Pressure Cracks

Posted on Sun Nov 9th, 2025 @ 7:09pm by Avalon [ADMIN NPC] & Chief Petty Officer Rheanna Yates [Admin NPC] & Petty Officer 2nd Class Rennik Tol [Admin NPC] & Crewman Apprentice Jani Reth [ADMIN NPC]

Mission: Season 6: Episode 6: Conglomerate
Location: Deck 15 – Auxiliary Engineering Break Room
Timeline: Late Beta Shift, same day as “Grumblings in the Mess Hall”
544 words - 1.1 OF Standard Post Measure

The room smelled faintly of ozone and burnt metal — the scent of a ship that had survived one too many repairs. A half-empty pot of replicated coffee sat on the counter, cold and bitter, like the mood.

Crewman Torrin Mav, a wiry Bolian with streaks of grease along his jaw, leaned back in his chair and let out a humorless laugh. “You’d think we’d get a day without alarms. Just one.”

“Dream on,” muttered Petty Officer Rennik Tol, still in his scuffed maintenance uniform. “Command keeps saying the worst is over. Been saying that since the last breach on Deck Ten.”

Across the room, Ensign Daria Veln, one of the junior engineers, looked up sharply from her console pad. “You’re out of line, Tol. You think the Commodore wants this? You think she’s enjoying it any more than we are?”

Rennik’s antennae twitched. “Maybe not. But she doesn’t see it. We’re the ones in the crawl spaces, sealing cracks with our bare hands while plasma conduits are still live. Every time Command announces another ‘repair victory,’ we’re the ones bleeding for it.”

“Watch your tone,” Daria warned, but her voice wavered. “You start saying that too loud, you’ll end up in the brig.”

“Let them throw me in,” Rennik snapped. “At least the brig’s quiet.”

A few nervous chuckles rippled through the room, the kind that weren’t really amused.

Chief Engineer’s Mate Rheanna Yates, a human in her forties with streaks of gray in her braid, set down her datapad. Her voice was calm but carried the weight of authority. “Enough. We’ve all got frustrations, but you start turning that into mutiny talk, you’ll doom this crew faster than any alien ever could.”

Rennik folded his arms. “Mutiny? No. I’m talking about being honest. Someone’s got to say it—this crew’s running on fumes. The only reason we’re still in one piece is because we refuse to quit. Command’s not keeping us alive. We are.”

Yates’ expression softened, but there was steel in her tone. “You think the Commodore and Captain Taylor aren’t paying their own prices? You think losing people doesn’t rip them apart?”

Rennik met her gaze. “Maybe it does. But they don’t show it. And if they can’t be honest with us about what’s happening out here, then how long before we stop believing them?”

Silence. The kind that prickled.

From the corner, a young technician—Crewman First Class Jani Reth, barely out of the Academy—spoke up hesitantly. “Maybe they’re just trying to protect us. If the Circinus sector really is that dangerous, maybe… maybe they don’t want to scare everyone.”

“Too late for that,” Yates muttered.

The room went still again. The soft hum of the ship filled the space between breaths.

Then Rennik said, quieter now, “We’re not machines. We’re people. And people break.”

Daria set down her tool kit, exhaling. “Then maybe it’s time we remind Command what people need to keep running.”

Yates looked up at her sharply. “That sounds dangerously close to a threat, Ensign.”

Daria met her eyes evenly. “No, Chief. It’s a warning.”