Tanith was surprised she wasn't shaking harder.
Tucked behind a stack of empty crates fifty yards beyond the massacre and ten yards from the private hanger the colonists kept their few precious, space-worthy ships. She was amazed she'd gotten this far, and she knew that even though she had just a little further to go, she was running out of time.
They were counting bodies, checking names and piling the corpses to incinerate them. When a particularly slender, red-haired body was added to the collection, Tani forced herself to look away.
Her keycode still worked on the hanger side door, and she slipped in quickly, locking it behind her. She was one of maybe a dozen former Normandy crew that had access to the spaceships, primarily because of the work she'd done on most of them. Upgrades were easy to do, but ordering the parts needed from a supplier that wouldn't skin your pocket was the tricky part. Tani's old contacts had come in handy, especially in regards to the Mayor's baby.
It was where it had always been, front and center, easiest to pull out and launch and the prettiest one of the bunch. Tani felt a little pride swell through her as she keyed in a second access code and ascended the ramp as soon as it dropped. This ship was geared to the nines, sleeker than a star-yacht and a dozen times as fast. The Gentleman had living quarters port and starboard, a galley with a kitchen, storage space to spare and several illegal modifications that made it both dangerous and near impossible to catch.
As she started the launch sequence and settled into the pilot's chair, it was with a tinge of bitterness that she recalled the gratitude of Mayor Tollson. He'd been so happy with her skillset and pleased that the mods were put in so quickly, glad to give them space and a home and a chance and ... and...
The world was getting blurry. Tanith brushed aside her tears and reminded herself that Cerberus was ruthless. She couldn't imagine how the colonists were threatened into giving up a part of their community they had welcomed so completely. The people wouldn't have given a choice. She just hoped that Cerberus would keep their promise.
She grit her teeth as the hangar doors opened, trying to find the bite and the anger to keep her eyes clear and her mind straight.
"It couldn't be all sunshine and orgasms forever now, could it?" she muttered to herself, before lanching her ship into space.
o0o0o0o0o0o
About ten hours later, Tanith was finally able to slap the auto-pilot. Not for any dramatic reason, like a chase or a dog fight, but because it was now quite possible she was exhausted enough to calm down, but too exhausted to go into hysterics.
It would take a good couple of weeks, if not longer, to get to the Citadel. Going the back way was guaranteed to tack on more time, but it'd be safer.
The more time she had to herself, though, the less she wanted to be that long by herself.
Maybe this place had booze.
She stalked into the galley and began opening containers and cupboards. The ship was fully stocked with supplies for long 'vacation', so the stuff was better than military fair, even with what Cerberus kept handy. There was alcohol too, and some really amazing food-
Kelly came to mind unbidden, and she could see her in her mind's eye, reaching over her smaller friend and chattering away about all the things she'd cook.
The top of the bottle went flying, practically up-ended down Tanith's throat.
She managed to get to the port side room without spilling anything, flopping on the bed, laying on her belly. Two more good swallows and she knew she was going to need to distract herself while she waited for the booze to work.
What better way to forget the visions of the day, then with the heartaches of the past?
"Desperate times," she mumbled, pulling up her omni-tool and accessing the folder of messages she'd archived, saved, and password protected.
None of them had been read, the few dozen there were, so she started at the bottom and worked her way forward. She wondered how far she was going to get before she passed out.
***ENCRYPTED MESSAGE***
***.***.
Everything had been going so well until you ran away. I thought we had a good time and a great connection. I thought you found me dashing and endearing and completely charming. You said I could charm the pants off a serpent, several times, in that breathless voice of yours after we'd been fu-
Tani slapped the device off and buried her head in her arms. No. No better. How was she ever going to ... and the world was getting warm and dizzy ... If they came for her now, she wouldn't even fight them off. She'd stand there with her chin up, just like Kelly, and say 'Yes, I am.'