Into the Wormhole

Posted on Thu Jun 10th, 2021 @ 3:33am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Lieutenant Commander Sandra "Phantom" Risa & Commander Dean House & Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Lieutenant Chester "Duo" Maxwell & Lieutenant Commander Thriss Kla'ren & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali & Lieutenant JG Avarak

Mission: Gamma Quadrant
Location: Bridge

Captain Kaylen Rhenora sat in the unfamiliar center chair of the Sunfire's bridge, still getting used to the different feel of this ship. Before them, the Bajoran Wormhole would appear at any moment and allow them passage through to the Gamma Quadrant. A flicker of excitement and a touch of anxiety warred within her belly. Traveling through the home of the Prophets was always a unique and spiritual experience, however, she hoped there wouldn't be another...issue... during their travel this time.

"All right, let's do this. Ahead 1/3 impulse. Sandy take us into the wormhole. Stay sharp people"

"Sensors at full." Dean gave a glance to make sure. Having to had to adjust a little bit to this new ship's configuration. Not that it didn't make it more fun. "Though I don't particularly think it will matter if they snag us."

" Lt Avarak, could you please keep an eye on the scientific sensors, let me know if anything grabs your attention" the Captain addressed the Sunfire's new science officer.

"Aye, Captain." As Avarak minded his console, he was about as nervous as a Vulcan could be. After arriving on the Sunfire, he hadn't had enough time to do so much as unpack his bags before he was required on the bridge. While ostensibly all LCARS consoles are the same, he had hoped to familiarize himself with systems to a greater degree before his first shift on the bridge. That being said, while contrary to his upbringing, he had learned at the Academy that one of the best ways to learn is by jumping right into the thick of it.

She had already checked out the main computer core and was now beginning her checks on the engineering core. Bonnie perused the code, starting with the familiar and moving down into the unfamiliar. Her first impression was that it had a smooth efficiency, but as she dug deeper she realized it had not received several of the latest patches and upgrades that would allow it to function without fault. Many of the bugs present were minor. Some, not so much.

The question burning her brain was whether or not they were problematic enough to warrant a call to a superior. Then she reminded herself, 'when in doubt, point it out.' She reached to tap her badge, knowing her commanding officer was on the bridge, she hesitated. "Commander Kla'ren, I might have some minor issues to report in the Engineering Computer Core structure." As she waited for his response her eye caught a subcommand structure marked Transwarp 2.0.

Kla'ren tapped his badge. "What kind of issues?" he questioned.

"Maybe it's nothing, maybe it's something, but the engineering core has not been patched since she left spacedock over six months ago. While the primary core has. This tells me the two systems aren't speaking the same language." She was hesitant to point out the Transwarp 2.0 until she knew more about it.

"Interesting. Is it possible to do a temporary patch until we get back?" the Chief Engineer suggested.

'Temporary patch', this wasn't a duct tape situation, she thought to herself. "Yea, yeah, I can do something like that." she eeped internally. "Lt. Durnell out." She said closing the channel knowing this could get interesting.

"Understood, Ok everyone hold on to your garters cause here we go..." she said as she took the Sunfire to the wormhole.

A few seconds before wormhole entry Aurora stepped out of the turbolift, she was still on maternity leave and recovering from surgery but she wasn’t going to miss the first trip through the wormhole aboard their new ship. She made her way across to a seat offering Savar and Rhenora a smile, she didn’t plan to stay long as she’d left Sidak in the temporary care of the Sickbay staff as they knew him best, with a promise she wouldn’t be too long.

Duo stepped out of the Turbolift behind Aurora and proceeded to the Mission Ops 1 section on the port side of the bridge. He entered his command codes and pulled up the ships internal security grid/sensors on one display and mirrored the Tactical sensors on the other. If the Jem'Hadar were waiting on the other side of the Wormhole for them, seconds could make the difference between life and death in a boarding action.

The deck began to vibrate as the Sunfire entered the wormhole, the viewscreen filled with blue and white ribbons that marked their passage through the Celestial Temple. Rhenora took a moment to truly appreciate the experience, though she had travelled through it numerous times she still felt it brought her closer to the Prophets of her people.

"How's she handling Sandy?" The Captain asked, wanting another perspective. The Liberty would have slid through effortlessly, but this was not the Liberty, the Sunfire was older, war-torn and retrofitted.

"Like a lumbering water buffalo. Heavy on the controls and sluggish to respond to helm control. I recommend we either abort or reduce speed", Sandra said as she fought for control of the ship.


" Lt Avarak, ETA to the wormhole exit?" Kaylen enquired as the vibration through the deck plates increased. " Engineering, report"

"Lieutenant Durnell reported that the engineering computer core hasn't been updated in over 6 months, while the main core has. She suggested that they aren't speaking the same language so to speak. I recommended a temporary fix, since we'd be well away from any ports, however I can see if I can make a more permanent fix. That being said, I am unsure if this is related to the vibrations in the deck plates. On a normal level, we seem fine." Thriss answered.

“Five minutes until wormhole exit, Captain.” Reported Avarak.

"Captain, the vibrations are causing a weakening of the deck's structural integrity," Savar informed Rhenora.

" Reroute emergency power to structural integrity" Rhenora ordered, gripping onto the arms of her chair as the deck continued to vibrate in an increasing fashion.

Savar struggled to comply as the vibrations grew stronger. "Power has been rerouted, Captain."

The deck stilled slightly, then threw in a few good bucks as though a horse wanting to unseat its rider. Anyone not holding on was thrown to the deck, including the Captain who landed shoulder first before managing to tuck into a roll.

"Report!"

"Captain!" Savar yelled and was out of his chair in an instant and by Rhenora's side helping her to her feet and back to the center seat.

Sandra was nearly unseated but held fast still trying to keep the Sunfire on an even keel. It wasn't easy with an unresponsive helm.

Avarak was flung to nearly the other side of the bridge, his head narrowly avoiding the nearby bulkhead by a hair’s breadth. He pulled his way back to his station to assess what was happening. “Captain, the concentration of verteron particles is larger than normal and is approaching levels that will soon interfere with our warp drive.”

Thriss pulled himself back to the engineering station and tapped his badge. “Lt. Durnell, how fast can you make a more permanent fix?” Thriss asked. He was starting to realize that the problems were because of the engineering core not being up to date.

She had attempted to lock her legs around her chair for stability only to have both herself and her chair tossed aside like a ragdoll. As she pulled herself back to her terminal, Bonnie responded, "My algorithm patch is almost ready. It will at least simulate a patch and allow the two systems to talk the same language."

She knew he needed a more concrete response and so added, "Three minutes, give or take hitting any more verteron nodes." Then she offered, "This ship has a secondary hull, right?"

"As far as I know, the Akira class does not. However, we have an indentation to the hull, with the main deflector. Why do you ask?" Thriss inquired.

"Standby one moment." She double-checked her sources. "Sorry, I meant she has an Ablative Duranium-Tritanium Double Hull capable of being polarized." She admitted that under stressful situations she sometimes got the words wrong.

"Its alright Lieutenant. Also, polarizing the hull could stabilize the ship."

" Will we make it through before the verteron particles reach those levels?" The Captain shouted over the din of everyone scrambling back to their stations, damage reports and status reports all coming in at the same time.

“Negative, Captain.” Replied Avarak. “The density of verteron particles is increasing. Recommend coming up to one-half impulse.”

" Do it" Rhenora ordered, not making the mistake of letting go of her command chair lest she go flying again. The shoulder where she had hit the deck was sore, but manageable.

Sandra brought the ship to one half impulse power immediately, but it did little to help. Cursing toherself she continued to fight for control.

"What if we negatively polarize the secondary hull. That should negate up to 65% of the positively charged verteron particles." Bonnie offered to her Commanding officer on the other end of the comm channel.

"Make it happen Thriss" the Captain replied as the shaking of the decks subsided ever so slightly. Perhaps they would make it through in one piece. Just maybe. She closed her eyes for an instant and whispered a quick prayer to the Prophets to protect and guide them.

"Aye Captain, negatively polarizing the secondary hull now" Kla'ren responded, hoping that this would work.

Aurora had held onto her chair for dear life, last thing she needed was to be thrown from her seat and injure her already healing body. Her thoughts went to Sidak, hoping he was alright as she kept hold of her seat.

"ETA to the Gamma Quadrant?" Rhenora's voice reverted to its calmer tone as the ship evened out, the vibrations subsiding to a more subtle level. " Damage report"

Savar's answer was instantaneous. "Minor damage on decks 2, 5,7, and 11. Also, minor injuries reported as well."

Through the blue and white streams of the wormhole, a clear dark patch of space horizon appeared in the center of the screen. They were nearing the end of the tunnel.

“Forty-seven seconds until wormhole exit, Captain.” Reported Lt Avarak.

Just as quickly as it had flared into existance, the wormhole closed behind them, leaving the ship's Captain wondering what the heck had just happened. "Dispatch damage control teams, Engineering, I'll like a preliminary report within the hour" The Captain rolled her shoulders, feeling the aches that were making themselves known.

"Aye Captain. Permission to leave the bridge?" Thriss asked.

"Granted" Rhenora nodded as the Engineer headed off the bridge.

As the Sunfire exited the wormhole, the ship had finally returned to normal and Avarak exhaled deeply. He realized that he had been holding his breath.

"Not how I expected the trip into the Gamma Quad to go. We nearly shook ourselves apart. Helm is beginning to respond but slowly Captain" Sandra said, checking her systems again.

" Take us to within a safe distance of the wormhole then all stop whilst we investigate what happened and make repairs" The Captain ordered. The crew went on with their business of patching the ship back up, soon they would be on their way again.