Chapter 45: Chapter 45

Alliances

Chapter 45 : Caught

Entering the sickbay Tali sees Mordin standing by Lana's bed and approaching him says "Professor Solus, I was informed you needed to see me in person?"

Looking behind him he says "Ah, Ms Shepard. Yes, I have something for you." and fully turning around, a large medical injection gun is clearly visible in his hand. "I've been doing some interesting tests lately and I think you will be please with the results.".

Seeing the gun she stops and just looks at him. "Ah Professor, I'm not sick. I don't believe I need any type of medication currently." she said wondering just what he was thinking. That was one of the multi-medication units used in surgery and not something for a single injection.

"What? Oh, this." he said waving the medical gun. "I was just explaining its use to Miss Shalgur is all. Very inquisitive mind she has, much like yours though your grasp of the technologies is quicker."

"I'm sure that once Lana has become more comfortable here you will find her abilities to be on par with mine." she replied, hands on her hips. "What was your reason for needing to see me other than to insult her?" she asked as she glanced at Lana behind him. She was still laying so very still, almost as if she were afraid to move.

"That did not come out as intended." he said and turning back to Lana stated "I did not mean to offend you."

"Professor?" Tali said getting his attention again. "You needed to see me?" she asks again.

Taking a deep breath he says "So many variables, so many options. This is for you." Handing her a small medical vial he continues ".5 cc today and every day for 6 days." He begins to turn back to Lana but Tali stops him.

"Professor, just what is this and why should I be taking it? I am not sick, I have no fever. I was not injured in the battle earlier and as I am already fully adapted to John, nothing his body harbors or produces effects me negatively any..." She stops as she hears the gasp behind Mordin. "Oh keelah, Lana. Um, I'm sorry. I did not mean to embarrass you."

Lana, who since waking up had been afraid to move her arms due to the sensations now had both of them covering her visor.

"The medication is not for Commander Shepard's fluids or bacteria, it is for your immune system. It should start the rebuilding process." Mordin said.

Tali had embarrassed herself for saying something like that near anyone but a doctor but as she heard what Mordin had said just stood there looking at the vial of medication. "But...how?" was all she could say. Even Lana's hands had dropped to her sides and just stared at Mordin.

"Without the proper background in the medical sciences any explanation I give you would make little or no sense. What is does is restore your own bodies ability to adapt." Mordin said. "Your bodies still know how to do it as is evident by your ability to mate with Commander Shepard." Ignoring the muffled groan behind him he continues "This just reminds your body how to do it quicker, with less side effects."

"My ability to mate, as you put it, is not the topic of this discussion." Tali responded as another groan came from Lana. If the fluids burn they will still do so, if ingestion causes a stomach cramp it will still do so and any bacteria will still affect me. How is making it faster any better?"

"I said with less side effects though you were warned about ingestion." he said crossing his arms. "Currently, this will just start the rebuilding process. More data is required for a permanent cure but the faster the body responds to the foreign matter the faster it can contain it. What would take a few days for the fever to grow and start to diminish now may be done in less than two and with less time the fever will not be as severe."

Turning to Lana he says "Miss Shalgur, this information is for your benefit as well. This is your future too. Please pay attention."

"So, if foreign material entered my body," another groan from Lana is heard, "it would still make me sick but it would have less effect on my system and clear up quicker?" she asked finally understanding.

"Precisely." replied Mordin. "Anything entering your body would be less prone to cause a great illness. The ingestion you mentioned for example. You would get a stomach ache and maybe throw up or have cramps and diarrhea but in one pass it would be over with and no accompanying fever or prolonged illness." Turning again to Lana he responds to her groans once more saying "Why does the topic of eating bother you so much?"

Lana just looked at Mordin through her fingers as she tried to hide within her helmet. Her face felt like a blast furnace was raging within her helmet and she could not find her voice to answer. Ingesting!

Tali replied "This would have been nice to have when John and I decided to try a little sample of each others meal. It tasted kind of bland but the aftereffects were not a pleasant experience."

"As I said, no ingestion. Remember, this is not the cure but a step in a very long process. In six days time I will require a blood and tissue sample to check and verify the results. " Mordin said and looking once more at Lana he shakes his head and leaves sickbay.

After the doors closed Lana was able to ask "F..Food, you ingested his food?"

Looking at her Tali responds "Of course, ah..maybe we should have that talk now."

…

"Captain, the Moros has gone dark." stated Mr. Dorcas, the ships Fire Control office. "All tracking has been lost. She must have activated her stealth systems as no explosions were detected."

"Give those idiots about another 30 minutes before they call off the chase and they still have 9 hours of flight time to get here. Oloff did a good job, the Hunley will be here in 5 hours and nothing can get in our way." he replied.

"He did lead them on a merry chase that's for sure." said Dorcas. Glancing at his tactical he says "Course change to Brevaert Docks in one hour 10 minutes sir, then full thrust for 15 minutes and we will be in position."

"Very good Mr. Dorcas. Remember, this ship is expendable, the Normandy is the only thing of importance." stated Giovanni.

"I still can't believe the orders we received sir. The Thanatos may not be top of the line anymore but she's a fine ship and fully able to stand her ground in a fight." Dorcas replied.

"Don't get too cocky Mr. Dorcas. That ship has upgrades that make us look like we're made of paper. We have orders to block their escape not murder the crew. We fire only if we have to and only to disable, got that?" Captain Giovanni states.

…

After the initial embarrassment of both Lana and Tali they had settled into a pleasant conversation about the fleet and as they talked it had moved into their private lives. Lana, though 2 years older than Tali, was still far behind her in knowledge where it came to love and the intimacy it entailed. She had the theory but no working knowledge as her questions to Tali showed.

The on watch Nurse, Judy, had spent most of that time out in the mess decks allowing them privacy as Lana asked questions and Tali attempted to answer each with as much detail as she could while trying not to reveal too much of her own personal intimacies. Lana did not need to know those things to understand the feelings that the bond brought or the completeness she felt as they joined.

Now as she rode the elevator down to engineering she finally remembered that vial of Mordin's. Sliding it into the built in medication dispensers in her suit she activated her omnitool and set it for automatic mode, setting the dosage and time interval. As the first injection was administered she wondered if it really would help her. If it did, then her whole race could be saved the pain and worry even when they did something as natural as kiss the one they loved.

Entering Engineering she was pleased at the quiet sounds that came to her. Normal operations were back and glancing over at Ken and Gabby she smiled. They always stood next to each other when on watch but now Tali could tell they stood just alittle closer, their voices lower as if trying to keep their words to just each other even though she could clearly hear them talking about the ships systems.

"Hi Ken, Gabby." she called out as she took her customary place at the main engineering console.

"Hi Tali." they both called back. Gabby adding to it with "The new thrusters are all set for real power. I channeled a 10 percent feed through their control coils, dumping it before actual ignition, and they responded nicely. Can't wait to feel them in action."

"If there's any action you be feeling it better be.." Ken was replying when Gabby gave him a look that stopped him dead. "Sorry Gabby." he finished and looked back to his own control board.

"Ken, did you find that power drop in the shield capacitive systems?" asked Tali as she brought up her own diagnostics displays.

"Aye Tali." he replied, "was just a loosely seated module like you mentioned. Of course it was the last module I checked but the shields are ready for powering up whenever the 'Captain' wants them." Snickering at his remark until Gabby elbows him.

Satisfied that engineering was as ready as could be for now she logs her entry and placing her console in alert mode moves towards the door to verify storage in lower level was completed. As the doors opened she heard the announcement.

…

"Miranda, it's been almost 3 hours of waiting. In less than 5 hours the ship that dropped that shuttle off will be here and I do not want to go up against a warship if I don't have to. Where are those replacement parts?" Shepard asked as he paced back and forth in her suite.

"I am still waiting to find that out myself. All I'm getting from them is that they are in transit but were held up due to additional parts being requested." Miranda replied.

"So their coming, we just don't know exactly when? I'm not willing to risk the safety of this crew or ship for a few parts Miranda." he said.

"I agree on that and if it wasn't for the four holographic field distortion modules I would say screw it and tell you it's time to leave. Your little gun play at CIC did some damage to the main holotank and we need that for navigation." she responded.

"We didn't have much choice there but at least Garrus was able to contain the damage to just Kelly's station and the modules around it. The display is still operational so I may just leave without them." he stated.

"Your call Shepard but I don't like the idea of putting out to space without replacement parts. Of course there is the conference room." Miranda said and looking at the holo-pad said "EDI, the field distortion modules used in the conference room, are they usable as replacements for the main display in CIC?"

"No, they do not have the required power handling capacity and the operating frequencies are half what is used in CIC." replied EDI.

"EDI, is that rogue ship still heading directly away from Brevaert?" Shepard asked.

"Yes Captain, at least that was the last report received from Brevaert's tracking systems. There is nothing more current than a 58 minute old report and the pursuing ships still seem to be chasing it though they have slowed considerably." stated EDI.

Miranda said "Well, at least we don't have to worry about some renegade ship trying to shoot at us when we leave."

"Something Tali said earlier still bothers me." Shepard says as he just stares out the portal for a moment. "She said that there was a similar incident with the flotilla. She didn't go into detail but the way she said it means it was not something good."

"You think it's a diversionary tactic? The records from that recon shuttle showed it was attached to the Hunley, a heavy cruiser and the biggest ship in the Cerberus fleet. If that rogue is here to clear the path for them then they started way too early, the Hunley can't reach us in less than 4 or 5 hours according to the shuttles logs. But I wouldn't worry about the Hunley, it's over 15 years old and under-armored. It would not be much of a match against us." Miranda said.

EDI stated "If we assume the rogue is really a diversion then I must postulate that the asari freelancer frigate that is approaching Illium might be the teeth to this trap. It is not on a direct vector towards Brevaert but it is approaching close enough that a 20 minute thrust would have it before the space docks doors. Currently it is 28 minutes from orbit."

"Is there a visual on that frigate." Miranda asked.

"Yes." replied EDI bringing up the ship on Miranda's terminal. "It is a standard Alliance designed frigate though 12 years old. Many of these ships were sold on the arms market to fund newer ships."

Miranda studied the ship, the range was great enough that small details were impossible to make out but one thing was visible. The forward dorsal strut, no longer used on new frigates, was still there and its shape was unique. "Shepard, look at the dorsal fin. See the shape of it, taller than it should be and has the flare at the base?"

Standing over her he studies the image and EDI assisted by depicting the design in a line drawing next to it. "Yes, not a standard design but nothing really remarkable, at least to me. What do you see Miranda?" he asked.

"The Thanatos. Cerberus. We need to leave now or they may blow the door locks and trap us." said Miranda already starting to stand.

Shepard moved quickly towards the door calling out "Battle stations EDI."

EDI did a number of steps as Shepard finished his sentence. First she commanded the elevator to deck 3 so Shepard and Miranda could get to CIC quickly. Second she said throughout the ship "All hands to battle stations." and as the klaxon sounded she brought every one of her offensive and defensive systems fully online.

…

In engineering Tali immediately returned to her station and before the klaxon had sounded it's final note her console was alive with the readouts of the core and fusion plant.

Both Ken and Gabby had dumped the routine diagnostics they were both running and now their consoles were reporting real time status of all the ships power and propulsion systems. Ken saw the power draws as the various subsystems began to power up and smiled as he saw how quickly the controls responded, stabilizing the power feeds.

"Propulsion systems manned and standing by." called out Gabby.

"Power systems manned." said Ken right after her.

"Captain," Tali said via EDI, "Engineering manned and ready." She didn't know what was going on but she would never let her curiosity interfere with her duty and this was her duty, man engineering and make sure the

Normandy had the power and drive to battle what ever attacked her.

…

Shepard and Miranda were just exiting the elevator as they heard Tali's

report. The crewman who had been able to get in the elevator before it left deck 3 were piling out, manning their stations as Shepard moved up to his customary location at the holotank. Looking around he saw his people sliding into their workstations and screens flaring to life as they brought the Normandy to battle readiness.

Shepard said "EDI. Tactical, show me where that ship is. Miranda, contact Brevaert have them release docking clamps as soon as Joker report..."

"Helm manned and ready for release. Maneuvering thrusters standing by." stated Joker as EDI watched from his left. "So EDI, this a drill somebody thought would be funny to pull?"

"No Jeff, there is a Cerberus frigate closing on our position. We need to leave now." replied EDI.

"What? All this for a frigate? They know their going up against you?" he said shaking his head. "Sucks to be them." His eyes constantly watched the readouts waiting for the docking clamps to release their hold.

In CIC Shepard looked at the display, clearing showing the Cerberus frigate and it's position to the space dock. "You heard him Miranda, get those clamps clear and as soon as the ship reports manned I want those doors open." Shepard said as he heard the various stations reporting manned and ready. They may be forced out of their safe haven but by god the Normandy was not going to be caught sealed in a box.

...

A/N: There seems to be some questions about using TIM as an antagonist. HE IS EVIL. There. :)

Honestly, the Illusive man does not want Shepard dead. TIM wants his tools back in the toolbox and that means Shepard and the Normandy back at his beck and call. That is his sole reason for chasing them down. He has an agenda that does not include any other races other than as subservient chattel to humankind. Shepard is going against that agenda and royally irritating TIM.

(I do not use TIM in the story as it just doesn't feel right)

The recon team? Arrogance got them killed, they were ordered to only look not touch. I thought I had made that clear in the story but I guess not. Andrews, the LT in charge of the recon team, took it upon himself to show how good he was and take back the Normandy. Since he was only told to find it, he was not privy to the standing orders of capture. He did know that Cerberus was collecting quarians and turians through through scuttlebutt on the Hunley.

What manpower Cerberus has is not insubstantial but nothing compared to Shepard and his team. The ships at the Illusive man commands are old, refurbished warships. A lot of the personnel carry the disease of human superiority and are racist towards the other species. Most of the commando teams in Cerberus (in my story) are made of mercenaries and Alliance rejects. Let's face it, the only thing accomplished by Cerberus that was good, that we know of, is bring Shepard back. In all other dealings with them, their people have gone rogue or at least that what TIM says.