A Matter of Time and Space
THREADS OF FATE
Docking Bay 42, Zakera Ward, Citadel – 06:00 GSD – 13th May 2185 CE
Vereen stood on the platform next to the moored asari corvette watching the hustle and bustle of the docking bay with an air of mild amusement. Shouts and orders flew back and forth across the bay as several flight technicians busied themselves to prep the ship for departure. In the midst of this hubbub a quarian woman was directing the scurrying technicians as they loaded supplies, including several turian designed spacesuits, onto the ship. It was an entertaining sight in and of itself, but what was truly surprising was the fact that the technicians were actually obeying the quarian's orders, without question. Vereen smiled at the scene, wondering if it hinted at a change of attitudes on the Citadel. Quarians were not generally well regarded by most citizens, and though Vereen had no particular prejudice against the quarians herself she understood why others might harbour resentment towards the species – they did unleash a race of hostile A.I.s on the galaxy after all. But Vereen wasn't about to blame one lone quarian for the mistakes her ancestors made over three centuries ago.
Her gaze was drawn back to the asari ship and the elegant lines of its hull.
"It's much more… shapely than I was expecting," she commented to her sister standing beside her. "Not as sleek as turian spacecraft."
Valni opened her mouth to respond but another voice piped up before she could answer. "Call it a quirk of asari design. We prefer our ships to have curves."
Vereen turned. An indigo-skinned asari was standing behind them. The alien woman had approached so stealthily that Vereen never heard her footsteps.
"I didn't say I didn't like it," Vereen replied. "To be honest, I think it's a beautiful craft. Are you the owner?"
"Technically, she belongs to the Republics; she's on temporary loan from the Second Fleet. And I'm under strict instructions to bring her back in one piece." The asari gave a slight bow of introduction. "Maven Amélia T'Rani. I'm your sister's administrator, Ms. Severan."
"You know who I am?" Vereen asked, slightly taken aback.
T'Rani nodded. "Vereen Caelia Severan. Born 2150 CE in Palaven's Luciana Province. Eldest of five siblings: three brothers, one sister. Consigned to Cipritine Military College at fifteen. Excelled in operational oversight and logistical support. Transferred to Citadel Flight Control as a technician on completion of military service. Your superiors have rated your aptitudes as excellent, hence your recent promotion."
"You knew all that off the top of your head?" Vereen asked in astonishment.
T'Rani smiled. "I like to know everything about those under my command – including their families."
"That's rather unnerving," Vereen replied.
"Yeah, she does that," Valni commented quietly.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Vereen," T'Rani added happily. "In retrospect, I should probably have led with that."
"No, it's fine. Hearing you reciting my biography was quite the eye-opener," Vereen said, smiling.
T'Rani grinned. "Well, at least I didn't list your past relationships. That was quite the eye-opener!" Vereen's eyes widened in surprise, but T'Rani had directed her attention to the quarian who was conferring with a human technician. "Lia'Vael! What's our status?"
"All systems are operational. She's primed and ready to go," the quarian replied promptly.
"Good. Man your station." The asari turned to Valni. "Get on-board, Officer Severan, we're leaving."
"Yes, ma'am," Valni replied, and T'Rani strode towards the ship.
The sisters watched T'Rani wander away. "Well, she seems quite… knowledgeable," Vereen said.
"I think the word you're looking for is 'busybody'," Valni quietly corrected.
"I heard that!" the retreating asari shouted.
"Oh, Spirits!"
"Try not to get into any more trouble, Val," Vereen advised.
"That's a vain hope."
Vereen touched brows with her sister and waved as she ambled up the gangway and into the ship.
At that moment, the dark-haired technician who'd been talking to Lia'Vael wandered across the platform, his face creased into a harried frown.
"Never thought I'd get chewed out by a quarian," he muttered to himself.
"Problem?" Vereen asked the man.
"It's nothing really. I made a stupid mistake loading the equipment; almost tipped one of the ORES spacesuits over."
"Don't worry, it happens to everyone," Vereen consoled him. "I made a couple of dumb mistakes my first day here too."
The man cast two curious, deep-brown eyes at her. "You work on the docking bays?"
"No, I work for Citadel Flight Control, but my first job was safety and logistics on the docks. And if you think almost knocking a spacesuit over is bad, imagine the fuss if you'd accidently locked three volus in a container because you thought they were shop-floor dummies!"
"You didn't?" the man exclaimed.
Vereen nodded ruefully. The man pulled back his lips to reveal a row of blunt white teeth, the skin around his eyes crinkling as he grinned.
Vereen regarded him for a moment. His face was the colour of rich amber, and his short, dark pelt of hair moved gently every time he turned his head.
Vereen offered her hand in the human greeting her sister had demonstrated. "I'm Vereen."
The man grasped Vereen's hand. "Ethan," he replied, smiling. He had a firm grip.
Zaalia was feeling unaccountably anxious as she manoeuvred the Threads of Fate away from the Citadel docking bay and navigated her way through the dense flotilla of ships circling the gigantic space station.
The corvette passed by several asari frigates, Zaalia cautiously giving the ships a wide berth as she steered towards the distinctive shape of the Widow System's fifteen-kilometre long Mass Relay, its central gyroscopic rings steadily revolving around its blue-glowing core of element zero.
Even though she'd passed through the Mass Relays many times before, Zaalia tensed as she eased the ship into the Relay's approach corridor. The gyroscopic rings started to automatically revolve faster as they approached. The glowing core within the rings grew in intensity. The ship's sensors spiked and a powerful filament of energy enveloped the ship.
For a moment, the universe morphed into a blue-shifted blur and the curious feeling of weightlessness overtook Zaalia as the corvette entered a mass-free corridor of space-time.
The journey lasted only a few seconds, but when the Threads of Fate emerged back in normal space it had travelled well over three hundred light years from the Widow System.
Zaalia let out a small sigh of relief and quietly checked, then double-checked the coordinates on the navigation computer. Satisfied the Threads of Fate was on the correct heading, she set the controls to automatic and spun her reclining seat around to face the three other occupants in the cockpit.
Valni and Lia'Vael were sat to the rear of the spacious cabin, bathed in the soft orange and blue glow of the ambient lighting. The quarian was perched eagerly on the edge of her seat as if she was about to spring forward at any moment, while Zaalia's fellow turian was sitting calmly and professionally, waiting for their asari supervisor to start her briefing.
The asari in question was standing off to the side of the cabin, in front of a decorative mosaic depicting, what Zaalia assumed was, an asari matriarch leading her troops into battle. T'Rani turned to Zaalia. "How's the ship treating you, Gerumis?"
"Oh, she's fine. I'm just more of a shuttle person," Zaalia replied. "I'm not your typical corvette pilot. With vessels this size the power balance takes a little getting used to."
"You seem to be adapting," T'Rani assured her. "If you have any questions or concerns, please do voice them. I want you to know you can approach me."
"Will do," Zaalia agreed.
"Let's get started." T'Rani activated her omni-tool and the decorative wall behind her dissolved into an image of an emerald coloured planet. "What do you know about Eingana?"
Lia'Vael's arm reached for the ceiling. The quarian waved her hand obediently as T'Rani cast an amused glance in her direction.
"You don't have to raise your hand, Lia'Vael. This isn't a classroom."
The quarian let her arm down rapidly. "Yeah. Right. Sure. I wasn't sure how this worked."
"You're obviously eager to answer," T'Rani said. "Just get it off your chest,"
The quarian blinked in surprise as she looked down at her suit's chest plate. "Get what off? Is something there?"
T'Rani sighed. "What can you tell us about the planet?"
"Oh! It's a garden world. In the Amada System of the Omega Nebula. Surveyed extensively, but mostly considered to be uninhabitable due to the high number of biotically active fauna. It's also littered with the wreckage of starships; so much so that the entire planet is basically one ancient battlefield. Researchers estimate that about 127,000 years ago two species fought in the planet's orbit. Each side lost hundreds of ships which eventually crashed onto the surface, dumping the element zero from their drive cores all over the place. It poisoned the landscape, causing mass extinctions. Any species that did survive are highly aggressive and have biotics, which they use for hunting. In general, the place isn't recommended for colonization."
"Very good," T'Rani said approvingly. "Top marks!"
Lia'Vael's glowing eyes scrunched up as she smiled.
"And the vorcha set up a base there?" Zaalia asked.
"It's the perfect place, when you think about it. Well off the trade routes, but still close enough to Omega Station that they can travel back to barter and get supplies. It's on a planet that, while a garden world, is considered uninhabitable, so no-one's going to bother them or think twice about the vorcha trying to set up a colony there. The vorcha are highly adaptable and can live in environments that would be toxic to most other species. They physically alter themselves to suit their surroundings. Given enough exposure to that environment and some of them could even develop biotic abilities."
"Biotic vorcha," Zaalia muttered. "That's all we need."
"So, what's our plan?" Valni asked. "I hope you don't think the four of us are going to take on the Blood Pack by ourselves. I mean, I'm good but I'm not that good."
"That's what I like about you: always so modest," Zaalia teased.
"You won't be expected to storm the gates, Severan," T'Rani assured her, smiling ruefully. "We're going to observe and reconnoitre. The heavy lifting – with the emphasis on 'heavy' – will be done by a squad of Citadel Special Forces. We're rendezvousing with their frigate when we reach Eingana. Our job will be to advise and guide them to their intended target. And with any luck, the vorcha will simply surrender and open the gates rather than risk taking us on."
"Not the vorcha I've fought," Valni put in. "They're not the most advanced race, but they're deadly fighters and they don't give up ground easily."
"There's a cheery thought," Zaalia said.
T'Rani referred to her omni-tool. "We should be there in about twenty hours. We'll reconvene once we enter the system."
"And in the meantime?" Lia'Vael asked.
"Prep the ship, prep your weapons, and familiarise yourself with the Threads of Fate."
"Already done," Lia'Vael said happily.
The team moved to leave, but T'Rani stopped them. "Before you go, there is something else…"
"No surprise there," Valni replied.
"You should know: we're under surveillance by the Hierarchy…"
"Excuse me?" Zaalia asked. "It sounded like you said the Hierarchy was keeping tabs on us?"
"They are," T'Rani confirmed.
"Do you know who or why?" Zaalia queried.
An ominous frown crept across Valni's face.
"I wouldn't be very good at my job if I didn't, Gerumis," T'Rani replied. "It's an acquaintance of Severan's, in fact: the Hierarchy Office of Internal Affairs." The asari regarded Valni. "They've been examining our activities and scrutinizing all our files. With the full authorization of the Primarch, I might add. I had a little chat with him yesterday. It looks like Inquisitor Passcal still has you firmly in his crosshairs, Severan."
Valni groaned. Zaalia gaped.
"An Inquisitor?" the Cabalite exclaimed. "How'd you get one of those bastards chasing after you?"
"It's a long story," Valni muttered.
T'Rani waved her hand at Valni. "She got involved with an Alliance engineer who defected to a terrorist organisation."
"That didn't seem like a long story," Lia'Vael observed.
"You drove your friend into the arms of a bunch of terrorists?" Zaalia asked Valni.
"I didn't drive him anywhere!" Valni snapped. "And he was more than a friend."
"They were intimate," T'Rani explained helpfully.
"T'Rani!"
"Yeah, probably didn't need to know that," Lia'Vael said under her breath.
"Is that why you got expelled from your ship?" Zaalia asked Valni. "Because you had a fling with a terrorist?"
"No!" Valni said firmly. "Kenneth… He wasn't a terrorist. And it wasn't just a fling. There was more to it. We were planning…" Valni stopped herself. "We had something together," she finished quietly.
"She means besides all the sex," T'Rani clarified.
There was a tense silence as Valni stared daggers at the asari.
"Awkward," Lia'Vael muttered to herself.
"I'm not entirely convinced Kenneth isn't working undercover for the Alliance," Valni fired back.
"He isn't," T'Rani replied. "I'd have known. My sources would have tipped me off. According to all the reports, he left the Alliance of his own volition."
"So, which terrorist group did he join?" Zaalia asked T'Rani.
"Cerberus."
Zaalia's eyes widened in surprise and there was an audible gasp from Lia'Vael. The quarian looked sharply at Valni. "You have friends in Cerberus?" she accused. "Don't you know what they are? Don't you know what they did to the Flotilla?"
"He wasn't in Cerberus," Valni protested. "And I don't believe he's a terrorist."
"Not that the Alliance and Cerberus differ that much regardless of what insignia they wear..." Zaalia muttered stone-faced.
"They're murderers!" Lia said hotly. "Cerberus infiltrated one of our ships. They attacked the Idenna and killed dozens of people. All to get some human biotic. They're a bunch of racist butchers…"
"No one's disputing that, Lia'Vael nar Ulnay!" T'Rani interrupted. "And I am not asking you to forgive or be sympathetic towards Cerberus. On the contrary, I put this team together to help fight against groups like Cerberus. And I selected you, a quarian, because I knew you could help us do that. You are an exceptional engineer, but Officer Severan's past relationship is not the issue here. Her friend didn't join Cerberus until well over a year after she'd left her ship. She had no contact with him and no clue that he'd left the Alliance. What I'm offering you is this: the opportunity to battle against groups like Cerberus, and the Blood Pack, and any others who would imprison, enslave, or murder innocents. I am giving you the chance to fight back, Lia'Vael, just as Severan and Gerumis are fighting back. But to do that I expect you to follow my orders and work as part of this team. Can you do that?"
Lia'Vael hesitated only briefly before giving a single nod. "Of course."
"That's what I like to hear." T'Rani regarded the three alien women. "We've got a long way to go yet, but I'm confident we will do great things."
Just over twenty hours later, the Threads of Fate dropped out of standard FTL into the Amada System, half-a-million kilometres from Eingana.
The emerald-hued planet filled the cockpit's main display, illuminated from one side by the star, Amada, and casting the rest of the planet in darkness.
T'Rani hovered behind Zaalia's chair, watching the readings coming back from the ship's powerful sensors with increasing confusion.
"T'Rani frowned. "where's the Special Forces frigate? They should be here."
"Maybe they were delayed?" Zaalia suggested.
"Not likely. They set off before us," T'Rani replied.
"Do you want me to open a channel?" Zaalia asked.
T'Rani shook her head. "I'd prefer we didn't announce our arrival to everyone who might be listening until we see the other ship." She leaned forwards. "Get in closer and run a full sensor sweep."
Zaalia piloted the ship into Eingana's orbit. The crew silently waited for any sign from the sensors. A couple of minutes later, Zaalia pointed at an object emerging from the darkside of the planet. "There's the frigate." She looked at the scanner again before adding: "Or what's left of it."
T'Rani scrutinised the display. The Special Forces ship was listing in a decaying orbit. The forward section of the ship had been completely ripped away, leaving a gaping hole that clearly exposed the inner decks. Debris was tumbling around the craft making it hard to discern which species the frigate actually belonged to.
Behind Zaalia, Valni and Lia'Vael moved to join T'Rani at the display.
"Any life-signs?" T'Rani asked.
There was a brief pause as Zaalia conducted a full sensor-sweep. Then she shook her head. "I'm not reading any bio-readings."
"Most of the ship is still intact," Valni observed, "Could they have made it into the escape pods?"
Zaalia nodded. "Yeah, readings show some of the escape pods have been jettisoned. They probably made planetfall. There's no debris from any other craft. It must have been a surprise attack."
"Why didn't they get a shot off?" Valni asked. "A frigate should have been able to take out at least one of its attackers."
"Connect with the comm-buoy and open a channel to the Citadel," T'Rani ordered Zaalia. "The Executor can send reinforcements to help rescue the survivors."
Zaalia shook her head again. "All channels are inactive… Looks like a jamming signal."
"Reverse course!" T'Rani said. "Break orbit and get us out of range of the jammers."
Zaalia brought the Threads of Fate around 180°. She hit the thrusters and started to power out of the planet's gravity.
"As soon as we're clear of the signal, connect to the nearest base and inform them of our situation," T'Rani added.
Zaalia was about to reply when the scanner beeped insistently.
"I've got something on sensors. Very faint, but it wasn't there a second ago. It looks like it's tracking our cours…"
Zaalia never got to finish her sentence.
The first explosion sent a shockwave through the ship.
The deck lurched, hurling Valni and Lia'Vael into a heap on the floor. T'Rani landed beside them. Alarms sounded and the cockpit was suddenly bathed in red light.
"Direct hit to the cargo hold!" Zaalia yelled over the alarms. "We've got a hull breach."
T'Rani and Valni were back on their feet in an instant. "What the hell was that?" Valni demanded.
"I don't know, but whatever it was cut right through our kinetic barriers."
"I'll seal the breach!" Lia'Vael said as she clambered to her feet and made for the door.
T'Rani was back by Zaalia's side. "Maximum speed! Get some distance between us and them!"
"We don't even know where they are!" Zaalia pointed out.
"Just get us out of this system," T'Rani said.
The second explosion pitched Zaalia from her chair. She hit the bulkhead and rebounded against the console. The holographic display flickered and died.
It was then Zaalia noticed she wasn't lying on the floor as she expected, but rather was bobbing gently close to the ceiling.
She looked down and saw her colleagues floating beneath her. Valni looked dazed while T'Rani held a hand to her crest, trying to stem the small droplets of purple blood seeping between the asari's fingers. Zaalia glanced around in alarm. The hum of the engines had dwindled to nothing. The thrusters were out and the gravity had failed, which meant that last explosion had knocked the eezo core offline.
The Threads of Fate was dead in space.