Note: Dear guest, I am the one who thanks you for following my story and writing such a good review. I also want to thank you on behalf of Martha, her family and friends for the words dedicated to her. And I think it's about time, I thank Kerjen too, for her friendship and her continuous support. I always talk to her privately, so she knows how much she means to me, but I want to write it here too. Thank you, Kerjen!
Nobody trusted him; it was no surprise. If Commander Raghnill had insisted in having her officer accompany him to his meeting with his contact, now it was Saavik the one who ordered her aide to remain by his side as he went back to his ship. He would not be allowed to walk alone anywhere, not even with a security guard. They wanted him watched by someone they could completely rely on.
Nobody trusted him and it was no surprise; it has never bothered him before. However, something had changed inside of him in the last years that made him feel different. Something that made him feel uneasy when even those Cardassians who now revered him as a hero warily kept a distance with him, when those neighbors who enthusiastically greeted him never seemed to be able to join him in any social activity.
He did not want to regret any of his actions, but each day it was getting harder to pay the price. Maybe that was one of the reasons why he had so willingly involved himself in this foolish enterprise, maybe retirement was just being a too heavy burden to bear, and he thought coming back to action will lift his spirit. But he had been wrong, because the feeling was just exactly the same.
The lieutenant was trying to hide her distrust behind her most professional mask; she was failing. He remembered well when everybody in Deep Space Nine looked at him exactly that way, if not flagrantly glared at him. He remembered well how that tension had slowly lessened, how finally he had been trusted and welcome. I had real friends in the Bajoran station, didn't I?
Maybe that was just was he needed; maybe age was making him a sentimental fool, no matter how bad that sounded to him. But his mind was still as sharp, so he side-glanced at Ba'el as they walked towards the docking bay and asked lightly, as if the question had just popped into his mind, "So why the two admirals hate each other so much?"
The question took Ba'el's off-balance; she faltered and glared at him next. Garak just smiled to himself. "It's a personal matter, isn't it? Something to do with that time when Ajeya tried to kill Saavik, when they were both commanders."
Ba'el this time openly bared her teeth at him. "It's not your business," she spat.
Garak stopped in his tracks and turned to face the young woman, "It's my business, and it's yours. I'm not going to risk this mission I have volunteered myself for because of some stupid grudge." Garak drilled his eyes on Ba'el, but Ba'el held her ground and stared at him unflinchingly. She kept quiet.
After some seconds, Garak waved the subject away and continue walking forward, "Well, don't share if you don't want to, but make sure that personal problem doesn't hinder our common goal."
Garak had expected the lieutenant to remain silent, but she did bit him back with more animosity than ever expected, "Our common goal? I yet have to know what your goal is! If you want to share, you can start talking about yourself!"
Ba'el was furious. Garak looked largely at her. It was curious that he actually felt the urge to tell the half-Klingon what he really was feeling, what really moved him to be there, but it was too personal, and too stupid; she would never understand.