Family Ties Ch 2: The Horns
Shepard walked confidently into the cockpit to watch as they approached Casbin. "How we doing, Joker?" she asked the pilot.
"So far, so good, Commander," Joker said with a sideways glance. "We should reach Casbin in about twenty minutes."
Shepard nodded and watched the stars streak by outside the cockpit window.
"Did you check your messages this morning, Commander?" Joker asked a little hesitantly.
"I checked them last night," came her airy reply.
"Uh, well…a message came in this morning that was a little odd," Joker said.
"Odd how?" Shepard asked as she looked at him. It wasn't unusual for Joker to look at the headers of incoming mail to alert her if something came in marked urgent or from Alliance HQ.
"It was encrypted, but didn't have any obvious headers. I think it was official, but there was no sender info," Joker stared at her and Shepard could tell he was dying of curiosity.
"I guess I have time to take a look before we get to Casbin," Shepard said and sat at the co-pilot position and opened her mail. The message in question did look a little odd, but Shepard quickly opened it.
Hello darling,
I heard you received command of the Normandy. Congratulations, sweetheart! It may not have happened the way you would have liked, but I'm sure you'll do just fine. Your mother and I are so proud of you.
Speaking of your mother, I spoke with her a few moments ago and she brought me up to speed. I won't go into great detail in this letter – I'd rather we have a chance to talk in person. However, I would like to remind you of the horns and ask that you think very carefully about any choices you are considering. I'd hate to see you get hurt.
I love you,
Dad
Shepard groaned and scrubbed a hand over her face. After all these years and he still brought up the damned horns whenever he thought she was making a bad decision.
"Bad news, Commander?" Joker asked quietly.
"No. Just not what I wanted to read right now. I'd better head down to the shuttle bay." Shepard got up and left the cockpit. She shook her head as she thought about what her dad was saying to her. When she was five they had gone to Earth to visit her grandfather. He lived in Virginia and had been an avid hunter in his younger days. On the wall of his workshop there was a set of Pronghorn Antelope horns. They were hundreds of years old and had been passed down to her grandfather. The set of horns weren't very big, but the tips had turned ivory and her ancestor had had them mounted.
Shepard had climbed up on a tool chest and was touching the horn. Both her grandfather and her father told she should leave it alone, but she ignored them.
Shepard ran her fingers along the length of them reveling in the discovery that they weren't entirely smooth, but pebbly in areas. She followed their grain in fascination. How big was the animal they came from? How had they formed ivory like that? She was mesmerized.
The two men talked quietly behind her as she tried to lift the mount off the wall. It was heavier than she thought and it had crashed down on her causing her to fall backward. She ended up flat on her back on the floor with a cut on her foot from the horns. The horns that now lay broken beside her. Her father had scooped her up and wiped her tears. "You need to learn when to leave something alone, Dei. If you don't, you'll end up getting hurt and causing others pain, too." Her grandfather put on a kind face, but Deidre could tell he was heartbroken at the loss of the heirloom, and she still felt horrible for doing that to him.
This was a clear warning of what her father thought of her infatuation with Kaidan and Shepard knew he was right. It was what she had been telling herself since she met the Lieutenant. Walk away and leave him alone or you'll regret it.
Shepard gave a long sigh as she entered the shuttle bay. She knew what she should do, but just like with the horns she was fascinated and couldn't seem to help herself. Squaring her shoulders she promised herself that she would be smart and make sure there were no negative implications for either her or Kaidan from her infatuation.
