Answers

Everyone in the Operations Room of Starbase 10 were busy with the important tasks set forth for them: the best, and most elite of Starfleet. Fleet Captain Samji was working closely with the Alsea, the Tactical team was compiling a list of potential enemies going forward and the best way to counter each one in turn, the Security team was still locking down Starbase 10 and confirming the allegiance and intentions of every officer on the base, the communications officer was still trying to use the shuttles around the Anomaly to contact the remaining ships, and the Trill Science Officer sat calmly at his station attempting to estimate the location of the ships while keeping everyone up to date on the status of the Azimuth Horizon.

The remaining department, Engineering, was currently led by a new officer who had just arrived the day before. Lieutenant JG Daxos was given the daunting task of estimating the effects of the Anomaly on the crippled remains of the Artemis and providing quick solutions when... or if... they came out of the Anomaly upon completing their task. The assignment would've been difficult for the Tellarite who was still on his way back from his away mission, but he had time to study the massive amount of data that had come back about the phenomenon; in fact... he was there, on the Artemis, for the first mission inside it.

It did not seem fair to give such a task to the newly arrived Talaxian, but he was not going to give up easily. He just needed more information... and quickly!

Daxos approached the Trill Science Officer, clearing his throat nervously. "Lt. Commander Rexil, Sir, I need as much information about the Anomaly as time permits. First, I understand that it is expanding rapidly, but what exactly do we know about the effects it causes? Also, is the Artemis the first ship we've had on the inside of the Anomaly? Do we have any data from the inside?"

Rexil smiled at the young officer as he turned to face him. One of his past hosts had been a teacher and mentor so he was very sympathetic to the officer's situation and willing to provide any assistance he could. "Yes, it is expanding swiftly, but in a way it is also expanding slowly." He grinned at Daxos' confused look at the paradox. "The rate of expansion is directly proportional to its size, which means that the rate is exponentially increasing. Therefore, we believe that it may have even started over a hundred years ago and just now has grown big enough to even be recognized."

"There is another reason why I say it moves both swiftly and slowly. The true rate of growth is always through subspace, and thus is at warp 9.99997. However, any expansion is limited to its being able to find a nearby entry into normal space through existing subspace rifts. These rifts have been created through years of polluted warp travel along standard paths; you are of course aware of the limit to warp speed travel set forth in 47314, which was established to counteract the pollution I speak of."

Daxos seemed lost for a moment, but then his face lit up. "Ah, so the rate of growth that we are observing is in fact indirectly influenced by the amount of warp pollution. Fascinating!"

"The effects you ask of in the core of the Anomaly are intense plasma fires and increased gravitational eddies. Of course, beyond that, there is still a risk. Where space seems to be calm millions of kilometers away from the visible Anomaly, there are still random events where the Anomaly will spill out into normal space. This is not seen, but detected, if a ship is close enough, as a strong unknown force. In these instances, it has pulled ships in, including the Artemis and a Romulan vessel one of our officers encountered, which answers your second question; the only ships that we know of that survived are those two. When we looked back, over the past few decades there have been some reports of ships lost while traveling within several light years of this area. Most likely they got pulled off course for some reason or another and ended up not following their defined travel course, so there was never a known common denominator until now."

"We are limiting its ability to expand in such a way, so travel around the core of the Anomaly will be safe for the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours. The polluting factor I spoke of was fixed a few years after it was discovered, so that we could travel at increased warp factor again when necessary. By removing this fix from our ships, Lotus Fleet is essentially digging a trench around the Anomaly so that the warp tendrils will follow this circular route and essentially be trapped."

The young Talaxian looked slightly worried. "Wouldn't the anomaly just keep expanding to nearby polluted areas? What evidence do we have that points to areas with high pollution keeping the Anomaly at bay?"

"Certainly, it will continue to expand, but it will be delayed substantially. Imagine a volcano that is erupting, and the lava is following small trenches down the side of the mountain. If you dig a very large trench perpendicular to these smaller trenches -- in a ring around the foot of the mountain -- you will effectively stop the flow for a period of time. We have a plan to then essentially pour a large amount of water into that trench to then cool the remaining lava to make a shell, like a wedding band, around the Azimuth Horizon. We're waiting for the remaining ships to return to do this. The other part of the plan is to stem the flow from inside, which is what the Artemis is attempting right now."

"Data from inside is limited. We do not know exactly what the environment is, but we believe it is a bridge of some sort between normal space and subspace. The area inside is devoid of all electromagnetic and gravitational forces beyond what is brought in from the outside like a ship or the debris of an asteroid or planetoid. The lack of electromagnetic force wreaks havoc on our impulse and warp engines, which require a balance with the environment outside of the ship."

Obviously confused once again, Daxos asked: "did you not just say that the core of the Anomaly was filled with plasma fires and gravitational eddies?"

Rexil frowned and then nodded, realizing his mistake. "The Anomaly, yes. However -- and I realize now I failed to make this distinction -- the Azimuth Horizon, as we call it, is what I was speaking of. The Anomaly as a whole is the Azimuth Horizon together with the effects it generated when it spilled out into normal space. These much more noticeable, calculable, and normal effects are the plasma fires and gravitational eddies. Inside the actual Azimuth Horizon it is much more unusual. As far as we know, the Azimuth Horizon is like a wormhole, but one we have never encountered before. And the space beyond is thought to be another dimension or 'pocket universe' of some sort."

Satisfied with his knowledge of the Anomaly so far, the junior officer continued with his next question. "Very well. What do we know about the current status of the Artemis?"

"As I mentioned, the Artemis is attempting to stop the 'lava flow' or the spread of the Anomaly by essentially cooling the plasma reactions. We have already spoke of how they are an effect of the Azimuth Horizon, but it seems that they are also, paradoxically, a catalyst. The plasma reactions are fueling the spread, so it is compounding itself; thus the exponential expansion."

"Aha, so the Artemis is inside the core of the Anomaly. Am I correct in assuming that we have not yet had ships inside the actual Azimuth Horizon 'pocket', and that the data you mentioned from the inside was recorded by probes?"