Shepard carried the heavy bag out to the yard where her ship waited. Perhaps she could find some answers in one of the devices she had collected. The inside of the ship rang with the sounds of her boots and then the clatter of the bag as she dropped it near the pilot's chair.
"Connect me," she began.
"Already done. He is meeting us at a nearby fueling depot. How badly are you hurt?"
"Nothing a little medi-gel couldn't fix. Where is the new guy?"
"They just finished cleaning him up and now they are in the galley. It appears as if Saren has made some broth for him," EDI said in an amused tone.
Amala's eyebrow quirked upward at that image. Saren didn't seem the most obvious choice for domestic duties in the kitchen. She headed back to meet the newest rescue and at this rate they would have to find a bigger ship.
She found them sitting around the small table, the new one gently sipping the broth that EDI had mentioned. His plates were a light grey with cobalt colored marks emblazoned on his face that identified him as coming from a breeding colony. His dark blue eyes shifted upward to gaze at her when she took the last seat.
"Hi, I'm Amala Shepard. I'm sure Saren or Nihlus can fill you in on me. You're safe for the moment well, as safe as anyone can be traveling with a Spectre."
He cocked his head at that. She sighed, "Stands for Special Tactics and Reconnaissance, agents of the Galactic Council. The official spiel is boring, but basically we are charged with ensuring galactic stability by whatever means necessary. We are en route to pick up a doctor I trust; he'll fix you up."
"And you," EDI said, her voice coming over the ship's comm system.
"I'm fine."
"Says the woman who requested more medi-gel because she was out."
"You told him, didn't you?"
"Of course. We are approaching the depot now."
She pushed her chair back and left the turians where they were so she could go pretend to guide the ship into a docking port. She had been scolded before about letting a VI guide her ship into dock. EDI had voiced her disdain afterwards at the notion that she would miscalculate and hit anything.
Amala waited until the ship settled into its docking cradle before she cracked the hatch open. A voice called to her and she broke into a grin when she saw her friend walking quickly towards her with a large bag slung over one shoulder.
"Mordin! Thanks for coming on such short notice."
"Fortunate. On my way to Omega."
The salarian brushed past her and she locked the hatch down before returning to the cockpit.
"Other patient?"
"Galley."
"Come," he ordered, and without even bothering to see if she was following, he headed deeper into the ship.
Amala sighed. If she didn't follow him, he would just hunt her down eventually. Better to get it over with sooner rather than later. Mordin came to an abrupt stop in front of her. She walked around him and saw the bemused expression on his face.
"Oh my. Which one is my patient? Never had a chance to examine one personally, must take notes."
"We found the grey one being held in a room they had turned into a prison. There is a very good reason that you haven't been allowed to examine one. They are a sapient species."
Mordin gasped, "No. But-"
"If you want to leave and pretend you never saw them, I would totally understand."
Mordin shook his head, his eyes narrowed. "Unacceptable. Will help however I can."
Amala flashed him a grateful smile. "That one there is Saren; the other one is Nihlus and well I haven't checked to see what name they gave the new guy. EDI is working on a translation program with their help so eventually we can understand them. This is Doctor Mordin Solus," she continued, turning to the turians. "If he talks circles around you, get used to it. He does that to everyone, but he is a brilliant doctor and I trust him."
Saren and Nihlus both gave brief nods towards the salarian. Mordin approached the grey one, his omni-tool already hard at work scanning.
"Let's see...hmm...yes, mild dehydration, some bruising. Begun intake of liquids I see, good."
He leaned in closer to examine the turian's collar. "Garrus, name on collar. Is that how you decide what to call them?"
"Garrus, huh. Until we can understand them, that's all I can go by. So, overall he is okay?"
"Yes, food and rest and he'll be as good as ever."
Mordin dropped his bag at his feet and began pulling items out of it rapidly. He pressed one bottle into Garrus's hands and placed a different one on the table.
"Take two of those for pain will make you drowsy, so plan accordingly. Other bottle is for all of you; quarian supplement I created should improve condition until I can run more tests and create one more specific for your species."
Garrus swallowed two of the pills that Mordin had given him and looked around questioningly.
Amala pointed at a door. "You can use the bed in there."
He nodded and wearily headed to the room indicated. Mordin then turned his attention to Amala.
"What?" she asked.
"Let me see."
"I'm fine."
"I'm the doctor," he said with a wave of one hand. "I'll be the judge."
Amala sighed and exposed her side where the mostly healed wound was. Mordin ran a few scans before digging into his bag once more. He pulled out two injectors and rapidly shot Amala with both of them.
"Hey! What did you just give me?"
"Antibiotics and something else to help you heal faster," Mordin answered.
Amala put a hand up as her head began to spin. Mordin took her by the arm and gently steered her towards the room where the turian had disappeared.
"You rotten man, you gave me a sedative," she growled.
"Mild one. EDI informed me that you haven't had enough rest lately. Will feel better when you awake."
Garrus didn't stir as Mordin gently helped Amala to lie down. He hummed to himself as he lined up the tests he would want to run on the other two turians, leaving the pair to slumber undisturbed.
Amala nuzzled into the warm hide, the heat drawing her closer and closer. Her drug-addled brain only encouraged her and it wasn't until she flung one arm over the source of the heat that she finally realized that it was another body she was snuggling into. Blearily, she opened her eyes and found herself staring into Garrus's blue ones.
"Oh crap. I'm sorry."
She rolled away from him with a groan.
"Nothing more embarrassing than waking up in bed with a strange man. Not to mention finding yourself draped all over him like a cheap asari dancer."
He just watched her, making her feel even more nervous.
"And you know, you could have woken me up or pushed me away. Crap, I'm babbling."
A noise similar to the one that Nihlus had made previously suggested that he was laughing at her. She turned her head and found his mandibles flared; she hoped that it really was their version of a smile. 'Good. Maybe they hadn't had time to break him yet', she thought.
"Of course, I'm blaming Mordin for this whole embarrassing episode."
Amala rolled out of bed, glad at least that Mordin hadn't stripped her down. Garrus moved a little stiffly as he, too, left the bed, not like the usual grace she had seen from Saren and Nihlus.
"Still a little sore?"
He nodded absently but took a moment to rotate his shoulders and stretch before following her out into the main part of the ship. She pointed out the door directly across from where they stood.
"That's the bathroom. I need to see where we are."
"We will be arriving on Illium within the hour. Wrex will be waiting for us as soon as we give him our docking bay number," EDI answered.
"Thanks, EDI."
While she waited for her turn in the bathroom, she walked to the galley. A cup of coffee and a nutrient bar to get her going seemed in order. She found Saren in the kitchen, making some of the meals EDI had supplied for them. Starting up her coffee, she watched Saren work.
"I understand now why you got so pissed about the implant. For the record, I would never have done anything without Nihlus's permission. But you didn't know that and in your position I would have done the same damn thing," she told him.
He stopped and turned to look at her. He gave her a small nod and continued with what he was doing. Taking it as a good sign, she plowed on.
"I assume you guys aren't going to want to follow me all over the galaxy forever."
Saren snorted at that and then gave her a questioning look.
"I've been thinking. Besides a working translator program, your people need allies and, well, we will be picking up a friend of mine who needs help. I've promised him my help but I'm going to suggest he ask you for yours. I know he can't understand what you say so I'll say it for you. If he wants your help, he needs to be ready to pay back that favor. I know you're probably thinking, what good is one person? He's a krogan and well on his way to uniting most of the clans left under him."
By this time the other two turians had joined them. Saren passed out the meals he had heated up and the three of them stood waiting for her to continue.
"The krogan are formidable ground troops. I can't see anything but a war bringing about your freedom, or at least the threat of one. I have some pull among my own people and hopefully I can get them on your side. EDI, how goes the decoding of their language?"
"Working on some basic phrases. When they have suits I can link to, I'll be able to translate anything I know for you."
"Good. Work on combat terminology. In a fight, we will need it."
"Perhaps you should get them omni-tools as well. If the comm systems in the suits go down, you can use them as a backup."
"Right, we should be able to get something like that on Omega as well. Do I need to head up there for docking yet?"
"Negative, Doctor Solus is collating his data in the pilot's seat. They will assume he is navigating."
"Okay, after Wrex is on board, head to another planet that we can do some target practice on. Garrus will at least need some basic training with a gun before we hit Omega."
Garrus stood a little straighter and turned to look at Saren, and for the first time Shepard heard him vocalize and it sounded like a question. She sipped her coffee taking the time to observe them. Garrus seemed the youngest of the three, his plates smoother than the other two. Saren appeared to be the oldest, by how much she had no idea, but the other two definitely looked to him as their de facto leader.
"Amala, we are docked," EDI announced over the comm system.
"On my way."
She put her coffee down and moved to meet Wrex at the door. How this was going to play out, she had no idea.
~Thanks once more to Mordinette and all her help! And a great big thank you to my readers!~