Shadows Inherited

Posted on Wed Sep 24, 2025 @ 6:50pm by Lieutenant Kael "Vex" Tharien

480 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: Time After Time
Location: Deck 19 > Intel Sector
Timeline: After A Mind, A Body, and a Medical Report

The doors to Sickbay slid shut behind him with a soft hiss, but the conversation lingered in Kael’s thoughts longer than the scent of sterilized air or the low hum of biobed diagnostics. He adjusted his uniform jacket with quiet precision and fell into a steady stride, boots tapping with practiced rhythm along the deck plating as he made his way across the station’s core spine.

Deck 19. Intel Sector.

It felt...familiar in the way only compartmentalized silence and dimmed lighting could be. Controlled corridors. Fewer people. More shadows than faces.

The door to the Intelligence department opened with a muted tone, and Kael stepped through.

The bullpen wasn’t bustling—Intel rarely was—but a handful of officers glanced up from their consoles the moment he entered. The unspoken appraisal was immediate. Controlled. Professional.

Kael returned their gazes with a composed nod.

“Lieutenant Kael Tharien,” he offered, his voice level but not cold. “Call sign Vex. Just cleared for duty. I’m assuming command of this department.”

One officer, a Bajoran Ensign whose nameplate read Revan, stood from her station and stepped forward with a PADD. “We got the clearance notice an hour ago. Welcome aboard, sir. Intel’s been running in...adaptive mode for a few weeks.”

Kael lifted an eyebrow, reading between the lines. “I take it the seat’s been empty.”

She gave a noncommittal shrug. “Vacant. Lightly haunted. Depends who you ask.”

That earned the barest flicker of amusement from him. “Noted.”

He exchanged brief introductions with a few of the other officers names, positions, the usual surface details that could be mined deeper later. Then Revan gestured down a side corridor.

“Your office is preloaded and secure. We didn’t touch anything beyond basic cleanup. Figured you’d want to see it as it was.”

Kael inclined his head in thanks and made his way down the corridor, the deeper hush of the intel wing wrapping around him like an old coat.

The door opened.

The lights blinked on with a quiet pulse, revealing an office that had clearly been left in a hurry—or simply left alone.

PADDs small, medium, and several oversize command models. Were stacked along the far edge of the desk like half-forgotten thoughts. A few datachips lay scattered near the console, blinking softly in low-power standby. A coat, likely the previous officer’s, still hung on the back of the lone chair. Dust hadn’t gathered yet, but disuse had left its own imprint.

Kael stepped inside, slow and deliberate. The door shut behind him.

He didn’t sit—yet. Instead, he took in the space, eyes scanning the layout, the clutter, the quiet tension of an office waiting for someone to own it again.

He set his own PADD down at the center of the desk.

Then, with a slow breath:

“Let’s get to work.”

 

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