Further sparks and eruptions flew across the Odyssey’s bridge the moment after Jen announced the warp core had been ejected. The more he tried to stay on top of the situation, the more the Trill operations manager’s voice showed the stress they were all enduring. 

“The core has gone sir,” Jen announced before continuing, “but I am detecting a massive powerful surge circulating throughout the ship.”

“What’s happening?” McCallister asked from his chair as he looked around at various bolts of unknown energy flying around the ceiling, deck plating and the bulkheads. The ship seemed to have somehow sustained a massive bolt of power against it, it was almost like static electricity coming to life as various bursts of energy were crawling over everything. 

Jen looked at his controls, “It looks like a subspace rift opened right underneath us and we’ve been hit by what sensors are reading as a chronokinetic surge. Our warp core attracted it like a magnet.”

“Great, more damage to the ship. Not what the yard engineers at Starbase Bravo want to see so soon after our refit.” McCallister sarcastically remarked. 

“Indeed sir.” Jen paused as he looked at his readings again. “Sensors are detecting that the ship is in a state of temporal flux.” Jen reported. “Temporal sensors are having a bad time trying to determine what is happening.”

More eruptions and more shuddering hit the bridge as different parts of it began to glow white and then blue. Waves of temporal energy were making their way through the ship, it looked as if the ship was melting in some parts while other parts looked like a puddle with ripples rushing across it.

“High levels of tachyons and chronitons are racing across the ship, sir.” Jen reported. “I’m not sure we can prevent what’s going to happen. Structural integrity is now starting to fail.”

“Abandon ship.” McCallister ordered all of a sudden. In the back of his mind he hoped that by giving that order if they escaped they may just survive, it was a slim chance but one he knew he had to try. He couldn’t wait any longer and risk losing everyone. He tapped the intercom and opened a shipwide channel. “All hands, this is the captain. Proceed to the escape pods and abandon ship. I repeat all hands abandon ship.” He looked down at his armchair console to his left and pulled up a quick scan of the nearby area. They weren’t that far from Starbase Bravo. “Program your pods on a heading out of the Paulson Nebula and towards Starbase Four. All shuttlecrafts, runabouts and other auxiliary crafts are to be used to escape as well.”

 The computer then began to repeat the captain’s orders to abandon ship as the evacuation klaxon started to ring as well. Everyone started to move away from their stations on the bridge. McCallister stood up and took one more glance around his bridge. He couldn’t believe this was it. This was how the Odyssey’s journey would end. During every other dangerous mission it had entailed, from dealing with the Romulan refugee crisis, the Archanis Campaign right up to their deep space exploration mission in the Delta Quadrant. The Odyssey would be laid to rest as it went out in a blaze of fire in the Paulson Nebula. No noble sacrifice, just lost due to bad weather. 

About to call down to his sons, hoping they were on one of the escape pods or possibly on his yacht, McCallister was stopped when Jen (who was also getting up from his station) paused and saw something that caught his attention on the sensors. “What is it Lukiz?”

“The chronokinetic surge is growing in power, sir.” Jen answered. Looking up at his commanding officer, “we’re too late sir!”

Not knowing what Jen meant by that, McCallister didn’t have a chance to look at the sensors for himself as the whole ship was enveloped in a huge bright white light.

This is it.

McCallister couldn’t say anything as he saw the disappointed and sad expression across Jen’s face and all he could think of was in that moment was how angry he was with himself for letting his sons die in this situation and the fact he and Karyn had never had a chance to resolve their differences. 

Odyssey turned into a huge beacon of bright light.

Within seconds the light was gone.