The wake was livelier than she expected but the clear liquor the civvies brought with them may have had something to do with that. There were gallons of the stuff and it burned like lava going down. When Ashley asked where it came from a bookish looking man standing behind the dispensing table replied, "Hydroponics waste. Much of it is recycled into compost but there's plenty for that. You can make moonshine out of just about anything with cellulose." The man looked very pleased with himself and only swayed slightly as he took another shot.
"Can't moonshine make you blind?" she retorted.
"Please, Commander. This is an art form we are talking about here. My family has prided itself on distilling spirits since the 19th century. It's not like I'm just cooking it up on a stove."
"That would explain your popularity," she said with a slow smile. He didn't see the insult, simply grinning like a fool. Ashley held up her glass and sipped, forcing a look of pleasure despite the breath stolen from her lungs. She suspected Dr. Chakwas was going to be very busy tomorrow.
The somber mood of the day prior had been completely swept away. The rituals and ceremonies performed were poignant; it had been a day for memories and regrets. Today was for the living; a chance to breathe and celebrate the life that pulsed in their veins. Music played, people danced and voices were raised. The population of Benning just might begin to grow again tonight, Ashley thought with a chuckle.
She nearly spilled her drink when she was hit from behind and spun quickly to give the offender a few choice words. A throaty apology reached her ears as soon as Karin recognized her. "Oh I'm so sorry, Commander," Dr. Chakwas said with a giggle. She giggled. This didn't bode well.
"It's fine, Doctor. Are you alright?"
"Alright?" the woman beamed. "I'm glorious!" she exclaimed before spinning in place like a woman 20 years younger. Ashley had to catch her before she careened into the table. "Oh, my word!" she laughed with a blush, all the while looking over Ashley's shoulder. Williams followed her gaze to find Liara laughing outrageously, her hands on her knees as she watched the spectacle.
"Liara?" Ashley's brow furrowed in frustration, "Are you responsible for this?"
The Asari did her best to straighten, not entirely succeeding. That same smile was still plastered across her face as she defended herself, "Me? I assure you Commander, I have done nothing." She crossed her heart as she had seen Shepard do so many times. "Scouts honor."
The gesture made Ashley grin, at least on one side of her mouth. The other she kept serious in Dr. Chakwas' direction. "Doctor? I think you may have had one too many. Perhaps you should consider retiring."
"And miss the party? Posh! Besides, we haven't had a clear winner yet!" She turned and ordered a handful more shots until Ashley put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head emphatically.
"I don't think so," she said, looking to Liara, "Winner?"
"She called it a drinking game, Commander, though I must admit I don't fully understand the rules."
"You're drinking this shit when you're pregnant?" Ashley asked incredulously before looking at Karin, "And you encouraged it?"
"Hey! It's not shit!" shouted the pseudo bartender/distiller. When he saw Ashley's glare he dropped his eyes and studiously examined his shotglass.
Chakwas waved a hand at her, not discouraged in the least, "Oh Commander, how many times in a person's life do they get to celebrate surviving the Reapers? The gestation period is so long she'll be fine. Even Asari need to blow off some steam once in awhile."
Williams sighed. This was not how she wanted this party to end for anyone. "Doctor, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to return to the ship. Liara, you too. You're both acting like teenagers. Sober up. The party will still be here in a few hours."
Ashley felt like a shitheel when their faces dropped; sometimes she hated command. The doctor saluted and Liara nodded before they wandered back together, heads bent close. It wasn't long before the giggling resumed. They'd be fine. She turned back to the bar and found Vedra giving her an approving smile from across the crowd. She slid between the cliques and looped her arm in Ashley's, tugging her along.
The Spectre threw back the last of her shot and slid the glass on the bar before following. It felt like an eternity since she had a buzz like the one growing in her brain and belly. Since that night in Anderson's apartment. Was that really only a few weeks ago? God, Vega.
She still had traces of a silly grin on her face when Vedra brought her to a stop amongst a group of almost ten people. There were military and civilians alike, but they all seemed enthusiastic. Hands and glasses were raised and a few of them were singing the lyrics of whatever was playing...obnoxiously.
Vedra lifted her hands and attention slowly returned to her, interspersed by laughter and shouting. "Now now everyone, I'd like to introduce someone VERY special."
The Commander suspected they already knew who she was, because Vedra barely got her name and title out before the whooping and hollering began in earnest.
"I can't tell you how lucky we all are that she landed here!" Vedra shouted when the noise ebbed, "With the Commander and the loyal crew of the SSV Normandy we have the tools we need not only to get home, but to speed the repairs of the Mass Relay by years, giving us a competitive edge over all the other races. Ashley Williams is living proof that humanity is finally taking its rightful place in the galaxy!"
The cheers came right on cue and soon they came in waves, then chants. It took a moment for Ashley to recognize they were saying the word Terra over and over.
Ashley forced a smile and lifted a hand of greeting to everyone in the light of lamps dangling from the work cranes. She wasn't sure why Vedra made her remember all the years she had been passed over in her career because of who her grandfather was, but she couldn't shake the feeling she was the butt of an elaborate joke. Her mannerisms were muted as a result and she found herself looking at the faces in the crowd with a watchful eye.
When Vedra caught her gaze again the woman leaned in to talk over the noise. "Relax will you? You're among friends now. Isn't it time you had a bit of fun?"
The dancing seemed more furious now, the beats driving and deep. Tanner spun off into the crowd and into the arms of a random young man with a handsome smile. Ashley took a deep breath and released it. There were no more Reapers. The enemy was dead, the war was over and there was nothing but joy here. Maybe Vedra was right. Maybe she was just being paranoid.
Liara stumbled up the ramp to the Normandy, Karin's arm slung over her shoulder. The Doctor stared at her a moment as they waited for the hatch to slide open, "You know something? I don't think I've ever seen you drunk before."
"I generally reserve such things for when we are likely to die the next day. Or after Shepard actually does."
The older woman's laughter was rich as they stumbled for her quarters, "Well I'm so glad you are finally getting the chance to celebrate something, my dear. We should do this more often."
"Get drunk?" Liara asked with a wry grin.
"Oh hehe no," she said waving a hand, "You know what I mean."
"Well I suspect we will be celebrating a great deal when we get to Earth." And back to Shepard, she said silently within.
"Oh yes, yes we will." They paused waiting for the elevator and made an attempt to stand on their own. "And for your wedding!" Karin raised a finger into the air in punctuation, winking conspiratorially at the Asari.
Liara's eyes widened, but she smiled at the thought just the same.
The ride up to crew quarters was quiet until the doors opened and Joker suddenly barrelled into them, bottle of wine in one hand and glasses in the other, "Oof! Sorry! Sorry! Coming through!"
Liara didn't think she'd ever seen him hobble that fast.
"Be careful! You trying to kill an old woman?" Karin cried.
Apologies gushed from him as she walked out with a disapproving look, "Where are you going in such a rush?"
"Oh! EDI's back up!" he exclaimed with a face splitting grin. "Was just going to celebrate with Tali. Wanna come?"
Dr. Chakwas face brightened in understanding, "Couldn't have happened at a better time. Congratulations, Jeff. If you don't mind, though, I think I need to lay down for a bit. You two go ahead."
"Are you sure, Doctor?" Liara felt bad leaving her in such a state.
Karin waved them off. "I'll be fine. If I stumble I'll call for a medic," she said with a chuckle and another wink before lumbering away.
Liara turned to Joker as he smacked the key for Engineering, "Is she actually talking? I saw her logic cores processing but couldn't converse with her this morning."
"Yeah!" he cried, excited as a puppy just let outside, "She introduced herself as Robot Overlord 2.0….Tali was totally confused. Hysterical! My baby is back!"
Ashley put her face in a sink full of water and just stayed there. The coolness of it took the edge off the pounding in her temples. Perhaps she should just drown; that would make it go away. Only when her head hurt worse from the lack of oxygen did she rise up and cover her face with a towel.
The door chime sounded and she sighed, combing her damp hair back in an attempt to look awake, "Come in."
Doctor Chakwas appeared and stepped in, looking worse for the wear, "Good morning Commander. I noticed you didn't get in until very early so I thought I'd take the liberty." She had a tall glass of water and vitamin supplements designed to combat the worst effects of her condition.
Ashley accepted them gratefully. "Good morning," she said with more vigor than she felt, "I'm sorry I had to order you back to the ship last night. It wasn't something I was happy to do."
"Of course, I understand. You were simply looking out for our well being. You were also probably right. I went to sleep and don't even think I dreamt until I woke up dying for a glass of water. Devilish stuff, that liquor."
"Tell me about it. That devil is beating a drum right now inside my head."
Karin shook her head ruefully, "I don't know about you, but I'm going to get some coffee and food."
Ashley nodded in agreement, "Yeah, let's do that."
The mess hall looked like a bad zombie movie, minus the blood. It was hushed and the crew shuffled around haphazardly, leaning over their plates with their foreheads in their hands. They rose painfully to attention at the sight of their Commanding Officer and while Ashley sympathized, it was time to get back to work.
"Welcome to the Navy boys and girls. Step lively!" she barked. "We still have lives to save, and they might be our own."
"Aye, Aye Ma'am!" Came the practiced if lackluster response.
"As you were."
The crew tried to move a little smarter and a few of them finished their meals quickly, but there was no hiding the hangovers. Ashley resolved to be more diligent about the 'shine' if there was another party. This was a bit ridiculous.
She felt a bit better after some powdered eggs, one of the only sources of animal protein they had enough of in storage for every meal. Samantha was waiting for her as she emerged on the bridge.
"Commander, Engineer Donnelly has requested a word. In private."
She tilted her head. Odd request, "I'll see him in the briefing room." She had some paperwork to do anyway.
"Take a seat," she said as he entered. "What's on your mind?"
Ken moved to a chair pensively, "I'm not really sure how to say this, Commander, especially about our own people," he sounded out slowly in his charming Scottish brogue.
"Start at the beginning?"
"Right. I liaised with the Benning team a couple of days ago to continue repairs on the Materials facility. Good bunch of blokes. When I ran into them at the party we had a lot of fun but eh, there was some talk after the liquor loosened tongues."
"What kind of talk?"
"About you and that Tanner girl," He said carefully, "About how you go way back. And about how, with you two in charge, things were going to be different."
"In 'charge'? Madras is in charge on Benning."
"Right, right. It gets worse. Some of the boys got wind that Liara is having Shepard's baby. Drove them crazy mad. They couldn't believe that the savior of the galaxy would lie down with asari filth, they said. What did it say about humanity that we couldn't even keep the first Human Spectre's genes in the genepool? They...they called her a traitor, Commander."
All her alarm bells were sounding, unfortunately in time with the drum in her temple. She brought a finger up to massage it, mind suddenly in overdrive, "Were there any soldiers in that group?"
"No, Commander, they were all civilians I think. Though your friend overheard them."
"Petty Officer Tanner?"
"That's right, she told them that this wasn't the time or place for such talk and they all clammed up good."
"Donnelly, I need you to think hard. Did Tanner support what they were saying?"
Ken gave it a moment of reflection before replying, "She bit their heads off, Ma'am. She was nae happy."
That could still argue either case, her instincts insisted. Vedra might have legitimately been trying to crack down on them, especially in an area full of drunken people spoiling for a fight, but she could have simply been telling them to watch what they said.
She didn't want to believe it. She drummed her fingers on the table. It would answer some questions that had been nagging her since they had arrived, though. Answered some, and raised ten times as many. "There's nothing wrong with having an opinion, even if it's an alarming one," she mused. "Given everything we did to put a halt to Cerberus, though, I sure would hate for that dog to grow another head." She stood up and paced, her hands behind her back. Donnelly nodded in agreement.
"Regardless, we have a job to do and we need them to do it. Ken, are you going to be able to bite your tongue long enough to get us that Relay?"
"Aye, Commander. Say the word."
Ashley nodded, "The word is given." Ken stood up and saluted, then turned to leave. "Donnelly?"
The Engineer paused and looked back, "Yes Ma'am?"
"Bite your tongue, but keep your ears open."