"You're allowed to speak. We still have a ways to go before we reach the relay - may as well make the most of the time we have left."
Other than the hum and throb of the veins running through the ship, tracing back to the eezo core heart, the helm remained quiet. Not even the echo of the Quarian's almost digital voice hung in the recirculated, sterilized air. She'd let her passenger mope long enough, stewing in her bitterness.
"Dahlia, at least do it for me. You know I hate silence."
"Ship's hardly silent. Sounds like she's running rough. You should've let me have a look at the conduits before we left, Imani."
"At this point, I would've been brought before the Admiralty Board, too, if I so much as handed you a wrench."
"Has a human ever been exiled from the Flotilla before? I think I deserve some applause for such a feat."
"We may never see each other again, Dahlia. If there is anything you've ever wanted to say to me, this could be your last chance."
"You're not my mother, Imani. My name was never Dahlia'Barael nar Helash. It was always just Dahlia Stark."
Imani wanted to say "I'm the closest thing to family you've had in twelve years." She knew better, though. Dahlia would react sharply, even if she said nothing back. It would be traitorous to remind Dahlia of the past now that she was, yet again, losing so much of her life.
"Remember when you were seventeen and demanded to be allowed on Pilgrimage?"
"I learned what it looks like when Quarians blush, I remember that."
Imani's laughter buzzed softly through her helmet's speaker.
"Do you know what you never found out about that?"
"I would say 'nothing,' since I know that you argued with Captain Brill on my behalf on that one."
"What? How did you know about that? I never wanted to mention it because my plea failed."
"Imani'Barael, the goody-goody of the Helash, only let's herself get into trouble for one person on the Flotilla. When Brill brought the hammer down on you, I knew what it was about. For what it's worth, I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you."
"Are you sure? This sounds an awful lot like a mother-daughter conversation."
"Don't flatter yourself. You're a big sister. An aunt, tops."
Dahlia suddenly felt like talking. Even with the low rumble of the tiny ship's inner workings, without the shuffling footsteps, creaking suits, and digitized voices of hundreds of other Quarians, Imani probably felt very alone. She really did hate silence, and after everything she'd put Imani through, Dahlia couldn't bear to make her suffer this quietly. It was the least she could do to repay Imani for volunteering to deliver Dahlia from the Migrant Fleet. Imani was probably the only one on the Helash sorry to see her go.
Dahlia could hear Imani humming beneath her breath, the faint sound amplified by her helmet and speaker. It was her tell: she was trying to swallow a question.
"There is no way this could be any more awkward, so don't hold back. What is it you want to ask...'sis'?"
The last bit was meant to charmingly pry the words out of Imani.
"Why Omega? If I thought I could fool you, I'd have secretly plotted a course for Alliance Space. Your parents lived on Bekenstein. You might have other family or friends there?"
"If there was anything or anyone for me there, don't you think I would have gone back ages ago? Mum and dad are dead, and so are my ties to that damn planet."
"Omega is dangerous. That rock is run by pirates, mercs, and crime rings. It's rife with Vorcha and...and…"
"The Batarians did not kill my parents."
"What?" Imani wasn't sure she heard Dahlia properly. Maybe she was being dramatic again, trying to make a point.
"You want to be close to me? I'll share my biggest secret with you. Batarian pirates didn't ambush my family at Intai'sei. That was a smokescreen. It was really some hired guns sent by the other heads of Jormangund. I heard my dad identify them to mum when the attack started, when they were getting my emergency suit fitted and sealed."
"Why would your father's own company want to kill him?"
"Jormangund was never my dad's company. Stark Industries died in the merger and took a big chunk of my dad to the grave with it. After a few years, the Jormangund execs figured they'd milked as many tech designs and business contacts out of my family as they could, so they decided to finish cleaning house and scoop up everything we had left. I know the truth about the attack. If I set foot on Bekenstein, I'm as good as dead. I want to go to Omega because I'm choosing uncertain doom over certain doom."
Silence reigned supreme again at the helm, but now it owed its existence to Imani'Barael. She agreed with Dahlia: this was a damn big secret, one her human "sister" had sat on for twelve years. Imani begged herself for the right words to offer Dahlia.
"Tony Stark...your father...he was a true friend of the Flotilla."
"That's the only reason I was allowed to stick around after they patched me back together."
"We couldn't abandon a good man's daughter."
"No, but you can exile her."
"Dahlia, don't oversimplify this. What you did...it's one of our worst crimes, short of outright treason against the fleet. Even if you thought you had good intentions...well...good intentions were what cost us our home. We cannot go back to Rannoch, but you have the option to return to Earth. That is a greater opportunity than I have."
"You want to leave the Flotilla?"
"No, but...I'd like more out of life. More than just scraping by, struggling to survive. You know how many Quarians want the same. No other human has experienced our way of life like you have. Don't you want more from your life?"
The helm returned to silence. Dahlia had no answer for that question. She never did.