Saavik stepped off of the metal ramp of the Bird of Prey into the dust and tugged on her red tunic. While there was comfort in doffing the uniform for the first time in months, she was dismayed to discover it didn't fit her hips and torso as perfectly as it had before.
She had been following a strict conditioning routine since her arrival on Vulcan. She found a certain inexplicable comfort in the planet's gravity, as if it were built into her DNA. But the slight increase in her caloric intake and her slightly distended abdomen would have caused her to alter her uniform replicator's settings if she'd been aboard a starship. Already, she was regretting her decision to stuff herself into the uniform just to bid farewell to Admiral Kirk and his crew.
During the period that he and his crew found sanctuary on Vulcan, she had been able to ignore her forced leave of absence from Starfleet. Almost every day she could be found with the Starfleet officers as they prepared the Klingon ship for the journey to Earth. Spock spent most days retraining his mind and building physical strength in Vulcan facilities, and on the occasions he visited the Klingon ship, Saavik would employ a predetermined excuse to be elsewhere.
Chekov had solved a dilemma for her a few days before the Enterprise crew's scheduled departure.
"We really could use you at comms, Lieutenant," Sulu insisted. They were taking a meal break while watching McCoy graffiti the ship with red paint.
"I'm sure every keptain in the fleet is fighting over her, Hikaru. After all, it's lucky to have a Wulcan aboard." As Chekov offered her a reassuring smile, she understood why it was described as "boyish," even though his hair was graying. "You'll get your orders when the time is right. I don't blame you for staying here a little while longer instead of riding in this rusty thing."
A lie by omission was still a lie, but it was a tactic frequently employed by Vulcans when dealing with humans. In the end, she had simply refrained from elaborating on the reason why she had yet to receive her next assignment.
But as the winds from the departing ship buffeted her and Amanda, she was forced to face her new reality. For the foreseeable future, she was grounded, separated from her stars while Spock was out there among them. At a time in her career when she should be vying for the opportunity to face uncertainty and danger on away missions, she would be squaring off with healers and their invasive instruments and tests almost daily.
Saavik touched Amanda's shoulder when she noticed a tear wetted the older woman's cheek. "Come, Amanda, I will drive us home." Amanda had never been successful at learning to operate a Vulcan aircar, and Sarek had travelled to Earth ahead of the Enterprise crew to argue on their behalf. Under Sarek's instruction, Saavik had learned to operate the vehicle in a short time, and she reveled in the activity.
Amanda gripped her safety restraint as Saavik navigated the canyon roadway. As they took a tight blind corner, Amanda gasped. Saavik glanced over to see the Human's eyes tightly shut. "Lady Amanda, did you and Sarek agree on the specifications on this vehicle?"
"I don't know, maybe," Amanda breathed out. "Would you please slow down."
"Very well." Saavik allowed friction to decelerate the aircar by a few dozen kilometers per hour. "This vehicle has remarkable safety features. I would have assumed that you requested the most advanced technology as Sarek is an excellent pilot."
"I vaguely remember a discussion about purchasing a new aircar, but I left it completely up to my husband. I never got the hang of Vulcan aircars."
Saavik itched to push the vehicle, but restrained herself out of respect for Amanda's comfort. Soon, she was pulling the car into the garage. "When are you expecting Sarek to return to Vulcan?" She offered her arm to Amanda as she disembarked. Guilt flooded her mind as she felt the slight tremor in Amanda's grip.
"No sooner than three weeks. He has an abundance of meetings scheduled because he's been away from Earth for too long. I bet he will barely get any sleep."
Saavik pulled her large Starfleet issue duffle from the luggage compartment of the car and followed Amanda into the house. "Then it is fortuitous that I am on premise to act as your driver."
The gleam in Saavik's eyes made Amanda nervous. "Oh, there is no need. Tukel is available to drive me during working hours, and there are on demand shuttle services available the rest of the time."
"It is the least I can do to repay your kindness in offering me lodgings on your estate." Saavik deposited her duffel on the floor of the kitchen and aimed directly for the food replicator.
"Tell me why you didn't train as a pilot, again?" Amanda laughed in spite of herself.
After washing her hands in the sonic, Saavik started scrolling through the extensive list of meals, items, and beverages programmed into the unit. "I gave serious consideration to that path, but my entrance exam scores were insufficient. That is easily explained when one considers I had never piloted a vehicle of any kind before the exam. My marks in xenobiology, linguistics, astrophysics, and strategic planning were above satisfactory, so the command track was the obvious choice."
Saavik selected a lentil curry from the menu along with a strongly spiced red tea. She noticed only after making the selection that the combination was one which she had frequently relied on in her academy days. Nostalgia was illogical, so she reasoned it must be that the combination was familiar and she was too hungry to keep scrolling. "May I request an afternoon meal for you?"
"Just the black tea in speed dial four, please." As Saavik situated herself at the small table in the dining alcove, Amanda wrapped her hands around the mug. "Computer, environmental setting one. Since our human guests have vacated, there's no need to keep the house so cold."
"Please do not alter your environment controls on my behalf. I have become acclimated to the standard Starship climate." Amanda noted that Saavik also gripped her own mug in both hands.
"Even a human cannot live on Vulcan as long as I have without becoming used to dry heat. With the boys gone, you're my only house guest." She sipped her tea and looked out into her sprawling rose garden as Saavik puzzled over Amanda's diminutive descriptor of McCoy and Kirk who were both well past middle age. "You say that command was the obvious choice, but is it what you wanted?"
"What I desire is inconsequential compared to where I may be of the most use to Starfleet. And Starfleet has no shortage of pilots."
"Well, Sulu will eventually promote out from behind the helm, so Starfleet will be short one excellent pilot."
"I could not begin to compare my own skills to Commander Sulu's. And Commander Chekov insists that Sulu is only viewed as an exemplary pilot because of his reliance on skilled navigators, though I cannot understand how that may be true."
Amanda's bark of laughter indicated to Saavik that she had been misinformed or had mistaken Chekov's jest for sincerity.
Amanda smirked. "To use a scientific term, Chekov is what I call a bullshitter, though I mean it in the nicest way. Don't trust a word out of that man's mouth."
Saavik's look of alarm caused another incident of laughter from her hostess. "That is most disturbing! Militaries greatly rely on a sense of trust among the personnel to function. If Commander Chekov's colleagues cannot trust his judgement or evaluation of a situation, he should be removed from service. I was under the impression that he was Spock's student long before I was."
Amanda refrained from reaching across the table to grasp Saavik's hands, but just barely. "It has been too long since I had someone as inquisitive and trusting as you under my roof. I'm going to enjoy this so much."
Saavik blinked, uncertain of how to respond. So she reverted to a familiar tactic from her youth while living under Spock's tutelage: unending questions. "If I permitted another query: I am familiar with the term 'bullshit' only in the explicative manner. Can you expand on the scientific usage of the term?"