Raghnill strode into the bridge followed closely by her second in command and went directly for her science officer. She positioned at her shoulder before her subordinate had time to even attempt to stand up. "Can you track these ships?" she asked as she extended to her the pad she held in her hand.
Inara's startled gaze went from her commander's determined eyes to her stretched hand and took the offered pad.
"This is all I have. I need their actual position and their projected route." Raghnill paused a moment, and her voice turned from professional to personal, "The admiral travels in the first one."
The news came to Inara's mind at the same time she read the scarce information given to her. The pad only stated the names of the two ships, both Romulan, and their time of passing through the wormhole; they both had engaged their cloaking devices. Can I track the ships' signature? She had her doubts, but with all her crewmates staring now at her, and especially her awaiting commanding officer's intense gaze fixed at her, she only replied, "Yes, commander!" and put herself to work.
At the same time, the first officer had been the only one not paying attention to her. He had went to the command station, and still standing, had bent on the controls and had started to tap a series of orders. Just when Inara voiced her comply, he addressed Raghnill in a hushed tone, "Commander," and she moved closer to him. "It's confirmed; they are Tal Shiar."
Inara hardly heard the words, said not with alarm but with accepted resignation. At her back, Raghnill curtly nodded to her first officer, and walked once again towards her science officer. "Do it," she said forcibly as she was by her side, tapping her shoulder in what was as the same time a gesture of support and of enforcement.
She had been happy when she heard the good news that finally the admiral had been found. She had kept her happiness to herself only due to her commanding officer's serious reservation. Now she understood that their nightmare was not over, even if she still did not know what was going on. She had a lot of questions, but she realized it was not the moment to bring them up, so she kept quiet and tried to focus instead in the work ahead; Raghnill's imposing figure looming over her said clearly that, as it had always been, failing simply was not an option.
Raghnill left her science officer's side and turned to walk around the bridge, calmly assessing each of her assembled crew. The undesired idea of a possible standoff against the Tal Shiar's forces darkened her mood. She already knew her mother had went against their higher commanding officer. If they were taking her prisoner, was she simply going to bow to them and comply, knowing all what was going on, or was she going to oppose them, with the knowledge that their chairman was a traitor? Her duty was to the Romulan Empire. Loyalty, and honor, were more important than blind obedience, she knew; maybe she did not have the proof –Garak's or Saavik's word obviously could not count as such-, but she held the truth. And if she put a fight against them, would her crew follow her? As her first officer, she did not doubt it. However, the shadow of a past that supposedly had not happened, and the intricate relationships that could not be voiced, plagued her mind. Saavik was coming; for the first time, she questioned if contacting her had been really a good idea, even if she had been the one who had shed some light to her predicament. Saavik was coming, and the truth of her nature, and of her possible intentions, was one she could not reveal to the rest of her crew, no matter how committed they were to her.
Raghnill finally sat down at her seat, and her first officer followed suit. They somberly looked at each other. Whatever was coming for them, they would face it when it came, resolutely, without flinching. Now, however, they could only wait, and it was going to be a long tense wait, indeed.