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Ajeya gazed steadily at her daughter across the large oval table. Raghnill met her stare, but kept drinking her wine slowly, as if she were unable to read what her mother was thinking.
It was very late, and the special dinner and consequent celebration the senior officers had held in honor of the returned admiral was long over. In the wardroom now only stayed Ajeya, Raghnill, the first officer Vegaror and her new chief guard. Ajeya gave her back to him, and for the first time in decades she felt certain reassurance knowing that Raghnill was in front of her, and even if her eyes weren't on her now, she would promptly react to any unexpected movement behind her. Because Ajeya trusted her personal guard, but she realized she could not rely on them almost blindly as she had done every time Eldgrímr had been on duty.
Vegaror sat subdued next to his commander. He had excused himself almost two hours ago, when Lior, the last remaining officer, had left the room too. However, the admiral had other plans and had suggested he stayed. Knowing he had no choice, he had not attempted to stand up again, and had kept his alcohol consumption to the minimum, especially noticing Raghnill was drinking too much. He wondered what Ajeya had on store for them, and he doubted getting drunk was a good idea.
The admiral had seemed quite happy at the beginning of their dinner and had laughed openly with her people, but as the hours passed, that cold unnerving edge she always had within her had won over her, and now she stared at Raghnill with icy determination. She was all business, and Vegaror suspected what she could be thinking of. He glanced at his immediate superior wondering if she realized what was going on, even if she kept drinking her wine, or maybe because of it.
Raghnill could not fool her mother. Ajeya knew very well she was aware of her intentions. She did not want to argue with her, and so she ensured her first officer remained in the wardroom. Raghnill could not oppose her so harshly or so openly in front of the subcommander and her bodyguard. Probably she would look for her later and in the privacy of her quarters bluntly speak her mind, but in front of her crew she would only comply. And when they had their talk, words would mean nothing, because their actions would already have been taken.
"We are going to retrieve the Firebird now. We have waited long enough," she announced. After mulling over it for hours, the admission of her plans alleviated part of her tension. Actually, she was feeling good.
Raghnill finally put her glass on the table and suppressed a sigh; she did not hide her disappointment, but she kept silent.
Ajeya had expected her daughter to present some argument against her course of action at that moment, one regarding honor to be precise. She appraised her daughter for some seconds and wondered if she had wised up in her short absence. It's about time! But she knew she disagreed nevertheless, and Ajeya had prepared herself to offer some explanations.
"We were ordered to part to Romulus immediately, by the praetor himself. And we are lingering here instead! She wanted proof, fine, I can understand that. But she already has proof. We sent her the warrant, isn't that enough?"
Raghnill remained gloomly quiet, frowning, so Vegaror rushed to supply for his commander, "Yes, of course it is, ma'am."
But he cringed as his words only served to spur her to give the wrong answer. With a dangerous glint in the eyes drilling on her mother, she corrected him, "It would be for anyone, except for Saavik."
A thin smile formed on the older woman's lips; she found a wicked satisfaction getting the response she had expected from her child, even if it was one that displeased her. Almost hissing, she rebuked her, "You know well I don't make concessions to anyone, much less to her." She carefully stressed the key words. Raghnill tensed, her eyebrows still furrowed; she was scowling, and even if the wine invited her to speak her mind, she knew well she should not argue further. After all, Ajeya was very aware of what her opinion was, raising the subject would only infuriate her mother when her mind was already set.
Ajeya awaited for a moment, and since only silence answered her, she went on, "You have ten minutes to form a plan of attack. That's all the time I'm giving her to be smart and surrender the Firebird. I'll be resting in my ready room, heed the doctors for some minutes at least."
Ajeya did not want to even acknowledge to herself how weary she was, the toll of her last weeks weighed heavy on her. The lively party had lifted her spirits for a while, but now her body ached and she was feeling truly tired. The chief medical officer had told her sternly that she should rest, but ten minutes was all the time she was allowing herself until all her immediate troubles were solved.
Some of her weariness must have been apparent now, because Raghnill's animosity was replaced by worry, and she had stood up. She was promptly by her side, love softening her gaze.
"I'll take care of everything. Just rest all the time you need," her daughter genuinely offered, resting her hand over her shoulder.
Ajeya smiled wickedly at her, "Ha! Don't even think of it!" she retorted. "I'll be in the bridge."
Next, she motioned the guard to help her out. She still felt humiliated every time she had to rely on others to move her around the ship. The soldier first opened the adjacent door and took a quick sweep over the empty corridor outside to ensure the way was safe, then moved by the admiral's side and lifted her with all the gentleness he was capable of.
The doctors had suggested she took a wheelchair until she could walk again. She had stubbornly refused. She did not want the ever present chair to remind her and her crew of her condition all the time. She realized she was more vulnerable letting others carry her around, but at least this way she could feign normality most of the time, while she remained seated.
Raghnill also accompanied her to the nearby ready room. She was sat in a large couch and immediately dismissed them. Once alone, Ajeya rested her head on the couch and closed her eyes. She still wanted so badly to kill Saavik… she contented herself with seizing the Firebird from her. Just thinking of it, she smiled, and the tiredness and the pain vanished away. She was sure she could justify her actions before the High Command later; after all, the cursed hybrid was the one breaking the treaty by holding the Romulan ship. She wished she resisted and the consequent battle killed her. And with the hopeful thought in mind, she fell asleep.
The bodyguard remained at the ready room's doors and Raghnill returned to the wardroom. Her first officer had already ordered the table to be cleared and two soldiers from the kitchen service were hurriedly cleaning it and taking away the last reminders of the party. The sub-commander was working at the main computer terminal. He glanced up at her and smiled supportively. He had a liking for the half-Vulcan admiral, and realized how much she had helped them in the past, but he could not quite understand why Raghnill was so committed to her. For all he knew, their debt to her had been repaid when they returned her to the Federation after escaping from the Klingon prison camp. However, his commander thought otherwise, and in no way wanted to harm Saavik and much less break her word. That's why her next words did not surprise him at all.
"Let's find a way to get that ship back to us without firing a single shot," she told him as she sat heavily on the nearest chair, not really hiding her distress.