I vaguely remember Spock warning me about the potential dangers of approaching this odd singularity too closely. It was powerful and appeared to be more than a little unstable — all the more reason to get a bit closer to send in a probe or two and give it a complete look-over with short range sensors. Star Fleet would really want to know all about this singularity as they rarely lasted long enough to dispatch a science ship there before they burned out or do whatever it is these special oddities do during their rather short lives.

We were already here, I thought, so we might as well do the job right. Besides, you don't get promoted to the command of a Star Ship by being overly timid. Boldness is very much the mantra of the day ... and it's right there in my mission statement and job description.

I ordered Sulu to map the wildly fluctuating magnetic fields to best set a spiral navigation course that could safely take us in a good bit closer. Risky, but that's why I get to sit in the big center chair.

We got there just fine, launched a few more probes, received a comprehensive batch of sensor readings and took a few last photos for good measure. Spock gave me enough "Fascinating" comments for me to know that we'd done good and the science boys back in Star Fleet would have some nice goodies to play with for the next year or two. Probably good for at least an "Atta-Boy" or two, or maybe even good for another Commendation. It had been a good day.

I gave Sulu orders to reverse our spiral course back away from the singularity and get us back on course to our scheduled destination. And we nearly, almost made it.

Singularities are wildly dangerous and magnetically unstable to begin with and despite exhibiting its best behavior earlier while we were poking at it, now that we were leaving it decided that now would be the best time to tear itself apart — with us inside in.

We burned out over half of our Dilithium Crystals and cracked the rest, but Scotty gave us "everything she's got" one last time and we blasted our way out. Unfortunately, it was more like ripping our way out via a backdoor that wasn't there the moment before. Rather than finding ourselves 2 days out from Delios VI, where we had been before, we were now someplace else quite entirely ... and none too gently placed there.

We awoke in near darkness and with the deep feeling of unwellness and unease that suggested that we had all been unconscious for a good couple of days.

I hurt every place it was possible to hurt and didn't feel at all myself. A good look myself revealed that I was starting to grow some all-over orange body hair and was exhibiting some darker spots intermixed. Not Good. A trip down to Sick Bay revealed that the entire crew was suffering the same ailment, which seemed to become worse by the hour. McCoy gave me a good bit of lip — showing off some growing canine teeth of his own, and promised that he'd get right onto finding a cure.

Engineering was a train wreck. Warp engines were down and staying down without some new crystals. For now, we were fine running on emergency power and could fire up the impulse engines if we could find somewhere to limp to. I ordered Scotty to reroute most of our remaining power to long range sensors. We needed to find out where the heck we were first.

I was starving and stopped by the mess hall for a bite but it failed to satisfy me. Nothing seemed to be wrong with the usual sythfood but it seemed tasteless to me and didn't remotely satisfy my growing hunger. I'd deal with that later, first it was time for a meeting with my officers.

There was a lot of sound and fury and in the end it all signified nothing. Spock was soon expecting the sensor suite to be back up to a max of 73% power and hoped to have some definitive results. His current working theory was that during the self-destruction of the Singularity we had been shunted off sort of sideways into some sort of parallel universe. It was perhaps possible that we were somewhere at the ass end of our own galaxy, but not at all probable.

The early medical reports were even less encouraging. We were all, the entire crew, currently changing into something vaguely feline-ish, completely with full body fur, predatory teeth and claws. The change was occurring quite rapidly and was absolutely unstoppable. Our entire DNA had been rewired apparently and it was going to take a major Star Fleet Med lab to reverse us. We had retained our human intelligence, for now, but our brain chemicals were changing also.

A Few hours later we got the new that the sensors had picked up a system with an "M" class planet about six months away at full impulse power. There was nothing else remotely close that we could hope to make on emergency power alone. I told Scotty to light those candles and get us there ASAP.

We kept most of our emergency power on sensors for awhile but never found anything else worth mentioning. Communications remained down and quiet, even when we switched most of our power there. Not a peep from Star Fleet, or anyone or anything else for that matter. 22+ million different communication frequencies and no one home or answering. Depressing.

Spock, Scotty and the rest of the crew tried dozens of really clever things over the next few weeks but in the end they amounted for absolutely nothing. Without warp engine power we had no way to retrace our steps out and attempt to create a way back home. I never understood why Star Fleet never allows us any spare Dilithium Crystals, surplus to immediate need. Sure they're expensive ... but so are Constellation Class Starships.

We never did quite figure out where or when the heck we were. I guess Spock's guess of a parallel universe will have to do. I don't think we'll ever find out for sure.

It took about three weeks for my fur to finish coming in and all of my other body changes were complete. I was quite the specimen of virile maleness now in my bright yellow fur with dark spots. I looked a good bit like a bipedal ocelot now, as did most of the crew. Uniforms were quite passé now; command stuff mostly had yellow fur like me, medical & science personnel saw their fur come in a dark blue, and the engineering & security folks were given a rich red coloration.

Not that anyone could have worn their old uniform comfortably anymore anyway. There had been significant skeletal and joint changes that made wearing pants frankly extremely uncomfortable. Boots were entirely out of the question now. Many of the females continued to wear the skirt out of custom but it was unnecessary. Fur now completely covered any reproductive parts that old human sensibilities had keep covered and hidden. Before long we were all walking about in just our fur, and comfortable with it.

Our eyes remained keen and sharp like a predators, but it was our sense of smell that seemed to change the most. It was now sharp and extremely informative. I could smell and identify each crew member by their scent before I could even see them.

The females were undergoing additional changes too, becoming more attuned to needs of their new bodies. They remained smaller than the males and the 'Great Change' had affected them the most. Much of the previous human intelligence was gone or deeply subverted. They were more hormonal now, their thoughts governed increasingly by their appetites. A few could still speak with difficulty in the manner of young children, like the delicious Yeoman Rand, but they were very much the exception.

Currently most of the females were menstruating, their all new reproductive systems gearing up for one last test run. Soon they would be fertile and in heat, eager to be serviced by their pack leader, the alpha male of their territory. That would be me.