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"We're underway," Joker reported from the cockpit, his voice coming from the panel on the wall. "EDI is gonna keep an eye on things here while I hobble down to the mess hall for a really late lunch. Should have just enough time to finish before we reach the mass relay."

"Thanks," Shepard said. "We'll need to figure out a strategy before we confront that stealth ship, anyway. Might take a while, depending on how hard it is to find."

"Best news I've heard in at least a day or two. I'm perfectly okay with, y'know, not being shot at for a while."

"Me, too, actually." Shepard signed off with a smirk and turned back to the rest of the group that had just boarded the Normandy. "Especially since a couple of squadmates and I are the ones taking most of the fire, usually."

A chuckle rippled around the others in the mess hall, save for the quarian admirals and Chula.

Poor girl. Valeria placed her hand on Chula's shoulder. I can only imagine what it must be like for her to find out that her parents are on that ship, trying to start a war with the geth that'll only end with the extinction of her species.

"If anyone's hungry," Shepard continued, motioning at the tiny kitchen area with a man sprinkling seasoning on meat patties on a grill, "Rupert Gardner, there, is a damned good cook when he has the right ingredients."

"It still amazes me," a guy at one of the tables said, "but once we got some decent supplies from the Citadel, I stopped spending half of every shift on the toilet."

"I heard that, Hadley." The corner of Gardner's mouth quirked upward and he gave Hadley the finger while reaching over to stir a large pot. "Keep it up. I'd be happy to add a little something extra to your next meal."

"Uh, no, I'm fine with what you've been cooking lately." Hadley laughed. "No need to make any drastic changes."

"Thought you might be." Gardner laughed softly and opened one of the cupboards behind him.

"Well, I'm ready for a hefty meal." Dakka took one of the vacant seats and Quint sat beside her. She draped her arm around his shoulders and grinned. "Afterward, my boyfriend and I are gonna need a private place to hump each other's brains out. Y'know, to release some of the tension that's built up over the past few hours."

Quint's face turned red and he cleared his throat. "Well, uh … sure, after the last day or two, I'll take any excuse for something a little more life-affirming."

"Well, Mordin might let you use his lab if you agree to those 'tests' he was talking about earlier." Tali laughed. "Assuming he wasn't joking about that."

Quint's blush grew even darker and he rubbed his left hand over the side of his face.

"Good idea. I'll check with him as soon as we're finished eating." Dakka grinned and leaned over to lick Quint's cheek.

"The ship's supplies include survival shelters, if Mordin's lab is unavailable," EDI said over the speakers. "One can be deployed easily in a location of your choice. There is also the UT-47 Kodiak drop shuttle in the hangar. It has sufficient room for up to eight people to comfortably utilize a variety of positions during copulation."

"Huh. How romantic." Joker arched an eyebrow as he appeared from around the corner and limped over to a vacant seat. He lowered himself slowly and carefully onto it, and then let out a long sigh, as if relieved that he hadn't hurt himself in the process.

"Hmm." Lia cocked her head and pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the wide corridor between the kitchen and the weapons-systems room. "That makes me wonder how those sorts of 'interactions' among the crew are handled. Since the only private quarters are for the captain and another for the executive officer, and the crew have to sleep in those pods along the walls."

"There's a crew-quarters room with several bunks for higher-ranking crew members," Tali said, "but there wasn't room for enough beds on a ship this size for the whole crew, so the rest use the pods."

"Ah. I guess they have to use whatever private spaces they can find, or wait until the Normandy docks somewhere to go on a date. Well, assuming fraternization among the crew is allowed."

"I wouldn't know," Joker muttered. "Thanks to my brittle-bone disease, I can't get too frisky with anyone. My 'interactions' are pretty much limited to jerkin' off in the restroom."

Dakka burst out with an uproarious laugh. "I like this guy!"

"Glad to be on your good side." Joker grinned nervously and motioned at her arms. "What with those huge muscles and the mouth that an entire human head can fit into. Uh, no offense."

"Ah, none taken. I've reached the point where I'm not really attracted to my own people, anyway, just because I'm still so pissed-off at 'em. So I can kinda see where you're coming from."

Everyone else glanced around at each other and generally looked either amused or unsettled.

Admiral Han'Gerrel seized the brief pause to bring the conversation back on track. "We can use the collapsable crates we brought onboard to set up cubicles for sleeping spaces. It won't be much different from the typical living spaces in the Migrant Fleet. I suppose the hangar is the only area with enough space for all of us." He motioned at Admiral Daro'Xen, Kal'Reegar, and his nephew.

"That'd be fine," Shepard said. "Check with Emerson in the hangar and he'll show you to a spot where you won't have crew members getting in your way."

"Thank you."

"For the Sulaco's crew, we can break out those shelters and set them up in the hangar." Shepard turned to Hadley, smirked, and leaned on the table. "In the meantime, Mr. Hadley, there's someone here I'd like you to meet. I believe you already know her, but it's been a while since the last time you talked." Shepard motioned at Xen.

Hadley stared at her and shrugged. "Saying this makes me feel like an asshole, but a lot of those envirosuits look alike."

"Let me jog your memory, then. Last time we visited the Migrant Fleet, you slipped a certain someone copies of the Normandy's schematics."

Hadley's lips parted slightly in shock before he froze, staring at Shepard with wide eyes. He finally turned back to Xen, gaped, faced Shepard again, and stuttered.

"If you'll come with me and the admirals, I think the rest of this conversation should be held in private." Shepard held a hand out toward the hallway leading to the elevator. "We'll talk in the briefing room."

Hadley stared for a few more seconds, closed his eyes, and sighed.

"Shit."

---

"Am I interrupting?" Tali paused in the door to Starboard Observation and waited for Chula to answer. Lia stood beside her, resting a hand on the door frame.

"Nah. I just needed a few minutes to clear my head." Chula waved them in without turning away from the huge window. There wasn't much to see while the Normandy was in FTL, but when it dropped back to normal space for final approach to the mass relay, she might glimpse something noteworthy. Maybe the relay itself. She'd seen them hundreds of times on the relatively short time since her Pilgrimage started, but had never lost her fascination with them. They looked so alien. Yet just about all of every known species's technology was based on them and other devices once thought to be Prothean in origin.

Which was probably the goal, judging by what she'd seen in those archive files Benny Culver had found on Bekenstein. The relays had been built by the Reapers, who wanted galactic civilization to develop along a certain path before harvesting one species and exterminating the rest every fifty thousand years. For what purpose, Chula couldn't even begin to guess. It made no sense. Maybe no one would ever figure it out – which, somehow, made the Reapers even more terrifying.

She took a slow breath before turning to face Tali and Lia. She'd stopped crying a few minutes ago, but wanted to be sure it wouldn't start up again before she spoke.

"Thanks for letting me have the room to myself."

"You're welcome. The asari Justicar who uses this room as her quarters is off visiting her daughters, so it's not really being used for anything at the moment." Tali walked over to the window and leaned against the frame. Lia put her hand on Chula's shoulder.

"So," Chula finally mumbled, "how'd the conversation with Hadley go?"

"Shepard's grilling him now." Tali sighed. "I've gotten to know him fairly well since I joined the crew, and I don't think he meant to be malicious. He probably just couldn't resist the amount of money Daro'Xen offered."

"I suppose." Quarians didn't use money among themselves, instead trading items one another needed, but it was handy for dealings with aliens, which made it essential for a quarian's Pilgrimage. It'd taken Chula a while to get used to the concept, after growing up in the Migrant Fleet.

Chula patted Lia's hand and walked over to a nearby bench. Lia joined her. Chula took her hat off and turned it slowly in her hands.

"Tell us if you'd prefer to be alone," Lia said. "But I'm here if you need a friend."

"Thanks. I just need to be sure I can hold myself together before I rejoin the others. As you might imagine, finding out about my parents was quite a shock."

"I understand, believe me." Tali walked over to a shelf across from the others and leaned against it. "Imagine how I felt when I learned about the experiments my father was performing on the geth. And then to board the Alarei knowing the chances of finding him alive were slim to none, fighting for our lives against a small army of geth who didn't deserve to be killed after what was done to them, but gave us no choice. Fighting through them, finding my father's body among all the others, and having to finish the mission anyway."

Chula nodded slowly. "I can only imagine what that must've felt like."

"It was … rough. Obviously." Tali sighed again. "My relationship with my father always did have its ups and downs. He loved me, in his own way, but he was always distant. His last words to me in a recording I found on his Omni-Tool were just more orders – but I guess those orders were to save my life as much as to help me complete the mission. Our mission, I mean. I couldn't do what he wanted, but I was able to find out what he'd been up to and do whatever I could to make sure no one repeated his mistake."

Chula nodded again. She didn't ask about Tali's mother. Since her father was once the head of the Admiralty Board, every quarian knew at least the basics about Tali – one of which was that her mother died after contracting an airborne virus seven years ago.

At least my parents are still alive. "I'm sorry for your loss, and what you had to find out about him."

"Thanks. It sucks, to use a human term, but it seems to have become a stepping stone on the way to peace with the geth and our return to Rannoch. Discovering that sickening project of his and bringing it out into the open might've scored us a few points with the geth. Adding what came out a few hours ago, and seeing our leadership and the geth beginning to cooperate … well, it just might lead to getting our homeworld back without either side firing a shot. I think my dad would've found some small measure of comfort in the end result, if nothing else."

"Maybe it wasn't all for nothing, then. If we can get through this without a war breaking out, we'll at least have a chance." Chula sighed. "I just hope we can talk some sense into my parents before it's too late."

Tali nodded and watched her for a moment. "Are you sure you want to see this through, though? We might be forced to engage the ship your parents are on."

"I'm betting it won't fire on us if they know I'm onboard. I'm hoping they'll listen to me when I give them the chewing-out they've got coming, and think about what I'm saying." Chula thumped her right fist into her left palm. "But if they fight us, I'm perfectly happy to board that ship and kick their asses."

"Chula …" Lia stared at her.

"I'm not talking about killing them. They're my parents and I still love them, but what they're doing could get what's left of our civilization wiped out. I'll never stop loving them, but right now, I just want to slap the stupid right out of them."

Tali laughed softly. "I felt the same way about my father a few times. Particularly at the end. I was grief-stricken over his death, but at the same time, I wish I'd had one last chance to tell him off."

"Yeah." Chula stared out the window for a few seconds. "Y'know … no matter how this turns out, when it's all over, I hope our next job takes us as far away from the Migrant Fleet as possible." She put her hat back on. "And I'm not going back. Fuck my Pilgrimage."

"I've been thinking the same thing," Lia said softly, almost whispering it. "After what we just found out, I'm not exactly in a hurry to finish my Pilgrimage." She shrugged. "Even if I didn't have an IndentuTech contract to fulfill first, I'd still want to stay away. I think I could do more good out here, anyway."

Tali nodded. "That's one of the reasons I decided to stay on the Normandy after we stopped the Collectors. I could've transferred back to the Neema … there's even been talk of the Admiralty promoting me so I can take my father's place on the Board, but I don't want it. The last thing I need is to become a part of the politics that almost ruined my life. And I'm just not too keen on the thought of taking a permanent position anywhere in the Fleet, after all this crap we've had to deal with."

Chula took a deep breath and let it rush out. Then she managed a quick chuckle. "You sure it's not just because of Shepard?"

"Hah. Well, he's certainly a part of it." Tali laughed. "Over the past few months, this ship has become more of a home than the Neema was. The crew welcomed me with open arms, even though they worked for Cerberus back then. Shepard and my other friends here have become the only family I have left. My place is with them."

"I feel the same way about the Sulaco's crew. Whether we get a new ship right away or not, they're my friends. I'm sticking with them." Chula stood and took a moment to stretch. "Guess I should rejoin them. Thanks for the talk. I feel a lot better now."

"Glad to help."

"Me, too." Lia gave Chula's shoulder another pat and the three stepped back into the corridor. Lia nudged Chula's upper arm as they walked back to the mess hall. "Hey, when this is all over, you'll probably have a lot of tension to release. Do you still have Trent's contact info?"

"Heh. Yep, I sure do."

"Well, then. If we can land a job that takes us to Illium, you should look him up. I certainly felt a thousand times better after I spent a few hours with him, back on the Citadel."

"I think I'll do that. I might even dose up on antibiotics and other medications and go au naturel with him."

"Well, just so you know what to expect," Tali said, "Shepard and I … you know … right before the final assault on the Collector base. After it was over and we headed back to Citadel space, I got sick, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared. Runny nose, fever, some coughing, sore throat, but it was pretty mild. And it was totally worth it." She laughed softly. "I got over it in a few days."

"That's good to know. Having a nice cock in me has always been on my bucket list, so –"

Lia burst out laughing. "You've been hanging around Dakka too much."

"Oh, I'm just getting warmed up." Chula shrugged and giggled. "If it's as good as I hope it'll be, I'm thinking about seeing if Lakirra is interested in a threesome with me and Trent."

"Hah. Now you're talkin'."

Chula laughed again as they reached the mess hall. Joker dabbed at his mouth with a napkin and let out a contented sigh as they walked over to his table.

"Wow," Tali said, "you finished all of that already?"

Chula glanced at his tray and counted ten plates and bowls, all picked clean. Joker shrugged.

"Told ya I was hungry."

EDI's voice came over the speakers. "I apologize for the interruption, Jeff, but we've reached the mass relay."

"Thanks, EDI. I'm on my way back." Joker pushed himself up slowly and hobbled back into the corridor.

"Shepard also wants to see the rest of you in the briefing room," EDI continued. "He and the admirals have worked out a plan for capturing the stealth ship."

"We'll meet him there," Tali said. "Thank you."

Chula sighed and followed her out of the mess hall. "I hope we can get this whole mission over with quick."

---

"Here's what we've got," Shepard said, taking a moment to make eye contact with his team and the guests from the Sulaco and the quarian fleet.

Lia took a quick look around the room at everyone crowded around the large table in the center of the room. The two former Cerberus operatives, Jacob and Miranda, Mordin, Zaeed, Jack, Grunt, and Thane Krios on either side, with Kal, Skru, the admirals, Valeria, and both of the Sulaco's geth platforms at the far end. Garrus stood to Shepard's right and Tali on his left.

General Kurakova squeezed past Lia and made her way to the back of the room to join Valeria, and Chula took a spot directly beside Lia.

"The rest of our team is listening on an encrypted comm channel," Chula muttered as she poked at her Omni-Tool interface.

A holographic image of a planet appeared above the center of the table and Admiral Han'Gerrel pointed at it.

"If the Keelah Se'lai is sticking to its current mission, it should be near Aite."

"Wow," Chula snarled, sounding as if she were clenching her teeth. "You guys have some huge fucking cojones, giving a warship that for a name."

Gerrel's head twitched as if he were wincing, and then he stared at the floor and let out a long sigh.

Shepard cocked his head and turned to Tali. "I've heard that phrase a few times. What is it?"

"It's a greeting and a formal way of wishing someone well as they begin a long journey, among other things. A rough translation to your language would be, 'By the Homeworld I hope to see someday.'"

"Hah!" Jack smirked at Chula. "I can see why that'd piss you off, then."

Chula stared at her for a moment and finally nodded.

Han'Gerrel took another slow breath before continuing. "We had hoped the ship would be the first step on our path back to Rannoch. As we already discussed, we let our emotions cloud our judgment. I only recently began to see what a disaster this could turn into."

Before Chula could fire any more shots across his bow, Valeria stepped forward and addressed Shepard. "You were on Aite recently, weren't you? I remember you mentioning it before we met up with the Migrant Fleet."

"Yeah. That was our most recent mission. A Cerberus research post had fallen out of contact and the Illusive Man asked me to investigate. We'd already told him where he could stick it after we took care of the Collectors, but any time contact is lost with a Cerberus operation, it's bad news." Shepard shook his head. "They were running a dangerous experiment, attempting to take control of the geth by interfacing a human mind with them." His lips curled. "The project director, Gavin Archer, used his own brother, David, in the experiment. David's autistic and is a mathematical savant. Dr. Archer discovered that his brother could reproduce their speech patterns, which meant he could communicate directly with them – which Dr. Archer thought made him the perfect candidate."

"Damn," Han'Gerrel said softly, hanging his head again. "Quarians aren't quick to trust artificial intelligences, but we consider them living beings and have as much compassion for them as we have for any other life form." He turned to face Weyland and Yutani. "Even though Rael'Zorah was a close friend of mine, the experiments he conducted on your people fill me with disgust, and this is no different. Now I understand why you stayed hidden behind the Perseus Veil for the past three centuries."

"We understand the reasoning for the experiments," Yutani said. "You wished to preserve your civilization and regain your homeworld. If the experiments are never repeated, we are willing to … 'let bygones be bygones.'"

"That's very generous of you. Many people wouldn't be nearly as forgiving."

"We caused our creators terrible harm during the Morning War. Many geth were harmed in these experiments. David Archer was caught in the middle, and he suffered as much as any of us, if not more. The cycle will continue unless we work together to stop it."

Gerrel nodded slowly. When he spoke, keeping his voice steady seemed to take considerable effort. "Thank you."

"What happened to the poor guy?" Lia glanced over to Shepard.

"We were able to rescue him," Shepard said, "but he was in bad shape when we found him."

In the holofield, the planet Aite was replaced by an image of a human with his head and shoulders clamped into an apparatus that held his eyes open and forced a pair of thick tubes down his throat. On the far side of the image, Jack sneered.

"I've seen my share of Cerberus experiments. This is pretty much what I expect from those motherfuckers."

"Yes," Miranda said softly. "It took me a long time to see this side of Cerberus, but once I did, there was no turning back."

"Not much of a Cerberus cheerleader anymore, huh?"

"Not after becoming aware of what they did to you. This only reaffirms that walking away from them was the right choice."

"Tali and Legion were with me on that mission," Shepard said. "Legion recorded this image just before we detached David from that machine and took him to the Normandy. We brought him to Grissom Academy, where he'd be out of the reach of Cerberus and his brother. And I made damned sure that Dr. Archer understood what I'd do to him if he ever tried to get his hands on David again."

"David is in the care of Grissom Academy's medical division," Tali added, "and is expected to recover."

"That's good to hear," Lia said as the tension drained slowly from her body. She glanced at the image again, and turned away quickly. Shepard seemed to notice.

"EDI, would you mind giving us some basic information on Aite, for anyone among our guests who aren't familiar with it?"

"Certainly." The horrifying image of David Archer vanished and a graphic representing Aite's star system replaced it. "Aite is in the Typhon system, in the Phoenix Massing cluster, near the Perseus Veil. The colony was once considered part of Citadel space, but the Council revoked its status after it broke away fifty-two years ago. Since then, Aite has had no central government and is little more than a collection of small frontier towns and city-states fighting over resources. Additionally, Aite's moon Litae is in an unstable orbit and is expected to collide with the planet within two centuries. Because of this, there has been no long-term investment in Aite and no attempt to unite its feuding city-states."

"You take us to the best places, boss," Joker quipped over the intercom.

"Finally," EDI continued, "the thought of returning to Aite is an uncomfortable one for me, personally, as David attempted to hack into my systems while he was still connected to the geth in the base. With the added fact that David killed the entire research team except for his brother … if I were human, I suppose I would say that the thought of going back there makes my skin crawl."

"I'm sorry about that, EDI," Shepard said. "With any luck, we won't need to get too close, and won't be there for long."

"There have been a number of geth incursions into the Typhon system over the years," Han'Gerrel said. "That's why the Keelah Se'lai was sent here. If any other ships from geth space were encountered, it would've been another opportunity to test the ship's capabilities."

Tali glanced at Weyland and Yutani. "I'd recommend contacting the geth and advising them to stay clear of the Typhon system until we've dealt with the stealth ship."

"Acknowledged," Weyland replied.

"Speaking of dealing with that ship," Valeria said, taking another step forward and bracing her hands on the table. "You have a plan, right?"

"We do. We've already set course for the Typhon system and once we find the ship, Admiral Gerrel will order its crew to stand down."

"I'm hoping they'll follow my orders," Gerrel said, "but in case they don't, Daro has given us detailed information on how to take control of its primary systems. If Captain Vuto'Galon won't see reason, EDI will establish a link through the comm channel before he can close it. She will then take control of the ship's weapons and navigation and lock the crew out of every shipboard system."

"Then I'll lead a boarding party to detain the command crew and take the ship with us when we return to the Citadel." Shepard glanced around at everyone. "Any questions?"

"Just one," Chula practically growled, aiming a steady glare at Daro'Xen. "How do we know we can trust her? How do we know there won't be a booby trap waiting for EDI?"

Gerrel waved a hand at Valeria and said, "I told her that if her information turned out to be bogus, I'd hand her over to the 'Goddamn Nightmare.' That seemed to be all the incentive she needed."

Valeria's mandibles twitched in surprise, but she recovered in an instant and focused a death glare of her own at Xen. Moving slowly and methodically, she drew a huge knife from her belt and then twirled it casually before returning it to its sheath. Daro'Xen's glowing eyes widened and she stepped to the right, placing Gerrel between herself and Valeria.

Shepard almost smirked, but suppressed it quickly. "Alright, then. Let's get this done."