*   *   *

Gold shook his head as Gomez sat back down. The entire S.C.E. team—Gomez, Tev, Blue, Stevens, and Soloman, as well as security chief Domenica Corsi, linguist Bart Faulwell, and cultural specialist Carol Abramowitz—was gathered in the observation lounge.

“So you’re telling me that this thing couldn’t have been traveling at those speeds?”

“No, it clearly was—the outpost’s data is very detailed, and their information on later events matches perfectly with our own logs, so we know their equipment was working properly. But those engines cannot produce that much acceleration.” Sonya glanced at the rest of her team. “So, any ideas on how it managed that trick?”

“Could it have had a second engine?” Faulwell asked, but Stevens and Blue both shook their heads.

“We went over that thing top to bottom,” Stevens told his roommate. “Nothing else even remotely like an engine. And nothing in the thrusters themselves that could have amplified the output to that degree.”

“What about outside help?” Abramowitz said. “I know some races use delivery or launch systems for their ships—they have a much larger external engine that drops away after launch, or they have two ships linked together to increase initial velocity.”

“A workable system,” Tev said, and Gold kept the shock off his face. Had his second officer just indirectly complimented someone?

“The Dancing Star could have used such a system on its initial launch,” Gomez added. “And it’s currently moving at warp one-point-five, which suggests that whatever it used before wasn’t available for extra speed this time around. We didn’t find anything on the hull to suggest that extra engines were there, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t either.” She glanced around again. “Good suggestion, Carol. Any other ideas?”

Gold nodded to himself. That was one of the things he liked most about his first officer. She was good with her team, she acknowledged contributions by her staff, and she kept her options open. This time it was Corsi who spoke up.

“Since we’re talking about its initial launch system, do we know where this thing came from?”

Tev frowned. “I have computed its path, based upon its position within the Randall V system, its angle of trajectory, its speed, and an estimation of its travel time based upon the fatigue of its hull.” He tapped a command into his padd, and the conference room screen displayed a star map. Randall V was circled, and a gold line ran from that off to one edge of the chart.

“That’s the Delta Quadrant,” Blue said, leaning forward to get a better look.

“Correct.” If anything, Tev’s frown deepened, which surprised Gold. Usually the Tellarite was smug about his discoveries. Why did he look almost displeased now? But that was quickly answered. “I have cross-referenced the location with the logs Starfleet has received from the U.S.S. Voyager, however, and have discovered a problem.” Another command, and that portion of the map expanded. The line was now much thicker, and could be easily followed—as it ran right to a circle of absolute black.

“A black hole?” Stevens glanced at the chart, then back at Tev. “You’re telling me this ship came from a black hole?”

“No, of course not.” Now Gold knew why Tev was so unhappy—he’d been wrong. “Clearly it could not have originated there. But that is what the data suggests.”

“What if it came from even farther away?” Faulwell asked.

“Then it would have been traveling for a longer period of time,” Tev replied, “and it was not.”

“Not if it was going even faster originally.” They all turned to look at the slight, bearded linguist, who shrugged. “Since it was already going faster than it should have when it reached the system, what’s to say it wasn’t going even faster before that?”

“Makes sense,” Gomez said. “Tev, extend the line farther out and let’s see what we get.” A moment later, the gold line projected past the black hole and off the far edge of the chart.

“Say, what’s that over there, anyway?” Stevens pointed to a spot past the black hole, and Tev obligingly expanded that section—Gold was pleased to see that he didn’t object or insult Stevens in the process. Maybe the man was learning, after all. With that portion enlarged, they could see a gold circle not far from the path, with a designation beside it. “That’s a supernova.”

“It’s not on the path, though,” Blue pointed out.

“Not right now,” Fabian replied. “But if this ship really did pass that black hole, it would have been thrown off course by the gravity well.” He worked with his padd for a moment, then beamed the information to Tev. “Does that look right to you?”

Tev glanced at it, then nodded. “Yes,” was all he said, but even that was a step in the right direction, and Gold exchanged a smile with Gomez. Tev input the new information and the gold line shifted—it still ran straight from the black hole to Randall V, but now it angled as it passed the black hole. And ran right across the supernova.

“So you’re saying this thing came from a supernova?” Gold asked.

“I don’t think that was its point of origin, no,” Stevens admitted. “But it did pass by this one. In fact”—he tapped a finger on the table absently—“what if it used the supernova for the energy boost Carol suggested?”

“You mean a slingshot?” Blue asked, and Stevens nodded. Tev had already begun typing commands into his padd, but Gold was lost.

“Hold on a second,” he said. “Indulge an old man—slingshot?”

“It’s a way to use the gravity of a sun or planet for momentum,” Gomez explained. “The ship circles the object, entering its gravity well and gaining speed from the added force, then whips around it fast enough to break free of orbit. Cut it too close and you’re trapped in orbit for good, too wide and you don’t actually gain much, but do it right and you boost your velocity significantly, and with no real fuel cost.”

Tev looked up and nodded. “I have calculated the effects of the Dancing Star slingshotting around the supernova, and believe that Mr. Stevens is correct.” Gold was fairly sure that was the first time Tev hadn’t referred to Fabian as “Specialist” or “Technician.” “I have put the new information on the screen.” The image had changed—now it showed the line starting a little past the supernova. “The ship’s initial speed would have been warp one-point-three, well inside its capabilities. After circling the supernova, it would have reached a speed of warp nine-point-eight. It would have reduced that to three-point-one by the time it reached Randall V.”

“Good work, everyone,” Gomez stated, and Gold admired the way she had carefully included all of them in the praise—a subtle reminder that they could do more together than alone. “Now we know where it came from, and we’ve solved the riddle of its excessive speed. Let’s keep doing what we’re doing, reevaluating and reexamining, and see what else we can figure out.”

She stood to go, and Gold watched them all file out of the room, sparing one last glance at the screen before he exited as well. A part of him was horrified by the notion that this runaway ship could move so fast, but the explorer side of him just thought, Oh, to fly so far, so fast.