Disclaimer: I don't own ME.
When John entered the comm room, Liara and Garrus were already inside. They were seated on the seats along the walls, caught up in a quiet discussion over something, but they stopped talking when the marine appeared in the room. "Am I disturbing or something?" John asked, not really expecting an answer, and made his way to one of unoccupied seats. He rubbed the back of his neck as he sat down.
"No, why would you think so?" Garrus asked simply, straightening.
He shrugged, leaning back and closing his eyes.
Tali and Wrex arrived together, though it seemed more like they met on their way there than that they were actually having chitchat. Or John at least couldn't imagine them talking about anything. Tali set in the seat next to Liara. She turned to her. "Oh, hello. You must be Liara. My name is Tali," she introduced herself and it plain clear she was smiling under the helmet.
"Pleased to meet you, Tali," Liara responded. She was a little taken aback by her approach, John could tell. "Eh, please, excuse my forwardness, but what are you doing here? Quarians are rare outside the Migrant Fleet," Liara looked questioningly at the only human specimen present.
Tali nodded once. "I am on my pilgrimage and…well…Shepard helped me out of a tight spot and then decided bring me all along to help her." The quarian touched her helmet as if she wanted to reach her face. "And I'm glad for this opportunity. Being on board of such sophisticated ship is every quarians' dream come true, not to mention my lack of knowledge about the world outside the Migrant Fleet got me into trouble once already." She was of course referring to the incident with Fist. Had she known about the way the Shadow Broker operated, she would have never fallen for Fist's lie.
But then they would have had a hard time looking for her all over the Citadel.
The door hissed again and Ashley walked in. She stopped at the entrance, her eyes on the asari. Then she greeted everyone, sounding a little suspended, before taking an empty seat next to John. She moved to lean closer to him, so he did the same. "What is she doing here? Isn't her mother our enemy?"
"She's on our side…or at least she's not on Saren's side," John explained as quietly as he could. Tali, still chatting merrily with the new crewmember, helped a lot to drown out their soft voices.
"What if it's a trap?"
"I don't think so. She was nearly killed by Saren's minions. He sent a krogan Battlemaster after her, too."
"Damn…" Ashley laughed. "How did you take him down?"
"We had our own krogan Battlemaster," John pointed out and looked at Wrex from the corner of his eye. The krogan was working with his omnitool, not paying attention to anything around him. "It was clever of Maya to bring him along."
Ashley blinked. "Maya?" she echoed, chuckling. "Doesn't sound badass, you know, for the Commander Shepard, the first human Spectre and the N7 marine. How come I haven't heard…wait, I have. After Elysium," she mused, touching her chin with her fingers.
After that the two marines fell silent and in time even the rest of the present company grew quiet. It stretched into strange awkwardness as they all waited patiently. Finally the door hissed again and opened; Kaidan walked calmly in and took a seat like everyone else. John's eyebrows quirked as he checked his watch. It was time for the debriefing to begin. What was taking his sister so long?
Finally, ten minutes after the timeline given by her, Maya walked in as well. Mumbling apologies for being late, she approached the console. She plugged in a storage disk and opened the Normandy's intercom. "Joker, send the files to the Council, ASAP," she barked out.
"Aye, aye, ma'am."
"Right…" Maya muttered under her breath and closed the 'com again, turning to the crew. There still were several seats empty, but she didn't move to sit down.
"Before moving on to the next issue, I'd like to introduce you Dr. Liara T'Soni," she started dryly, looking at the asari. Then she introduced the rest of the preset crew to her quickly.
"Are we sure she's not a double-agent?" Ashley asked when she finished, earning a look from John. "Eh, no offence," she added, understanding the reproachful gaze.
"None taken," Liara smiled lightly. "I understand your suspicion, but I have nothing to do with my mother's involvement with Saren."
"And I trust you," Shepard added matter-of-factly. It was said softly and firmly at the same time, without any need to raise her voice. But it was clear enough warning for Ashley not to question her decisions again.
"Thank you…" Liara paused for a moment, then added: "I also should thank you for saving my life back there. Or worse...you saved me from being dragged to Saren and possibly forced to help him," she added, watching the Commander intently.
"A propos..." Ashley spoke up, leaning forward to rest her elbows against her knees. "Why would he want your help when he already has your mother? Do you know something about this Conduit, whatever it is?"
"I don't know what it is...or where..." the asari shook her head. She seemed uncomfortable saying she didn't know it, because she started fidgeting in the seat. "Only that it was connected to the Prothean extinction. That's my real area of expertise," she quickly added, sounding proud. "I've spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."
"Fifty years?" Ashley slowly repeated. "Just how old are you?" John's eyebrows quirked at that. Coming from any men from the room it might sound rude. Or maybe it was just a human nature not to ask women of certain apparent age how old they were.
In any case, Liara didn't seem offended in the least. If anything, she looked shy all of sudden. "I...hate to admit it, but I'm only a hundred and six."
"Damn!" the Chief exclaimed, straightening again. "I hope I look that good when I'm your age."
"Ashley, Liara is still mostly considered a child among her species," Maya commented. "Anyway, let's back to what you've mentioned. About the extinction of Protheans," she uttered, narrowing her eyes slightly. Everyone, safe for Liara, turned their head to the Commander with questions in their eyes, but no one dared to point out that she already knew that.
"Well...there are countless theories out there trying to explain the occurrence, but I don't think any of them has been based on a valid proof, Commander," Liara started saying. "The Protheans left remarkably little behind for us to discover," she explained, drawing small circles in the air with her hand as she spoke.
"You mean as if someone didn't want anything to be found?" Maya offered and Liara nodded. "Yes. As foolish as it sounds, that's what it looks like. Fifty thousand years is a long time for someone else to come and cleansed the galaxy of clues...hypothetically speaking, of course. Either way," she went on after she drew a quick breath, "I've discovered the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before th...Commander, are you alright?"
John's attention snapped back to his sister to catch her rapid blinking. She looked pale suddenly. "Sis?" he started, sounding worried, and was about to stand up, but she lifted her hand to stop him. "I'm fine. Haven't eaten yet. Stupid biotics..." she smiled and focused on the asari again, eager to change the topic. "That's a very bold statement, Liara. Where did you come up with this? I thought there were hardly any evidence left by the Protheans, let alone someone before them," she shrugged, looking her usual self again.
Liara leaned back a little. "I don't have any evidence, I'm afraid. Just fifty years of studying everything I could find that let me to this conviction. It was like some kind of a pattern... Each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down until only ruins remain," she nodded, sounding strongly confident. "I suspect what we thought was a legacy of the Protheans – great inventions like the mass relays or the Citadel, were actually based on the technology of those who came before them."
Wrex snorted. "Makes you think twice about those bugs on the Citadel."
"Keepers," Garrus corrected him. "But you're right. If Dr. T'Soni has a point here, then the Keepers are probably older than we think."
"Keelah..." Tali whispered, the little bulb in her helmet blinked twice. The light was unusually bright in the dimness of the comm room.
"But like I said," Liara started speaking again. "It's nothing I could prove...but I will in time, I hope. Commander, if you could satisfy my curiosity... I've noticed that back on Therum you displayed certain knowledge about the ancient Prothean technology as well."
"That's one way to put it," Ashley chuckled, but she quickly shut up when Shepard looked at her. Her eyes lingered on the woman, looking thoughtful rather than angry.
After a second she took a deep breath and folded her arms over her chest. "Yes, Liara, I've already had my share of examining Prothean devices. Actually to the extent that I could help you fill in the holes in your theory. The Protheans were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The Reapers."
"The...the Reapers," Liara echoed quietly. "But I have never heard of...How do you know? What evidence do you have?" Maybe she wasn't even aware of it, but the asari was so intrigued by this that she had stood up from the seat, watching the Commander intently.
Maya quickly explained what happened on Eden Prime to her and that left Liara almost gaping at her. "You found a working Prothean beacon? I find it hard to believe..." Now she sounded like she only refused to accept this so that she wouldn't be disappointed later. Because, her words notwithstanding, her eyes shone brightly and she had made a few steps towards Shepard.
Maya shrugged. "Whatever information was stored inside, it is now in my brain. Only thanks to it we were able to make the elevator in the mine work again."
"But..." Liara frowned at that. "Beacons were only programmed to interact with Prothean physiology. None of the species from today is capable of having the information transmitted to their minds, as is the beacon's purpose," she added. "The visions you mentioned had to be very confused."
Maya looked away from her, shrugging. "I understood enough, though it wasn't exactly like watching a vid either," she admitted.
"You must be remarkably strong-willed, Commander," Liara breathed out. She approached Maya even closer. "A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process."
"This isn't helping us find Saren. Or the Conduit," Kaidan interrupted her sharply. He'd been frowning more and more deeply with every step the asari took towards Maya, which John found hilarious. Kaidan had never struck him as the jealous type…of an asari, on top of that.
"Of course, you're right," Liara smiled and finally took a step back. "I apologize, my scientific curiosity got the better of me," she said softly, smiling hesitantly. "Unfortunately I do not have any information that could help you."
"You might not have the information, but Saren had his reasons for sending the geth after you," Maya stated. "I'm sorry, Liara, I'm afraid you have to stay with us. For your own protection."
"No need to apologize, Commander," she smiled hesitantly. Her blue eyes travelled shortly to Tali. "This ship is probably the safest place where I can be at the moment. And you might use my knowledge of the Protheans later on."
"And her biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts," Wrex commented.
"Yeah..." Ashley rolled her eyes. "Like this ship isn't already crowded with biotics."
Garrus cleared his throat. "Nothing to brighten your day like the inferiority complex."
"We're far from helpless," Tali tried to placate him, probably not sensing this was a joke. Garrus couldn't care less about being or not being a biotic.
"So that's settled," Maya nodded. "And since we still have no information, next stop's Feros. And you're all part of the shore party."
"All of us?" Garrus repeated, looking around. "Isn't it more efficient and quick with a smaller team?"
Shepard's face hardened and her eyes turned empty suddenly. John knew the look. Just like she could tell when he tried to hide something, he recognized the expression immediately, too. Feros was bothering her. "Not when it comes to rescuing attacked colonies. Number is what they need…if they are still alive." Her voice was followed by silence. Everyone knew about Elysium and Mindoir and presence of the two occurrences suddenly hung in the air uncomfortably. "Dismissed," Shepard said in loud voice, taking a deep breath. "John, Wrex…a word," she stopped them while the rest gathered to leave the small room.
She waited, until it was only the three of them inside before she focused on the krogan. "I wanted to thank you and ask something of you," she started. "I know you had…you have no real reasons to follow me. You're not part of my unit, but I really appreciate your help."
The krogan nodded and then leaned closer to her. "And the request?" he asked, his face so close to Shepard's he was almost touching her. He grinned when she didn't recoil from him.
"Like I said, you're not mine," she said in calm voice, keeping her ground. "But you're helping me and I care about people on my side. The jump…it was a great help. Without your cleaning the bottom of the mine our descent would have been much more problematic, but next time, Wrex," she paused for a split second, lifting her chin as she met his merciless eyes with a defiant gaze, "stick close to the team, will you?"
"Or I'll just give you a heads-up," he barked and laughed. "Is it all, Shepard?"
She shrugged, looking casual despite giant krogan smirking in her face. "Yeah, I've spoken my mind. Do whatever you want with it."
With one last look over his shoulder, Wrex left the comm room, leaving the siblings together. John whistled when the door closed. "I thought he was about to headbutt you."
"He took my criticism better than I thought he would," Maya simply shrugged, feeling rather relived. "Let's hope he'll actually think about it, too," she added with a lop-sided smile that told John she wasn't counting on it much.
"So…you scolded the most badass asset of your team. I wonder what you want of me."
"A promise," she whispered, turning her back to him. She rested her hands on the edge of the console, careful not to touch anything. She fixed her eyes on those buttons. There weren't much of them anyway. All the conversations were controlled mostly by the pilot. All she could do from here was to contact him and accept or hang up the call he'd patch through. "The Alliance lost contact with Feros a few days ago. It might not mean anything. The geth here on Therum didn't attack any of the colonies and their mere presence jams most of our communication and sensor devices," she said. She expected John to say something, but when he stayed quiet, she drew a breath, closing her eyes…so she missed the way a diode came on; the channel to the cockpit had been opened. "If I'm wrong, however, and the colony is…has been targeted, I might lose it," she said heavily, her hands shaking slightly. She turned away from the console as she pressed fingers into her eyes.
"Lose it?" John repeated.
"Yeah," she breathed out, watching her hands. "You need to take care of everything if it happens. And by that I mean finding what got Saren so interested in the place to send forth his geth army."
"It won't happen," John dismissed the idea immediately. "You're stronger than that."
She smiled at her bother. Not so long ago, she would confide in John about her fears. She'd never told him about her reaction on Elysium. Only Chris knew the sight of the fleet had turned the time for her in the worst way possible. He didn't know she still flinched when someone said Adam when she didn't expect it. He didn't know about her issue with sleeping pods; only Kaidan knew that one. Such intimacy was now complicated. He wasn't only her brother, he was her subordinate. She couldn't afford to look weak, not because he'd stopped respecting her, but because he would care overly…and others would notice. "I didn't say it will happen," she said. She leaned against the console behind her, folding her arms over her chest in a way that one of her hands was free to play with the chain her dog tags hung on. "I was just weighing all the possibilities. One of them is my experience that skyrocketed my career might finally come and bite me in the ass and I want you to be ready for any sings of it and take over," she stated in what she hoped was casual tone.
John's eyes suddenly burnt with a strange intensity as he stared at her. Maybe she wasn't casual enough. "How are you feeling about Feros?" he asked carefully.
…
"I feel sympathy and expect the worst."
"That's understandable. Anyway, yeah, I'll be watching you. That's no problem. But like I said, I don't think it will be necessary. You're not the first human Spectre groundlessly."
Joker swallowed and let out a long breath after the line fell silent. He could hear some quiet voices in the background as the door swoosh open and when he turned around, he glimpsed the marine leaving the comm room. The Commander didn't follow him though.
He focused on the control panel in front of him, frowning. It didn't occur to him that the Commander could have problems with coming to Feros. But of course, she'd been there. Twice. It was known she had survived the attack on Mindoir and Elysium and Joker only wondered what really was going on in her head at the moment. After all, she was just a human, wasn't she?
Hesitating, he drew a breath to speak. "Commander? I've got the Council on the line. They've got the files and want to talk to you. Should I patch them through or make some completely unbelievable excuse?"
She chuckled. "How bad can it be? I'm millions light years away, they can't eat me. Patch them through."
"Just brace yourself," he responded with the same amusement. Apparently he worried too much about her. After all, she was a pro.
…
Cord-Hislop Aersopace was a prospering and lucrative business manufacturing all kinds of shuttles. At first sight it was an ordinary company with a lot of ordinary employees, board of directors and an inconspicuous owner who didn't understand a thing about trade or markets, so he left the board to make decisions. It resided in a tall, elegant tower in a middle of Stockholm. Positioned on one of many island between the Baltic Sea and the beautiful lake Mälaren – Skeppsholmen Island – it offered a breathtaking view of the city.
She was sure this position was a message, just like everything he did. It was a strategic move, just like it had been when the military had built in this area so long ago too. The place had changed a lot since, and it was difficult to match the old pictures of the city with the modern, bustling metropolis it had become. It was almost too easy to hide here in the plain sight.
Only a handful of people knew the company – like a simple coin – had two faces. What everyone could see, a successful corporation, was only a drop in the sea, a tip of an iceberg. Something much more powerful and important hid beneath the surface. The main purpose of this company was to finance efforts of still growing group of people trying to enforce human rights across the galaxy when no one else cared. Even if it meant sacrificing an individual for the greater good.
Standing inside the luxurious room on the very top of the tower was therefore an imminent honour. Only the owner and his close partners had access to the penthouse. Most of the Cerberus operatives only had the pleasure of seeing a part of the room via a video call, if they were lucky and important enough for the boss to call them in person. But here she was, standing behind the massive table made of dark wood that her colleagues only caught glimpses of. Running her fingers over the smooth surface was an indescribable feeling.
Rebecca smiled softly as she lifted her head to look around the room. She breathed the air through her nose, recognizing the scent of the Illusive Man's favourite cigar and cologne. It mixed with the soft aroma of old books he kept in the library that held probably the greatest collection of actual books these days; some of them were so old Rebecca was sure they would fall apart if someone touched them clumsily. Its vastness made her wonder whether he had read them all or just collected them for fun.
But of course he had read them. The Illusive Man never did anything without a good purpose and fun was just a waste of time and resources, while both could be used elsewhere. The Illusive Man was a very practical man after all.
Her look focused on the comfortable leather seat behind the table. Her heels clacked against the wooden floor as she approached it and sat down, leaning back. She felt suddenly more important then she really was, sitting in his chair, behind his table. She ran her hands along the armrests, caressing the smooth black leather lovingly.
Her moment of peace was disturbed when there was a soft knock on the door. Rebecca sprung to her feet, made a step from the seat just as the door opened. It revealed one of his most favourite pets holding a datapad. Miranda's brow was furrowed, but as soon as her blue eyes met with Rebecca's dark green ones, she smiled. "Rebecca," she greeted her and walked into the room.
Rebecca smiled at the taller woman, the living, breathing perfection, as she set the datapad on the table. "The Spectre?" she asked, a left corner of her mouth curling up in a sneer. It was gone when the elder woman looked at Rebecca.
"Among other things," she agreed. "Fascinating and impressive."
"Right…" Rebecca resisted rolling her eyes. She took the datapad in her hands and stared at it. She had expected Miranda to come and deliver the dossier, since the Illusive Man himself had asked Rebecca to wait for her, and she was thrilled to finally hold it in her hands. For twelve years she'd been itching for ammunition like that. "Impressive?" she echoed and wrapped her arms around the datapad, hugging it closely to her chest. "If she hadn't been probably the sole survivor of the Elysium, no one would have noticed her. This way, however, she virtually built her career on deaths of a lot of people."
Miranda shot her a curious look, narrowing her blue eyes. "So did you," she countered. "How many people have you killed during your medical experiments?"
Rebecca laughed. "Those weren't people, Miranda. Those were aliens. And I would kill twice as much if it meant saving one human. After all," she paused, drumming her fingers on the datapad, "don't say you wouldn't want to strangle the turian's neck for Eden Prime. And the Council still refused to help."
"They helped eventually. Shepard made them. And got the best of the situation as well," Miranda pointed out.
"Whatever," Rebecca shrugged. "I guess I just don't buy her propaganda. She's no saint, but the Alliance has made her a poster girl so she must look perfect no matter what."
"She's far from perfect," the elder woman agreed, which for a second surprised Rebecca. Miranda didn't register it however. Her eyes had slid from Rebecca's face and lingered on the datapad in her arms. "I should know. I've spent last few weeks digging up every detail of her life so far. The thing is everyone believes in her. And what she's doing now might help us."
"Yes, that's true," Rebecca nodded slowly. "She did hand the Council their asses, after all."
Miranda smiled and lifted her chin slightly. "She did. Well, I have a work to do, now, but it was nice seeing you again, Rebecca. After I'm done with my next task, we need to catch up."
"Already can't wait. And yes, I've got a work, too. This precious needs to find its way to the Illusive Man as soon as possible." Miranda was the first to turn and leave the office, so Rebecca was free to finally allow the triumphant smile to appear on her face. Knowledge is power, she thought as she looked at the datapad. The Illusive Man was very patient and could wait a few more minutes before she downloaded the data into her omnitool. I'll finally be able to keep my promise, Dad, she thought as she watched the progress bar. Maybe not tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, but with this…I'll make her pay for your death eventually.
There were things to make someone suffer. Things that required having a specific kind of information, but didn't even involve meeting the certain someone personally. And Rebecca knew from personal experience that such things always hurt the most.
…
Maya sighed heavily as she sat down in the co-pilot's seat. She didn't look at Joker. Instead she watched the dark space around them as if she'd never seen it before. She tilted her head to one side, than the other, looking thoughtful.
"Do you need something, Commander?" Joker asked, after growing curious.
She lifted her eyebrows. "Just Ambassador Udina strangled. Are you in?" She was smiling, but somehow he suspected she was deadly serious.
"What did he do?"
"It's not as much what he did as what he didn't," she shrugged and sighed again. "Apparently he forgot to mention to Rear Admiral Mikhailovich his ship wasn't joining his flotilla," she said calmly. Joker recognized it as the same kind of calmness her brother often used. "So he wrote me a very angry email – why he wrote me and not Anderson is beyond me – to get his ship to the Citadel dock ASAP. I came to tell you to change the course, then started thinking about simply writing the Ambassador to take care of it instead of me…" she trailed off, explaining why she hadn't spoken up until the pilot asked her.
Joker froze for a moment. "So…are we heading to Feros or the Citadel?"
"To the Citadel, unfortunately," she said eventually. "This misunderstanding needs to be dealt with and I don't trust the Ambassador to handle it without causing an incident."
Joker started his magic with the ship, punching in the new coordinates as he spoke: "And what if he demands his ship back? Are going to hand it over?"
"No way I'm giving you and this baby up," she smiled. "I'm a Spectre, remember. If he's making trouble, I'll pull that on him. Rear Admiral or not, I'm not within his authority anymore. Though I hope he'll see reason and I won't have to do it. It doesn't feel very respectful. He's got a great reputation."
"You're an optimist, are you, Commander?" Joker asked, turning his head to her. He cringed back a little bit when she eyed his baseball cap.
"Would you rather I was a pessimist?"
"Depends on your point of view. Pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist…or thereabouts."
"You talked to Ashley!" Maya chuckled.
"So did you evidently," Joker uttered. "I've heard you two are quite good buddies."
She waved her hand. "I wouldn't go that far. But we had the same teacher. And she has awesome sisters…I always wanted to have a sister…" she said thoughtfully suddenly. "A twin. Someone to look exactly like me so we would play with others pretending to be the other."
Joke just smiled, but didn't comment for some time. Done with considering his word, he took a breath to speak. "You're pretty open with the crew, aren't you?"
"What makes you think so? Because I told you about my wish to have a sister? That's not being open, Joker."
"Maybe, but it still makes the crew feel welcome when you slip a bit here and there about yourself, however unimportant in your opinion. That's what Ashley came to talk to me. You know, since I can't walk much, she was interested if you actually bothered to come up here to talk to me like you do with everybody else."
"But of course I wouldn't miss a small talk with my pilot," she smiled. "Anyway, I'm glad the crew feels this way. I want them to know I'm here for them if they had problems. That I care about them and respect them and want to get to know them." At least that was what made a good commander in her book. Not the rank or number of successful missions. The way you treated people under you. If you backed them when they'd need it. If they could count on your to stand by their side.
"Hey, I get it, no need to explain yourself, Commander. I've already fallen for you, but don't tell Kaidan," he hurried to add. "And I think it's a good thing. I've met too many prissy jerks in dress blue to appreciate a different approach for once."
She only smiled to herself at his comment about Kaidan. John had suggested never ever stopping an elevator again if she wanted a private moment. "Hopefully Mikhailovich won't be one of those. I have a pretty good mood and I'd hate to get it spoiled." She was quiet for a while. "I should go."
"Alright, see ya," Joker answered, sounding like he wasn't really paying attention.
I would like to apologize to any resident of Stockholm if I somehow managed to get what little I wrote about it wrong. I've never been there and maps and google can tell you only so much, especially if half of it is in language you don't understand :D
To Minnie - Oh, I'm so glad I wasn't the only one :D Like I say, Moms are right about a lots of things, but not that sitting in front of a computer can't help you learn anything :)
And as I've already done it so many times, I apologize for taking so long with this chapter. I'm glad I've managed to get it done, with everything so crazy now. Next Monday I'll either be or won't be a Bachelor so you can imagine writing is the last thing I have time for, unfortunately. And now, when I've bored you to death with completely unnecessary facts about what's going on behind the scenes of the story, thank you all for reading and faving and following and reviewing, because it really helps me to know what you think about the story.
