Star Trek: The voyages of the USS Apollo

Chapter Four: The Wormhole

Gul Madred then raised his hand flat forward and said at the top of his lungs "Hail Cardassia!" The Cardassian officers on the Bridge then stood up, did the same salute and proclaimed "Hail Cardassia!"

The communication with the Cardassian ship stopped and once again the Bridge Crew could see the three ships that were surrounding the Sphere in orbit above the planet's moon, ready to fire and open up a temporary wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. Lieutenant Toral looked at the scans of the ships and said "Captain Rivers, they're charging up their weapons and getting ready to fire." Worried that they were going to fire at the Apollo, Ethan said "Red alert!" The lights on the Bridge then turned red as Voq began arming the weapons and Laren started raising the shields. The Crew knew that the Apollo was not built for battle, but they had to be ready for a quick retreat if the need arose. As the shields reached maximum power, T'Vrell said "Captain, according to these scans it would appear that the Sphere is absorbing energy from the Plasma storms and then multiplying it in order to gain the necessary amount of power needed to open up a wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. Three high power blasts from phaser arrays would be enough to power it up and in turn open up a wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant." Ethan looked at T'Vrell and said "Nice one figuring that out. Now how long until the message can be sent?" T'Vrell answered "A few more minutes sir and the message will reach Deep Space Nine. We can expect a fleet here within a matter of hours." Alisha then stood up and said "Until then I suggest we do not engage. We are not equipped for a fight and there is not telling what could happen if we misfire onto the Sphere."

Just as Ethan was about to suggest beaming aboard the Cardassian ships to sabotage them before they could send themselves to the Gamma Quadrant, Voq said "Captain. They are getting ready to fire!" Ethan had a look of horror on his face as all three Cardassian ships simultaneously fired at the Sphere and in an instant, it exploded into a red shockwave that had a red wormhole at the centre that was about half the size of the Bajoran Wormhole and was pulling in the Cardassian ships! All three ships started getting pulled in, but went a lot faster as they went to full impulse and willingly entered the Gamma Quadrant. That was when the Apollo started moving forward on it's own and William said "Sir! The wormhole is pulling us in!" Thinking fast, Ethan said "Full reverse!" William then started trying to reverse the ship, but it was no use. As the ship got closer and closer to the wormhole, the pull of the wormhole got stronger and stronger. It wasn't long before the Apollo was going at twice the speed of full impulse and was right in front of the wormhole! As they got closer to the wormhole, red plasma bolts blasted from it and some even hit the Apollo! As a plasma bolt hit deck nine, energy from that deck was pulled from it, causing the lights to flicker and the doors to open and close constantly with no way of stopping them. Then another plasma bolt hit the Warp nacelles at the back of the Apollo and the ship went straight ahead the the Wormhole at full speed!

Ethan and Alisha got back into their chairs and buckled their emergency seatbelts together as Ethan pressed on his Com Badge and said "All hands! Brace! We are about to enter a wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant! Brace, brace, BRACE!" All over the Apollo, crewmen began grabbing onto whatever they could to brace for the inevitable jump from the Alpha Quadrant straight to the Gamma Quadrant, where the Dominion ruled and the True Way were now located. As the rest of the Bridge Crew grabbed onto their consoles, Ethan said as loud as he could "Hold on!" and the Apollo was pulled through the Wormhole!

As they came out the other side as soon as they went through, the Crew were tossed around and some sustained severe injuries such as a broken arm, leg and even burns from several fires that started across the Apollo! All across the Apollo, crewmen reported medical emergencies and rushed the eighteen wounded personnel to Sickbay. It was a nightmarish situation as fires were being put out across the ship and quick repairs were being conducted by the Engineering Crew.

As the ship regained full power, Ethan said "Report!" Laren checked her console and said "Seven fires have been reported across the ship, three have been put out and the remaining four should be fully put out within half an hour." Ethan then stood up, looked at T'Vrell and asked "T'Vrell, where in the Galaxy are we?" T'Vrell quickly checked the coordinates and said "Captain, if these readings are correct, the Wormhole has brought us forty thousand lightyears from our previous position. We are in the Gamma Quadrant." Ethan almost gasped as he asked "How long would the journey home take?" T'Vrell checked her console and said "Forty years at most." Ethan looked over at Ensign Jackson and said "Turn us around to the Wormhole." Ensign Jackson obliged and steered the ship around to face the Wormhole. In front of them was the red wormhole that lead straight back to the Alpha Quadrant, their home. Their destination. Not wanting the U.S.S Apollo and it's crew to be stranded in the Gamma Quadrant, Ethan said "Full ahead full. We're going home." Laren checked her console and said "Sir, our Warp drive has been damaged, it will take at least two days to repair." Ethan sounded desperate as he said "Then go to full impulse." William then activated full impulse and the Apollo began headed to the Wormhole at top speeds. But as the Apollo got closer, the Wormhole got smaller and smaller until it exploded into a small cloud of red plasma. In an instant, the Apollo was where the Wormhole was and was now facing in the direction of the Alpha Quadrant, which was a four decade journey away from them.

Ethan looked at T'Vrell and asked "T'vrell, where is the Wormhole?" T'Vrell checked her scans and said "I am sorry Captain. But the Wormhole has fallen apart. I am disappointed to inform you that there is now no way home other than a forty year long journey back to the Alpha Quadrant from our current position." The entire Bridge Crew had looks of horror and appalment on their faces as they looked ahead to see the seemingly endless expanse of space ahead of them that lead back to the Alpha Quadrant. In that moment they realised that they were stranded in the Gamma Quadrant and that what had begun as a two week long survey mission in the Badlands, had turned into a years long journey through the Gamma Quadrant that would last potential decades. Ethan then spent the next few moments looking out at the stars, wondering if the Apollo would ever get home and devastated that it would be years until they did get back to the Alpha Quadrant. But another question was on Ethan's mind and it was what would they find if they would ever get back home?