A flash, a moment of darkness then comforting sunlight, that was what Dan went through after he was consumed by the encroaching void. It all happened in an instant, to the point where his mind couldn't keep up. Looking around, everything had a light blue tint to it, as if he had gazed at the sun for a while.

  "What just happened?" Old Raily shouted. "What was that and where are we?"

  The old gentleman was not the only one questioning what happened, but he was the loudest. Glancing around, Dan knew that if he didn't act soon, everyone there would fall into panic, something that would help no one.

  "Everyone calm down." He tried to get their attention, aiming to take control over the situation before anything bad happened. Seeing the people turning towards him, he spoke in a serious and collected manner, "First, is anyone injured? Look around you and see if anyone's missing or has fallen unconscious."

  At his words, the crewmen and their family members all looked around and did a messy head count. Dan himself scanned the crowd, trying to compare what he was seeing to the people he knew should be on the Voyager. His heart calmed down when his headcount, along with the one everyone was carrying, came up as expected. Thirty four including him.

  Seeing that no one was injured, missing, or in any sort of pain, other than the same blueish tint he had, which they guessed was because of the flash that came out of nowhere when they got consumed by the void, Dan's biggest concern was mitigated. The crew also seemed to have calmed down after they had to be proactive and do something, which broke their panic.

  "Everyone's here and safe, that's good," Dan said as he rubbed his eyes. The annoying blueish tint showed no sign of disappearing. "Now, I don't know what happened or whatever that crack was, but I doubt it was anything natural. For now, we should calm down. Panic won't do us any good. The crew and I will try and find where we are and send a distress signal. It won't take long before help comes. Meanwhile, don't panic and let's do our best to hold on. Any questions?"

  Having someone take control and assigning tasks to people calmed them down, making them easier to manage. With no one raising any questions, Dan nodded as he released a deep sigh he had been holding. The situation was so out of the ordinary that he was barely holding on himself, but in moments like these people needed their captain to be there for them. He for sure was going to be there for his crew and their families. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes to think for a few seconds before starting:

  "Robert, William, Freddie, Keith, Dex, Nik, Jackie and Marcus, come here please." The few he called disengaged from the people they were talking to before standing around him in a half circle. Dan noticed how old Raily also joined them, but he didn't comment on it. Once they were all there, he continued in a serious voice,

  "We just had a freak event happen to us, we don't know where we are, if help's coming, or if something worse is heading our way. We need to be prepared for whatever."

  "William," He faced the old gentleman first, "I don't know what that just now was and I don't know if it messed anything up. Take the trio with you and make sure everything's up and running as should be. I know it's not that easy with just you four here, but even a fast look-over is better than nothing."

  William, the Chief Engineer, nodded. The gentle and kind air about him replaced by a seriousness that was usually reserved for when he's in the engine room. The trio Dan mentioned were Rose, Francis and Luke, the Engineering Officers, William's right-hand people and the engineering department's shift leaders. A dependable bunch that knew and did their jobs well.

  "Keith and Freddie," Dan turned to the next pair, "See if our navigations are working well or if something's off. Also, try to find where we are, that's your highest priority right now."

  The two nodded. The pair were the First and Second Officers respectively. Responsible for navigation and the related equipment and its functionality. Keith was a young lively woman with short hair, she made it to her post at a relatively young age due to her competence. Freddie was a short bald fellow with a charming personality and laugh. The two worked quite well together and were a dependable pair.

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  "Dex, same for you. Take the deck hands with you and make sure everything's good on your side. It's going to be hard on you, but try to at least check the essential areas. William, Freddie and Keith, if you find anything wrong on your part, you should check with him on it first." Dex was the ship's main electrician, he was low on hands as his usual followers weren't there with him, but they had to work with what they had. The man looked at the other three before acknowledging his part.

  "Also," Dan continued, "Turn off any of the auxiliary systems that work on fuel. We don't know how long we are staying here so we need to cut off our consumption as much as possible."

  Dan knew that the amount they had would last them a bit more than a month in the best-case scenario. He doubted it would take that long for help to come, though.

  "Nik," Dan turned to the wall of a man standing on his right, he was almost 2 meters tall with muscles all over. The man was built like a tank and had a face that would intimidate most people before they got to know him and realise that he was one of the kindest people out there. He was Nik, the ship's Provision Master. One of the people who managed all the ship's inventory of food and beverages, a key part of their survival if help didn't come soon. "How are we doing on our stock? How long is it going to last us?"

  "We restocked just recently, so we are still good." Nik took his time considering his stock before answering in a voice that matched his image. "Even though this was the Voyager's last trip, and we have used most of our stock, for the small number of us here, we still have enough to last us from 1 to 1.5 months, if we ration well."

  "That's without mentioning our emergency reserve, of course. If we add that into the mix, we have months before we even start worrying about such things." Robert, the Chief Officer and Dan's right hand man, cut in from the side. Dan nodded, the reserve is usually enough to feed thousands of people for at least 7 and up to 10 days. It seemed that at least for food, they didn't have to worry.

  "That's great to hear. One less thing to worry about for now. Take Nula and Raymond with you and check the inventory again Nik," Dan nodded.

  He then turned to Jackie, the ship's bosun. The man had left his little daughter with Diana, Robert's wife, once he was called.

  "Jackie, try and keep everyone else from causing trouble." He meant the family members and friends of the crew there. "The situation is hard and the last thing we need is a mess." The bosun nodded in understanding and Dan let out a breath as he massaged his eyes again, the annoying bluish tint over his eyes felt as if it was getting stronger.

  He then glanced one last time at everyone there, "Okay everyone, I'm sure it's hard for you and you're just as shocked as everyone else, but we have to stand up and take things into our hands. Do your best and always put your safety first. Get moving."

  A series of 'Aye, captain,' and 'understood captain' sounded as everyone moved to start on their missions.

  Whatever it was that Old Raily joined for, he seemed to have got it as he too nodded to Dan and returned to his wife.

  "Marcus," Once he was sure that everyone, other than Robert, was out of earshot, Dan turned to the short and well-built Chief Security Officer, and said, "I think you understand the situation we are in better than anyone here. We are in an unknown location, and unknown dangers might be lurking around. Under such circumstances and without the other members of your team here to help... I think it's best if we-"

  Dan was still going, trying to lead to something he wasn't really sure about- but it was a choice he had to make, for the safety of his men and their families- when a shout was suddenly heard from somewhere close to the door.

  "WHAT THE FU-"

  What he saw when he looked to the source of the sound was Ricky, one of the three remaining deckhands, taking steps back while waving his hands in front of his face as if he was trying to swat away something. The man soon tripped and fell back. His actions shocked the people there as they retreated instinctively, before getting out of the shock and running towards him to see what was wrong.

  "Wh- what is this?" Just as Dan was about to join them next to Ricky, another shocked exclamation sounded from next to him. Looking to his right, he saw Robert looking absentmindedly ahead in a similar manner to Ricky.

  Not even having the chance to question his close friend, another sound rang from a few steps away, then another one, and another one. Standing there frozen while almost everyone looked absentmindedly at the air in front of them, Dan's heart almost stopped in fear and shock. Just as he was about to grab someone and start shaking them for an explanation, it happened to him.

  The blueish tint that covered everything in his sight suddenly flashed before deepening and becoming intangible, manifesting as a blue translucent window floating in front of his face, with a few words on it.

  "Loading and scanning complete."

  "What the..." He murmured blankly. The words only changed once he read and understood them, as if something waited for that before handing him the next part.

  "Otherworldly visitor. This is a one-time message.

  Due to circumstances out of your control, by powers beyond your comprehension, you find yourself now in the vast world of Talia.

  "The system welcomes you.”