Chapter 6: Wake Up and Smell the Threats
"Is he awake? Then wake him up." The command was harsh to Kaidan's ears, and was swiftly followed by a slap to the face. He raised a hand to fend off any additional blows, but none came. Instead, someone grabbed his arm and hauled him upright. It took a moment for him to gain his balance, and in that moment, Dr. Kenson placed a gun on his heart. "One false move and I will not hesitate." Kaidan nodded his understanding, and gun was temporarily removed. "We've received a transmission from your ship, and they are insisting on speaking with one of you. I won't risk waking Shepard; she would most likely prove too difficult to control. But you won't leave her here alone with the artifact, will you?" He closed his face off to her. Her leer was too strange to dignify with an answer. "Answer me!" She slapped him, and he reeled, still disoriented from the drugs that had forced him to stay unconscious after surgery.
"I won't leave Commander Shepard." He answered her with a stern voice, unwilling to play her game.
"Good. Go tell the Normandy that we are still working on something and that we won't leave for another day or so. Make up an excuse. The terminal is right here, and we'll be watching you." She and the guard who had pulled him to his feet marched him to a terminal. From there, both stepped away from him.
Kaidan took a few moments to gather himself, then looked at the console. It was relatively simple to figure out, but that wasn't what Kaidan focused on. He had no way to escape the asteroid. There was a small possibility of fighting his way off the asteroid, but it would be impossible if he went looking for Shepard and tried to bring her as well. So that avenue of escape was closed. He instead thought of how to pass a message to Joker or the Normandy without arousing suspicion. There were several Alliance codes for hostage situations, but Kenson would know all of those. He finally decided that he would have to make Joker uncomfortable. Satisfied with his half plan, he decided to hail the Normandy with the view screen on.
"I'm only speaking to Shepard or – whoa." Joker stopped for a moment, looking at Kaidan curiously. "You look like shit, Alenko." He craned in his seat to look behind Kaidan. "Where the hell is Shepard? I've been asking for her for a while. It took me this long just to get you."
"Sorry, Jeff. You know how it is when you have to fight a group of fucking Batarians. They all try to push your face in and you have to show them who's who. They managed to get me a few times though." He messed with his left ear, hoping Joker would remember the old move. He and Joker had developed a silent mode of communication in the cockpit of the SR-1. The signal meant to keep quiet, and that a superior was on the way. He only hoped that Joker would extrapolate the meaning to a hostage situation. "As for Shepard, you know how she is. She hates getting water in her pistol, so she's been obsessing over it. Out of curiosity, how long has 'this long' been?" A foul look from Kenson told him he wouldn't be able to ask much more.
"Uh huh. Whatever man. It's been like eight hours since you said you had Kenson. What the hell is the hold up?" Joker's question was difficult to answer, and Kaidan had to think fast to give a response that would satisfy Kenson.
"We're working with Kenson on some data crunching. It's for something that could prove Shepard was right about the Reapers. It's tedious data, but we need it. She needs it." Kaidan answered Joker in a serious tone, and it was half true. Joker raised an eyebrow slightly, and Kaidan thought he might be catching on.
"Find any cute Asari for me while you're pouring over boring data?" Joker asked, a grin on his face, but Kaidan knew better. This was code question for if he was being watched.
"In an Alliance area? Get some sleep, kiddo." As much as he wanted to answer in code, he couldn't. Kenson would have noticed Kaidan saying yes. With any luck, Joker would notice the comment about Alliance and know not to ask obvious hostage questions. Joker shrugged slowly.
"Either way, I would like to speak to Shepard. We need to head to Omega for supplies, and Shepard always has to give the ok." Kaidan could have collapsed with relief. They had just resupplied, and a resupply mid-mission would never be something Shepard would approve of.
"Just get Miranda's approval. Shepard won't mind, and if she does, she can take it up with me," he said the comment lazily, hoping Joker would instead send the Normandy on a search pattern. Kenson gave him a motion to wrap it up. "Either way, Shepard needs my help with the calculations. I'll leave you to the resupply. Project Base out."
"Roger that, Normandy out." Joker's face disappeared, and Kaidan let out the breath he was holding.
"Well done, Staff Commander. Good night." As Kenson spoke, Kaidan felt a needle slide into his arm and felt the burn of medicine begin to circulate in his body. He felt a gun pressed to his amp as his legs gave out and he knew no more.
"EDI, what were Kaidan's vitals during the conversation?" Joker asked as soon as Kaidan cut the line. There was no way Kaidan would say half of that in his right mind, and had dropped too many hints that things were wrong.
"Staff Commander Alenko had an elevated heart rate and blood pressure, along with other signs of stress. Also, he mentioned that he was in an Alliance facility, which meant that any official hostage codes could not be used. His erratic behavior does not show up in his files." EDI stated, concerned. "Also, Commander Shepard's continued absence is an indicator of abnormal conditions."
"I know, EDI. It's got me concerned too. Can you call a meeting? We need to do something about this."
"Of course, Jeff. I will let the crew know to report immediately, given the urgency."
Five minutes later, everyone was assembled in the conference room. Joker stood and informed the rest of the crew of what was happening, showing the footage of Kaidan's interaction.
"There's no way Kaidan would do anything like that. He's wound tight is the phrase I believe you would use," Garrus said, and Miranda nodded.
"Was there any indication of where they were besides on this 'project base'?" Jacob asked.
"There were none, but in the previous transmission, they stated they were heading to an asteroid by the relay," Samara recalled.
"That is correct, Samara. However, there is a large band of asteroids near the relay. It will prove difficult to search for them manually," Thane stated.
"What if we searched for eezo signatures?" Tali piped up. "If they have a base, it would need artificial gravity and life support. That should help narrow down our search."
"What about smashing? I can go in and smash things," Grunt said, stomping one foot in preparation for the fight.
"Alright. So we know for sure that Kaidan and Shepard are stuck on an asteroid and held hostage by Alliance soldiers," Garrus stated loudly, gathering everyone's attention. "We need to look for them. I like Tali's idea of searching for eezo signatures. Anything else we can think of that would narrow down the search?"
"Cerberus did have a tracking device in Shepard's armor. We turned the signal off, but I think might be able to turn it back on if we're in close enough range. That would help with locating her once we're close," Miranda said.
"We will assist you with the task of generating a strong signal," Legion stated.
"Should also watch for shuttles heading into the belt. All creatures need food, water. Soldiers will need to leave asteroid to get them," Mordin announced.
"Good on both counts. EDI, add that to our search parameters and head out for the system. Once we're in, cloak immediately and begin searching," Garrus ordered. "For the rest of you, we need a plan to extract them once we find them. We don't know what kind of defenses they'll have, but we need to anticipate what they might have." The team settled into a long talk while Joker left to pilot the ship.
