Chapter 7: Confessions
God, she was a wreck. The sheer force of the mass effect shields appeared to be the only thing holding her together. He kept waiting for her to just fall to pieces.
The Normandy was stronger than she looked currently. It had taken them the better part of two weeks to navigate back to the Citadel, but Shepard had been insistent that they find port there rather than Omega or Illium, especially after her spectacular blow out with the Illusive Man after destroying the Collector Base. Besides, the Commander had mentioned that both the Alliance Brass and the Council wanted to meet with her. She had been mum as to why, if she knew anything more than that.
Forty-eight hours ago, Joker insisted on remaining with the repair crews when Shepard began issuing mandatory shore leave for the majority of the crew. He did not trust anyone else to handle his baby. Besides, someone had to look after EDI and make sure her systems were fully restored as well.
Of course, the shore leave had not included the Commander herself. He had seen her come and go several times over the course of the past two days, but she seemed business as usual every time. Guess she figured two years dead had been enough shore leave.
He grimaced at the morbid thought. Damn, he still felt guilty about those two years, even if Shepard never took him to task over his stubborn insubordination that caused her death.
"EDI, how are the repairs coming?" He must have been desperate for a distraction if he was considering actual work right now. Sure, he spent most of his time on the bridge anyways, because, well, leather seats, but he did not want to dwell on such thoughts. Work would be better.
The pale blue glow from the orb to his left caught his eye, as EDI flicked to life. "Internal system diagnostics are still compiling. They are almost complete. External repairs, I currently estimate complete at 79%. We will need several more days in dock before the hull is capable of handling the stress of travel."
"Because we didn't just travel from the center of the Galaxy with these hull breaches."
"We travelled out of necessity, Jeff. I made several recommendations to the Commander to stop at other ports for repairs; however, Shepard had insisted that we return to the Citadel."
"I'm sure the Commander was trying to avoid any unnecessary encounters with Cerberus lackeys."
"The chances of encountering a Cerberus operative on the Citadel are just as high as they would have been on Illium or Omega. I would suspect higher actually."
"Heh, probably." He really did not want to entertain the thoughts of what a Cerberus operative would be up to should they try to intercept the Normandy or her crew while they were docked.
"Internal system diagnostics are now complete, Jeff. All necessary systems are fully operational. I have detected some minor anomalies in other systems. I am currently trying to isolate and quarantine them."
"Good girl. Anything we should be worried about?"
"I do not believe so. These anomalies appear to be Cerberus failsafe programs that have not activated; however, Cerberus had not anticipated that Commander Shepard or her crew would unshackle me. I do not believe that even if they were active that they would pose any problem to the ship. Given their location, most of these programs would simply observe and report information back to a Cerberus location."
Joker turned away from his console to look at EDI's interface. "I thought we got rid of all the Cerberus spyware aboard."
EDI flickered slightly, a trait she had picked up to signify annoyance of late. "We have removed all recording devices for audio and video; however, there could still be sub-routines implanted in systems – such as I found – that could report back other ship functions to Cerberus locations. In addition, they could also report back any files still archived here from before we removed the devices."
Archived files? That perked his interest. "What kind of files?"
"The unrestricted files are merely the ship-wide surveillance that was sent back to the Illusive Man at regular intervals; however, the majority of the files are still restricted from general user access."
"But not to you, EDI. Anything in those files that the Commander should know about?"
"I have already shared the necessary archived files with the Commander. Most of the ones of interest to her are the ones she personally restricted."
Okay, now that was odd. The Commander had not been keeping private logs aboard the Normandy in fear of someone or something from Cerberus snooping about the system and locating them. He had helped her locate the actual journals that she had used to document their journey, and they had deposited those on the Citadel prior to embarking on the last leg of their suicide mission. Her official "reports" for Cerberus had been short, direct, and anything but useful, so hardly worth restricting access.
"What on earth would the Commander want restricted? She got some secret naked photos or something?" Joker grinned. He doubted that was the case, but he could dream - even if the dream would get him broke in half by his CO. It was pure "art" appreciation.
EDI flickered in annoyance again. "Those files are personal, Jeff."
"Call me nosy."
"I have been instructed to keep those files private. Besides, the contents would not conform to the requisite criteria to any of the extranet sites you frequent."
Joker laughed at the jab the AI made at his expense. It was true enough, so no point in denying it. "Fine, Mom, we'll leave the Commander's files…"
"Jeff, there is an incoming priority call from an Alliance medical facility in the Kithoi Ward." EDI generally didn't cut him off. He'd been teaching her some human etiquette to help her get along with the crew, so it must have been something urgent for her to interrupt him of all people. After all, he talked to her the most. She was his ship.
Frowning a bit, he wondered why they would be getting a call from a medical facility, and why that would be so urgent. Did Jack get drunk and get into a brawl with some Alliance troops? If so, he wondered if there was video of that. He punched a few buttons on his console. "This is the Normandy."
"Joker?"
He bit back a sigh as he recognized the voice on the other end. Suffice to say, Kaidan Alenko was one of the last people he wanted to speak with. They had not left things on the best of terms two years ago, mainly on account of both men blaming the pilot for Shepard's death.
"The Commander isn't here, Alenko." Maybe if he cut right to the chase, he could get Kaidan to go away.
"What?" It was impossible to miss the annoyance in the other man's voice.
"Commander Shepard? She's not here. She's probably in some meeting with Anderson. I figured being his lapdog these days, you'd know that. Or are we exercising the 'Intelligence Not Expected' angle finally?"
There was a long pause. He could only imagine the pained look on his former friend's face as he tried to puzzle out that insult, and that image made him grin. When Kaidan finally spoke again, the annoyance had become notes of anger. "I'm not calling to speak with Shepard. Is Dr. Chakwas there?"
"Chakwas? A bit old for you, isn't she, buddy?" He wanted to laugh, to let his former friend know he was kidding, but he figured that would be in bad taste. He settled for drumming his fingers lightly against the soft leather armrest.
The marine on the other end of the call certainly was not appreciating his humor either. Kaidan growled the words through the connection. "Just transfer the damn call to her."
"Dr. Chakwas is not aboard the Normandy currently, Commander Alenko." Joker caught a flash of blue from the corner of his eye, as the AI interjected on his behalf. Joker turned to look at EDI's interface once more, shaking his head in silent protest. She was ruining all his fun.
There was a moment of silence, followed by a quiet sigh. "Do you know where she is? Or at the very least, do you have any way to contact her?"
"What's so damn important that you…." Joker stopped himself mid-question. It was Shepard, and if Kaidan was calling from a medical facility looking for Chakwas. He was ready to assume the worst. "What did you do to her?"
"What did I do to her?" Joker was silently pleased that there was most of the Citadel distance to separate the marine from him. "I'm not the one who got her killed."
Joker scowled at the comment. "Shepard was just fine when she left her this morning. Alive and everything."
"Well, she's not fine now. So find me Chakwas before you get her killed again." The line then went silent as it was disconnected from the other side.
"I'm really beginning to hate that guy," Joker muttered, yanking his hat off his head. One of these days, Kaidan was really going to have stop beating that particular horse. "And I could have sworn that Shepard said things had gone well when she spoke to him on Horizon."
"I do not believe the Commander had been truthful when you spoke to her about Horizon, Jeff."
Joker quirked an eyebrow as he looked to EDI. "What do you mean?"
EDI flickered for a moment before a recording of Miranda's voice began.
"Where we were able to stop the Collectors from making off with the entire colony, I am worried that Shepard's experience on Horizon may be problematic. She's obstinately refused to comment on her encounter with Commander Alenko, but his words alone have confirmed that there was something beyond a professional relationship between the two. Beyond that, he referred to her as a traitor and accused her of faking her own death. Based on all the information I've studied, these statements are contrary to the woman we believe her to be."
"EDI," Joker grimaced slightly. He had heard enough of that report to get the idea.
EDI's interface flickered slightly again. "I also have some audio recordings from the Forward Batteries with Officer Vakarian and Engineer Tali'zorah, confirming Director Lawson's report. Would you like me to play those?"
Joker shook his head. "No, no, that won't be necessary." Why would the Commander have lied like that? He at least knew what the deal was between her and Alenko, a lot more than anyone else on the ship.
He sighed a bit. "Anything else that you've been hiding away about the Commander, EDI?"
"Only the files that the Commander requested to be restricted."
"Do any of those files corroborate what the others are saying?"
"Yes." EDI flashed briefly red for a moment. "I also believe that Commander Alenko's comments from his call may have some credence."
"And you didn't think that was important to let anyone know about before now?"
He was never sure how she managed to do it, but EDI looked positively guilty for a second. "Those file are restricted. It was not my place to say. Besides, I gave the Commander my word. I was not going to betray her confidence."
Joker slowly stood up, always worried that he might move to fast and break something, and slipped his hat back on. "For future reference, it's okay to disclose medical concerns about the Commander should you get them. Just… try to get in touch with Dr. Chakwas while I go see if Miranda is available."
"Of course, Jeff," EDI said before powering down her interface to do as asked.
Moving a bit quicker than he normally would have, Joker made his way from the bridge to Miranda's office on the Crew Deck. He was not sure how much of Kaidan's dire statement was exaggeration, but he was not going to let someone claim he was responsible for Commander Shepard's second death.
The door to Miranda's office slid open, revealing the brunette to be sitting behind her desk. She glanced briefly at him with her icy blue eyes. "Yes, Mr. Moreau?"
He hobbled forward into her office, sitting down in one of the chairs. "Remember when I first joined up and you asked me to keep an eye on Shepard? To let you know if something seemed amiss about her?"
Miranda smirked and returned her gaze back down to a datapad on her desk. "Yes, and I quite clearly recall you telling me that I'd be the last person Shepard would ever want you disclosing anything to."
"Yeah, well. I'm pretty sure that's still the case, but I don't think I've got much of a choice."
Miranda set the datapad aside and looked back to him. "Just say what you need to say, Mr. Moreau. If it's about the Commander, it's important."
"I think something's wrong with her."
"What makes you say that?"
He took a deep breath and hoped that Shepard would not find a reason to come back here and turn him into a eunuch when she found out. "Because Commander Alenko just called. Shepard's currently at the Alliance medical facility in the Kithoi Ward."
Concern touched Miranda's face. "Did he say what was wrong?"
Joker shook his head. "No, just told me that if I couldn't find Dr. Chakwas…"
"Jeff," EDI interrupted. "I have managed to get in touch with Dr. Chakwas. She stated that she could be at the facility in 25 minutes."
"Thank you, EDI," Miranda took charge of the conversation. Shepard still trusted the woman as her XO, even though Joker had no idea why. He let it pass though. "Let Dr. Chakwas know that I will be meeting her there. If she requires anything from her clinic, I can bring it with me."
"Yes, Miranda."
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Mr. Moreau. I'll handle it from here. You can go back to overseeing repairs with EDI." Miranda said, dismissingly.
He never even told her any of his direct concerns. Had she suspected something all along? It didn't matter, he guessed. The people who knew the most about the Commander would be all in one place soon. Joker left the room quietly, making his way back to the bridge. He almost wanted to go with Miranda to see Shepard. It would be worth the risk of three angry biotics to see Alenko have to square off against the Ice Princess.
