Captain Scott Bowman stood in front of the bridge’s main viewscreen, hands clasped neatly behind his back, staring at it. For the moment, all he could see was the vast emptiness of space, dotted with tiny pinpoints of light. Behind him was the low murmur of officers preparing for action, relaying status reports back and forth in hushed voices. The air of the bridge felt electric, not from threat of danger, but possibility. Scott tapped the combadge on his chest.

“Garion, how are we looking?”

As ready as we can be, Captain. Came Garion’s voice over the comm. Nav core harmonics are aligned, and the deflector modulation is set to resonate on the pulse. Give the word Sir, and we’ll light this match.

“Let’s not burn our fingers Mr. Beckett.” Scott replied.

I’ve rerouted power to reinforce the structural integrity field at the forward hull. Garion said. We’ll be threading a needle through folded space, so I thought it best to keep the ship in one piece.

“We all appreciate it, Lieutenant.” Scott said dryly. “Is there anything else we should know before we kick the tires and light the fires?”

This isn’t like warp, Captain. Garion’s voice was serious. Once we enter the tunnel, the ship’s momentum is irrelevant. Navigation will rely entirely on the Vaadwaur device. If it goes out of sync, we will lose our path, and if that happens… his voice trailed off.

“Understood, Lieutenant. Let’s hope it knows the way.” Scott turned and walked back to his chair, straightened his uniform and took a seat. “Mr. Bennett, please proceed to the designated coordinates. Engage the deflector shield on Lieutenant Beckett’s signal.”

“Aye aye, Captain.” Ezra responded, working the console in front of him to move the ship into position.

Deflector pulse firing in three…two…one…firing.

A resonant tone rolled through the ship like a wave. Not sound, exactly, but a harmonic tremor that ran up through Scott’s seat and vibrated him deep in his bones. The bridge lights dimmed, and the panels all flickered as subspace reacted. On the viewscreen, the empty space seemed to ripple for a moment and then lines of violet light spiderwebbed into view and converged, folding in on themselves like origami, and then it appeared. A tunnel revealed itself, the edges of the event horizon shimmered in and out of perception, like they were both there and not.

“The conduit is open, Captain.” Ezra said, his voice shaking slightly. The silence of the bridge pressed in on them, as if daring them to make a sound.

Scott stood from his chair. “Helm, ahead one quarter impulse.” His voice was soft, but in the silence it reached into every corner. The Leif Erikson moved slowly forwards towards the event horizon. As the forward hull broke the plane of the entrance, the whole ship gave a violent, shuddering jolt. Pulled, as if by a large vacuum cleaner, the Leif Erikson lurched forwards, forcing the crew backwards into their seats. Scott stumbled, but stayed on his feet, reaching an arm out to grab the chair for stability. The consoles on the bridge flickered rapidly, and the hull screamed in protest as the inertial dampeners fought the turbulence.

“I’m compensating for the turbulence Captain!” Ezra called out, his hands dancing across the console. “There’s a gravitational eddy off the port nacelle, I’m shifting course.”

Another shudder ran through the ship. “Shields down four percent, Captain.” Vail said from the tactical station over Scott’s shoulder. “Looks like it was a debris strike. Localised impact, but we are holding.”

Engineering to Bridge. Garion said, The field has restabilized. Looks like we’re through the worst of it, although there is debris filling the sensor readings. We’re going to have to navigate around them manually, Captain.

“Understood, Mr. Beckett.” Scott said, retaking his seat. “You heard him, Ezra. Please maintain manual control and make adjustments as you need.”

“Yes, Captain.” Ezra replied, “I’ll do my best not to ding up the paint.”

Ezra’s eyes were darting between the viewscreen, and the sensor logs on his console. Beads of sweat welled up and dotted his brow. His hands on his console, his fingers twitched as he made the tiniest of course corrections. Imperceptible to anyone else, but critical at their current velocity. A warning flashed on his console: GRAVIMETRIC SHEAR INCREASING – STARBOARD SIDE. With an experience that belied his age, he rebalanced the trim and reversed the lateral thrusters by two percent. The ship gave another deep shudder, and the hull plating groaned slightly.

“Talk to me Mr. Bennett, what’s going on?” Scott asked, in a tone that conveyed interest instead of admonishment. Scott knew better than to question Ezra’s flying.

“The Nav-core is still tracking the optimal path Captain, but I don’t trust it to make corrections fast enough.” Ezra replied. Scott glanced down at the helm console, and saw it was littered with warning indicators – gravitational eddys, proximity indicators, conduit fluctuations. A sudden flash across the viewscreen caught Scott’s eye, and he looked up to see a large piece of jagged debris spinning madly past the forward hull at a speed that would surely have carved them up like a thanksgiving turkey. “Like that, sir.” Ezra said, “One half meter off our current course would’ve run us right into that thing.”

“Captain, there is a pretty dense field of debris ahead.” Vail called from the Tactical station. Ezra didn’t panic, or call out. He didn’t even flinch. His fingers moved across the console like a pianist’s. He slaved the thruster inputs to the inertial harmonics, then leaned into the forward impulse vector just enough to tilt the ship below the worst of the debris. The Leif Erikson dipped and banked, firing its maneuvering thrusters in silent, elegant bursts. The ship danced gracefully through the debris field, barely touching any of the floating space junk.

Scott watched the amazing display from his chair, slightly awestruck. “Incredible.” he said softly, but Ezra ignored him. His focus had narrowed until only he and the ship remained, a single body, bonded through the tips of his fingers. Ezra could almost feel the shifting hum of the impulse engines as he flew, and there was nothing he loved more than this feeling. Ahead on the viewscreen, he noticed a shimmer, like a heat wave. Without speaking, Ezra reconfigured the forward shields into a blunt wedge shape and dropped their speed by three percent, just enough to pass through the distortion like a stone dropping into water. The Leif Erikson passed through the distortion with little more than a gentle lurch, and her hull remained intact. Ezra weaved, almost lazily, through the rest of the debris field. Once on the other side, he relaxed his position a little, and allowed himself to wipe his brow.

“That,” Scott said, “Was some excellent flying, Lieutenant. Well done.”

“Thank you, Captain.” Ezra replied, beaming. “We are approaching the exit point now,” he added, watching the sensor log. “Returning to normal space in thirty seconds.”

“Understood, Mr. Bennett.” Scott replied, sitting up in his seat. The ship shuddered once more as they passed back into normal space, fired like a bullet from a railgun, stars flaring back into light, and there ahead of them was Deep Space 12 – or what was left of it.

The sprawling station was floating against the backdrop of stars, and fire. Plasma trails spiralled around the structure like dying comets. Sections of the outer ring were scorched and dark, emergency lights flashed from the multiple hull breaches. Circling the station like sharks, were six Manasa-class Vaadwaur attack escorts. Sleek and predatory, they darted in and out with synchronised precision. Their weapons flashed as they pummelled the station’s shields, which flickered ominously.

“Multiple Vaadwaur Signatures.” Vail said, beginning to lock targets from her console. “They haven’t spotted us yet, Captain.”

“Helm, hold position.” Scott ordered. “ I want a clean assessment before we charge in.”

Ezra brought the ship to a full stop, then used maneuvering thrusters to begin drifting slowly. “Looks like we’re covered by the remains of a Klingon freighter.” He said, “It should give us some cover, for now.”

“Commander O’Donnell, arm phasers and load photon torpedoes.” Scott said. “Ensign, see if we’re close enough to hail the station. I’m sure they’ll be glad to have some reinforcements.”

Captain! Garion’s voice came over the comms, I’m picking up some strange emissions from two of the ships. It seems they’re suppressing the station’s defensive capabilities. Probably some advanced Vaadwaur tech. I’ve highlighted them on the tactical display.

“Target those suppressor ships first, Commander.” Captain Bowman commanded, pointing at Vail.

“Captain, I’ve received a message from the station thanking us for the help.” said Ensign Pym from the Ops console.

“Alright Mr Bennett, let’s make an entrance.” Scott said, returning to his seat. The Erikson pivoted on maneuvering thrusters to a clear path through the floating wreckage. The Impulse engines flared into life as the ship began to move, swooping in like a hunting bird that had found its prey. It surged forward, engines screaming through the void. The Vaadwaur ships peeled away from their assault vectors, surprised by the Erikson’s sudden arrival. Their moment’s hesitation rippled through the squadron, and Scott seized the opportunity.

“Commander, fire at will.” he said decisively.

Vail’s opening salvo was textbook Starfleet, clean, precise and lethal. Two phaser beams slashed across the bow of the closest suppressor ship, followed by two torpedoes that slammed into its ventral flank. “Direct hit!” She cried as the vessel tumbled away trailing smoke before erupting in a flash of white-hot plasma. “They’re breaking formation” Vail added quickly, her demeanor slipping back into seriousness.

“They’ll regroup fast.” Scott replied. “Let’s get ‘em before they do. Ezra, attack pattern Zeta-Nine.”

“Aye, Captain.” Ezra responded, and the Leif Erikson dove into the chaos like a hawk among starlings. The little Nova Class was by no means a warship, but in Ezra’s hands it flew like a predator. He skimmed the station’s outer hull, bringing the Vaadwaur ships dangerously close to the point-defense cannons.

One of the Vaadwaur ships fired. The polaron beam missed, but the shockwave rattled the bridge. “Shields at seventy-two percent.” Vail stated.

Captain Bowman tapped the combadge on his chest. “Garion, we could use a little extra horsepower right now.”

Garion’s response was immediate. Already on it, Captain. I’m diverting power from the nav-core. We aren’t heading back into the conduit anytime soon.

“Just keep the core stable.” Scott replied.

Define stable! Garion replied, as Ezra banked the ship hard, narrowly avoiding a concentrated volley from one of the ships. A second ship arced into position behind them, weapons hot. “We’ve got a tail, Captain. I think this one means it.” He said.

“Put us back into the freighter wreckage.” Scott ordered.

“It won’t give us enough cover, Captain.” Ezra replied.

“Then make them hit it instead, Mr. Bennett.” Scott said. Ezra gave a sharp nod and rolled the Erikson belly-up towards the hulking mass of derelict freighter. At the last possible moment, he pulled up, barely skimming the wreckage. The Vaadwaur ship, committed to the pursuit, could not pull up in time. Its torpedo slammed into the side of the freighter, sending metal and plasma exploding outwards. Caught in the trap, the Vaadwaur ship followed it, crashing into the side of the freighter. The Erikson wheeled around, and finished it off with a burst of phaser fire.

Cheers and whoops echoed off the bridge walls. “Four left.” Vail called over the din. “But they’re regrouping. That wedge formation, they’re attempting to outflank us.”

“Let’s force their hand.” Scott said, leaning forward in his chair. “Ezra, feint upwards, then dip down below. Target their lead ship.”

“That’s a risky move, Captain.” Ezra said, but the smile on his face told Scott everything it needed to.

“It’s been that kind of day, Lieutenant.” Scott replied, a smile crossing his own face. As the Erikson pitched upwards, the Vaadwaur ships followed, rising to meet it. That was the moment. “Now!” Scott shouted, pointing at the viewscreen. Ezra slammed the controls forward, and the nose of the ship pitched downwards in a steep dive. At Ezra’s command, the ship twisted around, and Vail was ready.

“Firing!” she called. Torpedoes sped away from the Erikson, and buried themselves into the belly of the lead ship. It detonated mid turn, scattering debris into the path of its fellow ships. The three remaining ships broke off. One tried to flee, but was caught by the station’s weapons, which had evidently come back online. Another broke off and ran, while the remaining ship turned to face the Erikson in one last desperate stand.

“Let’s finish this.” Scott said, a look of cold determination on his face. The two ships hurtled towards one another, phasers and polaron beams firing wildly. They roared past one another, trading fire. The Erikson bucked hard, warning klaxons blaring.

“Direct hit. Port nacelle was grazed!” Vail said. “Captain, our internal forcefield generator is offline!”

“We’re still flying” Ezra called over his shoulder.

“And fly you shall, Mr. Bennett.” Scott replied, calm and collected amidst the storm. “Full impulse. Vail, I want you to give it to them with both barrels.”

“Aye captain.” was the response, in unison. The ships made for another pass. Charging hard at one another, neither daring to flinch or move. As the two ships met again, Vail let loose a full torpedo spread. They struck true, the Vaadwaur ship disintegrating in a cloud of flame and twisted metal.

Silence fell once again over the bridge, save for the occasional shower of sparks from the overhead conduits, and the heavy breathing of the adrenaline-fueled bridge crew.

“Captain, Deep Space 12 is hailing us,” said Ensign Pym.

“On screen, Ensign.” Scott replied, standing up from his chair.

The screen lit up with the face of the Station’s Admiral, battered and disheveled. “Thanks for the assist, Captain.” They said.

“No trouble at all, Admiral.” Scott replied. “We need to make some repairs, and we should talk.”