Impossible Things

The Last Three Bars (4198 words) by korvascus
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: William Riker, Geordi La Forge, Data (Star Trek)
Additional Tags: Riker's Trombone, Jazz - Freeform, Alien device causing trouble, Engineers are good at problem solving, Slice of Life, low stakes
Summary: A late-night jazz session leaves Commander Riker with a problem he can't explain: three bars of music that refuse to stop playing. What follows is one of those small, strange incidents where the mystery is real, the stakes are low, and the answers only get weirder the longer Geordi investigates.

Recommended for: Fantastic low-stakes mystery (underrated genre!) and great banter and friendship. Also although Riker is the POV character and Data appears, Geordi is the one who gets to shine in this one, and I feel like he deserves more love.

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I don't want to save the Quadrant (I want to kill Cardies) (2346 words) by KingoftheUzbeks
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Characters, Original Non-Human Character(s), Original Human Character(s), Benjamin Sisko
Additional Tags: United Federation of Planets (Star Trek), Federation Politics (Star Trek), Dominion War (Star Trek), Occupation of Bajor (Star Trek), Bajoran Resistance (Star Trek), Maquis (Star Trek), Klingon Species (Star Trek), Romulan Species (Star Trek), War Crimes, Cardassian Species (Star Trek), Planet Cardassia (Star Trek), Party Planning, Law Enforcement, Paris (City)
Summary: At the hight of the Dominion War, the Federation President is a very busy man. That's why he has a staff, to prevent him from accidentally having breakfast with a war criminal. In total fairness that was their fault to begin with.

Recommended for: Excellent worldbuilding. It really expands the Star Trek universe and gives insight into a what people outside of Starfleet are getting up to. Also, West Wing vibes. The politicians feel real, which is to say terrible and self-serving, but they're also aspirational in that they're competent and not hopelessly corrupt.

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Gale Warning (6156 words) by EmperorNorton150
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Original Female Character(s)/Original Female Character(s)
Characters: Original Human Character(s), Original Non-Human Character(s), Vulcan Characters (Star Trek), Andorian Characters (Star Trek), Bolian Characters (Star Trek), Cardassian Character(s) (Star Trek), Alon Ghemor, Benjamin Sisko, William Ross (Star Trek)
Additional Tags: United Federation of Planets (Star Trek), Federation Politics (Star Trek), Dominion War (Star Trek), Politics, Paris (City), the joys of being an apparatchik, political staff, trying to run the president's schedule when the Dominion War is about to start, schedules schedules schedules, Swearing, so much swearing
Summary:

"They're going to attack."

"Are you sure?"

"I am positive. The moment I mentioned that we weren't going to remove the mines, we both knew there'd be war. Everything else was just words, a feeble attempt to lull the other side into a false sense of security. I didn't buy it, and I'm sure Weyoun didn't either."

- Benjamin Sisko and Julian Bashir (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, S05, E26, "Call to Arms")

A very important subspace message from the frontier arrives on Earth.

Recommended for: An expansion of the story above, more in-depth and with more details about the run up to the war. Again feels very real and true to canon, and also makes the Star Trek universe feel larger and more lived-in.