Breathe

Posted on 22 Jul 2026 @ 3:13pm by Lieutenant Ryan Collingway & Lieutenant Commander Steven Remington
Edited on on 22 Jul 2026 @ 3:53pm

1,170 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Time After Time
Location: Planet & Decon aboard Arawyn

/snip/
"Commander, when the correction occurs, you and Lieutenant Collingway must remain mentally focused on the Arawyn. You have been affected by the anomaly in ways that I have not. Hold on to who you are and where you belong."
/snip/

"Understood," Ryan's voice was quiet. Almost above a whisper. It was unusual for him.

But truthfully, he was terrified. He knew there was a whole course in the academy about unexpected away team missions. How one could be isolated, left to fend on their own devices. There wasn't so much about literally being unmade and then remade....twice in one day.

Aster focused closely on the world around him. Ryan didn't have the luxury of having to think about it for much, or finding another way. This way was happening now. He tried to focus on what he knew of the Arawyn. Alura. Anything he could. But terror got in the way.

He inadvertently closed his eyes when he felt things really change.

It wasn't painful, but it was strange. It was like parts of him were torn away from him. Learning how to drive a car. Studying for years in a college that didn't exist. The basic lessons needed to survive in 1984 were stripped away from him, returning to a holding dimension that demanded them back.

And for one terrifying second, it felt like something grabbed him, and his own essence was being pulled back as well. A hungry micro-universe wanting back what it had just lost.

A sharp voice broke through his terror.[i]"I need you to state, clearly, that this lapse in judgement will not be repeated. That when faced with an impossible situation again, you will choose truth first."

"Can you do that, Lieutenant?"[/i]

Ryan's eyes snapped open, and he fought against the pull. Being back on the ship was the true reality. He mentally connected to the Arawyn, while the pieces belonging to the holding frame returned back. And at the same time, knowledge hidden in the corners of his mind returned back to him. The knowledge to repair a warp core swiftly overrode the knowledge to repair a radio at the local diner.

It wasn't an easy process. Reality literally transformed around him. Sherman Oaks transformed into a red desert. He himself changed, in the process. Knowledge and memories of himself returned back to him. The ones from Sherman Oak dimmed significantly.

Steve also felt the conflicting pull on his body and his psyche. He found himself thinking of the old process of pulling taffy candy until it was the right consistency. He tried to close his eyes and keep his mind on the facts he knew and understood as a zoologist.

Flashes of an advanced lab facility entertained Steve for several seconds before his curiosity won out and he opened his eyes to the chaos around them. It felt like being in a glass beaker, rotating slowing 365 degrees. It was like he was moving, not the world around him, watching the changes in the buildings and the sky with the ships again screaming across the landscape. Then monsters in the sky disappeared with grace into a thin blue line in that sky and in the time it took him to blink, the landscape became barren red dirt as far as he could see. Small wind spinners carried dust along the surface. The air was preciously thin, and he knew he was in a hostile environment.

Ryan blinked several times as he suddenly refocused back on the planet. The-cul-de-sac was gone, as were the people. The soil was red, and there was nothing but rocks around them. For a moment, there was silence as everyone observed this. Ryan wanted to talk about what happened, but the air became thin and uncomfortable. It was a struggle just to breathe.

"Commander Batenburg, hold position. We are bringing you home."

Home.

Ryan couldn't wait.

Steve took a sharp unsatisfying inhale, still looking around, curiosity blinding him to any danger at the moment.

Very swiftly, they were beamed back to the ship. The transporter chief smoothly beamed them to the decon chamber.

Ryan sat down on one of the benches. "Are you all right?" he asked Steve in concern.

Steve was standing in the middle of the room with the others, looking around at the suddenly familiar surroundings. "Interesting," he replied. "This is the decon chamber." It was said with both surprise and casual recognition. He turned to Ryan. "Yeah. You?"

"I'm myself...I think," Ryan confirmed.

Amberlyn was busy checking out Commander Batenburg and Lieutenant Flammia, so Steve moved to sit down slowly next to Ryan, running his hand along the bench seat as if checking to be sure it was real. "That was a strange experience," he said. "I wonder how much time has elapsed." Instinctively he looked to the chronometer above the doorway, but with no proper reference to when they began this numinous journey, he just frowned.

"Don't know," Ryan admitted. "We were in a place where time ran faster, then we weren't. I honestly don't know if it's yesterday or tomorrow. Or if it'll show up that we are biologically a day older than everyone else." He closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the wall. "One thing is for sure, I'm definitely tired. I am hoping this will be a quick in-and-out with medical, but somehow I doubt that."

The red alert switched off. "That's a relief, at least," Ryan added.

"I think my brain is untwisted," Steve said, rocking his head left and right. "I'm back to being me, but I can remember not being me, or being a different me. Not so much like a real memory but like a knowing." He tried a different word, "Like intuition." He tried again, "But more than a gut feeling. How's your brain working?"

"The same," Ryan agreed. "Like it was some strange, loopy dream. I remember being a college student, but not the years spent studying there. My most clear memories are after I met you in that universe, and even that's foggy."

He glanced at the com. "Think they'll let us check in with our departments right away?" he asked.

"Mmmmm? Not sure. Ask the doctor?" Steve suggested. "I'm very curious, but not too eager to throw myself into that stressor until they do check me out. I can trust my people to feed the snake," he smiled.

"Yeah, I trust my people as well," Ryan said. Plus the red alert being off was a very good sign. Still..."Hey Commander, do we know the ship status while we were away? Were they attacked?" he asked instead.

After hearing a negative, he visibly relaxed. At least the ship was safe and undamaged. Everything else could safely wait.

The decontamination cycle came to an end, as the medical team arrived, ready to do a lot of testing.

Lieutenant Commander Steve Remington
Chief Science Officer
USS Arawyn

Acting Lieutenant Ryan Collingway
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Arawyn

 

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