Chapter 11

It took a couple days, but eventually the fascination with Dani waned, and she stopped being a sort of ship celebrity. Dani attributed part of it to her mostly human-like features; as she really wasn't terribly exotic in appearance compared to what most of the crew aboard the Iwo Jima had been expecting. The other part was Lieutenant Michal's return to active duty.

It's possible Jessie had no idea how she had been "adopted" by the rest of the crew. Normally, the "greenhorn", as Chipper called it, was a bit scorned and given a more difficult time to "toughen them up", but even the gruff Flight Lieutenant admitted it was impossible to do that to the "kitten cute" comm officer.

Dani had to agree. It was impossible to be anything but tender and kind to Jessie, if for any reason that the comm officer was impossibly kind to everyone else on the ship, even the Petty Officer who had unwittingly poisoned her. She had such a genuine enthusiasm for the Iwo Jima's expedition, despite her loathing of the accommodations (which Dani did not understand at all), and her attitude was infectious.

And while Dani had no value for a stone on Rannoch as to what "kitten cute" meant, the quarian knew that Jessie was quite pretty, and very appealing to the eyes. This assessment didn't particularly bother Dani, as quarian desire towards humanity had not been all that uncommon.

Before The Pulse, quarians on pilgrimage tended to drift in the direction of Alliance space, partially because it was closer than other citadel species, and partially because of allure. The superficial similarities between the two species had not been lost on quarians, although humans no doubt missed the connection thanks to the quarian immune systems of the past requiring the full body suits that shrouded their appearance. More than one quarian entertained... dalliance with humanity, risking death to have a close encounter of an entirely different kind.

It was said that the famed Admiral Tali'Zorah had more than an innocent crush on the human Commander Shepard (the degree of returned affection still a matter of debate), and was merely the most famed example of the inter-species attraction. It was an attraction that Dani'Arah vas Iwo Jima was starting to understand.

"Hey! Dani! Eyes forward!" Chipper chided, drawing Dani's attention back to the nav console. "Now, if you have the preferred course of action set, send it to the comp, and let's see what it tells us."

Dani complied, only to have the nav screen flare up with error messages. "Ach! What did I do? What did I do?"

Chipper followed the course Dani had plotted on the display, stopping at a red circle that indicated the error. "Right there. That section did not have a comm buoy respond, so we can't jump there. Well, we could, but jumping blind is not something we're supposed to do, and is only permissible with an override from the person in charge of the bridge."

Chipper amended, "Now, this error isn't necessarily a problem. Sometimes we don't get a ping response from that far down the line, and get it as we jump closer. Normally the captain will sign off on this course, and we'll go on. But for the sake of practice, let's take a step back and try again."

Dani reprogrammed the course, the exercise simulating proper ping responses, and she sent it to the computer... only to get another flash of errors. "Rah! What did I do this time?"

Again, Chipper followed the path with a correcting finger. "Here. Now, in your defense, you're actually not wrong, but the nav computer is saying you are. The comp is programmed to reject any jump that is within 93% of the drive's maximum range. We should be able to make this jump, but Lieutenant Commander Toole wants us to go easy on the drive for now until we can determine it's actual limits rather than it's theoretical ones."

"I see." The quarian woman replied with a frown. "This is far more complicated than navigating the Iktomi."

Smoke was currently in command of the bridge while the captain was reporting the findings from their latest relay analysis. It was the commander's chortle that caught her ear, and her attention.

"Why do you do that?" She finally demanded, her annoyance causing her to forget proper address to a senior officer.

Smoke didn't seem bothered by it, because he offered no correction. Instead, he asked, "Do what?"

"You always laugh whenever I say my old ship's name. Why?"

Smoke grew defensive. "No, I don't."

"Iktomi."

Smoke snorted in amusement, his eyes narrowing as he realized he had been caught.

She turned to Chipper, sensing she would get no answers from the commander. "Why does he do that?"

Chipper smirked. "Say your full name from your old ship."

Dani blinked, but nonetheless complied. "Dani'Arah vas Iktomi?"

Another guffaw from the commander followed, which was then followed by another accusing quarian glare.

Chipper leaned into Dani's ear, and calmly explained the word for male sterilization in humans. Dani's jaw dropped, eyeing the commander angrily, and she sputtered, "You... you... bosh'tet!"

Smoke, rather than insulted, instead looked confused. "Okay... why didn't the translator catch that? Lieutenant Michal, is this thing still buggy?"

"I'm sure it is." Jessie replied, disinterested. "But there are some words that our language doesn't have an accurate translation for, or the word itself has too many meanings for our translator to properly determine which one is the proper one. 'Bosh'tet' is one such word."

"Really." Smoke answered, more a statement than a question.

"Indeed. The definition of 'bosh'tet' can vary considerably, depending on context, inflection, usage within the sentence, whether is a formal rebuke or casual tease, whether is being used literally or metaphorically..." Jessie gave her thought pause, especially as Smoke's eyes started to glaze over. "It really is kinda like how we use the word... fuck."

Smoke processed the information he had been given. "Hunh. So... she called me a fucker?"

Jessie pursed her lips, and figured that was as good a translation as any. "Sure."

Meanwhile, Dani had leaned towards Chipper, and asked in a hushed tone, "What does 'fucker' mean anyway?"

Smoke smiled, "I like you, Lieutenant." He stood, took a deep breath, and declared, "All right. From now on, you can call me Bosh'tet."

Not to be outdone, Dani declared, "Then you can me Fucker."

At that point, Marshall had returned to the bridge. "No, we will not." He said with a level voice that did not suggest any debate on this matter will be welcome.

Smoke pretended to be hurt as Marshall took his chair. "Oh, but you have no problem with my new name?"

Marshall leaned back. "It suits you..." then while cracking the barest of smiles added, "Bosh'tet."

Dani joined in the laughter of the crew. Perhaps she was starting to fit in... or perhaps all the people here were so crazy that it didn't matter. She had yet to decide which. "Whatever is wrong with a little nickname... Ghost?" She asked in tease, and discovered that was somehow a bad question to ask.

It felt like the temperature on the bridge dropped ten degrees. The captain was outright furious at her, his anger readily apparent from the flare of his nostrils and the clenched fists in both hands. Chipper had gripped the sides of her terminal, bracing for an explosion, curling in on herself in an instinctive protective measure. To her other side, Ensign Mayes was gawking in a mix of amazement and fear.

Smoke was quick to Dani's defense, "Captain, she probably heard it from me. She doesn't know."

At least the glare moved to the commander rather than on her. After ten nervous seconds, the rage started to dispel, and he regarded the quarian once more. "You will refer to me as Captain, Captain Brasser, or sir." He said coldly. "I trust we are clear on this."

Dani nodded emphatically. "Yes..." Then hastily added, "Sir."

"Good. Now get back to work. I doubt you're going to learn the nav station by osmosis."

Dani spun back around, Chipper still locked in her defensive position, only reluctantly leaning away from her station to continue the lesson. So much for fitting in...

By the end of the duty day, the guilt had fully sunk in. It wasn't that Marshall wanted to be a complete jackass. He even knew he had overreacted the moment Smoke had interjected. He already had a fairly large blow-up the second day of the expedition when he had heard Chipper just wondering about the origin of his and Smoke's nicknames with Lieutenant Michal in the mess hall. Of course Dani wouldn't have known anything about that. But he had wanted to make it clear there were some topics that would not be raised on his ship, and that was one of them.

At the same time... he needed to apologize for what could have been a much more volatile event if not for Smoke's interference. No one deserved that anger for something that relatively harmless. Hesitantly activating the person to person comm, he said, "Lieutenant Dani'Arah, can you meet me in my quarters?"

"Yes... sir." The quarian replied, the fear in her voice apparent. Just what Marshall needed, to have terrified a liaison officer trusted to him by a fellow captain as a peaceful request. She was probably scared that she had unwittingly done something else wrong.

It took more time than it probably should for him to get the request to enter from his door, but he understood why. "Come in."

Dani emerged, wringing her hands, her head down shamefully as the door slid shut again behind her. "You... you wanted to see me... sir?"

"Yes." Marshall replied. "I wanted to apologize for my outburst. Outside of an extremely minor violation of proper address, you did nothing wrong. My reaction was my fault, and mine alone." He was reluctant to continue, but forced himself to. Dani deserved an explanation for his behavior. "The commander and I got our particular nicknames from my departed wife when we were all in training. As such... it's a sensitive issue for me. The commander gets away with it because I've known him for years, and the memory is as much his as it is mine."

"I understand that, sir." Dani said, the relief that she wasn't going to be chided further clear. "On Rannoch, when a bondmate dies, the other of the coupling is referred to without using a family name for up to a year's time, simply because the mere invocation of the name can be traumatic."

That was still a lot shorter than it was taking him to get over it, Marshall noted. Although he suspected the consequences of... his wife's... death was a bit more unusual than most.

"I am merely glad that I did not commit a grave offense to human military convention." Dani continued. "In case you hadn't noticed, quarian ships can be a bit more informal."

"Well, in service for a decade will do that. Most of us here hadn't met until about twenty days ago, even less for us thanks to the relativity of FTL speeds." Marshall said, "Near the end of our tour, we'll probably start dropping our 'sirs' and 'ma'ams' too. It comes with familiarity."

"I... am already seeing it, sir." Dani admitted. "Many of the lieutenants are already on a first name basis, and there's you and Sm... Commander Takei. Have you known each other very long?"

"As long as I know anybody, really." Marshall said. "I didn't exactly have the most stable childhood. Another of the many things I don't like talking about. You'll learn all about the off-limits topics eventually, I'm sure. I'll try not to get quite so incensed when you step too close to the line, promise."

Dani blinked, and asked warily, "You're not... going to try and make me pinky-swear, are you? I'm... not equipped for it."

Marshall's face flattened, and he deadpanned. "The commander?"

"Yes."

Marshall's single, sharp exhale was all the response needed for that. He was about to dismiss Dani when he caught the comm out of the corner of his eye, and had an idea. Checking the time in Seattle quickly, confirming that it wasn't too late at night, he said. "Hold here for a moment, Lieutenant, I have someone I'd like you to meet."

Dani did so, more out of curiosity than anything else as Marshall started to tap out instructions into the comm. There was a short wait, before the call was answered, and a young girl's voice and face appeared.

"Hi, daddy!"

"Hey, kiddo." Marshall answered, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry about the whole, 'I'll call every night' promise going out the window in the first week."

"It's okay!" Kelsey said. "Relativity makes time get weird when going at high speeds. I know that!"

Kids were learning far more complicated stuff at increasingly younger ages, Marshall discovered. "I'm glad you understand." He replied. "Hey, kiddo, I've got someone for you to meet. But, you can't talk about it to anyone in school, understand?"

"Is it about meeting quarians?" Kelsey asked, shocking Marshall with the question.

"How... where did you hear that?" Marshall questioned, wanting to know the source before confirming or denying anything.

"On the news two nights ago." His daughter explained. "The Prime Minister announced that one of our spaceships had made contact with the quarian people. They didn't say the ship, or said it was you, but I knew! I knew it was my daddy!"

Marshall shook his head. He supposed it would figure, really. Any chance the Nimea Parliament got to demonstrate superiority to the Sedin Consulate, they generally took it. Making first contact with another species would definitely be a notch they'd want to crow about. At least they kept his name out of it... that could have potentially started another war.

"Well then, I suppose there is no reason to drag this out." He gestured to Dani to enter the field of vision for the video. "Kelsey Brasser, this is Dani'Arah."

Dani had already been made aware of the fact that the Iwo Jima's VI had its likeness based on the captain's daughter, and found the claim to be true enough. "Greetings, little one." Dani said, trying to get some sort of clue as to what to say from her captain. She really had no idea what to say to a child.

Kelsey did not appear to have the same problem. "Are you really a quarian?"

Dani rolled her eyes at the question. "As of the last time I checked, yes."

"Mr. Sanderson says that quarians live their entire lives on spaceships. Is that true?"

Dani regarded Marshall with amusement. "Clearly, Reticuli has much outdated information." Focusing on Kelsey again, she said, "We used to, yes. But we have since reclaimed our homeworld. It's called Rannoch."

"Can you say that again?" Kelsey asked, "I want a recording to show Mr. Sanderson."

"I suspect details are still highly secret, Kelsey." Marshall reprimanded. "I do not want High Command calling me because of what their kids heard at school. Understand?"

Kelsey pouted, but the shift of her arms suggested she was no longer toying with her omni-tool. "Yes, daddy." Of course, the alien quickly compromised Kelsey's full attention again. "Mr. Sanderson says Quarians have three fingers and toes. Is that true?"

Dani brandished her left hand, surprisingly finding the questions more amusing than bothersome. "Yes, that much is correct."

"Coooooool." The little girl crooned. "Isn't it hard to hold things with just three fingers?"

"I... I can't say I've ever had any trouble. Using your computer terminals can be a little difficult, though. They really are designed for people with a couple extra digits."

That admission gave Marshall a pause, and he was rather ashamed he hadn't even given thought to it, because it seemed rather obvious now. He'd have to patch through to the Iktomi and work with Jessie at some point to see if there wasn't a way to create a more quarian friendly overlay for Dani's profile.

Meanwhile, Kelsey and Dani's conversation had shifted topics. "You're very pretty." Kelsey said.

Dani blushed slightly despite herself. "Well thank you, little one. You are quite lovely yourself." That wasn't particularly a lie, either. Dani felt for her captain with the prospect of the girl maturing into what was no doubt going to be a strikingly attractive young lady.

Kelsey grinned, then said impishly, "Are you gonna be my new mommy?"

"Kelsey!" Marshall barked.

The sight of Captain Brasser shaken was worth the embarrassment of the question. "No, little one. I don't think that would work."

"Oh." Kelsey said dejectedly. "Why not?"

"I wouldn't be able to eat on your homeworld." Dani said. It was the truth, if not the honest answer to Kelsey's question. "I can only eat food that is compatible to my stomach. Your food would possibly be poisonous to me."

"That is a good reason." Kelsey replied.

"Alright, kiddo. You've embarrassed me enough for one night. Make sure you get your homework done and have Aunt Marie check it."

"I know, daddy." The little girl droned. "Call me again soon!"

"I will, kiddo."

"Kelsey out!" She said, saluting before the link went dead.

Marshall leaned back in his chair. "That actually went better than I expected."

"She is a charming girl." Dani assessed. "When she grows up, you are going to have to fend off all the young men seeking her heart with a large weapon, I suspect."

Marshall snorted bitterly. "You speak as if I haven't had to do that already."

"But I can tell she cares for you deeply, and you her."

Marshall's eyes drifted off through the wall and into space, remembering a dark place that he had only gotten through because of his daughter. "She's pretty much my reason for living."

"It's good that you have that." Dani said. "Some among my people... don't. It is hard to go through life without that special connection you can have with another. I can't imagine it is all that different among humans."

"Perhaps not." Marshall concluded. "I am probably luckier than I deserve at times. Thank you for putting up with us crazy humans, Lieutenant."

"It is your ship. If anything you put up with me."

Marshall shook his head. "The moment you accepted your commission to come aboard, the Iwo Jima became just as much your ship as any other crew member here. Don't let anyone tell you differently."

Somehow, Dani doubted the captain's High Command felt quite the same way. "That is kind of you to say, sir. By your leave, Lieutenant Dean wants me up on the bridge early tomorrow to continue my training."

"Then get to sleep, Lieutenant. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

Surprisingly, there were developments pertaining to their actual mission as well.

Marshall and the rest of the primary crew had barely managed to settle into their stations when Chipper made a discovery.

"Sir... we're getting a ping from the Attican Beta cluster." She declared.

"I don't believe that is on our currently projected course, is it?" Marshall asked.

"No sir, but... we're getting an active ping. From a space station in the Hercules system, in fact."

There were two different types of pings, a passive ping, which was a simple low power standby response with sparse information and had been the standard fare from all the comm buoys they had received. An active ping could only come from an operating computer system that was processing data.

"Alter course, Lieutenant. Let's check it out."

Chipper grinned, then turned to Dani, "Actually, Lieutenant Dani'Arah, I think it's time for you to give it a shot. Let's see you work your magic."

"Oh! Yes! All right." The quarian replied. "Gathering telemetry... plotting course... sending to nav computer... Yes! Got it! Green on all boards, sir!"

"Then let's move out. Needle when ready, Lieutenant Dean."

As the crew jumped into action, Smoke asked, "Think there's someone alive out there?"

Marshall shook his head. "We'd be getting more than a ping if that was the case. What it does mean is that someone left the lights on, and it could have recorded information on The Pulse that did all this damage."