Morning Speculation

Posted on Wed Jul 15th, 2026 @ 10:32pm by Lieutenant JG Maxine "Max" Lewis & Lieutenant JG Élan Val & Lieutenant JG Alicia Santos & Ensign Matt Connor & Ensign Eric Banner & Ensign Erin Andala

1,230 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Disaster at Morska

The ship's lounge was unusually busy for so early in the morning. Normally, breakfast aboard the Eclipse came in waves. Alpha shift officers filtered through first, followed by those coming off the night rotation, while everyone else appeared whenever duty schedules allowed. There was an easy rhythm to it that had developed over months of shared service.

Today there was no rhythm. The emergency departure from Starbase 24 had disrupted every routine aboard the ship. Most of the crew had been asleep only a few hours before finding themselves racing back from the station under an immediate recall order. Shore leave had ended almost without warning, uniforms had been thrown on in haste, and the Eclipse had slipped away from the station before many officers had even fully awakened.

Now, with the first rush of departure behind them, the lounge had become the natural gathering place. Coffee was flowing and almost every meal was disappearing almost as quickly as it appeared. Around every table in the lounge, the topic of every conversation inevitably turned toward the question everyone aboard the ship was asking: Why?

Matt balanced his breakfast tray carefully as he stepped away from the replicator and looked around the lounge. The room felt different, not exactly tense but still different. The aftermath of Adelphous still lingered aboard the Eclipse. Even after weeks at Starbase 24, the absence of Commander Karl Rogers and Ensign Noa Oku still made itself known in little ways.

Matt spotted a familiar collection of uniforms near the panoramic windows. The first he recognized was Banner, sitting beside an officer he could only guess would be Lewis. He recognized Santos and farther down the table Andala who was sitting beside a Trill he couldn't place a name to. He hesitated. A month ago he might have simply grabbed another table. But their time on the Eclipse had changed all of them. He walked over. "Mind if I join you?" he asked.

Eric Banner looked up from his coffee and nodded. "Please, join us," he said.

Matt sat down, setting his tray carefully on the table while offering a nod to Banner. For a few moments no one spoke. It wasn't uncomfortable, but seemed more like everyone was still waking up. Matt finally spoke up as he picked up a fork. "So, anybody actually know why we got dragged out of bed before sunrise?"

Max grinned around a mouthful of toast. "If I had to guess?" She said after she swallowed. "We're being sent to rescue some admiral who ignored common sense."

Eric chuckled as he rolled his eyes. The time he had spent around Lewis since she had come on board had been interesting, to say the least. "You've been aboard the ship maybe two weeks and you're already making jokes about admirals," he said.

Max shrugged. "I work in operations, and I serve in Starfleet," she said. "I'm telling you, they only call science ships out in the middle of the night to go check on some dumb idiot who did exactly what they were told not to do."

Alicia stirred her coffee thoughtfully for a moment before she spoke up. "I don't think it's anything political," she said. Looking up, she noticed everyone turning towards her. With a shrug, she continued. "If it were diplomatic or political, they would have sent us out during normal duty hours. If it were an emergency, they would have sent a ship with better capabilities or a second ship with us. This felt much more urgent. Engineering barely had time to complete departure checks before we were underway, and we cut corners. Someone wanted us moving immediately, and that normally means someone needs help somewhere."

Erin had barely touched her breakfast. She had listened quietly as everyone offered theories. Normally Noa would have been sitting beside her. The realization struck again before she could stop it. She looked down at the untouched eggs on her plate, then deliberately forced herself back into the conversation. "My money's on a scientific anomaly," she said.

"Spoken like a true science officer," Élan said softly with a supporting smile towards Andala. She understood better than most that loss had a habit of joining people together. "You know," the Trill continued, "one of my previous hosts once spent four months chasing what Starfleet believed was a dangerous subspace instability. It turned out to be nothing more than a colony of space dwelling organisms that happened to distort local sensor readings."

"Seriously?" Matt asked, blinking towards the good looking Trill. He finally shook his head. "Science is just too freaking weird."

Eric took another sip of his coffee. "I think we're responding to some kind of distress call," he said. "It makes sense, I mean no offense but I can't think of a time when Starfleet recalled an entire crew before breakfast because of a nebula."

"That would make sense," Alicia said.

Matt nodded slowly as he chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "Security got activated almost immediately," he said.

"So did engineering," Alicia added.

"And operations," Max said with a frown. "And that actually does narrow things down a bit."

Matt nodded slowly. "If it's a distress signal, that could mean anything," he said. "Literally anything can cause that."

Max smiled as she leaned back in her chair. "Ok, then," she said with a grin. "Let's place bets."

"Bets?" Matt asked. "On what, the reason we're being called out in the middle of the night?"

"Exactly," Max said. "Winner get ten credits from everyone else."

"What the hell, it's not like we're getting shore leave anytime soon," Matt said.

Max raised an eyebrow as she pointed around the table. She first pointed towards Ensign Andala.

"I still say it's a scientific anomaly," Erin said.

Max nodded and pointed towards Banner.

Eric thought for just a second before he shrugged. "I say Klingon," he said.

Max laughed and pointed towards Connor.

"Unknown distress call," Matt said with a shrug.

Max randomly pointed towards Val next.

"Temporal paradox," Élan said.

Alicia blinked, her confusion showing. "Why a temporal paradox?" she asked.

Élan shrugged, the movement a deliberate and elegant one. "It's always fun when it's a temporal incident," she said.

The laughter that followed lingered. To some, like Alicia, it felt needed. For weeks everything aboard the Eclipse had revolved around grief and recovery. "I definitely needed that," she said after a moment.

Élan watched the group carefully. The dynamic between these officers fascinated her. Every crew developed its own personality. The Hyperion had been different, as the losses there had forged deep friendships. The Eclipse reminded her of those first months afterward, where people were learning one another again. She admired that. She finally lifted her glass of tea. "To everyone coming home," she said.

"I'll second that," Matt said as he raised his coffee.

Eric nodded solemnly as he raised his own mug.

Alicia hesitated for just a brief moment before he raise her glass of orange juice and nodded silently to the toast.

Erin paused and nodded as she raise her coffee mug. For once, her grief at the loss of Noa had been lessened to the point where she could join in without completely breaking down.

Max raised her own cup and nodded. Outside the view ports, the stars streaked past as the Eclipse raced along at warp speed toward her next mission.

 

RSS Feed