Chapter 3: Moonlight Mile
The Spectre Nihlus had arrived early in the morning and had taken to secret meetings with Anderson. Cate had questioned Anderson about having a Spectre on board for a simple shakedown run and Anderson had answered her with "Nihlus is just here on Council business. You'd want to see if your investment was well placed, wouldn't you?" His answer was a cop-out. There was no way a Spectre would have been sent to 'check an investment'. They would have sent someone with less military training, with fewer guns, and with a lot less security clearance. Something was up.
After finishing what might have been her fifth coffee, Cate began to make her way to the bridge, taking the elevator up. She wanted to see the jump. She loved hitting the Mass relays, always had. There was just something about the familiar pull and push as the ship was blasted away. And the light was glorious. Yes, she loved them.
She heard Joker's voice come over the Comm announcing their approach to the relay. "The Arcturus relay is in range. Initiating transmission sequence." Cate hastened her speed. She wouldn't make it going as slow as a snail. Doing so, she almost ran straight into Jenkins, who gave her a slight nod and a "Commander."
As she passed Navigator Pressly, Joker came on again, "We are connected." She could hear anticipation in his voice. "Calculating transit mass and destination." She was almost there. "The relay is hot. Acquiring approach vector. All stations secure for transit."
She was surprised to see Nihlus standing behind Joker and Alenko, observing. She joined him, her body singing with excitement. "The board is green. Approach run has begun." They zoomed closer, the light becoming so bright she had to close her eyes. The relays were massive, dwarfing their fairly large ship. She could feel the pull now; it was setting her body on fire with joy. "Hitting the relay in 3…2…1…" And they were blasted off. The moment was over as soon as it began.
"Thrusters… check. Navigation…check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift…just under 1500 K," Joker started rattling off, extremely pleased with himself. He truly is the best pilot in the Alliance.
Nihlus commented, "1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased." Surprising Cate again, he just turned and walked away. Cate did a double take, completely confused as to why he had been up in the cockpit and his qualifications for a great pilot.
A smile spread over her face as Joker stated, "I hate that guy."
Kaidan looked from where he sat to Joker, "Nihlus gave you a compliment… so you hate him?"
Cate moved closer to Joker, standing right behind his chair. She placed a hand on top of the back of it. "You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible!" She gave a short laugh at Joker's statements, alerting both of them to her presence. "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid."
"You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment." Kaidan spewed out exactly what Anderson had told her. She frowned slightly at his apparent complete trust in their Captain's words. David had never been very sneaky about lying to her; she knew one when she heard one.
"Yeah, that's the official story. But only an idiot believes the official story," Joker smiled smugly at Kaidan.
Cate added, "They don't send Spectres on simple shakedown runs. It doesn't make sense."
"So there's more going on here than the Captain's letting on," Joker confirmed for Kaidan.
Cate resisted the urge to say "Speak of the devil" as Anderson commed Joker. "Joker! Status report."
"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems are engaged. Everything looks solid."
"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime."
"Aye aye, Captain. Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is heading your way."
"He's already here, Lieutenant." She could hear slight irritation in Anderson's voice as she watched Kaidan give him a knowing look. Joker shook his head at him, making a face. "Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the Comm room for a debriefing."
"You get that, Commander," Joker asked, jokingly. His smug look returned.
"Great. You pissed off Anderson, and now I have to deal with it." She leaned in close to joke. "Your XO is way scarier than Anderson mad."
"Pbfft. Don't blame me. The Captain's always mad."
Kaidan gave a short chuckle. "He only sounds like that when he's talking to you, Joker." He watched again as Cate left. Shaking his head at himself, he turned back to his station.
Cate made her way to the Comm room, listening to the bridge chatter. Pressly's voice stood out to her first. "I'm telling you, I just saw him! He marched by like he was on a mission."
Adams answered him a tad bit sarcastic. "He's a Spectre. They're always on a mission." She could imagine Adams drumming on the signal boards down in engineering, monitoring how the Normandy made the jump. Probably quite pleased with the ship as well as Joker.
"And we're getting dragged right along with him!"
"Relax, Pressly. You're going to give yourself an ulcer," he grumbled over the comm as she passed Pressly.
As she approached the Comm room, Jenkins stopped her. She joined him and Dr. Chakwas. "Commander? We won't be staying on Eden Prime too long, will we? I'm itching for some real action!" he exclaimed with a salute.
Cate returned the salute, suppressing a small smile at his enthusiasm. Before she could answer, the doctor said, "I sincerely hope you're kidding, Corporal. Your 'real action' usually ends up with me patching up crew members in the infirmary."
Agreeing with the doctor, Cate stated, "Just relax a little, Jenkins. A good soldier stays cool, even under fire. Plus, we'll see 'real action' soon enough." He was like a lot of colonist kids. They wanted to leave their small world and see the whole of the universe. There was a phrase a subordinate had said to her captured this: 'To matter more than a place or occupation.'
"Sorry, Commander. But this waiting's killing me. I've never been on a mission like this before. Not one with a Spectre on board!"
"You'll do fine, kid. I promise," she reassured him.
"Easy for you to say. You've already proven yourself on Elysium, Akuze and Torfan! Everybody knows what you can do. You might as well be a Spectre! This is my big chance. I need to show the Brass what I can do," he almost shouted with excitement.
"You're young, Jenkins. You've got a long career ahead of you. Don't do something stupid to mess it up," Cate said. She was beginning to like this kid. Something about him made her feel reenergized. Where does he keep all of that energy?
"Don't worry, ma'am. Anyways, I think we've kept you too long."
"Thank you, Jenkins. See you later."
"Bye, Commander."
Cate jogged to the Comm room, opening the door to see only Nihlus. She approached him, definitely wanting answers. What really were they really going to Eden Prime for? Maybe she could pry some information from him. Subtlety had never been her strong point though. She was more of a chess piece than a diplomat. She was supposed to ask 'where?' and 'how high?' instead of 'who?' and 'why?'
He turned as he heard her, his eyes narrowing with concentration and thought. "Commander Shepard. I hoped you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk."
"What about," she asked slightly suspicious. Having not worked with many aliens before, she was not overtly trusting. Humans had a volatile trade deal with the Turians. They weren't exactly the best of friends, especially since the First Contact War. In an effort to make the galaxy a little more hospitable and less dangerous, the two had agreed to be economic partners. Regardless of their newly formed partnership, they weren't the Batarians. And that was something she could get behind.
"I'm interested in this world we're going to – Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful."
Cate really wasn't looking to have an argument about human colonization. Most of the Council races disagreed with the places humans picked for colonization. The Terminus system wasn't exactly stable and was a very dangerous place. Picking to establish your colonies close to this system wasn't necessarily a brilliant idea. But they hadn't known that when they were first colonizing. Most aliens thought that the human colonies were quite weak in addition to being badly placed. It was often said in these heated debates about their colonization that they deserved to have pirates and slavers raid their colonies. Cate could not find agreement in that. She knew that if another race had asked for the help of humans, they would give it. If humans asked for help, they would be scolded like a child for their idiocy. She knew that if she said something defensive or a slight bit not neutral about the colony it might fuel an argument. "I've never been there. Jenkins was born there. He could –"
He cut her off. "But you know of it. It's become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it? Proof that Humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But how safe is it really?"
She started to get angry. Here we go. Catie, you stupid, stupid girl. I thought that was quite mellow. Apparently not. Maybe he wanted to pick a fight regardless of your desire not to. "What are you asking," she almost snarled.
"Your people are still newcomers, Commander. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place. Is the Alliance truly ready for this?" He came closer to her, almost pleading for an answer. Jesus, it is this argument. How many times must we deal with this? She swallowed a few curse words before opening her mouth to speak.
Before she could speak, Anderson walked in briskly. "I think it's about time we told Cate what's really going on."
Apparently agreeing with him, Nihlus said, "This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run." A scowl appeared on her face. She did not like this pretentious Turian. She didn't like his unstated judgments about the colonies and she certainly didn't like being talked to like a child.
"I already figured that out," Cate stated sharply. She hated when people withheld critical information. She crossed her arms, her lips began to purse.
Anderson rounded on her, trying to calm her down, as he shot her a disappointing look at her insubordination. He could almost feel spite radiating off her and see the irritation in her eyes. "We're making a covert pick-up on Eden Prime. That's why we needed the stealth systems operational."
Cate couldn't understand why he didn't tell her all this to begin with. He could have told her in Arlington when he asked her to join him, or on Arcturus , or even when she boarded the ship, or anytime since then. Why pick now to tell her this, right before they got to Eden Prime? "I don't like being kept in the dark, David," she chided, her scowl deepening.
"This comes down from the top, Cate," he mirrored her face. She knew him well enough to know that he was discretely pulling rank on her. "Information strictly on a need-to-know basis." Cate's frown developed more at his words. She was no longer concentrating on him pulling rank, but on the task at hand. Sometimes she had to switch to soldier mode. Now is a perfect time. What were they going to pick up that it required both a Spectre and need-to-know clearance from the top?
Anderson answered her question as if he knew what she was thinking. "A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It's Prothean. Last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years. But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel."
"Obviously, this goes beyond human interests, Commander. This discovery could affect every species in Council space." Nihlus stepped forward. "The beacon isn't the only reason why I'm here, Commander."
"Nihlus wants to see your work, Shepard. He's here to evaluate you."
"Why? What's going on, Anderson?" Cate turned her attention away from the looming Nihlus. She should have known Anderson was behind something when he approached her that rainy day. Any officer could have led a team to pick up the beacon. So why her? He had to have been planning something other than to ask her to join him. He had known about this mission for a while it seemed.
"The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time, Cate. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council. If they accept a human into their Spectre ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come," Anderson said, trying to hide a prideful smile under his mask of professionalism.
Nihlus was still looming, studying. "I was impressed when I studied the reports from Elysium, Akuze and Torfan. You've got a very remarkable résumé. That's why I think you would be a good candidate for the Spectres." Ah, Humanity's friendly, neighborhood Turian.
Cate unfolded her arms to begin fiddling with her pants pockets. She needed to think about this, all sarcasm and joking aside. "I suppose this is good for the Alliance," she managed to choke out. Her mouth had suddenly become bone dry. She was still planning to leave the ship, maybe even ask for more shore leave. But then again, she knew how well that would go. She did not need time to dwell on their deaths. She needed to be doing something. Maybe as a Spectre she would find what she was looking for. She wouldn't get too attached to anyone, drifting from ship to ship. She'd be kept busy. Maybe this was the opportunity she needed.
Anderson tried to still one of her hands, placing a hand on her elbow. "We needs this, Cate."
As if she had agreed, Nihlus stated, "I need to see your skills first, Commander. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together." Great.
Anderson gave her a pat on the back, solidifying his confidence in her. "You'll be in charge of the ground team. Secure the beacon and get it onto the ship ASAP."
"Just give the word, Anderson," she huffed, obviously outnumbered. This was a "how high?" moment. The chess pieces were already in motion. Being just a pawn, she had no say in the matter and she reminded herself, no thoughts either. She began to bun her long hair as Anderson continued.
"We should be getting close–" He had started to pull up a surface map.
Joker's alarmed voice shattered the rest of Anderson's sentence. "Captain! We've got a problem."
"What's wrong, Joker?" Anderson's brow furrowed as he frowned deeply. This was not what they needed on this mission. Everything needed to go exactly right.
"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir."
"Bring it up on screen."
They watched a young woman fight. Blasts were going off everywhere, obvious distress, obvious chaos, obvious death. There were explosions that skewed their vision and a man announced that they were taking heavy casualties, a surprise attack at that. After a brief glimpse of a daunting ship, the feed cut. Joker came back on the comm. "Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing," he stated gloomily.
Anderson didn't pay attention to Joker at all. He was thinking. Cate could see it on his face. "Reverse and hold at 38.5." The ship came up clearly on the screen. She did not like the look of it. It looked like a giant claw; it looked evil. "Status report."
"Seventeen minutes out. No other Alliance ships in the area."
Anderson had already made up his mind, regardless of what Joker had to report. "Take us in, Joker. Fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated."
Sharing a knowing look with the Captain, Nihlus seemed to agree with their psychic conversation. "A small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention. It's our best chance to secure the beacon."
"Grab your gear, Cate," Anderson ordered. "And meet us in the Cargo Hold. Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up. You're going in."
