Another tense confrontation

Posted on 13 Mar 2026 @ 2:45pm by Lieutenant JG Ryan Collingway
Edited on on 13 Mar 2026 @ 3:19pm

408 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: Silent Inheritance
Timeline: Lathira IV

///Lathira IV////

The hours ticked by as Ryan worked. And worked.

More engineers came in, enough for it to seem like they were ants in a large colony tagging each conduit and moving onto the next. It was slow and tedious work, but nearing completion. By this time, Ryan had a good amount of dirt and grime on him. He stepped outside the tunnels to take a more detailed look at the map. The fresh air was a definite relief. He could see it was starting to rain. No doubt the colony would appreciate having a clean source of water at the moment.

He hadn't seen any sign of Lieutenant Caldwell since their initial meeting. Presumably he was with Commander Harlan. That suited him just find. Ryan didn't know what he expected from their confrontation. An explanation, preferably. Instead he got thinly veiled threats which left him with more questions than answers.

He didn't want to report it though, not yet. For all he knew this was a private spat between two officers and Commander McKinney accidently spilled Caldwell's coffee.

Although Lieutenant Caldwell's reaction suggested otherwise.

Ryan sighed. As he was about to go back, he could see a man approaching the tunnels, one he didn't recognize. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Commander Harlen. Lieutenant Kael is just asking for an update."

"No problem. He's just further in the tunnels to the right," Ryan directed. "I think we're almost done."

"Thanks." The security man glanced at him, and did a double-take. "Say, I recognize you. You were one of those drunk engineers. Weren't you the one who destroyed the power on the strip?"

Oh no.

The man snorted in amusement. "Well, hopefully you're sober enough to be working on this today."

Ryan felt a wave of irritation. "Yes, I am. And right now I'm toiling away, working to save your colony, because no one from this place thought to hire an engineer smart enough to figure out a significant design flaw with your shielding. And I didn't break anything. Your own shoddy infrastructure did that."

The man's amusement didn't change. "Fiesty, aren't you? Just don't screw it up, or maybe we will pull out a warrant for your arrest after all." He laughed. "Thanks for the directions, Lieutenant."

Ryan watched him go, his blood boiling. He forced himself to calm down. "I'm really starting to hate this colony."

Lieutenant (JG) Ryan Collingway
Engineering Officer
USS Arawyn

 

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