Disclaimer: I do no own Mass Effect, I do not claim to own Mass Effect, I am only doing this for fun.
Author Notes: Thank you for all the reviews I got last chapter. I do love reviews, and I love talking to people who leave reviews.
Episode 28: Pilgrimage
It was six days into the Normandy's week of leave before Shepard realized that she really did not know how to relax. Well it simply did not feel right to be sitting around and doing nothing. The first day ended up busy with clerical business. She managed to send out all the letters that needed to be sent. Jenkins was now the proud and highly ecstatic recipient of a commendation. Kaidan got another on top of his already impressive pile. The lieutenant had a habit of trying to fly under the radar, but stepping up when it counted.
Her unease had everything to with the Impera. She was at a ready for Nihlus to just breeze into the room at any moment to say Saren wanted them to do something or other. The situation was far from perfect; she would even call it nasty. Shepard later found out that she had underestimated just how much pull Castis Vakarian had. C-sec Patrol had responded to the Impera running in time to attempt an intercept. She had been right about the end results though, when one of the Patrol unit's frigates, the biggest vessels C-sec had, slid into its path, the Impera fired its Thanix at it. The beam had obliterated the bridge, sliced down the length of the ship's CIC, and lopped off a nacelle as it faded.
The shot was seen by everyone with the right angle to see it. The energy spike of a discharging Thanix cannon caused the nearest Citadel Fleet ships to respond as well, but they had not been fast enough. The Impera used a quick burst of its FTL drive, emerging out of light speed right in time to enter a relay corridor, narrowly avoiding a passenger shuttle in the process. It was a small miracle it did not give that vessel a parting shot of its Thanix for good measure. As it was, the death toll, including the Impera's crew, was up around fifty.
Shepard would not believe that the Council could be happy with Saren right now, but C-sec would be outright out for his blood. Garrus' father seemed like the sort who would not let this go, not with his pre-existing animosity. She fully expected to be on his trash list as well. He must have realized that she had pulled a fast one; maybe he even realized that she had protected Saren.
The event was not reported on the Citadel News Network. Plenty of people must have seen the Impera fire its Thanix cannon within spitting distance of the Citadel, but the media was pretending it never happened. Shepard would bet that the Council imposed a media blackout, likely the only thing they could do. Shepard could even understand why, even she could not come up with a way to spin that into something other than what it was. There was no way to make it look like an accident of whatever sort. Witnesses would know that C-sec officers had died, and the Impera was not a typical Hierarchy frigate. The Council would not win anything by offering any sort of cock-and-bull story, so they decided to let the populace take it as they wished. The conspiracy theories would follow either way.
Popular opinions were not something Shepard needed to worry about. Her interest was purely strategic. She could only wonder what the AI would do and where it would go. She knew it would be unable to dock at any inhabited location. Would it float in space, doing as it wished? The comparison to the legends of the Flying Dutchman was positively eerie.
But life moved on, and on the Normandy it did so with a bang. The crew knew that something had gone down, but it would not stop them from going about life at their own pace. Their victory celebration party went down as scheduled. On that second evening the away teams ended up at some watering hole on Zakera Ward, an affordable place free of Presidium foppery and prejudices against customer species. The evening ended when Wrex called everyone to a drinking contest, on his tab, to establish the light-weights among them. Shepard lost count of how many shots they did that night, but she somehow managed to remember the order people admitted defeat in.
To no one's surprise Jenkins had been the first, followed by Tali. The former because he literally slid off his stool throwing back his last shot, and Tali because she started hiccupping so bad she could not keep drinking. Garrus was third, bowing out with a thin excuse that someone had to be responsible for all of them, even as he slurred, and had been sitting next to Kaidan, who had been ordered by Doctor Chakwas to keep his alcohol level under the driving limit. Ashley called quits fourth, citing that she was at her 'I'll be violently sick tomorrow' line.
So then it was Wrex, Nihlus, and her. Two shots later Nihlus tapped out, slurring heavily, saying any more and he might become unprofessional. Shepard remembered slapping him on the back, saying it did not matter, as he was never professional to begin with. Wrex had laughed so loud, everyone had turned to stare. Then the krogan ordered the bartender to pour another round. When the Asari slid that last refilled shot glass in front of her, Shepard could remember thinking that it was just another mission, but in the end she could not bring herself to drink it. Her head was getting heavy, and then her stomach issued an ultimatum. She pushed it away, in the interest of not throwing up right then and there. Wrex's booming laughter had been loud enough to be heard over the music. Shepard let him have it. She was not surprised that she could not out-drink him; he had a second stomach and liver.
The third day was all nursing the hangovers. Legion, as one of the only two beings on the ship who could not drink alcohol, made an observation about the redundancy of such displays of intoxication. The glares the geth got had been something. Shepard chose to think that Legion was doing it out of some form of concern, but she wondered if Doctor Chakwas had pressed them into being her eyes and ears as well. Otherwise it was a tad odd that the geth seemed to linger around those with the worst symptoms. Everyone had nursed their hangovers in their own ways. Even Wrex spent the whole day in his corner of the shuttle bay, quietly and calmly working on his armor. Just from that Shepard knew he was not nearly as unaffected as he pretended to be.
On the fourth day Shepard felt the first hint of weirdness. When was the last time she got actual leave without something happening? On the fifth, the feeling that something ought to interrupt the down-time became pervasive. Now on the sixth, she found herself bracing for an emergency situation, and try as she might, she could not relax.
She could only try her best not to show the turn of her mood, as she did not want to rain on the crew's parade. Thus after dinner she withdrew from the mess hall to the port observation lounge, intending on resuming her quiet vigil. However just as she settled into the couch with some light reading, the lounge's door opened. A familiar, uneven set of footsteps entered the room. Shepard did not need to look up to know who it was. "Joker," she said.
The pilot eased himself onto the couch next to her. "So what's making you go all hermit on us?" He asked.
Shepard glanced up, "I'm not a hermit."
"Please. After that party, we know how you are when you cut loose, and I know you know the details of what went on with the Impera." Joker replied. "You are definitely pulling a hermit. You think shit is going to hit a fan any moment now, am I right? Hell, I know I'm right."
Shepard spared the pilot one of her cutting looks, but it was brief. She could not maintain any semblance of animosity, as he was right, and apparently knew it. "So what brings you here?" She asked.
Joker spared her one of those looks of his, the ones that said he knew he was being stonewalled. When she did not buckle, he rolled his eyes and brought up his omni-tool. "Fine. I got something from a friend of mine. I knew about the Normandy ahead of things, right?" He scrolled through some materials and pulled up a file, "The brass decided to build two more Normandy-class frigates. The first one was laid down a couple days ago; she will be the Midway. The other, Stalingrad, will be laid down next month."
"Oh?" Shepard was instantly curious. As far as she had been aware, the Alliance had no intention of breaking any more banks on Normandy-class ships. This was interesting to be sure.
"Yea," Joker went on. "But here's the thing… They're paring down on the design. The Midway and Stalingrad will not have Thanix or AI."
"So they're keeping just the stealth capabilities?" Shepard wondered.
Joker hummed his assent.
Shepard understood why they would go there. To be sure stealth systems alone would open new tactical possibilities, and compared to the Thanix and the AI, stealth was the least damning. The Hierarchy and the Salarian Union both had stealth vessels, go figure which of them came up with the tech first. Did they expect it not to leak? The Alliance politicians were clearly playing it safe, taking whatever they could use, whatever they could claim to have reverse-engineered on their own, and stripping out what could come back to bite them.
"On the one side they basically gutted the design; the Normandy class will not be as good without the whole package. Still, the Normandy itself will remain one of a kind. Pardon me if I am a little happy about that." Joker continued.
"Whole package, huh?" Shepard hummed. She agreed with him on that, the Normandy class would be handicapped without a dagger to go with the cloak, or the omniscience bestowed by an AI like EDI. "Including EDI?" She asked, never one to let Joker live something down, after all he had grumbled about EDI just a few months ago.
Joker stopped and gave her one of those 'Don't make me say it,' sort of looks under the bill of his cap.
Shepard leaned back in her seat and waited. She was not about to back down, Joker would have to admit that his opinion had changed.
"Oh fine. EDI too." He said after ten seconds.
"You hear that EDI? Joker's all bluster." Shepard said.
"Hey!" the pilot protested.
Shepard smiled wider. If he wanted to annoy her with the suggestion that she was hiding from her crew, she could give as much as she took.
"I am aware of Flight Lieutenant Moreau's propensity toward using harsher terms than he means," EDI said.
Joker blanched. Shepard had to consciously repress her urge to laugh. That was EDI's round-about way of saying she was on to the pilot's tendencies to be a grumpy old man.
"I hate you, ma'am," Joker grumbled under his breath.
Shepard snorted, "Hey, quid pro quo."
Joker shook his head, "Geez, the brass know how vengeful you are?"
"I think they have two hundred and fifty nine clues." Shepard replied. Add couple more, if you counted Haliat's posse, but Shepard did not say that.
"Alright, well… any chance in hell you'll tell us what went on with the Impera though? Quid pro quo?" Joker went on.
"I can't talk about it, right now. It is Spectre business." She stressed the 'right now' intentionally. Joker would be clever enough to pick up on it. The Council wanted to keep the details contained. It was a matter of need-to-know, and right now the crew did not need to know. She fully expected that to change, but until then, she would keep mum.
"Well… I don't think it was stolen. Who in their right mind would steal that ship? But yea, okay… you can't give details, but there's one thing I can still ask, will we have to chase it down?"
"Maybe." Shepard conceded. After all, she did not know whether Saren would take her up on her offer, or if the Council would even want her involvement. The uncertainty was the worst part.
Joker sighed and leaned back in his seat, "Well that is glorious bullshit."
"You can say that again." Shepard affirmed.
"When did our existence get this complicated?" Joker mumbled.
"I've been asking myself that for years." Shepard admitted.
The silence that fell on the observation room broke when the door opened again. Shepard turned her head and was surprised to see Tali, and her fingers were wound together rather tightly already.
"Come on in, Tali." Shepard greeted with a little more cheer than strictly necessary, but she did not want Tali to think she was interrupting anything, nor that she was unwelcome. Tali's fingers only wrung together even tighter, which told Shepard that her intentions had backfired spectacularly. "Is something wrong?" she asked, much more worried now.
"Oh… nothing is wrong, Commander. I was just…" Tali went on, half-mumbling. "Can I have a moment of your time?"
"Sure," Shepard moved to get up.
Tali threw up her hands, "You do not have to go anywhere, here is perfectly fine."
"Are you sure?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, it is a relatively small matter. I need a little bit of help. I collected so much data from Solcrum, from Daiwi, and… I think I have enough to take something home." Tali went on; her fingers going right back to wringing.
"Ah." What else could Shepard say that would not come off wrong?
"Leaving us so soon?" Joker wondered.
"I'm sorry!" Tali instantly bowed her head.
Shepard would have elbowed Joker in the ribs, were it not for the likelihood of breaking one. She made do with giving the pilot a side-long look. Joker threw his hands up in mock surrender, but the expression on his face was far from contrite.
Shepard rolled her eyes and turned back to Tali, "So, what can I help you with?"
"I need a transport back to the Migrant Fleet." The young quarian replied without missing a beat, even though there was still wariness in her tone. "I didn't want to be a bother, Commander, but I can't arrange one from the Citadel. Our ships are barely welcome here. So I was wondering if you would tell me where it would be convenient for you, so I can arrange a meeting there."
Shepard mulled her options, "Tali, you are a friend and it would be remiss for me to just cut you loose. How about we take you home?"
"You would do that?" Tali asked, surprised.
Shepard nodded; she knew she could couch the detour as a diplomatic thing of some sort. The Alliance had no formal relations with the Migrant Fleet, but that just meant she had no reason not to do it. There would not be any bridges built, but neither would they be burnt.
Tali suddenly hummed, the momentary burst of enthusiasm draining from her like water through a sieve. "Um… maybe it isn't such a good idea, Commander. People will want to meet you. If anyone comes on board and sees Legion…" Tali trailed off.
"I can't let un-cleared outsiders on board the Normandy, so that's not a problem." Shepard replied automatically.
"Then Legion can't leave the ship either. It is illegal to bring an active Geth platform aboard one of our ships." Tali replied.
Shepard could see why the Quarians would be wary of letting active Geth on board their ships. Technically the war between them had never ended. It would be like bringing an enemy combatant aboard, and an active unit could function as a spy or saboteur. It was a very real security risk.
"That might be easier said than done." Joker slipped in. "What with Legion following the Commander around like some robotic puppy."
Shepard glared at Joker automatically; did he really just go there? The pilot had the indecency to grin back at her, as if to say 'what you going to do'? Shepard knew better than to pick a fight with him over this, it was rather petty, and was not even entirely a lie. It was as if some sort of switch had been flipped. Legion was suddenly more visible; seen wandering about the ship, shadowing the crew assigned security shifts. They were also there in the mess around dinner time, just standing near the wall, observing.
"I do not think Legion will want to leave the ship anyways. They would know what sort of reception they'll get." Shepard breached. Truthfully Shepard was a little bothered by the cold attitude Tali still displayed toward Legion. She still saw Legion as a thing and not as a being. The young quarian spent a lot of her time in engineering, or with the geth hardware in the cargo bay. She did not take the time, or make the effort to build a bridge with Legion, though the geth was smart enough not to push for it. If anything, Legion had the most patience of anyone Shepard had ever met.
"I'd say." Joker snorted.
Shepard did not miss the fact that Tali's gaze slid to the floor. "Tali, I understand your desire to avoid an incident, but I don't want Legion becoming someone we're ashamed of admitting to know. If someone outright asks me whether I have geth on my ship, I will not lie and say no. Legion helped us, and I will give them credit where credit is due." It went without saying that she would stroll down the presidium with the geth, if they decided they wanted to do people-watching there. If that got her in hot water with the Council, she would grin, and then dig herself out of it.
Tali sighed, "Perhaps Legion is different. It isn't one of those Heretics, and they seem… particularly violent. But, Commander you have to understand, even if Legion is a relatively friendly geth, it is still one of those friendly geth that drove my people out of our home."
Shepard nodded, "I understand entirely. I merely wish for fairness. I am not saying you should let Legion strut down whatever passes for a main corridor on your biggest ship, but… I wanted to make sure you know I consider Legion to be as much part of this crew as anyone else."
"Oh. Fair enough… I guess."
"Well… this is the part where I bow out." Joker cut in, slowly rising to his feet. He shuffled over toward the door but paused as it opened, "You know. I'll take back the puppy comment. Shepard… You're more Legion's gunship parent."
Shepard blinked, stunned.
"Joker you are such a bosh'tet." Tali murmured.
The pilot laughed as he exited the room.
Shepard slumped into her seat and shook her head. "I swear, sometimes he says things just to fulfill some quota."
"I wish he didn't feel the need."
Shepard said nothing, because she could not in good consciousness agree with that out loud, even if she agreed with it personally.
The Normandy remained on the Citadel for the full duration of their leave, only pulling out when their week was said and done. With no new orders from Admiral Hackett, Shepard leapt at the chance to help Tali. After contacting her father, Tali got coordinates for the fleet's current location. It was a bit of a surprise to discover that the Migrant Fleet was in the Attican Traverse, passing through the Hawking Eta cluster's uninhabited Chandrasekhar system, to skim the large local gas giant Teshub for fuel gasses.
Hawking Eta was a good, if unpleasant destination. On the one hand, the star charts said the whole cluster had no inhabitable planets, so no one there would complain about the Quarians coming in with fifty thousand ships. On the other, the cluster was within in the kiloparsec band outside the Five Kiloparsec Ring surrounding the galactic core.
The Five Kiloparsec Ring, also known as the Bulge, boasted an increasing density of stars of various types, with a disproportionate number of super-massive, intense stars on top. The Ring was highly dangerous to navigate, with erratic gravitational fields, radiation messing with sensors, and thick dust clouds choked with debris ranging from pebbles to dwarf planetoids. This mix created an area that could not be mapped in any meaningful way. The kiloparsec ring outside this hazard was no more pleasant, as it was constantly bathed in the combined cosmic radiation of the galactic core plus all those tightly-packed stars.
They were in luck in that they would not need to do a FTL hop through that. The Normandy could use relays to go to Chandrasekhar directly. The star itself was a relatively dim red dwarf orbited by two gas giants and nothing else. Teshub was the larger of the two, situated first, 0.9 AU away from the star. The relay orbited the star out past the second, at 2 AU; spitting distance in astronomical terms.
Shepard was on the bridge with Joker and Tali when they made approach. The Migrant fleet materialized like a cloud against Chandrasekhar. The sheer mass of all those ships floating before the star made its light flicker from the Normandy's vantage. The Migrant Fleet was the single largest collection of ships in the galaxy, fifty thousand vessels ranging from corvette-sized semi-personal craft to the three 2,817 meter Live Ships with their large revolving spheroid main sections. Roving countries, the Live Ships grew all the food the Migrant Fleet needed to sustain itself. They were the single biggest vessels ever built, marvels of engineering twice over, as each was over three hundred years old. Their continued functionality was a testament to the indomitable spirits of the Quarian species.
"Where do you want to dock, Tali?" Joker asked.
"The Rayya, a Live Ship… my birth-ship." Tali replied.
"I see its transponder," Joker replied as he input commands to alter the Normandy's path.
"Easy going now, not too fast," Shepard added. The last thing they needed was the Migrant Fleet's defenders to mistake the Normandy for an attacker heading for a Live Ship. Shepard had intentionally ordered Joker not to use the stealth systems; she wanted the Quarians to see the Normandy coming. She did not want to explain a ship just appearing right in their midst.
"We are being hailed," EDI announced.
Shepard opened her mouth to tell EDI to open frequency when Tali turned to face her, "May I?" the quarian wondered.
"Go right ahead," Shepard replied. "EDI, open frequency."
"Frequency open." As EDI said it, there was a sound of static and a hum over the comm as the AI adjusted protocols.
"Approaching vessel, we have you indentified as Earth Systems Alliance warship, the Normandy. State your reason for approach. If you do not, we will open fire." A male voice said over the comm.
"Yeesh, no parley with them, huh?" Joker murmured.
"This is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, with the authorization of Captain Shepard vas Normandy; I am requesting permission to dock with the Rayya." Tali said as she clasped her hands together. Her voice was the picture of calm, but her hands gave away just how nervous she was.
"Verify," the voice replied.
Shepard raised an eyebrow, what sort of verification would they want? Tali turned to her and nodded, but then turned away to speak to the comm. "After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."
There was a moment of silence, filled only with static. Then the voice was back, "Permission granted. Welcome home, Tali'Zorah."
Tali visibly relaxed, and it was then that Shepard realized what the verification was all about. The poem Tali recited was a coded password, and had the girl been forced to come here, the wording would have been different, and it would have told her people not to give permission, or even open fire. It was a simple, but rather effective way of signaling pertinent information to the fleet.
"We would like security and quarantine teams to meet us. Captain Shepard requests assurance this vessel will not be boarded without authorization, and she would like to let you know that the Normandy has not been cleaned to fleet standards." Tali went on.
"Understood. Approach exterior docking cradle seventeen. Guidance beacons have been activated." The voice replied.
"I can see the beacon signal," Joker murmured.
The static from the comm line dropped as the link closed.
"Now what is this about fleet standards, are you calling us dirty?" Joker asked.
"No!" Tali jumped, instantly alarmed. "No. Nothing of the sort, it's just… we've been to places, and docked places, and as clean as the Normandy is, she is not Migrant-Fleet clean."
"Relax Tali, I'm just ribbing you. I know what you meant," Joker replied as he looked over his shoulder.
"What now?" Shepard asked.
"Well, I imagine Captain Kar'Danna will wish to meet with you, Commander. If that's alright. It's nothing serious, just introductions and such. It is not often that we get warships coming in. But you should keep the initial boarding party small, and in the interest of keeping the Rayya's environmental protocols…"
Shepard barely stopped herself from groaning automatically. She knew what quarantine environmental protocols meant; she would have to mingle while wearing her hardsuit, helmet included.
"At least no one expects hors d'oeuvres," Joker dead-panned.
Shepard did not bother to reply to that. Suddenly she felt pressed into a diplomatic role, and if things went sideways, the Quarians would walk away with a bad idea of Alliance norms. There would be a lecture in that for her if someone later needed to formalize relations and found out that she shot them in the foot beforehand.
Half an hour later the Normandy docked with the Rayya with remarkably little external fanfare. The beacon guided the ship in and the cradle gangway dully extended to couple to the Normandy's airlock aft of the bridge with no ceremony. Shepard was under no delusions though; she knew their movements had been watched the whole way. Even now there were probably some guns trained on the Normandy.
Someone lesser would have taken it as an affront, but Shepard knew that the quarians did not survive three hundred years of wandering by being careless. Their status as nomads made them vulnerable to opportunists, and the Terminus was never short on those. They had every reason to be cautious verging on paranoid.
She returned to the CIC wearing her hardsuit, though without her webbing and arsenal, carrying her helmet in her hands. Tali was already there by the airlock, and so was Nihlus. The Spectre was likewise in his armor, his helmet under his arm, and his sidearm at his hip. Shepard stopped and glanced at Tali just in time to catch the young quarian slip her hands behind her back.
"Shepard, I knew we were here when I saw the Live Ships. Tali did not have to ask me," Nihlus said as soon as she was close enough.
Shepard spared him a look, but it was a flimsy one. Who did one take, when forming a loose delegation of sorts? On the one hand, she had been tempted to ask Kaidan, as he was the senior officer on board after her, on the other, she wanted the quarians to know she had a varied crew, and Tali was not just the odd person out. "I think maybe you should leave your weapons at home."
"No." Nihlus replied. "I am taking no chances. If they have a problem, I am a Spectre."
"I don't think they will try to take me prisoner, Nihlus," Shepard replied as she moved past him into the airlock, slipping on her helmet as she went. It was no great mystery why Nihlus was acting like this. He wanted to assert his status as a walking legal headache. It was so obvious that even Tali saw it, judging by her fidgeting. Shepard would bet that the only reason why Tali did not say anything was because she knew nothing would stop Nihlus.
Once the small group was past the airlock, they were met by the quarantine team, which led them into a full decontaminating airlock attached almost immediately to the gangway. The tiny room was the sort of facility they normally kept in hospitals, except in addition to UV lamps powerful enough to destroy microorganisms on the surface of things, the Quarians also employed chemical mist sprayers, and blowers so powerful Shepard almost got knocked over when they kicked to high gear. She caught herself almost instantaneously, but talk about being blown over with surprise.
Nihlus had joked about not having to clean his armor for a week. Shepard made a point of promising him that she would find some dirt to wade through, the next time they were planet-side, just for him. That got Tali to chuckle, though she clamped the front of her helmet when she noticed the stink-eye she got from Nihlus. Shepard was not the least bit repentant, as far as she was concerned, he asked for that one.
The full Migrant Fleet approved decontamination cycle took almost five minutes, so when they emerged there was a small gathering on the other side. A handful of quarians in uniform-like brass and royal blue envirosuits, armed with assault rifles and shotguns, and in their midst a quarian wearing a cream-colored red-accented suit.
"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, welcome home," he greeted in a polite, heavily-accented tone.
"Captain Kar'Danna!" Tali greeted. "It is good to be back."
The captain nodded, but then his silver-toned eyes turned past the girl, "Would you introduce our guests?" he asked.
"Of course! Captain Kar'Danna, I would like you to meet Captain Shepard vas Normandy. And…" Tali paused as she looked at Nihlus.
"Council Spectre Nihlus Kryik," he slipped in a rather flat, formal manner.
Shepard did not miss the fact that the mere mention of the word 'Spectre' had the effect of making every quarian other than Tali straighten like a pole.
"Ah, welcome. To have a Spectre and the Earth Systems Alliance return one of our own… this is most unusual."
Shepard noted that the Rayya captain's tone suddenly wavered, whether from wariness or surprise it was impossible to tell, but the man's eyes were on Nihlus, so she would bet on the latter. "I employ talent, no matter who they are, Captain." Shepard replied. "The whole time Tali served aboard my ship she's been tremendous help. She is a friend, and someone I will miss, and can not replace."
"High praise, Tali'Zorah," the captain said.
Tali's gaze had slipped right to the floor, her hands were clasped in front of her in that bashful way she got.
"Chin up, Tali. You deserve that and more." Shepard said.
"Y-yes, Com- Captain!" Tali perked right up.
"As you requested, Captain, I brought guards to assure no one will access your ship without authorization."
"Thank you. Please understand this merely a matter of Alliance protocols. The Normandy is a military vessel."
"You wish to ensure the security of your vessel. As one captain to another, I can understand that," Kar'Danna nodded. "Now, please, follow me," he motioned with his arm down the corridor. "I will show you to a nearby garden plaza. Tali's return has been anticipated."
"Oh?" Shepard replied as she followed the captain.
"Tali, did you not tell the captain who your father is?" Kar'Danna asked, suddenly amused.
"Erm… that might have slipped my mind, much too busy with research." Tali replied.
The captain laughed, "Like father, like daughter, always buried in research. Captain Shepard, Tali'Zorah's father, Rael'Zorah vas Alarei is one of the admirals currently serving as leaders for the Migrant Fleet."
"I see." Shepard smiled, though none could see it, "You and I have that in common then, Tali." Shepard replied with a smile. So Tali was an admiral's little girl, a military child, it explained her personality enough. "My mother commands the dreadnought Kilimanjaro, of the Alliance's Fifth Fleet." She explained for the benefit of the Rayya's captain.
She only mentioned it because she could see a difference in the quarians; they were more open, more emotional, as far as people went. Whatever fleet structure they had, there seemed to be a more intimate air there. They knew people, recognized people, took pride in knowing people. Shepard had a distinct impression that where most would see her placement as nepotism, the quarians would see it more as something normal, if not outright commendable.
They ended up taking a few ninety degree turns, with Shepard becoming firmly aware of what Tali had meant when she said Migrant Fleet ships were noisy, crowded places. Even the thoroughfare corridor was not entirely clear of clutter. Every inch and corner that was not absolutely necessary for traversal was used for something or other. Netting hung from the ceiling, supporting what looked like immaculately labeled storage crates. Add to that the Rayya definitely had what Shepard would call a heartbeat, a mix of ever-present hums, clanks, bangs, and hissing from the pipes and ducts. No one they passed paid any attention to these. Shepard understood why the Normandy would seem eerily too quiet to someone who was born and raised here.
The corridor eventually led them out onto an open square that did earn the right to be called a garden plaza. There were small trees in boxes, and the whole back wall was covered by thick ivy-like growth. Poles supported thick woven cloth draped as canopies, bringing splashes of vibrant color to an otherwise bland sea of beige-hued metal stretching as far as the eye could see.
At the center of the plaza was an area recessed into the floor, shaped almost like an ancient Greek amphitheater, with bench seating in a semi-circle and a stage-like area right in the middle. At the wings were two open spaces where groups could sit together. Right now the place seemed to be a hub of activity, two groups of quarians were busy fleeting in and out of the side corridors, bringing folding tables and chairs, while others carried more textiles and what looked like decorations. Shepard knew preparations for a celebration when she saw them.
Then Shepard saw a small group of Quarians enter from the right side of the room, led by a female in a cream and brown suit, followed by another pair, both clad in brass and blue, carrying weapons. This woman was clearly someone important.
"Auntie Raan!" Tali shouted, instantly running toward the woman.
Shepard watched as Tali eagerly hugged the woman she so-fondly called auntie.
"This is going to be a long procession of relatives, isn't it?" Nihlus murmured.
"Oh hush you," Shepard replied flatly, as she looked up to catch his gaze, "This is about Tali, not us. If it bothers you that much, feel free to go back to the Normandy." She would let Tali call the shots here.
"Hey now…" Nihlus protested.
Shepard rolled her eyes and looked away, only to realize Tali had all but pulled the other woman toward them. "Captain Shepard, this is Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay. Auntie Raan, this is Captain Shepard vas Normandy and… Council Spectre Nihlus Kryik."
"It is a pleasure," Shepard replied, before Nihlus might have a chance of over-thinking Tali's pause.
The woman inclined her head a few degrees, "Welcome to the Migrant Fleet, Captain, and thank you for bringing Tali back to us, safe and sound."
"Of course, I would not let Tali charter a passage with strangers if I could help it." Shepard replied. "Tali served aboard my ship as a technical advisor, and she is a friend." She would have said Tali was still crew, but right now that seemed to be up in the air. The young quarian could decide to go back to her people. Shepard would not stop her, and she trusted Tali not to talk about the Normandy. It was just that selfish part of her that wished Tali would stay, but she never let that selfish part rule in these matters.
"As a long-time friend of the Zorah family, I thank you." The admiral bowed her head.
"Auntie, where is father?" Tali asked.
The admiral turned back toward the girl, "I'm sorry Tali, but Rael is busy. He knows you are back, but he said he cannot step away from whatever it is he's doing."
"Oh." Tali murmured. "Will he be there for the ceremony?" she asked hesitantly.
"I do not know Tali. I'm sorry."
Tali seemed to deflate with every word, something Shepard could not miss. The girl's disappointment was palpable, but there was also resignation there. Shepard thought this was hardly the first time Tali's father ended up being the absent parent. "A ceremony?" She asked, intentionally steering the topic away, even though she had a good idea of what was going to happen.
"It is a semi-formal affair, Captain. Tali will present her gift to the captain of her chosen ship, and request to join its crew." Shala'Raan explained. "You are welcome to attend, should Tali wish it."
"Of course!" Tali leapt in.
Shepard caught the young quarian's imploring look, and nodded.
"Excellent. As you can see preparations for the ceremony have started, but it will be a few more hours."
"In the meantime, Captain, Spectre," Captain Kar'Danna stepped in, "Allow me to offer you the Rayya's hospitality while you wait."
Shepard hummed an assent, but somehow this whole premise seemed off to her. Tali ought to have asked everyone who knew her on the Normandy to come, but she chose not to. It made Shepard want to ask questions she had no good excuse to be asking. She glanced at Nihlus, and then followed the Rayya's captain as he led them to the left side of the room.
Admiral Shala'Raan busied Tali off somewhere else while Captain Kar'Danna showed them to a small table at the left side of the room. The table had been hastily draped with beautiful textiles and topped with an array of drinks that were not only purified, but safe for both dextro and levo to consume, along with the small devices necessary to address the problem of helmets. These had two straw-like lines and screwed right on top of the bottles like a cap. The shorter line was attached to a bellows-like finger-pump, to force ambient air into the bottle, and in turn push the liquid up the longer straw, which slotted through a small emergency port in the side of most helmets.
Shepard watched the quarians work and the crowd steadily grow. As the minutes ticked she began to feel increasingly like an intruder. What if Tali really decided to return to her people? Shepard had too many questions, too few answers, and that was not the position she liked to be in. As she pulled up another drought of whatever fruity concoction she had been nursing, she became aware of an approaching quarian dressed in a flaxen yellow suit accented with sand-brown textiles and face shield.
He carried himself with the sort of straight-backed rigidity that spoke of rank and position over long years in the military, the sort of gait that spoke of someone who had once shouldered the weight of weapons and it shaped the way he moved. He was talking to a female quarian in a white, lilac-accented suit that walked next to him, carrying a datapad she was tapping at, as if taking dictation. However he waved the woman away, and tapped at the side of his helmet to switch to an open line when they drew to a distance conductive for conversation. "Captain Shepard vas Normandy, correct?"
"Yes," Shepard replied.
"Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema. I would like to ask a few questions."
"You are welcome to, though there are some topics which I am not at liberty to discuss." Shepard replied. She thought those topics would be patently obvious as well.
"Tali'Zorah wrote back to Shala'Raan about her time aboard the Normandy, including her involvement in conflicts with the Geth. I was wondering how much of what she said was true."
Shepard hummed, Tali never mentioned writing back to her family, but it made sense she would, the Quarians placed great emphasis on friends and relatives. The fact that Tali talked about her time aboard the Normandy did not bother her. What bothered her was that the contents of those letters seemed to pass around. How much information had Tali put in them? Well, not that it mattered now. She had to trust Tali, there was praising the girl's intelligence and then thinking she would not know what would breach the confidentiality agreement she signed. "Tali has been a tremendous amount of help. She's brilliant for being so young."
"On that we'll agree. She has her father's intellect," Han'Gerrel said. "Rael'Zorah is a long-time friend, and I expect his daughter to request to join my crew, but Tali's abilities are not the reason I am here. I am interested in the data you must have collected."
"Ah," Shepard replied. "Then I cannot tell you anything. I would not want to devalue Tali's offering."
"I see," Han'Gerrel replied. "Then, we will turn away from that topic. I have other questions."
Shepard leaned back in her seat, locking eyes with the admiral. Just what was this man's game? She could understand why he would ask about Tali, or why he would want data on the Geth, but those topics had been covered. What else would he want to know?
"Under what terms did you employ Tali'Zorah?" the admiral asked.
Shepard raised an eyebrow, something he would not see. Well this was some turn of topic, no? Then again, maybe it made some sense as well. "Officially Tali was hired as a consultant to the Alliance. She was paid fairly for her work." Shepard would not let anyone walk away with the idea that she used unpaid labor, whether it was volunteer, intern, or the contract work the Asari on Ilium called "indentured service", which Shepard called slavery under a rosier term. "The Alliance routinely hires civilian specialists. Typically these are scientists or medical personnel, but there is nothing to say it can't be others."
"Including Spectres?" the admiral wondered.
"Commander Shepard is a Council Spectre in training. I am her training agent." Nihlus said blandly, before Shepard could even open her mouth.
If Nihlus had been going for the blunt-force surprise impact, he got it. Shepard noted that the admiral actually paused, looking at her as if measuring. Was he re-assessing his approach? Nihlus clearly wanted the admiral to know exactly whom he was dealing with. That just made her curious, just what did Nihlus think the admiral was going for?
"Would you wish to continue employing Tali?" the admiral went on.
"If that's Tali's choice. I will not turn away her invaluable aid. However, her contract stipulated that she could terminate her employment whenever she wished, with sufficient notice." Maybe he wanted nothing more than to grill her on he conditions of Tali's employment. Shepard could understand why the admiral would do that. The oddity was that it should have been Rael'Zorah grilling her instead. "Truly admiral, I consider Tali a friend. If you think I mistreated her in any capacity… Ask Tali, if there is one thing I am guilty of, it is being over-protective of her."
"That is putting it mildly," Nihlus rumbled on a private comm line.
Shepard resisted the urge to glare. At least he had the decency to use their comm.
"I see. I hope you understand I meant no disrespect Captain."
"No disrespect was seen, admiral. I understand that this is a personal matter for you. Being a long-time friend of the family, you care for Tali's well-being."
"Yes…" The admiral's omni-tool lit up and the man glanced down at it. "Ah, you will have to excuse me, Captain, I am needed elsewhere."
"Of course." Shepard replied.
The admiral turned and walked away. With one gesture of the hand his aide was at his side again.
"Remind you of anyone you know?" Nihlus asked, amusement dripping from his tone.
This time Shepard did turn and glare.
The crowd grew steadily over the next half an hour. Shepard had set aside the refreshments, turning instead to watch the crowd. Tali was yet to re-appear, and with the delay mounting, Shepard's paranoid side was beginning to stir. The Rayya's captain was milling about with his people, calm as can be, but Han'Gerrel had vanished somewhere.
"You are scoping," Nihlus said.
Shepard turned her head to face the Spectre, "Scoping?"
"Yes. It is this thing you do. You watch the people like a panning security camera. You do it when you are beginning to feel uneasy."
Shepard blinked. Well that was the first time someone outright drew attention to the fact that she was a compulsive crowd watcher, a habit that came with the territory in her line of work. Still, Nihlus was observant enough to notice the turn of her mood, evidence that she had spent too much time in his company.
"I say that, and yet that danger sense of yours proves as acute as ever. That does not look good." Nihlus suddenly said as he set the drink bottle he had been nursing on the table.
Shepard followed the direction of his gaze and noticed that Han'Gerrel had re-appeared, followed by three armed men, and a woman in a stone-grey, black-clothed suit. There was obvious tension in both their postures, something that Nihlus must have picked up on. The group made a beeline toward them and with every step Shepard could see the clouds gathering.
"Captain Shepard," Han'Gerrel said his tone no longer casual. "I was notified not five minutes ago of some rather disturbing readings originating from your ship."
And just like that the storm made landfall. Shepard stared up at the admiral, without blinking. She would not show the outrage she felt. This man had just brazenly admitted that they were watching the Normandy, and the only way they could have picked up any sort of readings was if their monitoring was not merely passive. The Quarians were either very paranoid, prone to opportunistic espionage, or a combination of the two. This also amounted to an admission that they did not care for diplomatic tact. They merely suffered her being there. "And what would those curious readings be?" she asked, keeping her voice entirely neutral.
"You have active geth aboard your ship. Why was their presence not mentioned when the Normandy was coming in to dock?" Han'Gerrel demanded.
Shepard had to admit, those sorts of readings gave them a leg to stand on; after all, Tali had warned her that the Migrant Fleet took security seriously when it came to the geth. Still, what had Legion done to reveal their presence? She strongly doubted it was anything serious. Yes, Legion had access to the extranet, barring times when they went into deep stealth, same as every other member of her crew, and like them Legion only had access through EDI's protocols. EDI would be aware of every proverbial key stroke, and she must have let it through. That meant whatever it was, was not malicious or seditious. Was this reaction more about Legion's very existence than to something it had done?
"The geth pose a serious risk to the safety of the Migrant Fleet, Captain. A risk that you seem to think nothing of," the woman in the black-clothed suit said.
Shepard thought the woman's tone was of someone who considered Legion's very presence within a parsec of the Migrant Fleet to be dangerous, and verging on an affront. Shepard knew better than to try and prove her otherwise. She leaned back into her seat and crossed her legs, putting on her best arrogant airs. "First, I do not believe we've been introduced."
"Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh." The woman replied coldly, as if deigning to utter her full name and title.
"Thank you, Admiral. Now let me set some things straight. The Alliance deems its warships as privileged with the same diplomatic considerations as our embassy on the Citadel. We do not report the internal movement of Alliance personnel or our allies to representatives of another sovereign state." This was a rather pedantic defense to fall back on, but it was also the one to use if she wanted to shut this farce down.
The Quarians were very much overreaching. The Chandrasekhar system was not Quarian sovereign territory, which meant it was 'international waters'. With neither party able to plant flags, a whole bunch of rules simply did not apply. To be super blunt, it was none of their business whom and what she kept on her ship, as long as it stayed on her ship. She did not have to answer to them either. If anything, the Quarians were in the wrong here, as they had done what could be taken as an act of espionage when they scanned her ship.
Shepard would wait to draw that ace out of her sleeve, but if they pressed her, she would do it. For once she was on the winning end of a potential incident. The Alliance brass would be less than amused if they caught wind that the Quarians had engaged in espionage against the Alliance. The brass had no love to lose when it came to the Quarians; no one would be upset about the soured relations. Personally though, she would love to get out of this with relations intact, no need to burn bridges unnecessarily, but she was also not about to martyr herself just to preserve a rickety one. If the Quarians insisted on forcing her hand, she would happily pour on the accelerant and strike a match. Would they force her hand? "I did not notify you of geth aboard my ship because the geth in question is my employee." She finished.
"A geth… employee?" Daro'Xen repeated slowly.
Shepard put on her best airs of utter nonchalance, as if she was as unbothered as could be. There was no mistaking the incredulity in Daro'Xen's tone. The thought that someone would hire a geth seemed as ludicrous to her as the idea of someone leaving millions of credits to their pet dog.
"Indeed. I met Legion on Horizon, one of our colonies, and they provided me with invaluable aid during recent Alliance operations on Solcrum," Shepard continued. "While I am not at liberty to discuss Solcrum, I will say I trust Legion. So shall we come to the heart of the matter? I am sure there was an honest misunderstanding here…" she would give them a hint of a way out, a hint that she was willing to let them walk away, right then and there, before this situation got ugly.
"No misunderstanding. It is you who refuse to acknowledge the potential hazard to the Migrant Fleet." Han'Gerrel stepped in. Suddenly he was as tense as a bow string, and talking as if he barely kept the anger in check.
Shepard turned her gaze right to the admiral, right to the faint hint of silver visible past his face-shield. If they did not want to take the easy, diplomatic way out, she will play hardball.
"Shepard, go easy on him," Nihlus rumbled into her ear over their private link, despite the fact that outwardly he appeared to be merely watching the proceedings with cool detachment.
"I deny nothing. Yes there is an active geth aboard the Normandy. I understand how the presence of active geth could be dangerous to the Migrant Fleet. However understand that there is a difference. Bluntly, Legion is different. They work for me, and as such obey my orders."
"Captain-"
"No. I am done with baseless accusations." Shepard cut in as she uncrossed her legs and sat up straight. "The way I see it, the only way you know about Legion, is if you scanned my ship. On the scale of issues at hand, that's something a little more concrete than the maybe that is Legion being a threat to anyone." Shepard said as she passed her coldest gaze from one admiral to the other. "My people believe in the concept of someone being innocent until proven guilty. I also do not judge individuals on the acts of the majority, nor the majority on the acts of the individual."
"We would not be here were it not for Tali. It is Tali who wished Shepard to be here. If the rest of you wish otherwise, we will gladly take our leave," Nihlus added coolly.
Shepard let Nihlus have what she deemed a good last word, before she got going for real, and she was tempted, oh so tempted. It bothered her that they thought she would just turn on Legion just because they said so, or they thought she should. She understood their reasoning, she knew where the hostility came from, she could even sympathize, but she would never let that alter her personal perception. Even though the Geth had committed atrocities in the past, and even if they did not think much of their creators, she would not blindly hate on them just because that was the galactic zeitgeist, just because it would endear her to the Quarians.
Gestalt or not, the fact that Legion functioned by consensus showed there was some sort of debate going on in their processors. That meant each of those 1183 runtimes might have a slightly different take on things. Shepard had observational data to see something, some little glimmer of individuality right there. The spark made judging Legion by the standards of the whole collective unpalatable. The Geth may have started as a gestalt, but that was three hundred years before. How much have they advanced since? Three hundred years was a very long time for a race that thought many times faster than any organic.
"As you wish, Captain. But when that geth turns on you, you will remember our warning," Daro'Xen said, her voice chilled and full of absolute certainty.
"If they turn on me." Shepard replied in a matching tone.
That seemed to end the discussion, the two admirals drifted away, taking their armed guard with them. Shepard knew they were upset with her, which meant she effectively doused that bridge with accelerant and lit it, but at least she came out without compromising her personal ethics in the process. Appeasing the Quarians would have required her to turn on Legion, and that was not something she was willing to do. Legion had done plenty for her, and far more than the Migrant Fleet's admiralty.
"I do not think we will be invited again," Nihlus murmured quietly.
"That's fine. I will not let people's prejudices dictate how I do things."
"Good. Shepard even I know Legion is…" Nihlus broke off there, as if searching for the right term.
"Different?" Shepard supplied.
Nihlus hummed a quiet assent. "They see the geth as unchanging, but you rarely look at any group of beings like that. There was going to be friction there."
Shepard leaned back in her seat as she pondered. Nihlus was not arguing against her, despite the fact that his employers would have loved to eradicate the geth, if they had the means and opportunity. The only reason the Council did not declare war on the Geth then, or now, was because there were an awful lot of them. No one wanted to foot the proverbial bill in resources and manpower to fight that war. Not when it could clearly be kicked down the line as long as the Geth remained in their corner of the galaxy and did not cause enough of a ruckus.
"I knew you would side with the Geth." Nihlus continued. "First the Rachni, now the Geth, you have a pattern."
"I did not side with the Rachni, or the Geth." Shepard argued. "I am only willing to give them a second chance."
"There is a difference?" Nihlus asked, bemused.
Shepard turned her head to glare at him, even though he would not see the expression. She could just picture the sort of grin he must have now. Still, he did not argue, and the fact that he was amused by the notion said that once again she had this Spectre in her corner.
Half an hour later the crowd had swelled in size to make the large space begin to feel claustrophobic, and it seemed to include the proverbial who's who of the Quarian higher ups. Tali appeared from one of the side passages. Shepard would not have recognized the girl were it not for Shala'Raan at her side. Gone was the stone gray, green-accented suit, replaced with a black one, accented with looser purple cloth woven with a beautiful swirling pattern. The hood was a bit wider, and the cloth wrapped around the hips flattered the girl inside.
Captain Kar'Danna stepped up to the podium at the center of the stage area and it was like a signal for people to gather in and around the amphitheater area. Shepard decided to linger in the back, keenly aware that she was the stranger in the room. After what had happened, she also suspected that she was the barely-wanted stranger in the room. Daro'Xen stood on the opposite side of the center aisle, and Shepard could not miss the woman's side looks. She would bet one thousand credits on those glances being glares, the face-shield in the way was a small mercy.
Tali's gaze swept the room with a sort of urgency that was easier to place. Han'Gerrel stood on one side of the stage platform, and Shala'Raan on the other. Admiral Rael'Zorah was a no-show.
"Everyone," Captain Kar'Danna addressed the crowd gathered around him. "We have gathered here today, surrounded by family and friends, to welcome back one of our own." He paused to glance at Tali. The girl had moved up toward the stage, but her hands were clasped in front of her. Shepard could see the nervousness from across the room.
"Eight months ago Tali'Zorah nar Rayya left us to do her rite, with nothing more than our well-wishes and credits to her name. Today she returns to us with the friendship of an Alliance captain. Though short in duration, her journey gifted her with great experience."
Shepard scanned the masked faces even as she listened. The crowd listened to the speech with rapt attention, but at the mention of her a few turned to look her way, though they turned away as quickly when she looked back. Shepard hummed, so much for being the stranger, Tali must have sung some praises for her birth-ship's captain to mention her in this sort of speech.
"Her story is our own. Nearly three hundred years ago we were cast adrift, unable to return home. As each of our children return from their pilgrimage, we renew hope that our own journey will come to an end."
A murmur of approval ran through the crowd. Shepard shifted her weight from foot to foot. The ceremony seemed to veer toward being about more than just Tali's journey and her homecoming.
"We welcome you back into our fold, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Keelah selai."
"Keelah selai," the crowd echoed in a single united tone.
Shepard raised an eyebrow as she watched Tali ascend the stage. Han'Gerrel likewise rose up onto the stage from the other side. Shepard glanced at Nihlus, and noted that he watched the ceremony keenly, though his arms were folded over his chest. She idly wondered just how often outsiders got to see this ritual.
Then there was the speech, it was rather flowery, and she could tell the whole pilgrimage had meaning to both those who left on it, and Migrant Fleet as a whole. With that much ritual, she could not help but think that this was probably going to be the last time any of them saw Tali. There was no way she would want to return to the Normandy, not when she had a place among their people, and not with Legion being the elephant in the room.
"Thank you for your kind words, Captain Kar'Danna," Tali began as she stopped in front of the Rayya's commanding officer and bowed her head. "I am proud to have been born aboard the Rayya."
The man nodded in acknowledgement, the only outward expression that could be visible due to the suit.
Straightening, Tali turned to Han'Gerrel and approached him. "Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, I, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya request the privilege of joining the crew of the Neema." Tali reached into a pouch attached to her belt behind her back and withdrew an OSD jewel case, which she proffered to Han'Gerrel. "During my service to Captain Shepard vas Normandy, I collected data on our greatest foes, the geth. This data proves our enemies are not the same they had been three centuries ago. I offer this knowledge as my gift to you, as the captain of the Neema, to the crew of the Neema, and our people as a whole."
"Not the same… that is putting it mildly." Nihlus mused.
Shepard hummed her assent as she watched Han'Gerrel take the case from Tali. The girl bowed her head.
A pregnant pause settled over the amphitheater. No one in the crowd dared to move or make a sound as they waited, possibly with bated breath. Shepard realized that everything hung in the balance. It would make sense that the captain of the ship had right to reject the gift as inadequate. It would be unbelievably embarrassing for one's offering to be found wanting, in the presence of friends and family. Tali's pilgrimage had been relatively short; Shepard knew that some quarian youths were away for years at a time, seeking something of value.
Han'Gerrel bowed his head, and it was like the tension in the room broke. "I, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, accept this gift."
Tali raised her head immediately.
"Henceforth you will be counted among my crew, Tali'Zorah vas Neema." The admiral continued.
A wave of polite clapping went around the amphitheater. Tali looked around the room, and their eyes met. Shepard wished she did not have her helmet on, that way Tali could actually see the smile she had at this moment.
"This is it then," Nihlus said.
"Yea, looks like it." Shepard murmured. The ceremony seemed to be over as well-wishers advanced toward the stage to give Tali their congratulations along with token gifts. Quite a few people gave her a credit chit.
Han'Gerrel turned the jewel case over his hands before he tucked it away into a compartment on his armor. Then their eyes met, and Shepard could not help but wonder what the information would be used for. Had she been complicit in handing over weapons of mass destruction to be used against the geth?
"You should talk to Tali while you have the chance," Nihlus said.
"Probably," she affirmed as she broke eye contact with the admiral. She knew that at the very least she should thank Tali for everything the girl had done, and definitely say good-bye. Still, she dithered. Saying good-byes meant making it final. Shepard had to tamp down her selfish side that did not want to accept the idea that this was where Tali closed the book on her time on the Normandy.
It was not hard to see that Tali's whole posture and mannerism changed now that she was among her people. She seemed right at home, greeting people, hugging, and tucking away credit chits. Watching Tali from the sidelines, Shepard knew that she really ought not to remove the girl from where she would be happiest. After all, the Normandy was a mess of a command structure, doing dirty, dangerous, thankless tasks. It was no place for a very young civilian whose only experience of the outside world was a total of eight months. She would say her goodbyes.
Shepard did not need to approach Tali, as within ten minutes the quarian girl broke away from the crowd on her own and made her way toward them, playing with one of the credit chits as a way to keep her hands busy.
"Commander, are you leaving already?" Tali asked as soon as she was in ear-shot.
"Maybe," Shepard replied, she honestly could not say yes, and she definitely could not say no, not with being caught staying well out of the celebration, waiting for a moment to approach Tali. "I'm glad things worked out for you, Tali." This was one of those times where she turned to the obvious when she had nothing else workable to say.
"Me too, Commander. I… was afraid that the data alone would not be enough, even if Admiral Han'Gerrel is a family friend. Well... some will say it is not enough and he only accepted me because he is a family friend but…"
Shepard smiled, though Tali would not see it. The girl's worries hit a little close to home. After all, plenty of people accused her of getting ahead because of family friends as well. "There will always be those people who say such things, whether they're right, and especially if they're wrong," Shepard said calmly. "Do no entertain them with your anger; prove them wrong with your actions." And make them look foolish in the process, though Shepard did not add that last part. It was a piece of advice she got from her mother.
"Thank you, but… I don't know if I'll be able to do it. I mean… actions don't come easy to me," Tali murmured.
"Nothing worth doing ever comes easy," Shepard added. That was straight out of a fortune cookie, but she meant it. Tali nodded, but it was clear as day that she was hesitating, proverbially beating around some bush. Shepard had a good feeling she knew what that bush was. "Tali, it's alright. I understand. These are your people. You want to say your farewells. Don't worry, the contract is open, and I'll consider it fulfilled."
Tali's looked up sharply, their eyes meeting past the shielding plates in the way.
"The only thing I want from you is that you promise me not to talk about the Normandy with anyone." Shepard added softly.
"Commander… I am not going anywhere!" Tali interjected. "That's the thing, I told Admiral Han'Gerrel that… I want to stay on the Normandy. I mean, you will continue to pursue the geth, so… there is more data to gather!"
Nihlus hummed, in a tone that Shepard knew all too well.
"And the Admiral is alright with that?" Shepard asked.
"Yes!" Tali replied quickly.
Shepard glanced toward where Admiral Han'Gerrel was standing on the other side of the room. He still had his armed retinue. The hair on the back of her neck rose as Shepard noticed that he was watching them. Suddenly she knew why the admiral was fine with Tali remaining on the Normandy. He would definitely want more data on the geth, but there was another, vague possibility that her paranoid part could foresee.
The Quarians were exiles with no friends. Now she established what essentially amounted to diplomatic contact with the Geth. From a balance of power standpoint, it would be bad news for the Quarians if anyone made an alliance with the Geth. It would be an absolute nightmare if said alliance involved the Alliance; after all, the Alliance could give even the Turians a pause. Did Admiral Han'Gerrel wish to have a pair of eyes on watch for that?
"Well if that is what you want," Shepard said as she turned back to Tali, "I'll be happy to have you on the Normandy." She would not refuse the girl, even if she had openly admitted to being the eyes and ears for Han'Gerrel. If the admiral wanted a spy on the Normandy, Shepard doubted he openly ordered Tali to be that spy. He probably counted on her regular letters to report things indirectly, which Tali would. The girl would not know she had been made a spy, even as she did the spying.
"Thank you, Commander!" Tali brightened instantly.
Shepard nodded and smiled, all's well that ends well. She would be lying if she said she was not happy right then. The details really did not matter. The situation with the quarian admiralty was just one more acre of minefield to navigate, what else was new? "Well, enjoy what's left of your party, Tali. We will ship out as soon as we're able."
"Yes, Commander!" Tali replied, snapping to attention almost like a true Alliance marine, even if her voice carried too much happiness and laughter to pass muster. Then she wheeled on her heels and marched off to rejoin Shala'Raan on the other side of the room. There was a spring in her step, and that made Shepard think that maybe –just maybe– staying on the Normandy was exactly what Tali had wanted too.
Author Notes: There you have it. I had to fudge the ceremony, as we never get to see something like it. I tried to keep it simple, in keeping with the different, less formal ways the Quarians do things. I have an arc in mind of where this whole thing is going.
General Notes:
None this time…
Chapter Notes:
Normandy, Midway, and Stalingrad – Normandy, Midway, and Stalingrad were the three turning points of WWII. Normandy was of course the D-day landings, which turned things around on the Western European front. Midway was an important victory for the USN against the IJN in the Pacific. Stalingrad was where the Nazi advance into Russia effectively stopped, and was turned around. I do love my naming schemes.
Parsec – This is a measurement of length used for distances between astronomical objects. Basically [1 pc = 3.26 light years] or in number terms [1 pc = 9.461 x 10^12 km], or with the scientific notation stripped, and with some rounding, it will be a staggering 9,461,000,000,000 km! For our topic of the Five Kiloparsec Ring [1 kpc = 1,000 pc] and we're dealing with five of those. Keep in mind that ships in the ME-verse do 15 ly/day (4.6 pc/day) at the fastest, without using a relay. Thus the scale of this region is indeed something.
Spacial Density – For comparison, Sol's closest neighbor, Alpha Centauri is 4.3 ly away. With many stars, including a high number of super-massives, their gravity, temperatures, and radiation output, pack them together even 1 ly apart, and you end up with a region of space that can safely be called hell. That said, I am not certain how dense the FKR gets. I've read that the deepest region might pack as many as 1 million stars per cubic parsec! Suffice to say we can safely assume that it is likely impossible for a planet in that region to sustain life of any kind, likely not even extremophile bacteria.