Chapter 1
Shepard stepped carefully out of the mess, optimistically balancing a pile of several data pads, various bits of armour and a mug of tea at the summit. As she leaned to call the elevator the whole pile began to slide sideways.
"Oh shiiii..." Shepard shifted her weight to try and rebalance but the tower was collapsing from the middle. Luckily for her their latest recruit had rapid reflexes and moved swiftly to help her as he stepped out of Life Support.
"Let me assist you Shepard," he said taking the data pads and tea before following her into the elevator. His face was as impassive as usual.
"Oh sure, thanks Thane." Shepard smiled at him awkwardly. She was not entirely convinced about their latest Cerberus recruit. He was certainly more polite than the bitchy biotic and restless Krogan down in engineering but the calculated, precision killing she had witnessed him deal out in the Dantius towers told her this may not be an alien she could ever truly relax around.
A minute later Shepard dumped the armour onto her bed in a disordered pile while Thane set the data pads down precisely on her desk. He turned to survey her spacious cabin.
"Shepard, your fish are... lacking vitality."
She looked round to see the vast majority of her expensive alien marine life floating belly up in her tank.
"Oh for fu..." Something stopped her swearing in front of the oddly gentile assassin. She cleared her throat quickly. "I forgot to feed them again. I swear they were all fine yesterday though. Or was it the day before that? No wait, I definitely fed them before that last trip to Ilium but that was..." she trailed off, counting fingers. "Ah shit, I guess I just won't get any more." The self censoring was short lived.
"Marine life will be relieved to hear it" Thane said with the tiniest hint of a smile on his lips.
Sass eh? Interesting. Shepard had not expected that from the previously sombre Drell. He was dying after all. She placed her hands on her hips.
"Let's be fair here, I'm on the most technologically advanced interstellar ship in the galaxy and somehow no one thought to install a VI for the giant fish tank?"
Thane raised his brow ridges slightly and then, rather disconcertingly, blinked two sets of eyelids.
"It is somehow comforting to know that the great Commander Shepard has the odd flaw. I imagine you do not allow much personal time to attend to such things, considering the gravity of your mission and the pressure to rescue your colonists." Thane glanced back at the tank. "Perhaps Gardner could look into the installation of an aquarium VI next time we are on the Citadel?"
EDI chimed in right on cue. "The therapeutic and character building benefits of caring for a domesticated species of sub human intelligence is well documented Shepard."
"You have to be kidding me EDI? The Cerberus ship designer decided I need a lesson in responsibility?! That's ridiculous. And anyway, I already have a hamster." Shepard tapped on her little space rodent's cage. The ball of fur stayed stubbornly put in his den.
"Perhaps a hardier marine species would be more... suitable. There are many robust life-forms in the oceans on Khaje, observe". Thane flicked his Omnitool into life and brought up a holo of a shimmering golden creature with a tough outer shell.
"A Fooluphite. Analogous to your prehistoric earth Trilobites. They are extremophiles, capable of surviving extreme heat and cold and can exist on meagre meals every few months. I was away on business so often from Khaje that these were the only species suitable for my own apartment," he said, shutting down his Omnitool display.
"I like the sound of that! Where can I get one?" Shepard had a feeling she may still be capable of accidentally sending one to its watery grave.
"They are rare but I know a Hanar facility that breeds them still. Perhaps if time permits after the mission you would allow me to give you a tour of my home planet?"
"That's good of you Thane, I may just take you up on it." She was genuinely curious about the ocean world of Khaje and she did need tougher goldfish...
He bowed politely. "I will leave you to your rest Shepard." His parting glance lingered on her just a couple of seconds longer than she was expecting and she felt herself flush suddenly under his gaze.
"Um, yeah, see you later Thane." The door clicked shut behind him. Shepard shook herself off. This was not the time to develop crushes on potentially dangerous alien crew mates. The Cerberus upgrades must have meddled with her hormones, she decided, as she turned grudgingly towards the enormous pile of data Miranda had gathered for her on Collector weaponry.