“Say hello to your Ahba. ”

In a conference room aboard the Endaara, Captain Rael’Zorah laughed, as he was virtual-calling his lifemate on his omni-tool. A warm, soothing sensation bloomed in his chest. His eyes welled with tears and he couldn’t stop smiling. Cradled in Maeru’s arms was his beautiful, little girl, Tali, cooing, reaching out for his hologram all the way in Maeru’s cleanroom on the Khin’Saa as though he was actually there.

Briefly, an icy sensation pricked his heart, and he frowned. Three days ago, on the way to the New Tikkun system, Maeru had finally given birth, but due to ‘hygienic concerns’, fathers in the fleet could not personally attend the births of their children.

He sighed. Oh, if only he could hold his daughter right now. If only the adaption process between a mother and her child didn’t take so long. “She has your eyes.”

“And your stripes,” Maeru said, smiling. Without her mask, her beauty never failed to leave him breathless and mesmerized. She laughed. “Keelah, just look at them. They’re exactly like yours.”

“It seems they are,” he said, laughing. “It seems they are.” He let out a contented sigh. “Anways, are they treating you well? Are you comfortable there? And Tali…is the adaptation process going smoothly?”

“Oh, of course,” she said, “of course. Dr. Arukh has been treating me wonderfully, monitoring every step of the adaptation process. You have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“That is very relieving news,” he said. Just then, another window popped up on his omni-tool, informing him that Captain Han’Gerrel’s shuttle had just arrived in the docking bay.

“Is something wrong?” Maeru asked. Once more, she started breastfeeding Tali.

“My meeting is coming very soon,” he said. He sighed. “So I’m afraid I must end the call.”

“Oh…”

He pursed his lips. “I promise I’ll come visit you two in person as soon as I am able. And always remember…I love you.”

She smiled. “I love you too. May the ancestors bless you.”

Maeru ended the call, and he exhaled through his nose. Turning his grav chair around, he faced a section of the ship’s programmable matter bulkhead, which he had turned transparent. Through it, he marveled at the stunning view of New Rannoch, with the rest of his Expeditionary Flotilla in tight formation around its orbit.

Even from the conference room, he could see ships from its four comprising squadrons – from Han’Gerrel’s for security, from Shala’Raan’s for reconnaissance, from Daro’Xen’s for research, and from Zaal’Korris’ for diplomacy.

Behind him, the door opened with a metallic whine. He turned, and in the doorway, stood his greatest friend Han’Gerrel. Like any member of Clan Gerrel, Han wore the red cloths of the Heavy Fleet with pride.

“Han…” Without hesitation, he stood up, smiling, then gave his friend a warm, brotherly hug.

Laughing, Han returned it with just as much affection. “Ah, Rael, it’s been too long. Far too long.”

“Indeed it has,” he said, pulling away.

“Now that I can,” Han said, “I want you to know that I’m very honored you chose me as one of your Captains for this expedition.”

“How could I not?” he asked. “There’s hardly anyone other than Maeru I trust more.”

Yes, since their days in the Institute, Han had always been by his side.

“Anways,” he said, “have a seat. Daro, Zaal, and Shala should arrive very soon.

He and Han sat at the conference table. And just seconds later, Han turned his grav chair and faced the view of New Rannoch.

“Keelah…” Han said. “I’ve already read your debriefing. But to see our new home like this…so close, and yet so far away, it is…”

“Surreal?”

“Yes,” Han said. “Surreal.” He let out a weak laugh. “Before we left, you should have seen the Prime Speaker’s address to the Fleet about what you had discovered, about how you had given our people hope – after four hundred years of nothing but darkness.”

His pulse spiked. The entire fleet? Keelah, the Admiralty Board’s expectations were already high enough. But now the entire fleet?!

“I haven’t seen it,” he said. Yes, truthfully, he didn’t care about who got the credit for finding this world. All that mattered was if Maeru and Tali got a proper home. “But it seems the Prime Speaker has lifted the public’s spirit.”

Han nodded, then opened up a window on his omni-tool, displaying the Prime Speaker’s address.

Resplendent in his gold cloths and mask of office, Ekharys’Valaen, the Prime Speaker stood upon a raised platform before a massive crowd in the Rayya’s gathering hall.

“Brothers and sisters of the fleet,” Ekharys began. “The past few years…have been the darkest in all our history. Since the Neema’s destruction, the fleet has been dying. Every day, we have been edging closer and closer to extinction, and already too many of you have lost, have bled, and have suffered more than any quarian deserves.” Briefly, the Prime Speaker paused, looking at the deck. “But finally, the ancestors have blessed us with great fortune. Finally, after four centuries of wandering the stars, after four centuries of enduring the hatred and bitterness of the other races, we. Have. Hope…” With his omni-tool, the Prime Speaker displayed a hologram of New Rannoch. And he stopped listening.

He took a deep breath through his nose, then pursed his lips. I can’t fail. Yes, failure was not an option. The entire fleet was depending on him, and his own clan would undoubtedly ensure he took the blame for any disaster.

He gulped. If he became a shunned exile, then so be it. But Tali and Maeru…

NO. He would not let that happen.

He would not fail them.

Finally, the crowd cheered. Han closed the window on his omni-tool, and a brief silence ensued. During it, two notifications popped on his omni-tool, informing him that Captain Shala and Captain Korris had just arrived at his ship’s docking bay.

“It seems Captain Shala and Korris will be joining us shortly.”

“Excellent,” Han said, leaning back into his grav chair, “I’m eager to meet them both.”

Soon, Captain Shala arrived. “Ah, Captain Rael,” She touched her left shoulder with her right hand, saluting him. “It’s good to see you…” Suddenly, she stirred, as if shocked. “Oh Keelah, I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention this but…congratulations on becoming a father. Tali is a beautiful, beautiful girl.”

He stood up and returned the salute. Honestly, he knew little about Maeru’s childhood friend, but regardless her service record was exemplary. And if Maeru trusted her, then he could as well. “Thank you, Captain Shala. Please have a seat.”

Just as Shala took her seat, Captain Zaal arrived. “Ah, greetings everyone. Greetings.” Zaal spoke those words with such warmth and friendliness, as if greeting old friends. Yes, according to Admiral Naala, Captain Zaal was not only a great mediator who remained calm when others panicked.

But also one of the few diplomats in the fleet with experience in negotiating with asari.

“I must say,” Zaal said, taking his seat. He leaned forward and steepled his hands on the table, “that I am very eager and excited to work with all of you in this monumental endeavor. By the ancestors, we are all going to make history.”

“Perhaps we will, Captain,” he said. “Perhaps we will.” He sighed, then checked his omni-tool, only to find a new message from Captain Daro informing him that her shuttle had arrived at the Endaara’s docking bay, and that she was on the way.

Soon, she arrived at the conference room. And like the Prime Admiral, she was also an Aekh’shaatus, with a black, mirror-like mask.

“Apologies for my late arrival,” she said, her voice sharp, regal, and feminine, yet so cold and robotic.

Hardly recognizable as quarian.

Gritting his teeth, He exhaled through his nostrils. Yes, he might not agree with Captain Daro’s belief in the teachings of Eisyl’Xen. But nonetheless, he had to put his opinions aside. She was among the fleet’s few experts in xenology and perhaps the only one trustworthy and open-minded enough for this mission.

“An emergency had me…indisposed.”

“Indisposed?”

“The details do not matter,” she said. “Know that I resolved the issue, and that it will not interfere with any of our goals.”

He sighed. “Very well. Have a seat Captain.” When she took her seat, he placed both his hands on the table. Now, we can finally begin.

“My fellow captains,” he began. “Thank you for joining me here on such short notice. I’m sure all of you have read my debriefing and saw the Prime Speaker’s address. So all of you know what is at stake for our people, that if we fail and are left with no choice but to resort to violence to secure our people’s new home, the consequences to follow might just finish what the Geth had started…”

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

He paused to let that sink in.

“But having reviewed all of your service records,” he said. “I have no doubt that all of you have the qualities needed to see this mission through to success.” With his omni-tool, he opened up a star map on the holo-projector above the table. “So this will be our plan.”

He zoomed in on the New Tikkun system, and then on New Rannoch. “Throughout this mission, our base of operations will be right here, in the New Tikkun system.” He zoomed out, then looked at Shala. “And our first goal, Captain Shala, will be to find the rest of their colonies, as well as their homeworld.”

Shala nodded. “It shall be done.”

“And as you find them,” he continued, “I need you to relay all the intelligence you gather back to Captain Daro for analysis.” He looked at her. “Know that our first priority will be to translate their most common languages…” He looked at Zaal, and then at Han, “and that once Daro does so…” He pointed at Zaal, and then at Han, “we three will need to spend many, many weeks learning their history, their culture, and their customs.”

“You need me to assess their military capabilities?” Han asked, “To create a plan in case…”

“Yes,” he said. Briefly, he looked at the deck and clenched his fists. “And one that results in as little collateral damage as possible.” He exhaled through his nostrils. “I understand that it is not an easy role to bear. But hopefully – ancestors be willing – we will not have to carry out anything you might imagine.”

He took a deep breath, then looked at Zaal. “Given what I just said, you and I will need to understand these aliens almost as well as we understand our own people. All our efforts could be undone by just one misunderstanding, or even one unintentional insult. So we can not leave anything to chance.”

“Understood,” Zaal said, looking at the ground, as if feeling the weight of the task before him.

“Now,” he said, “we all have our roles and duties. Soon, I will send all of you a list of deadlines for each of our goals, and in the coming weeks, I expect regular reports on your progress. If any of you have any questions or concerns, feel free to speak them now or in the future. But otherwise, this meeting is over. Keelah Sel’ai.”

His Captains nodded. “Keelah Sel’ai.”

As his Captains left the conference room, Rael faced the view of New Rannoch, clasping his hands behind his back. His mind drifted to the aliens living on his new home, to the first of their kind he would ever meet. From what he already knew, their species was a young race. So had it taken them years to travel to this world in a slow, lumbering colony ship like the earliest pioneers of legend? Did they believe they were alone in the universe? And if not, how would they react to first contact?

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Whether they greeted the quarian people with open arms, or with fear and hatred, he would be ready for whatever the future held.

----------------------------------------

In the residential district’s public park, Hannah Shepard was sitting on a bench, watching her boys play with the other children.

She smiled. As always, John was bursting with energy, having the time of his life, as he lead a group of kids in a game of bioti-ball. Just like his father, he made friends as easily as breathing, and she had no doubt that he’d become a great man someday.

She let out a contented sigh, then looked at Luke. Meanwhile, her other son was playing a less sporty game with little Jeff involving chalk and marbles. Unlike John, Luke was so quiet, so reserved.

Just like her.

She smiled. He was Jeff’s older brother in all but name, and every day, she was so proud of him. Briefly, she looked back to her own childhood, to when kids kept mocking her for her speech impediment, the same way many kids here mocked Jeff for his condition. Nearby, she spotted Jeff’s father – now fully recovered – waving at him, and she closed her eyes and let out a contented sigh. Jeff is a lucky, lucky boy.

For a moment, she relished the sounds around her. And yes, this was the perfect way to spend her day off.

She opened her eyes, only to see both her boys and Jeff talking to Lizzie – Logan’s daughter. And a dark, heavy cloud fogged her mind. Nearby, she spotted Lizzie’s mother Ana watching them, crossing her arms.

Looking at the ground, she sighed. Since Logan’s funeral a few months ago, Ana looked like she had aged ten years, as though life had squeezed the vigor out of her. This can’t go on. Yes, she had to talk to her. She had to put the shuttle crash incident to rest once and for all.

She stood up, then approached her, stopping just an arm’s length away.

Briefly, Ana glanced at her, then looked back at Lizzie. She let a frustrated sigh. “Oh…well if it isn’t our dear, old Governor.”

Inwardly, she winced at the venom underlying Ana’s words. Poor woman is tired, but still in so much pain. Briefly, she glanced at her boys, and now they were playing another kids game with Jeff and Lizzie, one involving a lot of running and jumping. Amidst it, Lizzie was running away from John, giggling. Lizzie squealed in sheer joy when John managed to catch her.

“Your daughter Lizzie seems to be having fun.”

Ana took a deep breath through her nose. “Why are you talking to me?”

“Because this can’t go on…” she said. She exhaled, then pursed her lips. “I know you have a lot you want to say to me, so if you need to, go ahead and say it. Get it off of your chest.”

Facing her, Ana scowled, then huffed through her nostrils. She looked away and wiped one hand down her face. “God, that day…that day was the worst of my life. It nearly broke me and even now I want to hate you, to blame you for everything that’s happened to me over the last few months.”

She gulped. “But?”

Ana took a deep breath. “But your boys…” Briefly, Ana looked at them. “They’ve been nothing but great friends to my sweet baby girl. Without them, I don’t think her sessions with Dr. Bhatti would have been anywhere near as effective. So…”

“So?”

Ana sighed. “Now, I just want to move on. I’m just so fucking tired and can’t hold on to this anymore.”

Briefly, Hannah looked at the ground. So she doesn’t hate me…

Suddenly, her head felt clearer, as if a dark, heavy fog had just dissipated in her mind. Her limbs felt lighter and more vigorous, as though relieved of a great weight. Inwardly, she smiled. But what about her? Could she even say anything to make Ana feel even a little bit better?

“Well,” she said, “if it means anything, I want you know that I never meant to destroy your family. I thought I made the best decision given the information available.” She sighed. “But I guess I still made a bad call. I’m sorry.”

Ana crossed her arms. Looking at the ground, she huffed through her nose, then slid her hand down her face.

“I need to go,” Ana said, her eyes welling with tears. Ana looked towards Lizzie. “Lizzie! Lizzie, come here sweetie!”

As soon as Ana said that, Lizzie and her boys stopped whatever game they were playing. After telling her boys something, she ran towards her mother. “Yes, mommy?”

“It’s time to go home,” Ana said.

“But wh–”

Ana hushed her. “No buts.” Ana held Lizzie’s hand. “It’s time to go.”

And then Ana walked away, her daughter following in hand with her head held low.

She sighed. Hopefully, both Ana and Lizzie would find peace. Hopefully, one day, Logan’s death will feel only like a distant, half-remembered nightmare.

“Mommy, mommy.”

She turned only to see John and Luke running towards her. Without hesitation, she knelt and gave them a warm hug. “How are my two little troopers?”

“Can you push on the swing?” John asked. “Pleeeeeaaase?”

She laughed, and her heart melted. “Oh, of course, I’d love to –”

Without warning, she received an incoming call on her comm-implant, with a window on her HUD displaying the Caller ID as her husband. With a thought, she answered it.

“Hey,” Mark said, “I know it's your day off, but…”

“But what?” Mark sounded so much more somber than usual. Her pulse climbed. What was going on?

“Right now, we’re facing an urgent situation,” he said, “and I’m going to need you in the mission control center. ASAP.”

“ASAP? What is it? What’s the problem?”

“You need to see it for yourself,” he said, “but let’s just say it’s a matter of not only this colony’s safety…but also the fate of humanity?”

Her eyes went wide. Her jaw dropped and she gasped. The fate of humanity? “I’m coming.”

She ended the call, then looked at her boys.

“Mommy?” Luke asked. “Mommy, what’s wrong?”

She took a deep breath, then pursed her lips. Oh, how was she going to explain this to them? “Boys…” She slid her hand down her face. “Boys, I’m sorry but we have to go.”

“But you said you’d push us,” John said, whining. John clenched his fists. “I don’t understand. This isn’t fair.”

“Yeah,” Luke said, “you said so, mommy. You said so.”

Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes and nearly lost her patience. But then she thought of Ana, of how she had just expected her daughter to obey. NO. She would not become an authoritarian parent.

“Boys,” she said firmly, “I know I said I’d push on you the swing. But just now, your daddy called me and said there’s something very , very important I have to do for the colony that can not wait.”

Both John and Luke’s eyes went wide as they realized the gravity of the situation.

She put each of her hands on one of their shoulders. “I promise I’ll take you to the park again soon. And if daddy comes, I promise we’ll push both of you on the swing as much as you like. OK?”

“Ok,” John said in a small, defeated voice.

Luke sighed, then hung his head low.

“Now come here,” she said, picking up John. As John clung to her, she held Luke’s hand with her free one.

During the walk back home, she sent their babysitter a message with her com-implant, telling her to come watch over her boys ASAP. And when she arrived, the babysitter was there, and she left her boys in her care.

Eventually, she made her way to the mission control center, and there, everyone seemed so tense. So many had such stiff postures, and she spotted a few even biting their nails, or looking down at the ground, holding their head in their hands. What has them so worked up? What could possibly involve the fate of all humanity?

Every second, her pulse climbed. Adrenaline rushed through her veins and she began to sweat.

Soon, her husband – clad in the grey-black uniform of a Colonial Militia officer – spotted her. “Ah, there you are.”

“What’s the situation?”

Mark huffed through his nose. Briefly, he looked at the ground. “I think Dr. Carlyle can explain it better than I ever could. So come, follow me.”

Mark lead her towards Dr. Carlyle’s station, close to the center's massive holo-screen abound with maps, charts, and other data. Meanwhile, Dr. Carlyle stopped working at his station, then nodded when he spotted her.

“Ah, Governor,” he said, “so good that you’re finally here. Let me fill you in on the situation.” Dr. Carlyle input a series of commands, and a window popped up on his terminal, showing a hologram of Seti’a Prime.

“Just over an hour ago,” Carlyle said, “atmospheric sensors detected… something in low orbit blasting signals which – after careful analysis – are undoubtedly of artificial origin.” Again, Carlyle input more commands into his terminal, playing them. And they sounded like a cacophonous mess. “The Colony VIs ran them through every algorithm imaginable, and yet…”

“They came up with nothing?” she asked.

“And since the next wave of colonists will not arrive for at least another thirty years,” Carlyle said, “I’m afraid the only logical explanation left is that whatever is blasting those signals is…”

“Alien in origin?”

A long silence ensued.

Alien in origin? Briefly, she looked down at the ground, her eyes wide, her mouth agape. After 150 years of finding nothing but prothean ruins, was humanity finally going to contact another intelligent species? Was human history about change forever? Or was it about to end in blood and fire?

“Could they be the protheans?” she asked. Yes, had they returned to this part of the galaxy after millennia of absence? Or was it –

“Dr. Carlyle!” somebody shouted.

“What is it?” Carlyle snapped.

“We have a visual on the object and…”

“And?” Mark asked

“It’s heading straight towards the colony.”

“Put it on the main screen,” she said, “and make the window as big as possible.”

On the main screen, a window popped up, displaying a view of the object. And she gasped, hardly able to move, hardly able to breathe.

The object was a ship, an elongated, purplish-blue hulk abound with white lights and blister-like protrusions. According to the accompanying numerical figures, the ship was also around twice the size of the solar system’s mightiest carriers or dreadnoughts.

“Oh god…” Carlyle said, covering his mouth as he checked his terminal.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Governor…” Carlyle said, looking at her, “the object, it’s hailing us. What do we do?”

She looked at the ground, and for a moment, time seemed to run at a standstill. All at once, the weight of human history - from when man first pondered his place in the universe, to now - bore down on her with enough force to crush her to dust.

She gulped. The fate of this colony – and maybe humanity itself – might very well pivot based on her decisions within the next few hours or days.

She looked at Carlyle, then took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “Patch it through.”