Two years into the Alpha Quadrant, but seventy years from home, the Intrepid-Class Starship Voyager pooped along through space, trying to avoid as many nasty encounters as possible. It never really had much luck though. Voyager seemed to be one of those starships which regularly ended up hip deep in doo-doo. It, the Enterprise D, (rest its soul) and the Defiant, always seemed to end up in trouble, constantly. And unlike the other two vessels, Voyager didn't have any back-up, should it need any.

"Captain?" Lt. Paris said, catching Janeway in the midst on a daydream involving chocolate cake. She didn't like to daydream, but the last few days... Everyone was having a hard time concentrating. There was NOTHING. For light years. Just a big, empty stretch of nothing. "Scanners detect an anomaly 2.4 kilometers off the starboard bow."

Janeway sighed. "Can you be a little more specific than anomaly, Lt. Paris?"

"Uhhhh..." Paris stuttered. What had he said? She sounded pissed. "Scanner's aren't sure. It's just... a..."

"A what?" Lt. Tuvok snapped. Humans, go figure.

"A hole." Paris snorted. "And its- " the ship jerked, and klaxons began to blare. Paris switched to forward viewscreens, and now everyone could see the huge hook coming out of the hole. The huge hook, attached to a monstrous chain, and sunk into the nose of Voyager.

"Reverse thrusters on full!" Janeway ordered, and Paris complied. Voyager's engine's shrilled and the tiny vessel began to shake. But it did not move. "Target that hook! Full power! I want all the phaser banks pointed at that thing! NOW!"

"Phasers targeted." Tuvok said calmly. A giant hook? Illogical.

Janeway's eyes narrowed to slits. "Fire." she growled. Tuvok pressed the pad on his commpanel, and a very concentrated phaser blast leapt out of Voyager's array and hit the hook.

The results were spectacular. There was a big flash of light, a hideous, organic wailing noise, and the hook exploded into sparks. Now free, Voyager shot backwards, away from the hole, and that awful hook. The front viewscreens were still on, and now, everyone could see the hole, and what was behind it.

A huge black and gold cube spun lazily in the center, and the edges of a fantasmagorical maze could be detected. And over the commsystem, the crew could hear awful wailing within.

Janeway shivered. Whatever was there, she didn't want any part of it. "Turn us around, Mr. Paris. Let's get the HELL out of here."

"Yes, sir." Paris didn't argue. The Voyager wheeled around and accelerated away, never knowing that hell was exactly where they almost ended up.

Almost.