Kandros accepted the invitation to the Vortex by Ann Mulder to let off some steam. Helping her dissuade a would-be suitor seemed the gentlemanly thing to do. It never occurred to him that liking the idea of helping her had any connection of a personal attraction to the human female. She clearly liked him, and that made him want to help her even more. He took extra care in touching up his markings and donned his best civilian shirt over his least worn set of pants. Drinks would prove one of two things to him besides that she could or could not handle her alcohol.

First, drinks with Ann Mulder potentially exposed more of who she was and her past that seemed well versed in the scum of society. Secondly, if she really did favor him, her attentions to him would be genuine and freely given. They started flirting weeks ago, and while he wanted to explore where their flirting might lead, he didn't want to lose her good opinion. What was a Turian to do except go along with her plan…

He didn't expect to see her so happily speaking to the scientist at the bar. She leaned back on the bar relaxed but away from Dr. Fukumoto in casual disinterest. She rarely used the man's title, something Kandros found interesting beyond interesting. Did it indicate disrespect or familiarity? Perhaps both? He didn't really know.

" Mulder," He greeted Ann warmly.

She turned to him, flashing a toothy smile part predator. " You made it." Relief reflected in her voice as she pushed off the counter and rested a hand on his arm. He covered her hand with his own, slightly uncomfortable with the glower Fukumoto leveled on him. " We were just discussing who would prevail in a war with the Krogan. I said the Kett, he said the Vorcha,"

" Turians already proved we can stop them," Kandros respected both their answers, although he hoped that they spoke of something different. " Vorcha could survive out here and give the Kett a hardier challenge,"

" True, but Vorcha aren't a space faring race," Fukumoto pined. " They'd be a great resource against the Kett,"

Ann sighed. " Would we really want the Kett exposed to the Vorcha? They might join forces against the rest of us,"

Guiding Ann to an open booth, Kandros handed her into the booth. She scooted over just enough to allow him to sit at the end. Fukumoto took the opposite side and offered to pay for the next round of drinks. " You make it sound like not having Vorcha around is a bad decision on the Initiative's part," Kandros remarked pointedly.

" The Kett remind me of the Vorcha, just more intelligent," Ann contributed a little more quietly.

Kandros caught her gaze and placed his arm around her shoulder. His height allowed his arm to extend over her shoulders and down to rest his hand on her upper arm. Fingers curled around soft flesh, talons safely away from important veins. " No one has the ability to adapt quite as much as the vorcha, not even humans," Fukumoto huffed in disbelief at the jab.

Paying for drinks via his omni-tool, Fukumoto Shimei waited for the bartender to prepare the tray. " If we could reproduce like the asari, there'd be little need for even distribution of males and females,"

" Could you imagine the offspring of an asari and vorcha?" Ann leaned back into Kandros's arm, allowing herself to 'act normal'. She caught herself glancing up at the turian to measure his comfort, seeing him as relaxed as a turian could be.

Kandros shook his head, enjoying the heat radiating off her soft skin. She fit perfectly in the crook of his arm, her head resting against his chest. " Vorcha are short lived,"

" Well, yes, but they're vermin," Ann made a face, one that Kandros associated with disgust. He couldn't disagree with her assessment of the race. Almost every race agreed that the Vorcha were impossibly short lived and equally repulsive. The Salarians may have an additional 20 years on the Vorcha, but at least they developed a language and society that didn't use combat as a means of expression.

" Not long ago, humans were also considered to be a pestilence," Kandros said, instantly turning the good sporting dead. Fukumoto opened his mouth, then shut it. " It's all perspective," Ann shook her head. Fukumoto left the booth to retrieve the tray of drinks. Throbbing music filled the silence temporarily. Kandros leaned, squeezing her shoulder. " Did I upset you?"

Her hand rested on his upper leg. " No. It is….unfortunate our people met under such circumstances," Something else lingered in her voice, and then it was gone before he could verify its existence," Fukumoto and I hate the Batarians more any other race. He also tends to hold grudges more than I do,"

" Is the Heleus cluster worse than the Terminus system?"

" No…" She now studied the dancers, yet Kandros didn't miss the way her lips twisted into what could only be described as a frown lacking irritation. " It's better that we're here than back there,"

" Does this have anything to do with your missing siblings?" Kesh told him about Thaniel and Jessica Mulder, taken when they were 8 and 5 years old. She didn't go into more detail, telling him that if he wanted a full story, he'd have to pry it out of Ann himself. Her eyes misted over as she studied the other patrons, not quite interested by anything in the present.

" I spent nearly 12 years looking for them before I really gave up hope of ever finding them. It took me another year to stop putting funds and time into the effort," Her answer provoked him to pull her closer against his chest. She pulled away from him, as Fukumoto was held back at the bar talking to the Asari bartender. " Let's dance,"

Following the woman, Kandros found himself a willing partner in their natural silence allowing their bodies to speak for themselves. She closed her eyes as she danced to the music, the roundness of her hips and her soft curves practically luring the Turian in for the hook. Her loose hair sprawled down her back, flowing with her. He could only keep his hands off her so long before his own thoughts exposed them both to embarrassment.

Ann found herself lifted off the floor and pressed against the wall, half shrouded in darkness. One hand supported her weight easily against his lanky frame. He placed a single finger to her lips. When the Turian hierarchy sent him to investigate the Initiative, he never expected to find himself holding a human female in his arms in the open. He didn't expect to find his mind reverting to everything he'd read, watched, and heard about Turian-Human relations. Her gaze never left his. " Your place or mine?" She whispered next, sucking on the offered talon.

Kandros eased back his finger as to not cut her. The tricky engineer offered something he wouldn't refuse. " I have a cozier bed,"

She cocked her head back. " Oh, do you now?" He lowered her back to her feet, resting his arm around her waist this time. She waved over her shoulder at Fukumoto. The scientist stared after the pair in shock and fury, his jaw lifted by the asari bartender.

They weren't halfway through his apartment door when Kandros lifted the woman off her feet and carried her over to the bed. She stopped him before he could tear her clothing. She started a strip tease that held his attention. It started out like a corny vid-porn, the clothing ending up in different directions till all he was staring at were a human female in her nude glory. He couldn't move himself to unclothe himself until she started laughing at him. Pinning her to the bed, he raked his eyes over her head to toe. No more words were exchanged between them as he put to practice what he remembered from the vids.

Her moaning alarmed him at first until she assured him to keep it up. Kandros didn't allow her out of his sight, amazed by her wild behavior in bed. It didn't take her long to master what he explained to her, and when she did, she offered her body for his pleasure that left them both a hot sticky mess. She dozed off in his bed curled beneath blankets he rarely used. He granted her the extra space, unwilling to wake her, dozing off himself and waking to the alarm reminding him that work still waited for him.

His talons lifted her messed hair and combed through it with more familiarity and ease. Her eyes fluttered open, catching him looking like a cat caught playing with a mouse. " My mom always said that Turians were trouble…"

" Heh."

" Not that I'm complaining," She'd have to keep an eye on her health the next few days to make sure she had no adverse reactions to the sharing of fluids.

Kandros leaned over and rested his forehead against hers. He was still unclothed and their clothes were everywhere. " Your scientist didn't like me whisking you away," He inhaled her scent, allowing it overwhelm him. " And he's human,"

She rolled her eyes. " So?"

" Humans can only breed with humans," Turians could only breed with Turians. Eventually they'd have to go their separate ways. The idea of sharing her already started to bother him in ways that he didn't foresee.

" I'm not interested in breeding until there are more outposts in place," The lightness disappeared as she made to sit up. He allowed her the movement, making his sitting position easier. " Besides, if it's the matter of actually biologically fathering a child, we have processes for that…"

He nodded. " You really wouldn't consider him?"

"No," Ann answered him, covering a yawn with her hand. " You aren't jealous, are you? I chose to bed you-"

" I don't want to pursue something that is just a fling," He said honestly, playing with his hands again. " If you're not ready to commit to something, then we should just leave this here,"

The woman crawled onto his lap, resting her palms on his neck, tracing unimportant lines that mattered to no one but her. He liked the idle play on his skin, wishing he had time to actually take her again before their day started. " I'm not worried about our biological needs to pass along our genetics to grow our race in this cluster, and I'm not worried about Fukumoto. I'm also not worried about what anyone thinks. If you want something longer, then I want something longer. Who knows how long we have till the Kett overwhelm us…"

He kissed away her worries. " We did make it obvious on our exit from the Vortex,"

" As I recall you were the one that lifted me off the dance floor," Her hand rested along the crest of his carapace. He noted the way her skin flushed at the mention of him being the dominant partner and their sexual exploits.

" Well, you were dangerously close to stirring up certain reactions," He purred against her neck, daring to lick exposed flesh. Her pulse leapt beneath his tongue.

" Was it my waist? Or perhaps my hair? I know it couldn't possibly be my breasts,"

His eyes quickly went down to her chest. " I'm learning to appreciate them," He admitted.

She stroked his mandible. A knock at the door startled them both. She climbed off his lap and headed for the shower. Kandros checked his omni-tool, deleting the vids he referenced before he left for the Vortex the night prior. The real thing rocked his world and left him weak in the knees. He didn't lie when he said he liked every part of her anatomy. The knock persisted after he cleansed himself in the shower. He started to tease her when the knocking interrupted again. She held back a giggle as he wrapped a towel around his waist and went to the door, opening it.

The human male in front of him just gaped at the dripping wet Turian glowering at him. " This better be good," Kandros growled, his vocals dropping noticeably.

" Survivors, Sir, from Resilience," Rind Masters answered him, swallowing hard.

The man should be turning on his heel if he knew what was good for him, yet the human male stood in front of him. He let out a deep aggravated sigh and held up a finger. Silently closing the door, he kept an ear open for Ann. He still smelled himself on her. His chest swelled with pride as he remembered her begging him to not stop.

Ann emerged from the bathroom clothed and ready for the day. He hated to admit but he was already liking the perks of this…calculated risk. She checked her omni-tool and pulled him down into a kiss. " We'll make dinner plans soon," She promised him with a playful half wave. She exited the apartment, leaving her fellow militia member in shock.

Dressing quickly, Kandros reminded himself that he really needed to rear in his irritation. It's not like he could 'claim' Ann Mulder anyway. She needed to agree to be his, and then there was the ceremonial steps of their relationship that needed followed. Officially he needed to declare his intent to court her, and she needed to officially accept his courtship. Then they needed to arrange three public dinners that displayed their intentions in an acceptable manner. Finally she needed to accept his hand in union and Rite of Bonding. Humans called it marriage. Until they completed the Rite of Bonding, he needed to remind himself that she was free to choose another if she wished.

He soon joined his comrade, grateful that the man offered a distraction to his tumultuous thoughts. " Survivors from Resilience?" He repeated in disbelief.

Rind Masters took the moment to 'corner' his boss. " She's the sort of woman you hold on to and don't let go," His gaze flicked back down to the datapad with a stream of information pertinent to their plans for the day. Among the tasks, talking to Tann about the growing discontent ranked the highest. Tann's method of handling people put a lot of people on edge. His approach to handling the exile problem struck a lot of people as unfair. Kandros thought his approach foolish, while Kesh preferred the avoidance to wasting resources on people that didn't warrant it at the moment.

Seeing that he wasn't going to be let off the hook so easily, Kandros considered deflecting toward a more business-oriented topic. " She's a soldier, a real soldier," Not by Turian standards, but by Heleus Cluster standards, the woman bunkered down for the duration of their stay without turning coward and traitor like the exiles. " Now you said something about the survivors of Resilience. Where are they now?"

" Did you know that she lost her parents to pirates and that she made a career out of bringing down slavers? Rumor had she was an intel broker that knew how to connect interested parties," Rind's encouragement warmed Kandros to the younger man.

Kandros resisted a growl. " Survivors," He repeated again.

" We have Foxtrot escorting them back now, along with the remains of the shuttle," Masters answered quickly, holding the datapad out in front of him as they . " Hotel is ready for debriefing,"

Foxtrot and Hotel were the most experienced teams that he currently had at his disposal along with the teams that best protected the Nexus – Alpha and Charlie. All his teams were composed of individuals who survived a Kett encounter. All of them volunteered and no one regret their time served. That proud fact allowed him to confidently say that if the Kett came to the Nexus, he'd hand their ass to them and then post their head on a spike as an example.

Taking the lead, Kandros nodded. " I'll debrief Hotel. Coordinate with Tann. We'll keep the survivors in stasis until Eos shows more promise. We don't want to send people back to a battlefield after escaping one," The last thing he needed was a brand new start turning into a hysteria at the slightest problem that surfaced.

" Not only that, Sir, but Director Tann wished to speak to you and Addison about protection on the Outpost. Mayor Bradley reports that there is little trouble at the Outpost, which is a relief,"

Not forgetting Masters's comment about Ann Mulder, Kandros parted ways with him. He abandoned hope of keeping their fledgling connection a little secret at the moment. Maybe it was for the best the Nexus learned of it. They might stop questioning him about why he 'really' joined the Initiative.

The security consol table allowed Kandros to debrief Hotel via vid-comm in a matter of ten minutes. Their assault on Kett supply runs stalled the Kett's replenishment of supplies to a planet that only recently reached the Initiative's notice. Reports out of Kadara Port on Kadara pointed to another planet, Voeld. Kandros soon found himself in the Pathfinder's office, newly renovated. Foster Addison, a human female of the less homely appearance with her constant scowl, followed him. He listened to her tell Spender to check the inventory again, as they didn't have whatever it was Spender needed.

" Idiot," He muttered under his breath as he checked his omni-tool. He checked his email, grateful that one's activities on an omni-tool couldn't be seen by an outside party.

Addison held her tongue as she cut the call short. " Did the Director say what he wanted to discuss?" She sounded as unhappy as he felt.

" Something to do with the security of Podromos,"

" We have the turrets, and the citizens are armed-"

" An omni-blade won't work if the kett aren't in punching distance," He snapped at the Head of Colonial Affairs. He didn't envy her position. Along with the Pathfinder, they bore a lot of the responsibility of seeing colonists settled and thriving. " Besides, most of the Krogan left for Elaaden," He heard about Elaaden by way of APEX reports. Exiles reported that the planet was a waterless rock that boasted of an endless supply of sand. It made Kadara look like a paradise in comparison with the sulfuric water. Every planet they tried to call home boasted of some obstacle. Eos wielded radiation. Elaaden scorched with heat.

A salarian greeted them as diplomatically possible. Director Tann motioned them to stand around his master console on the top floor of the office space. While Tann said the space was for the Pathfinder, and eventually Pathfinders, he occupied a third of it as Director of the Initiative. Kesh liked to remind him that he was 8th in line of succession, something that Kandros appreciated as his own enforced discipline would never allow him to do.

" It has come to my attention that there has been….discrepancies in reports,"

Addison breathed deeply. " I will speak with Spender-"

" It is not Spender's reports where there are discrepancies. The staffing at Podromos is showing more bodies that we sent from the Nexus," Tann displayed a roster of names. " The Pathfinder is permitting Exiles into Podromos. They are a security risk and need removed,"

" Director," Kandros kept his voice neutral. " Those are our people out there. Do they not deserve a pardon?"

Tann's expression hardened. " They should have considered that before they lead a mutiny,"

" Mutiny aside, we are accountable for those people," Addison insisted. " The more we can pull into the fold, the brighter our future will be,"

" The cryo blockers haven't been removed yet," Kandros added before Tann could interrupt them. " We need the numbers more than we do the pride,"

He loathed to admit it but killing people hurt them as much as it helped further their goal of removing obstacles for colonizing. Weighing one against the other, he refused to go to war against the exiles when the kett demanded their full attention. It was like the Rachni and Krogan all over. Throw in the Humans and their unexpected entrance, and you had a regular Milky Way brawl for what demanded the most attention.

Tann glanced them both over. He glowered at Addison, not able to force Kandros to so much as blink. The turian only tolerated Tann because he inherited the position. " I want Podromos more thoroughly vetted. This is the Initiative, not the Pathfinder Initiative," He bit out.

" Are you ordering me to tell people that they are not permitted to live at our first outpost?" Addison questioned before he could quick-think his way out of the corner he backed himself into. " That, though we are desperate, we will refuse to aid those who have seen more of the cluster than we have?"

" Yes,"

" Very well,"

" Addison," Kandros placed one hand on the woman's shoulder, feeling her tension coiled tight within her body. He almost released her so that she could punch the director. Instead he kept his hand on her shoulder in a casual, consulting manner. " How would you like to go about it? Round everyone up and go off a checklist? Perhaps lock everyone in their homes and go door to door? Turn the outpost into-"

" I hadn't thought about how I'm going to accomplish the task-"

" Then I suggest that we offer up Promise or Resilience to the Exiles," Kandros said this more to Tann than Addison, Addison's face shifting so subtly that he didn't know what she was thinking. He just knew that it wasn't his head she wanted. " It would leave Podromus safe, account for our people, and we can closely monitor the situation,"

Tann's irritation clearly transferred from his narrowed eyes to his thin lips pressed tightly together to the manner that he tapped at the console's raised control bubbles. " As long as we are not feeding them, they may keep Promise,"

Priding himself on a job well done, he couldn't wait to tell Ann over dinner about this.

" Fraternization with the Exiles will be forbidden. The Exiles chemical blockers will not be removed. Anyone who helps the Exiles will join them," Tann listed off a long list of warnings that Addison stored in the audio logs of her omni-tool. " This is your head," He warned them before sending them on their way.

Addison lead the way back up to Colonial Affairs with Kandros behind her. " My ledgers may not gain an additional outpost, but we're at least helping our own," She said to her equal as she pulled up reports on Promise, and then Resilience. " Thank you for your support with the Director,"

He only thought of Ann's approval as he nodded. " He's too lost in his own head to realize his decisions have consequences, no matter how small the decisions are," Checking his omni-tool again, he found himself opening an email with a video from the extranet attached. From the raised screen, he watched himself walk Ann Mulder back to his apartment, his hand resting on her waist in a suggestive manner. The video cut off as they fell into his apartment, a heap of arms and legs and needy mouths.

" How did you want to contact the Exiles?" Addison asked him.

His gaze snapped up from the email. " The Pathfinder can extend the invitation,"

" What about the Exiles on Kadara? We have a way of communicating with them?"

" There is Kadara Port," He pointed out, as if this should be obvious to the woman. " It wouldn't be hard to extend the invitation,"

Addison stopped typing. Kandros wasn't even sure why she was typing or what she was typing into. Her gaze snapped to him, sharp and calculating. " We should try to reach out to the Krogan,"

" Kesh can do that,"

" It'd need to be Director Tann blessed. We wouldn't want to lose Kesh's support as well,"

Everyone around them listened in on the conversation.

Every part of Kandros wanted to say fuck the krogan, but not even he could deny their usefulness. They were pure muscle, raw fury, and the best defense against themselves from advancing too far. Unlike the Salarians, humans, and asari, the krogan could live anywhere. Every part of them was built for survival. While humans were like moss, krogan were like cockroaches.

" I'll try to convince Director Tann it is worth taking the risk," Kandros stated confidently. Try, being the operative word. Tann clung to the power that normally shouldn't been his. Because of their rough entry in the Heleus Cluster, they lost too many good leaders. " The Pathfinder seems willing to help. You should have a little more faith in him, Addison,"

She waved him off. He decided to walk away before he insulted her more. He almost stumbled right into Sidera Nyx, apologizing quickly. " Sidera, how often does your sister answer her emails?" An idea occurred to him. While Vetra and Sidera wouldn't be considered citizens under normal turian standards, they were still representative of the race here in the Heleus Cluster.

Sid smiled. " We talk…"

" Send her an email telling her that I need to speak privately when she returns,"

" About what?"

" That's need to know," He countered before picking up the pace and returning to the APEX center, determined to find a way to keep Podromos safe.