During the days that followed, Mali took advantage of all the new tech that surrounded her and was always asking questions to the crew, who were too happy to oblige an awestruck little girl, puffing out their chests with pride. Whenever this happened, whomever was chaperoning her, usually Captain Clair, would roll their eyes as they settled down for a long, boring lecture. Niles took it upon himself to give Mali a few N7 pointers for her upcoming training. So once a day right before lunch she would meet him in the gym for practice. This was Alexandra's favorite time, watching Niles get beat up by a little girl.
The first day Niles had started with hand to hand combat, trusting his skills to hold him in the fight. But in the first few seconds, he was shown that hand-to-hand was Mali's field of expertise. She dodged and moved like he was swimming through molasses, always one step ahead of him. Whoever had trained her must have been freak of nature, Niles thought as he was thrown to his butt for the fourth time that day. The next day they worked on marksmanship, which he was pleased to see she was lacking in. Word soon passed around the ship of the little girl's skill, and soon many of the burley crewmen were lined up to test their might against hers. The first time officer Clair had been concerned for her, almost forbidding Mali to do it, but the poor man was knocked out cold before he could say "Momma". After that, she just couldn't stop Mali from her nightly matches, and she even found herself enjoying them once in a while. The trip was scheduled to take about a week, so they had plenty of time.
Mali, on the other hand, felt claustrophobic on the tiny ship, always feeling pressed in by all the people. She had never been living in such close quarters with so many people at once, and the stress of it sometimes overwhelmed her. As their trip started to draw to a close, Mali started to get restless in her sleep, every night having nightmares about one thing or another. She tried to not let it show, but Officer Clair had noticed the growing bags under her eyes. This night, Friday; her last night on the ship, was no different.
Mali ran down the corridor of the ship, following the screams of pain. She had to find out where they were coming from. The halls were empty of the usual crew walking about. I wonder where they all are? Mali thought. The woman's cries became louder, and more frequent, cresting into a nonstop wail of agony. Mali picked up her speed, she had to help this lady. She turned a corner, and behind some glass, was the woman she was looking for. Mali could not see her face, for it was turned away, but she could see her body rippling with pain. The woman was pale and weak, and very thin from not eating. The woman's stomach bulged with the unmistakable curve of pregnancy; she's giving birth! Mali thought. But something was obviously wrong.
Blood surrounded the mother, soaking her thin hospital gown and the table and floor surrounding her. Doctors rushed to and fro, checking monitors, yelling frantically. Mali became partially aware of a dark man standing silently next to her—watching the woman as well—his face obscured by shadow. "We're losing her!" The woman let out an anguished groan and then lay as still as if she were dead. The monitor gave one last miserable beep. "She's as good as dead, we can do nothing more—but we can still save the baby, prepare for a C-section!" The doctor ordered.
Mali watched in horror as they brought s scalpel to the woman's stomach, slicing into it. She felt nausea rise in her throat as blood spurted from the slice, dripping down onto the floor. They were cutting open a woman alive. The woman's body shuddered with agony as they cut into her, then her heart gave out—she had lost too much blood. The man beside her turned away, covering his mouth, at least I'm not the only one, Mali thought. As the slit was pried open, blue light suffused the room, pouring out of the womb. Doctors and nurses alike pulled back in fear of the shimmering light. The man next to Mali laughed with triumph, and overcoming his nausea and disregarding the rules of sterilization, he ran into the hospital room. Where the doctors and nurses had failed, he boldly stepped forward next to the operation table.
Disregarding the corpse, he reached inside her with both hands, going up to his forearms into her womb. When his arms lifted, they were thickly covered with blood, staining his white sleeves. In his hands, he held a small, bloody baby; it was glowing with blue light—emanating from within. As the man lifted the baby above his head, the blue swirls danced around the baby, pulsing to the rhythm of its newly beating heart. The baby wailed as the man held it aloft, kicking its little feet; it opened its eyes, and Mali could see its disks glowing silver. He wrapped the baby in a small blanket and nestled the small morsel into the crook of his arm, and turned around, leaving the mother where she lay.
Mali gasped as she sat up in bed, the thin sheet sweat soaked around her. Her stringy hair fell limp around her shoulders as she fought for air, sucking loudly. Her eyes bulged with fear as her head became dizzy with the rapid beat of her breath, she couldn't get enough. It was like her lungs could not soak up the oxygen, for no matter how she tried, she always felt short of breath. Images of her nightmare flashed through her brain, making her hyperventilate even more. Her hands clutched the covers beside her. Her mind was a whirlwind of fear and desperation; she cried out into the dark room.
Suddenly Alexandra was there, wrapping her arms around Mali, somehow pulling her onto her lap. She rubbed her back and whispered "shhhh" as Mali continued to hyperventilate and sob, Officer Clair calming her whenever her muscles would seize up uncontrollably. "I—don't—I don't—," Mali tried to talk, but her jaw would not listen.
"It's ok, don't say anything." Alexandra hugged her closer, feeling protective of this girl. She didn't know when, but this girl had weaseled her way into the woman's affections. Over the short week of being with her, Alexandra had come to feel protective of Mali, whether it had been watching her ask all those questions, or watching her fight—or just talking with her—she didn't know, but she couldn't deny this girl comfort when she needed it. Soon, under Officer Clair's calming embrace, Mali calmed down from her initial fright. "Do you want to talk about it?" Alexandra asked. Mali shook her head, so Officer Clair just continued to rub her back.
Mali felt embarrassed at showing so much fear to this brave woman, but she couldn't help it. For some reason, seeing that man in her dream had unnerved her—deeply. She settled her head against Alexandra's collar bone, and yawned. Clair leaned back till she was comfortably situated with a pillow between her and the wall behind her. She watched the stars go pass through the porthole window until she felt her eyes get tired, and then she fell asleep, cradling the snoring Mali in her arms.
I
The next morning both were awoken by blaring ship alarms and the sounds of shouts and running feet; Officer Clair bolted into action, pulling the stunned Mali to her feet. The floor underneath them rocked and shook. She pulled both their packs from the storage unit and strapped Mali's to her back, then they ran out into the hall. "What's going on?" Mali shouted, as they ran down the hall, Clair leading. They were slammed into the wall of the hallway as the Nova tipped precariously to one side; Alexandra gasped as the wind was knocked out of her. Mali picked herself up, wasting no time, and pulled Alexandra to her feet. They continued to run till they got to the elevator, which they road to the bridge. They stepped out into utter chaos. Crew were scrambling around the room, attacking their computers with a vengeance. Captain Reid was standing next to the pilot, shouting orders, spittle flying from his mouth.
Through the great viewport at the front, Mali could see a planet, almost the size and resemblance of Earth, but with a lot more land then water. It looked serine and proud, slowly orbiting around its sun. "That's Thessia." Niles said, he calmly walked up to both of them amid the surrounding chaos.
"What's going on?" Mali asked.
"I don't know, but by the look of things it's something big." Niles answered. Just then Captain Reid stalked up to them.
"There is a small fleet of ships after us at the moment." He said. He was trying to maintain his composure but Mali could tell he was losing things fast. "I've been trying to radio Thessia, but they have blocked transmissions. Those ships look like short range yargh fighters. They started attacking us the moment we decreased from FTL speeds. I don't know where their mother ship is." Suddenly even more alarms flashed across the bridge, and the pilot called for Captain Reid. They all crowded around the pilot's seat. On his switchboards, sensors and computers alike were going crazy, jittering and jumping around, scrambling their own data. "What's going on?" Captain Reid demanded.
"I don't know, sir. The only time I've ever seen this is the time…" The pilot never finished his sentence. Straight out in front of them, jumping out of its FTL speeds, a ship appeared out of nowhere. It was a dark black color, and Mali got the chills from just looking at it. The thing had six great long legs that protruded from an oval-shaped body, it reminded Mali of an octopus she had seen once in a sushi bar. It was enormous in size, its largest tentacle over four-hundred feet long; it could have fit the Nova easily twenty times over in its massive body. "A reaper destroyer." The pilot breathed. It glided silently toward them, its massive cannons locked on to their position.
Captain Reid looked away from the massive ship for just one moment. "Our only chance is to get that transmissions working and radio Thessia for help. If they could send their armada we might survive; but I cannot go, I must stay here to guide the ship." He looked at Niles, Alexandra, and Somali. "You three must do it, I will stall as long as I can." Alexandra looked hopelessly at the captain, Niles frowned.
"We can't. We don't know how to fix it." She said. Niles looked down at his feet. Mali smiled.
"I KNOW HOW!" She piped up, "Crewman Thompson showed me how!" All their faces lifted, and Niles affectionately mussed her hair.
"I knew all of those boring questions would pay off." He laughed. "Alright, you'll fix it and I'll cover your back."
"As will I." Alexandra butted in, cocking her pistol. Niles gave the woman a sly look and pulled his assault rifle from his back.
"What'cha planning to kill with that thing? A mosquito?" he teased as he showed off his much bigger gun. Alexandra couldn't help but smile.
"Let's go!" Mali said, and took off to the elevator. They quickly reached the lower levels of the ship, were the transmission boards were located. As they traveled, the rocking became more frequent; and Captain Reid's voices entered the intercom:
"Brace yourselves! We are being boarded!"
"We need to hurry!" Mali exclaimed, and they pushed themselves faster. Mali rounded a corner, only to hear a shot, and then she felt excruciating pain in her stomach. Alexandra yelled and rushed forward, Niles raised his gun and shot the intruder. Mali was in a daze, she pulled her hand away from her abdomen; it was covered in blood. She staggered and would have fallen but Officer Clair caught her and placed her on the floor. Mali convulsed with pain, her back arching.
"Is there anything you can do?" Officer Clair yelled to Niles over the rocking and crashing of the ship, pressing her hand to Mail's stomach. Below her, Mali was quickly losing blood, a small pool of it was forming next to her. Niles handed her a small package; wrapped in cellophane was a red, Jell-O type liquid, squooshing when he passed it to her.
"Its medi-gel, it's all I've got. It will staunch the bleeding for a while, but we need to get her to a doctor."
"No!" Mali said weakly, "We need to save the ship!" She gripped Alexandra's arm. Clair opened the cellophane and ripped Mali's shirt open; it was no time for modesty. Underneath was a bullet hole the size of a quarter; Alexandra gasped and Niles winced. Blood was pouring out of the wound like a waterfall, scarlet against the pale skin of her stomach. Alexandra applied the medi-gel over the bullet hole, and sighed with relief as it staunched the flowing blood to a trickle. Alexandra helped Mali up, who leaned on her for support. "We are almost there, we can do it!" Both adults nodded, but Niles stepped in front of them.
"From now on I'll take point. Mali—watch Alexandra's six." Mali nodded and they moved off, but as they passed the imposter she couldn't help but stair at his profile; it was the strangest alien she'd ever seen. It lay there, its blue blood pooling beside it, an ugly mustard yellow color. It had red horns sticking out of its massive skull, and beady, red eyes. Its maw reminded Mali of a closed rose, it opened up into three parts, with teeth lining the outside of each 'petal.' Its body was naturally armored and scaled, its vital organs well protected from its thick skin, a shot gun was laying at his side.
"I was lucky." Mali said, staring down at the massive thing.
"Yes, most people don't confront a yargh and live to tell the tale." Niles threw over his shoulder. "Their strength is equal to that of a krogan, though they are less known to the general public." They passed the body and at the end of the hall Mali bade them to turn left into a little room off to the side, almost unnoticeable. Inside was a small table with a large hard drive sticking out from its placement in the wall; on the desk a few transmission comms sat, ready for use. Officer Thompson lay dead, leaning across the hard drive from where the yargh hat shot him. Mali fought back a sob that threatened to come out as she caught sight of him. Niles pulled the man off the hard drive and looked at Mali expectantly.
Alexandra carried her over within easy reach of the hard drive and Mali inspected the wiring with a trained eye. "With some re-wiring, I think I could patch us through, just not to the asari global council—it's to jammed. It'll have to be something closer…" Mali fiddled with the wire's a bit. Niles took a position next to the door, guarding it; Alexandra continued to support Mali's weight. "There—I found an open terminal in an office at the ICT!" Mali exclaimed, but her voice was drowned out by the roar of a yargh charging through the door. Alexandra pushed Mali behind the hard drive, Mali screamed as pain erupted from her bullet wound, her shirt starting to be stained with new blood.
"Stay there!" Alexandra hissed, and then she bounded forward, drawing her pistol, to help Niles. Both were pushed to the edge as countless yargh tried to charge through the door. The piles of bodies grew as Niles and Alexandra worked together, felling them one by one. It was if they had rehearsed it, Mali thought, they looked like they were dancing. Their guns fired in unison as, together, they felled the last yargh. They dropped their weapons to their sides, exhausted, and smiled at each other, panting. Alexandra looked to Mali and gave her one of her rare smiles, Niles gave her a thumbs up.
She was just about to crawl from her hiding space when suddenly a yargh came from nowhere and charged their unprotected backs. Both were struck from the back, stunned, and fell to the ground. Mali screamed into her arm, biting down on it hard to keep from being heard. Alexandra and Niles lay on the floor, motionless, their hands slack around their guns. Get up! Get up! Mali screamed in her head, but they didn't move a muscle. The conquering yargh looked around the silent room, looking for others; Mali could smell the creatures rank breath from where she hid behind the hard drive.
The yargh was either incredibly stupid, or hurried, because he only took a quick glance before picking up the two officers and dragging them out like they were children. Mali pulled herself along the floor by her hands, leaving a blood trail behind her. She gripped Alexandra's pistol and pulled her head out the door, but the yargh was gone. Mali could do nothing; and her only friends in the world were gone—captured by the enemy. She pulled herself back inside, holding in a sob, she had a job to finish.
Painfully she pulled herself up into the vacant chair in front of the table with the transmission comms. She pulled the closest one to her and pressed the button; beside her the hard drive sparked and hummed into action—she would only have a few minutes before it over heated. She spoke into her comm, nearly blacking out from the waves of pain emanating from her torso. "he—hello?" She asked into the mic, weakly. "This is the STS Nova in Thessian space! Mayday, Mayday! Does anyone copy?" Only static from the other side; Mali almost sobbed from tiredness; she tried one more time. "I repeat, Mayday! We are being attacked by a reaper! This is the STS Nova speaking in Thessian space! Is anyone—," Suddenly there was a crackle through the speaker and a female voice answered. Mali almost collapsed from relief. Huge shudders were now racking the Nova's frame, Mali had to hold onto her seat to avoid being thrown out of her chair.
"Hello? Hello!" The voice answered. Even over the speaker with the static, it was soft and smooth, speaking English with a slight accent.
"Hello!" Mali bellowed into the mic. "My ship is being attacked by a reaper just outside your planet. Help!"
"What?!" The voice exclaimed. Mali heard fingers typing across a keyboard; she rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"I SAID…our ship is being attacked by a REAPER! COMPREND-AE ASARI-AE?" She yelled into the speaker. She saw blackness at the edge of her vision, she looked over at the hard drive, it was turning cherry red with excursion—she didn't have much time. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down. "Two of my friends have just been kidnapped—she amended her statement—adultnapped, by a herd of screaming yargh, and a reaper ship is pulling us in to its tentacle-thingies! If you don't believe me lock on to our location. We are at—"She stole a glance at the small monitor to the side, "65.22.34" she heard a few clicks as the asari at the other end entered them in, Mali restrained herself from screaming at her to hurry up. Then an audible gasp sounded through the static.
"By the goddess!" The woman exhaled, "you are telling the truth."
"Well Yah!" Mali huffed, "would I lie about something like this?!" She rolled her eyes as she said this, but then felt embarrassed when she realized the person on the other end couldn't see her. "Alert the ICT fleet right now! Wait, you are at the ICT Headquarters...right?"
"Yes, I will notify them immediately." The asari said curtly. Mali could feel her strength waning and her eyes dimming.
"Notify? Notify?" Mali snorted, "You better be screaming your head off lady—because I'm about to black out."
"Black out? I am unfamiliar with this Earth term..." the asari asked. Mali could hear her hands furiously working the keys. Mali gripped her stomach and let out an involuntary groan that registered into the mic; she realized she probably had only seconds. She could feel her jeans becoming wet with her own blood as the medi-gel started to lose its healing powers.
"Listen…" Mali was desperately close to losing it, but she had to hold on just a little bit longer. "Look for my friends…save them." She groaned again, this time louder.
"No! Hold on! Don't fall asleep! Stay focused on my voice!" The asari shouted through the mic. Mali had a weird urge to laugh, it bubbled up from deep inside her and burst out; making her little body shake. "Why are you laughing?" The asari demanded. "This is not the time!"
"Fall asleep! Haha! Fall asleep!" Mali continued to laugh hysterically. "Lady, I was shot with a shot gun, there is no possible way that I could fall asleep right now!" She looked down at her wound, it was spurting blood. Outside the hull, Mali could hear the yargh fighters engaging their turrets, the ICT fleet must have come, Mali thought. She heard a thud behind her and yelled in surprise as a yargh stepped into the transmissions room. She was pulled from her chair by her armpits, and the yargh started to drag her away. Screaming in pain, Mali lunged for Alexandra's pistol from where she had laid it on the table. From the speaker, the asari was shouting.
"What's going on? Soldier, report your status!" In one swift motion Mali twisted behind her and shot the yargh with deadly aim right between his eyes. He stood there, shocked for a second, before the bright red eyes rolled back into his horns and he fell to the side, dead. Mali groaned from where she lay on the ground, her scattered eyes taking in her blood soaked shirt.
"I didn't know I had so much blood in me." Mali said to no one in particular. In the speaker, she could hear the asari yelling things, but they didn't register in her brain. Mali laid back onto the ground, clutching the pistol in her hand in case another yargh decided to make a grab at her. Outside, the fighting had stopped, and Mali heard the elevators gears in motion far away down the hall. Her eyes closed; and she surrendered to painless unconsciousness.