hole in the center, could it be interfering…?"
"The black hole in the center of the galaxy is dormant at this time."
"Huh." Janeway said, coming down off the platform. "Thank you, Seven."
And lost in her thoughts again, she wandered down the corridors to her ready room. Coffee would surely clear her mind.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Niseotek hurled itself through space, in an unending orbit around the bright golden star the Xenonians called 'Light of Life', or in their language, Lisoshi. The green planet, streaked with blue like cat scratches, was known in the system as 'the miracle planet', as it was dream-like and quite Heavenly to outside visitors. The land was covered in trees, and beautiful flowers, bushes and ferns, and half a million different grasses. Birds busied themselves among high branches, their long, elaborately coloured tail feathers gleaming with drops of golden Lisoshi light, their songs carrying on the wind like an immortal whisper. Rodents and small animals scurried through the bushes, little mouse-like creatures running about under the cover of more than enough protecting plants. A soft moist mist seemed to hang in the air, as there was a type of cloud unique to Niseotek that existed close to the ground and not high in the sky.
The Xenonians fit into the landscape perfectly, with dark teal skin that often served as natural camouflage. Their hair was black, and the men kept theirs cut short while women had longer hair that was always put back in a braid. They had four arms and four legs each, and eight independently moving and blinking eyes, making them appear spider-like. The Xenonians did not split their world into different countries or cultures. They were all one people, with the same traditions and religion and government. And they preferred it that way. They had a simple lifestyle, and they liked it.
One starry night, while the sky was not yet completely black, a Xenonian astronomer called Gytia was stargazing with his son Asabane. Gytia positioned his telescope towards his favourite stargazing sight, and peered through the eight eyepieces. There it was, the beautiful Swirling Galaxy, as his people called it. Like a river of cream-coloured milk spinning slowly in the sky. He let his son take a look.
"What is it?" The young one asked.
"That is the closest galaxy to us, the Swirling Galaxy. I discovered it 30 years ago, when I was not much older than you."
"Did you report it to the Astronomy Society?"
"Indeed I did, my boy. I also gave them the blueprint for this telescope, which I built myself. The most powerful of its kind." He said proudly.
Asabane gave a sigh of awe for his father. A moment of silence followed, the boy peering through the telescope and his father looking upward contently.
"I plan to go there someday, my boy." He said suddenly.
"Go where?" Asabane asked, startled.
"To the Swirling Galaxy, of course. You can come with me if you like, and your mother."
He looked away from the telescope and up at his father, joy evident on his face. "How will we get there? It looks so far away!"
"You know about the wormhole in the center of the galaxy?"
"Yes, father. I learned of it in school!" He said enthusiastically.
"Good, good. I believe that wormhole goes to the center of the Swirling Galaxy."
"How do you know?"
"I do not. I have found bits of evidence of a wormhole in the center of the Swirling Galaxy, but none that it leads here. It will take me a long time to find out." He shrugged. "Or I could just take a ship into the center of our galaxy and find out."
Asabane paused in thought. That's what Gytia liked about him. He always thought about new information he's given. He gives it time for it to register and connect with other things he knows.
"How long, father? How long will it take?"
"Oh." He sighed, and sat down on the log behind him. He looked around him for a moment, staring into the pitch black forest that surrounded two sides of his house. "Generations." He whispered at last.