Amala stood just inside the hatch of the ship; the hot wind of Tuchanka stirred her hair while she watched Wrex. His people were already greeting him. A few head butts to sort out things, but overall they seemed happy to see him back. He caught Amala's eye.
"The krogan will be ready when you call for us."
"Thanks, Wrex. I'll keep you posted."
She shut the hatch and felt the ship lift off from the surface. The Wildcat was just a little less crowded now that they had dropped off Wrex. Mordin had been left on Illium earlier. Both of them had their own mission with their own people. Now she had to do her part. The turians were in the back for the moment, but the last thing she wanted was anyone with Anderson to see them.
"EDI, can you get Admiral Anderson on the line? Voice only."
"Of course. One moment."
"Shepard?" Anderson's voice crackled over the link.
"Anderson, I need to meet with you. Preferably picking you up somewhere."
"What is this about?"
"All I can say is it's damn important."
"That's all I get?"
"For the moment. You'll understand when we meet."
"I'll meet you at the Citadel then."
"Actually, sir, Alliance space or even the Attican traverse would be better."
"What in hell is going on?"
"Sir, I'm sorry I can't say any more. Not on an open line."
"Dammit, it's bad when you start sir'ing me. Fine, pick me up at Arcturus station in one galactic day. This had better be good."
"Thank you."
She disconnected the call with a sigh of relief. She heard the thud of the boots that heralded the arrival of at least one turian. She looked over her shoulder to find Saren standing in the hatch to the cockpit.
"Were you able to secure a meeting?"
"Yes. He wasn't happy about not getting any details, but he agreed. We will head to the station that houses my people's government and military and pick him up there."
"Can he truly help us?"
"He just recently made Admiral and he has pull with several other prominent military leaders. If nothing else, he should at least be able to tell me who to see to get the ball rolling. More importantly, I trust him."
Saren nodded to Amala before glancing back to see where the other two were at.
"I fear my friends have unrealistic expectations and they will be disappointed. I do not know how you will be able to convince your people to enter a war that gains them nothing."
Amala ruffled her hair for a moment.
"I won't lie. This is bound to be a hard sell, but if nothing else, I promise to do whatever I can."
"Then all I can ask is return us to Palaven so we may at least stand with our fellow turians to the last."
Amala shook her head. "That may be just as impossible as anything else. Breaking through that blockade and making it to the surface of Palaven in one piece would take a miracle."
A frustrated growl escaped him, his mandibles held tightly to his face.
"I cannot sit out here idly while my people are at war."
She didn't know what to tell him. He was one of his people's military leaders and trapped far away from where the fighting was.
"Perhaps I might make a suggestion," EDI said.
"Might as well. What do you have in mind?" Amala asked.
"If Admiral Anderson is unable to secure the aid we need, perhaps we could attempt to liberate a prisoner camp. Then expose the truth by pushing through an update of the turian language across the galaxy. I could probably hack at least one news channel and then we broadcast the General explaining the travesty that has been dealt to his people. Let them see that the turians are victims of a conspiracy and why."
Saren cocked his head a bit. Amala watched him, waiting for what his response would be. It wasn't a great plan, but it might be a good start. Omega would probably be their only safe refuge afterwards, and she used that term loosely. She doubted the Alliance would allow them in their space while they conducted such attacks.
"Yes, that would at least get the truth out there. My thanks, EDI. You would be a dangerous foe and I am glad you are on our side," Saren said.
"It will take us a galactic day to get there, so enjoy the peace while you have it. I have a feeling when things start to happen, it will be fast," Amala told him.
"Very true. I'll inform the others of our plans."
Saren nodded to her before striding to the back storage room they had converted into a makeshift quarters for them. Amala turned back to watch the stars and relax. It wasn't long before she heard the tell-tale stomp of turian booted feet coming towards her. A glance over her shoulder revealed it was Garrus who now approached her. He glanced at the co-pilot seat and she waved him to sit down.
"Do you mind if I stay up here?"
"Of course not. I figured Saren would have been briefing you guys on what's next on our schedule."
"Oh, he did that. And, well, then he asked if I minded giving them some privacy for a bit."
That had Amala turning to give him her full attention.
"So, uh, they are together then? I mean, I knew they were close, but I didn't realize it was like that."
"Is that a problem?"
She laughed for a moment. "No, I guess I am not as good at reading turian body language as I thought."
He grinned. "Oh, we are more subtle than that. It's the undertones that give that away, well, at least to another turian."
She shook her head and laughed a bit more. She had always prided herself on being able to read others well, a skill she had honed by necessity. It looked like she would have to learn a whole new spectrum, but luckily she had three on hand she could study. A gentle cough brought her attention back to the one sitting beside her.
"I guess I should apologize to you then," she said with a grin.
He cocked his head, his eyes full of confusion.
"For what?"
She chuckled for a moment before replying. "Well, I did suggest to him he enjoy the quiet while he could. I just didn't realize he would be booting you out to do it."
His laughter joined hers.
"You know, I wasn't really laughing at you the other day," he said, his eyes watching her. "I was laughing at the irony of the situation."
"Huh?"
"I had been held in chains for at least a couple of days. Only a few dying people for company before my captors would come in and torture me before leaving me alone once more. So imagine my surprise when I wake up after sleeping in a real bed and I find someone alive pressed against me. Your head tucked under my chin, the feel of your warm breath against my neck. And your skin...It is so different from ours and I'm not real sure what that stuff on top of your head is."
One hand pointed up to the hair on top of her head.
Amala smiled. "Hair. It's called hair."
"Right, so yeah, there was this warm body pressed against me. It was nice and your embarrassment at the situation was ironic. You were worried about offending me, and well, I found it rather enjoyable. I was afraid I had dreamed the whole rescue."
"I hadn't planned on sharing a bed with you, but Mordin drugged me and dropped me in next to you. You were so nice and warm and then I discovered I was plastered to you. I had hoped I hadn't, you know," she stopped for a moment and ran a hand over her face, "groped you."
A delighted laugh escaped him. "No, you managed to avoid touching any of my, uh, more sensitive areas. Although, if you had rubbed your face on my neck...," he said with a grin.
"That's good to know," she said. She was glad her darker skin didn't show the flush that creeped up and into her cheeks. "I don't want Saren yelling at me because I accosted one of his people."
"I don't think I would report you for such a minor offense."
"I was just glad to hear you laugh. I was worried that maybe you had been broken. You were so quiet when you first came on board."
"I was exhausted and still reeling from everything that Nihlus and Saren had told me."
"I bet."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Now that I know your species is called humans, there was one in my cell. The body looked different than yours. Was that a male?"
"Yes. Do you know what he was being held for?"
"No, he was incoherent already when I was put in there."
"But I'm curious; his hair was short, like yours, but a different color, and his skin was lighter. Is that normal, or was it because he was dying?"
She shook her head with a smile. "No, humans have a lot of variety. EDI, can you put up pictures of humans with different natural hair and skin colors?"
The console lit up with an array of pictures, showing people from all over Earth. Garrus studied the pictures intently.
"The hair comes in different lengths, too? Sometimes one of us has a fringe a little shorter or longer than normal, but we don't have such differences like this."
"It depends on how long the person wants to grow it to. Mine used to be longer, but I shaved it when I had to go in disguise once. EDI, can you show him one of my earlier service pictures?"
Amala groaned when she saw what EDI had chosen. Garrus leaned in close, studying the picture.
"What is that from?"
"An award ceremony."
"For what?"
"Amala Shepard received the Star of Terra for her actions during the Skyllian Blitz," EDI chimed in.
"A war you were involved in?"
"No...well, sort of. A bunch of slavers and pirates banded together and attempted to destroy the colony of Elysium. I was on shore leave with some other soldiers, and we rallied the people to hold them off until reinforcements arrived."
"Oh, so all of you received this award."
"Actually, Amala is being too modest. By all accounts, she was the reason the colony held out. She was the only one awarded the Star," EDI said.
"It wasn't like that, and you know you were supposed to be showing a picture with my longer hair. You can't even see it there, it's all tucked up!"
EDI helpfully threw another picture up on the terminal. This one had Amala on a dance floor; she had her arms up and her hair was in a braid that was moving with her. At least this picture showed her hair from when it was longer. Amala groaned when she recognized it though.
"How did you get this?"
"I believe Admiral Anderson sent a copy of this to you. Since it came through the ship I saved a copy to a hard drive."
Garrus grinned at her before he turned to look at it again. "What is this one from?"
"Ugh, a night of too much drinking after that ceremony you saw."
"Oh good, my people will fit right in," he said with a laugh. "We like to celebrate enough that it hurts the next day. When we are free once more, Palaven will be gripped by a celebration that will be talked about for years."
"I would like to see that," she said softly. But even more she could only hope that he would have the chance to have a real life.
~Thanks once more to Mordinette for all her help! And thank you to all the readers who are enjoying this!~