Some secrets need to be shared

Posted on Mon Dec 15th, 2025 @ 9:17pm by Lieutenant Tatiana Dragos & Lieutenant JG Caitlyn MacRae

1,225 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Wolf in the Fold: Hide and Seek
Location: Lt. Dragos Office
Timeline: Follows ‘The Pirate Connection’

Now or never …. Having navigated the maze of corridors to reach the office belonging to Lieutenant Dragos. She had replayed this conversation in her mind many times, of the possible directions it could go and honestly? She could understand if the Lieutenant chased her off the ship with a baseball bat. Yet it was a conversation which could not be avoided.

Pressing the door chime she waited for a response before entering. “Lieutenant Dragos?”

Tatiana was taking a break from going over reports and data she had received. In her hand she held a cup which had some steam rising up from it. Peppermint tea, the scent was there, permeating the room.

"Hello, Lieutenant." Tatiana placing her cup to one side as she regarded the woman who had arrived. Her eyes narrowed a little bit, a puzzled expression in them. There was something that seemed slightly familiar.

"Please have seat and-have we met before?" Tatiana reaching over for her tea once more. ""Something about you sends an echo within my memory, but it hasn't come to the surface yet."

MacRae grinned as she sat, “we have. Though when we last met I may have still been very blonde and still been on a set of crutches…? Headquarters, at the risk assessment forum hosted by your uncle, I believe? And the few times before that, I probably did not even look human…”

Another scrutinizing look, Tatiana looking into her eyes, then she smiled. "Well now, small universe." the smile broadening a bit more.

"Good to see that your injuries are healed. What can I do for you? And glad to meet someone who knows my uncle." a twinkle in her eyes. "He can be rather--interesting."

Taking a sip of her tea she added, "He loved to quiz me on observational skills."

“I’m not sure many people do not know of him, and those observation skills? I think we are going to need them. And then some,” Caitlyn confided. “I assume we are free to speak here?”

Tatiana gave a nod, she had pressed the scrambler she had inside the intlelligence office.

With the assurance, Caitlyn elaborated on her statement. “I will keep this as brief as possible. There is intel suggesting there is a maquis sympathiser on board this ship, and they may be preparing to sabotage the prisoner exchange. There is unconfirmed reports it may be someone in a senior position, but we cannot verify. So essentially anyone is a suspect, barring you and the Captain.

I was sent to find out who may be about to destroy this deal. And if they are alone,” the last part did trouble MacRae. Exactly how big a hold did the Maquis have on this ship already? Her tone softened, apologetic almost. For if there was one thing she never liked, it was stepping on the toes of her colleagues.

“It is unorthodox, and I wanted to come to you the second I got here. I’m sorry it took a little longer than planned. And before finding you, I wanted to speak to the Captain. He was… not exactly thrilled. He sees me, he always suspects trouble is around the corner. We have a meeting with him, at end of shift in his quarters.”

Tatiana's lips went into a thin line, "I see, that is quite a concern. As for you coming to me, I feel you came at a good time, no apologies needed. How long have you known the Captain?"

“A while. We crossed paths a few times, although this is technically the first time I have ever officially served with him. You served with him on the Sitting Bull, yes?”

"Yes I did, for three years, and I knew him back at the academy as well. We sort of floated in the same circle, where athletics was concerned. He is quite good, won several competitions." A smile that reached her eyes, as she lifted her cup of tea to take another sip.

“I’m worried about what he has walked into,” Caitlyn confided. “Especially when at this point senior officers could be involved. I want to eliminate them as potential suspects first, then go from there. And I could use your help.”

It was not a familiar feeling for her, to have that option. Yet time was a factor and there was a lot of ground to cover.

Lowering her mug down, Tatiana regarded Caitlyn quietly, then nodded. "You will have my help." her eyes warm and determined. "Funny to know that our paths have crossed and now we meet officially, I do look forward in working with you. Hopefully I don't drive you up the wall." smiling warmly.

“That is a skill only my brothers seem to manage,” Caitlyn assured her with a grin. “How is your medical knowledge?”

"I am not a doctor, but I can stitch up a wound in the wilderness, tend to first aid issues. Do CPR, set a broken limb. And I have rudimentary skills in herbal medicine. I can read medical scanners. I do have the rudimentary knowledge of anatomy, physiology." Tatiana answered.

At least Caitlyn knew who to come find if the need arose. “I have… perhaps way off the mark concerns. About Captain Gray. I was hoping you may be able to follow up and hopefully prove me wrong.”

"Captain Gray, the one who was the CO of the USS Thunderbird, correct? I did read that he had come down ill, almost dying" this elicited an even more greater interest. "What exactly are you not saying?" leaning forward in her chair still holding her now cooling tea.

“That what some may be thinking is unfortunate coincidence, may be much worse,” Caitlyn told her. “At the moment it is an unverified report. We need access to his medical records and ideally, someone who can determine if his current condition is all due to the outbreak or not. Someone who isn’t on this crew. Do you think you can make some enquiries? I could access his records easily enough but making sense of them, not so much.”

"I will do my best to help out, and this is concerning." Tatiana giving a slight frown as she thought of the ramifications of what this could mean. "What I may not comprehend, there is always hitting the books and define what we don't understand. I don't think that will set off any alarms where that is concerned." she thought of the one who served with her on the listening post working on his medical studies, and having her use cards to quiz him on his knowledge.

“Thank you,” the sentiment behind the words was entirely genuine.

“Anything you can find, we can brief the captain on later today. In the meantime,” Caitlyn added as she stood, grinning as she adjusted the sleeves of her uniform with little tugs on each sleeve, “I will keep investigating while also being the most amazing operations officer to grace the decks of a starship.”

A bit of a smile from Tatiana, "Yup, a smooth operator." giving a wink "I'll see you at the meeting with the Captain later on."

Tatiana was intrigued and hopefully the information that could be found out will be helpful.

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Lieutenant Tatiana Dragos
Chief Of Intelligence
USS Thunderbird

Lt.JG Caitlyn MacRae
Operations Officer
USS Thunderbird

 

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