A/N: Because of the World Cup taking up so much of my time when I'm not working I'm not spending much time on this story. Therefore, until the tournament is over I'll only be able to get shorter chapters like this out so you know the story hasn't been abandoned. As always, please review.
TIMIDUS
"This meeting of the Admiralty Board will enter recess at the request of Captain Shepard." the stately voice of Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay announced.
"Objection! He admits to having gathered no new data from the Alarei, what possible reason is there then to delay judgment?" argued Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib.
Groaning in frustration at Zaal'Koris' obstinacy Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema spoke for the majority of the quarians packing the audience chamber, "Shut up Zaal, she just recaptured a ship, surely she has earned a moment to compose herself before enduring anymore of this."
"But how can we be certain that during this recess the human won't…" drowned out by shuffling noises of the audience standing to leave Zaal'Koris looked to his fellow admirals for support but finding none conceded this minor defeat, "Fine, a half-hour, no more." he muttered.
Finding a deserted corner of the room Shepard's team assembled to wait for the resumption of the trial, and the verdict. Leaving Tali standing alone and forlorn Shepard approached Miranda glancing around to ensure there were no quarians able to overhear him.
"Miranda, how do you think the vote will go?" Shepard inquired.
"Tali will lose. Han'Gerrel supports her but both Daro'Xen and Zaal'Koris will vote against her for political reasons."
"I agree, but we have a half-hour to change that."
"That's not much time, Commander."
"Right, so here's what we do." Replied Shepard as he scanned his team catching Kasumi's eye and beckoning her over.
As Kasumi approached Miranda noticed the pathetic figure of Tali hugging herself and rocking back and forth from foot to foot. So far everything is going according to plan; Tali has gotten Shepard to at least not kill himself and appears have gotten Shepard somehow rededicated to this mission to the point that he will once again help teammates. But despite this Shepard still appears to not have any interest in her beyond that of a crewmember and possibly as a friend, if he returned her love he would at least attempt to comfort her rather than leaving her alone like that as she endures what has to be the worst day of her life. I was worried on the Alarei when Shepard embraced her after finding Rael's body that he had grown to care for her, but I guess it didn't mean too much. Still Tali's infatuation with Shepard will doubtlessly redouble after this affair is over; I need to make my move soon.
"That's clever, Shepard; cruel, and dishonest, but clever. I'll need a distraction to do this in the short time we have." commented Kasumi.
Looking up Shepard turned to the rest of his squad as they milled about, Mordin impatiently announcing there were still twenty-seven minutes left to wait. "Grunt, go with Kasumi, do whatever she tells you to. Mor...Samara, you're with me. Miranda you're in command while I'm busy."
Having received their acknowledgments of his orders Shepard left with Morinth heading towards the door the Admirals had retired through. As the pair moved away from the group Morinth spoke up,
"I'm worried about you, Shepard. First you try to kill yourself, then you refused to use the information we recovered on the Alarei to help Tali, even though it's obviously the best option here, and finally you almost called me Morinth in front of others. This isn't like you, it's not strong like you." remarked the asari, her voice practically dripping sincerity.
"Don't worry, pet…" smiled Shepard, pleased with Morinth's scowl in response to the demeaning nickname, "while your concern is touching have you forgotten last night already? Though I guess that wouldn't be a surprise, I did hit you harder than I meant to. I only wanted you out long enough to put the collar on you, my pet, but you were out for a good fifteen minutes. It would seem that even weakened I can resist your charms, and now that I'm feeling much better you seem to have missed your opportunity at a weakened Shepard."
"What is this master plan then?" asked Morinth changing the topic, acid etching her voice as she remembered last night's failed attempt to join with Shepard.
"You're part is simple, pet. Of the two admirals that will rule against Tali Zaal'Koris is the weakest, so you're going to dominate Zaal'Koris' mind long enough to get him aboard the Normandy willingly. Oh, and don't permanently impair him, he'll need to recover in time to function normally once the trial resumes so we avoid suspicion of having interfered with the judges." Explained Shepard as they approached the conference room Zaal'Koris was waiting in.
Reaching the door Shepard checked his armor's sensors verifying that the admiral was alone. "Ready, Morinth?"
Nodding to Shepard Morinth stepped into the room powering up her biotics. As she entered the room Zaal'Koris looked up in surprise which barely had time to flicker into alarm as he flinched away having recognized Shepard and seeing Morinth's shimmering biotics before the field hit him and all expression left his body. Jerkily the admiral stood moving past Shepard and Morinth as he headed out the door. Moving quickly through the quarian ship the unusual trio attracted casual attention but no guards moved to question their actions.
Entering the Normandy Shepard saw Kasumi waiting for him smiling as she began speaking, "All ready, Commander. Oh, and Grunt was a great distraction but quarian security got him, we'll need to collect him before leaving."
"Good job, Kasumi." Shepard acknowledged, "Samara, take Zaal'Koris to the AI core; we only have twelve minutes left."
Zaal'Koris looked around at the unfamiliar room in confusion, how had he gotten here? Memories slowly returned to his conscious mind: Shepard, biotics, walking through the ship to the…Cerberus vessel. Fear coursed through Zaal as he realized that he was somehow trapped aboard a Cerberus vessel at the mercy of the human supremacy group that had earlier attacked the Flotilla. Just then the door opened and Shepard stepped into the room his red scars standing out in the dim lighting of the room. Suddenly a memory came to him of Tali's debriefing after returning to the Flotilla,
"I find it hard to believe that this…Shepard…did all these things. Even leaving aside your ridiculous claims about Reapers there are holes in your story large enough to fly an agricultural ship through." Zaal stated coldly. "But beyond you're truthfulness is your failure. You return after one of the longest Pilgrimage in recent memory and all you've brought is this, this 'gift' that only would please a warmonger such as Gerrel or Rael. No rational captain will accept this, it only has the power to destroy, not to improve our lives."
"Watch yourself, Zaal. This geth data is important and it is a larger step in understanding our enemies than anything else in the last two-hundred years. Only a suit-wetter such as you would fail to see that." retorted Han'Gerrel using the derogatory name the hawkish faction had labeled Zaal with.
"Admirals please, this is not about the gift Tali brought but is rather a debriefing of her actions during her time on the human ship Normandy. And Zaal, I know of several captains who would gladly accept the geth data as a gift so that matter is closed." stated Shala'Ran.
"Okay Shala, but what of her absurd claims about her time aboard the Normandy and its crew of supposed 'heroes'?" insisted Zaal.
"You bosh'tet! It's all true, I have proof. The geth data itself is proof, and there are Alliance mission reports that confirm all of it." Tali yelled, her anger overcoming her nervousness at being in front of the Admiralty Board. Calming down Tali continued in a more sedate voice,
"He risked his life to save the colonists on Feros. Nobody else could have saved them. I watched his face as Lieutenant Alenko died on Virmire. I saw him stand strong against everything the galaxy threw at him." Tali said before taking a wavering breath, "I watched him for so long…" she whispered, her shoulders slumping and head tilting in the unconscious quarian sign of sadness.
Quickly composing herself Tali continued her voice once again strong, "You, Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib are nothing compared to Commander Shepard. Do not presume to dishonor his memory in your petty attempt to make a political statement at my expense. As far as my 'claims' about Shepard's activities, I'll make it simple for you to understand. You didn't want to be Shepard's enemy; they had a tendency to die."
Thankful for his suit's efficient body waste recycling system Zaal'Koris lived up to his nickname as he realized that he was Shepard's prisoner. Looking into the approaching human's burning eyes Zaal understood that because he had hurt one of Shepard's crew Shepard, rightfully, viewed him as an enemy. And Shepard's enemies died.