"Here comes the action
Here comes at last
Lord give me a reaction
Lord give me a chance
You should follow me down
In satellite towns
There's no colour and no sound
I've been ten feet underground"
- The Doves - "Black and White Town"
Shepard held the spare clip between her teeth biting down on it with such force that she thought it might crack. She cast a rapid look in Garrus' general direction as she snapped back the release to reload her weapon. Although she couldn't see him behind the mess of piping and sparking wires, she knew he could hear her.
"Garrus, these mooks aren't going to leave us alone. I need you to draw their fire for a minute while I reposition. There's a power console over there - I'm going for it!"
The Broken Arrow is going down and unless I hurry my ass up and get these engines running, we'll be going with it, she thought as she made a mad dash for the terminal, glowing bright blue in the red lit hallway. Bullets ate into the floor behind her as she ran. From the behind the meager cover of a stack of crates she heard the crack of a sniper rifle followed by a crash. Peeking out she saw a geth fall forward, its legs buckling and its head blown apart by one of Garrus' impeccable shots. The remains of its single camera eye skittered past, emitting sparks that died quickly in the near vacuum. Shepard triggered a wave of energy that rippled as it altered her armour's shielding, bending the light around her and rendering her all but invisible to the geth she saw on the catwalk above. She wasted no time, standing up and turning to the console, her fingers tapping out strings of commands on the console's keyboard and seconds later a section of the engine roared to life.
Looking around, she spotted the next terminal a short distance away and threw herself into a careful run. Although still hidden by her cloaking technology she knew she had only precious seconds of it left. A flat beeping tone sounded inside her helmet, telling her she would be fully visible again within the next three seconds so she sped down the hallway as fast as her feet would carry her knowing that she was as good as silent in the nearly airless ship. She reached the second terminal, grabbing the bulky console to stop her breakneck run, looking back briefly to make sure she hadn't been followed before flipping down the panel and typing out another set of commands. She was depending on Garrus to keep the remaining geth away from her, and so far it seemed he'd been doing a good job.
A shuddering beneath her feet let her know she'd succeeded, and she grinned to herself. The MSV Broken Arrow's course needed tweaking by just a degree or so so that could be landed safely. The human colony far below them would never see the freighter and the munitions it carried would be kept out of the hands of the geth. Shepard turned from the console to find a conduit to the ship's navigational system. Scanning the room, a ramp to her right side caught her attention. It connected to the catwalk above and seemed to head to the rear of the hulking engine core. I bet it'll be behind there.
She headed up the ramp, ignoring the muted sounds of gunfire and rounded the corner onto the catwalk above. Grunt and Garrus can hold their own for a minute. True to her prediction, a terminal jutted out of the engine column's back, out of the geth's line of sight. When she reached it she began to flick through glowing orange hologram panels methodically. Her eyes lit up and relief washed over her as the glowing display flickered then cleared to show the aft thrusters firing in bursts as the ship slowly changed trajectory. Its new course was now nowhere near the colony of Fargone.
"Course correction completed," she said, pushing away from the computer. "But the ship's still dropping like a stone. Time to get off this can. Let's go!"
"Right, Shepard!" Grunt barked over the radio, his voice a gutteral roar. She ran down the ramp pistol drawn to see Grunt charge into a geth, smashing it with one of his massive shoulders. It didn't stand a chance; its metal and synthetic muscles crumpling like paper under the blow. Where do they keep coming from!
She waited, her back pressed against the wall as the young krogan tore past her heading down the hall towards the shuttle before she slid out from cover. Backing down the hallway, she saw a geth lean its head out from behind a corner and lift its rifle. Shepard's own rifle snapped up automatically, the flash of the rounds blinding white in the small, dark corridor. The geth shuddered and slumped over. Relieved, she continued to retreat, seeing nothing until a volley of bullets spattered her shielding.
"Fuck!" A round bit into her leg and she doubled over in agony. She looked down realizing in horror that the bullet had torn its way deep into her calf, puncturing her suit, exposing her to the ship's internal atmosphere.
As she felt precious oxygen rushing out through the small hole she heaved all the air out of her lungs just as she had been trained. Air, air, my fucking air! Somewhere in the distance, the geth collapsed but Shepard barely noticed the threat was gone, focusing instead on moving towards the safety of the shuttle. My leg! Her vision blurred and she lost balance, falling to the floor. Blood pounded in her ears and her chest burned with the effort of trying to suck in the dregs of air remaining in her suit. Again! It's happening again!
There was a rasping, choking sound. Where is that coming from? It came again, louder this time and more regular. Shepard's eyes opened to see Garrus bending over her, the familiar walls of the shuttle behind him. Her helmet was off and he was holding an emergency oxygen mask to her face. As her mind cleared and feeling came back into her body, the pain struck her full on, and a wordless groan of agony escaped her. Her vision blurred and the world went black once again.
.
/
Her tongue was hot and her skin felt as though it were stretched far too tightly over her frame. I've been spaced! she thought in panic, yet even as the words came to mind the fear dissipated and she found herself becoming strangely calm, her fear replaced by a feeling of melancholy. Everything was so quiet. So... beautiful. A piece of metal bounced off her hand, streaking down towards the endless expanse of Alchera's surface. Her eyes turned from it towards the twisted halves of the ship. Though her vision was bleary and disintegrating fast, as she turned head over heels and away from the blue of the planet... below? - above? - beside her? - She couldn't tell. Lights streaked off into the distance. Escape pods? How can I see all this, know all this when my suit's decompressing? In flight school they always told us that there was no time to think...to feel...
At least Kaidan and Joker got out...got away.... She found herself sliding into blackness once again, her last conscious thought was of her tongue. Burning, boiling...
Shepard slowly became aware of white walls and of the sterile, antiseptic clinical smell that characterized the Medbay. She moved cautiously, noting the soreness of her body although her leg no longer hurt as badly as she remembered. Someone was speaking, but the words weren't clear. Opening her eyes she could tell by dimmed lights that it was night on the Normandy. Her head faced the wall and she lifted her hands to touch her face, the dull throb of a headache setting in.
"...Will be fine, Miranda... fractures... yes. Won't be a problem... nearly in half. She's coming round now..."
"Doctor...?" Shepard croaked, her voice cracking from hours of disuse. Blinking to clear her vision, she lifted her head, searching for the source of the voice. Dr Chakwas turned from her desk and came over, her footsteps were painfully loud on the smooth floor.
"Commander, good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"
"I've been better." Shepard rubbed her temples as she spoke. "I was shot," she said aloud as if affirming it to herself as she stared at her right leg, in a cast below the knee. Trying to move it sent pain ripping up her body and she sucked breath between her teeth. Shepard stared at her limb a moment longer and then looked up at Dr Chakwas.
"When can I walk again?"
"The regeneration will take some weeks and it will be uncomfortable, but you will walk again, Commander."
"How bad was it?" Shepard didn't like the feel of being on a gurney, even padded as it was and lifted herself to sit up as best she could.
"You lost a lot of blood, Commander. You're growing new sections of both your tibia and fibula in addition to most of the muscles in your lower leg, some of which were completely obliterated. Most of the swelling caused by decompression has gone down now, but you'll be very tender and sore for the next few days. It's incredibly fortunate for you that Grunt and Garrus got you to the shuttle as quickly as they did. You owe them your life, Commander."
"I do," Shepard concurred, her expression solemn.
"Soft tissue re-growth will happen fairly quickly, but you will need a Spiderweb support cage for your leg to help you walk for the next several weeks. You'll be on medication for the itching as well."
"Itching?" she asked.
"As the bone, muscle and nerves re-grow there will be intense itching. Fortunately there is medication for that. You are lucky, Shepard, if this had been two hundred years ago you'd have lost your leg below the knee."
Shepard nodded, reaching for a glass of water next to her. "Garrus and Grunt?"
"Both fine."
"How long was I out?" she asked as she put the glass down.
"About eighteen hours."
Shepard found herself suddenly remembering her injuries on Eden Prime. When she'd awakened hours later in the medbay it had been to find Kaidan at her side. She could still see the almost bashful smile he'd given her when she refused to blame him for the incident. Dr Chakwas continued to speak, shaking Shepard from the memory.
"Jeff's quite worried about you. He sends for updates even more often than Miranda."
"I'll be sure to tell him I'm alright." Shepard gingerly lifted her leg and sat up.
"Not so fast Commander. You'll need to remain here a few days." The doctor put a hand on Shepard's shoulder, gently pushing her back on to the bed.
"But... but..."
"No," The doctor's tone was firm. "You've been badly injured - I need time to make sure you're healing properly and there are no complications. I know you want to leave but this is one time when myauthorityexceeds yours."
Shepard lay back with a sigh, knowing the doctor was right. "You win. But I want my team to be able to come in and see me. Give me reports."
"We'll see."
Shepard wrinkled her nose in discomfort. "Also... have Chambers feed my fish?"
/
By the fifth day, Shepard was agitated and restless. It had been interesting watching the doctor go about her business, but she longed to be out at the helm of the Normandy. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the stack of paperwork that'll be waiting for me.
"It's Thursday today, Doctor," Shepard said as if making conversation. Dr Chakwas looked up from her files and smiled, seeming to understand what Shepard had meant instead.
"Eager to get going, Commander?"
"I've got a galaxy to save."
"Well, your progress has been steady, no sign of air bubbles and no clots have formed, so I'll let you go today. You'll need this," Dr Chakwas said as she retrieved a folded device that had been leaning against the wall. "Hold out your leg, Commander." The device unfolded with the clinking sound of metal on metal as Dr Chakwas touched it to Shepard's ankle. It wrapped around her leg rapidly, the polyalloy webbing rising until it stopped just under her knee.
"With this at my disposal, the Reapers don't stand a chance," she replied, a wry smile on her lips as she stretched out her leg, the device now fitted snugly around her calf, its many silver wires resembling a spider's web. She slid off the gurney and onto her good leg, holding the other off the floor momentarily. She let her foot touch the ground and the Spiderweb's wires glowed blue as she let her weight down.
"Are you sure you're alright? Let me get a crewman to help you to your quarters."
"I'll be fine, Doctor. Thank you."
"You'll need plenty of rest. Take it easy, if you can. I know that your definition of 'easy' differs from mine, Commander," Dr Chakwas said with a soft smile. "Your activities will be restricted as you'll need to keep your leg up as much as possible, I'll send someone up in a few hours for a pain killer for you to take before you retire for the night." Shepard nodded and hobbled out the door.
She took the long way around the mess trying to get used to walking with the Spiderweb supporting her weight. Although she limped, it didn't take long before she felt reasonably steady on her feet so she headed for the elevator and hit the call button, leaning heavily against the wall as she waited. Shepard closed her eyes and and as she did so, she remembered lying in Medbay, of her vision of being spaced. She shuddered, as the blue expanse of Alchera rose up suddenly before her again. Her lungs burned with remembered pain and she felt sick, imagining the oxygen rushing out of her suit and into space. She swallowed and took a deep breath through her nose, concentrating on the feel of it filling and expanding her chest. There is air here. You are not suffocating. You are waiting for the elevator. Everything is fine.
After a few moments the doors opened and Garrus stepped out. He looked up and his mandibles flickered in surprise.
"Shepard, I was just coming to see you, it's good to see you up and about," he said, his voice holding a note of concern.
"Thanks again for saving my ass, Garrus."
"Like I said the other day -you'd have done the same for me. How is your leg?" Garrus tilted his head, looking at the silver cage surrounding her calf and placed his arm in the doors before they closed.
"As good as varren meat at the minute, if I'm honest. I'll be able to walk again properly, though."
"You'll be back popping holes in mercs before you know it."
"Indeed," she replied. "I didn't realise that mercs were so prolific. Perhaps my head was buried in the sand a little bit, being in the Alliance for so long."
"I don't know about that. They're more or less a recent development. Merc organisations were always a problem on Omega, but it's only over the last year or so that they've really become an issue."
Sometimes I forget that I've been dead for two years," she lied with a smile, rolling her stiff shoulder.
"Heh, yeah, then you're dealing with that better than I would be." Garrus met her eyes but Shepard couldn't read the expression behind them. She gave him a good-natured smile and stepped into the elevator.
"Thanks for coming by to see me, Garrus."
"No problem, Shepard." The doors closed and she leaned back, turning her head to watch the panel with blue numbers change as she reached the Combat Information Centre on Deck Two.
Most of the crew pretended not to lookas Shepard limped off the elevator but she felt their eyes on her back; or more precisely on the spidery wiring around her left leg. It was not easy to walk on a limb that was re-growing bones, especially after being confined to bed for the better part of a week.. They seemed happy to see her however as evidenced by the unusual enthusiasm in their salutes. She reached her personal terminal and opened up her e-mails. Her inbox was inundated with requests and messages. Better to deal with these in a few minutes when I'm back in my quarters. None of these are marked as urgent. Shepard became aware of Kelly's eyes on her, and turned her head to look. Kelly burst into a salute, giving her a bright smile and Shepard couldn't help but return it.
"Glad to see you back, Commander," she said, turning from her console.
"Thank you, Kelly. Glad to see you, too."
"It's been very strange. Almost a week without you around! How is your leg?" she asked, looking at the glowing blue wires surrounding Shepard's calf.
"It'll be just fine. Thank you for the card you sent down yesterday."
"You're welcome, Commander. Everyone was happy to sign it."
"I was very touched, thank you." Shepard smiled, then cleared her throat. "And thank you for feeding my fish. How are they? I've not been to my quarters yet."
"They're all fine, Commander. I like them a lot! I even came up with names for them."
"You named my fish?"
"The blue one is John, one of the little ones with the tear in his fin is Billy, and the yellow one is Agnes."
"You named my fish, but only three of them?" Shepard smiled in confusion.
"Oh, you don't mind, do you, Commander?" Kelly asked. Shepard merely shook her head in response, smiling to herself.
"Carry on, Kelly."
The walk up to the cockpit was longer than she remembered. She felt a little weak for a moment and stopped to examine one of the monitors above a seat in the hallway. I'll have to keep this short. Limping slowly the rest of the way, she came to a stop just behind the cockpit's threshold.
"Sorry I'm late for my post-mission visit."
"Commander," Joker replied with his usual politeness, hitting a few keys before turning his chair to face her. "How's the leg?" he asked. Shepard looked behind her a moment with feigned nonchalance, checking whether anyone was in earshot before responding.
"Sore," she said quietly. "I'll won't be able to walk on it properly for several weeks. Still, it should be in working order by the time we get to Tarith."
"Tarith, yeah what a lovely little ball of rock that looks to be. Why are none of these assignments ever on gorgeous, sunny planets with white sand and beaches?" he lamented. "You know, someplace where you could land and go blow some things up and I could go drink a martini."
"Some of these assignments are on worlds like that. But you'd never set foot off this ship unless you were dragged off," she said, crossing her arms giving him a sideways smirk.
"Yeah, well, I could be convinced."
"Next time we're orbiting some place with a decent surface temperature and an atmosphere not comprised of methane, I'll give us all a day's shoreleave."
"You're planning on going to the Citadel at some point to speak with Anderson again, aren't you?" he asked, seemingly momentarily distracted by a display to his left. After a few seconds he was apparently satisfied with what he saw, abruptly returning his focus to the conversation. Shepard blinked in mild surprise, the idea having been something she'd placed on the backburner some time ago.
"Yes, I do have some things to discuss with him, and I imagine the Council would love to blow some more hot air in my direction," she said, sniffing in irritation at the thought of the Councillors. She turned to gaze out the window.
"Right. Well... I was thinking. When you take care of your business there, you want to go someplace?" he asked. "You know, for a drink or dinner or something?" Shepard looked away from the stars and back at him, noticing he was drumming his fingers on the armrest.
"Yes. I'd really enjoy that," she replied.
I've put off going to the Citadel. I've not been looking forward to the beaurocracy and the bullshit I'm almost guaranteed to run into going back there. However, Anderson may have some information for me, and it can't hurt to show my face to both the Alliance and the Council to defend myself against these claims that I'm some kind of traitor. Perhaps the Council will even help somehow? What will putting this off accomplish when there is potentially so much to gain? Shepard looked down at her leg, frowning at how much it hurt. Will I be ready in time for when we reach Tarith? ... I don't know. Shepard looked up, straight ahead and out the window, a look of determination in her eyes.
"I do think it's about time I had words with the Council. Change course. To the Serpent Nebula."
"Aye aye, Commander," Joker replied, and didn't bother to hide his grin.