Not a typical officer

Posted on 31 Mar 2026 @ 3:46pm by Lieutenant Ryan Collingway

401 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: Arawyn’s Itchy Trigger Finger

///Harlan's Office////

Ryan watched Alura leave, and a small sigh left his breath. That had been selfish of him. To give himself a moment to react, to grieve the people who had been lost. He was a Starfleet Officer. He needed to be strong for everyone else. His own personal feelings could wait.

But maybe he wasn't a typical Starfleet Officer. Maybe he wasn't cut out for this. Doubt flickered in his mind, before he roughly shook it away. He had survived an attack on a starship before. He could get through this one. And it seemed like things were starting to go there way.

He eyed the computer. He could probably use his creditentials to log in and see the reports from the bridge. Ryan briefly remembered Mike asking him where he got those credentials in the first place.

He hadn't done anything wrong. Technically.

As much as he wanted to, he avoided that temptation, at least for now. Attempting to do so would probably get him flagged in the system. If there was something important, the bridge would tell him directly. Hopefully. Shaking his head, he left the office.

"We've got another problem," Sorensen said. "Some kind of power drain."

"What?" Ryan took a look at the readings. "Let me see that."

Suddenly the com came to life.

Harlan to Engineering, report,” he said, his voice clear and authoritive.

“Commander, it’s good to hear your voice,” Ryan replied, relief evident, and gave his report, along with the power drain.

It’s the shields,” Elias said. “Look at the generator recycle times. The regeneration cycle is taking longer and firing more frequently than normal. Something is leaching power from the emitters.”

He paused, then added, “Confer with the bridge. They should know what shot at us by now. Inform them of the draw and the status of the shield emitters.”

"Yes sir," Ryan said.

"He lives," Sorensen said with a whistle of appreciation.

"Run a diagnostic on the shield emitters. Let's see if it's something internal causing this...or not."

Sorensen raised his eyebrow. "You think it might be something external?"

"Can't really be sure. We can't dismiss anything, though. We need more data," Ryan said.

Those bridge logs were getting even more tempting to look at by the second. But instead, as instructed, he relayed Harlan's message to the Captain.

Lieutenant (JG) Ryan Collingway
Engineering Officer
USS Arawyn

 

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