Chapter 7 - Torin

"Commander. There's a new message at your private terminal."

Torin had been about to join Garrus on the couch, but when she heard the announcement, she put down her glass on the table and hurried back to her desk.

"Oh, come on, Shepard." Her favourite turian twisted around to give her a look of reproach. "Turn that thing off and get yourself over here."

"Just a moment." Torin quickly scanned the message. "It's from Liara! Seems she's found a way to send our guests home."

"Has she?" He tried to sound blasé, but she didn't miss the undertone of interest in his voice.

"Not quite sure if I can make sense of it." Torin frowned. "Lots of technical jargon there."

"Let me have a look." Yup, he was interested all right. Joining her at the desk, he leaned over her shoulder to read. His hand rested on her lower back, all three fingers digging into her flesh just hard enough to make her sigh with relief. "You want me to explain?"

"Yes, please. In terms a non-techie can understand, if possible." Torin rolled her eyes.

"Well, the gist of it would be…" Garrus hummed softly while he gathered his thoughts. "There's two sides to the problem. We have to fix their shuttle, so it's spaceworthy again. But, we also need to reopen the singularity far enough to allow them passage, using some kind of energy impulse. Liara described the process in detail. Tali will know what to do." His blunt talons traced small circles on her back, loosening the tight muscles. "Don't worry. They'll be safely on their way home in no time at all."

"Thank God." Torin suppressed a yawn. "As much fun as it was to have them around, we need to focus on our job again. The Collectors won't go away just by ignoring them."

"True. We can't hang around this planet forever." Garrus chuckled softly. "Let's talk to Tali first thing in the morning, right?"

Early the next morning, they headed for the shuttle bay together. Tali and Scott were bent over an open panel in the side wall of the little spacecraft, their heads close together, their voices soft and familiar. Torin felt a pang at the sight. Tali would doubtlessly miss her new friend.

"Any progress?" At her words, they both spun around.

"We're doing fine, Commander. Just a few minor repairs left." Tali sounded so wistful that Torin was momentarily tempted to hug her.

"Good." She forced herself to focus on the task at hand. "Can you take a look at this?" Quickly, she transferred Liara's message from her omni-tool to Tali's.

Tali took a moment to absorb the info, then she nodded slowly. "Yes, that makes sense. But, how would we create such a strong energy pulse?"

Scott, who had been peering over her shoulder, cleared his throat. "If I might make a suggestion…"

Torin nodded. "Go ahead."

"We could use some of the electro-plasma from the shuttle's impulse drive to power your guns, like this. With the improvements you've implemented, we should have plenty to spare." He pointed to a schematic on Tali's tool and then went on to explain the process.

Torin gave up on understanding him after a few words. When he'd finished, she raised her voice. "EDI. Can we do this?"

"Yes, Commander. I've run a few simulations and, according to my calculations, there's an 89.7 percent chance that it will work." Once again, Torin marvelled at the AI's processing speed. "The energy pulse will have to be fired with the utmost precision, though."

Garrus had listened with captive interest. "I'll do some calibrating. We'll be fine."

"Then, make it so." Torin gave a decisive nod.

Just then, the door swished open, and Kirk and Spock walked in. The Captain sported an impressive black eye and wore his arm in a sling, reminders of his run-in with Jack two days earlier.

"Ah, Captain." Torin turned to face them. "We are well on our way to finding a way back home for you."

"Good." Kirk looked grim as he listened to their explanations. "I'm not staying around longer than I have to."

Scott glanced over at Tali and sighed deeply, but he didn't say a word.

"We could stay for another day or two, Jim." Spock's face was impassive, as usual. "There's a few aspects of this reality I would like to study in more detail, and there's really no rush-"

"I don't care. Sort this out. Now." Without a glance backward, Kirk stomped out.

Scott winced at his departure. "Oooh, he's in a wee bit of a snit, isn't he?"

Spock's eyebrow rose in a perfect arch. "He's a man of deep feelings."

"Starship captains!" Scott snorted. "They're just like bairns. They want everything right now and they want it their way." He shook his head, and turned back to Tali. "Come on. Let's see what we can do."

Less than twenty-four hours later, Torin stood at the big panorama window in the starboard lounge and watched the shuttle take off.

"They're heading for the singularity, Commander." EDI monitored their progress. "Time for the energy pulse."

"I'm on it." Garrus' voice, over the intercom. He'd insisted on firing the gun himself.

"Energy pulse fired. Shuttle entering the singularity." Torin held her breath as EDI paused. "They're gone, Commander. If all calculations were correct, they have returned to their reality."

"Well done, everyone." Torin leaned against the glass pane, staring off into space.

Some small part of her envied the strangers, for being able to leave this universe behind. It was a tempting thought, exchanging it all for a world without Reapers, a new world with new challenges. If she'd been in their place, if she'd been the one to travel to a different universe, would she have come back?

"Shepard?" Behind her, the door opened to admit Garrus. "Everything okay?" His arms went around her, cradling her against his carapace.

"It's fine. I love you." She closed her eyes. There's your answer. Of course she'd have come back. There was no way she would ever desert her friends, her lover, and all the billions out there that needed her to be strong. "Come on. We should go."


Big hugs and thanks to suilven for betaing this for me.