Human Amongst Aliens Chapter 2

    “Selria, by the goddess you are crazy.”

    “I’m not crazy. I’m serious about this.”

    Once the Asari team returned to their vessel, those who were waiting for them were shocked by what Selria had in her arms. Almost as soon as the Asari saw the strange looking creature questions were bombarded on Selria, but only for a moment.

    Because in less than three minutes, the baby was taken from her by the ship's medical officer.

    “Oh for-Selria, we don’t know what that thing even is. It could just be an animal! You have no idea what it is and yet you want to take care of it?” Irenia asks as she sits next to her friend.

    Since the baby was taken, Selria has been forced to remain in the barracks the entire time. Taking the baby off of the shuttle like she did was a serious breach of procedure. Irenia was also reprimanded, but not as seriously. She is in the barracks to only speak to Selria.

    “He’s not an animal! I don’t know how but… But I just know he isn’t. When the techs check the ships navicomputer and find out where he’s from, you’ll see that I’m right. His race is an intelligent race. Maybe not as much as us, but his body is similar enough to ours he has to be intelligent enough to at least talk,” Selria states as she looks at the door.

    “There are a lot of creatures in the galaxy with a similar body structure. That doesn’t mean that they are as smart as us, or are even sentient in any way. You really need to get your head on straight Selria,” Irenia states with a sigh. “Just because your daughter is moving out soon doesn’t mean you should adopt this new thing.”

    “Don’t call him a thing! And it’s not because my daughter’s moving out and starting her life. I was the one who heard him crying, I was the one who found him. And when I held him, for some reason h stopped. I wish to help him and I just, ugh, how long do they need to look over the little guy?!” Selria shouts as she jumps off of the chair, slamming her fist into the wall.

    Sleria feels Irenia’s hand on her shoulder. She expects her to insult her, but she doesn’t. “Selria, I get why you are upset. But just being angry won’t fix anything. Let’s say you do have the chance to adopt him. When you try to do so, do you really want everyone to know you went ballistic and crazy as someone hopped up on Red Sand when you couldn’t see him?”

    “I… No, I don’t. But I don’t think it’s right that I can’t go and see him. Take me there under guard, have me in holocuffs, do what you want. I just want to see him,” Selria states as she leans against the wall. “I just wish I knew if he was okay.”

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    Farther down the ship, crying can be heard from the medical bay. If one is to look inside, one would see many asari in full airtight medical suits, and a pale white, nude infant being tended to in front of them.

    “I hope we finish soon. I hate wearing these suits. I’m boiling up inside this thing,” one of the asari states as she records on her omnitool the weight, height and other dimensions of the infant in front of them all. “Shouldn’t the batarian ship have some information? If we could see what they have this would probably go a lot faster.”

    “You know how the techs are. They like to do everything slowly. It’s as if they fear doing anything swiftly. I don’t know why they aren’t sent to the mess hall for a month. But enough chit chat, let’s just examine this little fella,” the lead asari says as she pulls out a syringe.

    Slowly she pierces the infants arm, though she is careful to do so gently. But the moment she does the infant starts screaming once more, as loud as its little lungs will allow.

    “He’s got a set of lungs doesn’t he?” the asari using the omnitool says as she winces from the noise. “Will you need to do that again?”

    “No, I have what I need. I only needed a little bit to begin with,” The lead asari states as she places the blood sample, then puts the vial into a scanner. “Hm, red blood. I don’t think I have seen that before.”

    “Ma’am, I don’t think anybody has ever seen anything like this sort of creature before,” the other asari states as she puts that bit of information into her records.

    Now that the blood has been taken, the lead asari gently picks up the child and places him onto another table with a scanner above it. After backing away and pushing a few buttons, the scanning commences.

    And while the scanning is going on, the asari decide to have a little chat.

    “So, any guesses about whether it is levo-amino or dextro-amino? I don’t know about the lot of you, but I’m guessing levo,” the lead asari says as she looks at the still shouting infant.

    The omnitool asari glances at the infant while she presses some symbols appearing on it.“No idea. I don’t guess without some sort of information.”

    “You’re no fun.”

    “Bite me.”

    Their banter however is cut short by the arrival of another asari.

    “Sailors, attention!”

    Without a seconds delay every asari in the room stands straight as possible. Every asari on board knows that voice.

    “Commander, what brings you here?” the lead asari asks, still standing at attention as the commander walks in front of them, looking at the infant in the scanner.

    “Well let’s see. I might be doing a weekly check, though as I did one of those yesterday that’s probably not it. Or, I could be here to ask your progress on the research on this little creature. Which do you think it is?” the commander asks from within her suit, her voice brimming with sarcasm.

    The lead asari looks down from the stupidity of her own question. “My apologies commander.”

    The commander does not look back at the asari. Instead he eyes continue to be on the infant in front of them. “What do you know of it so far?”

    Looking at the omni-tool asari, the lead one motions for her to speak to the commander. “Um, well, as of yet not that much. We only just started tests and scans, and those might take a while. We only know for sure that it’s male, and appears to be less than a standard month old. Though the age at this point is conjecture, seeing we don’t have anything to compare this infant with.”

    Continuing, she says, “We have taken a sample of its blood to check for any diseases and whether it is levo or dextro amino based.”

    Upon saying that, her omni-tool gets a message which she reads immediately. “Well, apparently it’s levo-amino based, so that’s good. Should be able to digest at least some of what we eat in that case.”

    The commander, while she asked, isn’t listening as the subordinate goes on about other facts. Instead, the commander is thinking about other things.

    Of all the ships that could have come across those slavers, it had to be mine. Now I’ve got a weird undiscovered species here, a crew member who totally ignored protocol in bringing it aboard, and I bet anything that by now someone on this ship has snuck a message back home about this, the commander thinks.

    And the Council. Oh by the Goddess when they hear about this they’ll be up everyone’s asses. Mine, my crew, anyone who is possibly involved will be spoken to by their agents. Sure, I get why’d they be concerned. The last two species we’ve come across, the Krogan and the Rachni were so violent we killed off one and nearly killed off the other. After that they’ve gotten a little apprehensive about other races.

    But this little guy? I got no clue what will happen to him. I know that the Salarians will be interested in him. Those big eyed weirdos are curious about anything and everything. The Turians will want to know about him as well. Anything that might be a threat, they’re all over it as soon as possible.

    But it’s my kind, the Asari, that worry me most. We’re as smart as the Salarians, and wary of enemies as the Turians. Though unlike the Turians who shoot fast talk later, and the Salarians who seem content to lock up that which they want to learn from, we’re more clever. If we could we’d use this little fellow for whatever would be best in the Council’s eyes. And whatever they’d do would not go well for this guy.

    I can guess how this will go. We’ll do what we can here, a ship containing agents from the Citadel will come, and they’ll take him. Selria will be pissed when that happens. She’s not the only sailer here who has a child, but she is very motherly. Whenever she’s been on assignment and sees a child, she bonds with them almost immediately. She’s a natural at it.

    And, if she was a human instead of an asari, she might have a light bulb appear over her head from her new idea.

    “So as you can tell, there’s a lot more we are yet to discover. But we will be certain to keep you up to date on-”

    “Keep me alerted on everything that happens,” the commander says while she makes her way out of the room. “And send a report of everything we have to High Command as soon as possible.”

    “Uh, yes, commander. We will do so at once,” the lead asari says right before the commander leaves the room, to head towards Selria.

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    “Guard, please, at least let me know how he is doing. Can you do that much?”

    “Orders are to stay here, nothing else. I don’t even have any information to give you.”

    “By the Goddess Selria, stop it. You’re just becoming a pain in the ass at this point.”

    While Irenia has tried to calm her down, her efforts have not been all that successful so far. The most she has gotten Selria to do is stop shouting. But while she hasn’t shouted, she has continuously tried to leave the barracks and get to the child.

    “Irenia,” Selria states as she turns to look at her friend, “I need to know how he’s doing. Since he was taken away I haven’t been told anything.”

    Irenia places a hand on the shoulder of her friend. “I know that, remember? I’ve been here with you the entire time. But you really need to calm down. I’m sure he’s fine.”

    “He’s doing well. Save for his screaming, that is,” that familiar voice says upon entering the barracks.

    “Commander!”

    All three asari quickly salute their commander, though Selria obviously isn’t exactly happy to see her. Her salute is what you might call half-hearted. If it was any asari other than the commander she wouldn’t do a thing.

    “Guard, you may leave. Irenia, you too. I want to speak with Selria alone,” the commander states as she locks eyes on Selria.

    One of the guards eyebrows raise, confused by such an order. “What? Commander, earlier you said that-”

    The commander stops the guard from saying another word. “I know what I said. Now I’m saying I wish to speak with her alone.”

    Not wanting to protest against the commanders order, the guard leaves outside of the barracks at once. Before Irenia does so however, she pats Selria on the shoulder and says, “Goddess be with you.”

    As soon as Irenia and the guard are gone, Selria starts speaking. “Commander, I-”

    “Silence,” the commander says sternly, causing Selria to shut up immediately. “Sit down.”

    Not wanting to get even more on the commander’s bad side, Selria does exactly that. As she does so, the commander moves in front of her, her arms folded over her chest.

    “Do you have any idea what is going to happen now? To me, to the ship and crew? To you?” the commander asks, glaring her eyes at Selria.

    Following a sigh, Selria says, “The Council being up everyone’s asses even more than usual?”

    “This is serious, Selria. I’ve already sent a message to military High Command, telling them what happened. We will no doubt hear back shortly. As soon as they know what happens, we can expect that the infant will probably be taken away from here,” the commander states, causing Selria to get to her feet.

    “Commander, I know I shouldn’t have brought aboard the infant without going through proper procedures, but please don’t let them take him away. They’d treat him like he’s a test, or an animal. He doesn’t deserve to be treated like that,” Selria states adamantly, but without raising her voice.

    The commander can guess where Selria is going with this, but she decides to ask anyway. “And what would you do, if you had the power? This is a new species we know nothing about. He might be as intelligent as us, more so, or possibly as dumb as a varren. I don’t know anyone on this ship who’d be qualified to take care of him, learn from him, and do everything that needs to be done.”

    Without so much as a seconds hesitation, Selria speaks with great determination. “I will!”

    But the moment she says those words she regrets it. She does truly want to help the little guy, but the commander is right. They know nothing about it. It would be awfully hard to take care of something no one knows anything about. Not to mention how she has no idea how her wife will react to this. She did mention wanting another child, but Selria doesn’t know if she’d take to adopting an unknown species.

    “And do you think the other Council races will permit one lone asari to look after him all on her own?” the commander asks with a smirk.

    “I… No, they won’t. But that doesn’t mean I won’t try and take care of him. Maybe we could come up with an arrangement or something, but I want to be the one to take care of him,” Selria says, her eyes locked with her commander. “I don’t know why. But I want to take care of him.”

    “You do know that you’re time on active duty would be cut, correct? While your wife is there, no one would let just one lone turian be responsible for a new species,” the commander reminds Selria. “And you’ve got your daughter to keep track of too.”

    If there is one thing Selria loves as much as her family, it would be her career. She has thought about maybe putting in for a transfer to be closer to Desellix and their daughter, but that would delay her plans for advancing higher into the ranks. Eventually she hopes to reach the rank of general.

    However, if she ever had to choose, she would pick family first any day.

    “I’d do whatever I need to do to take care of him,” Selria manages to say. “I wouldn’t like to leave my career, but it means I’d be able to take care of him, I will.”

    It is then that the commander does something that Selria wasn’t expecting. She smiles. “Well then when the Asari, Salarian, and Turian representatives get here, you tell them that.”

    Selria’s jaw drops at once from hearing that. “What? They’re already on their way here?”

    “It will take a few days for them to arrive, but yes. I got the message on my way here from medical. The Salarians, Turians, and our government are interested. Before anything is decided though, their representatives will see the child themselves and discuss it here, and submit a proposal,” the commander says with a smile. “If you want things to go your way, you mostly have to be careful about the Salarian rep. The Asari one will probably support you, obviously, as will the Turian.”

    Selria raises her eyes at that. “What? Why would the Turians be alright with the Asari raising him?”

    “Because the Turian who’s coming is an old friend of yours. And so long as you’re smart about it, he’ll probably support you,” the commander says as her omni-tool lights up, drawing her attention. “I have to go now. You also are permitted, for a short time, to head to medical and see the little guy.”

    Selria gives her commander a very grateful salute, and quickly leaves the barracks. She keeps her composure while the commander is within earshot, but as soon as she believes nobody can hear her, she runs as fast as she can to medical, to see what she hopes will eventually be her new son.

    She arrives there quickly, seeing asari taking off their medical suits. As soon as Selria appears, they notice her.

    “Selria? Aren’t you supposed to be confined to the barracks?” the lead medical tech asks her once she takes off her suit.

    “I’ve been given permission from the commander to see the new arrival. You can speak with her yourself if you need to have confirmation,” Selria states, though she knows she probably won’t check. The punishment for lying like that would be so huge no one would risk it. “Do I need one of those suits to see the child?”

    “No. We used them as a precaution, but we know there’s no harm since neither the child nor any of us are sick. You can go see him,” the tech says, pointing to where the child is.

    Selria smiles from ear to ear and quickly heads towards the proper direction. Before long, she finds the child covered with a blanket, and a pillow under its head. The eyes of the child look reddened, probably from crying a lot.

    Poor thing. Instead of being in a soft bed with its parents, its here in this huge, traveling chunk of metal, Selria thinks while looking at the tired child. Well, you don’t have to be frightened now. I don’t know where you came from, I don’t know your name, but I’ll do whatever I can to help you.