The Cardassian ship was laying buoys and calibrating them to manipulate the tetryon flows of Underspace and collapse the apertures. That’s what Hina had told Saffiya, and while the Captain had no idea where the other woman had that information from, it didn’t even cross her mind to question it. It made a lot of things – if not all – fall into place. The way the Cardassians had tried to keep the two most valuable members of the Cupertino’s engineering team on board, and how they had been oh so very difficult to work with over the past few hours. 

Why did the Cardassians want to collapse the apertures? Saffiya had no idea, but she had very little interest in getting stuck here, and condemning every other ship within under space to remaining there indefinitely. The piece of hull from the USS Mariner had been a painful reminder of just how dangerous it was here. 

Which was why she intended on taking the Cardassians along as they got out of here. The suggestion her science team had previously made had been risky then, but seemed their best option right now. 

“Transfer to shield configuration to Gul Dan,” Saffiya instructed, her voice calm and steady. “Let me know when we can get moving. How are we looking on the chain reaction to disrupt the buoys?”

“Ready.”

Saffiya returned to her centre chair, and took a deep breath. There was a brief pause in which Gul Dan initiated the suggested shield configuration 

“All hands, prepare for immediate departure,” Nassar announced over the ship’s comms. “Secure all stations and brace for potential turbulence.”

She allowed the crew a few moments to secure themselves, thinking in particular of sickbay. Then she looked at Leski. “Let’s get going. Warp 2.” 

“Aye, sir.”, nodded the Ensign.

“Captain, at that speed, the Cardassians will need to move all available resources into keeping up with us. They will just about be able to maintain their shields.”, said Vargas. Saffiya nodded. “That’s the hope.” 

As promised, the Cardassians followed their course. 

“It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”, said Leski, and he didn’t break his promise. 

The Cupertino surged forward, and shuddered as it sliced through the unstable tetryon flows, the turbulent energy waves buffeting the hull.

Saffiya kept her eyes on the viewscreen, where the Cardassian ship followed closely. Its shields shimmered under the strain of the high-speed travel. 

“Status report,” Saffiya called out, her voice distorted the vibrations rattling through the ship.

Lieutenant Silveira responded, “Shields holding at 75%, but we’re experiencing heavy fluctuations. Structural integrity is stable for now, but we’ve got to monitor it closely.”

“The debris field is more spread out than anticipated. Adjusting course slightly to avoid the densest pockets.”

Saffiya nodded “Good. Keep us on track. Vargas, any updates on the Cardassians?”

Vargas glanced at her console. “They’re managing to keep up, but just barely. Their shields are fluctuating more than ours. If we increase speed, they might not be able to maintain their configuration.”

“Understood.”

The ship lurched suddenly, throwing the crew against their consoles, and Saffiya almost out of her chair. Sparks flew from an overloaded console, and the lights flickered momentarily before stabilizing. 

“Damage report!” Saffiya ordered.

“Minor structural damage to decks 7 and 8,” Sydin replied “No critical systems affected, but the sickbay is reporting increased stress on the injured.”

“Have engineering reinforce those areas immediately. And inform sickbay to prepare for more turbulence.”

The ship rocked again, harder this time, as it all but dodged a minor piece of the SS Belladonna’s remains.

“Leski, any way to smooth this out?” Saffiya asked, gripping the armrests of her chair.

“I’m trying, Captain. But the currents are unpredictable. Every adjustment we make seems to be countered by another surge.”

“Understood. Just keep us on course.” 

Minutes felt like hours as the ship continued to endure the journey, but eventually the intense shaking lessened, and the viewscreen showed the edge of the aperture. A shimmering portal back to normal space.

“Set the timer on the chain reaction.”, Saffiya said eventually. 

“Timer set. The chain reaction will commence in thirty seconds.”

“Good. Let’s get out of here.”, she nodded. 

“Approaching the aperture, Captain,” Leski announced. There was relief evident in his voice, the same relief they all felt. 

The console showed the Cardassian buoys beginning to fail as the recalibration took effect. They couldn’t stay to see if their work took the desired effect, but Saffiya trusted her crew.

The Cupertino shot forward, shuddering as the destabilized tetryon flows caused shockwaves, but they were already accelerating away from the it.

“Captain, the Cardassian network is collapsing!” Sydin reported, a note of triumph in her voice. 

And suddenly, for a brief moment, everything went black. 

Instead of the previous swirl of colour, the aperture felt like a metaphorical black hole that swallowed them. Then stars snapping back into their familiar pinpoints of light as they emerged from Underspace. 

“Status?” 

“Shields at 60%, but holding. No critical damage,” Sydin reported. “The Cardassians are with us, though their shields are at 40%. They’re signaling their thanks.”

Saffiya allowed herself a small smile. “Well done, everyone.”