Interloper Rewrite: Chapter 18
Conversations
My boots clomped out a steady rhythm on the metal deckplate of the docking tube, a rapid march that couldn't quite keep up with the anxious tempo of my heartbeat. I fiddled with the small metal disk that rested between my fingers, still warm from the fabricator. Now a day out from the action down on Casbin, the battlefield stink was only now starting to release its hold on my memory, but this walk from the Normandy to the Valley Forge threatened to dredge it back up. I checked the inscription etched into the burnished metal. It was perfect, just as I had seen in my mind's eye. It too was now drenched in memory, though not any of my own. My feet followed the now familiar path through the hallways and corridors to the large infirmary bay. The ship spaces were mercifully empty of crewmen, the constant beehive rush faded away to the normal operational to and fro now that we were back behind the Armstrong relay.
"Deputy."
I looked up, surprised to find myself in front of the double doors that led down the hallway to the infirmary. The marine guard nodded respectfully. I recognized his face; I recognized a lot of the faces of the Valley Forge's compliment these days. We'd carried stretchers together, eaten together, shared drinks when the officers weren't looking, a quiet toast to Chief Ferro on many lips. Pulling her in from the field had earned me more than a few toasts of my own. Rescuing the beloved pilot had made me more popular on the Forge than on my own ship, not that I was bitter.
"Chuck," I replied, "good to see you on your feet. I'd have thought you'd be inside the infirmary rather than guarding it after that display last night."
The marine gave me a ruthful smile and shook his head as he stood aside to let me past. I walked quickly down the hall towards the medbay. I passed a few men from the Normandy. The Forge was also pulling mess duty for both ships while the triage area that had been set up on the crew deck was broken down. The medbay doors opened ahead of me. Jenkins walked out. The marine did a double take as we nearly collided. The thin metal disk slipped from between my fingers to clatter on the ground.
"Oh hey, sorry, didn't see you there," Jenkins said, bending to pick up the still spinning disk. "You, uh, dropped your... what is this?" He held it up, glinting in the light. The coppery sheen refracted off alien angles.
"It's, um, a gift," I responded, accepting the medallion back from my crewmate.
"Huh, it's kind of weird looking," the marine said with a smile. "I'm sure she'll love it." He clapped me on the back and stepped around me. He smiled at my apparent confusion. "Don't worry, I won't tell." He continued down the hallway. I stood there, confused for a second.
"Hey, Jenkins," I called, but the young corporal had already disappeared from sight. I shrugged and stepped through the double doors into the hospital ward. The long room was lit in bright, antiseptic white, the slightly chill air plucked at my skin. But the temperature wasn't the only thing that raised the little hairs on the back of my neck. The double lines of hospital beds stretched away from me, filling the room with muted beeps and the susurrations of life support machines. Though the copper tang of blood no longer floated over the ranks of injured men, the specter of the battlefield still clung close. I shuffled forward, slowed by the nervous energy of having to face the men around me. Some nodded, friendly enough. I returned their salutes gladly, I few I had dragged here myself. But all too many stared blanky at nothing, or did not see at all, their eyes closed fast in drained and drawn faces. I tried not to linger on them, focusing instead further down the ward, where the forest of drips and bags hung like a spider's web over the beds. Only one held blue fluid.
"Hey Liara," I tried, unsuccessfully, not to stutter. The Asari's eyes fluttered open slowly and focused on me. A smile bloomed across her face in slow motion, setting butterflies to wing in my stomach.
"Michael, you came," the archaeologist said. She pulled down the breathing mask affixed to her face and struggled to prop herself up in the bed. I stilled her with a hand on her arm. She smiled again, settling back down and gripping my fingers weakly between cold fingers. "I glad. It's been so lonely here on the ward."
"I, uh, made you this." I handed her the disk with shaking hand. She held it up to the light and peered at it. Recognition reflected in suddenly widened eyes.
"Goddess, this looks almost Prothean." She looked at me, "What is it?"
"From what I can tell, it's their closest equivalent of a get-well card. I think it's closer to the Alliance's Purple Heart though." Liara traced her fingers over the lines that adorned the burnished metal. Her voice gained a hint of concern. "Michael, you had to have accessed the Cipher to find this." She looked at me almost sternly. I looked away. I was still feeling the echoes from the dive into the blocked sections of my brain.
"I got you shot, it's the least I could do," I said, "and I think I still owe you a conversation."
"Yes," Liara said quietly, "I've been going mad over here by myself. If this is what it's like on the other side of the emergency ward, I don't know how you do it."
"Well, I get you visiting, don't I," I said. It was Liara's turn to look away shyly. I stood, feeling very awkward for a second before commenting. "So, over a hundred and you've never been to a hospital?"
"For the last fifty years, I've been mostly by myself out in the middle of nowhere. When I got hurt, I patched myself up and kept moving. It feels strange to just lie here." She released my fingers. I withdrew my hand and cast my eyes around for somewhere to sit. I found a small folding chair and took a seat beside Liara's bedside.
"You got hit pretty bad though," I said. I still remembered the two black holes burned into the back of her armor. I shivered slightly; those two holes had haunted my sleep since returning to the Normandy. Liara snatched me back from my memories with a gentle touch.
"Luckily, it looked a lot worse than it actually was. The suit took most of the force, and the shots managed to miss any major organs. Still, I'm afraid I won't be able to go down and help destroy the next outpost." She looked disappointed, a far cry from the nervous young professor that had stumbled onto Feros with ill-fitting armor.
"You haven't heard?" I asked, "We've been called off the mission."
"The Normandy?"
"All of us. Cruisers from the Fifth Fleet are coming to finish the job. Command has decided that we took 'unacceptable casualties' and that the Normandy has been ordered to go directly to Noveria to investigate the possible Geth presence." I relayed.
"And Benezia," Liara said. Her voice grew cold. This too was a new face, and a greater surrise. Sadness, resignation, these I had been expecting to be tied to this particular bit of bad news. But Liara's voice held steel.
"You worried about facing her?" I asked, laying a hand on her shoulder.
"I am not scared of Benezia!" Liara's voice rose sharply. Her face softened in reaction to my surprise. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that. No, I'm not worried about facing her, what worries me is what could have driven her to throw her lot in with a murderer like Saren and his Geth."
"Perhaps she is being misled, or trying to bring him down from the inside." I tried to comfort the Asari. Mentioning that her mother was being controlled by an ancient giant robot probably wouldn't be wise.
"Maybe." Liara didn't sound convinced. She looked up at me with bright eyes. "Thank you, Michael, for coming to see me. I think maybe you and Shepard are the only people on the Normandy that really trust me."
"I'm sure more it's people than that. I mean, there's Jenkins, and I don't think Garrus or Tali mind having you around. Then there's Joker…"
"I don't know, sometimes I feel that Joker is mocking me for my unfamiliarity with human customs." Liara looked slightly abashed. The expression was utterly endearing on her. I chuckled lightly, drawing a look of scorn that melted into more shyness.
"That's just his way of showing that he cares. Joker's funny like that," I assured her.
"Really? Be that as it may, I think I prefer your way." She placed the Prothean token on the small bed stand that held her vitals monitor and smiled. I smiled back, suddenly feeling very light. And also struck by sudden nerves. I was very conscious of how many wounded men and women surrounded me. None were looking at us, but a little voice in the back of my head was screaming that I'd overstayed my welcome.
"It's been nice talking to you, Liara, but I think you should get some rest. I have to get back to the Normandy anyway, armor needs patching and stuff." I backed away, placing her hand over her breast. It rested there, limply.
"Perhaps you are right," Liara said dozily, "Goodbye, Michael." Her eyes slipped shut and I turned to leave the medbay.
"What, no ancient alien doodad for me?" a familiar voice asked from near my elbow.
"Chief Ferro, I didn't see you there." I stopped in front of the pilot. "How's the leg?"
"A little stiff, much better now that it's not pinned under bits of my own shuttle. I don't know if I thanked you down on the ground, but I appreciate you coming out to get me. From what I gather it was even worse on the ground than it was in the air."
"Yeah," I said, remembering the wounded I had pulled out of the FOB. Shepard had spent hours the day before grim-facedly writing letters to family members. "We got out of there though."
"That we did," Ferro said. "And to think, I wasn't even supposed to be here. I guess it's better than the alternative."
"How's that." I asked.
"My bird, well my entire wing really, we were supposed to transfer to the SSV Market Garden, one of Kohoku's ships. Sure as hell am glad I didn't ship out with him."
A shot of venom was evident beneath her calm, even tone. The anger surprised me.
"So you'd prefer to trade shots with the Geth to taking a tour around the galaxy with Admiral crazy?"
"Are you kidding me?" the pilot shot back. I felt a look of puzzlement slip across my face. Ferro relented. "I guess you must have been running dark at the time. The former admiral attacked a colony. His entire flotilla just showed up over Binthu and opened fire. No warning, no reason, nothing."
The revelation almost knocked me off my feet. Binthu had held a Cerberus research facility, but the entire colony couldn't have been working for them. At the very least, there must have been civilians working in the Cerberus front organizations.
"That's… Crazy…" I said, "He just destroyed the whole colony?"
"Yeah. He's a disgrace to mankind, if you ask me. Are you okay? You look pretty pale. You know people on Binthu?"
"Something like that." I said. Who could have been on that planet? Kelly? Miranda? The Illusive Man himself?
"I should go," I said weakly.
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, kid." Ferro put a hand on my arm. "You go do what you've got to do."
I nodded and walked out of the infirmary as quickly as I could without disturbing the wounded. I fired up my Omni-tool as soon as I had an empty hallway to myself. I shot off a yellowjacket message to Admiral Hackett, warning him to watch the planet Nepheron for signs of Kohoku. I also shot off some inquiries on Dantius and Taylor. I had to know what else I had messed up. The Dantius inquiry pinged almost immediately. Apparently her crimes were grievous enough to offend the Order of Justicars. No loss there, the businesswoman had turned out to be psychotic. Nothing came up for Jacob Taylor. But that wasn't surprising. As a Corsair, actions weren't exactly public record. For now, all I could do was wait. And own up to the Commander. Promises were promises. I made to return to the Normandy. My path took me through the Valley Forge's mess hall. The hall was crowded, the two crews sat in two separate clumps at either end. As I passed, I caught snippets of conversation caught my attention.
"I still say that that's seriously not cool, man." Jenkins' voice rose above the general rabble. "Just ask… uh, ask Mike, he'll tell you." That caught my full attention. I found Jenkins sitting across from Dubyansky.
"Ask me what." I headed over to the table.
"There's nothing wrong with what I did." Dubyansky said stubbornly. "I mean, she's an alien." Jenkins shot him a disapproving look, then turned to me.
"Long story short, Alexei here's being a jerk, and he won't own up."
"Start at the beginning, guys." I said, "What's he done?" I took a seat and looked from one to the other. Neither seemed like they were going to back down.
"Jenkins is overreacting, all that happened was that quarian, Tali, she asked me on a date." Dubyansky said.
"You said no, I gather?" I could see why Jenkins might be getting mad. Tali was a sweet girl, when she wasn't browbeating you into turning yourself in to your superiors.
"He did more than that." Jenkins said, "What were your exact words, Alexei? 'You're a great friend, but I just don't feel comfortable going out with another species.'"
"Jenkins is right, man. You can't just say that." I stated flatly. Being a little uncomfortable around aliens you didn't know was understandable, the First Contact War was probably still fresh in the minds of a lot of humans' minds, but turning down someone as nice as Tali just for being quarian was harsh.
"I don't know why you asked Liddle anyway, everyone knows he prefers the taste of calamari." Dubyansky said haughtily.
"I… what? You know what, I have to see the commander anyway. Excuse me." I pushed away from the table. I hurried back to the Normandy. The ship was much emptier than usual. I strode down to the crew deck, trying to think of a way to explain my actions in a way that wouldn't get my ass thrown off the ship. I hadn't come up with anything by the time I arrived outside the Commander's cabin. I shook my head and murmured to myself, "Guess I'll be winging it then. Here goes…" I raised my hand to knock on the door. The door slid open to allow entrance and I stepped through.
"Commander, I…" I looked up to see Shepard sat at her desk. She had her hand halfway to her mouth, something red and juicy looking was grasped in her fingers.
"Shut the door, Deputy." She said, eyes narrowed, "Take a seat." I took the seat across from her. The object in her hand was a strawberry, taken from a bowl of them she had out on her desk. "Listen close, Liddle, it is strictly against regs to bring outside foodstuffs onboard an Alliance vessel, all kinds of health codes and quarantines and the like, you understand?"
"Yes," I said carefully. I watched the Commander's face, trying to figure out whether to start laughing, or running. She wore the mask she wore into combat, her game face. Something about it was different though; it tugged at the corners of her eyes. "I, uh, won't be telling anyone about this then."
"Good," Shepard said, relaxing the battle mask, "I'd hate to have to make you walk the plank, Joker always complains when I make him lug it around." The illusion of anger had totally faded by now. The friendly, 'I care about my crew' Shepard was now sitting in place of the warrior woman. "Now, was there something you needed?" she popped the fruit in her mouth and chewed luxuriantly.
"I wanted to talk about Binthu, I think I might be partly responsible." Shepard's expression didn't change.
"That's funny, Deputy. I don't see Admiral's stripes on your shoulders."
"Ma'am?"
"Look, Liddle, what happened at Binthu is terrible, but in the end, only one man is responsible, Rear Admiral Kohoku."
"But Commander, I was the one that set him off, I sent him this message…" the Commander put up a hand to stop me.
"Look, Liddle it takes a little more than a letter to set someone like Kohoku off on a rampage. I knew the man from my time on Elysium, trust me. No offence, but you're not God, your word doesn't exactly move mountains." She said kindly. Her words salved some of the worry that had been building up since the news of the attack had arrived.
"I suppose not, I guess I sounded kind of silly." I admitted.
"That you did, Deputy. I won't hold it against you though; it's all a part of your charm." Shepard smiled and pushed the bowl of strawberries over to me.
"You're not… flirting with me, are you, Commander?" I asked. Shepard looked stunned, but soon burst out into a loud bout of laughter. "Ouch, I was just asking." I said, a little hurt.
"No no no, it's not you." Shepard said between giggles, "It's just this is the second time I've been asked that today. I'll tell you the same thing I told Kaidan, you're not my type." The commander wiped her eyes and settled down.
"What, too tall?" I asked, interested.
"It's not that." Shepard said, "actually, if shipboard rumors are true, and I normally don't follow these, our tastes are pretty much the same." Dubyansky's comment came back to me.
"Wait, the asari? Commander, Liara and I are just friends." I said. Shepard shrugged.
"I wouldn't let her hear you say that. Now, since you're here, I wanted to go over our game plan for Noveria. It's a corporately owned colony, so we're going to need to be a bit more subtle than normal…"
