|Chapter 19|
|Date: 1/28/2185|
"Hey Joker." Garrus came from behind the pilot and placed both his hands on the head rest.
"Hey. What's up?" Joker glimpsed at the turian and went back to monitoring his controls.
"Just wanted to talk."
"About what?"
"Cerberus." Garrus said simply.
They both gave the blue orb next to them a suspicious glance.
"Yes. They eat babies. Jacob has established that several times." Joker rolled his eyes, "So what exactly's on your mind?"
Garrus sat down in the co-pilot's chair. "Why'd you join? Why'd Chakwas join?"
"She signed up because of me. They showed her and I what they were doing to Shepard. Seeing that…" Joker's eyes glossed over, "I couldn't exactly say no."
"How long ago was that?"
"Pff. Maybe almost a year and a half ago. He looked like a mummy."
"Wow. How observant of you." Garrus said sarcastically.
"Look, I was there too, okay? We got fucked over good back on Ullipses. As did the whole fucking planet for that matter." Joker leaned in as close as he could to Garrus and frowned, "I still get nightmares from that shit."
"Same." Garrus whispered.
"I still think about it every. day."
"I do too."
Joker was quick to reply. "But Shepard's back. We just have to convince him it's worth being here."
"That we do. Jacob and Miranda have been cooking up a plan with my help. But I think it's going to fail."
"How so?"
"They want to try and go to the flotilla and pick him up using me as leverage."
"Yeah. Brilliant." Joker laughed, albeit awkwardly, "The giant glowing Cerberus logo isn't going to fly so well with them. And Tali would probably be the first person to pull a trigger if a gun were aiming at the ship."
Garrus sighed. "I'm trying to convince them to remove it."
Joker turned to EDI. "Hey, EDI. Whose bright idea was it to put that on the ship?"
"The SR2's conceptualization team. The Illusive Man hand-picked the design." EDI replied.
"God-damn artists… think we can just—I don't know, put a tarp over the logo in the meantime?"
"Tell me that was joke, Joker." Garrus' mandibles split into a dumb grin.
"That was the shittiest pun ever."
"Shitty or not, it was a stupid idea. Next time we dry dock, we're buffing it out. You think diplomacy is going to work when we've flagged Cerberus as our sponsor? It just isn't going to work." Garrus said.
"I think they kept it on there to put them under a better light. Make 'em look like the good-guys for once." Joker offered.
"They had their chance. They should have reconciled their ways earlier."
"I agree. Testing the thorian zombies and rachni didn't really fly with any of us the first time around."
"Exactly. We're getting rid of it. Whether they want to or not."
"How's the new guy doing?" Joker asked.
"Mordin? He's doing great. Talks faster than light."
"Don't most salarians?"
"No. This guy really takes it up to another level."
"And the other new guy?"
"Zaeed is…" Garrus paused, "interesting."
"What about your whole Omega team?"
"They're settling in just fine. We all share one of the rooms down in engineering." Garrus answered.
"You guys ready for the pick-up?"
"Subject Zero? No. I think we should leave him there. I've read the report. He's a spirits-be-damned psycho."
"Yeah… but TIM thinks Zero here is a resource worth keeping. He's a pretty good judge of character… have you actually talked to TIM yet?"
"Yeah, I've talked to The Illusive Man this morning. Very charismatic." Garrus shook his head, "How long until we get there?"
"Four hours." Joker replied.
"You know what our next dossier is after this one? It's picking up a Krogan warlord."
"A Wrex lookalike perhaps?"
"No…Look up the name 'Okeer' sometime." Garrus said, "And Wrex was a battlemaster. Not a warlord."
"Okay? Should I be worried?"
"Very."
Joker grumbled.
"How's EDI treating you?" Garrus wondered. He looked at the glowing orb.
"She's breathing down my back." Joker would be lying if he didn't want to give the AI the bird, "How's the crew been around you?"
"Keep to themselves mostly. They're polite and know what they're doing."
"They were also handpicked by The Illusive Man." EDI interjected.
Joker rolled his eyes. It didn't come off as a surprise that EDI was doing a little self-promoting. It was probably wired to propagate tacky Cerberus PSYOPS propaganda whenever it could. Garrus was probably under the same impression.
If Garrus noticed, he didn't show it.
"He picked them well." Garrus said and got up, "I'll be in the forward battery. I'll message you when I start making power fluctuations. The main gun needs calibrating."
"Okay. See you around."
Garrus dropped a paper envelope into Jeff's lap before leaving. Joker gave the turian a wary look before carefully opening the envelope. In crude penmanship (no doubt from Garrus copying the letters on the extranet) read in english: They're listening.
Joker looked further into the pouch and saw eight crushed listening devices.
"Figures." Joker shook his head, sealed the envelope back up, and tossed it into his drawer, "Fucking figures." He repeated.
It was clear what Garrus was doing.
He was giving Cerberus a giant obscure indirect middle finger. And what better way to do that by handing the envelope to Joker in front of EDI.
If Garrus was working with Cerberus, it was going to be on his terms.
Period.
Garrus walked down the Normandy's long neck, across the CIC, and stepped into the elevator. During the entire duration of his ride back down to the crew deck, he stared at the camera stuffed into the elevator's corner.
He hoped the Illusive man was watching what he did. Hopefully it would send a big enough message. A message to remind TIM what Shepard's old team was like.
Speaking of Shepard, Garrus had to remember that he was actually alive again. Aside from the detour John took heading off the migrant fleet with Tali, things were looking fairly good.
Had Tali not met Shepard on Freedom's Progress, things probably would have played out a lot differently.
It was time to rectify that. Things had deadlines. And John joining them was long overdue.
Garrus' omni-tool turned on and he dialed for Tali.
Fifteen Minutes Previously...
John gave both the little quarian girls sitting beside him a puzzled look.
John remembered somewhere, either from Tali telling him or the extranet, that personal space was supposed to be a serious thing for quarians. Considering how much of a premium it was here.
Apparently not.
With John in the middle, they had reached for both his hands and gave every finger he had a wiggle.
"Chilo…" Tali's growl didn't seem to faze them as they continued their violating inspection, "Siv…You're not being very respectful of our guest." She spat in her monotone rasp.
"Don't be such a grump, TalTals." Chilo said in her mocking voice. John couldn't help but smile at the nickname they gave Tali, "Mr. Shepard seems to be having fun…right Mr. Shepard?"
"Of course!" John answered in his overly merry tone.
Usually, Tali loved to hear his rich voice speak like that.
But not when he was defending these two sorry jokes.
"Isn't it hard to keep track of all these fingers?" Siv said to John's right when she gripped his pinky and ring to connect them, "There's so many…"
"Not at all…" John explained with his big beaming grin. He leaned in close and began typing on an imaginary keyboard, "I bet I can type faster with all these fingers then both of you."
"Nu-uh." Chilo berated.
"Yes-Huh, you dim-bulb. He has more fingers than us, Chilo." Siv called out over John's lap to get in the other girls face.
Tali let out a quiet grumble and returned to her pasty meal and fixed her glowing eyes on the nipple. "I'm so sorry, John."
"Don't be. These guys are great." He laughed and gently placed his hands on both their heads.
"Okay, guys, let ol' Commander Shepard here finish eating. We have stuff to do." Juel said evenly between a mouthful of food.
"Okay…" Both the kids got up, waved the adults goodbye, and poked Tali's sides to tickle her before finally leaving them.
"Great kids…" John chuckled as he watched him go.
"You're kidding." She said flatly. John nodded and Tali faced Juel, "So it's that easy for you, Juel? I can hardly make them pick up their trash, let alone be polite! I should just have a word with their parents."
"You have. On multiple occasions." Juel pointed out, "It's probably why their efforts at pissing you off have doubled."
John shrugged and made an eager attempt to show he wasn't interested in voicing an opinion when Tali looked at him.
"Ugh… I'm going to get my tablet." Tali got up from the table, retrieved the device in her room a few feet away, and sat back down.
"So what's scheduled for tomorrow?" Juel asked with a dreary tone when he fumbled with his bladder of food.
"We're meeting up with Admiral Zorah tomorrow first thing in the morning for an official debriefing." Tali answered.
She handed the tablet to Juel so he could skim through the text.
"So… just a typical meeting then? Nothing else?" Juel passed the device to John.
"Admiral Gerrel will be joining… along with Kal, Prazza, and their respective teams." She replied.
"I thought you said this was a debriefing… why is Kal'Reeger attending? Let alone another Admiral?"
"It's uh… actually about Haestrom." She said finally, "I shouldn't say anymore until tomorrow."
John rubbed his chin thoughtfully while he slurped on his tube of canned peaches through a wide straw.
He remembered her mentioning this earlier.
And it had him worried.
John knew enough to know she was referring about some quarian colony that was abandoned in the wake of their exile.
Which was, needless to say, in geth space.
The details hadn't been forthcoming (for obvious reasons) which had made him terribly anxious about what would be laid ahead for them all.
The last thing he wanted to do was fight geth.
In John's short but enduring Alliance career, it was safe to say the geth were the toughest bad guys he'd ever faced.
They had the might of the krogan, the discipline stronger than a turian, and the intelligence five times that of a salarian.
It was, to John, very puzzling that he and his team made it as far as they did, and then some. Too bad it ended so tragically two years ago.
"Let's not worry about it." John lied. He put on the fakest smile she couldn't see and took a swig of his jug of water.
"Agreed. We'll get all our questions answered tomorrow."
Tali agreed by slowly nodding her head. A quarian woman turned the corner and suddenly threw her arms up in surprise.
"Tali! Juel!" Enyah called out in her honeyed voice, "I heard we have a new guest! Please, Tali, introduce me to your friend!"
Shepard couldn't help but notice how his translator had given Enyah an Aussie accent.
"Oh!" Tali immediately got up from the table, gave Enyah a hug, and gestured with a hand to Shepard, "John'Shepard vas Normandy, meet Enyah'Say vas Neema nar Oyulna. She's our neighbor. Right above us."
"Pleased to meet you ma'am." He offered his hand and she shook it briskly with both of hers.
"This has to be the most interesting thing that has ever happened on the Neema… except for when Juel lost his arm..."
"Can it woman." Juel chided from behind Enyah with a snort.
"Wait, I hate to skip on formalities, Ms. Enyah… but—Juel, you lost an arm?"
"Yeah… slipped in a septic tank and cut my arm lathered in poop. You can imagine what that does to quarians. Terrible stuff."
"That... uh—wow. How'd you get it replaced?"
"Oh, Tali here brought him to the Citadel to get him a new one... fully synthetic." Enyah answered for Juel.
"Really?"
"Yes, Really." Tali said by placing both her hands together to try and bring the weird topic to a close.
"So, Enyah here works on navigation and traffic control." Tali began.
"That I do… What does our new friend do?"
"Uh… Alliance Navy… Recently—er, retired. Kind of. It's complicated." Tali stammered. John nodded quickly.
"I meant what are you capable of doing here on a ship? Are you an engineer?"
"Oh!" Tali quickly corrected herself, "Well, John?"
John cleared his throat and put his elbows on the table.
"Well… judging by the lay out of the Neema and her armor… I'd say she was a Haveron-4 capital class; a salarian and turian joint design made about close to seventy years ago… though two of her engines on the furthest sides had been stripped and upgraded with Tacheon Rheostats: Grad-Stat stage two's. This ol' metal bucket's almost sixty years old, had her armor stripped and reapplied, and would be twice as slow as any in her field… and she'd still hold her own against a turian cruiser."
Tali let out a loving sigh and felt her heart flutter.
"Tali." Enyah turned to her, "You've got one hell of a friend here."
"Damn straight, Enyah. Damn straight."
Enyah sat down next to Juel. "So what brought you here? It's not every day we have a human come live with us."
"Seeking refuge, actually. Running from Cerberus."
"Cerberus…" The tone Enyah used could best be described as razors cutting through flesh.
"Yeah…"
"Then more reason for you to be here and away from those Bosh'tets." She grabbed Tali's wrist for her attention, "You gave him a tour right? Of the Neema?"
"Of course! Think he could just make all that sexy talk up? Please."
"Only you would see that as foreplay." Enyah said as she leaned in to Tali to laugh.
Juel quirked a brow.
Tali gave John her best set of dreamy eyes. "That's all it takes to make me swoon."
"Dear god you're making my eyes water at how bad that was." Juel said with his most unimpressed frown, "Worst flirting ever."
John put an arm around Tali and played in on the mushy crap. "Oh yes. It's all I have to do. It's too easy."
Enyah laughed and slapped Juel on his back.
"Alright." Juel said while shaking his head, "You had your fun. You're gonna make my visor melt."
Tali started laughing. "Oh, stop. We're just joking around."
Olasie turned the corner and gave them all a wave. "Hey you guys."
"Hey Olasie," Juel greeted, all smiles, "How's the tattoo there?"
"Fuck you too, Juel." Olasie whispered back with a thin smile.
"Oh, I forgot to mention earlier that Olasie is our neighbor next to us, John." Tali said as she pointed to Olasie's cubicle that sat right next to Tali's.
"Nice to see you again, Commander. And I forgive you for lying to me."
"Lying?" John gave Olasie an odd look.
"You told me you were still Alliance…" She admonished, "When you weren't anymore. Need I mention the Cerberus dogs holding you hostage?"
"Sorry... I'm sure you understand."
"That's why I forgive you." Olasie shook his hand and sat down at the table.
John bit his lip and stood straighter in his chair. "So, Tali… are all your neighbors girls?" John gave her a confused glance.
"No." She shook her head and thumbed the room right above Enyah's room, "That's, uh, Hiva'Mowla up there. He's on duty right now; part of the engineering crew. He probably won't be here for another hour."
"And where do you live, Juel?"
"Somewhere that way." Juel pointed behind him, "Far enough away to avoid these three."
Olasie punched him lightly in the arm. "Knock it off you bosh'tet. You love us. Remember?"
"Yeah. Whatever." He grumbled.
"I'm going to go to bed, guys. It's been a long day." Enyah said as she got up. She took the small flight of stairs up to her room. "Oh, and Tali?" She gave Tali still sitting at the table a swaying finger, "Keep it quiet. I don't want to hear anything when I'm sleeping. Okay?"
"No promises." Tali shouted back in a mocking tone.
She didn't show it, but that got Tali a little embarrassed. She stole herself a quick glance to see Shepard shaking his head.
She imagined that he was actually smiling.
"Keelah." Juel groaned, "Do you guys ever stop?"
Tali ignored Juel's rhetorical question and faced Olasie.
"How's Veetor?" She asked.
"Doing well. He checked in to the doctor to get a full psychiatric make-up. He's emotionally winded… but I think he'll be alright. Though he won't stop mumbling."
John nodded grimly. "Does he have anything else in regards to the collectors?"
"Just copies of the same stuff we've already seen. Video and analytic data. Radiation sampling. The like." Olasie took a deep breath and wished she could have another bottle of the stuff she had back at Vista Cova, "The stuff we saw there was, in all seriousness, disturbing. I can't believe they could do that to a whole colony."
The lighthearted atmosphere dropped instantly. Every smile at the table turned into a deep pressed frown.
It would be safe to say that Tali and Shepard were both thinking about the old Normandy and the fate she suffered on Ullipses.
"Well they did." Juel answered, "And there isn't anything we can do about it."
John hoped that wasn't the case.
Honestly, Shepard was beginning to the think that the Illusive Man really was on track with the whole 'The collectors and reapers are behind all this'.
Not that he didn't believe him in the first place… It's just that he wasn't particularly fond of signing an agreement with a human supremacist hell bent on shitting on everyone else to advance the human cause.
He wouldn't be surprised if TIM voted for the Terra Firmas. Or funded them.
What a bunch of cunts.
Tali shrugged. "For right now, all we have to worry about is tomorrow. So, Olasie, we'll be meeting up with you in the morning before we head off to the Rayya with the others."
"Sounds good, Tali." Olasie replied before standing up, "I'm going to head to bed too."
"Same here." Juel said.
"I guess that means we will too." John stood up and shook Juel's and Olasie's hand, "See you in the morning."
Tali exchanged good-byes with them both before stepping into her home with John.
When John closed the curtain, he sat down on her chair.
"Hey. How are you feeling?"
Tali had to pause at the question.
She was feeling a lot of things, lately.
Like, a lot of things.
The first and foremost being that John was alive.
Alive.
He wasn't dead floating in space or laying in a coffin six feet underground.
He was sitting right in front of her.
Breathing.
Remembering the collectors didn't much help either. At all.
Tali was downright terrified of them.
If not more so than the geth.
Then there was the reapers, of all things.
But that wasn't as pressing as the issue right before her.
"I— I don't know, honestly." She sat at the end of her bed and looked at John. Behind his visor, she could see the concern in his eyes.
"I know it's so sudden to ask this out of the blue. But I want to know what happened after—" She took a quick breath and blinked away the coming tears, "…after we separated on that elevator two years ago."
John was quiet for a long moment before getting up to sit right next to her.
"Hey. It's okay. I guess I should have told you earlier." He pat her on the back and drew in a deep lungful of air.
"I went down to the cargo bay. Told half of the crew to head up with you to prepare the evac-pods while the rest of us would stay down to prep the rest."
He watched her fingers flex tightly around her knees.
"Right after that, a giant hole blew through the deck."
John nodded distantly as he recalled the memory. "Grabbed a chunk of catwalk and held on. Clearly I, uh— didn't make it. Got spaced."
Tali heaved a breath to keep her trembling chest at bay. It made John hold her tighter.
"You remember when we got picked up by Gonzalez? Yeah. His ship ended up getting spaced too. Made my way to it before locking myself inside."
"The ship was out of commission." She finished for him in a shallow breath, "I remember your message. You suffocated to death."
"Christ. I'm sorry you had to listen to that."
"Don't be." She said in a long and drawn out whisper.
There was stillness between them.
He sniffed deeply and his gaze faltered.
"I should've listened to you. When you told me not to go."
"Try not to do it again." Tali let out a sad and happy laugh and blinked away some of the tears she had.
"I'll try not to. I swear."
"Good."
"So what happened to Ullipses?" John asked, "Since I wasn't exactly around for that part."
"Gone. It doesn't exist. Sucked up by a black-hole."
"So that was all true?"
"I guess so. But don't ask how. I don't know." Tali answered, "And I know. It's stuff straight out of a stupid sci-fi movie. But it happened."
"Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks the ghost rocks had something to do with it."
"You're not. We're guessing it's all related."
"Anything else? Do we know more?"
"No. The trail disappears after that."
"How did you guys make it out alive?"
"We had to ditch the ship when you got spaced. Then the Alliance dropped out of FTL and drove the collectors away. Why didn't Cerberus tell you any of this?"
"They weren't exactly forthcoming with anything. I had to fight with them even tell me what year it was."
"Of fucking course." She shook her head before she started taking off her clip-on pockets and belts.
"What was it like being dead?"
"Like…" He paused, "Huh. Well—it was like having a long night's sleep, I suppose. About the same feeling you get before you were born."
"Sounds about right." She said when she folded her realk neatly away into a cubby. She looked up from the drawer and gave John a puzzled look, "I hate to bring it up again… but the collectors."
"Are you suggesting—"
"You're not Alliance anymore." She interrupted.
"And I'm not exactly a Spectre either." He put away his own clip-on pockets and equipment in the cubby next to hers.
"Maybe we should go and reinstate it?" Tali asked as she ushered John into bed with her.
"One thing at a time. After the mission on Haestrom goes, we'll see if we can. After that, we can find out exactly what's going on with the collectors."
"…and the reapers." She added.
"Them too." He reached for the blanket and put it over both of them.
"John?" Her nose was a mere inch from his as they rest on their pillows.
"Yes, Tali?"
"I have a feeling this is going to be a busy year." Tali said in a tired whisper.
"I know." John replied.
Tali's omni-tool shined on her nightstand. She sat up from the bed and peered over John's shoulder to get a better look.
"Who the hell could tha—it's Garrus."
John shot out from the bed. "Garrus?"
"Yeah. He must know you're alive." Tali pointed at her tell to have Shepard hand over her omni-tool. He gave it to her and slipped on the electronic bracelet.
"…Garrus?"
"Hey. Good to see you. It's been a while since we talked." Garrus said.
"Months, actually. What's up?" Tali greeted.
"Honestly, Tali, I think I should be asking you that." His mandibles frowned, "Where's Shepard?"
"Garrus." John called out, "You smug bastard. Damn is it good to see your face."
Tali let John in on the picture.
"And you look no worse for wear, Shepard. I can't believe you're actually back with us. I didn't think Cerberus could do it."
"WAIT." Tali's back stood straight up, "YOU. KNEW?"
"Yes. And Liara promised me not to tell you."
Tali's head whipped back and made this long forced laugh John knew wasn't happy.
"Of course she did."
"If you're mad at me—"
"I'm not mad at you. Not that much." Tali interjected, "What I still don't understand, is the reason behind why she kept him a secret." She jabbed her finger into John's chest.
"Look. You're pissed."
"Pissed? Garrus. I'm fucking livid." Tali spat angrily.
"Fine. But you need to hear me out."
"Okay." John said after he placed a hand on Tali's back to calm her down, "What's up?"
"Are you alone? No-one in ear-shot?" Garrus asked.
"You're linked to our suits only." Tali huffed.
"Shepard." Garrus let out a long drawn sigh, "John. Cerberus asked for my help. And I accepted."
"You're kidding me." John retorted, "Why?"
"It's a long story. But you need to hear me out in full."
"We're listening."
"Cerberus wasn't joking about how much they invested into you. Were you aware of what they were prepared to provide you with?"
The silence from Tali and Shepard was his invitation to continue.
"They were going to be your benefactor."
"So?" Tali shrugged.
"They built a ship outfitted with a crew and top-grade resources."
"A ship? …But is it as good as the Normandy was?" John asked.
"Better. A Normandy look alike. She's twice as big, twice the amount of firepower," Garrus looked at Tali, "and an engine twice the size of the old. New internal emission sink. Cerberus knows how to build a damn good ship. And I'm not exaggerating."
"Hold on. I got to swallow this." John furrowed his brow and shook his head. "Garrus, are you under duress or something?"
"No. Though I'm glad you asked that. Here. Look. I'll give you a little tour of the crew deck." Garrus' camera switched to a first-person view.
"Look familiar?" Garrus showed the elevator before rearing the corner to let John and Tali see the conference table next to the mess and Miranda's office.
"Holy hell… she looks just like the Normandy… just bigger."
"Yeah. Shepard… we've been recruiting people to take the fight against the collectors abducting human colonies. And if there's anybody we need, it's you two."
"We can't." Tali said before John could even say anything, "We have a mission."
"She's right, Garrus. We do have a schedule to go by right now."
Garrus' face returned on Tali's omni-tool. The look on his face was not happy.
"Okay." He said, "But Shepard. You're the only guy who can do this. You remember what the collectors did to us two years ago. And TIM thinks they're paired up with the reapers. It's time to even that score. I'm not asking for a decision. This is a matter of when you're coming aboard."
John looked at Tali. "…I—I don't know. It depends on how long this mission is. After that…" Shepard's voice trailed off.
"Give me a timetable to work by."
"It's not that easy, Garrus."
"Didn't say it was, Shepard. Call me whenever you have an answer. I have to go."
"It was good to see you again Garrus."
"You too. Both of you. When you do come, you'll see Joker and Chakwas. They're here too."
"No kidding?"
"Seriously. It won't be like old times… but it can be once you two get back on with us."
"Take care of yourself."
And just like that, the call ended.
Tali held her hands in her lap before throwing them up in the air.
"There is no way Garrus would—I just… can't believe it. Why would he join them? They're Cerberus!"
"We can get those questions answered when we talk to him again…" John stood up and started pacing, "TIM got me a ship? With a crew and resources? Jesus. Why didn't he tell me sooner?"
"If it were my guess... He was trying to leave an impression for his cause."
"It didn't work."
"What are we going to do?" Tali, by reflex, reached for John's hands.
"After this mission, Tali… I really don't know." He squeezed back.
When Garrus ended the call, he sighed and went straight to fridge for some water and a hot meal. When it was done heating in the microwave, he went on his way down to the main battery to get started on his calibrating. Before he could take the first bite out of his steaming steak, Miranda walked in behind him.
"Mr. Vakarian."
"I'm not going to even take a guess as to why you're here." He put his turian version of a fork down and looked at the woman.
"I was contacted by EDI." Miranda began.
"And?"
"I don't take kindly to demure ploys."
The turian shoved a mouthful of food into his open mouth and chewed. He did it to piss her off.
He knew humans didn't think very highly of what a turian looked like when they ate. And judging by the way Miranda gaze faltered when his mandibles started glistening from grease, it put on the effect he wanted.
"Do not imitate the illusion of control on me, Mrs. Lawson." He slurped, "I'm the closest damn thing to getting Shepard in on this. So I'd suggest you stop tapping in on my self-mumbled conversation about eezo applications in the battery."
"You've taken the liberty of removing them without bringing the issue to us first."
Garrus sighed and pushed his plate to the table next to his unassembled gun.
"Lawson, I'm sure you know a lot about me."
"Everything I needed to know." She replied.
"Then there's your answer. I expected this kind of resistance." He stood up and easily towered a foot over her. "And I will not put up with it."
"Mr. Vakarian." She stared him right in the eye, "If you have any complaints, then take them up with me. The memos you have been putting across is gratuitous and unnecessary."
"Oh, but it is. My point needed to be made. If you want my help? If you want Shepard's help? Then we need to trust each other enough without wiring every wall with a goddamn tap." He took the last envelope he had that was for Chakwas (stuffed with more broken listening devices) into her hand, "It's a request, Mrs. Lawson. Please accept it."
She took the envelope, nodded, and walked out.
She was not used to dealing with people like this.
Not one bit.