A Matter of Time and Space: Chapter 30

A Matter of Time and Space

SPECIAL FORCES

Cargo Bay, Threads of Fate, Citadel Docks – 06:05 GSD – 28thMay 2185 CE

Zaalia turned the M-15 Vindicator rifle over in her hands. She tested the sights and stock with well-practiced skill, checked the ammo block, loaded a fresh thermal clip, and then collapsed it, placing the battle rifle back in its spot in the weapons rack. She moved to the next rifle, picked that up and repeated the procedure.

Behind her, a large crate trundled up the cargo bay's loading ramp on a loader. Lia'Vael supervised the two Citadel dock workers as they manoeuvred the crate into position.

"That's it. Put it down there," she told them.

The workers deposited the crate and reversed the loader out of the cargo bay.

"What's that?" Zaalia asked.

"Weapons and ammo for the Special Forces team," Lia'Vael said.

"Have they arrived yet?"

"Yeah, just this moment. It looks like those elcor marines from Eingana."

"Wow! Really? What was his name again? Tim... Timoleon! Is he leading them?" Zaalia asked excitedly.

Lia'Vael nodded. "I think so."

"That should even up our odds in a firefight."

Lia'Vael scanned the rows of handguns, battle rifles, and rocket launchers stacked neatly in their gun racks against the walls. The cargo bay had been turned into a makeshift armoury and fully-stocked with an arsenal of weaponry lining the walls. "Anyone would think we were going to war," she observed.

"We're going to Omega. It amounts to the same thing."

"Have you been to the space station before?"

"I've heard stories." Zaalia slapped a thermal clip into the rifle with a satisfying click. "None of them pleasant. I'd like to go in prepared."

"This will be the first time," Lia'Vael admitted.

"What do you know about the place?"

"Built from the remains of an asteroid that was rich in Element Zero, the station was originally inhabited by mining consortiums and populated by thieves and mercs. It is currently ruled by the asari pirate Aria T'Loak and home to every known species in the galaxy. Omega is a haven for mercenary gangs who enforce their own rules and pay Aria a tribute from every deal they make. The station is generally considered to be lawless and one of the most dangerous places in the galaxy."

"Did you swallow an encyclopaedia?" Zaalia asked with a smile. "That sounded like you were quoting verbatim."

"Our government likes to make sure we're thoroughly prepared before we leave on our pilgrimage. Aside from learning basic weapons training and first aid, we study the accounts of other quarian's pilgrimages. Some of them give lectures. They try to prepare us for anything we might face out in the galaxy."

"Bet they never imagined you'd get a job with C-Sec and be made chief engineer on an asari warship?"

"Strangely enough, no. In fact, I was advised to avoid C-Sec. And asari in general."

"You're blazing a trail here, Lia'Vael. Everyone back home will be proud of you."

Lia'Vael's eyes seemed to shine a little brighter behind her mask.

Zaalia turned her head suddenly when a large shadow appeared in the hatchway. She smiled. The unmistakable silhouettes of elcor ambled into the cargo bay.

Timoleon, followed by five fellow marines, squeezed into the cargo bay; the elcor quickly took up most of the space, despite there only being six of them.

Zaalia stepped forward. "Commander Timoleon, It's good to see you again."

"Sincerely, the feeling's mutual, Sergeant," Timoleon replied in a deep monotone.

"If I may ask, how is your, er… your second-in-command?" she asked. The last time she'd seen Timoleon's Lieutenant and partner she was lying in a pool of her own blood in the Blood Pack base on Eingana. Of course, Zaalia hoped she'd had survived, but she felt slightly guilty she couldn't remember her name.

"Appreciatively, I'm told Theano will pull through. With relief, her wounds were critical but not fatal. The doctors expect her to make a full recovery."

"I'm very pleased to hear it."

"Earnestly, and now we throw ourselves into the End of All Things."

"But this time we go in all guns blazing," Zaalia replied.

"With anticipation, we're spoiling for a fight!" one of the other elcor piped up from behind Timoleon.

"Disapprovingly, save your energy for Omega," Timoleon chided the marine.

Zaalia was about to add her two-credits worth when a feminine voice cut in, "Now here's an inspiring view."

Zaalia didn't have to look to know Erata had entered the ship. The asari engineer was smiling warmly as she surveyed the squad of elcor.

"So many handsome men… I think introductions are in order."

"There'll be time for that later," a flanging voice declared. This time Zaalia did turn.

Valni and Chaill hustled up the loading ramp.

Zaalia quickly noticed a change in the atmosphere. Lia'Vael's shoulders stiffened as she saw Chaill, while the krogan seemed to be keeping his distance from Valni and eyeing her with mild suspicion. There was a definite tension in the air that Zaalia was at a loss to understand. What could have happened between the three of them?

With so many people assembled in the cargo bay the ship suddenly felt very cramped. Chaill noticed Lia'Vael.

He nodded at her. "Hi."

Lia'Vael nodded at Chaill. "Hi."

"How you doing?"

"I'm good."

"That's good."

"It is."

"I'm glad."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

Silence fell between them.

Chaill scratched his cheek.

"Listen… There was something…" he began.

"Are you done loading?" the disembodied voice of T'Rani sounded over the internal speakers.

"All cargo and personnel are accounted for," Lia'Vael confirmed.

"Very good. Prepare for departure. Severan, D'Ceni, and Chaill report to the bridge. I need to brief you. Gerumis and Lia'Vael, make your final checks."

"On our way," Valni agreed.

Valni led Erata and Chaill out of the cargo bay.

Left alone with the elcor, Zaalia and Lia'Vael performed a final check of all the equipment. Zaalia moved over to the workbench where the quarian had opened a silver carry-case and was checking an assortment of Emotion Emulator translator visors.

"Watch your spacing," Zaalia whispered to her. "The ship's gonna get crowded."

"I know," Lia'Vael replied eagerly. "It'll be just like home!"

T'Rani stood by the pilot's seat, straight-backed and stern-faced as they entered the bridge.

She immediately ordered them to sit down, casting a cool eye over the three team-members.

"I wanted to be frank with you," T'Rani began. Erata bit her tongue, resisting the urge to make a joke about T'Rani changing her name to 'Frank'. "I may have kept certain important information from you over the last few days."

"Really? An asari keeping secrets?" Chaill asked, stone-faced. "I'm shocked."

"It happens more often than you think," T'Rani said, glancing and glaring at Erata. "I realize we should have told you about Severan's meeting with Donnelly and Daniels…"

"No." He pointed at Valni. "She should have told me that. You should have told me that barefaced lying pyjak of a turian was blackmailing Severan into doing his dirty work!"

T'Rani scowled. "That was a miscalculation. The Inquisitor acted unilaterally, conducting an unauthorised operation without consulting the Executor or the Council first. I never thought he'd go that far."

"You thought wrong."

"Yes," T'Rani admitted. "I let him get the better of me and the three of you payed the price. It won't happen again. He's not getting anywhere near Severan."

Chaill turned to Valni. "Why didn't you tell me you'd met Gabby?"

"I was going to," Valni confessed. "But by the time we were en route to Illium I didn't want to distract you from your preparations, and after what happened with Lidanya you weren't in the right frame of mind. It never felt like the best time."

T'Rani smiled. "Taking a leaf out of my book, Severan? I must be rubbing off on you."

"I know you're upset," Valni said to Chaill.

"I'm not upset. I'm surprised. I thought turians always told the truth?"

"Doesn't mean we don't have secrets."

T'Rani softened her voice. "If you have reservations about working for C-Sec…"

"I am proud to be part of this team," Chaill cut her off. "And I will do my job to the best of my damned fine abilities, but in the interest of full-disclosure I want to be kept in the loop – that goes doubly when it comes to my friends."

"I can't promise that," T'Rani replied. "There are things that will have to remain confidential, either for your safety or so you have… deniability. But I can promise I'll tell you about the things you need to know about."

Chaill held T'Rani's gaze for a long moment. Finally he said, "That's the best I'm going to get, isn't it?"

"It's more than most of us get," Erata said.

"And while we're on the subject of full-disclosure, have you told Severan about your private life?" T'Rani asked.

The intensity of Chaill's gaze looked like it would bore a hole into T'Rani's skull. "That's something I prefer to be kept private," he growled.

T'Rani nodded. "Ah! On a need to know basis, is it? So she can do her job without distractions?"

"It could be Chaill's keeping it a confidential for Valni's own safety?" Erata suggested. There was a definite twinkle in her eye.

"Or is it because you want her to have… deniability?" T'Rani asked in a needling tone.

Chaill's glare seriously threatened to rupture the bulkhead.

"I'm starting to feel like a third wheel in this conversation," Valni said.

A small smile crept across T'Rani's lips. She glanced between her team leader and the krogan engineer.

"Well, Chaill? This is your chance for full-disclosure…"

After a long moment, Chaill released a breath.

"There isn't a single moment in my life that I'm not proud of. I regret nothing and if given the chance I would do it all again exactly the same way. But the past is in the past. I want to look ahead and focus on the future," he said.

T'Rani's smile grew broader. "Spoken like a very diplomatic krogan."

Valni was scrutinising the faces of the asari and the krogan. She was still in the dark as to what they were talking about (though, based on the way Gabriella was caressing Chaill's cheek on the Presidium behind Kenneth's back, she could make an educated guess), but decided to let the matter slide. If revealing a secret from Chaill's past put pressure on the team it wasn't worth knowing.

She decided to change the subject.

"What else did you get from the data? Have any other groups been taken?"

"Yes, but there's a problem. The information recovered from Illium didn't specify where the captives were being held. Fortunately, I have a contact in the Blue Suns who will be able to give us a target location. I've arranged a meeting on Omega. The team should be part of that meeting. And speaking of them: we have some new arrivals. Severan, D'Ceni, could you show them to their quarters and get them settled? We'll assemble for the briefing in the cargo bay once we're underway. You head down and tell Gerumis she's needed on the bridge."

The meeting over, Valni, Erata, and Chaill dispersed into the corridor.

Erata was chuckling softly. "Why is it whenever I talk to her she makes me feel like I'm a student who's been summoned to the Matriarch's office?"

"I dunno," Valni replied. "How often did you get into trouble at school?"

"I was a model student. Well, at least until I hit puberty in my early forties… Then there was only one thing on my mind."

"I wonder what that could have been!?" Chaill muttered.

Zaalia grinned in amusement.

She'd been curious to try the Emotion Emulators ever since Valni had worn one to watch Timoleon's speech to his squad before they'd stormed the Blood Pack base. At the time, she couldn't understand why Valni was getting misty-eyed during the speech, but now, with one of the translators strapped to her head, she understood.

Seen through the computer augmented visor of the Emulator, the elcor were altogether different. Gone were their monotone voices and lumbering gait. Now the elcor had proud, expressive faces and powerful voices. Timoleon spoke to his men in a baritone so deep Zaalia could have swum in it.

Timoleon strode back-and-forth in-front of his men.

"Omega is not a threat to us. We are a threat to Omega. Yes, we are visible targets. Yes, we are but the mercs never see elcor as rivals…"

Zaalia lifted the Emulator up. Timoloen's voice changed to monotone.

"Badassfully, to them we are shopkeepers and labourers. Not worth a second glance. We blend into the background…"

Zaalia flicked the Emulator back over her head. Timoleon regained his rich baritone,

"Imagine their surprise when we reveal ourselves." His hand swept gracefully out in a horizontal arch. "A squad of living tanks carving a swathe of destruction through their ranks!"

She lifted the Emulator up.

"Badassfully, they are no match for our power; we will cut them down like wheat; their forces ground into the dirt…"

She brought it down again

"And when the smoke clears, when the last wretched merc is lying at our feet…" Timoleon's voice rose to a powerful crescendo. "The scum of Omega will know the truth: either get out of our way, or be crushed under our boots!"

Zaalia finally lifted the goggles off her head completely.

"These are incredible!"

Valni wandered into the cargo bay. "They're something else, aren't they?" she agreed. "I was hoping I'd get the chance to use an Emulator again."

"When we're done with this mission, I might just take one and wear it around the Citadel. It'll be so entertaining!"

Timoleon had stopped to glare at Zaalia and Valni. "Petulantly, I am so glad you are finding this amusing."

"You're needed on the bridge. T'Rani wants us to get underway," Valni added.

"Once more unto the breach." Zaalia moved over to the workbench. She was about to return the Emulator to its case when Timoleon told her to put the translator back on.

Curious to see what Timoleon intended, Zaalia slid the Emulator back onto her head and turned to face him.

Valni watched as Timoloen made a strange, subtle gesture with his hand and then turned his head slightly, emitting a low rumble.

The effect on Zaalia was remarkable. She gasped and tugged the Emulator off her head.

"Spirits! Elcor swearwords are really graphic!"

The Citadel dock's magnetic umbilical detached from the Threads of Fate.

On the bridge, Zaalia carefully backed the corvette clear of the Citadel docking bay and spun the ship 180 degrees to power away from the Presidium ring.

With a confidence born of many hours of familiarity piloting the ship, Zaalia sailed through the sea of traffic surrounding the Citadel and swept directly towards the mass relay.

She grinned as the filament energy reached out and surrounded the asari corvette. T'Rani and Valni standing expectantly beside her.

"Course for the Omega Nebula is locked," Zaalia declared. "Here goes nothing!"

And with that, the ship stretched into infinity as it surged headlong into the narrow mass-free corridor of time and space.