Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Alliances

Chapter 24 : Emergency

Every member but Tia began at once asking "Peace?" "What do mean evac?"

"How are we getting out of here?" "Did you say a GETH transport?" "THE Commander Shepard?" "What are you talking about?" There were many more questions but Kal stood silent for a moment then called out "Silence! Listen up people."

"You know the situation. If we continue on the mission to reach that transmitter, a transmitter that I now know is just a worthless piece of scrap, there is a possibility that no one will survive. If we head back to the shuttle and call the mission off then we may face charges of cowardice but if I order you all to board that transport I alone will face any and all charges brought for abandoning the mission."

Looking at his squad he knows he needs to give them a reason to follow him, a reason to give up this fools errand. He must make them overcome one of his peoples greatest fears and actually trust the geth, trust him. Make them reach into themselves and draw on the courage, the inner strength he knows each one has. He is no orator, he has no gift for speaking other than a loud voice. We are marines, trained to fight until death but sometimes even a marine needs to be reminded what we fight for. Our people.

"How many geth have we destroyed today? How many of us have died at their hands on this world? To both questions the answer is none. Each time we have detected one it has moved back, away from us. Geth do not know fear, they did not run away from us but chose not to attack. That information is reason enough to leave this world and get word back to the fleet, to let the

Admirals and our people know something has changed. You must overcome your fear and trust me when I say the geth will not attack us. The only reason to stay is the love of fighting, of killing. I choose to love something else." he says

Using the argument he had used with Lana he attempts to remind them of what is worth fighting for. "A courageous man told me once it's not what you're fighting but who you're fighting for that gives your life meaning. I choose to make my life mean something and not throw it away in a useless fight. As long as there is breath in her lungs," he says pointing at Lana "I will always have a meaning to my life. She is who I am fighting for today, ask yourselves who you're fighting for."

Outside the roar of a transport could be heard landing and was followed by the sounds of an electric motor moving a heavy load. Every member of the squad had see the large craft approaching on their HUD's and were watching the entrances. They were also listening very closely to Kal and what he had to say.

"The man, the human, that saved my life on Haestrom has somehow found a way for peace with the geth. The same man who almost single handedly destroyed a colossus now asks me to trust him and I do. I know it's a lot to ask for but I need you," pointing towards the group, "to trust me the same way I trust him."

"The time has come to make your decisions. I ask again, what are you fighting for? Who do you trust." he asks once more then turning gently lifts

Lana up. Facing his men he says "If you follow me you will live another day,

I promise you that. If it makes any difference, I order you to enter that transport." Turning he walks quickly out of the room and building then up the loading ramp of the transport. Tia had walked right beside him monitoring Lana the whole way.

Seeing that there was nothing inside the haulers cargo bay he walked across the decking to the bulkhead and carefully lowered Lana down. Tia assisted him to make sure that her leg was moved as little as possible. Turning to see who if anyone followed him he was surprised to see all but Rayna. She was the youngest of his squad since Stivin had died and he was sorry she had not the courage to follow. Just as he was about to give up hope on her she exited the building sprinting to the ramp and entering the bay.

As the loading door began to close Rayna looked back once then right at Kal saying "I'm as scared right now as I have ever been Kal but I kept thinking about what you said in the pre-mission briefing. Stick with your team and you'll survive, you yelled it at us enough so it's got to mean something." Her voice made it clear just how frightened she really was but what Kal heard was the trust she placed in him to keep her alive.

They all felt the transport lift and begin accelerating.

…

"Kal said she was bleeding badly, how could he know that with your suits?" John asked.

"It means her suit was already ruptured or torn John, she needs antibiotics as well as an isolation room. If there is a piece of that planet in her leg then the chance of contamination getting into her bloodstream is high. It can be fatal without immediate medical attention." she replies.

"Do your shuttles have what they need to save her?" he asks. "Kal stated their medic was dead, is there a second medical team member?"

"Usually they only have to deal with cuts or bullet holes, I don't know how bad she was injured but if she's lost a lot of blood then they have to start transfusions and as worried as the woman sounded they need to start soon. If they have anyone else with medical training I would be surprised, most teams like this have only one specialist" she replies.

"Will they have enough of her blood type? Transfusions can take a lot especially if the patient is still bleeding" he states.

"We don't have blood types like humans do, every quarian has the same 'type' so they keep 4 liters of purified and sterilized blood on hand in each shuttle but since there isn't any equipment aboard to prepare more its got to be enough." she responds.

"Legion, how far away from the relay are they?" Tali asks trying to calculate the flight times they had to deal with.

"2.5 hours from planet surface to relay in the type of shuttle used by your marines for covert operations Creator Tali'Shepard." it responds

"Tali, just how far is the Migrant Fleet from their nearest relay?" he asks as he realizes what she was thinking.

"They're ice mining again John, It's a 21 hour flight from their current position to the relay" she replies worriedly.

"Roughly 24 hours, Damn!" he exclaims. "A full day before they can get treatment to her? Can the fleet dispatch a ship to meet them? How about one of those pickets? Damn ships are fast, they could knock off a substantial amount of time couldn't they?"

"John, those ships have no bay to allow the shuttle to dock inside and neither ship has the docking rings needed to provide a hard seal. Lana would have to be taken EVA to reach the ship and if her suit is already breached that in itself would kill her" Tali says.

"Don't your ships carry spare suits or at least the emergency bubbles they use on commercial liners?" he asked.

"John we live in our suits, always. We would never need them, well usually never and they would be a wasted resource. No, they need to get to a larger ship. Their shuttle is big but even the Normandy could handle it. The fleet will have to send a larger but slower ship. My guess is maybe reduce flight time by 7 or 8 hours at best." she says.

"Well, 16 or 17 hours is better but still it's a damn long time to wait for medical aid." he replies.

"The Normandy is only 5.5 hours of flight time for them" states Legion.

…

"Must you always be a naysayer Han'Pelus?" asked Patyn.

"Kal, you know Xen is not going to take this quietly. We failed to meet the missions goals" stated Han.

"Admiral Xen is a iaysaz and you know it Han" said Patyn. "She would send an unarmed squad of marines to Rannoch itself if she thought it would get her one byte of data on the geth."

"Shut up you two!" yells Tia then softly she adds "We've already lost 4 people and may lose another. Is that not enough loss for one mission?"

Finding her courage Rayna says "Our mission was to locate the transmitter and determine if there was any usable data to be obtained. We know the transmitters location and I heard Gavn saying that it was sending out noise with nothing hidden in its signal. Is that not a completed mission?"

"Hear that Han, even the rookie knows what a completed mission looks like. Uncloud your visor and look around you. We are in a geth transport being taken safely back to our shuttle! Think about what this will mean to the fleet?" Patyn says.

"We are not at our shuttle yet" Han says. "If we are actually being taken there then we should have arrived already."

"We don't know the speed of this vehicle. It's clearly designed for heavy lifting not quick movements" Gavn said. He was going to add more but at that moment the transport clearly began decelerating.

"Patyn, please as soon as you can get the shuttles hatch open. Illin, you will be assisting Tia with Lana's injuries. Han you're on weapons but I pray we don't need them and Rayna, you're co-pilot. Help Patyn get us home quickly. Gavn, please contact the fleet and get us help." Looking down at her unconscious body he adds softly "The ancestors have no need of you today, stay with me."

There was a slight shifting and the loading door began to descend at the same time the crunching of gravel could be heard. They all watched anxiously as the door lowered, some wondering how far away the shuttle was while others how many geth awaited them. Their HUD's were useless inside the metal container of the cargo hold.

Kal had already picked up Lana and held her close as the door finally opened revealing the shuttle about 10 meters away. Letting out the breath he had been holding he started walking towards the door and paused to let the door stop moving. He was not going to risk falling with Lana just because he was too eager to get her inside.

Patyn sprinted to the shuttle and began opening the hatch as Han and Rayna stood on either side scanning for hostiles. Their HUD's clearly showed none in the area but still it was always safe to use their own eyes. Moving quickly but carefully Kal descended the ramp and ducking entered the shuttle through the still opening hatch. Heading aft he entered the med-station and carefully lowered Lana onto the bed.

No sooner had he pulled his arms from beneath her when Tia stated "Now out Kal, Illin and I can take it from here. You may have seen her face but that is all you will see today! Now OUT!" She had to turn and push him through the door before he started moving on his own.

Illin passed him quickly and once inside the med-station they sealed the door. Kal just sat in the nearest chair to the med-stations door and watched as the indicator above its door went from yellow to blue indicating a sterile room. With nothing to do for the moment he sat and noticed with relief that the shuttle was already climbing into the planets atmosphere.

"Reply from the Moreh Kal, They have dispatched the Ceslian to rendezvous with us. ETA is 17.6 hours." Gavn says knowing that it's most likely not fast enough. He looks back at the sealed med-station and wonders how Illin is holding up. She and Lana had been friends since they met as children on the Bakala.

…

"Damn it Tali, I screwed up bad this time. I should have had them come here. Legion is right, we are the closest help to them even if we can't move" John said clearly angry with himself.

"How could know John? You didn't even know she was hurt and we're not even sure it's that bad. How can you blame yourself for something you couldn't have known?" Tali asks.

"We heard him call out for help, said she was bleeding and you said that means a suit rupture. I know that if that was you I would be burning my drives out getting you to the closest medical aid I could" he said.

"I know you would John and Kal is no different. He will do what he can to save her but he cut the connection, not you. The way he is acting now is how you acted on Haestrom, thinking only one thing, saving the woman he cares for. I know he was not on the bonding path before the trial but the way he is acting now is as if he was already within hecs'tiyl, um, the second stage of bonding but I don't understand how it's moved so quickly" stated Tali.

"Is there any way to get a message to him, get him to reroute to here?" John asks then adds "You must know the frequencies used by the fleet."

"I know the frequencies but not the specific one used by his shuttle on this mission. They are always changed before departure to ensure all transmission are secure. We could contact the fleet and ask but then they would wonder how we knew he was aboard the shuttle in the first place" Tali responds.

He says "Then we take a shuttle from the dock. You know the coordinates of the fleet, we can.."

Placing a finger softly to his lips Tali says "John, please stop beating yourself up. We have done all we can, they should be on or near their shuttle by now, it is up to the ancestors now to guide him."

"The shuttle departed 3 minutes ago, all Creators were aboard." states Legion

"There John, you did save them. Their safe on the shuttle and already heading home. Come, let's return to our cabin so we can talk" she says.

"Alright Tali, you're right. There's nothing else to be done. Thank you for your help Legion" he says and slowly exits the AI core with Tali leading the way.

…

Kal had been sitting there just staring at the door, the cold blue indicator his constant reminder that inside that sterile room was the one person in the entire fleet he would gladly trade places with. He had heard Gavn earlier mention the Ceslian, had heard Patyn teaching relay dynamics to Rayna and even Han's muttered objections to ending the mission but they had drifted by him barely noticed as he concentrated, trying to send his strength through the door to her.

"Time to relay now 15 minutes Kal" called Patyn. "Rayna, double check your figures there. I think you missed something."

"What? Where...damn it. Okay I know the drill, start at the beginning" Rayna says trying once more to solve the equations without the aid of her omnitool.

Finally the door opened and Tia came out resealing the door. The indicator turned blue once more as she sat beside him. "Kal, there is a piece of shrapnel lodged in Lana's thigh. We can't remove it because if we do it will completely sever her yaszil'ahs artery. We can't stop the blood loss either but we've got a transfusion going and we're pushing the blood in as fast as we can. We need to hurry though, we've used up 1.5 liters of blood already and we're going to run out in about 5 hours. If only the fleet were closer."

The first words Kal had spoken since placing Lana on the table came out softly at first. "Closer..Closer" Standing quickly he said to Gavn "Contact the Normandy at the Brevaert Docks in Illium, request medical aid." Moving forward the says to Patyn "New destination, Illium. Brevaert Docks." then returning to Tia he says "Keep her alive for 4 more hours, I don't care what supplies you use just keep her alive please."

"Kal, she needs surgery to save her. What can the Normandy provide?" she asks.

"I met a doctor on board that knew as much about the quarian body as she did about her own human one. Tali said she trusted her with her life, to save Lana I must trust her as well."

"Very well Kal. Lana will make that 4 hours, I promise you that" and standing she re-enters the med-station.

…

Since the Normand was still in stand down, all incoming messages were routed to the XO's terminal. Leaning back from the logs Miranda had been reviewing she looks at her terminal as the beep of an incoming message alerted her to it's presence. Noticing the call-sign she raises an eyebrow, quarian?

Answering the call she says "Normandy, XO Lawson. How may I be of service?"

"Normandy, this is Migrant Fleet assault shuttle M325266-45N32. We are in need of emergency medical aid. Can you assist?" stated Gavn.

"M325266-45N32, we are unable to provide assistance. We are currently drydocked." she replied.

"We understand Normandy, we are coming to you. Kal'Reegar is requesting emergency medical assistance, can you provide?" Gavn repeated.

"Yes, what is your ETA and the nature of your medical emergency?" She remembered that name and she began punching up the Commanders code to conference him in.

"Normandy one of our crew suffered a suit breach and shrapnel is lodged in her leg. It will require a clean room and .."

…

They had been sitting in their cabin for over two hours. Just talking softly back and forth about mundane things as they watched the time slowly ticking by. In a few more minutes any hope of helping Kal would be gone. Tali had done her best to keep his spirits up but she could tell that if Lana died he would blame himself. He always blamed himself when things went wrong. Now they both sat quietly waiting.

The beep on his omnitool surprised both of them, and answering it he hears "require a clean room and" he knew the voice to be quarian and interrupting the conversation said "We understand the requirements needed. You should be nearing the relay now. Head directly for the docks and we will be ready."

"Understood Normandy, we are an armed shuttle. Please advise local authorities to our medical emergency, Kal says we will not be stopping until we reach your ship." Gavn said shaking his head at Kal.

"I read you, tell Kal we'll be ready for Lana when you get here. Normandy out"

...

Iaysaz: Small horned predatory lizard, native of Rannoch. If hungry they will eat their own young.

Yaszil'jies, Yaszil'ahs: The two primary arteries supplying blood to the legs. 'jies - inner and 'ahs - outer. The two arteries provide maximum oxygenated blood to the powerful thigh muscles for extreme but short lived bursts of speed. The femoral artery in humans.

Inszel: Term of status or standing within a social circle. Literal translation: Most trusted confidant and partner.

Used to describe the personal relationship of an individual. Implies a deep personal connection. Humans would say girlfriend or boyfriend but these only touch the surface of what it truly means.

Pemla'tiyl: Term for courtship. Literal translation: Pathway to the mind, the first of the three phases that lead to bonding. The period of time where the couple learns of one another through a deep sharing of thoughts. May lead to bonding or just a very deep friendship.

Hecs'tiyl: Term of courtship. Literal translation: Pathway to the heart. Second of three: Signifying the period where the needs of both begin to overrule the needs of self. Almost always leads to bonding though this phase is usually the longest of the three.

Felz'tiyl: Term of courtship. Literal translation: Pathway to the soul. Third of three: Signifies the period in which the two slowly realize that without the other they are incomplete. Once this phase is entered only ones death can prevent the bonding.