Disclaimer: All characters and some dialogue belong to Bioware. I'm just playing in their world.
Thanks to cuddles_the_destroyer for beta reading.
I look up from my console. She's still there. Human. Female. Not an adult yet, though I can never tell how old these human children are. There's no crest to indicate their age and they all look so damn soft to me. I browse through a few more requisition reports and try to ignore her, but she's been there for over half an hour now and shows no signs of leaving. I sigh inwardly and stab "send" a little harder than necessary.
"What are you doing here?" She flinches, surprised that I even noticed her. I guess Turian voices tend to have that effect on humans.
"I'm waiting," she says cheerfully. I flutter my mandibles in shock and glance around. There are humans all over the place down here. Surely the person she's waiting for is nearby?
"Waiting? Waiting for who?" Hopefully someone who will show up quickly, so I can go back to being bored and filing reports in peace.
"Oh, for my parents. They put me on the rescue transport and told me to wait for them here." She smiles a little. "They'll come find me as soon as they can." Human voices always sound so flat to me, but she's clearly hopeful. I feel pressure behind my chestplate. I've heard this kind of thing before. I've lost a lot of friends to this war and I know some of them left kids behind. Shit. And I was annoyed by this child for standing near me?
"Well... I guess this is a safe enough place. Look, if anyone bothers me, let me know. I'll take care of them, okay?" Damned if I'm going to let a kid get hurt while I'm around, human or otherwise. I can at least do that much while people are dying out there.
She grins, showing all those flat white human teeth. "Sure thing, sir! Thanks!" She then goes back to staring out the windows, watching the numerous ships go by.
She's still waiting at the desk when I'm relieved for the night. I tell my replacement to keep an eye on her, then head back to my apartment. As I'm drifting off to sleep, I wonder if she has her own bunk, or if she's sleeping on the benches like so many of the other refugees on this station.
She's there when I arrive in the morning. I push my drowsy co-worker off toward the elevator before he nods off. He'd be more alert if he wasn't staying up watching "Fleet and Flotilla" every night like a damned romantic. I nod to the human.
"Hey."
She blinks, startled again and clearly tired. "Oh, it's you! Hi." Poor kid looks dead on her feet. I don't think she even had a bench to sleep on last night. I ask the question that I can already tell the answer to.
"Your parents get here yet?"
She tries to smile. "Nope, it's okay. I mean-they'll get here. They always keep their promises." Her voice falters a little bit. "They... Next shuttle was probably just late or something. That's all."
The pressure behind my chestplate builds and my mandibles snap in tight to my face. Shit. I put the chances of her parents actually showing up at somewhere around the same likelihood of a feral varren being hired as a dancer in Purgatory. I can't bring myself to tell her that, though. She still has a little hope, and I'm not about to kill it. Not yet.
"I'm sure you're right. I look forward to meeting them." I smile at her. She seems a little taken aback before she figures out my facial expression. That happens a lot with humans. I've never known why, I think human smiles are frankly terrifying with their mouths full of those flat teeth. She smiles and we nod at each other. Sometime late in my shift she's convinced by a group of other human children to take part in some kind of rope-jumping game, but only for a little while before she comes back to her spot by my desk.
She's still waiting when I get off work. As I get into bed, I realize that I have multiple extra blankets I've never used. I don't think she even has one. I can spare one of the softer ones-they're not made for turian anatomy anyway. I shredded the one I tried to use and then put the other one away so I wouldn't destroy it with my sleep flailing. I'll give it to her tomorrow.
"Hey!" She's the first to greet me when I arrive in the morning. I'm exhausted and my eyes are blurry after a night full of nightmares, and it takes me a second for my eyes to focus on her.
"Oh, hey. It's you. Still waiting, I see. Any news?" I hope so hard that the answer will be yes, for her sake.
"No, but... They promised, right?" Her voice is pleading, and her eyes are starting to water. "They'll get here soon." She's trying to convince herself as much as me, like the universe will make this happen if she says it loud enough. If only it was that simple...
"I'm sure they will. I'll drop by later to check in on you, if that's okay." Hell, maybe if I say it loud enough, it'll help the universe get its ass into gear.
"Okay." She looks so damned determined. I turn to head out on my patrol of the refugee camps, then my sleep-deprived brain reminds me of something and I turn back to her.
"Hey, um... Human."
She laughs at me. "My name is Amanda. Humans aren't just called 'human,' you know."
I run a hand over my crest and sigh. "I suppose you're right. Anyway, I wanted to give you this." I hold out the shopping bag that I stuffed the extra blanket into in my rush out the door that morning. "You didn't seem like you were getting much sleep, and I know the supply situation down here isn't great. I wasn't using this one and I figured you needed it more."
She-Amanda-takes the bag from me and looks inside. Her eyes get bigger, and she sticks her hand inside to feel the fabric. "Oh, geez. Thank you so much! Are you sure you don't need this?"
I shake my head. "It's too soft for me. I shred them when I roll over. You humans are all squishy, though, so it should be fine." She raises an eyebrow at the squishy comment and I shrug. "It's the truth."
She smiles. "Well, thank you very much, Mister Turian. I really appreciate it, even if I am squishy."
I smile back. "You're welcome. And my name is Officer Kovarrian." I then smirk gently, my exhaustion leading me to say, "Turians aren't all called 'Mister Turian,' you know." She sticks out her tongue at me and I leave for my patrol.
She's still waiting when I leave for the evening. At least she'll be warm tonight. I wonder if she's getting enough food, though. The rationing situation for the refugees is terrible...
"Good morning, Mister Kovarrian!" Amanda waves at me as I arrive at my station, her blanket folded up neatly and thrown over one shoulder. I smile and nod at her. She seems better rested this morning. I guess the blanket actually helped.
"Technically there is no morning or night on the Citadel, but thanks." I smirk at her a little and am rewarded with rolled eyes for my attempt at humor. "Anyway, if it's morning, then you can call this breakfast." I hold out the lidded bowl and spoon I'd borrowed from the C-Sec commissary as I was having my own breakfast. "I know the supply situation down here is crap, so I figured you'd enjoy something that wasn't a ration bar."
Her eyes grow large and she swallows. "Are you sure? You already gave me the blanket." Her hands twitch a little, and she clearly wants to grab the bowl out of my hands. A strange grumbling sound interrupts her, and it takes me a moment to realize it's coming from her stomach. Huh. I had always figured that was just a human figure of speech, but apparently they can actually do that. Weird.
"Look, kid. I can't eat this because it's human food. If you don't eat it, it'll just go to waste and then we'll both be kicked off the Citadel forever for wasting perfectly good food when there's a war on." I glare at her sternly, mandibles flaring. "So I order you to eat this for the good of the Citadel."
Amanda snaps into a salute with surprisingly decent form. "Yes, Mister Kovarrian!" She grins and takes the bowl from me. "Thank you so much! This is so generous! It looks-" Her voice falters as she removes the lid. "... Delicious."
I frown. "I did some research on human nutritional needs. Those items should provide a balanced meal."
She smiles at me and gestures with the spoon. "Oh. Yes. They absolutely will make a balanced meal." She takes a bite, chews carefully, and swallows. Her smile looks forced and painful at this point. "It's really good. Peanut butter brussels sprout orange slice pasta is my favorite."
I sigh. "It's disgusting, isn't it?"
Hanging her head, she drags a toe across the floor and admits, "Yes. It's awful. It's worse than my Mom's cooking." She peeks up at me. "Sorry."
I chuckle and shake my head. "It's not your fault. I don't know the first thing about human food, clearly." She smiles, relieved, and takes another bite. I tilt my head at her questioningly. She shrugs.
"Like I said, Mom is a terrible cook. I can eat pretty much anything at this point. And I have to do this for the good of the Citadel." She wields her spoon with exaggerated dignity as she continues to eat.
"So is all that human talk about 'Mom's home cooking' a lie, then?" I ask. She laughs and shakes her head.
"Not for most people. My Mom just can't make a meal to save her life. She has a real green thumb, though. She always says you have to know what you're good at and accept what you're bad at... And then marry someone who can do the things you can't. My Dad is the cook in our family."
I frown. "Your mother has a skin condition only on her thumbs?"
Amanda has to stifle a laugh, her mouth full of peanut butter and brussels sprouts. "Oh, no! That's a figure of speech. It means she's really good at growing things. She's in charge of the agriculture setup for our colony." She pauses, and looks out the window for a moment. "At least, she was. I don't know if the colony is still there anymore."
Crap. That wasn't where I'd intended this conversation to go. I try to distract her. "So, agriculture, eh? Did you help out at all?"
Her shoulders puff up with pride as she turns back to me. "Of course I did! When I wasn't in school, I was in charge of keeping the agriculture drones in repair and keeping the varren away from the chickens." She takes a bite smugly, eyes daring me to doubt her.
"Varren?" I ask. "Aren't those a little dangerous for human children to deal with?"
Amanda snorts loudly. "Maybe for some people. I can knock a varren off its feet from fifty yards with a concussive shot, and I don't even have a sniper scope. Do it enough times and they learn to leave you alone."
I blink, then smirk. "That is pretty impressive... For a human child."
"Yeah, well, I've never seen you do anything other than walk around in here, Mister Turian, which isn't very impressive for a grown-up anyone." We glare at each other for a while. This is one human game I know well, and I've learned that Turians are naturally good at it. Mere moments pass before she can't keep a straight face any longer and starts to laugh. I give it another thirty seconds and then allow my face to crack a smile as well.
"Thanks a lot for the food, Mister Kovarrian. I really appreciate it. Is it okay if I share what's left with some of the other kids?" She waves her spoon vaguely in the direction of a few human and asari children playing some kind of hopping game.
I frown at her. "Are you just trying to get out of eating the rest of my disgusting concoction?"
She tilts her head to the side. "Do I get points if I answer honestly?"
I chuckle and wave her off. "Whatever, kid. Go have fun with your friends." She skips off with the bowl and spoon and I watch her go with a smile. Talking about her colony seemed to make her forget her shitty situation for a few minutes. Maybe spending some time with other human children will do a similar thing.
By the time I leave at the end of my shift, the bowl and spoon have been washed and placed neatly on the desk, and Amanda is waiting next to it again. As I drift off to sleep, I send up a plea for someone, anyone to bring her parents soon.
Amanda is there in the morning. I've come to expect this. She seems sadder than usual, so I make an effort to be jovial.
"Hey there!"
"Hey." Shit. Something is definitely wrong. Her voice is more monotone than an elcor reciting accounting figures.
"Looking mighty low today. You okay? Anyone been bothering you?" If that crazed Batarian from Bay C is giving her a hard time, I will take great pleasure in punching him in the face... Again.
"No... It's not that. I'm fine." She tries to put on a brave face and inject a little more energy into her voice, but even someone as bad at reading human expressions as I am can tell her heart isn't into it.
"Ah, I see..." So I won't be punching Batarians in the face this morning. Maybe in the afternoon. "So, um... Any news?" I don't know why I keep asking the question, when I know what the answer is going to be.
"No... They just... Their shuttle must be real slow, that's all." I mentally curse this war, these Reapers, for what they're doing to the galaxy. She looks up at me, desperation in her eyes. "Do you think they're okay? They promised they'd come get me, no matter what they had to do." Her voice starts to crack. "But it's been so long."
I can barely handle the sadness in her voice. The damned pressure behind my chestplate is starting to make me feel ill. I hope I have something close to the right words to help. "I don't know, kid. I'm sure they'd be happy, knowing you're safe." And I will make absolutely damned sure you stay that way.
Her face crinkles up in that weird human way. "It's just... I miss them. I miss them so much."
Fuck.
I am not leaving her down in this refugee camp another night. I'm C-Sec, I can get authorization for a refugee transfer. I spend a minute tapping at the console, putting through all the correct paperwork. Five minutes later, I get approval. I look up at Amanda, clutching that blanket I gave her and trying not to cry.
"Amanda?" She jumps, her state of mind clearly nowhere near the Citadel. She blinks rapidly, then looks up at me.
"Yeah, Mister Kovarrian?"
I try to phrase what I'm about to say in the least menacing way possible. "I don't think your parents would want you staying in this refugee camp on your own. I can keep an eye on you during the day, but I think you'd be a lot safer if you spent the night away from here. I have room in my apartment, and I can take you there tonight."
Her eyes get huge and she fiddles with the blanket. "Geez, I don't know..."
"I'm not gonna eat you, kid. Your amino acids are all wrong for that. I'd get sick." I grin. "And I swear I've read up on cooking for humans, too."
She smiles back a little. "You've already done so much for me. Letting me stay with you is..."
"I have my own bathroom." I've seen what the lines are like for the refugee facilities.
"Let me get my bag."
She insists on sleeping on the couch, saying she couldn't possibly kick me out of my bedroom. I let her do that. Eventually. I'm just glad I can finally get a decent night's sleep, knowing she's somewhere safe. I hope her parents know it, too, wherever they might be.
She's been staying with me for a solid two weeks when they hit. It's in the middle of my shift, and she's still at the desk where she always waits. The Citadel shakes, and I hear a throbbing roar that makes my knees buckle and my hands shake. The chatter over my headset chills me inside and out. Reapers. They're here.
"Amanda!" I yell across the crowd, dodging panicked refugees as I run back to her. She climbs up on the desk to get away from the throng, and I vault it to land behind her.
"Mister Kovarrian! What's happening?" She looks over my shoulder as I frantically type at the console. Yes... Yes! The C-Sec cab is assigned to me! I can get her out of here! I trigger the evacuation alarm as I grab an M-8 and instructions start blaring over the comm system, directing everyone to the escape pods. I throw Amanda over my shoulder and start wading toward the cabs.
"Mister Kovarrian!" She elbows me in the head, right under my fringe. "What. Is. Happening?"
"Reapers!" I tell her. "They've invaded the Citadel! We have to get out. There aren't enough guns to fight them all." Screams behind me. Panicked, or people under attack? Sounds like panic at the moment.
"We can't go!" She struggles to get out of my grip, but she might as well be trying to swim in zero-G for how much good it does.
"We have to go! We have to go now! I'm not letting those fucking squids get their hands on you, dammit! I promised myself I'd take care of you, and I keep my promises!" She goes still for a moment, then grabs one of my crest spikes and forcibly turns my head.
"I mean we can't go without them." It's a group of children-mostly human, with a couple Asari and even a Batarian in the mix. They're all clutching each other and their ragged backpacks, clearly terrified, and completely ignored by all the adults around them.
"They're like me," she says simply. "Their parents haven't shown up, either."
Damn it.
I drop her and she runs to the group. I give a quick scan around the refugee camps. Still clear of Reapers, though the comm chatter tells me they're getting closer. I can overhear her giving orders to the little group. "Steven, you carry Alliana and Shiela. They're little and you're the biggest. I'll get Solem on my back. Jenny and Brian, you keep an eye on Maria. We have to go, and we have to go now!"
The screaming starts in earnest. This isn't "I don't know what's happening" screaming, this is "I know exactly what's happening and I don't like it at all" screaming. The Reapers have arrived. I see horrible blue-black caricatures of humans running into the refugee camp and people dying. I squeeze off a couple shots with my rifle, then turn to the herd of children that is now my responsibility. I can't do anything for the dead, but I can try and save the living.
"Movemovemove!" I yell, herding the sprinting kids in the direction of my cab. Three of them aren't running as quickly as I'd like, so I just scoop all three of them up and haul ass towards our escape route. The doors open as I approach, and I toss my three charges into the back and lift the other kids into it in a frantic flailing pile of arms and legs. There are gonna be some bruises, but it sure as hell beats being dead. I shove Amanda and her charge into the passenger seat and dive for the driver's seat.
That's when they grab me. Three of the human husks pull me away from the car, from the kids, from Amanda. I turn, my back to the car, trying to kick them off of me as they drag me away, but it's no use. I have no leverage. As the blows start to rain down upon me, I reach for my M-8, only to find it gone. Gone? I just had that damn thing a second ago!
I hear gunfire that is way too close for comfort and one of the husks explodes into a gory black splatter. Three more shots ring out in a burst, blending together into almost one sound, destroying another husk. Is that my M-8? I kick the final husk off of me, and as it staggers back I get to watch three more bullets hit it squarely in the chest, spraying black liquid everywhere as it dies. I stagger to my feet and clamber into the cab to find Amanda and my goddamned M-8. She keeps it aimed past me, toward the Reaper threat, her finger on the outside of the trigger guard, her back braced against the cab door behind her and one foot on the steering column for stability. There are tears falling down her cheeks, but she holds the gun rock steady until I get the cab door closed and we take off. Only then does she carefully put the safety on, place the gun on the floor of the car, and vomit out the window. She spits a couple of times, then sits back down, closes the window, and looks at the children in the back seat. "Is everyone buckled up?" Her voice is a little shaky, but my chest swells with pride.
"Thanks, kid. You did good." She looks up from buckling in the smallest human and manages a small smile.
"Told you I could shoot."
"Yeah, but those weren't varren. I don't know if it counts." I glance at her sidelong, hoping she takes the bait.
"You're just mad that you got your ass saved by a squishy human child," she snaps back with a roll of her eyes. Success! I allow silence to fall again as I concentrate on piloting. The docking bay doors are already open, thanks to the other evacuees, and I manage to get the cab out without being taken down by the giant flying Reaper bastards they brought with them.
I thank all the gods I don't believe in when we get away from the Citadel and I'm able to see the extent of the attack. Reapers. Huge fucking space monsters, bigger than the Dreadnoughts I've served on in the past. They've surround the Citadel, sending in wave after wave of reinforcements to destroy the population inside. Judging by my quick scan, they're not doing anything about the refugee shuttles that have managed to escape. I decide not to press my luck by wondering why. It's going to take my piddly-ass cab over half an hour to reach the Mass Relay, not being really designed for space travel, so I take some time to consider my position and options.
The cab I have doesn't have the fuel capacity for inter-system travel. I have only the emergency food and water always stocked in C-Sec cabs, plus anything the kids happen to have on them. Speaking of, I have-I pause a moment to count-four human children, two asari children, and one batarian kid with me, plus Amanda. I need to get somewhere with food they can eat, so that makes most Turian colonies a shitty idea. I also need to get somewhere that's an easy trip from a Mass Relay, which puts most of the less-developed planets out of the question. Most of the Council homeworlds are currently under major attacks from the Reapers, so I can't land there if I want to keep these kids alive. I slowly realize I have one real choice, and I swear under my breath while my mandibles snap in tight to my face.
Tuchanka.
I really hope the news reports were actually correct, and there's a real peace between the krogans and the turians now, or it's going to be a very short stay for me there.
I plot the Mass Relay jump.
"No, for the last time, we are not there yet!" I glare over my shoulder at the smallest human. This game became tiresome before we even reached the Relay outside the Citadel, and now that we're almost to Tuchanka I am about to find a way to gag the child.
"Besides, every time you ask that, it gets further away." Amanda winks at me as she says it. It's a good thing one of us knows how to deal with small humans. I open a hailing channel to the krogan homeworld.
"Krogan homeworld, this is a Citadel shuttle carrying refugees. This is Officer Arrek Kovarrian, requesting permission to land." Pleasepleasepleaseplease...
The channel crackles with interference. "Shuttle? Our scanner say you're driving a cab." The krogan is clearly holding back laughter. His buddies don't show such self-control. I sigh.
"Yes, technically I am driving a cab. It was the closest spaceworthy thing I could find when the Reapers attacked the Citadel." I pause, hoping that sinks in. "I repeat, I am carrying refugees. Requesting permission to land."
I hear muffled discussion on the other end, then the voice comes back on the line. "Permission granted, Officer Cab Driver. Coordinates are being sent to your nav controls. Do you have injured?"
"Just bruises. Thank you. Kovarrian out." I am going to be called Officer Cab Driver for as long as I'm on this planet, I can tell. It's silent in the cab for a moment as I plot our descent.
"Are we there yet?"
I grit my teeth.
I squint into the blowing dust. Ordinarily, I would find Tuchanka ugly and unpleasant, but at the moment I'm just happy to be standing on actual ground again. The krogan greeting party trudges up the ramp, and the herd of children standing next to me ogle them in shock. I suppose most of them have never seen a krogan before. They do take some getting used to.
They stop and size us up, weapons at the ready. The leader of the group looks between me, the kids, the beaten up cab, and back to me several times. I get tense. The smallest human starts to cry, and Amanda kneels down to hug and soothe him. The silence goes on for what seems like hours. Are they going to gun us down right here?
The lead krogan bursts into laughter. It echoes around the landing pad and blows away on the wind. "You! You came here? In that? With them?" He points to us to emphasize his statements. "A turian flies halfway across the quadrant in a cab full of kids to ask the krogans for help? You have one hell of a quad, Officer Cab Driver." He lumbers across the landing pad to clasp forearms with me. "We're not exactly set up for refugees, but we can give you a tent. You'll be expected to help out. Any good with a gun?"
"I did work security on the Citadel."
He snorts with laughter again. "That doesn't mean you're any good with a gun. Whatever, we'll get you set up. Even have some Turian food left behind after a ship crashed a while back, so you won't starve to death right away." He lumbers away, his squad trailing behind him and beckons for us to follow. "Come on, we'll find you and your brood a tent."
I follow him down the ramp with a bit more of a spring in my step, Amanda herding the smaller kids along behind me. The pressure in my chest starts to lift a little. This crazy plan might actually work out after all.
It's dark when I wake up. Amanda isn't in her cot, though the rest of the children are asleep in the tent. I get up and pad out of there silently, careful not to wake the others.
I find her outside on the top of some rubble, looking out over the moonlit landscape. I sit down next to her, and we're silent for a moment.
"Can't sleep?"
She shakes her head. "Too much adrenaline. And the gravity is a little different. I'll get used to it." She smiles up at me and gestures at the view. "It's pretty, isn't it? I've never been on a planet other than my colony planet before. Do you think they'll need help with agriculture?"
"From what I understand about Tuchanka, 'help with agriculture' is a while off. Currently they need what we call 'a miracle.'" Amanda rolls her eyes at me. I look out at the jagged rocks and broken buildings. She's right, though. They have a stark kind of beauty bathed in the silvery light of the moon and stars. It's still a harsh landscape, but in the night it's made mysterious instead of ugly.
"Back home I used to wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, and if I couldn't get back to sleep I'd go up on the roof and look at how everything looked in the moonlight. I loved it." She pauses, not looking at me. "It's something I used to do... With my parents."
That pressure is back in my chest. I can't think of anything to say. She takes her tiny squishy human hand and puts it on top of mine. It takes a moment for me to figure out how to hold it without accidentally scratching her, but then we're holding hands side-by-side in the moonlight.
"I think what you said on the Citadel... I think you'd right. I think they would be happy to know I'm safe. So thank you, Mister Kovarrian. I think my parents would have liked you." Tears flow down her cheeks, but she's smiling at me. I smile back.
"You can call me Arrek. If you want."
"You can call me Mandy." She pauses again. "It's what my parents called me."
I squeeze her hand. "All right then. Mandy it is."
She squeezes back, and we sit there a while longer.
"Are you sure you don't prefer Officer Cab Driver?"
"Call me that again and I'm sending you to your tent."