More drabbles from my writing desk... Shortly after Haestrom.
Tali sighed as she sat down on the maintenance table in engineering, rubbing her hands along her realk to remove the blood and dirt. Normally she'd have been at one of the consoles.
"FTL engaged, twelve hours till the next relay about, right Ken?" The female engineer stretched in front of the console.
"Yes mum." The other answered and glanced over his shoulder. "Miss, you need anything just ask. We're out of danger you know."
Tali shook her head, not deigning to speak with the two of them. I have my rucksack and enough nutrient paste to feed a platoon for a month. I don't need anything from you… Cerberus.
The door beside her hissed open and she glanced over as Shepard walked in, clad in that awful Cerberus issued uniform. The other two engineers spun and quickly saluted a bit surprised. He returned the salute almost automatically before stepping up beside Tali. She almost flinched as he felt the weight of his hand on her shoulder. "Tali, how are you feeling?"
How am I feeling? She shivered as she looked over at him knowing that the old commander could look past the mask and see the emotions hidden beneath. I feel like a bosh'tet's meal, a traitor, a coward, and… Her gaze flickered to meet Shepard's. Damn it, I'm glad I'm here, back with him again. She let out a long sigh.
"That bad?" Shepard knelt beside her and rubbed her shoulder.
"Shepard, I had fifty people under my command and only three of the Marines made it out." She closed her eyes as her hands knotted into fists. "And this ship… it just seems wrong!" Her fists came down on the metal table in frustration.
"Miss Zorah, I can assure you that the Normandy is a faithful reproduction and enhancement…" EDI's voice started.
"Keelah! See what I mean?" Tali yelled. She sniffed. "I wanted things to be back the way it was… but Cerberus? Shepard, you remember what they did? They didn't change you at all did they?"
John grimaced. "You think I like this Tali? I woke up just weeks ago on a God damn operating table with mechs shooting at me. You know me, I hate Cerberus. I hate everything it stands for. I need people I can trust."
At their posts the two engineers glanced at each other remaining silent.
"Then why are you wearing their new, stylish, uniform?" Tali asked, her voice a growl.
He tugged at the ship-suit and grimaced. "Damn Illusive Man made sure every bit of clothes I had happened to have had the Cerberus logo on it. The only thing I've got that doesn't have that logo plastered all over it is a hideous jacket I picked up on Omega."
"Really?" Tali chuckled trying to imagine Shepard in anything approaching civilian clothes seemed silly. She leaned back, her tension finally beginning to ease. "Maybe you should wear it. I mean… the ground team doesn't have any real uniform does it. And I am not stitching a Cerberus patch onto my realk."
"Maybe I can find a store in alliance space that sells navy surplus. Get an alliance ship-suit instead." John shrugged then a smirk slipped across his face as he looked at the engineers. Tali had learned to be scared of that smirk. "Gabby, Kenneth." Shepard barked and the two of engineers spun to face him. "You have any problem working under an alien?"
Gabby and Kenneth looked at each other a bit surprised. The man, she guessed it was the one called Kenneth spoke up first. "No, we don't have any problem with aliens…"
"Or quarians." Gabby added as a grin slipped onto her face.
"Shepard…" Tali's eyes narrowed and she glanced at him. He isn't suggesting…
He grinned at her. "Tali, I need a chief engineer I can trust. Think you can keep these two in line?"
Chief engineer! She sat astonished, on the flotilla that was almost as important as being the captain. Her mind raced ahead. I always wanted to be the chief engineer of a respectable ship and… She faltered as her gaze drifted over the bright yellow and black insignia of Cerberus in front of one of the work stations. No, don't think that way. I'll report to Shepard not… them.
"You'd really make me chief?" She asked her gaze shifting between Shepard and the two other engineers.
"Tali, Adams liked to say you ran the old Normandy better than he could. Of course I'd make you chief engineer, if you think you can handle it." Shepard grinned at her.
Tali leapt off the maintenance desk suddenly energized and hugged Shepard. "Of course!" She loosened her grip after a moment and grinned. "You have any specific jobs you need done or should I just start cleaning the engines?"
"EDI, log that Tali'Zorah vas Neema is to have complete access to all parts of the ship and is now head of engineering reporting directly to me." A smirk slid across his face.
"Commander, I must remind you that Cerberus regulations…"
"EDI, who commands this ship?" Shepard stated.
"You do, Commander Shepard." The computer responded from its holopad.
Shepard shrugged and stared at the avatar for the AI. "And don't you forget it." Turning away from the projection his voice dropped to a mutter. "Certainly doesn't feel like that." He took a deep breath and a devious smile slide across his features. "Now, since my engineers are firmly under my command…"
Oh keelah. Tali felt a grin slip across her face. I've got a bad feeling…
"How bout we start with a bug hunt?"
Kenneth looked perplex. "A bug hunt, sir?"
"I'm sure Cerberus has got listening devices covering every inch of this ship. I want them gone." Shepard said. "Though… it might be best not to disable the audio pickups for EDI, pissing off an AI could be bad."
Tali winced and glanced at the blue holographic projection as it added. "Commander, my purpose is to monitor the safety of the ship and crew. I would be unable to accomplish that if my pickups were disabled."
"I thought you operated the electronic warfare suite as your primary purpose." Shepard said.
"I do, the monitor of the ship and crew's safety is my secondary purpose."
Shepard glanced at Tali. "Well, that's two confirmed spies aboard this ship."
Tali laughed and hopped off the desk walking up to a control panel. "One of us will have to stay here and monitor the boards."
"I'll do it." Kenneth said. "You two ladies have fun tearing apart the ship."
"We will." Gabby said.
Tali brought up a projection of the ship's layout and studied it for a moment. "Let's start with the top deck and work down from there."
"You might want to start with deck two, only thing on deck one is my cabin." Shepard shrugged. "I had Garrus run a sweep for bugs once already."
"Okay." Tali waved the female engineer to a hatch. "We'll start in CIC." As she turned to leave she felt Shepard catch her arm.
"Tali… if you want to talk my door is always open. I invited the old crew up to my cabin tonight for drinks, plus." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I trust Garrus, but if you could, give it a once over to make sure he didn't miss any then."
"Sure Shepard. That sounds nice."
Modifié par StellarMagic, 27 juillet 2011 - 08:59 .
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