Freelancers, Chapter 26
#28 of Freelancers (Mass Effect fanfiction)
"You sure you want to do this?" Chula asked again as she, Lia, Valeria, Quint, and Dakka followed the security team out of the shuttle and onto the hangar bay floor.
"I'm sure. I haven't done a whole lot since the ... captains picked up my contract. I figured it's about time I started pulling my weight, and this is a good opportunity to serve." Lia took a slow look around at the hangar and the other pair of shuttles parked a few meters away. Hangars and docking bays were among the only large, open spaces on any quarian ship.
Chula glanced at her as the group filed into a corridor. "Feels weird to be back home, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. It's been so long since I started my Pilgrimage, yet I haven't completed it, so it'll be just as weird to leave again when we're done here." Adding to her unease with the whole situation was the fact that this was Admiral Daro'Xen's ship, the Moreh. What she'd learned about the admiral in the last few hours made her feel like she was walking into a den of wild varren.
Not only that, but Valeria had asked to speak with the whole Admiralty Board at once, and that would've taken place on one of the Liveships on which the Admiralty and the Conclave tended to conduct their official business. Being directed to the ship commanded by the admiral Tali'Zorah had described as "insane" was enough to set Lia's nerves on edge before the shuttle had even launched from the Sulaco.
"We've almost reached the conference room," the security team's leader said after several minutes of winding their way through the narrow corridors and squeezing past other quarians going about their business. His envirosuit was dark red, which set it apart from most of the other suits they'd seen. The average quarian protective suit tended to be black or varying shades of gray with a few bits of color added here and there, plus the cloths and, occasionally, small trinkets added to make the wearer easier to identify.
"I was told we'd be meeting the whole Admiralty Board," Valeria said, apparently thinking along the same track Lia had been. "Since we're on Admiral Xen's ship, I'm guessing that's not happening."
"Yeah, normally a meeting like this would be on one of the Liveships, usually the Rayya, sometimes the Shellen." The squad leader's voice was deep and strong, yet warm and casual at the same time. He'd introduced himself as Kal'Reegar. "Admiral Xen wanted to have a quick word with you first, ma'am."
"Hmm. Why is that?"
"She didn't say, ma'am."
"There's a rumor going around that there are geth on your ship," one of the other quarians said. His voice sounded quite young. "If it's true, then that's probably why. Xen's had considerable interest in the geth for a long time."
"Pretty much what I suspected." Val's mandibles twitched as she focused her gaze on the kid. "And you are?"
Kal'Reegar sort of chuckled and sighed at the same time. "This is my nephew, Skru. He talks too much."
"Some people might say I _think_too much." The kid glanced at Valeria and one of his glowing eyes winked.
"Well, there's nothing wrong with that." Val winked right back. "I don't have much use for people who don't think."
"True enough," Kal'Reegar said. "But in cases involving those above us in the chain of command, it's not really our place. We just follow orders and shoot stuff."
"I don't mean to derail the conversation," Dakka cut in with a wicked grin, "but your name is Skru?"
"I've already heard plenty of jokes." Skru shrugged and let out a quick laugh. "Including my prospects of a career with Fornax with a name like that." He faced forward for a few more seconds before glancing over his shoulder at her. "Which I'm keeping an open mind about, by the way. Who knows, it might work wonders when I start my Pilgrimage."
Kal shook his head and grumbled something under his breath.
"At least you're planning ahead." Dakka giggled and put her arm around Quint's shoulders.
"Speaking of not starting your Pilgrimage yet," Valeria said, "aren't you a little young to be on a security detail?"
"It'll be a few more years before I can head out, but I want to start learning stuff as early as I can so I can be ready when the time comes. I'm rotating through a bunch of different posts and picking up what I can. Right now I'm doing a couple of weeks with my uncle's unit so I can get in a bit of self defense training. And it's also a chance to just spend some time with him."
"And I'm grateful for it. Haven't been around much for family stuff. Been too busy with missions and recovering from wounds and infections I picked up during firefights." Kal glanced at Lia and Chula and shifted to a different subject, probably to avoid any more talk of his nephew contemplating a career in porn. "Speaking of spending time with family, even though your return to the Migrant Fleet is temporary, I'll notify your families that you're here, if you want. It'd give you a chance to see each other and catch them up on how your Pilgrimages are going."
"Sounds good," Chula said. "There's no way I could show up here and not spend a few hours with my parents."
"Same here," Lia added, instantly imagining how the reunion would start. Hi, Mom, Dad. So, my Pilgrimage went into a permanent nosedive and I had to sell myself into indentured servitude just to have a slim chance of getting back on track someday. Oh, and the people who bought me are our former robot servants and current mortal enemies, the geth. So, how have you two been?
Yeah, that wouldn't be awkward at all.
"I'll let them know you're here, then. I hope you have a pleasant visit." Kal'Reegar motioned at a door at the end of the corridor. "The conference room is over there."
Valeria nodded and moved into a position directly behind him as the group reached the door. He tapped the gold hard-light display in the center, several seconds passed, and then the display turned green and the doors parted. He entered the room beyond and stepped aside so the others could file in.
"Admiral, may I present Spectre Operative Valeria Terakkis, Chula'Raalga, Lia'Vael, Dakka, and Quentin Bork, from the MSV Sulaco."
Lia took a quick glance around as the rest of Reegar's team took positions on either side of the door. The room was only slightly larger than most enclosed spaces on the typical quarian ship, with a pair of metal folding tables placed side by side in the center. Four quarians stood against the wall at the far end - security or personal bodyguards, Lia guessed - and Admiral Daro'Xen stood at the end of the makeshift conference table.
"A pleasure," the admiral said, her softly glowing eyes pausing for a split-second on each of the visitors. There was nothing overtly hostile about her posture, but her eyes - as with most quarians, the only facial feature visible through her visor - gave Lia the impression that they were seconds away from drilling right through each of them.
"Which of you is the Sulaco's captain?" Xen continued.
Lia fought the urge to wring her hands as she stepped forward. "They didn't come aboard, Admiral. They ... felt their presence would be disruptive, but I volunteered to represent them."
"And why would their presence be ... 'disruptive'?"
Lia started to narrow her eyes, but forced herself to relax. Her tone says she already knows. Or, at least, suspects.
"It's because they're geth, isn't that right?"
Kal's posture tensed and Skru whipped his head around to stare at Daro'Xen. Lia's heart pounded for several seconds, until she took a few slow breaths.
Well, here we go.
"You're very well-informed." Valeria's eyes flicked toward the guards and took note of the subtle shift in their posture, their hands tightening on their rifles, turning slightly to put their guns in the optimal position to start shooting on a split-second's notice.
Dakka seemed to catch it as well, and took a step to the left to plant her considerable mass of solid muscle between the guards and Lia.
"I have my sources." Xen crossed her arms over her chest. "The information I have isn't complete, though, so I wouldn't mind if you'd fill in some of the blanks." She turned to Lia and Chula. "First of all, I would very much like to know why you two are serving on a ship which is under the command of the geth?"
"In my case, they saved my life, so I decided to stick around." Chula shrugged. "I'd just started my Pilgrimage when I ran into some batarian pirates. They disabled my ship, boarded it, and blasted me with a shotgun before taking everything I had and leaving me to die. I managed to send out a distress signal, which a geth ship picked up. They operated on my wound, nursed me back to health, and asked if I wanted to join them. As you might imagine, I couldn't help being curious. Plus, I owed them my life. So, like I said, I decided to see where the ride took me."
"Hmm. If Admiral Han'Gerrol were here, he'd probably say the geth wanted a sympathizer among us, or perhaps even a spy. Fortunately, he's waiting with Admirals Shala'Raan and Zaal'Koris on the Rayya, and I'm not nearly as willing to jump to conclusions." Val started to speak, but Xen turned to address Lia. "And you. How did you end up serving the geth?"
"My Pilgrimage had stalled. I mean, completely. I was stranded on the Citadel for months, sleeping in a shelter and getting by on turian nutrient paste. I had no money, no one was willing to hire a quarian for anything, and I had no hope of ever continuing my journey. Finally, I became desperate enough to travel to Illium and turn myself over to IndentuTech. It was the only chance I had left of completing my Pilgrimage and returning home someday." Lia sighed and rubbed her hands over her arms. "I tried to trade my services as a technician for passage, but no one wanted me on their ships until one human finally agreed. But he didn't need another engineer or tech expert. He wanted sex, and if I refused, I'd stay on the Citadel. So ... I gave him what he wanted. Obviously, my weak immune system couldn't handle it, and I got sick. Almost died."
"I checked IndentuTech's files because there have been a few quarians who got that desperate in the last few years." Chula stood beside Dakka and kept her hands near the front of her duster, where she could reach her terrifying assortment of concealed weapons. "Found Lia and asked my captains to pick up her contract. The way things have been going, I figured it'd be her only chance, since it's unlikely at best that anyone else would've wanted to buy a quarian."
"And if they hadn't," Lia said softly, "I would've died. That's how sick I was. It was a week before I'd recovered enough to get back on my feet." She turned and held Xen's gaze. "They saved my life."
"They own you." Xen shook her head slowly. "Our creations. Our tools." She cocked her head. "Though ... only if you recognize the contract as legal."
"I do. I intend to fulfill my obligations. And as far as 'owning' me, it's only for the duration of the contract, though they haven't treated me any differently than the rest of the crew." Lia stared directly into the admiral's eyes. "I would've died if they hadn't taken me onboard. And I was only surviving, anyway. There's a difference between that and living. For all those months I was stuck on the Citadel, all I could do was survive. Now I have a chance to live. And I'm grateful to them for that."
"Perhaps Gerrol would've been right," Xen muttered.
_Oh, enough of this shit._Valeria cleared her throat. "Now that's settled, I'd like to get down to business. Will you be escorting us over to the _Rayya_to meet with the entire Board, or shall we return to the shuttle and fly to it on our own? I have some questions I need to ask all the admirals."
"I would be happy to take you to the Rayya." Xen placed her hands on her hips. "But first, I'm afraid you must hand over the geth occupying your ship. They're too much of a security risk to allow them anywhere near one of our Liveships."
"You know, that's funny, since a geth platform named Legion was already on the Rayya a few months ago, during Tali'Zorah's trial." Valeria scowled at Admiral Xen. "I read Commander Shepard's report and spoke with him just before coming here, to fill in any blanks. You and the others had an opportunity to open a dialogue with the geth, but all you did was try to use the trial to cover up the experiments her father was conducting on the Alarei. Oh, and you also seemed to very much want to conduct more experiments on Legion, so no, we won't be turning the Sulaco's captains over to you."
"Oh, I had nothing to do with those experiments. I didn't find out about them until after Shepard took the Alarei back from the geth units that wiped out its crew."
"Funny, that's not what my information indicates. You didn't have a direct hand in Rael'Zorah's activities, but he was keeping you informed. That's how you found out what was really going on over there so quickly - you already knew. And then you sent Shepard a rather creepy email about taking control of the geth and turning them into your own private army." Val nodded at the others while keeping her eyes on Xen and the guards. "Go on back to the shuttle, guys. We'll travel to the _Rayya_and continue our investigation. Admiral Xen can catch up with us there."
"What's the investigation?" Skru's voice quivered but he made a commendable effort at keeping it steady. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I'm sensing a little hostility. If there's -"
"It's Spectre business," Kal said. "We're not cleared for it."
At almost the same moment, Xen glared at Skru and said, "It's not your place to ask questions, child."
Skru flinched and stared at the floor. Kal sighed and reached over to pat the kid's shoulder. Val pondered the young quarian for a moment, glanced at Xen, and turned back to Skru.
"After Shepard's team stopped the Collectors from abducting human colonies in the Terminus Systems, Legion shared what it had learned with the rest of the geth. They decided to let Legion continue working with Shepard's crew and built a new pair of prototype mobile platforms. That's the pair who asked Chula to join them. They're exploring the rest of the galaxy and hoping to show us organics that they want to coexist with us and help us fight the Reapers when the invasion starts. They learned from Shepard that the entire galaxy is in danger and to even have a chance of stopping the Reapers, we need to be united. They and their crew, from what I've seen, are doing good wherever they go."
"The geth have been sending a supply ship from Rannoch," Chula added, "meeting up with the Sulaco periodically to deliver food and medical supplies for me. And, now, for Lia as well."
"On that geth ship's latest run, it never made the delivery." Valeria turned to scowl at Xen. "It was attacked and disabled by a stealth ship that didn't show up on its scanners or cameras. Then it was boarded by quarians who gunned down every platform in their path and then straight-up executed all the geth in the ship's servers. Thousands of geth programs, murdered."
"Terminated or deleted, perhaps, but not murdered." Xen shrugged. "They're only machines. Software, nothing more."
"They're sapient beings." Chula's voice was almost a growl. "They're people. So yes, you're goddamned right they were murdered."
"Whoever those quarians are," Valeria continued, "they committed an act of war. The geth on the Sulaco haven't sent word of this back to their people, or even to Legion, since they're waiting for us to find out what's going on. But they won't hold themselves back forever. If these attacks continue, sooner or later, they'll realize they have to -"
"Cut their losses," Skru whispered. "Oh, shit!"
"They have us outnumbered and outgunned," Kal said, aiming his slowly widening eyes at Xen. "If they retaliate, they'll wipe us out."
"That's why I need to find out what happened and put a stop to it." Valeria glanced at him and back to Xen.
"No," Xen said, her tone suddenly as cold as liquid nitrogen, "this makes it even more crucial for you to turn over those geth units before they can attack us."
"Afraid they'll find out you had something to do with the attack on their supply ship?"
"Hardly. This has become a matter of safeguarding our entire species." Xen leaned forward, braced her hands on the table, and stared straight into Val's eyes. "This is your last chance. Turn those geth platforms over to me, or I'll take them by force."
"That's it. Back to the shuttle, everyone." Keeping her glare on the admiral, Valeria motioned at Chula and the others, and then twitched her head toward Kal'Reegar. "Reegar, you'll want to get your nephew as far away from this room as you can."
Oh, hell. Chula flipped the front of her coat open and put her hands on the batons strapped to each thigh. She hoped to avoid actually shooting any of her own people, especially one on the Admiralty Board, but if they attacked her friends first ...
"Go on, kid," Kal said softly, giving him a push toward the door. "Get back to your cubicle and stay there until you hear from me."
"But -"
"Just go. Don't worry, we just need to straighten a few things out. I'll be fine." He gave Skru one more nudge and the kid darted through the door and sprinted down the corridor.
Xen's Omni-Tool interface appeared around her arm and she poked a button on it. "Reinforcements are already on the way. Surrender and you won't be -"
Chula activated her own Omni-Tool. "Sulaco, jump to FTL! They're gonna -"
The guards snapped their guns up and aimed straight at her chest. Reegar's head twitched back and forth, as if he couldn't decide who to look at, and he snapped, "Shit!"
Dakka lunged forward and stood between the guards and Chula. "You want her, you have to go through me first."
Quint stepped up beside her. "And me."
The guard on the left tilted his rifle up to point it at her head. "Put your weapons down and -"
She clamped her left hand onto his gun and twisted it until the trigger guard bent his finger the wrong way back. He groaned through clenched teeth and tried to lean over to take some of the pressure off. Dakka gave it another quarter-turn and he fell to his knees.
"I'll rip your fuckin' arm off," she said, keeping her voice soft, almost casual in its tone. "I'd prefer not to, but I will if you guys don't back off."
Valeria stifled a laugh and took a step toward Xen. "You're obstructing an investigation by a Council Spectre. I'm afraid I'll have to place you under arrest and bring you in for further questioning."
Xen's only reply was to shake her head and jab at her Tool again.
A very faint tremor rippled through the floor, just a quick jolt, barely noticeable. It took Chula only a split-second to realize what it was.
"This ship just fired its main guns!"
Valeria spun around, gaped at her, and then opened a comm channel to the Sulaco. "Guys, this is Val. Are you okay? Sulaco, are you alright?"
Silence. Chula opened her own channel.
"Sulaco, this is Chula. Weyland, did you get away? Yutani, please respond."
Again, nothing.
Valeria sucked in several deep, ragged breaths and turned to stare at Xen. The admiral shrugged.
"You left me with no choice."
"Irving!" Val glanced at her Tool as if to make sure the channel was still open. "Nana! Irving! Talk to me!"
Yet again, there was no reply.
"No." Lia sobbed and slumped against the wall. "Oh, no!"
Valeria's hands shook as she turned slowly back to Xen. "You ... you fucking cunt! My husband is on that ship!" She continued staring at Xen, and after a few seconds the admiral backed up and moved behind her guards.
"Stand down." Xen's voice trembled ever so slightly, as if she was beginning to realize what she'd just stepped in.
"If Irving is hurt, I'll fucking kill you. If he's -" Valeria held her breath for a few seconds. Her hands shook and she clenched them. Her voice dropped to a snarling whisper. "If he's dead, I'll take my time with you. I'll hang you up by your feet and skin you alive with a knife dipped in varren shit. Then I'll carve you up and remove your organs piece by piece. And believe me, I know how to keep you alive for _weeks_while I work you over. And when I'm done, you'll still be screaming. And then I'll hang you over a fire pit and roast you alive - and I'll keep you hooked up to life support equipment until there's nothing left for it to support. Have I made myself clear?"
Chula shivered and glanced at Reegar. "Take a hike. Anyone who points a weapon at us won't leave this room alive."
"Stand your ground," Xen snapped as she backed up against the wall.
Reegar stared at her for a solid ten seconds before making up his mind. He glanced at the rest of his squad and waved them off. "Stand down."
Xen glared at him. He held his hands up.
"Admiral, this is getting out of control. Please, it doesn't have to -"
Xen glanced at the three guards still on their feet and pointed at Chula and the others. "Shoot them all."