Authors Note: This story is set one year after Voyager's return from the Delta Quadrant. All Federation starships are now equipped with the new weapons and defensive systems but with two differences. The ablative armour activation plates are no longer visible on the hull and the armour itself has been modified to allow shields to function at the same time.
Events in the Stargate universe take place from just at the end of the fifth season episode Between Two Fires.
Chapter OneCaptains log Stardate 57381.2.
We have been dispatched to a remote part of the Alpha Quadrant to investigate reports of starships disappearing and reappearing in an area where long range scans have shown unusual subspace variations. This is the first time that the Resolution will enter an area of non-normal space. I look forward to seeing how ships systems perform.
Captain Darien Parker sat behind his ready room desk and finished his log entry as he did at the beginning and end of every duty shift. The chair he was sitting in squeaked slightly as he adjusted his position trying to get a bit more comfortable. Like everything else onboard the chair was brand new and he hadn't really had enough time to break it in. At thirty-one he was young to be a starship captain – particularly a captain of a top-of-the-line Sovereign-class starship like the Resolution – but he had earned his command through service in the fiery crucible of the Dominion war in which he'd been first officer on the Challenger.
Captain Sorrel – who was a Vulcan – had recommended him for promotion after the war and that recommendation had been acted upon a year ago when he'd been promoted to captain on the very same day that the starship Voyager returned triumphantly to the Alpha Quadrant and offered the Resolution which had been nearing completion at the time. He'd had to wait a few months longer than he'd anticipated for his command to be ready – the power, propulsion, sensor and especially the weapons and defence systems had been completely redesigned to include all of the enhancements and new technologies that Voyager had brought back with her – but he hadn't minded at all.
Finally three months ago the Resolution had finally been ready to slip her moorings and leave space dock for the first time. He and his crew had spent that time running every conceivable test they could on the Resolution to get accustomed to her individual quirks for no matter what the ship designers and builders said no two starships were ever the same. Now their trial period was over however and they'd been given their first real mission and everyone on board – save Lieutenant Commander T'Lar the Vulcan chief engineer – was looking forward to it.
"Bridge to captain," came a cool familiar voice over the comm system. Darien tapped his combadge.
"Yes commander?"
"We're approaching the zone where the most reports have come in from."
"Very well. Drop out of warp. I'll be right out." Darien stood up from behind the desk, stretching slightly to loosen up cramped muscles then he started walking towards the door, feeling the ship drop out of warp as he did so.
Stepping out onto the bridge he walked over to the command chair and sat down.
"Report," he ordered calmly. The area they'd come to investigate was shown on the screen as a mixture of patches of normal space and swirling light.
"We are holding position just outside the area where the most sightings have occurred," Commander Urlet responded from the first officer's station.
"Fire up the astrometric sensors. Let's see what's going on out here."
"Aye sir," the science officer responded eagerly from the science console. With cool efficiency the young male Trill activated the astrometric sensors – another gift from the Voyager – and ran a thorough scan of the area. "First results are coming in now sir. Curious."
"What is?" Darien asked rotating the command chair so he could look over at the Trill.
"Sensors show that the structure of subspace in the zone is riddled with quantum fissures of some kind. It's almost as if something has been punching holes in the structure of subspace. I'm reading huge amounts of tachyon and tetryon radiation and moderate gravimetric tides. Our shields are easily strong enough to stand up to the radiation should we chose to enter the region."
"Let's not be to hasty," Darien responded. "Launch one of our multispatial probes first."
"Aye sir," the tactical officer replied and a multispatial probe launched from one of the forward torpedo tubes.
For a few moments there was silence.
"Probe telemetry coming in," Lieutenant Rakan reported from the science station. "Humm the gravitational fluctuations are slightly stronger than our initial scan revealed. Still no threat to the ship. Tetryon readings are higher but not sufficient to pose a threat. We're also picking up low-level amounts of gamma radiation. It's safe for us to go in their captain but not for too long."
"How long?"
"I estimate about five hours before the radiation starts to stress our shields. Twelve hours if we deploy the ablative armour."
"Mr Beech raise shields."
"Aye, sir." The deflector shields snapped into existence around the Resolution. Automatically the ship went to yellow alert status. Ablative armour generators powered up but didn't automatically deploy as they would in the case of a red alert.
"Ensign Mills take us into the zone. One quarter impulse."
"Aye sir."
The Resolution moved cautiously into the zone. Immediately she shuddered slightly as she encountered the gravitational distortions but the computer automatically adjusted the inertial dampeners to compensate. Her shields glowed softly as glowing bands of radiation caressed her shields and were effortlessly dissipated away.
"Status," Darien demanded as the deck shivered slightly under his feet.
"Shields are holding," Lieutenant Commander Christopher Beech reported from the tactical/security station. That's a relief, Darien thought as he looked at the view screen. The space they were now moving through was spectacular with all its rainbow coloured ribbons of radiation and gas and the rippling effect of the gravitational distortions.
Abruptly the sensors bleeped.
"Sir sensors show that the gravimetric and subspace distortions directly ahead are getting stronger," Rakan reported.
"Source?"
"A new quantum fissure is forming directly ahead."
"Helm back us up a bit."
"Aye sir." The impulse engines went into reverse and the ship started to retreat back from the forming fissure. In front of the ship space seemed to bend and flex more strongly than the surrounding space. Suddenly it literally tore open revealing a large glowing hole in the fabric of space-time. A wave of subspace distortion shot out smashing against the Resolution's shields – violently jolting the ship.
"Damage report," Urlet ordered.
"Shields holding. Minor damage only."
"Sir," Ensign Mills called out. "Something is wrong with the impulse engines were losing power. The fissures gravimetric field is starting to pull us back towards it." Darien tapped his combadge.
"Bridge to engineering what's going on with the impulse drive?"
"The subspace distortion wave has depolarised the drive coil assembly captain. We are in the process of repairing it now. The warp coils are having the same problem," Lieutenant Commander T'Lar responded with typical Vulcan calm. Abruptly the Resolution shuddered more violently.
"Report," Darien demanded clutching at the armrests of the command chair to avoid being pitched to the deck.
"The fissures gravimetric field is increasing exponentially," Rakan called. "Shields are also starting to be bombarded by high energy verteron and neutrino particles. Shields are starting to weaken."
"Red alert." Klaxons wailed throughout the ship. The main lights dimmed and red alert panels began to flash. A thudding sound ran through the ship as the ablative armour automatically deployed. Phaser banks charged up while in the torpedo bays a part of their large compliment of photon, quantum and transphasic torpedoes were automatically moved into the tube firing racks ready to be armed and fired at a seconds notice. Resolution shuddered even more violently as another gravimetric wave whacked into her forward shields. Her forward momentum increased along with the gravimetric field as the fissure attracted her towards it like a magnet attracts iron.
"Bridge to engineering T'Lar we need those impulse drives," Darien said into the comm.
"We are trying our best captain," T'Lar reported calmly. "The impulse coils are not responding to automatic systems. I have a team heading for the control junction now."
"Keep at it bridge out. Ensign Mills how long until we impact the fissure?"
"At our current speed twenty seven seconds." The ship rocked again. "Make that five seconds." Darien keyed a control for ship wide communication on his chair arm.
"All hands brace for collision." A new klaxon wailed through the ship.
"Three seconds… two… one," Ensign Mills called but her last words were lost in a tremendous roar and a sharp told hard to port that knocked everyone flying.
The Resolution's forward hull impacted the fissure. Energy raced along the ship, stripping away the shields and damaging the ablative armour. Space around the ship warped and distorted seeming to shift from three dimensional to two dimensional to one, then the Resolution disappeared into what appeared as a slit in the universe.