It was the evening of September 25th, Earth time, enforced by light/dark shifts on the Normandy so that the crew would have a sense of day and night. Everyone worked an 8 on, 16 off shift but that usually translated into 16 hours of work or mostly work with some eating and the mandatory 8 hour sleep pod rest. Commander John Michael Shepherd was busy working on the report he would need to submit to the council. While a brief communication holographic face to face was nice, the full report would need to include all the details. He was in the captain's cabin on the second deck. It contained a single bed, desk, and locker and closet. It was the most luxurious room on the ship.
John paused looking at his screen while his fingers rested lightly on the keyboard. It had been one of those missions which could have gone better, but also gone far far worse.
It was the first time the team had all gone on the Mako.
"Okay team," he had begun that morning. "This is it. The first time we work as a team. This is the Mako. We will be using it to travel from site to site on-surface. While each of you will have an assignment on foot, in the Mako, there are only a few assignments.
"Ash? As Wing-girl, you will be driving. Don't be afraid to abuse it a bit, it's built to handle one or two direct hits from most weaponry and take it with the shields."
"Sir!" she snapped.
"BUT!" he continued. "We don't Scary Krogan with the Mako. Once we are under fire your first job is to take cover so the shields can recharge. Don't be afraid to jump and bang and slam your way into the cover, got it?"
Ashley nodded. From what Shepherd had just told her, the Mako was simply an extension of her, fast, light, armored enough to take a few hits while moving, designed to hit hard the first time but not just sit there and pound.
"Duck? As Engineer your job is to sit behind Ash and monitor the engine, shields, and energy drains on life support and gun use."
"Got it commander."
"Bugs? You get the big gun to shoot at things which are far away. And closer if they move fast enough."
"Commander, you do the sweetest things for me," replied Garrus with the Turian equivalent of a smile.
"Bull? You're job is to be by the door so that you are the first thing out killing anything that's made the mistake of trying to attack us."
"Sounds dull for the most part Shepherd, but I suppose once we are on foot I will have more fun."
"Fun is not the word I would have used," mused Ashley.
"Blue? Your job in the Mako will be to apply biotics to cushion any falls should the crew get knocked about by a serious hit."
"Right, Shepherd," replied Kaiden.
"Ash? I'll be your co-pilot and recon, sitting on your right."
"Got it skipper. So you're the one who reads the map and passes over the bottled water?"
Shepherd nodded.
"You do understand, Commander," continued Ashley grinning. "That the pilot gets the choice of music?"
John groaned. "Maybe I should drive," he half threatened half mused.
"NOAshleywilldofine!" gulped Kaiden.
Tali looked at Kaiden who proceeded to make a little circle around his ear with his index finger, slapped his hip with the flat of his palm, and then pantomimed driving. She tilted her head. Kaiden leaned in and whispered "Crazy badass driver."
"Oh," she said back and giggled. It was a curious hooting sort of laugh though gentile and delicate.
Shepherd turned around from his seat and looked at the two of them. Kaiden leaned back and grinned while Tali just looked back at Shepherd with her eyes tinged just a bit pink.
Joker's job was to land the Mako as close to the dig that they could on the planet Therum. The heavy volcanism of the site made dropping the Mako close pretty much impossible so they had landed about six kilometers away and had driven between lakes of burning lava or by jagged flats left by cold lava from previous eruptions.
And the Geth were there in force the whole way.
Ashley was a good blend of both skill and crazy given that she had to drive, under fire, down narrow corridors of solid jagged rock between lakes of boiling lava. Several tires managed to catch fire but were extinguished by Tali's swift engineering. There was one particular narrow gap exactly 145 meters long where Ashley fired the right jets causing the Mako to drive at a 45 degree angle enabling it to speed down the narrow passage without getting stuck.
"You're right, Shepherd!" shouted Garrus during one very heavy firefight. "They ARE easier to hit when you pretend they are country western singers."
"WHAT!" screamed Ashley.
"Oh? I thought that was on the pri-com channel to Shepherd!" answered Garrus. As his seat was elevated and he was in the back dome behind the gun, no one could see his facial or mandible expressions.
"I like this music you silly tooree bosh'tet!" shouted Tali.
"Please God not TWO of them!" cried Shepherd.
"Now that's getting personal," shouted Garrus who apparently knew the meaning of the Khelish word tooree. From now on, it's ducky Quarian engineers I'm shooting at."
"Until I yack that gun to spit it's gas in your face!" threatened Tali.
"No gas spitting!" shouted Shepherd sternly. "If he misses a shot you can die! Got it?"
"Sorry," answered Tali, slightly shaken more by the point Shepherd was making as opposed to the very large explosion erupting nearby. Shepherd had clearly reminded her that they were playing a very dangerous game with the Geth. Of course she had been joking, and she suspected Shepherd knew it too, but the reminder was important.
They rolled up a hill and at the last second Ashley twirled the Mako around so that the rear of the vehicle faced the hill where installed rigging suggested an entrance into an underground complex. The back door flew up and Wrex roared out, followed by Kaiden with bio-shields up to protect them both.
Next came Garrus and Tali, then Shepherd and Ashley emerged.
"Ash eleven flank forward, Bugs one flank high ground, Bull nine, Blue Duck six," he commanded.
They moved forward, a square of four in the center with two out in front wide apart.
"Looks clear," suggested Ashley, dashing from boulder to boulder and moving among the tall girders and pylons on the edge of the construction.
"Wait," said Garrus. "Hopper plastered on the top strut and those lizards are not stupid. He's seen us I'm sure. Prepare for hostiles."
Suddenly a Geth drop ship roared over the horizon and in three minutes had reached their 20, dropping seven hostiles, the center one being an Armature.
"Heavy Metal," snapped Shepherd and began snapping code talk orders.
For the next three minutes Kaiden kept himself, Tali, Shepherd, and Wrex under a biotic protection while Shepherd and Wrex kept up the fire trying to pin down as many of the Geth as possible while Garrus and Ashley moved into position. Then with a set of quick commands, the team set out to take out the Armature by a combination of harassment, sabotage, and heavy fire from the front.
From the left, Ashley persisted in ducking, running, and firing at the back of the Armature distracting it from the pounding it was being given from the front. Garrus, from the right, gently squeezed the trigger when ever he got a Armature sensor array between his crosshairs. Once the first shot from Garrus scored, Shepherd and Wrex advanced firing while Kaiden began to lift small rocks from within the Armature's shielding and jammed them into the joints while Tali attacked each Geth with small interference hacks.
The effect of this is best examined from the mind of the Armature. As the Armature saw the Shepherd and Wrex charging, it proceeded to bring it's weapon to bear only to have its chief sensor array go out. It tried to bring up a secondary system but knew something was wrong because what was sensed was a stage, filled with little fat blond haired blue eyed boys in white shirts, string bow ties, leather suspenders and leiderhosen singing, "Mein hut er hat drei ekka, drei ekka hat mein hut." Guessing sabotage it ordered the other Geth platforms to engage Shepherd and Wrex while it sought to engage the irritation on it's rear which was beginning to damage it's two rear legs. The first Geth objected on the grounds that the first law of robotics prohibited it from allowing a human to come to harm. The second Geth objected on the grounds that Will Robinson was in danger. The third Geth objected with scattered whistles and beeps on the grounds that it had a mission from a princess involving secret plans. The fourth Geth objected on the grounds that it was feeling terribly depressed and had a pain going down it's diodes on the side. The fifth Geth objected on the grounds that there was a risk of violating the Prime Directive and Captain Picard would need to give clearance first. But the sixth Geth insisted that it's consensus was titled Iago Montoya and the Armature had destroyed it's parental platform and was now required to make preparations for initiating memory core wipe. It was at this point that it lost the full function of one of it's rear legs, it's main weapon was jammed and unable to swing to the right, and there was a Krogan head butting it's front. And as it sought to bring up secondary programs, it was required first to deny that it wanted to buy a cruise on Virmire, and then had to cancel an order for two dozen yogurt flavored umbrellas. In frustration, it died.
The remaining Geth were swiftly dispatched after that.
"Clear!" chirped Ashley.
"Bag 'em 'n tag 'em," chuckled Kaiden.
"Roll," called out Shepherd, skipping Ashley and Kaiden since they already had spoken indicating they were okay.
"Bull?"
"Shepherd," answered Wrex.
"Bugs?"
"Commander?" answered Garrus.
"Duck?"
"Quack."
John Michael Shepherd had to switch off his com for a second because he was suddenly suffering from an attack of the giggles. Tali had imitated a Duck call perfectly. It might have been just the stress which comes from engaging in deadly combat. It might have just been the worries of the team operating for the first time and fear of losing someone. But he had a sneaking suspicion that the real reason was that Tali had once again pulled the cute gene out and hit him square amidships.
"Commander?" came Ashley's query.
"Just a sec (smurfing noises from trying to suppress laughter) second," he replied.
"You okay?" she asked.
(More smurfing noises before a "I'm fine.")
"You're sounding kind of . . . funny."
"You are hearing correctly," he replied. There was nothing like the truth in situations like this.
"I don't understand," she insisted.
"You actually do," he replied.
"Oh I give up!"
"Never surrender Ash, never surrender," he finished grinning.
Now seated at his desk, that evening, Shepherd smiled as he wrote a brief report of the combat with the Armature, leaving out the duck calls and his chuckles and concluding with '. . . the team performed at a level of professionalism which secured the area with no casualties.'
The encounter with Liara was the next notable thing about the mission. She had been found at the bottom of the ruin, suspended spread eagle in a security force field. There was something very sweet and gentle about her face that Kaiden immediately picked up.
"Whoa," whistled Kaiden. "We have a really cute Asari doing a classic Da Vinci pose here."
"Can you help me? I'm trapped!" cried Liara.
"Why am I not surprised?" queried Garrus. "It seems that the cuter they are, the more compromised their safety."
"Are you saying she's cuter than me?" chimed in Ashley and Tali almost simultaneously.
"Oh by the spirits," groaned Garrus. "Only you two would think that your narrow escapes were not narrow escapes."
"It's the nature of women to interpret the statement that another women looks cute to mean that they are not," suggested Kaiden. "Even if our little marine was looking really sweet and lovable while running with her tush on fire."
"It was NOT ON FIRE!" snapped Ashley.
"Let us have peace among us," suggested Shepherd with his back to the party in order to hide the grin. "And figure out how to rescue the distressed blue damsel."
"Rescue first, cat fight after," agreed Garrus.
Ashley and Tali looked at each other, one rolling her eyes and the other doing a helmet palm. Should the gentle reader not know who did what, they are in danger of flunking English Lit.
"While I appreciate the flattery," suggested Liara. "I would appreciate you disabling this Prothean security device more."
It was Wrex who figured out the idea of using the mining laser to dig under Liara's position and come up from behind; partially because it involved a big red hot beam destroying large chunks of rock, but mostly because it was the only practical idea that was accessible. Shepherd insisted on pushing the buttons.
"Hogging all the fun," grumbled Wrex.
Having rescued Liara would have been the natural end of the mission, but there was one more firefight while the volcano, mysteriously dormant all those tens of thousands of years while the Protheans had built into it, unleashed massive energies in, over, and around it, and then left it abandoned, decided to let a single mining laser blast trigger a lava boil, but not until right after the final firefight.
"I am getting sick and tired of being thrown into mission assignments which remind me of cheap adolescent Citadel Specter Vids!" screamed a desperately running Garrus as he ducked one bit of falling rock after another.
Thanks to Shepherd's quick orders to Joker, the Normandy was hovering by the exit ramp so the seven of them could leap into it's safety. The ship shot away just as the first geyser of molten orange yellow rock leapt into the air like an incinerating fountain and commenced the burial of the archeological dig.
"There goes the Mako," groaned Shepherd as the lava flowed around the vehicle igniting the tires and setting off the fuel into a massive explosion.
"Damn," shouted Ashley. "I left my music collection by the front seat."
"Yet another proof that God exists," whispered Shepherd to Garrus who nodded in agreement.
Tali put her hand on Ashley's shoulder and Ashley let it stay there.
"Just so you know, lava really messes with the Normandy's finish and overall integrity, so let's not cut it so close next time?" suggested Joker over the intercom.
"Does your pilot always comment about narrow escapes like that?" asked Liara.
"Only from one in the morning on Sunday through eleven in the evening on Saturday," replied Garrus.
Shepherd now finished his report at his desk. "The volcanic eruption destroyed the integrity of the Mako necessitating a replacement at the Citadel docks and likewise threatened the safety of the Normandy and all crew requiring a swift withdrawal from the site."
He looked over it one more time then put his hand on the announcement PA.
"This is commander Shepherd. To make our new guest Dr. Liara T'soni feel welcome on the Normandy, as well as begin her integration as a crew member thanks to her request to assist, there will be a welcome dinner at 1900. Our 20 is the Citadel in order to replace the Mako and resupply. While at the Citadel there will be a 48 hour shore leave for all crew members. Shepherd out."
Tali perked up from the Engineering deck where she was busy studying the schematics of the vessel from an open terminal. She proceeded to track down Garrus whom she found in the supply bay were Ashley and Wrex likewise were hanging out during down time. Garrus noticed her coming.
"Hi Tali, I suspected you are here to inquire about the brandy supply?"
"Why Garrus," she cooed with a vocal wink if there ever was one. "What ever made you think that?"
"Because you made a straight line to me and not Ashley," he replied. "Had you gone straight to Ashley, I would have suspected you were here to assist her in downloading all her horrible music choices from her storage cloud."
"I already helped her do that an hour ago," replied Tali.
"Already?" stammered Garrus. "I would have thought it would have taken at least six hours given the size of her collection."
"I know some shortcuts," suggested Tali. "And if Yoker asks, no I don't know anything about a sudden drop in VI supply calculation efficiency this afternoon."
"When did that happen?" asked Garrus, partly because this seemed to sound like it was coming out of nowhere and partially because as a cop, he knew it wasn't coming out of nowhere."
"For about an hour, two hours ago."
"And you know nothing about it?"
"Nothing."
"Not even . . ."
"Not even that," finished Tali. "Thanks, I'll be sitting next to you at dinner if you don't mind."
"Let's see," mused Garrus. "A woman who thinks I think Liara is cuter is going to sit next to me at dinner. Either I have something she wants so bad she's willing to endure the humiliation or I'm dead."
"Very true," replied Tali as she walked over to Ashley.
"And she left me with both options open to interpretation," mused Garrus to himself. He shook his head and began to examine the specs of a new sniper rifle. With the Mako a half melted pile of steel in the middle of a hot rock plateau, there was no gun he could calibrate. A half an hour later he looked up to see Ashley being taught some dance steps by Tali. Thankfully, he could not hear the music they were playing over their ear buds.
The dinner that night was hamburgers and hotdogs. Steak was simply too expensive and expansive in space to be carried. The best foods were those which could be completely consumed with nothing left over. So no bones or gristle or unappetizing fat chunks in the meat were allowed as a general rule. There was one exception but that wasn't going to happen just yet. Not that anyone complained, hot dogs and hamburgers were popular enough to be treats when they were only served up on special occasions. Garrus and Tali however had to be satisfied with their stale food tubes, but there was the Turian brandy and a credit transfer from Tali's meager account to pay for more when Garrus and she took shore leave.
"I wish I could afford a nice meal on the Citadel," she mused during the dinner. She looked up at Shepherd sitting with Kaiden and Ashley across the table from her for the umpteenth time. She took a meager sip from her brandy tube, determined that this night she was not going to get drunk.
"If I recall correctly, I owe you six dinners on the Citadel. So I must ask. Is that a request for me to take you when we get there or are you trying to send that request via telepathy to Commander Shepherd?" quipped Garrus.
Tali turned to him. "Where did you get that idea?"
"I can't see your eyes that well through your visor Tali but I'd lay 50 that they've been mooning at a certain commander across the table. You certainly keep looking in that direction."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You don't but I do," retorted Garrus.
"How do you not know that I'm beginning to make friends with Ashley. She showed me line dancing and I showed her Quarian hop-step and she wanted to learn more about it."
"The fact that you asked that as a rhetorical question and not a direct statement suggests that Ashley was definitely not the target," answered Garrus. "You know I was in C-sec Tali, you can't think I don't know how to read people, even when they hide their face behind a visor."
"Well," said Tali with the hint of a huff. "If you must know, I'm working up the nerve to ask Shepherd something."
"What?"
"Something about Liara."
"Mmmm hmmm?"
"You don't believe me?"
"Oh I believe you, but given how you and Ashley reacted to the observations regarding Liara's looks, how do I know this isn't permission to jack her sleeping pod to the airlock vents?"
"Garrus," cooed Tali in a very coy fashion. "Surely she doesn't deserve something that bad."
"But she deserves something?"
"Wouldn't you like to know."
Kaiden and Ashley stood up.
"We're going to do a little entertaining here," announced Kaiden. "And Ashley has agreed to sing along. So sit back and relax and hopefully you'll enjoy the songs."
"And just what sort of songs are we going to get to hear?" asked Shepherd with a facial expression which bore a 'don't you even think of . . .'
"Something along the lines of this," answered Kaiden strumming a few bars on his guitar. He looked at Ashley who was grinning back with a hint of wickedness.
They sang . . .
"I was drunk the night my mom got out of prison,
And I had to pick her up in the rain,
But before I could get to the station with my pickup truck,
She was run down by the train."
"I'm going to kill the two of you," growled Garrus. "And I know Commander Shepherd's going to lend me the gun to do it."
"JUST KIDDING!" laughed Ashley.
Kaiden strummed a gentle tune and then softly he and Ashley sang the following . . .
"Under yonder oaken tree,
Whose branches oft me shaded;
Elves and fairies dance with glee,
When day's last beam hath faded:
Then while the stars shine brightly,
So airy, gay and sprightly,
'Till Chanticleer tell dawn is near,
They trip it, trip it lightly.
Yet no trace of them is seen,
When morning rays are glancing,
Not one footprint on the green
Shows where the elves were dancing:
Oh! where are they abiding?
In what lone valley hiding?
Come next with me and we will see
The fairies homewards gliding."
"Very pretty," mused Garrus. He turned to Tali who was just staring intently at Kaiden and Ashley. She seemed to be in complete concentration. He decided to not break into her reverie.
"Fairies and elves," mused Shepherd. "It's been a long time since I thought of fairy tales. I wonder why Kaiden picked that song."
Ashley and Kaiden seemed to be conferring and coming to agreement and they then sang another song.
"This is a song of missing homes," explained Ashley.
"Especially Canadian ones," added Kaiden.
"And it has no country western in it so you can remove your ear plugs Commander," added Ashley.
"Then I guess I don't have to run screaming out of the airlock," answered Shepherd chuckling.
Ashley and Kaiden sang . . .
"Oh ro soon shall I see them;
Oh he ro see them oh see them.
Oh ro soon shall I see them,
The mist covered mountains of home.
There shall I visit the place of my birth,
And they'll give me a welcome the warmest on earth.
All so loving and kind full of music and mirth,
In the sweet sounding language of home.
There shall I gaze on the mountains again,
On the fields and the woods and the burns and the glens,
Away 'mong the corries beyond human ken,
In the haunts of the deer I will roam.
Hail to the mountains with summits of blue,
To the glens with their meadows of sunshine and dew.
To the women and men ever constant and true,
Ever ready to welcome one home.
"Oh ro soon shall I see them;
Oh he ro see them oh see them.
Oh ro soon shall I see them,
The mist covered mountains of home."
There was quiet applause, but a general silence which suggested that more than a few listeners where stricken with a brief bout of homesickness.
"How about something silly," suggested Joker, "Before we all start whimpering like a homesick Quarian."
"I'm right here Yoker," huffed Tali.
"Do you have something in mind?" asked Kaiden.
"Five Night's Drunk," replied Joker.
Kaiden looked at Ashley.
"I can sing the wife part and you the husband," she suggested.
The strums of the guitar sounded and the song began . . .
"Now I came home the other night, drunk as I could be;
Found a horse in the stable where my horse ought to be.
Oh, come my wife, my pretty little wife, explain this thing to me
How come that horse in the stable where my horse ought to be.
You blind fool, you drunken fool, can't you never see?
That's only a milk cow my granny sent to me.
I've traveled this wide world over, a hundred miles or more,
But a saddle on a milk cow I never did see before.
Well, I came home the other night, drunk as I could be;
Found a hat on my hat rack where my hat ought to be.
Oh, come my wife, my pretty little wife, explain this thing to me
How come that hat on the hat rack where my hat ought to be.
You blind fool, you drunken fool, can't you never see?
That's only a milk pail my granny sent to me.
I've traveled this wide world over, a hundred miles or more,
But a sweatband in a milk pail I never did see before.
Now I came home the other night, drunk as I could be;
Found a coat on the coat-rack where my coat ought to be.
Oh, come my wife, my pretty little wife, explain this thing to me
How come that coat on the coat-rack where my coat ought to be.
You blind fool, you drunken fool, can't you never see?
That's only a blanket my granny sent to me.
I've traveled this wide world over, a hundred miles or more,
But pockets on a blanket I never did see before.
Now I came home the other night, drunk as I could be;
Found some boots under my bed where my boots ought to be.
Oh, come my wife, my pretty little wife, explain this thing to me
How come those boots under my bed where my boots ought to be.
You blind fool, you drunken fool, can't you never see?
That's only a bed pan my granny sent to me.
I've traveled this wide world over, a hundred miles or more,
But spurs on a bed pan I never did see before.
Now I came home the other night, drunk as I could be;
Found some pants on the dresser where my pants ought to be.
Oh, come my wife, my pretty little wife, explain this thing to me
How come those pants on the dresser where my pants ought to be.
You blind fool, you drunken fool, can't you never see?
That's only a dish rag my granny sent to me.
I've traveled this wide world over, a hundred miles or more,
But a zipper on a dish rag I never did see before.
Now I came home the other night, drunk as I could be;
Found a head on the pillow where my head ought to be.
Oh, come my wife, my pretty little wife, explain this thing to me
How come that head on the pillow where my head ought to be.
You blind fool, you drunken fool, can't you never see?
That's only a mush melon my granny sent to me.
I've traveled this wide world over, a hundred miles or more,
But whiskers on a mush melon I never did see before."
Everyone was laughing and clapping given Kaiden's inflections on the verses.
"Treacherous she'vet," grumbled Tali.
"It's supposed to be silly," suggested Garrus.
"There's nothing silly about a bond-mate who cheats on her partner," argued Tali. "Are human women really that untrustworthy?"
"Tali, how much infidelity is there on the Migrant Fleet?"
"Almost none," she said after a pause. "But it's only after great provocation. When a Quarian bonds with her mate, it's very deep. One feels emotional aching when one's bond-mate departs. It's why my father got so distant after mother died when I was young."
"Hey Commander," called Kaiden. "How about some piano? You've been working on tickling the ivories for weeks now. How about it?"
"After you and Ashley? I can barely play chopsticks," insisted Shepherd.
"Oh come on Commander!" shouted Joker. "At least you can play something! Any piano I play comes with the gentle sounds of breaking finger bones, and the squeals of pain."
"No," answered Shepherd.
"Why not?" asked Kaiden. "What's the point of practicing all those hours with that teaching program if you're not going to play something?"
"It's got to mean something to me in order to play it," answered Shepherd. "I've got no reason to want to play something. And I've yet to practice a piece on the piano which means something to me important enough to want to play it."
"We're not asking you to play some classical piece which moves us to tears, Commander," snarked Joker. "I mean, Hey! I like chop-sticks."
"No," persisted Shepherd.
"Alright, alright," groused Joker.
Ashley was looking at Tali. She turned to Kaiden and with bowed heads they conferred for a a moment.
"Hey Tali," said Kaiden.
Tali looked at him.
"Ash tells me you taught her some pretty neat dance steps from the Migrant Fleet. Have you any songs that your people sing?"
"Well," answered Tali with some hesitation. "There are some . . . we sing . . . when we are with friends and family."
"Then sing one for us!" said Kaiden.
There came a chorus of voices in agreement.
"Oh nonononononononononononononono!" Tali insisted. She covered the top of her visor with her palms, swiftly shook her head, and Garrus noticed she was rapidly making little kicks with her feet.
"So that's what she does when she's embarrassed," he mused.
"NO no no no no no I couldn't! No No No," she continued.
Garrus made a decision. He stood up and motioned to Shepherd who walked over.
"Come on Tali, you have a beautiful voice, like a bird's. Sing something," He persisted while John walked over.
Tali was still hiding herself behind her palms while Garrus made a quick silent suggestion to Shepherd. He grinned in agreement and grabbing one of Tali's arms, and Garrus the other, they hoisted her up on her feet.
"Now you have to sing!" insisted Kaiden laughing. "You're standing up!"
Tali was still covering her visor and shaking her head.
"Oh no no no, I can't sing," She insisted. It was not strictly true. She sang to herself all the time. She just didn't want to sing in front of everyone.
"Yes you can!" cried Kaiden.
"Yes you can," chanted Ashley clapping her hands to the rhythm of her voice. "Yes you can. Yes you can. Yes you can."
The entire room picked up on it, even Liara got into the clapping and chanting of 'Yes you can' while Tali just held out for another five seconds her head bowed and covered desperately trying to hunch herself into invisibility.
Finally, she couldn't stand it any more.
"Okay Okay Okay!" she said still struggling to not cover her eyes. She straightened up. John noticed that her eyes were tinged pink behind the visor.
"On one condition," she continued.
"And that is?" queried Kaiden.
"Commander Shepherd has to sing something first," she said. She was sure after his refusal to play the piano, she was safe.
Shepherd laughed.
"Easy enough," he said.
"Keelah I'm doomed," groaned Tali in her thoughts.
Shepherd began to slap his thighs hard and chanted a military cadence,
N7 In!
N7 Out!
N7 Running All About!
N7 is the best by far!
Hit 'em near and Hit 'em far
Sound Off!
And all the crew shouted in rhythm "One Two!"
Sound Off!
"Three Four!"
One Two Three Four One Two
"Three Four!"
They say that in the Navy, the coffee's mighty fine,
They say that in the Navy, the coffee's mighty fine,
It looks like muddy water, and tastes like turpentine!
It looks like muddy water, and tastes like turpentine!
They say that in the Navy, the chicken's mighty fine,
They say that in the Navy, the chicken's mighty fine,
Mine jumped up on the table, and started double time!
Mine jumped up on the table, and started double time!
They say that in the Navy, biscuits are mighty fine,
They say that in the Navy, biscuits are mighty fine,
But one rolled off the table, and killed a friend of mine!
But one rolled off the table, and killed a friend of mine!
They say that in the Navy, the pay is mighty fine,
They say that in the Navy, the pay is mighty fine,
They give a hundred credits, and take back ninety-nine!
They give a hundred credits, and take back ninety-nine!
They say that in the Navy, the pods are mighty fine,
They say that in the Navy, the pods are mighty fine,
But how the hell would I know, I never slept in mine!
But how the hell would I know, I never slept in mine!
Shepherd crossed his arms and grinned while everyone else finished clapping and cheering.
Tali was caught and she knew it. She struggled for a moment trying to think and then she remembered one song. She promptly rejected it as it was a kid's song, but nothing else would come to mind. Convinced she was going to be humiliated, she bit her lower lip and tried to explain before she sang it.
"This is a . . . song we would sing . . . when we were kids. It's about Rannoch, our home-world, and how we will go down the path and pick flowers and the Khelish translates, carry the scent with us, but it means we will remember. I don't know why it says it that way . . . It could easily been written remember I'm sure . . . But I'm not a song writer . . . And I'm babbling. I'll sing it now."
And she turned off her vocal translator and began to sing. And so that the gentle reader might hear the language itself, the author has chosen to write the Khelish phonetically rather than its genuine spelling. Of course the English translation does not follow any general rules of poetry, translations are like that I'm afraid, but hopefully I have captured the general gist of the lyrics.
The song sounded like this . . .
Ke you cheen Ran noch
Children of Rannoch
Shoen Tik kun vreen ling
Bright Tikkun shining
Quo see you kon brok
By our home pathway
Fley rou wro zing
Flowers grow sweet
Ey roh moh quo ray
Looking so pretty
Deen so go zhe day
Colors shine brightly
Kov roh dun klr ay
Breeze blowing gently
Gey doe on ring
Carry the scent
She sang quietly the first verse which was the chorus and then sang a verse about one of the flowers, a red one, known as a Roshae which grew along the side of pathways, though no one but her knew what the verse said. Then she sang the chorus again and half way through she noticed that Kaiden was starting to accompany her with his guitar. She sang the second verse. It was about a yellow flower known as the Fleerou which grew at the top of small tree which grew along the sides of brooks. You had to climb the trunk to get it. Then she repeated the chorus again and now Kaiden and Ash were singing the chorus with her while Kaiden played a gentle guitar melody which blended perfectly. Then she got to the third verse, about a purple flower on a grasslike plant which made purple seeds known as the Whetrass. It grew in the fields by the edge of the deserts and it's scent you could 'carry' for the longest on the path. Then she sang the chorus for the last time but again, something happened. Ashley sang with her but after the first stanza, Kaiden started singing, but he was singing the first stanza. All the women sang with her and Ashley but all the men sang with Kaiden. Tali plowed through not knowing what had happened, but just as she finished Ashley sang it again and Kaiden followed, still one stanza behind Ashley.
She had no idea that Ashley and Kaiden had turned her kid's song chorus into a round. Ashley and Kaiden and the rest of the crew sang it three times before Kaiden sang the last stanza of the chorus by himself with the men and then he put his guitar down and looked at Tali grinning.
"That was so pretty!" sighed Liara.
There was a sudden burst of applause.
"But it's a kid's song!" protested Tali's thoughts feebly.
Then she was overwhelmed. The crew liked her. She was surrounded by people not Quarian, who had no real idea of her family's background (nor would it have meant much to them if they had) and in spite of that, in her mind anyway, they all liked her. There was Kaiden and Ashley sitting next to each other. Joker standing behind them. Wrex was leaning in a corner grinning. Garrus on the seat in front of her turned around and watching her, and Shepherd standing to her left, his arms crossed smiling. Engineer Adams was at another table over looking at her smiling as well. And Dr. Chakwas sitting, holding a small glass of wine, by the entrance of the Med Bay.
She felt all warm and fuzzy. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. But all she could squeak out was a "Thank you," and sat back in her chair.
"You can't sing another one?" asked Liara sweetly.
"Nonononononononono!" she insisted with rising tide of panic. "I don't remember any more."
The room was filled with "Ahs" and "Come ons" and "Yes you cans!"
"I think we've put our ducky on the spot enough for one night," suggested Shepherd. He smiled and shook his head and went back to his chair.
"And if he starts calling me Bugsy I'm going to really start to worry about him," said Garrus in a low voice as Tali sat back down. "Like I said, Tali. I think he likes you."
"And like I said, Garrus," she replied with a bit of exaggerated miff in her voice. "He has nose hairs."
"More Brandy?"
"Not tonight Garrus. I have to stay sober."
"But you slur your words so nicely when you're drunk," insisted Garrus. "Not to mention leaning on my shoulder so relaxed and gentle allowing me to mock Kaiden and Wrex with so little discomfort."
"I can get my shotgun," suggested Tali.
The party broke up and Liara was feeling most welcome and smiling to everyone who introduced themselves to her. Kaiden led her to where she would be sleeping, and the Shepherd showed her where her office would be. He had assigned her to reconnaissance and intel, given her scholastic talents.
Tali followed Liara's movements for a bit and sat at the table for what seemed forever, trying to screw up her courage for what she was about to do.
John Michael returned to the captain's cabin, and started to get into the mental state he would need to be in order to start running Liara through drill the next morning. They had a few leads as to the Matriarch's location and Noveria was looking like that was to be their next destination. If she was there, Liara didn't have much time to get trained adequately to be able to survive a fire fight with the Geth. Professors and Archeologists were not particularly known for their battlefield prowess. This was going to be a hard one.
He needed to get his mind off of things. He pressed a small command on his computer and the holographic tactile projection of a piano keyboard sprang up in front of him. He flexed his fingers to do drills to train his hands to play when his door signaled a 'visitor' outside.
"Open," he said.
The door swiftly and with a soft squeak opened revealing Tali standing on the other side.
"Come in Tali," he said with a gentle smile.
"Commander?" she said. She was rubbing her palms together and bouncing a little on her feet.
"Yes?" he queried with a slightly wider smile.
"Liara's going to be put through the pain of drill tomorrow right?"
"And probably the day after for a lot of days." he said as a matter of fact.
"By herself . . . With you . . ." continued Tali.
"Tali?" queried John. "This is sounding a little . . . Um . . . Well when girl A asks a guy about all the time he's going to be spending with girl B, it very strongly suggests a single particular something you don't need explained to about. But since girl B is about to be put through hell by the guy, which would be to girl A's decided advantage if that was the reason, that guy wants to know exactly why girl A is asking. This simply can't be an expression of jealousy or turf."
"OH No! No no no! Not at all. That's really very silly. Really. It's really impossible. I mean you and me? No no no. Not with all those nose . . . NECESSARY duties and responsibilities . . . You have that is," she shook her head in denial most vigorously.
"Okay," said John, smiling slightly. "I'll bite. Why do you ask."
"I . . . I want to join her in drill."
"Are you serious? You did well in the last mission, in fact, you were sterling in performance. Why do you want me to shove your face into the mud again?"
"Commander, you terrified me. I hated you by the end of the first day. I understand now why you did what you did. But at the time. She seems really sweet. The fact that her mother is working for Saren seems to have shaken her up. She's just escaped death at the hands of the Geth. The thought of you stomping on her stomach like you will, slapping her, kicking her, screaming in her face. I thought . . ."
"It might be easier on her if there was someone going through it with her?" suggested John.
"Yes," answered Tali.
"Permission granted," replied Shepherd.
"Thank you . . . Um, maybe not thank you exactly . . . I could accidentally drop my gun so you could yell at me first?"
"Tali?" replied John. "Believe me I know how to throw you curves so fast I'm sure I'll spark a genuine error so I can haul you through the barbed wire briars. Don't try to make a mistake. In order for this to work, it has to ring true."
Tali thought about this for a second.
"Is that why you threw so much at Ashley?" she asked.
"In part, but also because she was showing off and I wanted to wipe that smug off of her. You getting an 'accidental' trigger pulled on you was what I had been looking for the whole time."
"You mean you made . . ."
"No, Tali. She did that on her own. My point being that she didn't realize she was playing right into my hands when she did it."
"Interesting," mused Tali. "There's more to this than screaming and kicking and punching?"
"Very much so," said Shepherd. "Now is there anything else you want to ask before I transform into Captain Badass on you? I won't be the genial guy once you are 'in drill'."
"I understand, Commander," said Tali. She seemed to slouch briefly. "That's all. See you tomorrow. I'll be sure to be shaking in my little boots."
"I don't doubt it," laughed John. "You know exactly what's going to happen tomorrow. To you."
Tali left the room.
"That girl has spunk," mused John to himself. "She just met Liara, and she's going to put herself out to that extent. Damn, that's one hell of a girl! Hope I meet a woman like her some day. That would be just the sort I'd marry."
He returned to his keyboard and commenced to drill on the piano.