Mass Effect
Digression

Written By Kenneth White

Chapter 2

The Lerta had been a lucky find for the quarian fleet just over two decades ago. Originally thought to have been a casualty of the First Contact War between the turians and the humans, the true origin of the mid-sized turian battleship remained unknown to them since it was discovered drifting alone in space. Its engines, weapons and most of its systems had been damaged by artillery from something, but despite this it had been devoid of any bodies. Most quarians had theorized that perhaps turians had come by it later to recover the bodies for burial, simply leaving it drifting given its state. Others didn't believe it, mostly due to the fact that the hull was mostly intact and it had no real structural damage, suggesting that whoever attacked it intended merely to disable it rather than destroy it. There was also the fact that its systems were completely devoid of any logs or other information regarding its purpose. Whatever the truth was, it was an excellent catch for the fleet, described by the quarian who first saw it as, "a shining bird of hope all alone in the void."

Barely any of the mechanical aspects of the ship were original now though. The engines had been so damaged by whatever had hit them that they were at least three quarters spare parts by the time they were functional again, and the weapons had to be completely removed and replaced. It had been a tough job, with most repairs done while the fleet was still on the move between systems, and several major problems along the way, some of which saw the unfortunate death of an engineer or technician. When all was complete though, she had proven to be one of the more reliable ships in the fleet. If one were to observe the fleet, they would probably just think it was a turian ship flying amongst them rather than a salvaged member of the group.

There, on the bridge of the Lerta, stood its captain: Jinn'Pala vas Lerta. Jinn's environmental suit was a plain grey mostly, with black around the neck, elbows and knees, and he stood with a tall, confident stance. It had been mostly quiet aboard the Lerta lately, being that they were between systems at this time, and although that could make things a little tedious for him commanding the bridge while his crew performed autonomous duties around him, usually if it wasn't quiet it wasn't something good. Being a small military vessel, his ship was usually called on to scout out possible concerns and pick off the odd raider either brave or stupid enough to try and pick off a stray ship. Sometimes they'd wait behind nearby asteroids and pounce upon a smaller, unarmed ship, like a lion picking off a young or injured antelope. It wasn't common, as most raiders saw the folly in it, and even those that didn't would rarely succeed. Still, it happened, and if the Lerta was nearby, it would have to deal with it. It was by no means an important or major ship beyond that, and the average quarian on any vessel more than half a dozen ships in either direction from it would likely not even know of its existence beyond it just being another one of the fleet.

At the moment though, Jinn seemed rather impatient. While his crew manned their stations casually, he would pace up and down the narrow bridge, arms clasped behind his back. After he'd done this a few times he'd usually stop, standing tall and protruding his chest in his normal confident stance again, only to let out a sigh that wouldn't even produce a sound through his mask, but would at least cause it to light up for a couple of seconds. After a few more repeats of this sequence, a door from the rear of the section opened, from which stepped a male quarian in a suit of half grey and half a deep purple. None of the bridge crew acknowledged this, but Jinn turned on one foot as soon as he had heard the door, then approached the newcomer.

"I was wondering when you were going to come and see me, Yalo," he said in a voice deeper than that of most quarians.

"I had some things to take care of before I left," Yalo stated rather emotionlessly. "I've got a lot ahead of me, and a lot of loose ends. All must be tied up."

"Of course," Jinn responded in a voice of warmth that allowed Yalo to hear the smile, even if he couldn't see it. "You've got..."

Jinn trailed off as he spoke, cocking his head to one side a little bit. He had noticed something odd about Yalo's helmet.

"You've got a long journey through places that are dangerous and foreign," he continued, "but I'm sure you'll make it back alive and well."

"Alive, maybe," Yalo said plainly. "I'm not so sure about well."

Jinn placed a hand on Yalo's shoulder, shaking his head a little. He was used to his son being a little pessimistic sometimes, so took it in stride. After a few seconds of silence, he raised his head in his son's direction as if to point with it.

"Your helmet looks different. I can't see anything beyond the visor."

Yalo smiled from beneath. Usually when looking at a quarian in their encounter suit you couldn't see much of their face at all, but could at least make out vague details of their eyes and a nose if close enough. In Yalo's case, it was just a void.

"I've had the visor double-glazed, so to speak," he said. "A precaution in case something were to crack it."

"You're not planning on getting into trouble I hope?"

"The greatest gift one can give is not one of wealth, but one of personal volition," Yalo said simply. "I will do what I must to accomplish my task ahead, whether it put me in danger or not."

"Getting into trouble is one thing. Going out of your way to find it is another."

"Trouble is going to be inevitable from this point on. At least if I find it myself, it can't sneak up and surprise me. I can handle myself out there. I've trained for this."

"Just be careful. The universe out there beyond the fleet is unpredictable and treacherous. Don't underestimate it with overconfidence."

"I won't. But I'm not going to let the universe know that."

The two hugged, Jinn saying, "good luck" as they did. When the embrace was done, Jinn added, "and don't forget to see your mother before you leave. She has something for you."

"Very well, Captain," Yalo said with a nod and the quarian equivalent of a salute, and then he turned and left.

"Make me proud," he heard Jinn say just before the doors closed. He paused there for a moment beyond the doors, knowing they'd probably be the last words he'd hear his father say. Only two words came to mind.

"I won't."


Yalo wasn't sure why his father had to remind him to see his mother before he left, seeing as she worked in the very docking bay he'd be leaving from. Probably sentimentality more than anything, though it may have been because she had something for him, and his father may have been giving him a subtle reminder just exactly how forgetful she could be sometimes. But when Yalo found out exactly what the gift was, he was fairly sure it was something his mother wouldn't have forgotten. To forget something like that would be to forget somebody who had been very precious to Yalo, his father and his mother.

"I cannot take this," Yalo said, holding out one hand. "It is too much. You and father should keep it."

"She would want you to have it," his mother insisted. "She would want it to be used by somebody she cared about. Your father and I have no use of it if you do not take it. If not for you, it would have already gone to the trading deck."

Yalo resigned to the logic in his mother's words, taking the omnitool from her and attaching it to his forearm. Activating it, he noted it had a vast array of useful tools and mods most omnitools common to the flotilla did not. Then again, his sister had visited many worlds on her pilgrimage. She had told them stories of her visits to other worlds. And he was sure she had many more to tell, only for the book to be closed too soon. And the most tragic thing wasn't so much that it was closed, but how.

Everybody who knew her had known her most of her life as Linna'Pala nar Lerta. Linna had been such a giving person throughout her life, always going out of her way to help others around her, even at the cost of her own time, resources or welfare. She had been particularly instrumental in raising Yalo in the years before she set off on her pilgrimage, mainly due to the fact that both their parents had other duties that took up a lot of their time, but also because she was very supportive and wanted to help him learn, particularly about the world outside the fleet. Because of this, Yalo had grown very close to Linna, and the two shared a bond he never really experienced with anybody else. They never quarrelled, at least not beyond her scolding him for doing something he shouldn't, and was always there to answer his thousands upon thousands of questions. When the time came for her to journey on her pilgrimage, Yalo felt a great loss even before she had gone. She had assured him he would see her again and that it was a special moment that every quarian had to go through in life.

"It is the ultimate test," she had said to him, standing in the very same docking bay he was in now. "It is the defining moment of a quarian's life. The journey that sees them no longer as an individual speck of dust amongst billions, but instead a defining part of those billions. There is no greater honour than the day you become a more valuable resource to your people than all the ships in the fleet combined." Those were her parting words to him before she disappeared into her shuttle and vanished into the black.

Days passed. Then weeks. Then months. Yalo spent the time studying all he could to try and keep his mind off the fact she wasn't around, only to find himself actually missing her more and becoming increasingly concerned as he read about the possible dangers she could be facing. At the same time though, he knew his pilgrimage would eventually come too, and he knew the best way to avoid these dangers was to learn about them. And if he couldn't avoid them, at least he should be prepared to deal with them. It wasn't long before he stopped worrying so much about her and instead focussed more on making sure his own journey would be as prosperous as possible, and time didn't seem to pass as slowly. And then, before he'd realised how long she'd gone, she had returned.

The next time he met her, she had already presented her gift, and was now known as Linna'Pala vas Rodus. She had apparently met with a lot of resistance and prejudice in her long journey, and even a little violence here and there. Her gift, in the end, had been acquired through good luck, hard work and kindness. A salarian scientist had apparently been very impressed with her technical and mechanical skills and as a result she'd helped him on a major project that she wasn't allowed to talk about. The end result were some blueprints for a more efficient air filtration system that didn't even need top-of-the-line parts to be created or implemented, which was a fine gift for not only the captain of the Rodus, but for the entire fleet.

"You should always bring back something that will help our people," she had told Yalo the night before she had set out. "Never go for the quick or easy gift. The gift should be earnt and truly be something of value. Something special that not just any quarian could get, because you used your talents and gifts to attain it. That way it truly is a gift both from and of you."

Yalo was pleased that she had returned safely, but knew that now she was assigned to the another ship that he wouldn't see much of her. He wasn't aware of how true that would be.

She had been back only three days, assigned as an engineer when it happened. The Rodus had been known to be one of the less mechanically sound vessels of the flotilla, and Yalo had recalled their father commenting rather dryly that he thought she should have gone to a better vessel considering the quality of her gift. She had laughed that off though, telling him that she felt she was of more use on a ship that needed the help rather than one that could be easily maintained. She had apparently made a suggestion to her captain that she start implementing the new air filtration system in the Rodus as soon as possible, but he had apparently declined. Cruel irony struck on that third day, as Linna was working on the ship's current air filtration systems.

Nobody was sure exactly what happened, but evidence suggested that during maintenance on the systems, sudden high pressure caused some critical mechanical faults, and when one of Linna's team tried to release some of it they accidentally caused an explosion that killed all three of the quarians working there. Worse still, while the other two had been killed instantly due to their proximity to the explosion, Linna's death had apparently been far longer.

Shrapnel from the explosion had been propelled straight at her, piercing her environmental suit in several places, including her mask and visor. Those that struck her body wounded her badly, but while the ones that hit her helmet didn't injure her directly, they did serve to completely negate its purpose. It didn't take her long to realise that the pressurised air spewing forth from the broken machinery wasn't clean, not from her expertise, but from its taste. She crawled across the ground towards the half-crippled system, then, using it to pull herself up, managed to reach a valve handwheel. After several awkward turns, the sounds of hissing and screeching were silenced. Dropping to the ground, Linna worked her way along the floor towards the bulkhead door, not only closing it, but also locking it from the inside. Finally, pulling a piece of eight inch shrapnel from her chest, she wrote backwards on the door's window UNCLEAN and then sank to the floor, leaning ungainly against the nearest wall, never to stand again.

Yalo was shocked upon hearing the news. She had survived her pilgrimage, only to be cut down before her time by the inadequacies of her own ship back with the fleet. It gave Yalo a whole new perspective on both loss and mortality. He had always known he was lucky to even exist, given that few quarian families ever had more than one child. He was fortunate enough to have been the result of a time when births had been low recently, so the restriction had been briefly removed. It wasn't until after Linna's death that Yalo had considered that perhaps there was more to it than that. Perhaps his existence wasn't just luck. Perhaps there was a purpose to it. It was then he decided that he needed to focus even more on his pilgrimage and helping his people, just like his sister had wanted to, but no longer could.

If there had been one moment besides her death that had stuck with him more than anything though, it had been a moment they shared the night before she had left on her great journey. She had just been telling him how important the pilgrimage was culturally, and then for no apparent reason turned away to look out a nearby window and he could hear her crying. He had never seen or heard her cry before, she had always been so upbeat and positive, even when things were dire. She always seemed to see the light shining in the dark, and then to see her just cry like that was rather shocking. After a while she gathered herself, then turned back to him.

"Our people are dying, Yalo," she said, and he could hear the pain in her voice. "They're dying a slow and painful death. I know the Admiralty Board and the Conclave and all the others tell us that everything is okay, but... I can tell. I can see it all around us. I hear it as whispers between others. Not directly, but... if you read between the lines, and see what they're sometimes not saying, it becomes clear. We're too few on unstable ground. Or, we would be if we were on ground at all. We're corpses floating in the ebony ocean of space. We just don't know that we're dead yet."

She was silent for a while, then leant forward to place a hand on Yalo's shoulder.

"Unless we do something, Yalo," she stated, her voice gaining some strength once more. "It's up to people like you and me to change our people's future. We need to stop pretending that we'll all be fine drifting through the stars on nothing but our will to survive. We were a strong people, but we've become weak. It's up to us to find that strength again. If you see a way to help our people, and I mean really help them, you should do it."


With a tear in his eye and thoughts of his departed sister, Yalo hugged his mother. He could see his shuttle, the Spero, over her shoulder now. It was a good ship from what he'd seen, and it would have to be, because it would have a long and hard journey ahead of it. The only doubt he had in his mind was with regards to Linna. He didn't care if the Admiralty Board or the Conclave didn't understand what he was going to do. He didn't care if the entire flotilla didn't understand. He didn't even care if his parents didn't understand. But Linna, if she were alive, would she understand? Would she see what he was going to do and see why if she were still amongst them? And, perhaps more importantly, would she forgive him at the end of it all?

I hope that you would, he thought to himself in the final moments of his mother's embrace, because if you didn't understand, I don't think any other quarian would.