The party is quite nice, while the champagne is replicated with synthehol in it and don't have any of the drawbacks, it still make you drunk.
As for Janeways speech...it wasn't bad. Better than her others at least.
Amusingly enough Seven is a real lightweight. She went straight past buzz and all the way into drunk from a single glass. I didn't even know that was possible.
Drunk Seven is kind of affectionate...
While I am the Doctor get her to sickbay to get something to lower her synthehol level, Harry and Tom are arguing about something by a console.
I pay it no mind, already knowing what its about. They discovered the 0.42 phase variant in the quantum field.
If nobody had discovered it before tomorrow I would take it to the Captain myself. Despite the new powersource it look like the timeline is more or less intact.
The next morning we are standing in engineering as Tom and Harry go through their findings and Harry bring up his plan "If we fly a shuttle ahead of Voyager as the threshold is forming, we can send the phase corrections back to Voyager. It would only be a couple of seconds of time between the shuttle and Voyager, but it could be done."
B'Elanna start to get optimistic about the idea as I tap away at a console, making calculations. After a few minutes I speak up "I got a alternative, Captain."
Janeway look over "What's your idea?" as the entire group move over
"According to my calculations, the crystals in the quantum slipstream drive would handle creating the transition a total of four times. We could run it for the 17 seconds Tom and Harry here came up with being safe and then drop back out. We can then either adjust to compensate with the extra data, or simply got back in for another 17 seconds. It can be done 4 times, cutting a significant chunk from our journey."
B'Elanna frown slightly "How close would it get us?" as I check my calculations again
"If our estimates of the speed is correct? About thirty thousand lightyears."
I glance up at Janeway "Your choice, Captain. Risk ship and crew to maybe make it all the way or safely cut the distance in half."
She look between me and Harry before nodding "Both of you, get me your calculations and the flightplan to my desk within the hour. You will have my decision by tomorrow."
In the end she went with a mix.
Harry Kim and Chakotay are running ahead of Voyager in the Delta flier as the quantum slipstream form the next morning.
The ride was rough and when they lost connection with the shuttle after twenty seconds she pulled the plug and dropped both ships back into normal space.
Three more jumps, each one pushing it a bit longer burned out the crystals but got the ship 30600 ly closer to home.
The day after I stand in engineering, arms crossed as I watch the last parts of the slipstream drive being removed from the Anni plants and put away into storage. I glance to the side where B'Elanna are standing "Don't look so sad, Lieutenant. We are almost at Earth."
She give me a look "We are over thirty thousand lightyears from Earth." and I smile
"Yes we are. Well within your lifetime. It's no longer a question 'if' you will reach Earth again. Just went. You might be old when you get there, but you no longer risk dying of old age before then. Besides, we just cut the distance in half. What we done once, we can find a way to do again."
She snort slightly and nod "I guess you are right...I was just hoping.."
I nod "That you where already there. I know."
AN// The singularities in the Anni plants are constantly forming from just a couple of atoms at a time, evaporating as fast as they form. That's why they are so 'weak' as they are. That also make them safe. If you cut the power the radiation blast is weak enough to be dampened to nothing by the powerplant itself.