The Dragon's Lair

Posted on Sat Sep 5th, 2026 @ 10:29am by Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Lieutenant Commander Callie Raven-Grayson & Lieutenant Kate Kono & Lieutenant James Phoenix & Chief Petty Officer Aaron Geiger

2,136 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Here There Be Dragons
Location: Draco IV

The dragon led the away team into the hills. It was strange, as these hills were the same hills that the away team was beginning to explore before the red dragon had swooped down from the mountains in the distance, and before they encountered the green dragon in the forest. Deanna wouldn't divulge it, but she was in a state of amazement, and also one of guilt. She was leading this away mission, and two people had been hurt, one severely, including her friend and superior officer. This creature discovery was important, and she needed to make sure it was made worthwhile.

At the foot of one of the hills was a cave opening. What made the opening strange was that it wasn't more than 10 ft. in height and roughly the same in width. If this was the entrance to the dragon's lair, it posed the question to how the dragon could actually enter or exit.

James scanned the entrance. He now understood what the dragon had been saying about the lair, but he also still had questions about how the dragon would enter or exit. Regardless, he ordered his security team to sweep the vicinity of the lair. On top of that, he ordered three separate watch shifts of the entrance from a distance into the lair so they wouldn't be detected from the outside. There would be two security officers on each shift while the other rested. He wasn't sure how long they'd be in the cave, but it was better to be safe rather than sorry.

Aaron worked from his PADD, referencing orbital imagery with his tricorder scans. Watching the Officers on the team take charge of the larger tasks, he settled in to the tasking that was undertaken by generations of noncoms: logistics. Aaron annotated potential sites for potable water, food sources, and most importantly, the latrine. Making his way through the team he collected information on which members had water and how much, finally approaching LT Kono and Ensign Irwin.

"Ma'am, sir. Are you green, amber, or black on water?" Aaron asked, walking beside the two on their left.

Kate pulled out the moisture reclamation unit she had replicated before beamdown. She unclipped her hydration bladder from her pack and held it up to the light. The translucent material showed water filled to the very top, sloshing gently with her movement.

“I got the full three liters,” Kate said, handing over the moisture reclamation unit. The device was compact, its matte gray surface cool to the touch, with a single status light glowing steady green. “It’s solar and motion charged, or you can dock it on a shuttle’s induction plate. Just slot whatever container you’re using into the output port—it’ll scan the material and transfer the water without a spill. My bladder’s at capacity, so someone else should put this to use.”

“Wait a bloody minute,” Irwin’s voice cut through the air, thick with an Australian drawl. “Are you tellin’ me I’ve been rationin’ my Camelbak this whole sodding time while you’ve been sittin’ on an unlimited water supply?” He leaned heavily against the rock wall beside Kate, crossing his arms in a swift, frustrated motion. The red dust of the alien hills clung to his uniform sleeves.

Kate grinned, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Didn’t think to check your gear, Steve. Assumed a seasoned outdoorsman like you would’ve come more prepared than me.”

“Than I!” he shot back, the correction sharp but playful.

Her grin widened. “Than what?”

“More prepared than *I*,” he enunciated, rolling his eyes. “Not ‘me.’ You had to go and correct my Tex Mex in front of Jon and the whole crew, made me sound like a proper drongo. Figured I’d return the favor.”

A burst of laughter escaped Kate, genuine and loud enough to startle a nearby lizard into skittering under a rock.

Steve’s stern expression broke; a chuckle rumbled in his chest before he joined her properly, shoulders shaking with the absurdity of it all. Their eyes drifted toward the Chief as she passed the moisture reclamation unit between them.

“Need a top-up, Steve?” Kate asked once their laughter subsided, nudging her hydration bladder with her boot.

“Nah,” he said, waving a hand. “Just good to know I can take a proper swig now without sweatin’ it. Cheers for thinkin’ ahead.” He shifted his weight, gaze drifting from the Chief back to Kate. “Any word from Jon and the others?”

Kate took a slow sip from her own water, buying a second before answering. She let her head rest against the cool stone face of the wall, stretching her legs out in front of her. “Nothing yet,” she said, keeping her tone even and light. “But I’m sure they’re fine.” She didn’t look at the Chief, not directly; just a flicker of movement in her periphery, checking whether the confidence in her voice had landed true. They were professionals; they had to be fine. But in the silence that followed, she took another deliberate sip, hiding the worry behind the hose of her water supply.

Deanna looked to the dragon, "From a simple visual inspection, there is no way you can fit inside there, but I sense you have no trepidation regarding this logistical matter."

"I trust you have stories at the very least about creatures that can alter themselves. Chameloids, changelings, shapeshifters, many names for creatures with a certain ability. I say this so not to alarm you and your colleagues before I show you something" the dragon replied. Suddenly, the gargantuan dragon began to shrink and change until finally, after only a matter of mere moments, the dragon was gone and in its place was a tall hulking humanoid with coppery colored hair and the same intense eyes.

"Impressive. You appear human. Do you have control over this changing ability?" Deanna questioned.

"I thought it best to alter my appearance to something you all would feel comfortable around. We have control over this ability, but only as we age. We cannot mimic any object, only humanoids. It is not something we do often" the dragon replied.

"Fascinating. Is this a natural ability or something else?" Deanna questioned.

"Many abilities that are natural for one species can be considered magical in nature by others, just as technology can appear magical to creatures less evolved. In this instance, it is a natural ability for us, but many might think it magical in nature if they lacked it" the dragon replied.

"How very true" Deanna replied. "I feel bad about this, but we have neglected in getting your name. What can or should we call you?"

"My name is likely unpronounceable for any of you, but you make call me Drake" the dragon replied.

"Old English term and name meaning dragon. Simple and straightforward" Kuzma noted.

Phoenix was back to being concerned. He turned to Drake. "Do any other dragons have a similar ability to your own?"

"Those of a certain age" Drake replied. "But if you fear others coming to attack, I assure you, it won't be another dragon coming to my lair. There are none in this region that would dare enter my lair."

Deanna looked to Callie to see if she sensed the same truthful confidence from Drake that she did in this statement.

Callie nodded offering a warm smile. “I have no doubt about that, you make quite the formidable opponent Drake.”

When Kate was told to take five, she took it literally, curling up against the rough-hewn wall of the dragon’s lair. Within moments, she was asleep on the cold stone floor beside the jagged rocks where Irwin and the Chief were sitting. The cavern yawned around them, its ceiling lost in shadow, the air thick with the scent of damp earth and something faintly metallic.

Irwin kept watch, his eyes fixed on the cave’s mouth; a jagged tear of daylight in the gloom. He shifted his weight against a rock, trying to get comfortable. “How can she just sack out like that?” he murmured to Aaron, his voice a low rumble shaped by his trademark accent. “There’s a bloody dragon on the loose an’ she’s kipping on a rock like it’s a feather bed. Reckon if they ever posted her to Deep Space Nine, she’d have no trouble with their Cardassian mattresses, eh?”

"They have upgraded quarters to make them as close to Federation standard as possible" Kuzma interjected in a matter-of-fact way. "Sorry, I had a training term on DS9 to help complete my advanced stellar cartography and space phenomena course work. One of the benefits of being a member of Red Squad I guess."

Deanna looked over at the younger officers and shook her head. It was against protocol to just sack out like that, but she wasn't going to make an issue of it at the moment. She was more interested in studying this lair and learning more about Drake. "Drake, that labyrinth we traversed when we entered, was that naturally created?"

"Your power of observation serves you well. No, it was not naturally created. Not completely anyway. As I said previously, my people have abilities that you might consider magical in nature. You have seen one, and now you are discovering a second" Drake replied.

"A third is in play as well I would say" Deanna replied as she looked at her tricorder. "You have a cloaking field working in here. Safe to assume you have something you are hiding" Deanna replied.

Drake's eyes narrowed. "Yes, perhaps our greatest failing is our desire, our need for objects of value. We covet gold, silver, precious stones. And we protect our hordes fiercely."

"And you are protecting your horde by keeping it cloaked. I understand that mentality. And you shouldn't feel bad about what you consider a failing. It is nothing compared to the failings of other species we know, like the Ferengi" Deanna replied.

Irwin nodded to Kuzma.

“Ah Red Squad! I remember those blokes!”

He grinned, his teeth flashing white in the cave’s gloom. "They always reckoned themselves the best of the best, yeah? Always had that way about ‘em, chest puffed out, talking like they were already admirals. We had a Red Flag team back at the Academy, tried to rope me in once. Didn’t care for the cut of their jib. Too much fancy talk, not enough actual work, if you ask me."

He made a dismissive spitting motion toward his boots as he laid back next to sleeping Kate. "Never forgot the time they nicked a Defiant-class for some unsanctioned war game. Nearly got the lot of ‘em spaced, but what really stuck with me? Poor Captain Nog,” Irwin leaned back and thought carefully, “Or did he eventually make it to Admiral? No worries either way… only Ferengi in the pack, had to outwit his own short-lived crew to keep from getting caught up in the mess. Starfleet still calls it one of the Academy’s greatest cock-ups. Never trusted a team that polished their boots before a hike. Something unnatural about it.”

He looked up to Kuzma, a sheepish grin softening the hard lines of his face. “Present company excepted of course, Mate.”

Kuzma looked at Irwin with a confused look. "Are you feeling alright? You aren't making any sense. Red Squad wasn't anything like what you are describing when I was part of it. We were the elite, but we were also the first group to be part of it since all those Red Squad cadets were killed during the war. And who is this Capt Nog you are referring to? I know of a Lt Nog who serves on DS9, but he is just an engineer and a war hero."

Deanna looked over at Irwin and Kuzma. Irwin was talking out of turn, and worse, he was mixing fact with fiction, and some of the fact was intel that was still classified. How he knew about some of the things he was spouting off about made her think of Inara, who was often critical of all things StarFleet and she had no concept of keeping classified information actually classified. Had Kate or somebody on the Washington Intel team leaked information? Perhaps it was information that got out another way. She needed to determine the truth, but it would wait for later. She cleared her throat loudly, noticeably, and offered a stern look in the junior officer's direction.

Irwin looked at Deanna with a smile, Kuzma lowered her head like she had just been scolded by the principal. Kuzma looked back at Irwin, "You got us in trouble with Deanna. Thanks so very much."


TBC

 

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