Chapter 24
Liselle felt compelled to hide in the storage room behind the medbay, but 200 years of life in this galaxy had taught her that hiding from her fear would only make it stronger, so after a good night's rest she asked permission to explore the ship. Chakwas was happy to see her up and about, and gladly gave it, though she informed her that the CIC, Engineering and Weapons rooms were off limits. She tentatively stepped out and was immediately overwhelmed by the activity going on, in addition to the alliance personnel moving around performing their duties, there were scores of refugees she recognized from the slave ship. They were mostly waiting for transport to other ships which would be dropping them off on their homeworlds directly. Some had requested passage to the citadel, but that wouldn't be an option at this time, given the hostility between the two organizations.
Her first destination was the mess hall, since she had yet to eat that day. She stopped a Quarian soldier and asked directions, and was surprised at how helpful the young man was. He saved the work he had been doing on his omnitool and politely offered to guide her the rest of the way. When they arrived she thanked him and picked up a tray.
"What can I get for you ma'am?" Mess Sargent Gardner asked.
"Oh, um, whatever dextro food is prepared please, I'm not particular." She said.
"Oh no you don't. I made all kinds of things, I even broke out an old Asari cookbook I found in the Quarian archives. Here, try the fish, don't worry it's dextro safe." He said, placing a delicious looking fish dish, made faithfully to Asari standards on her tray.
"And don't be shy ma'am, I don't imagine they fed you properly on that heap, so eat as much as you safely can, ok? I can fab more if needed." He said, his gruff sounding voice contrasting wildly with the kindness in his eyes.
"Thank you very much, sir." She said.
"Oh none of this sir nonsense, call me Rupert, or Gardner if you're feeling formal." He said with a grin. She nodded and walked over to an empty table. She took a bite of her food and was floored by the taste.
"Goddess, this came from a protien sequencer?" She said to herself.
"Yes, it's amazing isn't it? If there's a dextro version I recommend the ice cream, it's to die for." A sweet female voice said. "May I sit here as well?" She asked. Liselle looked up and saw a gorgeous creature with pointed ears, her blue hair in a pixie cut and pale lavender skin.
"Of Course. Forgive me, are you a different kind of human?" She asked. The girl giggled.
"Keelah, no I'm Quarian. The humans worked together with our scientists and have figured out an immunotherapy that lets us get out of our suits. I'm Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy." She said, offering her hand. Liselle, having seen other humans do the same, grasped her hand and shook it awkwardly.
"You get used to it, the hand shaking." Tali said
"I was concerned the first time I saw it, I thought someone was asking for something." She said.
"Nope, it's an old human greeting from their past, it was to show that your hand was empty and that you were not there to attack. The humans have a violent past." She said.
"Really? They seem so... civilized." Liselle said.
"They are now, but not so much in their past. To be fair, none of the sentient species we've met have exactly perfect histories." Tali said.
"Oh of that there can be no doubt." Liselle said, remembering some of the history she'd studied back at Serrice. The Asari were now known as the paragons of virtue and civility but five thousand years ago, only five Asari lifetimes, they were savage butchers that would have put the Krogan to shame.
"Hey is this a private party or is there room for a third?" Shepard asked.
"Jane please sit. This is Liselle, she was on the Batarian ship." Tali said.
"We've met! Are you doing ok, ma'am?" Shepard said as she sat next to Tali.
"Yes, I'm doing fine, thank you. Your Doctor Chakwas is an excellent." Liselle mentioned.
"Yeah, she likes to make you think that at first but then when your guard is down, out come the needles and swabs and the medbay turns into a torture chamber." She said slightly louder than necessary.
"I heard that, Lieutenant Commander, and remember you are late for your checkup." Chakwas said from the table behind Liselle.
"See? Pure evil." Shepard joked. Liselle laughed. During the pause in conversation shepard stole a quick kiss from Tali.
"How did you two meet?" She asked
"She and her friends staged a hostile takeover of my station." Shepard accused, pointing at Tali.
"Yes, because I have a habit of invading enemy ships by blowing mine up and boarding via lifeboat." She replied, grinning.
"Hey it worked." Shepard said.
"Ignore her. My ship, the Tonbay made it through the Arcturus relay near their station but the trip overloaded our reactors. We knew it was a possibility, so we had clear escape paths ready, and soon after we dropped out of FTL it went critical. My pod and three others were rescued by the humans. The rest were picked up by a Quarian vessel. It was a miracle that nobody died." She said. At that Shepard received a message on her omnitool, and groaned than wolfed down the last of her lunch and excused herself.
"I'm sorry, I mean no offense, but why are you and the humans working so closely together?" Liselle asked, now that Shepard had left.
"Sometimes I don't know why they accepted us like they did. Keelah we were starving to death on barely functioning ships. We had so little to offer them in trade, and that didn't matter at all to them. It has to do with their history, not too long time ago they were a petty, warlike people. They nearly destroyed themselves and even used nuclear weapons on their own world!" Tali explained. Liselle listened, transfixed.
"Then it was all about gathering resources and consolidating power. Generation after generation fighting just for things and power. Their children had enough, and violently over thew their governments. It took a while, but they remembered the past and they refused to repeat it so they forced themselves to grow, and it work. They were one united people, then they became two and now we are three. When they saw us barely clinging to life, they acted. They gave of themselves, freely, and gladly. They embraced us like wayward family. Keelah we call each other brothers and sisters. I'm not the only Quarian romantically involved with a human, my aunt, Admiral Shala'Raan Vas Earth is dating a Human captain." She continued.
"Vas Earth? Is that a human ship?" Liselle asked.
"No, it's the human homeworld. Now my homeworld, even though I've never visited." She said.
"Why ever not? If I had a new home world I'd waste no time visiting it." Liselle asked.
"My home is wherever Shepard is." Tali said, smiling.
Back on Earth, the Admirals both Quarian and Human were meeting with Prime Minister Shepard, discussing the fight against the Batarians at the Alliance border.
"Our forces acted pretty much flawlessly." Hackett reported. "None of our forces were killed, though there were a few injuries when a couple of lucky shots breached our defenses."
"I'm glad, but I don't want to depend too heavily on luck. We were fortunate that the Normandy stumbled upon the Batarian force, next time we may not catch them in time." Shepard said.
"Agreed, however I don't think we will be experiencing a shortage of manpower any time soon. After news of the attack hit earth, recruiting centers were overwhelmed with volunteers, and people are lining up for work at shipyards." Give them a chance to make it through training and a shakedown cruise or two and we're going to have enough ships to patrol the whole border within five years." Hackett said.
"It is strange, your people are so generous and peaceful, but now without any prompting from the government they are gearing up for a war that may not happen." Admiral Korris observed.
"We have a lot to protect. Plus our change in attitude was only a hundred and fifty years or so ago. We are at our hearts a warlike people, we simply choose much better things to fight for and much better ways of fighting. How are things going with returning the slaves home?" Admiral Shepard asked.
"Well enough, Palaven and Thessia have been receptive to Alliance ships showing up to drop off their citizens, Sur'Kesh kept insisting on using the Citadel as an intermediary but we managed to compromise on docking with one of their dreadnoughts near their border. Interestingly enough, the Turian Hierarchy and Asari Republics are planning on sending diplomatic envoys to Arcturus station in the coming months. Envoys entirely independent of the citadel." Admiral Chambers who was attending the meeting via QEC
"Really?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, it appears that there are significant elements in both governments that are growing... dissatisfied with the way the Council runs things. Of course the Councilors we replaced there by very wealthy people with significant business interests so deposing them is no simple matter." Admiral Xen elaborated, also attending via QEC as the Mayhem was traveling home from Thessia.
"That's interesting. Another thing of note, I have received a personal request from the leader of clan Urdnot, Urdnot Wrex for an audience. He offered to meet on neutral ground, What are your thoughts?" Shepard asked. The Quarian admirals had to fight the urge to be surprised at the Prime Minster asking their opinions, they were constantly having to remind themselves that they were not subordinate to the humans, and that their opinion was valued.
"I think it's an opportunity that we must not pass up. The Krogan are strong, and extremely difficult to kill but they're also brilliant tacticians and they can survive anywhere." Admiral Korris said.
"I would advise caution. They have proven to be unpredictable in the past." Admiral Gerrel said.
"There's also the matter of the genophage to consider. Do we tell them we've made significant headway on finding a cure?" Admiral Raan asked.
"Yes, we would lead with that. The Krogan are proud, and would not take being lied to or deceived in any way well." Korris suggested.
"Very well. I will meet with Urdnot Wrex. Now, do we invite his party to Earth, or should I offer to visit Tuchanka?" Shepard said.
"You can't be thinking of going yourself?" Gerrel asked.
"Of course. As Admiral Korris said, the Krogan are proud, they wouldn't take nicely for me to hide behind a diplomat." She said.
"At least bring a detachment of marines with you. We know nothing about this Urdnot Wrex." Admiral Raan said
"Of course, but we can't afford to be overly cautious. We've already met the third part of our family by reaching out to you, we don't want to miss out on making new friends." Shepard said.
It was decided that Prime Minister Shepard and a small detachment of marines would meet with Urdnot Wrex on Tuchanka. Wrex was pleasantly surprised at the bold declaration and happily agreed to the Marine escort, they would meet in the Kelphic valley and Urdnot Wrex and "The female shaman" as she was described would also be in attendance. She devoured everything that the Quarians had on Krogan history and culture, and she saw plenty of commonalities. She had quite a bit to work with. Now the only thing to worry about was finding a ride to Tuchanka.
Admiral Shepard requested Shepard's presence via omnitool less than a minute before she showed up in the CIC and greeted him.
"Sir, you asked to see me?" She said.
"Yes, Shepard, your mother would like to speak to you." He said, switching the call on his omnitool to the central display.
"Prime Minister Shepard, however may I help you?" Jane said, grinning
"Stow it Marine. I need a lift." She said laughing.
"We're not diverting a multi-billion credit warship to Thessia so you can go clothes shopping, mother." Shepard said. Captain Anderson desperately tried to hide his snickering.
"Oh you think this is funny, Commander Anderson?" Shepard asked, threateningly.
"No Ma'am." Anderson said still smiling.
"If you're done giving me lip, girl, we have been asked to participate in introductary diplomatic talks with the Krogan on Tuchanka." the elder Shepard announced.
"Really? That would be a major win in our little cold war with the Citadel." Anderson said.
"Agreed, plus we've already been working on a present for them. Their numbers are still sustainable, but in a couple of their generations they face extinction. Have you heard about the barbarism of the genophage?" She said.
"Unthinkable madness." Jane said, a scowl on your face. "I can't believe the Salarians designed a bioweapon that murders babies, and the Turians deployed it."
"It was the Council that deployed it, the Turian Hierarchy at the time were vehemently opposed. As a species the Turians cherish their young, this was an unthinkable war crime in their eyes. They had already deployed a means of winning the war before the council unleashed that horror, though we have no idea what it was." she said.
"Where'd you learn all of this?" Anderson asked.
"The Quarians have been objective observers of the goings on in and around council space for a long time. Even before the morning war they were outsiders and since they didn't have close friendships with the races they were able to keep a distance and see things for what they truly were. Even the Krogan know it wasn't the hierarchy that deployed the genophage, just a group of Turian specters." She said
"Understood. We'll set a course for Earth. When are we planning on meeting the Krogans?" Anderson asked.
"Not for a few weeks, they've chosen a neutral place called the Kelphic Valley as the meeting ground, it's sacred to them, and it is in the midst of their dust storm season." She said.
"Excellent I think Shore leave will be in order then."Anderson said.
"Yeah yeah just another excuse for you to get cozy with Admiral Raan." Jane said.
"Thanks for volunteering to stay aboard and see to resupply!" Anderson said cheerfully.
"DAMN" Jane shouted, while Hannah laughed uproariously.
"We'll see you soon. Anderson out." he said.
Later that day, when the last of the freed slaves were offloaded barring Liselle who lived on a station called Omega somewhere outside of Council space, and was more than willing to wait until after the Krogan meeting to go, they plotted a course and within three hours they had landed in Vancouver.
The ship evacuated almost immediately as Anderson had informed everyone of their shore leave. Shepard grumbled as she assumed her position at the CIC
"Shepard?" Anderson asked.
"Yes, sir." She grumbled.
"What are you still doing here?" He asked.
"Remember I 'volunteered'" She said.
"I was joking Shepard. Shala is going to meet me here, get the hell off my ship and go show our engineer a good time. That's an order." He said.
"Oh. Um thanks! I mean, Thank you sir!" She said grinning and offering a sloppy salute. Anderson shook his head and continued preparing for resupply.
Just outside the gang plank Tali stood looking around in wonder at the city of Vancouver. It was colder than she was used to and she adored it.
"So, Ms. Zorah, enjoying your new home planet? Shepard asked, walking up behind her. She didn't respond immediately, and Shepard grew concerned.
"Tali are you ok?" She asked, walking around to face her. Tears were streaming down her eyes
"This... This is where you live?" She asked.
"No, this is were we live." She said, collecting her into a hug. She allowed tali to gather herself and soon they were off walking towards the Hotel room Shepard had secured moments after Anderson told her to get off the ship. They were stopped by a waving Raan, excited to see Tali out of her suit for the first time.
"Oh Keelah you look just like your mother!" She said, fawning over her. That was probably the best compliment she had ever received from anyone other than Shepard.
"Thanks Auntie. You're beautiful too. It's nice to know that when I'm an old hag like you I'll still be able to turn heads." she joked
"Shut it, child I'm still an Admiral." she said. "Well I'm off to go see David." Raan said.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Shepard said with a lecherous grin.
"Sweetheart I was stuck in that suit for decades longer than Tali was. I'm going to do things to David you couldn't even dream of doing." She said, stunning the two younger woman as she walked away swaying her hips confidently towards the Normandy.
"Keelah Auntie Raan is a whore!" Tali observed.
"Yeah she is. Look at that whore go!" Shepard said.