Chapter 10: Quite a Mess of Things
Shepard groggily opened her eyes, hearing several voices at once. In the few seconds it took her to remember where she was and what had happened, she had partially sat up, felt pain in several areas and restriction in her left arm, winced, and been firmly pushed back onto the bed.
"Shepard, you shouldn't try to move yet," Miranda chided, but Shepard still made a small effort to sit up. "Also, your arm is in a brace, so it's in your best interest to keep it still."
"I agree with Operative Lawson. It is best for your body to fully heal before you attempt strenuous physical activity. Most soldiers would not have survived most of the traumas you have," EDI added, and it was then that Shepard realized she didn't see Kaidan. She was in her cabin with Garrus, Tali, and Miranda, but that was it.
"Dr. Chakwas is still patching Kaidan up. He was pretty beat up when you two stumbled into med-bay. But she has full confidence that he'll make a full recovery," Garrus assured her, and Shepard felt her heart slowly stop pounding. "And I thought you said it would be another hour before she woke from the sedatives."
"I told you roughly three hours. I wasn't sure exactly, and I honestly expected her to wake up before then. The nanoprobes that kept her alive on Omega are also working to keep her body uninhibited now. Combine that with her biotics, and she burns through anything quickly. With time, her resistance may lower, but that's only a theory at this point." Miranda spoke calmly but firmly before turning her attention back to Shepard. "Normally, I would just sedate you again to make sure that you don't strain yourself, but I'm going to trust you to behave for a few hours. I want to save giving you a sedative for if I absolutely need to." Shepard nodded, knowing Miranda had a valid point here, not to mention the truth that she didn't want to be sedated again.
"May I sit up?" She finally asked.
"In another hour, but not just yet." Shepard sighed in exasperation, felt her body react to that little effort, and decided Miranda's judgment was for the best.
"So what happened while I wasn't here? How did you manage to pick us up so quickly?" Shepard asked, quietly glad that her friends all moved chairs near her bed so she could see them easily.
"We got suspicious after three hours. There was no way you would go that long on an Alliance outpost without contact. The only reason would be someone keeping you from contacting us," Garrus started. "That was when Joker started attempting to contact the station through large-area signals. All of our hails were ignored except for one, where we were given a bullshit answer that you were in a meeting with Dr. Kenson. Two hours later, Kaidan finally spoke with Joker, but everything he said quietly convinced us that you were being held against your will."
"At that point, we knew we'd have to figure out where you were and why you couldn't leave. So we started a search pattern near the relay, using Alliance codes and several other methods to narrow down our search for the two of you," Tali explained. "After that, we had EDI and Legion quietly hack the network to find out what was going on. That was when they discovered the data about that artifact."
"We weren't sure about what you would do, but if you decided to put the Project into motion, we wanted to be ready to help you. So we got in contact with Liara, who made some arrangements with the Batarian government to start evacuating the system immediately," Miranda stated, and hope soared in Shepard's gut.
"How many were you able to evacuate?" Shepard's voice came out a shaky whisper, barely holding onto the hope that someone else had made it out of the system alive.
"Roughly half of the system," Miranda replied with pride. Shepard let a laugh escape through her lips. She was still upset at the sacrifice she was forced to make, but at least her crew had been able to save someone. "There is a problem, though."
"What is it?" Her voice no longer shook. Of course there was a problem, but she could handle it now.
"Liara informed us that the Normandy was spotted by several of the evacuation ships. The Hegemony is starting to think that we had something to do with the system explosion. They'll be out for blood, especially yours and the Staff Commander." The weight of Miranda's words settled on Shepard, and she thought for a few minutes before she answered. She knew that Kaidan would be angry with her for this, but it was necessary.
"EDI, have Legion help you erase all traces of the Alliance and Staff Commander Alenko. I did the mission alone. Kaidan was never on this ship."
"Then how would we have gotten this mission in the first place?" Tali prompted, but Shepard already had an answer.
"I paid an information broker, Liara T'Soni, for information about anyone looking into the Reapers. I was trying to make a case for the Council. She told me about a group of scientists led by Dr. Kenson, a rogue Alliance member, who were studying a possible Reaper artifact. I went to see what was going on when I found out that Dr. Kenson was captured by Batarians. I helped her escape from the prison and asked her what was happening. She took me to her base and explained the Project. From there, I was kidnapped and sedated for two days. I escaped that asteroid by the skin of my teeth, and I alone was the one who activated the Project. Dr. Kenson and the other scientists were indoctrinated by the time I arrived." Shepard paused for a moment to catch her breath, trying to see if there were any holes in her story. "That's what happened. I acted alone. No one else is to blame."
"Shepard, if you do that, the entire Hegemony will be out for your blood," Garrus warned, concern in his voice.
"They already are. But if I can keep the rest of this crew from getting sucked in, I will." They couldn't dissuade her now.
"This is an Alliance issue. Admiral Hackett brought you out here to check on an Alliance mission that went rogue. You shouldn't have to take the fall for their mistakes," Miranda argued, but Shepard shook her head.
"I gave the galaxy a few months to a few years. We need to work on alliances while we still can. If the Hegemony can be one of those alliances, then that's all the better. But we can't afford to have in-fighting or wars going on when the Reapers hit. That's why I'll need the two of you," she pointed at Garrus and Tali, "to go back to your homeworlds. I need you both fighting for your species. I don't believe we're the only ones who know about the Reapers anymore. Do whatever you can to prepare your species. Hopefully I can ask Legion, Thane, Samara, and Grunt to do the same."
"If the Alliance or the Batarians try to take you, we can always go rogue. If they take you in, you know that no one will listen to you," Garrus warned, but Shepard shook her head again. As much as it pained her, she had to do this.
"Then the rest of you will need to make them listen. If they won't listen to me, make them listen to you. Someone has to tell them. It doesn't have to be me."
"Commander," EDI interrupted. "Would you like to keep the data of the Normandy contacting Liara to inform her of the Project?"
"If it's possible, yes."
"There is one large flaw in our data trail: someone had to speak with Joker from the Project Base. If you were the only one there, it must be you. I can make the recording audio only, but I would need you to speak several lines. I am sending them to your data pad now. I can record your audio whenever you wish." Shepard pulled up her omni-tool and saw the lines EDI prepared for her.
"Do I need to sit up to say them?" She asked quietly, fully resigning herself to the trial that would come solely on her head.
"No. If Garrus will help you put your helmet on, I can record them through your suit's comm system, making the recording more believable." Shepard nodded and looked at Garrus, who walked out of her vision to grab her helmet. With Garrus and Miranda helping, she eased her helmet on, bringing her omni-tool into her field of vision.
"I will not terminate my connection with you until I speak with my CO!" Joker all but shouted, clearly pissed.
"Glad to hear that you at least obey my orders, Flight Lieutenant," Shepard responded. She quietly hoped that she would sound convincing enough for the court marshal.
"Shepard, where the hell have you been? It took me this long just to get a hold of you. What's this all-important meeting been about?" Hearing the concern in Joker's voice, she knew he wasn't acting. They had been that concerned about her.
"I'm at Project Base, like I said I would be. And you know that information is classified. But how long has it been? I haven't checked my 'tool since we were getting off of Aratoht."
"Sorry, boss." Joker's tone had a casual flippancy that they both knew was fake, and he had never called her that before. That would have to be his signal that he knew something was wrong. "It's been a little over eight hours since our last radio contact. May I ask why you've stayed there so long?"
"I have some data crunching that I'm assisting Dr. Kenson with. It may prove to be the information I'm looking for."
"Well either way, do you know how much longer you'll be staying? We need to make a supply run, and wanted to know if we have enough time to do so, with your permission, ma'am."
"However long it takes to get this data. And I'm surprised you didn't ask Lawson for permission. You know that she's next on the command chain."
"Just figured I'd ask while I'm here."
"Go ahead, Flight Lieutenant. I'm not going anywhere. Now I'm going to head back to my calibrations. Project Base out." Shepard relaxed as she spoke her last line.
"Roger that. I'll wait for your request to leave the asteroid. Normandy out." With that, Shepard shut off her comm, and Garrus helped her ease out of the helmet.
"Now, there are still a few things to do before we can rendezvous with Admiral Hackett," Shepard stated, and the three turned to listen to her.