"Captain's Log, Stardate 63428.3. The Janus is completing her final pre-launch diagnostics as we prepare to leave Starbase 1. This voyage will serve as the shakedown cruise for our newly installed experimental quantum slipstream drive, transplanted from the U.S.S. Aventine.
"Our mission parameters are to proceed to Deep Space 9 for a brief layover before returning to Earth to present our findings to Starfleet Command. The potential of this technology is staggering; to think we can cross hundreds of lightyears in a matter of hours is a monumental leap.
"On a personal note... it's moments like these that truly resonate. As a Bajoran, my childhood and my youth was defined by the struggles of the Occupation. To now command a vessel capable of speeds that luminaries like Archer and Kirk could scarcely imagine... it is a profound honor to be on the frontier of this new age of discovery."
Captain Jaro Elani put her PADD down, and walked closer to the observation window. Beyond the transparent aluminum floated the famous arboreal pods of Starbase 1, living relics from Earth's long-ago World War. She knew their story. They were forest sanctuaries, launched into the void when their world was tearing itself apart.
A Bajoran knew what it meant to build a future from the ashes of a painful past.
Her gaze drifted past the green domes to the planet hanging behind them. Jupiter. Immense and silent. The Bajoran system had several gas giants as well, and the sight was enough to pull a specific memory loose. Her father's hands guiding hers on the focus of a homemade telescope. A warmth spread through her chest at the image, then vanished just as quickly. That was from before. Before the Cardassian bombardments came and burned away that telescope, and the man who built it.
The comm chimed, breaking the silence. "Bridge to the Captain Jaro. We're ready to depart on your command."
"On my way." The voice pulled Jaro back to the present as she turned for the door.
***
"Captain on the bridge!"
The announcement cut through the low hum of the control room, snapping every officer to attention. Jaro's Betazoid first officer, Commander Sorina Kael, rose from the command chair with a respectful nod. Captain Jaro took her seat with practiced ease as Kael settled into the first officer's station beside her.
"Status report," Jaro commanded, her voice filling the quiet.
The reports came in rapid succession.
"Comms systems are online and running," reported Lieutenant Freddy Bristow.
"Helm and navigation are responsive, Captain," said Lieutenant Golwat. The Bolian girl and Bristow shared a brief, knowing glance—both were veterans of Voyager, but Golwat had had the rare distinction of learning the pilot's craft directly from Tom Paris himself.
"Weapons are green, shields at full," added Lieutenant Commander Pacifica Fortis, a woman who carried the legacy of her late sister, the celebrated Captain Bellatora Fortis of the U.S.S. Charon.
"All scanners are fully operational, sir," piped up Ensign Luyi "Luigi" Chen, his voice a touch too loud, betraying the nerves of his first-ever bridge assignment on a ship of this scale.
"Alright," Jaro said with a faint smile. "Just the heart of the mission left. Bridge to Engineering, are we ready to fly?"
The face of the ship's Chief Engineer Lieutenant Commander Thuular, a characteristically pessimistic Andorian, flickered onto the main viewscreen. "I… think so, Captain."
Jaro's smile tightened. "You think so, Mr. Thuular?"
"The Janus can handle slipstream," Thuular clarified, "but I can't guarantee for how long. The system is still experimental."
"A little is all I need. Thank you, Mr. Thuular. Jaro out." The screen went blank. She turned to her pilot. "Lieutenant Golwat, take us out. One-quarter impulse."
"Aye, Captain."
The starship turned gracefully, pulling away from Starbase 1 and the immense sphere of Jupiter.
"Lay in a course for Deep Space 9."
"Course laid in, Captain. On your mark."
Jaro pointed toward the starfield on the screen. "Let's hit slipstream speed."
The U.S.S. Janus's main deflector flared, projecting a brilliant particle field that tore open a shimmering, non-Euclidean tunnel in the fabric of space. In a flash, the ship plunged into the slipstream.
"Slipstream created and stable!" Golwat reported, her relief evident. "The main computer is automatically adjusting phase variances. It's working, sir!"
"Good," Jaro replied. "Keep a close eye on it. We don't want a repeat of what happened to Voyager in that alternate timeline."
"Thank God Harry Kim sorted that out," Bristow added, glancing back from his console. "I heard he got transferred to the Enterprise, that lucky bastard! "
"Did he finally get a promotion?" Chen asked, his curiosity overriding his nerves.
"He can't dodge a promotion forever!" Golwat smirked.
"I believe he did," Bristow said, fighting back a grin. "Saw him on a comms channel last week. He's a Lieutenant j.g. now. It's a start."
Captain Jaro said nothing, simply observing the easy camaraderie of her new crew. A genuine smile touched her lips.
***
Fifty minutes into the slipstream tunnel, the Janus began to protest. The deck plating vibrated with a hazardous frequency, and the viewscreen shimmered with angry, unstable energy.
"Captain, the stream is degrading! I can't hold her steady!" Lieutenant Golwat's voice was sharp with urgency, her hands a blur across the holographic interface as she fought the controls. "I recommend we abort—now! We're only a few light-years from Bajoran space; we can make the rest on conventional warp!"
The bridge bucked again, hard enough to throw Ensign Chen against his console. Though the inertial dampeners were straining at maximum, it felt as though the ship was being torn in two. Captain Jaro's jaw was tight; this was a gamble, and the odds were turning.
"The probability of catastrophic structural failure is increasing by seven percent every ten seconds," Lieutenant Sepek, the ship's Vulcan science officer, interjected. His voice was a calm, dispassionate anchor in the chaos. "Lieutenant Golwat's assessment is logically sound."
There was no time to second-guess. "Alright, Golwat," Jaro ordered, her voice cutting through the alarms. "Shut it down."
"Aye, Captain. Dropping from slipstream."
The violent shuddering ceased, replaced by a single, bone-jarring lurch as the Janus crashed back into the familiar black of normal space. A tense silence descended, broken only by the chirping of consoles reporting the aftermath.
"Status?" Jaro asked into the sudden quiet.
The silence was punctuated only by the soft, synthesized chimes of the consoles as the crew gestured for reports.
"No casualties," Lieutenant Commander Fortis reported, her calm unwavering. "All decks reporting in fine. The warp core is stable. We have some minor damage to EPS conduits, but Engineering can handle it."
"What's our ETA to the station now?" Commander Kael asked, her Betazoid senses likely picking up the residual anxiety on the bridge.
Golwat tapped the air above her console. "At warp eight... roughly two days, Commander."
A two-day journey instead of a one-hour sprint. A significant setback.
Captain Jaro stood, her movements smooth and deliberate, betraying none of the frustration she must have felt. "Engage warp eight, Lieutenant. I'll be in my ready room." She paused, her gaze sweeping over the bridge. "Sorina, you have the conn."
She gave a slight nod to her first officer and walked to the door on the right side of the bridge. The door slid shut behind her, leaving the crew settling back into the quiet, familiar routine of a ship at warp. The test was over. Now came the long journey, and the even longer reports that would follow.