Executive Officer’s log, supplemental. Galaxy continues to preform within expectations, minus that small hiccup in the Gre’vok system. Every bathroom door on the ship locked for 4 hours after an engineering officer managed to short out an entire bank of isolinear chips with his morning tea and all the backups failed. We have entered the last 48 hours of our shakedown, which consists of a sustained high warp trials. We’re currently heading for Certis IV at warp 8.3 with our cargo holds loaded to the brim with supplies. We will be closer to the Gorn border than I’m completely comfortable with but Starfleet Intelligence has assured us that everything has been quiet for some time. With ship operations fairly mundane, Captain Myers has opted to remain off duty until we arrive at Certis IV tomorrow morning.

Geden looked over the PADD, skimming through the sixth status report in the last hour. At this point, all the shakedown reports were blending as they all said the same thing: every system was performing within tolerances followed by a list of every tiny little issue that the engineering team had worked through since the last report. 

He handed the pad to the yellow shouldered officer in front of him. “Thank you Petty Officer.” The women nodded and walked away, Geden turned his attention to the display built into the arm of the chair. “How long until we arrive at our destination, Ensign?”

“Our ETA is 0950 tomorrow.” Came the flat reply from Ensign Kellen Ereth at the helm.

Ereth had arrived at the very last moment before Galaxy departed Starbase 72 three weeks ago and since then the man barely spoke unless he was spoken to and even then it was to the point and with little emotion in his voice. He hadn’t given any indication that he was unfit for duty but Geden still worried; the hell of Frontier Day had affected the Ensign the most out of the crew that came over from the Amundsen. He tapped out a short message to Lieutenant Carter to set up a meeting; she had been seeing to the crew’s psychological needs since she came on board. Geden had yet to have a meaningful conversation with her, she preferred to avoid the Bridge unless needed, but he understood she was excellent at her profession. 

He turned his attention back to the view screen, the long, wide, streaks of blue flying past the view screen as the ship hurtled towards its destination. The slight vibration that spread across the bridge went unnoticed at first, almost indistinguishable from the normal ‘hum’ of warp flight but after a few moments Geden could feel it in the soles of shoes, worming its way up his legs as it began to increase ever so lightly in intensity. 

He turned to his left where Commander Alex Conklin sat at the science station. “Do you feel that, Commander?”

Alex looked up. “Hmm? Feel what?”

A more pronounced shudder ran through the ship, impossible to miss.

“I felt that.” Alex tapped at the console, diverting the subspace sensors from general navigation to more intense scans. Another shudder, rougher than the last, ran through the ship.

Brex turned to face Geden. “SIF is holding, no hull damage. Warp systems are showing green as well but Commander Broheth messaged that he is running a quick diagnostic to be safe.”

Geden nodded at the Betazoid. “Thank you, Lieutenant.” He turned back to Conklin. “Anything on sensors, Commander?”

Alex’s eyes darted back and forth, taking in the data. “At this speed sensor resolution is impacted, the warp bubble is strong enough to distort the readings, but I think it’s just a bit of subspace turbulence.”

The bridge shook again, enough to cause the assembled officers to grip the consoles to keep themselves steady. 

Geden knew that things could get bumpy at warp but it’d be a long time since starships encountered turbulence regularly. “Been a while since I’ve run into subspace turbulence.” He tapped a button, a distinctive whistle echoing across the bridge. “All hands, this is the bridge. We’ve run into some turbulence. Secure stations and minimize movement through the ship until it resolves. Bridge out.”

Almost on cue, the ship shuddered again, just as intense as before, but it wasn’t stopping this time.

“I’m reading increased turbulence ahead, something has made this area subspace rather cranky at the moment.”

Geden cocked an eyebrow. “That’s one way to put it. Ensign Erith, reduce speed to Warp 6 for now. Let’s take it easy for now.”

Erith nodded, slowly reducing the speed of the ship. The shaking subsided as the ship reduced speed.

“Lieutenant Brex, please inform Commander Broheth that we’ll have to pause the high speed warp trials until we’ve cleared this area. Let Starfleet Command know about the turbulence as well; they can send out updated navigation guidance to ships in the area.”

“Aye, sir.”

Geden turned back to Conklin. “If you would be kind enough to let me know when we’re out of this cranky patch of space, I’d appreciate it.”

Alex gave the Trill a quick smile. “I think I can manage that.”

“Sir” Began T’Keu. “I’m receiving a distress call. Civilian ship. It appears to be automated but there is significant interference that I am not able to resolve.”

Geden stood, walking around to the command chairs to join T’Keu at the tactical arch. The waveform was significantly degraded but it was a distress call. “That is a heavy amount of interference. Seems our patch of cranky subspace is causing more problems.”

T’Keu looked at him, expressionless, but the tone of her voice conveyed everything it needed to. “That is an overly descriptive assessment of the situation but it is factually correct.”

Geden gave the Vulcan a small smile. “Can you pinpoint a location?”

A few moments later the console showed pinpoint coordinates. “Yes, however, I still can not clear up the distress signal and I am not able to get a clear sensor scan of the area.”

Geden walked away from the console, taking the center chair once again. “Hopefully once we get closer it’ll clear up. Send the coordinates to the helm. Ensign Erith, adjust heading and slowly increase our speed. If it gets bumpy, pull the speed back a bit.”

“Adjusting course. ETA 16 to 29 minutes, depending on speed.” Again, to the point. Flat. Emotionless. 

“Commander, I suggest we go to yellow alert. We are close enough to Gorn space that caution is warranted.”

“I would agree Ms. T’Keu. Yellow alert, prepare to bring shields up when we exit warp.”

The soft trill of the yellow alert klaxon echoed across the bridge as the ring of alert lights that bordered the view screen shifted to a pulsing yellow.

“Should I alert the Captain?” Inquired T’Keu.

Geden shook his head. “No. No reason to interrupt her for a simple distress call.”

T’Keu didn’t reply but he could feel the look of disapproval on her face from the station behind him.

The bridge officers sat in silence for several minutes, partially excited that something other than shakedown testing was finally happening. The silence was interrupted as the ship began to shudder violently this time.

“Report!” Barked Geden.

“I’m reading massive amounts of subspace disruptions in the areas, large waves of energy. Unknown origin but I don’t think this is basic turbulence.”

“Red Alert.” The bridge darkened as the alert lights bathed this bridge in red and the walls reverberated from the sounds of the klaxon. “What’s our speed, Ensign?”

“Warp 6.5, sir.”

Conklin gripped the side of his console to steady himself. “I don’t think speed is a factor here. The sensors are going crazy; I’ve got tachyons all over the place, and intense gravimetric distortions. We could be at impulse speed and it’d still be a rough ride.”

“SIF is holding, no structural damage has been reported so far. ” Brex didn’t bother to turn away from his console, eyes focused on the lines of text that were flying across his console. “Engineering reports the warp bubble is unstable but they’re working to compensate.”

The port from turbolift doors opened, and Captain Clara Myers stood inside, gripping a handle in the lift to hold steady. “Someone care to fill me in?”

Geden stood, unsteady, and took the XO’s seat, allowing Myers to very carefully make her way to the captain’s seat. “We received an automated distress call and altered course but ran into what we thought was turbulence but Commander Conklin is now unable to determine what’s going on.”

Brex turned to face the officers. “Engineering reports they’ve stabilized the warp bubble but advise that if we drop out of warp they aren’t sure if they establish another warp bubble with the interference. All systems holding beyond that and no damage to the ship, just a rough ride.”

“That answered my next question.” Clara tapped through the sensor readings on the small screen in her chair arm. She’d seen nothing like it before. “How long until we reach the distress call coordinates?”

“Six minutes.”

“Increase speed, let’s get out of this as soon as possible.”

“Aye, ma’am.” Erith ran his finger clockwise on the LCARS panel in front of him, slowly building the speed up to warp 7.5. With the increased warp factor they would arrive in a matter of seconds. “Dropping out of warp in five, four, three, two, one.” Erith ran his finger in the opposite direction, dropping the ship to sublight speed.

The ship rocked to port as it exited warp speed, the viewscreen going fuzzy as the visual sensors lost their feed for a moment.

“We’ve arrived at the coordinates.“

Myers glanced over at Conklin. “I need a visual, Commander.”

“Stand by. That was a rough exit, sensors need just a few moments.” He paused, sliding his finger across the console. “There, visual feeds are back up.”

The static on the screen cleared up, showing a bleak picture. A large vessel, roughly the size of an Intrepid or Sagan class ship, slowly circled the civilian freighter that had issued the distress call. Clara didn’t recognize the vessel shape, but that didn’t mean much in this region of space. Pirates and other unsavory elements, not to mention the Gorn, were not uncommon visitors to this sector though it had been some time since Starfleet had detected much activity out here.

“The vessel configuration is not in Federation databanks.” Chimed in T’Keu. “The civilian freighter is the S.S. Ro’kash, its homeport is registered as Starbase 241. I’m getting life signs on both ships, though there is a damping field preventing me from ascertaining the species.” 

“The Ro’kash has taken damage to its engines, both warp and impulse. I’m seeing if the energy and weapons signatures of the other ship match anything” Conklin waited as the word ‘working’ pulsed on his screen. It didn’t take long before ‘working’ was replaced with an answer, the color draining from his face. He glanced over at the waveform pattern to the left of the words now pulsing on his screen. There was no doubt the computer was right; it matched historical databases exactly. “The other ship is Gorn. Not just any Gorn ship either; there are massive amounts of energy flowing through that ship. The energy signature matches Gorn breeding ships that Starfleet has encountered in the past.”

Clara and Geden exchanged a look, her blood running cold. “Battlestations. Bring phasers online, load all torpedo bays, and bring shields to maximum.” The alert klaxon blared again as the ship went to a more aggressive posture. 

Clara didn’t have much experience with the Gorn, nobody did. The Hegemony and Federation didn’t have strong diplomatic relations and while a decent number of Gorn had made Federation worlds their homes they never spoke of their people. They assimilated into Federation life just fine, which begged the question, what was life like in the Hegemony? Different clans? Governments? Related, but different, species like the Vulcan and Romulans? No one had the answer. 

Encounters with Gorn ships were usually tense, but rarely hostile unless provoked. Breeding ships, however? Another story entirely. Her understanding was that the Federation didn’t necessarily view breeding ships as an official part of the Hegemony fleet under military orders; they acted on their own and most likely clung to older, more traditionalist, views on how the Gorn reproduced. It didn’t take much scientific deduction to assume Gorn could reproduce without an outside host, breeding ship raids outside of Gorn space were extremely rare after all, but the more cynical side of her recognized that the Hegemony likely knew of these raids and, at a bare minimum, turned a blind eye. Once in a rare while official military ships would be escorting them but they got few answers from the Hegemony when that happened. Perhaps it kept the peace between factions or there was a deep religious meaning to it? It made no difference in the here and now. She’d try diplomacy but under no circumstances would she allow the crew of the freighter to be abducted.

“Hail them.”

Brex tapped out a few commands on the console and gave the Captain a nod.

“This is Captain Clara Myers of the Federation starship Galaxy. You have entered Federation territory and taken hostile action against an independent ship. This is an unacceptable action; return any stolen goods or abducted lifeforms immediately and return to Gorn space.”

Her statement was met with silence

Geden turned to her, speaking in a hushed voice. “How far do we want to take this? We aren’t looking to start a war.”

“I agree. Typically these breeding ships hunt in packs; if this one is truly on its own then we should be able to disrupt its shields with a pulse from the deflector array and beam out anyone they’ve taken. It’ll be their choice if they fight back or if they go back to their own space. If they haven’t abducted anyone, hopefully, the threat of a Galaxy class ship will be enough ”

“I’d agree Captain.” Geden lowered his voice even further. “We have to consider that anyone we beam out of there is already been infected with Gorn eggs. If they were to hatch on the ship we’d be in serious trouble.”

Clara nodded. It was a good point, though she hoped they arrived fast enough to prevent that. “We’ll have Dr. V’Rel place them in stasis immediately and we’ll get them to the closest Starbase.”

Geden nodded, turning back to Conklin. “Any chance you can break through that damping field? We need to see who is who in there.”

“Working.” Replied Conklin. “I think I can disable it with a burst from the deflector array.”

“Still no reply from the Gorn ship.” Brex tapped a few buttons on the console. “Channel is still open.”

“Cut it” ordered Myers. “T’Keu, any signs they’ve taken a more aggressive posture?”

“Their shields and weapons are online but they are not targeting us. I am detecting lots of inbound and outbound comm traffic that originate and terminate in Gorn space.”

“Calling for help?” Inquired Myers. Before she got her answer she felt the deck vibrate under her feet once again. To her left she heard the main science console let out a series of trills and alarms.

“An anomaly is forming, 3,000 kilometers aft of the Gorn ship.” Alex’s eyes widened as he took in the sensor readings. Gravimetric waves were being released faster and faster as the tachyon levels began to fly off the chart. “It’s big, whatever it is.”

“On screen.” Myers watched as the viewscreen shifted to show what looked like a normal, dark, patch of space. Within moments a large aperture burst into view, a swirling mass of golden energy. The Galaxy rocked as intense waves of gravimetric waves slammed into her.

“Unknown subspace aperture has opened.” Erith gripped the side of his console as the ship continued to rock. “It’s trying to pull us in but I’ve got the ship at station keeping. I don’t think I can break way at impulse though.”

“Keep us away from it as best you can Ensign.” Geden looked over at Conklin. “Is this a transwarp aperture?” It was a valid question; the Borg had just launched an invasion of the Federation earlier in the year. 

Alex shook his head. “No. It carries none of the typical signatures of a Borg transwarp tunnel. This is an entrance, not an exit. I think. Maybe both. There is an intense gravity field coming off of it.” His eyes glanced over the console. “I’ve never seen gravimetric readings like this before.”

“Status of the Gorn vessel?” Myers glanced back at T’Keu. The last thing needed was the Gorn taking advantage of the situation.

“It appears that they cannot withstand the gravitational forces of the anomaly. Their impulse engines are engaged but they are still moving towards it.” T’Keu’s console let out a series of sharp beeps, joining the chorus of noise that was going on across the bridge. “Correction, they are flying straight into the anomaly. The Ro’Kash‘s warp core is going critical; it has taken too much damage to survive the effects of the anomaly. It will go critical in 97 seconds.” The bridge crew watched as the Gorn ship disappeared into the anomaly, disappearing from sensors.

“Captain, I suggest we get out of here before that core breaches. I can’t even begin to predict how the anomaly will be affected by the release of that much energy but it will be pretty damn bad.” The expression on Alex’s face and the frantic tone of his voice told Clara eventing she needed to know.

Clara opened a channel to engineering from her armrest. “Commander Broheth, can we break away under impulse or go to wrap? We have to leave. Now.”

Over the comm line, she could hear the shouting of various engineers and dozens of alarms going off in the background. “Negative on either Captain. Even bringing the stardrive impulse engine online wouldn’t give you enough force to get away; we’re barely holding at station keeping right now. Forget about warp too; there is no way for us to form a stable warp bubble and even if we could form one the SIF could not handle the transition to superluminal velocity. Local subspace is torn up.”

“62 seconds until core breach.”

“Alex, what happens if that core breaches? Could it possibly seal the aperture?” That much energy could seal a subspace rift, in theory. It was a stretch but possible.

“Not likely, not this one.” With a tap of a button, he put the readings on the anomaly on the main screen. “You can see that it almost looks like a wormhole but it’s sucking up any energy it can get its hands on to keep itself open. It’s in a state of severe flux. Feed it more energy and it’ll just get bigger and we won’t stand a chance of avoiding it.”

“54 seconds to core breach.”

Clara glanced at Demar. “We go in.”

The Trill’s eyes widened. “Is that wise?” He, like Myers, had spent a large part of his career in the sciences. He knew it was possible this was some sort of new wormhole or subspace tunnel, the sensor readings leaned that way, but that last time he was on a ship that took a jaunt through an unknown analogy it ended in nothing but death and destruction. 

“45 seconds to core breach.”

“I don’t think we have much choice.” Myers countered. “We can’t stop the core breach and we’re close enough to it that we’d sustain damage, not including what happens when the anomaly expands.”

Geden nodded his assent to the plan. He didn’t like it but nothing else was coming to mind; nothing that could be done in 45 seconds anyway. 

Myers looked over to Conklin. “Is the aperture large enough to fit the Galaxy through?”

Conklin’s eyes widened even more than they already were, which was quite the feat. “Yes, but I don’t recommend it. There is….” he paused, waving his hands in the air for emphasis. “Some sort of tunnel or space behind it but I don’t know what it would be.”

“32 seconds to core breach.”

“Commander Broheth, can the SIF handle entering the anomaly?”

The Bolian, who had stayed on the comm line, sighed. “Yes. It’s stressed but mostly because we are fighting the anomaly’s efforts to pull us in. I’d recommend putting the shields in hull conformal mode; less chance we hit debris or whatever is waiting for us on the other side.”

“25 seconds to core breach.”

“Works for me.” Clara adjusted herself in the chair, hoping to keep a good grip as they flew into the unknown. “All hands, secure stations, and brace for transit. Ensign Erith, fly her in, full impulse.”

In the dark of space, the Galaxy turned towards the brown and gold hole in space, arcing over the stricken cargo vessel with more grace than one would expect from a massive vessel, before slipping into the aperture of the anomaly. Moments after the aft portion of the Galaxy slipped away, a bright ball of light enveloped the Ro’Kash as its warp core went critical, waves of energy interacting with the anomaly, causing it to expand and destabilize rapidly. Within seconds the light of the uncontrolled matter/antimatter reaction gave way to inky black, with no trace of the Ro’Kash or anomaly remaining.