Chapter 8
"No, I'm not. Your strategy is one sided and stupid. If you have someone completely at your mercy you can eventually force them to agree to anything. You can make the truth anything that you want."
At that she sounded insulted and affronted "Absolutely not, this is not a torture chamber, and I do not beat people into submission. People come here because they are curious and they want to know."
"What about Udina and myself? We are here because our government wants us to talk to you and the only way we can get a meeting with you is at the end of a session. Isn't that forcing us past our normal boundaries? Not letting us stop when we would normally want to?"
"You can stop this at any time."
"Not if we want that meeting. Udina told our superiors about what happened here and they told me, what you did to him is way past the normal boundaries of even monogamous couples."
"How was I supposed to know that human males didn't enjoy having things put there? I started with a small one and I would have moved onto something else if he had said he didn't like it. He never should have tried to tough it out. You are right however, you aren't here because you want to be, you are here because you were told to be, so this is what we shall do."
Shaan said getting to her feet and standing uncomfortably close to Franklin. Slowly lowering herself into his lap he was intimately aware of the soft material of the skintight suit as she pressed her body against him.
"We will start slowly, gently exploring your limits, discovering what you like, do not like, and what you love. We will use the colour system I explained earlier and I promise I will never go further than you are comfortable with and I will never force anything onto you. It is only a one-hour session and the last 10 minutes will be our meeting time, so the actual session will only be 50 minutes, and I will never do something you really do not want me to, and I promise to do something that you really want me to at the very end." She said two of her three fingers trailing through his hair. "How does that sound."
"That sounds nice." Franklin said honestly. "But my government didn't send me here for a search for truth."
"The good news for me, is that I can set whatever conditions I want for a meeting, and if I want to have a session with someone before any other talks I can do that. You just have to decide exactly how much you and your government want this meeting." She said moving her fingers from Franklins hair to gently caressing his earlobe. "The door is there if your government doesn't want it that badly, the deposit is of course non refundable."
Sighing in pleasure Franklin tried to keep his mind focused, but given how good Mistress Shans gentle touches felt if was getting harder and harder to focus.
"Well, I was told this meeting was important, very important in fact." He said moving his hands to her body and getting a feel for her shape. Her body was soft and although she was more petite than the average human woman her slim hips, and full ass gave Franklin something to hold onto. Her black enviro suit felt soft and smooth, almost as if it were made of latex.
"Well then worm, do I have your consent for this then?"
"This will just be kept between us?" He asked.
"Of course, my sessions are always private. If your government hears of anything that happens here, it will be from you." She whispered in his ear, her mask pressing against his neck.
"Alright then."
As close as they were Franklin had a clear view threw her mask and was able to see a smile he could only describe as predatory.
Standing she put distance between her and Franklin, walking to the wall she inspected a row of flails, whips, and thin sticks hanging from the wall. She fingered a short thick stick that had a dozen long thin whips on the end, each whip having a small pointed barb on it. Deciding against it she moved to another whip that while similar had much shorter whips, and no barbs on the end.
Picking it up she gave her hand a few experimental light smacks as she walked back to Franklin. "Your skin is so soft and smooth, I would hate to leave permanent marks on it, so don't hesitate to speak up if I anything I am doing is too much for you." As she reached him she ran the end of the whip up his body the cold material raising goose-bumps on his skin where it touched. Shan seemed enthralled by that as she ran it across his nipples and then up his neck across his throat lightly. "The goal here is to push you past your limits, in a safe and enjoyable way, so that we both learn more about you." She said as she clicked shut a small bracelet that was lined with a soft material onto each of Franklins wrists.
"The code to remove these is your name, just say it and they will remove themselves. Now go stand in the center of the room."
Franklin stood and all too aware of his growing erection moved to the center of the room where she had indicated.
Pushing a button on her omni tool the restraints began glowing a soft blue as they raised themselves up. When Franklin's arms were up as high as they could be they stopped. Placing two more cuffs on his ankles Shan touched her omni tool again and the cuffs on his ankles glowed as well. Despite the fact that the restraints were not connected to a single thing Franklin was completely unable to move his arms or legs, it was like they were attached to invisible steel posts.
Mistress Shan walked around him slowly examining her handy work. Looking at; and running her hands over his shoulder muscles to make sure they weren't tensing unnecessarily which would indicate discomfort, she then checked his joints to ensure that they were not straining. Either muscles too tensed or strained joints could lead to pain in the long term, which was unacceptable to her. It wasn't that she was against pain, It was one of her best tools, but it should always be pain that she inflicted, careful, measured, never any more than what people could handle, and never something from being held in an awkward position for too long.
Reaching out and touching him she trailed her hand along his body, fingers trailing up and down his chest to his stomach, down to his crotch and then around to squeeze his ass.
"You have beautiful skin, soft like an Asaris, but even more responsive."
As she was standing behind him the first strike of the whip on his ass caught Franklin completely by surprise.
Yelping in surprise his entire body shook and tensed in response his hips jutting forward, cock hardening and bouncing as he moved.
"It marks easily though." Shaan said looking at the small red marks even that gentle hit had left. "Was that too much?"
Franklin took a deep breath finding that his heart was pounding in his chest. "No, that was fine. I was just surprised."
Walking back around she placed her body close to his as she placed the whip in his mouth gagging Franklin and keeping his mouth forced open.
"From now on worm when you address me it will be as 'Mistress Shan' or simply 'Mistress'"
"And if I don't" Franklin said, although with the whip in his mouth it came out as more of "Nnn igh I on't" Mistress Shan however seemed to understand what he was saying anyways.
"If you don't then I will correct your behavior worm." She said reaching up to his nipples and grasping them between two of her three fingers and gently twisting them. Franklin had never really experimented with pain before, but he had to admit the sensation was not unpleasant.
"Now do you have anything to say to me worm?" Mistress Shan said removing the whip from his mouth.
"Yes." Franklin said leaning forwards in his bindings trying to press his body against hers.
"Well worm?"
"Mistress Shan," Franklin said before pausing, unsure how to continue.
"Well?" She said testily using the whips against Franklins ass.
The thwump of the whip on his skin wasn't hard, and didn't particularly hurt, but it was surprising enough that he gasped and his hips moved away from the implement.
"Could you not call me worm?" He yelled out in a rush. "Mistress Shan." He added as an afterthought.
"You think you deserve a name?" Mistress Shan said walking around to the front of Franklin. Her entire body, and posture radiated anger. "So long as you are here you are less than mud, you are dirt, being called a worm is a kindness." She said her voice raising by the end.
Franklin cowed by the sudden anger plowed ahead to try and explain himself. "Perhaps you could call me pet mistress?"
At that Shan stopped suddenly. Unbeknownst to Franklin she had a heads up display on her visor and was running a search through the publicly available database that humanity had given to the citadel, she was currently looking for any mention of pets.
Walking around Franklin to buy time she quickly skimmed the entry on dogs and cats with interest. Krogan and Turians were known to keep Varren, as pets, but the ubiquitousness of pets in human culture intrigued her.
"You wish to be my pet?" Mistress Shan said keeping the surprise out of her voice.
Franklin surprised himself by nodding. "Yes, Mistress Shan. I want to be good for you and be rewarded for it." Where the fuck did that come from? He thought.
Behind Franklin Mistress Shan rethought some of her initial plans. Krogan enjoyed being dominated physically, Asari mentally, and even Turians often liked to be insulted and made to feel insignificant. It wasn't so strange that the large imposing human would want to be dominated emotionally.
"If you wish to be my pet, you will have to earn it." On a whim she put her hand in Franklins hair and made a fist, pulling his head back towards her she saw his now rock hard cock bobbing in front of him.
"Yellow! Yellow!"
Releasing her grip immediately she gently pet his head. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, that felt good, but a bit too much. It is possible to rip my hair out, so try to avoid that Mistress."
Gripping his hair again she slowly pulled back listening to Franklins breathing get faster and shorter, as the skin on his face and body flushed red. Taking all of these as a good sign she reached around him with his other hand and began pulling on his right nipple.
Franklin for his part found that he couldn't move his arms and legs restrained as they were and with the small strong hand in his hair pulling him backwards his cock had gone from 'mostly hard' to 'able to mine eezo with'. The pressure on his scalp felt amazing and when she started tweeking his nipple he could only groan with pleasure at the strange sensation.
"And tell me Pet, what color are you know?"
When Franklin didn't answer right away, lost as he was in the pain/pleasure mixture she bent down picked up her whip and swung at Franklins ass.
Colliding with a loud smack Franklin jumped forwards with a startled yelp. "Green! Green!"
"When I ask a question you answer pet!" She yelled spanking his ass again a little harder.
This time it was hard enough actually hurt and Franklin was certain that this was going to leave a welt. Mistress Shan smacked Franklin again and again causing Franklin to try to dodge away from it, but with his hands and feet stuck in place by the floating restraints he was just wiggling back and forth, his cock jumping up and down with each movement.
Shan was only whipping Franklin in order to buy time, while she was perfectly willing to use pain and floggings if that is what the subject wanted. In this case she was using this time to look at videos of dogs and how people interacted with them. It wasn't much to go on but she thought she had a general idea of what to do. Positive reinforcement would probably be better than negative reinforcement, shame better than pain.
Stopping the whipping Shan walked around Franklin until she was standing in front of him. "Alright now do you want to be a good or bad pet?" She said lightly running her fingers up his stomach, over his chest, and held his face in her hands fingers near his mouth.
Looking down at Mistress Shan Franklin answered quietly. "I want to be good Mistress Shan." He said lightly licking her fingertips.
Releasing his restraints, she watched as he put his arms down rubbing at his shoulders. "Very good pet, now down boy."
Franklin allowed himself to be pushed down to his knees and looked up at Mistress Shan. She placed her foot on his shoulder letting her leg rest against his cheek.
"My leg is tired, massage it."
Franklin started at her ankle feeling the soft material of her suit. While it looked like latex it felt more like leather, and it was surprisingly warm to the touch. Rubbing her calf Franklin's fingers worked gently into the muscle slowly moving upwards to her knee, and then past that to her thigh. Groaning in pleasure Mistress Shan took her leg down and moved over to the chair and sitting down.
"Come." She said spreading her legs.
Franklin stood up but was stopped by Mistress Shan.
"No, not like that. Crawl to me pet."
Franklin crawled over to the chair, the ground cold on his knees. Making her way in-between her legs Franklin reached to her leg but was stopped by her whip pressing against his chin. "No pet, use your tongue."
Franklin looked up at her from between her legs as he picked up her ankle and started licking the inside of her leg, slowly moving upwards, one leg to the other.
Shan was still researching dogs and had gotten the idea of the licking from how they showed affection to humans. This was extremely different from the video, much slower and more sensual. Shan for her part found herself really enjoying it, she couldn't feel too much because of her enviro suit, but the combination of the pressure on her sex and dominating a new alien was really working for her.
Placing her whip behind his head she leaned down towards him and whispered. "Your color?"
"Green, very green." He said mumbling around her thigh.
"More tongue pet, show Mistress Shan how much you want it." She said pulling his head in-between her legs. Franklin immediately began licking her crotch like a dog. A wave of shame and arousal flowed through him. He knew that this was probably not doing anything for her but he still enjoyed the action. The feeling of her suite on his tongue and just knowing what was underneath the suit made this feel incredible.
Shan felt herself getting aroused from this and grinned to herself, his enthusiasm was incredible and she wondered what it would be like if she were able to feel him directly against her sex, but of course that wasn't possible.
Placing the whip under his chin she pushed his face up. "Very good pet, I think you deserve a reward for that. Do you want to see what's underneath my suit?"
"Yes, mistress Shan." He gasped out.
She tapped her omni tool and her enviro suit shimmered then turned translucent, her visor was still opaque, but Franklin now had an excellent view of Mistress Shan's skin, legs, and pussy.
Reaching out he felt her legs hesitantly, half expecting to feel her skin he instead still felt the suit.
Her skin was a light purple color and Franklin could almost imagine the feeling of the flesh as his fingers worked their way up her legs.
As he approached her pussy Franklin took it in.
It was different to a Human woman's or an Asari's. The lips were a different shape, wider and thicker, certianly no less beautiful for it though, and Franklin wanted nothing more than to gently run his tongue over it and massage its gentle folds with his fingers.
Running his tongue over the translucent material of the suit was as close as he could get unfortunately, but judging by Mistress Shan's groans and the way she moved her hips she was still enjoying it.
Mistress Shan for her part spread her legs a little wider and ran her hands through Franklins hair wishing that she could feel his tongue on her directly, but still enjoying the pressure nonetheless. A small part of her mind was chiding her. You're losing control, does the great Mistress Shan let someone else tell her what to do? Is she taking orders from someone again?
Gently grasping his hair Shan pulled Franklin away from her. Bending so she loomed over him she took the time to enjoy his expression. It was complete lust and wild abandonment of thought. She had seen similar looks like it before on her clients but she had never seen it as strong as this.
Taking a deep breath she thought through the next part of her plan. She had embarrassed him, hurt him physically, and used him for her own pleasure, next was orgasm denial.
Tapping her omni tool she watched as Franklins expression turned to shock as the restraints on his wrists and ankles turned blue and pulled him backwards gently. When he was in the center of the room, more platforms raised up from the ground to press against Franklins back and legs raising him off the ground on a platform that was almost twice the size of him.
Tapping at her omni tool Shan sent most of the platforms back into their small holders in the grounds and walls leaving Franklin on a floating table that conformed to his exact shape. The restraints on his arms and legs were now holding him down securely to the floating table.
Taking a deep breath Franklin saw Mistress Shan approach him from the foot of the platform, her entire suit except her faceplate now see through.
"Well pet, you did a very good job, tell me did you enjoy licking my pussy?"
"Yes, Mistress Shan."
"Then I think that you have earned a reward." She said running her hands up his right leg towards his cock.
"This is something different." She said which did not exactly fill Franklin with confidence. Touching it with one finger she ran her digit slowly up and down it watching as it jumped up and down as if it had a mind of its own. Grasping it between two of her fingers she marveled at how it felt both soft and hard at the same time. As she gently stroked him up and down she saw the skin of his cock move as well.
It was different to any other cock that she had seen before, and she had seen the genitals of every species in the known galaxy.
Turians held theirs inside until they were aroused and they were made of bone. Salarians had a cloaca which was extremely sensitive. Elcore were larger than was practical, Hanar had prehensile cocks, and Krogan were smaller than their body size would indicate, but still enough to put someone in the hospital if they weren't careful.
A humans cock seemed different, it changed almost to match the owners mood, hard when you grasped it, but still soft on under a touch, and the skin moved strangely. Covering the tip and then pulling back. As Shan stroked it, it was almost enough to mesmerize her. The thick hair around the base and hanging testes were equally interesting and baffling. As far as Shan knew no other species had anything like them. Fortunately Franklins groan of pleasure snapped her out of her trance. The goal here was orgasm denial, and that was always difficult with a new client, with a new species that she didn't even recognize their body language yet it would be even more difficult.
Walking around Franklin she approached her wall of whips and flails, returning her first choice she ran her finger up and down her collection, stopping she chose a simple, thin, and slightly bendy switch. Something that would startle and cause discomfort, but shouldn't leave any marks or serious injuries.
Slapping her hand at just the right angle to not hurt but create a loud THWACK instead, Shan walked back towards Franklin who was squirming in his bonds trying to see her. Standing over him she hit her hand again, allowing the sound to unnerve him.
"Color Pet?"
"Green, Mistress Shan."
"Good. Now Pet, because you did such a good job earlier you get a reward. I am going to touch your cock for you. Do you want that?"
"Yes Mistress Shan!" Franklin almost yelled, his cock swaying as he spoke.
"Good, however Pet, you are not yet allowed to cum," She said trailing the soft end of the switch down his body and running it around his cock. "If you do, I will be forced to punish you, do you understand?"
"Yes mistress."
With that Mistress Shan stepped onto a small floating platform and used that to step onto the table Franklin was secured to. Sitting down Shan straddled Franklins hips, her pussy directly on top of his cock. Groaning in satisfaction at the touch Franklin looked at his cock as it looked like it was rubbing directly against her pussy.
Mistress Shan leaned forwards and placed the switch beside Franklins head, a reminder of what would happen if he allowed himself to cum.
Rubbing his chest she payed special attention to his nipples, rubbing then and gently pinching them. As his groans increased in volume Shan pinched them harder and harder as she moved her hips on top of his cock, getting into the pleasure she was feeling herself.
On a whim she moved her fingers up his chest, trailed her fingers over his neck and began gently pinching, and rubbing his earlobes.
"Oh that feels good." Franklin encouraged before adding. "Green, but be gentle."
Moving her hips a little faster Shan felt herself getting closer and closer to her own orgasm, which surprised her a lot. She always enjoyed her work but usually didn't orgasm with clients.
Moving her hips lower she reluctantly moved her pussy from Franklins cock, this was supposed to be his reward after all, she could make sure he took care of her in a moment. She ran her three fingers down his body, taking a moment to touch the fine hair on his stomach that led down to his penis.
When her hands finally reached his engorged member she was surprised to see that it practically dwarfed her hands. She knew that he was larger than her, but she hadn't thought she would need both hands for this.
Holding it gently but firmly she began slowly pumping her hands up and down, watching as the skin on his cock moved with her hands. Franklin groaned as his body bucked upwards and Shan absently pushed a button on her omni tool and a small metal plate flew from the wall to Franklins hips, holding him in position.
Focusing on her target Shan began pumping her fists up and down faster and faster.
Franklin for his part now found himself almost completely unable to move as the petit Quarians hands pitoned up and down faster and faster. Although her suit was see through he could nonetheless feel the material on his cock. Groaning in pleasure he started to feel a familiar tightening in his balls as he got closer and closer to orgasm.
As much as he really wanted to cum he was even more fearful of the nebulous punishment Mistress Shan had promised him. Because she had no idea of what was normal and taboo with humans who knew what she could come up with?
Playing it safe Franklin spoke.
"Mistress Shan; I'm getting close to cumming."
He had meant to sound confident when he said it, unfortunately it instead came out in an awkward squeak.
He was however rewarded when Mistress Shan laid down on top of him and pressed her body close to his own, which took some of the disappointment away.
The feel of her invisible suite was strange to Franklin and when she placed her face plate next to his ear he was strongly reminded that this was not a human woman on top of him, but her whisper into his ear kept him in the moment.
"Very good my pet, you were perfect, I have one last task for you, and then you will cum for me. Do you want that?"
"Oh god, yes Mistress Shan."
"Good." She whispered into his ear.
Turning around so that she was facing his feet Shan straddled his head kneeling above his face.
"Now pet, you make me cum and I will make you cum."
"Yes Mistress Shammmfffff." Franklin said as she cut him off by lowering her pussy to his face.
Mindful to make sure that he could keep breathing she barely rested herself on him, but he made up the difference by pushing his head up into her pussy.
Still restrained Franklin could only do so much but he pushed his face upwards into Mistress Shans crotch and began licking her suit as hard as he could. Part of it was to make sure she felt this through the suit, and part of it was that he was desperate for her to cum so he could have his turn.
When she stopped stroking him he almost whimpered in disappointment.
Moving his tongue up and down then back and forth Franklin wasn't sure where to focus his attentions, so when Mistress Shan bent forwards and rested her crotch on his face he simply chose that area and began alternating sucking and then licking.
Mistress Shan began squeezing her chest and pinching her own nipples through her enviro suite, groaning as her orgasm approached quickly.
The Human may not have any idea what he was doing, but he was certainly enthusiastic about doing it.
Shan not wanting to lose her feeling of control muted her own microphone so Franklin wouldn't hear her cum. But nothing could disguise her muscles tensing, body shaking and the extra weight Shan allowed to rest on Franklins face as her orgasm ripped through her body.
Falling forwards her hips raised up and Franklin took a deep breath glad to be able to breathe unobstructed again. He had never felt like he was in any real danger, but with the excitement he was feeling he had been getting a little short on breath.
Looking up Franklin saw that her pussy was literally twitching, and a clear liquid was smeared on the inside of her suit, leaving her pussy soaked in her own juices.
Turning her microphone back on Shan turned around and gently touched the side of Franklins face in a way that was soft and almost tender. Looking down at him Shan had to stop herself from laughing. His face was covered in his own Saliva, and looked as wet as her pussy felt.
"Well done Pet, now you may have your reward."
Shifting down until her hips were just below Franklins cock she grasped it in a feather light grip with one of her hands. Gently stroking up and down, barely touching it, Franklin groaned at the feather light touch.
Mistress Shan saw Franklins testes begin to contact and she felt his leg tense. Knowing that he was close to his orgasm she grasped his cock with both hands in a firm grip and began bouncing up and down with her full body.
"Do you want to cum all over me pet?"
Writhing in the restraints Franklin tried to pump his hips up and down but could barely move.
Watching Mistress Shan move up and down like that it looked like he was fucking her, even if he knew he wasn't. His toes curled as every muscle in his body tensed and he felt his orgasm roll through his body. Balls tightening one last time he felt warmth spread through his body as he finally started cumming.
As the cum spurted from his cock Mistress Shan kept pumping her hands up and down the sticky white fluid landing on her hands, and one final spurt even managed to hit her directly on her visor.
When the last spurt hit her Shan yelped in surprise and jumped up. Losing her balance she fell back but was saved from falling off the table by putting her arms behind her and bracing herself on Franklins knees.
Franklin was just coming down from his orgasm when Mistress Shan almost fell off the table, the shock of fear and surprise prolonged his orgasm and he shuddered as another spurt of cum shot out of him arced through the air and landed on her pussy.
Breathing like he had just run a marathon, eyes closed and chest heaving up and down. He was snapped out of his stupor by the restraints on his arms, legs and hips snapping open.
Stretching and rubbing his wrists as he sat up he was surprised to feel two hands pushing him back down gently.
"Lay back, rest a little. Here." Mistress Shan said as she pushed a soft blanket onto him.
Opening his eyes Franklin had to stifle a laugh as he saw his cum slowly dripping down her face plate.
"You lay here, I'll be just one second."
Franklin relaxed as he considered his feelings. He had never really done anything quite like this before and he was suddenly feeling antsy, and nervous although he couldn't explain why.
Before he could dwell on it too much Mistress Shan approached him, her suit once again jet black, and cleaned up.
"Lay still Pet, now we will talk."
"Right about my governments proposal."
Sighing Mistress Shan answered as she slipped under the cover beside him. "I had hoped you had forgotten about that. No this is something else, you have just been through a shock and now we need to make sure that you are ok. Lean back onto me."
The platform shifted and Franklin found himself sitting up a little but still laying down with Shan right beside him. They shifted until he was laying down in-between her legs laying back onto her. Franklin was a little worried he was crushing her, but she was more solid than he had given her credit for, so she was comfortably holding him.
"Lean back, just relax. You did very well today Pet. Did you have a good time?" She said as she gently stroked his hair
"I did, it was strange and a little nerve wracking, but I enjoyed it."
"Was there anything I could have done differently? Or anything you would want done to you next time?"
"Well, I guess you could have spanked me a little more." Franklin said feeling a little embarrassed.
"Oh, you liked that?" Mistress Shan said a smile in her voice. "It's always difficult to judge things like that for new clients, and I've never had to break in an entirely new species before, so I was a little worried about crossing a cultural boundary, again. I'll remember that for next time." She said still gently running er fingers through his hair.
Franklin felt his heart beat slow as he relaxed into her. Unfortunately he was here for work, so eventually he would be forced to ruin this nice, relaxed atmosphere and start talking about what Sir Patrick had sent him here for, but before he could Mistress Shan started speaking first.
"I am going to have to have a shower and change my encounter suit later."
Surprised Franklin spoke. "You have a shower? I thought Quarians couldn't leave their encounter suits at all?"
"Did you read that in the codex?"
At Franklins nod she spoke again.
"You shouldn't believe everything you read in the codex, most of it was curated to make the citadel look better, or make others look worse. My people don't leave our encounter suits very often, and some people leave more rarely than others but if we have access to a clean room it can be perfectly safe. I have my own here that I use, and after what you did to me I definitely need to use it." She said with a small laugh running her fingers through Franklins hair again lightly. "I even allow other Quarians to use it if they need to."
"That's nice of you, are the clean rooms rare?"
"They aren't too rare, but they can be a little pricey, and the average Quarian on their pilgrimage doesn't have the extra money to spend on something like that. Since I am a little more financially stable, I try to help others if I can."
"Do all Quarians have such a strong sense of community?"
"It varies, there can actually be a lot of tribalism. People on some ships look down on people from others, especially if your from a smaller ship you can be treated like a second class citizen occasionally. But on the pilgrimage you always try to help others as much as you can. It can be a dangerous galaxy out there especially for us." She said sounding sad towards the end.
"Do you have any plans to go back to the Migrant Fleet?"
"Not really, I know that someday I will almost have to, but for now I am enjoying myself. I have a job that I enjoy, that pays well, a large apartment all to myself, and security that I can't get back in the fleet. It can be difficult sometimes, but ultimately I feel like my place is here."
When she had said that Franklin was already planning his next move. The compensation that he had planned on offering her for her assistance was something that Shan would likely be less interested in. A ship would be useless to someone who enjoyed staying in place, money wasn't something she needed given her rates, so what did that leave?
"So how did you become such a great engineer? When my government looked for the best engineer in the galaxy your name was at the top of the list."
Shan made a noise like a snort mixed with a raspberry that Franklins translator told him was the equivalent of a small laugh.
"The best engineer in your peoples price range you mean. As for how? Just practice and drive. So tell me what does your government want with me so badly that they sent not one but two people to talk to me?"
"Apparently our largest mass effect cores are less efficient than the galaxies standard."
"Large mass effect cores are always less efficient than smaller ones, that's why dreadnoughts have a maximum size."
"I know, but compared to ships of similar sizes, or even larger sizes ours are much less efficient, my government feels that you can help us solve this."
"I probably could, but why? I may not like the Citadel very much, but even I admit they usually help their members with things such as this." She asked before taking a deep breath and answering her own question. "Your government is sending a message, that you're perfectly fine not joining the citadel and that you can find your own answers from alternative sources. That's a dangerous game to play with the council, they are the largest government in known space for a reason, and they do protect their monopoly."
"My government is aware, and I am sure we are perusing this information from multiple sources including the Citadel itself, but there is no reason that we can't get a variety of opinions. I understand one of my colleagues is speaking to an Elcore engineer right now. Although I think that meeting will be a lot less fun than this one. So what would it take to convince you to sign on with my government for nine months to consult on this?"
"You don't have anything that I really want."
"What about something the migrant fleet needs? We would be willing to provide your people with a retrofitted light cruiser for your use."
"Retrofitted how?"
"No weapons, and only civilian grade electronics, it would still have its kinetic barriers, full life support and engines."
"That is an excellent deal, but I have no reason to take it."
"Not for yourself of course, but how many of your people could complete their pilgrimage if you gave them the ship?"
That gave her pause, and a moment later she spoke again. "That is true, but I have my life here, and if I left I would lose my home here, it wasn't easy to get this place, especially for a Quarian."
"My government would be willing to pay your rent while you were consulting with us, your apartment could still be here when you get back."
"If it were that simple sure, but with space on the citadel at such a premium there are occupancy laws here. If no one was physically living in my apartment I would still lose it, and the rent as a penalty."
"Theres ways around that though, you don't know anyone who would like to live here rent free? If not my government would be willing to provide you with a house sitter, on top of the rent."
She took another moment to think and then said definitively. "Send over a formalized agreement and I will look it over."
Looking back at her Franklin smiled and Shan felt her heart skip a beat.
"One more thing though, if I agree, I want you to be the person who watches my apartment."
"Why me?"
Caressing his face she spoke softly. "Because we have a relationship, and you know that when I say this I mean it. If I come back and anything has happened to my apartment I will do things to you that will make you weep."
His mouth suddenly dry Franklin could only nod his agreement.