Nihlus had been on the ship for two days now and almost every time she turned around he was right there. There were several times that she had to physically hold herself back from asking him if he'd like to hold her hand since he was following her around anyway. This morning had been different so far though, she hadn't even seen the turian all day. She's filed reports eaten breakfast and taken a shower and hadn't even seen a glimpse of him around. That probably meant something serious was about to go down. After inspecting her armor and gear for the 1000th time since she'd gotten onto the ship she decided to go see the pilot and Presley to make sure everything was running smoothly. She met Presley near the galaxy map and they went over crew assignments and possibly swapping some of the crew between night and day shift. She made her way up to the bridge when she heard the old familiar voice of her turian right hand. He was complimenting the pilot on his flying and said that the captain would be pleased. He seemed startled when he turned around to see her there, she had to stifle a laugh as he walked away. He'd startled her so many times in the past few days it was nice to return the favor. As she turned back to the pilot she noticed the lieutenant sitting in the seat next to him. He looked over at her and smiled, she smiled back at him. Alenko hadn't said anything to her since their first day on the ship. He seemed shy and he kept to himself mostly, but he seemed very sweet and eager to help. The pilot, Jeff, had made some snarky remark about Nihlus and before she even had time to respond the captain came over the com and was calling for her to come to the com room.
She didn't really know why she was surprised that Nihlus was in the com room.
"Hello Commander, tell me have you been to Eden Prime before?"
"No I've never been, but from what I've heard it's a paradise. The alliance is very proud of how successful it's been"
"Of course, it's a symbol for your people, proof that humanity can maintain and protect its colonies. But a paradise?"
She swallowed hard before she spoke and took a step towards him
"After the attack on Mindoir humanity as a whole began doubting the safety and stability of our colonies, and in turn the Alliances capabilities to protect them. Eden Prime was one of the first colonies to be founded after the attack and it set the standard for all of our colonies moving forward on how to maintain its safety so nothing like Mindoir could ever happen again. It rebuilt a lot of trust in the Alliance. Add that to an ecosystem that is nearly identical to that of Earths and spectacular views, and people start calling it a paradise. Are we headed to Eden Prime?"
He turned to face her
"You grew up on Mindoir. You where there for the attack. Humanity is still newcomers, how safe is it really? Based on your experience on Mindoir do you think it's truly safe? Is the Alliance truly ready for how dangerous the galaxy can be?"
She thought for a moment before she spoke. Nihlus stared at her like he was trying to read her.
"You want my honest opinion, or an Alliance approved response?"
He laughed at that
"Off the record and completely honest."
"I think it would be naive to assume that the Alliance could protect our colonies from every single threat, we're still very new to the galaxy and the dangers it holds. I think the Alliance should concern themselves more with constant upgrades to the safety protocols and standards of our colonies. All of you have been out here for much longer than us, you've all established colonies and kept them safe for a very long time. We could learn a lot from other races. We hardly have any real alliances with other species, and I know a lot of other species view us as something of a bully with how hard the Alliance is pushing for a seat on the council and a human spectre. We'd have a much easier time getting those things along with learning how to better protect our colonies if we focused more on building relationships with other races."
There was silence for a few moments before he spoke
"You're something of an enigma to me Commander, I've…."
Anderson walked through the door then.
"I think it's time we told the Commander what's really going on" he said as soon as the door behind him closed
"Scientists on Eden Prime have discovered a Prothean beacon. We're making a covert pickup to bring the beacon to the Citadel, but that's not the only reason I'm here. I'm here to observe you. I put your name forward as a possible candidate for a spectre."
"You want to make me a spectre? Well I guess that explains why everytime I turn around you're there"
"Yes," Anderson said "this is big Shepard, humanity has been pushing for more say in the council and having you be a spectre would give us that."
Before she could respond Jeff came over the intercom
"Captain, we got a distress call from Eden Prime, I'll patch you through."
The video played there was heavy gunfire, but the audio was almost completely inaudible. The signal cut out right after the appearance of a massive ship.
"Joker, get us in as quickly and quietly as you can. Tell Jenkins and Alenko to suit up." He turned to face her as Nihlus headed out the door "Shepard we have to recover this beacon? This would be huge for humanity." They walked out the door together and headed towards the shuttle bay. She could feel in her gut that this mission wasn't going to go well.
