Raider’s jaw worked. “I did not try to ground you. I simply explained the chain of command and how acting outside of it could get other people killed.”
Kira nodded slowly. “And?”
She was betting that wasn’t all he’d said. Otherwise, her niece wouldn’t be ensconced in her ceiling when they should be preparing to disembark.
Frustration ate at Raider’s control. “I may have mentioned some of the punishments those who were insubordinate received.”
Ah. Kira saw where he’d gone wrong.
“Was a week in the brig among those examples?”
Raider’s teeth ground together.
Kira tried not to laugh at his plight. It wasn’t funny. It really wasn’t.
“Fix this,” Raider ordered through clenched teeth.
Kira held her hands up. “Oh no. I know better than to get in the middle of this. You want a relationship with your daughter. This is up to you.”
Raider’s expression soured further.
It looked like the poor man could use a hint.
“I’d suggest not treating her like a grunt,” Kira shared in a low voice.
Elena was as rebellious as Kira and Jin at that age. Neither of them had responded well to orders either.
It didn’t help that Raider and Elena’s relationship was in the nascent stages. Still fragile as they worked to get to know one another.
That was Kira’s fault. One she was working to correct.
Raider scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m trying. I’ve never had a daughter before. I’m fucking up and I know it.”
Kira gave him a look of sympathy. “It’ll be fine. You’ll get the hang of it. Just treat her like another Jin.”
“What a horrifying thought.”
Kira ignored his mutter as she focused on Elena. “Try to give him a break. Normal parents care when their children place themselves into danger.”
The bravado dropped from Elena’s expression as she peeked at Raider with a look of regret.
Kira jerked her head at the cargo bay deck where Joule and Ziva waited. “Listen to your father and get down from there. We’ll be leaving soon.”
Elena scrambled out of the ceiling. Raider jolted forward to catch her but was too late as she dropped to the ground.
She landed easily, not seeing the way her father’s jaw flexed or the slight shake of his hands as she bounded in Joule and Ziva’s direction.
Raider’s glare was full of suppressed anger as he followed at a slower pace.
Kira watched him go before turning to the man she had every reason to suspect was the Tuann emperor.
Jin was right. They were probably doomed.
five
The resulting silence felt oppressive in the enclosed space.
Without facial cues to interpret due to the energy field masking his features, Kira was left without a clue as to what the other was thinking.
