Of all the newcomers on the ship, only Tali deserved any real attention. No, not because she was a girl, but for the simple reason that I had assigned her as a technician to the ship's core, and not everyone liked that. So, after I had already spoken with Wrex and was about to talk to Garrus, Adams called me because some of his subordinates were unhappy with the Quarian's appearance.
"Atte-ntion!"
As soon as I entered the engineering bay, I barked the command in a voice that the engineers couldn't possibly ignore.
"Adams! Report!"
"Sir, the engineers aren't very happy..."
"I already heard that much from you."
My voice turned cold and ironic.
"Since when does a superior officer care whether his subordinate is happy or unhappy? Or has everyone in your domain become so undisciplined that they intend to debate my orders?"
"No, sir!"
Adams snapped to attention, while I turned my gaze toward the engineers.
"Fine... I'll show some compassion for the mentally infirm and, for the first and last time, hold a Q&A session. If I'm in the mood, I'll give you answers. Well?"
The engineers didn't react well to my words, looking at me with a certain hostility, but no one managed to open their mouth. Only Tali, tucked away in a corner, shifted uncertainly from foot to foot.
"Come on... or should I not just count you among the infirm, but grant you the grand title of autists?"
"Sir, this is crossing the line!"
A girl stepped forward, looking at me with indignation.
"Did you come here just to insult us?!"
"No, damn it! I dragged myself here because some hysterics decided to challenge my decisions! Instead of making my rounds and receiving reports, I'm forced to stand here and wipe your noses because you, apparently, don't like something!"
The girl took a step back.
"Alright... since you stepped forward, you can speak for everyone. What exactly is the problem?"
"Well..." She looked around uncertainly. "The SSV Normandy is the Alliance's latest development, and you allowed into the engineering bay..."
"He let a space beggar in! She'll steal all the secrets!"
"And who's the genius who said that? Step forward!"
My loud shout and a gaze that literally bored into the man who had yelled forced him to shrink back, but he couldn't stay put.
"And who might you be?"
"Engineer Alex Dow."
"Is that so, Alex Dow? Do you have a rank?"
"Corporal."
"Corporal Alex Dow... tell me, please..." Everyone in the engineering bay tensed up as my voice became soft, dangerously soft. "...who built this ship?"
"The Alliance!"
"And who else? Come on, or do you think that just because I'm from the ground team, I don't know this Frigate is a joint project?"
"The Turians..."
"Go on. The Turians took an active part in it, but you aren't such an idiot that you didn't look up the data and see who else participated in its construction before you started shouting demands, right?"
The man remained silent.
"Fine... Adams?" I redirected the question.
"The Turians participated and contributed slightly less than the Alliance, but Asari engineers and several Salarians were also involved in the project."
"So it turns out... that the Alliance's secret project isn't all that secret?" I lost all interest in Adams and turned my gaze back to Dow.
"That's... them..."
"Come on, do you really want to tell me you believe that one of the races that reached space long before us came and just handed over their most advanced technologies?"
"N-no."
"Wonderful." I even clapped my hands twice. "Do you really think the data hasn't been passed to their intelligence services and design bureaus, where they'll take this Frigate apart bolt by bolt, analyze it, and create their own versions, only ten times better?"
"N-no..."
"Excellent. Now, here's the question. What did you call my guest? A space beggar? Do you know they were an advanced race when we were still mastering gunpowder pistols? And for them, something like this..." I could have been slightly off about the timeline, but I didn't care, and I gestured calmly toward the Normandy's core. "...is also old technology?"
"N-no..." Dow shook his head, his voice ringing with fear.
"Miss Tali'Zorah, tell me, off the top of your head, how many improvements could you suggest for the current ship's core without giving away your people's secrets... I mean, something considered ancient by your people's standards?"
"Well..." She took a couple of steps forward. "Overall, everything here is done competently... except perhaps..."
She then proceeded to give a five-minute lecture. She could have gone on longer, but I stopped her.
"Thank you, Miss Tali'Zorah. None of that is necessary right now, especially since any changes to this ship must, unfortunately, be approved by the Alliance. I asked you to explain that simply to show these 'alternatively gifted' individuals who spoke against your presence that there are no secrets here for you."
Tali shifted uncertainly and clasped her fingers together, clearly wanting to say something, but I stopped her with a gesture.
"So... we've established that some of my ship's engineers are alternatively gifted, and some are outright autists... Adams, give the list of autists to Pressly. During our next visit to the Citadel, if they haven't proven themselves, they will be discharged from the Normandy."
"Yes, sir!" The Chief Engineer's voice made it clear he didn't approve of my words. However, I didn't care about that, as he was a good specialist. I gestured for him to follow me out of the engineering bay.
"Adams..." As soon as the door closed, cutting us off from the bay, I addressed the older man. "...let's keep it simple. To be honest, I don't care how you all interact with each other—who's a brother, a friend, or a relative. I only care about the quality of the work. And right now, I don't care who performs that work. So if this continues... and I find out the Quarian is being harassed just because she's a Quarian, I will replace all the technicians. I will drop everyone off, including you, at the Citadel and hire Quarians who, believe me, will be willing to work for food and work extremely well."
"Sir..."
I raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"...I will restore order."
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear from you. Restore order. Anyone who gets in the way—we drop them at the Citadel. Anyone who fits into your team—continues to work. Ultimately, it all depends on your decision, not on what I said back there..."
I nodded toward the engineering bay door, which opened as Tali literally ran out.
"Oh... you're here... Captain, sir... I wanted... to... talk..."
"Well, if you don't mind Adams' presence, you can speak. If not..."
"It's fine!" The door closed, and she shifted from foot to foot, her fingers intertwining again. "I... please don't punish the technicians... they're good..."
I only raised an eyebrow, looking at the worried girl, whose voice dropped to a near whisper at the end. "...it's just... my people really do have... a reputation... that's why they... But otherwise, they're good..."
"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy..." Hearing her full name, she immediately snapped to attention. "...I will take your request into account. However, for now, you don't need to worry. I was just telling Adams that my words were largely meant to scare them. Only if someone truly turns out to be..." I tapped my fist against the bulkhead. "...then we'll consider transferring them to another ship."
"Oh... I see..." She exhaled with relief. "...so I was worried for nothing?"
"Why do you say that?" Adams gave her a fatherly smile. "You showed that you care about the team, and that can be used to help you fit into our group better."
"Alright, Tali, we have a landing soon, so I hope you've managed to settle in?"
"Mhm, I have." She nodded.
"Excellent. Then I'd ask you to head down to the cargo bay. I think Jane will help you pick out the best gear. I assume your experience with landings is limited?"
"Yes, but I learn fast!" She tried to immediately smooth over the impression of her inexperience.
"Don't worry about it. I knew from the start you couldn't be an experienced commando. For now, you'll be kept mostly in the rear, but in time, once you get used to it..."
"But I use a Shotgun..." Tali uncertainly touched her hip, where the aforementioned weapon hung.
"You'll have to get used to working with a different weapon. A Shotgun is an ultimate weapon, of course, but it's better not to let enemies get within the range where that weapon becomes truly effective."
"I... I understand." She gave a short nod. "Should I go to Lieutenant Shepard?"
"Go ahead..." As Tali passed by me, I could barely restrain myself from swatting her backside. "...and I still need to continue inspecting the ship. Adams, dismissed..."
I addressed the last two words to the Chief Engineer with a clear smile and a friendly tone, to which he smiled weakly and, nodding to me, hurried back into the engineering bay.
"Now... I still need to talk to Garrus..."
Thinking of this, I headed toward the Turian, who was supposed to be preparing his gear for the upcoming landing.
** Some time later. **
"Joker..."
I entered the comms room and contacted our pilot.
"Yeah?"
"Establish a connection using these parameters." I sent the data about possible communication channels with Liara and the commandos assigned to her to his Omni-tool.
"Um... alright..." He was clearly confused, but I didn't care; the main thing was that he was ready to follow orders without question.
"Who is this?!"
"This is John Shepard, commander of the SSV Normandy. Identify yourself."
"Aliana..."
"Aliana, step aside! John, is that you?!"
"Yes, Liara. How are things on your end?"
"We're holding on for now. But there are so many Geth here, and Krogan too... and they're all pushing forward like there's honey smeared here!"
"Well, there is honey smeared there..." I allowed myself a chuckle, which she surely heard in my voice. Unfortunately, we couldn't afford a video link right now.
"You..." Liara was clearly very embarrassed by the reminder of my teasing. Unfortunately, in all the years of our acquaintance, I hadn't managed to get her into bed. Not yet... well, I had gotten her into an actual bed, but the situation was such that if I had made a move, I would have been a total bastard. So we just slept side by side.
"Anyway, we're on approach... based on the data available to me, we'll arrive on the planet in a couple of hours, so hang in there. If you have to, go into full defense. You, and the commandos Benezia provided, are all capable of a lot. You can easily hold out in a tight defense for a couple of days."
"I understand... switching to defense... and... John..."
"Yes?"
"Thank you for coming..."
"I couldn't leave my little blue honey-caramel behind."
"You!"
"Alright, kisses... Hang in there."
"We will."
The connection cut, and I smirked contentedly. She was alive and spirited, and I could definitely get her out of this mess.
***
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