A Matter of Race and Character

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

Training Room, Hierarchy Vessel 'Arcadias' – 23:52 Zulu – 6th February 2183 CE

The punching bag strained under the fierce volley of blows; each punch and kick highlighted by little puffs of dust escaping from the bag. It was late; the gym was empty as Valni worked off the frustrations of the day. How could she be so careless? First she gets the human sent to Medical with head injuries, and now this! It was her responsibility to recognize the alien's private boundaries, and to explicitly clarify turian personal boundaries to the visitors.

Spirits damn it! Why was this role proving so difficult?

She fully understood why she'd been given the job. It was punishment. No-one else wanted to be 'Liaison Officer' so it was given to her. And what did she know about humans? Nothing! This was all because of that sparring match with the Captain – A martial arts champion herself, Verress had wanted someone experienced to train with. She just under-estimated Valni's abilities, thought she could show-off with a subordinate. In retrospect, Valni should probably have gone easy on her. But the Captain's instructions had been clear, 'Show me what you can do. Don't hold back.'

So, Valni didn't.

Oh, Spirits, that was dumb!

Twenty seconds into the match the Captain was knocked unconscious.

Valni honestly thought she'd block that spinning kick, or duck, or do something. She telegraphed the spin early enough. But, no – The Captain's head went straight to the canvas and she didn't get up. Valni was mortified. The doctor dashed into the ring to treat the Captain promptly, but Verress still had to wear an eye patch for a week!

It had caused quite a stir when they'd carried the Captain to the infirmary; the crew staring; Valni's name whispered in passing; rumours flying about. To add insult to injury (literally) Valni got a 'reputation': 'Cap Killer'; 'One-kick'; 'Avenging Valni'; 'The Severnator' – All terribly amusing nicknames. The Captain even began voicing concerns about how seriously Valni might injure a less skilled partner during sparring and the crew were actively discouraged from challenging her.

Eventually, she couldn't find anyone to spar with.

The crowning injustice was the directive that came from Verress: 'unless part of your detachment training, or a challenge match, the ring is off-limits to you, Severan'.

And then she was given this role.

So far she wasn't doing a terribly good job. She realised that part of the problem was that she liked Kenneth. She liked him a lot. And that was affecting her judgement. She was becoming sloppy.

Valni ceased her relentless attack on the bag.

Well, it's time to put this problem to bed (so to speak).

She now had a choice: Either she could continue to suppress her feelings and keep brooding over Kenneth like some cloyingly irritating adolescent for the next four weeks. Or, she could confront him head on, and see how far Kenneth was willing to take their 'relationship'.

But whatever she decided to do she would have to go about it the right way.

She would have to be subtle.


Engine Room, Hierarchy Vessel 'Arcadias' – 14:02 Zulu – 7th February

Kenneth wandered silently with the group of artificers as they returned from the Mess; the human unconsciously rubbing his cheek for the third time that day, scratching at the unshaved bristles with his fingers.

This isn't like me at all.

He normally took such pride in his appearance; he was so well groomed and smart back on the Perugia. But he hadn't shaved since yesterday morning, letting his 'peach fuzz', as Gabby liked to call it, grow freely on his cheeks. He was consciously trying to develop a full beard.

And he knew why, he knew exactly what he was doing. He was becoming even hairier. Because he could. Because someone he'd met recently seemed to like a bit of hair, and he was trying to impress her. Like some youngster trying to prove he was becoming an adult by growing a wispy moustache. It was all so… juvenile.

He had just entered the second tier on his way to the Core Monitor, still carrying a cup of coffee in his hand, when a voice called out to him.

"Engineer Donnelly. Could I speak to you for a moment?"

He turned at the sound. Valni was standing behind him, her expression serious, and a computer pad was grasped between her fingers.

"Yes, sir," Kenneth agreed, adopting the official tone that she'd used. She motioned for him to follow her and the pair walked back through Engineering towards the main doors. Once in the corridor, Valni turned to the controls and sealed the Engine Room. She glanced around the long connecting passageway, making certain no-one else was present.

"The orders came in from the Hierarchy," she stated in a low voice. "They've officially classified all information relating to the salvage and have sealed the file on the incident. We're not to talk about it, and it doesn't go in any log. The Captain has already given the orders to Leptis and the pilot."

"How does that relate to me? I'm not part of the Hierarchy."

"This came in too." She handed him the pad. "Alliance Command wants a complete black-out on this until they can verify how the info got out. They're launching an investigation into where that tech came from."

Kenneth placed his thumb on the security scanner to open the file, and read through the orders carefully; scrutinizing the document for the official Alliance insignia and confirmation codes:

'Start of Transcription -

Confidential – For the eyes only of Crewman Kenneth Donnelly AEC AERENG First Class.

In accordance with the articles of the Systems Alliance Navy, all information pertaining to the survey of the crashed probe and explosion on the Arrae system planet 'Erros' (on Alliance date: February 2nd 2183) is restricted and designated Classified Level One. The theft of the stealth technology reported by the 'Arcadias' Commanding Officer is not to be disseminated under any circumstances until the official report is released at a time designated by Alliance Command.

You are under strict instructions not to release this information to any person(s), human or non-human, in any form, up to and including verbal, non-verbal, written, and video communique. Failure to comply with these orders will result in your expulsion from the Systems Alliance Engineering Corp, and immediate arrest on espionage charges.

The investigation into the theft of the allied Alliance and Hierarchy stealth technology is ongoing and must not be compromised.

The Systems Alliance thanks you for your cooperation in this matter. I thank you.

End of Transcription -'

It was signed and co-signed: Admiral Steven Hackett and Captain David Anderson.

"I don't imagine it'll do much good," Kenneth muttered as he closed the document. "The information could have come from any number of channels. And once the it's in the public domain then its common knowledge; could be exploited by any group. No way of knowing who else has it."

"True, but until they've completed their investigation, they want this kept under wraps," Valni replied.

"I can do that." He handed the pad back to her. "Something like covert affairs, eh? To be kept hush, hush; under the ladar."

"Exactly," Valni relaxed her posture slightly. "No spilling this to Daniels when she gets back," she added playfully.

"I don't tell her everything," Kenneth assured her.

Valni smiled and turned to open the lock. Making their way through engineering the couple settled back into their normal casual and comfortable banter.

"This assignment certainly has been more interesting than I thought it would be," Kenneth stated.

"You thought we'd be dull?" Valni asked.

"No, I imagined you'd be reticent. You know, not wanting to share valuable new data or restricting the tech we'd be allowed to work with."

"Arcadias isn't exactly top-of-the-line anymore. As much as I like the old bird, she's an aging cruiser. No hidden secrets or delimited technology to be found here."

They padded down the stairwell to the Core Monitor.

"She's a good ship," Kenneth stated in her defence, "with a good crew. I'm glad to be serving aboard. The advantages of these Programmes far outweigh any problems we might encounter."

"What kind of problems?" Valni asked.

"Well, cultural ones specifically. I mean, there are similarities and differences between turians and humans. Programmes like this help you appreciate each other's ideas and opinions a bit more."

"I thought to get along most species had to celebrate the things that they had in common? You know, champion the things that brought them together?"

"Aye, but that doesna mean we can't celebrate the differences, too."

"I couldn't agree more," Valni stated firmly. Kenneth grinned and took a swig from his cup. After a moment's thought the turian casually added, "So, you know we don't have nipples, right?"

He choked. A mouthful of Americano suddenly erupted through his nose and mouth. Kenneth coughed several times as he tried to clear the liquid from his sinuses. Valni winced in sympathy. She'd had a similar reaction when she'd researched human physiology on the extranet last night – Their bodies could be quite squishy in places!

The Liaison Officer waited quietly for her companion to compose himself. Her delivery had been timed to perfection. Who says we don't have a sense of humour? she thought, smiling.

"You may have to run that by me one more time," Kenneth wheezed; he had tears in his eyes.

"Part of my role is to become familiar with certain aspects of human society," Valni explained, "including your biology. Being mammals, humans have nipples, don't you? And culturally they seem quite important."

"We have been known to like them," Kenneth confirmed, thumping his chest.

"Turians don't have them."

"Aye, I had heard that."

"I'm wondering if that would be an issue?" Valni asked.

"An issue? I don't quite… Um… Come again?"

"Well, a barrier preventing the formation of human/turian relationships?"

Kenneth blinked several times as he tried to absorb the question. Was he hearing this correctly? He stared at her wondering how on Earth to reply before finally settling on the most tried and tested response:

"What?"

"Social interaction between species is a normal consequence of living in Citadel controlled space," Valni explained patiently. "But, as the new race in the mix, I've been wondering how humanity would react to different communal, cultural and biological cues."

"Ooooh… kay?" Kenneth frowned in confusion.

"So if, for example," Valni continued, "a human was interested in a turian for a romantic encounter, would the deficiency of areola on the turian prohibit the furthering of any kind of relationship? You know, hypothetically."

Kenneth realised his mouth was open and promptly shut it. He briefly wondered if she was having him on; whether this was part of some elaborate joke. "The prevention of relationships?" he asked steadily.

"Yes," Valni confirmed.

"Due to nipple deficiency?"

"Quite possibly."

Kenneth mulled the query over. Several seconds passed before the most pertinent response he could imagine came to mind, "How'd we get onto this subject?"

"I asked you it."

"Fair enough. Um… well… hypothetically, I would have to say that it depended very much on the human involved. Some humans might be uncomfortable with the, um… absenteeism of nipple based body parts…" His voice petered out as his mind did some rapid calculations. "Using myself as an example, since I am the only human in the vicinity…"

"Naturally," Valni nodded in agreement.

Kenneth continued: "…I personally would be happy to cultivate a relationship with a turian, despite the obvious absence of areola activity. I like to think that I am open-minded enough to, um, see beyond the non-mammalian, de-nipped turian, to fully appreciate the personality and unique physical attributes of the aforementioned turian underneath – So to speak." He took a deep breath. "Of course, that's just my opinion; I canna speak for all humans."

Valni nodded appreciatively. "Well, that's good to know." She turned to the work station opposite, appearing to read off the data on the screen, apparently satisfied with his answer.

Kenneth stared at her, open mouthed, before slowly turning back to his console and attempting to seem busy. His mind was racing.

"Annnd how about you?" he asked eventually.

"Pardon me?"

"Do you think the presence of nipples would deter any turian from a possible relationship with a human?"

Valni considered the question carefully. "Yeah, I think nipples would just be too weird!"

"Oh! Fine… Okay… Well, of course, that's perfectly valid. I mean, everyone has a different opinion on the…"

"Kenneth. I'm joking, of course. I feel the same way as you."

"Really? Well, that's good."

"Yes, it is."

"Good."

"Absolutely."

There was a slight pause as the pair stared straight ahead, wondering where the next few seconds would take them. Valni stepped away from the console.

"Listen, I'm heading up to the messdeck for some lunch – Can I get you anything, at all?"

"No, I'm good."

"You sure?"

"Aye, you head off." Valni turned to leave. "But, one thing before you go…" Valni stopped. "In the interests of interplanetary relations – If you dinna mind me asking, of course… "

"Yes?" Valni smiled sweetly.

"…If you… don't… have nipples, what do you have? – I mean turians!" he clarified hurriedly. "What do turians have?"

Valni sidled a little closer to Kenneth, folding her arms nonchalantly. "We have pretty much the same things humans have," she explained, "except, instead of areolae, turian women have epicormica."

"Right… Well, that's… aye. That's what I figured. Good for you…" Kenneth was quiet again, his finger tapping rapidly on his console. The silence dragged on for a few moments. He had to ask, "What are they?"

"Well, play your cards right, you might find out."

Valni turned away, striding up the stairwell as she listened to the sound of Kenneth trying frantically to wipe away the coffee he'd just spilt on his console.


"Just alter the transfer rate by zero-point-six per cent… Kenneth? Kenneth! You listening to me?"

Kenneth snapped back into the present at the sound of Djamil's voice.

"Aye, sure," Kenneth said absently. He placed his dipole spanner over the power transfer relay and attuned the settings to Djamil's directions. The hum from the component changed in pitch slightly as the new adjustments took effect.

The environment was hot and cramped. Kenneth's breathing was laboured as he lay on his side in the duct. There appeared to be little oxygen passing through the access tube, adding to the already problematic working conditions. He glanced at his omni-tool, checking the time. He'd expected to be finished by now but the awkward, obstinate components had proved difficult to disentangle.

"Are you okay?" Leptis asked, lying on his side next to Kenneth. "You seem distracted."

"I'm fine." Kenneth stated. "Just thinking about a conversation I had earlier."

"Not more political BS, I hope? I had a very pointed chat with the Captain myself."

"No, I'm happy to take orders. Obeying a superior isn't a problem. The conversation I had after that was quite…" his voice tailed off.

"What?" Leptis asked.

"Nothing… Personal matter."

He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the job at hand. The hours dragged on as they continued to struggle with the stubborn equipment. Crawling through the ducts of the ship replacing power couplings proved particularly tiring and meant, when they finally finished the job well after 8pm, Kenneth had to return to his quarters to shower and change into a fresh uniform before he went for the evening meal.

The mess was relatively quiet as he wandered in. He took his food from the levo-amino cubicle and sat at an empty table away from the few groups. Despite the tough assignment he'd just completed Kenneth found he had no appetite. He idly prodded the food around his plate with his fork hoping it would provoke some reaction.

He was so unfocused that he didn't notice Valni walk into the hall until she suddenly sat down in the chair opposite him.

"I thought I'd find you here." She smiled warmly.

"Hi." Kenneth grinned at her. "Just got off work."

"I heard Leptis dragged you off into the bowels of the ship," she said.

"Aye. Leptis and I had to replace and realign the power couplings. Really long job; you'd think the designers would make it easier to get at the couplings. Not like on Alliance vessels. You just open a hatch near the heat exchange egress port and you're pretty much there. But then, Arcadias is an older design. Suppose they didn't think that other species might be serving on-board one day. Of course, it's easier once you've killed power to the conduit and recalibrated the ECS array. You don't want a power surge going through the main core when you're stuck in a duct next to a live…"

"Kenneth," Valni interrupted him, "you're babbling."

"Right, sorry. I was a bit preoccupied… I've been thinking about what you said."

"I hope you didn't take offence?"

"Oh no," he assured her. "No, not at all, no. I appreciate a bit of ribald humour. I've delivered my fair share of jokes over the years. I suppose it was just a surprise to be on the receiving end of one."

The expression on Valni's face froze.

"All part of the learning curve, you know?" Kenneth continued. "Being on a new ship, I'm still finding my feet. And I certainly dinna expect to find someone who tells better jokes than me."

Valni's eyes glazed over slightly. "Yeah… Yeah. A joke, definitely."

"You crack me up. You're a damn sight more fun than the XO on the Perugia."

"Oh? Well, that's good." She smiled faintly.

"I really like your sense of humour."

"Yeah." Her shoulders seemed to sag. Perhaps it was too much to hope for that he'd think she was being serious?

"I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you're different from anyone I've ever met before."

Valni stiffened in her seat, recalling all the men who'd approached her in the past assuming she was 'different', 'unusual' or 'not like the others' – Perhaps even open to certain activities.

"You're not the first person to say that," she said, all sign of humour vanishing from her face. "I've heard it many times from other people. Crewmates. Martial fighters. Men in bars. And on one memorable occasion from a group of school-girls! It gets old very quickly. Coming from you I'd like to assume that's not a bad thing?" she asked hopefully.

"No!" Kenneth stated quickly. "No, definitely not. No, I didn't mean it as a…" Kenneth backtracked hurriedly. "Let me start over. What I meant was you're not like the other women on the ship…"

"Yeah, that's what I figured," Valni replied and stood up. She turned and quickly exited the Mess. Kenneth was on his feet in a moment, chasing after her.

He caught her as she was on the cusp of the service corridors.

"Valni, wait!" he entreated quietly. She turned to face him, folding her arms. "The way you look to me, what I think of you, it's by no means derogatory. Not at all. Quite the reverse in fact. I really like you. It's strange, we only met a fortnight ago, but it's almost like I've known you for years. You're like someone from my past I've reconnected with after so long apart – Someone I never knew I missed until now. I'm very glad to have met you, and I look forward to your visits to Engineering. The day doesna seem right if you're not there. In fact, knowing you're going to visit, it makes we want to do a better job! Just ask the crew. You're an extremely popular CO. Aye, I've overheard a few of the cadets talk shop about how you look compared with some of the other officers, but I mean, even as a human I can see you're beautiful. Plus, you're intelligent, you're talented, you're funny, and you're someone I can laugh with; chat to for hours about nothing in particular and be happy just to hear the sound of your voice… I love to see you smile. It really does light up your face. And when you frown it's like the sun has darkened. Putting it simply, you make my day brighter."

There was a long pause. Valni was gazing at him, her expression unreadable. The smile on Kenneth's face fell away.

"Oh, bugger!" He swallowed as he realised he might have gone too far. "I'm being a numpty again, ain't I? Listen, forget I said anything… I'm a visitor here and we're team-mates, I shouldn't have said that just now. I was out-of-order. It doesn't reflect well on the Alliance. It was totally unprofessional and I don't want you to think less of…" Valni suddenly reached forward and cupped his left cheek; her face lingering centimetres from his own. "…Me," Kenneth finished lamely, riveted by her stare.

"You honestly think that?" Valni asked quietly.

He nodded mutely.

She stared at him for a long time…

… Then she smiled.

Her hand caressed his cheek.

"This feels different to the hair on your head," she declared, indicating the stubble beneath her fingers.

"I was trying to grow it out," Kenneth mumbled. Her hand trailed down to his chin.

"I don't know, I sort of like the contrast," she said, toying with the bristles. "The way it varies between rough and smooth. It's an interesting sensation."

"Well, I could shave it off?"

"Maybe just on the sides?" Valni suggested. "The hairs around your mouth… They're kinda growing on me."

"They're not meant to do that!" Kenneth grinned. "I'll… go back to my quarters and shave."

Valni removed her hand and regarded him thoughtfully.

"Why don't I have a go?" she suggested. "How hard can it be? And Daniels did say she wanted a picture…"

Kenneth didn't answer. He was finding it difficult to find his voice. She continued to gaze at him before leaning in and whispering four brief words.

"My cabin. Ten minutes."

Turning away, Valni strode down the corridor at speed. Kenneth stared after her, his heart rate increasing rapidly; his breathing heavy. Was this what he thought it was? Had she just invited him to…?

He'd been warned by his CO back on the Perugia that turians do things differently. That they sometimes treated sex casually, using it for stress relief. Having been trained in the rigid discipline of the Alliance Kenneth had laughed at the idea, not imagining for one moment that he would be involved in any turian based activity. This was all new to him. 'Fraternization with the enemy' his father would have called it. Of course, that was ancient history; they were all friends now. And one turian had just invited him to get very friendly. It was unaccountably exciting. Kenneth took in a deep breath and glanced downward.

Aye, I may need a moment before I try walking anywhere!


Using his omni-tool proved useful. He'd familiarised himself with the ship's layout prior to coming on-board, but up until now he's never set foot on the officer's quarterdeck. Unsure exactly where Valni's cabin was, Kenneth relied on the internal schematic displayed on his screen as he wandered down the corridor. Almost straight after their talk, Kenneth had rushed back to his quarters to grab his wet shave razor, before tucking the blade into his jacket pocket and walking in the direction of the quarterdeck, his pace brisk.

Taking a right turn, Kenneth almost walked into a couple of Bridge Staff on their way to the recreation deck. They hailed him cheerfully and he smiled in response, pretending to be on official business. The other advantage of the omni-tool was that if any of the crew happened to see him they would assume he was conducting repairs. Kenneth made his way through the mostly empty passageway towards Valni's room.

Each cabin door was marked with unique turian lettering. Glancing at the strange writing, Kenneth quickly scanned the symbols with his omni-tool, feeling unbridled relief when the inscription on the far cabin was translated as: 'Chief Warrant Officer'. He switched off the device and knocked on the door.

Waiting anxiously on the threshold, Kenneth desperately hoped that no-one else came down the corridor. He wasn't sure if what they were doing was against regulations, but was fairly confident that Valni didn't want it advertised that she was meeting a human. All he did know for certain was that he wanted to be out of sight.

It was several agonising seconds before the door slid open to reveal the smiling Liaison Officer. She had changed out of her regulation uniform and was sporting a scarlet, figure-hugging long-sleeved shift.

Kenneth gazed fervently at the turian woman in front of him.

"Hi. Come on in," she invited.

He crossed the threshold.