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"Are we here, Momma?" I ask, looking up into the striking blue eyes of my mother, who nods patiently, unbuckling me from the seat and pulling our bag from the overhead cabinet.

"We're here," she affirms, taking me by the hand and leading me through the crowded cabin toward the exit door, stopping only to politely thank the attendant for the smooth trip and leading us out of the ship.

"Liara," a deep, familiar voice turns my head, and I brighten seeing four Prothean eyes watching me with a slight smirk on his lips. "Sasha," he acknowledges. I fling myself excitedly toward him, glad for a familiar face; glad that I'm finally getting to meet people I've only heard stories about.

"Javik!" I squeal, taking the old Prothean by surprise, much to my mother's amusement. Reluctantly, Javik pulls me up off the ground, looking down into my face.

"You are growing very well, child," he tells me in a dry tone, though I can see amusement in his eyes, despite his attempt to convey indifference. He sets me to my feet, turning back to my mother.

"How are you, Javik?" Momma asks, pulling him into a quick hug. Javik again rolls his eyes, patting her back and pulling back immediately. He's not a very cuddly Prothean, though I don't know if any of them were. At least, not from what Momma's told me.

"I am well," he answers, leading us out of the docking bay, toward an elevator. I glance around, clutching my mother's hand, taking it all in. My eyes are especially drawn to a wall of pictures, both paper and digital. I want to see it.

"What's that?" I ask, pointing.

"That is a memory wall," Momma explains, "For people who died in the war." I look up at her, noticing that Momma suddenly looks like she's eaten something sour.

"Can we look?"

"Not now, Hummingbird," she sighs, patting the top of my head. "Perhaps on the way out?"

"Okay…" I pout, giving the wall one last look over my shoulder, before stepping into the elevator. We take it down until it opens, revealing an open area with trees and walkways. It's beautiful and quiet; it reminds me a little bit of home. My eyes fall on the sparkling tower in the distance and I gasp. It's a building made entirely of glass. "What is this place?" I ask.

"This is the Presidium," Momma tells me. "It's the center of the Citadel, where everything is. The Councilors' offices are here, stores…restaurants and the hospital, which is where we're going."

"To see Tali!" I insert happily. I've only met Tali a few times in my life, but I remember her being very nice and pretty. She smelled like flowers.

"Yes, exactly!" Momma agrees, smiling and leading me toward a waiting skycar. I've ridden in dozens of skycars on Thessia, but this one is red, which is way cooler than the boring old black one we have back home. The seats are big and comfy and I even have room to stretch out my legs in the back seat. Javik instructs the driver to take us to the hospital and I stare out the window, watching the windows and trees and buildings fly by in wonder.

"Have you been to see her yet?" Momma asks Javik, who is sitting in the front seat.

"I have not," he replies, "But I have spoken with Vakarian and she is doing well. He was an insufferable wreck while she was in labor. The Joker pilot and I had to drag him out for a drink when the quarian banished him from the birthing room."

I gasp in delight as we make a sharp turn around the curve of the main ring.

"Ten years and you are still referring to Tali as 'the quarian'?" My mother teases.

"Is she not a quarian?" He turns in his seat with half a grin. "Asari?"

"Oh Javik, I have missed you," she laughs, swatting at him.

"No one expects you to live in isolation on Thessia, Liara," he returns firmly, giving her a pointed look. "The Citadel is a perfectly fine place to raise a child."

"You know why I can't do that," Mother tells him. "It's not safe for—"

"I wanna live here, Momma!" I exclaim excitedly, tugging at her arm. "Oh, please can we? I could have friends here and people won't think I'm bad because my father was an asari like you." She stares down at me with wide eyes, taken aback.

"What…? Why do you think that?"

"Momma," I sigh, "I'm not stupid. I can hear what people say. They call me – and you – pureblood."

"When we uplifted your kind, we did not intend for the asari to be so narrow minded," Javik chimes in disapprovingly.

"This is not the time to discuss this," Momma tells me, giving Javik a stern look. "Our place is on Thessia," she insists, patting my cheek. "With our people. That is where I work."

"Hmmpf," is Javik's only response, while I stare forlornly at the towering structure of the hospital as we approach it. I want to live here. I want to wake up every day and walk on these paths and see other people; humans and quarians and turians and even krogan. I want to be part of them.

The car stops, letting us out. After we pay the driver, we walk through the sliding glass doors into the lobby of the building and take an elevator up to the fifth floor. It's all glass, so I watch the ground grow smaller as we rise, grinning in delight, my earlier distress already forgotten.

Three people approach us as we walk through the door, all human. The man walks with a slight limp, but he's really tall. The woman is much shorter than he is, with yellow hair. They have a little boy with them. He gives me a funny look.

"Well, well, well…as I live and breathe," the man says, smiling. "Liara T'Soni."

"Hello, Joker," Momma returns the gesture, letting him pull her into a hug. I like his eyes. They're green, sort of like mine but with less blue in them. There are a few lines in the corners of them, what Momma would call "laugh lines". His voice is different than Javik's; higher and less…Prothean. Joker looks past my mother and his eyes fall on me. I grip Javik's hand shyly, trying to hide behind him.

"Is that…?" He begins, making Momma turn to see me. She chuckles.

"Yes it is. That's Sasha."

"She's just a little Peanut still!" He laughs.

"Asari children grow more slowly than human children do," she explains. "Physically, she resembles a human child between the ages of four and five."

"She's beautiful," the woman beside him says, smiling down at me. "Hello, Sasha, I'm Zoe."

I look at my mother for guidance. She nods encouragingly at me. "Hello," I finally say.

"This is Ian," Zoe tells me, urging the little boy toward me, straightening his unruly dark hair. "He's seven."

"Mo-om…" He whines, swatting her hands away while Joker laughs, ruffling the boy's hair.

"It's so wonderful to see you again, Liara," Zoe says to my mother.

"You as well!"Momma tells her. "How is Tali?"

"Or more importantly, how is Garrus?" Joker interrupts with a snort, meeting eyes with Javik. "You should have seen him, Liara. He was a hot mess. We had to get him drunk. I haven't seen him that trashed since that big party we all—" He stops, the smile leaving his face, looking like he just got slop. "Sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Momma sighs. "It was a wonderful night. We should remember it."

"Yeah," he agrees quietly, though he doesn't smile. I notice Zoe look up at him, concerned, before taking his hand. He smiles after a beat, patting my mother's shoulder, before moving toward me and extending a hand. I shrink back for a moment, unsure of how to interact with these people I don't know. "Hi. I'm Jeff."

"I thought your name was Joker," I say, looking at Momma in confusion.

"That's my nickname. Everyone wanted to call me Super-Awesome-Handsome-Funniest-Best-Pilot-Ever, but that was too long, so I had to settle for Joker," he tells me with a wink.

"Momma calls me Hummingbird," I offer with a shrug. Joker looks back at my mother with a smirk.

"That. Is. Adorable."

"Hush up," she laughs, shaking her head. "We'd better get in and see Tali."

"We're just going to get a bite to eat for Garrus and Xander," Zoe explains. "Garrus has been at home all day getting the apartment ready to bring the baby home and Xander spent the night with us."

I know Xander, because he and his parents have visited us on Thessia, though he and I have never really played together. The last time they were there he was too little still. Now, he's probably bigger than I am. We say goodbye to Joker, Zoe and Ian, before heading back into the dimly lit hallway and turning into a room.

I recognize the turian man and the little turian boy at once. Garrus Vakarian stands even taller than Javik. He brightens at the sight of us. My eyes fall on Tali, who is sitting up in the bed with Xander sitting beside her. She is holding a bundle of blankets.

"Tali!" I cry, letting go of Javik's hand and running toward the bed. She smiles widely at me.

"Keelah, look at you! You're getting so big!" I scramble up onto the bed, forgetting my shyness and peering down into the face of the baby. I've never seen a baby up close before, especially not a quarian one.

"I'm eight now," I tell her proudly. "The baby is so pretty. I wish my skin was the same color as yours." I envy the warm lavender of Tali and the baby's complexions.

"No…" She corrects, reaching with her free hand to pinch my cheek. "You have such a lovely blue color. Just like your Momma."

"Blue is boring," I sigh. "All asari are blue. And mean."

"Sasha!" Momma's voice comes from behind me. I can hear Garrus' low chuckle.

"Well they are," I point out moodily. "What's her name?"

"Mira," Tali informs us. "After my mother."

"Lovely."

"In my cycle, it was considered an insult to name a child for a dead relative," Javik chimes in, making Tali laugh.

"Of course it was," she counters fondly, smiling warmly at the Prothean, who immediately scowls.

"Sasha," Momma sighs, "Why don't you show Xander your model ship?"

"Okay!" I nod, hopping down and racing toward the bag my mother has set down in the corner of the room. Xander follows me, giving his father a precarious expression as if he'd rather be doing anything besides talking to a little asari girl. I pull the old model ship of the Normandy SR-2 from my bag and present it to him.

Xander shrugs, rolling his eyes. "I have like three of those at home. Have you seen the new SR-5?"

"No," I tell him, feeling dumb for a moment.

"It's the newest model," he says. "Dad flew on one."

My eyes fall on his father, who is huddled near the bed with my mother and Javik. Their voices have lowered and they're discussing something. I tune out what Xander is saying about the new ship and try to listen to my mother.

"…can't lock her away forever, Liara," Javik is saying.

"I'm not locking her away. I would never do that, but I can't risk anyone knowing—"

"You know better than anyone that isolating yourself and her from the rest of the galaxy isn't going to keep her safe. She deserves to know the truth, Liara," Tali's gentle voice cuts in. "It's what she would have wanted."

"Well, she's not here is she?" Mother retorts in the sharpest tone I've ever heard from her. "She's dead. And if anyone ever found out the truth…do you realize what that could mean for Sasha? She would be hounded; she'd become a target for both media and…others."

I nearly drop my model ship as I realize they're talking about a subject my mother doesn't like to approach. My father.

"Don't you think we'd all protect her?" Garrus asks quietly. "Don't you think she'd be safer here?"

"Vakarian has a point, Liara," Javik adds, "The Spectre base is here, and we're revamping the entire system. Garrus and I would be near."

"Maybe it would be better if Sasha knew the truth," Garrus agrees, "Maybe it would better prepare her for things. She's dead, yes, but damn it Liara, she'd want her own daughter to know her name."

"What if it were your daughter, Garrus?" Momma fires at him, looking at Tali, who grips the baby tighter. "Or your son? Look at them, Garrus…would you not do anything within your power to keep them away from the horrors of this galaxy? It will be different when she's grown." They have no answer for this.

"What is her name?" I ask without thinking, clutching my model ship with huge eyes. My voice drops to a whisper. "My…father?"

"What?" Momma asks, realizing I've heard everything.

"What was my father's name?"

She composes herself, glaring at her three friends, before crouching before me. "It doesn't matter," she says. "What do we say on Thessia? About our lost loved ones?"

"We have to let them go to let them move on," I recite, feeling a rush of anger. "But that's not fair! I wanna know, Momma!"

"How about this? Someday, when you're all grown up, I'll tell you her name." At my unsatisfied look, she adds, "I promise."

"I won't forget," I warn her. "You promised."

I sit up in my bed, wiping the sleep from my eyes as my alarm goes off. At least it wasn't another nightmare, like the memory of my "brain tests", but it's just as confusing. Why should I dream about that day? But I think I know. They were talking about her then, my father.

Thalia Kendris.

Glancing across the room, I note that Cass is sprawled out over the bed that is too small for his long limbed frame. It's almost comical. Grinning evilly, I use my biotics to throw a pillow across the room at him and hit him in the face. He flails for a moment, batting the pillow and yelling incoherently. He sits up in the bed, glaring across the room at me, before throwing the pillow back, though he only gets it halfway across the room, falling short of my bed. I laugh, getting out of the bed to retrieve it.

"Spirits, Sasha! Really?" He groans, pulling his own pillow back over his face. I glance down, realizing I slept in my tank top and underwear, feeling a sudden rush of mortification.

"Damn," I mutter, reaching for my pants. "Sorry. I kind of got kidnapped without pajamas. And these uniforms aren't exactly built for comfort.

He mutters something that sounds like "You're telling me," but it's muffled by his pillow. I finish getting dressed, getting ready to head out of the room.

"Get up," I chuckle, rolling my eyes.

"I am up," he snaps moodily, throwing his pillow aside. I shake my head, leaving the room and heading out toward the mess, stopping at the sight of my mother's door.

You promised.

Gathering my courage, I straighten my spine and walk toward her office, nodding at a couple of the crew I recognize. Dr. Wilson and the man I remember Collins called 'Simpson'. I give them a polite wave, before opening her door without knocking. I've never walked into any room without knocking, so this is taking a lot of courage. I wonder if Mother will still be asleep, but I'm surprised to find her hunched over her terminal monitor, typing furiously and speaking quietly to herself.

A flash of blue flies before me, and I notice Glyph. "Good Morning, Officer Valore."

This draws Mother's head up, glancing in my direction with surprised eyes. I watch closely as she quickly closes whatever she'd been working on. Rising, she brushes her hands over her wrinkled clothing and I realize she's still wearing her clothes from last night. She hasn't been to bed, or if she has, she hasn't slept. On Thessia, Mother never showed any indication of anything like that. Even if she had been up all night, she'd make sure that when I saw her the next morning, she was perfectly collected and freshly dressed.

"Sasha!" She exclaims, putting on a smile. "How are you feeling?"

I swallow, not answering, fighting internally with myself. I should just drop it. It doesn't matter. It's been over forty years since that 'promise' she made me. Then again, it's just a name. Why shouldn't I be able to know who my father is.

"I'm well," I finally say, "I was just thinking about something you said…a long time ago."

"Oh?" Mother moves toward her bed and opens one of the drawers, pulling out new clothes and stacking them neatly on the bed.

"It was right after Mira was born. Remember? You made me a promise." I watch closely and notice her very subtly freeze in spot, but it only lasts a moment, barely visible unless you were looking for it.

"I…can't say that I do," she responds, turning toward me and attempting to remain cheerful. "That was a long time ago, Sasha."

"Let me refresh your memory, Mother," I sigh, leaning against her desk with my arms folded. "I wanted you to tell me my father's name and your exact words were, 'Someday, when you're all grown up, I'll tell you her name.'"

Her eyes widen and her mouth falls slightly agape. "How…could you possibly remember that? Sasha, you were eight years old. Barely bigger than a human child of three."

"I have a good memory, Mother," I reply, keeping my eyes on hers. "What was her name, Mother?"

"Is it so important?"

"Is it so important for you to hide it?" I ask, glaring at her. "Who is Thalia P. Kendris?"

She stops again, gasping slightly. "Who told you that name?"

"I'm very resourceful, Mother," I tell her. "It's the name on the official birth certificate you filed with the asari government. Or can you not remember that since it was so long ago?"

I notice her visibly relax, sagging in relief against the bed, sitting down, before she meets my eyes. "So, now you know," she sighs.

"Yes, I know," I tell her, feeling a bubble of anger rise in my chest, "What I don't know is why you couldn't just tell me her name."

"Sasha," Mother rises and moves toward me. "I suppose it's because I grew up without my own father and I didn't want you to miss someone you could never have back. I never knew Aethyta until just before you were born, and when I did know her I was happy, but I was also bitter because I had been deprived of her my entire life. I used to wonder why she didn't want me. Why she'd left us. And then, when I did find out, I became angry…with my mother. But then I realized that I couldn't be angry with Benezia, because she was dead. And the past is the past." She takes a breath. "Sasha, what you need to realize is that I was very young by asari standards when I decided to conceive you. Undoubtedly, I've made mistakes…but everything I did, I did because I thought it was what was best for you."

"That wasn't for you to decide," I tell her coldly.

"I can see that now," she agrees, though she looks away quickly again.

"You don't have to lie to me," I insist in frustration. "You don't have to protect me anymore! I'm not a little girl, okay? So, you have to stop treating me like I can't make my own decisions…okay?"

"Yes, of course," she nods. "And I am sorry for that, but let me tell you something Sasha Valore. One day, you are going to have a beautiful little daughter. And you're going to understand what it means to want to protect her at absolutely all costs. You would do anything to keep that child safe."

"And by the Goddess, I do love you for that," I concede, pulling her into a hug. "Just don't lie to me anymore, please? We already spent enough time apart."

"I will not lie to you again," she affirms, kissing my forehead. "Now, you'd better go down to engineering. Collins is having you fitted for armor before we arrive on Sur'Kesh."

"Armor?" I swallow nervously. Even though I've been with C-Sec for years, I have never actually been in any sort of combat situation. The thought of being shot at and killing people is sort of terrifying.

"Sasha," my mother grins, "you spent your college years in a lab learning about weapons development. I'd have to say you're more than qualified to handle them."

"Maybe a pistol. I'm not sure how well I'd handle a sniper rifle. That's more Cass' thing."

The amused expression remains on her face. "Of course it is." Her terminal alerts her that she has a message, so I excuse myself and head toward the elevator with a bit of uncertainty. Engineering is one level down. The bottom level is the armory and the shuttle bay. Thankfully, it's all labeled right there in the elevator. I wipe my clammy palms on the front of my Alliance uniform, still unsure if I'm a traitor or a hostage in this whole scheme.

Collins is waiting around the corner when I leave the elevator; I can hear his booming voice as soon as the door opens. He's speaking to Ona and a human man. I'm guessing this is Jess' brother Adam. He's almost the complete opposite of his sister; well put together, practically the poster child for protocol. He's a handsome sort, as far as human men go, with dark hair though he's not exceptionally tall. He's maybe an inch taller than I am with striking green eyes flecked with gold. It's obvious that Adam doesn't realize he's good looking. Of course, that's when I hear him speak to Captain Collins in the fastest tumble of words I've ever heard and I suddenly understand what Jess meant when she said her brother was "fucked up."

"Sasha!" Ona waves me over to them excitedly, peeking around the impressive form of Collins, who is the tallest human I've ever met. Even taller than Cassias. Collins turns to face me and nods in acknowledgment.

"Just in time," he says approvingly, "I'd like to introduce my head engineer, Dr. Adam Moreau."

"Nice to meet you," I tell him sincerely, offering him my hand as I've seen many humans do. He stares at it as if I've just offered him a piece of garbage or a dead rodent. I quickly withdraw my proffered hand, shoving it into my pocket. My eyes fall past the trio of people to the glowing blue-black orb at the center of the room. "Wow…" I sigh, drifting toward the core. It looks like a small sphere with two rings spinning opposite each other. I can see the energy pulsing from it, powering this ship. "Pintha Tech?" I ask, looking to Collins who looks to Adam and Ona. They both nod.

"The first Alliance starship powered exclusively by an artificial quantum singularity," Adam rattles off, "It puts off more energy than the old Tantalus cores while using about a third of the fuel that the old Normandy models used. It's why we decided to give this starship a new moniker," he adds. "The SSV Windsor."

"It's so smooth too. Even when we go into FTL speed, there is hardly a change in stability," Ona agrees, smiling widely. "Hard to believe the Tantalus core was almost five times the size of this."

"Well, as much as I hate breaking up this little love fest, I have Zach waiting for us down in the armory to get you suited up, kiddo," Collins' blue eyes are smiling as he nods us toward the elevator. "But as soon as we're done, that's your station right over there." He points to the left corner, where there's a terminal and a control panel set up. I brighten, excited at the prospect of engineering this ship before I realize again that we're technically criminals now. Of course, the Council doesn't know it was the Alliance yet, but if they find out that Cass and I are working with them, their cover is blown. It worries me for reasons I can't explain.

I say a quick goodbye to Ona and Adam, who is already hunched over his own terminal, speaking to EVE about doing a diagnostic check on the core output. I don't get a chance to hear her response as I round the corner back into the elevator again.

"Adam's a little intense, but he's a damn good engineer. Probably one of the most gifted programmers of his generation," Collins explains. "Both of those kids are assets as far as I'm concerned."

"Of course they are," I agree. "Is there someone who doesn't think so?"

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, Jessie has a bit of an attitude problem. Not that I blame her after the shit she went through as a kid," he explains. "Their dad Ian is my best friend. We were college roommates. Ian's actually the one who recommended me to General Alenko for that mission, got my name out there. Ian grew up with Ava and I was the best man in his wedding to Laura. She was always a little out there, you know?"

I nod even though I have no idea what he means.

"They had Jessie and everything seemed okay at first, but she got kind of depressed. She'd forget to change Jessie and feed her and stuff, so Ian finally talked her into therapy and she got some meds which helped with that a lot and things seemed to get better…until she got pregnant again with Adam."

"Then I remember one time right after Ava and I got together, I get a call from Ian around midnight. He got home from work and the kids are crying outside the bathroom. Laura had barricaded herself inside. We rushed over there and Ava took the kids. I had to help Ian break the door down. Laura had slit her wrists. Didn't die, but Jesus it was close." He shakes his head at the memory. "Thankfully, Ava had the kids in the car and I let her know to take them to our apartment while we took Laura to the hospital."

"But she lived?" I ask in a quiet voice, remembering Jess' words.

Well, she died.

"That time," Collins confirms, though he says nothing else on the subject as the elevator comes to a stop and we step out. Lieutenant Zachary Simpson is waiting for us with a smile on his face. He's tall and lean with dark coffee brown eyes and skin to match.

"There they are," he nods. "Phil, you got the armor?"

"Got it right over here," Another young man calls from the corner with an accent I don't recognize. He crosses to us, blond and brawny and blue eyed. He reminds me of the pictures I've seen of human 'fairy tales'.

"What kind of armor are you thinking, Cap?"

"Well, we have the biotics to think of, so why don't we go with a medium armor?" Collins suggests, looking for my opinion. I nod agreeably. "And, Murphy, I want you to get her an upgrade for her biotic amp. Check and see what we've got, but apart from Zach, Sasha is the only other biotic on the ship."

"I think I have a Unity amp on hand, but I can get a HMBA fairly easy," Murphy nods, while I open my mouth to protest, not wanting anyone to go to trouble for me.

"Oh, that's fine, you don't have to—"

"Good," Collins interrupts, cutting me off. "Get it." He gives me a wink before leaving and I'm pulled forward by Lt. Simpson, changed into a bodysuit and fitted for my armor. A model sitting on the counter catches my eye. Black with a red and white stripe down the arm.

"What's that?" I ask, intrigued by the texture and shape of the armor. Simpson laughs, patting my shoulder.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Valore," he tells me, "That's our newest N7 model. It's just a sample the Alliance sent with the last shipment. I nod knowingly, familiar with the N7 soldiers I've seen on the Citadel. The best of the best of humanity I've been told, though many of them seem like power hungry maniacs to me.

"You know," Murphy adds, "Alenko made an announcement that they're going to start admitting non-humans into the program. Maybe you could enlist." I almost laugh out loud.

"Me? Yeah, I don't think so," I shake my head. "I'm not a soldier."

"It's not all soldiers though," Simpson adds. "They invite all different sorts. Biotics, Infiltrators," he gives me a pointed look, "Engineers."

"Somehow, I don't really think I qualify as the best of the best," I sigh. "I'm a pureblooded asari physicist who's barely old enough to be considered an adult. Completely unremarkable."

"Not what I've heard," Simpson returns, handing me a chest plate and helping me secure it in the back. "I heard old Vakarian telling the Captain that you had the highest marks in C-Sec training and you were the best shot since Cyprian graduated a couple years before."

"He's exaggerating I'm sure," I point out. "Cassias is amazing. Me? No."

"Modest, talented and beautiful? Marry me," Simpson chuckles, sharing a look with Murphy who rolls his eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure she's never heard a better pick-up line," Murphy quips, with a snort.

"So what's so special about the N7 armor?" I ask, eyeing it again, looking back at the two men, "You know, besides looking super cool."

"I'm not a hundred percent," Murphy replies, "But I think it's the material. It's layered with quarian tech and from what I've been told, it's almost completely bulletproof and heat resistant. The shield are supposed to last twice as long."

"Kind of interesting it's female armor, no?" I clip a leg piece on, securing the buckles on the boots. "I don't really see a lot of female N7's."

"Commander Shepard was a female," Murphy points out.

"Good point," I return, finishing the clips on the left side and standing up. "Well?"

"Looks good on you, Valore," Simpson tells me, "Welcome to the Alliance."

They start a conversation about armor, while I move around to test the flexibility of the armor. It's a little strange at first, but after a few heavy steps, it starts to feel more natural. I move through the shuttle bay, listening to the strange echo of my footsteps on the metal floor, making sure to bend my knees and arms to break it in. I round the corner of the Kodiak shuttle and notice something secured in the corner. It's a tall white cylinder with large metal clasps and a keypad. Imprinted into the door is: HSVKZIW-11-01-09-20-12-09-14-ASSET-21541104.

I can't help wondering if there really is Reaper technology lying inside this capsule. Why would the Council keep something so dangerous. Even though they were destroyed, who's to say that indoctrination wasn't still possible? Why risk that? I step closer, trying to see inside the tinted window of the capsule when EVE's voice comes over the comm.

"Crew, please report to the War Room for debriefing. Sur'Kesh ETA: two hours."

"Valore! You ready?" Simpson calls across the shuttle bay, his voice echoing off of the metal walls. Tearing my eyes off of the capsule, I turn back toward them.

"Coming!"