Chapter 1
Jane Shepard was fifteen years old. Her hair was dark and curly, and she was an Alliance brat to the bones. She went everywhere her mother did, always fascinated by the new sights and people she encountered. Military life was all Shepard had ever known. To other children, it might have seemed strange living on a ship with so many adults, but she'd come to know and love her mother's crew. They were like an extended family.
Today was not going to be a particularly eventful day; Hannah Shepard had been assigned the difficult task of maintaining diplomacy with the turian hierarchy, and it was bound to be a boring day filled with talking and negotiations. But she'd never seen Palaven before.
The planet looked gray and green as she watched their descent through a window in the main cabin. She stared at it in awe. It didn't look too different from Earth, but without the giant oceans.
"Jane, did you want to stay on the ship this time?"
She grinned over her shoulder at her mother, whose arms were crossed as she leaned into one hip. "Not a chance."
Hannah sighed, shaking her head. "You know you're going to be bored during the meetings, and I won't have you playing on your omni-tool. This is a serious matter, and we must be as respectful as possible."
"Fine, but I'm still going. I want to see their sky."
"What is it with you and the sky?"
She shrugged. "I don't know, I just like to see all the different ways space can look when I'm planetside. It's always so different from when we're out here among the stars."
"Alright, do what you must." She turned to debrief her crew, throwing a firm, "No 'tool!" over her shoulder as her daughter rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Mother."
She stepped off the ramp and onto what appeared to be shining dirt. She stared down at the silver gravel, and was tempted to pinch up a sample, but she didn't want to embarrass her mom. There was limited vegetation; mostly they were surrounded by enormous silver buildings. The architecture was ornate, curving into sharp spikes and harsh edges thst captivated Jane's eyes. Palaven was unlike any planet she'd seen before.
Hannah hurried down the ramp to greet the three politicians. Jane had seen turians before at the colonies she'd visited, but not often. She'd always thought they looked sort of angry. These turians were no exception, but they used the human greeting and shook Hannah's hand politely, and turned to lead her to the board room. Jane followed in step behind Hadley and Johnson, trying to look as professional as possible. Her mother had taken the two crew members as a precaution, but they weren't heavily armed. Jane was trusting, but the sight of so many aliens was slightly unnerving, and she stuck closely behind the two soldiers she knew well.
It was a short walk to the building, not even a hundred yards, but Jane was already covered in a sheen of sweat by the time they reached it. This planet was hot. She could already feel her pale skin start to ache, just like it did whenever she was getting a sunburn. Her mother, right as always, had insisted that she wear a hazard suit, but Jane always refused to wear one unless she had to. A little sunburn wouldn't kill her. As they entered the gleaming structure, vanishing into blissfully cool shade, Jane noticed the pale orange sky above her and smiled.
The meeting was, as predicted, boring. Some argument about whether or not the turian Spectre Saren was mentally stable. Apparently someone named Anderson had already launched a complaint against Saren to the Council, but they hadn't listened. Hannah had told her daughter that if they could convince these politicians that Saren was crazy, they would back her when she confronted the turian councillor alone. If a councillor the same race as the renegade Spectre wouldn't vouch for him, the asari and salarian councillors wouldn't either. It was all a big ploy, a game they played to advance the power of their own races. The other two would turn on Saren in an instant if he didn't have the support of the turian councillor.
Jane could tell her mother was having a hard time selling her argument. She wasn't listening to the specifics, but the turians all looked upset and were talking over each other as Hannah watched passively from her chair, sighing at the indignity of politics. Unable to focus, Jane let her gaze wander the room. There were a few other turians standing behind the three that were talking. Their colors ranged from gray to reddish brown, and only the officials wore ceremonial robes. The others wore armor.
Jane's eyes locked briefly with one of the ones in the back. He was shorter than the others, just a child. She looked away quickly, trying not to stare. She'd never seen a young turian before. He couldn't have been any older than her, yet he wore armor like the others. After a moment she glanced back. He was looking to his side at one of the other armored turians anxiously, but the man ignored him. He ducked his head slightly, but glanced back at Jane. This time she held his gaze, cocking an eyebrow at him with a curious smile. He coughed and looked away.
"Let's take a break and cool down for a moment," Hannah was interjecting, and the turians grumbled in response, but turned away. A few left the room.
"How's it going, Mom?" Jane asked, only slightly interested in the proceedings.
"Not well," Hannah replied glumly. "They don't feel very compelled to see reason. We could be here for another few hours."
Jane sighed. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
"Hey." Hannah was whispering now, and there was a mischievous grin on her face. "That boy was looking at you the whole time."
"No. Mom, please don't."
"What? I can tell you're bored to tears. Why don't you go talk to that nice boy? You never get to meet people your age."
"Mom, I don't want -"
"Jane, promise me you will either sit up and look professional or leave the room. This is going to be harder than I thought, and I don't need you slouching and staring off into space. Appearances -"
"I know, I know, appearances are everything. Fine, I'll leave, okay?"
She walked out of the board room and into the lobby area they'd passed through on the way in and slumped in one of the chairs. The seat was hard and made of metal. To a turian, it probably would have been comfortable, but it hurt her back. She looked up and saw, standing just a few feet in front of her, the boy from inside. He was next to two adults who seemed to be deep in conversation. He looked as bored as Jane felt. After a moment, he shook his head and walked over to Jane, easing into the chair beside her.
"This is stupid."
His subharmonics were strange, sort of high-pitched. He was definitely a child.
Jane snorted. "Tell me about it. It's like this every time."
"Every time?" he echoed.
"My mom's Hannah Shepard," she explained. "Alliance Navy. I go with her on most of her missions."
"Wow." He sounded genuinely impressed. "That must be exciting."
"Not really. She mostly just talks to people, like this. I get to travel a lot, but that's about it."
"Have you ever shot anyone?"
She balked at the question. "Of course not! How old do you think I am? I can't join Alliance for another three years, and then it's another two at least in training."
"Oh," he said, disappointed.
"Uh, have you?"
"No, not yet. But I start my training in a few weeks."
"What training?" she asked.
"For the military. Every turian has to join."
"That's pretty intense."
"I guess," he shrugged. "Seems weird to me that humans don't have to."
He was so... young. "Are you scared?"
He gave her a perplexed look. "Why would I be? I'm just looking forward to doing something more interesting than this." He gestured at the board room wih one hand.
"Like what?"
"My dad wants me to join C-Sec," he said, glancing up at one of the turians in front of them, "But I don't know. I like the idea of making criminals pay, but I sort of want to travel around. Like you do."
She smiled. "Maybe I could tell you about it sometime."
"Yeah, I -"
"Son," the gray turian in front of them chastized, "let's go. I don't want them waiting on us."
"Right away, Dad."
The older turian walked inside, and the boy looked back at Jane.
"Do you have an omni-tool?"
"Yeah." She pulled the hidden device from her pocket and slipped it on.
He clicked a few buttons and shared his contact information with her 'tool. "Here's my address. I have to go."
He hurried out of the room.
"I'm Jane, by the way," she called.
He paused in the doorway. "Garrus Vakarian." He grinned crookedly, then vanished.
(A/N): Yay, new story! What do you think so far? This won't be main cannon. I believe I'll be taking some drastic liberties with the plot, hopefully in a good way.