The dangers of disconnection

Posted on 18 Jul 2026 @ 3:50pm by Lieutenant Ryan Collingway

364 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: Time After Time
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: Just after Magic Part II

///Main Engineering////

The air was already tense as the Arawyn encountered two ships, fighting each other, who definitely didn't belong there. Then came the strange, unidentified creatures living in space, who seemed content to ignore them for now. Thankfully Ensign Sorensen had kept his promise. So far not a scratch on the ship. But it felt like every moment promised a new impossible reality they were facing.

Then came the news down the pipeline-Lieutenant Collingway and Remington had seemingly disappeared from the surface. Communications was unable to establish a lock on them.

With that, the mood in Engineering plunged. It was a department who had lost too much, especially in CEO's, and now it was promising to lose another. Sorensen wasn't an official CEO, so his information from the bridge was strictly on a need-to-know basis. Simply that he was ordered to maintain at his post until the situation either stabilized or was correctly assessed.

That was an order with a wide range of possibilities. It could mean anything from simply being a com issue, or that something had attacked the away team and Ryan's brain would later be retrieved in a jar.

Despite being a technical department, engineering had no shortage of imagination.

"I'm sure it's fine," Sorensen assured the rest of his team in engineering.

He didn't sound convincing in the least.

With a small sigh he boosted power to both communications and the science department respectfully, to give them a better chance to find their people. The moment they were under attack, he could switch the excess power back to defense with the flip of a button. But for now, he was going to do what he could to help their CEO and CSO.

"Dammit, Ryan, we made a deal," he muttered to himself. No scratch on the ship, in return for him figuring this out.

He couldn't do that if he was a brain in a jar.

Sorensen studied the controls, and released a slow breath. He didn't know what was more stressful-being on the planet, cut off from the ship, or being on the ship anxiously waiting for news.

Both scenarios seemed awful.

Ensign Sorensen
Engineering Officer
USS Arawyn

 

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