First off sorry it took so long for this chapter to come after the cliffhanger I left the last chapter on. I felt like I was losing Tali's character so I took some time off to replay Mass Effects 1 and 2 so that I could get back in her head. Now on with the next chapter.
Chapter 12
If there was one thing John Shepard had learned in his life it was that bad news almost always came at night and it would not have the decency to come when you were up late doing paper work. No, it would always wait until you were fast asleep and getting some much needed rest before it would come and not let you get back to sleep.
Shepard was awoken by the beep of the com unit and EDI's voice.
"Sorry to wake you." The A.I's voice said as Shepard slowly woke up and rubbed the cobwebs from his eyes. "But we have an incoming message from Prime Minister Hackett of the Earth Systems Alliance marked urgent." Shepard flipped the lights on and started groping for a shirt. His eye took a second to get use to the light. Finally he found a shirt and made his way to the com station at his desk.
"Put it through EDI." Shepard said sleepily. The screen came to life and the old admiral now turned Prime Minister who had commanded Shepard in the Reaper War appeared on it.
"I am sorry to disturb you at this late hour." The old man said.
"That's alright." Shepard answered with a yawn. "What's up Hackett?" Shepard rarely used the titles of people that he thought of as friends and he and the old former Admiral had been through too much for Shepard to think of his an anything other then a friend.
"Well" The old man began. Shepard noticed that the years in public office had taken a toll on his old friend the same as they had for him. He looked much older like more then five years had pasted since the end of the war. "A security matter has just been brought to my attention and I think you need to know about it."
"Alright, please continue." Shepard said sitting down in his chair.
"The fifth fleet has been assigned to patrol the border and deal with pirates and slavers who have been raiding our colonies." Shepard nodded that he understood and the older man continued. "We lost contact with the fifth fleet two days ago. At first we thought the com relay in their system had just broken down so we sent the frigate Grant to investigate."
"What did they find?" Shepard asked fearing the answer.
"Shepard." Hackett said gravely. "They didn't find a thing."
"What do you mean they didn't find a thing." Shepard asked leaning forward in his chair, he was now fully awake.
"There was no sign of the fifth fleet." Hackett explained to the shocked Shepard. "There was no sign of a battle or anything the fifth fleet is just gone and no one seems to have seen it."
"How could that be?" Shepard asked hoping against hope Hackett had an answer.
"We have no idea. I called you as soon as I got the report on the results of our search. I thought you needed to know." Shepard was not used to seeing Hackett worried, he had kept the fleets together during the Reaper War so the fact that he now looked worried said something about the gravity of the situation.
"Thanks" Shepard said and then he took a few seconds to think before asking his next question. "Tell me were the pirates and slavers Batarians?"
"Yes they were, why did you want to know that?" Hackett answered.
"Well we have info that the Batarians are planing something." Shepard explained. "We don't know what it is yet but the goal seems to be to divide the counsel."
"How and why would they some how make the fifth fleet vanish?" Hackett asked clearly more worried now.
"I don't know." Shepard admitted. "But I think we need to share information on this."
"Agreed." Hackett said.
"I will be on the Citadel in the morning can you have Counselor Jackson bring me everything you have on the fifth fleet and it's mission?"
"Of course." Hackett said.
"Alright." Shepard said with a tired sigh. "Since there doesn't seem to be anything more I can do tonight I am going to go back to sleep." With that Shepard switched off the com unit, went back to bed, and turn off the lights. He tried to sleep but bad news did what it had always done to him, it kept him from sleeping. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
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Diner passed awkwardly in the Shepard house. Jeff and his friend Krowdon tried to act normal but all the adults could tell something was wrong. They were asked repeatedly what was bothering them but they both kept answering by saying nothing was wrong. By the end of the mean the adults had given up and both boys were happy to leave the table. After diner Krowdon's mother came by to pick him up. Tali and Brynn chatted with her for a few minutes. Krowdon did not like this and kept asking his mom if they could go. Finally to his relief they left. He was very worried despite the number of guards, he hoped his friend would be okay. Once he and his mother were safely in their car he decided to talk to her.
"Mom" He said clearly scared.
"Yes, what is wrong?" His mother asked. She had didn't know what was wrong with her son but she suspected that it has something to do with the case C-SEC had asked him about.
"I need you to take me to C-SEC." The boy said just spitting it out.
"Why?" His mother asked now very concerned.
"Because I saw the woman C-SEC asked me about." He said. He was in way over his head.
"What?!" his mother asked shocked. "When and where?"
"Tonight, please just take me there I think Jeff may be in danger." The boy said in panic and then he started to cry.
"Okay." his mother said trying to calm him down. "We will go to the nearest C-SEC station." and with that she turned the car around and began heading in the direction of a small C-SEC outpost on the commons.
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In the Shepard house Jeff was glad to see his friend leave because that meant he could go up to his room and shut the door. The young Quarian lay face down on his bed and began to cry. This was all too much for him, he was scared and had no idea what to do. Jeff lay on his bed for a long time he finally stopped crying. He was starting to pull himself together when he heard a knock at the door. Jeff slowly got out of his bed and walked to the door, he didn't really want to talk to anyone and he really didn't want anyone to know he had been crying. He opened the door and saw it was his older brother Rael, he was going to close the door on him but his brother stepped into the room before he could.
"What is wrong with you?" Rael asked and his voice sounded worried.
"Nothing is wrong with me." Jeff answered with a sniff.
"Something is wrong because you have been crying." Rael pressed.
"Just leave me alone!" Jeff yelled turning away and heading to his bed.
"Well if you will not tell me you need to talk to mom." Rael said following his younger brother. He didn't have a clue what was going on but he was worried about the younger Quarian.
"I can't tell her!" Jeff shout again this time through tears.
"Then tell me and I will try to help." Rael said clearly frustrated.
"Okay, but you have to promise not to tell mom." Jeff said as he got control of himself and sat up on his bed.
"Okay I promise." Rael said.
Jeff went on to tell Rael everything Krowdon had told him. Rael didn't believe a word of it. After all the Taylors were friends of their parents and had helped them in the reaper war, but he didn't know how to talk sense into his brother. He decided the best person to calm Jeff down was their mother, so he decided he had to convince Jeff to talk to her.
"You have to talk to mom." Rael said.
"I can't, She could get hurt." Jeff pleaded.
"And she could get hurt if you don't talk to her, they work together after all." Rael pointed out.
"Alright I'll talk to her." Jeff said standing up off of the bed. He didn't know if this was the right thing to do but he figured Rael was right and he had to at least try and warn his mother of the danger.
When Jeff got downstairs his mother and Brynn were on one of the couches talking and laughing while watching a vid. Jacob was seated in a chair in a corner of the room doing some paper work and the C-SEC guards stood watch. Jeff was getting very scared as he got near the couch. What if his mother didn't believe him, what if Brynn did something, and what if this got his mom killed. Still there was nothing for it but to go on and tell his mother everything.
"M m m mom can I talk to you?" The boy asked nervously.
Tali turned to look at her son concerned, Brynn Taylor turned to look at him too she seemed worried about the boy as well and put a hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him. Jeff did not like this and pulled away.
"Of course you can Jeff." Tali said trying to calm the boy "What is wrong?" Tali was both concerned and puzzled.
"Not here." The boy added quickly looking only at his mother. "Can we go to my room."
"Sure thing." Tali said said trying to sound cheerful but still worried. And then she stood up and took the boy by the hand and walked up the stairs. Brynn didn't say anything instead she got up and went to the nearest bathroom and locked the door behind her. No one had noticed her planting a small listening device on the Quarian boy's suit when she touched his shoulder. She opened a program on her Omni-Tool and began to listen.
Up in Jeff's room the boy and his mother sat on his bed, the boy didn't seem to know where to begin and he wasn't looking at his mother. Finally Tali hugged him and said in a comforting tone. "Whatever it is Jeff it's okay just tell me what has you so worried."
"Well it's about something Krowdon told me." Jeff said still not looking at Tali. Tali just nodded her head and waited for Jeff to continue. Now she thought she could guess what this was about. Jacob had told her about the bombing case and that Krowdon was a witness. "Well." The boy continued. "I don't think you are going to like this and I don't think you will believe me but.." and with that he burst into tears. Tali hugged the boy and looked down at him. "Whatever it is I will believe you." Tali said.
"Krowdon said that he knows who sent the bomb and killed the Drell girl." Jeff said between sobs.
"Well who was it?" Tali asked urgently. "We need to know." she pressed when the boy didn't answer right away.
"It's Brynn." The boy blurted out and then burst into tears again.
"What?!" Tali exclaimed her voice a mixture of shock and disbelief. "I am sure there must be some mistake, she and Jacob are old friends."
"See I said you wouldn't believe me." The boy said now clearly both upset and scared.
"No, it's not that I don't believe you." Tali said taking the boy in another hug to try and calm him. "It's just I am sure this can be explained." It was then that she felt the small bug on her son's shoulder. Reacting quickly she used her Omni-tool to fry the bug.
"Ouch!" The boy yelled.
"Sorry" Tali said now ashamed that she had not believed her son at first. "There was a listening device on you, Brynn must have put it there and I had to shut it down."
"So you believe me?" The boy asked looking up.
"Yes I do and you did a good job, I am proud of you son." Tali said looking into the glowing orbs that were his eyes behind his mask. She then called for the guard who was standing outside the door when the older human entered Tali spoke quickly and commandingly.
"Officer Smith please tell all guards to detain Brynn Taylor she is a security risk and get Executor Taylor up here right away." The middle aged human female paused for a minute so Tali added "Now!" With that the human got on her radio but it was too late.
A few minutes before making the excuse that she needed to get some stuff from home to her husband Brynn Taylor had left the house and gotten into a taxi. "To the space port." She told the driver.
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In the C-SEC outpost Captain Sola had just finished hearing Krowdon tell the exact same story. At first he didn't believe the boy but he had become a good judge of when people were telling him the truth and he could tell that the boy believed it. If this was true then it could mean the Executor was involved. He called in two C-SEC officers he knew he could trust. One was a young Asari name Mel and the other was an old battle scared Krogan warrior now turned officer of the law Delra Drendol. He ordered them to take the boy and his mother home, give the family ten minutes to pack and then check them into a hotel room under assumed names and keep them under 24 hour guard. Once the four had left the office Sola turned to the computer.
"Computer give me the location of Brynn Taylor." He said urgently. Now he was glad Salarians could talk so fast.
" Brynn Taylor is in docking bay E14 and boarding the human shuttle with the registry number DS-4274"
"Lock her out!" Sola commanded. The computer responded with an error signal.
"I can not comply, the security code used to unlock the shuttle is that of Executor Taylor. You can not override it." The computer calmly explained.
"Shit!" Sola said he then opened a com link to the Citadel fleet. "This is Captain Sola of C-SEC. The departing earth shuttle DS-4274 has a fugitive on it that must be stopped at all costs. Do not let that shuttle get to Earth or the Sol Relay, understood?!"
"This is the Destiny Ascension, we will stop that shuttle." The voice of an Asari said over the com.
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Back in the Shepard home Jacob Taylor was hopping mad. He was pacing back and forth and just barely keeping his voice below a yell.
"I can't believe you think something like that about Brynn!" He said turning to face Tali his face bright red. "She is my wife, the mother of my children, and one of your best friends! She put her life on the line when she left Cerberus, she saved all those families! Why would you take the word of a Vorcha over hers?! Some friend you are!"
A part of Tali could understand how Jacob felt, but that part was over ridden by the part that was angry about everything that happened and having her son's word questioned. She took two steps forward and got in Jacobs face. "Then explain the bug I found on Jeff?!" She demanded.
"That could have been put there at any time or by anyone!" Jacob spat back.
"She left just a minute after Jeff told me about her!" Tali responded now almost as mad as Jacob. "Face it your wife is a traitor and that Bitch murdered Liara!"
That was it Jacob's anger got the better of him and he raised his hand to hit Tali, the Quarian Suitrat who dared accuse his wife of these things. Two C-SEC guards who had been standing on the sideline unsure what to do now jumped in and stopped him. They grabbed his arms and began pulling him out of the living room. Just then Jacob's Omni-Tool beeped and Sola's image appeared.
"Excutore Taylor." He said showing alarm and concern. "Did you give your wife permission to use your security code to take an Earth shuttle?" the Salarian asked.
Jacob shook him self free of the guards and then looked at his Omni-Tool with a mixture of disbelief and anger. "What? No! She doesn't even know my security code!" He was still angry but now the truth was beginning to sink in.
"Well" The Salarian said. "She just used it to take a shuttle, I have ordered the Citadel fleet to stop her."
Jacob couldn't reply, the anger left his face and was replaced by nothing. He was too shocked to show any emotion as his back hit the wall and he sank to the floor. He felt like he had just been hit by a charging Krogan. He was looking down at the floor unable to say a word. Finally he spoke and in a lifeless voice he said "Let me know when they have her I want to question her myself."
A few moments latter Sola reported to Jacob over the Omni-tool. "Sir the fleet reports that the shuttle has vanished."
"What you you mean vanished?!" Jacob asked showing a little anger in his voice but not being able to stand up or raise his eyes from the floor. "Ships can't just vanish, and shuttles are too small to have mass effect drive cores!"
"I don't know." The Salarian answered clearly confused. "The fleet had it surrounded and then it just vanished."
"Alright." Jacob said brokenly still not moving. "Put out an alert for both the shuttle and her across Citadel space."
"Yes sir." The Salarian answered and then Jacob shut off his Omni-Tool. For a tense minute he didn't say anything then under his breath he said "How will I tell the kids." and then he finally started to cry.
Tali moved towards Jacob. The guards tried to stop her but she pushed her way past them and sat down on the floor next to her old friend. She put an arm around him, she didn't know what to say. All Jacob could to was look at the floor and keep saying "I am sorry Tali." over and over again under his breath. Jacob Taylor was a broken man.
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Shepard has finally gone back to sleep when his com unit beeped. He let out a disgusted grown as he got up and made his way to the com unit not even bothering to turn on the lights or put on a shirt. He perked up when he say his wife on the screen.
"So sexy." He said playfully and with a smug grin on his face. "I see you couldn't go twelve hours with out seeing my ugly mug."
"John please sit down I have something to tell you." Tali said grimly. Shepard obeyed he may not be able to see his wife's face behind the mask but he could tell she was very upset. Tali then went on to explain to a shocked Shepard what had happened that night. Shepard stayed silent for a minute and then he finally spoke. "How is Jacob handling it?" He asked his voice full of concern.
"Not well." Tali Answered with a sigh. "He took his kids and went home."
Shepard's face was overcome with a look of sadness, he wished there was something he could do for his friend. Even shocked and sad Shepard didn't stop thinking about the bigger picture and the next thing he said was not personal at all. "Well at least some good came out of this, we now know who is really behind this whole mess." he said flatly.
"We do?" His wife asked. It wasn't that she had not worked out the answer it was just that she didn't want to say it out loud. It was as if part of her believed if it wasn't said it would not be true.
"Yes we do." Shepard said in a firm voice. "It's Cerberus, Brynn must have been a sleeper agent this whole time."
Well that is chapter 12. Sorry it took so long but I really didn't want to do this one with out getting into the characters heads first. I promise you will get the next chapter in less then a week. The next one will be kind of talky because plans will be worked out and getting made for the rest of the story, then it will be on to action. Oh and as for Brynn turning traitor the escape in Mass Effect 3 and Bryyn's story about how they all got away with families always seemed to easy to me. It always felt like a set up from a Le Carre novel to me, so that is how I wrote it here. Hope I didn't upset anyone.
As always thank you for your time, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review.
