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By Root 472 0

in actuality, with the difficult tasks yet to come. First the ship had to accelerate successfully to its uppermost obtainable velocity. Then endurance tests would begin as the crew determined how long the ship could sustain that measure of speed. If those experiments were successful, then the celebrations would begin in earnest, and merely wary adversaries would now have reason to fear the Tholian Assembly.

Nostrene’s reverie was broken by the first in what quickly became a series of alarms coming from the observation stations at the front of the command deck.

“Commander,” Dlyax said, “we are experiencing a power fall-off.”

Moving toward the forward stations, Nostrene replied, “What is causing it?”

The scientist was keying commands into his console and studying the rapidly shifting patterns of light on his suite of monitors. “I cannot ascertain the cause. All systems are functioning normally, but there is an unexplained power drain in the drive system.”

For a moment, Nostrene was worried that the ship might be rendered inert in space. “How serious is this drain?”

“It is not severe, Commander, but it is enough to disrupt our subspace field.”

Given the choice between slowing to sublight speeds on his own or being ripped from subspace by a malfunctioning propulsion system, Nostrene preferred the first option. “Decelerate to light minus eight.” Turning back to Dlyax, he said, “Initiate a diagnostic check of the drive systems.”

Another voice called out from behind him, “Commander, our sensors are registering some unusual readings.”

Now what? Was the entire ship falling apart?

“What is it?” he asked as he made his way to the sensor officer’s station.

The subordinate manning the station did not look up at his commander’s approach. “I have detected a disruption in space at bearing four point nine relative to our current position. It wasn’t there during my initial scans a few moments ago, Commander.”

The report was far too vague for Nostrene’s tastes. “Be more specific.”

“I cannot, Commander. The sensors are behaving quite erratically. They report it as an object, yet I cannot verify the readings.”

If an object had been detected so close to the ship, Nostrene knew that automated defensive systems would have alerted the crew to possible danger. That none of that had happened deepened his concern. Was an enemy who could render themselves invisible to sensors attacking them? Was a Romulan ship out there, attempting a covert strike?

“Is there a flaw in the sensor equipment?” Nostrene asked.

“Not that I have been able to find, Commander,” the sensor officer replied. “It is as if this region of space is physically deteriorating.”

“A localized phenomenon?” There were no intelligence reports of anything unusual encountered in this area. It was a lightly traveled region, one of the reasons it was selected as the site of the experiment in the first place.

“Put that area on the main screen,” he ordered.

All eyes turned as the image on the forward screen changed. At first Nostrene saw no discernible difference from the field of stars that had been there previously. It appeared tranquil, almost the very image he carried in his mind even when he was planetbound to tide him over until he could return to space once again.

“There,” the helmsman said, pointing at the screen. “Upper left quadrant.”

Nostrene saw it too. Amid the blanket of stars beckoning to them, a dark area had appeared. It was small but opaque, and therefore contrasting sharply against the starfield.

“Magnify that area,” Nostrene said, stepping closer to the screen. The image shifted again and now the dark area dominated the center of the screen. It was irregular in shape, its edges fluctuating with no noticeable pattern. Everyone on the command deck watched as the patch of darkness expanded, then contracted to almost disappear entirely before repeating the process all over again.

“It looks like a hole in space,” the helmsman said.

Nostrene agreed. In all the years he had traveled space he had never seen anything like what was displayed on the screen.

“I