...And you couldn't have picked a less reliable source at that. ;-)I'm not well aware of Trek's warp speeds, and the only thing I could find was Wong's page on it.
I don't know how reliable it is, but it seems that Trek is hugely inconsistent regarding those speeds.
Voyager initally seemed to follow Okuda-Sternbach backstage warp chart for the first two years of it's run, then later started to come up with other reasons for Voyager not getting home. What Wong on his page left out is episodes like "Year of Hell, part I", "Hope and Fear", and "Q2" where we learn that Voyager can cut a significant number years off it's journey home with improved navigational data on the Delta quadrent. So in Voyager's case it simply isn't a matter of raw speed.I've often heard how TOS had punchy FTLs, and how a show like voyager relies on a sluggish drive to explain the issue the Voyager crew has to deal with.
We also have direct statements from episodes like "Maneuvers" and "The 37s" that Voyager is capable of speeds ranging from 6,700c to 21,400c. In TNG's "The Chase", it is stated and shown that a starship should be able to make a journey of some 30-40,000 ly in "weeks", implying speeds near or well in excess of 1 million c.
That sounds fair, but what would you choose to define as "high end" for either one? Why not compile the numbers and pick the most likely average?Let's say in the light of contradictory elements, if the Trek side wants to use the high ends, the Gate side will also be able to do so.
Actually that is not true at all. The E-D being yanked out of warp by the Dyson Sphere's gravity well in "Relics" is pure urban legend. The E-D was, in fact, dropping out of warp, then shaken by the gravimetric stress as this clip of dialog from the script shows:It would also appear that warp can be interdicted (Ã la Star Wars' EU) by gravity wells which Gate drives completely ignore, unless they reach the levels of big black holes.
PICARD
(to Rager)
Bring us out of warp, Ensign.
All stop.
RAGER
(works)
Aye, sir.
The ship is suddenly ROCKED and the alert status goes
to YELLOW. Picard, Riker, & Data move toward their
stations.
PICARD
Report.
WORF
We have entered a massive
gravitational field.
They all react with surprise.
DATA
(works)
There are no stars or other
stellar bodies listed on our
navigational charts. However,
sensors indicate the presence of
an extremely strong gravitational
source in this vicinity.
PICARD
(to Worf)
Can you localize the source of
the gravity field?
Worf works his console.
STAR TREK: "Relics" - REV. 8/5/92 - TEASER 3-3A.
3 INCLUDE VIEWSCREEN (OPTICAL)
The viewer displays a starfield with a large dark ball
at the center. At this distance, it appears as smooth
as a billiard ball, but because it is so dark it's hard
to discern anything else.
Everyone is mystified by this strange object.
RIKER
Sensors?
DATA
I am having difficulty scanning
the object. However, it would
appear to be approximately two
hundred million kilometers in
diameter.
Picard and Riker react with astonishment.
RIKER
That's nearly the size of Earth's
orbit around the sun.
PICARD
Why didn't we detect it before
now?
DATA
The object's enormous mass is
causing a great deal of
gravimetric interference. That
might have prevented our sensors
from detecting the object before
we dropped out of warp.
Please note the bold-emphasized dialog of Data's.
-Mike