What He Would Not Offer

Posted on Tue Feb 3rd, 2026 @ 5:19am by Lieutenant Kesden Lokn

203 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: A New Dawn
Location: His quarters

Kesden did not sleep again.

He lay still after waking, breathing evenly until his pulse settled and the room felt ordinary enough not to demand attention. The chronometer advanced steadily and indifferently. He watched it without really seeing.

Eventually, he sat up.

For a moment, habit suggested meditation: the familiar discipline of breath and stillness, of returning the mind to something narrow and controlled.

He did not.

The quarters were dark, the air cool, with the usual faint vibration a constant beneath everything else. Familiar. Safe. He let his feet rest on the deck plating longer than necessary, grounding himself in the certainty of weight and contact.

He briefly considered recording what he had seen.

Dismissed it.

There was nothing actionable in the dream. No new information. No symptoms that would change an evaluation or justify intervention. Recounting it would only invite questions—and questions had a way of lingering.

Instead, he reviewed the materials for his testimony again. Read them slowly, carefully, not for understanding but for structure. Order helped. Order always helped.

By the time the lights shifted toward morning, he was composed enough that no one would think to ask if he’d slept.

And he would not offer it.

 

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