20:41 Hours - September 10 - 2194
The medical bay was quiet, sterile, and still. Captain Liao stood motionless, arms crossed, watching the still form of the quarian within the protective environmantal bubble the med-techs had erected around him. The material was light blue, opaque, and she didn't have any more idea what a quarian looked like underneath their suits than she did yesterday. Though not a terribly horrible thing of which to be unaware, Dai found herself frustrated.
Part of her hated that she was so concerned with what the quarian looked like; there were more important things about which to worry. Security, for one, since it was clearly so simple for a stow-away to climb into a cargo container and make it on board without being discovered. The launch of her ship, for another, with a great many departments to organize and less than a month in which to prepare them. More importantly, the fact that the young man was clearly on the brink of death; his appearance should be the last thing Dai was thinking about.
Still, he was a quarian. It was the same with both quarians and volus; Dai couldn't help but wonder what they looked like. Everyone wants what they can't have, so the old saying went, and as far as Dai knew she had no way of knowing what a quarian looked like. It would be so simple to open the protective bubble and take just a peek, but doing so risked allowing some type of airborne germs into the area. Though not a problem for anyone else board the ship, and likely not even life-threatening for the quarian, an illness at a time like this might tip the balance out of his favor.
Behind her, the medical bay door opened, and Dai turned to see her executive officer. They exchanged silent waves, and the big man moved to stand beside her. Both watched the quarian for a few moments.
"Any change?" Karl asked.
"Not since they stopped the bleeding," Dai replied. "Doctor Peters says he should be safe to move by morning, but that we can't do much for him until then. We're just not equipped to deal with quarian physiology." The Captain held a hand to her head and gave a sigh. "We haven't even launched yet, and already this command has drawn blood."
"Can't be all bad, can it? He's alive." Karl shrugged and gave a little smile.
"The human isn't. He died about half an hour ago, in the operating room."
"Fuck." Karl went silent again as the two officers watched the recovering quarian. Both wondered about what had happened. If the quarian was somehow to blame for the death of a human, this incident could have political ramifications. Given recent galactic events, this was not the time for these kinds of problems.
"So what did the security report say?" Dai finally asked.
"Oh, right. That's why I came down, actually." Karl pulled a datapad from his belt and handed it to the Captain, explaining the basics as she skimmed over it. "Short version is they don't know. Security cameras coincidentally malfunctioning in the area where shots were heard, no forthcoming witnesses, and the only security guard on duty was the kid we found with the quarian here." He gave a heavy sigh. "He was barely eighteen."
"Not anymore," Dai said, flipping the datapad off. "Come on Karl, let's let this one sleep." Dai turned and left the room, with Karl not far behind. Neither said anything as they walked through the corridors and made their way to the command deck.
Other than a few last-minute stragglers making final touches in various areas of the ship, workers from the Olympus' construction had cleared out during the day. Finalizing their reports and giving them the go-ahead to clear out had taken all of Dai's time, and left her with a pounding headache. Yet with them gone, and the staggering majority of ship's crew yet to arrive, the Olympus was eerily silent and empty. Their foot steps echoed through the corridors, which quietly hummed with the passive might of the dreadnaught's tremendous engines. Where once had been a teeming mass of construction workers and robots, now was only two worried officers in a very lonely ship.
Nearing the command deck, Dai turned from the main corridor toward the communications room. Attached to the comm room, wherein was contained holo-units that could be used to reach command personnel both on the Citadel and back on Earth, was one of many meeting rooms scattered about this level of the ship. Waiting within one of the rooms, the turian Termidus sat in a chair. He stood to attention when the two humans entered.
"Captain Liao, Commander Ostermann," he said respectfully. Dai noted that he refrained from saluting.
"At ease, Lieutenant," Dai said with a smile. She sat at the conference table, across from Termidus, and Karl sat a couple seats down from her. "This is just an informal meeting. I wanted to get to know you, seeing as you're going to be my security chief come tomorrow morning."
If Dai could read turian expressions at all, she would say the man was surprised. "Captain?" His voice made it obvious.
"I know, sensitive positions and all that, your orders said the same thing mine did. Well I just came from the med bay, where a young turian is dying and a young human is dead." Dai gave a small sigh, and her jaw set. "Command has a point when they tell me not to put aliens in positions of security, but I think their point is wrong."
"Respectfully, Captain, just to play the advocate," Termidus said slowly, "some would say you have a right to keep human interests foremost."
"I think the war we just fought says otherwise," Karl interjected. The turian looked between the two humans, and Dai nodded her affirmation.
"You're a trained officer, served in your own Navy for the past ten years and you've held this type of position before." Dai looked down at her hands, then back up at the turian. "I'll be perfectly honest, I only made this decision today. Had a little talk with the volus on board--on whom I suggest you keep an eye, by the way--and he made me realize something."
"Captain?"
"If I don't trust you good folk in sensitive posisions, I shouldn't even let you on my ship."
"The volus...he said that?" Termidus sounded half shocked and half amused.
"No," Dai was thoughtful. "I just think it's the way this ship seems to be going."
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This is a work of fan fiction, intended for the amusement of myself and those reading it. I am in no way affiliated with Bioware, Electronic Arts, or anyone else who has any official say over the Mass Effect franchise.
Also! This work is an effort by yours truly to force myself to write 1,000 words of fiction each and every single day. Without exception. It isn't planned, or plotted, or pre-thought, I literally pull this stuff from my ass. The quality of writing may reflect that origin.
Also! This work is an effort by yours truly to force myself to write 1,000 words of fiction each and every single day. Without exception. It isn't planned, or plotted, or pre-thought, I literally pull this stuff from my ass. The quality of writing may reflect that origin.
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