| Among Us |
| Summary: | Tillman informs Madilyn about the collaborators aboard. |
| Date: | 20 May 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Plenty. Too many to list. |
| Players: |
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| Marine Offices |
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| This offices consists of desks for those under the CO, along with his desk toward the back of the room. The S1 and S2 have desks here and the place is neat as a pin, with everything in its place. At the front of the room, a Marine sits at a desk to meet people as they come in through the hatch. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #83 |
Despite the happenings on Leonis, there's still shipboard duties to be carried out. Because she can't be with the Marines on the ground, Madilyn has set to attacking her work here. The offices are light, skeleton crew, with the dispatch of several normal faces around these parts for Cobra Talon. Two things remain the same though: there's a pot of coffee on, and in the back, where the CO's desk is located, there's a small music player currently playing some classical piano. Said CO is sitting at said desk, doing said work, much of it of the paper kind.
Tillman enters the office in his blues and very much looking like this isn't a social call. The man has taken to wearing his sidearm, too, which is a recent development. Perhaps telling. A quick scan of the room and he moves for the CO's desk. "Major Cavanaugh. I need a few minutes of your time. In private." He turns a bit at the waist and glances to the Marines that are still around.
It's not too often that the XO of the ship finds his way down here for any sort of call, social or otherwise. Her chair gets pushed out and back when she stands, one hand reaching to adjust her own sidearm that's usually there, on the belt, standing out against the khaki-colored duty uniform. "Yes, of course Major." To the Marines in the office, she gives a curt nod. "You're all temporarily dismissed. I'll call you back when we're finished." They all scramble out to stretch their legs in the hall, while Madilyn motions to the chair across the desk from her. "Please, have a seat Major. What's on your mind?"
Tillman watches as the Marines move on their way out before he takes the offered chair. His face is a mask of stone and determination. The man -really- looks unhappy. He unfolds a small piece of paper in his hand and extends it to the other Major. "I received this from Lieutenant Kulko, our groundside commander on Leonis. We have a V-L-F comms system established." Very low frequency. "He felt it was important enough that this was to be included in his first communication with me. It was prefaced as 'Eyes Only' to me. Not even the Admiral knows about this yet." The paper is a simple printout from the computer systems in Cerberus' CIC. It reads: CNFRMD ENEMY AGENT YOUR VESSEL CIC.
Upon taking and unfolding the paper, spreading it out on the desk in front of her and smoothing it out with her fingers, she reads the very brief message. Her expression remains flat, but she does take a single, deep breath. "Is there an ID to follow in a future message? Does Lieutenant Kulko have undeniably proof of this claim on his person?" She looks at the XO only while she speaks, then goes back to reading the message again and again.
"I'm hesitant to ask for an ID simply because of who may have access to these incoming messages. My other thinking is that if he is making claims like this, he has proof. Its also likely someone that he would recognize." Tillman deadpans all of it. He pauses, though, before continuing. "Ever since the mission went south I have suspected we had a traitor in CIC. The Cylons met us at the exact jump coordinates and exact time that the Eidolon was to meet us. Kulko has confirmed that the location is secure from their end. That means that someone very close to the operation or navigation could be the traitor. Kulko's message seems to confirm it and keep me limited to CIC." Apparently the XO has a lot of trust in the young man. "And the CAG tells me that the person who was involved in the sabotage of our Vipers? Knows avionics. In. Detail." He inclines his head ever so slightly. "Major Cavanaugh, I believe we may be dealing with more than one enemy collaborator. Potentially a team of them."
When the XO says that, the corners of Madilyn's mouth pull up into a grimace, her hands run through her hair, rest on the back of her head and she leans back in her chair with her eyes shut. She remains that way for a moment, before leaning forward in her chair once again. "You trust the Lieutenant…you suspect a traitor in CIC. My MPs are carrying out an investigation of the Viper sabotage. I can't just brig the entire air-wing or all of CIC. though. Major, if you really and truly believe that there are enemies aboard this vessel, then I trust you. But I need more to go on. And with what little information we have, a gut-feeling confirmed by our people on the ground, I don't know that we can act quickly. We might only wound the beast, rather than removing the head cleanly."
"No. I -know- there is a traitor. If Kulko is telling the truth and the location of the meeting was correct, we are talking about someone inside a group of a dozen people." Tillman looks like he might be sick with the idea but is kept from it simply by the disgust. "He knows who it is. But no, nobody is above suspicion, Major. Even myself. Blanket arrests of personnel are not going to happen. To arrest everyone in CIC who knew the jump locations, your arrest roster would include myself, the Admiral, two Watch Officers, two Tactical Officers, and six enlisted - all who are involved deeply with communications and navigation. It would gut the entire command staff and our ability to operate this ship." The XO's voice never rises, keeping the same steady level of anger. "I don't know who we will find first, but whoever is responsible for this, I want the gloves off. You find these people and you find out who their frakking confederates are."
"It's a fine line I have to walk there, when it comes to treason. I can't officially ignore their legal rights, but yet, those same rights will likely make it difficult to obtain the identities of any additional conspirators, limited though they may be." Madilyn gives a heavy sigh. "Gods be damned…" she says under her breath. "It may take…alternative methods to obtain information. If we capture even one of these collaborators, I'll need to know that I have the backing of CIC — whoever's to be trusted in CIC I should say — to ensure that those methods won't be questioned."
"Its not just treason. I want these people classified as enemy combatants. We damned near got blown apart at the Ediolon meeting. This shit-stain on the Deck Team has already killed. If we have more of them, that's even worse." Its pretty unlikely that anyone has ever seen the XO this angry. He's nearly red in the face. "We'll deal on a case-by-case basis. If extra measures are required I can almost guarantee you'll get them. Wait a week to see how this investigation with the Deck shapes up. See if you can find any ties to CIC. I'm going to be running a counterintelligence operation shortly to try and smoke this Tactical worm out. If I call for Marines anywhere I need your men and women to be ready to move on the triple to my location." He finally takes a breath and seems to settle a bit. "Major Hahn and Lieutenant Bia, the interim C-M-O, are both aware of this situation. If you feel that for some reason I have been compromised or am involved somehow, they are aware. Major Hahn would be your specific point if Command Staff appears damaged. …Who is running the investigation into the Deck incidents?"
"Understood. That's all I needed to know," Madilyn says with a curt nod of her head. "Lance Corporal Maragos is running the Deck investigation…but I suddenly feel the pressing need to take a more personal role. He's as reliable as I've ever seen, and I signed off on a detailed set of questions for him to use. I believe he met with Major Hahn, in fact. As for you being compromised…well, let's not consider that right this moment. I don't think I can take that discussion after all of this falling into my lap." Funnily enough, it's only that one sheet, with that tiny message. If the XO is on the verge of boiling over, Madilyn would seem to be simmering, more reserved, but with an intensity that shows in her eyes and on her mouth as she runs through the information in her mind.
"I know the Lance. He ran the investigation into Miss Tuata some time ago. He seems like a very capable Marine. Get involved if you must but don't compromise his work on the investigation." There's danger to those words. Screw-ups will not be tolerated. "My being compromised is something to consider. Maybe not now, but in the future. I'll do my best to keep you informed and myself above suspicion, though. The idea is that everyone is a suspect. Even the Admiral, though that's just on an official level. If the Admiral is guilty, we're really screwed." He sighs and finally looks away. "Do what you have to in order to find the guilty, Major. Keep it legal. But find them. I have to get a meeting with the Admiral and brief him on what's going on. Oh.. And prep your Marines. We've got a rescue op coming. Once we have details, I'll brief you in detail." He slowly rises from the chair. "Any questions for me?"
"Too many to ask. Most of them don't have answers anyway. I'll leave you to your meeting, though. The last thing we need is a change in normal routine, any indication that an investigation above and beyond the ordinary is being carried out. Suspicion on our parts, even a hint of it, could cause them to go to ground…or to do something even more drastic." When the XO rises, the Marine CO does the same. "When the time comes, to deal with these traitors and to rescue our people, my Marines will be ready Major. That's one thing you can rely on."
Tillman nods. "Nobody will be hearing the details of this smoke-out operation except the CAG which will require her participation." He takes a last, long breath. "Thank you for the time, Major." The man just turns and heads for the door.