"Joker, what's going on?"
"Uh, Captain, you're gonna wanna see this."
Shepard pushed herself away from the galaxy map and headed up to the front of the Normandy. This was supposed to be a routine mission.
Well, she had said that before.
"Joker, why have we stopped?" Shepard asked again, reaching the front of the bridge. Looking out the large windows that made up the ship's nose, she did not need a response. There, drifting among the asteroid belt, was a ship. A very old ship. An impossibly old ship.
It was huge but elegant, an early 22nd century design. But it was badly beaten, likely from being bombarded by rocks for the past half century. Along the side, in faint white lettering, was a name. Magellan.
"Whoa. The Magellan. Wasn't that the ship that disappeared on its way to Mars? To one of the first colonies?" Shepard asked.
"Yeah, but Shepard. Look at this," Joker said, pulling up some readings with a wave of his hand. "The Normandy's picking up a life sign aboard."
"Pirates?" the Commander asked, eyes narrowing warily.
"No. I mean, maybe a pirate. But it's just one signal. And I don't see any other ships."
"Bring her in for a closer look, Joker." The Commander called out over her comm. "Get the shuttle ready. We're making an unscheduled stop. I'll fill you in on the way. Garrus? Kaidan? You there?"
"What's up, Shepard?" Kaidan asked.
"Get down to the shuttle. We've got a little mystery to take care of."
"Finally," Garrus said. "This whole being-normal-soldiers things was getting just a little bit old. Where's a Reaper when you need one?"
The Magellan still had power. Its old nuclear energy source was chugging along, and the Normandy was able to dock without incident. Before mass effect fields, those things were made to last.
The boarding party entered through the airlock. The derelict ship was absolutely silent, save their own breathing inside their helmets. Very few of the Magellan's core systems were functioning, including her life support and lighting. Not that there was much to see in the corridors. The Magellan was a cargo ship, not built for passengers to wander around.
Of course, her cargo had been people in cryostasis.
"Joker, any movement from that signal?" Shepard asked.
"Negative, Commander. I've updated your nav point. You're not far."
"Okay, everyone just keep alert," Shepard said, raising her assault rifle as she looked around in the harsh light of her torch beam. "Who knows what the hell we're dealing with."
"You know, with our luck, my credits are on a Rachni," Garrus joked. "It seems like every time a routine mission goes to hell, it's a damn spider."
"And here I was hoping that Shepard actually wiped them out last time," Kaidan laughed. "Man, remember that?"
"Which time? Noveria? Or when the reapers brought them back from the dead?" Garrus said. "You know, Shepard, I think that last one was just to get under your skin."
"Man, that was one hell of a fight," Kaidan said. "How's Grunt doing, by the way?"
"Quiet, both of you," Shepard said, rolling her eyes as she pressed against a doorway. Not that they could see under her visor. It was nice that the two of them had finally started getting along. It only took a decade. And even then, Shepard suspected she owed the peace to Liara.
"We're almost there," Shepard said. "The signal's coming from this main cargo hold."
"Last I heard," Garrus mock-whispered, "he got some poor Krogan girl pregnant."
"You're kidding!"
"Shh!" Shepard interrupted.
"Come on, Shepard. Whatever it is, there's only one of them," Garrus said.
"Yeah, and it's small. Like, human-sized. I don't think there's anything that size that could take on the great Commander Shepard in a fight," Joker added over the comm. "I mean, you took down a yahg. With your fists."
Shepard shook her head and flagged them through the doorway.
"You know, the Rachni weren't much bigger than humans. I still wouldn't want one of them to get the jump on me," the Commander said. They slowly moved through the room, until her Omni-tool indicated they were right next to the life sign.
"And, it's a wall," Shepard groaned. "Joker, check your systems again. Are you sure about this?"
"The signal's coming from inside some kind of container right in front of you," he said. "Wait. No, that can't be right."
"Joker?"
"That's a life pod, Commander. The signal is coming from inside."
Author's note: This story is done and consists of 30 chapters slightly longer than this one. I'm in the process of uploading chapters between getting real life stuff done. There's already a sequel in progress as well. Thought I'd let any interested parties know.