Unfinished Business First (Part 1)

Posted on Wed Mar 11th, 2026 @ 3:15am by Lieutenant Tatiana Dragos & Lieutenant Daegan Baas & Captain Erik Norsgaard
Edited on on Thu Mar 12th, 2026 @ 5:36pm

1,952 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Wolf in the Fold: Hide and Seek
Location: USS Thunderbird | Various Locations

With no leads, the Thunderbird was required to continue on with its primary mission -- delivering the Bajorans to their home world and picking up their prisoner, Relen Zelar, eldest and only son of Gul Zelar. The young Cardassian stood, rigid and tense, on the transporter pad as Erik stepped forward. "Welcome aboard the Thunderbird," he said as he stepped forward, gesturing for the younger man to join him.

"Relen Zelar," he answered as he stepped down. "I understand you're to return me to Cardassia?"

"Not quite," Erik said as he started toward the transporter room door. "We're scheduled to rendezvous with the Ocett early tomorrow. So you'll only be aboard tonight. The quarters have been prepared according to your father's requests."

The corner of Relen's mouth twitched slightly at the mention. "My father is a ... very ... particular person. He likes things just so. But I have to say I'm glad. It will be good to experience something close to comfortable. Not that they didn't try but blind hatred does tend to blind people to the plight of others."

"Yes it does. And I do agree that family matters," Erik said, "Your father's requests were reasonable. Nothing I wouldn't have ordered myself. We've arranged VIP quarters for you, not far from my own. I understand you've waived medical treatment?"

"Yes," Relen said as he fell into step beside Erik, who had shortened his strides to match the younger Cardassian's own, "I'll see the doctor on the Ocett tomorrow. But honestly, I'd just like some time alone to meditate and maybe sleep. The kind of sleep that isn't broken up every hour ... on the hour ... every night."

A security team had followed the Captain and the Cardassian from the transporter room and once in the lift they hailed Baas that the package was enroute. "Team 2 to Baas. They are in the list on their way to you."

A short while and one turbolift ride later, Erik delivered Relen Zelar to VIP quarters that had been prepared for him. "Cook has prepared an authentic Cardassian meal for you," he said. "You'll find it there on the table." He paused a moment, considering, and then added, "if anything happens. Can't sleep. Let me know. I'm always good for a game of chess or a long conversation."

"I appreciate that, Captain. I do," Relen answered as he walked the Captain back toward the door. Only when he'd gone and the door closed to Relen heave a sigh of relief. Being alone, not being stared at with hatred every minute of every blasted day, felt good. Beyond good. And soon, he'd be back around Cardassians again. Family and friends. He walked back toward the table and sat down, the warmth of the room caressing his light gray skin as he started uncovering the dishes artfully arranged on table.

"Acknowledge, Baas out". Daegan and his team had emerged from a side corridor chatting about a parisses squares match while trailing at a discreet distance; to 'keep their guest at ease'. He had made sure the two officers had been cleared and had no connection to the Federation-Cardassian War. "Ok, you know the drill. If he leaves, one goes with and one makes sure no one enters. Any visitors want to see him you contact me first."

"Roger that."

Daegan nodded, "Good." With the watch posted he headed off with the Captain once he emerged.

[Meanwhile ...]

Alone in her quarters, Ayryn Trynn leaned forward and extinguished the candle as she completed her meditation. A calm serenity filling the silence and the darkness which now surrounded her. Meditation had been increasingly difficult of late but not today.

Before her the ancient trinket box, a family heirloom, lay open. The purple silk lining the interior was beginning to fray in places, a tell tale sign of the many years it had spent passing from one generation to the next. From mother to daughter.

A tiny scroll nestled inside contained the names of her ancestors. Centuries of history, of stories. Her name was on the list. But hers was not the last.

As her eyes adjusted to the dark she unclasped her necklace, allowing it to fall into the palm of her hand. Her fingers closed around the chain and the pendant which held three initials, whispering a prayer for those she had lost as she added it to the small collection in the box.

Two rings. One scroll. One handwritten note which was barely legible anymore… one lock of golden hair.

A reminder of everything Gul Zelar had taken from her… all in one little box.

[Intelligence Office]

They were on borrowed time. With confirmation that their Cardassian guest was now aboard, there were so many threads left to explore. With a niggling headache warning of too much coffee and too long analyzing comms traffic, service records and everything in between, Lieutenant MacRae and Lieutenant Dragos were determined to leave no stone unturned.

Lieutenant Bass, now aware of the threat and that a senior officer may be involved, was co-ordinating the protection of their guest for the short journey. Yet they were mindful that without all the facts, it made his job all the more difficult. Especially if they did not want to expose the threat to their guest.

One by one, Dragos had helped her eliminate members of the senior staff. An easier task for some than for others. And even then, there was no absolutes.

She glanced up as the doors opened, arching an eyebrow, “you are five minutes early, Sir.”

Erik found a spot to sit, his long legs stretched out in front of him, and grinned cheerfully. "Not sure early is a thing given what we're hunting for. How do things stand?"

“Lieutenant Dragos worked wonders while I was sidelined,” McRae told him. “Good news, is that most of the senior staff are in the clear. Just two more to go. Although I think Tatiana is close to clearing Knox, as much as we can, right?”

Baas had followed the Captain in and was leaning against the wall. He was curious to here what they had found especially as the list was getting shorter and shorter.

"As close as I can get, with the help of McRae here, and others. Takes a team to find the clues and gather them," Tatiana responded, with a smile.

“Lieutenant Trynn is a much more complicated matter,” Caitlyn added. “Not a massive red flag on its own, but she has breaks in her service record where she essentially goes off grid. Which some people do. We are working on that.

"Since she came aboard, she seems to have kept largely to herself beyond work. Rarely makes or receives messages. The algorithm we are using hasn’t flagged anything in her contacts with anyone. Most of her communications are with a Commander Babington. For those who don’t know him, many consider him the poster boy for Intel. Admirals love him,.. probably about as much as he loves himself by all accounts."

"What we do know is she has a medical degree, so is more than capable of poisoning Captain Gray. She had access to both sickbay and the lab, so could have completed the process to activate the poison. Which is obviously circumstantial. Just like this…”

She activated the main monitor, which now displayed the cargo manifest for the ship. One entry was highlighted. “From the transport logs, Trynn came aboard with a lot of belongings. Which again, not unusual. But there was also a storage container. It arrived before she did. It had been accessed twice. The day after she arrived and this morning. It just feels off.”

Baas shot Tat a grin as he played devil's advocate. "Could be a coincidence. There are plenty of people that rarely access their personal storage."

“Not a huge fan of coincidences,” Caitlyn admitted. “But yes, instinct and the fact she has the requisite knowledge, had the opportunity, but it leaves us lacking motive. And so far we can’t connect her to any known members of the Maquis.”

"From what I understand, for many of the Maquis, the motives lie in their own history and in their outrage of the agreements reached with the Cardassians," Erik said. "Have you tracked their movements around Captain Gray in the time frame where he would have been poisoned?"

“I did,” Caitlyn nodded, calling up the information. “Primary physician was Trynn, after Dr Ryan fell in. But entries in the medical files show Dr Vasquez was also caring for him along with various nurses and medical technicians. All check out. Vasquez obviously has the ability and knowledge, but no ties so far to the Maquis and nothing previously flagged by Intel. I was able to speak to a lot of the staff, especially Ensign Akii who - lovely bu the way - is incapable of keeping a secret. Nothing jumped out.”

[Meanwhile, In VIP Quarters]

Relen had little appetite but then, starvation does that over time. So, after turning the heat up, he had a small bowl of soup, stripped and turned off the lights. The bed was softer than he'd like but still, an attempt had been made to make it comfortable for him. He appreciated that. There weren't many who understood Cardassian culture and maybe he was one of them. He lay on his side, back turned from the door, and thought about what came next. School perhaps. Things needed to change, his people needed to change, but before he could do any of that, he would need the credentials and the experience. But first, he thought, as he yawned mightily, sleep. One where I'm not being awakened every hour or threatened unnecessarily. He closed his eyes, focused on his breathing and releasing tension, a trick he'd learned in prison, and before long, drifted to into an exhausted sleep.

There was so little time… Stepping over the unconscious form of the security guard who had been stationed outside Relen’s quarters, the steady rise and fall of her chest confirming she was unconscious but otherwise unharmed. Steeling her resolve even as she felt the beginnings of a faltering heartbeat, she typed in her code to bypass the lock. It was easier and quieter than using a vocal override.

After all security did not often work alone.

As the doors opened she dropped her comm badge on the floor of the corridor as she slipped inside. Anthony had warned of a potential threat. In hindsight she perhaps should have left it in her quarters but people noticed little things like that. Which did not matter now.

Slipping inside she locked the door again as the darkness embraced her. Poetic. Stepping further inside her eyes quickly adjusted as she retrieved the ceremonial blade from the inside of her boot before advancing towards the bedroom, praying for the strength to do what had to be done and to soon see her beautiful daughter once again.

Relen slept, unaware that someone had entered the room. He had never been a warrior and his time in the prison had left him with little resources. A pacifist among a culture of warriors, he had gone to sleep trusting in the Federation to keep him safe.

Roising the bed she stared down at the sleeping young man. But she saw his father. Could receipt the names of everyone who had died that day. She whispered those names as she raised the knife and prepared to strike.

{And ... Back in the Intel Office]

"Let's track Trynn and Knox's movements tonight," Erik said after a moment. "Make sure they leave our guest alone."

 

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