Part 14
Adrift
Shepard stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and rubbing it over her stubby hair. She missed many things about her long hair, but how long it used to take to dry was not one of them. She turned back to face her mate and began laughing, as she had been doing for most of their shower together,
"Please stop that," pleaded Garrus unconvincingly. "This was supposed to be sexy. You assured me that when humans shower together it is usually sexy. All you did was laugh at me."
Shepard tried to get herself under control, but failed immediately. The water form the shower kept pooling on Garrus' shoulders in the basin formed by the boney ridge around his neck, then trickling down his front. "How do turian's shower?" she asked, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye as she stepped into her pants. Her legs felt much better and she once again refused to wear her leg braces.
"We don't shower. We bathe. Sometimes we bathe in dust. Our skin needs to stay drier than a human's," Garrus explained, unable to stop himself from laughing as well as he bent down and dumped the water off himself. Then he reached for a towel.
"Are dust bathes sexy?" Shepard asked, tugging on a form-fitting under-armor shirt.
"Not really," Garrus admitted. "You tend to get dust up in...places."
Shepard winced and grinned at the same time. "Sorry a shower wasn't all you were hoping, my love," she said, walking over and standing on tiptoe to kiss him.
He grabbed her around the waist. "You'll just have to make it up to me later," he growled enticingly.
"Maybe I will," she bit her lip seductively.
Then the comm beeped. Shepard let out a sigh and disentangled herself from Garrus' arms. He smiled wanly at her. She tapped the pick-up button. "Yes?"
"We're getting a communication from the Fleet," said Traynor's voice. "Something important."
"Wonderful," Shepard sighed, eyes rolling heavenward as she headed for the door. "I guess things around here were just getting a little too comfortable."
Garrus went with Shepard to the vid-conn room. To their surprise, Tali was already there, talking with a turian on the comm. The quarian looked around when Shepard and her mate entered. "Shepard, this is Commander Bastion. He and his men have discovered something potentially important."
Shepard stepped forward, dipping her head slightly in a respectful gesture. The turian on the vid did the same. He looked young, but already battle hardened. He had a toughness to his face, which was painted with red markings. Shepard noticed how his eyes lingered on Tali for a moment, before coming to rest on the human before him. "Commander Shepard, it is an honor to meet you."
"What can I do for you?" she asked, keeping her tone military and succinct.
"My people and the quarians have been monitoring the Reaper corpses at a distance for some time now. They all appear to be dead, no movement or power spikes. However, we have been unable to determine an antiquate way to destroy them. However, because there are so many Reapers spread through your system, we find ourselves having difficulty defending every corpse. As a result, I am ashamed to admit, a few pirates, possibly from Omega, have managed to get aboard one of the Reapers. I was instructed to board myself, but I have been communicating with your engineer, Tali, who tells me there may be a safe way to do so. Without risk of indoctrination?"
"There may be." Shepard nodded, not volunteering any more details. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Bastion. Please send the location of the infiltrated Reaper to my pilot and the Normandy will investigate."
"The flagship? Are you sure that is wise?" asked the turian, skeptically.
"Are you willing to disobey an order given by Commander Shepard?" Garrus stepped forward.
"Commander Vakarian! Sir! No sir! Sending the information to you!" the young turian said, hurriedly ending his transmission.
Shepard shot Garrus an annoyed look. "I had it under control."
"Sorry," he said, tucking his mandibles against his jaw contritely, "I have some clout with the turian military, so I thought I would..."
"Never mind," Shepard said, waving the moment away. She glanced at Tali, who was still standing to one side. "I'm sorry Tali, were you hoping to continue talking to him?"
Tali's hands flew towards on another and she began wringing them without realizing it. A sure quarian gesture for nervousness. "What? No? I was...I just happened to be..."
"Relax, Tali," Shepard put a hand on the engineer's shoulder. "You could do far worse than a turian, trust me."
Tali relaxed slightly. Dipping her head low in a quarian blush.
"Come on, let's head down and see if Chakwas has come up with anything on this whole, "immunity to indoctrination" theory." Shepard said, leading her two friends out of the room.
The med-bay was active and bright, nothing like what Shepard had seen that night with Kirrahe. The salarian commander was up and about, almost ready to head back to earth and rejoin his people there. Seeing his long and lean salarian form in the medbay reminded Shepard briefly and painfully of Mordin. Would she ever be over the death of her good friend? Probably not, she sighed and forced her thoughts to move on.
"Shepard!" Chakwas greeted them as she turned from her work. Stone was perched on a bio-bed, munching on a platter of what Shepard could only guess was food. It looked more like worms, and, in all likely-hood, that was what it was. Well, at least the earth can provide for the rachni well enough, she thought wryly.
"Any new findings?" Tali asked, pulling herself up to sit on a bio-bed not far from where Stone was eating.
"Very promising," Cadel enthused from his position, perched cross legged on his own bed, laptop balanced on his knees. "We have asked the crew to volunteer for scans to see who has the defect. It is quite as I expected, considering whom the Illusive Man selected for your team."
Shepard shot Chakwas a concerned look. The Doctor gave her a reassuring nod. "He's correct. With Stone helping us we have made leaps and bounds in our work. Most of the crew has already come through for a scan. Tali, would you be willing?"
Shepard shot the young quarian a glance. Tali seemed a uneasy as she peered at the Cerberus scientist from behind her mask. "You don't have to, Tali," Shepard reassured her.
"No, I will," Tali said, after a moment. She slid down from the bed and walked across to Chakwas.
As the Doctor lay Tali down on the scanning-bed Shepard turned to Stone, who had finished his meal and was wiping away any mess on his face with a napkin. While he ate messily, he tidied up in a very civilized fashion. "So give me the rundown," Shepard said. "Who is immune?"
"None but you are fully immune," explained Stone, scuttling down from the bed in a quick motion that startled Shepard.
The rachni crossed to the computer and made a few selections before bringing up a 3D projection of a human. "Few humans on your crew have the defect," Stone said. "I was a bit surprised by this, as humans are the most likely species to possess it, according to Dr. Cadel's research."
Kirrahe strode over to join the group, easily looking over Shepard's shoulder.
"The one you call 'Joker' tops our list, as the least likely to be indoctrinated." the rachni said.
"Won't he be thrilled?" Shepard laughed.
"Dr Chakwas also has the defect, though not as pronounced as Joker's." Stone continued, waving a limb to gesture at the readout on the screen.
Shepard hesitated. "What about Steve, or Vega?"
"I am afraid not, Commander," said Cadel, who had been listening from his position on his bed.
Shepard bit her lip. "Kaidan?"
"No," said Chakwas, rejoining the group with Tali.
"Does he know?" Shepard asked.
"He does," the Normandy's doctor nodded sadly.
Shepard winced. She knew it would hit Kaidan hard. He wouldn't be able to go with them to the Reaper. She felt glad that Garrus could, but Kaidan would not take it well. He was always protective of her, even though they were no longer a couple. It was a fact which annoyed her and made her feel loved at the same time. She knew she would have to speak to him about it before too long. "Well, Tali?" Shepard asked, to change the subject.
Chakwas entered Tali's data into the computer and a moment later her brain scan appeared. "Stone was able to create a program which will quickly locate the the defect in the brain of any species," said Chakwas. "It has been invaluable. One moment and...There. Yes, Tali, you have it."
"Cerberus research indicates it is rare in quarians," said Cadel.
Tali didn't seem to know how to feel. Shepard put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You'll be coming with me to the Reaper ship. We'll need an engineer. To be honest, I am not surprised to find that you are resistant to indoctrination. The Illusive Man didn't send me to you directly, but we did run into one another a few too many times for it to be coincidence."
Tali nodded, arms folded across her chest, her body language still speaking of unease.
"What about the rest of the crew?" Shepard asked.
"Grunt, of course. He has the second most immunity, after you Commander. I have the defect as well," Chakwas tapped herself on the temple with a hint of pride in her voice. "A few other members of the crew have it. Sadly Liara does not. Nor does Traynor, nor Wrex. I do not know if Javik does. I'd need a brain scan of him, and he has never allowed me to take one. Provided I can understand a prothian brain once I see it."
"I'll talk to him," said Shepard. "I'm sure once he has a good reason to, he'll let you take one." Shepard hesitated. "Jack, Samara, Mordin, and Miranda?" she listed off the names of the dead in a solemn voice.
"All indications point to them each having the defect," Chakwas nodded sadly. "Jacob and Kasumi as well, wherever they are," she said, a bit more brightly, as though trying to lift the mood.
"And me," Kirrahe said, raising his hand.
"You?" Shepard turned, eyebrows raised.
"I had your Doctor scan me, out of curiosity. It seems that I have your defect as well."
"Kirrahe, I know you are eager to get back to your people on earth," Shepard began hurriedly, "but would you consider leaving Rentola in charge and becoming a member of my team? At least temporarily?"
Kirrahe tilted his head in consideration. "I do have a great respect for you, Commander Shepard. I have often wondered what it would be like to be under your command, or that of any Spectre. I would be honored." he touched his chest and gave her a half bow.
"Alright, do we have any other details on how this immunity works?" Shepard asked. "How long can my people be around of inside of a Reaper before they began to be indoctrinated?"
"Well, we have very little practical evidence..." Chakwas began.
"You do. Cerberus was running tests," Cadel said, spinning his laptop around so everyone could see.
"I feel so much safer," muttered Tali, darkly.
"Cadel did bring us the knowledge of this defect," Chakwas pointed out.
"Knowledge they found through torture," Tali's tone was dark.
"We'll be cautious, Tali," Shepard reassured her, while feeling her own hackles raise as she leaned in to look at Cadel's laptop.
"Shepard, you could stroll around in a Reaper forever, if it let you. No adverse effects." said the scientist. "Grunt or Joker might manage a few days. The rest of you, 24 hours, maximum. At least, this is what our research suggests."
"Anyone up for testing it?" Shepard asked, standing back, hands on hips.
"We got a report this morning of pirates managing to get on board a Reaper," Garrus explained, when Shepard's question was met with confused looks. "We want to go chase them off before they cause trouble."
"When do we leave?" asked Kirrahe, smiling.
"As soon as we're ready. Suit up," Shepard could not keep the fierce, wild grin from her face.
"Commander," Chakwas spoke up. "I know you're the very best person for this job, but wouldn't it be logical to keep you here? You are, after all, a member of the new council. So are Garrus and Tali, come to that."
Shepard gave her a look, with eyebrow raised, "are you being serious?"
Chakwas folded her arms. "I am. You're our leader, we need you."
"I think the problem with the last Council was that they never got off their asses and did anything. Never got their boots dirty. You know my style of leadership is very hands on."
"Really?" smiled Garrus, sarcastically.
"The people are used to that style. They don't want Commander Shepard to suddenly stop kicking ass and taking names. If I became like those frightened blowhards of the old Council no one would take me seriously any more."
"Very believable story," Chakwas said, still holding her ground. "I know the truth. You just want to get back out there because it's your natural habitat. It has nothing to do with leadership."
"You found me out," Shepard smirked. "Can we go now, mum?"
"Oh fine," Chakwas waved her arms dismissively, trying hard to hide a grin which twitched on the corner of her mouth. "Get out of my sight."
"Right, going!" Shepard said, hurrying to the door. She stopped, as the med-bay doors whooshed open. "Can I assume you are going to be scanning and getting scans from as many people as you can from now on?"
"Of course. What do you take me for?" Chakwas waved her hands again, "now shoo! Go save the galaxy from pirates, or whatever you're doing today."
"I'm not going to lie, this is creepy as fuck."
"Just take us in slowly, Joker," Shepard said, her hand on the pilot's shoulder. She had insisted Joker be the one to pilot the shuttle to the Reaper, leaving the Normandy well away from the seemingly dead behemoth.
"If things go south in there, there isn't much I can do with this thing," Joker said, his voice tense as he brought the shuttle around, looking for a way inside.
"We'll be careful," Shepard said, for probably the fifth time in an hour. Then she leaned and pointed to something through the front window. "There's the pirate's ship. It looks like it's clinging to the side of the Reaper."
"Ah, I see it. You dock the bottom of your shuttle against the Reaper. You're going to have to go through the emergency hatch in the floor," he glanced over his shoulder at Shepard and her team. Though Shepard had wanted to bring Grunt, the size of the shuttle limited her team. Instead she had Tali, Garrus, and Kirrahe. She would deal with Kaidan, whom she had spotted giving her a very baleful look as she had suited up, when they got back.
"Do you see any sign of life from the pirate's ship?" asked Tali, coming forward and peering out at the Reaper.
"Nothing yet," said Joker, "I'll be keeping a close eye on it, trust me."
"How long have the pirates been docked here?" asked Kirrahe, checking the heat-clip on his pistol.
"Long enough," Garrus replied, reaching for his helmet.
"They won't have changed yet," Shepard reassured her crew. "They will only be starting to show signs of indoctrination. They may even be trying to revive the Reaper. We're going to make sure that doesn't happen."
There was a jostle and thud as Joker brought the shuttle into docked position with the Reaper. "God, this is so creepy," he said again.
Shepard saw how tense his shoulders were and she reached forward and tapped his hat brim with her fingertips. "Stay safe, Jeff."
"You too," he said, shooting her an uneasy look.
"Ready kids?" she asked as Tali opened the bottom hatch of the shuttle.
"Always," said Garrus.
The group dropped into the darkness of the Reaper ship.
The flashlights clipped to their firearms flicked to life and the group looked around. Shepard could sense rather than see her people move to stand in formation with her. "Go slow, keep together," she hissed, and began walking. "Remember, we're looking for any sign of the pirates, or of a control center."
The inside of the Reaper reminded Shepard of the Collector ships she'd been on. Rounded ceilings, brown all around them. Shepard felt as thought she was walking through a hollowed out corpse. She wondered what it smelled like, if she hadn't been breathing the filtered air which her helmet provided, She sought out points of cover along the ridged walls, but there was no sign of anyone aboard.
"Joker was right, this is creepy as fuck," said Garrus, after a while of walking.
"You don't get used to it, do you?" Tali piped up, her small voice echoing down the empty corridor.
"I wonder if the Reapers are able to control where you go inside them?" Shepard mused. "Maybe we never will find a control room. Tali, have you seen anything but these fleshy walls? Any sign of tech?"
"No," replied the engineer, a quaver in her voice.
"I've been mapping as I go," said Kirrahe, stepping forward to show the group his Omni-tool. "We're not going in circles. One would think we should have found something by now. Either way, I think we are drawing near the pirate's ship."
"Right," said Shepard.
The group soon came upon the pirate ship's docking port. Everything was as still and lifeless as it had been the entire time. Shepard realized she was grinding her teeth together, "I don't like this. This all feels very trap-like to me."
"Wait...here!" The light from Tali's Omni-tool flashed orange across the quarian's helmet as she scanned a bulkhead. "Here! Where the pirate ship docked. I found some tech that isn't covered by the Reaper 'flesh'" the quarian went to work.
Shepard and her team fanned out to stand guard. "Be careful, Tali," Shepard breathed as she scanned the darkness with a wary eye.
"Just... let me try something," Tali's voice was tight with concentration.
Shepard caught the flash of orange out of the corner of her eye. "What the hell?"
Tali had her own Omni-blade drawn and she hacked at the Reaper 'flesh' covering what appeared to be a control panel. "I got an Omni-tool upgrade," the quarian explained, sheepishly.
Before Shepard could answer the whole place shook. A tight, shuddering vibration, as though the Reaper had shivered. "What the heck was that?" Joker's voice came over the Comm.
"Not sure, hang on," Shepard said. "Tali, whatever you did, please don't do it again. You're scaring Joker."
"I don't think I'll need to do it again," Tali replied, already getting to work on the control panel she had uncovered. "Good. This Reaper tech is a lot like the Collectors'."
"Probably the other way around," Garrus pointed out.
"True," Tali agreed.
"Did anyone hear that?" Kirrahe spoke up.
"No," Shepard breathed. "What did you hear?"
"Sounded like...footsteps."
"Everyone, be ready," Shepard squared her shoulders, balancing on the balls of her feet. Her leg muscles protested stiffly, but were not nearly as bad as they had been before. Her breath came in quick, almost excited, puffs inside her helmet. "Tali, keep working on that tech. I want as much information as you can gather. Use your eyes and your memory only. We can't take downloaded data back to the ship. I'm not risking it."
"Right," the quarian said, fingers working busily.
"Damn, I heard it this time," said Garrus, swinging his rifle around as though tracking something.
"Easy," Shepard warned.
Then the first shot hit her square in the chest. Her shield ate the blow, sparking blue before her eyes as she rushed to cover in front of Tali. "Keep working!" she instructed, knowing Tali had nerves of steel when it came to this sort of thing. The quarian had been the one to crawl through super-heated pipes on the Collector base. She'd opened and closed doors that would have confused and stalled lesser engineers.
Garrus and Kirrahe found cover and soon a clumsy firefight in the semi-dark was well under way. In the flashes of light from gun lights Shepard could make out at least one batarian, an asari, and a few humans. "Hold your fire! We're friendlies!" Shepard tried. Her offer of peace was met with two well aimed blasts which her shield barely deflected.
"They seem real friendly," Garrus called, almost sounding chipper as he took aim.
"Try to wound, not kill," Shepard instructed. "I want some answers!"
Kirrahe managed to clip one of their opponents before he had to completely cover. "No easy task, Commander," he said, "as they seem to be very determined to kill us."
Shepard sighted through her scope, squinting as she took aim in the flashes of weapons fire. "Kirrahe, I need light down there!"
"Right," The salarian put his back to cover and slid to a sitting position. He took two flash-bang grenades from his belt and began tinkering with them. "Be ready in a moment."
"Take your time," Garrus chuckled, laying down a spray of inaccurate suppressive fire over their targets.
Shepard took her shot, missed, and cursed under her breath. It seemed that there were a few more pirates now than there had been, and greater numbers could mean Shepard and her team would be overwhelmed. "Kirrahe?" she barked.
"Got them," the salarian pitched both grenades, one after the other, towards the foe. There was still a flash and a bang, but not so blinding as they normally would be. Still disorienting for the pirates, but allowing Shepard and her team to see them as clearly as if they stood in daylight.
Shepard took her chance, and several clean shots, before she and her team were peppered again. She heard Kirrahe grunt in pain.
"Major? Tali, get over there!"
"No need," said Kirrahe, "It's just a graze."
"Commander?" Tali asked, poised between getting back to work and helping the salarian.
"Alright, keep working," Shepard ordered, taking another shot and getting the batarian in the leg. He went down with a yelp. The light was fading fast. "We need to finish this," Shepard shouted.
Garrus took a few more shots, both landing clean hits. "Right." he growled.
The group seemed to come together as one. Shepard felt a sudden connection, as she sometimes did in battle. Kirrahe was a new element, but she was used to working with Tali and Garrus. So much so that it almost felt like she could read their minds, and they hers. Tali stopped her work and picked up her shotgun without being prompted. The group began to press their attackers, who were one by one falling wounded, though some were killed. Shepard waited to hear Garrus' shot, then she scuttled forward, keeping low, to the next piece of cover. Then she fired, allowing Kirrahe to move up. The maneuver was flawless, and it reminded Shepard why she loved this sort of thing. She was damn good at it.
When they had finally reached the pirates, all of them were wounded or dead. Shepard swept her weapon's light down the dark corridor, in case more enemies had fallen back and were awaiting in ambush, but there didn't seem to be anyone. She gestured with her head for Tali to keep an eye on the corridor. The quarian moved into position.
"Gather up the wounded," Shepard instructed Garrus. "Anyone still awake gets to chat with me. Come here, Kirrahe."
The salarian strode over to her. "Commander."
"You were wounded before. Show me."
"Yas Ma'am," he said, kneeling before her and indicating a shallow injury on his side. His green blood had already stopped flowing.
Shepard applied some medi-gel to the wound and it knit itself nicely. "There. Now go help Garrus," Shepard instructed.
Soon the group had gathered all the remaining pirates. Shepard squatted in front of the batarian she'd shot in the leg. He stared at her blankly, all four eyes dull. She squinted at him. Raising her hand she snapped her fingers beside his head. He didn't blink. "Can you hear me?" she asked. He stared through her, eyes hollow. He blinked lazily and unevenly. "This doesn't look good." Shepard breathed.
"Help," a voice whimpered. Shepard turned. One of the asari, equally dead eyed and staring, was making weak sounds, almost like a child.
Shepard moved to squat before the pirate, tilting her head close, though her helmet would pick up the sound even if she were further away. "My name is Commander Shepard. Do you need help? What happened here?"
"Dark...'s dark and cold," whispered the asari.
"Dark and cold," breathed another of the wounded, like an extremely creepy parrot. Shepard felt a shudder go through her.
"We wait. Why doesn't he come?" the asari asked in a small voice. So sad and pleading.
"What are they talking about?" asked Garrus, obviously on edge.
"I don't know," Shepard breathed, feeling decidedly uneasy. "We need to get these people out of here. The Alliance will take care of them, and maybe we can figure out what's wrong with them."
"Indoctrination?" asked Tali, still keeping her eyes locked on the dark passageway.
"Maybe," Shepard turned to look into another pair of black, unseeing eyes. "Not like any I've seen. This must have happened to them very quickly. I know you can become indoctrinated quickly, especially within a Reaper itself, but this...?"
"Doesn't smell right," Garrus finished for her.
Kirrahe stepped forward and slung the wounded batarian's arm over his narrow shoulders. The pirate made no protest, nor any effort to help himself as he was lifted. "Well, I suppose we better get moving. This is going to take several trips," said the salarian determinedly.
"Right," Shepard agreed. "Kirrahe, you and Garrus start taking the wounded to the shuttle. Tali and I will stay here and keep an eye on the rest of them."
As the work began Shepard questioned Tali about what she had found in her work on the control panel. "Very little," the quarian admitted. "It really did seem dead. I even tried giving it a little juice from my omni-tool. Nothing."
"Well, the Reaper may be dead, but it did something to these people," Shepard muttered. "Were you able to bring up a map to the control center?"
"No. Nothing like that," said Tali absentmindedly checking her heat clip. She ejected it with a click and popped in a new one. "At best I could say is that I may have found some sort of Reaper life signs meter. It showed an image of the creature, with a heart, of sorts, and a brain. The parts of a Reaper that no person would go inside. It all looked dead."
"Dark and cold," Whimpered the asari, who had not been taken to the shuttle yet. Shepard squinted down at her. "We wanted to wait, but it's so empty."
"These people can start making sense any time now," Shepard sighed.
"Commander, we need to talk," Joker's voice came over the comm, clipped and annoyed.
"Ah, Garrus and Kirrahe have reached you?" Shepard asked.
"Yes. What have I told you about collecting strays? Creepy strays?"
"Don't worry Joker, we aren't keeping these."
"Not okay, Shepard," said Joker. "I know it won't stop you, but just let me go down in the record as saying: not okay."
** Uh oh. What's going on now? Shi'ts about to get real, gentle readers. Stay tuned!**