Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks - Isaac Watts

— Javik and Traynor reach an understanding —

• SSV NORMANDY · DECK TWO, BRIDGE •

With the Normandy in orbit around the unnamed planet that had been their refuge for the past several weeks, EDI and Shepard had plotted their galactic position, each working independently in order to avoid influencing the other's results. After each of them finished, they compared their calculations and were surprised to discover there was less than an 0.021 percent difference in their results. "EDI, I didn't realize I had an aptitude for astronavigation," remarked Shepard. "Unfortunately, our calculations place us a helluva lot further from home than I had hoped."

Joker asked, "So, ladies, save the good news for last. What's the bad news? Don't spare any miserable little detail."

EDI responded, "We are still in inner council space, Jeff."

"Eee-Deeeeee!" Joker whined. "I said bad news! I like to save the good news for last, to help offset the bad news! Now I'm really afraid to ask for the bad news."

"Calculations show our current position to be near the turian home system, but it will still take some time for us to travel there," she responded.

Shepard picked up the explanation, "It's not as bad as it could be, but still …" she paused, then continued, "We're in a section of a trailing galactic arm. Closest relay would be in the Apien Crest. Chatter we've picked up from the nearest Reapers says it's been damaged … something about the containment rings being shattered. Repairs are underway, and the immediate upstream connection is the Serpent Nebula. It's some distance to travel, even at the FTL speeds the Normandy is capable of reaching."

"So, just how do you define some time? EDI? Shepard?"

"At Normandy's top speed, years," replied EDI. "However, the Normandy cannot sustain full speed continuously; there is the matter of fuel and provisions. And we will need to periodically discharge the drive core. There are emergency rations in the cargo area on the hanger deck, but there are no extra stores of H3 available to us, and the Normandy's ability to ingest free hydrogen in interstellar space will be insufficient to replenish our stores as fast as they are expended."

Joker replied in a tone suggesting utter depression. "EDI, I can't speak for the rest of the crew, but I am quite certain I would be dead in my leather seat long before this ship reached the Apien Crest. There has to be some other way we can do this."

Shepard said, "We need to meet with Alenko and the rest of the crew before we leave orbit. EDI, set up a conference room meeting for … 1645 hours." She continued, "I have some research to do."

• DECK THREE · PORT SIDE, LIARA'S QUARTERS •

While Shepard-computer and EDI-machine—as he liked to think of them—were busy calculating the ship's location and deciding which way to jump, Javik was standing in front of the door to the asari's quarters. He had been attempting to touch the door lock, engaged and red, in order to announce his request to enter. He would have rather faced an entire group of Reapers without cover, armor or weapons, well, maybe a plasma rifle, he thought, then walk through this door—her door.

Javik had never had much use for other races, particularly primitives, and machine intelligence in particular. But the human woman, Shepard, had been so—different—from others of her kind. She had been a warrior first and foremost, a superb tactician and leader. But she had also been … kind, welcoming, openly accepting the lone survivor of a lost, extinct race of people. He had thought that perhaps, just perhaps, she did so to further her own standing with her asari lover, but no! She was not capable of that sort of deception. It would have been as visible to his senses as a light held in her hand. She was simply a genuinely nice person.

That didn't mean she couldn't turn on the bitch when she was crossed. The more he considered this human … Shepard—he made himself silently say her name—the more he was convinced of the errors in his own beliefs. He had never met anyone like her. She had been, if not a friend, then a comrade, an associate, an … equal. When she knew an upcoming mission had a high probability of encountering Reaper troops, she usually included him as a squad member. He always felt most alive when protecting her flank; she always seemed to encounter more Reaper troops than should be possible, and their mindless attacks unerringly centered on her, generally to the exclusion of her other squad mates. She had joked about it once, telling him the Cerberus cyber-implants in her body, being partially based on Reaper tech, made her stand out like a beacon to them. Whatever the reason, there had always been more than enough Reaper targets for his plasma rifle and biotics.

And now she was dead … well, her body was dead, if the EDI-machine was to be believed. He was still unsure of his feelings regarding Shepard being the Normandy's computer. Was it a massive deception, concocted by Alenko and EDI-machi … Edie—he made himself silently say that name—to prevent the crew and himself from asking too many questions of the major? He himself had never trusted machine intelligence. He thought of the zha'til and their creators during his own cycle. He believed all synthetics would eventually commit treachery against their creators—the geth rebellion against their own creators, the quarians, was more proof machines could not be trusted. He advised Shepard to not trust the geth. In the end, she brokered a peace between created and creator—the geth and the quarians—and gained the allegiance of both. It made Javik believe she could achieve almost anything, and he had to wonder if he had been incorrect in his thinking.

Enough! Javik was a soldier. He would move forward. He touched the door lock, which responded with a chime, faintly audible from inside. Liara responded, "Javik, what a surprise." There was a bit of sarcasm in her voice—he understood why when she continued, "Would you like to come in, or would you prefer to remain outside, wishing you were anywhere else on this ship?"

Javik glanced around before answering; he abruptly noticed a tiny, illuminated blue dot beside the door, indicating the location of a camera—probably one of several, he thought ruefully. "I would like to speak with you, asar … " catching himself, he continued, "Dr. T'Soni, if you can spare the time."

The haptic interface turned green as the door lock disengaged. "Please come in."

The door hissed open and Javik stepped inside, noting with a touch of astonishment the wall of monitors and the many power and data cables lying on the deck and hanging from bulkheads and overhead. He had known, of course, that the asari was the Shadow Broker. He had never realized just what that title meant or how much time and energy was required to maintain her standing as the galaxy's foremost information broker. "Dr. T'Soni, I have …" Liara interrupted him, "Javik, please just call me Liara." She finished a memo on one of a dozen or so data pads scattered about her desk and gave him her full attention. "Okay Commander Javik, to what do I owe this visit?"

• DECK ONE · THE LOFT •

While Shepard was talking to EDI and Joker about the position of the Normandy relative to the closest settled star system, she also appeared in her old quarters, on the shelf recently vacated by the husk head. Looking at her model display case, she silently thanked Tali for giving the miserable thing to James, since it had been his idea to bring the damned thing aboard in the first place. The mess from Gabby's attack would have been a lot harder to deal with up here. Keying in to Traynor's omnitool, she said, "Specialist Traynor, please come to the captain's quarters on Deck One."

"Right away, Ma'am," came the reply—the 'ma'am' pronounced as 'mum'.

Shepard did not have long to wait … the specialist pinged the door within two minutes. "Come in, Traynor."

Samantha entered and looked around. Spotting Shepard's avatar on the shelf, she put her hand to her mouth as she caught her breath. "My word, Commander. I heard that Tali and EDI had created an interface for you to use, but I never expected this." As she approached the shelf, she continued, "It's a quite lovely representation of you, Ma'am." She reached out to touch the dodecahedron, as if she were going to place the palm of her hand against someone's cheek. As her hand came within a few centimeters of the projection, she felt the hair on her arm rise; a small violet spark arced between the slowly rotating globe and her hand, causing her to yelp and jump as she yanked her hand back.

"Sorry, Specialist. I should have warned you about my electric personality." Sam just knew she could hear the smirk in Shepard's voice. Shepard continued, "Samantha, I asked you up here so we could talk about your dislike of Javik."

"There is nothing to discuss, Commander. I do not like the son of a … whatever the Prothean version of a bitch would be. He is a contemptible, scum-sucking pig, and that insults the pig. Like I told the major, he's just a Collector, waiting to be converted so he can kill us all in our sleep." The specialist sounded upset, as if something was bothering her.

"Sounds personal, Samantha. You once told me you were visiting Horizon when the Collectors attacked the colony." Shepard softly asked, "Were your parents taken in the assault?"

Samantha was holding her mouth with one hand. "I don't know … I don't know," she cried, tears overwhelming her efforts to hold them in check. "I never saw them … never found them or heard from them again after that day." She sat in the desk chair as her chest heaved with deep, anguished sobs. "I keep … trying … to find something … anything …" she tried to talk between gasps for air, "that would point to a location." Her grief finally overcame her. Face buried in her hands, elbows digging into her thighs, she sobbed for several minutes before finally achieving a bit of control. "Shepard, I am so sorry." Wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands, she continued, "I did not want to burden anyone, particularly you, with my loss. You have lost so much, I just …"

Shepard interrupted, saying quietly, almost as if speaking to herself, "Samantha, you should have told me about this when we first left Earth. It is not a burden, sharing someone's grief over that kind of loss." Traynor heard a small catch in Shepard's voice, something that should have been impossible. Her voice is just computer generated. How can she feel emotion? Shepard continued, "The violent loss of one's parents … is not an easy thing to live with. I watched both my parents die when I was sixteen years old. Kaidan didn't tell you the whole story, the reason I dislike batarians with every fiber of my being; some day I may tell you what happened that day on Mindoir, but not today—it's still a raw wound, even after all these years."

"I cannot imagine anything worse than not knowing what happened to your parents. We can speculate 'til hell freezes over and still be no closer to knowing the truth. Please, go speak to Javik. You may want to use the sink to clean up first—there's fresh washcloths and towels. I promise you'll feel more sympathy towards him afterwards, and then you can talk to Liara about digging for more information on Horizon." The voice now carried the hint of an unseen smile, "After all, what good does it do to have the Shadow Broker on this ship if her services can't be used by us occasionally?"

• DECK THREE · PORT SIDE, LIARA'S QUARTERS •

"I have been talking to Shepard about my situation, Liara T'Soni. It is … unsettling to hear her voice, to see a holographic image representing her presence, without being able to gauge the veracity of her statements." Javik looked down at the table with his secondary eyes as he continued to watch the asari with his primary, larger eyes. "However, I deem the existence of the computer entity to be the core … the spirit, of Commander Shepard; our discussions led us to my treatment … my mistreatment … of you, and of others, during my time on this vessel. Upon reflection, I realize my actions, my words, brought dishonor upon myself and the Prothean people, and for that, Liara T'Soni, I can only offer my humble request for forgiveness."

Liara slowly stood up, turning to fully face the now embarrassed looking soldier. "Javik, I do not believe you need to apologize. I do not know how I would respond to being brought out of stasis after fifty thousand years; there is nothing I am aware of to prepare for that kind of cultural shock. What I do know is your presence here on this ship, in this cycle, is not a result of some random throw of the dice."

"Dice?"

"Sorry, it's a human device, a pair of cubes with each facet bearing painted dots, increasing from one to six on each facet," she explained. "They're used in various games of chance to generate random integers."

"You are theorizing my discovery on Eden Prime was not a result of luck?" Javik was puzzled. "I find this concept difficult to accept."

"Eden Prime is where this conflict actually started, when the Prothean beacon was uncovered just over three years ago." Liara started to pace the short distance to her bed and back. Clasping her hands behind her, she continued, "Commander Shepard has shown you the warning she received from that device—she told you it very nearly killed her. Your stasis pod was located further north of that location. Cerberus has always been quite adept at locating hidden technology." She crossed her arms under her chest as she stopped in front of him. "It is possible, however unlikely, a portion of the data stolen from Mars held a key to finding your bunker on Eden Prime, Javik."

As Javik was thinking about this revelation, the chime for the door sounded.

Liara opened her omni-tool and asked, "Who is it?"

"Samantha. May I come in?"

Javik turned to face the door as Liara keyed the lock off; the door hissed open and Traynor took three steps into the room before noticing Javik. She stopped, turned partway as if to go back out, then turned back to face the Prothean. "Javik. I was not aware you were here." Then, to Liara, "I can come back later, Dr. T'Soni." Again, she turned to go.

"Specialist Traynor." Javik's voice was a bit softer, not as superior sounding. "It is fortunate you are here. I need to speak with you.

"Can this wait, Javik?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at the Prothean. "I am on a tight schedule and have a lot of work to complete before we break orbit."

"This cannot wait, Specialist. The passage of time will only make this more difficult, for both of us."

Samantha thought for a second, then turned and walked stiffly past Javik and Liara, stopping to sit on the chair closest to Liara's terminal, just outside her sleeping area. "I need to talk to you as well. I was going to go to your quarters next, but since you are here, tell me what's on your mind."

"I have been talking to Dr. T'Soni regarding my presence on this ship," Javik began quietly. "I have requested her … forgiveness, for my past behavior since being brought on board the Normandy. I believe I need to extend that request to you as well. If I have offended you in some manner, it was not intentional. The shock of waking up, fifty-thousand years after stasis began for me … my people were imperialists, Specialist." Javik paused, looking at Liara, who only nodded. "I was … am a soldier.

"I did not deal in the politics of the galaxy. It was my job to fight for the survival of the Prothean people." Javik looked down as he continued to speak, almost as if to himself, "I have seen so much fighting, death, destruction … my own people turned into monsters, to be used as mindless abominations, throwing themselves at us, attempting to overwhelm us through sheer force of numbers. I gave Commander Shepard my echo shard before the final battle on Earth. The cipher she received would have enabled her to understand it, but I do not believe she chose to do so. I warned her it contained only pain."

Javik paused, still looking down at the deck plating. Traynor started to speak. "Javik, I … "

He looked up at her, four elongated irises meeting two round ones. Sam had always thought his eyes were similar to those of an earthbound, ocean dwelling creature, the octopus. There was a cold intelligence in the eyes of both, but Javik's also held sorrow for his lost people, a regret that his commitment to vengeance had not been completed prior to Shepard's activation of the crucible.

Javik abruptly took several steps forward and placed his hand on Sam's shoulder. Traynor shuddered, then calmly brought her left hand up to rest on his. After several moments, Javik slowly pulled his hand away and took a step back. "Specialist, I can now understand your antipathy towards me. We may never be friends, no matter how long either of us live." Sam was having a difficult time holding back tears again as Javik continued, "But I do believe we can respect each other's view of life, on this ship, in the galaxy, as it existed then, as it exists now."

Traynor swallowed past the lump in her throat. "I would like that, Javik. And I am sorry for my lack of compassion for your situation. It would seem that neither of us was fair in our assessments of each other's value." She stood and said, "Liara, I do need to talk to you, but I will return later." She smiled as she walked past them. "I need to drink some tea and think about … things." The door hissed closed behind her.

Thanks to all for following. The next part of this trip home is tricky, due to the immense distances that have to be traversed. It's fiction, true, but I'm attempting to keep some science in front of it. As I go, it will probably have to become a touch of Science-Fantasy. Rules can be bent; they shouldn't be broken if possible. As always, reviews are welcome. I'm doing this for my own recreation, just as I play the games, but it is nice to hear from the community at large.