Life, Interrupted
Posted on Thu Jun 11th, 2026 @ 10:04am by Lieutenant Thomas Fletcher
478 words; about a 2 minute read
Mission:
Preamble
Location: New Bajor
It was near the end of the first week that Starfleet finally remembered Lieutenant Thomas Fletcher existed.
Tom was ankle-deep in a trench helping Taran replace a section of irrigation piping when the distinctive whine of shuttle engines rolled across the fields.
He paused, one hand still resting on a hydrospanner, and looked up.
A small utility shuttle descended from the clear afternoon sky toward an empty patch of ground beyond the farmhouse.
The vehicle itself was unremarkable.
The fact that it was heading directly toward them was not.
Taran glanced skyward.
"Expecting company?"
"No."
The answer came a little too quickly.
The shuttle settled in a cloud of dust and displaced grass.
For a few moments nothing happened.
Then the hatch opened.
A familiar Starfleet uniform emerged.
Tom sighed.
"That can't be good."
The approaching officer carried a PADD and the slightly irritated expression of someone who had spent considerably longer looking for another person than they had originally intended.
"Lieutenant Fletcher?"
Tom gestured broadly at himself and the trench.
"You found me."
"Apparently."
The officer consulted his PADD.
His eyes moved from the screen.
To Tom.
To the trench.
To Taran.
Then back to Tom.
"Engineering Services has requested your assistance."
Tom blinked.
"I was told there wasn't anything for me to do."
"There wasn't."
The officer paused.
"Then somebody realised you were an engineer."
Taran snorted loudly enough that the visitor glanced toward him.
Tom chose not to comment.
"What sort of assistance?"
"A freshwater distribution project. New settlement in the northeastern hemisphere. Existing infrastructure isn't sufficient for projected population growth."
Tom's expression shifted immediately from polite curiosity to professional interest.
The officer noticed.
His shoulders sagged.
"That look worries me."
"What look?"
"The one that says you've already started solving the problem."
Tom looked briefly guilty.
"I haven't even seen the plans."
"Yet."
"Yet."
The officer closed his eyes for a moment.
A man quietly accepting defeat.
"You'll report to the project coordinator tomorrow morning."
Tom nodded.
"Understood."
The officer turned to leave before stopping.
"Oh, and Lieutenant?"
"Yes?"
"The Venture is still delayed."
Tom looked over at Taran.
Then at the farmhouse.
Then at the half-finished irrigation repairs stretching across the fields.
"Right."
The officer followed his gaze.
A faint frown appeared.
"Have you been living here?"
"Temporarily."
A voice called from somewhere behind the farmhouse.
"Our engineer!"
The officer slowly turned his head back toward Tom.
Tom winced.
The officer looked toward the house.
Then back at Tom.
Then at the trench.
The look said everything.
"Right."
Without another word, he turned and returned to the shuttle.
The moment the hatch closed behind him, Taran folded his arms.
"So."
Tom already knew where this was going.
"Yes?"
"You've graduated from farm repairs to planetary infrastructure."
Tom considered that.
"That sounds suspiciously like more work."
Taran smiled.
"It sounds exactly like more work."
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