A brief moment of normal

Posted on 08 Mar 2026 @ 9:00pm by Lieutenant JG Ryan Collingway
Edited on on 08 Mar 2026 @ 9:54pm

596 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Silent Inheritance
Location: Mess Hall/Engineering

///Mess Hall///

After Commander Harlan gave the all-clear, the tension broke like a waterfall over the engineering crew. Gone were the worried, tired glances. The feeling of a job that would never be completed. Instead everyone gave each other a clap on the back and made jokes again as they looked forward to going back on regular duty. Even Ryan felt like part of the celebrations.

"I don't think the CEO slept one wink while that was going on. Someone was spreading rumors that he was a salt vampire," Petty Officer Collins laughed.

Ryan joined in the laughter. "Which is why all those junior officers disappeared for days? Hey, speaking of medical, did anyone catch footage of Lieutenant Caldwell being rocketed from one deck to another? Because I really badly need that on my desktop."

"Not a fan of him, Ryan?" Another officer, Jeffries asked after more laughter.

Ryan thought about it, and shrugged his shoulders. "Nah, I haven't really met him. He is very clearly an overachiever who disregards safety. Not sure how that'll work once he goes back to normal duties."

"Aye, true enough. Most likely will open an airlock door to windex the glass outside. We all know how long those people last. But the kid's bright. We'll see," Collins said.

"He and the CEO went down to the planet a little while ago," Jeffries pointed out.

"Why?" Ryan asked.

"Who knows? Maybe they wanted to get some last minute R&R," Jeffries said.

Ryan frowned slightly. Didn't seem likely. He glanced at the time with a small sigh. Back to work, it seemed. "Duty calls, it looks like. It's good to see everyone's back," he said, finishing his drink.

///Engineering///

Ryan approached his desk as his computer suddenly switched on. HARD DRIVE RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETE. 63% RESTORED. RETRY Y/N?

Ryan sat down in his computer and glanced at the computer files the computer was able to retrieve. Since it was an analysis device in the middle of pretty much nowhere, there wasn't much on there to shift around. But there was one very notable message.

[i]It's not nice to play with other people's computer systems, nor change hardware without notice. Don't think Engineers are stupid. We understand the systems in ways you can't even imagine.[/i]

"No," Ryan said slowly. "We're not stupid."

He glanced at the tactical officers in the distance, putting away their things.

He had no doubt who had sent the message, and who it was meant for.

The only question was, why?

Had Commander McKinney done something with the systems?

He was another unknown, another officer he hadn't really met. Ryan didn't fully know what was going on, but he felt like he had inadvertently wandered into a situation that was a bit like he was between a rock and a warp core breech.

He needed more information about this. He needed to approach Lieutenant Caldwell when he was next on duty to understand more. And if something he didn't like was going on...Ryan remembered his promise to the Captain. If he had to choose the truth or a friend, this time he would choose truth.

And he didn't even [i]like[/i] Caldwell, nor was he a friend, so that should be a very easy decision to make.

For now though, he unplugged the hard drive from his computer, and safely stored it away. Just as he finished, his com badge beeped. "Lieutenant Collingway here," he said calmly.

"It's Lieutenant Caldwell," the com began. "We have a situation."

Lieutenant (JG) Ryan Collingway
Engineering Officer
USS Arawyn

 

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