At the cruising speed of Warp 6 it would take the Chernov 16 days to traverse the 17 light-years to the Veridian Rift. ( I will shorten it, of course:) As the Chernov neared the area of the Rift, they passed both Epislon Hersulls: a bright white sequence star used as a navigational beacon and the deep listening Post of Hekros-6. Then the bright expanse of the Veridian Expanse was before them.
The Rift was not where space should have ended.
It began as a shimmer on long-range sensors, a distortion of light that bent away from its own center. Then the Rift unfolded, like a wound in the fabric of reality, bleeding gravimetric currents into the void. The Chernov drifted closer under impulse, its sensors straining against the interference.
Filaments of energy lashed outward, vanishing into nothingness. Shadows flickered within, never resolving into form. Science logs noted tachyon fluctuations, harmonic distortions, and faint traces of bio-neutrino signatures—the suggestion of life, or something imitating it.
On the Bridge, silence stretched. What lay beyond was not simply space. It was an invitation—or a warning.

Nosferatu
Your Darkest Nightmare