Nitus awoke and stood from the floor slowly. The emergency klaxon blared as she took in the disaster around her. The EPS modules across the bridge exploded and the consoles damaged as she made her way to T’Soni trying to check on the Vulcan executive officer.

Enzo slowly sat up in his console. Grabbing his head as he felt the blood dripping from his brow. He turned to look at Laura.

“Report,” Nitus said to him, her voice cutting through the chaos on the bridge as she helped T’Soni to her feet.

“Multiple hull breaches on decks four through seven and fourteen through sixteen. Interinal force fields are offline bulkheads are sealed and are holding,” he said to other before he continued, “Life support as failed completely on those deck and main power is cut of ship-wide but emergency power is holding steady.”

 Nitus stood in the command center as Enzo told her what happened to the ship. She wondered how they had found themselves in this unspeakable situation.

 34 Minutes Ago

Captain’s Log Stardate 240109.09. We are currenty enroute to Olympia Station for resupply and some much needed R&R. We have been updating our charts and sensors readings along the southtren frontier for the past three weeks. We are 24 hours away from the station and the crew have already made plans for how they will be spending their shore leave. An old friend is also stopping by the station and I will be meeting up with her as soon as we arrive at the station. This is something that we have needed for a long time. With the Lost Fleet, Frontier Day, and the Borg activity in the Delta Quadrant. The crew have been waiting for this day for months. As have I.

Walking through the doors of her quarters she returned to her ‘sanctuary’. Nitus unbuttoned her jacket, walked over to the sofa, and sat down. “Computer,” she called out. A beep replied before she continued, “Contact Commander Preston McKenzie aboard the USS Bristol,” she said to the system as she waited for the transmission to connect so that she may see her fiance.

“Commander,” he said as his face came into view. He was not much younger than Nitus. His hair and face were damp and he didn’t have a shirt on. 

“Commander?” she questioned him, raising an eyebrow, “When did you become so formal?”

“When you became the commanding officer of a much bigger ship than your previous,” he replied playfully.

“Is that right?” she looked at him with a mischievous smirk.

“It is and I thought I told you not to contact me until you have four pips,” Preston responded as he brought his face closer to the camera, “It looks to me as though you still have three.”

“First of all you know I never listen to you,” she said to him in a matter-of-fact tone, “and second maybe you should tell your captain to put in a good word so that I may have four pips.

He sighed loudly as he began to respond to her, “I will see what I can do, but you know how Giovanni is when showing favoritism.”

“What? That he only shows it when I’m around?” she replied with a smile.

“Ha ha ha. You’re so funny,” he said to her with an unamused facial expression.

“I know I am,” she said teasing him.

“Where are you anyway?” he asked her.

“Heading to Olympia station for resupply and shore leave,” she said as she looked at the PADD that had been on her table for ages before continuing to speak, “I’m supposed to be meeting up with Alexandria when we arrive.”

“Oh no,” he said worriedly before walking out of the camera’s view.

Nitus sat the PADD down from where she had picked it up from. “What is that supposed to mean?” she asked wondering why he would say such a thing.

“Anytime you and Alex get together it always ends in something blowing up,” he said as she came back into view wearing the undershirt of his uniform.

“No, it doesn’t!” she said defensively. She knew for certain that he was telling the truth.

“What happened the day before you assumed command of the Kision?” Preston asked her.

Nitus sat there puzzled for a second before realization hit about the shuttle she and Alex were in mere hours before she was to assume command. “We don’t talk about that,” she said looking away from him.

“That’s what I thought,” he said to her with a playful grin on his face.

The lights in the room began to flash red and the emergency klaxon began to ring throughout the ship. Nitus switches from a playful expression to one of seriousness and dedication.

“Commander Nitus to the bridge,” T’Soni’s voice rang through the intercom.

“I have to go. I’ll talk to you soon,” she said as she picked up the PADDs from the table.

“I love you,” he said to her.

“Love you too,” she responded as the transmission ended. She stood from the sofa and walked briskly to the nearest turbolift.

Enzo and Laura walked out of the holodeck both laughing as they went towards the nearest turbolift.

“I really had fun,” Laura said as she and Enzo subconsciously grabbed each other’s hand.

“I told you. You would,” he said to her.

“The lights in the corridor began to flash red and the emergency klaxon began to ring throughout the ship. ”Commander Nitus to the bridge,” T’Soni’s voice rang throughout the corridor. Enzo and Laura realized the situation which caused the young man to groan loudly.

“It would seem date night is ending early,” he said to her as he stopped walking and stared at her.

“It is but there will be a next time,” she replied smiling as she tugged on his arm. They continued to walk down the corridor still holding each other’s hands.

“I’ll see you on the bridge then?” he asked her.

“Of course,” she said as she pulled him into a gentle kiss. When their lips touched they momentarily forgot where they were and we lost in the bliss and and the enjoyment of their kiss.

Laura pulled from the kiss. As Enzo tried and failed to pull her back in eventually giving up. “I’ll see you later,” she said as she pulled way fromhis grip as she went down the corridor to change.

Enzo stood where he was as he watched her walk ways before he turned and walked away as well.

Stepping on to the bridge Nitus could see the concerned expression on everyon’s face as they moved diligently to execute their duties.

“Report!” she said as she made her way to the command center. The turbolift opposite of where she came from opened and Laura walked to her station.

“We have detected a gravitational anomaly near the Karlaxin system,” she said as she sat down at her station.

“Is their anything else?’ Nitus asked her.

“If there is I can’t detect it. I recommend we alter course to investigate,” Laura said as T’Soni walked over to help her.

“You heard her En-” Nitus said as she turned to see that the chief flight control officer wasn’t there. “Where is Enzo?” she questioned.

The turbolift next to the ready room opened as Enzo and Alessa stepped on to the bridge.

“Enzo, set course for the Karlazin system, maximum warp,” she ordered as she watched the young officer take his seat as his console and begin to tap in the new heading.

“Take flight,” she commanded.

The Paramount temporarily dropped out of warp moved ninety degrees starboard and launched once again into faster than light speed.

The Paramount made with graceful ease a shift from faster-than-light travel to sublight speeds. As it came back to relative space and exited the warp field around it the fabric of space seemed to ripple momentarily before settling into a calm stillness. Navigational thrusters engaged in moving the ship with precision as it moved smoothly into its designated position.

Nitus walked from the rear of the bridge to the command area as the Paramount dropped out of warp. The subtle hum from the ship signaled to her the transition back to sublight speeds. Her eyes flicked to the viewport, where the starfield had snapped into a coherent tapestry of distant points of light.

“Anything on sensors,” she asked her voice calm and flat but authoritative.

“Yes, ma'am," Laura responded from the science console. “I'm detecting strong readings of gravimetric radiation just beyond the ship.”

Nitus nodded at the update looking out of the viewscreen feeling the all-too-familiar weight of responsibility settle on her shoulders. A weight that if anyone else on her ship was put under they would surely crack, but she had to stand strong not only for her sake but the ones under her command as well.

“Continue on course at quarter impulse power,” she ordered. “Ms. Jackson, begin long-range scans. Let's see what else is out there.”

Nitus sat in her ready room as she waited for more information from her senior staff. She had come to appreciate how efficiently they carried out her commands, their professionalism, and skill a testament to the high standards of Starfleet.

Breaking the calm atmosphere of her private space was the emergency klaxon and the red lights she had grown to associate with danger. She moved briskly onto the bridge.

“Report!” she said urgently crossing the space from the door to her chair in a blur.

Laura moved quickly trying to scan what was transpiring. “Commander, we're detecting a large spike in gravimetric radiation,” she reported, her tone calm but urgent. “It's off the charts. Something big is happening.”

Nitus' eyes narrowed. “Source?”

“Unknown, ma'am,” Laura said, her fingers moving quickly across her console and dancing over the controls. “But it's escalating rapidly. Wait-," she paused, panic overcame her facial features. "I'm picking up an energy distortion. Some form of vortex is forming.”

Looking out of the viewport everyone on the bridge could see a swirling vortex of dark energy, its edges cracking with an eerie light goldish light. Nitus felt a chill run down her spine. She like most officers of Starfleet had read the stories from the Voyager.

“Shields up,” she commanded. “All hands to battle stations. Lieutenant, get me a detailed scan of that aperture.”

Before Laura could even respond, the ship lurched violently. Nitus grabbed the arm of her chair, eyes wide as the gravity of the situation reached her once again.

“A large field of debris is leaving the aperture,” Mason shouted from the operations console. “We've been hit-”

The ship was hit again this one caused everyone on the bridge to hit the ground. Everyone on the deck fell unconscious. Debri had hit the port nacelle, and then the impulse drive which sent the ship spinning.

With no input from the helm console the ship drifted towards the aperture, and with all the ship's power cut off the vessel moved helplessly into the aperture as it swallowed them whole. 

Slowly Nitus awoke and stood from the floor. The emergency klaxon blared in her ear as she took in the disaster around her. EPS modules across the bridge exploded and almost every console was damaged. She looked around the deck and saw T'Soni lying dormant on the floor. She made her way over to check on her Vulcan first officer.

Enzo slowly began to resume his station. As he grabbed his head feeling the blood dripping from his brow. “What happened?” he said in a whisper so only he heard it. He turned towards the science station as his eyes frantically searched for someone.

“Report,” Nitus said to him, her voice cutting through the chaos on the bridge as she helped T'Soni to her feet.

Enzo regained his composure as he remembered the task at hand and looked at his console."Multiple hull breaches on the decks four through seven and fourteen through sixteen. Internal force fields offline bulkheads are sealed and are holding," he said as he remembered what had happened before everything went black. “Life support has failed completely on those decks and main power is cut off ship-wide but emergency power is holding steady.”

Nitus looked around her now damaged bridge as Enzo read off the damage report, his voice slowly fading out as she became lost in thought about all the crewmembers she had just lost. She wondered how they had found themselves in this unspeakable situation, and how they would find themselves out of it.

 Zahir slowly sat on the floor, the emergency klaxon every present in her ears. A persistent ringing overpowering it. She slowly looked around the room.

“Commander,” Kevil said faintly. Zahir's ears were still ringing but started to subside as the Andorain engineer approached her. “Commander.”

“I'm here Kevil,” she said, her voice hoarse as she tried to signal to him to come to her. She slowly pushed herself off the floor. Then a massive headache started to set in as she moved towards where she heard a voice come from. As she started to move her knees went wobbly and she started to slip.

Kevil reached his hand out to support her as she collapsed in his arms.

“I need-” was all she could say before she went unconscious.

Just then a female Caitian medic came over and took her from his hand. He watched as the medic examined his superior. The realization slowly hit him… he was now in charge.

Slowly he backed up away from Zahir and towards the core as the medic went to work. As he turned around the majority of the engineering officers on deck were standing there staring at him. “Your orders, sir,” one of them said. He recognized the voice as Thomas Hulton, a shift engineer.

Kevil, still not sure of how he was going to proceed, thought of how he would go about it. What she might say. “All warp system engineers get to work in stabilizing the core, damage control teams know what to do, structural engineers make sure the ship isn't going to collapse in on itself and lastly impulse system engineers get to the impulse drive and access the damage report back hereafter. I know you are scared but let's remember what the Commander would say,” he said as they chuckled remembering how unserious Zahir could be to lighten and brighten even the most heaviest and precarious situation. “So let's get to work so we won't have to hear it,” he said as he finished dispatching his orders.

Kevil turned as he began to work on getting the system back online before he realized that everyone else was still staring at him. “Now,” Kevil shouted as they hurried off to execute their orders.

Kevil walked over to the warp core where a group of engineers were in an intense conversation with Thomas. “How's everything,” he asked as he slowly approached the group. He could see the serious expressions on everyone's face as Thomas dismissed them before he turned to face the Andorain officer. “We have a problem,” he started as he led Kevil to the central console or ‘pool table’. They made a quick stride to the console.

Thomas brought up a semantic of the ship overlayed where a system report on such showed the multiple systems that were offline including turbolifts and internal force fields were offline. As Kevil continued to scan the report he saw something that frightened him.

“Life support is failing… rapidly!” Thomas said to Kevil in a hushed tone. Kevil's heartbeat increased exponentially as he had not expected such a major system to fail.

“What happened?” he asked. He thought that all the systems were being supported by auxiliary power.

“Not sure right now but that doesn't matter,” he said as he looked around at the officers around them. He stepped closer to the Andorian and whispered into his ear. “It's estimated that we have 12 hours before it fails completely.”

As Thomas told him about their dire situation, Kevil could feel his heart stop. Talk about something unexpected. Engineering was already strained trying to repair main power, deflector shields, internal force fields, turbo lifts, internal communication, and engines but this would not only slow down their repairs but could end them completely. They had to work fast to find the problem and a solution before the Paramount and its crew turned to a mere paragraph in a history book.

Nitus walked towards Enzo who was occupying the operations console at the front of the bridge. “Anything,” she asked him. They had been unable to reach anyone on the other decks and with turbolifts also not working they couldn't go anywhere. Most systems were offline aside from short-range sensors which was a surprising fact.

“No, ma'am,” Enzo said as he signed in between speaking. This had been the fourth time she had asked him in the past five minutes. Although he understood her sense of worry the repetitive nature was becoming more and more agitating. T'Soni had taken over the science console due to Laura being hurt.

“Commander, I've figured out where we are,” T'Soni said from the science console as she drew everyone's attention. Nitus, Enzo, and the hurt Laura made their way over to the console. As they examined what had happened. “We are in an Underspace corridor,” she said to the shock of just about everyone aside from Enzo.

“What's that?” he asked as everyone looked at him with confusion.

Laura was one especially surprised. “You didn't read Admiral Janeway's report after the Voyager returned from the Delta quadrant?” she asked him. She thought everyone had but obviously not.

“No, I have no interest in stuff like that has nothing to do with my specialization,” he said as he shrugged it off. Laura stared at him. Trying to figure out if he was joking or not. Sadly he wasn't. Laura started to respond to his statement but Nitus interrupted her/

“As much as I would love to see where that is going we have work to do,” she started as she looked between the two of them before turning her attention back fully on T'Soni. “Number One, can we use this knowledge to help us in any way?" she asked her. T'Soni stayed silent for a while as she thought to herself pondering the question. “No, Commander. It only adds more to it,” she said as she looked at Nitus with a calm expression showing no facial reaction at all.

Nitus' face convened a neutral expression as she registered what she had said her brows furrowed slightly, and the corners of her mouth turned down ever so slightly. His head tilted to the side ever so slightly. “How so?” she asks her. She wasn't all that good at science and never really took to it like some do.

Laura stepped forward a little. “It's because if we are in an Underspace aperture that means that it is expanding to cover the entire galaxy instead of just the Delta Quadrant as previously thought," she said to them.

“Persisely.”

Enzo looked even more confused than he did before. “Okay for us non-science geeks I'm not following."

“It means that we might be the only ones stuck in a tunnel,” Nitus said as he pointed out of the viewport, “Like this one, it also means that we could be going anywhere in the galaxy. We could be heading directly for the heart of Borg territory or the far side of the Klingon Empire.” She said as she slowly walked closer to the viewport leaving the group at the science console.

An alarm went off there out the deck. T'Soni and Laura rushed to the science station as they moved meticulously trying to find out what had happened. Their moving lighting on the console as they tried to figure out what had happened.

“What happened?” Nitus said as she slowly approached them.

Laura shared a worried look with T'Soni as they both came to the same conclusion. “We have bad news and bad news,” Laura said as she looked at Nitus with a sympathetic expression.

Captain's Personal Log. This has been in the top five worst days of being in command. I was supposed to be at Olympia Stations by now having a drink with Alex and causing way to much chaos. But no I have to be stuck in an Underspace corridor. Oh and on top of that the main power is offline and life support is failing so you a know a tipyical day in Starfleet. To pile on to that internal communications is down and tubrolifts aren't working so we can't contact any of the other decks so we're stuck and on top of that. We have detected with surprisingly woking sensors that the corridor we are currently in is closing. Where you may ask? We have no idea. This day is positively absolutely fucked. But at least most of the crew is still alive.

Kevil walked towards the warp core as he approached one of the control consoles an ensign came up to him. “Sir, I've found something,” he said to the Andorian. Kevil glanced at him for but a moment as he continued with his work. “What is it Ensign Haythorn?” he enquired.

“I've detected that we have 12 hours before the Underspace corridor we are in closes and we are pulled back into normal space,” Haythorn said to his superior. As he looked around to make sure the others couldn't hear him. After Kevil registered what he said. He whipped his head around staring at the Ensign intensely. “How did you find this out?” he asked the young officer.

“Short-range sensors are still operatable,” Haythorn responded. Kevil looked back at the task he was previously doing as he finished working. He turned and led the ensign towards the pool table and looked at all the systems that still needed to be repaired.

“I need you to find Lieutenant Thomas Hilton and inform him the timetable has been moved up he has nine hours,” he said as Haythorn turned to leave before Kevil stopped him, “I'm not done,” he said sternly. “Gather a small team and fix the turbolift more importantly reach the bridge. We have to update the Commander or whoever is in charge of our current situation,” he said as he finished speaking. Haythorn stood there waiting for Kevil to dismiss him. "You're dismissed he said as he realized the engine was still there.

“H- he- hello,” a voice said as it echoed through engineering. Everyone froze at the sound of the voice. “This is Dr. Cada Blix, can anyone hear me?” the voice said as everyone slowly went back to work realizing it wasn't the commander they were hoping for.

“Doctor, this is Lieutenant Kevil ch'Kavor, deputy chief engineer,” he responded as he walked towards the duty officer's officer at the far side of the deck.

“Lieutenant, where is Lieutenant Commander Davidson,” Bilx said urgently.

“She is hurt and unconscious but luckily a young medical officer managed to stabilize her. But more importantly, how are you able to reach us? We have been trying to reach the bridge for the past two hours,” he asked her.

“I have no idea. I haven't been able to reach anyone on the other decks,” Blix said, “Do you have any news?"

Kevil thought to himself as he realized he only had bad news and worst news. “I have bad news and worst news,” he said dryly.

“Anastasia,” Cada called out as the doors of his office opened giving him a glimpse of the chaos that was sickbay. Since the debris hit the ship, sickbay has been overfilled with injured people from minor scratches to broken bones. They have had their hands filled with the amount of people coming in and out.

Cada moved through the crowded walkway briskly as he searched for the deputy chief medic. “Yes, Doctor,” a soft voice said from behind him. He turned to see who the response had come from and was treated by the tired expression of Anastasia Kast a skilled young woman who had impressed Cada since the day they met all those years ago. “Follow me,” he said to her in a hushed tone.

He led them back to his office as what he had to share was something they needed to discuss in private. “I've managed to get in contact with Engineering,” he said as they entered the office. The door swooshed closed behind them as they sat down on the small sofa in the corner of the room.

“What did they say?” Kast inquired as she led towards him eager to hear his response.

Cada sat there as he thought of where he should start the bad news or the worst news. “Lieutenant Commander Davison is unconscious luckily Zora Harper was there to stabilize her so she is okay," he said to Kast.

Anastasia listened intently and planned on recommending the young officer for a promotion after they returned home. Cada on the other hand was more worried about how she would take the rest of the news he had to share with her. As that was much much worse.

“Turbolifts aren't working ship-wide, we can't contact the bridge so we don't know who is in charge, engines are damaged, internal force fields are offline, also it turns out we are in Underspace and the corridor we are in is closing. Oh and on top of all that life support is failing with a little over eleven hours left before we all pass out and freeze,” he said in one breath. He only then realized the true peril they were in.

“Wow,” Kast said. She was shocked the ship was still holding together after all of that.

Anastasia had been in a similar situation before but was on a much more advanced ship than this one. “What can we do to help?” she asked him. She knew Cada long enough to know that he would always look for a way to help especially when it came to younger officers trying to find their place in the fleet.

The bridge had been largely silent after they found out that life support was failing. The only sound came from the thud of Nitus' shoes hitting the hard floor as she paced behind the forward stations. She'd practically paced a hole into the floor with her constant back and forth.

“Have you been able to reach anyone?” the Romulan commander asked the El-Aurian who occupied the communications station. The “young” officer turned to her Romulan commander as she nodded her head 'no'.

Nitus was beginning to become worried. They had been waiting for hours to reach someone anyone from the other decks. Then a large echoing boom came from the turbolift shaft. The sound had pulled everyone's attention as they all froze with fear hoping the sound was just a figment of their imagination.

Each of them looked at someone close to them trying to figure out if they weren't the only one to hear that sound. As they shared a worried expression they figured out they weren't making it up.

Arva and Enzo grabbed a phaser and slowly approached the door. As they did another large boom could be heard then another and another it soon formed a rhythm the tempo and volume increasing more and more as it approached them.

Then the sound came to an abrupt stop as the doors of the lift slowly opened. Arva and Enzo raised their phaser as they tried to figure out who it was that had managed to use the tubolift.

There stood a sweaty Thomas Hilton as he and his team looked at the security chief and chief helmsman as they noticed they were being held at phaser point."It's only us," Hilton said as he and his team placed their PADDs down and slowly exited the lift.

Arva and Enzo dropped their phaser back down to their sides as the engineering team exited the tubolift and on to the bridge.

They looked around as they tried to find their commander. As soon as Hilton spotted her took a few steps closer to her. “Commander, I need to speak with you urgently.”  

Deck one had become a hive for engineers. The injured crew members had either been healed on deck or taken to the already overflowing sickbay. T'Soni sat in the center chair as she oversaw the movement of the crew. Although turbolifts were working they were limited in the quantity at which they could transport a group of people comfortably.

Despite all of the noise being made on the bridge a private space on the port side of the deck specially reserved for the ship's commander. A private and highly irregular conversation was being had.

“Who is in charge then, Lieutenant,” Nitus said a little louder than she intended. She was in shock. The Human lieutenant had just told her one of her closest friends and most trusted confidants was in the ICU. It was news that would be hard for anyone to swallow.

“Deputy Chief Engineer Kevil ch'Kavor, ma'am,” he said calmly,

Upon the name of the Andorain officer, she began to relax. She had grown to appreciate the skills and expertise of the deputy chief. He had proven to her time and time again that he was a very capable officer and leader.

“Was there anything else?” she asked him. As soon as the words left her mouth she regretted it immediately.

Kevil sighed as he dropped his head. "We are detecting a large debris field fast approaching us. We will be within the outer field in six hours give or take," he said to her as they shared a worried look. A chime came from the door. Nitus quickly told them to enter as she looked to see who it was.

“Commander,” Kevil said as she entered the room.

“What is it, Lieutenant?” Nitus asked him.

“I have an update on all systems. Life support is nearly repaired, deflector shields need another hour same with internal force fields, and engines need another three,” he said handing her a PADD of all of the systems that still need repairs and are already repaired.

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” she said taking the PADD as she glanced at it before setting it down on the desk. Nitus stood up and walked over to the window looking at the orange hue of the Underspace corridor. “I want you both to have this ship eighty-five percent repaired in the next five hours. Use any resource you need to get it done," she said as she stared out of the window. She turned her head to them as she spoke, “Can you do that?” she asked them.

They looked at each other as they had a conversation with their eyes before they turned back and nodded at her. She smiled softly before she turned her attention back to what was happening outside of the ship. “Good, you're dismissed.”

5 Hours Later

Captain's Log Supplemental. The engineering department has made fantastic work in the past five hours. They have gone above and beyond what I asked of them. We are nearly ninety-seven percent repaired. This is a testament to the amazing crew of the USS Paramount. However two systems are not welling to complile. They have been fully repaired but for some reason internal force fields and deflector shields are not working properly. Lieutenants ch'Kavor and Hilton are on their way to express how they maybe able to bring those systems online fully.

“We need to reboot the ship,” ch'Kavor said smiling brightly. He had hoped to not sound like a madman as he told them his plan. The senior staff with the additions of ch'Kavor and Hilton sat in the conference room. A holographic image sat in the middle of the desk showing they had just over an hour to get deflector shields back online.

“You can't be serious,” D'Antonio said looking at him with disbelief. The flight control officer looked frantically at his colleagues at the other sitting at the table.

Nitus sat as she looked at and looked to T'Soni asking her with words if this was their only choice.

“Lieutenant ch'Kavor, proceed with caution we need to be fully online twenty minutes before we reach the debris field,” she said cutting in between the exchange between ch'Kavor and D'Antionio. “Yes, ma'am. We're ready and fully operational,” he said looking between the two most senior officers on the ship.

He and Hilton both nodded to the table as they left the room to begin work.

As soon as they left D'Antonio sighed loudly. “Commander you can not be serious,” he said to her in disbelief.

“I'm inclined to disagree,” Zolath said, “All evidence points to the computer core needing to be rebooted. I wholeheartedly agree.” The tactical and security chief said as he looked at the others. He was usually the more safe one of the senior staff. He always choosed the option with the least danger.

“This was never up for discussion,” Blix interrupted as he looked at Zolath and D'Antionio, “the decision has already been made. So whatever reservations you have… bury them,” he said as he looked at D'Antionio. Blix speaks rarely speaks during staff meetings but when he does he usually speaks from a place of wisdom. He is a strong voice for keeping the crew safe but knows when he needs to step out of what is comfortable.

“With that, you all are dismissed,” Nitus said as they all began to stand from the table. “Aside from you Mr. D'Antionio,” she said as the young officer sat back in his seat. T'Soni looked to Nitus asking her without words if she should leave. Nitus shook her head no.

ch'Kavor walked towards the pool table. “Lieutenant, we're almost ready,” Hilton called from the warp core as he walked towards the Andorain. “Good,” he said. ch'Kavor walked up to the pool table as he worked to prepare the ship for what was to come.

“Thomas, I want to go to the bridge and take over the engineering station,” he said as he continued to work at the pool table. “If you don't wa…” 

“I DO!” Hilton said fast as he stepped closer to ch'Kavor. The Andorain looked at him surprised by his actions. Hilton became nervous and stepped back realizing that he had said that a little too loud. “Okay,” ch'Kavor said as he walked over to one of the consoles along the wall. “You can go,” he said dismissing him.

As Hilton left the doors out of engineering ch'Kavor tapped his combadge. A chime greeted him after, “ch'Kavor to bridge," he said. ch'Kavor rarely becomes nervous. He was more nervous than he had ever been before. 

“What is it, Lieutenant?” Nitus asked her voice echoing through the deck.

“We're all ready down here. On your order, ma'am,” he responded. In that moment he realized the true gravitas of what they were about to embark on. If his plan failed he would be the reason everyone on the ship died. If it worked he would be the reason they all made it through.

 “Execute,” she said to him. He pressed the button on the console in an instant all the lights shut off.

‘One, two, three,’ he counted in his head as he pressed the button again, and… nothing happened.

“What the fu…” he said to himself. He tried to press it again and… nothing. “Can someone check the axial control capacitor,” he said to them as he moved around the pool table trying to get the system working.

As he began to work on how to get the systems working, the ship shook. Then he remembered there would be a small amount of debris just before the main debris field which told him he had five minutes to get deflectors and internal force fields online or everyone on the ship would be dead.

“What is going on Mr. Hilton,” Nitus said as she stood from the center chair. The half-Romulan commander looked at the Human officer at the engineering station as he tapped frantically at the console trying to find a solution to their problem.

“I'm not sure, ma'am. Systems should have been online by now,” he responded as he continued to work fast to find the solution to his problem. Hilton could feel the pressure with everyone on the bridge staring at him waiting for an update. 

“Umm, Commander,” D'Antonio said from the helm's station as he looked out of the main viewport.

Outside of the ship just beyond the bow was a sprawling field of debris. A chaotic graveyard of shattered hulls and twisted metal. Without deflector shields, every piece of debris posed a lethal threat to the already crippled starship.

“How far are we from interception?” Nitus asked aloud.

Jackson sat at the science station she tried to scan the debris field but soon remembered she couldn't. She stood up and tried to gauge it with her eye. “About three minutes, ma'am,” Zolath said as he looked out of the viewport than at Nitus.

“Lieutenant Hilton you have that time to get systems… all systems back online.” Nitus said as she walked over to her ready room.

Main engineering was a scene of barely controlled chaos. The smell of burning circuitry and the sharp tang of ozone filled the air. Sparks flew from an overloaded conduit, and consoles flickered erratically. The warp core pulsed with a sickly glow and the steady hum was replaced by an alarming series of warning chimes. Dim emergency lighting cast eeire shadows over the chaotic scene. An acrid scent of overheated circuits filled the room and the deckplates vibrated with the starin on the ship's systems.

ch'Kavor worked as fast as he could to get systems back online. He was overwhelmed with all of the noise and the chaos. As he worked he thought of all of the death he had caused. Systems weren't coming back online and life was being lost every second that passed.

The console he was woking at suddenly overloaded and exploded. The force blowing him back several feet causing him land on his face.

“Lieutenant have you done to my ship,” a women said through the haze. She slowly approached ch'Kavor and looked at him laying on the ground. The woman reached down to help him to his feet. As he stood to his feat he realized who it was that had helped him. “Commander!” he said exited as he pulled her in for a tight hug.

As he hugged her he realized how unprofessional he was being and pulled back taking a step away from her. “I've missed you too, Kevil,” Davidson said to him. The chief engineer place her hand on his shoulder as she smiled at him. “Shall we get the ship back together then?” she asked him.

ch'Kavor nodded at her.

They stepped over to the pool table and got to work. Their fingers moved so fast it was like a thunderstorm as they tapped on the console. To others it looked chaotic like they weren't doing anything but tapping at console with no purpose, but to them they were making art.

As they tapped at the console they quickly figured out what the issue was and rectafied it. “I've got it,” Davidson said. The lights brighter as the hum from the warp core came back and stelled in. ch'Kavor and Davidson looked at each other.

“Good job, Kevil,” she said as she turned to leaving engerring entering the hallway once again. “Where are you going?" ch'Kavor asked as he raced after her down the hall.

“To my quarters,” she said looking at him a little surprised that he asked the question. “This isn't exactly a duty uniform is it,” she said looking down at the medical gown she was waring. It was in that moment that ch'Kavor realized that he had hugged her while she was waring this barely covering gown.

“Right,” he said to her, “I'll see you once yo…" he was intrupped bu the klaxon blaring in the corridor. “I'll be back soon,” Davidson said as she ran to the nearest turbolift.

As ch'Kavor entered main engineering a voice came form the intercome, “All hands brace for impact.”

Nitus made a brisk walk to the command area. “Report,” said her voice carrying the authoritan sound the crew had grown accustomed to.

“We are approaching the end of the corridor, ma'am,” Jackson said from the science station.

“How long do we have?” Nitus asked she knew it wouldn't be a lot by looking out of the viewport, but she needed to ask. “Commander we have one minute," Jackson responded.

With an instant Nitus tapped her combadge, “All hands brace for impact.”

The Paramount vibrated as it neared the exit of the Underspace corridor. The lights dimmed briefly as power was rerouted to the deflector shield, a necessary precaution for the upcoming turbulence. A shimmering tunnel of light enveloped the ship, its edges rippling with energy.

As the Paramount approached the corridor's end. The tunnel's walls began to distort and fray like the fabric of space itself was being unstitched.

“Corridor exit in three… two… one…”

With a final lurch, the Paramount burst free from the Underspace corridor, te surrounding space snapping back to normal with a muted thud. Stars reappeared in the viewpoer, twinkling serenely as the ship's systems stabilized.

“Underspace corridor exit successful,” reported D'Antonio. “We are now back in normal space.”

The whole deck erupted in a loud thunderous clapping. Nitus exhaled slowly relived at the fact. “All stations, report status,” she said looking out of the viewport. ‘I wonder what’s next,' she thought to herself.