Previously.

Chu immediately stood up and moved across to the large viewscreen on the wall, Shale also stood and walked to the opposite side of the screen.

"We were performing a diagnostic on the Hellcat's computer systems during our repairs to the ship, when we found an encrypted data file." Chu began as an unreadable message appeared on the screen.

"An encrypted file that may give us a way home." Shale added in a hopeful voice.

Now.

"How so?" Captain Devore enquired.

"The file was created using a non-standard encryption method, it took us a while to discover that it was in fact a combination of ancient El-Aurian and a complex encryption code. Ancient El-Aurian has such a complex syntax, that even if you managed to decipher the message, it would still appear to the untrained eye to be encoded. Further studies showed that it had been used extensively by the El-Aurians to communicate with each other without letting the Borg or anyone less know of their whereabouts. As far as the records show, the Borg has never cracked the code." Chu explained.

"So how did you manage to crack it?" Lt. Commander Taline asked.

"From the personal records of Commander Toran." Chu replied. "We discovered that many of his personal messages were written in this code, maybe for security reasons, maybe just because he wanted to keep his own thoughts private."

"So how did you manage to decipher the Commander's letters, without a reference that would still be virtually impossible?" Lt. Commander Devore stated.

"True." Shale replied. "But we found such a reference, his last log entries. He wrote two messages, one in Federation Standard and the other in modern El-Aurian. Analysis showed that the two were in effect identical, one translated into the other. Both messages were passed to the Ronin before she was sent back to the Alpha quadrant.

"But I thought Q didn't allow any messages to be passed to the Ronin." Sierra enquired.

"That's also true, but three messages were sent via the communications array three seconds before the Ronin vanished." Chu remarked. "Using the Commander 's access codes. He must have anticipated the Q and programmed the array before hand."

"Hang on a minute, you said three messages were passed to the Ronin. But a moment ago you said there were only two messages." Captain Devore corrected Chu.

"When we checked the communication logs, we actually found a third message as well, an encrypted message. We took a leap of faith and analyzed it against the other two messages. We discovered that the encrypted message was in fact identical to the original El-Aurian message when deciphered. We're not entirely sure, but we think that the coded message was created first, deciphered back into modern El-Aurian and then translated again into Federation standard. Either way we had our Rosetta stone."

"So what was in the encrypted file?" Captain Devore asked.

"Some highly advanced and technical data. It was mainly advanced theories about creating a slipstream bubble around the ship, but they were just theories." Shale replied. Or so we thought."

"We know that such a slipstream bubble can be created, we've witnessed it first hand." Chu stated. "The Catatonians hide an entire civilization from the Bariens using such a bubble. The original Leviathan was small when compared to their base and slipstream was still in its infancy to the Federation."

"We learnt a lot of information about slipstream from them." Commander T'Kul stated. "But I don't recall Shaka ever enquiring about the bubble itself and how it was originally created."

"That's true, but they also had two things that we don't currently have, natural Benamite crystals and a massive slipstream core. Our core isn't currently powerful enough to create the energies required to create such a bubble." Lieutenant Shale explained. "The Benamite crystals at the heart of our slipstream drive are manufactured, it takes a factory replicator facility nearly six months to create a single Benamite crystal. They do the same job, but because they are artificial they tend to degrade faster when used. If we were to compare the lifespan of two Benamite crystals, one natural and the other manufactured, the natural crystal would degrade at a quarter of the rate of the artificial crystal. Also a similar sized natural crystal can provide nearly three times as much energy. If we found a natural crystal to replace the one we have, we could in theory cut our journey back home in half. We'd have no ship left of course, the forces we'd encounter would rip us to shreds, but in theory it's possible. "

"So how does creating a bubble help us to get back home?" Sierra asked.

"It doesn't on it's own." Chu replied. "But now that we know that the black hole in this system is in fact a wormhole, it just might. We've managed to recover most of the sensor data from the Interphase and with ASHER's help; we now know exactly what the wormhole is. This isn't a normal wormhole, a simple compression of subspace. It's also inter-dimensional, that's why we see it as a black hole. The sensor logs from the Interphase show several universes, each with it's own quantum signature, one of those has a black hole located close by and that's why our sensors detect it as a black hole."

"That was the reason I was close to the wormhole. We detected the quantum signature of the mirror universe and I went out to make a closer investigation." ASHER announced. "But when the wormhole jumped towards me, I got pulled in. The only reason I survived was because of what I am, I don't have a clue as to why the Interphase survived, and maybe it was just built to take a lot of punishment."

"What would be the effect if we could create such a bubble?" The Captain enquired.

"If we could create such a bubble, then the ship would in effect be in a state of quantum flux, both existing and not existing in normal space. We should be able to travel into the wormhole without suffering too much damage." Shale continued to explain. "All we need to do now is go and mine the Benamite."

"Mine what Benamite?" Captain Devore remarked.

"That was our second discovery of the day. After we managed to decipher the data file, we started looking at the Hellcat's sensor logs. At first we were looking at the logs before we reached the planet, trying to work out how we could have been so wrong about it. All the sensor logs showed that the planet was indeed a class-M with rich vegetation and the possibility of dilithium ore." Chu said. "It was only when we looked more closely at the sensor logs that we took AFTER we reached the planet that we found something interesting."

"We found these readings." Shale explained as a scan of the planet's surface appeared on the viewscreen. "To the untrained eye they just look like random energy fluctuations, we almost dismissed them as such."

"Benamite!" Taline announced, realizing what they were looking at. "Those look like the type of quantum fluctuations only Benamite can produce."

"Correct Lieutenant. Yes, the planet seems to have a small deposit of natural Benamite. It's about twenty kilometers down and we estimate there's about sixty to a hundred kilos of crystallized ore. If we can find a crystal the right size and density, then we could increase the power of the slipstream core three fold. We'd have enough power to create a slipstream bubble around the ship, if the theories are correct." Shale announced.

"How do you intend to mine the ore?" The Captain asked.

"We're going to have to do it the hard way I'm afraid, we can't use the transporters on the ore because of the quantum flux, we'd never get a lock. We'll have to use the Leviathan's phasers to cut a tunnel down to the level of the ore and then use phaser cutters to actually remove the ore. We'll also need to transport the ore on a shuttle." Chu explained.

"And you think all of this effort is worth it?" The Captain asked.

"The ore itself is almost priceless to the Federation and it's ability to continue to use and advance slipstream propulsion." Shale announced. "To us it would certainly speed up repairs on the slipstream drive as well as improve it's power output and efficiency. But it's going to take time to re-configure the phasers and mine the ore, by our estimations about three to four weeks"

"This Benamite you talk of." S'qeurei asked. "What is it and what is it for?" She asked, the curiosity in her voice telling.

"Benamite is a rare crystalline mineral with several unique properties." Chu began to explain. "The main one is that it has a unique quantum signature. We use it to power our main propulsion system, which we call a Slipstream drive. The drive creates a slipstream wave ahead of and around the ship allowing it to move within the quantum matrix of the universe. It's still in the early stages, this vessel is only the third Federation ship to use the technology. But the drive allows us to travel at speeds far in excess of normal warp. Why do you ask?"

"On our world, there is a strange rock which exists deep within our planet. Over the years, this rock has appeared on the surface after volcanic eruptions. Do you have any images of your Benamite?" S'qeurei asked.

Chu tapped a few keys on the viewscreen control pad and an image of the slipstream core and the Benamite crystal appeared.

"This is our Benamite crystal." Chu stated.

S'qeurei viewed the image of the crystal. "Yes, that looks like a 'fire-stone'. Captain, I may have another source of your crystal, one which may be easier to obtain than mining it from the demon planet." She announced.

"And you'd be willing to give the crystal to us?" The Captain asked a little surprised.

"Of course. Captain, my people are not savages. Many hundreds of years ago, we set out to explore this part of our universe. All we found was war and cruelty, things we wanted no part in. So we returned to our home, mothballed our fleet of ships, all but abandoned our technology and settled down to live a simpler life in peace. Very few travel out this far, there's nothing of real value in the system and the black hole puts many others off. Our environment makes it hard for most carbon-based life forms to visit our world, but our evolution has made it ideal for us. We have everything we need on our planet, we lack for nothing." S'qeurei remarked. "You have shown that the Federation is a tool for the exploration of space and I admire that. Once we found out about our neighbors, we retreated you have not. You've faced up to all who oppose you, to keep your way of life safe. You also appear to have at times turned your enemies into your allies, shown them a better way of life. If giving the crystal to you will enable you to continue with this ethos, then my people would be proud to know that in some small way, they are exploring space again."

"If this 'fire rock' is Benamite, it could mean we'd be ready to leave within a week." Taline remarked.

"S'qeurei, we accept your offer and I'm sure that we will live up to the expectations of your people." Captain Devore said. "We still have the problem of actually getting the crystal back to the ship, we're going to have to think about that. But I think this will be the start of a new friendship.

As the briefing came to a close, Captain Devore said. "Everyone dismissed. Get some sleep and we'll look at our remaining problems tomorrow."

The briefing room slowly emptied until only the Captain was left. Suddenly there was a chill in the room and a slight breeze. Devore looked around, trying to find the source of the draught.

Moments before the person who had been watching the events just played out had vanished, returning to the place from where he had come. It was his disappearance that had caused the draught. Everything was going to plan, the Captain and his crew had made the first step towards getting home. They had discovered the true nature of the black hole that he'd maneuvered them towards and they'd made friends with the aliens that he'd sent into the holodeck. He knew that the aliens had access to Benamite and that it was in their nature to help others, but he hadn't been sure they would realize that they could help. And they'd managed to recover the hologram ASHER; he was going to be a key player in getting the ship back home.