Positive Change in the Water
Posted on 23 Oct 2025 @ 6:59pm by Ensign Mira Quinn & Ensign Balen Oran
Edited on on 23 Oct 2025 @ 7:11pm
740 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
Fractured Accord
Location: Science Lab
=/\= Science Lab =/\=
It was the end of the beta shift, and people were finishing up their work, either closing it down or preparing the gamma shift crew to take over.
Mira was already thinking ahead to supper when she saw Oran still sitting by his console. She was pretty sure she saw him when she came on the shift too. Curious, she headed over. He was studying the colony terraforming operations.
“Do you see anything interesting?”
Oran turned slightly toward Mira, pointing at the swirling data on the display. “Yeah, actually. Take a look at this – the water quality readings from Tarvik III are showing a real improvement. The subsurface water, which was loaded with salt like in those old reports from the Terraforming Incident on Zeta IV, is desalinating faster than we projected. The toxins are breaking down too, probably from the arrays finally stabilizing after the repairs.
If this trend holds, the groundwater could be viable for the colonists sooner than expected – maybe even cutting our habitability timeline by a few days. It almost seems too good to be true, but the data checks out so far.”
He zoomed in on the readings, highlighting the dropping salinity levels. “We should run a quick simulation to check for any hidden issues, like microbial shifts, but this could mean sending down a probe team to confirm. What do you think?”
Mira squinted at the readings, then back at him. “I think Sorvak’s going to be happy with the news. As much as he can be happy.” She then realized that’s probably not something she should say out loud and glanced around self-consciously to make sure she wasn’t overheard. “But it’s good news for the colony. They certainly need it.”
Oran studied the display for a moment longer before speaking. “We could also deploy the science drone remotely,” he suggested. “For a simple water sample, that should be sufficient — I can operate it from here. That way we’ll get a quick confirmation before committing resources to a full probe team. Once we have the readings, we can decide how to proceed.”
He lingered on the colorful data streams flickering across the console. For a fleeting moment, he found himself quietly admiring the very thing that always eluded prediction — the universe’s own restlessness. Its refusal to behave, to conform, to be fully known. Including unexpected good turns of events.
In that unpredictability, he thought, there was something profoundly beautiful.
“Great idea!”
Mira had originally meant to stop by for just a second but by now completely forgot about her dinner plans. She wasn’t the only one — a few more officers who were going off shift had stopped by Oran’s console to see what was happening.
She took the seat next to him, checking the console. “There’s a drone ready. Hold on.” She gave it a few commands, and soon the navigational data of the drone was showing it was making its way down towards the planet. She gave it instructions to head towards the colony. “You have the controls.”
The drone glided through Tarvik III’s upper atmosphere, its sensors streaming flawless data — salinity dropping, toxins gone, readings almost unnervingly clean. Oran adjusted the controls while Mira tracked the descent. The signal was steady, calm — until it wasn’t.
A flicker. A ripple across the water’s surface, though no wind or current registered. For a moment, the visual feed shimmered — like light bending around something unseen just below the surface. Then the disturbance vanished, leaving only perfection in its wake.
"What was that?" Mira asked, catching the disturbance in the telemetry feed.
Oran didn’t answer immediately. “Whatever it was… it reacted before the drone’s sampler even touched the water.”
The next transmission came through: sample secured, readings ideal. The lab quietly erupted with relief, but Oran kept watching the last few seconds of footage — frame by frame — until he caught it again: a faint silhouette beneath the ripples, almost watching the drone.
He muted the console and exhaled slowly. “Well,” he said, forcing a small smile, “the water’s clean.”
Mira caught Oran's eye. "So that's good news?"
Oran’s gaze lingered on the frozen image — that faint shape, perfectly still in the deep — and for the first time that day, the good news felt… incomplete.
=/\=
Ensign Balen Oran
Science Officer
USS Arawyn
Ensign Mira Quinn
Science Officer
USS Arawyn
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