Chapter 9: Maintenance

Nolta checked the release lever and pumped the charging handle once, freeing a highly pressurized plug through the piping. A soft whump sounded as the plug shot through the tube, cleaning off deposits and debris as it came to a stop at the other end. The process was known as 'pigging', named for the rotund cleaning devices used to clean out the pipes during routine maintenance.

Lae grasped the handle of the cleaning tool and pulled it free of the tubing, bringing a sizeable mound of charred rock and dirt along with it. He reached over, took a cleaning cloth, and wiped the inner surface where the plug had come to a stop, revealing a brilliant chrome sheen. A brief check of the metal deeper inside the pipe confirmed that the 'pig' had done its job well, no traces of contaminants remained to be seen. It had taken three passes, but that was fairly standard. Sometimes the pig had to be sent through a pipe upwards of ten times in order to remove all of the build up.

The quarian aligned the open end of the metal with the receiving port in the wall and slid it home. After checking the seal to make sure it was airtight, he rose to his feet, gathered up the plug and pressure system, cleaned them, and stowed them in their proper resting places. Not all of the workers here had been scrupulous about following procedure, but those that didn't had lost their positions quite quickly, and Lae had no intentions of mimicking their mistakes.

Nolta had been assigned to general maintenance and was quickly picking up on the various nuances that helped make the various tasks more efficient. Frequent cleaning of the equipment was among these. When the pig got dirty, it often took two to three extra passes to clear a section of pipe, something that could be avoided if it was cleaned every five uses. Standard procedure only required that it be done half that often, but Nolta had taken to making sure that everything he did surpassed expectations, often to the point of cleaning the rig after a mere three passes.

Pigging wasn't the only thing that filled his itinerary, though. Nolta had a variety of electrical system to monitor, optimize, and repair as well as several mechanical apparatus as well. Kincaid had initially been somewhat suspicious of the quarian's work ethic, wondering if it was a way of hiding some other activities, but careful surveillance by Barric and one of the other security officers had revealed that the young man's drive for excellence was simply that, a desire to be the best in the facility.

Kala marveled at her friend's stamina. He was consistently working an hour and a half more than her every day, and didn't seem to suffer physically or mentally. In fact, it seemed almost like it was improving his attitude overall.

Nine days had passed since they'd begun working at the mine and they were already becoming fast friends with some of the other miners there. Matak, a dull brown krogan with a limp, was the largest of the crew, a digger who out-paced all of his peers when it came to extracting eezo ore by a full 20 kilos a day. The large beast had taken a particular liking to Kala, her outgoing personality and upbeat spirit quickly won him over.

Heris was a middle aged batarian with only one eye left. While not particularly friendly, the alien no longer passed either Nolta or Kala with a look of disdain. The quarian decided he'd take what he could get when it came to the old miner. Roddy and Mike were brothers, serious men who, like Kincaid, appreciated hard workers and spoke in practical terms. If he hadn't known any better, Nolta would have guessed all three humans to be brothers.

For some inexplicable reason though, Kala seemed nervous around Roddy. Every time Nolta asked about it, Kala would just shrug off the question, claiming that the man 'just looked strange'. Being a quarian, Lae had become quite skilled at reading body language, and knew that there was more to the young woman's apprehension than she was letting on.

That evening, as the two settled in for the night, Nolta decided that his friend had dodged the question enough.

The quarian leaned up on one elbow on his mattress, looking at Kala on the other side of the narrow room, not ten feet away. "Y' know, y' stell seem uneasy 'bout Roddy. Y' ready t' tell me exactly what's goin' on ther?"

Kala cast a furtive glance at the doorway, wondering if her friend had spotted the man, thus sparking his query. "I already told you, he's weird looking."

"En I recall sayin' I don't buy et. Y' tense up whenever he comes 'round, at denner, y' set on the other side o' th' mess, I've even herd y' ask Kincaid t' station y' en th' steam-room t' get away from 'im."

The young woman looked away.

"Look, I can't help y' do anythen' about et ef y' don't tell me what the issue es."

She offered a huff and glared at him for a moment. "It's not something you need to worry about."

He felt his spine tingle; something about the way she replied told him that the issue was more deep-seated than a simple matter of uneasiness.

"There are thengs I've had t' talk 'bout thengs that dedn't make me feel very comfortable te, Kala. In th' end et ended up helpen' m' deal weth 'em."

"I'll tell you when I'm ready to tell you."

"Ded he threaten you?" She heard the thinly veiled anger in his voice and immediately regretted her own tone. He wasn't trying to be nosy, he was genuinely concerned for her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… come across as hostile, Nolta. He… he reminds me of someone, someone I'd rather forget."

Nolta's answer was softer as well. "I'm sorry te, I dedn't mean t' pry, I… I was worried fer ya."

"No, he- he hasn't threatened me."

Nolta let the matter go. When she was ready, she'd tell him, not before.

Rikka was laying in her bunk, or rather, her cot, aboard the VCV Gu Onar when the ship jumped to the Scylla nebula. Her volus pilot, Nugaa Ruo, was a cautious man, cautious enough to avoid any systems that didn't have at least three patrols running at all times, Sahrabarik being the sole exception. For this reason, Nall found it strange that the volus had accepted the turian aboard.

The man had cyan facial tattoos and a deep scar in on of his side mandibles. Something about him felt… off. Though he tried to act casual, Rikka couldn't help but notice the Devlon Industries' Gorgon IV assault rifle and Firestorm VII Shotgun that he carried. His sidearm hadn't drawn her attention initially, but given the presence of his other two armaments, she couldn't help but notice that it too was a very expensive and high-quality piece of weaponry.

The turian's armor was a deep blue, much the same color as the heat sink of his rifle. All in all, a very intimidating figure. Perhaps that was why Ruo had accepted the man's payment.

"You ever been to the Citadel?"

The turian's query caught her totally by surprise. "I- uh, why?"

He shrugged. "Just curious. I haven't seen a quarian in almost three years."

"No- I, uh, no, I've never been."

"I think you'll like it, provided you keep your eyes peeled. C-sec keeps a tight handle on the place for the most part, some areas of the wards you'll want to steer clear of."

Rikka searched the ground, looking for some excuse not to stare at him. He'd said absolutely nothing for the entirety of the trip and his sudden openness was somewhat unnerving.

"Lot of humans there though. Dumb pricks won't shut up about the Council holding them back."

The quarian pretended to fumble with a few settings on her omni-tool, to her relief, the turian said nothing more, just offered a slight shrug and lay back down.

The compressor hissed and spat a stream of scalding hot water vapor at the quarian. Nolta swore and pushed his foot down against the pressure kill switch, venting the excess gas through a series of valves below the main unit. The tank emptied, and he again tried to detach the hose. This time, he was not assaulted by a cloud of hot steam.

Lae opened the primary pressure valve and bent the hose away from the circuit box. Generally, he disliked working on the outside of the complex, but at this early hour, the slightly less oppressive temperatures bore a welcoming aura. The quarian opened the casing and proceeded to check the connections at the base of each wire.

One A, good. One B, good. Two A, good. Two B- he stopped, removed the charge testing prongs, reapplied them, and checked the power a second time. The second wire pair was drawing twice the power of its neighbors.

The quarian's eyes narrowed and he detached the wire before connecting a small loop of metal wire to the receiving port. A few quick taps on his omni-tool connected the device to the spare wire, tracing the power signature. Odd, the power was being routed through a secondary breaker, then fed back to the board at which he was working.

Nolta made a mental note to check the other circuit breaker, then returned to work. A few minutes later, he had checked the rest of the connections and restored the pressure hose to its proper state. A quick diagnostic confirmed that the equipment was back in shape, though he was unable to detect the increased power draw that had caught his attention in the readout.

His omni-tool blinked three times. Lunch hour. Nolta had a fleeting idea, thought about it, and decided to follow through. Kincaid might know what the extra power was being routed for, but there was no harm in checking first, besides, there was always the possibility of finding something that needed repair.

The quarian made his way around back and followed the catwalk out to the secondary breaker that his omni-tool had traced as the power draw's source. As soon as he opened the casing, Nolta knew someone had been tampering with the system. Four sets of wires had been reattached incorrectly, and a small device had been spliced into the fifth and sixth cables. The remaining four lines remained untouched, at least visually.

Nolta scanned the small device and left the circuit box as he'd found it. If Kincaid had had the breaker set up that way on purpose, he'd allow it to stay that way, but if the boss had no knowledge of it, he would fix the box.

Thane Krios watched as the VCV Gu Onar drifted towards the gas giant Corondon. The turian had booked passage on the ship from Omega, not a surprising location given the man's background. His old friend working near Harrot's had caught sight of him and called to say where the man would be headed.

The assassin's main concern was tracking down Veraidian Nurem, and all the data he'd gathered had pointed to this particular turian having connections with said Spectre.

Author's Note:

*Jumps with childlike glee* The next chapter is going to hit TURBO in terms of action. Also, the story is going to hit its first real twist in the next few chapters. Well, maybe it's not accurate to call it a twist, since I've been hinting at it more as the story has progressed…