The Cupertino lurched violently as it was pulled into the aperture, and Saffyia tried her best to hold onto her seat, ditching any Captain-like demeanour she had painfully cultivated over the past few days. The once smooth hum of the engines replaced by an ear-shattering roar as the ship’s shields were subjected to the erratic energy surges of the anomaly that displayed in a chaotic vortex of color on the view screen.

Lights flickered, then failed altogether, and for a moment the bridge was plunged into almost complete darkness until emergency lighting sputtered to life, illuminating the bodies of the officers thrown across the bridge, and the faces of those who had managed to hold into whatever they could grasp.

“Re-…”, Saffiya started, but didn’t even get the complete word out.  A sudden deafening explosion erupted from one of the consoles near her, and in the dim light she could barely see Lieutenant Keller being thrown backwards, and landing in a heap besides Ensign Velix, the foul smell of singed flesh mingling with withering smoke emanating from the console.

“Medical team to the bridge!”, someone shouted, their voice barely audible over the chaos.

The ship was still spinning uncontrollably, and gravity fluctuations sent unsecured items and crew crashing to the floor and against the bulkheads.

“Structural integrity is failing!”, reported a disembodied voice Saffiya couldn’t quite place “We need to stabilize the ship!”

Streaks of indigo flames snaked from the ruined console that had injured Keller, and Saffiya pulled herself out of her chair to extinguish them when another pulse of energy rippled through the ship. The engines sputtered, and for a heart-stopping moment, there was a terrifying silence.

“We need to regain control!” Saffiya shouted, her mind racing. “Divert all power to stabilizers!”

The viewscreen flickered again, displaying flashes of strangely distorted images as the ship hurtled through the aperture, but no one paid attention to it as the crew began  to implement emergency protocols. Slowly, the chaotic tumbling lessened, and gravity stabilised.

“It’s working!” Hina reported, the relief evident in her voice mirroring what Saffiya felt.

With a final, bone-jarring lurch, the Cupertino was released from its predicament. The ship’s systems began to stabilize, emergency lights flickered back to full strength, and the viewscreen cleared, revealing a dark, foreboding expanse dotted with strange, swirling mists.

“We made it through,” Saffiya exhaled. Then she noticed the display in front of her. “Where are we?”

No one answered. No one even paid attention to her question as they were too busy helping their fellow officers, and trying to mitigate the damage on the bridge and to the ship.

“Damage report.”, Saffiya barked, a little louder than intended, but at least that caused her to receive a response this time around. There was damage to several, if not all, parts of the ship. The shields had been overloaded by the last energy pulse and failed. There were Reports of casualties and fatalities alike. In other words, the question of their current location was the least of their issues.

“Hina, support Engineering. We need to get the shields back online.”, said Saffiya, barely noting her friend nodding and heading towards the turbolift, it’s doors opening as Doctor Trova hurried inside and quickly made her way towards Velix and Keller.  
“Have you ever even heard about red alert?!’, the doctor hissed at Saffiya, who had indeed failed to alert the rest of the ship of the incoming danger. Or that they had encountered any sort of abnormality. And really there was no point in denying her failure. Then again there was no point in admitting it either since the doctor had directed her full attention to Keller and her injuries. What was there even to say? Sorry I suck at this?

For a moment, Saffyia simply watched the doctor worked. The midsection of Keller’s uniform was burned away, and past the edges of the seared fabric, the skin was charred black. 

No, she didn’t have the time to feel guilty. She had to focus on what she could do. Not what she could have done.

“Where are we?”, she asked again, and this time someone actually responded. Just not with anything helpful.

“I can’t get a fix on our location.”

“Scan the area, find out as much as you can. Velix, I want you to support here, Doctor Trova and her team can deal with Keller.”

Velix gave an affirmative nod, and moved to the science station, though the young Trill was trembling and had clearly sustained more than a few bruises herself.

“We’ll get through this. Right?”, she asked quietly, and despite their situation, Saffiya acknowledged and appreciated the moment of vulnerability. It was what they were all wondering, wasn’t it?

“Yes. Yes, we will.”