Through the Motions
Day.06
The occupants of the mess hall looked up in alarm at Commander Carrine Shepard storming through, cursing under her breath until she reached her cabin. Kaidan paid no attention to her until he heard thumping noises through the steel wall behind him. He assumed she was kicking the hell out of her wall.
Hands began raising into the air, in the classic 'whoever's last to notice has to go in' fashion. Kaidan was too preoccupied with his console to notice and his plea of getting Dr. Chakwas were ignored. Sighing, he logged out of his station and knocked on the sealed doorway.
Carrine swore, pulling up her 'Tool and letting the door slide open. "What?"
"Requesting entry, Commander," he said. Carrine blinked at him then motioned for him to step in. She locked the door after he entered. "We uh...heard you slamming the wall-" that was an understatement, the wall had a massive dent in it - "and we were concerned, ma'am."
She snorted. "Fucking Council. Alenko, you can sit, I'm not going to kill you."
"Just being formal, ma'am." He was a bit uncertain, but took to her indirect order and sat on the chair across from her bed. "What happened with the uh...with the Council? If you can talk about it."
Carrine ran her hands through her hair as she stood. "They're scared shitless that T'Soni's on the ship. They think she might be working for Benezia." She snorted in a short laugh. "It's impossible. The girl's too rebellious against her mother. Too much resentment there for them to work together. That and there's some 'very important event' they're ordering me to go to. Fucking politics. I can't shoot politicians." She looked at him. "Why can't I shoot politicians? Why does that have to be illegal?"
Kaidan swallowed. "Uh, because they normally aren't armed and trying to kill you?"
"Gah!" she spat as she started pacing. "I can handle krogan. I can kill a squad of batarians with a pistol and my bare hands. And I can't deal with politicians. This is ridiculous."
"...a squad of batarians, ma'am?" Kaidan asked. Carrine froze in her footsteps, gaze pinned to the ground. "I'm sorry, Commander. I shouldn't have said anything."
She sighed, sitting back down on the bed across from him and resting her chin on her hands. "No. It's fine. I need to stop reacting that way."
"Ma'am, can I say something? Off the record?"
Carrine smiled a little. "Kaidan, I keep an open-door policy with my crew. If it's just you and me and it's not a debriefing, you can consider any conversation off-record."
"Not being able to deal with things is human, ma'am," he said carefully, not wanting to make her freeze up again. "You may be our Commander, but you don't have to have that guard up all the time."
Carrine was quiet for a few moments, thinking how best to respond. She was still uneasy about the fact she felt like she could talk to Alenko like a human being instead of Commander-to-Lt. "When Mindoir was attacked, my brother shoved me into the cellar with him and locked it. We were hoping that it was hidden enough that the batarians wouldn't be able to find it, but panicked 16 and 18 year olds weren't much of a match for two squads of armed batarian slavers." She swallowed, staring at her knees. "They smashed the hatch open, and we fought them tooth and nail. He drove a hammer into one's skull, and I grabbed that one's gun, but then one of the others shot him straight in the head. Dead instantly. I flew into a rage, shooting them with the one pistol I had, and I strangled the one that shot my brother with my bare hands. Anderson was the first one to find me, covered in blood and shaking, surrounded by batarian bodies. He pretty much adopted me. The rest isn't pretty, but it's history. I don't have a great past. I don't know why I'm telling you all this, but I get the feeling life didn't give you anything on a silver spoon, either."
She watched him as he tried to decide how to react from the story and her statement. "I went through BAaT, ma'am," he said, a little cautiously, "so you're right there. You either did well or you died with they way this one turian, Vyrnus, trained us."
"Well, you must've been on the same boat as a bunch of others. You couldn't have been there alone, found ways to...occupy your time."
Kaidan frowned. "There were others, and yes, we had our little group, but I don't do things like that lightly, ma'am."
"Hm. Pegged you right on that one," she smirked. "You're not telling me the full story, but it can wait. I gotta get this file sent to Anderson about the banquet thing. I don't know how this went from that to baring my soul." She looked down and started going through the datapad as Kaidan stood to walk out, but she called his name right as he opened the doorlock. "Alenko. Thanks."
He smiled back at her. "Any time, Commander." He walked back into the mess hall to stares from everyone. "What?"
"Dude," one of the engineers laughed, "you guys were in there for a while."
"Grow up."
The intercom buzzed above them, signaling for the midnight to come up deck and take over; Joker was the only person who worked both. Kaidan's 'Tool beeped right before he got into his sleeper pod. Carrine had sent a message to him and Joker:
'We have to go look pretty for the Alliance tomorrow. Dress blues and be at the airlock by 20.00. Get us to the Citadel, Joker.'
Hands began raising into the air, in the classic 'whoever's last to notice has to go in' fashion. Kaidan was too preoccupied with his console to notice and his plea of getting Dr. Chakwas were ignored. Sighing, he logged out of his station and knocked on the sealed doorway.
Carrine swore, pulling up her 'Tool and letting the door slide open. "What?"
"Requesting entry, Commander," he said. Carrine blinked at him then motioned for him to step in. She locked the door after he entered. "We uh...heard you slamming the wall-" that was an understatement, the wall had a massive dent in it - "and we were concerned, ma'am."
She snorted. "Fucking Council. Alenko, you can sit, I'm not going to kill you."
"Just being formal, ma'am." He was a bit uncertain, but took to her indirect order and sat on the chair across from her bed. "What happened with the uh...with the Council? If you can talk about it."
Carrine ran her hands through her hair as she stood. "They're scared shitless that T'Soni's on the ship. They think she might be working for Benezia." She snorted in a short laugh. "It's impossible. The girl's too rebellious against her mother. Too much resentment there for them to work together. That and there's some 'very important event' they're ordering me to go to. Fucking politics. I can't shoot politicians." She looked at him. "Why can't I shoot politicians? Why does that have to be illegal?"
Kaidan swallowed. "Uh, because they normally aren't armed and trying to kill you?"
"Gah!" she spat as she started pacing. "I can handle krogan. I can kill a squad of batarians with a pistol and my bare hands. And I can't deal with politicians. This is ridiculous."
"...a squad of batarians, ma'am?" Kaidan asked. Carrine froze in her footsteps, gaze pinned to the ground. "I'm sorry, Commander. I shouldn't have said anything."
She sighed, sitting back down on the bed across from him and resting her chin on her hands. "No. It's fine. I need to stop reacting that way."
"Ma'am, can I say something? Off the record?"
Carrine smiled a little. "Kaidan, I keep an open-door policy with my crew. If it's just you and me and it's not a debriefing, you can consider any conversation off-record."
"Not being able to deal with things is human, ma'am," he said carefully, not wanting to make her freeze up again. "You may be our Commander, but you don't have to have that guard up all the time."
Carrine was quiet for a few moments, thinking how best to respond. She was still uneasy about the fact she felt like she could talk to Alenko like a human being instead of Commander-to-Lt. "When Mindoir was attacked, my brother shoved me into the cellar with him and locked it. We were hoping that it was hidden enough that the batarians wouldn't be able to find it, but panicked 16 and 18 year olds weren't much of a match for two squads of armed batarian slavers." She swallowed, staring at her knees. "They smashed the hatch open, and we fought them tooth and nail. He drove a hammer into one's skull, and I grabbed that one's gun, but then one of the others shot him straight in the head. Dead instantly. I flew into a rage, shooting them with the one pistol I had, and I strangled the one that shot my brother with my bare hands. Anderson was the first one to find me, covered in blood and shaking, surrounded by batarian bodies. He pretty much adopted me. The rest isn't pretty, but it's history. I don't have a great past. I don't know why I'm telling you all this, but I get the feeling life didn't give you anything on a silver spoon, either."
She watched him as he tried to decide how to react from the story and her statement. "I went through BAaT, ma'am," he said, a little cautiously, "so you're right there. You either did well or you died with they way this one turian, Vyrnus, trained us."
"Well, you must've been on the same boat as a bunch of others. You couldn't have been there alone, found ways to...occupy your time."
Kaidan frowned. "There were others, and yes, we had our little group, but I don't do things like that lightly, ma'am."
"Hm. Pegged you right on that one," she smirked. "You're not telling me the full story, but it can wait. I gotta get this file sent to Anderson about the banquet thing. I don't know how this went from that to baring my soul." She looked down and started going through the datapad as Kaidan stood to walk out, but she called his name right as he opened the doorlock. "Alenko. Thanks."
He smiled back at her. "Any time, Commander." He walked back into the mess hall to stares from everyone. "What?"
"Dude," one of the engineers laughed, "you guys were in there for a while."
"Grow up."
The intercom buzzed above them, signaling for the midnight to come up deck and take over; Joker was the only person who worked both. Kaidan's 'Tool beeped right before he got into his sleeper pod. Carrine had sent a message to him and Joker:
'We have to go look pretty for the Alliance tomorrow. Dress blues and be at the airlock by 20.00. Get us to the Citadel, Joker.'