How This Came Together
In Inaccessible, a newly established colony reaches the final stages of its work when a routine system check reveals an unsettling anomaly. As leaders attempt to verify the issue, long trusted connections fall silent, leaving the colony to navigate uncertainty without guidance or reassurance. This science fiction short story explores colonization, institutional leadership, and the fragile systems civilizations depend on when everything appears to be on schedule.
As the situation unfolds, procedure gives way to doubt, and the colony’s captain and senior leadership are forced to make decisions without precedent. Inaccessible examines the quiet moments where survival hinges not on action or heroics, but on restraint, judgment, and the willingness to reconsider what “home” truly means.
Music Pairing
Eerie Stroll is the blues track paired with this story. Its slow, deliberate pacing and uneasy undertone mirror the narrative’s restrained tension, allowing unease to build through silence, absence, and unanswered signals rather than spectacle.
Behind the Scenes
Inaccessible is the opening installment in Transformation, a new science fiction series set long after the events of Discovery. There is another storyline available on Wattpad that runs in parallel with this series, which I will narrate at a later time. While that story follows a different thread, this chapter focuses specifically on institutional response rather than catastrophe. The intent was to capture the moment when certainty dissolves quietly and history shifts through realization rather than destruction. The story is intentionally procedural, distant, and subdued, reflecting how profound change often arrives without warning.
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Inaccessible
“Declan, the colony is nearly finished. How goes the platform?”
Declan looked up from the platform’s glowing red center with dread etched across his face. “Brielle, we have a problem.”
Brielle looked from the worried platform technician to the glowing red crystal at his knees, and she began to take on his concern. “Declan, these platforms don’t fail.”
Swallowing the lump that formed in his throat, Declan looked up and rubbed his throat. “There’s only one reason a crystal glows red, and you know it.”
“Stay here, Declan, and touch nothing!” Brielle spun away and headed for the captain. She bolted through the corridors at full speed, skirting corners and startling colonists. She ran until she reached the new colony’s civic center. Whenever the ship approached a new planet for the Federation, the captain borrowed that chamber.
She paused outside the doors, steadying herself. When she was able to breathe naturally, she opened a door, and her eyes immediately found the captain. She walked up to him and reported her dire news. “Captain Quinn, something is wrong with Homeworld.”
Confusion seeped onto the captain’s face with her words. He turned toward her, shaking his head. “Brielle, what are you going on about?”
“The platform’s crystal is glowing red, sir.”
The captain’s face drained of color. He looked at Brielle and held his breath. He wiped his lips as he inched forward. “Are you sure it was red?”
“Yes, sir,” Brielle answered as she forced a lump down her throat.
Quinn’s gaze whipped to the door as he snapped his fingers. “Connor!”
A man poked his head through the open doorway. “Yes, sir?”
Quinn looked at the young man with narrowing eyes. “Get a portable communication pack. We need to raise homeworld.”
“Yes, sir,” he said as he vanished from view.
The captain’s eyes hardened as he stared at Brielle. “And Connor, I wanted it here an hour ago! Is that understood?!”
“Yes, sir,” he said, his voice fading down the corridor.
Quinn’s gaze drifted away from Brielle as his fingers tapped his desk. She hesitantly watched their dance upon the wooden surface, but after several heartbeats she lifted her gaze to his solemn and scared eyes. “Sir, is there any precedent for this?”
“No. But we all know what it means.” Quinn shifted his attention back to her as he drew in a deep breath. He saw the unease flare behind her eyes. He rose from his chair and circled his desk before he sat down on its edge. “The red light could simply mean there’s an issue with Homeworld’s platform. All we know is we cannot connect to this platform’s twin back there. They could have taken it offline. Don’t forget that whenever Homeworld updates the platforms, they must do that.”
Before Brielle could speak, Connor burst in. He held the portable communication device and placed it on the desk beside Quinn before stepping back to the doorway. Quinn quickly configured the device to communicate with their Homeworld and tried to connect. The first attempt failed. So did each subsequent one. Faltering for a moment, Quinn altered his plan and tried to contact other worlds in the Federation. And with each failed attempt to contact other colonized planets, the fear behind everyone’s eyes amplified.
Quinn looked between Connor and Brielle and spoke to them both, “Go fetch Caitlin and the other senior colonists. This unusual circumstance forces us to make hard decisions now!”
“Yes, sir.” They both replied before they left the chamber.
After several minutes, the senior colonists filed into the room one at a time. However, Quinn forced a silence to fill the space until the last one arrived. When Caitlin, the final senior colonist, entered, Quinn cleared his throat and addressed them. “We have a major issue.”
“What could be the reason you gathered us together?” Caitlin asked with trepidation in her voice.
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