I don't own Star Trek Voyager.
The Hansen's Underspace Journey.
The Beginning.
Magnus Hansen turned with his wife with a knowing smirk on his face. "See, I told you," he grinned smugly.
"No need to be smug about it, Magnus," Erin whispered, awestruck by the sight of the smoky orange-hued tunnel walls. "I can't believe you discovered this over a year ago."
Magnus and Erin Hansen were what many considered amateur explorers. They had joined one of a dozen space exploration agencies, one of those groups overshadowed by Starfleet, but instead of being bogged down by Starfleet's multi-mission directorates like in defence, interstellar policing and diplomacy, they focused on making star charts, discovering new anomalies and travelling to different parts of the Milky Way in the various ships provided for them as the United Federation of Planets grew so much bigger.
But the Hansens had made many discoveries over the last several years. Both of them were scientists, experts in several fields although much of their knowledge came from learning on the job. They had met and worked together at university while working towards their doctorates in xenobiology and stellar cartography and wormhole mechanics before they had signed up for the agency and afterwards, they had both gotten engaged and then married. They had both been off-world on several year assignments together which was how they liked it. Eventually, they had a daughter, a little girl called Annika, who was now old enough to come with them.
Many parents would be up in arms at the thought of taking such a young girl on a long trip with them, but the Hansens both agreed it would be a great learning experience for her. And besides they would not be gone too long so she wouldn't really notice not having friends.
A year before, Magnus had been berthed on another ship and he had come back with a strange story to tell. He had wandered close to the Romulan Neutral Zone when a Bird of Prey chased him through several systems, but as he was going into orbit around a gas giant, using the gravity well to mask his presence and stop the Romulans from picking him up, his ship had detected a slight warping in space masked by the gravitational field of the gas giant.
Magnus had waited hours for the Romulan ship to leave, even sending a probe into warp to throw them off the scent because if he moved an inch, his engines would be picked up and they'd either catch him or kill him. Fortunately, the Romulans left either because they gave up or because they thought their prey was too pathetic to be caught.
Magnus investigated and found a tunnel that took him 390 light years off course.
Amazed and awed by the discovery, Magnus had explored a small amount of the network of tunnels, and yes there were tunnels which were like a maze, his astrometric computer quickly and effortlessly mapping out the network sectors he crossed. Magnus had only told his wife about his discovery because his time away from work and the lack of anything real to tell their superiors drove them mad. The Hansens liked to be a law onto themselves, a trait and a habit they'd long since inherited and Magnus had passed it on to his daughter. The Erin who had met Magnus would have told them at once, but Magnus had corrupted her and in any case, he had convincingly told her if they went back with a good record of what they had found, even routes to the Delta and Gamma Quadrants of the Milky Way, even a route out of the galaxy itself, then they would tell Starfleet and the other agencies.
Erin was not convinced they would welcome the late discovery, but she had agreed. One of the points of contention was the idea of taking Annika with them since it would likely be dangerous. They had spent the last month getting a ship, the SS Raven and outfitting it with enough fuel and parts to last for at least 7 years the Hansens didn't plan on being gone long but Magnus and Erin knew anything could happen.
"How's Annika?" Magnus asked.
"She's okay," Erin turned her smiling face towards the doorway at the back of the flight deck of the Raven to where the sleeping quarters were. "She was sleeping the last time I saw her." Her smile slipped a bit. "I dunno if we're doing the right thing, Magnus. We're taking her away from home, from her friends."
"We both agreed we couldn't just leave her. We wanted to show her the stars. I don't like taking her away from her friends, but we talked about this. She should be with her parents," Magnus said.
"Irene said we should settle down on a planet," Erin pointed out.
"And we will. But we're both scientists and explorers. Our work takes us across the galaxy. And besides, it's not as if we're the only ones doing it; there are dozens of Starfleet officers who take their families with them across the galaxy. Annika will be okay; we're going to see new worlds and meet new people, and who knows, she might meet other children as well," Magnus argued while he pushed past what Irene was constantly and consistently telling them. His sister worried too much.
Erin sighed, seeing there was no way of getting out of this. "Where are we going?"
Magnus grinned. "I found a tunnel that goes off a long way. We'll follow that."
Erin watched as Magnus turned back to his controls and he started inputting the commands. Soon the Raven was travelling through the network of corridors before they began travelling down one that seemed bigger than the others, with different branches leading away.
"Hey, look at all that debris," she commented, pointing out a very large chunk of something twisted. "You weren't kidding when you said someone had fought a war in here."
"No, I wasn't. That debris is nearly a thousand years old, Erin," Magnus said, "but it makes you wonder who else could have found this place."