Chapter 29: Chapter 29
Alliances
Chapter 29 : Captain
They had been at it for almost an hour as Tia just sat watching them. Dr.
Chakwas had asked her a question every now and then as they reconstructed Lana's leg, trying to make it look as normal as it could. She was pleased to see they put so much effort into repairing the damage and not just sealing it up. Even from where she sat she could tell the scaring would actually be minimal considering what her thigh had been through.
"Her temperature has peaked Dr. Chakwas. Only 3 degrees above normal." Ellen said as she monitored Lana's vitals signs. "Her heart rate is slightly elevated but within safety limits and her blood pressure is good."
Dr. Chakwas was surprised by the new mixtures effectiveness. "Well Dr.
Solus, it seems that new anti-biotic cocktail of yours is working rather nicely. Tali never responded this well and she wasn't exposed to anything even close to what this young woman was." she said adding "Ellen keep her unconscious, don't let her wake up."
"Understood doctor" replied Ellen.
"Yes, but just anti-biotic no." Mordin said as he carefully bonded together a torn muscle. "Anti-biotic just kills. This designed to improve immune system, help body learn to protect itself as well," he said as he moved to another muscle fragment. "Was surprise for Tali'Shepard, sadly now ruined."
"Ruined? I think not. Knowing Tali she will be very happy to know it's first use was to save another quarian Dr. Solus." Dr. Chakwas said as she moved to get a better look at his work. "Out of curiosity, how does it work?"
"Reminds body of what belongs, what does not. Foreign material, viruses, bacteria and such are detected. Body responds quickly to neutralize them though I do not believe we have seen the worst reactions yet. Watch her, some problems are slower in revealing themselves."
Tia was unsure she had heard him correctly so she asked "Excuse me Dr. Solus but did you say it was making her immune system better?"
"What? Yes yes, Better immune system, less chance of deadly reaction, thought I said that," he said reattaching a severed tendon. Taking a deep breath he looked at Ellen and said "More suction here."
Tia let what he said roll around in her mind. Better immune system. They were trying to correct the quarian's biggest issue and they were still wearing Cerberus uniforms! She must really try to pay more attention to what they were saying and stop bothering them she thought to herself but she wanted to know one thing, "Dr. Solus, how fast will that work?"
"First run, change minimal to immunity, still decades for now. But will improve with tests" he said continuing his delicate work inside Lana's leg.
Decades still but he did say it will get better, maybe just years when he's done?. It may not happen but she could hope at least.
"Okay Judy, guess we're ready to look at her arm." Dr. Chakwas said as she examined the scan she had just taken. Looks like a fairly clean break. Good job setting it but she needed to correct a misalignment or it will never feel right. "Let's get that sleeve off please"
"Yes Dr." Judy replied as she released the seals on the glove and peeled it off. Setting it aside she reached behind Lana's shoulder to release the seal there but the activator failed to respond.
"Dr. Chakwas, her shoulder seals won't separate." stated Judy then glancing up said "Tia, could you give me a hand here? I can't get the sleeve to detach from her suit."
Moving carefully around Dr. Chakwas to reach Lana's right side Tia said "It should just release like her glove did. Please let me look."
"Sure," replied Judy as she stepped back from the bed letting Tia deal with the sticky connection.
Looking at it she could a slight warping, most likely damage from the explosion she thought. Pressing the release mechanism a few times she could tell it was functional so it must just be stuck. Looking at Judy she said "I will activate the catch but you will need to pull the sleeve down quickly."
"Okay Tia, tell me when," Judy said as she took hold of the lower joint where her glove would be sealed. "Ready."
Reaching back to the seals release she said "Just one second...now."
Judy gave a slight tug and the sleeve separated smoothly. Pulling it carefully off the injured arm she laid it with the glove saying "Thank you Tia. Dr. Chakwas, ready." Glancing at Tia as she started to move away Judy asked "Tia? You okay?"
"Oh, I'm fine. Just alittle worn out from the day. I'll just sit down until I'm needed again," she said as she began moving around the bed. Dr. Chakwas was moving as well but she was watching Mordin and Tia moving quickly sideways to avoid running into her brushed again the doors control to the AI Core.
The soft hiss of the door opening was followed by the unexpected sound of a synthesized voice asking "Creator?"
Looking up she sees Legion looking at her and turns quickly knocking Dr. Chakwas down as her ingrained fear takes over and without looking back she runs from the room. As the door to sickbay began closing she yelled "g..g...GETH!"
Tali, having already been standing was the first to reach the door and blocked it with her body yelling "Stop!" That caused enough of a pause, enough confusion, for Shepard to join her before the marines recovered and began moving at them.
"Stand down marines!" he bellowed in his command voice and this time they did stop, all except Reegar who advanced right to Shepard's face. Addressing the remaining group he added in the same hard tone but less loudly "You will remain outside of sickbay. Lana is still being operated on and I will not have her safety jeopardized by any of you."
Looking straight at him Reegar said "Shepard let me pass" he said in such a cold voice that John knew that unless he was allowed to enter Reegar would attempt to force his way in.
"We go in together Reegar, Legion would not hurt anyone here." John said then turned to enter sickbay. Dr. Chakwas was still on the floor trying to stand and Nurse Stanford was moving around to the table to help her, Mordin was looking at Dr. Chakwas then to Legion who had started coming out of the AI Core room.
Swiveling its head towards the door Legion states "Shepard Commander, we geth did not expect to find more of the Creators present." Looking at Lana it continues by asking "Does Dr. Chakwas require additional assistance in repairing this Creator?"
"Reegar, relax. As you can see Lana is safe." Shepard said then looking at Legion he said "Damn it Legion. You were supposed to remain in the core room."
Shepard could hear them behind him as they talked "That geth talks!" "It's armed!" "It's taking orders from Shepard?" "Why is it here?" but he ignored them for the moment. Looking at Dr. Chakwas, standing now as Legion had assisted her, and said "Dr. is it okay if Reegar here can see Lana?"
Seeing that Shepard was allowing Kal in Rayna made a move to follow and Tali said in the sternest voice she could "Stop marine. He said stay where you are." She knew that right now these quarian's could destroy the future she had been dreaming of and was not going to allow that. She had failed on Freedom's Progress, she would not fail here.
Rayna looked at Tali then to Patyn but before she could decide to obey or not
Tali added "Let me introduce myself properly corporal. I am Lieutenant Tali'Shepard vas Normandy and I order you to stay where you are." Her voice still hard and clear.
Hearing Tali behind him he actually smiles, she was finally tapping that potential of leadership that he had seen within her. Looking behind him he sees the squad standing there, unmoving and knows that she has them under control. Turning back to Legion and Reegar he just stands there as it's now really up to Reegar himself to decide his course of action.
Dr. Chakwas was still trying to sort out what just happened and how she had ended up on the deck when she heard the Commanders question. Waiting for
Tali to finish she then said "Yes if he must but if he breaks this barrier he will answer to me Commander." Turning to Legion she adds "Thank you Legion but we have it now."
Glancing only once more at Legion, Reegar advanced to the barriers boundary and looked at Lana. Mordin had continued to work on the rebuilding of her leg and his motions drew Kal's eyes to the wound. He allowed his eyes to move over the damaged section and realized just how uncovered parts of Lana were. Quickly he tore his eyes from the place where the cloth covered her hip and scanned upwards. He saw her chest moving with easy breaths and new she was safe. Her suit had been cut open from waist to neck for some reason and he feared to ask why. Turning from her he looked at Shepard saying "I am sorry for doubting you Captain."
"Reegar you only did what I would have done, how can I find fault in that? Come, let's get out of here before Dr. Chakwas decides she needs kicking practice." John said then looking at Legion added "Okay, you come too. It's hit the fan and now I get to clean up the mess."
Glancing up from her work on Lana, Dr. Chakwas said to herself 'John, I hope you know what you're doing.'
Turning towards the door the three of them walk towards the gathered and most likely gawking quarian's. As they reached the door Legion says "Shepard Commander, should this platform disarm itself? We calculate a high probability that since these Creators are unarmed, the weapons we carry will cause uneasiness."
"First lets get away from sickbay. Lana needs quiet now." John said as he lead Reegar and Legion back over to the tables. "Reegar please take a seat." and looking at the others said "That goes for all of you. Sit."
All the marines sat quickly but their eyes never left Legion. They all seemed nervous though as they looked upon the fully armed geth. The fact that every weapon they had was safely stowed away aboard the shuttle did nothing to put them a ease. Worn by the battles earlier, stressed in the flight to save Lana and shocked with the revelations from Shepard they followed his orders unquestioningly.
Turning to Legion, Shepard said "Legion, please had me your shotgun."
Immediately it reached behind itself and pulling the weapon from its back handed it to Shepard without saying a word.
"Rayna." he called out and as she looked at him John tossed the shotgun to her.
She had been surprised when Shepard called her name but as the weapon arced at her she easily caught it and in a fluid motion pressed the stud to extend it into firing mode. Legions flaps raised quickly but nothing else moved on it as Rayna aimed the weapon dead center in its torso. She did not fire.
Understanding his intentions Legion asked "Shepard Commander, do you wish my other weapons to be distributed among the Creators?"
"No Legion. I think the corporal has you safely where I want them." he said smiling. It was obvious that a lot of the tension he had felt coming from the group was evaporating now. Even if only one member of your squad was armed then the whole squad had a chance. Marine reasoning maybe but it was working.
"Now marines. Let me introduce you to Legion. It is the reason you are alive right now. It is how I was able to contact you on a geth held world, using geth held equipment. Through it, you were given a ride on a geth transport and allowed to safely leave the planet. It is the reason your squad mate Lana now lies on an operating table and still breathes. Now, do you really need to point that weapon at it?" Shepard asked.
Looking at Rayna he just stood there as what he said sank in. Slowly Rayna laid the weapon on the table and put her hands in her lap. "Thank you, I want everyone one of you to understand that I trust Legion with my life. It is not controlled or forced to be here but is here none the less and I intend to use that fact. You said earlier that I would need proof of the geth's offer of peace. Legion is part of that proof and soon I will have the rest."
"Now, if you have any questions please ask myself, Lieutenant Shepard or Legion. We will all do what we can to put your fears to rest." He had decided to use Tali's rank to enforce upon the marines the chain of command here aboard the Normandy.
Tali just shook her head as the voices rose in unison, each with their own questions. Moving to sit next to Reegar she rested her helmet in her hands. 'Keelah' she said to herself as the questions surrounded her.
Over an hour after they had begun Reegar left the mess and coming back carried a number of tubes labeled 'ale' and 'wine' in the rough human scrawl that he had seen Gardner using to indicate the contents. As the discussions continued non-stop he passed the tubes around.
More than two hours later John was beginning to feel bad for Legion, surely its power cells would need recharging after all these questions. Shepard still could not understand how these 7 quarian's could talk for so long without tiring. He did note that Tia had not moved in the past 30 minutes and was fairly sure she had succumbed to exhaustion. The rest were running on ale but that would not last long. Time to step in and take a break.
Clearing his throat he paused for a moment then said "It has been a long day. I think that everyone could benefit from a good nights sleep."
Patyn stood and replied saying "Yes, I think we all could use some rest Captain. It will give us all a chance to sort out what we have heard and seen today."
"We have sleeper pods, no one is using them right now so your team is welcome to their use." Shepard said as he motioned to the dual row of pods behind him. "The dock workers will be back in the morning but there is still about 7 hours before then to get some rest."
"Thank you Captain but I think we will be fine in the shuttle. I still have a report to complete and right now, I think something familiar to us all would be welcome. Kal, if you prefer to stay on this level I understand," said Patyn. Looking at the rest of the squad he said "Someone wake Tia and lets go get some rack time."
Shepard wanted to make one thing clear before they left and said "Legion will be returning to the core room. Since that is through medical I do not expect any of you to enter there. Until Dr. Chakwas gives the okay even I will stay out. Now hit the pods people. Tomorrow will be here soon enough." A chorus of "Aye Captain" came from the quarian's as they moved towards the elevator. Reegar though just sat, looking at the sickbay door.
"John," Tali said. "They've been at it now for over 4 hours. How much longer do you think it will be before we know something?"
"I got the impression earlier that Lana was already out of danger. I've been in enough field hospitals to know when something is going bad and in there," motioning towards sickbay, "I got the feeling of routine and not worry. She will be fine though her leg did look pretty bad."
Glancing at Kal she says to John quietly "If she loses any real mobility in her leg she will be dropped from the marines. Separated from him just when their feelings are growing, his feelings are moving towards hecs'tiyl. It could mean the end of his relationship."
"Why? They could still see each other. It's not like they would be prevented. Would they?" he asked.
"No, not prevented, but she would be returned to her own ship and that makes a relationship difficult for a marine. They go where the fleet needs them and rarely spend much time on one ship. No Captain would allow her to follow them through the fleet." Tali says.
"So the only hope of keeping them together is for Dr. Chakwas to perform a miracle? Tali, her leg was badly torn up. I've seen human injuries like that that have left the guys limping for the rest of their lives even with the medical advances we have now." he said as he guided her further away from Reegar.
"What do we do in the meantime though? As soon as we reach the fleet they will arrest him John." Tali said with concern.
"I don't know. Lana is stuck here, I doubt Dr. Chakwas will release her to travel for a few days at least and that wound is going to take a week to heal completely. She held here, Reegar held on the fleet. I just don't know Tali," he replied.
"John," Tali says as an idea comes to her. "You could require him to stay here to guard her. After all, the Normandy was a Cerberus ship with a Cerberus crew. The fleet doesn't need to know that the crew all follow you now. No one would fault a Captain for leaving a marine to protect an injured quarian on a ship with hostile crewmen."
"I do like the way you think though you're getting way too much use out of that Captain thing Tali." he said smiling at her.
"No my Captain, I have not used it near enough." she replied and gently tapped her visor to his forehead.
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.
Silz'asul felz: Term of bonding. Literal translation: Eternal dance of souls. The completion of the bonding process. Souls linked forever in life and death as the lifemates continue on the walk of life as one.