Chapter 16
It had been at least four or five hours since Kevin and Ralik began their tireless quest to clean up the mess left by the Cerberus operatives. At least, Kevin thought it had been four hours. He always had trouble keeping track of time while doing particularly boring jobs. It happened while he was checking the inventory back when he picked up the quarians, and it happened again here. Even when he had Ralik helping him scrub the stains off the walls and floor, it didn't make the job any less mind numbing.
Regardless, Kevin found himself going over the events that led to the very stains he was painstakingly scrubbing away. Things went far better than he could have ever hoped for, and he owed a lot of the success of that battle to the quarians. Their plan and knowledge of the ability to obscure the battlefield with confusing signs of various internal system failures gave him the perfect opportunity to strike their enemies down one at a time with a precision that would have been very difficult to match otherwise.
With that in mind, he had to wonder how they were taking the battle, emotionally. He had plenty of experience in getting up close and personal with his targets before mercilessly taking their lives. Ralik likely did as well in one way or another since he was in the STG, but he wondered if the quarians did. From what he did know about quarians and their marines, most of them were trained to be more a sort of police keeping the peace on the flotilla and such. He figured there were some who took on more threatening figures, such as the geth, but he didn't quite know if any of the quarians he personally knew had ever done that. He did, however, have a few personality flags he could stick to each that might point such a fact out.
Captain Kortel was a very straightforward leader, knowledgeable about the battlefield and efficient in her decision making. This tended to lean her towards one who had been in these sorts of situations before, possibly even an actively fighting soldier before she ranked up. She's the one who supposedly came up with a plan to deal with boarding pirates, after all. Tyr had to have been an active fighter. It was made clear to him from the beginning that he doubled as Siri's strategist, and has proven himself many times in Kevin's eyes as a capable fighter in the field.
Riik Probably was as well. An understanding of combat tactics and weapons that ingrained was not wasted on policing the Migrant Fleet. Bela and Arla had the gear and attitudes of people who have fought in real battles before, but he doubted that either had seen any intense combat prior to their last battle with the geth. Tosh was a tough one. He hid his emotions behind knowledge and explanation, and such disconnects are not unheard of for active soldiers. He did also handle his drone fairly well in dealing the crippling blow to the group of Cerberus soldiers in the briefing room. And Kar. . . Judging by the kid's general disposition, it was highly unlikely that he'd even shot a weapon until the geth attack on their crashed ship.
All this aside, Kevin didn't even get a chance to see if there had been any real emotional impact on the crew since the fight, and it didn't help that he couldn't see any of their faces. In fact, the only one he knew of that had a noticeably different air about them afterwards was Arla, and that was just downright creepy. He wondered if the quarians knew about Cerberus and what they were and if that helped motivate them at all. In the end, he would most likely never know.
After the task of cleaning was done, Kevin returned to the briefing room to see if the others had returned yet. They hadn't. Kevin sighed and leaned against the damaged table with folded arms. They said it would take a few hours, but he didn't expect it to take this long. He wasn't all that worried, though. They had to restock some fuel before they would be able to resume their journey back towards the Melkanis relay, so they weren't exactly short on time. Even still, he hoped they might hurry up a bit.
This moment of downtime gave him a chance to actually stop and think about what he was getting himself into. Things were already stranger than he'd imagined, and he hadn't even seen the relay yet. He unfolded his arms and he stared at his hands. Three fingers. He placed his right hand on the unique chin of his helmet to feel its proper shape. The chin of a quarian. Bela had made a fairly valid point to him earlier: If it weren't for the legs, she would think he was another quarian. He had to wonder how anyone who hadn't been around to see his 'transformation' would react to seeing him. Would they identify him as a human because of the feet, or would they identify him as a quarian since the remaining eighty percent of his appearance matched theirs? The answer in his head leaned more towards the latter.
He thought about taking the top of the helmet off so that he could breathe the air of the ship once more. It was at this point that he realized that he had no idea how to take it off. Tosh never explained to him how to remove the helmet, or the whole suit for that matter. Now he was glad he decided to stay. He would have just flown off and realized this after leaving the flotilla had he not. He certainly wasn't going to risk damaging his only viable breather helmet trying to force it off, either. This was a curious predicament to him. He could get a new hardsuit when they returned to the Citadel, if he was able to remove the one he was in now. Suddenly, a different question popped into his head. What if he decided to stay in the suit anyways? It would make things interesting, and he was already starting to get used to the feel of it. Unfortunately, without any quarians around to help him learn how to maintain his suit, this was hardly an option. It was decided, then. When he and Ralik returned to the Citadel to refuel, he would purchase a new hardsuit. Hopefully he would get a moment with Tosh to have him explain how to remove the suit without incident.
Right after he made that decision, he heard the airlock doors open. From the airlock, Bela'Merni stepped into the Kellius. Kevin went back to having his arms folded as he looked in her direction, curious about what was to happen. She looked back at him and speed walked into the briefing room.
"Folner," she called to him. "The admiral is on his way now. Captain Kortel sent me ahead to make sure you and Dolannus were ready. Where is that sly salarian, anyways?"
"Probably down in engineering cleaning off his lab gear. Let me get him up here."
"Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes with the rest of the team," Bela said with a nod before heading back out the airlock.
"Hey Ralik," Kevin called over the comms.
"Yes, Kevin, what is it? I'm busy with my lab," Ralik replied.
"Get up here, man. The admiral's going to be here soon."
"Can it wait a bit? I'm in the middle of some calibrations."
Kevin let his head hang for a moment in disappointment before replying. "No, of course it can't wait. I'm not going to look like a fool because you decided to show up late to our brief meeting with the quarian admiral."
Ralik sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll be there in a minute. Just let me cancel out of my work."
Kevin shook his head at the salarian's attitude about meeting up with the admiral. If it were anyone else, he'd wonder if they had an issue with the quarians. This, however, was just Ralik being Ralik. There was no excuse for him, and Kevin wasn't going to attempt to make any on his behalf. After a few minutes, Ralik had entered the briefing room as promised, and not a moment too soon. Just as the salarian was about to settle into a chair, the airlock doors opened again. Despite this, Ralik sat down anyways. There was a myriad of footsteps outside on their way in, and he heard Siri shouting outside the docking cradle.
"Make way, Admiral on deck!"
Kevin imagined that there were more marine escorts this time, which made sense. Kevin kicked Ralik in the leg as a wordless way of getting him to stand up, and to his surprise, Ralik stood. A pair of quarian marines stepped in and stood at the corners of the airlock in the neck of the ship with assault rifles in their hands. They turned to look inwards just as Siri, Bela and the rest of the quarians Kevin personally knew stepped aboard and filed into the front of the briefing room. They all lined up around the outside of the front half of the room, with Riik and Siri in the middle, blocking the entrance to the bridge.
"It's your lucky day, Kevin," Siri noted. "The admiral said he wanted to see you two."
"Making me feel special, Kortel," Kevin lightheartedly jested.
Riik straightened up and started a military introduction for his admiral. "Listen up! Admiral aboard! I introduce: Admiral-"
Riik was lightly pushed aside by a male quarian about the same height as Riik, with rather grayed out colors on his suit and a very dark visor.
"I'm right here, corporal," the new, older sounding quarian stated casually. "I can introduce myself."
"My apologies, admiral!" Riik shouted as he stepped aside. The admiral just shrugged it off.
"Greetings, I am-" the admiral started, but cut himself short.
It seemed he was staring at Kevin, and Kevin knew it. There was a brief moment of extremely awkward silence as the admiral continued to analyze Kevin. The other quarians in the room seemed suddenly anxious as they looked to the admiral for his imminent response.
"Siri'Kortel, what exactly am I looking at here?" the admiral asked.
"Admiral, this is Kevin Folner," Siri responded after a bit of hesitation.
"The human kid? You didn't mention this in your report."
"This was how we ended up saving him from the vacuum," Siri explained. "I apologize, admiral, I left this detail out of the report for fear that you wouldn't come."
"Siri, you don't have to omit these things to me in your reports. You know I'm not one to jump to conclusions that easily."
"Dually noted, sir," Siri said.
"As I was saying. . . Greetings, Captain Kevin Folner and Ralik Dolannus. I am Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema. I've heard the full report from Siri'Kortel, and I must say I'm rather. . . Impressed by your actions."
"A pleasure to meet you, admiral," Kevin responded. "I must admit, you have me feeling a bit awkward. I never even met my admirals face to face when I was in the alliance military. Never thought I'd be meeting a quarian one."
"You're feeling awkward?" Han'Gerrel asked with a chuckle. "When I got here and saw you, I thought Siri was playing a joke on me. Crafty woman, she is."
"You know I'd never do that, admiral," Siri responded in an all-too-innocent tone.
"Now then, I believe thanks are in order," the admiral said, looking to Kevin and Ralik. "Siri'Kortel gave me the full report, and I have no reason to believe she exaggerated. That said, it sounds like you did quite a bit for the crew of the Forverna."
"We just did what we thought to be right, admiral," Kevin said "We were in the area. I'd never live it down to know I left people to their doom at the hands of the geth."
"But you did more than just pick our people up, didn't you? You stepped into Hell with them, pulled them out, and destroyed a lot of geth in the process. That takes guts, kid, and that's what I like to hear. Plus it seems you've made friends of the surviving crew. Knowing some of them myself, that's no small task."
"Glad we could be of assistance," Ralik said, likely eager to get this over with.
"What's going to happen now?" Kevin asked.
"Well, several things," Han replied. "These brave quarians need to be transferred to new ships to continue their service. More than that, there's the question of the mission. Siri told me that you already know what their mission was. Is this correct?"
"Yup," Kevin said.
"Right then. The mission was sanctioned by the Admiralty Board as a whole. While it was 'officially' my original idea, each had their part in the mission objectives, which I understand was a bit of a mistake. The mission is so broad that it'd be nigh impossible for one ship to undertake it, but we don't have a lot of ships capable of self-sustained deep space travel away from the Migrant Fleet. Captain Kortel here took up the mantle with enthusiasm, so we gave her some extra marines and equipment to do what she could."
"But now that ship is gone, and you're still left with unanswered questions," Kevin said, completing Han'Gerrel's thought.
"Precisely. I've already called to the other admirals to have them assemble on the Neema to discuss the next viable course of action. Captain Kortel, I'll need you, your lieutenant and your chief to join us for your insight. You have first hand knowledge of what went on out there, and we need your input."
"We would be honored to attend, admiral," Siri responded with a bow of the head.
"The other admirals will likely want me to make any announcements to the people regarding this, since this whole thing was my brilliant idea. I'm not much of a public speaker, but it's part of my duties as admiral. Captain Folner, you and Ralik are welcome to stay and attend the announcement meeting. See the fruits of your labor, in a sense. The deliberations might take a while, I admit, but I'll send someone for you when we're ready to begin if you choose to stay."
Kevin spied Siri nodding at him, as if she wanted him to remain for the meeting. Counter to this, Ralik had something to say.
"We can't wait around here forever, Kevin. We still have our own things to take care of, yes?"
"Don't worry about that, Ralik," Kevin said quietly. "We're not in any hurry, so sure. We'll hang around for the meeting call. At least this way we'll get to see what we worked for."
"Alright then, I'll have the guards make the necessary preparations," Han said. "Normally we don't let non-quarians get involved in such things, but you've already made it a point to get involved. And quite frankly, I'm glad you did. Heck, the last time any outsider did this much for the quarian people, it was Commander Shepard. Turned out it was a good thing we brought him aboard the Rayya. Anyways, I look forward to seeing you at the proceedings, Captain Folner."
Admiral Han'Gerrel bowed his head to Kevin and Ralik before turning around to leave. He paused just before the airlock and looked back to them.
"Who knows? Maybe there will be something announced involving you."
As the admiral left, all the other quarians filed out with him leaving Ralik and Kevin alone in the briefing room again.
"Well, that went better than expected," Kevin said, relieved.
"Now we only have to wait another five hours," Ralik sarcastically remarked.
"Relax. We still have to go back to the Citadel to see if we can get more fuel from Tarsil," Kevin said, the corner of his mouth curling up in a smile to what he was about to say. "At least the cleaning's done."
"Why not just stop at the nearest refueling station?" Ralik asked. "It's not like we've dipped into our cargo-loaded extra yet."
"We don't know if The Illusive Man has tabs on refueling stations in the Traverse, but I'm pretty sure he can't keep tabs on all the docking stations on the Citadel. I imagine he's pretty pissed right now, and I'd rather not risk another hunter-seeker battle or whatever else he could be plotting."
Ralik sighed. "I'll be down in engineering," Ralik said, disinterested in Kevin's points and musings. "Call me when they show."
"Yeah yeah yeah," was Kevin's off-handed reply to the exiting salarian.
Kevin leaned against the burnt briefing table once more to think about what he should occupy his time with while he waited for the quarians to return. As he pondered his course of action, he was suddenly struck by a dreadful realization. One that he hadn't thought about dealing with until just now. Something dire.
He had to pee.
How, exactly, was he supposed to do this? Tosh said it took a lot of prep work to remove a suit, and even if he had the time, he still had no idea how to initiate such a process and Tosh wasn't likely to be back for hours. He had to keep calm – panicking would only agitate and make matters worse. Much to Kevin's dismay, however, the more he thought about how to take care of the situation, the more he had to go. This was something usually taken care of with little mental involvement as casually as undressing before a shower. Now he was suddenly he was forced to figure out what to do or risk. . . The potential results were not something he wanted to think about right now.
Thinking quickly, Kevin accessed his omni-tool. He remembered Tosh saying that there should be data now on it that detailed suit functions and the like. Quickly he searched the newest data installments in his database for anything relating to 'bathroom'. The search came back negative. Kevin slapped his own head when he realized that quarians don't have bathrooms. What a silly thing to search for. His next search, containing the word 'waste', yielded far more promising results. He read the data as it crossed his omni-tool's screen:
The Enviornmental Suit model Ter'skelia Pais Mark 5, like all others, is equipped with the means to deal with nearly all bodily fluid and waste discharge, excluding blood loss from physical damage to the suit and body. As the user excretes a fluid or solid waste, it is extracted and contained upon leaving the body. The waste and/or fluid is then stored in containment bags lined in various sections of the Environmental Suit for removal at a later date. Refer to the Waste Removal documentation for optimal removal timeframes. Please remember to return waste material to the Migrant Fleet for processing into fertilizer. This is an important responsibility of the suit user!
Extracted? Kevin didn't like that word at all, and it made him uneasy. He wondered just how compatible his. . . anatomy would be with such a suit function. He hoped to God it wouldn't hurt. Additionally, he had no idea if his suit had any of those waste containment bags the text mentioned. Luckily there was an internal link in the document that sent him to a screen that showed his suit's statistics. There were some usual counters and graphs for vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure and a couple others. Some of the vital signs hadn't translated properly and were still in quarian, but these were labeled as 'disabled'. There were a number of other things on the screen as well, but Kevin wasn't particularly interested in those at the time. After a quick manual search, he found a counter labeled 'Remaining Waste Bags'. The number beside it surprised Kevin – it read one hundred and five. Either quarians didn't give off much waste or they got really good at maximizing available space with those things. Regardless, Kevin was able to relax a bit now.
With this information in his mind, Kevin made ready. He looked around to make sure Ralik wasn't nearby, as despite being inside a completely enclosed environmental suit, he still felt the need to be alone when he did it. It was embarrassing. Even those years in the alliance with those communal bathrooms lined with urinals didn't change this. He stood up straight and forced his mind to let his strained bladder relax.
As the fluid left his body, it didn't pool or run down the legs of his suit as he initially feared. Instead, it seemed as though it had simply vanished. This was cause for relief to Kevin. It would take a lot of getting used to, but for now he would be able to deal with it. It was funny how a simple change of clothes made him react so drastically about something he hadn't actively thought about for years. Though his normal hardsuits never had such a function, they were easy to remove when he needed to go. Some even had 'Urinal hatches' for those times that he was cutting it close. Now that the crisis was over, Kevin was glad to put this initial learning experience behind him. Next time he won't have to stop dead in his tracks to go to the bathroom.
Kevin sighed and went back to leaning on the table behind him. What should he do while they waited? Why did he ask himself this so much? Did he really get bored this easily? It was at this point that his exhaustion from the past events finally caught up with him. Being knocked out was different than sleeping, and the fight with the Cerberus operatives only furthered his fatigue. It was quickly decided that a quick nap was in order. He definitely had at least some time before the quarians returned. Wearily, Kevin got up off of the table and made his way back to his room.
He took a moment to stop and look at himself in the giant mirror near the shower. Bela was right. Barring the legs, he looked surprisingly quarian. A plain quarian, but a quarian nonetheless. He supposed that was an easy bill to fit when your individual look was overruled by a suit you had to wear. Now he fully understood why quarians almost always exchanged names upon meeting and why they decorated their armor and suits with colored cloths and garments. Changing the exterior of the suit was the only real way they had to express the individualism that sapient life tended to covet. He himself was cheating a little, with the legs and all, but being told these facts didn't really hit home as much as it did to experience it. He pushed this small revelation into the back of his mind for now and he unhooked the belt holding his knife, removed his pistol and set them down on the table beside the terminal on the desk.
When he went to lay down, he was yet again confronted with conflictions between how he normally did things and how he would have to do things while in the suit. For the most part, laying down in bed was not too bad. The tubes that ran along the arms and other parts of the suit didn't crumple or crush when they were pressed on, and the fact that it conformed to his body more or less meant that laying down was still comfortable. However, he was used to laying on his back with his head straight on the pillow. Because of the numerous outcroppings on the back of the helmet, he wasn't able to do that anymore. After a little tossing and turning, he eventually settled on laying on his side with an arm under his helmet. The inside of the helmet was actually rather comfortable to sleep in, counter to his thoughts. His hardsuit breather helmet was fine to wear, but it was too bulky to sleep in and the inside wasn't meant for laying down in. It made sense, though. How else would the quarians get their forty winks if the suit wasn't made to be comfortable all the time?
Comfort was a relative term, however. Kevin was still getting used to the feel of the environmental suit, even now. Trying to sleep in it was just the next experience he needed to face – much like the bathroom crisis not too long ago. Still, his weariness outweighed his comfort preferences and soon his eyelids shut on their own, letting Kevin get some much needed sleep.
Much to his dismay, a familiar voice crackled over his comms and woke him up on the spot. It was another issue he couldn't avoid. His comms were always on his head now.
"Folner, where are you?" It was Bela again.
Kevin rocked his head back and forth on the pillow, forcing himself from the groggy state he was swimming in. He caught a glimpse of the clock sitting on his desk, which read thirteen forty-two. Nearly eight hours since he had stumbled into bed. His eyes opened slowly, but surely and he sat up in the bed. He hit his comms and responded to Bela's calls.
"Ah. I'm here, Bela. Sorry, I fell asleep. I'll be out in a sec."
Kevin went to rub his face as he always did when he woke from a dead sleep, but alas that was restricted as well. Again the helmet prevented him from his usual customs. It was frustrating, but he didn't have much of a choice in the matter at the moment. He turned to the side and hopped off of the bed. He stretched, grabbed his weapons and started for the briefing room. When he got there, he found that Ralik was already waiting for him with Bela and two unfamiliar Migrant Fleet Marines.
"Ralik, How did you know she was here? I didn't call you yet," Kevin asked.
"Terra informed me," Ralik replied, slightly miffed. "Apparently she feels the need to default to alerting me to everything that goes on since she doesn't recognize your profile in that suit. Something we will have to remedy very soon, I think."
"Judging by your attitude, I'd say you fell asleep at your lab," Kevin jabbed.
"Perhaps. . ." Ralik quietly said. "Regardless, we'll have to reinitialize your profile so that Terra recognizes you again and frees me from these blasted alerts."
Kevin chuckled and turned to Bela and the two Marines.
"What's the news, Merni?"
"You two are cleared to come aboard, with limited access to the Neema," Bela responded with a nod.
"Wait, what?" Kevin asked in nervous surprise. "Hold on, I thought you were going to broadcast the meeting to the Kellius. I didn't think I'd be actually going aboard."
"Of course not, silly," Bela responded in a rather playful tone. "The admiral said he wanted to see you at the proceedings, remember? Don't worry, we'll all be there. We just got back from the deliberations, since they're finishing up. People are already starting to gather in the courtyard."
"I thought the admiral only wanted Kortel, Tavval and Garloh," Ralik pointed out.
"At first, yes," Bela explained. "Towards the end, the rest of us were called in. You'll see why at the announcement meeting. Now hurry up or we'll all be late!"
"Alright, we're going," Ralik said as he threw on his breather helmet, seeming excited at the chance to see the inside of a quarian ship.
Kevin was as well, but to an extent. He was well aware of his situation, and he doubted that the entire crew of this massive ship could be informed about him and his appearance.
Bela took the lead while the two marines that accompanied her fell in line behind Kevin and Ralik. Once they stepped out of the airlock and took their first steps on the quarian vessel, the Neema, they were greeted by a long hallway that ran from a walled in room on their left down quite a ways off to their right where it ended at a large door. In front of them was something Kevin never thought he'd see: a large low-ceiling room that seemed to function as a sort of commercial plaza. Instead of buying goods however, the huge, but loosely packed crowd of quarians seemed to be exchanging items. It reminded Kevin of some old pictures of things called 'flea markets' from Earth's pre-Charon relay days. There were large cabinets and lockers lining the back wall where several quarians behind a long desk continually visited on behalf of those asking from the crowded side of the desk. They would occasionally pull items out or put some in depending on who they were talking to. Kevin noticed through the crowd that there were no credit chits to be found.
Morphing in out of the crowd, a few familiar marines stepped up to them.
"We'll take it from here, boys. Thank you," Captain Siri'Kortel ordered.
The two marines accompanying them saluted Siri and then headed off to return to whatever post they had previously been assigned.
"Welcome to the Neema, Folner, Dolannus," Siri said lightheartedly. "Don't mind the stares of the others. It's likely that none of them expected to see any aliens aboard the Neema."
"As long as they're staring at Ralik's big head and not mine, I'm fine," Kevin added.
"What?" Ralik curiously asked, turning around to face the crew. He was clearly preoccupied.
"Nothing. Let's go," Kevin said with a smile under his helmet.
"Follow close, you two. The Neema is rather busy right now since there are no mining operations in progress and everyone's home," Tyr informed.
"Perfect," Kevin said sarcastically under his breath.
As they walked, Kevin continued to take in the alien environment. Just like the downed ship he trekked on back when he helped the marines off that white planet, this one, though bigger, was equally cramped. He was surprised at the sheer volume of quarians for a ship this size. If this one area of the ship had this much traffic, he wondered what some of the other areas must be like. He would have been surprised to see this many people serving on an alliance cruiser, much less all in the same spot.
The ceiling was only about a foot out of Ralik's reach, and he was easily the tallest of their little group. The 'ceiling', as Kevin thought of it for lack of a better word, was no flat surface, but a messy compilation of crates, boxes and other storage containers held tight against the real ceiling by a thick net. The net was sectioned into squares since the room they were in was larger than a hallway, and it was kept up by hooks around each square's edges. The area behind them towards the large doors had crates galore and manually run mobile heavy equipment for loading and offloading large objects. Kevin had to guess that the tail end of the ship was mostly for storage and transferring cargo onto ships.
Kevin and Ralik began to notice that the crowd nearest them was beginning to thin out, though the overall number of quarians in the room did not shrink. There was almost a large, invisible personal bubble that surrounded the aliens, and increasingly more quarians were taking notice of that social barrier.
"You there!" A voice called from the crowd. A male quarian pushed through the masses with ease and confronted Kevin and the others. "What happened to your suit? Do you need repairs?"
"Who, me?" Kevin asked.
Ralik and the others paused to wait for Kevin. They all turned around to look and see what was going on.
"Yes, you. Your suit from the knee down. It's deformed. I'm Faal'Jero vas Neema. Do you need repairs or medical attention? I can get you some right away."
"Kevin Folner. Uh. Vas Kellius? No, no I'm all set. Thank you though."
"I'm sorry, Faal'Jero, but he's with us," Bela casually mentioned. "We're needed in the courtyard.
"Oh, my apologies. I didn't mean to stall you. Marine business, right? Are you sure he doesn't need medical attention? He walks like a flat-foot."
"A what?" Kevin asked, turning back around to face the quarian.
"It's true, he does," a voice from the slowing crowd said.
Kevin never wanted all this attention. He was used to being unseen in the crowds, using them for cover as he approached unsuspecting targets. Having any group of anonymous beings focus on him gave him the feeling of being caught either before he could make his move, or as he did it. He would rather just get moving, but the masses insisted on investigating the curious.
"Come to think of it, his eyes are really dark, too. Is he feeling alright?" More voices from the observing quarians.
Kevin thought a simple statement might let them move along. "I'm not flat-footed, I'm human."
The crowd didn't shrug it off as Kevin hoped. Instead, several backed away with audible gasps instantly at the notion, causing a slight traffic buildup around them. Pretty soon even more were curiously investigating. Things were about to snowball.
"I was afraid of this," Tosh said, stepping over to Kevin's side. "Move along, my friends, there is nothing to see here."
"I would say there is. I see a human in one of our suits!" Someone shouted.
"Is this some kind of joke?"
"Why is a human taking up our valuable resources like that?"
"I think he's spitting on our traditions."
"Who let them in anyways?"
"That suit should be on a quarian where it belongs!"
"People, settle down," Tosh said, waving his captain over. "This is a matter for the Migrant Fleet Marines. I kindly ask that you step aside so that we may proceed to our destination."
"I just want to know why a human thinks he can bypass the rites of our youth and just don an environmental suit of his own like that," stated another.
"This human saved our lives," Siri said, intervening. "I think that's worthy enough of a rite."
The crowd hushed a moment as they spoke amongst themselves.
"That's not the same!"
"But why must he wear a suit of our kind? He doesn't require it like we do. And he boards our ship no less! Is he insulting us? All of us?" an anonymous quarian questioned, more curious about this abnormality than angry.
"There were extenuating circumstances. We had very little choice in the matter," Tyr said, stepping in.
"I think we all fall under that category!" Someone shouted, getting a small rise out of the crowd that stopped to observe.
"People, please. This human is experiencing things from a quarian perspective. Something no other has done. We all wish for the galaxy to understand our circumstances, do you not think he's the one in the best position to do it? Why should we act like bigots towards him? We are not that kind of people." Siri said with sage-like straightforwardness.
The observing masses fell silent.
"Instead of treating this one like he's trying to insult our people, help him understand by treating him as you would me, Siri'Kortel vas Del'Forverna. I do ask, however, that if you have genuine questions for him, please wait until after the announcements from the Admiralty Board are made."
Those in the crowds began to mutter amongst themselves before slowly dispersing to the way they were before. The air was filled with a tense, but less aggrivated mix of curiosity, offended indignation and temporary acceptance. Kevin released a short breath as the crowds began flow around them again, relieved to return to a state of incognito in a sense.
"Thank you, Siri," Kevin said with emphasized appreciation.
"Let's get moving before that happens again," Tyr suggested.
Everyone nodded at once and resumed their trek into the ship. Pretty soon, they filed through a traffic bottleneck – a wide door separating the room they were just in and a room that almost contrasted the densely packed air from before. To start, the room they stepped into had a much higher and more defined ceiling. There were big plants growing along the walls, both near the floor and higher up top as well. The number of quarians that moved about this room was less significant compared to the last room, but it was far from diminished. It was a much bigger room in physical size, so even if the number of bodies were the same, they wouldn't be as compacted. Even more, it seemed that most of them either used this room simply as a portal room to the docks and storage or a place to simply relax and chat with others. Small benches and other things to sit on dotted the perimeters, but other than this, there wasn't much in the way other décor or objects aside from the occasional crate or terminal.
On the far side of the surprisingly open room, there was a long set of shallow downward stairs that formed half of a broad circle. The height difference was not really enough to cause any significant injury should one fall, but it was partially surrounded by thick rails nonetheless. They looked more to Kevin like they were there to lean on more than they were there to keep people from unwittingly stumbling down. At the center of this lowered circle was a flat area where Kevin guessed some sort of performances or other attention focusing activities took place. Behind this, beyond the railed backside of the half-circle, was an area devoted to fauna and botany. It wasn't terribly big, but it was raised higher and housed a collection of alien plants ranging from the large ones on the wall to smaller, more colorful ones. There was a small path that raised from the rest of the room to cross the center of this patch, making the plants accessible – likely for care and maintenance. On either far side of the room were large doorless entryways connecting this open room to the other areas of the ship. Each were complete with the hustle and bustle of quarians coming and going.
At this particular point in time, there was what looked to be a temporary raised podium placed in the middle of the flat area at the center of the circle of stairs. It was only big enough for one person, so Kevin had to guess that it was where Admiral Han'Gerrel would be making his announcements from. There was already quite a number of quarians hanging around the steps, most of which seemed to be waiting patiently to see what was going to be said at the podium.
Kevin's group halted near the back of the room, near the door they passed through. They formed a small circle to communicate, something that was naturally prohibited in the other room due to lack of free space.
"Welcome to the Neema's courtyard, everyone," Siri said cheerfully. "I'm going to find the admiral and let him know we've arrived. We'll be starting as soon as he's ready." After she said this, she ran off into the bunches of quarians moving slowly across the room and disappeared.
"Wow," Kevin quietly exclaimed. "I thought quarian ships were more tightly spaced than this."
"They are," Tosh replied. "I transferred to the Neema after completing my pilgrimage. This is the courtyard, the largest open spaced room on the entire ship. Even the bridge and loading docks have only a fraction of the free space this room has. The admiral works hard to keep this particular room as clean and pleasant as possible, since any quarian can go here on their free time."
"Do all the ships in the flotilla have something like this?" Ralik asked.
"Most ships don't have enough space to have a courtyard," Bela said, obliging. "Usually only the homeships, liveships and I think the occasional large clan ship can afford something this nice."
"With populations as excessive as the Neema's, there has to be a place where people can go to loosen up a bit," Kar added. "The courtyard here is often a place where organized performances are conducted by various members of the ship to entertain the crew. It can get pretty lively in courtyards sometimes, from what I hear."
"There are also dueling tournaments from time to time on ships that allow that," Arla said, finally speaking up.
"And occasionally, on days like today, there is business to take care of," Tyr said, pointing to the podium that was being occupied by the Neema's admiral.
The moment he took place on the raised podium, other quarians from all over the room started to make their way over and take seats on the shallow steps around it. Those that couldn't fit in to take a seat leaned against the railing along the outside of it and intentionally left the open spaces between railing connections cleared. After that, the stragglers who came in too late to get a prime spot either gathered in the path behind the podium in the vegetation or simply stood behind those leaning on the railing. Kevin's group moved in and took up position around the opening in the railing directly in front of the admiral, and Siri joined them not a moment later.
Despite the thick crowd, there was very little pushing, shoving and other similar acts Kevin thought inherent in masses like this. More often than not, each quarian did their best to help others see the attraction at the center of the half-circle. It was clear each was very conscious about those around him or her, and they all worked to help their neighbor. They were certainly very friendly to their kin, and Kevin sincerely wished such continuing and simple acts of selflessness could be found in his own people, and others.
The admiral raised his hands to alert the crowds that he was ready to speak and the general hum of voices quieted down, even as other quarians passed through the room with alternate purposes.
"I thank you all for taking to time to come to this impromptu announcement meeting. Keelah se'lai."
The crowd around Kevin and Ralik all responded the same words in tandem once the admiral finished: "Keelah se'lai."
"I know many of you have important jobs to attend to, so I will keep this series of notices and narratives as brief as the situation allows. You are all aware of the continuous and pressing matter of where we, as the quarian people, are heading. Due to a recent and troubling event with one of our lab ships, the Alarei, the Admiralty Board was forced to face this issue more directly with a new sense of urgency.
"Many of you may not be aware, however, of the various deep space missions a few fearless crews have been undertaking in order to help us find an answer to this most dividing subject. They brave dangers we cannot even fathom in service to the quarian people, and their efforts are most important to our future as a species."
The admiral paused for a short moment, focusing in the direction of Kevin's group.
"Will the crew of the Forverna please step forward."
The quarians Kevin knew all looked to their captain. Siri noded towards the podium without saying a word and they all began to move down the stairs in single file. Once they finished lining up in front of the admiral facing out to the crowd, the small path created for them by the sitting people filled back up.
"One particular deep space mission was very recently made available to us. My peers branded this mission as crucial, integral to our search for possibilities. A path we can safely know for sure that no other living being has taken. Unfortunately, that mission was also quickly decided as impossible due to the sheer crushing responsibility that would be placed on the one single ship sent away. Despite this, Captain Siri'Kortel vas Forverna and her crew stepped up to the task with full knowledge of what was required. The Forverna, a crew of two hundred and thirty two at the time of departure, was hardy and ready to face their new mission. We feared we were sending them to their doom, but Siri'Kortel assured us that her and her crew shared no such vision.
"Unfortunately, the Forverna has been lost to us. Our hearts grieve for those who perished aboard the ship under geth attack, fighting for our very future. But all is not lost. These formidable marines who stand before me live to tell the tale of their shipmates, their struggle to reach their destination and their final stand against our constant enemy. They are the first of any deep space mission to return with any news, and what we have learned only furthers our need to complete this mission.
"Captain Siri'Kortel has expressed personal interest in continuing this dangerous mission that nearly ended her entire crew. Her motivation for completing it is not just personal; the need for this information has hit home for her more than most of us standing in this room. Moreover, the surviving marines who have shown unequaled skill on the battlefield and a most indomitable will to survive and press forward have all requested to remain under her command. This in itself is a testament to her ability as a captain, and it brings home the bond we quarians all share no matter how many stars come between us and our home."
Kevin smiled warmly under his helmet and elbowed Ralik in the side as the admiral continued on with a speech that continued to remind the crew of the Neema what they all faced and just what was being done in the silent distance.
"Quite the talker, isn't he? Come on, let's leave these marines to their glory speech," he said quietly as he flicked his head back in the direction of the Kellius.
"Agreed," Ralik said, still watching the quarians get their fifteen deserved minutes of fame.
They both turned around and started to walk through the remaining crowd around the edge. Their aim was to make a timely and silent exit so that those who deserved recognition among their people would be able to do what they must without being further hindered. However, there was one last quarian surprise determined to reach them before they left the flotilla.
"Will the crew of the Kellius please step forward?" the admiral asked, this time more of a question than an order.
Kevin and Ralik stopped in their tracks and turned around to look a the thick crowd surrounding the few at the center. They both looked at each other once, looked back at the crowd, then returned their gaze to each other once more. The dense group of quarians sitting down and witnessing this event all turned their bodies and heads to look at the aliens in a wave that seemed to emanate from the center at the base of the stairs. Kevin raised his shoulders at Ralik as if to ask 'Should we go?', and Ralik responded by whimsically shrugging and nodding.
They started back towards the podium, at first having to push through the few that they had already bypassed once with the occasional 'excuse us' and 'coming through'. As they started down the steps, however, a path in the sitting suited people opened up for them right at their feet and it led them all the way to the center. There they stood, facing Siri'Kortel and her crew with the admiral Han'Gerrel just behind them looking down upon them. Yeah, they were a little anxious. Around them, the once silent crowd was now murmuring amongst themselves, wondering what was about to happen.
"Captain Kevin Folner and Ralik Dolannus. The next few topics I will be talking about are rather unusual, and they involve you. It has come to the attention of the Admiralty Board that with the Forverna no longer with us, we find that despite our vast fleet, are beginning to come up short on vessels prepared for deep space missions with such intense requirements as this.
"I have been told by Siri'Kortel that even though her crew has only spent a short time aboard your ship, you have made a profound impact on both her and her crew. In light of this and the realization that we lack a ship with sufficient equipment for this mission, Captain Siri'Kortel of the Migrant Fleet Marines has made a personal request of the Admiralty Board. After much deliberation, we have agreed to let her make this request to you."
Siri then looked to her crew members to her left and nodded. Seeming to understand, they nodded back. This was likewise done to her crew members on her right, and the also nodded in turn. After that, she stepped forward from the line to stand just in front of Kevin and Ralik.
"We humbly request that, you, Captain Kevin Folner and Ralik Dolannus, allow me and my remaining crew to accompany you on the Kellius. We realize our destinations are similar and our goals, mutual."
Kevin and Ralik looked to each other in thought, and the volume of the murmuring crowd stepped up a few decibels. The general emotion of the masses was not of insult or anger, but of interest and anxiousness. There was a level of respect in the air just on the basis of the request that was just made. It was clear to Kevin that this sort of thing was a serious matter to the quarians. One that was not done very often, if at all.
"You have already done much for our people, Kevin," the admiral continued. "There is no obligation."
Kevin couldn't see Ralik's face, but for all his sarcasm, Kevin could tell the salarian was swelling with honored pride just as he was. Ralik didn't even need to nod to Kevin to pass on his side of the answer. They both simply looked back to Siri and the admiral.
"Admiral, captain," Kevin started, standing up straight. "We would be honored to have the Migrant Fleet Marines aboard. The Kellius stands ready to accept."
Siri seemed to loosen just a bit, as if letting go of a held breath. "Captain Folner, I thank you from the bottom of my stony heart."
"On behalf of the Admiralty Board and the quarian race, I thank you, Captain Folner," Han said.
"On one condition," Kevin suddenly interrupted.
The crowd fell silent, expecting some sort of harsh request in return.
"Captain Siri'Kortel remains captain. I'm not much for captain material, much less one with subordinates," Kevin stated.
Siri looked up to the admiral and raised her shoulders. Once again the crowd was abuzz with hushed conversations.
"Your request is humbling, and it will be done," the Admiral replied with a nod. "Captain Siri'Kortel of the Migrant Fleet Marines, you and your crew are no longer vas Del'Forverna. You are hereby recognized as vas Kellius. While we cannot make the Kellius a vessel of the Migrant Fleet by quarian law, we can consider it a military attachment to the flotilla. You will be free to come and go as you please."
"Thank you, admiral," Kevin said.
"No. Thank you, Kevin. Now on another subject. . . While this is a most unusual development, there is more."
This time it was Siri's turn to look back at the admiral, confused.
"The other admirals reminded me of something stuffed deep in the pages of history – a few years before we were driven from our homeworld. We did many things throughout the galaxy then, though our influence was not widespread. Often times we were faced with missions deemed impossible by conventional standards, just as we are today. An old admiral and brilliant strategist, Thal'Norus vas Jordashal, conceived the idea of specialized teams of our own, sent off to accomplish these objectives however they could. They were teams not officially recognized by quarian society, since often times their missions clashed with the other inhabitants of the galaxy but were fully supported behind closed doors. This may sound familiar – they were not unlike the Citadel's precious Spectres, but team based rather than lone soldiers and not nearly as widely known.
"They were the Xelvas'taersh, otherwise known as the Thal'Norus Shadowstrike squads. Unfortunately, the whole program fell to pieces during the geth rebellion, and Thal'Norus went down with his ship while covering some of the last escaping quarian vessels as we took to the stars.
"'Why are you telling us this?', you all might be asking. I bring this brief history lesson to light because the Admiralty Board expressed interest in reviving the program to a limited state. You nine are setting out to do the very things that the Xelvas'taersh were tasked with before their fall. We found it fitting that we begin that revival with a Shadowstrike squad of our own. Make no mistake, whether you are quarian or not, you are all a team now. While this may be no better than words at the moment, I can say that you nine are the first Xelvas'taersh in over three hundred years.
"I. . . I really don't know what to say to this, admiral. I'm stunned," Siri responded, taken aback by the significance she just had dropped on her head.
"We will work out the details later, captain," the admiral continued. "As for now, I can finally conclude this series of announcements and, apparently, history lessons and textbook sized speeches. I thank you all for coming. Keelah se'lai."
"Keelah se'lai," the resounding response half-excitedly came from all around.
Kevin, Ralik, Siri and her crew all just sort of stood there in the middle of the mini amphitheater, staring at one another. They were silent, as there was a lot of noise coming from the dispersing crowd which seemed to have nearly doubled in size since the meeting began. When the heightened noise pollution subsided, Kevin took the liberty of speaking first.
"So. Our doom. I hear it's a nice place this time of year. Why don't we all head there together?"
Chuckles were had, bringing Kevin's ability to tell a joke up from the trenches.
"This is going to be a very interesting mission," Kar said, nearly giddy with excitement.
Bela, on the other hand, was giddy with excitement."This is awesome!" Bela shouted. "One of my ancestors was Xelvas'taersh! I used to get told stories of suave quarians quick on the trigger and bold when facing impossible odds when I was a kid. Who knew I'd get to be one?"
"Sounds like we have some big suits to fill," Tyr commented, proud of his involvement in all this.
"Siri'Kortel vas Kellius, captain of the first Thal'Norus Shadowstrike squad in three hundred years. Has a nice ring to it," Riik said, patting his captain on the back.
"Oh, stow it," Siri said with a chuckle. "I already don't know how to deal with this. You're just making it worse."
"They certainly threw a lot at us all at once," Arla commented, agreeing with her captain. "Still trying to take it all in."
"I'm going to need to update my databases. I had no data on the Xelvas'taersh. Not surprising, given their nature and short lived existence," Tosh analytically noted.
At this point, the crowd was still working to fully disperse back to their daily lives aboard the Neema. As people worked to move away from the previously over-crowded area, admiral Han'Gerrel stepped through to flow of quarians to approach the crew. He seemed a bit more relaxed now that his obligatory speeches were over and more anxious to talk with Siri and her team. As he approached, several of the team members had gotten caught in conversations with other passers by, drawing them away for a moment.
"Well spoken, admiral," Kevin noted over the hustle and bustle. "For someone who isn't much of a public speaker, you certainly had a lot to say."
"That long winded, was I? I knew I should have prepared notes to keep my points in line," the admiral said.
"Nonsense. You were very informative," Siri replied. "I think anyone who heard all that knows the stakes now, which isn't something easily conveyed."
"There is still a lot to talk about, Siri. Off of the podium, of course," Han said casually.
"What about?" Siri asked.
"The matter of preparation. In the past, Xelvas'taersh were granted fresh tech, weapons and armor, along with a new ship or serious upgrades. Unfortunately, we cannot provide these things anymore."
"Understandable," Kevin responded. "We did grab a bunch of new tech from the Cerberus soldiers that boarded our ship, though, so individually we should be set in that regard."
"Yes, Siri's report told me as much," Han said as he brought a hand to his helmet's chin in thought. "Perhaps in the future we can better adapt this program to being able to provide for new teams, but it seems unlikely in our current state. Though now that I think about it, you've given me an idea, Kevin."
"Oh?" Kevin wondered aloud.
"My engineers at the docks have been buzzing about the tech from the ship that your secondary team brought in. That Cerberus vessel. From what I understand, the Kellius lacks a GARDIAN laser grid, which the other ship just so happens to have. I can have several of my best engineers transfer the hardware to your ship in place of an upgrade. It would take a few days to integrate the systems, but you'll at least have a better defense than just a mass accelerator. Keelah knows you all will need it more than we do."
"We would greatly appreciate that, admiral," Siri thanked with a bow of her head.
"Yes, that would a huge help," Kevin appreciatively added. "It probably won't take a few days, though. Your techs might not know this, but it seems the Kellius already has the hardpoints and software to control and interface with the GARDIAN grid. It just lacks the actual hardware for some reason."
"Well then in that case, give us about twelve hours or so and we can get the guns transferred over. I'll have them start right away."
"Permission to oversee the ship prep, admiral," Siri piped in excitedly.
"Permission granted, Siri," the admiral responded lightheartedly. "Keep those brilliant kids in line for me. See if you can get someone to move the ship to maintenance bay six."
"Thank you, admiral. It'll be done before you know it. Tosh'Rolush, you're with me. You have more knowledge of the Kellius' systems than the others. I'll need your help with integration. Kar'Welkas, you too. I'll need you to move the ship to another bay."
Tosh spun around, hearing his captain call his name despite the fact that he was in the middle of a conversation with someone else.
"Yes, captain. Right away," Tosh replied, using gestures to apologize to the quarian he was chatting with.
Kar showed up from among the crowds the moment his name was called and saluted his captain and the admiral. "Yes ma'am!"
Siri, Kar and Tosh then headed out of the courtyard back towards the ship, eventually fading into the flowing motion of busy quarian crowds.
"I know I'm in absolutely no position to request anything, admiral, least of all from you, but. . ." Kevin started.
"Spit it out, boy. Don't hesitate to ask something of me, especially now."
"Well, we used up a good portion of our fuel heading out there and coming back, and we're not quite sure how much we will need to reach the relay. We have extra stock, but I figured we would need all that for when we get beyond the relay."
"Say no more, Kevin. I'll probably have to fight with a few people over this, but I'm sure I can provide a few kilos of fuel. You're doing the entire quarian people a great service, and it's not in our nature to deny something so crucial to our own."
"Much appreciated, admiral. To be honest, I'm a bit humbled by your generosity in your constant and fragile state of need."
"Truth be told, that's exactly what we're in – a fragile state. But we don't let our situation define us as who we are, it just circumstantially defines what we are. Anyways, I was pleased to hear that you made such good impressions with the team. As I mentioned before, I know some of them personally, and can imagine getting on their good side wasn't easy."
"How do you know some of them?" Kevin genuinely asked as they both started to take a walk around the courtyard.
"Well, Siri'Kortel was born and grew up here on the Neema. She had a strong heart for her people, but had high emotional barriers back then, and from what I hear, I don't think things have changed much. Her clan and my clan had always been friends, so we kept in contact regarding things that happened with our families."
"That's interesting. I didn't know that," Kevin responded with a nod.
"Tosh'Rolush transferred here after his pilgrimage, and as you know, he was the one who intercepted the leaked data that got us here in the first place. Others like Arla'Tavval, Riik'Votis and Kar'Welkas undertook marine training on the Neema."
"Is the Neema the de facto marine training grounds for the flotilla?" Kevin curiously asked.
"It's one of several. Not all the ships in the fleet have the space, equipment or personnel to house Migrant Fleet Marine training grounds, so any quarian interested in enlisting after their pilgrimage transfers to a ship that can. There they undergo the training, graduate into the service and get placed on missions or a ship to serve on."
"Is that why the Migrant Fleet Marines never say their ship names when introducing themselves?"
"That's a strict formality we enforce. Though we fully encourage the diversity of the ships, we need to make sure that each marine recognizes that while they are immediately responsible for the ship they are stationed on, the Migrant Fleet Marines as a whole has a responsibility to protect the entire flotilla. In short, their duties fall to their station ship first and the rest of the fleet second. They are Migrant Fleet Marines, not Neema Marines or Rayya Marines."
"Makes sense. Gives them a sense of unity, despite working in separate groups."
The admiral nodded. "Anyways, I didn't know the marine trainees as well as I did Tosh or Siri, but I knew Arla'Tavval and Riik'Votis were particularly tough nuts to crack. The very fact that they aren't at your throat is impressive."
"Yeah, we've worked that out. Why are they like that, anyways?"
"Their personal reasoning is theirs to tell you about, but since you will be working closely with them in the long mission ahead of you, I'll let you in on what I discovered from their time here in training. Riik is just over-sensitive about how his people are treated, and as such, tended to automatically defer to insensitivity towards non-quarians. Something must have happened to him on his pilgrimage. Arla'Tavval has always had pride issues since her pilgrimage and is flat out impossible to impress or keep the attention of. In fact, the only person I can remember that she actively listened to was the only person that was able to put her down, physicially."
"What do you mean?" Kevin asked as they stopped to sit on a bench near the patch of fauna.
"Arla'Tavval was one of the best trainees I had seen in a long time. She was devoted, headstrong and an extremely good fighter. I'm sure you've at least heard of her hand-to-hand combat expertise, most likely from her."
". . . Yes. Yes I have."
"Well, that and marksmanship were her studies for off-fleet missions. She was such a good fighter that the only person who could best her was her instructor. I think his name was Yolis'Qoln. He was the only person she ever genuinely listened to regarding anything other than orders. I can remember getting messages from him that reported various successes of his trainees." The admiral laughed. "He stated that Arla was getting 'too attached for one on one training to continue'."
"So what you're saying is that Arla had a crush on this guy?" Kevin asked, wary.
"That's the way I saw it. I denied his training ship transfer request, since he was the only one getting through to her. After she graduated and moved on, he described her as the type of woman to be attracted to superior physical prowess and the ability to get the job done. He was worried that she might not want to move on when she graduated. From what I recall, he said good bye to her with a duel and lost. He was in the medical bay for a week."
"Is that so? Sounds like she doesn't mess around. As long as she's on my side, that's the kind of marine I'd like with me out in the field."
"Just don't challenge her to a duel. She does it all the time, from what I hear. She's good in a fight and will probably leave you on the floor bleeding. I remember she often lost sight of the idea of 'sportsmanlike conduct'." The admiral laughed again at his own train of thought. "Heck, if you ended up winning, she might even like you. Not enough of a cause to try, I say."
Kevin could put two and two together. "Uh. Let's say, hypothetically, that I did in fact end up getting into a duel with her."
"Then I'd be surprised to see you in such good condition. Like I said, she didn't fully grasp the concept of knowing when to stop."
"And let's say, hypothetically, that I won the duel."
"Wait, come again?" the admiral said, his tone changing to that of an intrigued one.
"Okay, no more beating around the bush," Kevin said, indicating that he wasn't trying to make up a story. "She challenged me to a duel on our trip back, out of hubris."
"And you won?"
"I won."
Han'Gerrel paused for a moment in thought while visor-masked stares met Kevin. ". . . Oh boy."
He seemed ready to make further statements, but they were interrupted by a quarian that stepped up to them.
"Excuse me, admiral, but Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib-Qwib would like to speak with you up in the bridge."
Han'Gerrel sighed and shook his head. "And here I thought shutting off my comms for the time being would allow me to avoid him until he left. Alright, I'm on my way." Han'Gerrel stood from the bench they were sitting on and turned back to Kevin. "It was a pleasure chatting with you, Kevin. I trust you will work hard with the rest of the team?"
"You can bet on that, admiral," Kevin confidently stated.
"Good. I look forward to hearing the report from all of you when you get back."
Kevin nodded to the admiral and Han'Gerrel left in the company of his messenger. The quarian-masked human sat back on the bench thinking about the conversation they just had, and the potential implications. He wondered if that was why Arla was acting so strangely after they slaughtered the Cerberus operatives, but there were too many factors there for that to be the case. She hadn't shown any real attraction to him even after he did put her on the floor back during the duel, so that was likely just her trying to emotionally deal with close range killing of non-synthetics.
Why was he even thinking this? He wasn't quarian. To think any of them had any degree of real attraction to him was silly, but he couldn't deny the circumstances. Normally he wouldn't even think that quarians could potentially be attracted to other species due to how different their world was, but. . .
This was all Nor's fault. She was the first and only one to ever bring these thoughts to mind, and now because of her, he found himself thinking ridiculously again. She was probably looking down on him from wherever her version of heaven was, laughing. Kevin just shook a fist in the air.
"Just wait, Nor. I'll get you back for this," Kevin said to himself as he settled back into the bench. "I can't live forever, you know."