Chapter 1: First Blush

A soft, musical chime woke Captain Hannah Shepard with a start. Her shoulder length brown hair was disheveled, and it fell down over her eyes. After being promoted and transferred off of the Kilimanjaro, she'd anticipated that being captain of a ship meant to guard science vessels would be boring. Now that her newly constructed PRISM cruiser, the Zodiac, had spent the better part of a week helping to investigate and survey the inactive Mass Relay in the system, she'd been proven right. She was dead tired, having gone to sleep less than two hours ago, and she wasn't expecting her wakeup call until 0630.

"Ma'am, are you awake?"

Yawning heavily and brushing the hair from her eyes, she slowly sat up and turned to face the holographic projector mounted on the wall a meter or so away.

"Not really Hal, but let's…" she yawned again, "let's just pretend I am. What's up?"

"We just detected three unknown ships entering sensor range." replied the avatar. "Serenity already contacted FleetCom, and they're saying they aren't ours. We've gone on Columbus Alert."

That got her attention. Quickly rising and attempting to shake the sleep from her mind, she hurried over to the small closet in the corner of the room. Most navy personnel had to do with footlockers, but rank had its' privileges.

"Contact the Troika and tell Zorakov to chrono over here." she ordered, slipping out of her night-wear. Modesty was one of the first things to go when you joined the navy. "If this really is Columbus, we should have more than just me and Serenity here to make first contact."

"He won't like that, ma'am."

"I don't give a damn." she snapped grumpily, quickly putting on a fresh uniform. "He can bend his stiff neck for once. I got put in charge of this expedition, which means I'm responsible for Columbus." She sighed. "Not that I really want to be."

"We'll ma'am, it could be worse. We could be dead already." replied the hologram with a snicker.

"Not in the mood, Hal."

"Oh, come on Captain. For all we know, they're friendly." A wry smile came to his face. "Besides, I've always wanted to meet sexy green space babes."

Hannah walked out of her quarters, and the avatar of her chief engineer and ship's computer core jumped to an emitter in the elevator. "Hal, Jessica would clobber you if she heard you say that. And you really need to stop watching those cheesy sci-fi vids."

"Hey, wait a minute Captain." he protested with mock indignation. "You can insult me all you want, but you start insulting Star Trek and we'll have words."

The elevator ascended towards the CIC with almost agonizing slowness. She shook her head and chuckled softly. "Only you Hal. Only you." Her laughter faded. "I hope you're right, though. Friendly first contact would be a godsend. Still, better safe than sorry. Have Serenity meet me-"

"Already here Captain." her XO said, waiting by the door as she got off the elevator. "Not enough sleep, ma'am?"

Hannah motioned for the synthetic woman to follow her to the bridge. Serenity MacDonald was fairly short for a synthetic, a little over one hundred fifty centimeters tall. Even so, she radiated an aura of authority that even Hannah had trouble matching. It didn't help that she currently looked and felt like she had just rolled down a particularly steep hill. Hannah met her golden yellow eyes before replying.

"You know what they say Serenity: no rest for the weary." She sat in her chair in the center of the modest room and swung the console attached to its' arm in front of her. "Sometimes I wish I could do away with sleep like you. It'd make life a lot less tiresome."

"Ba dum, ching." interjected Hal, his avatar appearing on the panel beside her.

"Can it. Now what have we got, people?"

"The ships are still too far away to get definite signatures, but they appear to be fairly small." said her tactical officer. "I'd say we're looking at frigates, maybe cargo ships."

"Hmm… Well, we have them out-massed and outgunned. They might have friends nearby, but there's no way to be sure." She made up her mind. "Send a Columbus greeting. Let's see where this goes."

Captain Rael'Zorah vas Rayya had spent nearly his entire twenty eight year life in space. It was just part of being a Quarian. However, in all those years, including the three he'd spent as the captain of the Rayya, he hadn't often had nearly as much fun as he was having now.

A voice came from the view screen in front of him. "The damn metalheads won't see this one coming."

"I hope not, Han." replied Rael with a smile. Most people couldn't see the smile because of the face mask on his suit, but the other captain had known Rael long enough to know it was there "If they do, they might just blast us. Keelah, we've ruffled their fringes often enough in the past for them to have put bounties on our heads." He chuckled. "Then again, if we find half as much salvage here as we did the last time, it might be worth it. Still, with any luck, they won't see a thing but our three day old ion trails."

Captain Han'Gerral, one of his oldest friends and partners in crime, chuckled with him for a moment, then suddenly stopped and leaned forward, examining his console.

"Rael, the Tarbal's sensors are picking up some strange readings coming from the Relay. Are you getting anything?"

Rael typed a short command on his omnitool, and the Rayya's sensor logs popped up in front of him. "No, I don't see… wait, there it is. That's odd. I thought that Relay was inactive."

"It is. Or at least it's supposed to be. Think we should take a look?" asked Han.

"Hmm… maybe. That could be a derelict ship. Or it could be pirates." Rael faced his pilot." Move us in for a closer look, helmsman. Han, send a message to the Tomba to have them check it out. They have a more advanced sensor package anyway. WE shouldn't get too close, though. The last thing we need is to get caught with our suits off."

Han was silent for a few moments while he contacted the Tomba.

"Odd…" Han muttered. "Rethal says he's picking up four ships near the relay. They're all different, and none of them match any known configurations."

"Could they be Turian?" asked Rael worriedly.

"Don't think so. We're getting IFFs, and they're just… wrong for anything Turian."

"New species maybe?"

Han shrugged. "Could be. Might explain why they're at the Relay. If they were a Council race, they would know better."

Rael growled. "Yeah, sure. A Council race." He made a snap decision. "Let's try for first contact."

"Are you sure Rael? If the Turians find out, the Council would-"

"To hell with the Turians and the Council! They don't command the Flotilla."

"Then we should at least contact the Admiralty. It's their decision after all, and-"

Rael cut him off. "And the metalheads would be here by the time we got their reply. I'm not waiting, Han."

"I… alright." he replied with a sigh. "But doing this just to spite the Turians isn't smart. You know they like to shoot first and ask questions maybe."

Rael sighed as well. He hated having to avoid Turian patrols everywhere he went. Sure, he and Han had irked them in the past, but only because they were too arrogant and stuck up to make nice with a Quarian.

"Then at the very least we should warn them, Han. It might even earn us a few friends. We need all of those we can get."

"I guess." replied the other captain with a bit more certainty in his voice. "We might as well… huh? We're receiving some sort of transmission. It's on an ultra-low frequency EM band. Are you getting this?

"Yeah." answered Rael, typing rapidly on his omnitool. "It seems like… it seems like a pattern." He turned to one of the techs at the station next to him. "Can you make sense of it?"

"It's a series of pulses with pauses between the sequences." she replied. "Hang on a minute captain, the computer's analyzing… 1 pulse. 14 pulses. 244 pulses. 4344 pulses. A pause. Then it repeats. I don't get it. Maybe there's something I'm missing."

Han spoke up. "Those are multiples of 14. Maybe they have a base 14 numbering system."

"That would make sense, Captain Zorah." said the tech. "They might be trying to use math to build a basis for communication."

"That pause… reply with the next number in the sequence." ordered Rael. "See what happens."

"Alright, just give me a second to adjust the emitters. Aaand… done." She paused for a moment. "Their transmission stopped."

Rael waited for a few seconds. "Anything else?"

"Not yet. We're still… wow… I… uh…"

"What is it?"

"Sir, we're receiving some sort of… data file... I think." she replied, scanning her screen "It appears to be some sort of… document?" She sounded confused at the end. "Wait, no. I think… I think it's a word list of some sort, or… or a dictionary. Yes, I think it's some sort of dictionary."

"Well that's convenient. If they are a new species, they must've been anticipating something like this. Can you use it to create a matrix for our translators?" She nodded. "Then do it. And send them a dictionary of Khelish words. We may as well repay the favor." He looked at the screen with Han's visor in it.

"Ready for a little field trip, Han?"

He rubbed his hands together. "Ohhh, I don't know… I… oh why not? Could be fun. I'll take a shuttle to the Rayya."

"It'll be even more fun if they help us stick it to the metalheads."

They both laughed.

"Well Serenity, it looks like they got the message. Hal, have you finished building a translation matrix yet?"

"Just a few more minutes, Captain." replied Hal's avatar. "I've also been running some scans of their ship. They're pretty lightly armed and armored, but all three have fairly large cargo holds. Guess that makes them freighters. But…"

"But what, Mr. Patricks?" asked Serenity."

He shrugged his shoulders in confusion. "The drive core of the one that responded is awfully big for the size of the ship, but the power readings I'm getting are low. Either their tech is less efficient that ours, or…" he trailed off, his voice sounding even more confused than before. "Captain, these ships look almost cobbled together. I'm seeing stress fractures on the hull of the largest one, and the hull itself is made out of at least three different materials that look like they were recently welded. The hard points for their weapons look… out of place, like they were tacked on after the fact. Either that ship was just in a shootout, or they've been years without proper maintenance. That ship is beat to hell."

That concerned her. Any race advanced enough to have starships should be able to build them well and maintain them better. If they couldn't, the most likely explanation was that they weren't with an official group.

"Could they be pirates?" asked captain Zorakov brusquely, having just walked onto the bridge.

Hal shook his head. "I doubt it. Those ships wouldn't last ten seconds in a fight with any Ranger ship we have. Could be smugglers though. That'd explain the oversized cargo holds."

"Hmm…" Hannah thought for a few seconds. "Well, I can't say I'm comfortable with it, but first contact with criminals is still first contact. Besides, we shouldn't jump to conclusions based on a few scans. Anything else you can tell me?"

Zorakov interrupted. "We shouldn't be too hasty, Shepard. For all we know, these are the people that destroyed the Protheans."

She scoffed. "In that ship? Not likely. You were saying Hal?"

"It looks like they use a heximal math system. Took me a second to figure out when they sent their dictionary." He grinned. "Ten bucks says they have six fingers."

Serenity scowled. "You know gambling is against regulations, Mr. Patricks. I should put you on report for that."

"Oh, lighten up Serenity." said Hannah with a grin. "Besides, if you put him on report, you'll need to put me on report too. You're on, Hal."

Serenity shook her head. "Captain, you can't be-"

"What's the harm? It's a little friendly wager between friends. Besides, rules were meant to be bent."

"Rules are meant to be followed ma'am." The synthetic woman scoffed. "Besides, it's a sucker bet."

Hannah smiled wider. "Probably, but we won't know for sure until we meet face to face. Hal, open a channel."

As Han'Gerral walked onto the bridge of the Rayya, Rael turned to him. "Han, we're receiving another transmission. Looks like audio only." He faced the tech. "Is our translation matrix finished yet?"

"Almost, sir. It'll take about fifteen more seconds."

"Well, I guess their computers must be better than ours." Rael sighed heavily. "Can't say I'm surprised. Let's hear what they have to say."

The com channel opened, and a voice came through. It sounded feminine.

"Greetings. This is Captain Hannah Shepard of the ASV Zodiac."

Rael replied waited for the translation matrix to finish, then replied. "Greetings, Captain Shepard. This is Captain Rael'Zorah vas Rayya. What species do you represent?"

"Human." He couldn't tell for sure, but her voice sounded slightly nervous. Rael couldn't blame her. First contact was a scary thing for a young race. She continued. "And yourself?"

"Quarian. I take it that this is your species' first encounter with alien life?" he asked slowly.

"Yes. If possible, I'd like to meet face to face. Would you agree to a meeting?"

He muted the com line and faced Han. "What do you think Han? Take a shuttle?"

"I don't know Rael. It's awfully risky. What if they're hostile?"

"Then they would've started shooting already." he reasoned "Besides, she sounds friendly enough."

Han hesitated for a moment before replying. "Alright, I guess."

"That's the spirit." He reopened the com channel. "We'd be delighted to, Captain Shepard. I and Captain Han'Gerral vas Tarbal will take a shuttle to the Zodiac. If you could send docking instructions, we'll be on our way over shortly."

"Can do, Captain." she replied. "However, I would ask that you and Captain Gerral wear environment suits. No offense, but we don't need any of our people getting sick from an alien pathogen."

Han laughed at that. "They're worried about getting sick? From us? That's irony for you."

Rael laughed a little as well. Still, he couldn't expect another race to have the same immune system problems as Quarians did. And there was no way she could know.

"We can do that, Captain." responded Rael with a bit of humor in his voice. "Gerral and I will be over shortly. Zorah out."

He motioned for Han to follow him as they made their way to the Rayya's shuttle bay. Well, it wasn't so much a shuttle bay as it was a cargo hold, but it worked anyway. As they passed through the halls leading to the hold, they heard excited whispers from small groups of crew members they passed. News spread fast on any ship, and considering the number of people on each Quarian vessel, rumor was like a wildfire in a dry forest.

The pair said little as they boarded the shuttle Han had just taken over to the Rayya. They were quiet during the pre-flight checks, but just as they started the engines, Han broke the silence.

"I hope this works Rael. I've got this nagging feeling in my gut I can't shake."

"You worry too much Han. What's the worst that could happen?"

The trip from the Rayya to the Zodiac took a few minutes, and as they traveled, Rael took a moment to observe the Human ship. The design was extremely odd. While most of the structures on the craft made sense, there were some that he had no idea what they could be for. The ship's GUARDIAN lasers, or what looked like GUARDIANs at least, were much more numerous than most vessels he'd seen before, with nearly three dozen visible from his vantage point alone. The vessel's spinal mass accelerator cannon was small for a cruiser, and looked primitive. The engines looked relatively normal, except for what appeared to be articulated joints in the thrusters. However, the most glaring oddities were a pair of massive protrusions attached dead center on the top and bottom of the ship. They looked almost like a type of turret that would be attached to a ground vehicle, but instead of guns, they had what looked for all the ancestors like mirrors mounted on them. He had no idea what they could possibly be used for.

"What's with that ship?" he asked. "It's the most impractical looking thing I've ever seen. I mean, the Rayya's not exactly the most beautiful ship in the 'verse, but that thing is just… confounding."

Han shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe it's some sort of sensor array. And look at the other three ships. The fins on the cruiser on the left look like some sort of knives, and the prow looks like it was filed to a point. It's got what look like torpedo tubes built into the side, but they're too small, and there's too many of them. They're not even facing the right direction. I don't see any other weapons, not even GUARDIANs. What's with this species?"

"Well, I guess we can ask them when we meet them."

Han considered for a few seconds. "What do you think they look like, Rael?"

Rael debated for a moment. "I'm guessing they're bipedal. And I think they have ten fingers. They might look like Asari."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, they used a base ten numbering system. If they learned to count like Quarians did, it was on their fingers. So unless they have more than four limbs, that means a bipedal body structure with ten fingers." he reasoned.

Han shrugged. "Guess that makes sense. We're about to find out."

As they approached the Human vessel, a large pair of double doors retracted, and the telltale glow of a Mass Effect field sprung up in the entrance to what was clearly a hangar bay. Rael guided the ship to an empty platform near the side of the bay and set the shuttle down gently before cutting the engines. He saw five figures wearing environment suits with opaque red faceplates make their way from a small control room to the shuttle. They were armed, but their weapons looked odd. Rael couldn't make out details from this distance, but the design was unusual.

"Now for the moment of truth. Keelah Se'lai. Let's go Han."

They made their way to the shuttle's airlock and went through an exit cycle. They were greeted by three of the Humans, and one of them spoke.

"Greetings. I'm Captain Hannah Shepard of the Zodiac, the person you spoke to before. This" she said, motioning to a taller figure on her right "is Captain Alexi Zorakov, of the Troika ,and this," she turned to the other figure, the smallest of the three, "is Commander Serenity MacDonald, my Executive Officer. On behalf of the people of Earth, we extend warm greetings and the hand of friendship." She suited her words by extending her hand, which Rael noticed did in fact have five fingers, out towards him. A little hesitantly, Rael grasped her hand and they shook.

"I'm Captain Rael'Zorah vas Rayya, and this is Captain Han'Gerral vas Tarbal. We're pleased to meet you." He hesitated a moment before asking "Was that speech rehearsed?"

She snorted and laughed lightly. "That obvious, was it? Yeah, it was rehearsed. Some pencil pushers somewhere thought it sounded good on paper. After all, we need to make a good first impression." She motioned towards the control room they had come from. "If you'll follow me, we'll head through decon so we can get these suits off. Commander MacDonald and my men will be performing some non-invasive scans on your shuttle. Not to be rude, but there are security protocols we have to follow."

"I understand, Captain Shepard." replied Rael diplomatically. "I would insist on the same if you were on my ship."

They walked towards the control room, and Shepard continued. "I'm also going to have to ask you to turn over any weapons and omnitools you have. They'll be returned when you leave, but I can't let you walk around my ship armed, or risk you taking unauthorized scans."

"I don't feel too comfortable being unarmed on an alien ship, but I suppose I can understand that as well. However, our 'tools are built into our suits."

"Hmm… Well, as long as you don't activate them without authorization, we should be fine. The guards will be watching you, though." she warned.

"Understood."

After they placed their weapons in a locker, the four of them entered a small chamber with a glass mirror on one side. It was a bit like an airlock, but as soon as the door sealed behind them, a wall of light came out from the far end of the room and passed over their bodies, presumably to kill any harmful pathogens. It swept over them several times, and then stopped with the sound of a small chime. At this, the two Humans began removing their suits and hanging them in lockers built into the wall of the room.

"Aren't you going to remove your suits, captains?" asked Hannah.

Rael studied her for a moment before replying. She was a few centimeters shorter than him, and she had shoulder length hair on her head. Other than that, she looked like a cream colored Asari, with blue eyes and pale red lips.

"We… ah… can't." replied Rael hesitantly. "You see, Quarian immune systems are very weak, almost non-existent. If we were to take our suits off, even briefly, outside a sterile environment, we would almost certainly die. We live almost our entire lives in our suits."

She blinked at that, and a look of what he assumed was surprise came to her face.

"Well that's… unexpected. How do you eat and drink?"

"We consume specially sterilized nutrient paste and liquids through induction ports built into our suits. For us, it's second nature."

"But surely you couldn't have evolved that way. The people on your home planet can't always have worn environment suits. What about them?" she asked inquisitively.

Rael sighed and shook his head. "It's… it's a long story, one which I'm sure we'll have time to talk about later."

She frowned for a moment before speaking. "I guess so." She brightened somewhat. "In the meantime, I'd like to give you a tour of my ship. I can't show you everything, you understand, but I'm sure the crew would love to meet you. They're very excited."

She turned towards the far door, which had just opened. Before Rael could follow, a tiny holographic figure flickered into existence above a small pedestal attached to the wall. It looked like the head a Human male, but there was something odd about it. It looked… different. Rael got a cold feeling in his gut. Maybe he was just unfamiliar with Humans, but... Before he could think about it any further, the figure, which was less than fifteen centimeters tall, spoke.

"Hey, Captain Zorah, just out of curiosity, Quarian skin isn't green, is it?"

"Well, I... what?" he asked, now thoroughly confused.

Captain Shepard responded. "Oh don't mind him. That's Hal, my chief engineer. He likes to stick his nose into everybody else's business. I'll introduce you when he's free." She clenched her teeth and turned to the projection. "After all, I'm sure he has some important work to do at the moment, don't you Hal?"

"Oh come on Captain." he whined. "It's a simple question. I can't see inside those visors, and I was just wondering if there are hot-"

The captain cut him off by pressing a small button on the pedestal. "Ugh. I don't know why I put up with him. It might be because he's so damn good at his job." She motioned for Rael and Han to follow as she stepped into the hallway beyond the decontamination chamber. "If you'll follow me gentlemen, I'll take you to the bridge first."

The one she had called Zorakov split off from the group as she progressed. Rael followed Hannah and two guards through the ship, and he couldn't help but feel a bit of envy. The walls, ceilings, and floors of the hallway and the rooms they passed looked brand new, as if the ship had been completed only yesterday. There were no welds in the sleek metal, or hasty patches like were seen on the Migrant Fleet. Even the tech looked advanced. Everything was so well made and spotless, it only served to remind him of what conditions were like on the Flotilla. He hoped that these people were kinder than the rest of the species in the galaxy. If he and Han could establish friendly relations and trade with them, they could be immeasurably helpful to the Quarian people.

After a minute of walking, they passed through a sliding door with two guards flanking it and entered a mid-sized room near the front of the ship. There were seven or eight Humans typing at various consoles throughout the room. One of them, who Rael thought was a Human female by her smaller figure and long hair, was sitting near the prow of the ship with her back turned to him. He could hear a voice coming from near her, and he thought it was singing. Rael's curiosity got the better of him, and he walked towards her.

"-isy, Daisy, give me your answer doooooo."

"My name's not Daisy, Hal."

"I'm half craaaazy, all for the love of yooooou."

"Hal."

"It won't be a stylish marriaaaage."

"HAL."

"I can't afford a carriaaaage."

"Damnit Hal."

"But you'd look sweet, on the seat, of a bicycle built for twoooooo."

"I swear to god Hal, I'll punch you in the balls."

"You do realize I don't have those, right?"

"Then I'll get you a pair."

Rael heard Hannah chuckling softly behind him, and he started slightly. He hadn't heard her approach.

"I don't see what the problem is Jessica. I'd have thought that you'd love to be serenaded by someone as charming and refined as Hal."

"Oh, Captain. I didn't realize you were back from…" She stopped as her chair swiveled to face Rael and the Captain. "Ah. Giving them the fifty cent tour I see." She held out her hand to Rael and smiled warmly. He shook it, more comfortable with the custom than he'd been the first time. "Pleased to meet you." she said. "I'm Flight Lieutenant Jessica Patricks, the chief pilot here on the Zodiac. And that" she said, waving dismissively at the diminutive holographic figure in the corner of the room "is Hal, my idiot husband."

Rael replied, sounding rather awkward. "Yes, we've… met. He asked something about Quarians having green skin. I'm still not sure what he meant."

Jessica turned to the hologram, her eyes filling with anger. "Hal…" she said dangerously.

One of the techs in the back of the room laughed lightly and spoke. "Ooooo… bus-ted."

Jessica continued. "Get you butt down here right now mister. You and I have some things to talk about."

"I'd listen to her Hal." said Hannah with a grin. "You'll only make things worse by running."

"Yes ma'am." he replied sheepishly, and the hologram winked out.

"Well Rael, as much as I'd like to stick around and watch Hal get his ears scorched, duty calls." said Hannah. "If you'll come this way, I'll show you to the crew deck." She walked towards the door they'd entered from, and he followed, Han and the two guards falling in behind them.

"Just out of curiosity Captain, is it common for spouses to serve on the same ship?" asked Rael. "On the Flotilla, most couples are separated so that if a ship is destroyed, a child won't be left orphaned. I haven't seen my wife in nearly four months."

"Oh, you're married?" She flashed him a warm, toothy smile. "To answer your question, no, it's not common, but it's not against regulations as long as the couple has no children. If they did… well, I suppose I'd have to transfer Jessica, despite her being a damn good pilot."

"I suppose that makes sense, but why her and not her husband?"

"Oh, Hal's the ship's core. I couldn't transfer him, even if I wanted too."

Rael stopped in his tracks, suddenly more than a little anxious. Despite blocking the intersection not ten meters from the bridge, he couldn't bring himself to care, or even notice. "What do you mean, core? Is that some sort of rank, or…?"

"He's the Zodiac's computer core." She tilted her head to the side, looking confused. "Don't Quarians use AIs to run their ships?"

Rael felt his blood run cold, and his heart try to pound its way out of his chest. She couldn't mean that… Surely not all of their ships were… "What?" he breathed, barely able to contain his fear.

Hannah looked at him, concerned. "What's wrong Rael? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

He stood there, disbelieving, his mind unable to process what she had just said. Suddenly, a disturbingly familiar voice sounded to his right.

"Hey, so this is the guest of honor. It's not the same seeing you with the sensors as it is in person. Sorry about the whole green skin thing. I didn't mean anything by it. Pleasure to meet you, the name's Hal Patricks."

Rael turned, and he saw it. The metallic exoskeleton. The shining, fake hair. And… and the eyes. The cold, dead, lifeless eyes. He'd never been as scared as he was right then. His fear banished rational thought from his mind, and instinct took over. He took an involuntary step back as the… the thing stuck out its imitation of a hand. As he did, he bumped into one of the guards that had been escorting them around the ship. Quickly elbowing him in the gut, he grabbed the pistol from the holster on his hip and turned it on his assailant. The first shot tore a hole through its chest, causing it to crumple as the second and third blew its head off.

Even as the machine dropped, Rael felt himself being slammed against the floor, and he heard a loud crack as a sharp pain lanced through his arm. Feeling his wrists being bound together, he heard a second thud and made out Han's voice as he swore vehemently in Khelish.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Rael though it was Shepard.

Still trying to recover from the shock of what had just happened, Rael said nothing as the guard hauled him to his feet then slammed him against the wall hard enough to make him see stars. As his vision came back into focus, he saw the door to the bridge slide open, and Jessica ran through.

"Captain, we heard shots, what… HAL!" She ran over the lifeless husk on the floor and started ripping away the remnants of cloth on its chest.

"No no no nonono, please god no, please, oh god please don't, no, no, oh god." she repeated over and over as she worked, tears streaming down her face. Finally, she saw something inside the things chest and she let out a cry of relief.

"Oh, thank you god, oh thank you…" As she knelt there trembling, her eyes found the pistol where Rael had dropped it. Quickly looking up and seeing Rael pinned against the wall, she scrambled to her feet, a look of indescribable rage coming to her face.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" she screamed, drawing back her fist and driving it into Rael's stomach hard enough to make him vomit slightly inside his mask. She hit him a second time, causing him to slump over in pain, supported only by the guards restraining him. As she drew back her fist for a third time, someone caught it.

"ENOUGH, JESS! STOP!" shouted Hannah.

"THIS PIECE OF SHIT TRIED TO KILL HAL! I'M GONNA BASH HIS FUCKING SKULL IN!" She struggled against the hold Hannah had her in, desperately trying to reach Rael and kill him.

"NO!" yelled Hannah. Her voice controlled, her anger suppressed, she continued. "No, you're not. At least not until we get to the bottom of this."

"BUT-"

"DAMNIT JESS! This is a direct order. Return to your post. Hal should be online again in a minute once his backups in the Zodiac's mainframe kick in. Talk to him. I'll handle it from here."

She struggled for a moment more, and then stopped.

"Yes, ma'am" she spat, anger and hate in her voice. Hannah studied her for an instant before nodding. She shoved Jessica down the hall towards the bridge. As she regained her balance, she wheeled in place, glaring daggers at Rael.

"This isn't over, fucker." Jessica cursed, her voice dripping with venom. She turned and stalked into the bridge, the door sliding shut behind her.

Hannah spoke next. "Take these bastards to the brig, and put them in different cells. Make sure you get their omnitools; I don't care if you have to use an EMP to fry them, make sure they're disabled."

As the guards hauled Rael's limp form unceremoniously down the hall, he could only form one rational thought. 'Oh, keelah, why did this happen?'

Thoughts raced through Hannah's mind. She couldn't understand it. Why in the name of all things holy had Rael suddenly decided to try and murder one of her officers? It didn't make a damn bit of sense. He hadn't seemed that offended by Hal's stupid question, or his antics, just confused. Even if he had been offended, he would've said something, right? And wouldn't he know better than to be insulted by the actions of an alien race he'd never encountered and whose customs he had no knowledge of? She couldn't figure it out. Why Hal? What was it about Hal that was different from the rest of her crew?

Suddenly it clicked. Her question about Quarian AIs. His reaction. His fear. But that just caused more questions. Serenity was in the hangar with him. Why not shoot her? 'She was in a suit, he couldn't tell she was synthetic.' But what about Hal's hologram? 'He's seen all of two dozen Humans. He probably wrote it off as something genetic, maybe even as cybernetic. Plus, those holograms aren't exactly the most high fidelity things.' But that still didn't explain the sudden attack. Was he a racist? Even if he was, that didn't justify or explain attempted murder, in front of a half dozen witnesses no less. What the hell?

She sighed heavily, massaging her temples. She needed to report this to FleetCom. Damn. She'd been desperately hoping, almost against hope, that Einstein had been wrong all those years ago. That somewhere out there, there were friendlies. Maybe she'd been deluding herself.

Suddenly, klaxons blared overhead, the ship going on full alert and crew reporting to their battle stations.

"Now what?"