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The Proposal

Somewhere in the Far Rim

Captain's Quarter's, SSV Normandy

The captain's quarters of the SSV Normandy SR-1 were little more than a glorified office space. In fact, Commander Shepard's quarters were smaller than those of the rest of the crew; space was sacrificed for privacy. There were little amenities to speak of, besides a stainless steel desk shoved into one corner and a port side window to view the vast blackness of space. The majority of the room was taken up by a not-quite king sized bed, the mattress of which was flat and offered no support at all. Still, it did serve its purpose, and at the moment Shepard was very glad for it.

He lay in the darkness, feeling very comfortable and content, despite the bed. The deep thrum of the ship's element zero core vibrated through the walls; a rather soothing sound. This combined with exhaustion from recent activities, and Shepard could feel himself sliding beneath waves of sleep.

"Message for you in the comm room, Commander."

Shepard groaned. Say what you will about Joker, but the man was punctual. He could ruin a pleasant moment at the drop of a hat.

"Hope I didn't interrupt anything," the pilot added, and Shepard could practically hear him smirking through the PA. Shepard smiled himself. No, Joker hadn't interrupted anything, but it was a close thing. She had only just dozed off fifteen minutes ago.

Shepard rolled onto his side, ignoring Joker's page for the moment. With one hand he lightly brushed Liara T'Soni's cheek. The asari scientist was fast asleep beside him, also exhausted from recent activities. Her naked form was pressed close to his due to space restrictions- which Shepard did not mind at all at the moment. Even in sleep Liara was stunningly beautiful- by human standards, certainly, but also in an exotic sense. Everything from her sky-blue skin, which seemed to glow softly in the dark, to the sleek tendril-like folds that crowned her head managed to make Shepard's breath catch short. She was also intelligent, charming, and kind-hearted. She could be adorably naïve and clumsy in social situations, but she became a fierce animal on the battlefield (and in the bedroom). She was, in short, perfect. Should they both survive the coming Reaper threat, Shepard fully intended to spend a lifetime with her- well, his lifetime, anyway.

"Still waiting for you in the comm room, Commander."

With a sigh Shepard rolled onto his feet, stretching his tired muscles. The last thing he wanted to do right now was deal with some Alliance brass or alien politician who was still pissed off about the council's demise during the battle of the Citadel. Still, he also didn't want Joker sending some cadet up here to make sure Shepard was still alive. So he dressed quickly but quietly in the dark, not wanting to wake Liara. He paused at the door for one final glance at his blue angel, and then exited the room, leaving Liara to sleep peacefully.

* * * *

Liara was not sleeping peacefully. Truth be told, and although pride would never allow her to admit it during her waking hours, Liara was having a nightmare. Due to their highly advanced mental and near-psychic abilities, asari dreams are so incredibly vivid that, to any other species, they would be indistinguishable from reality. Unfortunately, that also applies to nightmares, and this one was particularly bad.

Liara could not see. She could not move, or breathe, or even think. She was cocooned in darkness so thick it seemed almost tangible. Every fiber in her body was charged with a fear so great it drowned any rational thought. Never before had she felt such terror; if she experienced it in real life it would probably drive her to insanity.

The darkness began to shift. It moved like a living fluid, slithering around her. A piece of it separated from the rest in front of her and began to take form. She sensed rather than saw its shining black skin, elongated head, and barbed tail. Thick ropy strands of saliva hung from its mouth as lips peeled back to reveal razor-sharp teeth, shining like silver in moonlight. The monster approached her. Liara tried to run but still could not move a muscle. The thing's jaws opened, only to reveal a second set of silver teeth. They slowly extended from the recesses of its mouth on a veined rod, so close she felt it brush her face. With its hands the monster clutched her arms, claws digging deep into her flesh, and finally Liara gained some control- she opened her mouth and screamed.

The scream followed her into reality as she forced herself awake. She bolted upright in the bed, hands clutched to her breast where she seemed able to feel a lingering pain. Liara cut the scream short before it could draw attention. Instead she squeezed her eyes shut and began to sob quietly, purging herself of the nightmare. Never before had she experienced one so horrifying or so real. As a child she had dealt with her share of monsters created by the imagination, but nothing like this. This one was different. All of it was terrifying, from the teeth to the claws. But the one detail that disturbed her so was one she didn't realize until later: the creature had had no eyes.

* * * *

Shepard climbed the curved staircase to the command deck. The bridge was nearly deserted, with only a skeleton crew at various posts. Their faces were orange from the glow of the holographic displays where they monitored the ship's various data. The CO's station was illuminated by the pale light of the galaxy map that floated in the center of the room. Shepard proceeded toward the stern of the ship and into the comm room. He stood expectantly in front of the projectors, which were dark at the moment.

Joker came over the PA. "Hang on sec, Commander. Patching it through."

One of the projectors sparkled to life with a beam of orange light. It swirled about itself, millions of points of light forming into an image of whoever was at the other end of the line. "Whoever" turned out to be a human- a thin man with a gaunt face, deep sunken eyes, and a high brow.

"Commander Shepard," the man spoke in hoarse tones. "It's an honor to meet the savior of humanity."

The flattery glanced off Shepard like a pebble off a ship's hull. "Save it, whoever you are. I hope you have a good reason for waking me." Rude, maybe, but Shepard hadn't defeated Sovereign and the geth by saying "please" and "thank you."

The man seemed amused. The projection jittered as he chuckled softly. "Of course, Commander," he said. "I know you're a busy man. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Karl Bishop Weyland."

This revelation had a slightly larger impact on Shepard, although he did his best not to show it. Karl Bishop Weyland was chief director of Weyland-Yutani Industries, one of if not the largest human mega corporation in the galaxy. He was also, as the name implied, a direct descendent of Charles Bishop Weyland, co-founder of Weyland-Yutani.

"I assume you've heard of me?" Weyland added hopefully.

Shepard shrugged. "The name rings a bell," he said casually. "Weyland-Yutani, right? The mega-corp.?"

Weyland nodded enthusiastically. "That's right, Commander. As I'm sure you know, Weyland-Yutani Industries is the largest human corporation in the galaxy. We produce everything from personal data pads to massive atmosphere converters for terraforming. We also fund and control nearly all of the human colonies in the galaxy."

Shepard squinted at the hologram in mock-puzzlement. "I thought ExoGeni currently held that title?"

Weyland coughed, clearing his throat. "That's what the competition would like you to think," he said with a trace of irritability. "But the truth is no one comes close to Weyland-Yutani in any area."

"That's all very impressive, Mr. Weyland," Shepard said in a bored tone, "But I hope you called for more than just an advertisement. I'm not doing any endorsements."

"Of course not, Commander. Our business is much more serious than economics." Off-screen Weyland manipulated some controls, and his image was replaced with that of a cruiser. Shepard recognized it as a Conestoga-class Alliance ship, an outdated model once used by the Colonial Marine Corps. It looked, for all intents and purposes, like a massive assault rifle. A forest of antennae and comm towers sprouted from the helm like needles.

"You're looking at the USS Sulaco," Weyland informed him. "Twenty years ago it was a top-of-the-line ship: kinetic rail guns, nuclear orbital warheads, MW point-defense lasers; all of it powered by a Westingland A-59 Lithium-Hydride Fusion Reactor."

"Impressive piece of hardware," Shepard commented.

Weyland reappeared in the projection. "Two decades ago it was, yes," he said, nodding. "But now it's nothing more than a derelict drifting through the Terminus Systems."

"What happened?"

"Glad you asked, Commander." Weyland brought up another image, this one of a small moon. "The Sulaco was sent to investigate a communications failure at Hadley's Hope, a Weyland-Yutani colony located here on the planetoid of Acheron LV-426."

"And?"

Weyland shrugged. "What happened there is a mystery. Once the Sulaco reached Acheron, no further transmissions were received. A second ship sent to investigate found the Sulaco missing and Hadley's Hope reduced to so much rubble and wasteland- decimated by a nuclear meltdown, apparently. A decade later, with still no sign of the ship or its crew, the Sulaco was assumed lost forever."

"Until now." Shepard was certain Weyland knew more than he was telling, but didn't pursue the issue yet.

"Until now," Weyland agreed. "A turian salvage freighter bumped into it deep within Terminus space. They were compensated for their discovery, but not allowed to bring it in. That's what I contacted you for, Commander."

The Commander crossed his arms. "I'm not an errand boy and the Normandy isn't a salvage ship," he said irritably. "I'm a Spectre in charge of an Alliance frigate. I have more important things to do than pick up your trash."

Weyland's temper broke, if only for a moment. "There's more to this than recovering metal scraps, Shepard!" he said, his projection reappearing. "Something happened on Acheron that resulted in the total loss of a Weyland-Yutani colony, as well as the disappearance of an entire platoon of Colonial Marines. That ship may be our only chance to find out what went wrong."

Shepard fixed Weyland with his steeliest glare. He didn't appreciate being shouted at in his own ship; he had gotten enough of that from the council. Weyland, however, didn't drop his gaze; he fully met Shepard's eyes. After a tense moment both men regained some semblance of composure.

"Why me?" Shepard asked, not quite snapping. "Why not a salvage crew?"

Weyland sighed, wearily rubbing his eyes. All of a sudden he looked very old and tired. "The turians picked up no life signs from the Sulaco," he said. "That means everyone involved with Hadley's Hope and the Sulaco is probably dead. There's an element of danger here that salvage crews are not prepared for."

He was right, Shepard knew. Colonial Marines were one of the most intimidating forces in the galaxy. It would take a hell of a lot to wipe out an entire platoon.

"I can promise you adequate compensation," Weyland added.

Shepard waved away the offer. "Forget it," he said. "This one's for free. I'll find out what happened to your colony."

"Excellent!" Weyland said, a smile breaking across his face. "I'll send the Sulaco's coordinates to your pilot."

"Fine," Shepard nodded. "But just remember- I don't work for you. I don't answer to you. If this turns out to be too dangerous, I'm pulling out. I won't risk my crew for a multi-billion credit corporation."

Weyland nodded, his smile replaced with grim determination. "Understood, Commander. And good luck."

With that he signed off.