A/N: Hey all! Hope everyone had a good holiday. I should finally be back on track schedule wise.

I'm jumping time a bit in this chapter. It is something that is necessary as will hopefully become evident later on in the story. There will be occasional mentions of the activity that happens in the time gap.

Enjoy!

Five years later

"We will be in orbit in half an hour, Captain," Joker said, glancing around at her from his chair. Melara drew to a stop just behind him, tucking her hands behind her back with a nod.

Sometimes for fun, other times just out of habit, Melara would do her best to sneak up on him. Her mother used to tell her stories about how Del would often take the original Joker by surprise, prompting him to declare she needed a bell tied around her to alert him of her approach. Mel, being a highly trained soldier and a Spectre, could be incredibly silent when she wanted to be, and yet she had never managed to take her Joker by surprise.

She knew this was not because of any lack of personal skill, but rather because he was a synthetic, with highly developed hearing. As well, he was integrated with the ship and her surveillance systems- he could see her coming through the interior monitors four decks away.

Never stopped her trying, however, and never really got rid of that tiny sink of disappointment each time she failed.

"Notify the station and the Protek of our final ETA, and clear her shuttle for landing the moment it launches. Let me know when she's on her way- I'll meet her down in the cargo bay."

"Yes ma'am."

{Captain, can you come down to the infirmary please?} Lily's voice came suddenly over the com, sounding excited and breathless. Mel lifted a brow.

Wonder what that's all about? she thought, even as she turned to head to the lift. "I am on my way, Lily."

As she stepped into the infirmary, still going over the Protek's impending arrival in her mind, her vision was suddenly caught by a smear of amber and gold that launched directly at her face. In one smooth motion, she turned, catching the boy neatly around the waist and halting the mostly padded strike of his hand toward her face with a subtle flare of blue.

"Aleu!" she said, half-laughing and half-scolding.

"That's not fair, Tatta! You used your biotics," he protested. Setting him on his feet, she gave him a somewhat stern look.

"Yes, I did, because I saw you had your claws out," she said. "We have talked about that, Aleu. You do not use your claws in play."

"They were only a little out-"

"A little is enough. No claws in play. And no ambushing people in the infirmary, even in play. There are too many things that can get broken in here. Am I understood?"

The young rakir- five years old but the height of a human boy twice his age (with three times the muscle)- gave a pouting scowl. "Yes, ma'am. No claws."

"And?"

He huffed. "And no ambushing in the infirmary, kra!"

Her glare deepened. They wanted him to have some tie to his natural people, of course, so recently they had been playing him language tapes of rakiri. He'd taken to peppering his galactic with them, but apparently she was going to have to re-review those tapes for appropriateness. She knew perfectly well what 'kra' meant, now fluent in rakiri herself, and it was not language a child of his years should have known or been using.

"Aleu, you will not repeat that word again. And be thankful you said it in front of me and not your Tama."

He seemed to realize, even as he said it, his mistake. His ears flapped in clear embarrassment, and he ducked his head. "Yes, ma'am."

Despite his size, Aleu was still very much a child. With still a year or two to go before he reached puberty (if, in fact, he did not turn out to be Stunted like so many of his people) he had no beard yet, his face and features still softened with youth. His hands, feet, and ears seemed to be overgrowing the rest of him, giving him a clumsy and awkward look- one he would never outgrow if he did in fact turn out to be Stunted. If he was fertile, in ten years he would be nearly seven feet tall, nearly as wide, with full horns and the body of an apex predator. Playful attacks as a child were one thing, but she and Dae had to keep him carefully tempered with restraint and practiced discipline. Even now he could easily hurt someone, and in a few years he'd have the power to tear someone to shreds, but still with a child's mind and reasoning.

"Good. Now where is Lily? She asked me to come down-"

Just at that moment, her niece bustled out of her small office, a datapad in hand. "Mel, good! You are never going to believe this! I had to go back and verify the results a third time, I just couldn't-"

"Slow down, Lily," Mel said with a smile. "Deep breath. Just tell me what's going on?"

"Aleu is a hero, that's what's going on!" She said, beaming a grin. Setting the datapad aside, she swung her arms around the boy's waist and lifted him clear off the ground, spinning him in a circle. He barked a laugh, and so did Lily as she set him down again.

"Hero?" Melara was thoroughly confused. "What happened?"

"I was running his usual monthly physical," she said. She had been doing monthly physicals on the boy since he was an infant, examining all results and sending them to be double checked by the research base. Since the rakir had been uplifted, the research team had been working almost around the clock trying to pinpoint the exact cause of the Affliction. So far, what they'd found had been fairly inconclusive. They'd been monitoring several Stunted and younger boys in various stages of development, comparing the results. So far no significant difference in them had been found except for the fact that their gonads never started producing the required levels of testosterone and other hormones needed to spur on puberty. They'd been treating the ones entering or already in puberty- as well as some adult Stunted- with suitable replacements for these hormones, with mixed results. Caught at just the right time of puberty, some of the treated boys showed promising signs of fertility. Caught too early or two late, there was no real notable change.

Aleu was considered the 'control' in this experiment. He was given no supplements, no treatments, only monitored. The only difference between him and the boys growing up on Nakira was that he was not on Nakira. If he showed signs of fertility, it might indicate something on Nakira itself was causing the Affliction.

"And you found something?" Mel asked.

"No, not until I looked for it! I would never have looked for it if it hadn't been for a bad night's sleep and Aleu-"

"Lily, c'mon. I get you're excited, and you make no sense when you're excited. Just tell me. What happened?"

"I was doing the physical," she said. "Aleu and I were just chatting- about his school work, what he'd been learning about Nakira. I was taking the blood samples when he mentioned that Nakiri laseko looked delicious. I told him maybe one day he'd be able to try some. As I said, I did not sleep particularly well last night, and when I am tired my mind starts to wander a bit. I started thinking it was a shame that he had yet to go on a real hunt, catch any of the native animals on Nakira- then it struck me. Something I had read a long time ago when I first started learning about Nakira and the rakir. I had to look it up again."

She showed Melara the datapad. "Five hundred years ago, when the rakir were still living in isolated family tribes and just starting to come out of their stone age, they were in the tail end of an ice age, going into a natural global warming. Though rakir will eat anything they can catch that is meat, their primary diet has remained focused around the same animal- a large deerlike animal they call a laseko. They're abundant, big enough to make a fight out of taking one down but not big enough to pose any real danger to the hunter. Seventy five percent of the rakir's diet is laseko meat and organs, it always has been."

"Ok, I'm following."

"The thing is, the laseko's diet has changed. During the ice age they ate short, hardy tundra grass that grew widely in that climate. When it started to die out as the ice age ended and the world warmed, becoming increasingly tropical, the laseko slowly switched to eating soft brush, prairie grass, some fruits and roots, and also nettles- all of which began to thrive in the warmer climate as the tundra grass grew more scarce. Most of the laseko's diet is the nettles- they grow everywhere, they are like weeds. I was thinking of the rakir's diet, remembering about the laseko and the nettles and then it dawned on me. I pulled up the botany databases that were part of the Nakira education packet and looked up the nettles. The nettles have high traces of a certain type of cytotoxins. The laseko have adapted to these cytotoxins and their livers have altered slightly to filter them out efficiently. Now, you take a pregnant female rakir. Almost the moment she becomes pregnant her nutritional needs change. She stops eating predominantly muscle meat, brain tissue, and marrow- and switches to a diet that is almost exclusively offal, almost exclusively liver. She continues this diet all through her pregnancy, birth, and nursing. Her diet doesn't change back until the infant is strong enough to leave its pouch and start eating meat on his own. And guess what the type of meat they feed the babies for the first few months of weaning?"

"Liver?"

"Precisely. For the last five hundred years, these nettles have been slowly increasing their production of this cytotoxin as a natural course of their evolution. In turn, the laseko have been slowly building up a resistance to this cytotoxin, their livers filtering out more and more of it until the livers themselves are saturated with it. Then, the pregnant mother rakir all but bathes her developing fetus in a diet almost exclusively made up of this toxic liver, all the way up until the infant is weaned. The cytotoxins accumulate in the livers of the infant rakir, as their own bodies try and filter them out."

"So it's the cytotoxins making them infertile?" Melara asked. "I'm not a doctor but I'm still confused. If they do this for all baby rakir, then why are the females still fertile, if the toxins are responsible?"

"No, the cytotoxin is just a trigger. Their livers accumulate the toxins and manage to break it down. They break it down into two parts, one part called substance 9 and another part called complex protein 7alpha. Their bodies have adapted to use this complex protein in muscle development, however substance 9 is simply flushed out as waste. There is so much of it that accumulates in the infant rakir's liver, however- due to the high amounts of the cytotoxin they're ingesting- that it starts seeping into the blood stream and into other body systems. The researchers have known about this and have been trying to pin this as a cause for the Affliction for years, but it has yielded no fruit as a cause because there is no trace of substance nine in any of the infant gonads, nor the gonads of older children or mature males- fertile or not. Substance 9 simply is not the cause, but I think complex protein 7alpha is."

"I thought you said it went to muscle development?"

"It does. There are high levels of this complex protein in all rakir muscles. As male and female rakir reach puberty they become more active- they start to go on prolonged hunts, take down bigger and more powerful game; they start serious rank and domination fights with their peers or superiors. As their hormones start to increase and their bodies start to grow, the old muscle fibers are broken down and released through physical activity, replaced by stronger and denser muscle fibers to support their growing frame and increased activity. These old muscle fibers are lousy with a build-up of complex protein 7alpha, the new ones less so because their diet has changed away from strictly liver and other offal. That protein is rereleased into the rakir's blood stream in small but constant doses as the muscle fibers are restructured. There they go to various organs, including the gonads. I think, in the male gonads, this protein interacts with testosterone, and not only neutralizes the necessary hormone reaction that allows the testosterone to work, it also binds with the cells in the gonads- coats them if you will. There is a specific release at the onset of puberty of a massive amount of a mix of brain chemicals over a very short period of time that bathes the gonads and 'activates' them- kick starting a change in the cells that leads to a two thousand percent increase in the production of testosterone. If the cells are coated with this protein, that mix of chemicals can't penetrate them. If they are coated long enough for this chemical storm to stop, then the cells remain dormant, testosterone never goes into this necessary increase, and puberty never happens. Over time, the protein wears away from the cell and is eliminated, but if that happens after this brain kick start, it is too late. The gonads remain dormant- stunted- forever. Though females have traces of testosterone as well it is in much smaller amounts and is far less essential to their sexual development. The protein doesn't bind to their gonad cells as efficiently due to the lack of testosterone, and their 'chemical storm' still penetrates the cells and starts them producing estrogen- result, unhindered puberty."

"You figured this all out because your mind was wandering?" Mel asked. "You said you tested it?"

Lily nodded. "I did. It was just a hunch, as I said. So I checked the scans of Aleu with those of boys of similar age back on Nakira. Aleu was fed protein supplements derived from a meat source non-native to Nakira when he was nursing. He was weaned onto meat, but not organ meat specifically from Nakira. He has no traces of this complex protein anywhere in his body, including his muscle fibers. Every native rakir, adult and child alike, has traces of this protein. The younger the rakir, the more concentrated. The boys his age show quite astronomical amounts of this protein all throughout their musculature. Boys at the age they should be starting puberty show the same protein in every organ system, including the testicles. The researchers never thought anything about it because adult fertile males ALSO show traces in the testicles, though to a lesser degree. I could still be wrong- we will need more in depth study focused directly on this, but my heart tells me this is right. The rakir have always had the Affliction and for a certain part of their population, that is simply a normal evolutionary process. All dual gendered species have built-in population controls. In most two gendered species- humans, turians, batarians, drell, volus- that built-in population control is homosexuality or natural infertility. In others- the elcor, for example- that population control is an extremely long gestational rate and a rare ovulation rate. In asari, we have both the ability to control conception, as well as the Ardat-Yakshi mutation. In rakir, it is this 'third gender', a certain percentage of males that simply remains infertile.

"Five hundred years ago, perhaps three percent of all males born were naturally Afflicted. It had always been that way, back throughout all of their history that we know. But that point, five hundred years ago, that is when it started to change. Their prey started to eat toxic food more and more. The rakir began to develop this complex protein more and more. And more and more Stunted started to be born. The more toxic the nettles became, the more toxin in the deer liver. The more toxin in the deer liver, the more complex protein in rakir, especially young ones. The more complex protein, the more coated the cells of the male gonads and the less likely they would be successfully triggered for puberty. They have become so inundated with this complex protein now that there is no chance of that necessary trigger penetrating any of the cells- no more fertile males."

"If you're right, we can verify it?"

"Yes, Neska can do so within probably a few weeks. All we need is a counteragent that breaks down this protein in the gonads in the males in that magic window where the brain is sending its trigger down to the gonads. If I am right, in a few weeks we will be able to determine if those males who had the protein cleared from their systems have reacted to the trigger and started proper testosterone production. If this works, it is a treatment that can be given to all young male rakir from Nakira during that biochemical window- we can restore their fertility rates. We may even be able to trigger puberty in some of the younger adult Stunted by clearing the protein and then synthetically mimicking the trigger, jumpstarting their testosterone production."

Mel smiled, and looked at her adopted son. "And it will all be thanks to Aleu."

"Yes," Lily smiled. "All because he wanted to know what a laseko tasted like."

"I still want to know," he said. Having been bored with the conversation, he had perched on one of the biobeds and was entertaining himself by shooting and sheathing his claws.

"I am sure we can arrange for you to try some," Melara told him, then looked back at Lily. "So Aleu will be fertile?"

"If I am right, then most likely yes. There would still be a chance he can be one of the genetically Stunted- this will not cure all of the Affliction, mind, just return it to its normal numbers- but it would mean the rakir are saved, and will be able to naturally breed once more without relying on a lab and stem cell manipulation."

"I want you to send your hypothesis to Neska and the research team immediately. We should be in orbit any moment, and the Protek will be coming aboard. I will tell her of your findings personally."

Lily looked worried. "Are you sure? I believe I am right but if I am not, do you want to give her hope prematurely?"

"No hope is premature. I must be honest with her- she'll smell it if I am not anyway. She's pragmatic and a realist, she'll understand when I say it still must be tested."

Aleu latched on to some of her words and got off the table, grabbing her hand. "Tatta, may I come down and meet the Protek as well?"

Melara looked at him worriedly. "Aleu, we have discussed this."

"I know but…I have never seen one of my kind face to face, Tatta."

She crouched, taking his arms. "I know, Aleu."

He was going to have to face this sometime. The Protek was going to be on board for a while, and it was inevitable that she would eventually run into the boy. Melara was more than aware of what her reaction would be-she would not consider Aleu a rakir, but rather a weakling that had no right to even be alive. While she would not bring physical harm onto the boy- aware that he was under Melara's protection and to do so would risk both her life and the treaty with her people- that would not stop her shunning or injuring the boy emotionally with rejection. Mel didn't want him to have to go through that.

No one should be rejected by their own kin.

Searching his eyes silently a moment, she finally nodded. "Very well. You may come with me to meet the Protek's shuttle."

His eyes lit up and he grinned, then bobbed his head a bit in that little dance he got when he was especially excited. Rising, she kissed the top of his head then nodded. Hopefully the promising news she had to share would temper the Protek's greeting somewhat- especially when she learned that she might just have the 'weakling' to thank for saving her entire species.

Dae stood in the cargo bay with her son and bondmate, having come down when she heard that Mel had given the boy permission to stay and see another rakir face to face for the first time. They stood together, Dae resisting the urge to hold Aleu's hand- a gesture that would have given her more comfort than him. The boy was young, but he was still rakir, and he did not like looking weak in front of anyone. Holding on to his mother's hand in front of other rakir would have been mortifying for him.

He remained quiet as the shuttle moved in to land, but he was hardly still. His excitement showed in the subtle bounce of his weight from one foot to the other, in the almost unending flap of his ears. Dae gave Melara a faintly worried look, and Mel nodded back as if to say 'everything will be all right'.

The shuttle landed and powered down, the door opening. An asari stepped down first- a member of security for the research team. The rakir of course had no shuttles of their own; they had only been uplifted five years ago, and most technology was still new to them.

After the asari exited, then came the Protek.

Utchibahna Sihra had long since healed of her wounds inflicted on her by Moore and his slavers, but their legacy still remained. The scars from the muzzle and shackles had turned into smooth, black, furless patches of skin on her face, wrists, and ankles. While she had gotten back her weight and muscle tone, there was a kind of tattered appearance about her grooming, a faint dullness to the luster of her hair.

Her return to her niece had gone exactly as they had hoped. Mel had been somewhat surprised that Sokka hadn't immediately abdicated the throne to let her aunt rule in her stead; or perhaps Sihra had talked her out of it. At any rate, the new Ubuuta wasn't in need of a Champion the way the old one had been- she was young and hale and more than capable of defending herself and meeting any challenge personally; and even if she wasn't, she still commanded the One Hundred. Sihra's old title of Prilekk was done away with, and she had been given a new and unique one- Protek. This title and position had never before existed. It basically granted Sihra almost full control over the Ubuuta's armies, as well as made her sort of an ambassador to the other species in the galaxy. It was something like a general and a Council diplomat all in one, and it had to be created brand new- the rakir had nothing like real politicians or diplomats. Diplomacy was a concept they were struggling to even understand, let alone implement.

Mel nodded in greeting and started forward toward Sihra, only to halt a moment later in surprise. Three other female rakir stepped off the shuttle after Sihra- their sashes marking them as members of the One Hundred. None of the rakir wore translation collars- they had no need any more. It seemed they picked up languages with a swiftness that bordered on salarian.

On their heels came a fourth.

Mel had never met her in person, but she had seen more than enough pictures to know exactly who this was, even if the heavy rikota pelt slung over her shoulder and back didn't give it away. This female was notably younger and slightly shorter than Sihra, the few scars she did have thinner and less noticeable, and quite obviously from fighting and not imprisonment. In color she was a deep red, with quick green eyes. Mel didn't miss the way those eyes landed on Aleu, keen and uncomfortably sharp.

Sihra nodded to Melara with a faint huff of greeting. "Captain."

"Protek, it is my honor," Melara said, and inclined her head. "However you bring an additional honor I was not expecting. I am happy- if somewhat puzzled- to see you here, Ubuuta. We were not expecting you."

"I wanted to see a ship in the stars myself," the young ruler of the rakir said. "It seems every time the opportunity arises I miss it. I could not let my aunt go and have all the glory herself, without at least touching the ship meant to carry her. I have heard much about you, Melara Shepard. You have my greeting."

There was a motion as Aleu stepped away from Dae's side and hurried forward, halting beside Melara. "I am Aleu," he said, chest puffed up with pride. Melara tensed a little, bracing herself for the reaction of the five rakir. Sihra didn't so much as look at him, looking right past him as if he did not exist. To Mel's surprise, the Ubuuta looked directly at the boy, eyes narrow and unreadable, before she crouched and moved closer. Hearing Dae step forward Mel held out a hand to stop her before she could do something they'd both regret.

It was Sihra who protested, clearing her throat in a way that was almost a growl. "Sokka-"

"It is just as you said it was," Sokka said with faint wonder. "Right there, in plain sight."

"It does not matter, Sokka. It is a weakling, pouchless."

"Yes, yes. So you say," she said, then shook her head. "Tofko-"

"Sokka!" this time Sihra's voice was quite obviously angry.

The Ubuuta straightened and snarled, rounding on her aunt. "Sihra, I offered you to be Ubuuta and you refused. I am Ubuuta. Circumstances what they are, I declare this boy tofko! He is detrak, as are those raising him."

"They did not raise him in a pouch!"

"I will put you back in a pouch if you continue to speak to me this way, Sihra! You either acknowledge him as tofko to these detrak, or you spend the next six months on this ship pretending you cannot see him. That will make your life harder, not his."

Sihra growled but said nothing. Sokka looked back at Aleu. "Boy, do you know what tofko is?"

Aleu, confused, wrinkled his nose as he struggled to understand. "No…"

Her eyes moved to Melara. "You, Captain. You speak our tongue. Do you know what tofko is? I have learned your galactic but I am not sure there is an adequate translation."

"I do," Melara said softly. Looking at Aleu she said kindly, "Aleu, sometimes if there is a rakir baby in a pouch, and the mother dies- a close relative of that mother may take him into her pouch. He is not allowed to touch air outside of the pouch for longer than a three count of breaths, and this may only be done if the new mother already has a baby in her pouch. This is known as 'tofko'."

He cocked his head. "So the two babies grow up together?"

"Not always," she said. "The two babies only have a little room, and there is only so much milk. They must fight to see who gets to grow and thrive. Sometimes, both of them do. Most times, one is pushed aside by the stronger baby and dies."

"If the tofko survives the pouch of its adopted mother, it is considered her child, her blood, as if she had born it herself," Sokka said stiffly. "It is part of that House, and no acknowledgement is made that the child was ever of anyone else. He becomes her blood, through and through. You were taken from the pouch of your dead mother, and these detrak took you in. You are their tofko. You are now from their House, as if they had given you birth. You are not rakir- you, as they, are detrak."

"But I am rakir," Aleu said, clearly upset. "I look like you do. I have claws as you do. See?"

He flexed his tiny, almost butter soft claws so she could see. The Ubuuta shook her head, then looked at Melara. "You will explain it and make sure he understands. Among our people he will be recognized as detrak, and given that respect. He is yours, as if he were your blood. We will not recognize him as rakir but we will respect him as that. Do not ask more of us in this."

"I understand, Ubuuta."

"Good. Now, I want to see the rest of your ship."