Chapter 14: Return
In truth, Kincaid was sorry to see the quarian off. The young man had been nothing if not helpful, and the quality of his work was exemplary. What little the businessman thought he knew about quarians had been turned on its head in two short weeks. They had a bad reputation galaxy-wide, scorned as thieves and beggars. Nolta, however, was either an exception, or else the stereotype was misleading at best.
As the pilgrim stepped aboard the Starlit Endeavor he felt Solomon Kincaid's thoughtful gaze on his back, accompanied by the tearful eyes of Kala. He would never see her again. Bile rose in his throat at the thought. He knew he had to return to the Migrant Fleet, but he'd always thought this would be an occasion he'd anticipate happily. Not once had the thought crossed his mind that he might not want to go back.
The quarian allowed himself a single, tortured glance at the first woman he'd ever loved. Even through the tears, he could see her sad smile, her radiant eyes, and her pale gold hair. He burned the image into his memory as best he could. It was something he would cherish. With a final wave, Nolta'Lae nar Ichtome took the final step into the passenger compartment and the airlock sealed behind him.
Kincaid looked over at the young woman standing next to him. "I don't think I ever asked, but, how did the two of you meet?"
She knew he was trying to divert her attention from the sadness of the moment, and she was happy to oblige. A faint smile crossed her lips as she recalled their first weeks together. "It was weird really. I was on sentinel duty back at the outpost on Korlus…"
Rikka'Nall nar Tugara listened as Thane's ship disengaged its docking clamps and sped off to Keelah knew where. The young woman pinged her omni-tool twice and the ship's schematics scrolled across the digital HUD in her visor. A few minutes later, she had memorized enough information to have a basic understanding of the small craft's limits. Rikka's fingers flew across the vessel's control panel in an intricate dance, bringing various systems on and offline.
Gentle blue light filled the cabin and the nav system began to power up. Something about being behind the controls of a ship felt comforting to her. The young quarian checked her omni-tool again to ascertain the position of the Migrant Fleet and punched in the coordinates. The VCV Gu Onar's engines flared, then roared to life as the small transport did an about face towards the Omega prime relay. Rikka sighed as the vessel began to accelerate, leaning back as the stars streaked past at an ever increasing rate.
Soon, she would see the fleet again. Soon, she would be home.
The Starlit Endeavor shuddered as it completed its jump, its tiny hull quivering from the massive forces required to catapult if across the vastness of space. No sooner had the blue sheen of FTL travel worn off than the pilot picked up a signal. Nolta sat next to the man and instantly recognized the language of his people. His stomach did a flip and he briefly wondered if he had brought an adequate pilgrimage gift.
The quarian shook his head to clear his thoughts. There was no sense in backing down now. He had come to complete his pilgrimage and return to his people, there was no better time than now.
Suddenly, the freighter's radio buzzed to life. "Unidentified craft, alter your heading, you are approaching the quarian Migrant Fleet. All unauthorized vessels within the kill zone will be shot down."
Lae could see his pilot's face pale visibly and reached for the comm. "Thes es Nolta'Lae nar Ichtome aboard cevelian cargo freighter Starlit Endeavor. This vessel bears both me and m' pelgremage geft."
"Acknowledged, Nolta'Lae, verify your identity."
Nolta took a deep breath and recited the verse his ship's captain had given him upon his departure. "Having lerned thus, I rejoin my brethren; that freely offered, a geft es a blessing, both to he who receives and he who gevs. Stolen, et es a curse to any that touch et."
A few moments passed, during which Nolta was fairly certain his pilot was about ready to sweat blood. Finally, the reply came. "Welcome home, Nolta'Lae, to which captain do you wish to present your gift?"
Nolta had actually given a great deal of thought to this question both before and during his pilgrimage. He wanted to join a military vessel, one with a high standing in the fleet, the Andras was destroyer of respectable size that would easily fit this bill. "I wesh t' present my geft t' th' captain of the Andras. I would like a security and quarantine team to meet us. Our shep es not clean."
"Understood," A pause. "The Andras grants you clearance to dock. Approach exterior docking cradle four."
The coordinates were fed into the freighter's nav console a moment later, and the pilot began to weave through the dense body of ships. Most of the large or medium sized craft had fixed positions relative to the other vessels, but small picket patrols of fighters occasionally sped through the fleet.
Nolta felt his heart rising in his throat as they neared the Andras. The warship's long hull sloped on both the top and bottom with a curve toward the front that made the vessel look like a thick sword-blade. The middle decks along the length of the destroyer bristled with heavy accelerator turrets and disruptor torpedo tubes. Four docking ports rested in the ship's underbelly, their reinforced blast doors painted over in layers of black, clearly distinguishing them from the patchy gray of the rest of the vessel.
Starlit Endeavor glided into position beneath Nolta's chosen port of call. No sound emanated from the hulls as the two craft delicately connected, forming an airtight seal in a matter of seconds. Seconds passed, then a minute, then two minutes. Nolta's pilot began to get nervous.
"Why haven't they popped the hatch?"
The quarian remained totally calm outwardly. "They hav' t' do a thorough scan fer threats, y' know, explosives, geth, th' like. All military sheps en th' fleet go through extensive security sweeps of unknown craft above a certain size before allowing a full dock."
The human nodded quietly, not fully understanding but content enough that his passenger seemed un-phased. In truth, Nolta's pulse was elevated and he could feel his palms sweating. His nervousness was not that they would vent the ship, but rather an uncertainty as to what the captain of the Andras would think of his pilgrimage gift.
Lae's racing mind was stopped by the sound of the docking bay doors parting to admit entrance. The low mechanical whine of the machinery reverberated through the freighter and Nolta watched the panel in front of him as various human signals scrolled across the screen. The pilot sat diligently watching the screen as well and seemed to relax as the lines indicated full system alignment.
"Nolta'Lae vas Andras, you are cleared to board." The operator's voice bore a twinge of excitement that was hard to disguise.
Nolta himself was thoroughly confused. He hadn't been formerly inducted into the crew and they were already calling him 'vas Andras'. He had hadn't even presented his pilgrimage gift to the warship's captain let alone met the man face to face. Suspicion wove through his mind as he pressed the comm channel on his omni-tool.
"Understood, I'm on my way from th' bridge."
When Nolta arrived at the Andras' dock, he was greeted by the security team he had requested- as well as a squad-full of armed escorts. The young man's eyes narrowed in confusion as he was led to the mess hall. The doors to the mess parted smoothly, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the young man. Smooth operation of mundane systems tended to indicate better maintenance or youth of the vessel, which in turn signified both the ship and its crew as being of greater importance.
Several officers stood to greet the pilgrim and his escort as he entered the room. Nolta was quick to notice the ship's captain, decked in the traditional black and gold cowl of a high rank military official. The particular personal touches to his environment suit identified the man as Genro'Tenga vas Andras, one of the most respected officers in the fleet.
Genro stepped forward to greet his prospective crewmember and extended his hand, which Nolta took.
"A pleasure to have you aboard. Your father is on his way to see you personally."
"Ser." Nolta dipped his head in deference. "Uhm… have y' already seen m' pelgremage geft?"
"There is no need," the officer smiled. "You alone are a worthy presentation to this ship."
"Ser, ef I may speak freely?"
"Of course." Tenga replied
"Ef et's all the same, I'd like t' show 't t' ye. I don't feel right about et elsewise."
The Captain nodded. "Very Well."
The knot of soldiers made their way back to the freighter, still docked at the fourth bay. Nolta keyed the sequence he'd been given by Kincaid and the Starlit Endeavor's cargo hatch opened to reveal several tons of element zero.
"Keelah! Et's more than we agreed te…" Nolta mumbled under his breath.
The Andras' captain turned to face the young man, his eyes betraying a smile of admiration. "I've seen some strange offerings before, but this is downright incredible. We've needed a fresh batch of eezo for a while now. Yes, son, this'll so nicely."
The pilgrim was slightly agitated. It felt almost as if he was being gloated over. The feeling was all too familiar, and he didn't like it in the slightest, but for now there was little he could do. Asking for a transfer immediately after being accepted onto a ship was a great insult to a captain and would sully both of their reputations. For now, he would tolerate the situation.
Roha'Lae was ecstatic upon hearing that his son had returned to the fleet, but his exuberance was fueled to even greater proportions when he learned the name of the boy's chosen ship. The Andras was one of the most respected vessels in the fleet, commanded by none other than Captain Genro'Tenga.
The Ichtome's captain had granted Roha special dispensation to visit his son upon the boy's return, and now the elder quarian was on his way to see the newly christened Nolta'Lae vas Andras.
Nolta was decidedly unhappy at the sight of his father working his way towards the front of the residential deck where he'd been assigned his quarters. All of the memories of the lies his father had told him about his mother's death came boiling to the surface. The young man's eyes narrowed as his father approached. The elder quarian's arms were outstretched as he neared his son.
"Nolta, my boy! You've returned! With a cruiser's core worth of eezo if my shuttle pilot is to be believed!" The smile dissipated from Roha's face as he got close enough to see the look in his son's eyes. The glare coming from behind the young man's mask could have frozen an ocean.
"You lied te me." Like his expression, the words were delivered in a tone as cold as liquid oxygen.
Roha was bewildered. "Wh- what?"
"About mother, about me, about why everyone treated me defferent. Y' dedn't have the guts t' tell me th' truth."
"Nolta, what is this all about?"
"Mother died because of how she was exposed, dedn't she? Et slowly ate her nervous sestem." Roha felt the venom in his son's voice and knew the boy had discovered more than even Admiral Gerrel had anticipated.
"Your mother died in childbirth, son. I told you-"
"I KNOW what you told me!" A few of the Andras' crew had already begun to listen in on the conversation. "Come t' thenk about et, why dedn't y' tell me why I was defferent? Ded y' thenk I'd be able to defend m'self BETTER ef I dedn't know about my biotics? ! THAT I WAS STUPID ENOUGH T' GO BLABBER'N ET EVERYWHERE? !" Nolta felt the rage coursing through him, a hot, burning anger at everything he been kept from. At his father.
"Nolta, I-"
"Shut the bloody hell up! I heard y' talken en th' engine room of th' Ichtome, all those years ago. Y' don't understand me and y' damn well don't care about me enough t' tell me the truth! I learned a lot on m' pelgremage, and none of et confermed even ONE theng y' told me about m'self or mother."
Roha felt cold, his stomach was literally chilling his insides. His son was practically disowning him. "Nolta…" Words wouldn't come.
"Ef y' can't talk t' me straight I got no reason t' lesten t' you. Kala nearly died because I couldn't save her. I could barely save myself!"
"Kala?"
"Wouldn't y' like t' know?" With those words, the newest member of the Andras turned on his heel and quick walked to his quarters, a small, ten by ten cube identical to those shared by the rest of the ship's inhabitants. Roha'Lae vas Ichtome simply stood in place, just as shocked as the rest of the quarians who had listened in on the exchange.
Author's Note:
In case it wasn't obvious: Nolta's a bit miffed at his old man. If he knew the whole story, he'd be even more pissed. Suffice to say, it's gonna be a while before those two quarians resume speaking terms.