Keeping faith, Arc 6 of "Gone with the Sun"

Chapter 79 Bruises

Glimmer in the mind

As Bailey and Shepard left for the C-Sec patrol car, they commiserated with each other, till Shepard sighed:

("It's like that nightmare.")

"What?" Bailey looked at him like he was raving.

"Sorry. I was going under in hospital, a year or so ago, after Kelly, Lawson, and Michel picked me up half-dead from firing the Crucible. Had a weird coma dream."

"I know I'm going to regret asking, but what dream was this? Of Chambers?"

"Not exactly, I couldn't see her, but I was looking. Around the docks, remember?"

"Won't forget in a hurry. Especially after the Cerberus coup."

"Yeah, that was bad, it was like after that and the Crucible firing combined. People were walking around which was weird because the place was open to vacuum. I couldn't see her for the floating debris, and then I lost consciousness for months. Chloe Michel couldn't work out how I remembered that dream at all."

Bailey stopped dead. "You know, that's one place we haven't even considered."

"I thought of that, but the damage map shows a failure of the ring main and complete atmospheric void."

"It's lying. We had to do some emergency structural repairs in the E2x region when we picked up the ex-Normandy kids Harper was holding hostage."

The darkness close

The wards shone like day behind them as Bailey and Shepard approached the last bulkhead before E26.

"Last time I went through here I had a team in tow, and we had torches. When you go through that door, it'll be black as Hades, Shepard. A bit spooky. Take this torch. I'll watch the exits. When you're ready, call me."

"You've been there, Bailey. You'd know, I guess. Just remember, it could take me some time."

And Bailey hadn't been kidding about the spooky. It bothered him that he didn't even have a breather. If the retention fields went, he was almost as dead as the oxidized bits of husk and refugee floating in air that shouldn't be there.

He set the beam to "RED MONO" and flicked the torch on and off behind him, till his eyes dark-adapted and he did without it altogether. There was a certain amount of light from the atmospheric halo and the crescent moon, to supplement the reflection off the bottom cupola petals. But right now the whole citadel was now in the Earth's anteumbra – basically, eclipsed except for a ring of Sun around the Earth.

By the time he half-walked, half-felt his way to cargo bay B, his eyes had more or less adapted. Not well enough to keep his fingers out of something squishy though ('eeeeww'). He wiped his fingers on a wall and continued toward the back, finding the false wall at the back of the containers.

The door to Kelly's hidey-hole was half-open.

Down there it was pitch-black. Shepard flicked the torch on a second to be sure the way was clear, and began moving forward, very quietly. But that wasn't really quiet enough. Just as he poked his shoulders into Kelly's hidey-hole, he heard the rustling of something through the air, just fractionally too fast for his reflexes to block. There was an explosion of phosphenes, and he fell into a dark within the dark.

The Rose blossom in the night

Coming around took some time. There was a peculiar high-pitched keening lament like stressed metal joints under thermal shock, mixed with a ringing in his head, and a red glow the significance of which eluded him for a while, till a wet cloth began sponging off the back of his head. That woke him up.

"O God O God O God please don't die – "

"Urrgh."

"Shepard! Oh thank you thank you thank you…"

"Wha?…mmmph."

Concussion aside, it was a very pleasant welcome. The next few minutes were a little blurry, but he had his girl. A man could take a lot of abuse, knowing that.

Whatever worth man ever knew

"… You smell nice."

"It's some of Oriana's perfume. I had to impress people."

"Impress who? Never mind. How long was I out?"

"About half a minute."

"You know, I've got Bailey out there waiting to hear from me."

"Let him wait. I can't work out where to go now. Or what to do."

"Talk to Liara. Where were you going?"

"There's a Batarian shuttle heading out along the B-chain in the morning. I speak basic Khar'shan spacer dialect."

"If you go on that shuttle, I go with you."

"You can't be serious. You don't speak Batarian."

"Watch me. Cradle, and all."

"Idiot. We're not taking Felicia on that."

"Then come home."

"I can't face your Mom."

"She can't face you. I think she had a little heart attack. I collapsed."

"Oh… good grief, anything I do does damage."

"…Please don't go."

"They all think I've done the most heinous betrayal, and it sort of happened, too."

"Welcome to life. It's called a double bind, sweetheart. People have to make desperate choices sometimes. I don't blame you for this one. I've got some hard words for some of the other actors in this little drama, though."

"No, don't do that. They're not exactly wro… mmmph. That's not a proper argument."

"How about this one? Mom came clean. About twenty minutes after you left, well before Felicia woke up and I found you were gone. She doesn't blame you."

"How do you know?"

"I was there. She blames herself. In a way, I think she's right, and I never said that."

"People have blind spots. I've messed up, too."

"So help me fix it. Come home."

"She's not mad at me?"

"She loves you dearly. She'll never admit it."

"Going back now would just complicate peoples' lives… John, what can we do?"

"Live with it. Just come home. Please."

Going places

"I'm what?"

"You heard, Brooks. You're going home."

"Home is Themis, don't send me there."

"I mean, back to Limbo. Grab your stuff. Try not to piss people off this time."

At inspection, Baba Yaga pounced on the Shanxi Star. "And who did you pinch this from? One of your Cat 6 boyfriends? T'So, maybe? Contraband!"

Bloody instructions

Bailey had to apply first aid to the back of Shepard's head before he'd consent to taking them anywhere. It stung. He also applied a lot of medi-gel. The world was looking brighter by the minute.

"You're going to have a serious egg there."

"Just call me Mr Neanderthal." Shepard could hear his voice was a bit… up. Bouncy. He missed his implants; he should have been able to handle the meds.

"What on Earth did you hit him with, Kelly?"

"My satchel. It had my teak box inside."

"Must be heavy. Is it broken?"

"…I don't think so. Maybe. There was a spot of blood on the material."

"Gimme." Kelly passed the box over. Bailey turned it in his hands, nodding.

"You didn't get him with a corner, at least. Blunt force trauma. Shouldn't be a fracture."

"I couldn't feel any crepitation. But god, it's swollen there. What do I know? He needs an X-ray at minimum, and MRI if we can find a clinic."

"We'll get Wiks to check it out, kid. Maybe Michel if she hasn't gone back. "

Bailey opened the box wide, to check the hinges, and stared at what was inside.

"Is this some new trend in fashion accessories I should know about?"

"Get your own silky ninja chick and ask her. Let's get home."

"You say the nicest things to a girl when she stuns you."

"Okay, children, I never saw what was in that box, and you're definitely concussed, Shepard. We'll take it slow."

"Home, then."

"Hell, no. You're off to Huerta, first."

"Damn it, Bailey, I want Mum to know I'm okay, Kelly's okay, she's okay."

"You're raving. But I'll see to it someone at the apartment gets the message."

Shepard blinked. "The world keeps going in and out of focus. Is that the medi-gel? Kelly love, I think you might be the first actual person who's knocked me out since N7 school."

Bailey laughed out loud. Kelly simmered. This was not a distinction she desired.

"Fine. Well, will somebody please call Oriana? We'll be late for dinner."

Next chapter: #80, "Amor omnia vincit"

Saturday, August 8, 2015