It had been several days since Vausees and Debrah had been forced to retreat from their much-deserved vacation. The mood was upbeat but inside of both women was a boiling turmoil of checked rage. 

“Commander, what’s the current update on completing the rift closing device?” she asked Cody as she looked up from the PADD that she had in her hands.

Cody swiveled the armrest console and checked on the status of the device. “Charles has the device completed in three hours,” Cody stated as he returned the console to its original position.

Vausees nodded, her eyes narrowed as she peered out the viewscreen at the passing stars as if she was trying to see into the deep inky darkness of space as if she was trying to see the storm they were speeding to.

*Just outside of Barisa Prime*

The Heracles slowed out of its warp bubble and exited to impulse. The entire viewscreen was engulfed by the image of a mass of energy flowing towards the Barisa Prime system that was a few light years behind the Heracles.

A quiet chime occurred from the console in the armrest when she entered a command to raise the polarization of the viewscreen.

“Captain, the device is built and test simulated,” Cody stated as he placed the last of his tools away.

“Perfect timing, Chief,” Vausees replied from her seat as she stared at the beast before them.

Suddenly a rift tore open on the lead edge of the storm. This caused the Heracles to bring up its ‘Red Alert’ as a single Klingon ship appeared. Then seemed to shimmer into another ship that appeared to be of Romulan design; for a moment, before it too shimmered from view. 

Vausees looked at Debrah behind her, shaking her head that she had not been able to identify those two ships. “Sorry, Captain. All I can say is that they were both there and then gone. I can tell you that one of the two was Klingon, and I think the other was Romulan, but I do not recognize the design,” she stated. “I will, however, research it in the archives.”

Before Debrah could take a step from her station, the rift disappeared and reappeared directly in front of the Heracles. Vausees eyes widened as she saw this, “Evasive action!” she yelled out.

Trever tried to guide the ship away from the entrance of the rift but it was of no use. A sudden bone-rattling shake coursed through the ship as the nose of the Heracles penetrated the rift.

Vausees and the entire crew were sent sprawling onto the deck as the ship passed through the rift. The impact caused several crewmen to lose consciousness from being lifted off of the ground and then tossed back down; Vausees was one such person. She landed on the deck behind the operations console that stood behind her.

The bridge was a cascade of sparks that showered from consoles that had exploded from the crossing over into the rift. Now the bridge lay in flashing red hues from the klaxons and was shrouded in darkness.

As the ship entered the rift time seemed to speed up and slow down all at the same time. Sections of the ship seemed to warp and distort as other sections were left alone. These events happened all over the ship; not one section of the ship was unscathed as they rode inside the rift.

On the other side of the rift, a battle ensued as both Romulans and Klingons battle for supremacy and the right to rule that sector of space.