Samantha's Angel versus the Demon
Chapter 1
Bioware owns the rights to all characters other than Samantha.
Continuation of my story Angel: The Rebirth of Samantha Shepard, which covers the events of Mass Effect 2. Samantha is a red haired adept with green eyes, colonist whose parents died to batarian slavers when she was five, sole survivor from Akuze, Ashley died at Virmire, romanced Miranda, and Massani was the only death at the collector base. AU with dialog, Miranda's storyline, and the ending, while still following the general plot.
Samantha Shepard woke in a cold sweat. She pulled herself out of bed and sat on the side, staring into the darkness.
"Massani? Why have nightmares about him? I hated that guy..." But she knew the answer. She pulled him into the mission that killed him, just like Ashley on Virmire, just like her team on Akuze. She caused their death in one way or another. Her subconscious gave her nightmares about each and every one of them. She ran her hand through her hair and looked at the clock. 3 AM. Three hours before she liked to wake up. Four hours before James brought her breakfast. She put her head in her hands, massaging her temples.
She'd been in military 'lock up' in Vancouver for six months now, ever since she condemned hundreds of thousands of batarians to death by destroying a mass relay. She did it to delay the Reapers, but since the council was still in denial about the Reapers...she found herself in a low level military holding area, awaiting sentencing and possibly a court martial. Luckily it was a fairly large cell, with two rooms and a message terminal.
"Angel..I could really use you now." Shepard used her endearment for her lover, Miranda Lawson. She hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in months. She really needed anyone...Liara, Tali, Kasumi, any of her friends. Simple contact during her rem cycle would make sure she slept soundly. In lock- up, there was no one. Almost no one. A flash memory brought a smile to her face. Her best night of the last six months, roughly a month after she was locked up.
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"Shep?" Someone said, very close to her ear. Shepard slowly came awake.
"Wha..." She started to get up, a hand gently closed over her mouth, holding her down.
"It's me...Kasumi." The hand pulled away from her face.
"Kasumi? Kasumi!" Shepard reached for her, pulling herself out of bed. Kasumi gave her a big hug.
"Quiet, Shep. It's good to see you." Shepard could barely see her in the dark. "I've brought you a birthday present." Kasumi told her in a whisper.
"Kasumi, my birthday was months ago." Shepard said quietly.
"Sorry it's late." Kasumi backed away from her.
And then she saw her. Miranda walked to her from the corner. "Miranda!"
"Quiet, Sam. You know Kasumi and I are both wanted by the Alliance." Miranda wrapped her in a tight embrace. Sam kissed her head.
"I'll leave you two alone." Kasumi disappeared around a corner.
"I'm going to owe Kasumi a big gift for her birthday this year." Samantha said before meeting Miranda's lips in a fierce kiss.
"She spent the last week figuring out how to get in this place. She's amazing." Miranda told her, sliding her hands under Sam's shirt. "You should file a complaint about the amount of dust in the air ducts."
Sam allowed her to pull her nightshirt off. "I've missed you terribly, Miranda."
"Me too, Sam." She brushed her hands over Samantha's nipples. They immediately stood to attention. "Are you sleeping ok?"
Shepard didn't want to tell her the truth. Miranda needed to be worried about herself and her sister, not her tendency to wake up from nightmares. "I'm doing ok." She was stroking Miranda everywhere, as if trying to map her contours.
"Sam..." Miranda didn't believe her lie. Sam pulled her into another kiss.
"I'll be alright, Miranda. I promise." Miranda looked at her with concern for a minute, shook her head, then returned her attention to Sam.
"Maybe I can give you something to dream about." Miranda pulled back and unzipped her suit. Sam helped slide it off her shoulders.
"You always do." Sam told her as Miranda slid her suit over her hips, then Sam helped pull it off her legs.
"We have to be quiet. The guards are still making their rounds." Miranda said, pulling Sam back up into a kiss.
"I'll do my best." Shepard told her with a grin. Miranda slid her hands down Sam's hips, pulling down her underwear on the way.
Two hours later Kasumi returned to drag Miranda away. Shepard thanked her profusely, swearing to make it up to her someday.
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Shepard smiled to herself and pulled on some pants. She put on some gloves and walked into the next room where a punching bag was installed. James Vega added it to her room after she complained about getting out of shape. She originally thought wearing herself out would help her sleep. Now she just beat on the bag out of boredom.
Two hours later Shepard checked her messages wearing a towel. Her friends knew her messages were screened, so they couldn't reveal much. Being out of the loop was killing her, but it was still nice when she got a message.
Sam,
I miss you.
Love, A
Shepard smiled. Miranda sent messages from a different public terminal every time, and always signed them A. Shepard had an emergency link she could use to contact her if necessary, but she wasn't supposed to use it for something as banal as telling her she loved her. It made her sad.
Miranda didn't trust her encryptions to hold up against Cerberus or the Alliance, so they kept everything anonymous, and one way. Anything out of the military compound where she was held would have a trace attached. Shepard requested a pardon from Anderson for everyone on the SR2, including Miranda, but Anderson said his hands were tied. Shepard assumed his hands would stay tied unless she found some way out of this mess. Her next message was troubling, though not because of the content.
Samantha,
When are you going to propose to my sister? I know you're in the clink and all, but you really should consider it. She's on the run from two different massive organizations, and could use some stability in her life.
I know you guys are head over heels in love with each other, and she doesn't think the bond would make any difference, but it will.
Don't worry about me. I sent this from a public service terminal far from home, and bounced it between several different systems.
-O
Shepard frowned. Oriana, Miranda's sister, might have done a good job disguising the source, but Cerberus was very determined. Shepard hoped this didn't come back to haunt her. As for proposing to Miranda, that would have to wait until she was out of this place at the very least.
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Shepard watched a young boy play on a nearby rooftop. She didn't really have any duties while she was in lock-up, so she spent a lot of time staring out windows.
James came in and saluted her. Lieutenant James Vega, built like a truck, he had to work out several hours a day to keep his body bulging. He always saluted her, though she didn't have an official rank any more.
"Commander." He told her.
"You're not supposed to call me that, James."
"I'm not supposed to salute you either, Commander." Shepard couldn't help but smile. He was a good kid, and had a bright future if he played his cards right. A bit of a chip on his shoulder, but nothing bigger than she had at his age. He hit on her occasionally, but he wasn't overbearing. He must have pissed someone off to get guard duty on her. Shepard was sure he would prefer to be somewhere on the front lines.
"Need anything?" Shepard asked. The clock said just after nine.
"The Council wants to see you, now."
"That sounds ominous." She said before following him out the door. Very ominous.
Anderson met her as she exited lock-up and they headed to the Assembly chamber together, passing Kaiden on the way.
"Kaiden." Shepard nodded at him.
"Shepard." Kaiden said back. Shepard could tell he still held some animosity towards her, just because she worked for Cerberus to destroy the collectors. Nothing's changed since Horizon.
Once facing the Council it was obvious why they summoned her, they finally had irrefutable evidence in the form of a video feed from London. Reapers!? Already here!? I thought we had more time... And now they want me to solve their problem.
"Now you want my help? You could have been preparing for months!" She laid into them with more vile than necessary, but six months in lock-up tends to offend.
"But what do we do to stop them?" One of the councilors asked.
"Stop them!?" Shepard scoffed. "It's too late for that now! We're talking about survival..." She was interrupted by a rumble from outside the building. Everyone turned to look through the large windows behind the Council. For a moment nothing was apparent, then they saw it.
The clawed limbs of a Reaper dropped from the clouds like a huge hand reaching towards the earth. Then the shell opened up and fired up its main weapon. Shepard yelled and started running away from the windows. Soon after the Reaper blast shook the Council chamber, smashing the windows and tossing desks and chairs asunder. Shepard found herself air-born briefly before slamming into a wall, dropping to the floor heavily.
She woke to dead silence. The explosion knocked out her hearing. She shook her head, then pulled herself up and looked around. The windows were blown out. Every desk, chair, and monitor was smashed. Her hearing began to return with a faint wind noise. She heard someone say something, but couldn't understand. Anderson appeared. He'd been calling her name. Outside they could see flaming comets falling everywhere. Finally her hearing returned.
"Here." Anderson told her, handing her a pistol. Shepard took it, searching for more clips. None were to be found. The door was covered with debris, so they were forced to jump out the windows onto framing outside. Anderson made contact with Kaiden and James and was trying to join up with them. Shepard's heart jumped a little when she heard that they were on the Normandy. They were going to meet in the harbor. She and Anderson jogged along the metal framework to a slanted beam ahead.
Shepard watched one of the flaming comets hit the ground, only to see several husks and some other creatures emerge. "What the hell?" She said. Anderson jumped to another building on the way to the harbor. Several husks climbed onto the balcony ahead of them. Shepard didn't even use her gun. Her biotics wiped them out. It felt good to throw warps again.
They found a way inside and down to street level. Close to the harbor they came across a pair of Alliance soldiers.
"Our gunship took a hit and crash landed on the other side of this wreckage." They pointed over something that was twisted enough to make identification impossible. "I pulled Davies here from the ship and over here to hide. There are several of those creatures over there."
Shepard looked over to see no husks, but several of the other creatures that emerged from the comet. They looked vaguely batarian due to the number of eyes, but they were twisted and larger.
"I'll take care of them, stay down."
As Shepard moved to a better vantage point she heard the men ask Anderson if she was 'The Shepard'. Ahhh, the price of fame.
There were almost ten of the creatures. After a few shots from her pistol it was obvious they could take more than a pistol shot to the head before going down. It took several minutes to take the entire group down. It felt good to be back in the mix. She returned to Anderson and the troops.
"Our gunship is right over there. We didn't have time to activate the beacon. Davies here even dropped his assault rifle." The trooper told them.
Shepard and Anderson headed to the downed gunship. Anderson tossed Shepard the rifle before setting the beacon active. He notified Kaiden of their location, but the call was cut off.
"Lieutenant!? Do you copy?" Anderson only received static. "We're in the harbor next to a downed gunship. We're activating its beacon." Nothing but static. "We have to hope something made it through." Anderson told her as he set the beacon active.
"The Reapers must be blocking the signal." Shepard told him. "Look out!" She yelled, pushing Anderson towards some cover. A fireball landed nearby, releasing several of the batarian things. Shepard took one out, then watched in horror as several others started eating the corpse. "Yuck. Cannibals." Even less pleasant, the cannibals who ate gained a barrier of some sort. Shepard concentrated her fire on any that were eating, quickly creating a pile of corpses.
"I'm out." Anderson told her.
She checked both guns. "Me too." She continued to warp and shockwave the stragglers until a second fireball landed to release another large batch of cannibals. Shepard looked behind them for a suitable escape, but unless they wanted to start swimming they weren't going anywhere. The harbor covered the horizon behind them. "Run back to those troops, Anderson. I'll keep them distracted so you can escape."
"The hell you will, I'm staying with you." Anderson told her. Shepard growled before throwing another shockwave, sending several cannibals flying. It was the only thing keeping them away at the moment.
"Damnit, Anderson! Go!" Shepard yelled.
"The cavalry is here!" James announced through their omni tools. Shepard watched happily as the Normandy made the save, wiping out the cannibals with a single blast. Several burning cannibals flew over her head. Shepard gazed longingly as her beloved Normandy settled down next to a rafter they could climb. She hopped up and ran up the rafter, leaping onto the holding bay door of the Normandy, where James and Kaiden were standing with weapons out. James handed her a couple clips.
Anderson ran up the rafter and stopped. Shepard held out her arm to him.
"Head to the Citadel." He told her.
"You're not coming?" She asked.
"I'm needed here." As they watched several shuttles swooped down to pick up random troops and civilians. Shepard saw the small boy she'd seen on a rooftop climb into one of the shuttles.
"Then I'm staying too." Shepard told him.
"Head to the Citadel! We can't win this alone. We need help!" He yelled over the blast of a nearby Reaper.
"You can't tell me what to do, remember?" She told him.
Anderson fished her dog tags out of his pocket and tossed them to her. "You're reinstated, Commander! Now go!" He turned and ran towards the shuttles.
Shepard watched him for a few seconds before turning to James. "Let's go." As the bay door closed she watched the shuttle with the boy blasted by a Reaper. Her head dropped as she entered the cargo bay.
"Welcome back, Commander." She heard the familiar voice over the speakers.
"Joker?" She asked. "The Alliance let you rejoin?"
"The one and only. For some reason the ship wouldn't fly straight without me at the helm."
"I'm guessing EDI had something to do with that." She smiled.
"Naw, I'm just that good." Joker returned.
"Admiral Hacket would like a word with you in communications, Commander." EDI told her.
"I'll take you there, Commander." James led her away.
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"Mars? Why are we heading to Mars?" James demanded as they headed to the command deck.
"There's a prothean artifact there. We need information from it." Shepard told him.
"This is loco! We need to fight! Drop me off somewhere!" He said.
"The Citadel is next. You can catch a transport there." She said dismissively. "For now, suit up. We don't know what we're going to find down there." James growled and stalked to his locker.
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After landing on Mars they came upon a group of Cerberus troops.
"Cerberus! What are they doing here?" Kaiden asked.
"I don't know." Shepard answered. She saw Kaiden looking at her from the corner of her eye, but decided not to comment. She waited till a couple troops lined up then let loose a shockwave. The Cerberus squad didn't last long.
"Not much of an assault group." Kaiden said.
"They would need a much larger force to take a facility this size... unless they have someone on the inside." Shepard said.
They entered the airlock and started the equalizing process.
"Shepard,." Kaiden asked. "I need a straight answer. What is Cerberus doing here?"
"What makes you think I know anything about what they're up to?" She told him.
"You worked for them. They brought you back to life. How am I not supposed to think you're still in contact? Hell, you're practically married to one of their top officers." Kaiden sounded angry. Mention of Miranda caused Shepard's anger to flare in return. She pushed it down so she didn't snap at Kaiden. She had to find a way to get him back on her side. She leaned against a wall. James was trying to stay neutral, but she could tell he was tense.
"Kaiden, I haven't spoken to Cerberus since I destroyed the collector base, more than six months ago. We didn't separate on very good terms. I stole the Normandy and handed it over to the Alliance, after all." She looked directly into his eyes. "And that officer I'm 'practically married to' has been on the run from both Alliance and Cerberus for all of the last six months, so leave her the fuck out of this."
"Commander Shepard's been under constant surveillance in military lock-up. There's no way she's been in contact with Cerberus." James came to Shepard's aid.
"Sorry, Shepard. It was hard to see you working with them, and it's going to take some time to accept that you're back." Kaiden told her.
"Kaiden, you know me better than most." Shepard looked at him closely before starting the elevator into the facility. "Please trust me."
They entered a garage area that was devoid of activity. They looked around for a few moments before muffled gunshots drew their gaze upward. They were coming from some ductwork near the ceiling. The shots continued for a few moments before a vent was kicked out. An asari in a white jumpsuit leaped out the hole, running a few paces away. As several Cerberus troops climbed out of the duct after her, the asari created a singularity, sending them into helpless drifting. She shot them as they floated. She turned towards the squad and Shepard instantly recognized her.
"Liara?!" Shepard motioned her group to lower their weapons.
"Shepard!" Liara ran over and gave her a quick hug. She looked over to Kaiden. "Nice to see you too, Kaiden."
"Dr. T'soni." He nodded to her.
"This is Lieutenant James Vega." Shepard introduced her other squadmate. "Dr. Liara T'soni."
"Ma'am." He said.
"Lieutenant." She nodded to him, then turned back to Shepard. "There are more coming, and we need to get to the other end of the facility."
"What's so important here?" Kaiden asked.
"A prothean device. Or blueprints for a prothean device, that will help against the Reapers." Liara told them.
"Really? Hidden on Mars all this time?" Shepard was surprised.
"Yes. We believe..." Liara was interrupted by sound coming from the door to the facility.
"Cerberus." Shepard said, pulling her pistol from her back.
"Bring 'em on!" James said. Facing the door.
"James, head back to the shuttle. I need you to cover our backs." Shepard told him.
"What?!" He demanded.
"You heard me. I need someone in that shuttle as backup. Think you can handle that, Lieutenant?" Shepard met his glare. He growled and headed back to the airlock. Shepard looked over her remaining team. Three biotics was far from ideal, but it was good to have both Kaiden and Liara back. "Let's go."
The large door opened and they faced down the troops. Liara was a little rusty, but her biotics were a nice complement to Shepard's. Singularities were warped almost as fast as they appeared, flinging the Cerberus lackeys left and right. The battle was over quickly.
Investigation showed that someone opened the airlock to the main facility, killing all people inside almost immediately.
"Cold." Shepard said.
"Yes." Liara agreed.
Further investigation revealed the culprit as a new scientist Dr. Eva Core. They found video footage of the crime.
"There's your inside man." Kaiden said.
"Looks that way." Shepard agreed. More Cerberus troops appeared to pull them away from the video footage. Soon after they made a gruesome discovery.
"Ugg." Kaiden said.
"What is it?" Shepard walked over to where he was searching Cerberus troops for ammo.
"Look." He pointed to a centurion without a helmet. "You knocked off his helmet with a warp."
The Centurion's face was blotchy and dark, but the disturbing part was the bright blue pattern around the eyes, and within the eyes themselves. It was very similar to the patterns on a husk. The glowing eyes stared lifelessly.
"Yuck." Shepard said. "So much for humanity." Shepard grimaced.
"Is this what they did to you?" Kaiden asked her.
"How can you even make the comparison?" Shepard demanded.
"Shepard, I don't know what you are, or him. You were spaced, and fell through a planet's atmosphere to the planet below. No one survives that. And yet here you are... You say Cerberus rebuilt you. For all I know, you were both rebuilt using the same technology. The Illusive Man could be controlling you."
"If, as you say, The Illusive Man is controlling me, why would he allow me to slaughter his troops? Or steal the Normandy? Or destroy the collector base? I've done quite a few things that The Illusive Man is not happy about." Shepard tried not to glare at him.
"He could be waiting for the best moment to assume control." Kaiden said.
"What can I possibly do to convince you I'm still me?" Shepard asked, exasperated.
"I don't know." Kaiden answered. The answer hung in the air between them.
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Kaiden watched Shepard closely during their fight through the base. She sure fights the same... Her preference for warp and shockwave was prevalent. She's even better at shooting than she was...before. He watched in awe as she shot another Cerberus troop through the small slit in the shield he held. As much as he tried to remain guarded towards her, respect was creeping into his mind. After respect came trust. He couldn't allow that to happen. Not until he was sure.
He glanced over at Liara. She had always been close to Shepard. Once he was jealous of her, assuming she and Shepard were an item. Kaiden had foolishly demanded Shepard pick between the two of them, with Liara in the room. Shepard was shocked at his demand and immediately denied anything more than friendship with the asari. The most obvious evidence to support her claim was Liara's lack of outrage when Shepard denied the allegations.
The most confusing part was soon after Virmire, where Ashley sacrificed herself so he could live. Kaiden gritted his teeth at the memory. Shepard had been devastated. Soon after she was seen leaving Liara's area in the early mornings. And Liara was seen leaving the captain's quarters on occasion as well.
Now Shepard is in a well-known relationship with the Cerberus bitch, Miranda Lawson, and Liara greets her like an old friend, not a jilted lover. Liara was either the best actor he'd seen, or there really wasn't anything between them. Kaiden was baffled.
They finally flattened the last Cerberus troops, and arrived at the prothean artifact. Shepard signaled him to sweep the area. He started around the circular room.
The artifact itself was large, with a circular walkway surrounding it. Liara was accessing a terminal nearest the door, but Kaiden noticed another structure on the opposite side of the artifact that might contain another terminal. He quickly ran to check.
He jerked back towards Shepard when he heard the vid comm start up. The Illusive Man! He recognized the smoking bastard from across the room. Shepard talked to him for only a minute before cutting the connection.
"He was trying to distract us from something." She said. "Kaiden, keep searching!" He shook his head in irritation, quickly resuming his sweep. I shouldn't have let myself become distracted.
"Someone's deleting the data! There's someone in the system!" Kaiden's search became more frantic with Liara's exclamation. He reached the other terminal to see the doctor that killed everyone accessing the terminal.
"Back away from the terminal!" He demanded. She glanced back at him before continuing her work. He closed in on her, readying his weapon.
"Back away now!" He demanded, finger twitching over the trigger. He wasn't fast enough. She moved with lightning speed, faster than a human. He felt the blow but didn't really see it.
Kaiden woke to see Shepard sprint past him. He found himself on the floor against the wall. He pulled himself to his feet and started after Shepard. Liara was just behind him. His chest ached and he was dazed but kept up the chase, seeing the doctor several feet in front of Shepard. She was peppering the doctor with pistol fire and warps, but she did not slow down. They ran through doors and scrambled up ladders in pursuit.
The doctor made it to a rooftop landing pad and hopped into a Cerberus shuttle, lifting off before they could reach it. Kaiden immediately fired upon the shuttle, knowing he couldn't damage it enough before it was gone.
"Damnit!" Shepard yelled. "James! Cortez! Normandy! Anyone!"
"I got this one." James announced through their comm link.. Kaiden watched as the Normandy shuttle swooped in at a steep angle, clipping the Cerberus shuttle just enough to slam it into pad, where it burst into flames. Kaiden and Shepard ducked for cover as the wreckage bounced over them, plating and doors flying off in all directions. Kaiden ended up closest to the wreck, pulling himself off the ground to peer through the open door.
A vision of hell rose. The doctor...but charred, still smoldering in places. He pulled up his rifle and started firing. She didn't seem to feel the rifle fire. Then, with that terrible speed, she slammed into him, knocking his gun away and lifting him off the ground. Her grip was steel on his neck. He struggled against her with little effect.
"Orders?" The doctor asked into a mic.
"Kaiden!" Shepard yelled behind him. "Release him!" She demanded.
As Kaiden started to black out, he heard the Illusive Man answer clearly. "Dispose of him."
The doctor(obviously an android of some sort) turned around and slammed him into the burning hulk of the shuttle. Kaiden blacked out.
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Miranda adjusted her wig, looking into the mirror at herself, briefly wondering if Samantha would like her as a blond. Probably not.
The last twenty four hours were hectic. She was in a safe house on Illium when the reports about earth came through. The Reapers hit earth hard, one of their initial strikes taking out the Alliance Defense Council facility, the same facility where Shepard was being held. For an hour Miranda scoured reports searching for information about survivors to no avail.
Her relief came when she hacked into a Cerberus channel in desperation. Their attack on a Prothean artifact facility on Mars came to an unexpected conclusion when the Normandy showed up and tore through the Cerberus troops, eventually taking down the Cerberus insider, an android. A few snippets of video showed her all she needed to know. Samantha was alive and well, fighting for the Alliance as Commander of the Normandy. With her was Kaiden Alenko, Dr. Liara T'soni, and some unknown hulk of a man.
The final video came directly from the android, showing it smashing Kaiden against the side of a shuttle. Assuming he lived they would take him to the Citadel. Miranda desperately wanted to meet Samantha there. Miranda looked back to the video feed and watched Samantha take out the android, from the android's point of view. It was impressive to watch, but it wasn't a pleasant view of Sam. To think I could see that myself...if I hadn't left Cerberus. Thinking if which...
Miranda pulled out her disguise to cover up her suit. Her hack into the Cerberus system would bring an attack to her location, soon. She needed to go. First to an alternate safe house nearby to check on her sister, then to the Citadel to meet with Sam. She dressed in a loose pantsuit shaped to disguise her body, and collected her bag. Before she left she charged up a localized electromagnetic pulse device to destroy all electronics in the safe house, set to go off when she was out of sight.
Now she found herself waiting for a shuttle to transfer her to the other safe house on Illium. She walked out of the restroom and accessed the local Internet feed, having a little time before her jump. First she sent a coded message to Sam:
Sam,
Glad to see you made it out alive. Meet you on the Citadel. Checking in on O first.
Love, A.
She sent the message directly to the Normandy, knowing EDI would forward it to Sam.
She accessed a video feed of her sister's living unit, the safest feed to access from a public location, and found nothing. The camera she set up was no longer transmitting. Maybe something happened to the camera. She tried not to worry, accessing the second camera. Still nothing. Both cameras failed? She accessed a local video feed of the facility where Oriana's unit was located. The facility was visible, and appeared normal.
She sent an encrypted message to her local intel source and got on the shuttle, concern starting to grow.
