Stealing the most stealthy ship in a human navy is the sort of event which humans more than admire, they end up writing stories and songs about it. Criminal scum steal purses from little old ladies, and probably knock them down while doing it too. Men of dash, daring, panache and romance steal crowns from the heads of little old lady queens. Either way the little old lady gets robbed, but in the second event, she's supposed to just melt in romantic bliss as he removes the valued item from her brow. That's the explanation if she happens to be on the floor after he took it anyway.
Accordingly Tali's heart was going a pit a pat, in the Quarian fashion of course at the sheer adventure of it all, provided of course she didn't stop to think about the consequences if their risk proved to be less than a match for Saren's forces or worse, they had completely misread the situation. The Council would not say, like in some cheesy afternoon Soap Opera Vid, "that's okay, we understand."
But for the first few hours of the one hundred and thirty six that were spent flying from the Citadel to the upper atmosphere of Ilos she was in a very good mood. Her fears of rejection had vanished in the arms of John, and she was utterly swept off her feet in joy and euphoria as her bonding to him got that much deeper. Everyone in Engineering already knew so they only smiled as she bounced all over the deck going from one job to the next. Even so, worries began to pluck their strings around her head as she began to play things out as to what was going to happen next.
She needed to find out for certain just how dangerous levo food was. She needed to know just how allergic her reaction to John would be at first. But also, she was terrified that should John die, she would go to pieces or worse, want to kill herself. She also was terrified of going to pieces once she left the Normandy and returned to the Migrant Fleet. She and John had not worked out that puzzle yet and it filled her with foreboding.
She needed to find out everything she could about Quarian bonding, without any one on the Migrant Fleet (especially her dad) finding out. She had to be sure. She knew some stuff, but the education given to her before she set out on pilgrimage was deliberately short and to the point. Levo food was bad, very bad, don't eat it even if you are starving. Don't fall in love, don't bond, especially with an Asari or Human or Turian. Bad Bad Bad, trouble in spades. Stay in your suit if you love life. Come back to the fleet, give us your gift, and then we'll talk about your adventures.
She needed to be discrete about this. So she decided to send a query E-Mail letter on the extra-net to the one person she knew she could trust on the Migrant Fleet, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay. Shala had been her mother's mid-wife when Tali had been born and had linked up suit environments to achieve it. Knowing Tali from the moment she was a little squeaker, as her 'Aunti Raan' put it, had led to a long relationship of trust and loving advice, especially after her mother had died and her father had grown distant.
The letter went like this.
Dear Auntie Raan,
Well things are crazy here on the Normandy, and I will be returning to the fleet as soon as we defeat Saren which looks to be very shortly now. We know where he is and we are heading there. So things could be finished within the week.
So I got to thinking. Now that I will be finished with my pilgrimage I kind of think I would like to find a nice bond mate and start my own family. But I really don't know what it's all about. I mean I know the physical stuff, you don't have to send me medical illustrations or anything. Please don't! I'm more interested in the bonding qualities. Like, how far away can I be from my bond mate before it starts to really hurt and interfere with my work. I have a lot of friends here on the Normandy and I could end up later coming back and working on a Human or Turian or even Asari vessel given the reputation I've made for myself here. Engineer Adams says I'm the best he's ever seen and has expressed regret that I will be leaving shortly. He's really helped me feel good about my work, but don't worry about me bonding with him Auntie. Do you know how many pores in a human's facial skin they've got? And they are always so dirty and clogged up. UGH! They are not a pretty people.
The next thing I need to know is this. Just how dangerous is Levo food? Dr. Chakwas has informed me that the real problems are two fold, allergic reaction and lack of nutritional value. She says that the food is not necessarily poisonous like I was given to think by my Pilgrimage instructor.
Which brings me to the final question. Just how dangerous is it for me to not have my suit on or my visor off? There are times in the ship's ducts when I need to spot metal fatigue and the visor really messes with my detail vision. If I could just remove it for a second on occasion, how risky would that be? This situation with Saren is getting very dangerous and we are having to take some serious risks and I need to know every single edge I've got.
I love you,
Keelah Selai
Tali
She looked it over.
"Perfect," she thought. "I have a reason for all three of my questions which sounds perfectly legitimate and there's no hints that I've started bonding with Yahn."
She sent it off through the Extra-net and got back to work. Two hours later she got this reply back.
Dear Tali,
Really if you think you're going to fool your Auntie that way then you are going to have to work much harder. In all your letters you have talked about Captain Shepherd. You've told me a hundred things about the way he talks, what he does, how brave he is, how he kept encouraging you, and of course how wonderful the chocolate was. And all that before you even started to talk about the Pilgrimage Gift he also gave you. You have mentioned the others, of course, but far far less. Then I get an letter from you which doesn't mention him at all, and the first thing you talk about is bonding, then levo food, and then getting out of your suit!
Your father would blow an air lock if he found out, but he won't from me.
Tali, I can only say "Don't!" A human will break your heart. They have such a well deserved reputation for treachery and deceit. And if you do fully bond with him and he leaves you? You'll never be able to love another again and your life will be one of bitterness and despair.
But I will send you a book in the off chance that I'm guessing wrong. It's a general education book by a Salarian by the name of Dr. Mordin Solus titled, "What Makes Quarians Bounce?" He writes a very easy to understand description of Quarian physiology and psychology as well as all our bonding issues. Hopefully full knowledge will put some sense into your brain.
I love you,
Keelah Selai
Aunti Raan
Tali groaned and rolled over on her back and she re-read the reply. But there was a book attached and she started the download process. Then she returned to work, only to go back to check the progress of the download one more time, and then one more time, and then one more time, and then maybe . . . just one more time.
Twenty minutes to completion . . . Eighteen minutes and fifteen seconds to completion . . . Sixteen minutes and twenty-two seconds to completion . . . Thirteen minutes and nine seconds to completion . . . One hundred and eighteen hours, forty-five minutes, thirty-seven seconds to completion . . . "COME ON YOU BOSH'TET!"
Then she found she had forgotten what it was she was supposed to do with the valves. Then she forgot if she had checked on what it was she was supposed to do with the valves. Then she forgot if she had finished the work on the valves.
Exhausted and impatient, she shut off her omni-tool, and retired to her pod to see if she could get a cat nap and when she had rested for a half an hour, then the book would be downloaded. And when she got to her pod and crawled in, she realized that by shutting off the omni-tool, she had interrupted the download and would have to start all over again.
After an hour's cat nap, feeling a little better, she finally got the book downloaded, saved it, and went back to work. Then she went to dinner and sat next to John and signaled Garrus to join her on the other side.
"Well I'm in a good mood," Garrus replied as he sat down.
"So am I," observed Tali.
"Fancy that," drolled Garrus. "I never would have guessed. Let's see, is it because you have a new mod for your Omni tool?"
"I think you know," teased Tali. "I think every one on the ship knows."
"Even I know now," observed John with a wry grin as Tali gave his arm a big squeeze and head rub.
"Yes, which reminds me," observed Garrus. "You own me fifty credits."
"I do?" queried John. "I don't remember betting on anything."
"Well it wasn't a formal bet. The day after Christmas I challenged you with the statement that 50 credits said you would be an item with Tali before I finished calibrating the guns on the ship. And you said, and I quote, 'You're on 'cause I know she's in love with Kaiden.' For the sake of your reputation as an on the ball and invariably right commanding officer, I choose to let you live with the delusion. But the 50 credits would be a nice gesture on your part."
Laughing John pulled out his omni-tool and transferred 50 credits to Garrus' account while Liara brought her own food tray over and joined the table.
"Oh well," sighed Liara with an exaggerated heave of the shoulders. "I guess I'm going to have to wait for the next dashing human captain to arrive on the scene before I can get my share of beddy-bye fun time."
"Oh come on now!" protested John. "Not you too."
"Commander Shepherd," began Liara. "You are the most brilliant, skilled, and courageous commander I have ever encountered. But when it comes to women, you are so dense!"
"But to see Tali this happy," she continued. "It's a worthwhile sacrifice."
And she gave him a cheesy grin.
"Liara!" said Tali, sounding just a little shocked, and territorial. "You didn't tell me this before did you?"
"In fact Tali," replied Liara. "I did and you did give me permission. But as you were my first and only friend, I resolved to keep out of your way on the matter. But I will tell you as a friend, watching you sitting there saying nothing day after day was very hard for me. I came close to unleashing the scent on more than one occasion when I was in Shepherd's proximity."
"But you finally opened up and that's over with. You're happy, and I'm happy for you," she finished. Her tone wasn't entirely convincing from Tali's perspective, but Tali did remember that yes, she had given Liara permission to pursue that night after Peak 15.
"I am happy, Liara," replied Tali. "And thanks, for what it's worth, for pushing me to fess up."
Just the same, the two didn't talk that much the next two days.
Kaiden was finally coming out of his shell and he likewise walked up to Tali in engineering the next day and told her how lucky John was to have her.
"He thought you were in love with me for some reason or another," joked Kaiden. "Right now I kinda wish you had been."
Tali gave him a hug.
"You were there for me when Yahn put me through the hell of drill, Kaiden. I hope I can be there for you now that you mourn Ashley," she said.
"Thanks, Tali," he said. "But if we're wrong on this, hugs are not going to pull us out of the fire that the Council will throw us into."
And that began to worry Tali more and more.
As the hours leading to planet fall on Ilos slowly (or swiftly depending on if she was with Yahn or not) diminished she fell into a little routine. She got up, joined Yahn for breakfast and they talked about command and engineering issues, then she want to work and joined him again for lunch and talked about command and engineering issues, and then she went back to work and joined him for supper and talked about command and engineering issues. She found that he did not know that much about engineering and she didn't know much about the psychology of command but even so, he seemed to learn something about the Normandy's systems and she was learning a little about how men were led and what you lead them into.
And then she would seek out some isolated corner in the ship and start to read the book she had been given.
She learned that levo food was not poisonous, but it lacked almost all nutritional value. In fact, several spices which were added to Quarian dishes were levo in the way dextro spices were added to human dishes. Humans were even known to deliberately eat dextro foods to feel full if they were dieting. There was even one popular food, known as celery, which was so utterly lacking in nutritional value to humans that they expended more calories eating it than they gained from it's digestion. The real problem was allergies.
The Quarian immune system was not gone as she was led to understand. It was however, extremely sensitive to change. The whole issue was due to the way the Quarians interacted with Rannoch. There were no insects on Rannoch, and while much pollination was done on the wind between plants, the mammals and birds of Rannoch had taken up the insect's duties there. A Quarian child, born on Rannoch would have rapidly, in his early post-birth youth, adapted to the pollens and spores there so that he might be covered in a multitude of them and not suffer allergic reactions. In fact, Dr. Sollus even went so far was to speculate that Quarian children born on any planet, would rapidly adapt to that planet. It was the moment you went somewhere else that the allergic reactions would occur because the individual would not have had the means to rapidly adapt to the new atmosphere. The Quarians, by virtue of their 300 year exile on the Migrant Fleet, were cut off from all genuine adaptation. Thus any left over detritus from Quarians returning from Pilgrimage, any new exposures from atmospheres could be deadly if exposure was prolonged and sufficient enough. Adults could adapt, but it took far far longer than children and it had to be very much controlled.
On one hand it was excellent news. It meant that over time, in an intimate setting, like Shepherd's cabin, she would be able eventually to be without her suit provided of course no one new walked into the cabin. It wasn't so much the germs, though during allergic reaction it could be a serious issue, it was the pollens, spores, and mildews which were the threat. A clean room was not so much as sterilized, a clean room was a triple filtered atmosphere after a prolonged period of deep molecular cleaning.
On the other hand, any chance she would have to have an ordinary ideal life with him would require a planetary home and a prolonged gradual exposure to it. Ship life would mean suit life.
She found Dr. Solus' writing style somewhat hard to follow. It was rapid and clipped, like when she started to read up on bonding.
"Quarian bonding, different from Salarian bondings. Salarians don't bond. Make contracts for mating. Meet mate. Engage in reproductive behavior when nothing better to do. Waiting for test results perhaps. Mate lays egg clutch shortly. Eggs hatch in warm sand. Children leap out, cute, young, curious, inquisitive, sneak into lab, press buttons, spill chemicals, break equipment, unleash plasma bolt which makes new window, hits car, ruins finish, melts engine block, leaves three meter wide opening in wall, devastates neighborhood homes, leaves planetary orbit, hits Batarian merchant fleet, provokes inter-stellar war. Fifteen minute sit in corner seems insufficient."
Dr. Solus seemed to have a rating system which measured depth of bonding between the various species. While the Quarians were very monogamous, there were actually animals on earth which were just as monogamous. Certain breeds of Geese, an aquatic foul, mated for life and when the mate died, like the Quarians, the goose did not seek another. Of course Quarians had developed their own peculiar kind of loop hole to the bonding process. For example, young girls were reputed to install nerve stimulators so they might have some of the 'fun' of bonding without actually doing it and thus keeping themselves from too much devastation when the boy proved faithless. Tali was quite aware that the 'repute' wasn't just idle speculation. She knew several of her friends who had availed themselves of the modifications and had experienced brief flings with others. But likewise, some Quarian girls had found out that even 'pretend' carried with it bonding issues which sometimes led even to death, if sufficient red sand was involved. Sooner or later, the girl really wanted to lose that suit. And yes, even she was being horribly tempted, so tempted that she had actually gone so far as to look in the extra-net at prices and types. So far she had not ordered anything. Yet.
Salarians knew about friendship, but for them reproduction was a business contract. Each Asari was perfectly capable of rearing a child on their own, the father of the Asari was perfectly capable of being inconsequential to the rearing, though some relationships lasted a very long time and young Asari did idealize the idea of a soul mate for their entire lives. But even then when it threatened to become reality, young Asari often got cold feet. Like Quarians, humans were supposed to mate for life, but the history of humanity seemed to be filled with humans who were always looking for the loopholes. Tali found it fascinating that human divorce rates went from as high as 50% to as low as .1% based on the time, culture, and nationality. But while one nationality would be very faithful in marriage in one century, that would change over time, always in flux, but usually with rising levels in unfaithfulness until that nation would suddenly convulse and cease to exist as an entity. Human treachery it seemed, was very self-destructive. Humans didn't just betray other species, they betrayed each other and even themselves.
New fears began to gnaw on Tali's psyche. She had a sneaking suspicion that Dr. Mordin Solus had been sent precisely to put doubts in her mind.
So why was she attracted to Yahn?
Dashing commander rescues a young girl in peril and takes her with him to save the galaxy? Seriously now, how many girls ever got to meet that sort of guy to begin with? He was brave. It was the courage he had that led her to anchor herself to him. He never turned his back on the enemy. How many times had she noticed that, wondered at that, depended upon that. Here was a man who faced all the things she was afraid of. Here was a man who proved more stalwart than any Quarian guy she had grown up with. If she were to find out he wasn't even scared of spiders, it would not surprise her a bit.
It certainly wasn't his looks that's for sure. The only thing she liked about his face was his eyes. She could stare into his eyes forever, watching those shifts of hues in his irises, watching his little pupil expand and contract as he talked or shifted his gaze.
And his ears were cute. All those curves and twists and ridges. Like poorly made bowls stuck to his head. She fantasized jumping up on his back, holding on to his ears, and having him run around the room while she steered with them making vroom noises. Of course if he ever let her do it and someone saw them she would be mortified.
But he came from a race of the treacherous. Why would, why should, she think he was going to be faithful?
Eight hours out of Ilos, all the fears reached a boiling point. She went to his cabin as the night shift began and went right in. She didn't even knock.
Quarians are territorial that way.
John was already in his sweats when he turned to see her enter. He noted she was trembling.
"Tali?" he asked.
She walked up to him and just held him. She said nothing. She just locked on to his shoulder blades and held on as if everything in the world depended upon it.
"I'm . . . I'm scared Yahn. I can't stay in my pod alone. Every single thing that can go wrong with the mission, with us, is haunting my every waking moment. I need to be with you. To hold you. To be able to hold on, knowing you won't be afraid."
He never would tell her. But he wasn't exactly feeling Captain Courageous then either. The horrible risk they were taking, the fact that they were going to have to sneak into a system which could be crawling with Geth ships. It was taking a persistent act of will to silence the voices which suggested that even now, there might be a lesser punishment if they returned to the Citadel and surrendered. This so much depended on them being so completely right, in spite of all the great and powerful minds which were arrayed against them on both sides. He needed her holding on to him as well; very desperately needing her holding on.
"Then bunk with me tonight, Tali," He said. "Please?"
"I'd like that a lot."
He set the alarm for seven hours ahead. He lay down and waited for Tali to join him.
For a second she just stood there. This was such an important step for her, to share something this close, this intimate, with him. Keelah she wasn't even going to be taking off a glove, let alone her suit. That would have to be a very slow process. But even so, what it stood for, what it suggested, what it promised, now that it was here, she was frightened. Gently, gingerly, she sat down on the edge, felt along the sides with her hands. She slowly lowered herself into the bed next to him, and then shifted so she could nestle her head on his chest and listen to his heart beat.
They lay like that for about fifteen minutes. The heart beat was good noise. It made her feel secure. She was thinking she would shortly fall asleep upon his chest, and for her that was the most wonderful thing that could possibly happen.
"So what are you most afraid of Tali?" he asked.
"Yahn? I've been reading about human divorce rates," she answered. Her eyes were closed. She was so relaxed. She felt that he would say something that would make it all go away.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "I suspected sooner or later you would hear about that. I don't for a moment pretend that alien suspicions about humans are entirely without the facts backing them."
"Tell me you would never betray me Yahn! Tell me you'll always be true. Tell me you want to be with me forever. Tell me that when we bond, when we make love, we will be bond-mates until our deaths," she whispered, almost pleading.
John sighed. He struggled for a moment. An hour of truth was upon him. How to be both faithful and factual at the same time.
"There's a tale they tell, of an ordinary boy, who met a fairy princess. She was so beautiful that he vowed to protect her from all harm. And sure enough, one day he saved her from an evil wizard and she promised to marry him. But first, he had to understand that she would never undo her hair in his presence, and he must never undo the bow which held it up. Lightly he made that promise. And he thought he would keep it. But one night as she lay sleeping in the moonlight, looking as beautiful as ever, he could not resist, and lighting a lamp, he undid her hair and let it rest around her shoulders. She was so beautiful that he gasped in delight. But she heard the gasp and she woke up and told him that she was now going to have to return to the moon, for he had broken the bond she had with earth, and could never come back. And while he begged and pleaded, she rose up and drifted away, and he never saw her again. And he lived the rest of his life looking at the moon and sighing, until one night he did not watch his step, fell into a bog, and drowned."
"That's a sad story Yahn," sighed Tali. An idea began to form in her head. It was perfect. She would know.
"Earth is filled with them," replied John. "Fairy tales to warn our children of the eternal consequences of evil. Of faithlessness. But lightly we make our promises when we are young. Lightly we think we will keep them. Then the mood comes, the dark spirit whispers, and so many fall away because we lie to ourselves and say, 'we won't be caught' 'our fairy princess won't wake up'.
"Yahn? Close your eyes Yahn. Close them tight and don't open them until I say so. No mater what happens, keep them closed."
John hesitated for a moment. He looked down at Tali who was now resting upon his chest with her arms folded underneath her. He could feel her shift so that her two feet worked themselves around the back of his legs above his ankles. She was looking at him through her visor. All he could see was those two pale white eyes, flat white. Devoid of all detail. Just a white oval glow.
"I'm going to be your fairy princess, Yahn. And I say shut your eyes until I tell you to open them," she whispered.
"Okay Princess," he said smiling. He closed them.
For a second there was silence. But he kept them closed. Then he heard a little hiss. There was a curious smell which wafted across his nose. And then he felt a kiss. Two lips where pressing upon his lips. It was a sweet taste. A gentle pressure. If he opened his eyes he would see her face. In the darkened room. Would she be beautiful? It's what she wanted. She had told him so just a few days ago. She wanted him to see what was behind that damn helmet.
"FOOL! CLOSE YOUR EYES OR SHE GOES TO THE MOON!" the voice inside his head screamed so loudly that he almost swore it wasn't his own thoughts recognizing what she was doing. He pressed his eyes together and held them shut as if his eternal happiness was utterly dependent upon it and he had no doubt at that moment it did.
She looked at him. She had seen the eyelids start to loosen, then he had frowned, his brow had furrowed. He had trembled in her gaze, and then he was squeezing his eyes as hard as he could. She could see the pressure, she could see the struggle, and she saw him once again face his enemy, and win. He would not succumb to the dark whispers. She smiled and felt a tear form on her eyes.
He felt the lips again. He pressed his eyes even tighter. It was a more passionate kiss. A sweeter kiss. And then it was gone. His lips could still taste the edges of her on their tops. There was a wet drop upon his cheek. There was a new click of something connecting.
"You can open them now, Yahn. And I don't have to fly to the moon tonight," she whispered. "Or ever. I know you won't betray me."
"You took off your mask," whispered John. It seemed to him to be the most magical thing that could have happened. "Wasn't that dangerous?"
"I've read that a little at a time is what I need to do in order to 'link our suits'," she answered. "So I might have a little sneeze or runny nose in a little bit. But it was worth it. I'm no longer afraid."
He was silent for a moment.
"You really were worried I wouldn't be faithful were you."
"It is a very common thing Yahn. How could I not be afraid? Aunti Raan warned me. Liara warned me. The book warned me. Even I warned me earlier. Human treachery is a single word."
"If I had opened my eyes, what would you have done?" asked John after a few more minutes.
"I would have cried. I would have spent the rest of the night with you. I would have gone with you tomorrow to Ilos, helped defeat Saren, then hugged you goodbye, and gone back to the Migrant Fleet with my gift. And you would have never seen me again."
"You really were going to fly to the moon," he said, half to himself and half to her. And he knew without a doubt she would. That was how easy it was to throw away everything. They rested again for a few moments. He on his back and she resting upon his chest, just looking at him through that visor with those faintly glowing eyes.
Suddenly he grabbed her and held on as tightly as he could muster. She made several noises of the sort that people make when squeezed.
"Oh my God! I can't believe I came that close to losing you forever!" he practically sobbed.
"It's okay Yahn (Oomph!). You passed the test (Ugh!). Oh my! Oh my Yahn! I didn't mean to frighten you so.
"No," he said, breathing hard. His heart was pounding with the terror of what had just happened. "It was a good fear, Tali. You did the right thing. I was that boy in the fairy tale. I needed to be tested. I just realized how much losing you would have done to me. I would not have realized I had been caught, until you were already gone. There would have been no way to save it."
He lay back and was breathing hard. Tali, concerned that she was putting weight on his lungs, nestled to his side. John shifted his weight. He put his head upon her chest, and he was listening to her heart now.
"I can hear your life within you," he whispered. "Your heart doesn't beat like mine. It's more . . . thumpity."
"You noticed?" she said back. She liked his head upon her chest. She ran her fingers through his hair. It was short and bristled. "Your's is a steady pound. I like it. It sounds determined. It sounds as if it will never stop."
"And your's is bouncy, like you. My little monkey duck."
"Monkey Duck?" giggled Tali. "Am I a quacking bird that climbs trees and hoots?"
"Oh you remind me of all sorts of things," he said as he straightened up and once again let her nestle under his arm. "All of them cute or cuddly."
They lay together for a bit longer.
"The Migrant Fleet," mused John. "I know you have to deliver your gift. But I don't want you staying there. I kept my eyes shut. You don't get to stay on the moon you know."
"What do you sugyest?" asked Tali with a flirty coo. "How do you propose to bring your Quarian princess back to you on the Normandy?"
"Well," said John with hesitation. "How about this? I'm a specter. And a Quarian with Team Specter is going to be good for the Quarians. Proving that your people are a good thing for the Galaxy to have. After you return to the Migrant Fleet, and finish with your gifting, what happens then?"
"A ship's captain receives my gift and I become a member of that ship," answered Tali. I will be given the adult surname vas with the ship's name afterwards. Like Tali'Zorah vas Normandy."
"So what would happen if, after you tell me your new name, I contact your captain and request a transfer since the Normandy won't be able to operate at Specter quality without her Quarian Engineer?"
"There might be some political wrangling," replied Tali with a bit of a sigh. "And if my father thinks it's because I'm in love with the Ship's Captain . . . It might not happen at all. But I think . . . Ancestors, I hope I would be able to return."
"Then it's settled," concluded John. "After we defeat Saren, you take your gift back to the Fleet. We keep in touch and as soon as I can wrangle a transfer, I'll bring you back. In theory, the Reapers are not going to be stopped with this little take down of Saren. We can only hope they will be delayed. But by the time we do defeat them, you will have been with me so long that we'll think of a way to make our marriage solid enough to keep your father from breaking it up."
"Marriage?" queried Tali. She was perfectly happy that he was talking in such terms already. The problem was she didn't quite know what it fully meant.
"What do Quarians do to make sure they are together forever?" asked John. "How do you become . . . Man and Wife?"
"We make love," answered Tali with a flirty lilt to her voice. "Once we make love, we fully bond. And that bond is so strong neither partner can even hardly dream of leaving the other. Only the most horrible of crimes can threaten it, and even then, it's strength determines what sort of venyeance the wounded partner will take."
"Just like that?" asked John? "Seems a little informal. How does everyone else know you've done it. Do you hang the sheets out of the second story window like some Sicilian mother in law?"
"We formally request a clean room for the linking up of suits," answered Tali. "And what do you mean about sheets?"
"When human women make love for the first time, they bleed a little. The blood stains prove that the woman was first with her husband. In some cultures, the blood stains are put on parade to prove that the bride was a faithful woman who waited until she was properly given. A proof or test as you will of fidelity."
"Keelah," sighed Tali. "No wonder Aunti Raan is so worried. Is there no bottom to the need among humans to prove that they will be faithful?"
"So there is a public announcement of sorts," finished John.
"Yes," replied Tali. "There is little formality of course. There was ceremony in the past I was taught. But the needs of the fleet and struggles we have to yust survive have brought everything down to the simplest of rituals."
"Then how about this?" suggested John looking at Tali and smiling. "First, we get you back here. Then we get you ready to make love to me. Then we formally announce it as a means of marrying you proper in Quarian fashion. Only then do we make love. Then, when we can, I take you back to earth and we marry in human fashion so there will be no trouble on that front. A nice Catholic wedding with you being brought down the aisle by your father, a Priest officiating the vows, incense, candles, Nuptial Mass, you in white, because I'll be your first . . . Right?"
"Yeah," giggled Tali.
"Then a big party with drinking and um . . . You don't mind if I don't dance very well do you? . . . And a romantic hotel room overlooking the beach. How does that sound?"
"Sounds complicated and a waste of resources," mused Tali. "But also kind of pretty and fun and I guess it's kind of important to you?"
"Pretty much," chuckled John. "Mother would kill me if I didn't make an honest woman out of you in a Catholic fashion."
"Honest?" Asked Tali.
"Euphemism," replied John. "Nothing to worry about."
"No Yahn, what are you sugyesting?" Tali was looking up at him now.
"Okay some women don't wait until they are married and when that happens they are said to be dishonest."
"Human treachery again?"
"Yeah," sighed John. It was becoming a very enlightened night for him in a not nice way as he dealt over and over again with all the safeties humans had put into their cultures to keep betrayal at controllable levels. Simply explaining so much that he had taken for granted to a woman who came from an entirely different race with an entirely different set of issues was forcing him to take a hard cold look at himself and where he came from.
"That's why I thought we should make a proper announcement first before we do anything, um, intimate. It will be good for me anyway. You having to take so much time to prepare for that, it will be like doing courtship right for me. I need to do it this way. I did it all the wrong ways when I was younger and this is my chance to not screw it up."
Tali nodded, gave him a hug, and settled back into the crook of his arm. She no longer worried about him keeping his promises. There was no need to fly to the moon any more.
They quietly held each other.
And that is how they both fell asleep ten minutes later.
And the alarm for one hour out came way to soon.
Tali was sniffling and her eyes were watering. Not much, but there was just enough to remind her that she needed the suit. John was fidgeting as Tali just stood there adjusting her suit to apply the necessary anti-allergens and decongestant to help her recover from the reaction. John seemed to make a decision and kicked off his sweats and began rummaging through his cabin locker for his armor in his underwear. Tali looked at him for a moment.
"Your arms and legs have those long hairs too," she observed. "And those are your toes? They are short stubby things. How can you walk with those? Are they any good for climbing?"
John paused and chuckled while he worked on getting his hip armor in place. He lifted one foot, struggling to keep himself in balance by grabbing the side of his locker. Then he wiggled his toes. He heard a little hooting giggle from Tali.
"They are good for making monkey ducks laugh," he observed.
"Well they are cute," she said. Then she walked up and took out his torso piece of armor and helped him get it on. From there it was the thigh plates, the arm plates, the calves and finally boots and gloves. Then she presented him his weapons, assault rifle, sniper rifle, shotgun, and pistol.
"Your rifle needs work," she observed. "Remind me when we get back and I'll fix that extender."
"I could get used to this," he said. "Back in the Middle Ages, the ladies of the lords would help them get into their armor. Then the nobility started putting on airs and the women hated handling the dirty smelly armor bits and that job was taken over by valets. Then it became so expensive to hire valets, that today, we have to dress ourselves."
He paused and grinned.
"I'd help you get your armor on too you know," he suggested.
"I think you are offering because you think you'll have to take off my suit first," she replied with her hands on her hips and her head tilted just a bit to the left. Then she walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. This time it was from the front and not the back, but even so, her fingers seemed to curl around the outline of his shoulder where the bone pressed out and gripped tightly.
"And I am really looking forward to it," she said with a shy tone.
"But my armor is already on," she sighed. "It's worked into the suit."
She proceeded to make adjustments with her omni-tool and John saw her shielding come up and the suit seemed to congeal and stiffen at crucial junctures.
"That can't be the best armor available," he observed with a tone of concern.
"But it works for me," she answered. "I don't get the best protection from bullets and shrapnel, but I get good protection. It's all about enyineering decisions, what can and can not be done with the suit to achieve the desired results."
"I'm still going to worry," John said.
"And I you," she replied. "You are after all, on my twelve."
"And you my six," he answered.
She gently bumped her visor on his forehead.
Let's get up to the bridge," he said.
They were fifteen minutes from landfall and on the bridge, the whole team was there while Pressley was swearing in the tradition of sailors in all human navies from the past three thousand years. There were over two dozen Geth ships in orbit around the planet.
"Um Commander?" began Joker. "We've got company."
"Have their sensors picked us up yet?" asked Liara in a somewhat agitated voice.
"Stealth systems are engaged," answered Joker. "Unless we get close enough for a visual, they won't have any idea that we are here.
"Based on the readings I'm getting from Saren's location, we are screwed. The nearest landing zone is two klicks away!" snapped Pressley.
"We'll never make it in time on foot," argued Kaiden. "Take us in somewhere closer!"
Pressley was swearing again.
"There is no where closer," he shouted. "I've looked!"
"Drop us in the Mako!" decided Shepherd.
"You need a hundred meters of open terrain to make a drop like that!" retorted Pressley. "Saren's 20 is only giving us twenty."
"Twenty meters?" groaned Kaiden. "Not even with Shepherd at the wheel can we make a drop in there."
"We have to try!" argued Liara.
"Find another landing zone!" cried Tali.
"There is no other landing zone!" shouted Pressley, followed by more swearing.
"The descent angle is too steep!" continued Tali wringing her palms.
"It's our only option," argued Liara.
"It's not an option. It's a suicide run!" shouted Kaiden. "We don't . . ."
"You are all such WEENIES!" grumbled Wrex.
"I can do it," said Joker.
"Joker?" asked Shepherd.
"I can do it!" repeated Joker.
"Everyone to the Mako! Joker? Drop us right on top of that bastard!"
And that is exactly what Joker did.
John was the driving wheel, Liara was at the right on watch. Garrus was up in the gun, Wrex and Kaiden in the back ready to burst out the door while Tali sat at the engineering station. She was both scared and excited. It would be the first time since she took John as a lover that they would be doing a mission together.
A mission that could get them killed, or worse, spare one and take the other.
Yet in spite of the fear, she was able to turn around and gently grab his shoulder for a second and he turned and smiled at her. Somehow that made all the scary stuff go away.
The Mako landed with a burst of exhaust blunting the fall and came to a screeching halt in front of a bunker door completely closed. Saren had once more gotten the jump on them.
For a second they looked at the bunker door.
"It never ceases to amaze me," mused Garrus. "That 50,000 year ruins still are capable of being powered up in a fashion designed to mess with us."
"There's got to be a way to open that from out here!" concluded Shepherd. "Otherwise Saren might not have been able to get in either.
"And if it were not for the fact that a 50,000 year old garage door was just powered shut on us, I would say you were crazy," Garrus finished. "Call me a cynic, but I bet these ruins are just filled with randomly placed stones to enable us to take cover and shoot at Geth who will be showing up any minute . . ."
A flurry of bullets filled the air with the dust of impacted stones.
"Now!" finished Garrus diving behind a well place stone just perfect for shooting from behind with.
And thus began the running firefight that marked the first phase of the Battle of the Citadel. Ashley was missed, but Garrus, with Liara as his spotter, moved forward while Shepherd and Wrex formed the front of the box with Tali and Kaiden at the back of the box.
It was a standard mission, groups of Geth spotted, sniped at, lured into a firefight on the team's terms and swiftly dispatched. The only thing out of the ordinary was during a lull in the fighting when a nest of some small multi-legged bugs was disturbed and they all came scurrying out at once around the team.
"SPIDERS! SPIDERS! SPIDERS! SPIIIIIDERS!" screamed Tali frantically looking for a spot off the ground.
The bugs, frightened of being exposed to open air and warm bodies, were already dispersing.
John paused, with balled fists upon his hips and legs placed firmly apart. He was working very hard at not sniggering. He looked at Wrex who was standing there acting like the fact that Tali was up on his shoulders, peaking over his hump frantically looking to see if the creepy crawlies had all left, was no big deal.
"Wrex? What are you doing giving piggy back rides to my girl?"
"Sorry Shepherd, you know how it is. We Krogan just ooze protective energies around cute Quarian girls. I can't help being irresistible when there are scary bugs about. After all, you do remember that she hugged me first?"
Tali hopped down and in classic cute shy embarrassed hops got back behind Shepherd. She remained bouncy and jumpy as they moved on. A few moments later, they found a working power terminal that opened the door and warned them about the Reapers.
Dashing back to the Mako, they climbed in, and Shepherd gunned it into the tunnel.
"It's times like this," grumbled Kaiden as the Mako began to swing from point to point under Shepherd's frantic driving style. "That I feel like my entire life is being guided by some cosmic fourteen year old yanking a joystick."
"I would have thought Saren would have set a trap for us," mused Liara as they sped down the corridor. She continued to watch for any clues as the Mako bounced off the floors and walls as Shepherd drove it with the accelerator driven a full twenty-two millimeters into the floorboards.
"Either that or we haven't run into it yet," suggested Wrex.
"You do realize with all this shaking I'm going to have to recalibrate this gun," shouted Garrus from up top.
During the Reaper War, Diana Allers, one of the few news journalists who had been sympathetic to the aliens on board the Normandy, was able to secure an interview with Tali. And one of the questions she asked Tali was what had been the most nerve wracking experience of the Battle of the Citadel.
"It was after we talked with the Prothean VI in the tunnel," recalled Tali, leaning back upon the couch inserting a tube of a dextro steaming beverage into her suit. It wasn't coffee, it was another brewed decoction which did the same thing for Quarians. As if they needed something to make them even more bouncy. Tali was not going to immediately answer, she was going to provide the backstory first.
"The VI had told us that the Conduit had been a direct pathway to the Citadel. It had been one of the Prothean efforts to in some fashion sabotagh the Reaper harvest. It was, as a consequence, a one way conduit. The Prothian mission team was able to yenetically modify the keepers so that the keepers would not respond to the Reaper signal to open the conduit from dark space. Because of this the Reapers could not arrive and secure the Citadel for the start of the next harvest. Thus even though the Protheans knew they were doomed, they knew that the Reapers would still feel their sting for a long time. In order for Saren to bring in the Reapers, he was going to have to use the Conduit to enter the Citadel so he might be able to bring the Citadel software online and synchronized with Sovereign's software."
"But wouldn't it have been simpler for him to just sail into the Citadel as a Specter and prepare for Sovereign's arrival?" queried Diana.
"It would have required Saren first to not be under suspicion, and Saren was smart enough that he did not wish to gamble that his subterfuge would remain secure," answered Tali. "He wouldn't have used the conduit if he hadn't needed it. But he did not wish to move forward until he knew where it was since Sovereign likewise had to coordinate with the Geth fleet. And once he knew that Yahn was on his tail, it was absolutely necessary to his success."
"So," continued Diana. "Back to my first question, this harrowing experience."
"We were under pressure and we knew we had to move fast. So Yahn told Wrex to drive the Mako and do the Scary Krogan." Tali paused for a second. "I don't remember the rest of the trip."
The third Mako of Team Specter was now a sparking and smoking upside down ruin, but they were on the Citadel. Outside, Sovereign was busy linking up with the tower while the Geth fleet kept the Citadel and Human fleets tied down. They were down to the wire.
With Wrex and Shepherd in front, the team charged through the Citadel finally reaching the Presidium where the final confrontation with Saren was had.
And Tali saw John at his finest. He didn't just savagely attack Saren. In spite of all the pain and suffering Saren had caused, in spite of the piles of dead from Eden Prime to the halls beneath them, in spite of the death of Ashley, John once more choose to challenge Saren's thinking. And broke through.
John had help though. Saren's final indecision provoked a painful retaliation from Sovereign and the pain of Sovereign's ultimate contempt for him clarified his mind like nothing else and his will was once again his own. John could see from the expression of Saren's face that Saren knew he had been played.
"Thank you Shepherd," he said softly, and blew his brains out with his own pistol. A final act to secure himself from Sovereign's clutches forever.
"Rest in Peace, Brother Specter," whispered John.
It would have made sense at that point for Sovereign to flee, the jig was up and all efforts to secure software control of the Citadel were being thwarted by the team. His shielding and armor could take a lot of punishment from the allied fleets who were now entirely focused upon him. All he had to do was sail away and mock their efforts at trying to stop him. But to think that a collection of insignificant races could thwart him, a god, was something he refused to contemplate. He continued to try to regain control and ignored his steadily decreasing shield strength until he found his body was no longer cooperating with his efforts, and he began, in spite of his will, to detach and drift away from the tower. And only then was he afraid. But three seconds later, a bolt from the Normandy punctured his torso and he was dead.
The team dashed for cover as the entire tower shuddered with the impact of Sovereign's debris. Then there was silence save for the wail of emergency sirens in the distance. Then parts of the Presidium slid off of a ball of glowing blue energy surrounding the spot where Kaidan and Liara were standing. Then Garrus hopped down from a tree. Then Wrex lifted up a beam he had been under while Tali scurried out from under him. And then he tossed it aside and walked up to the rest of the team grinning. But Tali was frantically searching for John. A gnawing terror was gripping her, and as Captain Anderson came up calling for him, she nearly broke into tears. Then she saw a figure leap up on top of what had been a reaper leg, and hop down and walk across the way towards them. He had a 'yep it's me, saver of the galaxy' smile upon his face. The silly Bosh'tet had no right to be so smug about it. But she didn't care. She ran and seized him, locking on to his shoulder blades as if her life would have ended without him.
Her anchor was secure. She was no longer afraid.