"Alright, time for introductions," Marley said once the captain had gone, "I would like you all to meet Nihlus Kryik. Nihlus, meet Urdnot Wrex, Garrus Vakarian and Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya. And of course you already know Lt. Alenko and Chief Williams." Wrex just nodded, but Vakarian and Tali'Zorah each shook my hand.
"Nihlus, it's good to see you're still here," Alenko said.
"It's good to be here, Lieutenant," I replied.
"Are you sure you never put anything in your report about him dying?" Williams asked the question I knew everyone else had been thinking.
"I swear, all I did was leave a few details out of my report," Marley smiled, "Udina was the one who assumed Nihlus was dead, and he's also probably the one who convinced the Council."
"You could have lost your career," Williams said in disbelief.
"I know," Marley replied, "But my career could be replaced, theoretically even the ship could. But Nihlus and the Normandy's crew? Not so much."
"Yeah, you're right, Commander," Williams said after she thought about it for a moment, "Is there anything else you need us to do today?"
"Nope, consider yourselves off duty, chief," Marley grinned, "Go have some fun."
"Are you still going to hide on the ship from us?" Williams asked with a slightly teasing tone.
"That depends on Nihlus," Marley laughed, then looking up at me she asked, "Is Chakwas going to call you or me and demand that you go back to her infirmary?"
"Possibly," I said.
"Well we should probably go see her anyway, just to be sure," Marley said.
"He's a turian, not an injured puppy," Williams protested.
"Puppies generally don't get shot by people who are supposed to like them either," Marley said, "Relax, Ash. I'd do the same thing to you or Alenko."
"I hear you, Commander. It's just strange is all," Williams said, "Aren't you even a little bit concerned that people will start to talk?"
"No matter what you do, people will always talk," Marley said crossing her arms, "I'm no stranger to silly rumors, hell, one or two have even been true. I'm just not going to get all bent out of shape because some idiot can't keep his mouth shut about things he doesn't know anything about."
"What are you going to do if the Council hears something they don't like?" Williams persisted.
"Then they are more than welcome to complain to me about it personally," Marley said, this time with a smirk, "I guarantee they will only do it once."
"Marley, I would consider it a personal favor if you don't say what you're thinking right now," I told her.
"Well that's really awkward," Williams said, looking a bit flustered, "I'm just going to go… My OT is on if you need anything, Skipper." With that she turned away and headed for the transit hub.
"I think I'll be going as well, I just found out this morning that an old buddy of mine is here on shore leave and I'd like to catch up with him before we ship out," Alenko said.
"See you later L-T," Marley said, "I'll contact you when Anderson puts us back on duty."
"I'll see you on your ship, Shepard," Wrex said, following the lieutenant.
"I should be going as well," Vakarian stated, "I still have to give Executor Pallin my resignation and let Chellick and Sanders know I'm leaving."
"I'll go with you if that's alright," Tali'Zorah said, "I have to go through customs anyway, I might as well get it overwith."
"Hey, Garrus, if that's Tylee Sanders you're talking about, tell her I said don't be a stranger," Marley grinned.
"Sure, Shepard," he said.
"It was nice meeting you," Tali said to me with a smile in her voice.
"Likewise, Tali'Zorah," I answered. She and Vakarian waved and headed off down the stairs to the transit hub.
"We should probably go too," I said, "Your ship's doctor will want an update, and I would rather not speak with Councilor Kryik right now."
"Is he your brother or something?" Marley asked as we headed for the transit hub.
"He is my father," I told her quietly.
"I had no idea," she said, "I thought you might have been related, but I had guessed brother or close cousin."
"That is my fault, I usually avoid saying anything as long as possible," I said, "Even so there is still some debate going on as to why I was chosen to be a Spectre in the first place."
"That's not fair, you're the best there is," she protested, then changing the subject she asked, "Will you be going with us?"
"I don't know," I told her, "I'm going to request the assignment, but the Council will still make the final decision."
"What about your father? Wouldn't he understand why you might want to go after Saren?" she asked.
"Yes, but I think he's also guessed that you and I are not just soldiers or even just friends," I explained, "He will be uncomfortable with us being on the same assignment at least."
"It probably didn't help that I didn't tell anyone but Anderson that you were still alive," she said.
"It is difficult to say whether that helped or not," I replied, "On one hand if he could manage to understand our relationship to begin with, I believe he would understand why you did it. On the other hand, you broke regulations and that is going to irritate him."
"That irritates everybody," she laughed, "I'm still really not sure how I managed to avoid getting kicked out of the marines."
"The Alliance knows that if it had been anyone else in command they would probably have lost Elysium," I told her. I could see she wanted to argue that point, but she didn't get the chance to respond. Just then we overheard an Alliance soldier speaking to someone through a comm. and sounding very frustrated. "Congratulations on becoming the first human Spectre, Commander," he said, offering his hand to her as we approached, "I'm certain you'll be up to the challenge."
"I appreciate that, sir," she replied, shaking his hand.
"My name is Admiral Kahoku," he informed her, "It's about time the Alliance got one of our own in with the Spectres. We need people like you to deal with our… problems."
"Is something wrong, Admiral?" she asked quietly. She was clearly having second thoughts about this conversation, but Marley's personal honor code dictated that she not brush the man off.
"I'm getting stonewalled by bureaucratic assholes," Admiral Kahoku growled, "Nothing new. Maybe you can help me, Shepard. One of my recon teams was investigating some strange activity out in the Traverse. We lost contact yesterday. Now I can't get clearance to check it out; suddenly it's a restricted area. But that doesn't apply to you, Shepard. Spectres can go anywhere they want. You could find out why my team dropped out of contact."
"I'll find them, Admiral," she promised.
"I appreciate that, Commander," he said, "I was running out of options. I'm going to stay here and see if I can find anything out through official channels. Won't hold my breath though. I'll upload the info on where my team was last seen to your ship. Maybe you can get some answers."
"I hope whatever information I find will be of some help," she said.
"Thank you, Commander," he said, and we headed for the elevator. We were almost to the elevator when another conversation, this time with a diplomatic assistant, landed her a second errand in the Traverse. Still, I couldn't help smiling a little. There was just something about Marley Shepard that could make even the most stubborn person tell her what was going wrong for them. And somehow she almost always managed to find a way to fix it. "What?" she asked with a grin as we finally stepped into the elevator.
"You," I smiled back, "I do believe you could get the whole universe to tell you all of its problems, and you could probably make most of them go away all by yourself if everyone would listen to you."
"Maybe, but that was the last freebie for the day," she laughed, "The universe can take care of itself for a few hours." Then her omni-tool went off. She checked the ID before answering, then relaxed when she saw that it was Dr. Chakwas. "Hey, Doc," she said with a smile.
"Is Nihlus with you, Commander?" Dr. Chakwas asked. She didn't sound pleased.
"Yes, he is," Marley laughed, "Don't worry, he's fine. I assume you'd like us back on the ship?"
"No, you don't need to come back so soon," Dr. Chakwas relented, "Just let me know if he ends up staying with you, I'll want to check his bandages later tonight."
"Will you be staying on the station tonight?" Marley asked, turning to look at me.
"I had planned on it," I replied. I knew I probably shouldn't be so open about this, but I wanted at least one night with her before she had to leave.
"Make that a yes then, Doc," Marley smiled.
"No strenuous activities," Dr. Chakwas ordered sternly.
"I promise," Marley chuckled, "I'm staying at the Presidium Inn, 4th floor, the room number is 432. I'll let you know if he gets his own room." They hung up and Marley smiled in amusement before laying her head on my shoulder.
"Did you tell Dr. Chakwas about us then?" I asked.
"She figured it out herself," Marley said with a smirk, "Apparently you talk when you're drugged."
"Oh great," I couldn't help grumbling.
"It's not as bad as you'd think," Marley laughed as the elevator came to a stop and we exited to head down the street, "It didn't seem to bother her at least. So, we have the whole afternoon, what's left of it anyway. What do you want to do?"
"I just want you all to myself for a while," I said.
"Well I have an idea then," she smiled, "Let's just go back to my room and be lazy for the rest of the day and anyone who wants to talk to either of us can wait until tomorrow."
"Now that is the best plan I've heard all day," I smiled back.
