<USS Avalon> =/\= Surprises and Secrets =/\=

 
=/\= Surprises and Secrets =/\=
Tavi and Meg
 
 
Tavi was sitting in the back carrel of the library, studying some  
engineering documents that she'd poked into while looking up something  else.  
It was 
nice to sit here in the library instead of alone in her room  while Skyler was 
out of their quarters.  Even if she wasn't really  interacting with other 
people, she could kind of feel their presence, and it was  comforting.  Which 
was 
an odd feeling, when she thought about it, because  Tavi had never really been 
comfortable around other people, especially  grownups.  But now she was.

A small sound on the other side of  the divider caught her attention.  She 
hadn't heard anyone go in there, but  someone was in there now.  Tavi got up on 
her chair to peek over the  carrel divider, and was very surprised.  The 
occupant was another little  girl!  Sliding down off the chair, Tavi went 
around to 
the other  carrel.  "I didn't know there were any other kids my age on 
board," she  said abruptly.

The other girl turned, a look of terror momentarily  on her face before she 
smoothed it away.  "I'm Meg," she offered  hesitantly.

"I'm Tavi," said Tavi.  "Is your family on board  here?"  What a silly 
question; they must be, or why would Meg be  here?

"Just my aunt," Meg said, the set of her shoulders relaxing  slightly.

There was something odd about Meg, Tavi thought.   She wasn't lying, exactly 
-- Tavi had a good sense of when people were lying --  but she wasn't telling 
the whole truth, either.  And her voice had a funny  sound to it.  Not an 
accent, and definitely not the accent that would  go with her Vulcanoid 
appearance.  But an strange lilt, like she wasn't  used to talking very much.  
"Well, 
it's nice to have somebody around  my age here," Tavi voiced her thought.  
"Maybe we could do stuff together  sometimes."

The terrified expression returned, and again was  deliberately suppressed.  
"I don't know if I can stay," Meg admitted.   She really needed to find her 
aunt and have a serious talk.  But she didn't  dare wait in Brae's quarters, 
because she knew there was a certain gentleman who  might find her there and 
raise 
a fuss.  And she wasn't brave enough to  approach her aunt in public, where 
other people would see her.  She was  worried now that Tavi had seen her.  
Could Tavi keep a secret?  All  Meg could do was ask, so she did.

"'Course I can," said Tavi, as if it  was a fairly stupid question.

"Well, I'm not supposed to be here,"  confessed the other girl.  "I snuck on 
board to see my aunt.  I'm  going to ask her if I can stay with her.  I love 
my family  but..."

As curious as she was, Tavi didn't press to hear the unspoken  part of that.  
She just nodded.  She knew a lot about sneaking, and  understood needing to 
be somewhere else.  "I hope you can stay," she said  encouragingly.

"Just don't tell anybody you saw me?" Meg pleaded.   "If Aunt Brae lets me 
stay, she can explain why I'm here.  But if not...  I'll leave and nobody needs 
to know I was here without the Captain's  permission."

Tavi nodded again.  "I won't tell," she  promised.

"Thank you..."  Meg looked around, as if she'd heard  something Tavi hadn't.

Helpfully, Tavi sidled over to the wall and popped  an access panel.  Meg 
scurried into the air vent and Tavi clipped it shut  just as an unfamiliar 
Ensign 
came round the corner.  Pretending she hadn't  done anything unusual, Tavi 
walked right past the Ensign and back to her own  carrel.

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