Lazarus Project: Mass Effect 2 (Shenko)

Chapter 46

Milky Way/Crescent Nebula/Tasale/SSV Normandy SR-2

Earth year: 2185 CE --- August

After changing into her BDU's on the Normandy, Callie met with Thane and Jacob in the briefing room.

Jacob was unhappy and made no attempt to hide how he felt about Thane. "He kills people for money Shepard. I don't know about you, but I'm not comfortable having him on board."

"What's your problem Jacob? He's agreed to do this mission gratis." Callie demanded.

"We'll see." Jacob retorted, storming from the room.

"Is there somewhere I can put my things?" Thane asked, ignoring Jacob. "Somewhere arid would be preferable."

"The Life Support Control room is significantly more arid than other areas of the ship." EDI answered from the intercom.

"Ah. An AI. Interesting."

"If you need me Shepard, you'll find me there." He said, bowing and stepping from the room.

Callie waited a beat as the door closed behind him. She was intrigued by what Thane had said when they'd first met regarding sins and the lives of innocents and made a made a mental note to speak with him later. As for Jacob she had yet to figure him out. Former Alliance, former Special Ops and Corsair, now a Cerberus operative. He changed loyalties like other people changed clothes. She still hadn't brought him on another ground mission, so it was likely he was getting pissed about that.

Callie shrugged as she headed to the science lab to speak with Mordin. She didn't much care at the moment. Jacob had done nothing to put her at ease or made any further effort to be friendly. He'd also insulted Tali when she'd come on board and now he'd done the same with Thane. She didn't know what his problem was and if this attitude kept up she wasn't inclined to care. Until he showed more flexibility and friendliness, she had no problem excluding him from the ground team.

----xxx----

"Tali?" Garrus looked up from his work as she stepped into the Main Battery. "What brings you up here?"

"Just wanted to visit Garrus." Tali replied. "Spending all my time in Engineering with all the familiar faces missing, well... I was starting to feel like I wasn't on the Normandy. That maybe I was imagining it all."

"I know what you mean." Garrus said, putting aside his work. "Having Cerberus in charge of this ship feels like all kinds of wrong."

"So you're not okay with this either?"

"Of course not, but I trust Shepard and since the Alliance and the Citadel Council aren't doing anything about the Collectors, this is where I need to be."

"I suppose you're right." Tali conceded. "They have made some nice improvements to the ship."

"True. Though crew safety doesn't seem high on their list of criteria. But I can't fault them for design and armour upgrades. These new Thanix cannons could cut through any ship like butter... not that I know what butter is..."

Tali giggled. "You never get tired of talking about big guns do you Garrus?"

"No, but... wait, why? Should I be talking about something else? Or did I miss something?"

"I'm just teasing Garrus."

"Right. Well okay." He said, unconvinced. "Was there something else you needed? I don't imagine you came all the way up here just to talk about the ship."

"I'm worried about Shepard." She admitted, all trace of humour gone. "She hasn't been the same since I came on board. She hasn't even come talk to me yet."

"I see. Well, she has been through a lot and we've been going non-stop since I joined her back on Omega. I don't think she's taken any time for herself other than the brief down-time between missions."

"But that's just how Shepard is Garrus." Tali reminded him.

"I suppose so." Garrus agreed. "You know she saw Kaidan right?"

"What? No." Tali was shocked. "When?"

"Just before we picked you up on Haestrom. She didn't mention it to you?"

"She's barely spoken to me outside of asking how I'm doing or talking about the Collectors or how good the Normandy's shields are."

"Hmmm." Garrus looked troubled. "She's done the same with me. You think one of us should talk to her?"

"And say what? I don't think it's a good idea Garrus. At least not yet." She added, seeing his face fall. "I don't think she's ready for a talk. Maybe we could just keep an eye on her, see how it goes? Maybe after we pick up our last specialist, things will slow down a bit and she'll have more down time."

"I suppose." Garrus agreed. "Alright, for now we'll do it your way. Part of me hopes it won't come to that though. If I have to go talk to her about what's going on, I'm not sure what I could say that would help."

Tali smiled behind her mask. "You'd be fine Garrus. You worry too much."

"If you say so Tali. If you say so."

----xxx----

Mordin was hard at work when Callie entered the science lab.

"Shepard. What can I do for you?" He said, not looking up.

"How are the facilities Mordin? Have you got everything you need?"

"More than adequate Shepard." He enthused. "Forgot what it was like working without budget restrictions."

"I imagine your work on Omega must have felt limiting."

"On the contrary. Loved the challenge. How to meet goals, work within constraints of the work and resources. Exhilarating. Also, wanted to help. Nearing the end of my life. As you know, salarians don't live much passed 40 of your human years. Felt it a good way to end my career."

"What kind of work did you do before?"

"Worked on special projects with STG, the Salarian Tasks Group. A bit like the Council Spectres, just more covert, undercover work."

"You were with STG?"

"Yes. Worked under a young Captain named Kirrahe. Good Captain. Loved his speeches. "Hold the line.."  Bit of a cloaca though, military bravado, chest pounding, uh... no offence."

"None taken. I worked with Kirrahe. He helped me take down Saren back on Virmire."

"Heard he was part of that. Jury-rigged explosives... very resourceful."

"What kind of work did you do with STG?"

"Mostly worked on the genophage. Checking birth rates, mortality, that sort of thing. Covert, undercover drops on Tuchanka. High risk missions."

"I see. Well thanks for the talk Mordin." Callie said, suspecting there was more to it, but willing to let it go. For now, she had other things on her mind. "I enjoyed speaking with you."

"Anytime Shepard. Should get back to work. Will be here if you need me."

Callie was thoughtful as she left the lab, debating where to go next. She still had to track down Samara on Illium, but she also had crew she should check in with. Running through the list of people on board, she shook her head. Talking to the crew would have to wait. It was more important to recruit Samara before she did her rounds. There was no way to know how long Samara would remain on Illium and she didn't relish the idea of chasing her down.

Shrugging off her weariness, Callie headed to the airlock.

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