Chapter II
"Commander Hill!" A little ways away, the source of the voice reveals herself to be an enthusiastically waving, attractive blonde woman in a smart suit. She jogs up to them. Her limitless energy is already tiring Cayden. She is tall and her figure is shallow except for her wide hips. She stops in front of them and flashes a warm, wide smile above a softly curved jawline. Her eyes are narrow, but beaming blue beneath a tightly-nestled browline. She reaches up and brushes a lock of her shoulder-length hair behind her ear.
"It's Cayden, please," he pleads. Her entire demeanor exudes that of a snake oil saleswoman.
"Informal? I like it!" She shakes his hand energetically. Hand sanitizer would be nice right now. Cayden is afraid to catch whatever she has. "I am Sephora d'Arles. I will be your assistant and comms officer."
"Fantastic," Cayden says, attempting to hide his sarcasm. He smiles back at her with as much manufactured enthusiasm as possible. His face feels like it's going to crack under the weight of his facade.
"And who is this?" Sephora asks, motioning toward Lia. She seems suddenly cautious and perhaps a bit apprehensive.
"Lia'Vael nar Ulnay," Lia responds, hesitantly offering her hand. Sephora smiles and shakes it vigorously.
"I'm bringing her on as an engineer," Cayden tells Sephora confidently.
Sephora smiles at him. It's hard to get her true reaction because all of her is equally fake. "I'm sure we can use her." She turns and begins to walk toward the docking bays. "Follow me." They comply.
After a short walk, they follow Sephora around a corner and into a bay. The ship within is large, almost as big as an Alliance frigate. It has a thin, shallow-curved profile that ends in a flat bow and stern. On either side, near the rear, it has a white wing with a black engine running parallel to the hull. The majority of the hull is stealth black except for the white trim along the sides that blends seamlessly into the wings. Along the side, just above the white trim, painted in red in a sharp font is the word Fortuna.
"It's beautiful!" Lia remarks in awe.
"State-of-the-art," Sephora explains proudly, "Based on the design of the Alliance warship, Normandy."
"Alliance and Turian Hierarchy warship, if I remember correctly," Cayden corrects. Sephora frowns. Great. Mentioning an alien contribution is the first thing that made her upset. Cerberus is exactly what Cayden has feared, it seems.
"Oh! I know that ship!" Lia wrings her hands. "I mean, it's the ship that saved the Citadel, right?"
"Indeed," Cayden answers before Sephora can attempt any change to the narrative. "Led by the first human Spectre and crewed by a multi-ethnic group with representatives from the humans, turians, asari, and quarians with different backgrounds coming together for a common goal."
Sephora seems to understand Cayden completely and smiles at Lia. "That's entirely accurate." She looks at Cayden apologetically. Cayden looks back sternly. That's probably the best he can hope for at the moment, but he won't be surrounded by hate. Perhaps, in retrospect, Cerberus was a bad choice after all. Although, it's not like he had another at the time. It was more a marriage of convenience than any actual alignment of ideals.
"Why Fortuna?" Lia asks quizzically. "I'm not familiar with that word."
"The Roman god of fortune," Cayden explains to her. "She was fickle."
"A student of history, hmm?" Sephora asks with a bit of surprise. "Unfortunately it's much simpler than that. The ship was christened by a man obsessed with the music of Karl Orff."
"Even better," Cayden begins confidently. He turns to Lia again. "It's from a cantata called Carmina Burana."
"That's correct!" Sephora says, not even attempting to hide her surprise. "You are quite cultured. Not like other Alliance marines I have encountered. It was actually originally a poem complaining about the capricious nature of the goddess Fortuna."
Lia seems impressed and a bit overwhelmed. "Human culture is more complex than I thought."
"How so?" Sephora challenges. Cayden regards her with hesitation.
Lia seems aware she may have caused some offense by insinuating humans are simple. "I mean nothing in offense," she quickly diffuses, raising her hands. "I only mean, I'm not familiar with human culture and it isn't really represented well."
"Humans are quite new to the galactic stage," Cayden dismisses. Lia nods. Sephora smiles.
"I suppose that's true. Hopefully we will be able to acquaint you with our culture on the ship." She motions to the ship, which opens in response. "Speaking of which, let's board."
The three of them enter the ship and move uneventfully into the Combat Information Center. They are met with no pomp and circumstance and Sephora just leads them around the room while introducing crewmen and explaining the functions of various stations and devices. Lia seems nervous as they continue to encounter human crewman and she becomes painfully aware she will be the only non-human on the ship. Seeing her increasing isolation, Cayden flashes her an encouraging smile, which seems to put her briefly at ease.
Soon, they take the elevator down to Deck 3, the crew quarters. Sephora shows them the mess hall, introducing them to Corporal Pavlovich, the ship's cook. They then file to the med bay and meet Doctor Svendsen and Nurse Das. They are then led by Sephora to the forward gun battery and finally to the barracks. Sephora opens the door to the barracks, surprising the inhabitants, four soldiers lounging around the room.
"These are our squad members," Sephora explains, motioning around the room. One of them, a woman in her late twenties with long, jet-black hair, steps off her bunk to greet them.
"Who the hell is this?" she asks Sephora. She studies Cayden up and down.
"This is the new captain, Commander Cayden Hill," Sephora introduces. Cayden offers his hand and the soldier takes it, shaking it vigorously.
"I'm Katsumi Shimazu," she introduces herself. She briefly fixates on the N7 patch on his jacket. "Holy fucking shit, you're an N7?!" she exclaims. Another soldier, a broad built older fellow perks up from his seat. Cayden releases his grip, although she seems reluctant to let go. He looks down at the patch on his jacket, then directly into her intense green eyes, not unlike his own.
"Well," he begins, "that's what the jacket says." He smirks. "I suppose that means I am an N7, or killed one and took his jacket." Katsumi laughs heartily.
"I'm not sure which one of those is more impressive, honestly." She seems to be pulling her shoulders back in a futile attempt to meet him at eye-level.
"Definitely the second one," the broad soldier pipes in a gravely Scottish accent. He drags his muscled frame to Cayden and offers his hand. Cayden takes it and they shake. "Malcolm Churchill," he introduces himself.
"Pleasure," Cayden responds. Churchill, satisfied with his introduction, returns to his seat to resume whatever he was doing on the tablet he has. Cayden can still feel Katsumi's eyes looking him up and down repeatedly. He looks over to his right, where two men are either napping in a set of bunks or completely disinterested in their surroundings.
Sephora follows his gaze and interjects. "That's Jason White and Adam Ward. They are an elite sniper team from the Alliance."
"Don't worry about them," Katsumi says, gathering Cayden's attention once more. "They mostly keep to themselves." Katsumi's long face and wide, prominent jawline is punctuated by a full-lipped smile.
"Noted," Cayden responds. "So, Katsumi, what's your story?"
"Former Alliance marine, we all are, actually," she explains. Cayden nods his approval. Good. Existing chain of command and soldiers who are already conditioned to look to him for guidance. At least he shouldn't have to worry too much about his authority being challenged. Everyone here knows what it means to be an ICT graduate. He's not particularly fond of throwing that weight around, but still, it should buy him a long leash to earn their trust.
Cayden motions back to Lia, who is doing her best to make herself as small as possible behind him. "This is Lia'Vael, she is going to be joining our crew as an engineer." Katsumi smiles at her and engages in an enthusiastic handshake while Churchill scoffs from his corner. Sephora is oddly quiet: just standing next to Cayden with a stupid look on her face. After exchanging a few more short pleasantries, Cayden, Lia, and Sephora return to the elevator and take it down to the engineering deck.
As they step off the elevator, two men are moving skillfully through terminals nearby. As they approach the men, they tie up what they are working on and turn to face the interlopers.
"This is the new Captain, Commander Cayden Hill," Sephora introduces him. She motions toward a slender man with thick glasses. "This is Brenton Warner, our lead engineer, and this," she motions to the other man, a stocky, short man with a prominent brow and dark irises, "is Julian Garcia."
"Commander Hill, it's a pleasure to meet you," Brenton says in a hint of a cockney accent. Clearly both of these men must be from the private sector. They lack the posture or formality of former Alliance.
"Likewise," Cayden responds.
"Nice to meet you," Julian says. Cayden nods. The two men seem to be regarding Lia with suspicion. In response, Cayden steps aside and pushes her forward with a gentle hand on the small of her back. Better to let her introduce herself to the people she will be working with.
Lia yelps quietly with surprise. "Oh, ummm," she begins with a slight stutter, "My name is Lia'Vael." Brenton and Julian look at each other with confusion, then look at Cayden and Sephora for an explanation. Cayden smiles at Lia, urging her silently to continue. "Cayden, uh, offered me a position as an engineer. I hope that's okay."
Brenton and Julian look at each other again. Brenton seems to be accepting, but Cayden can sense a bit of concern from Julian. Luckily, as long as Brenton is on board, it doesn't really matter what Julian thinks. Best to keep an eye on her, though, to make sure she isn't mistreated. This is a Cerberus ship, so xenophobia is definitely to be expected, unfortunately.
"Well then," Brenton begins with a smile, "Welcome aboard! I'm sure we can find you useful down here."
"Yeah," Julian agrees, halfheartedly. He turns to Cayden, "Permission to speak freely?"
"Go ahead," Cayden responds, steeling himself.
"I don't mean to question the Commander on his first day here," Julian begins with hesitance, "but is it really wise to have a quarian work around the most expensive part of a Cerberus ship?"
"What exactly are you implying?" Cayden asks with hostility.
Julian begins to backtrack a little, "I only mean, ummm, Cerberus isn't exactly welcoming to aliens. What if the rest of the crew isn't welcoming?"
"Well," Cayden begins with a satisfied smirk, "as long as you two treat her well, I figure we can integrate her with the rest of the crew slowly. Give them time to adjust."
"I assure you," Brenton interjects with a slight tinge of either frustration at Julian or a desire to prove himself to Cayden, "She will be treated like any other crew member under my watch." He sneaks a stern glance at Julian, clearly meant to quiet him.
"Of course," Julian agrees, cowering under the gaze of both Cayden and Brenton.
"Perfect," Cayden turns to Lia, "are you comfortable with this arrangement?"
"I suppose," she says, wringing her hands.
Cayden leans in close, "Don't worry. I'll check on you at every possible opportunity." Lia nods slowly. They all engage in a short discussion about splitting up engineering duties and watches. Lia agrees to sleep in engineering and Sephora agrees to send a cot down later. Although Cayden protests, Lia assures him she will be more comfortable sleeping next to the hum of the engines. After a short, constructive discussion, Cayden pulls Lia off to the side out of earshot.
"I'm sorry, but I have to ask," Cayden begins. Lia's eyes light up. "What kind of condition is your suit in?"
Lia is taken aback. "Oh, ummm, I mean, it's functional."
"That's not exactly helpful," Cayden replies with a chuckle. "Can't you give me a bit more information?" Lia hesitantly gives him a rundown of the systems in her suit. Cayden frowns as she continues. It is functional, but barely so, at best. Cayden listens intently, understanding far more about the inner workings of quarian enviro-suits than Lia probably expects. After her explanation, Cayden recites all the issues with her suit back to her with precision. He stops at a couple of spots, challenging her explanation with an acute technical knowledge of how the suit functions. She had tried to sugarcoat a couple of major issues and hide a couple others behind technical jargon she clearly didn't expect him to understand.
"Alright," Cayden says, "I'll get it dealt with."
Lia seems surprised. "No, I couldn't possibly ask you…" Cayden silences her by raising his hand.
"Nonsense. I need all my crew members in top shape. I can't have your enviro-suit failing basic functions while you're tending to vital components of the ship."
She looks like she is about to protest, then her posture changes. "How do you know so much about enviro-suits?" she asks accusingly. "Are you actually some kind of creep?"
Cayden laughs, "Maybe I just fell down some kind of documentary rabbit-hole. You never know where the extranet will lead you when you have as much down time as I did in my past job."