3.6 Warp Field Collapse

When travelling at warp speed, Voyager is presumably enveloped in a warp field which suspends the ship in a bubble of subspace. In other words, the ship is partially existing in another universe. In order for the ship to return to "normal" space, the subspace field generators must be powered down in a properly synchronized sequence. This is not ordinarily a problem (in fact, it is possible to simply "turn off" the generators, and the residual field collapse will normally be safe). On the other hand, should the fields collapse in an unsynchronized sequence, it is possible for different parts of the ship to be travelling at different warp factors. The result would be that the subspace field stress would immediately shred the ship and its crew.