Second Life
Chapter Ten – The SSV Orizaba
Hannah had had very little sleep since she'd arrived on her new ship. The Orizaba was a fine ship with a fine crew, but her new captain was restless. There were always priorities on a dreadnaught, ship's upgrades, personnel changes and lately, human colonies being attacked by unknown forces. But Hannah could handle all that. Having served as the XO on the Kilimanjaro, she'd practically run that ship. Organization and delegation. But one thing that kept her up at night, one thing that she couldn't hand to her XO or anyone under her command was her daughter's death.
Hannah had argued with Admiral Hackett before she took command of the Orizaba. "You said there were looters and salvage ships that combed the spot where the Normandy was destroyed. Is it possible that they recovered her or rescued her? Perhaps the ship that attacked the Normandy captured her?"
Admiral Hackett had called Hannah Shepard to the Arcturus Station to offer her an Admiral star. "Anything is possible, but it's highly unlikely. When the Alliance rescue team got there, the ship's data recorder was missing along with a few other things. But we rescued all the survivors and those who didn't make it to the escape pods died on the ship and the ship crashed on Alchera. Nobody would have survived the crash if they didn't die onboard."
"The Normandy's pilot said he saw her getting spaced. So she didn't crash with the ship, her suit could protect her for a period of time until someone got to her."
"Hannah, this is all speculation."
"It's not speculation when it's your daughter's life at stake!" Hannah's voice had come out louder than she'd intended, but Hackett had put a hand on her shoulder.
"Look, I want you to work closer with me. I'd planned to ask you back on the Citadel before Sovereign's attack to consider a rear admiral position working closely at my side. I do hope that I've given you plenty of time to think it over. What do you say?"
"I might've said yes before…before this happened, Steven. But not now, not when she's still out there, alone, without her closest friends or her family. Give me a ship. I'll feel better being out there, keeping my eyes and ears open to what's going on. Please, do this for me." Hannah had convinced Hackett that this was the right thing for her to do.
Despite her belief that Shepard was still out there, Hannah had attended her daughter's military service given by the Alliance. She had done it to please the others but she'd told herself to hold on to hope even at the most desperate moments. She had strengthened herself with the thought of how comical this would be if one day she'd run into her daughter on a remote planet fighting an unknown enemy force. Shepard had done it before, undercover for N7 missions for long periods of time, only to emerge with tales of victories and more medals for Hannah's collection. Hannah thought she had prepared her psyche but nothing had prepared Hannah for Shepard's friends.
Hannah had met everyone at the hospital after Shepard was injured in the Battle of the Citadel, so she'd known their names at the funeral. Garrus had been the first to speak to her after the service. "I loved her."
What? How many lovers did my daughter have?
"Like a sister. I would have gone to hell and back with her and for her." The durian had offered his hand.
"I loved her too." The quarian had taken her turn next. "She was more than a sister to me. She was my mentor, my advocate and most of all, she was my best friend."
Even the krogan with his expressionless face had offered, "I'm proud to call Shepard my clan and my Battlemaster. If you know the krogans, you'll know we don't give our honor and loyalty easily. But most of all, Shepard was my friend. When I find out who did this, I'll rip their hearts out and offer them to you."
But the one person Hannah thought her daughter had loved the most hadn't come to her service. And somehow she'd seen it as another sign of hope. Even if Liara had been deep in grief, she still wouldn't have left Shepard unmourned and unhonored. The asari must know something nobody else did, Hannah was convinced of that. A mother's instinct wouldn't be that off and a mother's love could find optimism in the tiniest corners.
Hannah knew the risks both she and her daughter faced, it was all part and parcel of being an Alliance officer and Alliance family. But ever since the existence of the Reapers came to light, what was possible seemed inevitable. Every time they said goodbye, she knew it could be the last. And when that thought came, Hannah felt a small piece of her had died inside. But each time it was renewed when she saw her daughter again, or took a call from her or even saw her on the news. She felt the joy of resurrection as deeply as she felt death itself, like nature intended it to be, dead cells, new skin. Death was only the beginning when resurrection waited for you at the other end. Shepard was always running late for one reason or another when mother and daughter met for drinks or meals, but Hannah was always ravished with excitement and anticipation while waiting for her daughter to appear. Hannah felt that excitement and anticipation even now. She didn't understand why but she couldn't ignore it.
She must get in touch with Liara!
Her XO's voice came on the comm. "Captain, sorry to cut your rack time short, but we've just come within range of New Saigon's communications tower and they had activated their distress beacons with several recorded messages. The first few were from the colonists saying they were under attack, and then they went quiet. The last call was from a squad of Marines sent to investigate and they were asking for backup because they ran into some looters."
Damn! Another human colony was attacked! These mysterious attacks and the mysterious ship that destroyed the Normandy had been troubling Hannah. She couldn't compose a theory as there was little evidence left for anyone to collect after these attacks, but in her gut, she knew they were somehow connected. Hannah put on her uniform. "Are the Marines still on the surface?"
The XO answered. "Yes, ma'am. We just communicated with their leader, Lieutenant Ashley Williams, they're about to launch an attack on the looters."
Hannah's hands shook a little as she buttoned her shirt. Is this the same Ashley Williams who served with my daughter on the Normandy?
"Assemble the Marines and launch the gunships. We need to get down there and help them!" Hannah ordered. "I want to see who did this!"
Ashley Williams grunted as she moved her heavy boots in the mud. It had been raining ever since they got here, she gave a quick glance at her squad of Marines who were crazy enough to follow her this past year and a half.
She'd been assigned to several posts on several ships since the destruction of the Normandy, but she didn't stay in any of them long enough to unpack her weapon mods locker. She didn't fit in anywhere. In her own Marine Corps, Ashley felt displaced. She only decked her superior officer once this time around but eventually Admiral Hackett gave her a squad and slapped Lieutenant's bars on her uniform and sent her on "special tasks" that required an experienced Marine, especially one that believed in the threat of the impending invasion of the ancient machines.
Combat boots were not designed to walk in jungles, as Ashley cursed when her foot got stuck on a ball of tangled tree roots. "God damn it!" She grabbed on to a branch trying to pull her foot out of the trap, but the green moss on dark boughs made the branches slippery. She cursed again. Charlie came over and dragged her out of the muddy tangle. "Thanks, Charlie! Damn roots!"
As they crested a hill, the sprawling development on the flat land came into view. Ashley looked through her scope but saw no movement. She handed the scope to Charlie, "What do you see?" Charlie had been injured on the Normandy during the attack while he was trying to hold the door open to the wing that housed escape pods. He'd been assigned to a ground unit after the tour on the Normandy but when Ashley was given a command, she'd recruited Charlie immediately. In fact, most of her squad came from what was left of the old Normandy attachment. Ashley was happy to have this part of her family back. Shepard had given Kaidan's spare dog tags to her and she had given one of them to Charlie.
"No movement and no sign of a firefight." Charlie read what he saw through the scope.
"Did you notice those strange vehicles by the main plaza?" Ashley pointed.
"Yes, must be the looters. But where are the colonists?"
Ashley split the squad and they approached the development in two flanks and hoped to corner the looters at the base of the hill. A wooden gate with thick posts and a large wooden lattice above marked the entrance. New Saigon looked like no other colony Ashley had ever seen before. The colonists must have cleared this piece of flat land of trees and bushes and used wood in conjunction with the usual metal structures that most settlements used. There must be a carpenter among the colonists, Ashley thought. Even some of the buildings' front doors had wooden frames, and some houses had wooden fences. Wreaths made with fallen twigs in fall colors hung on many doors and fences, the colonists must have been preparing for some kind of celebration.
The rain had slowed to a drizzle. Combing the clean and quiet streets, Ashley was reminded of some old frontier towns in old vids. What happened here? Had raiders rode in with murder in their hearts and guns ablaze? Where did they dump the bodies and did they not spill any blood? A wooden rocking horse in bright red and blue stood in front of the building near the center of the town. "Come on, find me the schmucks who did this!" Ashley pounded her fist on a fence post. Her squad had searched everywhere, but there were no signs of any living or dead colonists.
A large building stood in the center of the town, a wooden lattice rose as high as the roof and a large wooden portcullis was lying on the ground. Five heavily armed and armored shuttles, all painted in black, were parked outside. Ashley pointed at the first shuttle with two fingers. Two Marines went up to the pilot and took him out silently with a knife. After they took out all the shuttle pilots except the last one and disabled the engines, Ashley pointed a gun at the lookout, "All your friends are dead back there, if you don't tell me everything I want to know, I will splatter your brains on that side of the shuttle. What are you doing here?"
The lookout didn't dare move but his eyes scanned the Marines in thick armor holding big guns around him. "A friend of ours came to visit and saw everyone was gone. It was like a ghost town, so he called us here to…to rob the vault."
Before the guy finished, a group of robbers rushed out, each carrying large bags and running towards their shuttles. But a wall of Marine soldiers stood in front of their rides, guns leveled and safeties off. The robbers dropped their bags and put up their hands; but the last guy started punching on his omni-tool and calling for backup. Ashley walked over to him and punched him squarely in the nose. The guy fell backwards, but Ashley didn't stop. She dragged him up and hit his face again, and the guy fell on the large canvas bag he was carrying. Several boxes of toys rolled out of the bag. Ashley picked one up and looked at it. "You're robbing children's toys? Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Those will fetch a lot of credits in the frontier. People pay big money for children's toys at holiday season. Nobody here is going to need them anymore."
"You think that makes it okay to loot, you fucking son of bitch! You're lucky I'm not putting a round in your head right now. Who did you call? Where is your backup?" Ashley grabbed his collar.
"If you Alliance types had shown up earlier, you could have saved them. You're just a bunch hypocrites!"
Ashley's face was on fire. She lifted the guy up in the air and tossed him against the side of a shuttle and the guy cried out as his ribs cracked against the heavy plating. "You shut your mouth or I will shut it for you!"
Charlie stood between the man and Ashley, "LT, that's enough. We need to prepare in case his backup shows up. "
Ashley didn't stop. She pushed Charlie aside and was ready to kick the robber on the ground. Heavy gunfire rained down around them from two approaching shuttles and everyone hit the deck. Charlie dragged Ashley down with him. After the robbers' shuttles made the pass, both the Marine soldiers and the robbers picked themselves up and pointed guns at each other. Two guys picked up their friend on the ground and moved towards the two waiting shuttles.
Fifty yards away, the Marines watched the robbers load their stolen goods and jump in the shuttles. The mounted guns on the shuttles were still pointing at the Marines. As the robbers were getting ready to take off, one of the Marines started sprinting towards them firing a pistol and a submachine gun at the same time.
"Ashley, no!" Charlie didn't grab the Lieutenant in time and he watched in horror as his friend dashed into the line of fire. He could hear the whistling sound of missiles flying above their heads and loud explosions came from the robbers' shuttles. Charlie looked up as two Alliance gunships flew by after unloading the missiles that had destroyed both shuttles. When the smoke cleared, Charlie searched for Ashley who was knocked out by the shockwave of the explosions.
Ashley woke up on a small cot in a cell. She lifted her head and touched the small bandage on her forehead. "Where am I?"
Across the hall, another cell held a young soldier who was standing at attention talking to a Lieutenant through metal bars. When Ashley asked, they both turned. The Lieutenant walked over to Ashley's cell, "You're on the SSV Orizaba and this is the brig."
"The brig? On what charges?" Ashley stood up and checked the bandages on her arm.
"Our doctor had a look at you. You're lucky you only got some scrapes and a bump on your head. But 14 civilians are dead! It could've been avoided if you had followed the procedure and waited for backup. My gunner is in that cell because of your actions. He might face the court marshal because he had to save your ass. You happy now? You bloodthirsty jerk! I thought your old Commander would have taught you better than this, being a big hero and all!"
"One more word about my old Commander, when I get out here, I'll…" Ashley held tightly to the metal bars.
"You'll what? Strike a superior officer again? How many times do you think the Corps will tolerate your behavior? I don't know how your small frigate was run but on a dreadnaught I'll have you clean the head until the day you get kicked out the Corps."
Anger came before words. Ashley took up the chair in her cell and tossed it against the metal bars. Everyone in the brig including her fellow prisoners stepped back in reaction. The Marine guard leveled his rifle and pointed at Ashley. The Lieutenant lowered his arm shielding his head and he walked slowly towards the madwoman, "You just bought yourself a court marshal, Lieutenant!"
The brig door opened with a hiss and Hannah Shepard walked in the brig. Ashley looked stunned. The two women locked eyes as Hannah moved slowly towards the cell while Ashley blinked her eyes with her mouth open. She hadn't seen Hannah since Shepard's memorial where she'd led the salute guns herself and put all the medals she'd earned from the Battle of the Citadel on the empty coffin. But she didn't talk to Hannah at the service. She was falling apart inside and she couldn't watch the same thing happening to another, let alone Shepard's mother. "Hannah, what are you doing here?" Ashley blurred out.
"Captain on deck, attention!" The MP shouted, bringing Ashley back to reality. She clicked her boots loudly and straightened her body. But Hannah waved her hand at the MP, "I've gone over the reports, and I'm dropping all charges."
"But Captain!" The Lieutenant protested.
Hannah looked at her Marine leader, "We have much more pressing things to deal with. Take your gunner and put him back to work." She turned to the MP, "Unlock the door and give us the room."
With only two women left in the room, Hannah walked into Ashley's cell. "At ease, Lieutenant."
Hannah stood in front of Ashley and she put a hand on the Marine's shoulder. She had seen Shepard wrapping her arm around Ashley's shoulders after they both accepted medals on the Arcturus Station and how they'd looked at each other, Shepard clearly had cared about Ashley and the gunnery chief's eyes had contained nothing but devotion. Touching Ashley's shoulder, Hannah's heart skipped. Anything that had been her daughter's including Ashley's friendship heated her inside, warming her, at the same time, stinging. "What were you trying to pull out there, Lieutenant?"
"Someone had to do something, ma'am." Ashley's breathing was getting heavy. "We didn't catch whoever wiped out the entire colony and left no trace, no bodies. At least we could do something about the looters!" Her nostril flared as she tried to control her anger.
"You should have waited for backup." Hannah moved her hand from Ashley's shoulder.
Ashley stood facing the bars. "Like we waited for help when the Normandy was attacked?" She turned and looked at Hannah, "Nobody believed us about the Reapers even after Sovereign attacked us. Are they blind? They sent one ship to face whatever that thing was that attacked us." She realized she was yelling at the Captain. Ashley stopped and turned back to face the bars again. "What was I supposed to do? The looters had to be stopped!" She hit the metal bars with her hand.
"Yes, they had the temerity to waltz in and rob the dead. You did exactly what we expect our Marines to do, but not the way you did it. You weren't just performing your duty," Hannah pointed at the bent chair legs. "What you did was self destruction."
Ashley stood silently, her breathing still heavy.
Hannah sat on the small cot in the cell. A ruffled blanket covered half of an OSD that still flickered with a book. "Reading the Bible?" Hannah picked up the OSD.
"The only book I can read these days." Ashley turned around and looked at the OSD in Hannah's hand. It must have fallen out of her pocket. Any other books she used to adore, poetry books, brought too much heartache since her old Commander's death and her old ship's destruction.
"Acts of the Apostles." Hannah moved her gaze from the OSD and patted the cot. Ashley sat next to her. "I know you're angry and I think I know why. I feel the rage too, and sometimes I want to destroy something too. But why do you want to self destruct?"
Ashley propped her elbows on her legs and put her head in her hands. "First Kaidan, and then Shepard. My friends keep dying around me and nobody seems to want to do something about it." She straightened herself. "I'm a Marine, I know I have to learn how to deal with death. But Shepard's death was different. She wasn't just my friend or some idol I worshipped. She was my road to Damascus. She made me a believer and she made me believe in myself. Believe I was good enough, just to be a Marine I know how, I was good enough!" Tears threatened to come. Ashley had not cried once for her old Commander's death. That would not be what Shepard wanted. Ashley wanted revenge and justice, not tears.
"You still are." Hannah understood Ashley's struggle. She knew that familiar look, the same one Hannah saw every time she looked into a mirror during sleepless nights. Fate spared no one.
"Hitting a superior officer? Risking everyone's life in New Saigon? If it weren't for you, I'd be court marshaled. I should be court marshaled." There was agony in Ashley's voice.
Hannah patted Ashley's hand and stood up. "Come on. Come to my quarters. I have a task for you."
"But I don't work for you."
"You do now. I've requested a transfer for you and your squad, Admiral Hackett will get the signatures."
Inside the captain's quarters on the Orizaba, Ashley couldn't help but marvel. "Wow, the Captain's Quarters on a dreadnought are huge!"
Hannah looked around the room as if she herself had stepped in for the first time. She pointed at the shelves by the wall near her bed, "Those aren't mine. Leftover from the last captain. I've been too busy to even pay attention to the decorations. I only need a bed to sleep in and a desk where I can work."
Ashley didn't pay too much attention to Hannah's rambling as she stood in front of a large glass case built into the bulkhead. Dozens of weapons in different sizes stood on the racks that occupied the entire side of the room. "Wow!" was all that Ashley could manage to get out.
"What?" Hannah looked up, "Those? Those are mine." Seeing Ashley tracing the shapes of her favorite rocket launcher with her fingers on the glass cage, Hannah smiled. "You didn't think my daughter learned how to shoot from her father, did you?"
Ashley chuckled at Hannah's cocky smile, the same one she'd seen many times on her old Commander. "Yeah, she was a good shot, but only with the weapons I modded for her." Then she looked down and her smile disappeared.
Hannah sighed. "Running a ship is like running a big family. I need people I can trust and people who understand me."
Ashley faced the Captain. "What do you need me to do? Just say the word."
"Do you know how to get in touch with Dr. Liara T'Soni?" Hannah asked.
"No, but I know someone who might."
Fin 2 stood by a railing near the Apollo's Café on the Presidium waiting for G.G. to finish her procurement of some fancy chips and implants. They were taking a day of shore leave to come to the Citadel so that G.G. could buy tech gear and parts for the ship. And Fin 2 was here for another matter.
It'd been weeks since their first "non-kiss" and Fin 2 still had no clue why G.G. had turned her down. The young commando had locked herself in her small electronics lab for days in the name of going over the data from Liara's scans of the sniper. But it felt like G.G. was hiding from something or someone. What was she hiding from?
Fin 2 had decided to let G.G. ease back to where they were, and that seemed to have worked. G.G. went back to her normal routine and her old self after they had dropped off the Justicar on Illium. It was comforting to have G.G. as a close friend again but Fin 2 couldn't put the "non-kiss" out of her mind. The complete openness she felt toward the young commando was tantalizing and the briefness of it only acted as fuel to the fire. She even let G.G. talk her into coming to the Citadel and barter a dessert treat after dinner. Fin 2 smiled at her plan when she saw the young commando hurry into the courtyard.
"Sorry it took so long. These merchants treat every asari customer like we had a million credits ready to spend with them." G.G. was a little out of breath from rushing over here. "Shall we get going?"
Fin 2 took G.G.'s hand and led her to sit on a bench, their knees touching. "Are you sure you want to go with me?"
G.G. nodded. "Of course. I had to shop for engine parts just to get an extra day on my shore leave so I could come to the Citadel with you. I'm not backing out now. Let's get going."
Fin 2 didn't move. She put a hand on G.G.'s knee. "I just want you to know how much I appreciate you making me do this."
"Yeah, I practically dragged you into the comm room, I even dialed the number for you. And I let that grease monkey at the engine parts store grab my ass to save time from haggling so we could get there on time. Now that I think of it, I've earned two treats instead of one after this. Can we renegotiate on the dessert deal?" G.G. giggled.
"Who grabbed your ass?" Fin 2's eyes started popping.
"The guy manning the emporium at the docks down at the Zakera Ward. He does that to everyone. I just hate the fact that I have to go back there and pick up the order later." G.G. didn't want to waste more time. "Come on, you really shouldn't be late for the meeting." G.G. looked at Fin 2's serious face and she took the sniper's hand. "Look, I know it's hard. But I'll be there waiting for you. No matter what happens, you'll have me there waiting for you. Okay?"
Fin 2 frowned and squeezed G.G.'s hand, but she remained silent.
G.G. settled back down. "What is it, Alia?"
Fin 2 took a deep breath, "We have trust between us, don't we? I put my life in your hands and you put yours in mine. We trust one another."
G.G. didn't know where Fin 2 was going with this. "Always and forever."
Fin 2 lowered her head and looked at G.G.'s hands. "But I want to put something else in your hands, something more, and I want you to put yours in mine." She looked up at G.G.'s face again. "I want to put my heart with yours. No, I have put it in your hands and I don't want to take it back."
G.G. was caught unprepared by Fin 2's declaration. She took her hands back. "I told you, I can't."
"Why not?"
"I just can't. It's for your own good. I'm not good for you."
Fin 2 palmed her face trying to calm herself down. "Is it our age difference? You think you're too young for me? I don't mind that one bit. If I have to wait, I'll wait for as long as it needs to be. But I need to know, do you love me?"
G.G. turned to face the Presidium and answered meekly. "It doesn't matter."
Fin 2 pulled G.G.'s shoulder and turned the young commando to face her. "It does to me. Do you love me?"
The back of G.G.'s neck started burning. She took a few deep breaths. "I can't love you! I'll be your friend for the rest of my life. I'll be there for you whenever you need me. I won't let you down or fail you when you need my protection. I just can't love you and I can't tell you why!"
Fin 2 jumped up from the bench and started walking. G.G. followed her. "Alia, wait."
"I don't want you to come with me." Fin 2 shouted without turning her head. She hurried to get to a taxi port.
G.G. jogged after Fin 2. "I talked you into it. I told you I'd come. I'm coming with you."
Fin 2 stopped and turned to G.G., "You did your job as a friend. I'll handle it from here. You just…leave me alone."
Fin 2 quickened her steps towards the transit port, and G.G. still followed her. Fin 2 stopped and turned her body half way; G.G. stopped a few paces away. Fin 2 resumed her jog and G.G. started to follow her again.
At the taxi port, Fin 2 jumped into a skycar. G.G. knocked on the side door. "Come on, Alia. Let me in. Please." She was begging with her large sparkly eyes.
Fin 2 hesitated but she pulled the thruster. "Take the next car."
G.G. waited outside the asari commando officer's lounge where Fin 2 was meeting with her mother. G.G. wanted to go in but she wasn't permitted unless an officer invited her. So she sat with the receptionist making idle chat as she watched Fin 2 and Commander Bellana through the clear glass.
Fin 2 stood in front of the Commander who was sitting in one of the sofas. From the looks of it, Fin 2 refused to sit. G.G. winced and muttered under her breath, "Sit down next to her, you idiot!" But before long, the Commander stood up and pointed her finger at her daughter and she looked like she was yelling at the sniper. Fin 2 stood at attention and let the Commander yell. Then she pointed at the sofa and the Commander sat down again. Fin 2 started pacing and talking. G.G. was a little relieved when she saw Fin 2 finally sit down next to her mother. At the end of the conversation, the Commander sagged in her chair sobbing.
Fin 2 came out of the large lounge and headed straight to the bathroom. G.G. ran after her. Inside the large and bright bathroom, Fin 2 stood facing a wall in a small sitting area. She held her head with her arm against the wall, crying. G.G. walked behind her and hesitantly put a hand on Fin 2's back and lightly stroked it. Fin 2 turned and buried her face in G.G.'s shoulder and let her tears fall freely.
G.G. led Fin 2 to a chair in the sitting area after holding her sobbing friend for a while, and she wetted a towel and handed to Fin 2. "Do I need to go and kick the Commander's ass?"
Fin 2 let out a chuckle and shook her head. She opened her hand and looked at a set of ID tags. "They've given Graf's ID tags to my mother. She just gave them to me."
"So you two talked it out?" G.G.'s eyes were full of hope.
"Not all of it. But it was a good start."
G.G. smiled and hugged Fin 2 tightly.
Down at the Zakera docks, Fin 2 waited for G.G. to check the parts she had ordered, and then she pointed at a short human with a greasy face. "Is that the grease monkey?"
The human saw G.G. and he smiled. Fin 2 saw two of his front teeth were missing.
The grease monkey moved his thick legs towards G.G., "I hope everything is in order." He raised his hand to touch G.G., but Fin 2 caught his wrist.
"What happened to your teeth, buddy?" Fin 2 asked.
"Someone punched them out." The grease monkey's sneaky eyes were still on G.G.'s butt.
"Why did someone punch you?" Fin 2 asked again.
"Because I grabbed his girlfriend's ass." The grease monkey started giggling.
Fin 2 turned his face to look her in the eye. "You're about to lose another one." Before the grease monkey wiped the smile off his face, Fin 2's fist connected solidly with it.
As Fin 2 and G.G. made their way back to the transit port, they heard the grease monkey crying behind them. "My tooth!"
Two levels above the docks in the Dark Star Lounge, Dr. Wilson was downing colorful drinks. For over two years now, he'd been cooped up on that god-forsaken ship with that cold-blooded bitch peering over his shoulder at everything he did. "Lazarus, the bitch compared herself to Jesus." When the Illusive Man had approached him to join the project, Wilson had thought he'd be in charge of the medical reconstruction and make important decisions. But Miranda Lawson had second guessed everything he did and taken actions against his advice whenever she saw fit. Two years later, Wilson was still the lab rat, making a paltry salary while an unthinkable amount of credits went into the project for a single soldier. He'd finally had enough. He wanted to make some credits while he still had the chance. Contacting the Shadow Broker was the only logical choice. After all, the Shadow Broker had sent his agents to follow Shepard's body all over the galaxy. He'd pay big for her now that her reconstruction was almost complete.
Meeting the Shadow Broker's agent was not strictly necessary. An account was already set up in his name. Half of the agreed amount had been wired into it and the other half would follow upon delivery of Shepard's body. But Wilson needed more. His ego had been repeatedly stumped on in the last two years. With the ultimate bargaining chip in his hands, something that everyone in the galaxy seemed to want to pour credits into, he wanted more than credits. He knew the Shadow Broker didn't beg, but a nice gesture would seal the deal. After 5 drinks at the Dark Star Lounge, Wilson saw that gesture and he smiled.
"Ah, Spectre! Over here." Wilson waved a hand, already half drunk.
Tela Vasir disliked meetings in nightclubs. Cloying sweat, fermented alcoholic breaths, overcooked animal meat, they all offered one thing: an offensive nasal assault. Nightclubs were fine for staging shootouts and accidents, but they were not for meetings. Too many eyes were watching and it was always too loud to hear anyone talk. But she had to do this job. She owed the Shadow Broker.
When Vasir first became a Spectre, she'd had high hopes for her job and for herself. But it seemed that the Goddess had other designs. All the tasks she'd been assigned to were mundane crimes that C-Sec should have handled. Her last case had seen her chasing some hackers all over the galaxy. Hackers! She hadn't trained under a biotics master for a hundred years just to chase down hackers who didn't even know how to hide themselves well. Staging a nightclub shootout that wiped every last one of them out was an insult to Vasir's intelligence and her supreme power.
"Congratulations on your recent success, Spectre. Next time, try to avoid civilian casualties." That message was the only thing she'd received from the Council for busting the hackers.
"Kiss my fucking blue ass!"
When the Shadow Broker asked her to handle Shepard's case, Vasir gladly took the job. She owed the Broker for giving her the lead on a large slave trading ring on a salarian planet. She'd been working on that case for months and she knew she was very close to busting it wide open. Vasir was also happy to hand Shepard to the Shadow Broker personally. When Sovereign attacked the Citadel, Vasir had been undercover chasing the hackers on a planet in the Terminus Systems. It wasn't just that she'd missed her chance at protecting the Council, something a Spectre was trained to do, but a human that had been a Spectre for only a few months saved the Citadel and the Council. A young human, an infant by asari standards, with no biotic powers and no long term military training, had taken all the glory because she'd been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Fate had played an unfair game. But then, the Shadow Broker handed her this case.
"I can't believe the Shadow Broker sent a Spectre." Wilson giggled. He didn't expect Vasir would actually show up after the Shadow Broker had told him whom he'd meet. He tried to stand up, but a hiccup warned him that standing would be a bad idea right now.
Vasir tightened her lips watching the drunken human's snaky eyes running up and down her body. If it were up to Vasir, she'd tie up this spineless human in a chair and make him spill his guts, figuratively and literately. But that was not how the Shadow Broker worked. Broken people were broken assets and broken assets cost money. The Broker only used violence when it was necessary because violence begot violence, and that was bad for business.
"Damn him and his manipulations!" Vasir cursed under her breath. She sat down across the large table and hung back in her seat.
"Spectre…" Wilson was cut off.
"Don't call me that. We have to be discreet. Call me Vasir."
"Oh, come on. Nobody knows who you are." Wilson dragged his words.
Vasir disliked Wilson the minute she saw him but after those words, she wanted to hit him with a biotic throw. "Just tell me the plan so I can get out of here." Vasir's voice was icy cold.
Wilson's glee of having a Spectre begging for his help froze on his face. "Hey, the Shadow Broker wants my help. This is what's wrong with my life. Too many ice queens."
Vasir had had enough. She jumped over the table and pushed Wilson's head in to a plate of food. "We can do this the easy way or we can do it the hard way. If you know what a Spectre can do, you know not to fuck with me."
"Okay, okay. No need to get so angry." Wilson talked in to a plate of salad. But Vasir didn't let him go. Wilson huffed to move a piece of lettuce stuck under his face that blocked his mouth from talking. When it didn't move, he took it into his mouth and chewed it. Vasir gave his head another push. Wilson swallowed the half chewed lettuce loudly. "I'll disable the defense systems on the station and set the mechs to attack all personnel. When everyone is dead, I will release the beacon and you can come and collect the body. "
"Give me the coordinates." Vasir kept her hold on the human's head.
"In my front pocket."
Vasir took out a small disc from Wilson's pocket and towered over the human. "I'll contact you in two days. If you screw this up, there is nowhere you can hide from me. Remember that."
A/N: Next up: Shepard returns in "A Hero Behind the Enemy Line"