"Captain, we are arriving at Feros."
A short message from Joker forced me to tear myself away from my business and, donning my armor, head to the hold, from where the landing would be conducted. During the flight, the crew had erected a temporary airlock there; fortunately, this operation is well known in the navy and well-practiced, so it caused no problems.
"Everyone..."
I nodded to the landing party standing in the airlock.
"...remember the precautions?"
"Yes... but I don't understand..."
Tali shook her head.
"...I've reviewed the information on Feros, both what's in the public domain and what was in the Matriarch's data. But there are no reasons for such serious security measures."
"Tali..."
Jane sighed.
"No, I'm not questioning it!"
Tali began to babble.
"I just realized the mission hasn't started yet, and I decided to clarify! It's nothing! Really, really! Just curious, so I decided..."
"Shhh..."
Jane pressed a finger to Tali's faceplate, and she fell silent.
"I'm not accusing you of anything, and neither is the commander. This information is simply classified. And if you hadn't started babbling, you would have had time to hear that."
"Sorry..."
Tali's quiet, guilty voice made me want to hug her and pat her on the head.
"It's fine. Just give those around you a little time to finish their thought."
"Okay!"
We felt a characteristic jolt, which meant the ship had touched down on the planet's surface, standing on its retractable struts, after which I climbed onto the Mako's armor, as did Jane in her exoskeleton, while the others got inside.
"Opening the ramp."
Joker's voice notified us of what was happening, after which the Mako rolled out onto the planet's surface.
"Contact!"
Tali was the first to react to the enemy; the transport's gun turned and fired several shots, blowing apart several Geth. I reacted immediately after, creating a barrier; while the first shot from one Geth hit my energy shield, all subsequent shots hit only the biotic barrier.
A few more shots from Tali and a couple of bursts from Jane allowed us to completely destroy the enemy in this specific spot.
"Beginning movement."
After these words from our driver, the Mako moved forward. However, we encountered no Geth around the nearest bend, nor on the road that allowed us to enter the colony territory.
"Stop!"
Some brave girl pointed a rocket launcher at us, and Chifuyu stopped.
"Miss, you are obstructing a Council Spectre; here are my documents."
I transmitted the documents to the girl, who opened and checked them.
"I apologize..."
The rocket launcher was now pointed at the ground.
"...pass through. And thank you for responding to our calls for help."
"What calls?"
"Ah?"
The girl blinked in surprise.
"You're not here because of the problems at the colony and the Geth attack?"
"No, I'm here because Saren Arterius, who has been suspended from Spectre duties, is somehow connected to this planet. So I've arrived to investigate that connection."
"Damn..."
The girl was clearly upset by my words.
"What are we supposed to do now?"
"Don't worry, I'll see what can be done about all this. If I can somehow resolve your issue while completing my assignment, I will."
"Thank you."
She was truly grateful to me. I tapped the Mako's armor a couple of times, and we resumed our movement.
"Hello!"
An inconspicuous little man ran out almost right in front of the Mako; Chifuyu even had to brake sharply to avoid crushing him.
"Are you a psycho?"
"Ah? Why?"
"Well, for example, because you threw yourself under the wheels of an armored military vehicle."
"I had no choice..."
The little man gave a forced smile.
"...my name is Fai Dan, and I am the leader of the colonists. I was informed that a Spectre had arrived, and I hurried here to say that you are obligated to help us!"
"Is that so?"
"Yes!"
"So by your logic, I should ignore the Council's order and help you?"
"People are dying!"
"That is your problem as the leader of the colonists. Mine is to complete the task set before me."
The man clearly didn't expect to hear that and was very confused.
"I... I... I... will go to the press!"
"Go ahead, that's your right. Now get out of the way."
"But... we'll die... We have no water, no food... even the power is running out!"
I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"What exactly is the problem?"
"The Geth... because of their presence, we can't reach the damaged systems to repair them! Please, help!"
Hearing this, I activated my Omni-tool.
"Revi, take the remaining members of the landing party and exit the ship. Help the locals clear a few points of Geth so they can fix the colony's systems and survive."
"Understood."
"Just if they try to appoint you as hunters, you can tell them where to go immediately. Your task is to destroy the Geth so they can repair the systems, nothing more, nothing less."
She didn't answer. I deactivated the Omni-tool and looked at the colony leader.
"Another group will be coming from the ship soon; they will protect your technicians while they repair the damaged systems. That is all I can help you with. You must solve the rest of the problems yourselves."
"Thank you..."
The man bowed low to me and hurried to get out of the way.
"To be honest, I thought you'd order him crushed..."
Jane made a completely unexpected comment to me.
"Why would I?"
"Well..."
She trailed off vaguely, as if hinting at our conversation and the overall situation in the colony. I only shook my head, as if to say that couldn't happen simply because it couldn't. No, if he had attacked with a rocket launcher, I wouldn't have hesitated to give the order for his liquidation, but he hadn't done that.
"Alright, let's go."
After this order of mine, we moved on toward the ExoGeni Corporation buildings, which might contain not only the information we were interested in but also information that could help my corporation become even wealthier. And I didn't intend to miss that opportunity.
"Commander..."
Tali decided to chat while we were driving.
"...may I ask a favor of you?"
"Of course. I might not grant the favor, since I don't know what exactly you want to ask yet, but you can ask."
"Thank you... I... I've read about your corporation. Could you place an order with the medical division of the corporation to manufacture some kind of medicine for Quarians?"
The girl's voice sounded uncertain; she clearly didn't believe I would agree.
"Well, actually, one preparation is already being developed... though I don't know how popular it will be with your people."
"And... what kind of preparation is it?"
"A breathing mixture... using it for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening should allow one to live without a suit for the rest of the day."
"That..."
Tali was shocked by my words, and it was perfectly audible.
"...that's... just..."
She couldn't find the words.
"...incredible. Commander, if that's true, the Quarians will start praying to you!"
"No need to pray to me. I'm just trying to interest your people so that when the war against the Reapers begins, they'll decide to stay on my colonies and help with their defense, repairs, and everything else."
"But somehow I think your admirals won't appreciate that."
"Ah?"
"They might try to take advantage of the hype and reclaim Rannoch."
Silence hung between us for a while.
"I can't guarantee that won't happen, but if your breathing mixture allows us to live without suits somewhere other than our home planet, then very many will want to stay on your colonies. Because you don't have to fight for that..."
A mix of condemnation and anticipation could be heard in the girl's voice.
"Tali, make up your mind whether you condemn it or not; there's such duality in your voice..."
Chifuyu simply couldn't keep quiet.
"I... I am Tali'Zorah vas Normandy!"
This was said with pride and resolve.
"Whatever my captain says, goes!"
"Wow, John, you've already completely won this little one over..."
Jane made sure her remark was heard by no one but me.
"...she's already ready for anything for you. She doesn't even consider herself part of the Migrant Fleet anymore. It's quite remarkable."
"Nothing remarkable."
I shook my head.
"I simply accepted her and helped her people repair their ships—or rather, start those repairs—and promised a medicine. In short, I did a lot, and she simply doesn't know how else to repay me except with loyalty."
"Well, you could drop a hint..."
There was a hint of mockery in Jane's voice.
"I don't think that's a good idea. It might only scare her off if I exert too much pressure on her. So I'd rather wait a bit, giving her the chance to want to become something more than just a girl I show small signs of attention to."
"Hmm..."
Jane shook her head.
"...what have I come to? Discussing potential harem candidates with the man I like..."
"Well... I suppose pragmatism is speaking in you."
"Pragmatism?"
There was a slight question in Jane's voice.
"Although... yes, pragmatism. I want to live... and live well, and if that means putting up with competitors next to my man, then I'll do it..."
* A view from the side. *
Tali sat inside the Mako and tried her best to pretend she hadn't hacked the secure channel between the commander and the captain.
She didn't know what she wanted to hear when she hacked the communication channel, but definitely not a discussion of how she herself would end up in the commander's bed. Right now her cheeks were surely burning with embarrassment, and she wanted to squeal from it, but she couldn't, as that might give her away.
She could never have imagined that the commander of a ship—and such a ship—would pay attention to her. No, on the Fleet, she was popular with other Quarians, of course, but there she was the daughter of an admiral, a potential lever of pressure on him, and here...
Here she was just Tali, a technician...
No, her father hadn't gone anywhere, but for John, he clearly wasn't in first place. When she turned to his corporation, she was a naive girl, of course, and even now she hadn't learned much about life, but she realized that overall John could buy out at least half the Fleet... and that meant that for him, an Admiral was just an ordinary sentient being, albeit an influential one.
And her status as an Admiral's daughter meant... almost nothing to him... which meant she herself was very valuable to him? Right?
All that remained was to understand if she was ready, like Jane, to share her... but was he hers? But to share John with other girls...
***
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