Encounter at Rashomon Valley (A Star to Sail Her B

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!" Garrus bellowed as he charged onto the Normandy, Shepard's limp form in his arms, Mordin hot on his heels. Thane dashed ahead, opening the elevator doors. Grunt, Jack, and Tali brought up the rear. The commander was deathly pale, clad only in her under-armor athletic bra, leggings, and trickles of blood.

As the door closed behind Mordin and Garrus, the rest of the landing party screeched to a halt, looking at the steel doors like so many lost children. The silence between them was palpable, broken only by the frightened whispers of the confused crew.

"What happened?" Kelly Chambers asked, eyes wide.

They looked at each other, then at the doors again. Grunt held Shepard's armor reverently, cradling it close. Tali's faceplate sank into her hands, head bowed, shoulders shaking. Thane's palms were pressed together in silent prayer. Jack paced, a steady stream of quiet obscenities trailing behind her.

Kelly swallowed hard. Joker's voice over the intercom breached the soft murmur of whispers and expletives. "What's going on? Are we staying or running? Anyone? Commander?"

The elevator doors opened. Garrus stepped out and cleared his throat hard. "Joker, get us the hell out of here."

"You got it." The comm clicked off and the ship lurched as the mass effect drive engaged.

Garrus looked at the pale faces of the nearby crew. "I need everyone to focus on the task at hand. The commander is going to be fine. She's getting patched up now. Let's all concentrate on getting us to safety." He looked at the landing party. "Briefing room. Now."

----

It was Garrus' turn to pace. There were splashes of red blood on the front of his armor, a few strands of red hair caught on his eyepiece. He looked at each teammate in turn, then cleared his throat again.

"Mordin and Chakwas are working on Shepard. They've stopped the bleeding, but her temperature is still dangerously high. She's in a cooling bath to keep her from..." His voice faltered, then hardened. "They're working to prevent any further damage."

Tali stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. "Garrus, you should go be with her."

Garrus shook her hand off, turning away abruptly. "What I need right now is to know what the hell happened down there. How did that go so fucking wrong?"

Tali flinched slightly, then steadied. "I think we're all trying to figure that out."

The turian whirled, fire in his deep blue eyes, glaring down at the smaller quarian. He stopped himself, eyes closed. One hand covered his face. After a few deep breaths, his hand dropped back to his side limply.

"Garrus, go." Thane looked at him, then the rest of the team. "We could use an impartial party to recount what happened. Perhaps then we can figure out precisely what went wrong." The others nodded.

Garrus nodded in return and turned to the door. Before he stepped out, he turned to Tali. "Thank you," he said softly. Tali nodded silently in reply.

The door closed behind him. Grunt broke the silence. "So, who do we talk to?"

"There's Miranda..." Tali began.

Jack cut her off. "No. Fucking. Way."

"...or not."

Thane stepped forward. "Yeoman Chambers is the ship's counselor. Perhaps she would be a good choice."

"OK. She works." Jack hopped down from her perch on the table. "Wait... weren't the two of you..." She made a somewhat obscenely suggestive motion with her hands.

Thane cocked his head. "Not to my recollection..." He sounded a little bemused. "We spoke over coffee once."

Jack shrugged. "OK, then. How do we do this?"

"I will inform her of our wishes. I think everyone should return to their quarters and meditate on what happened. Attempt to achieve clarity." He bowed his head. "I am sure Garrus will keep us informed about the commander's health."

They filed out of the room silently.