Darkness, then light.

He was standing in his childhood home, the kitchen table set with steaming plates of food. His mother, Helene, bent over a pot of stew, humming softly. His father’s laugh filled the room — a warm, low rumble that had been absent more often than not. Tyler turned toward the sound, but instead of Peter Wells at the head of the table, it was Admiral Thistle, rotund and smiling, raising a glass of wine.

“Don’t let me down, Lieutenant,” the Admiral said with his father’s voice.

The stew turned to seawater, sloshing over the table.

A hand tugged at his wrist. Abigail. His sister was laughing, hair pulled back in a pilot’s braid, her eyes bright with mischief. “Come on, Ty, the doctors are waiting!” But when he blinked, she was in a Starfleet uniform, sitting at the helm of the Boyce, the streaks of stars reflected in her eyes. “You’re late again,” she teased. And then her face dissolved into static.

The floor shifted. He was barefoot on a mat. Colin Frisch stood opposite him, arms folded, smiling that infuriating, challenging smile. “Again,” Colin said. Tyler lunged, the sharp crack of bodies colliding. But when Colin caught him, instead of twisting him into a hold, his hand lingered. Their lips brushed. It was quick, unspoken, terrifyingly real. Tyler’s heart hammered—

—but the mat crumbled into jagged stone. He was seventeen again, fingers straining for a handhold as the rock face gave way. The sickening snap of bone. He cried out, and instead of pain he felt the sting of a tattoo needle on his skin, the image of a bird forming on his arm as if inked in blood.

And then water again. The darkness of the ocean pressing in, the windows of Phynos IV groaning under the weight. Ahira’s hand slipped into his, steadying him. He squeezed back, but when he turned to look at him, it wasn’t Ahira, it was Greg, black Betazoid eyes glinting with humor. “You’re just a playboy who doesn’t want to settle down,” Greg said, smiling. Then Greg’s face blurred, becoming Ahira’s again, whispering his name before vanishing into the tide.

Alarms blared. The section walls closed in. The Section 31 agent stepped from the shadows, hypospray in hand. Tyler tried to run, but his legs wouldn’t move. Colin was there again, and Abigail, and his parents, all of them calling his name, overlapping, out of sequence. He wanted to hold onto any of them — but their voices became one endless noise, drowning him, breaking him into pieces.

“Lieutenant Wells, prepare for transport!”

The voice snapped him awake. He jerked upright, breath catching, his heart pounding as the dream scattered like glass across his thoughts.

The shuttle’s cabin ceiling greeted him, dull and familiar, humming with the steady rhythm of engines. He rubbed a hand across his face, grounding himself. Just a dream. Just another scrambled dream.

But the ache it left was real.

“Lieutenant Wells,” the pilot called again, “we’re approaching the USS Athena now. Docking in two minutes.”

Tyler sat up straighter, forcing a crooked grin onto his face as he rolled his shoulders, shaking off the remnants of the nightmare. A new ship. A new chapter. The ghosts of the past would stay where they belonged — in dreams.

When the shuttle doors hissed open, a young security ensign stood waiting, posture straight but smile easy. He couldn’t have been more than his mid-twenties — sharp jawline, neat dark hair, and bright blue eyes that seemed to study Tyler with just a little too much curiosity.

“Lieutenant Tyler Michael Wells?” he asked, holding a PADD against his side.

“That’s me,” Tyler said with his usual warmth, slinging his duffel over one shoulder. His uniform sleeves had ridden up in his restless sleep, and a splash of tattoo ink showed on his forearm before he tugged them back down with a quick grin.

“Welcome aboard the Athena, Lieutenant,” the ensign said. “Before you get settled, protocol requires you to report to Medical for your boarding exam, and then to schedule an evaluation with the ships counselor. Once those are complete, you’ll be given full security clearance and access to the ships systems”

“Medical and counseling before I get to cause any trouble huh? You folks don’t waste time,” Tyler teased lightly, though his hazel eyes danced with good humor.

The ensign handed him the PADD. “Your quarters are on Deck 6, Section B. Room 612.”

Tyler smirked as he glanced at the assignment. “So you already know where I’ll be living? In case you feel like meeting me later for a drink?”

The young officer blinked at the boldness, then gave a shy smile despite himself, quickly looking back down at his duty slate. “I’ll… keep that in mind, sir.”

Tyler chuckled, starting down the corridor with a spring in his step. “That’s all I ask.”

As he walked, Tyler’s eyes swept over the Athena’s gleaming bulkheads and glowing LCARS panels, feeling the hum of the ship under his boots. The jumbled dream still lingered faintly in the back of his mind, but it didn’t feel as heavy now. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he was stepping into something not defined by his past.

This was the start of something new.

-Tyler Michael Wells, Science