***Garrus POV***
After docking the shuttle, Garrus headed straight to the Command Center. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He had asked Maenia to send Dr. Lang a message. However, the message never went through. She kept getting an error message.
"Nihlus," Garrus greeted as he entered.
Nihlus was already at the console, typing away furiously.
"Tell me you can reach them," Garrus continued, taking a seat beside him.
Nihlus shook his head. Garrus growled softly and took over the console.
"What happened?" Nihlus asked, leaning back in the chair as Garrus got to work.
"We took the shuttle and docked," Garrus began. "No issues, but there was a human and an asari waiting. They didn't look happy to see us. Their attitude made it clear that Dr. Lang and Ka'li were supposed to arrive alone.
Staying was not an option."
"I'm surprised we didn't get shot down," Garrus continued. "I don't think sending Maenia with me was a good idea. It might have gone better if only one of us had accompanied her."
"Yes, well, Maenia was sent to keep you company," Nihlus answered, standing up.
"Just in case you were allowed to stay," he added as an afterthought, pacing.
"I don't need Maenia to keep me company," Garrus muttered.
Aster is enough, he wanted to say.
"You think the good doctor would take care of your needs?" Nihlus asked, amused. "That would be fun to see. Heck, I'll pay to see that. I can't imagine how that would work."
"I wonder if there is a manual or something...aren't humans way too squishy? How would that even work? Maybe I should try it..." Nihlus muttered, deep in thought.
Even though Garrus knew the answer to all of his questions, he kept it to himself. Answering would only give him away.
"Has there been any word from the sleepers?" Garrus asked, changing the subject.
He quickly glanced at Nihlus before looking away.
"No word," Nihlus replied, shaking his head. "It's been two weeks. I normally wouldn't be worried since the sleepers all check in at abnormal intervals, but now that we can't reach Dr. Lang and Ka'li... It can't be a coincidence."
"I just hope that Dr. Lang's cover hasn't been blown," he softly added. "I'll let the Councilor know of the situation."
Garrus narrowed his eyes; he was in agreement. That wasn't normal. Something must have happened.
**A few minutes later**
"Anything yet?" Nihlus asked, pacing around the Command Center.
"All we know is that they are inside," Garrus replied, typing away at the console. "I'm recalibrating the devices to ping their location. I've upgraded the communication devices to filter out any interferences."
"Let me know when you have something," Nihlus said, continuing his pacing. "We can't lose them. I've sent a message to the Council."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure they are found," Garrus replied, turning his attention back to the monitor once more.
"What's going on with you and the doctor?" Nihlus asked, coming to stand behind him.
Garrus slightly hesitated; he wanted to tell Nihlus, but something told him it was probably not a good idea. Garrus knew that Nihlus wasn't known to be fond of humans. In fact, the whole crew knew about his disgust. The only reason he allowed a human on board was because the Council ordered him to take the human and asari to a covert mission on Juxhi.
"What do you mean?" Garrus asked, acting like his attention was on whatever he was typing on the console.
"Why did the human have your scent on her?" he clarified.
"Did she?" Garrus answered with a question. "I hadn't noticed."
"My crew noticed," Nihlus continued. "Nyreen noticed."
Garrus shrugged and kept typing.
"They even saw you taking her snacks," he continued. "Human snacks."
Garrus kept his silence. He couldn't tell him that he had originally bought the snacks for Aster. He couldn't tell him that Dr. Lang was Aster.
"Fine, keep your secrets. Just don't be upset when Nyreen comes and finds me for dinner and dessert."
Keep her, Garrus wanted to say, but he kept his silence once more.
Nihlus chirped at him but otherwise didn't press the issue. While Niglus continued his pacing, Garrus focused on recalibrating the devices. If there was one thing he knew he was the best at, it was calibrations. He may not be the best Tech on board, but something was wrong with the code.
Not only was the code not working, but it also seemed like the code kept changing every few seconds. The changing code was only making it harder to get a lock on. Not to mention, it was making it extremely difficult to try to hack it at the same time.
Garrus wasn't going to quit; he had promised Dr. Lang that the Captain had a plan to get them out, and he wanted to make sure he followed through on that promise.
The next couple of days were the most intense Garrus had felt in a long time. Not only was he unable to filter out the interference, but he was also unable to establish any kind of communication with Dr. Lang. Surely, she had gotten the message he had sent her. He hadn't received an error message, not like Maenia had received when she sent the first message.
The message contained a code that would allow him to connect to Dr. Lang's omni-tool directly without having to go through all the data from the outside. It would be very helpful in this situation. He just needed her to receive his messages.
Garrus sat in front of the monitor for five days with no communication from Dr. Lang. He sent her countless messages, but never got anything in return.
"Anything yet?" Nihlus asked for the 100th time in the last 5 days.
"Nothing," came Garrus's reply for the 100th time as well.
"Find them!"
"Working on it," Garrus muttered, frustrated. He couldn't believe his expertise in technology was of no use in this situation.