never forget. Help us and you can make them pay.'
'A man after my own heart,' Golo said with a cruel laugh, and Grayson felt his stomach turn.
'Does this mean you're in?' Grayson demanded.
'We still have several problems to consider,' Golo said by way of confirmation. 'The
'We can take care of that,' Grayson said, knowing Cerberus had that technology readily available. 'What else?'
'We'll need blueprints of the ship's interior layout.'
'It was originally a decommissioned batarian Hensa class cruiser,' Grayson replied, relaying information the Illusive Man's agents had already gathered in preparation for the mission. 'We have the layout.'
'Impressive,' Golo replied. 'There is a chance this could work, after all. Provided you and your team do exactly as I say.'
'Of course,' Grayson said through gritted teeth, offering his hand to symbolically seal the deal. 'I wouldn't have it any other way.'
Twenty-two
Three more days passed before Mai returned to the
She had come to realize that most of her previous beliefs about the quarians were either outright wrong or gross distortions of the truth. She had always considered them to be scavengers, beggars, and thieves: a culture of petty criminals not to be trusted. Now she saw them simply as resourceful and determined. They were a people struggling to survive with limited space and resources, yet they refused to allow their society to degenerate into selfishness and anarchy. To accomplish this, they clung fiercely to their powerful sense of community.
There was something noble in this unity, enforced though it might be by their circumstances. Every quarian truly believed they needed to work together to survive. The strong family bonds among shipmates, and the willingness of individuals to sacrifice for the greater good, were values Kahlee thought other species could aspire to. . should they ever learn to see past their own prejudices and preconceived notions about the quarians.
While Kahlee was exploring the ship, Hendel and Gillian spent most of their time on Grayson's shuttle practicing biotics. Even while wearing her enviro-suit, Gillian still wasn't entirely comfortable around strangers, and she preferred to stay isolated in the more familiar surroundings.
Occasionally Lemm or Seeto would come to visit, though both were closed lipped when Kahlee or Hen-del tried to pry information from them about the quarian political situation. It was frustrating, being a pawn in a game she didn't fully understand, but Kahlee was confident they would get some answers soon: Captain Mai was finally coming to speak with them.
Kahlee, Hendel, and Gillian were all wearing their enviro-suits in preparation for his visit to their shuttle. Lemm had suggested the idea yesterday as a way for them to show respect for quarian customs and traditions in honor of the captain's arrival. Until they knew more about the purpose of this meeting, Hendel had noted, it was probably best to do whatever they could to stay on his good side.
With some reluctance, Kahlee had agreed. She didn't like wearing the suit if she didn't have to, although she couldn't quite say exactly what she disliked about it. The suits were fully climate controlled, so she never felt hot or sweaty while wearing it, and the thin, pliant material barely restricted her movement. And with the vis-glass of the faceplate and the audio enhancements in the helmet, she could actually see and hear better while wearing the suit than without it.
Still, she never felt comfortable in it. The suit completely cut her off from normal tactile sensations, like the feel of the warm leather under her palm when she placed her hand on the arm of her seat, or the cool, hard metal of the tabletop as she drummed her fingers against it. It even made it impossible to run her fingers through her hair.
In contrast, Gillian seemed to love wearing the suit, only taking it off once since their meeting with the captain on the bridge. She even wore it during her bi-otic training with Hendel. Kahlee knew the security chief found her behavior odd, but he put up with it for her sake. He did, however, insist that she remove the helmet and mask during their sessions. Gillian had complied, though not without some grumbling and complaining.
The mere fact that she grumbled and complained, rather than mutely obeying, was further evidence of how much she had changed. Kahlee had commented to Hendel on how much improvement Gillian had shown, and she'd even shared her theory that the suit might make the girl feel psychologically safe and more confident. Hendel, however, had offered a different theory.
'I think she's just getting better because Cerberus isn't drugging her anymore.'
The thought was disturbing, but Kahlee was surprised she hadn't come up with it on her own. It was doubtful Gillian's condition could be blamed solely on whatever chemical concoctions Jiro had been feeding her, but it was very possible they had made her symptoms worse. Somehow that knowledge made what Grayson had allowed them to do to his daughter seem even more monstrous.
The sound of the airlock opening startled her out of her recollections.
'Not big on knocking, are they?' Hendel muttered, rising from his seat to greet their visitors. Kahlee and Gillian did the same.
Kahlee had been expecting some kind of honor guard or security detail to accompany the captain, but if they came they must have stayed outside the ship. Apart from Lemm, Mai was alone.
'Thank you for this invitation,' he said, once handshakes had been exchanged all around.
'We're honored to have you here,' Kahlee replied. 'Please, sit down and make yourself comfortable.'
There were only four chairs in the passenger cabin, so once all the adults took their seats, Gillian hopped up into Hendel's lap. Yet again, Kahlee was amazed at how far she had come in a little less than two weeks.
Before any of them could speak, they were interrupted by a short, muffled beep coming from behind Mai's mask — the sound of an incoming message transferred to his in-helmet radio. He held up one hand, asking the others to be silent as he listened to the message. Kahlee couldn't hear what was being said in his ear, but she saw him nod.
'Send them to docking bay seven,' he instructed. 'And tell them it's good to have them back.'
'Forgive me,' he said a moment later to Kahlee and the others. 'I have to approve all arriving vessels before they can dock.'
'Do you have to go?' she asked.
He shook his head. 'Isli and her team will greet them. We can continue our business.'
'And what exactly is that business?' Hendel said, casting tact and decorum aside. Kahlee couldn't blame him; she was about ready to do the same thing. Fortunately, Mai seemed willing to be completely candid.
'The Migrant Fleet is dying,' he said flatly. 'It is a long, slow, almost invisible death, but the facts are undeniable. We are nearing a time of crisis for our species. In another eighty or ninety years, our population will be too large for our ships to support.'
'I thought you had zero population growth,' Kahlee said, remembering Seeto describing the universally enforced policies of birth control during one of her tours of the lower decks.
'Our population is stable, but the Fleet is not,' the captain explained. 'Our ships continue to age and break down faster than we can replace or repair them. Little by little we are running out of livable space, yet neither the Conclave nor the Admiralty are willing to take action. I fear that by the time they finally realize something drastic must be done, it will be too late to stem the tide.'
'What does that have to do with me?' Kahlee wanted to know. 'Why were they asking me all those questions about the geth and Reapers?'
'There is a small but growing coalition of ship captains who believe we must take immediate action if the quarian nation is to survive,' Mai explained. 'We have proposed that several of the Fleet's largest vessels be equipped for long-distance voyages. We want to send them on two- to five-year journeys into uncharted regions of
