Barzan Wormhole
The Barzan Wormhole is a formerly-unstable natural wormhole in the Barzan System with a fixed terminus near Barzan II and apertures in the Gamma and Delta Quadrants. Administrated jointly by the Federation and the Barzan people, it is primarily under the control of Starfleet, operating a fixed verteron array to maintain its stability.
The Barzan Wormhole is largely inactive, except for a 1-hour period every thirty days, during which its Alpha Quadrant terminus opens and connects for approximately 30-minute intervals with two apertures as shown in the chart below. Starfleet is continuing to study the subspace dynamics of the wormhole and hopes to increase connection time and frequency. It takes a vessel approximately five minutes to cross the wormhole.
| Quadrant | Region | Location |
| Delta | Gradin Belt | Epatha System |
| Delta | Nacene Reach | Takar System |
History
Originally discovered in the 2360s by the Barzans themselves, the Barzan Wormhole was initially thought to be the only stable wormhole in the galaxy. In 2366 negotiations were held between the Federation, the Caldonians, the Chrysalians, and the Ferengi with the Barzans aboard the starship Enterprise for rights to use the wormhole. These negotiations were mooted when it was discovered that only the wormhole's Alpha Quadrant end was fixed, while the other end moved between various points in the galaxy. This led to a Ferengi vessel carrying Arridor and Kol being trapped in the Delta Quadrant.
Largely forgotten after this point, the Barzan wormhole was encountered again in 2373 when the starship Voyager entered the Takar system, where Arridor and Kol had taken control over a primitive society on one of the nearby worlds. Not wishing to waste the opportunity to get home, Voyager managed to partially-stabilize the wormhole and attract its far end to their position with verteron particles. Not wanting to leave Arridor and Kol to terrorize the people of Takar, Voyager attempted to apprehend them, but they attempted to flee back through the wormhole. In an effort to lose Voyager the Ferengi activated a high-energy graviton pulse, which sent the wormhole spinning wildly off of its axis, making both ends of the wormhole unstable.
Since the 2370s, Starfleet had several projects ongoing to study the wormhole to possibly restabilize it, but it wasn't until 2389 that they developed the necessary data and had the right assets in place to do so. After contacting two of the ships still in the Delta Quadrant, they performed a stabilization experiment with a third ship at the Alpha Quadrant terminus to pull the wormhole back into its normal alignment with two major apertures detected in the Delta Quadrant, one near Takar and the other in the Gradin Belt.
This experiment used a combination of anti-graviton fields to "hollow out" a subspace "slot" that the wormhole would naturally be attracted to with a verteron field that helped establish a connection and it proved to be successful. Throughout the 2390s this wormhole was used to reinforce Starfleet in the Gradin Belt, which had been cut off from supplies since 2388, until it had stabilized to the point that the task force was able to expand through its other aperture near the Nacene Reach. In 2390, a Jupiter-class station was temporarily to monitor the wormhole array on the Alpha Quadrant side of the wormhole, designated as Deep Space 38. This station also coordinated a network of defense platforms designed to protect the Barzans from any possible visitors, though the wormhole largely remained quiet for the first several years. At the same time, Starfleet began construction on a much larger and more modern Guardian-class station. Until 2395 when relay stations were established at both apertures, a science vessel had to maintain station near the wormhole to continue to stabilize it, but this is now provided by a fixed verteron array at both apertures to complement one built over Barzan II.
By 2395, the Barzanian Planetary Republic and Federation governments had enjoyed generally cordial relations for over 20 years and Barzan acceded to the Federation. At this point, the still-under-construction station was renamed Starbase 38 aka Guardian Station. The station was completed in 2399, serving the dual purposes of facilitating trade and maintaining a permanent Starfleet presence at the mouth of the Barzan wormhole.