Ad Astra :: Star Trek Fanfiction Archive ^{Beam me up, Scotty.}

Chapter Text

Omega

“Tell Tarik I’ve done as he’s asked.” Sidonus muttered to the batarian sitting next to him in the lower bar in Afterlife. “Archangel bought the story about Garm and the Blood Pack running guns in the Kenzo District.  The rest of the team will be at the hideout while we investigate the warehouse.”

“Good.” The batarian replied. “Garm has agreed to throw away some vorcha and a krogan.  They should provide Archangel enough of a fight to convince him that your tip was genuine.  There’s a cache of weapons there as well.  That should seal it for him.  Once you’re done there and we’ve taken down his team, the money will be transferred to your account.  If I were you, I’d make myself scarce afterwards until you hear of Archangel’s death.”

“Don’t worry, I will.” Sidonus nervously replied as he slipped off his stool and began to walk away from the bar.

“Good doing business with you.” The batarian smirked as a human sitting at the bar collapsed to the floor, dead.  Laughing, the batarian quipped to the bartender, “Looks like you got another one, Forvan!  What’s this one make?  The second one this week?”

“Third!” The batarian bartender joked back with an evil grin as he handed a drink to his fellow batarian.  “Here you go.”

“Just put it on his tab.” The batarian mercenary joked as he looked down at the dead human, “Not like he’s gonna complain.”

RRW Gallena

“Jolan tru, Commander.  Hello.” Kaidan stood mouth agog as his eyes fell on the Romulan subcommander wearing, this time, instead of her uniform, a floor-length, nearly translucent, white dress with jade green and gold trim and a slit down the side that exposed her calf and part of her thigh.  “I see our quartermaster was able to replicate one of your uniforms for you.” She noted, nodding her head at Kaidan’s blue and gold Alliance class As.

“Yes. He…replicated…a whole wardrobe—dress, casual, work—everything!” Kaidan remarked, still somewhat taken aback by the subcommander’s appearance.  “Ummm…” He stammered, “That’s a nice dress you’re wearing.”

“Thank you.” V’lana grinned, “The dress is not replicated, although the jewels are, I’m afraid.  I purchased it on Risa when I was on shore leave recently.  Unfortunately, I don’t get much of an opportunity to wear it so, whenever I get the chance, I like to bring it out.  Come…” She urged holding out her hand for her guest, “Dinner should be ready soon.”

Taking her hand, Kaidan smiled, “Lead the way, subcommander.”

“V’lana.” The Romulan woman gently corrected, “When we’re off duty, you can call me V’lana.”

“All right.” Alenko nodded his head, “But only if you call me Kaidan.”

“It’s a deal, Kaidan.  Come, our chef promised to outdo himself.  But for now…why don’t you have a seat and join me for a drink or two.”  She then poured a blue liquid from a flask into two narrow crystal goblets, “Romulan ale.” She smiled, “Non-replicated.”

“Thank you.” Kaidan responded as he took a tentative sip of the blue liquid.  As the alien drink touched his tongue, his taste buds exploded in rapture.  “This is great!”

“Thought you’d like it.” V’lana replied as she took a sip of her drink, “Romulan ale is one of those things that a replicator really can’t match.”

“If you don’t mind me asking…” Kaidan tentatively began, “You seem kind of young…”

“You’re wondering why a twenty-three year old woman was put in command of such a large warbird?”

“Ummm…frankly…yeah.” Kaidan nodded his head, “No offense intended.”

“None taken.” V’lana smiled, “It’s a fair question.  Fifty years ago, I’d have been nothing more than a Sublieutenant just graduating our Military College.  There’s absolutely no way I would have been given any command—much less command of a Valdore.  Did you read about what happened to Romulus and Remus?”

“Yeah.” Kaidan nodded his head sadly. “A nearby star system went supernova and totally destroyed your home worlds.”

“And killed billions of Romulans and Remans.  The rest of us were scattered in colonies, on ships, and on outposts.  Then Nero pulled his shit and the Klingons decided to play scavenger and pick on the Empire’s corpse while the Tal Shiar and Sela tried to return to the 'good old days'. And then everything else and things got even uglier.” The subcommander shook her head, “I could take hours talking about it and all we’d both get are splitting headaches.” Pausing for a moment to regain her composure, V’lana continued, “Have you noticed that most of the Romulans in this crew are either young like me or older—much older?”

“Yeah…” Kaidan noted, “I have.  I don’t see too many who’d correspond to what humans would call middle aged.”

“That’s because many of the ones who are middle-aged remain loyal to the Empire and its obsolete and outdated ideas and notions either through fear or a misguided sense of allegiance.” V’lana declaimed, her eyes taking on a fierce hue.  “What they don’t understand; what they can’t accept, is that the Empire is dead, and it’s not coming back and shouldn’t come back.  Anyway…” She said as she calmed herself, “It died long before Hobus blew up.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Tal Shiar held us in such a stranglehold that the Empire was on its way to collapsing anyway from suffocation.” V’lana answered.  “Revolts and unrest were already tearing it apart even before Hobus went supernova.  You can only keep people down for so long before they decide enough is enough.  Those seeking reunification with Vulcan…Remans pissed off at being enslaved…the military pissed at the Tal Shiar…the casteless and lower caste sick of being mistreated…younger people wanting something more—pick any or all—the lid was coming off.”

“I guess I can see where you’re coming from.” Kaidan nodded his head.  “What about this Federation?  I’ve noticed you’ve allied with them.”

“They’re better than the Klingons.” V’lana adamantly declared.  “The Klingons will want to subjugate us once they’ve gotten our cloaking and singularity technology—make no mistake about that.  While the Federation does have this annoying habit of assimilating and absorbing cultures into itself, I think we can resist that and maintain our independence—I hope we can at least, although I’m beginning to have my doubts—there’s a lot about the Federation that’s appealing to me…”

“Like what?” Kaidan curiously inquired.

“Well…” V’lana smiled, “Nude sunbathing on Risa...sipping champagne in Paris...cutting loose in an Argelian nightclub.  Hell of a lot better than being just another subject race of the Klingons like the Gorn, Orions, and Nausicaans.  Besides, can you see me singing ridiculous Klingon war songs, eating live gakh, drinking bloodwine, and getting into head-butting contests with a bunch of ugly, smelly Klingons?”

“No…” Kaidan chuckled, “Not really.”

V’lana chuckled merrily, “Anyway, to get back to your question, because we’re so scattered now, the Republic has to make the best use it can of its limited resources—and that includes its people. When Virinat was attacked, Tovan and I got as many people as we could to the shuttles and to D’Vex’s old warbird.” She gestured with her hand holding the goblet towards the model of a flat ship with wings and two cylindrical projections, “The Pharos, my first command.  Once we escaped, D’Tan, the leader of the Republic, confirmed me in command and I’ve been commanding warbirds since.  We use what we have, Kaidan, because we don’t have the luxury not to.”

“Damn.” Kaidan whispered in a low voice, “It sounds rough in your universe.”

“I think it’s rough wherever you go.” V’lana remarked with a crooked grin, “You find good people and stick with them and do the best you can—that’s all any of us can do.”  As she uttered those words, a chill ran down Kaidan’s spine.  “Are you ok, Kaidan?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Kaidan nodded his head, “Your words just then reminded me of something someone once told me.:

“Must have made an impression on you.” She remarked with a grin as she held out her hand.  “I think chef is ready for us now.”

“Yeah.” Kaidan replied with a sad smile, “She did.”

Nodding her head softly, V’lana chose not to comment on her guest’s last words as he escorted her to her seat, held out her seat for her to sit down, and then sat down at the table. Kaidan then gasped at the plate set before him, “This looks and smells terrific!” The Canadian grinned, “Is that what I think it is?”

“The chef calls it a ‘Porterhouse steak, cooked medium rare.’.  He says most humans love it.” V’lana chuckled.

“You have a good chef.” Kaidan replied with a grin. “What is that you’re eating?”

“Roasted hlai’vanau. Normally, it’s reserved for holiday meals…”

“Kind of like turkey at Christmas.” Kaidan observed.

“Right.” V’lana smiled as she forked a mouthful of meat and put it in her mouth. “I guess chef felt today was a special occasion.”

Smiling at the gusto exhibited by the subcommander as she began to devour her meal, Kaidan quipped good-naturedly, “I guess it must be good.”

“Here” V’lana smiled as she speared a portion of meat and held it out for her dining partner, “Try some.”

“Only if you have some steak.” Kaidan countered as he held out a portion of his steak for her.

“All right.” V’lana grinned as the two exchanged portions.  Biting into the beef, V’lana’s mouth watered, “This is good!  It sort of reminds me of travit, but it’s got a sweetness and taste all its own.”

“You should try some of my grilled steak sometime.” Kaidan smiled, “Or maybe one day I’ll surprise you and ask the chef if I can fix you a real Canadian breakfast.”

“Which is?” V’lana queried with a wicked grin.

“Scrambled eggs, Canadian bacon, and more bacon—with beer to wash it down.  It covers all the important food groups—meat, eggs, more meat, and grain.”

Laughing, V’lana gently teased, “I might just take you up on that one day.  Looks like I’m going to have to schedule an extra-long workout session in the gym tomorrow.” She smirked as she sipped a human wine provided with the meal.  “My major weakness.” V’lana confessed with a gentle laugh, “I’m what you humans call a hedonist. I love to eat and drink and do other things—a little too much sometimes. If I didn’t work out every day, I’d end up fatter than a Ferengi merchant!”  As she savored yet another bite from the steak that Kaidan had given her, the Romulan woman remarked, “You know, our Vulcan kin don’t know what they’re missing by being strict vegetarians.”

“I was reading in your library computer where your people split from these Vulcans.” Kaidan commented as he swallowed a bite of hlai’vanau.  “I can’t quite understand them.” He admitted, “How do they go about their lives without feeling any emotions?”

“It’s not that they don’t have or feel emotions.” V’lana corrected, “It’s that they suppress those emotions…although they like to say that they master their emotions…but I think suppress is a better word choice.  When a Vulcan loses his or her temper—and they have—they’re worse than the angriest Romulan because they’ve kept things bottled up for so long that when they finally do explode, they tend to go supernova.”

“I think I can see that.” Kaidan nodded his head, “What about crime?  Do Vulcans have more or less crime than the other species?”

“They like to say they have less because they’re in control of their emotions.” V’lana replied, “But don’t believe it.  Vulcans can be as sociopathic or psychopathic as any other species and when a sociopathic or psychopathic Vulcan decides that it’s logical to commit murder, they can be very dangerous.” V’lana then narrated her story about how she had sniffed out an attempt by a Vulcan to derail peace negotiations between the Romulans and the Vulcans taking place on Vulcan.  “Vulcans like to present an aura of smug superiority.” V’lana concluded, “But that’s all it is—a mirage.  Deep down, they’re like everyone else.”

“So I take it you’re not one of those Romulans who support reunification?” Kaidan asked with a smile.

“Been reading about that—haven’t you?” V’lana quipped back. Her smile vanishing, she responded with a shake of her head, “No.  It’s not that I dislike Vulcans—it’s just that it’s been too long.  We’ve been separated for thousands of years.  We’ve developed our own culture with our own values and our own way of looking at the universe.  The Vulcans seem to only want reunification on their terms.  They want us to embrace the teachings of Surak.  To surrender to logic and ‘master’ our emotions like them and I don’t want to do that. I like being able to laugh at a dirty joke or cry when I read a moving passage in a book or, yeah, feel angry when someone pisses me off…”

“Pisses you off?” Kaidan chuckled, “I’ve noticed you’ve used that phrase a time or two.”

“Yeah…It’s a saying I picked up from you humans., along with a few other choice words.  A human I met once said that I had a real…what was the word he used, ‘potty mouth?’ I told him to fuck off.”

“You didn’t!” Kaidan exclaimed with a broad grin.

 V’lana laughed and then her eyes and expression took on a steely look.  “One thing you’ll find out about me—I’ll let you know where you stand pretty quickly.  I don’t take shit and I look after my people.  Anyone fucks with them, I drop a plasma torpedo down their warp core.”

Her words again reminding Kaidan of someone he once knew and treasured, a sad, yet tender smile appeared on his face, “I’ll keep that in mind, V’lana.”

“You better.” V’lana smiled back.  Her laughter dying down, the subcommander confessed, “I don’t know how the Vulcans do it—containing their emotions and all. I like being able to feel and yeah, sometimes that can be good, and it can hurt at the same time like…. falling in love.  But I think it’s worth it.”

“Yeah.” Kaidan replied in a soft, low voice, “I get that.”

“She was special to you, wasn’t she?” V’lana gently stated, a sad smile coming to her lips.

“Huh?” A surprised Kaidan responded.  “How did you…”

V’lana replied, the sad smile remaining on her face.  “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, Kaidan.  I probably shouldn’t have said anything.  Tovan always tells me that I have a big mouth.”

“Thanks. And it’s ok.” Kaidan’s lips turned up into a sad smile of his own.  “It’s just that…I don’t think I’m ready to talk about it yet. Give me some time.  After all—we’ve just met.”

“Fair enough.” Her smile then widened as the chef brought in the final course.  “All right!  Dessert!  I think you’ll love this, Kaidan.  Tree candy!  It’s very good…sweet.  And Khellid nectar to wash it down.  Well…come on…” She urged with a big grin as she shoveled some candy into her mouth, “What are you waiting for?”

“I had fun.” Kaidan remarked as he and the subcommander stopped at the entrance to his quarters.  “I can’t remember when I’ve laughed so much or so hard.”

“I think we’ve both been on some pretty rough roads.” V’lana smiled back as she looked up into her human guest’s eyes.  “It’s good to be able to relax with good company.”

“That it is.” Kaidan replied, then teased, “So…I guess this means our first date is over?”

“First date?” V’lana smiled as she raised her eyebrow in an almost Vulcan manner, “Hmmm…I guess you could call it that.  But…if I remember how you humans do this…you get to plan and pay for the next one.”

“Deal!” Kaidan smiled as the couple held hands.  “Well…I guess I better go now.  Tomorrow’s a big day.”

“Yes it is…we arrive at the mass relay and then Freedom’s Progress.”

“Good night, V’lana.”

“Good night, Kaidan.”

As he entered his darkened quarters, Kaidan thought, for the briefest of moments, that he saw Jane sitting at the edge of the bed flashing a wicked grin at him and nodding her head approvingly.  And then when he looked back, she was gone.  “I hope that means you’re ok with V’lana.” Kaidan said in a soft voice, “I think you’d like her.”

Ilium

“What do you mean Kaidan Alenko has vanished, Nyxeris?” An astonished Liara said to her secretary.

“The freighter he was on, the MSV Columbia has ceased transmissions near the Freedom’s Progress mass relay.” Liara’s asari secretary replied.

“I see.” Liara answered back, “Thank you, Nyxeris.  I’ll take it from here.  You can go ahead and take your midday meal break early.”

“Thank you, Dr. T’Soni.” The secretary responded as she left her employer’s office and made her way down the stairs until she found an isolated corner of the transport hub.  Activating her omnitool, she typed a brief message to her employer, the Shadow Broker, “Package reported disappeared. T’Soni unaware of Alenko’s whereabouts. Awaiting further orders.”

As soon as she was sure her secretary was out of the office, Liara pressed a button on her desk and spoke, “Tali? This is Liara.  Kaidan has gone missing.  It is important I contact him.  If you hear anything on his whereabouts, let me know.”

R.R.W. Gallena

“Approaching mass relay.” The Romulan at the helm announced as the turbolift doors opened to admit Subcommander Avesti.  Sitting down in her chair, she spoke into the comm, “Commander Alenko to the bridge.”

“I’m on my way.” A voice responded.  Moments later, the turbolift door opened again to reveal a dark-haired human male wearing an Alliance duty uniform.

“Have a seat.” V’lana directed, gesturing towards an empty chair with a console behind and to the right of her command chair. “As you can see…” She said, nodding her head towards the viewscreen, “We’re about to reach the mass relay.”  Turning to a pink-skinned alien wearing a Starfleet uniform standing behind a console, the subcommander inquired, “Picking up anything on your scanners, Clo?”

“Negative, Captain…Excuse me, Subcommander.” The alien responded.

“Cloak us and take us to the relay.  Satra…feed in the necessary information that the relay needs so that we can activate it.”

“Yes, Subcommander.”

The helmsman then called out, “Relay in five…four…three…two…” The Valdore-class warbird then shot out of the mass relay, appearing moments later in another system.

“The coordinates place us in the Freedom’s Progress system, Subcommander.” Satra announced.

“All systems green.” Tovan reported, “We’re still cloaked.”

“Third planet Class M.” Satra reported, “Evidence of an extensive settlement.”

“There are over nine hundred thousand people in the colony.” Kaidan noted.

“Maintain cloak.” V’lana ordered, “Bring us into standard orbit and scan for life signs and any anomalies.”

“Entering standard orbit.” Tovan announced.

“Scanning.” Satra declared, “No signs of human life.  Unidentified ship on the ground giving off energy emissions with life signs near it, but I cannot make out what they are.”

“Maybe they’re part of who or whatever attacked the colony.” Kaidan guessed.

“Possibly.” V’lana nodded her head, “Or they could be scavengers or an investigation team.  Can you give me something more precise?” The subcommander inquired.

“Negative, Subcommander.” Satra replied.  “There’s too much interference from the ground.”

“Then it looks like we’re going to need go and find out for ourselves.” V’lana’s lips turned up in an anticipatory smirk.  “Alenko…Satra…you’re with me. Get armored up, draw weapons, and meet in transporter room one in thirty minutes. Tovan…the ship is yours.”

“Subcommander?” The loyal first officer interrupted as his commanding officer got up out of her chair.

“I know, Big Brother…” V’lana remarked with a mischievous grin, “You want me to take a security officer with me.  Very well, assign someone…preferably a human in case we run across colonists we weren’t able to detect.”

“Thank you, Little Sister.” Tovan replied, his lips curled up in a knowing smirk.  “Have fun down there.”.

“I’m not so sure about this armor…” Kaidan grumbled as he looked down at the skin-tight duralinium armor he was currently wearing.  “Doesn’t look like it offers much protection.  And…” he tugged at it, “It’s kind of tight…if you know what I mean.”

“Looks good from where I’m standing.” V’lana smacked her lips as her eyes lingered over the human biotic’s muscular form.  “Why?  You don’t like what you’re seeing?” She asked as she pirouetted, showing off her skin-tight armor.

“It looks perfect on you.” Kaidan grinned, “But I feel kind of…you know…” His face reddened as he glanced down.

“You’re supposed to wear your regular clothes over the armor, silly!” V’lana joked as she slipped on her top and miniskirt and then put on her boots. Kaidan then gasped as she touched a button on her wrist, causing her armor to turn transparent. “Another advantage.” She grinned.  Her smile vanishing, she further explained, “The armor will protect you against most high velocity projectiles and kinetic energy such as biotics and from physical attacks such as from a bat’leth or a club.  It’s like any other armor though—it does have limits.  It can eventually be overcome. So, don’t stand in front of a dozen troopers shooting at you.  And it’s less effective against energy weapons—but the races here tend not to use energy weapons as extensively as we do, so that’s not as serious an issue as it would be back home.  We use this armor against Klingons, Nausicaans, and Gorn mostly because they like to get up close and Gorn like to throw big rocks and stuff at you.”

“Ok…that makes me feel better.” Kaidan smiled as he began to dress in his uniform.

“Good.” V’lana leered, “Because I’m going to sit back and enjoy the show.”

“You’re telling me this thing will scramble my molecules and then reassemble them on the surface?” A stupefied Kaidan exclaimed.

“Yep.” An amused V’lana nodded her head.

“And you do this all the time?”  Kaidan remarked as he slowly and hesitatingly made his way to the transporter pad.

Nudging him towards the center of the pad, the subcommander nodded her head again, “All the time.”

“And it always works?”

“Energize.” The subcommander ordered before turning to Kaidan, leaving him with these parting words as their patterns dissolved, “About 99% of the time.”

“99% of the time!” The human biotic nearly screamed as their patterns reformed on the surface of Freedom’s Progress.

Running his hands over his chest and legs, Kaidan sighed in relief, “Everything’s there.”

“I’ll say it is.” V’lana responded with a lascivious grin.

Shaking his head, Kaidan quipped with a grin, “Subcommander, pardon me for saying so, but you’re impossible!”

“Yes.’ V’lana responded with a nod of her head, “I am.”  Then, in a split-second, the subcommander’s mood was all business, “What are your scans picking up, Satra?”

Activating her tricorder and scanning, the Romulan science officer crisply reported, “Detecting no human life signs. Unknown alien life signs to the north.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go.” V’lana decided, “On the way, we’ll check out some of the houses and buildings—see if we can find some clues on what exactly happened here.” Activating her communicator, V’lana spoke, “Tovan?  What are you picking up?”

“Still unable to scan that area with the life signs.” The first officer reported, “Also, the interference from that area might interfere with our ability to beam you up.”

“Understood, Big Brother.” V’lana responded, “Keep cloaked and maintain scans.”  Turning to her landing party, the subcommander ordered, “All right.  Let’s go.”

“This felt like when I went back to Virinat.” V’lana whispered as the landing party walked down a deserted street.  “Except worse.”

“What do you mean?” Kaidan asked as they passed a school that looked like it was open and ready for students.

“On Virinat, you could see the destruction left by the Tal Shiar plasma beams and disruptors.  Here…it’s like someone had just mass transported them.” Turning to Satra, the subcommander asked, “You sure you’re not picking up traces of transporter use.”

“Negative, Subcommander.” The science officer answered back.  “There are some interesting residual energy traces though.”

“Record for later analysis.” V’lana ordered.

“There’s a colonial administration building.” Kaidan called out, pointing to a building that had the symbol painted on the front.  “There might be something there.”

“Good idea.” V’lana nodded her head as the landing party made its way into the building.

“Let me see if I can download some of the computer records into my omnitool.” Kaidan said as Satra did the same thing with her tricorder.

“Hmmm…that’s interesting.” Kaidan called out.  “This entry’s incomplete.” He said as he showed it to the rest of the landing party.  “Starts off typical…plan for the day stuff…and then…the person making the entry states that he hears a strange insect-like noise and then it cuts off.”

“Is there insect life on this planet?” V’lana asked.

“Yes.” Satra confirmed, “It’s possible that the person making the entry was talking about local insect life.”

“Possible…but not likely.” Kaidan demurred.  “If the insect life is local, you tend to identify it.  It wouldn’t be ‘strange insect-like noise’, he’d say something like ‘mosquitoes are buzzing’ or ‘there’s a bee’.”

“Good point.” V’lana nodded her head.  “Be sure we have a copy of that and anything else of potential value.”

“Subcommander.” The human security guard called out, “I’m detecting movement outside. Bipedal…they look like robots.”

“Security mechs.” Kaidan exclaimed.  “Take them out!”

“Fire!” V’lana ordered as projectiles whizzed overhead.  Beams of plasma energy then converged on both mechs, destroying them.

Stepping out to investigate, Kaidan knelt down next to one of the mechs as the security officer ran a tricorder over them.  “LOKIs” The Alliance officer said, “They’re used for security, but they shouldn’t be active now unless…”

“Unless someone around here has activated them.” V’lana finished.

“Think it might be those alien life signs ahead?” Kaidan asked.

“I’d bet on it.” V’lana responded as she ordered the landing party forward.  After walking several meters, Satra called out.  “More mechs…these ones airborne.”

“Rocket and assault drones!” Kaidan shouted.  “Get to cover!”  Moving quickly, the biotic dived behind a crate as he punched a button on his omnitool, overloading one of the rocket drones, causing it to explode.  Plasma beams shot out from the human security guard and Satra’s weapons as V’lana fired her rifle, unleashing a hailstorm of reddish-purple bolts of energy that completely shredded an assault drone as Kaidan finished the last drone with a cryoburst and a plasma beam.

“Whoever is doing this is pissing me off and when I catch up to them, they’re going to learn why that’s not a good idea.” V’lana growled as she ordered the landing party to move forward. “Let’s get moving!”

After taking out another set of mechs and drones, this time encountering four-legged mechs,  V’lana asked as she kicked at the remains of one of the mechs with her toe. “What are these called?”

“Fenris” Kaidan replied. “They can take out a shield quicker than anything and they’ve got ugly jaws.”

“Reminds me of a Rottweiler.” The human security officer said. “My neighbor had one when I was a kid.  Wonderful dogs—unless you’re an intruder.”

“Yeah.” A friend of mine had one as well.” Kaidan replied with a chuckle.  “Loved to chase the mailman.”   

“We’re close to the signals now.” Satra announced, “In that building.”

“All right.” V’lana ordered, “Set weapons to stun.” She said as she switched to a Starfleet issue phaser pistol.  “Let’s give them a chance to talk but be ready if they turn out hostile.”

“Right.” Kaidan nodded his head as the landing party readied weapons.

“On three.”  V’lana whispered, “One…two…three!” The Romulan subcommander then kicked down the door leading the others in as they barged into the room with weapons drawn.

One of the aliens immediately drew his weapon, but before he could fire, a bolt from V’lana’s phaser struck, causing him to slump to the ground.  “Weapons down.”  The Romulan ordered as the aliens, wearing environmental suits that completely covered them and opaque helmets that covered the face of the being in the suit, slowly and grudgingly complied.

“What?” One of the aliens, wearing a purple sash and purple hood over her head, cried out as she rushed to the side of her fallen comrade.  “What did you do to him?”

“He’s just stunned.” V’lana replied, “He’ll recover soon.”

“You don’t understand.” The alien sobbed as she carried out a careful diagnostic of her fallen comrade, “His suit! If there’s a rupture or a tear…he could get infected.”  After several seconds, the alien relaxed, “He’s all right. No tears or ruptures.”  Standing up, she walked confidently to V’lana.  “Who are you and why did you attack us? 

“We’ve been battling your drones and mechs since we’ve arrived.” V’lana exclaimed as her Romulan blood began to assert itself once again.  “What did you expect?”

“They’re not our mechs!” The alien cried out, “We didn’t reprogram them!”

“Then who did?” The human security officer inquired, seeking to ease tensions between her volatile superior and the alien.

“Who are you?” The alien asked, “That isn’t an Alliance uniform.”

“They’re not Alliance, Tali, but you know I am.” Kaiden then stepped forward so that his old Normandy squad mate could see him.

“Kaidan!” Tali cried out, her happiness evident in her voice.  “What are you doing here and who are these people?”

“They’re friends, Tali.” Kaidan said, inclining his head at V’lana in unspoken communication.  Taking the hint, the subcommander gestured for Satra and the human security officer to lower their weapons as she lowered hers.  “This is Subcommander V’lana Avesti of the Romulan Republic.  She commands a ship in orbit.  The others are part of her crew.  Subcommander, this is Tali’Zorah nar Rayya…”

“Just call me Tali.” The purple-clad alien said through her vocalizer.

“Tali is a Quarian." Kaidan explained.

“The migratory species.” Satra deduced.

“Correct.” Tali responded and then, turning to the subcommander, took notice of both the pointed ears and faint brow ridges, “I’ve never seen your species before.”

“As Commander Alenko said, we are called Romulans.” V’lana explained, “We came to assist the commander in his investigation.”  She hesitated for a moment, unsure as to whether to continue, until she saw Kaidan’s almost imperceptible nod, “Our people are also being taken.”

“Do you know what happened here, Tali?” Kaidan gently inquired.

“No.” The quarian shook her head. “We were shocked when we arrived.  This was a large colony. And to have everyone just vanish…”

“Why did you come here?” V’lana inquired.

“We were looking for a quarian named Veetor.” Tali explained, “He was on his pilgrimage.”

“Pilgrimage?” V’lana interrupted. 

“It’s a rite of passage for the quarians.” Kaidan explained, “When a quarian is ready, they go out on their own.”

“Correct.” Tali said as she picked up the narrative, “The pilgrim seeks something of value to give to the captain of the ship he or she wishes to join as a ceremonial gift.  It marks the passage from adolescence to adulthood.”

 “Why did Veetor come here?” Kaidan inquired more out of curiosity than suspicion.

“Veetor liked to help others.” Tali explained, “So he came here, thinking that he could do the most good in a colony such as this that was finding its feet.”

“He’d fit in well with the Federation.” The Starfleet security officer observed.

“The problem is….” Tali explained, “Veetor has always been…sensitive—if you understand what I mean.”

“In other words…” The usually blunt V’lana stated, “He’s mentally fragile.”

“Correct.” Tali reluctantly agreed before continuing, “I’m afraid that whatever happened here…along with possible infection if his suit was damaged…might have made him delusional.  He’s reprogrammed the mechs—killed several of my own people.  Kaidan…Subcommander…please…don’t hurt him.” Tali pleaded, “He’s not responsible for his own actions.  He’s scared and alone.  Please…help him.”

“Where is he?” Kaidan gently asked.

“He’s in the control center across the courtyard, but there’s a large mech blocking the way.  It has already hurt or killed a half dozen of my own people.” Tali cautioned

“What sort of mech is it?” Kaidan asked.

“An Ymir.” Tali replied.

“Ymir?” V’lana raised an eyebrow.

“Heavy mech.” Kaidan explained, “Fires missiles and projectiles.  It has two mass accelerator cannons in its right arm and a rocket launcher in the left. It’s also shielded and armored.”

“We can’t target it from orbit because that same interference that’s blocking the Gallena’s scanners and transporters will interfere with its targeting sensors.” Satra noted.

“That means we’re going to have to do it ourselves.” V’lana sighed.  “Ok…what are the strengths and weaknesses of this Ymir and what’s the best way to take it down?”

“Concentrated fire to its head will destroy its processing core and cause an explosion—one that you do not want to be near.” Kaidan warned.  “You can also disable it by shooting off its arms…but it’s usually better to just try to kill it with headshots.”

“Ok…” V’lana nodded her head, “We have our battle plan.  We’ll take a few minutes to catch our breath.  Satra…Crewman…help with the wounded.  Kaidan?  I’m sure you and your friend would like to catch up with each other.  I’ll be over here…” She said, pointing to a chair.  “Ten minutes…we move.”

Walking her old friend to a quiet, isolated corner of the room, Tali asked, “So…how did you meet these people?”

“Blue Suns attacked the ship I was on and she saved me.” Kaidan replied, “She’s good people, Tali…A bit quick tempered, a little earthy, and violent sometimes…” He smiled.

“Kind of like someone we both once knew and respected…and…” Tali whispered, “…in your case, loved.”

“I guess you could say that.” Kaidan replied as he glanced at the subcommander who returned his glance with one of her own and a slight smile. “I’ve read a lot about her people recently.  They’ve been through so much…their home worlds destroyed in a supernova…their empire crumbled…scattered throughout the galaxy…fighting a civil war while at the same time trying to keep other races from taking what little they have left…trying to build a new life.  They’re not perfect, Tali.  They can be ruthless, cruel, treacherous, vicious, and without pity.  Before their home worlds were destroyed, their xenophobia would have put the most zealous Terra Firma party member to shame and some of them—especially those on the other side of their civil war—still are as racist and xenophobic as ever.”

“They sound dangerous.” Tali observed.

“They can be.” Kaidan admitted, “But then, so can humans or turians or quarians for that matter.  We all have our dark side.  V’lana’s people can also be kind and loving and passionate and tender…” He then nodded his head in the direction of Satra who was comforting a wounded quarian.

“I see…” Tali replied, “And the human with them…she’s definitely not Alliance.”

“No…she isn’t.” Kaidan admitted, adding with a sheepish grin, “It’s difficult to explain in the couple of minutes we have left, but I promise, later, I’ll tell you everything…deal?”

“Deal.” The quarian agreed as she stood up.  “And I’m going to hold you to that promise.”

“Satra?” The subcommander queried.

“The injured have been stabilized and any environmental suit tears or ruptures repaired.  I’ve also done what I can to boost their immune systems taking into account we’re dealing with a dextro-amino acid based species.” The Romulan science officer replied.

“Thank you.” Tali said as she checked on her crewmen.  “I appreciate what you’ve done.”

“Glad to help.” V’lana replied as she turned to the human biotic standing next to her, “Ready to go, Kaidan?”

“Whenever you are, subcommander.” Alenko responded.

“All right.” V’lana smiled, readying her assault disruptor as she anticipated the coming battle, “Let’s do this.”

Entering the courtyard, V’lana spotted the mech standing before the door.  “Kaidan?  You and the crewman go right.  Satra…Flank left.” Readying her weapon, V’lana commanded, “I’ll take the center.  Fire on my mark.”

As the teams moved to take position, the mech struck, launching a missile at the security officer who was hit dead on, the missile overcoming her shielding and armor as it sent her flying several feet until her mangled form finally landed.  “Now!” V’lana ordered as purple-red bolts streamed from her weapon while Satra fired with her plasma rifle and Kaidan, activating his omnitool, overloaded the behemoth’s shields.

“Don’t forget to target the head!” Kaidan shouted as he followed up his overload with a biotic warp.

“Right!” V’lana replied as she adjusted her fire, tossing a photon grenade for extra measure.  “Fire in the hole!”

“Damn!” Kaidan swore as rounds from the mech’s autocannon grazed his shield.  Firing his plasma rifle, the sentinel hit the mech squarely in the head as Satra’s and V’lana’s beams converged there as well.  All three maintained their fire as the metal brute slowly advanced until, finally, it stopped moving and began emitting a high-pitched howl.

“Run!” Kaidan shouted, “It’s about to blow!”  All three ran as fast as they could as the mech built up to a critical mass, finally exploding, the shockwave knocking everyone down.

“Kaidan!” V’lana called out, “Satra? You all right?”

“I’m fine, subcommander.” Kaidan responded as he struggled to his feet.

“I’m unhurt as well.” The science officer echoed.  Moving quickly to check on their fallen comrade, Satra shook her head.

“Damn.” V’lana cursed as she stared at the door to the control room. “This had better be worth it.”

Entering the control room, the landing party at once spotted a lone quarian muttering to himself as his fingers almost literally danced over the console, “Monsters coming back. Mechs will protect. Safe from swarms. Have to hide. No monsters. No swarms. No no no.”

“Are you Veetor?” V’lana demanded.

“No Veetor. Not here. Swarms can’t find. Monsters coming. Have to hide.”

“Veetor!” V’lana called out, “You’re safe.”

The frightened quarian seemed not to hear the subcommander as he continued to manipulate the console and mumble incoherently.

“He’s too frightened to hear.” Satra diagnosed as she ran her tricorder. “Extreme fatigue…alpha waves are very high…”

“Maybe this will get his attention.” V’lana said as she drew her phaser and pointed it at one of the monitors only to have a gentle, yet firm hand press down on it.  Turning her head, she saw that the hand belonged to Kaidan.

“I know a better way.” He said in a soft voice as he activated his omnitool, turning off all the monitors and quickly attracting Veetor’s attention.

“You’re human.’ Veetor said, pointing to Alenko, “But they’re not.  Where did you hide?  Where did they come from?”

“I’m Subcommander V’lana Avesti of the Romulan Republic.” V’lana announced as she stepped forward.

“And I’m Kaidan Alenko, of the Systems Alliance.  We came to find out what happened here.”

“The monsters.  The swarms. They took everyone.” Veetor lamented.  “I saw everything.” He said as he turned the monitors back on. 

“What is that?” V’lana asked, pointing to an alien being guiding what appeared to be a grav sled.

“I think it’s a Collector.” Kaidan gasped in disbelief.

“Who or what is a Collector?” V’lana asked.

“We don’t know much about them.” Kaidan explained, “They tend to work through middlemen like slavers or mercenaries.  If the Collectors are involved with the Reapers, that would explain the disappearance of the colony.  Their technology might be advanced enough to take an entire colony.”

“Like the Borg.” V’lana mused, “Except where the Borg are interested in technology, these Collectors are seeking organic life.”

“The seeker swarms.” Veetor explained as a multitude of flying insect-like objects flew across the monitor. “No one can hide. The seekers find you. Freeze you. Then the monsters take you away.”

“How did you avoid capture?” V’lana asked.

“Swarms didn’t find me.” Veetor replied. “Monsters didn’t know I was here.”

“His environmental suit might have kept him from being detected.” Satra surmised, “Or their instruments were calibrated to detect only humans.”

“What about Virinat?” Kaidan asked, “Did whoever it was that took your people take any other species?”

“There were only Romulans on Virinat.” V’lana said, shaking her head, “At least to the best of my knowledge we were the only ones there.”  Pausing for a moment, the subcommander then asked, “Can you tell me anything more about the Collectors, Kaidan?”

“I’m afraid not, subcommander.” The human biotic replied, “Not much is known about them.  Most people haven’t even heard of them and to those who have, they’re either legends or bogeymen to scare kids into behaving.”

“So why are they kidnapping human and possibly Romulan, Reman, and Cardassian colonists and ships’ crews.” V’lana asked rhetorically.  Turning her attention back to Veetor, she asked, “What happened afterwards?”

“The monsters loaded the people on to ships and then they left.  The ships flew away, but they’ll be back for me. No one escapes.”

“I think that’s all he knows, Subcommander.” Kaidan said in a soft voice.

“We should take him back with us to the Gallena.” Satra suggested, “Our sickbay can help him and once he feels better, perhaps he’ll be able to tell us more.”

“I studied them. The monsters. The swarms. I recorded them with my omnitool.  Lots of readings. Electro-magnetic. Dark energy.”

“Now that is fascinating.” Satra remarked.  “His readings might correlate with our scans of the different anomalies.”

“We need to get outside this interference, so we can transport back to the ship with Veetor.” V’lana declared as Tali entered the room.

“Wait.” The quarian pleaded, “Veetor needs treatment and to be with his own people, not an interrogation.”

“We’ll give him treatment.” V’lana replied in a soft voice, “And we’re not going to interrogate him.  We’ll return him and you to your people if you’d like.”

“Please.” Tali begged, “Let me take him.  You can take Veetor’s omnitool—it has all the information he’s recorded on it.  I doubt he can add anything more.  We need to get him to the Flotilla.”

“I can understand caution.” V’lana conceded with a sigh, “Very well. We agree to your terms.”

“Thank you.” Tali replied in a placating voice, “It’s just that my people right now are very nervous about allowing those we do not know to get to close to our Flotilla.”

“Because of the Cerberus attack?” Kaidan deduced as Tali nodded her head.  Kaidan further explained to the two Romulans, “Cerberus is a pro-human intelligence and black ops group.  I guess you could say it’s our version of the Tal Shiar.  They attacked the flotilla in order to snatch a female human biotic.  Caused a lot of destruction and quarian casualties.”

“Right.” Tali confirmed, “So…you can understand why I and my people are so much on our guard?”

V’lana nodded her head, “I’d do the same if I were you.  Very well, we’ll take the omnitool, but I hope that eventually we can reach the point where we can work together.  More than you can imagine might depend on it.”

“Thank you.” Tali said as everyone began to file out of the control room.  Pausing for a moment, she asked, “Could I talk with Kaidan—alone?”

“Sure.” V’lana replied, nodding her head once.  “We’ll be outside when you’re ready.”

“So…Kaidan…” Tali asked, “Do you trust her?”

“Yes…I do.” Kaidan nodded his head.  “Her people do have a history of backstabbing and double-crossing—something she’s freely owned up to, but I believe her about being attacked and I think she’s telling the truth when she says that many of her people are trying to find a different way.  There’s nothing like losing your home world to knock the arrogance out of you.”

“I know.” Tali responded somberly.

“I’m sorry, Tali.” Kaidan quickly apologized, “I’ve got a big mouth.”

“It’s all right, Kaidan.” Tali replied, “You’re right.  Something like that happening to you will change you as a people.”

“From what I’ve seen of her, she’s not a bad person.  Strong willed…sure of herself…definitely quick tempered.”  Kaidan chuckled, “She can easily out cuss an Alliance drill instructor if she wants to.”

“Reminds me a little of Shepard.” Tali remarked with a sad fondness.

“Yeah.” Kaidan acknowledged, his lips turning up in a sad smile, “She is a little like Jane.”

“I miss her.” Tali lamented as Kaidan hugged her close.

“Yeah.” He said gently as tears came to his eyes, “I do too.”

“But there comes a time, Kaidan…” Tali pointed out, the sadness still in her voice, “When we must let go otherwise our ghosts keep us from living.”

“I know, Tali.” Kaidan nodded his head, “You’re right.  It’s just not easy.”

“No it isn’t.” The young quarian remarked, “But…” She said as she spied the subcommander waiting outside, “I think maybe you’ve got someone willing to help you out with that—if you give her a chance.”

“Maybe.” Kaidan nodded his head slowly, “It’s not like we’re in a rush though.  We have time.  Like I told her, we just met.”

“Well…we better be going.” Tali said, “I have an important mission for my people I’ve got to get back to.”

“You take care of yourself, Tali—and…” Kaidan added, “Don’t lose touch. Friends need to stick together—now more than ever.”

“I will.” Tali replied, her vocalizer reflecting both her fondness for Kaidan as well as regret at their parting.  “You take care of yourself and remember what we just talked about.  I know you said you have plenty of time.  But, as we both know, time has a way of slipping from us faster than we would like.”

Returning to where the two Romulan women were standing and talking, Kaidan asked, “You two ready to head back.”

“Yes.” V’lana replied, “We’ll have to walk a bit though to get far enough away from both the interference and curious quarian eyes.”

“Don’t want the quarians to know about your transporter?” Kaidan asked as the three began to walk away.

“What is it you humans like to say?” V’lana replied with a chuckle, “I like to keep a queen in the hole.”

“Ace.” Kaidan corrected with a chuckle, “Ace in the hole.”

“Oh…there’s only one queen here.” V’lana laughed, “Make no mistake about that.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Kaidan quipped back.

“Good.” V’lana nodded her head smugly, “Now, let’s go back to the ship and figure out our next moves.”

As her ship rose from the surface and assumed orbit, Tali ordered a scan for the Romulan ship.  “What do you mean you can’t detect anything.” The quarian engineer exclaimed in disbelief.

“Just that.” The quarian manning the helm replied, “There’s no evidence of any ship in orbit.”

“Nothing?” Tali exclaimed, “No heat emissions? No signs of static discharge or venting? Nothing?”

“Nothing, Tali’Zorah.” The quarian replied.

“Damn.” Tali swore under her breath, “They must have a stealth system even more advanced than the one the old Normandy used to have.”  Returning to her quarters, Tali saw the blinking light on her message console, activating the console, she played Liara’s message and then sent a reply. “Liara? This is Tali. On important mission but can stop off at Ilium on way. Met Kaidan. He’s alive and well.  Need to speak with you.  Will contact you when I arrive.”