Chapter 45
Three days later, Captain Marn'Vorel vas Nanveck awoke in an unknown hospital room. She sat up abruptly, and clutched at the stump where her left leg used to be, then broke down crying. The noise got the attention of a nearby nurse, a suitless Quarian woman.
"Captain Vorel, please lay back down, everything is going to be ok." the nurse said.
"How many died?" Vorel asked, steeling herself for the answer.
"I promise you, one of your crew mates is here, he can answer that but right now I need you to lay down." She said, guiding the captain back down. When she was as comfortable as the nurse could make her, a Human doctor along with a suitless Quarian man walked in.
"Captain Vorel, ma'am. I'd ask how you're doing, but I think I can probably guess." The Quarian man said.
"Reegar? Where's your suit?" She asked.
"The Alliance has an immunotherapy that tweaks our immune systems, they provide it free of charge to any Quarians that ask for it." He said.
"Thank you for helping us. Please, I must know, how many of my crew died." Vorel said to Chakwas. She sat down on the bed next to Vorel, and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Fifteen souls were lost aboard the Nanveck in the Batarian attack." Chakwas said.
"No... Keelah No..." Vorel said, dissolving into tears again. This time Kal walked over to her and grasped her hand.
"I'm so sorry, Captain Vorel. I wish we had arrived in time to save them." Chakwas said.
"Don't, Doctor. Your people did everything they could to help, we had no reason to expect a rescue. What of the Nanveck?" Vorel asked.
"On that I can give you some good news. The Alliance are repairing her as we speak, and upgrading a lot of the vital systems. " Reegar said.
"You must ask them to stop, we cannot afford so much repair work." Vorel said.
"Captain Vorel, the Alliance requires no compensation. You were attacked in our space, it is our duty to render assistance where we can." Chakwas said.
"Keelah, I... Just... Thank you." She said.
"It's our pleasure. Now, there are a few things I'd like to discuss if you're up to it." Chakwas said.
"Of course." Vorel said.
"We have not administered the immunotherapy because you were in no condition to consent to it. If you desire, we can have you inoculated today and out of that suit in two days." Chakwas said
"Only two days?" Vorel asked.
"Yeah the first version took a week but we've improved it over the last year. If you don't wish for it that's fine too, we can easily treat you in the clean room." Chakwas said. Vorel looked over at Reegar, who nodded and smiled.
"I'd like to be inoculated please." She said, Karin nodded and produced a hypodermic needle, and injected the drug into her IV.
"In 48 hours, we'll remove your glove and test you for reactions, if none are found you'll be able to remove the rest." Karin said.
"Thank you." Vorel said again.
"Now, there is also the matter of your leg, we're fabricating the parts to build a cybernetic prosthesis, but it will take time. In the meantime let's sit you up so you can be a little more comfortable." Karin said, adjusting the bed so she was more upright. Vorel took the opportunity to look out the window and was surprised to see the sun rising off in the horizon.
"Where are we, I don't recognize this world." Vorel said, bringing a grin to both Chakwas' and Reegar's faces.
"You want to tell her?" Karin asked. Reegar nodded.
"Captain Vorel, take a look outside, you're seeing the sun rise over the homeworld." He said.
"RANNOCH?!" She shouted. He grinned and nodded.
"But the Geth! Did the humans help you defeat them? Keelah how many died for Gerrel's stupid ambition?!" She asked. Reegar smiled again.
"Nobody, Captain. The Humans helped the Admirals pull their heads out of their asses. Peaceful contact was made with the Geth, they, the humans, the Rothschild AI and the Quarians are now the United Systems Alliance." Reegar said.
"Peace? No bloodshed? Keelah I wish we hadn't left the flotilla. I thought for sure these humans would bring us nothing but death. Uh, no offense, Doctor." Vorel said remembering her audience.
"None taken, dear. You had no reason to believe we weren't warmongers, especially given your experiences with the council races. That does beg the question though, how were you not aware of the reunion with the Geth and our presence on the homeworld?" She asked.
"That would be my doing, Doctor. I insisted in ceasing long range communications, I didn't want the crew poisoned with Gerrel's rhetoric. Keelah I got most of my crew killed because I was too thick-headed to see reason." She said,despair obvious in her voice.
"That will be quite enough of that, Captain." Reegar said in an authoritative voice.
"I beg your pardon, Lieutenant." Vorel said.
"I served under you, there wasn't a quarian aboard the Nanveck that wasn't a hundred percent on board with you. We all thought Gerrel was going to use the humans to start a suicidal war against the Geth. Every single one of us. You told us we had the option of leaving and none of us did. You did what you did for all the right reasons, and I'll be damned if I'm going to stand her and let anyone talk shit about you, especially you." Reegar said. Vorel looked away, and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Thank you, Kal. I don't... I don't deserve a crew like you all." She said.
"Listen Ma'am. Nobody's expecting you to bounce back from this five minutes after waking up, but even knowing what I know now, once you're fit for duty if you decided to take the Nanveck back out and leave the Alliance again I'd be right there with you. We all would. You're the best damn commander any of us could ever want to follow. Nobody else could have kept us going in that ship the way you did. I want you to rest, I'll send the rest of the guys over when you were feeling up to it." Reegar said.
"Thank you, Kal. I can't begin to say what your support means to me." She said, Kal nodded and walked out of the room.
"So, Captain Vorel, I'm going to be handing your care off to Doctor Neem'Juugar Vas Rannoch, I'll need to return to my ship soon, God knows when my foolish commander will go and get herself banged up again." She said.
"Thank you for everything you've done for my crew and I, Doctor. What is your full name?" Vorel asked.
"Doctor Karin Chakwas Vas Normandy." She said. Vorel's eyebrow raised at that.
"We all took Quarian ship names when we signed on. It's a symbol of the unity between Quarians and Humans." she explained.
"I'm curious to learn about what we've missed. When the Admirals agreed to join we figured the Quarians would become a subordinate race to Humanity." Vorel said.
"Oh goodness no. There are Quarian representatives in our senate, half of our fleet is commanded by Quarians. One of the three cities on our colony world Shanxi just elected a Quarian governor. We were serious about being three, now four races, one people. Earth is home to millions of Quarians and Billions of Geth." She said.
"Keelah, I misjudged you all. I am so thankful I was wrong." Vorel said.
"We're happy to have your people with us. We truly do see you as our brothers and sisters." Karin said, adjusting the IV bag.
A hundred kilometers away, much of the crew of the Normandy were enjoying a day out on the beach. Tali was enjoying basking in the glow of her homeworld's star while Shepard and Ashley were playing a rather cutthroat game of volleyball. After a lifetime in a suit, lamenting the loss of their homeworld, little moments like these, simply sunbathing on Rannoch, were priceless to her. Watching the six foot ginger goddess she was in love with running around in a bikini was definitely a plus as well. She looked up and down the beach and saw dozens of groups, some families, some ship crews, relaxing, just doing nothing. Not worrying about starving to death, not rushing to patch a ruptured hose or broken electrical conduit. Just existing, experiencing blessed pointless joy.
She focused on a woman being led towards a shady spot by her very nervous looking mate, she was pregnant and seemingly very close to her due date. She frowned as her mood dimmed a bit. Being in love with a woman was no big deal on the flotilla, and amongst humans it had been considered completely normal and healthy for a couple hundred years now, but it did mean she would never be able to carry Shepard's child, nor would Shepard be able to carry hers. Of course given the likelihood of war with the Batarians having children right now would not be the wisest course of action for two members of a warship crew.
"Whatcha looking at?" Shepard asked, sitting down next to her.
"Huh? Oh, the Quarian couple over there." Tali said, gesturing at them.
"Oh man she looks like she's ready to pop." Shepard said.
"Charming. Yes, she's quite far along." Tali observed.
"What do you think about that?" Shepard asked.
"Think about what?" Tali said.
"Having kids. One day." Shepard said.
"I want children some day, especially now that we're not starving nomads anymore." Tali said. Tali was terrified about where this conversation might lead, truly she did want children but she could not live without Shepard, and she couldn't stand the thought of scaring her off with this kind of talk this early on. That fear dissolved in an instant as she saw Shepard smiling.
"Me too. I mean I don't think we're ready now, but I'm confident we will be." Shepard said, grabbing one of Tali's hands and kissing it.
"Keelah how do you always know exactly what I need to hear?" Tali said.
"It's a gift. I'm basically the best girlfriend ever." Shepard said with a smug grin. They kissed, but their moment was interrupted by a pair of stomping feet approaching at speed.
"Commander Shepard. We have an urgent situation. Lieutenant Commander Williams, Kurg and Chief Adams think they can beat us at volleyball." Grak said, grinning.
"Oh we can't have that, you in on this Tali?" Shepard said.
"Sure!" She said getting up and dusting the sand off her body.
Hours later, Tali and Shepard gingerly walked into the Captain's cabin of the Normandy, both had been fairly badly sun burned. Shepard was accustomed to it, but it was a brand new experience for Tali who almost panicked when she scratched her arm and it felt like it was on fire, thankfully Shepard was there to explain what was going on. She was pleasantly surprised at the soothing feeling of cool sheets on her burned skin, as she lay down face first on the bed. Shepard went to her cabinet and pulled out a tube of ointment, and scanned it with her omnitool, ensuring that it was not dangerous to Quarians. Once she was satisfied she began rubbing it into Tali's back.
"Oh Keelah I'll pay you a million credits if you never stop doing that." She purred as the pain from the sun burn began to dissolve. Aloe Vera and Medigel was an amazing concoction for sure, as Shepard herself had learned.
"No deal, I'm going to need you to put this on me when I'm done." She said, lingering longer than necessarily needed on certain parts of the Quarian's anatomy. Tali shuddered at the contact. Tali flipped over and Shepard got the rest of her before they switched positions. Upon standing Tali was glad to realize much of the pain had disappeared. Shepard stepped out of her bikini bottoms and laid face down on the bed, and Tali went to work. Shepard groaned in pleasure at the sensation of her strong, nimble fingers rubbing the soothing ointment into her skin. Tali too decided to linger longer than necessary in certain areas.
"Don't start something you're not ready to finish Ms. Zorah." She said, then gasped as Tali slipped her hand between her legs.
"I'm acutely aware of what I'm starting here, Ms. Shepard." Tali said, leaning down and whispering into her ear, the proximity and implication causing her to shudder in pleasure.
Councilor Tevos was waiting in her office for Councilors Valern and Spartaus to arrive, she had urgent matters to discuss with them, however at the moment there was a commando on loan from the Matriarchs on Thessia scanning her office for listening devices. She had grown paranoid over the past year primarily because Rothschild kept finding creative ways to make her life miserable. She was considering moving her office to the Destiny Ascension, which was semi-permanently docked on the Asari docking section, however for the time being she was stuck where she was.
"All Clear, Councilor Tevos. I've run every scan on the book including the thermal scans you requested, ther are no surveillance devices in this room." The commando stated.
"Excellent, thank you for your work, you are dismissed." Tevos said, imperiously. The Commando raised an eyebrow at that, but dutifully bowed and walked out of the room just as the other two councilors entered.
"Councilor Tevos, to what do we owe the pleasure of this meeting?" Spartaus asked, as she directed them to sit.
"Spectre Arterius' data from the Batarian attack on Shanxi has proved invaluable. We were significantly underestimating their ability to repel an attack of that scale." Tevos said.
"Honestly, Councilor, those Batarians couldn't have defeated the crew of a Hanar pleasure cruiser." Spartaus scoffed.
"Be that as it may, they proved they are not all talk and fancy technology, they're aware of how to use it, so we're going to have to move our plans forward before they can recover." Tevos said.
"Agreed, but we should be cautious about further involvement with the Spectres, Saren has no trouble getting his hands dirty but the others tend to be less... ambitious." Spartaus warned.
"On that we agree. Have we heard from our contacts within the Hegemony?" Valern asked.
"Yes, they were quite displeased to lose so many ships and so much... product." Tevos said.
"My heart bleeds for them and their lost profit, are they still on board for the next phase?" Spartaus asked.
"Absolutely. If our estimates as to the amount of space the Alliance occupy are accurate, conquering them will more then double their current holdings." Valern said.
"Greedy little bastards, aren't they?" Tevos observed.
"We'd be sunk if they weren't." Spartaus said.
"Tell them to proceed with the next phase as soon as our package arrives." Tevos said.
"How did you get your hands on a brand new Turian dreadnought?" Valern asked.
"They Hierarchy was more than happy to give it to the Citadel defense force when we discovered they'd "accidentally" violated the treaty of farixen. We simply never alerted the CDF to the receipt of their new toy." Tevos said.
"Clever. Will those four-eyed apes be able to fly it effectively?" Spartaus asked.
"No, however Admiral Cavitus will be more than able." Tevos asked.
"You're giving that Maniac command of a dreadnought!? Are you mad?" Spartaus asked
"He's our best bet." Tevos argued
"Your best bet butchered an entire colony because a supply depot quartermaster was rude to him.." Spartaus said.
"Then he'll no doubt fare well against the Alliance." Tevos said, inspecting her fingernails.
"We continue with the plan Spartaus, the alternative is not acceptable." Valern said.
"Of course, of course." Spartaus reluctantly agreed.