The Last Night of the 22nd Century

"Captain's log, February 17, 2157, 2140 hours. It has been approximately four hours since our last contact with Romulan forces at Deneb. At least according to the ship's chronometers.

Arcadia survived the passage through the anomaly, but sustained heavy damage. Warp drive is offline, and my chief engineer estimates it will take at least several days to restore, assuming repairs are even possible without a spacedock. We have impulse power, but only at limited capacity. We're experiencing failures throughout the primary power grid, hull damage across several decks, and portions of the sensor array remain offline. Sickbay is full. Of the eighty-three people aboard, we lost seven. Eleven more are in critical condition. The doctor assures me he's doing everything he can for them. Seven families will have to receive a message I had hoped never to write.

The order to enter the anomaly was mine. Given Arcadia's condition and the Romulan vessels' position, I saw no other course of action that offered us a reasonable chance of survival. That doesn't change the fact that seven members of my crew are dead. When we return, I will accept full responsibility for that decision.

For now, however, we have a more immediate problem.

We don't know where we are.

The navigational system is operational, but it cannot confirm our position against the astrometric data in our database. We've identified Deneb, along with several other familiar stars, so it appears we haven't traveled far from our original position. Their precise coordinates, however, do not match our navigational records. The science department has recalibrated the sensors twice and continues to get the same results. Instrument damage sustained during our passage through the anomaly remains the most likely explanation, but I'm beginning to have my doubts.

We've also detected residual particles along the outer hull that weren't present before we entered the anomaly. The science department has tentatively identified them as tachyon and chroniton radiation. At this time, we don't know whether they are simply a byproduct of the anomaly or directly related to what happened during our passage through it. Our own temporal references show nothing unusual. According to every system aboard this ship, we were inside for only a few minutes.

We're attempting to reestablish communications. So far, we've been unable to contact Enterprise, any of the allied vessels, or detect any Romulan transmissions.

In fact, we haven't detected anyone.

That concerns me more than our position.

Until we determine where we are, Arcadia will remain at minimum power. Our priorities are the wounded, stabilizing the ship's primary systems, and restoring long-range sensors. As soon as communications are operational, we'll transmit a Starfleet distress call.

I hope someone answers.

Rossetti, end log."