Story [Star Trek: Voyager/Doctor Who/Thor] Voyager and the Convergence

Voyager and the Convergence
It was an ordinary day aboard Voyager. The starship was on course for the Alpha Quadrant at Warp 8. It had been over two weeks since they left Lokrrim space. In Astrometrics, Seven of Nine was scanning the region ahead...

Something wasn't right. “Computer, re-run latest analysis,” Seven commanded.

“Affirmative.”

30 seconds later, the computer redisplayed the sensor data. Seven was now sure. Voyager was headed straight towards something strange. “Seven of Nine to Captain Janeway. Please report to Astrometrics.”


Captain Kathryn Janeway looked over the data on the screen a second time. There was no doubt. There was a strange phenomenon directly in her ship's path to the Alpha Quadrant. “Distance: 1 light year at the closest edge. Time to intercept; 8 hours, 24 minutes at current speed.”

“So, far I have just used the passive scanners, but what I've found so far is disturbing.”

It wasn't often that Seven of Nine described a phenomenon as disturbing. “Disruptions in Space-time,” the Captain stated as she looked over the data.

“A spherical region 40 light years in diameter, centred on a G-type star which is almost certain to have at least one M-class planet in it's habitable zone,” Seven said, as she manipulated the visual data on the screen, highlighting the star in question.

The captain noted that the computer had already added the star to the automatic catalogue of stars observed during their journey. “Does the region show any signs of expansion?”

“Yes,” Seven answered. She focused the relevant data on the screen. “It is expanding at the Speed of Light. Which is why I'm hesitant to use the active sensors.”

“You're afraid that using the active sensors would trigger expansion through subspace?”

“Yes. I strongly recommend keeping our distance,” Seven said. She input another few commands and a course projection appeared on the screen.

“An additional two weeks to our journey?”

“Twelve days, ten hours, to be more exact,” Seven said.

The captain thought for a moment. Something told her that this phenomenon needed to be investigated further. But then there was a hail from the bridge. “Bridge to Captain Janeway, Intruder alert, Code Blue.”

“Not again,” the captain groused.

“Maybe, there is more to this phenomenon than there appears,” Seven said.

The Captain tapped her commbadge “I'll be right there.”

“They're in the Mess Mall.”


Tuvok and two other security officers were in the Mess Hall, where the TARDIS had materialised. It looked different to the other time the Doctor and Voyager had crossed paths. She could see that it was a different version of the Doctor also. “Captain Janeway! Nice to see you again,” he said.

She got straight to business. “I guess there is a reason why you're here again.”

“Very astute, that's what I like about you.”

“And that reason is?”

“You have just discovered a strange phenomenon, haven't you?” the Doctor asked.

“I think you know the answer to that question.”

“A spherical region with a radius of 20 light years showing signs of interdimensional disturbances. You were pondering whether to investigate further.”

“Correct,” Janeway said. “Is there any reason why I shouldn't?”

“No, you shouldn't,” the Doctor said. “Not right away.”

“Otherwise the phenomenon will expand back along our path,” Janeway said.

“Yes.”

“I'll have to confer with my officers.”

“Of course.”


Ten minutes later, the officers, the Doctor and his two travelling companions were in the Observation Lounge. The Doctor introduced his companions, and then got to business.

“Before you ask; yes, I have encountered something like this before,” he said.

“So it should be easy to deal with, right?” Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres asked.

The Doctor scoffed. “Define 'easy'. The one I dealt with hadn't existed as long as this one has. I found out later that the effect had propagated back through the Vortex to places I had been just before-hand.”

“So, dealing with this phenomenon would be more difficult?” Commander Chakotay asked.

“Yes,” the Doctor answered.

“Of course,” Janeway said. “You would have to give us more evidence, rather than your anecdote about how you combated something like this.”

“Of course, Captain,” the Doctor responded. “That's one reason why I brought Thor along. He has also experienced a phenomenon like this,” the Doctor said. He indicated one of his companions. A blonde male with long hair.

“Thanks, Doctor. I was wondering when you would get to that,” Thor said.

“And you were involved with this kind of phenomenon also?” Janeway asked.

“Yes. It turned out that Asgard got affected via the Bifrost after I arrived.”

“Bifrost. As in the Bifrost bridge?” Tom Paris asked.

“Yes,” the Doctor answered. “It's like your transporter, except with a wormhole and intergalactic range.”

“Right,” Tom said.

“And I brought the information that my people recorded when Asgard got affected,” Thor added.


B'Elanna Torres finished interfacing the Asgardian data storage device to a desktop unit with Seven and the Time Lord's help. “It should work now,” the Doctor said, as he withdrew his sonic device, which B'Elanna was rather sure was a Time Lord version of a tricorder.

Seven pressed a few buttons and some of the data displayed on the screen.“It matches the data in Astrometrics,” she said, simply.

“Look closer,” the Doctor directed.

“Of course,” Seven said.


“That's impossible,” Seven noted after looking through the Asgardian data again.

“It's not impossible,” the Doctor said.

“What is it?” Janeway asked.

“Interdimensional disturbances, Captain.” Seven answered.

“A device that caused a multiversial merge when activated,” the Doctor explained. “Only it does so gradually.”

“Only, it seems this one is much further advanced than the one I dealt with,” Thor added.

“So, it causes, what exactly?” B'Elanna asked.

“Overlaps between one universe and another,” the Doctor explained. “When Voyager enters we will find ourselves occasionally overlapping with other Voyagers.”

“That reminds me of something,” Harry Kim said.

“Your experience with the subspace divergence field?” Seven asked.
“Yes.”

“Could you fill us in,” Clara asked.

“Five years ago, Voyager entered a subspace divergence field...” Janeway began.


“Interesting,” the Doctor commented. “This is a similar phenomenon,” he said to Kim, “But there are differences. Which is why we need to prepare.”

“What do we suggest we do first, Doctor?” Janeway asked.

“First, we'll warp to a 0.08 of a light year of the current position of the edge of the phenomenon and proceed at impulse power until it catches up to us,” he answered.

“And we'll use the time to prepare?” Janeway asked.

“Yes.”

“Over a month,” Kim considered. “We've taken this long.”

Janeway made her decision. “That is what we shall do.”

 

Oh very good and workmanlike of them ...

Nice twist, backtracking.

Hee, I could hear Tom say this with a dubious expression. Nice start to your story!

 

...are they about to do funky things with space-time? Or am I reading that wrong? (I love this. So much. )

 

One Month Later
Janeway entered the Bridge to find the Time Lord waiting there. “Good Morning, Doctor,” she said.

“Morning, Captain. Today's the day.”

“I know you've been bored,” Janeway said, as she sat in the command chair.

“Even your holodecks couldn't give me enough stimulation.”

The Captain turned to Ensign Kim. “Report on when we'll enter the zone.”

“At our current velocity the edge of the zone will reach us in one hour, ten minutes,” he reported.

“We're as ready as we can be.”


As the clock ticked down (as it were), most of Voyager's off duty crewmembers congregated in the Mess Hall. Neelix found that he was in high demand in his role as Morale Officer. Tal Celes was one of those in the room, but she was looking for Billy Telfer. She quickly found him close to the windows on the far side of the room and went up to him. “Billy,” she said.

“Celes,” he said in response.

“Are you worried about what will happen?” she asked, as she sat across from him.

“Yes,” he admitted. “I mean. 'Overlapping, with other Voyagers?' What will that entail?”

It was clear to Celes that Billy had been thinking about it for a while. But it wasn't the first tme he had voiced his concerns to her about what might happen. “Have you talked to someone about it?” she asked.

“The Doctor. The EMH, I mean.”

“Did it help?”

“A little,” Billy admitted.

“That's good.”


Clara and Thor entered the Mess Hall. “How long is it?” Thor asked.

“A few minutes,” Clara answered.

“A few minutes,” Thor repeated. “We'll hardly notice it.”

“Are you sure?” Clara asked. “Because I wasn't with the Doctor when he had his encounter.”

“I'm sure,” Thor answered. “It will get more intense the further we get in, but we'll get used to it.”

Clara nodded. “I guess that's reassurring.”

“It's going to be fine,” Thor said with a smile.


The convergence region enveloped Voyager.

“Full scan,” Janeway ordered.

“Aye, Captain,” Kim responded.

“Mr. Paris. Set a course for the star system at the center of the region. Warp six.”

“Aye, Captain.”


Voyager jumped to warp without issues.


“Any problems?” Janeway asked Ensign Kim.

“None so far, but they are bound to crop up,” the latter said.

“And when they do, we need to be ready,” Janeway said. The Doctor and Thor had given advice many times, but she wasn't sure that their advice applied to Voyager's situation. She picked up a PADD and re-read the summary of how Asgard dealt with it.


In Astrometrics, Seven picked something up in Voyager's path. She brought up some of the Asgardian data. She found that there was a match. “Seven of Nine to the Bridge.”
“Report, Seven,” the Captain ordered.

“Sensors are picking up a convergence ahead. I recommend altering course 10 degrees to starboard and 25 degrees ventrally to avoid it.”

“Acknowledged, Seven.”


Voyager altered course.


“We're going to make a lot of these course corrections, Captain. It's going to add to the time significantly,” Paris said.

“I still don't want to take Voyager through them if we can't help it,” Janeway said.

“Of course.”

Voyager passed the convergence with room to spare.


“We're back on course to the star system,” Paris reported.

“Acknowledged,” Janeway said.


The next few hours were calm, but Seven soon detected a problem. A large large concentration of convergences directly ahead. “Seven of Nine to the Bridge.”

“Report, Seven.”

“A large concentration of divergences are directly ahead.”

“Understood.”

“I recommend slowing to Warp 2 as we approach.”


“We'll hit them in two minutes, Captain,” Paris reported after the information was transferred to the Conn.

“Slow to Warp 2 in one minute, forty seconds. Mark.”

“Aye,” Paris said.


Voyager slowed as she approached the divergences.


“Warp 2,” Paris reported.


“Steady as she goes,” Janeway ordered.


Clara was still in the Mess Hall, waiting for something to happen. She would have been almost as bored as the Doctor if not for the fact that she had introduced Naomi Wildman to the joys of Regency literature. 'Great! Now I'm missing Jane!'


Flashback – Two weeks earlier
“I can read it from the PADD, Clara,” Naomi protested.

“Nonetheless, reading it from a screen is not the same as reading from a hardcopy,” Clara explained as she finished putting the instructions into the replicator. “It's also worth a lot more than the rations.” She pressed another control and the book appeared in the slot.

Naomi grabbed it. “This cover art is rather good,” she said.

“I had to choose the best,” Clara said. “A good book can last a lifetime.”

“That sounds good,” Naomi said.

“So, you can read out the first couple of pages.”

“Sure,” Naomi said. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife...”


End flashback
Naomi was still going through the various works of Austin. Clara could see her talking to Neelix about where she was up to in Emma. There was still a pang where she was missing the author. 'The Doctor better take me to the Regency England of our universe once we've helped Voyager deal with this thing.'


Voyager entered the area of convergences.


Seven noticed something. “Astrometrics to the Bridge.”

“Report Seven,” Janeway ordered.

“The area is getting more dense, we may need to alter course.”

“Understood.”

“I'm transferring the scan results to the Conn.”


Paris watched as the scan data appeared on the navigational display. “We may need to slow as we divert around the center of the convergences,” he reported.


“Slow to Warp 1.4 and divert 30 degrees,” Janeway ordered.

“Aye,” Paris responded.


Voyager slowed, but it wasn't enough...


In Astrometics, Seven's eyes widened as she noticed that Voyager was going to graze a convergence area very soon. “Astrometrics to the Bridge. Drop out of warp now!”

“Seven?” Janeway asked.

“Now!”


“Now!” Seven said.

“Captain?” Tom asked as he prepared to execute the command.

“Do as she...” the Captain began. But they ran out of time. The warp field, and then the extreme Starboard side of Decks 7 and 8 in the Saucer Section, along with the starboard nacelle, clipped into the convergence area. The ship shuddered. Tom hit the command and Voyager dropped to sublight.

“Report!” Janeway ordered.

“No damage reported,” Kim said.

“Go down there and scan it intensely,” Janeway ordered.

“Aye, but it will take time,” Kim said.

The Captain turned back to the Conn. “Continue around the convergences at full impulse, until Torres has run a diagnostic on the nacelle.”

“Aye, Captain,” Tom said.


In Engineering, Torres was already stressed. She had already started a Level 5 Diagnostic on the nacelle, but there were also alerts coming from the affected areas of the saucer section. “Carey, Vorick, check on the systems in those areas. Carey, Deck 7, Vorick, Deck 8,” she ordered.


Seven checked on data from that very close encounter. She was sure that something happened.

“Janeway to Seven. We were affected in some way by that encounter. Please report to Astrometics.”

“On my way, Seven.”


Harry Kim approached the affected area on Deck 7, his tricorder at the ready. He started scanning. “Nothing?”


Janeway entered Astrometrics and saw that Seven had a diagram of the ship on the screen, along with the nearby convergence. “Report, Seven. How have we been affected?”

Seven zoomed into the affected areas of the ship. “Some portions of the areas are showing a differential quantum signature.”

“So, there was some swapping with an alternate Voyager,” Janeway surmised.

“That is correct, but the majority of the material is still as it was before the encounter.”

“That's good. But we may not be so lucky the next time, or the times after that!”

“That's true,” Seven said. “But I have an idea.”

“Which is?”

“Randomly selecting the person at the helm for random lengths of time.”

“I was considering something like that,” Janeway said. She would have to put it past Paris and the others in his department first.

“So, you agree?”

“Yes. But I'll have to consult Lieutenant Paris first.”

“Of course.”