STARDATE 9908.12 @18:10 HOURS

SUBSPACE MSG FROM: 1LT Thomas H. Quell

FOR: CAPTAIN, USS Federation

Captain: This log come to you from the other side of the wormhole shown above. I was testing the new engine on shuttlecraft Robin Hood when an uncharted wormhole snapped open in my flight path. Without sufficient time to react, I was sucked into the spatial vortex and find myself at the far rim of the galaxy, somewhere along the outer edge of the Beta Quadrant. This message is being sent to you in rapid-burst transmission, since the wormhole pulsates open every nine-point-two minutes, but only for a half-second. I suspect there is a cycle of larger rifts, but these happen less frequently.

I am encoding the data from my sensors and request you assign Lt Lee to analyze and confirm my hypothesis, preferably supplying me with a "best guess" as to the next opening. My limited onboard computer system is telling me I have to wait 11.8 years for the next thirty-second aperature. Meanwhile, I'll monitor this channel and explore a few nearby systems until Lt. Lee does her anaylsis.

I think this probably means I will not be available for duty for the next mission, but I hope to return soon as possible.

DATA ATTACHED in algorhythmic sequence.

DUTY LOG CLOSED, SDT 9908.12 @18:22 hours.

OFFICIAL ANALYSIS OF

THE "BETA-RIM" WORMHOLE

First Lieutenant Quell is correct that the 0.5 second open time for this wormhole occurs every 9.2 minutes, and that a 30 second opening occurs every 12.5 years, or 11.8 years from the time that he sent his message. However, due to the energy fluctuations he was able to record, I have acertained a number of things about this wormhole.

First off, this wormhole is a Class Five, and should present little problems to Mr. Quell during travel through it. He may possibly encounter a brief case of radiation sickness, but the standard med-kit will alleviate any such problems should they arise.

What has not been obviously shown through the limited observance thus far, is that there are several more periods of opening occuring at specific frequencies and intervals. The cycle of most import to Quell though, I would think is the full 3 minute opening cycle. It is most likely that this is the one through which he arrived at the rim of the Beta Quadrant. Though the frequency of open time is not as nice as the 9.2 minutes, it certainly isn't as long as the 12.5 year cycle either. Every 16.4 days (standard Earth 24 hours per day) the wormhole will open, allowing ease of travel. That should bring Quell home to where he expects to be, on stardate 9908.17 at approximately 2100 hours.

I bid Quell a safe return trip, and look forward to his return.

bFirst Lieutenant Jen Leeb