Chapter 30: Chapter 30

Alliances

Chapter 30 : Never

"Reegar, front and center." called Shepard as Tali just looked on.

Hearing the order Kal stood and approached him in quick strides then asked "Yes Captain."

"Oh don't you start that too Reegar." he said looking at Tali. "I find myself with a slight problem. Tomorrow Tali and I leave for the fleet to firm up a salvage deal. That means I have to leave behind an injured marine. I don't like leaving someone unable to defend themselves."

Kal listened to him but was unsure what Shepard was getting at until the last sentence. He knew nothing aboard this ship would harm Lana, not even the geth that now hid less than 5 meters from her bed.

"With the crew known to have been hired by Cerberus I feel a fit marine needs to stay and protect a member of the fleet so I am ordering you to stay here and guard Lana. You are charged with ensuring her safety in my absence. That an order you can follow Reegar?" he asked with a grin on his face.

"Yes sir. I will guard her life as if it were my own." he responded, a smile on his face as well. Shepard still looked out for his friends and he thought once more about what it would be like serving under him.

"Glad that's settled then. Just to be safe, before your shuttle departs tomorrow better make sure they see you grabbing your weapons. Understood?" he asked.

"Perfectly Captain, er sorry. On a battlefield it's easy but on your ship, Captain feels right." Kal replies.

"Alright you win, Captain, for now. Now get some rest, you won't be much good to her if she wakes up and you pass out." Shepard said.

"Good night Captain, ma'am." Kal said and returned to the chair closest to the sickbay door.

"John, should we stay aboard tonight? I don't think anything will happen with Legion but it doesn't mean it won't" Tali said. Looking over as Kal walked back to his chosen chair. She worried about him and didn't know how to help ease his concern.

"No, tonight we use the hotel. I was wondering if you would mind lending Lana a few of your robes. Her suit has been, well, destroyed in the attempts to save her." he said knowing what the loss of her suit would mean since Tali had just expressed her own concerns recently.

"Of course, I didn't realize her suit had been damaged that badly. Yes, she can have any she wants or we can get her new ones. John, she is going to be stuck in that small safe zone in medical until a replacement is provided by the fleet. They take a dim view on any one of us who damages a suit like that on purpose. To them it would have been proper to remove the suit carefully to prevent any damage." Tali said.

"So they won't replace the suit? They would leave her like that?" he asks concerned.

Realizing she said that wrong she said "Sorry, they will always replace something as important as a suit. They will just give her a hard time about it and I don't know how long it may take to receive it."

"Why would it take time? We're heading to the fleet tomorrow, can't we just pick up a replacement while we're there?" he asks.

"It's not like those stores we visited awhile back John. Each suit must be made to the person to ensure a snug fit, you do like the snug fit don't you?" she says as a little playfulness enters her voice.

Smiling at her he said "Now that you mention it, I think I do Tali. But we are talking about Lana here so how much do you want me to like?" Without giving her a chance to respond he asks "Just how long will it take?"

"Bosh'tet," she says letting him off easy. "Depends on the Suit-maker guild. If they are already in the process of creating new suits for others then Lana's request will take some time. You can't just cut here and seal there to create an environmental suit for us John, these are precision pieces of engineering and must be made carefully. I had to wait 4 weeks for my suit after my pilgrimage, lets hope Lana does not." Tali responded.

"We can't have her stuck in sickbay for that long Tali, anyone would go crazy in a situation like that." he said as a thought came to mind. "Um, Tali. Our cabins upgrades have been completed. First, how long would it take to verify its safety and second, would you mind if she.."

"John! That's a great idea. 6 hour seal test and about an hour to run decontamination tests. I can start right now and have it ready for her." she said.

"No, she will be in there for a few days at least. Dr. Chakwas will want constant monitoring as her inevitable illness comes, remember how long your were in there after we helped Zaeed. There will be time after we return from the fleet." he replied.

"You're right, the foreign matter in her blood stream is bad enough but with her visor having been broken there may be complications. Lana will be lucky if she's allowed to leave in a week." Tali responded.

"Anyway, it's going to be at least 3 days before I will be able to take a shower and you know how I like my showers Lieutenant." he says grinning at her.

Smiling within her helmet Tali replies "Yes I do my Captain." The tone of her voice was enough to make John want to run to the shuttle.

…

She sat there silently, allowing only enough of the venom being directed at her to keep herself from smiling. Shala didn't want to show just how much pleasure Daro was giving her right now as she ranted on. Had she smiled, her eyes would have given it away. Finally a pause in the tirade allowed her to respond.

"That is enough of your nonsense Daro'Xen. Do not blame me on the failures of your own personnel." Shala stated loudly. "Is that not your coded seal in the log file?"

"My staff may have failed to notice the importance of this but you and the other Admirals could not have. Why was this never brought before the board in discussion?" Daro demanded.

"An Admiralty board discussion? Just to approve the addition to the fleet of one more ship? Even my own staff handled that mundane chore without me." replied Shala remembering the excitement of Trelen as he told her about it. No, it was best to not provoke Daro that much she thought to herself.

"I see." Daro said looking at her with her arms crossed. "And just who decided to add the 'detached' designator to the Normandy?"

Making a show of checking her readout of the fleets log Shala stays silent for a moment then states "Han'Gerrel authorized it. I do believe it is his cycle to handle the disposition of ships."

"Accept the Normandy into the fleet and then just let it go where it wants? What purpose was gained to the fleet's safety in approving such a request?" Daro asks as she glared at Shala.

"The Normandy, as you well know, has done more for this fleet, more for the quarian people than the fleet has done for itself in the past 300 years." Shala stated then decided to end this and get to the point of Daro's anger. "You really don't care about the Normandy but it's Captain. Why?"

"Shepard! A human who had the audacity to take one of our own. The arrogance to request the Citadel Council give us a world and at her trial he had the gall to suggest we make peace with the geth!" Daro said almost yelling at the end.

Shala countered softly with "The chance to give something to the quarian people that will allow them to hold their head high again. A chance to face the future without the constant fear of attack and the only thing he took from us was the freely given love of a woman. I ask you again what is your issue with John'Shepard?"

"He used his influence with a squad of marines and convinced them to abandon a mission I sent them on. Yes, Kal'Reegar's squad actually left the planets surface before they had even gotten close to their goal. You are in charge of disciplinary actions this cycle Shala'Raan. What punishment do you intend to levy?" Daro stated flatly.

This was the only part of the discussion Shala had dreaded and did so only because Daro was correct. The marines all knew that the mission always comes first. A way out of this was there but only by harming a friend. "You are correct in this. Kal'Reegar abandoned his mission, the preliminary report shows that clear enough. I have been reviewing his file, attempting to determine the best course of action against him. At present I am leaning towards demotion."

"Not Reegar, that fool let his heart get in the way. At the worst he is guilty of cowardice and your simple demotion and work detail will correct that. I mean Shepard. He interfered with the mission. I have no doubt that they would have reached their goal had he not decided to interfere in their mission." stated Daro.

"You are aware that ships Captains do not fall under our jurisdiction?" asked Shala.

"He commands the Normandy yes but he is no Captain." Daro replied but her stance showed her shaken. Did they really confirm that mans position? "Who authorized his status Shala?" she demanded.

"Han'Gerrel, Zaal'Koris and myself. At the time of Han's request none of this," she motioned to the logs, "had transpired. There was no reason not to approve of it. He does after all command the vessel, the same way any other Captain would." she replied evenly. "And after what he did aboard the Alarie,

I do not believe an attempt to remove him as Captain would have met with success."

"Yes, the Alarie. Where the dreams of our race died and then were wiped out by a foolish child protecting her dead fathers image." Daro said with contempt. "And that Captain you're so quick to protect let her do it. Let her destroy any real chance we had of taking back our homeworld."

"Reegar shall be punished but at present, without the support of all the Admirals, Captain Shepard remains. Now we do have more business to discuss. 2175 Aeia is being voted on as we speak. Currently it's 22,832 for and 8,523 against. We both know which way the tally will go. Has your team decided on the location of the nutrient vats?" Shala asked politely.

…

After the trouble caused when Legion made its unintended entrance, Dr. Chakwas had been glad that Tia had not returned. She had been a tremendous help in the early stages but now it was reconstructive surgery and clean up. They could handle that.

With a gentle 'snap' she re-broke the already healing bone in Lana's arm so she could set it properly. Once perfectly aligned she said "Judy, please activate the force splint."

"Yes Doctor," she replied and pressed the icons, watching as a slightly glowing field surrounded the arm. It would not stop someone from moving it themselves but the field prevented Lana from moving it with her own muscles.

"Good, now please wrap that up and Ellen, it's time to get that helmet off. Watch out for fragments from the broken visor please." Dr. Chakwas instructed her.

Both Ellen and Judy were looking forward to this. Tali had never had a facial injury so had never needed to remove her visor in sickbay. Now they were finally going to get to see their very first quarian face, well, first one not in a book or vid anyway.

Watching the two nurses looking at Lana's visor she remembered when Tali had shown them how they were released. Dr. Chakwas had actually been surprised at the amount of hesitation and fear in her voice as she had lifted her hood slightly and shown them all where the release studs were found. She had remembered how to remove it since Tali had shown her before but the nurses needed to know. The same fear had resonated in her voice both times, almost bordering on terror as they had touched the studs to verify positions. The courage it must have taken for her to have removed it for John still brought an admiring smile to her old face.

Tali had changed so much from the young enthusiastic girl she had met on the old Normandy. Reserved she guessed she would have called her when she first rejoined them after Haestrom. But John has a way with people no matter the race or issue. He helped her as she helped him, together they were both stronger now. She had seen that today when Tali stood her ground with those silly marines when they...

"Doctor? Doctor Chakwas? Are you alright?" asked Judy. Both nurses had been looking at her as she just stood there, her eyes slightly glazed.

Shaking herself she looked at them both and said "Yes, sorry. Just thinking about old times." Seeing them ready to continue she says "Please, lets get that off her."

Pulling the hood back they uncovered the metal helmet. The seams were readily visible but the visor had to come off first. With a slight hiss the masks seals were released and the nurses carefully removed the visor staring down upon Lana's face. "She's, she's beautiful" Ellen says.

"Yes yes, looks quarian to me, female as well. Now hush" Mordin said quickly looking up then back to the leg. He was nearing the end of the repair and didn't want to make a mistake. He was taking his time, well for a salarian, making sure everything possible to correct the torn leg was done to ensure full mobility. Distractions were not needed.

Reaching under the helmet, right at the neck seals they release the catches and gently moved the helmet to one side leaving the connecting cables and tubes in place. Small fragments of glass fell around her neck and other pieces remained embedded in Lana's cheeks and chin.

"Lets get her cleaned up" Dr. Chakwas said.

…

"Tali? What are you doing?" John asks as he wraps his arms around her waist from behind.

"Just looking at the city and thinking about what Legion said." she replied softly.

"Today? I don't recall Legion mentioning cities today." he replied with a trace of confusion in his voice.

"Not today John, when he told us about Rannoch. He said they had been repairing and maintaining some of the cities that had remained standing after the war." she said. "I wonder what it will look like after all these years." She glances at a far building as the fading suns light flashes on a few of its angled windows and smiles.

"With luck it won't be much longer before we know. Once they decide on Aeia we can approach the Admiralty board and finally get to see for ourselves." Glancing out the window he says "Which do you enjoy more? Sunset or sunrise?" he asks softly.

"Sunrise, it's like everything is renewed with the sun. What was dull now shines, what was cold now warms." she answers almost in a whisper.

"I like the sunrise too. It reminds me that even in the darkness there is a reason to continue on. Before I met you it was all I had at times to keep me going. Now, with you beside me I always have a reason." he said whispering to her softly. Leaning slightly he kisses her neck sending a shiver through her.

Reaching up she gently caresses his cheek as he kisses her again and a soft "mmm" leaves her lips. Turning her head towards him, he raises his so their lips meet in a soft, passionate kiss. Letting her body rotate within his arms she turns to him as both her hands press against the back of his head holding him in the kiss.

Finally she lessens her hold on him and they break for air. They stand there for a moment, just looking into each others eyes. Letting her arms drop to behind his waist she holds him tight once more saying "You are my reason too John, I was lost without you but didn't know it until you found me again." Pressing her head against his chest she takes one long, deep breath then releases a contented sigh.

Without saying a word they parted the embrace and taking her hand in his walked towards the bedroom.

…

In the darkness of the bedroom a low growl is heard.

"Tali?"

"Yes my Captain?"

'sigh', "You win."

'giggle', 'growl'