Author's notes:

I've never written any fanfic before but the Mass Effect universe really inspired me. These characters and the story just shaped itself, I'm only trying to keep up with them. Thanks for reading!

Special thanks to BioWare, who owns Mass Effect

Chapter 1

A square orange light blinked at an alarming rate on the console to her right and without shifting her gaze away from the window, Rhova Lyft reached over and made a swiping motion to turn off the proximity warning. Instantly the light went out and in the distance there was a muted clicking noise, followed by a hiss, as a port airlock unsealed. With her gaze trained on the leftmost window, Rhova stood motionless for a long moment as she watched for any signs of movement. Scans had shown there were no life signs on the other vessel, however she had not survived this long out in the Nemean Abyss without learning to be being cautious.

Queuing up a destination on the nav computer, Rhova synced her omni-tool with the main terminal before flicking through commands to lock the console. Satisfied that should anything happen to her aboard the other vessel she could remotely command her shuttle to leave, she left the cockpit.

Outside the cockpit, the modified cargo area was small but still large enough to accommodate Rhova's needs while she was away on missions such as this. An assortment of boxes were stacked neatly alongside both sides of the room so it formed a narrow walkway from the cockpit to the back of the shuttle, with space left clear to access the airlock. On the stern side of the shuttle was another door, this one lead into a small cabin that served as sleeping quarters. Large enough for a single bunk and tiny bathroom, it suited Rhova to a tee.

In the cargo area, Rhova picked up a pistol she had prepped and readied from atop a battered crate and set it into holster clip on her right hip. She then picked up the other gun she had readied, a heavy shotgun which she holstered over her shoulder, the subtle weight of which set her mind at ease; it had gotten her out of more than one tough jam. The last item she picked up was slim glossy black club, no longer than a foot in length, and this too she holstered into place beside the shotgun.

Out of habit more than necessity, Rhova double-checked the fastenings of her helmet before she approached the port airlock. Tapping her security code into the numpad, the interior door slid into the wall and Rhova stepped into the space beyond. As she punched her code into the pad on the other side, the interior door slid quickly back into place and there was another hiss as all the air was pumped from the room, readying for the vacuum on the exterior. Taking a deep breath through her mouth, Rhova exhaled slowly through her nose as the exterior door pulled back to reveal the void beyond. She held her position for a full minute before she took the few steps that would put her onto the other vessel.

The airlock door on the other vessel was closed but Rhova knew it meant nothing. On her approach, she had seen the hull breach along the port side and knew from her scans there was no atmosphere left aboard the other ship. However, she did need to get the airlock open in order to board so she brought left hand up to activate her omni-tool. Fortunately, she had some of the most advanced hacks money could buy installed on the tool, which allowed her to have the seal open within a few minutes.

There was no sound as the airlock door pulled back and no sign of movement beyond. In fact, Rhova thought with a frown, in the absolute darkness that lay beyond, there was no sign of anything. Living in habitats, on space stations or aboard cruise ships, a person could easily forget about the darkness of space; for Rhova, it was just another circumstance of her job. Prepared for most any eventuality, she tapped a button near the temple of her helmet and the area in front of her was immediately illuminated as three bluish-white lights above her faceplate switched on.

The light reflected off particles of dust and floating debris, as she cautiously crept along the corridor leading to the interior of the dead ship. Without conscious thought, her pistol had made its' way into her hand, however instead of holding it in a defensive stance, Rhova kept it pointed downward parallel to her body as she passed through the hallway. At the end of the hall, she paused to bring up her omni-tool again - cautious to a fault - she performed another scan of the ship and referred to the ships' blueprints in order to determine her route. Her destination was two decks above and with no power, the elevator was not an option. Locating a service ladder closest to her current position, Rhova made for that.

It was a silent and uneventful climb but on emerging onto the officer's deck, Rhova remained in a crouched position as she tried to peer into the black void beyond the reach of her lights. Quickly she consulted her scanner again before she stood and moved across the large room that had once functioned as a common area but was now a barren space devoid of anything other than a few cushioned benches and a couple abandoned data pads.

Outside the common room, Rhova began to examine the doors that lined the corridor, looking specifically at the small letters stencilled approximately half-way up.

Barren, A. Lt

Steman, M. Cpt

Avers, T. Lt

Bingo, this was it.

Triggering the manual override from the access panel, Rhova physically slid the door open and stepped into the lieutenant's room. The pale glow of her helmet lamp revealed a bed centered against the opposite wall, a small table with two chairs and a desk wedged between a closet and the outer wall. Any personal items had been removed and there was nothing that might indicate the room had been once occupied. For a moment a curse hovered on the tip of Rhova's tongue. Had she come all this way only to find out that scavengers had stripped the derelict vessel clean? But as a frown creased her brow, she reminded herself that the ship was in too good of condition for it to have been stripped by scavengers.

The likely hiding spot was the closet but from what Rhova had learned about the lieutenant, he seemed too smart to use the obviously place. Glancing around the sparse room, her gaze settled on the bed. It was standard issue Alliance furniture, which meant it was bulky but sturdy enough to last a generation - or two - if needed. Bending slightly, she placed her hands on one corner of the mattress and used the slight bit of leverage to shove at the heavy cushion, pushing it from its' place, but the box form beneath the mattress was solid with no sign of a compartment in the space revealed.

Undaunted, Rhova placed a booted foot on the side of the mattress and pushed with her full weight. Sliding to the floor in a silent motion, the mattress lay discarded in a heap as she bent angled her head toward the bed frame to examine the flat surface in the dim light of her head lamp.

A less observant person might have missed the faint marks on the dull surface but Rhova knelt until her gaze was even with the bed to get a closer look. What looked to be scratches was in reality a small rectangle plate set into the bed frame. Dragging a finger over the plate, she could see no way to open the compartment and unfortunately, her gloves prevented her from using her fingers to pry it open. She reached over her shoulder and detached the slim club she had holstered there earlier. Gripping the club tightly, she flicked a small button near the top with her thumb in order to release the hidden blade collapsed within. A small vibration rippled up her arm as the dagger was released from the club in a glint of steel. Extending the same length as the hilt, it was a thin piece of metal honed to a deadly sharpness, a dangerous weapon in the hands of right person. In this instance Rhova did not intend to use it against an enemy but as a tool to pry open the cover.

She carefully pressed the tip of the blade into the crack along one side of the plate and put pressure on it until the cover flipped open. Lying in the bottom of the tiny compartment was a chip, no bigger than her thumb. Rhova allowed herself a pleased smile but as she reached into the compartment to withdraw the data stick, a warning beep echoed inside her helmet and simultaneously the light of her omni-tool started to flash on her left forearm.

Her eyebrows pulled downward in a frown as she checked the output on her omni-tool, her fingers dialled through the menus quickly as she accessed her shuttle's sensors. There was no mistake; the sensors had picked up on the FTL signature of an approaching ship. A quick calculation showed that she had only 3 minutes before it arrived.

Hastily Rhova retrieved the data stick and secured the chip inside a pocket fashioned into the breastplate of her armour as she exited the cabin. Less cautious now that haste was of importance, she retraced her steps back to the maintenance ladder. With only a brief glance down the dark tunnel that was the access space, Rhova placed both feet onto the ladder for only a few seconds before she let go to fall to the floor below. Before she could hit the walkway that separated the decks, she flattened her palms out alongside her body and summoned a biotic barrier to cushion the impact. With only a pause to allow herself a deep breath, she moved to the next maintenance access and repeated her actions to descend to the floor below.

Back on the same level as the airlock, Rhova spared a moment to glance at the countdown clock on her omni-tool.

1:45

Damn. They're travelling faster than I expected.

But there was no time for panic. Instead of running through the dead ship as her instincts urged her, she fell back on her training. Rushing would only lead to mistakes - mistakes she couldn't afford to make. With another deep, steadying breath, she carefully and deliberately strode back along the corridors to the airlock.

Upon reaching the airlock, Rhova accessed her omni-tool and dialled up her shuttle's remote engine access. She punched in the code to start up the vessel's engine, as her mind registered the fact she only had 57 seconds remaining before the unknown ship arrived. Accessing the security lock outside the shuttle, she opened the exterior doors on the shuttle. With time so tight, the twenty second decontamination cycle felt like an eternity but it was a process that couldn't afford to be bypassed.

By the time the interior door hissed open, Rhova had already synced her omni-tool to the drive controls and was in the process of activating the co-ordinates for her destination. Pressing the wall button to open the door to the cockpit, she quickly slid into the pilot's seat. The screen in front of her flickered to life at her presence, the confirmation screen for the destination "Cartagena Station" written across the screen as the console waited for her access code. Typing in the command, she had only a moment to glance out the port window one last time before the engine roared to life and they made the transition to FTL.

Rhova felt a moment of regret that she couldn't have covered her tracks within the derelict vessel, however it was of greater importance to retrieve and escape with the information than to prevent anyone from knowing that she had retrieved it. It was just as unfortunate that her engine's energy signature would leave a clear trail for anyone to follow, but if luck was on her side she would arrive at the station within a couple of hours and once there, it would be easy to mask the trail of her shuttle among the many ships that docked at the hub. Her only worry now was whether or not her contact would be ready for her arrival.

Finally allowing herself a moment to collect her thoughts, Rhova reached for the clips that secured her helmet and released them in a series of quick flips. Free from the stale air inside her suit, she inhaled deeply, relishing the semi-fresh air inside her small ship. Sweat had matted her short hair into tight curls along her temple and neck, and Rhova shook her head vigorously to unstick the clinging strands.

She punched her contact's number into the comm channel and schooled her face into her most serious expression. She leaned in close to the screen and spoke in an even, controlled tone as she left a message on the recording service. "Thaisa, hope you are ready for travel. I'm about an hour and forty minutes out from Carta and will be looking for you at The Fringe."

As she closed the comm channel, Rhova leaned back in the pilot seat with a grimace. The message would barely reach Thaisa ahead of her arrival and there would be no time for her to resupply before departure. She could only hope that Thaisa would be ready and waiting at the bar as she had asked and hopefully have a ship already to pass through the Nemean Relay.

With little more than an hour left to prepare for her arrival at Cartagena, Rhova had no time to relax. Standing she rolled her shoulders, stretching them to the limit her armour allowed before she entered the cargo area. Quickly, efficiently, she rummaged through several of the crates, selecting a particular item or two before she closed the crates and put them back into place along the hull. Piling her selected items into a smaller carrying case, Rhova took everything she would need when she left the shuttle. With this mission nearly complete, she didn't know when she would be returning to the small ship.