Captain Nassar was on the way to the holodeck, not sure what she was expecting. Then again, she had certainly learned to adjust her expectations, and with the new approach Lieutenant Seta had suggested her, she felt like she was embarking on a highly experimental endeavour. She greeted the crewmen that crossed her path, noting how some of them reacted with a smile, and others did not. Usually, the latter would bother her, but right now, she decided that everyone was entitled to their opinion, and that not everyone felt like smiling in a stressful situation such as the one they found themselves in.

She left the turbolift and crossed the corridor on her way to the holodeck when a voice from behind her called for her attention. “Captain, can I talk to you for a moment?”, the voice asked. Saffy turned around, and to her surprise she found herself looking at… the journalist. She had almost forgotten that the young woman was on board, and her immediate reaction was the urge to dismiss her. Then again, that probably wouldn’t win her any more friends, and she couldn’t afford any more enemies. “Miss… I’m sorry, I forgot your name.”, she said, trying to sound nice. “Claybrook. But you can call me Vivienne, I don’t mind.”, beamed the other woman. Okay then. Vivienne it was.

“You said we could come forward if we had an idea about where we are…”, Vivienne said, a little shyly. Saffy resisted the urge to raise a very Vulcan eyebrow, and instead gave a nod. “I did. And yes, that includes you.” 
The younger woman seemed relieved and encouraged to hear this, and gave a nod of her own. “Oh. Good. I have an idea, but I don’t know if it’s correct.” 
“It doesn’t have to be.”, shrugged Saffyia. “Come, walk with me and tell me about it.”

They made their way towards the holodeck and the Captain waited patiently for Vivienne to speak. “I know I am not a Starfleet Officer… “, Vivienne started, and Saffyia opted to simply let her gather her thoughts. “But I always wanted to be. My whole family is Starfleet and I grew up with sooo many stories. And then, when I prepared for the Starfleet Academy entry exam, I researched them more.”
Saffy smiled. She, too, had a very similar upbringing. And she could imagine not only the pressure it could put on someone when their parents were Starfleet, but also the impact it had on growing up. It had been how she had become an Engineer in the first place.

“Anything similar to what we are experiencing?”, asked the Captain, allowing Vivienne to elaborate. Surely there was a point to the intro she had given. “Yes. There are no records of this, so it might just be a story, but I once heard that the USS Voyager was encountering something that sounds a little like what we have encountered now. It was some kind of … subspace tunnels that enabled them to travel greater distances. Like a… shortcut, of a sort?” 
Saffiya frowned. She had heard of something like it, but her memory of it was vague at best. “What else do you remember?”

“Well there was some species, but I don’t remember the name of them. They … govern it, I think? I am not sure.”  Saffiya considered this. It was an odd suggestion, but then again, odd was basically the theme of the Cupertino. So she might as well go with it. “I see.”, she said, stopped, and turned to Vivienne. “What are you currently tasked with?”

“I… uh… well Doctor Trova set me up in her office to talk to people. She said I am good at that.”, Vivienne said, a little anxious for the older woman’s approval of that approach. “Right. So if you are good at talking, and at remembering things and research, I would like you to connect with Lieutenant Pereira and Ensign Velix. See what you can find in our database, and if other ships have encountered anything like it.” She paused, momentarily basking in pride as she out Seta’s suggestions into action. “Does that sound okay to you?”

Vivienne seemed over the moon. Her dark eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly. “Yes! I’ll go do that, and I will still go and talk to people who need it. Thank you, Captain!”

There was a ‘woosh’ when Vivienne turned around and sprinted back down the hallway. Saffiya sighed and shook her head, but couldn’t help but smile. Okay. Maybe having a journalist on board wasn’t so bad. As long as there wasn’t some tabloid article about her later…