The First Duty
Posted on 23 Jan 2026 @ 6:14am by Lieutenant JG Mira Quinn & Lieutenant Commander Elias Harlan & Lieutenant JG Ryan Collingway
Edited on on 23 Jan 2026 @ 7:59am
1,809 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission: Lathira Shoreleave
///Brig, Lathira IV////
Ryan was sitting in the cell, waiting with everyone else. His buzz had long worn off, and his head was about to approach the beginning of pain. He was in serious trouble, and he knew it. Even though he hadn't done the deed, he was still the ranking officer. A promotion that only happened a few days ago. He would give a lot for that not to be the case.
He suddenly heard footsteps. Commander Harlan. He stood and straightened up. "Sir," he said simply. "I take full responsibility for what happened."
Corin blinked awake to a finger poking his shoulder. "Wha-?"
Vel was crouched beside him, a finger to her lips, nodding toward the Lt Cmdr outside the bars.
Everybody else was standing at attention, and Corin hurried to join them.
Was this the new Chief? His mind was so muddled he really didn't know.
Vel slowly rose, careful not to draw attention. The senior officer was still just standing there, watching them.
She looked over the group in the small cell: nine officers, all ensigns except for Lt JG Collingway.
Even though her instinct was to say something - to explain, to justify - she was more than willing to let him take the lead.
Ryan tried to meet his eyes, although this time was significantly harder. Competency. Honestly. Telling him when he was wrong. That was the supposed deal, in exchange for protection when the brass came down. Which right now, it definitely was.
And so far, he had definitely failed on the first one.
Elias stood outside the holding cell, travel mug still clutched in one hand like a lifeline. The coffee had gone lukewarm, but he took another slow sip anyway—more habit than need. The dim overhead light caught the faint lines of exhaustion around his eyes, the unshaven jaw.
He didn’t speak right away. He just looked at them, most of them ensigns, one freshly minted lieutenant j.g. standing ramrod straight at the front. Ryan Collingway. The kid was trying to meet his gaze, but it kept sliding away. Elias let the silence stretch just long enough to feel heavy.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low, subdued—not angry, not raised. Just tired. The kind of tired that came from too many nights like this, too many crews who’d forgotten what the uniform actually meant.
“Lieutenant Collingway,” he said quietly, eyes locked on Ryan. “I appreciate the offer to fall on the sword. I really do. It’s noble. It’s what a good officer does when he thinks his people are about to hang for his mistake.”
He paused, letting the words settle.
“But I didn’t come down here for a scapegoat. I came down here for the truth.”
He shifted his weight, mug still in hand, and looked past Ryan to the rest of the cell—wide eyes.
“You’re Starfleet officers,” he continued, voice steady. “That means something. It means integrity. It means owning your actions—especially when they hurt civilians who had nothing to do with your bad decisions. Hiding behind rank or letting someone else take the fall isn’t protection. It’s cowardice dressed up as loyalty.”
He took another sip of coffee, grimacing slightly at the cold bitterness, then set the mug down on the ledge beside the bars with deliberate care.
“Whoever actually touched that lift—whoever thought ‘wobbly’ meant ‘needs Starfleet intervention’—step forward. Right now. No names, no ranks, no excuses. Just tell me what happened. Because if you don’t, and this drags out into formal charges, it’s not just your careers on the line. It’s the ship’s reputation. It’s every officer in this fleet who has to explain why Starfleet can’t be trusted on leave.”
He looked at Ryan again, softer this time—not forgiving, but not condemning either.
“I know you’re trying to do the right thing, Lieutenant. I respect that. But the right thing isn’t always the easiest thing. So I’m giving whoever did this one chance—right now—to come clean. Voluntarily. Honestly. Before the constable starts asking harder questions and before I have to start asking them myself.”
Elias stepped back half a pace, arms loose at his sides, waiting.
“I’m not yelling,” he added quietly. “I’m not going to scream or threaten. But I am going to stand here until someone tells the truth. Because that’s what Starfleet does. Or at least… that’s what we’re supposed to do.”
He didn’t move. Didn’t look away. Elias waited. He was good at waiting.
Ryan released a small sigh, but said nothing further. His eyes inadvertently darted in the direction where Vel and Corin were standing, which was a pretty good indication of who it was. But he knew that the Commander wanted that person to come forward voluntarily, so he kept his mouth shut.
Even if Vel would have wanted to hide at this point, she really couldn't - because everybody in that little cell was looking at her.
She stepped forward, meeting Harlan's gaze. "It was me, sir."
She was still in that liminal space of being half-drunk, assuming that things would work out in the end. But she was sober enough to realize that the senior officer on the other side of the bars would not want to hear excuses.
Elias breathed an internal sigh of relief the moment Vel stepped forward. The duty speech had worked. One honest admission was worth more than a dozen deflections.
“Okay, Ensign,” he said quietly, voice low enough that it carried only to her and the nearest deputies. “Thank you.”
He gave a small, single nod to the constables. They moved without comment, keying the cell door open. The lock disengaged with a soft metallic clunk.
Elias stepped half a pace back, giving the group room to file out. He kept his eyes on them—not glaring, not judging, just steady.
“Everyone is confined to quarters for eight hours,” he announced, voice calm but carrying the unmistakable weight of command. “Starting the moment your boots hit the deck plating back on the Arawyn. That’s part of the plea deal I had to negotiate—personally—with the constable to get you released without formal charges. No record. No court date. But understand this: I didn’t get you out of jail to let you off the hook. I got you out so you could face real consequences instead of civilian ones.”
He let that sit for a second, eyes moving across the group—Ryan’s tight jaw, Vel’s half-sober wince, the wide-eyed ensigns who suddenly looked very young.
“Two damage-control teams are already planetside,” he continued. “They’re working under the local authority under my supervision to stabilize the grid, replace damaged components, and leave the resort’s infrastructure in better shape than we found it. Because even though the lift was old and poorly maintained, what happened to it was on us. We own that. And we fix what we break.”
He shifted the mug to his other hand, the ceramic clinking faintly against his ring
“Ensign,” he said, turning to her directly but without heat, “I’m not a bridge officer, so any formal admonishment or NJP isn’t mine to hand out. That’ll come from Commander Batenburg or the captain once we’re back in orbit. But you came forward. You owned it. That matters. It’ll count in your favor. As for the rest of you under my chain of command…” His gaze swept the junior engineers. “Let this be the lesson. Not the punishment—the lesson. My disappointment isn’t loud. It’s quiet. It’s long. And trust me, you do not want to see it twice.”
He stepped fully aside, clearing the path to the exit.
“Dismissed.”
Most of everyone filed out. The security officers, not very happy to be doing this tonight, moved to make sure that process happened smoothly. Ryan looked away. "Wait."
The security guards glared at him. Ryan knew he was more of a prisoner than an officer right now. "Please. I have a question for the Commander."
The security guard reluctantly nodded. Everyone else filed out quickly. Except for them.
"How did you know?" Ryan asked slowly. "I confessed. How did you know it wasn't me?"
Elias didn’t stop walking right away. He kept his stride steady toward the exit, forcing Ryan to fall in beside him if he wanted an answer. The holding area’s harsh lights buzzed overhead, and the faint smell of stale alcohol and sand still clung to the air.
When they were a few paces from the door, Elias slowed, just enough.
“Because you hesitated,” he said, voice low, almost conversational. “Not when you took the fall, that was fast. Too fast. You’d already decided you were going to cover for whoever did it the second the constable showed up. That’s what a good officer does when he thinks his people are in over their heads.”
He glanced sideways at Ryan, eyes tired but sharp.
“But when I asked for the truth, you looked at her. Not a guilty glance. A protective one. You weren’t shielding yourself. You were shielding someone else. And the only reason a brand-new lieutenant j.g. throws himself on a grenade like that is because he thinks the alternative is worse.”
Elias gave a short, humorless huff.
“I’ve been the guy trying to protect the ensign who screwed up. I’ve also been the ensign who let the lieutenant take the heat. Difference is, I learned the hard way that covering for someone doesn’t teach them anything. It just teaches them they can hide behind rank.”
He stopped at the door, turning to face Ryan fully.
“You’re not a bad officer, Collingway. You’re just young enough to think loyalty means eating the blame. I’m old enough to know loyalty means making sure the next mistake doesn’t happen.”
He held Ryan’s gaze for another beat.
“Next time, trust me to handle it without you falling on the sword. That’s what I’m here for.”
Ryan hesitated-truly hesitated at his words. The Commander was asking him to trust him. And given everything that they had gone through tonight...."I've been the Ensign that had superior officers ask me to trust them before. It usually doesn't end well. That's my experience."
He didn't wait for a response. He simply nodded at the guard to take him away for his confinement. Soon Elias was left alone.
Lieutenant Commander Elias Harlan
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Arawyn
Lieutenant (JR) Ryan Collingway
Engineering Officer
USS Arawyn
Vel and Corin (NPC)
Apb Lt (JR) Mira Quinn
RSS Feed