Quarian Directives

 

Stretching and yawning, Miranda threw off the covers. Strange, she had gone to sleep at her normal time, and she normally woke up feeling refreshed. But for some reason, today she was feeling fatigued. Like she'd been up all night working or... or something else.



"Need to take my shower," she thought to herself, "then get a nice big cup of coffee." Throwing on a simple outfit, she stepped out of her office and made her way down the hall. Sometimes she envied Shepard and her own personal restroom. When the Cerberus engineers were designing the new and improved Normandy, she'd done her best to make a few suggestions, but apparently a full-sized bath would have been too hard to accommodate for her quarters.



No matter. The Normandy was going to be stopping by the Citadel for a much needed rest and recuperation for the crew, and Miranda already knew what she had in store for her: the penthouse suite of the most expensive hotel she could find, a nice bottle of chilled champagne, and a long, luxurious soak in a warm tub.



"And maybe a little companionship, too," said a wicked little voice in her head. But she dismissed it. Part of her had considered celebrating the success of their mission against the Collectors with another visit to the iPartner chats. Even if her bastard of a father had made sure her primary reason for those encounters was pointless... what would it hurt to have a little fun once in a while?



But no, she thought as she entered the women's facilities. While she wasn't a prude when it came to casual sex, it often carried more headaches with it then it was usually worth. No, best just to make her leisure time her own.



She yawned once again as she yanked the t-shirt she wore up over her head. Dammit, why was she so tired this morning? She thought back to the previous night, trying to remember if she had awoken during the evening.



Do you understand my instructions?



"Yes," she said under her breath to the voice she had heard in her head.



"Yes, what, Miss Lawson?" said a voice behind her. Miranda gasped in shock and turned around to see Samara enter.



"Nothing, just..." Miranda shook her head. "Just talking to myself."



But she wasn't. She had been responding to... to what? The voice she'd heard just then had seemed so real, and she had answered it without question. But as she tried to focus on it, tried to place whose voice it was, it seemed to get fuzzier and fuzzier in her mind.



If Miranda was betraying any of the confusion she felt on her face, Samara didn't acknowledge it. With that same grace she performed every action with, the asari Justicar began unfastening the clasps on her armor, carefully placing it on the floor as she slowly disrobed.



Shaking off her confusion, Miranda continued undressing as well. Glancing over, she saw that Samara was now completely naked. Bent over her clothing, she had her backside displayed to Miranda, and Miranda caught a glimpse of the asari's bare crotch.



"Strange, how similar their biology is to ours," she thought to herself. When Samara straightened up, Miranda quickly averted her eyes. The asari stepped into the shower area and triggered the spray, water streaming down her bare blue skin.



"It's scaly," Miranda thought as she watched Samara run a bar of soap across her slick, glistening body. "Never noticed that before. Wonder how it feels to touch it..."



"Miss Lawson?" Samara said, as she looked over at Miranda with a slight smile. "Am I in your way? These facilities are somewhat compact, I know, but I believe there is room for both of us here."



"Room for... of course," Miranda said, letting out a nervous laugh. For a second there, Samara's words have brought an image to Miranda's mind. Of she and Samara under the same shower, each of them with a bar of soap to lather the other with. Their breasts pressed together as they both huddled under the warm spray, blue against pink, as Samara's alien hands gently reached down to...

Banishing the images from her mind, Miranda cautiously entered the cramped shower area and turned her back to Samara, forcing herself not to glance over her shoulder as she turned on the faucet to her own shower head. She tried to focus on her own hygiene, but she couldn't help picturing the naked alien behind her. Images of Samara stroking and rubbing her sizable breasts, cleaning off every last particle of dirt and grime. Clean enough to lick...



With a rapid jerk, Miranda switched off the shower. In her haste to leave, she stepped back into Samara, and the brief contact of bare flesh hit Miranda like a jolt of electricity. "Sorry," she quickly exclaimed, as she rushed to towel herself off and dress.



Dashing out of the bathroom, she nearly bowled over Jack on her way in. "Fuck, cheerleader," Jack snarled. "Just because you turned from Cerberus's lapdog to Shepard's doesn't mean you..."



"Jack, I'm seriously not in the mood," Miranda snapped. "So do me a favor and don't say another word to me right now."



Jack raised a finger, opening her mouth to continue the tirade of obscenities, but nothing came out. Miranda stared in confusion at the tattooed psychopath as her eyes went wide. Glowering, Jack opened her mouth again, but again she said nothing. Miranda turned to walk away just as Jack started rubbing at her throat.



"Well, that was strange," Miranda thought to herself, but her thoughts about Jack were quickly dashed away by a mental image of Samara's wet, soapy tits. Grimacing, Miranda began walking faster, trying to get as much distance from the area as quickly as possible.



* * *



A few hours later, at work at her terminal, she tried to put the incident out of her mind. But as soon as she would concentrate on the important tasks of helping to run the Normandy, another flash of blue skin would jump unbidden into her mind.



Just as she was unconsciously re-envisioning that sight of Samara bent over, ass and pussy bobbing temptingly in front of Miranda's face, she heard a chime on her terminal. "Miss Lawson, it's Garrus," said the voice from her desk. "When you've got a second, could you stop by the forward battery? I've got a few things I wanted to go over with you."



"Of course," Miranda said, glad for the distraction. "I'll be there in just a minute."



Stepping out of her office, Miranda hung a left into the mess hall. And again, she felt that strange feeling of disquiet she had been having lately whenever she was around the crew, all of them looking up from their meals and smiling cheerfully at her.



At first, she had just chalked it up to the relief they had all felt over the dangerous suicide mission finally being over. Most of them had been minutes away from death when she and Shepard had shown up to pull them out of those pods, and it was only natural that their spirits would be high.



But that had been a month ago, and she would have thought that euphoria would have passed by now. Not only that, but there was something... strange about their near-constant smiles. Something behind their eyes that Miranda couldn't quite place. Conversations seemed to stop whenever Miranda entered a room, and although the entire crew was still friendly to her, she sensed an anxiousness to most of them. As if they were all impatient for something to finally happen.



And then there was a few days ago. For once, two of the crew hadn't noticed she was around, and had continued their conversation while Miranda listened in.



"...almost time..." she'd caught one of them saying. "...only five left..."



"...begins soon..." the other one had said, her voice dreamy and blissful. "...she will punish the transgressors..."



Miranda had questioned them about it, but both of them laughed it off, claiming to be talking about a vid series they both followed. But the way they stared at Miranda, waiting until she was gone before continuing their conversation, made her think that something more was going on here.



But, as long as it didn't interfere with the operations of the Normandy, Miranda supposed it didn't matter. She passed through the silent, smiling group without comment, but then noticed one conversation still going.

"...know this place on the Citadel," said Jacob, as he smiled at the woman sitting across from him. "Serves up a steak to absolutely die for. You do eat meat, right?"



"Uh... yeah," said Kasumi hesitantly. "Yeah, of course I do."



Jacob glanced up at her as she passed by, and Miranda made sure to give them both a smile. Jacob relaxed as he saw her expression, giving her an appreciative nod at the silent sign of approval.



"Good for Jacob," she thought to herself as she made her way to the forward battery. "Just hope she's not just angling to steal his credit chit out from under him."



The door to the forward battery slid open, and Miranda stepped inside to find Garrus in his usual spot. "What can I do for you, Garrus?" she said as she entered. The turian turned away from his terminal to face her.



"Just wanted to give you a status update on the repairs," Garrus said, holding out a datapad for Miranda to view. "We're nearly up to full capacity, but I'm probably going to need a few more parts when we hit the Citadel. I know it's a lot, but if there's any way we can get the credits..."



Miranda looked at the list and nodded. "I think there's still a few more secret Cerberus accounts I have access to. The Illusive Man may like to make people think he knows everything, but I'm sure there's some contacts out there who haven't gotten word that we've gone rogue. I'll see what I can do."



"Thanks," Garrus said, his mandibles twitching in a way that seemed to approximate a turian smile. "The Reapers won't know what hit 'em once I've got these guns up and running at 100%."



"Your hard work is much appreciated," Miranda said. She started to leave, but something caused to pause. Before she even knew she was speaking, she asked, "So, any big plans for our break on the Citadel?"



"Zakera Ward, the upper markets," Garrus said. "Who knows, if you can swing enough credits, maybe I can flash my chit around on the Presidium Commons, get some of the really heavy-duty stuff."



Miranda laughed as she leaned against a workbench, crossing her arms under her breasts. "Not that. I was just curious what you do for fun."



Garrus seemed a little surprised at the sudden personal turn in the conversation, but laughed good-naturedly, "What, you're saying buying lots of big guns isn't fun? I've known turians who taken dates on a shopping spree of the Palaven weapons markets."



"And you, Garrus?" Miranda said, cocking her head. "Where do you take your dates?"



"I... uh..." the question shook Garrus's normally casual demeanor. Nervously chuckling, he said, "Well, you know... between being a vigilante on Omega and fighting off Collectors at the center of the galaxy, haven't had much time for a social life, I'm afraid."



Miranda frowned. "A pity. Because I'm sure there's a lot of ladies out there who would be thrilled to take a tour of those markets with you. Maybe even a few here on the Normandy," she sauntered over to his terminal and moved in close, standing about a foot away from the suddenly very flustered turian. Tossing her hair, she batted her eyes at Garrus. "You ever thought about asking one of them?"



Garrus's mouth opened and closed several times, his eyes darting around the room in sheer panic. "Um... well, that's the problem with working with a former Cerberus crew. Illusive Man doesn't attract a lot of attractive turian ladies to his service, unfortunately."



"Just turians?" Miranda said, her hand drifting over the console toward Garrus's. "You've never considered... other options?"



"Once," Garrus blurted out, as he yanked his hand off the terminal away from Miranda's. "But she didn't... I mean doesn't... uh... Miss Lawson, is this really appr..."



Both of them jumped as the door to the forward battery slid open. "Am I interrupting something?" Diana Shepard said as she saw Miranda leaning in close to Garrus.



The sudden arrival of Shepard snapped Miranda back to reality, as she realized what she had just been doing. "No!" she exclaimed, a little too loudly, as she jumped away from Garrus.



"No, nothing at all," Garrus just as quickly said.

"Well, I'll go see if I can get those credits for you, Garrus," Miranda quickly blurted out, as she dashed for the door. "Thanks again for all the repairs, goodbye!" she shouted over her shoulder as she fled away from the room.



As soon as she was back in her office and at her desk, she clasped her head in her hands. What the hell was going on? First she was ogling Samara in the shower, and then she was flirting with Garrus. It would be one thing if she'd just gone a little too long without companionship and started eyeing up a human or two on the ship. But the aliens?



She had always told herself that it didn't have anything to do with any prejudice on her part. Just because she was a member of Cerberus, and had fought to secure more power for humans in the galaxy, didn't mean that she hated aliens.



Before, when he had been using her iPartner encounters to attempt to find a suitable breeding partner, there was no point in visiting the "Cross-Species" subforum. And even if she'd been looking for more than just a sperm donor, there was something about mating with an alien that she found... unsettling.



So to suddenly have these sorts of thoughts flashing through her mind, thoughts that she would have found distasteful before, was confusing the hell out of her.



Before she even knew what she was doing, she found herself navigating to the iPartner site. For one brief moment, her pointer hovered over the "Cross-Species" option, before she quickly swiped over to the "Humans" section. Within five minutes, she'd chosen a man, almost at random, and set up a date for her off-time on the Citadel.



"It's just hormones," she said to herself after she was finished. "Even a perfect genetic specimen has their breaking points, Miri, and you've just hit yours. You've been without for so long that you're seeing sex everywhere."



But even as she assured herself, she found herself thinking about her encounter with Garrus again. That cute way he had gotten flustered when he realized what Miranda was suggesting. She wondered who the lucky human was that Garrus had had his eye on before. What sort of woman would be the type to turn the head of a turian? And what would he do to that woman if he got her alone and...



"Dammit!" Miranda exclaimed. "EDI, how long until we reach the Citadel?"



"Approximately 15 hours, Miss Lawson," replied the voice from the ship's AI.



Miranda had a feeling it would be the longest 15 hours of her life.