"We do need to talk about security at some point."

Melanie Shepard sighed. "I guess it's too much to ask that saving the galaxy a few times would stop people from wanting to kill me."

"I am sorry, love, but you know that is not the case."

"I do, but still, look at who we're inviting to this wedding. Specters, Admirals, powerful biotics, large krogan… who'd be crazy enough to take them all on?"

"Melanie," the archeologist asked, a bemused expression on her lovely face, "How much of your extranet mail do you read?"

"I try to get through most of it, but that VI you set up for me does delete a lot of the junk."

"I suspected as much. Glyph, would you please give Shepard an overview of her blocked messages?"

The info drone floated over. "Of course, Doctor T'Soni.

"31.7% are commercial solicitations. 26.1% are from persons desiring to have sexual relations with the commander. 21.4% of these individuals express a wish to harm Doctor T'Soni. 33.4% request her participation."

"14.2% of the messages contain threats of bodily injury or death. 36.2% of these are from batarians, and 17.8% are from members of known mercenary organizations."

"13% view her as a religious figure of some type. 7.6% wish her to kill a person or persons for them…"

"All right, Glyph, I get the picture. I've attracted the attention of a lot of lunatics." She laughed. "You know, it's almost enough to make me nostalgic for Conrad Verner."

Liara ran a hand affectionately through her lover's dark hair. "You are the most beloved hero in the galaxy, Melanie. But you are also the most famous and that does lead to some complications. Normally, our relative isolation on this colony shields us from the bulk of them, but there will be an influx of people for the wedding, and we will need to be prepared."

She was right. Dealing with the kind of fame Shepard had was something so alien to most of her life experience that she still had trouble wrapping her head around it sometimes. Liara by contrast had grown up as the daughter of a powerful and influential Matriarch. Even though she had chosen to shun the spotlight in favor of her archeological career, she had still acquired an instinct for this sort of thing that her fiancé lacked.

"Garrus will want snipers." The turian had taken over security on Sanves shortly after he and Tali had moved there and his approach to dealing with potential threats to his old commanding officer's safety was... well, "zealous "was a nice way of putting it. "Slightly paranoid" had been his quarian wife's description on more than one occasion.

"I do not doubt it. Perhaps can we get Tali to talk him into non-lethal drones."

Melanie slid her arms around the asari. "You know, we could just elope. I can't think of anything I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you, but I really wish this was simpler."

"I am aware of that, but you mean so much to so many people and they would like to share this day with us."

"Okay," she agreed reluctantly, "I'll try to stop complaining. Speaking of our guests, we better figure out who can't we seat where."

"Well, we cannot put my father near anyone easily offended."

"Yeah, that's probably not a smart idea. I'm still not sure Aethya thinks I'm good enough for you."

"No, the last time that we spoke, she conceded otherwise, albeit grudgingly."

"Good to know. I'd hate to have to find more Reapers to destroy in order to impress her."

"What of Jack? I am not certain she can be trusted to avoid creating a disturbance."

"You don't think Sam can keep her well-behaved?"

"She does seem to have a calming effect."

Shepard smiled. When she'd seen the two of them flirting at a reunion for the crew of the Normandy, her initial impulse had been to warn one of them. She wasn't sure whether it was the ex-convict or the comm officer who should watch out though, so she'd kept quiet. Two years later, she was pretty sure she'd made the right call.

"I'm not sure calming is quite the word I'd use. I think they make each other feel awkward, but in a good way. Both of them need to be dragged out of their comfort zones sometimes, which in Jack's case can mean being convinced not to make a scene."

"Well, I am simply glad that Commander Traynor has found an alternative object for her romantic interests." Though Samantha had made her pass at Melanie while the former Specter and Liara were still dancing around each other, she had still left a bad impression on the asari.

"You know it was always you that I wanted," Shepard assured her lover, emphasizing the point with a passionate kiss. "Even when I had trouble admitting it."

"I do. And," the scientist added with a smile, "Now you are going to admit it in front of everyone."

"I am." Once, the thought of publically displaying her feelings for Liara would have made Melanie uncomfortable, but that was long in the past. "Of course, I suspect they already know."

"So do I. Now, let us discuss seating the krogan."

In spite of herself, Melanie groaned. It was going to be a long day.