Over the next four days, Juvetana continues to teach Jane the customs of her clan. Only, she begins to go into the same details she would a fledgling of her own clan, rather than a foster from another clan. By silent, mutual agreement, these lessons are done in the entrance room so that they can bear silent witness to the atrocities happening outside in the square.
When Juvetana's voice fails her, Jane uses her Alliance datapad to try and teach Juvetana about the sleeper wars, and the origins of the different gods that the Systems Alliance acknowledge as real and extant. She also shows her the pages and pages of gods that are known to have existed and are now confirmed to be dead.
During the first day, they both flinched every time the batarians tried to breach the door to the home, but when their portable mass driver failed to breach the door, the two of them slowly relaxed. Their concern started growing again as first one, then two, and soon four large ships landed in the space port. From those ships went numerous shuttle craft heading out to the other populations and known holdings.
In the middle of the fourth day, the square becomes a hive of activity as the Slavers start packing up everything they can carry, and dragging everyone they've already at least partially processed onto the ships. Within two hours all that's left of the buzzing activity are a salarian, a few turians, an asari, and 10 or 11 humans. All of whom are in varying states of distress.
Jane turns to Juvetana, "Juve, we have to help them."
Juvetana grabs Jane to prevent her from heading for the door, "No fledgling, we cannot see behind us. How can we know this isn't like the human from the first day, giving an appearance of a clear method of escape or getting supplies, when they've left a team out of sight to capture us."
"But they're hurt."
"Fledgling, our fellows would not thank us for leaving cover when there's the possibility of that the swooping hunters are waiting on the high ground. They won't die, so we wait for allies to arrive."
"But!"
"Fledgling, I can deny you access to this room. Will you stay your feet and keep watch so that their suffering is not without meaning. Or will you leave me to my own watch?"
Jane slumps, "I'll watch."
Juvetana touches the back of her hand to Jane's hand.
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Later that day, a single shuttle lands and a troop of soldiers in Systems Alliance armour quickly run off of the landing pad into the square.
As soon as she recognises the uniforms, Jane scrambles for the door, and Juvetana grabs her by the waist.
Jane squirms to get free, "They're Systems Alliance, they're here to rescue us."
"Fledgling... Fledgling... Jane! Calm down and wait for a moment. They could be mercenaries in stolen uniforms."
Jane stops trying for the door, and instead yanks her Alliance datapad out of her pouch. Activating it, Jane frantically searches for the right article, "They're not stolen. Look at the insignia on the back, that weird green spot in the centre is magicite, and the fact that the dots in the top and bottom of the insignia are red means that the suit is blood bonded to the wearer. Blood bonded items cannot be used by anybody other than the owner." Jane hands the pad over with the right article, "Also, some of them are using wands. That's not something that could be copied."
Juvetana takes a minute to read the article before finally agreeing with Jane, "I admit, they do seem to match up to your article, so we will leave, with our weapons just in case they are hostile."
Jane nods, "They were both showing eezo warnings though."
Gravely, Juvetana says, "Fledgling, sometimes appearances are more important than actuality."
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As the two of them pick their way through the rubble that used to be the General Store, one of the wand using soldiers looks up and casts a spell. Nudging a nearby soldier, the faceless wand wielder walks over to the two of them.
Once they get within 3 meters of each other, the soldier raises their hand, "Halt. My question is for the human. Excuse me ma'am, you have a Systems Alliance restricted item. I have to ask how you came to own such an item?"
Jane looks around Juvetana, "My mother gave it to me years ago."
The soldier gives an exaggerated nod, "I will need your name, so that we can check our records."
Jane nods, "I'm Jane Shepherd."
"Who's your mother?"
"Hannah Shepherd."
Hearing the name, the soldier's demeanour relaxes, "I'm sorry about that. I'm going to call this in, and I think you're about to make the Captain very happy. If you could both head over to the yellow flag, I detected that you've got some bullets or shrapnel that will need to be removed."
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As the soldier walks off, Juvetana looks down at Jane curiously, "I've never met your mother, is she important?"
Jane shakes her head, "I didn't think so, she's the captain of a Systems Alliance ship."
Juvetana nods as she starts leading Jane to the yellow flag, "Well, a captain of a military vessel is usually considered to be a prestigious position. Often superior to a similar position for ground forces."
Jane looks down at the floor and confesses, "I don't know about that yet. I tried not to look at the navy news, just in case mum didn't make it."
"Fledgling, you should be proud of your mother's achievements, even if they end in tragedy. The path of an honourable hunter is often fraught with peril. That's why so many choose the path of the merchant or artisan. That your mother is a patrol or flight leader speaks well of her honour and vision."
Jane nods, "I will take your advice to heart nest mother."
Whatever Juvetana is going to say next is lost when a wand wielding soldier with a clear faceplate on their armour scowls at them. Speaking in Hierarchy turian he points at a bench "Both of you, sit. You can continue your conversation once you're no longer wasting my time. Hunter, provide your name for our records."
Juvetana answers, "Healer, I am known as Juvetana."
The soldier barks a laugh, "I wish, I am just a mediwitch. The healer is currently dealing with the asari. Well trying to deal with them anyway. Now let's get that stuff out of your wounds."
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Nearly half an hour later, a shuttle comes screaming into the atmosphere, leaving a clear heat trail behind it as it punches through the upper atmosphere. At the last possible moment, it activates the landing thrusters and the thud of the landing can clearly be heard from the square where Jane and Juvetana are both sitting on conjured seats. The two of them glance at each other, but otherwise just continue to watch the square.
When a soldier with different pips comes running off of the landing pad and heads over towards them in a bee line, jumping or dodging around people that are too slow to move out the way, they start paying more attention.
As they get closer to the chairs, Jane jumps up as she gets a good look through the faceplate, "Mum!"
Hannah catches her daughter in a hug and lift her up, the sound of her crying coming clearly over the suits external speakers. "Jane, my darling, my dear darling. I thought I'd lost you."
Jane deliberately speaks in Hierarchy Turian, "I wouldn't have been if Nest Mother Juvetana and her partner hadn't looked after me."
Juvetana pushes herself to her feet, and just as deliberately speaks Human English, "Jane, you saved me as much as I saved you. If you hadn't had those security instructions, or hadn't remembered them in time, we'd have been killed, or worse, caught." She rubs the back of her hand against Janes, "Besides, you're a good fledgling and my partner and I keep in touch by watching the store occasionally."
Hannah looks over, "Juve't'anna, you have my gratitude. If there is anything I can do for you let me know. It goes without saying that I'll be recommending that you are awarded citizenship for helping to defend a citizen of the Systems Alliance."
Juvetana shakes her head at the butchering of her name. "Thank you for your consideration, at the moment I need to see to my nest mate, and then it may be time to join the greater flock."
Hannah shakes her head in an understanding manner, "Take your time, the offer isn't going to expire any time soon. Besides, I think we're going to be around for a few days. The healers need to work to get the asari mentally healthy enough to make a decision about what she wants to do."
Juvetana cocks her head curiously, "Why is that?"
Hannah takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly, "I'm sorry, that is classified information. I can only talk about it with Alliance citizens with the appropriate security clearances. What I can say is that this is in no way a threat to her life or liberty."
Juvetana looks over at one of the soldiers that's conversing with one of the turians that were left behind, "Flight Leader, do you mind if I ask a question?"
Hannah shrugs, "Go ahead."
"Why do so many humans understand Hierarchy Turian without a translator?"
Hannah laughs, "It's because we accidentally kidnapped two squads during the Shanaxi Trouble. They spent 60 years living with the sidhe, and the humans that had been caught up in that incident. The sidhe and humans living there learnt your language, and discovered just how different you are from humans because of it. Apparently, language tells experts a lot about a culture. A lot of subtleties get missed by the translators the Citadel uses, so we try to teach our soldiers the most common languages they're likely to come in contact with."
Jane pauses in holding her mother, "When we were living on Europa Mum made me use the automatic translators to translate 'The Rise of the Triplets: Hogwarts' into Chinese, Gobbledygook, and Turian and then back to English. It was awful, as none of the sentences were easy to read anymore, and some things just didn't make sense."
Juvetana spreads her hands, "I don't know that book."
Jane smiles broadly, "It's my favourite story, they had had a professional writer interview Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Daphne Greengrass, Hogwarts, Hela, and Magi Karen as well as a few other magi that were around during that period. They then turned that into a series of children's books, Hogwarts, Goddess of Death, and Sleepers…"
Hannah interrupts Jane, "Jane, it might be an idea to talk about the book later. Even better, why don't you buy it for Juvetana using your omni tool. That way she can appreciate it herself. Also, there's a branch of Gringotts on Shaanxi now too . They made the upper bank the same as the London branch."
Jane's face lights up before it drops again, "But I can't go to that part of the cities."
Hannah looks down and swallows hard, "I was going to bring this up later, but we've traded with the Quarians to produce some long-term isolation suits for Prothean Syndrome victims. I was hoping that after my shift ends you might be willing to wear one and come up to the ship with me so we can have something to eat, and maybe catch up. Well in your case it would be drink."
Jane nods, "I think I'd like that. What about father?"
"We've already sent people there. I was going to head there myself when word of your survival came through. The farm was ransacked, and they didn't find any sign of anyone there. I-I thought I'd lost you when that news came in."
Jane hugs her mother again, "I love you too."
Hannah looks at something on the inside of her facemask, "Jane, I'm sorry but duty calls. Do you think you could help your friend with her partner and I'll bring a suit down once my shift ends."
Reluctantly, Jane lets go of her mother and returns to Juvetana's side.
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As soon as a human doctor gives the two of them the all-clear for them to leave the triage area, Juvetana immediately heads over to her partners body. A matter only slightly complicated by the Alliance Forces having moved all the corpses to a separate location.
Juvetana and Jane are kneeling on either side of Juvetana's partner's head, the conjured white sheet pushed back so that he can see the sky. After a few minutes the ship's chaplain makes her way over to see the two. Using a translator she asks, "Excuse me, is there anything I can do to help you."
Sorrowfully, Juvetana looks up, "Would you have means for us to take my partner to the mountains, and his final resting place?"
The chaplain nods, "I can arrange an aircar, it won't be rated for vacuum I'm afraid."
Juvetana nods, "That is acceptable, my thanks."
With transport arranged, Juvetana and Jane carry the body back to the spare home. Once there, Jane follows Juvetana's directions as they dress him in hunters garb as well as the commendations he received during his time in the military. Finally Juvetana reaches into the back of a closet, where two simple spears lie diagonally across the back, and gingerly takes one out.
Looking back at Jane, she says, "Fledgling, would you help me into the garden for the next bit, and then return to the house for your own health."
Jane shakes her head, "No, I'm not leaving you. He was as much my patriarch as you are my nest mother."
"This could kill you."
Jane points towards the door, "We have magical healers out there, I've already done this much and I'm going to see this through."
Juvetana nods, "Then you should know what we are going to do out there before we go. Once we have laid him out, we are going to call on the spirits…" after a moment's thought she adds, "…and your goddesses, as I fear that we would not be here without them. Then we will describe his last hunt. After that we will give examples of how he was a good turian and…"
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A few minutes after Juvetana has finished explaining this aspect of turian burial rites, and her clan's specific modifications to the standard rites, Jane is not only dressed in the most body covering clothes she has with her, but has also applied the strongest sun block the healers have on them. This is in stark contrast to Juvetana, who is dressed in her hunters harness, and carrying only a spear. Together, they both carry Juvetana's partner out into the light of the garden and place him down.
Squatting down on the right hand side of the body, Juvetana starts the turian equivalent of a wake, "Spirits of my ancestors, I present to you my partner. We come as witnesses to his life so that you may judge him worthy of joining your number."
Jane takes over with the modification they hashed out together, "Hela, goddess of death and darkness, Selene, goddess of the Moon, and The Triplets, deities of change and growth, we ask you to join the spirits as we bear witness to this worthy turian's life. I am Jane Shepherd and he was my patriarch. I had just seen 12 turns of the sun when he first provided me shelter. I had just left the school in tears when the human teacher denied the existence of the goddesses and their involvement in Shaanxi during first contact. As proof, he had pointed to the texts available on our omni tools. He came out of the shop when he saw me crying in the square, and asked me what was wrong. Once I explained, he brought me back into the shop and showed me the Hierarchy texts about the same incident, that talked about Selene's role in First Contact. That's when both he and Juvetana started to teach me Hierarchy Turian, and ultimately enrolled me as a turian student."
Juvetana nods solemnly, "I am Juvetana of clan swift gliders by marriage, and he was my bonded partner. I was a new recruit on Tuchanka, and he was part of my squad. When the walls of our outpost were breached by wild varren, he stood with me while we defended our temporary nest."
The two of them take turns relaying stories about how Juvetana's partner showed the traits that make him a worthy turian, until Jane runs out of stories, and Juvetana is left to speak alone.
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Once Jane has been slathered in burn paste, and sat through a long lecture about excessive exposure to radiation, Jane and Juvetana lay Juvetana's partner's body in the aircar that they're borrowing.
After an hour's flight, the aircar lands on a grassy incline on the side of a mountain. Surrounding the grass are rocky outcrops, and at the top of the incline is a small cave entrance, just large enough for an adult human to walk into if they bent over.
Once more, they lay the body out so that it can see the sun as it drifts towards the horizon. Then the two of them walk into the cave, doubled over until it opens up. The only light available to them coming from Jane's omni-tool.
As they walk up the gentle incline of the algae covered floor, Juvetana says, "This is where he will be laid to rest, with eternal shade from the sun and water to drink."
Jane catches herself as she slips. "Nest Mother, why have we left him outside in the sun if he is to receive eternal shade?"
Juvetana continues forward until she reaches a wall where water is trickling down it, and the cave floor deeper in is dry. "It is simple young hunter. He was a hunter before he was a merchant. Just as you and I are both hunters before we are student and nest mother. There are those who are merchants, nest makers, or guardians before they are hunters, and they have their own preparations. But all are given eternal shade and water if possible. Well, all except the wanderers. They are sent into the darkness of the stars that have called them in life."
Jane nods thoughtfully, "I understand nest mother."
Juvetana touches the back of her hand to Jane's cheek, "You do not yet understand. But you will in time." Turning back to the wall, Juvetana rakes her talons down the wall leaving clear gouges in the soft rock, "Now, however, is our time to mourn and allow our emotions to rise, as we carve out the bed upon which he will sleep eternally. As he is the first to find rest here, we are placing him closest to the source of the water. Others will be placed lower, or closer to the light until there is no more shade. Then they will be placed deeper until there is no more cave. Such is our way. When you come to do this for your family, remember that hard stone is for the living, and soft stone is for the dead."
As she pulls a chunk of rock from the wall, Juvetana lets out an echoing wail before she continues, "We can not use any tools to complete this task. As you have no talons of your own, take the rubble outside where we will build his cairn. The floor must be kept clear so that his spirit can walk without danger."
Jane nods, and starts to pick up the rubble that Juvetana is producing. As Juvetana's wails become more frequent, Jane finds herself joining in more and more, as her tears run freely down her cheeks.
Over the next few hours, the two of them allow their emotions to vent as they work tirelessly on the small shelf. Bouts of anger see a talon broken, or a foot bruised as an armful of stones is thrown to the floor. Eventually, the shelf is completed, and the two of them place the body on the shelf with his rifle and his spear.
Then they go outside and they use the pieces of rock from the shelf to build a cairn, and also pull the pieces of their lives back together. The smears of blue and red blood on the rocks showing that he will always be part of their lives, while the act of building it together symbolises that life goes on, even when you have lost someone.
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It is full dark by the time the aircar returns to the town and lands near the ruined shop. As it does, the landing lights illuminate a shuttle craft sitting nearby. As the two of them exit the car, a figure stands up from the open rear of the shuttle and walks over to them. As they get closer, the aircar's lights clearly show Hannah's face through her faceplate.
As Hannah gets close enough for conversation, she asks, "Is it done?"
Juvetana nods, "He has been delivered to the spirits now, and his body has shade and water, so he doesn't need to wander forever."
Hannah nods, "I'm glad. I hope that you can find your own place in the world. I have your Alliance citizenship documents here, and an identification stone too." Holding up the stone she continues, "I'll need you to put three drops of blood on the stone before I allow you to take it though."
Unlike earlier, Juvetana doesn't hesitate to pierce one of her fingers and allow a few drops of blood to fall on the stone. The first three drops are absorbed by the stone, which then glows briefly.
Hannah continues once the stone glows, "The stone has a tiny flake of magicite built into it, so it is now tied to you for the rest of your life. It will always return to your possession if you leave it behind, or it's taken or stolen, and you shouldn't come across anything outside the Alliance that can destroy it either. Officially, you need the paperwork to prove your citizenship, legally and practically, the only thing you need is the stone. If anybody claims to be an Alliance official and asks to see your ID but doesn't ask about the stone, they're imposters."
Juvetana nods, "Thank you for this."
Hannah chuckles, "It's the least the Alliance can do for saving one of its citizens with no thought of reward. On a personal note, I have here a ward book and blood quill for your cabinet if you'll accept it. It will allow you to add additional people that are allowed to open the door to the cabinet from outside."
Juvetana shakes her head, "I already feel like you're rewarding me for surviving."
Hannah shakes her head, "Not at all. This is not even a fraction of what I feel I owe you for saving Jane's life. You are the only person on the planet that had one of these cabinets. I know that allowing her to be involved in your burial rites says you think of her as more than just an acquaintance, but this isn't just about that. I hope that going forward I can call you a friend, and that can be reciprocated."
Juvetana looks at the book, "I will think about the book, friendship is a given." She looks back up at Hannah's face, "I would like your permission to offer Jane my clan insignia." Juvetana turns her face so that the blue patterning is visible in the aircar's light.
Off to one side, Jane holds her breath as she waits for her mother's response.
Hannah shakes her head, "Jane is old enough to make her own decisions on that sort of thing now. In our culture, the only reason children her age are not adults is they can occasionally make mistakes that need an adult to bail them out." She looks over at Jane, "That being said Jane, I am going to put my foot down and say that you can't make the decision for at least 2 days, so that you have time to think it over."
Jane's mouth closes with a snap of teeth, and a sulky moan.
Hannah shakes her head with a chuckle, "I'll give the book and quill to Jane. If you change your mind about it, she can look up how to install it while she's groundside during the day. Then maybe you could allow her to sign her name into the book, so that she can also come and go at will. As, now that you've blooded the cabinet, only you or your blood descendants will be able to open the door, from the outside, without signing in a book like that." Hannah takes a deep breath and holds up a crystal, "There is one last thing I need to ask of you, and this is in an official capacity. Juve't'anna, would you be willing to submit a copy of your memories from the point that the pirates landed to the point our own forces arrived. If you choose to do so, they will be used to try and identify the pirates and any indication of their base or where their commands came from. All copies of the memories will be destroyed if we find no actionable information. In the event that we do find useful information, those fragments of your memories will be kept, and may be submitted to the Citadel Council if essential for gaining access to the perpetrators or their conspirators."
Juvetana winces at the mangling of her name, before staring at the crystal, "I, I need to think about that."
Hannah nod understandingly, "I understand, many of our own people balk at the idea too." Looking over at Jane she asks, "Jane, are you ready to go, or would you rather stay groundside for the night?"
Jane looks at Juvetana, a silent question in her gaze. When Juvetana just shrugs, Jane nods enthusiastically, "I'm ready, and I've got my pouch."
Hannah smiles at her daughter, "There's a suite in the shuttle, along with the instructions for putting it on. Don't forget to bleed on the back to bind it to you."
Jane smiles, "Yes mother!" Then she runs towards the shuttle, before slowing to a walk and hold her ribs, where she unknowingly bruised them in the cave.
As the back of the shuttle closes, Hannah turns back to Juvetana, "Thank you for being there for her when I couldn't. I-I never told her father, but I'm a squib."
Juvetana shakes her head in the human custom, "Squip? I'm sorry that didn't translate, and it's not a word I'm familiar with."
Hannah nods, "Not that surprising. It the English term for a human that has enough magic to interact with purely magical devices, but not enough to cast spells themselves. Around 10% of the human population in Alliance space are squibs, if you buy yourself an alliance datapad you can check that figure yourself. That's in addition to the widely known 20% of the population that can cast spells."
"What does it mean for you?"
Hannah sighs, "Day to day? It means that I'm susceptible to Prothean Syndrome. I also can't ever travel on a relay capable ship, as the emergency dive feature would kill me. The first is why I couldn't come and live with Jane after her father brought her here, and, until recently, I couldn't have her live with me. As we didn't have Quarian suits she could live in."
Juvetana asks, "Should you be telling me this?"
Hannah shrugs, "It's all publicly available information for Alliance citizens. So if you end up buying yourself any magitech devices, like Jane's datapad, or even a computer for your cabinet, you'd have access to it anyway. Speaking of which. While Jane's putting on her suit, let me show you one of the things you can do with your stone. As your cabinet is blood bound to you, you and only you can use your stone to make it shrink for ease of transport. All you do is touch your stone to the doorhandle and it will shrink to the size of a deck of playing cards."
"How would I get it back?"
"Why don't you shrink it first and we can move it somewhere less treacherous and I'll talk you through expanding it again."
After they've shrunk the cabinet, and are walking over to the hotel, which has the only undamaged sections of the square left, Juvetana asks, "What's the deal with your gods? As Jane reminded me that they weren't mentioned in the omni-tool history books."
Hannah looks sombre, "Whoever has been setting up these colonies has been very careful to minimise the positive impact that magic has had on our society since before the sleeper wars. That includes leaving out the names of the gods and goddesses that defended Earth during the sleeper wars, or the fact that sleeper incursions can happen to any world or ship."
Doubtfully Juvetana asks, "And you're sure they're gods?"
Hannah sighs, "Ignoring the various omni's that monotheistic followers ascribed to their god, they fulfil all of the requirements for being a deity. First and foremost, they can't be killed. Oh, you can destroy their physical body if you can do enough damage. But they'll kick your arse and then find someone that's willing to give birth to them and let them reincarnate in a new body. They can also hear prayers that use their full name, and mark chosen people to be their priests. What else could you call them except gods?"
"So, why don't other races have any evidence of gods?"
"Well, ignoring the asari who have or had a goddess. It's because of the virus that causes Prothean Syndrome. In magical foetus' the virus destabilises in a predictable fashion, which makes it go from a benign infection to being a deadly infection. This kills the foetus and causes a miscarriage. Much like it does for those of us with magic, only quicker. Since First Contact, there has been a minor but measurable increase in the number of miscarriages in all areas where our cabinets have been bought and used. Each and every one of those was a magical foetus. Now, this next bit is speculation, but it's well founded speculation. We know that even moderate concentrations of magic will cause eezo to evaporate, which is why you should never leave your cabinet or ID stone on an eezo powered anything that you want to continue functioning. Those two things mean that the balance of probabilities suggests that the virus was deliberately engineered and spread throughout the galaxy to stop magic from arising."
Juvetana frowns, "So what's different about your homeworld?"
Hannah stops and points at the ground, "Put your cabinet here with the door facing where you want it, then touch your stone to it. Our scientists aren't sure. But the leading theory is that the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs came from Mars, the next furthest planet from our star. There is evidence that Mars once supported life millions of years ago. As we have never been able to find the meteor, only the crater it likely landed in, they think that it might have been a large chunk of magicite, and it raises magic levels on the planet enough to wipe out the virus. Then over the next 100,000 years the magical levels slowly dropped to current levels and everything that had enough magic either migrated further into the aether, or died as it starved of magic."
"What happened to Mars?"
Jane picks that moment to open the rear of the shuttle, the light from within silhouetting her in the darkness. Hannah shakes her head ruefully, "Looks like that's a story for another time. Or you could buy yourself an Alliance datapad and read about it yourself. They do come with a turian language option. I think we have Hierarchy and another 3 dialects you can choose from."
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A little later, Jane looks around her mother's quarters on the ship while she tries not to squirm uncomfortably at the feeling of tubes going places that should never have tubes.
Trying to distract herself from the sensation, she walks into the expanded cabinet and looks at the pictures on the mantlepiece. One of the pictures catches her eye, so she picks it up and watches as a little girl waves at her before running into the farmhouse in the background. Then she comes out with a yellow teddy bear and a broom stick, before climbing on the broomstick and flying around. While she watches, her mother walks from one of the older photos into this one to watch with a smile on her face.
Jane jumps slightly when her mother's voice comes from behind her, "I bought you that bear for your 8th birthday. You were so happy when you got it. Happy enough that you overlooked the fact I was in a hard bubble and wouldn't come out."
Jane turns around, "Why didn't you? I didn't test positive for PS until I was 12."
Hannah sits heavily in an armchair and waves at the other one, "I'm a squib, and you were too young to be left on your own in quarantine for six months. If I'd exposed myself and you'd contracted the virus since your last test, it would have literally killed me. That's also why I couldn't bring you home either."
Jane nods as it confirms one of her many theories for why she was left with her father, "Did father know?"
Hannah shakes her head, "No. At first it was it didn't matter. Apart from not needing a stone to use some household items, there's no difference between me and anyone else that can't cast spells. After he took you, it was because of his ties to Human First, and the possibility that they could deliberately infect me. I know he left their organization a few years after your move. But that's because they failed to live up to their promises, not because he stopped agreeing with them."
Jane squirms in her chair. "I know, he kept spouting the same bullshit with only the slightest prodding. It got worse when he found out that Juvetana and her partner ran the General Store."
"Language young lady."
Jane laughs as Hannah stands up, "I'm a bit old for that mum."
Hannah leans over to hug her, "As long as I'm your mother, you'll never be too old. Ugh, now I see why you never liked hugging me when I came to visit."
Jane pulls her mother into her lap, "I don't know what you're talking about. This is the best hug I've had since I was 8. And it's the first time I've been able to hug you properly too."
Hannah kisses Jane on the face plate, leaving a thin layer of lipbalm behind, "Oh you. I'm glad you're here. I've got fish and chips in stasis if you're hungry, and I've also managed to get some white wine to go with it."
"I'd love some mum. And I'm glad to be here too, but what about tomorrow?"
Hannah tries to get up, "You'll need to let me go if you want food. As for the future, we're going to be here at least a week. After that, I was hoping that you'd move to Shaanxi with me. I've bought an apartment there, and they've started a city on Shaanxi:2 for humans with PS and the council races that trade, or have alliance citizenship. If you come with me, I was going to buy a house in that city so that you have somewhere to live while I'm on duty. What about you? What do you want to do in the future?"
Jane lets go of her mother, "I want to join the N-series troops. If I do well in my exams, I can even get straight in as an N5. Then I want to work my way up to an N8 so that I can hug you without the suit." Jane looks down at her hands, "After last week, I also want to do it to help stop things like that happening again."
Hannah chuckles as she stands up, and walks over to the mantlepiece, "Following the family tradition then. Your grandmother was in the navy, as was your great grandmother." Turning around she looks back at Jane, "You know they've got a N cadet club for kids your age on Shaanxi."
Jane cocks her head, "I don't remember my grandmother, what happened to her?"
Hannah's eyes cloud over as she turns back to the mantlepiece and stares as a plain brass urn, "Prothean Syndrome, it was a couple of years after the treaty of Shaanxi, and we hadn't yet bought suits from the quarian people. She was wearing an old positive pressure hazmat suit during a negotiation with a group of salarian's that were looking to buy one of our cabinets. We're not sure if she caught the suit on a sharp edge, or if it was sabotage. Either way, the tear in her suit wasn't noticed until they were back at the ship. They immediately put her in quarantine, and she died on the way back to Alliance space. Her ashes are in this urn, we weren't even allowed to see my mothers body before she was cremated."
Jane stands up and hugs her mother, "What's going on with the asari you keep mentioning?"
Hannah turns around with a sad smile, "Come on, lets get the food out of stasis, I had your fish made into sticks that should fit through the port on your helmet." As they sit down with their respective meals, Hannah starts to answer the question, "You know that all asari are biotic?"
Jane nods as she tries to work out how to use the food port, "Yes?"
Hannah sighs, "It's more than that though, their biology is dependant on eezo. Exposure to realm:4 levels of magic is like Prothean Syndrome to us. That means that they could never travel on an aether ship, as the ambient levels of magic are kept below realm:5 levels, so that we're not forcing crew to become magical. But in places they reach realm:4 levels. We also couldn't put her on an alliance relay ship unless the emergency dive was set to realm:16."
Jane finally gets a fry through the port without turning it into mush, "Mmm, that sucks. So why not send a message to the council?"
Hannah stabs her fish, "We've tried, but the comm-buoy in the next system must be down, and we don't have any relay ships here to go through and check. In the mean time, we have counsellors talking to her, and Selene should be here in a day or so. If she decides to accompany us off planet, then we'll put her on a shuttle with Selene and they'll take a dive to realm:16 long enough for her magical body to form and keep her alive. Selene will then accompany us back to Shaanxi where the asari will head to the sidhe colony."
Jane risks a battered fish stick, "I feel sorry for her, as she can either stay and risk slavers, or leave everything she knows. Why was she here anyway?"
Hannah shrugs, "She's a mercenary, and she was hired to be a guard. Now, how's your education been going?"
Jane smiles brightly, "It's been going great, the turian program is fully interactive, and you get feedback every day from the burst updates on the extranet. I've also been keeping up with my Alliance work too. Which is why I quit school here, as the lessons I was learning didn't match up."
Hannah nods, "Is that when you…"
Jane nods, "It is, Juvetana's partner saw me crying in the square that day."
"Why don't you ever say his name?"
Jane's eyes go distant as she remembers her lessons, "Well…"
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Over the next week Jane helps Juvetana install the ward book in her cabinet. She also accepts the offer to become part of Juvetana's clan, and has to spend days learning to apply the clan markings correctly. A task that requires disrobing to her waist for the full markings. The two of them also donate their memories of the invasion, though the Alliance isn't able to get anything useful from them.
When Selene arrives, the asari chooses to leave with the Alliance rather than, to use her own words, 'risk becoming a fuck toy for a slaver'
Of the 10 other humans that remained, only 2 choose to return to the Alliance and apply for citizenship.