A/N: This story explains what Gardner and Shepard talked about in Chapter 8 of my other story "Explanations and Excuses". You *don't* have to read that chapter to read this, but if you do, then you make me very happy.
More A/N after the story. Please read. And review, of course! :)
Disclaimer: Mass Effect, the Mass Effect universe, and all characters within, all belong to BioWare.
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Gardner's Sonata
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I. Grave - Doppio Movimento
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Shepard was sitting there in the mess hall, wondering what Gardner would tell him, when the Mess Sergeant arrived with a tray carrying 2 mugs of coffee and a small plate of cookies.
"Here ya go, c'mander," Gardner said as he placed the tray on the table and deftly placed the steaming mug in front of Shepard. "Navy-spec coffee. Just as you like it."
Smiling, Shepard picked up his mug and inhaled the aroma. He took a sip, and took his time savoring the unique flavor of his coffee. Sometimes traditional is always the best.
"Sample the cookies, too, c'mander. Homemade chocolate chip cookies, fresh from the oven. And I guarantee you these ones *do* taste like genuine human chocolate chip cookies."
Shepard laughed. "I'll take your word for that. I'm still enjoying my coffee... but don't worry, I'm sure the plate would be emptying as we talk. I might even ask for a second helping," he said, winking.
The Mess Sergeant laughed back and joked, "This plate is on the house; the next plate I'll have to charge."
Shepard shook his head, grinning. "Just put it on my tab."
Both men fell silent for several seconds as they savor their respective mugs of steaming coffe. Shepard was the one who broke the silence, "Now, what about that story you promised me?"
Gardner sighed. "Can't distract you from a mission, eh c'mander?" he asked, smiling. "Alright, here's my story on why I joined Cerberus..."
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I was in paradise. Except that I still had to work. But I guess I was blessed because I love my job. I got income enough for living, saving, and raising a family.
Raising a family. Many colonists were forced to leave loved ones behind. Not me. I got a stroke of luck; an aunt I had long-forgotten passed away, and somehow I found myself inheriting a sizable amount of cash. Enough to buy my sweetheart a ticket to Gei Hinnom. So I guess I am doubly-blessed.
Our life resembled something out of a fairy tale: the young prince carries away his bride to a faraway land and live happily ever after. Except that I was no prince. But the happily ever after part was very real. Of course as a wedded couple we had our fair share of arguments and bickering, but our love for each other transcends those petty stuffs.
Just as I thought our lives couldn't be better, it got better. Nary a year had passed on the colony, when one day as I returned to our home, my very happy sweetheart greeted me by showing me a piece of paper with two stripes on it. We were ecstatic. Nine months after, our baby girl came crying out into the world.
It was pure bliss. I got promoted to supervisor at my work, my wife got a pay raise, and our kid is growing up to be a healthy young lady. We had been saving enough to ensure her a good education, and even some.
Until that fateful day came.
I was busy at my rig when all of a sudden, the PA system started blaring sirens and alarms and raising hell. "The batarians are attacking! All colonists proceed immediately to the nearest bunker! This is not a drill! Repeat, the batarians are attacking! All colonists proceed immediately to the nearest bunker!"
I was surprised. Shocked, indeed. Never had I expected our puny colony to be a target for the batarian raiders. My colleagues and I ran as fast as we could to the nearest bunker, and entered quuickly. I went to the nearest terminal to find out which bunker my family went into. Suddenly fear and panic gripped my heart when terminal replied 'the persons you're searching for are not found.'
"Giselle! Joanna!" I cried out. Suddenly I remembered that my wife took the day off to care for our daughter who caught the 'flu. I turned around and tried to fought my way against the torrent of panicked colonist entering the bunker. I made good progress. Until I reached the gate.
"Where do you think you're going, sir! Get back into the bunker!" an alliance soldier guarding the entrance yelled at me.
"My wife and my daughter are still out there! I gotta find them!"
"It's not safe! Battle is raging out there! Get back into the bunker!"
"No! I need to see them!" I yelled, fighting him, trying to shove my way around him. But he defended his position well, his assault rifle an affective barricade against my attempt.
"Let the Alliance find them! Now get back inside! We're sealing this bunker!"
"I want -" my words was cut short as someone - perhaps another soldier - hit my head with some blunt object.
I fell to the ground, dizzy, with fireflies clouding my vision. I felt a couple of guys lifting me by my arms and dragged me inside. I heard the blast doors slamming shut. I managed to weakly utter the names of my loved ones, "Giselle... Joanna..." Then everything went black.
I woke up with a head-splitting headache, my pal Gunnar Knudsson hovering above me with concern clearly etched on his face. "Rupert? Thank God... we thought you went into a coma or something... that soldier had hit you really hard..."
I felt a mattress underneath my back. Not wanting to claim space for those injured, I forced myself to sit. I looked around, and there around me were my buddies from the rig. Jackie, Sal, Martti, Paul, the new guy Moshe, Tricia, Hal. And my boss Jake. "Thanks, guys. No rifle-butt can keep mighty Rupert down for long. Unless we're talkin' 'bout the other end of a rifle," I tried to joke.
I saw my friends' faces relaxing. "That's Rupert, alright," Tricia piped up, smiling. She was the only gal in my team, but heck if she wasn't working as hard as a guy. Two guys, in fact. And she had managed to knock Gunnar out cold with one punch when he had gotten a wee bit too friendly with her. Oh, they had apologized to each other, made up, and later on tied the knot. Just in case you're wondering.
But seeing this husband-wife pair sent a pang into my heart. "Giselle? Joanna?"
My heart began racing when I saw Gunnar and Tricia looked at each other with worried face. I heard Jake coughing, so I turned to face him.
"Rupert, I'm ... sorry. Giselle and Joanna was... nowhere to be found. Their names were not in any bunker manifest we've searched..."
I guess I lost consciousness again, because the next thing I remembered, I was lying on a military field-bed within the confines of a bivouac. My friends are nowhere to be seen save for Tricia.
"Where am I?"
"You're in a military field hospital. The others are out there assisting the Alliance in searching for survivors or... victims."
I inhaled deeply, preparing myself mentally for the answer to my next question.
"And Giselle and Joanna?"
Tricia bowed her head down, then looked away, not wanting to look into my eyes.
"I am sorry, Rupert. They... did not make it.
"The Alliance found their bodies in your house. Or what was left of it. They died when a high-explosive blast took out the housing compound, apparently from trauma injuries they suffered when your house collapsed."
I did not spoke for several seconds. Then I started to cry. I bawled my heart out, until I have no more strength to cry, and fell asleep with a whimper.
The following days were a blur in my memory. I guess I was still in a state of severe shock and grieving. In one day, one single fateful day, I have lost everything. I lost my home, and I lost my family. The beautiful dream had evilly turned into a living nightmare.
For those of who lost our houses, they gave us temporary housing while they rebuilt ours. But I don't want to go back to my house. It was no longer a home for me. No longer will I hear the happy laughter of my wife and daughter as I entered its door. No longer will I feel the warmth of Giselle's embrace as we sat on the couch, her head resting on my shoulder, Joanna sitting on my lap, watching our favorite movie.
I pour myself into my job. Futilely trying to numb my sorrow. But truth be told, I no longer have the heart to do it. One day, during lunch break, Jake took me aside.
I had known Jake the first day I came to work. He was my supervisor, then. Despite him being my boss, he's one of the first pal I made on the rig. He's more like an older brother I never had than a boss for me. So it is no wonder how transparent I am to him.
We sat down in the mess hall, on one of the corner tables. "Rupert, I can only begin to imagine your grief, having no family of my own," he said kindly.
"Sometimes I'm envious of your single status, you know, what with the freedom to 'sample' those 'women of accommodating morals'," I quipped, trying to lighten up the mood.
Jake chuckled. "And I envy you, with your solid foundation, someone to always go home to... uh, sorry to bring that up," he quickly apologized as he saw the pang of pain in my eyes. "But unfortunately, that's what I wanted to talk with you about, Rope."
"No need to apologize, Jake," I calmed him down. "What happened, happened already."
Jake nodded, and then continued, "Look, Rope," again he used his affectionate nickname for me, "you've been so... unhinged lately. I know that you've been trying to numb the pain, but your temperament is... unsettling for many."
He was right. I had been short-tempered with my workers, even almost to the point of giving some young tyke a lesson with a 2-inch steel pipe on his head.
"I'm sorry. I... I guess I'm still..." I shut off my mouth, trying hard to control my emotions, which threatened to pour forth in the form of uncontrollable sobbing.
Jake tapped my shoulder, gently, but firmly. "I understand, Rope. I fought your defense with the higher-ups. But they wanted guarantee that those outbursts will not happen again. So," he paused, smiling as he handed me an envelope, "I said to them that you need time to grieve. Paid vacation. Easy to ask since all these years never *once* did you use any of your allotted company-paid vacation."
I took the envelope, a bit unsure.
"You're like a younger brother to me, Rope," Jake said. "Just take it. It's an all-expenses paid vacation to Demeter. With some allowance. Go away for awhile, surround yourself with new situations. Let the pain subside. Then come back here and teach those whiny tykes a lesson how we mature eezo miners do stuffs around here."
As Jake started to stand up, he added, "Your vacation begins tomorrow, and no need to come back here for two weeks. Hell, if I see you here before two weeks, I'm going to tie you up in my basement until your vacation is over," he jokingly threatened.
"I thought you prefer females for that, Jake," I managed to shot a comeback. "Don't worry. You won't see me for two weeks. Thanks for your effort. I really appreciate it."
Jake laughed when he heard my comeback. He just nodded at my gratitude, then started to leave for his office. As he passed by my side, he leaned over and whispered, "There's an Alliance recruitment facility at Demeter. Use your time wisely."
Later that day, I asked Gunnar if he could take my place for the rest of the day. Smiling, he tapped my upper arm and concurred, "Heard about your paid-vac from Jake already. He told me in no uncertain terms that I am supposed to fill your shoes while you're gone, starting this afternoon. Go ahead, pal."
I am so blessed with great pals.
Early the next day found me boarding a shuttle to the main space base of the planet, where I am to board a liner to Demeter. I had packed all my clothes in a duffel bag, along with amenities. The shuttle ride was uneventful, and I'm pleasantly surprised to find out that I was assigned a 1st-class cabin on the liner. Jake *really* pulled some strings back there. As I settled on the bed in my cabin, fatigue overcame me and I slept.
It was a nice couple of days cruise to Demeter. I had just gone back from swimming on the ship's pool when the ship's comm blared out, "We are approaching Demeter. Landfall in 2 hours. Please prepare to disembark, and do not forget your belongings. We thank you for travelling on Stellara Liner."
Several hours later found me standing on the lobby of my hotel. They gave me a nice room, not the best, but mighty comfortable. With a big king-size bed. And a big bath tub. I had checked in, stashed my duffel bag in the closet, and returned to the lobby. It was nightfall already, but I want to taste some of the local cuisine. I was about to ask the concierge for a recommendation, when my eyes caught sight of them.
A pair of young male Alliance officers just entered the lobby. Lieutenants perhaps. They had been chatting with another pair of tipsy-looking girls, who couldn't be older than twenty. They sat the girls on one of the sofas in the lobby, and approached the reservation desk. I couldn't help but caught their banter.
"Nice picking tonight, eh?"
"True blue, Eric. Your betting against them for trying to outdrink us paid really well."
"Yeah. Ryncol versus brandy? They threw themselves into our arms."
"Hahaha! Indeed! But aren't they too drunk to entertain us for the night?"
"That's why I brought some stimulants. And just in case the stimulants totally eliminated the drowsy effect, I also brought some handcuffs."
I cringed my face in disgust, and rushed out the hotel.
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~~ to be continued ~~
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A/N: There. The story of Gardner, the first chapter. I had planned on doing a one-shot, but the story just kept growing and growing in my head until to days later it had reached the epic size of several thousands of words. So, I decided to make it span 2 or 3 chapters, at most.
You know, we all kinda understand the stories of the main characters of Mass Effect. But so little do we know about the backstory of the other minor characters. This is just an admittedly minor attempt to rectify that unfairness.
If you follow my other story "Explanations and Excuses", don't worry: expect another chapter in 2-3 days ;)
Well, that's it for now. Please leave me a review; I'm dying to know what you think of this story :)
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Edit #1: Change chapter title.
Grave - Doppio movimento