Chapter IV: Unwanted Attention

In the yet-to-be-completed Arcturus Station's inhabited zones, it was now the quiet hours of the night cycle. Usually the majority of people were already asleep at this time, yet the active military personnel moving along the site indicated otherwise. It was the 6th of March, 2155 - just a month short of the date for the space station's official inauguration. The approximated year of completion was in fact still a year away, but due to a certain boss' just short of a miracle kind of work efficiency, everything was sped up significantly.

It was an open secret that Adm. Daniel Shepard, or 'Admiral Dad' as a certain little spitfire would call him whenever she was around, wanted to complete it just in time for his prodigy daughter's first birthday. One would've complained that personal indulgences were unbecoming for a top-ranking officer, but nothing overly negative came out of the work rush other than innumerous information and unit rescheduling to tighter shifts and one man's sleepless nights with stack after stack of desk work due to the changes.

There was no figurative whip lashes from behind that urged the project to proceed faster; there was only a display of a charismatic and shrewd man's diplomatic abilities. It wasn't a question that the Alliance brass was impressed, regardless of the motivation.

The motivation, which, in closer inspection, was a worthy investment of time and interest for the brass.

Bethany Jane Shepard. Born on the 11th of April, 2154. She's not yet even a year old and already was she fluent in English, Korean, Spanish, and French in both spoken and written form. That was a fact. There was even talk that she knew university-level mathematics and familiar with history and philosophy. It was staggering news, despite it possibly being blown way out of proportion or just plain incorrect. But even rumors have to come from somewhere, after all, and following the quick research all interested parties dedicated themselves to, there might be some truth to it in the end.

The hospital where she was born - merely a temporary medical center in the station about a year ago - was keeping mum about it. Nurses talked about some odd scans at first, but the sudden influx of strangers 'simply curious' about it grew to a suspicious degree, and one Dr. Elliot Smith firmly instructed them not to say a word of it to outsiders. Only one fact was clear through all this; the Shepard couple knew from the very beginning and tried burying it.

Parental worry, while understandable at first, was now just a bothersome blockade from what several powerful shadows back on Earth, and even a number of watchful eyes in the depths of space, wanted to uncover.

-;-

One more meeting. One more and I can go home. Recently, that mantra has been on loop in Daniel Shepard's mind. He's been so busy that everything seemed to pass by as a blur these days. If Bethany didn't possess her noticeable copper-red hair, the thought of her actually being in his office during some of his work days would completely escape his mind. Lately, a pattern has been established; he took care of her daughter during the first half of the week and Hannah took the rest and the days where he's mostly busy with meetings, mainly due to everybody's workload lightening up when more ships - his wife's included- were docked in Arcturus until the official ceremony in a month ended. The men in his previously designated 34th flotilla of the Third Fleet, mostly personnel reassigned to the station, even became temporary babysitters - not that they were complaining.

It was during one of those babysitting moments that Bethany's rapid lingual proficiency was discovered. Spanish was easily taught - as if she was already familiar with the language beforehand. Korean came next, and French was apparently at the bottom of the list due to her pronunciation - her words was comprehensible, at least. Daniel didn't think a week long daily meeting with his men - the total hours they spent with his kid wasn't even more than twenty-four hours - would make her baby daughter learn three new languages. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry due to the absurdity of it all.

And he didn't want to even think about that one time he caught her sitting on his desk and typing on his computer terminal. He was so overcome with dread - what if she deleted an important file? Sent a mail filled with button-mashed letters to the Systems Alliance Council? Accidentally vid-called one of the Fleet Admirals? - that he sprinted forward to get to her and almost tripped in the process. He wasn't even alone when he came back; his assistant and one marine soldier he wanted to speak with were just behind him and were treated to a very comical scene.

"Oh, hey Dad." Her daughter greeted him distractedly, her eyes never leaving the screen. What in the cosmos was she doing? He took a peek, hoping he didn't have to do any sort of damage control.

Fuck. He blinked once. Twice.

His 11-month-old daughter was browsing the net for human history. Specifically, 20th Century music and entertainment. His guest by the door cleared their throat, and heat rushed to his cheeks out of shame for his less-than-graceful way of handling the situation. He hurriedly tried to reclaim his composure. What a show. Bethany took notice of it too as her eyes fell on the two people standing awkwardly by the open door.

"Ah, do you have a meeting, Dad?" He nodded in reply. "Oops. I'll - uh, go find Evans then."

Daniel whispered a stern 'be careful' - as he learned she only needed to be told once - and watched her hop down the seat, and almost skipping across the office and out, giving a brief goodbye to her father's guests.

"'Bye, Ms. Walker. Goodbye, Mister - uh," She sneaked a look at the soldier's uniform for his rank and name.

'Smart.' He commented nonchalantly, before blinking in realization. 'Wait, how does she even know?'

Her voice turned chipper as she resumed with a trot. "Bye, Corporal Hackett!"

"Admiral?"

He raised his gaze to the main door to the conference room, cutting off his recollection. His assistant - a confused look on her face - was already there, and most likely also the rest of the Admirals and the SA parliament reps. Right. Here we go.

Daniel opened the door, and to his surprise, the crowd he readied himself for dwindled down to two people.

"Sir," He stood at attention, giving a quick and orderly salute towards the two Fleet Admirals in front of him. Fleet Admiral Fairborne of the First Fleet and Cruys of the Fifth. They might only be two people, but they were a tough crowd nonetheless, this being his first meeting with them in an official setting.

"At ease, Admiral Shepard," Cruys' voice rumble as he returned the salute along with Fairborne, his brown eyes firmly locked to Daniel's. His tone was gruff, and he had a face of a man halfway in his 50s who didn't like any sort of nonsense. "This will only take a moment if we go straight to the point. The meeting for the final preparations for next month will not be necessary. The Fifth Fleet was assigned to be based in Arcturus Station after its completion."

Daniel was internally surprised. Systems Alliance bureaucracy never took this fast to make a decision. It also left a sour taste in his mouth that it wasn't the Third Fleet. As if seeing the bitterness in Daniel's poker face, Fairborne spoke up.

"Third Fleet will be assigned along with Cruys'." The blonde man - just seven years his senior if Daniel remembered correctly - smiled. Okay, this was fine. Fairborne apparently wasn't finished with what he had to say. "And the First Fleet - although we'll be around the Mass Relay leading to Sol rather than the station."

That also made sense. Yet, Daniel kept feeling like there was something else they weren't saying. "That is a surprisingly decisive arrangement" He might as well poke the topic.

Fairborne chuckled at his words - even the corner of Cruys' lips curled up. "Well, you finished Arcturus a year early; that gave the council considerably less time to quibble about it and relegated the assignment to us, which made the following proceedings easier."

Realization struck Shepard.

"Arcturus Station is now officially the Alliance Navy headquarters."

-;-

Evening in a space station was artificial. There was no natural cycle of day and night, and definitely no night sky filled with constellations Hannah Shepard was intimately familiar with like back on Earth. That's why her only condition to her husband about their home was the best view of the infinite void in their living room. On the first day he was able to step foot on Arcturus, he immediately found the perfect place amidst one of the common nonmilitary wards, and weeks later when construction finished, they immediately moved in. Months after that, their family of two was joined by a little bundle of joy.

Hannah was initially distressed about motherhood, since she never grew up with one herself - the streets of Earth's finest slums being her only mentor in childhood - and had no idea what to do, yet the casual insistence Daniel constantly supplied her eventually made her budge.

'You'll be a great mother.'

It was a simple sentence and so stereotypical, yet the way he said it, - his eyes expressing unspoken words she heard much more clearly than the one he faithfully repeated;

'You can do it.'

'I trust you.'

'I'll be with you.'

'We'll do it together.'

'I'll support you.'

'I love you.'

'I will never leave you.'

- it all made a difference.

This is what she lived for now. Her daughter. Her husband. Her own family.

She looked down on the sofa, towards her lap that turned into a pillow for the sleeping little gem that insisted on cuddling with her as she slept. Hannah knew she'll personally go through hell and back just to keep her family safe.

Her ears picked up the sound of the front door clicking open, followed by a familiar pair of muffled footsteps stopping just behind her; then the comfort of a kiss on top of her head and warmth of her husband's embrace. She didn't need to see it to recognize everything.

"Hey."

She closes her eyes as she lean on him. "Hey yourself."

"No return kisses?"

Hannah leaned her head back, catching sight of his upended face and slowly led his head down by his nape for a light peck on his chin. "There."

He grinned. "Now my day is officially complete." Daniel moved around the sofa, eventually sitting on the only empty space on her right side.

"Anything new? You look happy."

"Mmm, Arcturus is officially the Navy's, I have less paperwork, and tomorrow is a weekend."

"So fast?"

"They said it was due to this place getting done quick. Pieter Cruys and Conall Fairborne personally visited to spread the news."

"You know, I still can't believe you're an Admiral."

"Ouch." He clutched his heart in feigned hurt just before chuckling and waving it away. "What about your day? I'd bet it was muuuch more eventful than mine?"

"Someone tried hacking the hospital for her records."

"What? Okay, it is a bigger deal. They didn't get anything dangerous, did they?"

"No, I encrypted it myself. I also asked Elliot to move them to a private server. Karin helped persuade."

"No trail to follow?"

"No."

They lapse into silence, watching the myriad of unknown stars through the large window in front of them. Hannah glanced at the sleeping girl huddled on her left side. Her breathing was even and eyelids peacefully motionless. She smiled. "You know, she asked me about tells."

Daniel's attention shifted back to her wife, the plans forming inside his head temporarily set aside. "Tell you what?"

She rolled her eyes. "Tells. Body language. Microexpressions. How to read people. She asked me to teach her that."

He blinked. "She's turning one next month." A pause. "You taught her?"

"Only basics; the simple things. Mainly how to avoid dangerous strangers." She brushed stray strands of hair from her daughters face, her fingers gently ending up around Bethany's tiny hand and wrist.

A quiet sigh escaped from her husband's lips. He was worried. They both knew why. Maybe she's growing up and learning things a little too fast.

"She's also having nightmares." She said just as she felt Bethany twitch underneath her. "And she doesn't want to admit it."

"…I know."

"She panics whenever it's brought up."

"I know."

"And we'll wait till she wants to tell us."

He looked at her - stared at her - then snickered. "See?"

"See what?"

"You are a great mother."

-;-

Centered inside an office lavishly decorated with antiques and an idiosyncratic mix of modern equipment was a business man, roughly around his 50s, sitting on his leather executive chair as he focused on the number of datapads scattered around his desk. Although his posture was relaxed, he exuded command. He was in charge. The man's eyes darted back to the beginning of the report, skimming through its contents again.

Useless. He grunted, obviously dissatisfied with the lack of the information that he needed. His eyes sharply darted to a younger man standing before him. "Is this all?"

The young man's larynx bobbed up and down in nervousness. And he should be; it was a simple job of data bypassing and decryption on a mere hospital yet he failed completely in delivering to him what he demanded. "Y-Yes, sir. Everything I found under the name S-Shepard is there. There- There wasn't anything else, sir."

Nothing there? The business man narrowed his eyes as he contemplated on his words. "Get out." His tone final. "You're dismissed." The younger man hurriedly scurried out.

If it's true, then someone else made off with the records before his employee and deleted it, or it's hidden somewhere else. Regardless, this was more proof that the birth of the perfect child prodigy was really not just hearsay.

His mind went white with rage and resentment at the word.

Perfect.

Like it was purposely taunting him. What made it worse was it was a child conceived by two mere military grunts. It made him tremble in indignity, as if the world was purposely rubbing it in his face. No. No, he refused to acknowledge this unknown child 'prodigy'. His legacy will not be taken away just like that. His perfect legacy.

A soft knock on the door, barely audible through the turmoil in his mind, broke him out of his frenzied reverie. The man set aside his anger for another day. He checked the time.

5:59 PM

"Come in."

"Yes, Father." The voice belonged to a little girl, her words accented with a slight lilt pleasing to the ears. The door opened and revealed his five-year-old daughter. His legacy. She closed the door behind her, and walked towards him in measured steps - with confidence and dignity - before stopping two feet away from his desk. He checked the time again.

6:00 PM

A sickening smile made its way to his lips.

Perfect.

The daughter, however, began feeling uncomfortable from the extended silence. Her father was in a different mood than usual.

He noticed, and forced down a grimace. No, not yet. His eyes trailed to her exquisite raven hair, her celestial blue eyes, and soft alabaster skin. It was good work, but it wasn't perfect. Not yet, but soon. He gave her a smile in greeting, its insincerity clear as day for the little girl. "Good evening, Miranda. How was your day?"

The little girl faintly relaxed her unknowingly tense shoulders. This was back to familiar territory now. She returned a smile, equally fictitious yet much better masked than her father's, before she recounted the events of her day. A status report under the guise of the image of an attentive father; laughably apparent, if you asked her.

Little Shep is having a little rest; instead here are things happening around her. And I still need to keep on working on military/sci-fi technicalities. Writing Daniel and Hannah Shepard makes me want to conjure their origin story, they're slowly molding themselves into more substantial characters in my head. Also, Miranda and Hackett!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Mass Effect.