Act III

Part 0

"Stealth systems are active. Neither the Normandy nor the Voyager know I am here. I am currently monitoring their communications. Yes. Yes, I know! Stop worrying; that won't happen. They won't find me. This isn't my first mission.

Yes. It seems they've come to an agreement. Yes. Shepard is helping the strangers. She just rolled over. Pathetic.

Yes. There is one. It seems promising. She's just what you are looking for. I will continue to monitor. We wait. The opportunity will present itself. It always does."

Part 1

Garrus, Joker and Thane materialized in the Voyager's transporter room. "Nope," Joker said, "Never going to get used to that." Tali stood in the room, surrounded by Starfleet personnel.

"Garrus," She said, "This is B'elanna Torres. She is Voyager's chief engineer. You'll be working with her on the Delta Flyer."

"Yes, I remember you from the meeting," Garrus said, holding a crate of mass effect drive components, "How have you been?"

"Busy," she answered. B'elanna was a bit annoyed at Garrus' small talk. She remembered Garrus from the meeting, and didn't know if she could trust him yet. "You ready to start?"

"Lead the way." The two of them left the room.

"Thane," Tali started, "This is Commander Chakotay. You need to follow him." Thane knodded and walked toward Chakotay.

"We've met." Chakotay said.

"Indeed we have. I apologize for our last encounter."

"No apology necessary. It is good to meet you in the light." Chakotay held out his hand. Thane shook it.

"Indeed." The two left the room.

"And you must be Mr. Moreau." Tom said, "Tom Paris, I'm Voyager's pilot." Tom held out his hand.

"No offense, but I don't do handshakes." Joker said as he limped off the transporter platform, "Okay, where to? You have a simulator or something?"

"Something," Tom answered, "Harry?"

"I'll be with you soon. I'm going to show Tali to the shuttle bay, and then I'll head straight there."

"Alright. Don't take too long." Tom said as they walked out.

"So. How's the food here?" Joker asked.

"Terrible."

"Is that, like, a rule of the universe? All ships need to have terrible food?"

Harry grabbed a PADD from the transporter terminal and he and Tali left the room. They walked slowly through the hallway under a cloud of awkward silence. Tali had gotten little sleep since arriving on Voyager and was starting to drag, and Harry didn't want to make her feel rushed.

They hadn't really connected since their argument in the astrometrics lab. Harry thought it was funny that their last pleasant conversation was about how uncomfortable Tali was with silence, and now silence was making Harry feel uncomfortable. He thought about making a joke about it, but then reconsidered. It seemed to him that usually when he tries to make a joke he fails.

What is he supposed to say? He could apologize, but he knew he was right. At least he felt he was. He was following orders, and as a member of a military ship she should understand that. Is the Normandy a military ship? Harry still didn't understand how that worked. Even if he knew what to say, it had been too long. He couldn't say anything now, could he? How can he break the silence?

Before Harry knew it, He and Tali arrived at the shuttle bay. "Well, here we are," He finally uttered, "Now, I better join up with Tom and Mr. Moreau."

"Thank you." Tali said as she turned to enter the opening shuttle bay doors.

Harry nodded and turned to leave, tapped the PADD on his hand, and turned back to Tali, "Tali, wait…" she turned. Harry handed her the PADD, "This…is for you."

"What is it?"

"It's a portion of our sensor data on Dholen. I asked the Captain and she said it would be okay. She said to give it to you specifically, since you've helped us so much."

Tali looked at the PADD, "This will be a tremendous help! Thank you!" Tali was ecstatic. She quickly scrolled through the information on the PADD, her excitement growing with each new dataset. She tenderly tucked the PADD into a pocket that Harry didn't even know existed. "I'll go through this and send what's useful to the flotilla as soon as I can." Tali looked back at Harry, and the two paused. "Really," Tali said, "Thank you so much for this."

"Uh, no problem." Harry fumbled, "I just hope it will help."

"I'm sure it will." Tali and Harry paused again. More silence, but this silence was much less heavy. "I better get to helping Garrus and Lieutenant Torres." She said.

"Yeah. Me too." Harry said, "I mean, I better get to Tom. I'll see you later."

"Yeah…Later." Tali turned into the shuttle bay where Garrus and B'elanna were already working. Harry watched her enter the shuttle bay as the large doors closed. 'Okay,' he thought, 'that went pretty well. Right?'

Part 2

Garrus and B'elanna arrived at the shuttle bay after a determined, brisk walk through the corridor. The doors opened and revealed the Delta Flyer. Garrus…didn't know how to react. He's long been able to quickly size up a ship by looking at it, especially turian and human ships. (Asari and salarians can still surprise him every now and then.) However, he had no idea how to react to Voyager. He wasn't used to these clean, smooth lines and massively compact design from humans, and the Delta Flyer definitely fit into that description. So, instead of his usual impressed whistle or condescending quip, all Garrus could think to say was "So…'Delta Flyer?"

"Tom was the main designer, so he named it. It was built in the Delta Quadrant and it flies."

"Kind of on the nose. Don't you think? Why not name it 'Space Thing."

"You don't know that wasn't what we originally called it." B'elanna said.

Garrus chuckled, "Where would you like me to put this?" He held up the crate.

"Back here," B'elanna walked into the flyer and toward the back of the craft. Garrus followed. She opened a panel on the floor, "down here." Garrus set the crate on the floor next to her, she pulled a part out of the box and got to work.

"Where would you like me?" Garrus asked.

"Oh, uh," B'elanna "Behind that panel you should see some relays. We need to recalibrate them so the energy from the mass relay is funneled into the drive core."

"You just said my favorite word." Garrus opened the panel. He grabbed the tool Tali taught him to use over their video call, and got to work.

"drive core?"

"Sure. We'll go with that." The two worked in silence for a moment. Until Garrus asked, "Tali says you're half klingon?"

'What?' B'elanna asked, 'who would ask that?' She said out loud, "Um. Yeah."

Garrus sensed her apprehension, "I'm sorry, I don't mean anything by it. I'm…bad at conversation."

"Yes. I am half klingon."

"What are they like? Klingons?"

"They're loud and tough. They love war and honor." B'elanna said tersly.

"Sounds like krogans. Except the whole 'honor' part."

"Tali told me about krogans. You have one on your ship right?"

"Yeah, Grunt."

"Grunt?"

"He picked the name. He was grown in a test tube, though. Supposed to be the 'perfect krogan."

"Is he? 'the perfect krogan'?"

"Well, he doesn't like turnians, so, I guess so."

"So. turians." B'elanna changed the conversation, "what are they like?"

"Very big on military and duty. Lots of rules and regulations."

"And you?"

"I used to be. I'm fine with the rules until they get in the way of getting things done."

"Couldn't agree more." B'elanna was down to her elbow in the hatch, "Could you hand me that?" She pointed to a part with her forehead. Garrus stepped toward her, handed her the part, and went back to the panel. "So. What else has Tali told you about us?" She asked.

"Nothing much. Most of our conversations were about how to use your tools." Garrus smirked. "How about us? What all has she said about us?"

"She talks about your crew a lot. Especially you and Shepard."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, she has a lot of respect for Shepard. A real leader. Says she didn't know what to think after she joined Cerberus, but being on her crew again felt right."

"And me?"

"Said you were brave and have a good heart, even if you tend to do stupid things from time to time."

"Stupid?"

"What happened to your face."

"I got hit with a rocket." B'elanna smirked. Garrus chuckled too, "Man, she's taking a while getting here."

"She needs some sleep. She's been going pretty nonstop since she got here."

"That's Tali. She doesn't have an 'off' switch when something needs to get done." The doors to the shuttle bay opened, revealing Tali and Harry facing each other. Garrus perked up. Be'lanna caught his body shift. She stood up and walked up behind him, looking out the window of the Flyer toward Tali and Harry, "You like her, don't you?"

"What? I…respect her. That's all."

"Sure. Take it from me, if you are attracted to someone, in our line of work, it doesn't pay off to wait forever. Especially you, Mister Archangel."

Garrus looked at B'elanna, "Yeah, I know. If you have feelings for her you need to tell her. Be honest with her," she nodded toward Harry and Tali, they were leaning in as if to hug, "before someone else is."

"Is Harry really the type to fall for an alien he just met?"

B'elanna rolled her eyes. Tali walked into the shuttle bay.

"I never pictured Harry as a threat." Harry started walking away, but stumbled as the shuttle bay doors closed."

"I wouldn't say 'threat' per say. Listen, it took Tom and me a long time before we just decided to be happy. Don't make the same mistake I did. Be happy. Oh, and watch a vid called Fleet and Flotilla if you haven't. Trust me."

They went back to their stations as Tali walked into the Flyer. "Okay," she started, "Where are we?"

B'elanna spoke, "Garrus has been rerouting energy relays. I've almost finished connecting the modified mass effect core."

Tali held her head, "Okay. I'll start modifying the ventilation system to…work with…"

"TALI!" Garrus called out as Tali collapsed to the floor.

Part 3

The Voyager bridge shook as sparks flew out of consoles and smoke poured in from behind technical panels.

"I'm drifting out!" Tom called from the conn, "Correcting, .172 by .532." Another jostle, and another spark. On the screen played footage of a great blue passage, seemingly cut out of space by the Delta Flyer.

"Ber Ber" the computer alert chimed, "Warning, Warning, hull breaches on decks 3 through 10."

"I can do this!" Tom yelled, "I can do this!"

The lights turned back on, the room stopped shaking, and the images on the screen froze. "No, you can't." Joker said from Chakotay's seat as Tom took a deep breath and forced his body to relax. "But don't feel too bad," Joker said as he stood up and walked toward Tom, "Learning to fly through a mass relay is a bit like learning to skip a stone in a lake. Honestly, not too hard. Learning to fly in the wake of another ship flying through the mass relay is like learning to skip a stone on top of an already skipping stone. A bit more difficult."

"I thought I had it."

"You almost did. You're doing alright, I only know one or two other pilots who I think could do this, and we've been flying through mass relays since we were crawling."

The Turbolift opened and Harry stepped out, "What I miss?" He asked.

"Not much. We just died a couple dozen times." Tom sarcastically responded.

"Don't say that. It couldn't have been more than five times, six tops." Joker corrected him.

"Already? That was fast, you couldn't have been here longer than a couple of minutes."

"The first couple went really fast." Joker said.

"Well, I'm glad I'm finally here. I wouldn't want for Tom to kill everyone without me." Harry said as he approached them.

"Actually, I think it's time we make Harry kill us horribly, don't you think?" Joker asked Tom.

"I agree. Computer, begin program Paris, Vas Normandy 2." The surrounding bridge quickly dissolved away and transformed into the interior of the Delta Flyer, already in space with the mass relay in view outside the window.

"Anyone mind if I fly this around a bit? Get the hang of it?" Joker asked as he gingerly walked to the pilot's seat. The other two men shook their heads and sat in two of the technical stations. The Delta Flyer started to move under Joker's guidance. He had never flown anything with manual controls, and he felt he had to get used to the controls of the ship before trying to teach Harry how to enter a Mass Relay. He wasn't sure how he'd like it, and he thought it was an odd choice. But as he flew he grew to enjoy the feeling of connectivity with the ship. He was sure he would change his mind the first time he broke a finger or metacarpal. "I'm never going to get over this…room…what is it called again?"

"Holodeck." Tom responded.

"Right, holodeck. Can this thing make anything you want? Can it make people?" He looked back.

Harry nodded.

"How does anything get done on this ship ever? Like, how are you not in here constantly surrounded by naked women?" Joker asked.

"They're only holograms." Harry said "Programs. It's not the same as being with a real person."

"Is the Doctor not a real person?" Joker asked.

"The Doctor is different. He was designed to be a multifaceted person, and he's gaining his experience. He's living. The holograms in here, they're programmed by us. It's not the same."

"You're one to talk." Tom interjected. "Didn't you have a crush on a hologram not to long ago?"

"Well…I…"

"Don't feel too bad," Joker said as he barrel rolled in the Flyer, "I think it's adorable."

"Speaking of 'the hologram,' who's it going to be this time, Harry?"

"Who's what going to be?" Joker asked as Harry rolled his eyes.

"Harry has a habit of falling for 'the wrong girl.' Lets see, 'the wrong twin,' 'the xenophobic alien,' 'the hologram,' 'the Borg drone'…"

"Seven of Nine?" Joker asked. Harry meekly nodded. "Eh, I can't blame you for that."

"So, who's it going to be? The psychotic convict with the blue-psychic-space magic? The girl who can't take off her enviro-suit? The red headed ship's commander with a temper?"

Joker laughed, "If you're looking for 'the wrong woman,' than Shepard's definitely it."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Let's just say you're not her type."

"Oh? What is her type?" Tom asked out of curiosity.

Joker looked at Harry, "Hmm…A little taller, a little less penis."

"Oh, so that WAS a date I walked in on?"

"Yeah. And thank you for that, by the way. She's been kind of cranky ever since."

"Well, it's not going to be anyone," Harry said, paused, and then added, "I just want to get through the relay and get home."

"Oh. Now it's definitely going to happen," Tom said, "How about you, Joker, you breaking any hearts?"

"You kidding? The first time I masturbated my arm snapped. And don't even get me started on when I lost my virginity. No. I'm a pilot first and foremost, and the Normandy is the best ship of any fleet." The Delta Flyer slowed to a stop. "Just give me some open space, some relays, and EDI and I'm happy."

"You mean 'Normandy'?" said one of the Voyager men.

"What?"

"You said 'give me open space, relays, and EDI.' You mean the Normandy, right?"

"Yeah. Right." Joker paused. He actually missed EDI. He had a couple of conversations with her, since they were both stuck in the cockpit. She was gaining a sense of humor, and has become less of a pain to talk to. But…he missed her?

"Alright," He snapped out of it, "Harry, you ready?"

"Sure." Harry and Joker switched seats.

"Holodeck. Man. If it only you had a machine that made beer we'd be set."

"Actually…"

Part 4

Chakotay and Thane stood in the turbolift as it raced through the ship. Chakotay was the first to break the comfortable silence, "You've got quite an arm."

"Hmm?" Thane wondered as he left the turbolift.

Chakotay pointed to his shoulder, "My arm's been tingling since we first met."

"My apologies, Commander."

"Not necessary. We were boarding your ship, and most of your crew had become incapacitated. I understand your taking precautions."

"Thank you. You are a decent man, Commander Chakotay. I am glad we came to an agreement."

"Me too. Trust me." Chakotay said as they arrived at a large door. He looked at Thane, "Here we are. Good luck." Chakotay smirked, nodded, and gestured to the door. As Thane approached it the door opened, and Thane heard…

"AGONY!

OH THE TORTURE THEY TEACH!"

"WHAT'S AS INTRIGUING-"

"OR HALF SO FATIGUING-"

"AS WHAT'S OUT OF REACH!"

Mordin and the Doctor vigorously sang as they worked on various equipment in the sick bay. They walked from console to console, working gestures and performance into their movements. They sang back and forth for a while before they noticed that Thane, until finally Mordin, who was moving back across the sick bay, noticed the confused drell, "YOU KNOW NOTHING OF MADDNESS / TILL YOU'RE CLIMBING HER…Oh, hello, Thane. Have a seat." Mordin came to Thane, put his hand on Thane's back, and lead him to the bed at the back of the room on its own platform.

"I don't understand," Thane began, "I was told I had a special assignment."

"Well, in a way you do." Said the Doctor, "Your assignment is to get better."

"I don't understand."

"Your Kepral syndrome." Mordin said, "Looking for a cure. It's why you are here."

"A cure?"

"Yes." Mordin leaned and whispered to Thane as he guided him to the large bed in the raised area at the back of the room, "This, Shepard's only condition for helping Voyager."

"You're just in time" the Doctor interjected, "We need a blood sample." Because his sleeve was attached to his glove, Thane started to take off his shirt. "No, that isn't necessary." The Doctor pressed a small metal device against Thane's still clothed arm. Thane felt a short small pinch and the Doctor picked the device back up and removed a small vial, filled with Thane's blood. He handed the blood sample to Mordin who, in turn, placed the vial into a larger device on a cart.

"Thank you," Thane said as he started to stand up.

"Oh no." The Doctor said, putting his hand on Thane's chest, "I need you to lie back." Thane laid down on the bed and a large metal sleeve closed around him. The Doctor stood on the left side of his head, and Mordin stood on his right.

"Thane," Mordin started, "We need to take some scans. See if there's anything more we can do. You need to be asleep for the scans."

Thane nodded. "Doctor?" Mordin prompted. The doctor pressed another small cylindrical device against Thane's neck and pressed a button on the top. With this, Thane began to become drowsy. The room blurred, and he fell asleep as Mordin and the Doctor began to hum their duet.

As Thane slept the Doctor and Mordin scanned his body and ran tests on his blood, singing as they worked. After they finished Into The Woods and a few numbers from Les Miserables, Garrus and B'elanna burst through the door, with Garrus carrying Tali.

"Mordin! There's something wrong with Tali; she just collapsed!" Garrus called and carried her to the nearest bed.

The Doctor and Mordin sprang into action away from Thane and toward Tali as Garrus and B'elanna stepped back and watched.

The Doctor scanned Tali with his medical tricorder, "I'm getting some interference from her suit. It looks like some sort of contaminant got into her suit. She's running a pretty high fever. Probably a bacterial infection."

"It looks like she's had this infection for a while. Why didn't she come in?"

"Will she be okay?" Garrus came forward.

"Step back, Garrus." Mordin said, "We'll do everything we can. Trust us."

Mordin and the Doctor scanned Tali and ran around the sick bay grabbing supplies; B'elanna did her best to stay out of the way, but Garrus's gaze was fixed on Tali.

Tali awoke in the sick bay. She groaned as she looked around the room. Mordin and the Doctor were occupied in an office across from her bed. The room she was in was empty except for Harry, who had somehow fallen asleep while sitting on a stool and leaning against another bed. She had a headache and her limbs felt weak.

"Harry," she whispered. He didn't stir. "Harry!" she whispered again, this time trying to shake him with her hand. Harry snapped awake and almost fell out of his stool. "Where are we?" Tali asked.

"Oh…uh…" Harry was still a bit groggy, "This is in the Voyager sick bay. You passed out."

"I what?"

"You were sick, Tali. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Quarians get sick. Humans get sick. Everyone gets sick."

"Yeah, but Tali…"

"It doesn't mean I can't get my job done."

"It wasn't just that you were sick. You were exhausted. You've been going almost nonstop for days."

"Things need to get done. I need to…" Tali started to sit up.

The Doctor appeared above her, gently rested his hand on Tali's shoulder, and guided her down, "You need to rest. B'elanna, Garrus and Harry have been taking care of everything."

"But I need to help! There's still so much to do!"

"You can help by getting better." Harry said, "We'll keep working from your notes. As soon as you're recovered you can come back and tell us how we got everything wrong."

"Fine…Thank you, Harry." The Doctor went back to his office where Mordin hummed under his breath, with his eyes was fixated on the screen.

"Though, I'm not due for duty for a while. I could stay and keep you company." Tali looked back at the Doctor, who had arrived at his office and wasted no time in starting a duet with Mordin.

"Yes. Please."

"You've talked a lot about your crewmates on the Normandy, about Shepard, Garrus, and everyone else, but you haven't talked much about quarians. The Federation's never been out that far. What are they like?" Harry nervously asked, not sure how to start the conversation.

"Well…"

Part 5

Shepard stood in the empty port observation deck, looking out the window at the seemingly endless sea of stars. She couldn't see them from the skylight in her cabin, as Voyager was floating above her. She never realized how much those stars helped her sleep. Perhaps coming down here, being face to face with those starts, would help her find peace. Perhaps it would help her stop replaying the conversation from tonight in her head, "Yeah, I could have handled that better."

What time did she come down here? What time is it now? It didn't matter. Right now it was just Shepard and the stars. It would be so easy to just get lost out here. Shepard found comfort in the silence.

The doors to the deck opened. "Heya, Shep," Joker exclaimed, carrying a yellow box. He walked to the bar, "What are you doing up? And what are you doing here?"

"Couldn't sleep. And, uh, couldn't sleep." Shepard said without looking away from the window.

"Where's Kasumi?"

"Good question. I think she may be talking to Zaeed?"

"But she's not here?"

"90% sure."

"Good. I don't want her getting a hold of this!" Joker set the box on the floor behind the bar and opened it. He started emptying its contents, twelve brown bottles, into the small fridge behind the bar, hiding it at the back. "Shepard, did you know they have a machine that makes beer?"

Shepard glanced confusingly back at Joker, who was just now standing up behind the bar.

"It makes other stuff too. Like…everything, food, supplies, that sort of thing, but we used it for beer," He held up a bottle, "want one?"

"Sure."

Joker popped off the bottle caps of two bottles, walked to Shepard, handed her one, and sat on the bench facing her. Shepard didn't sit. She looked at the beer; it was a brown bottle with yellow labels. She didn't recognize it.

"What is it?" Shepard asked.

"I couldn't believe they have this! Back on Tiptree, we didn't have any breweries. Any beer we had was either micro brewed at home or someone had shipped from somewhere else. There was this one woman from Texas: total homer, like everyone from Texas. This was a beer that was brewed in her hometown, had been for hundreds of years. She always had tons of it shipped to her at every opportunity. We drank it out of convenience at first, because she always had a ton, but we eventually learned to love it." Shepard took a swig. It wasn't as hoppy as the Canadian beers she normally drank, but it was refreshing. Relaxing.

"You talk to Kelly about your sleep troubles?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Well, for one I don't trust her. I get the feeling that she's not the only one I'm talking to when I talk to her."

"You think she's working for the Illusive Man?"

Shepard nodded, "Why else would she be here? Adorable yeoman who just happens to be a counselor?"

"You said 'for one.' Any other reason?"

Shepard swished her beer bottle in the air; Joker chuckled. "How is Tali doing?" Shepard asked.

"Pretty well, from what I understand. Though, I think she might be going a little stir crazy being stuck with the Doctor and Mordin. When I went to visit her Mordin was teaching the Doctor some salarian folksong."

"Is everything still on schedule?"

"As far as I know. They're still planning to launch the Flyer's test flight tomorrow afternoon. Few odds and ends to wrap up, and time enough for Tali to get better."

"Good. We've taken too long here. We need to get moving." The two drank their beer in silence. Joker could see that Shepard was anxious, and maybe she was itching to get the mission going. But, he still had to ask:

"So, What's the real reason you're down here?"

Shepard turned her head to Joker, "What?"

"Couldn't sleep? In the old days, if you had trouble sleeping you'd go talk to Liara. Ten minutes, boom, done. You'd sleep like a baby. She always had a sort of…calming effect on you. Now, she's staying in your cabin, and you are here because you 'can't sleep?' Really?"

Shepard looked out of the window, "You really shouldn't talk to your CO that way."

"We're not Alliance anymore. I figure it's okay." Shepard winced. It always bothered her when someone pointed out that she wasn't in the Alliance anymore. "Seriously? What's so wrong that you can't talk to Liara about it?"

Shepard walked to the bench across from Joker, "If something were so wrong that I couldn't talk to Liara, what makes you think I'd talk to you about it?" She sat and looked at Joker, who held up his beer and swished the liquid. Shepard chuckled.

"It's nothing. It's me. It's…I…I died. I died two years ago, and before I died everything was just…better."

"Except for the Reapers and the killer geth and the fact that no one gave a shit about humanity."

"Details." Shepard sipped her beer, "But look at us. Look at who's on our ship. We're thugs, we're working for terrorists, and we're in the company of sociopaths, murderers, and assassins. It's just so…It's not what I was fighting for."

"Bullshit." Joker said. Shepard shot him a look. "You learned that giant robotic squids were going to wipe out all life in the galaxy, and have been forever, and you didn't bat an eye. You personally drove a tank through a mass relay. There's no way that you are this affected by your rip-van winkling."

Shepard started to peel the label off the bottle, "Everything's different."

"Yeah, and you're N7. Rolling with the punches is what you do. There's more to it."

"Everyone's different."

"Liara?"

Shepard paused. "Liara. I died and she was an archeologist along for the ride. She just wanted to help. She was so…"

"Spunky?"

"That's not it. She was…pure? Optimistic. That's it, optimistic. I could tell, she saw the best in people. Even after her mom, she looked on the bright side. I was always so pragmatic, Liara kept me looking up. Looking for the light. I loved her for it."

"And now?"

"She still just wants to help. She wants to help desperately. She's always working, putting agents in position, getting intel, twisting arms. And all of it for the galaxy's benefit. For my benefit."

"But?"

"But…I don't know…She's doing so much, but," she paused, "I don't see the optimism. I don't see the light. It's like, instead of seeing the best in people, she sees the usefulness in people. So much of her is like it was before. She's still loving. She's still sweet and smart and beautiful. But, that small change, seeing the best in people to seeing the use in people…" she paused again, "It seems big."

"I see."

"We can't get through a conversation without this coming up. Every time we talk, our conversation lands on Liara and information brokering. When Voyager first arrived, I, like an idiot, brought up her threatening someone. Now, every time we talk, we try so hard to avoid the subject that we both realize we're thinking about it and we can't talk about it without fighting, but we can't think of anything else so we end up not talking about anything. The first day or so we argued about it, now there's just this crushing silence." She paused.

"Yeah." Joker responded.

"Yeah."

"She's different."

"Yeah."

"She lived for years without you, without all of us. It makes sense that she'd change in that time. No one stays the same as we remember them."

"I know. It's nothing that she's done. It's no one's fault. It's just that…I fell asleep and I was in love with one person, and I wake up and it's almost a totally different person."

"Hmm." Joker and Shepard sat in silence, drinking their beer. Neither was sure what to say. Getting this off her chest did not make Shepard feel better, but she enjoyed the company.

"Shep," Joker began, "Do you still love her?"

Silence. Shepard wanted to say 'yes, of course! You don't even need to ask.' But, for some reason she couldn't quite pin down, the only thing Shepard could say was, "Who's flying the ship?"

Joker smiled, stood up, and held his hand out to Shepard; she handed her empty bottle to him, complete with rolled up label inside. Joker disposed of them behind the bar, walked to the door and said, "Go get some sleep."

Shepard looked back out the window, "Yeah. I think I may do that."

Part 6

Tali stood up next to her bed in Voyager's sick bay. "There are no signs of your infection." Mordin said, "The antibiotics are still in your system. May experience slight nausea. Only a week or so."

"Am I cleared for launch?"

"Yes. Should have no problems."

"Thank you, Mordin."

"No thanks necessary."

"Ensign Kim to Sick Bay" Harry said through the ship's communication.

"This is Sick Bay, go ahead, Harry." Said the Doctor.

"Has Tali left yet?" Tali looked up at The Doctor.

"No, she was just about to, though.""Could you ask her to stop by holodeck 2 on her way to the shuttle bay? I need her help with something here."

"Do we have time for this before the launch?" Tali asked,

"Yeah, it shouldn't take long."

"I'm on my way." Tali nodded to the Doctor and Mordin and walked out of the sick bay. Once outside, she opened her map of Voyager she had downloaded onto her omni-tool, found holodeck 2, and walked to the turbolift. Out of instinct she looked for an interface, but remembered that the ship sensed when she arrived at the doors. Someone must be on the lift, because the doors did not open immediately when she arrived.

The doors opened to reveal Tom Paris. His face brightened, "Tali! Good to see you up and awake! How are you feeling?"

"I am fine, Tom. Thank you."

"Heading my way?"

"Where are you going?"

"Shuttle bay. Just helping out with the last few tweaks before launch."

"Eventually, but not just yet. Right now I'm heading to holodeck 2, Harry asked for my help."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Don't worry, he'll get the hang of flying through the relay. Eventually."

"And how are your flying lessons going?"

"Pretty well. I only blow up Voyager every tenth or eleventh time now."

"Technically, the ship wouldn't explode, it would just be torn apart across millions of light years." The doors opened, "See you soon, Tom!" Tali walked into the corridor as the doors closed behind her. She looked back at her map and started down the hallway. She had the ship all but memorized, but taking a day off had eaten away at her memory. She was sure the fever didn't help either.

She walked through the holodeck doors expecting to find the inside of the Delta Flyer. Having worked a couple hours in the holodeck she was no longer surprised by it's capability, but she still found herself confused: This wasn't the Delta Flyer. What was this?

Tali looked around her. She was surrounded by red canyon, lavender skies, and wispy white clouds. She walked away from the holodeck arch, which disappeared behind her. "Harry!" she called. She continued to look for him, walking through the rocky canyon. She heard the breeze brush past her suit and felt the dirt crunch under her. Where was this? Is this Earth? She's never been on Earth, so it could be. But why was this running? What was the point?

Soon, as she walked around a large boulder protruding from the canyon, she saw Harry. He was standing in a pressurized space suit, complete with helmet and oxygen pack. "Harry!" she said, "What's going on? What is this place?"

"I'm sorry if it's off. I did my best using the records I could find on your Extranet. I still had to use a bit of guess work…"

"Harry, what is this?"

"Tali, welcome to Rannoch." In a grand gesture, Harry held out his arm and pointed to a cliff behind him, which framed a view of a lush green valley and a running stream wedged between high canyon walls.

"What? Rannoch?" Tali walked by Harry toward the ledge in disbelief.

"It's as close as I could get. I didn't have a whole lot of information to go on."

"It's beautiful. This is amazing. Thank you." Tali said as calmly as she could. She bent down and ran her fingers through the dirt, making a swirling pattern in the ground. She became lost in the dirt, listening to the sounds of it shuffling, knocking around tiny rocks. A whole valley before her and she couldn't look away from a small pile of dirt. "But, Harry," she said, looking back up at him, fingers still in the dirt, "Why are you in a suit?"

"Well, this is all holographic, so there are no contaminants here. The room has been completely sterilized, and in order to keep it that way I have to stay in the suit." Tali stood and looked into his eyes. "The environment in here is the same as the environment in your suit. There's no way to get sick here."

Tali glanced to the valley and back to Harry, who smiled and nodded. Tali walked back to the ledge, unhinged her face mask, and brought it down to her side. She opened her arms, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply. "I smell it." She said. "How is that possible? If the room is sterilized, how..?"

"Don't worry about tech." Harry said. "It's safe." Tali didn't turn away from the ledge for what seemed to be an eternity. Her head would turn slightly from time to time, but never back to Harry. Harry began to worry. Had he gotten something wrong? Had he overstepped his bounds? He had given Tali her space, but now he felt he needed to say…something.

"Listen, I'm sorry if it…" Tali wiped her eyes and turned to face him. Her eyes glowed and her smile was wide. "It's perfect. Thank you, Harry. I've always dreamed of standing on the home world. And, even though this is a facsimile, it's still…" She turned back to the valley, "there are no words." She put her facemask back on. "I will stand on the home world one day. The real one. I know it."

She hugged a surprised Harry, "thank you."

He hugged her back. She lingered.

"Computer," Tali said, "end program." Immediately, the beautiful, glowing sky, the jagged rocks, and the wonderful green valley disappeared, and was replaced with the plain grey room. They were no longer on the quarian home world. They were both billions of miles from home.

"Now, come on." She broke away from Harry, "we have a shuttle to fly."

Part 7

Tuvok waited in the transporter room as the platform glowed. Shepard materialized, looked around the room and saw Tuvok, "still?" She asked. Tuvok nodded.

Shepard walked, escorted, into by Tuvok, into the Voyager shuttle bay where Janeway, Garrus, Tom, B'elanna, and Seven of Nine waited. "Captain" she said, nodding her head.

"Commander" Janeway did the same.

"Are we on schedule?"

"Yes, we're just waiting on Tali and Ensign Kim."

"I thought that Tali had already been released from sick bay?"

"Uh, yes. She was." Tom said trying to hide his smirk, "Harry needed her help with something in the holodeck. They should be here soon."

"Everything's ready on this end, commander." Garrus said, "We've implemented Tali's schematics and everything looks good. Simulations have all been solid."

"Thank you, Garrus." Shepard said earnestly. With Tali in sick bay, Garrus had become Shepard's only eyes and ears on Voyager. She looked into Garrus' eyes to see if there was anything she needed to be worried about. Garrus saw this, and did his best to signal that everything was on the up and up. No problems. Shepard wasn't convinced.

"Garrus," Janeway said, "I haven't gotten a chance to come down here and thank you for your help. Though, I didn't know you were an engineer?"

"I'm not." Janeway looked worried, "I mean, I am good with computers and calibrations. I couldn't have come up with Tali's specs, but once I had them I could…uh…"

"He really did help. A lot." B'elanna said, defending her new friend.

"I am glad he could he was of service." Shepard said, trying to stay polite, "Captain, I was wondering about Thane's condition?"

"What is Thane's condition?" Garrus asked.

Shepard turned to Garrus, "same as always," she turned back to Janeway.

Janeway nodded, "He is well. He's been staying in guest quarters since he arrived. We were planning on having him confined to the sick bay, but the doctors insisted he not be present while they discussed his condition."

"I appreciate that you have made arrangements for him." Shepard was not used to being this cordial. "I would like to see him before I leave?"

Just in time, Tali and Harry walked into the shuttle bay.

"I am sorry we are late," Tali said, "Harry and I were finishing up…Oh, hello commander! I didn't know you were going to be on board."

"Hello, Tali. How are you feeling?"

"I am good as new, nothing you need to worry about."

"Glad to hear it."

"Now that we're all here," Janeway said and gestured to Seven, "Seven?"

"We will be testing the Delta Flyer's new mass effect relay jump capabilities. I have submitted a flight plan to Captain Janeway…"

"As have I," Tali interrupted, "And to Commander Shepard. I wanted to make more than one jump, to ensure that the system will hold, as going folding space while traveling through the relay will put much more stress on the system. It will take us longer, but I think it's important to make sure it's not going to give out between dimensions."

"I agree. I've seen the flight plan," Janeway smiled, "I think it's a good idea."

"I've seen it too." Shepard said, "Honestly, I'm surprised it wasn't the original plan."

"Where are we going?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure what the system is called in your dimension, but it is definitely worth a look. I promise." Tali said.

"This is a test flight. We are not going sight-seeing." Seven interjected.

"Trust me, Seven. It's worth it."

Janeway nodded and Seven rolled her eyes, "Very well. Tali will pilot the Flyer through the first relays, and Ensign Kim will pilot on our return. After our arrival to Voyager we will make any necessary repairs and reenter the relay to jump back into our own dimension with the help of Voyager's coaxial drive."

"During the test" Shepard said, "we will monitor communications. If you experience any problems, just send word and we'll come find you."

"Of course, you'll let me know if you receive a transmission from the Flyer?" Janeway asked.

"Of course."

"Is everything ready for launch?" Harry asked.

"Affirmative. Adequate supplies have been loaded and we are ready to depart."

The crew said their goodbyes to the away team who loaded into the Flyer. They stepped back as the Flyer began to hover, and zipped out of the shuttle bay, buzzing through the force field on its way out. Shepard and Janeway exchanged glances, not saying a word, before Shepard and Garrus were escorted out of the shuttle bay back to the transporter room.

"Good bye, B'elanna. It's too bad you never got a chance to show me Parrises Squares." Garrus said as he was being led out of the room.

"Yeah, I've never seen a turian cry!" B'elanna called back as the doors closed behind him.

Now that the Flyer was gone, everyone felt deflated. Their big goal for the past three days was completed, accomplished, and now there was nothing to do but wait.

Part 00:

"They are leaving. A test. Yes. She is on board. Yes. Not a problem, I think I know where they are going. I will head them off, easily done.

No. Shepard is not on board, no problem. Yes. She won't interfere. She won't know. Trouble in paradise, it seems. Ha ha ha, of course. Yes.

Of course they wont. I'm not going to follow them through the relay. I'm not there. I'm not an idiot. Yes. By remote, obviously.

Don't worry, you'll get it."