Niala was awakened by the smell of fresh meat sizzling on the stove. Her eyes refused to open and she tried to get back to sleep, but her stomach growled and her mouth was watering. Giving in to her hunger, she levered herself up and put on a light dress for school. She went with a yellow one, mostly because she knew that Salarian women often wore full body dresses. While she did not like the feel of full dresses, Pevev liked yellow, and she was hoping he would like her dress.
She came out into the kitchen to see her dad at the stove, apron and all, making breakfast for her. Normally, she had a small cold breakfast before running off to school, but for the last week his cooking had woken her up early. She realized he was humming a tune as he was cooking. She rolled her eyes as she realized what song it was. He could not carry a tune for his life.
"You're in a good mood today. Did you have a date last night?" Niala giggled as her father blushed as he served up the food.
"It wasn't a date really. At least I don't think so."
"Well, you are being a little secret about it. If you were with Aunt Tannis or Uncle Ramoras over even Hevek, you would have said right away. Or if it was someone from work you would have made a reason as to why you cannot tell me. Except Gemini, you would have brought them over." Niala looked smugly at Richard.
"It was just a talk with a friend. I had some things on my mind that I needed to talk about. It helped, and honestly, seeing that Pevev likes you back put me into a great mood." It was Niala's turn to blush, but her smile was too big to let embarrassment defeat it.
"I am too. I know it will not be something for the rest of my life, but I'm going to enjoy it." Niala preened as she chowed down. "Auntie Tannis let me know that. She said it was ok and I could date him for now."
"Your Aunt Tannis is a very smart and shrewd woman. Listen well to her." Richard ate his food a little more sedately than Niala. "Do you have any events coming up?"
"There is the science fair in one month; I have the Ward Semi-finals for the Academic Decathlon this weekend."
"What is your project on?" Richard put their plates into the sink.
"The long term effects of Mass Effect fields on different types of matter. If you want, you can come to the science fair. The Decathlon on the other hand has no spectators. Got to run, I don't want to be late." She gave her dad a quick hug and then flew out the door.
She ran quickly to school so she and Pevev would have some time alone before classes. It was the one time of the day they could actually act like a couple, since the amount of homework and studying they had to do took up most of their evenings. A smile crossed Pevev's flat face as he saw Niala and they embraced.
"Is there something wrong? You seem a little distracted." Pevev said, looking up at Niala. Despite being closer to full size than Niala, Salarians were still a short species and she had been growing fast lately, stimulating new feelings in him.
"Beyond hoping you'll notice the dress; I'm worried about my dad. He seemed happy this morning, but when he looked at me, I thought he looked sad. It's probably nothing though."
"Do you think he might be keeping a secret from you? Does he have any reason to?"
"It could be about my family. Maybe they found a distant relative who wants to take me in. Turian law would allow that." Niala shrugged. Pevev noticed her body shift as she shrugged a lot more than he did a few weeks ago.
"Should you ask him? Is it something he wants to tell you? Perhaps it is something he wants to keep from you, at least for now." They linked hands as they walked to class.
"Maybe, but I'm old enough. I'm nearly an adult. I want to know if it is something to do with me." Niala complained.
"Maybe we could ask him after school. Or you can do it yourself, if you want."
"No, I might not have the courage to without you there." Niala flashed him a smile and gave him a peck as they separated to go to their classes. The day dragged on for Niala, as she was worried about what her father might be keeping secret from her. After first period, she realized she needed to focus on class and was able to focus for the rest of the day. But in the back of her mind, that anxiousness was eating away at her.
Richard watched Niala fly out the door and chuckled. He remembered being that young and having a crush. He whistled as he went about the chores, cleaning the house and getting ready for the day. He decided to see if Hevek was free for a bite to eat and called him up.
"Hello Hevek, long time no see. I was wondering if you would like to grab lunch today and catch up."
"Sure, I have my lunch hour at 7am. Come by and we can talk. Are you a maid now?" Richard looked down at the apron he was wearing.
"No, I was just doing chores." Hevek gave a grunt of disbelief and hung up. Richard continued about his normal exercise routine and freshened up before heading out to meet Hevek. He took the public transportation to the hospital where Hevek worked and waited around for him to come out. A few minutes after 7 a disheveled Hevek came out and plopped himself down by Richard and ordered some lunch.
"So, how is working for a Spectre? I heard you needed to get patched up a few times." Hevek smiled as he scooped up some of his soup. "Oh, that hits the spot."
"It's not too bad. Not too different from what I was doing with C-sec, I just get to see more of the Galaxy." Richard bit into his sandwich and relaxed into the conversation. "How has work been without me around?"
"Things have gone back to normal. My nights are a little quitter without you. You were the crazy one in Captain R'Donis's group, so most of the other officers take it easier. Plus we have not had as big a raid as you did last time in a while. Mainly, I deal with accidents now. I rather prefer seeing the levels of idiocy people can get to. It's almost fascinating." They both laughed. When the laughter died, Richard put on a serious face.
"Can I ask you a serious question?"
"There's a first for everything, so go ahead."
"I'm keeping a secret from my daughter. Well, two secrets, but there is a very big one I am keeping, and I don't know if I should tell her or not. I'm just worried that she will find out I am hiding something and pester me about it till I tell her. I am ready to give her some of the secret, but not the whole secret. Do you have any idea how I can do that?"
Hevek sat still for a while, fingers interlaced, before he gave an answer. "I think you should tell her the part you are ready to tell, but let her know that there is more to the story, but you will tell her later. If it is something she could guess from the information you were willing to tell her, then just tell her all of it." Hevek spooned some more soup into his mouth.
They sat in silence for a while before Richard let out a sigh. "You're right. I should just tell her the whole truth." Hevek smiled and finished his soup.
"Well, I need to get back into work. I hope it goes well." Richard payed the bill and went for a stroll. He stopped by a small boutique and grabbed a random book to read. To his disappointment, it was a romance, but he decided to read it to pass the time. It was horrid drivel, and he deleted it after he finished. He went home and decided to prepare a light dinner and get out some of the paperwork that Halona had shoved his way. He was in the middle of a report on the amount of food being shipped out of a system under suspicion of drug trafficking when Niala and Pevev walked in.
"Dad, I have something I want to ask you." Niala said cautiously. Richard motioned for them to take a seat at the table and he got them some water. "You seem sad since you came back from this last mission. I know you had that date, but there is something else eating at you. Every time you look at me I see sorrow in your eyes! Guilt even! Tell me what is going on. Why do you look at me like that?" Niala's voice broke as burning tears streaked down her face.
"I didn't mean to cause you any anguish, but I have to tell you. It has to do with your mother."
"My mother is dead! The pirates who took me killed her."
"No they didn't." Niala sat down, stunned at the certainty in Richard's voice. "They spared her and she took them over. They tried to ransom her to her unit, but they raided the pirate's lair and freed her. But they went rogue and took over the operation. Your mother had changed her name and was running the operation. We were sent there to stop her by any means necessary." Richard paused before taking a deep breath.
"We got separated and our plans went awry. We ended up outside of her room and she was firing at us. None of us had any ammo left and I decided to charge her, the same way I did to save you. I had hoped to just take her down, but she had no shields up and went flying. She hit the wall and that was it. I didn't mean to, I only meant to subdue her, not kill her." Richard's voice had grown quite. "It was only afterwards that I learned who she was. That's what I have worried about telling you all this week. I'm sorry."
The silence that followed Richard's confession was absolute. Richard was unsure how she would take the lie. He was hoping that she never learned that her mother was willing to get rid of her in such a horrible way. Niala was crying with silent sobs, while Pevev held her hands. Richard went over to Niala and have her a gently hug. To his surprise she did not pull away, but leaned into him. She wiped away her tears and looked up at her father.
"Why didn't you tell me this when you got back? You are my dad; I thought she was dead all those months ago, and to me, she still was because she never tried to find me. You should trust me by now." She buried her head in his chest and her sobs came out heavy and wet. The three of them sat there for half an hour before Niala had cried herself tired and was falling asleep. Richard carried her to her bed and tucked her in.
"If you want you can stay for dinner. I have some paperwork I have to do." Richard started on the files he had been working on. Pevev sat there for a few minutes before he started to work on his homework. Dinner came and went with both of them finishing their work before Niala came out of her room. She grabbed some food and sat next to Pevev, eating in a half-asleep way. When she finished, she leaned against Pevev and started to nap. Pevev's face grew worried and he looked at Richard, holding his hands in the air.
"You don't have to worry. Here, move her to the couch and I'll get a blanket. She can rest on your shoulder there. I'll let your family know you are probably going to be here till late." Richard helped position his daughter on the couch with her boyfriend and draped her favorite blanket over her. He walked out of the apartment and made a call to Pevev's parents.
After a short talk with his parents, who were fine with him staying the night if it came to be, Richard felt a lot better. His daughter was upset with him for keeping secrets, not for what the secret had been. He felt as if a huge milestone had been crossed in their relationship, and he was happy.
His happiness did not have a chance to bask for long as after a few minutes he received a message. It was from Kyana.
Hello Richard,
I have been invited to a political function up on the Presidium. It is rather long with quite a few speeches, but there is a reception and a dance floor after, and I am allowed a +1. Though I know you probably are not interested in politics, but it is the opening of an orphanage and school. I was hoping you wouldn't find it too much a chore to be my date. The dinner is tomorrow night. Meet me at my house at 14 O'clock.
~Kyana
Richard read the message a few times, unsure of what to do. He had no plans tomorrow and Niala was at the Academic Decathlon all day. While he did not want to go to a long boring function, he was moving up in the world, and he was willing to sit through almost anything to spend time with Kyana. And that was the feeling that caught him most off guard. He had a few girlfriends, but never more than a childhood crush.
It took Richard nearly half an hour to decide that he was going to go. He replied that he would be more than happy to join her, and he would wear his dress uniform. Butterflies were going crazy in his stomach and he was giddy as he finished the letter and sent it off. He took a few minutes to compose himself before he went back inside.
Pevev and Niala were no longer on the couch. The door to her room was shut. Richard stood paralyzed with indecision before heading to his room. The next morning, Richard was up first and had prepared a breakfast for all three of them. Niala and Pevev were late getting out of her room. They both looked sheepish as they came into the kitchen. Richard served them each a plate and sat down to breakfast.
"Don't worry. Did anything happen last night?" They both blushed. "Well, did you follow the safety rules you were taught." Niala nodded, too embarrassed to eat. "Then there is nothing to worry about. Now eat your breakfast before you have to go to the Decathlon." They slowly started eating and Richard cleaned up the dishes.
"Sir, are you sure everything is ok? I mean…" Pevev was rubbing his neck nervously.
"Of course. My daughter is old enough to make some decision autonomously. She has enough knowledge from school, myself, and her aunt to make an informed decision. Plus, I have never heard of a interspecies child between a Turian and Salarian, so there was not too much worry in that department." Richard gave Pevev a small smile. "You were there when she needed comfort, she told me she was safe, and I do not have to worry about the action altering her life in a large way. As long as you two are ok, that is fine for me, for now."
Niala had come out of her bedroom, dressed for school in a two layer top and pants. Her eyes seemed to be a little swollen, and she seemed tired, but she walked over to Richard and gave him a huge hug. "How are you feeling little dove?"
"Tired, sad, but I feel better than last night. I'm glad you told me. I just need time to processes it. We should get going, the bus will leave soon." She gave her dad a hug, grabbed Pevev's hand and kissed him, and they were off. Richard was now more worried about his evening, than his daughter's. He had received a reply from Kyana telling him to show up an hour early so they could get ready and make it to the function on time. He decided to see what the rest of the group was up to. He went to the docking bay where their busted ship was being repaired.
During the five days that Gemini and Richard were alone, the ship had been attacked by a small pirate warband. They had destroyed 2 of their ships and captured the third, but that still left Halona's ship heavily damaged. Rina and Gemini were overseeing the repairs while Vorx was getting new weapons for the ship. Halona was nowhere to be found. There was nothing for Richard to do, so he just spent some time answering all of Gemini's questions that did not cause Rina to whip scrap metal at him.
Richard took a shower and shaved before he headed over to Kyana's. He was already in his dress uniform when he arrived. Kyana answered the door this time. She was wearing a full length dress of crimsons and yellows. It was not form fitting like most modern dresses, but Richard could not tear his eyes away. Kyana smiled and pulled him inside. They had an hour before the function and Kyana decided that Richard needed a new outfit. She opened a closet near the back of her house that had a variety of male clothes in it.
"What, you think you are the first Human male I have had over? I keep a closet of clothes for the necessary occasions. Remember, I have lived for over five of your centuries and i have two daughters." She pulled out a few shirts and eyed Richard with them, finally settling on a blue one to replace his uniform. She took his uniform off and put on the shirt, making a few adjustments. When she was satisfied, Kyana draped her arms around Richard's neck and gave him a deep kiss, "I think it is time we head out."
Richard was in a weird state of mind as Kyana wrapped her arm in his and they walked off to the function. Most of the function was a blur, boring speeches he could not wrap his mind around. The other people at their table were friendly, but of a higher social standing than Richard. They were mostly talking about the local season of entertainment. Richard was out of his depth with this type of entertainment, although he was fast losing surprise in what he was learning about Kyana and her tastes.
The one part he remembered clearly, or at least clearer than the rest of the evening, was when the call came in. They had been talking about a symphony that Richard actually recognized (one of the few human ones done by Vivaldi that had been adapted to Quarian instruments) and his omni-tool had been vibrating. He had quickly checked the caller ID. It was not Niala, but came from Gemini.
"If you all will excuse me, I need to check on something. I know it's most inopportune, as we have finally found a topic I am versed in."
Richard stood up and before he could excuse himself, Kyana stopped him and whispered into his ear, "Don't be too long." she kissed his ear and gave him a smile. The matriarch curves and lines on her face softened. She was no longer the hard faced captain he had known for the past three years. That smile, and the look in her eyes almost made him forget about Gemini's insistent calls. It took all of his willpower and he took himself out of the room to answer Gemini's call.
"Gemini, this had better be important."
"I would not call if it was not important Richard." Gemini's voice came over the comlink.
"Gemini, I know you would not call if it was not important." Richard pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "What is the problem?"
"Creator Rina has disappeared. I cannot locate her, nor can Citadel security. She is not responding to normal communications."
"Perhaps she wanted a few hours alone. You are a person, even though Inorganic, and she may have wanted some private time. What makes you think something is wrong?"
"I received a communication on our secure channel. It was not a coherent message, it was only a short garbling of signals, but she would only use that channel if something was wrong. It is a locked channel only we have access to. Halona and Vorx are off on a small mission, and I have no one else to request help from." Richard groaned inwardly, knowing that his evening was ruined.
"Where are you? I need to let Captain R'Donis know the situation." Richard felt the good mood he was feeling start to dissipate.
"I am two minutes from your position, I will meet you outside when you are finished." The call ended and Richard walked back inside. He found Kyana and the other at the table were engaged in conversation. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. He felt a pang of regret as he watched Kyana laugh. It's only one night. She'll understand. He gently laid his hands on her shoulders.
"I'm afraid a colleague of mine has misplaced something and they need my help recovering it. I wish I could stay, but duty calls." Kyana reached up to his cheek. "This may take a while, we may have to continue this another night." He gave Kyana's cheek a kiss and went out to meet Gemini. He saw the Geth gently wringing the crochet hood Rina made for them.
"Richard. Thank you for coming. I am very worried about Creator Rina. She told me she was doing some private business with her Pilgrimage. I have her last known location. We should start at docking bay 56F." Gemini transferred the data to Richard's Omni-tool and looked back over Richard's shoulder.. "I did not realize you were with Spectre Halona's cousin tonight. Were you otherwise engaged?"
"We were, but I was only a random guest, and helping you find your...find Rina is more important for me to help with right now." Richard looked back as he heard the clicking of shoes come come towards him. Kyana did not look upset as much as irritated and curious. Richard quickly scanned Rina's last transmission for clues to what she was doing while he waited for Kyana to reach him. "Did she mention anyone to you?"
"She told me there was a scientist looking to help the Quarian people and she was going to check it out. I was unable to find where she found that claim or information. Are you armed in case something has happened?"
"No, I made sure of that before we came." Kyana had just reached them. "Why, if it is a simple mission to find something you lost, why do you need a weapon?"
"Gemini thinks that Rina, the Quarian, has been kidnapped. No one is able to locate her nor her Omni-tool on the station. She sent a coded message to Gemini, but there was no information on it. We have a lead, but not much of one."
"Tonight was supposed to be a night off, but I can see that this means a lot to you two, so I will help you out. But Richard, you owe me one night of R and R after this is over." Kyana pulled out her Omni-tool and called for a squad car.
"Is this in addition to the favor I still owe you for the advice?"
"And the rest of this night as well. Having me help you will make the investigation go quicker, and I can keep an eye on you. No weaseling out of your debts." Kyana slipped an arm around Richard to look at the display on his Omni-tool.
"Query Richard." Gemini waited until Richard gave him the sign to continue. "What was the social interaction there? The words were a casual exchange of favors and banter, but from the context and tone, I do not believe this to be the case."
"Correct, it's um...flirting in a sense. Kyana was displaying dominance and affection towards me...Right?" Richard looked over at Kyana, who gave him a knowing smile. "Just put it in your mating ritual file. And now, back to the case at hand. Kyana, can you look up information on this Dr. Lenon? The might give us a clue as to what we can expect." They spent a few minutes looking up as much information on the doctor as they could while they were waiting for the squad car to arrive.
The car pulled up and an officer stepped out of the vehicle. Kyana stepped into the passenger seat while Richard and Gemini took the back seats, There was an extra pair of pistols for Richard and Kyana, which they equipped as the car sped off to the docking bay. Richard hoped that they would arrive to nothing going wrong, but Rina's odd behavior did not bode well.
They landed a little ways off of the docking bay and Kyana had the car stand by, incase they needed it. Gemini snuck forward. They slowly crept around the docking bay, noting the complete lack of activity, despite there being a ship docked and cargo either half unloaded or half loaded. There was some scattered heavy equipment and some half eaten lunches (which made them all draw and arm their weapons). They came to the back of the docking bay when they found some weapon scorch marks. There were no bodies, and Gemini could not detect any Quarian blood in the marks. They spent about ten minutes searching around the fight area for further clues of where the bodies, both living and dead, were. Richard found what looked like a seam in the wall.
"It looks like we have two options from here. Either break into this hidden door, although it's probably a Keeper door, or go onto the ship here, which is most likely the doctor's or his associates."
"This door does not seem to have been opened recently, besides, I have found marks indicating that bodies were dragged leading towards the ship. I believe Creator Rina will be on the ship. She will most likely need medical attention. We must hurry." Gemini started to jog towards the ship. Kyana and Richard had to sprint to catch up with the Geth's synth muscled limbs. They were able to bring him to a stop just outside the ship.
"Gemini, don't go running in there. I know Rina may need your help, but if you sprint in there, you will probably be killed too quickly to help. Now come on, let's get in there and save your friend." Richard crept forward into the ship.
The halls were streaked with blood. There were no gunshots, but blood covering all of the walls, both new and old blood. They crept along, checking all the small rooms and side hatches. Each one they opened increased the charnel house stench of the ship. They stopped at the final door. There was one large room left before the pilot's den. As the door opened, Kyana and Richard charged in while Gemini provided cover.
There were a few Mechs standing around with small predator pistols, while others were holding more cumbersome, but far more horrifying in nature. The one thing that stood out about the room was that it was spotless. The smell of antiseptic was overpowering. In the middle of the room was a surgical set up, with a human standing over the body of Rina. Her suit was opened, so was some of her exoskeleton. Kyana and Richard started opening fire on the mechs before they could return fire. There was a guttural, animal sound from Gemini, causing a feedback loop from all the electronics in the area. All of the mechs started sparking and deactivating. Richard gathered all of his biotics and threw the human into the far wall with a heavy and solid ring.
Gemini was at Rina's side before Richard had recovered from the biotic shock. Kyana was already on the Omni-tool, calling for a full triage team at the ship. Gemini was already trying to close and clean Rina, to keep her alive. Kyana was already helping him, using the human's equipment to continue keeping her alive. Gemini's vocal synthesizer was getting clogged and almost sounded like emotion was bleeding through the monotone.
Richard noticed some movement in the back of the room, the human who had cut Rina open. Richard rushed over and quickly tied the person up, making sure that all his limbs were tied down. Even though it took only 3 minutes for the first response team to arrive and start fixing the damage that the man had done, but those three minutes had felt much longer. Rina's heart had almost stopped and her body was fighting off a massive infection. While they were trying to closer her body, Gemini reactivated her environmental suit. As the Triage team came, the first responders tried to shoo everyone away, so the operating team would have room. Gemini's body dropped to the floor and all the lights went out.
Richard grabbed the empty body and slowly hauled it out of the doctors' way. Richard and Kyana sat near the edge of the room, watching the team work. Richard refused to let go of Gemini's body, cradling it in his arms. After three hours of constant work, the Triage team stepped away to get a gurney. One of the doctors came over. Richard was surprised to find that it was Hevek who came over.
"Richard, Captain R'Donis. The Quarian will live, for now. She is in severe critical condition. While we have closed her up, she will be in critical condition for a while. We need to move her quickly for her to have a chance. Her suit has been helping keep her alive, but even with the suit's help she may not make it. We will let you her condition once we know more. She will be at the Camora Hospital if you want to come visit. I will have both of you cleared as visitors." Hevek gave a weak smile and went off with the rest of the Triage group. It was only as everyone was leaving that Richard thought about the prisoner. He noticed that Kyana was talking with some officers, so she seemed to have that under control.
Richard chided himself for his loss of edge. He was barely a year out of the force and he had already forgotten about a prisoner and chain of custody. He didn't move until Kyana had come back over to him and helped him up. He hoisted Gemini's body and they left the ship to C-Sec. Richard felt dazed, but he was not sure why. He did not know Rina well, but the sorrow in Gemini's soul affected him as well. It did not help that they had to walk through the charnel house again.
He was still stunned when they reached his apartment and set Gemini's body down on one of the chairs. The rest of the night was blurry. He remembered helping Kyana out of her dress, feeling the hot steam of a shower, and the comforting presence of someone in his bed. Very little solid memories of that existed for him, mixed in with his dreams.
Richard woke with a start as he felt something shuffle against his body. The first thing he noticed was the blue mass of head tentacles in his face. The second thing that he noticed was that his arms were around the naked female figure in his bed. It took him a few moments to remember the events of the previous day, and a few minutes to convince himself that those had happened and were responsible for what he woke up to.
Kyana rolled over and looked at Richard. She smiled. "So, you're finally awake, I didn't think yesterday had taken so much out of you."
"I remember everything from yesterday till we get back here, and then everything just seems blurry. What happened?" Richard felt embarrassed asking the question, but he would feel worse waiting to ask it.
"Nothing happened. I could tell Rina's Injury and Gemini's sorrow had put you in a state of shock, so we just showered and fell asleep. I wasn't going to take advantage of you in such a state." They both smiled. After a few moments of staring into Kyana's eyes, Richard leaned in slowly and kissed her. It was a short, sweet kiss. They looked at each other again, and the floodgates opened. Their next kiss was long and passionate, culminating in a mess of tangled sheets and sweating bodies.