The Numancia and the FireBird stared at each other, completely still. At the Federation ship, silence dominated the bridge. Then, the FireBird requested again to open a channel, and they accepted without delay.
The bridge of the Romulan vessel was seen once more, and the same three officers that had addressed them before, but to every one's shock, another man stepped in front of all them, and this man was Human.
The man dressed completely in black and wore no insignias. His features were hard and his eyes were as cold as ice and void of any emotion. He looked at all of them and then focused his attention on Saavik.
"Admiral Saavik, you are obstinate" he said as a matter of fact. "You were told this was a Romulan internal affair and you should not interfere."
"And you were told you were in the Federation's area of influence and you should withdraw, Mr. Sloan" Saavik coolly answered him.
The rest of the bridge crew continued to stare at the Human operative in awe, even if now they tried to conceal their initial shock. Of all them, only Ba'el and Garak actually knew who they were looking upon, and just as Saavik, they still did not know why the man was there, but they could take a guess. As Saavik analyzed the situation, she realized she should not be surprised; in the course of their investigation, Koval and Sloan had always been suspectingly close, and even if Sloan had officially died in 2375, the files given to Spock had already proven otherwise.
Section 31 was a rogue organization for all Saavik was concerned; however, it had still powerful allies between the Federation's authorities, and Starfleet Command could very well be supporting his actions. Saavik had already stated that could be a possibility, a disquieting one, that is why his next words were expected.
"I'm glad you know who I am, Admiral, so you also realize you are not just interfering with the Romulans' affairs, but with the Federation's too." Sloan's voice was frigid.
"You may be a Federation citizen, but I do not recognize you or Section 31 as representative of the United Federation of Planets" Saavik argued back. "State the purpose of your so called affairs and we might not interfere further."
Sloan smiled condescendingly at her. "Admiral, this is a secret mission, and if you were authorized to know, you would already know."
"I know," she willed her voice to steel, " and I am putting an end to your mission." She wondered if she had sounded convincing enough.
For several seconds, the man kept quiet, his gaze intensely locked at her. Sloan's sharp mind made his calculations with the same dispassionate precision any Vulcan would.
"You don't," he finally replied, and certain hatred slipped between his words. "Admiral Ross authorized this operation and he is the only one who can call it back. Don't insist on interfering, you will regret it."
Saavik took a moment to review her crew. They all remained tense and alert, their gaze swiftly switching between Sloan's hologram and their controls. Garak also studied the Human agent, but she could not find anything alarming in his pose. She nodded satisfied to herself.
"So you insist this is a Starfleet operation, and not a Tal Shiar one?" Saavik slightly inclined her head towards the Romulan officers who kept silent behind him. She could sense them bristling at her words.
Sloan's voice turned even harder, "This is a joined operation. We are allies now. Do I need to remind you, Admiral Saavik?" He planned to play dirty if he wanted to address the matter. "You may not like it, considering your background, but you have always been a loyal officer, haven't you? Keep being one and retreat. Now!"
Sloan had moved forward while giving his final command. He was a predator poised to kill. "Considering your background", he hoped those words hurt; however, he realized he actually knew very little about her background except that she was half-Romulan but apparently had no sympathy with that side of her heritage, and certainly no links, or she would have never been admitted in Starfleet Academy in a time when their relation with the Romulan Star Empire could be considered tense at best.
Sloan was a predator poised to kill, but Saavik had never been a defenseless prey. If his rebuke had any effect on her, she did not let it show. She was Vulcan, she had been Vulcan for a very long time. She held stronger to her believes than to anything else. Her voice never wavered, "So who is in command here, Mr. Sloan? You? Admiral Ross? Not Chairman Koval?" Again, she scanned the Romulan operatives.
A thin smile formed in Sloan's lips. "Didn't you say you knew about this mission? Then, why do you ask?" A small pause, with confidence. "I state again: This is a joined operation and none of your concern."
Saavik's eyes glittered returning the dry smile, "And do you forget you are talking to a Starfleet Admiral? Do you forget you are talking to the Gamma Quadrant commanding officer?" Her own pause. "I know enough of this mission to know you are nothing more than a pawn", yes, she was willing to use all her weapons too, Vulcan or not. "Do you want me to retreat? Then let your master speak directly to me." She awaited an instant watching his fury raise behind his cold eyes. "Let Koval present himself here and talk to me. If not, I will not allow your mission to be continued."
Sloan gritted his teeth, but said nothing. Suddenly, the hologram was shut off; the communication had been cut. Saavik wanted to sigh in relief. She did not, so neither of her officers did.
"So, what do we do now?" Ba'el tentatively asked. She was the only one daring to speak.
"We wait," Saavik answered, as she repositioned herself in the command chair. Inwardly she remembered that first time on the Enterprise, during the Kobayashi Maru test, when she had felt the weight of sitting on that chair. No matter how much time had passed and how much experienced she was now, the weight had never lifted.