Thoughts from Andromeda part 14
By ElementalsAdvocate
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Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Pytheus System, on route to the Nexus, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin
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SAM, start recording.
Well, that's that. Good-bye Eos, good-bye Prodromos, and good luck to everyone there. Now I need to think about what comes next. Back to the Nexus for supplies, and then onto who knows where.
Yesterday they got the last of the main buildings set up around the colony; the water-extraction plant and the radio-telescope array. Our scanners picked up an underground river close to the surface of the basin. Took every mining drone the colony had working three days straight to tap into it, but now the outpost has access to enough clean water that they actually used a water hose to clear out the detritus from Kasperek's wake, just for the hell of it. Stupid, but its kind of indicative of how everyone's feeling right now, what with being able to stand on solid ground again after six-hundred years without having the world instantly attempt to kill them with radiation, storms, or any of the other hundred or so nasty ways to die just from living in a new place. And that's without the kett.
Damn it, Scott, stay positive. Don't let the tired get to you just yet.
Yeah, hard to be positive after that fucking "crew meeting". Fuck!
Scott slams a fist against the table, a brief biotic corona haloing his hand. After several deep breaths, he takes his hand away, revealing the imprint of his fist warped into the metal by its contact with Scott's biotic field.
Fuck… Didn't mean to do that. Dammit. Shit, I'm getting as bad as Cora. Shit.
Okay Scott, quit it with the swear-words and just get on with it. Start at the top.
We'd left Prodromos a few hours before. Peebee came flying back to Prodromos as soon as Kallo sent word we were leaving. She didn't seem to mind much that she had to leave her shuttle behind, but Bradley promised to make good use of it and let her have it back if and when we come back to Eos. Liam and Vetra had to go out and pick Drack up out of the middle of the desert with the Nomad. Big guy may be dangerous over short distances, but he's wasted on cross-country.
Anyway, once we were all back on the Tempest and headed towards the Nexus, I figured we might as well have a quick meet-and-greet with all the crew present. A round of introductions, shake hands, go over what we were going to do, lay down some ground rules, very informal.
First thing; Kallo, Suvi, Gil, and Doctor T'Perro were all busy with their own projects, so they declined to go to the meeting. Kallo and Gil I can understand; Kallo's got to fly the ship and Gil needs to make certain things are bolted down properly, but the other two? The science officer and the ships doctor, not come to a general crew meeting, especially one with a Remnant expert, and two new crew-members. Why?
Second, was how everyone came aft. When I arrived at 1300 hours, it was rather odd tableau. Cora was standing by the QEC display in the center of the meeting room, ramrod straight and her eyes locked with Drack. The big krogan was slouched on top of a bench, massive arms stretched out over the back such that he seemed to take up the entire bench. He also had a bottle hanging in one three-fingered hand, and as I came in, he took a long pull on it, eyes never leaving Cora. He didn't have his shotgun, but I noticed several smaller weapons hanging from Drack's armor: a knife attached to his boot, a pistol locked to his leg… and several grenades dangling across his torso. Yeah. That was real comforting.
Peebee was off by herself on the other side of the QEC display, alternating between gazing restlessly around the room and looking out through the large transparent viewports to the stars rushing by.
Liam and Vetra came in together, chatting amiably, but as soon as they saw the rest of us… Liam was his usual ebullient self, but for some reason Vetra clammed up.
I wanted to start the meeting, but just as I opened my mouth to start speaking, Cora spoke up, hard and bold, declaring crew assignments for Drack and Peebee.
Drack stated that he had already set up in the galley, and that he was fine thanks. Peebee on the other hand declared that she would be more comfortable in one of the escape pods, and had already taken up residence in one of our only two pods located on the bridge.
As if that wasn't awkward enough, Cora dropped the buck right in my lap, asking if I had any thoughts. It pissed me off; that Drack and Peebee had apparently decided carte blanche where they were going to stay on my ship and that Cora was trying to drop this in my lap after jumping over me to make her announcement.
But I shoved my anger back inside and simply said that, while I would have appreciated being asked first, I was willing to let things stand, before I tried to get the meeting back on track.
I started by listing some of our successes on Eos; the Remnant vault, Prodromos, beating the kett and the radiation. But Liam and Vetra kept making side-ways comments about how "not dying" was a success in and of itself. Drack put his two-sense in, and Cora practically leapt down Drack's throat. And it only got worse from there. When I tried to steer the conversation back to looking ahead to what we were going to do next, Peebee started hooting about going to the next vault, "when were we going to get there," and generally acting like an impatient and hyper-active teenager, and frankly a little ditzy. Liam and Vetra jumped in, Vetra wanting to slow down and think about things, Liam citing "Initiative priorities", and how the team as a whole needed to make a decision, at which point Cora steps up and states to Liams face that "it's the Pathfinder who calls the shots". She seemed like she wanted to say more, but caught herself, glancing over at me with this guilty expression on her face before she backed off with a quick "just so we're clear," and then the room went dead silent, everyone looking right at me.
It was Vetra who finally broke the silence. "So what do you need from us, Ryder?"
Frankly, at that moment I just wanted them all to shut up and leave me alone so I could think. I mean, I went to enough meetings during my days at Relay 202, but I had never been called upon to speak, much less take charge or give orders. But, blowing up at everyone wouldn't help me, and running away wasn't an option.
So, I took a deep breath, and when I opened my mouth, I stuck to the basics. SAM?
{Accessing the relevant audio log}
…
Ryder: "Okay, what I need is for everyone to try and get along. This is not a military ship, so we don't have military code or law to fall back on. But, we need to be able to live and work together, so lets get a few guidelines down. One: nobody messes with the engines; that's Gil's job. Two: nobody messes with navigation; that's Kallo's job. Three: if anyone's sick or injured, they will go see Doctor T'Perro. No exceptions, even me. Other than that, so long as the ships still flying at the end of the day and nobody's dead, dying, or maimed… I'm cool.
Liam: "You got it boss."
Drack: "If krogan are known for one thing, it's getting along."
Cora: "But not humility… or self-awareness-"
Stop! SAM, stop.
…
Shit. Scott sighs and runs his hands through his hair.
The meeting kind of broke up from there. Everyone just walked off to do their own things, arguing and jesting, leaving me, flabbergasted and alone on the aft deck.
Fuck, I thought I'd made a better impression than that. What the hell am I going to do with them?
{From your father's memories, as a young soldier, Alec often faced difficulties when dealing with older and more experienced soldiers under his command.}
Yeah, and what did he do?
{Alec's methods lay in leading by example. He would lead from the front, placing himself in harms way before allowing his subordinates to be harmed. He would accept the mistakes he made and learn from them to do better in the future. He also went out of his way to learn everything he could about the people under his command.}
Well, there is something to that, at least. Speaking of Dad's memories, can't you just show me some here and now?
{No Pathfinder. Such memories are complex, and it is too risky to attempt an interface, even across a QEC interface. You will need to return to SAM Node on the Hyperion to access the memories you unlocked while on Eos.}
Okay SAM, have it your way. Well, I'd better turn in.
Oh, before I forget—Vetra, you still up?
[I'm here Pathfinder. What can I do for you?]
When we get back to the Nexus, could you find my foot-locker on the Hyperion and move it to the Tempest? With everything going on, I forgot to have it sent over before we left.
[Sure thing, Pathfinder. It'll be in your cabin before we leave the Nexus.]
Thanks a bunch, Vetra. Say, Vetra? You got a minute to talk?
[Sure thing. Why don't you come on down to my office and we'll kibitz over some Blast'O's.]
I'd love to. See you in a minute.
Well, might as well put your advice to practice SAM. Wish me luck.
{Good luck Pathfinder. Logging you out.}
End recording.