The bridge of the USS Pulsar was alive with activity, a far cry from the eerie and uncomfortable silence that had been the norm in weeks past. Having three of the five stations on the bridge occupied by someone other than a hologram was a moving sight as Ensign Corwin Adler stepped through the bulkhead door. His experiences until now seemed almost as if a dream that he’d finally managed to wake up from.

“I have made an inquiry to shipyard control regarding the location of the Underspace fissure we are to breach. A course heading had been sent to the helm station pending your review and orders, Captain,” Cadet T’Ven stated flatly as the Ensign walked by her station on his way to the central chair.

“Oh… thank you, Cadet,” Adler stammered in surprise at the Vulcan’s efficiency. He’d stopped in mid-stride and had to make a bit of a studder step to keep from falling over his own feet. He made it nearly to his chair before the Andorian manning the console just forward and left of his position turned to address him.

“I’ve reviewed the tactical data from the last battle. The attack patterns were messy… but effective…” Cadet Sella Zh’Ranni remarked with a frustrated frown, “If the scans the Pulsar computer took of the Vaadwaur vessels are accurate…”

“There’s no reason to assume otherwise, Cadet,” the Emergency Command Hologram commented bluntly as he sank into the station just opposite her own.

The Andorian girl bristled at the interruption but chose not to snap back, continuing instead with, “Given what I saw in the scans… we will be outclassed by anything but the smallest Vaadwaur ships. What are our orders in the event we’re attacked in that… Underspace?”

“The Admiral told me that this was an information gathering mission only,” Corwin replied, trying to force a steady tone despite his nerves, “If we’re discovered, we are authorized to return to normal space… however we can.”

Zh’Ranni relaxed her shoulders a bit, “So they aren’t sending us to die…”

“Not intentionally,” the ECH replied in a deadpan voice, “But the galaxy rarely asks for permission before trying to kill you.”

Ensign Adler let out a deep sigh at the snarky comment from his de facto Executive Officer. Cadet Zh’Ranni sneered at the hologram before averting her eyes from him, remembering a bit late that he was technically her superior.

“So… yeah… If someone does come after us, we’re going to turn back immediately,” Corwin repeated himself, hoping to assuage whatever concerns the Andorian had, both from her question and the hologram’s snide commentary.

“Understood, sir,” Sella muttered through pursed lips, her focus returning to her console.

Corwin finally settled down into his chair, taking a moment to glance over at the ECH to see if he was looking over to either of them. The hologram was not, in fact, giving either of them any of his attention, his fingers busily dancing along the console in front of him for only he knew what purpose. With a shrug, Adler activated his floating holographic display and looked over the flight plan that Cadet T’Ven had mapped out. With his rather basic grasp of flight mechanics to pull from, the Ensign couldn’t really tell whether her suggested path was the best one or if there was a better way to go about it. In the end, he decided to trust her and stop trying to overthink something that he knew so little about.

“Cadet Rixx,” he said after abandoning his fruitless contemplation, “Are you ready to set out?”

The energetic Trill at the helm spun around with the biggest smile Adler had seen on her face to date, “I was born ready!”

“Oh… kay…” Corwin shrank back just a bit in the aftermath of her spirited reply, “Please… take us out…”

“Yes!” Jaya enthusiastically replied, hurrying back around to orchestrate their departure. The stars and ships around them began to move, shifting around relative to the Pulsar’s position in space before disappearing from view as the ship gathered momentum and began the short but tense journey from the shipyard to the outer boundaries of the Vulcan system where the Vaadwaur had appeared from Underspace.

“We are approaching the site of the Underspace aperture, Captain,” T’Ven announced. The space around them looked as empty as it had been moments earlier. Corwin had half-expected there to be some visible signs of the Vaadwaur incursion when they arrived.

“There’s nothing here…” Adler murmured in confusion.

“The breach into Underspace is not visible when it is not being utilized,” the Cadet clarified, “However, once we begin the breach procedures, it will reveal itself to the visible spectrum.”

“And you know how that’s done… right?” Corwin asked, not completely hiding his concerns.

The Vulcan shifted her stance a bit, “I have reviewed the Voyager logs, and I believe I can replicate the process without incident.”

“The Ensign doesn’t doubt your abilities,” the ECH spoke up from his station, “But our experiences thus far during this whole… disaster… have led all of us to be a bit more cautious in how we approach things.”

“That is… understandable,” T’Ven conceded, her posture slackening just a bit, “Shall I begin the entry procedures?”

“Yes, please do,” Corwin nodded, turning his attention back to the front of the bridge. As he gazed out of the large transparent dome that capped the bridge, Adler watched as a yellow-brown cascade of energy began to form. The aperture grew from the size of a pin prick in the fabric of space to a massive maw of swirling energy in the span of a few seconds. It was as beautiful as it was frightening to behold.

“Once we’re inside,” the Ensign turned his attention back to the Vulcan, “can you scan the area around the aperture… assuming they aren’t waiting for us on the other side… and try to track down where we might… find the Vaadwaur? All I remember about Underspace is that it’s structured a bit like an ant colony, and some of the branches are dead ends.”

“Impressive,” T’Ven’s words didn’t match her flat tone, “I had not expected you to have any working knowledge of the Underspace phenomenon and assumed I would need to act independently of instruction.”

“It was a pretty obscure lesson,” Adler said with a wry smile, “I only remember what I do because it was part of my alternate propulsions course.”

“I see. I encountered the subject during my advanced courses on subspace mechanics. While I suppose it is logical that such a topic would be relevant even in the Engineering field of study, I had not considered it likely,” the Vulcan said reflectively.

The ECH cleared his throat, “Shall we move on to… actually going into Underspace?”

“Right!” Corwin said, snapping his attention back to the front of the bridge, “Cadet Rixx, take us in.”

“Aww yeah!” the Trill said with an unseen smile plastered on her lips. The Pulsar began the deliberate encroachment into Underspace, though the view from the bridge didn’t shift much given just how large the breach was compared to the ship. It wasn’t until the vessel had fully entered the subspace corridor that things began to look alien and new. The swirling vortex became a vast tunnel that swirled chaotically with the yellow-brown hue they’d already seen before entering. The Pulsar’s scanners began to map out the twists and turns inside of the subspace phenomenon, but something about it piqued T’Ven’s interest.

“Unlike the records from Voyager, there don’t appear to be as many branches nor does there appear to be areas that have collapsed from decay over time. It would seem that these are… new,” the Vulcan reported.

“New?” Both Adler and the ECH said simultaneously.

“Indeed,” was all T’Ven offered in response.

As the two senior officers contemplated that revelation, Cadet Rixx pipped up, “Uh… you guys? Which way do we go?”

T’Ven furrowed her brow a tad before checking the sensor readings she had taken, “It would appear that there are metallic signatures of indeterminate mass along the tunnel at our aft. I would recommend turning about to investigate these readings in greater detail.”

Corwin nodded and turned to the Trill, “Come about and head along the corridor… slowly. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”

“Gotcha,” Jaya nodded, her face growing more serious now that they were in enemy territory.

“Any theories as to what we’ll find, Cadet?” the hologram asked, looking over to the Vulcan.

“It is difficult to say,” the young woman admitted, “The readings are difficult to interpret given the odd nature of this subspace corridor and how relativistic distances are. Outside of my certainty that the objects in question are indeed metallic, I cannot make any further speculation as to what they may be. It is entirely possible that it is debris much like that encountered when Voyager entered Underspace.”

“You said the tunnels here look new… How could there already be debris here?” Corwin asked.

“That is indeed a logical question, Captain. Without more information, that is the only conclusion I can make, even if it does not conform to what we know of this portion of Underspace currently.”

“So, a guess,” Sella scoffed from her station.

“Vulcans do not guess,” T’Ven countered, “I merely made an extrapolation based on previous observations from other vessels.”

“So you don’t know. Just say that then…” the Andorian grumbled.