Chapter 34: Reconstruction Blues

Ashley yawned as she sat down at the breakfast table. She took a sip of her coffee and looked at her sisters. They were all eating cereal.

"Where did you get milk?" asked Ashley.

"It's powdered milk" replied Lynn.

"Did you sleep okay after you left?" asked Abby. Because of the cold temperature, the entire family slept in the family room by the fireplace. In the middle of the night, Ashley and Shepard went to her bedroom.

"Yes, I did, thank you," replied Ashley as she took another sip of her coffee hoping her sisters would not talk about the subject any further.

But that was too much to hope for as Abby put her spoon down, "Sis, I don't know how to say this…but…you're not too quiet…" Sarah and Lynn were both quietly giggling trying not to laugh.

"What do you mean? I was sleeping" asked Ashley trying to deflect the comment.

"Ash, you know we can hear everything down here, right?" asked Abby.

"And your bed creaks really loud," chuckled Lynn.

"Stop it!" said Ashley as she threw her napkin at Lynn, even as she felt her face beginning to blush.

"Good morning!" said Shepard as he walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. He then walked over to the breakfast table and sat down next to Ashley.

Abby looked at Shepard and asked, "So, did you sleep well?"

The shuttle shuddered violently. Vashti hated this part the most – the descent. After what seemed like an eternity, the violent vibrations finally stopped. On the view screen, Vashti can see the smoldering planet called Khar'shan, home world to the Batarians. Rumor was that the Batarians had inflated the population numbers claiming they had 15 billion on the planet. All evidence points to this being just propaganda.

"The Reapers really did a number on this planet," said Vashti as she looked at the images on the view screen. She saw rows and rows of rubble of what once was likely a magnificent city.

"I got a lock on the signal," reported the pilot from up front.

"Good. Take us down," ordered Vashti.

The shuttle quickly descended and landed in a clearing among the ruins. The shuttle door opened, and Vashti stepped out holding her Crusader shotgun.

"This can't be right," said Vashti out loud to herself as she surveyed the collapsed buildings all around her.

"Don't rush to judgment," replied a voice coming from behind one of the rubbles.

"Show yourself!" demanded Vashti as she pointed her shotgun in that direction.

A Batarian slowly appeared and walked towards her with both hands raised, "I am not armed."

"Are you Balak?" asked Vashti.

"I am."

"Wait. Shepard, could you stop for a moment?" asked Ashley. He saw there was a long line of people lined up in front of the school. The line stretched from inside the front gate to the front of the street. Some of the people were yelling.

Ashley and Shepard got out of the hover car and walked up to the back of the crowd.

Shepard turned to the man next to him, "What's going on here?"

The man replied, "When the relays were restored, Alliance started to send food supplies here. The mayor decided the school was the best central location to distribute the supplies."

"I don't see any police or soldiers," said Shepard. "Has security been an issue?"

"I've heard rumors that some gangs were raiding the supply convoys, but I haven't seen them myself."

As they were talking, the crowd in front of them erupted into frenzy. It looked like they were pushing to get into the front gate.

Then, a man in Alliance uniform came out of the front gate, drew a pistol and fired it once into the air. He then ordered the crowd to disperse. After a few minutes, the crowd finally began to leave.

Ashley and Shepard ran toward the front gate. Ashley was in front with Shepard trailing her. As they approached the man, he turned and pointed the pistol at Ashley.

"Stop! We are out of supplies today."

"Wait! I'm Alliance as well," shouted Ashley. "I just got back. I just want to find out what happened and why the people were so angry."

The man holstered his pistol, "I'm sorry. I thought they were going to charge and mob us. We were not trained for this. We were supposed to just drop off the supplies and leave. Then the people found out we were here and all came up and wanted supplies."

The man talked as he walked back into the gate. Ashley and Shepard followed. They were surprised he did not recognize them, but at the moment, both thought that was for the best.

"There's only two of us here," the man pointed to his driver in the truck.

"When is the next shipment coming in?" asked Shepard.

"In three days," replied the man.

"We heard some of the supply convoy had been hijacked by gangs. Is that true?" asked Ashley.

The man nodded silently and then spoke, "It's like the wild west out here. There's not enough local police presence. And our people are stretched thin as is. Alliance can't afford to send soldiers with us to a small colony like this."

The man walked over to the passenger side of the truck and climbed in. He closed the door and looked down, "We've had two previous trucks hijacked. The previous team refused to come back."

He shook his head, "Poor bastards. My CO threatened to have them court marshaled if they didn't come back. But they refused so they're in the brig now. So I volunteered."

"Why did you volunteer?" asked Ashley.

"I come from a small town back on Earth I guess this colony reminds me of my home town. I know if I was stuck in my town without supplies, I sure hope someone will try to come and help. So I figured it might as well be me."

"What is your name and where are you based out of?" asked Ashley.

"I'm Sargent Vincent Allen. We're based out of Czarnobóg."

"I thought the depot had been destroyed," said Ashley.

"It was," replied Allen. "But we retook the base two weeks ago and began reconstruction. Now we're using it as a base of operation from here to Ilium. "

"Well Sargent, thank you for what you're doing here. We need more men like you" said Ashley.

"And I wish you good luck with rebuilding here," replied Allen as the truck pulled out of the school yard.

Shepard turned to Ashley, "We need to talk to the mayor."

"Come in."

Vega opened the door and entered the room.

He saluted the officer sitting at the desk, "Lieutenant James Vega reporting as ordered, ma'am."

The female officer sitting at the desk had shoulder length sandy blond hair and blue eyes. She had an athletic build and was wearing a black N7 tank top with a N7 logo on left upper chest. The name plate on her desk read "Cpt Lee Riley."

"At ease," said Riley.

"I've gone over your report along with the reports of the other soldiers on your training mission. I have a few questions for you."

"Yes ma'am."

"What made you think you can carry Lieutenant West and make the sundown deadline at the LZ?"

"I was not thinking about the deadline, ma'am. I was just thinking about getting him out. I did not want to leave him behind, ma'am."

"In Lieutenant West's report, he stated he wanted to tap out after he broke his leg, but you refused to let him. Is that true?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Why did you refuse to let him tap out?"

"I didn't want him to quit, ma'am. All he ever talked about was how much he wanted to be in N7. He was broken, but not dead. I just wanted to help him."

"Let me get this straight. You think you were helping him by dragging him twelve miles in this jungle terrain with a broken ankle and pumped full of pain killers?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And because of your decision to take along this wounded soldier, you put the entire team's mission in jeopardy. Did you realize that?"

"Yes, ma'am. But I gave the others a choice, and they chose to stay with me."

"Yes, they did," replied Coats walking into the room.

Coats continued to speak as he walked to the front and stood next to Riley, "What Captain Riley is trying to point out is that a N7 soldier needs to consider all the perspectives in a situation. Bravery and courage is good, but sometimes that's not enough. You must consider the options, and weigh them against the cost. And sometimes that cost includes your own life and the lives of your men."

Riley then continued on, "Lieutenant Vega, Major Coats and I both agree your actions on this mission were exemplary. You will continue on your N1 training. Over the next week, you will learn advance survival skills and guerilla warfare tactics. At the end of this time, you will be given one final mission. If you complete this mission, then you will graduate from the N1 phase of this program. Do you have any questions?"

"No ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."

"Shepard, this is the town's hardware store. Pull over right here," said Ashley pointing to the plain one story building with a generic sign that read "Hardware Store" on top.

Shepard parked the hover car in front of the store and stepped out. He immediately noticed that there were wooden boards covering all six windows in front of the store.

Shepard and Ashley walked to the front of the door. Ashley pulled on the door but it was locked. She peeked in through the glass door and saw a man in his late fifties.

Ashley knocked on the glass, "Mr. Henderson!"

After Ashley yelled several times, the man finally came to the door. He opened the door slightly. Shepard could see he was carrying a rifle.

Shepard started to say, "We don't want any trouble, we just…"

"Ashley Williams!" said Henderson, "Well, I'll be… come in!"

Henderson opened the door to let Ashley and Shepard in. He looked outside to make sure no one else was there and locked the door.

Henderson turned around to face the couple, "Ashley Williams! It's been a few years since I've seen you. Oh, I'm sorry about this." Henderson gestured to his rifle and then quickly put it down on one of the nearby shelves. Shepard quickly scanned the store and noticed all the shelves were empty.

"Mr. Henderson..." said Ashley, "this is my husband John."

Henderson reached out his right hand to shake Shepard's hand, "Bob Henderson. Everyone around here calls me Bob."

Shepard returned the hand shake, "Please to meet you." Shepard is still surprised that Henderson has not recognized him.

Henderson then turned his attention back to Ashley, "You got married. Good for you! Your father would have been very happy for you." Henderson grabbed his rifle and turned around to walk back to the counter. He set his rifle down on top of the counter. He then walked behind the counter and bent down looking for something.

"You know, your father was in here all the time…when he would get back from his assignments, that is. He talked about his daughters often. But he talked about you the most, how he was proud of you. When you made Chief… oh man… I still remember when he came in to talk to me about it." Henderson stood up behind the counter holding a small picture.

"Sam was smiling for ear to ear. I still remember. I closed up shop here and went to the bar for a drink. He told me the first thing he was going to do when he saw you was to give you a salute…"

Ashley had not heard someone say her father's name for several years. This triggered some fond memories of her father reciting poetry to her.

Ashley's thoughts were interrupted by Henderson's voice, "Here's a picture of us at the bar that night."

Henderson showed the picture to Ashley and Shepard. It showed Henderson and Williams sitting on bar stools with the bar to their back and them holding a beer bottle in each hand.

Shepard noticed Ashley's eyes were misting up. He decided to carry on the conversation, "Bob, it sounds like you and Sam were good friends."

"Yes we were," said Henderson as he looked up as if in deep thought. "I was really sorry to see him…"

Henderson paused mid-sentence and looked down, "well, you know…pass on…a few years ago."

"I am really sorry."

Ashley reached over and gently put her hand on top of Henderson's hand, "Thank you for being his friend."

Henderson looked up at Ashley and clenched his teeth, and nodded slowly.

"You know, dad always called us the girlie horde, and there were times he told my mom he just needed to get out and have some man time. I am glad you were his friend."

Henderson chuckled a little, "Yes, that's what he'd say." After another brief moment, he looked back up and seemingly had recomposed himself, "Now did you come back to go down memory lane, or is there something I can do for you?"

"Actually there is something we need," said Shepard as he took out the burnt solar controller unit and handed it to Henderson.

Henderson looked at the unit and chuckled again, "I told Sam this would happen."

"What do you mean?" asked Ashley.

"When he was putting up the solar panels at your house, he told me he wanted to go with this older model. He thought they lasted much longer than the newer, fancier ones. I told him that if one of these older ones blew out, you can't just go buy another one since they're not made anymore. But he said he wanted them because of his long deployments, and don't want to take a chance of them going out while he was away. He always said if they blew out, he'd just rebuild them."

Henderson was looking intently at the controller turning it from side to side, "Well, I was crazy enough to buy into his idea that I put the same ones on my solar panels. I put a couple extra controllers away just in case. Wait here for a moment…"

Henderson handed Shepard the broken controller and then walked into a back room.

Shepard looked at Ashley, "Are you okay, Ash?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I guess there are things about my dad that I still don't know much about. I just saw dad as being 'dad' and didn't think much about if he had friends, or what he did outside of our home…"

"Here, I found one. I want you to have it," said Henderson as he walked back to the counter. He handed Shepard a new controller unit.

"Mr. Henderson, let me pay for it," insisted Ashley.

"Please, Ashley, I can't take your credits," objected Henderson. "This is for Sam."

"Bob, I can see what Sam meant to you," said Shepard, "But I can also see that the war has been hard on you and everyone else here. Sam would want us to do what we can to help you, just like you are helping us."

This seems to have touched a chord with Henderson, "Well, to tell you the truth, credits are not useful right now. As you can see, there is just nothing come in right now. We're short on food and supplies."

"Okay, wait right here," said Shepard as he pulls Ashley aside and whispered something in her ear. Ashley nodded in agreement and Shepard ran out of the store.

A couple of minutes later, Shepard returned with four emergency food canisters.

"I hope you like macaroni and cheese."

The City Hall was a short 10 minute drive from the hardware store. Shepard parked the hover car and stepped out with Ashley. They approached the prefab three story building. There were a few people coming in and out of the building. They entered through the front door and into a lobby area. The immediate area in front of them was walled off with glass enclosure. The only opening to enter into the lobby was through a scanner. There was a single security guard with a rifle standing just in front of the scanner. There was also a sign behind the security guard that read "No weapons beyond this point. No exception."

Ashley approached the security guard, "We are here to see the mayor."

The guard replied, "Please step through the scanner."

Ashley had a brief flashback of the spaceport incident, "We have our pistols with us and we need to carry them at all times."

The guard replied, "No weapons beyond this area. No exceptions."

Shepard was hoping it didn't come to this. He preferred not to draw attention. But at this moment, he didn't see another way.

"We are Spectres. Please let us through with our weapons," said Shepard in a forceful tone.

"Sure you are. I am sorry. No exceptions," replied the guard in a slight condescending tone.

"Wait, you don't believe us? Do you know who we are?" asked Ashley.

"At the moment, you are wasting my time," replied the guard getting noticeably annoyed.

By this point, about four other people were lined up behind Shepard and Ashley trying to get in. There was a secretary sitting behind a large desk beyond the check point. She noticed the commotion and walked over to the scanner. She immediately recognized Shepard.

"Sir, my apologies. Please step through."

The security guard turned to the secretary and gave her a puzzled look.

The secretary replied in a scolding tone, "Don't you know who they are?"

As Ashley stepped through the scanner, the voice announced, "Ashley Williams-Shepard, Captain, Citadel Fleet, Spectre Status."

The security guard immediately had a surprised look, "I'm sorry, I didn't know ma'am."

"It's okay, we've gotten that a lot recently," replied Ashley trying to sound conciliatory.

Shepard then stepped through. "John Shepard, Admiral, Alliance Military, Spectre Status, Citadel Council Member."

This caused another small commotion from behind him. There were shouts of "Shepard", and "Can I get your autograph?"

Shepard turned briefly and waved. Then he stepped through to join Ashley.

"I am sorry for the inconvenience," said the secretary.

"It is alright," replied Shepard. "We are here as civilians. However, we are Spectres at all time and cannot relinquish our weapon."

"The security guard is new. We lost our security force during the Reaper attack. I'm sorry he didn't recognize you. Some folks here are more…isolated than others," replied the secretary.

Ashley replied, "We would like to see the mayor."

"Of course," replied the secretary. She turned and escorted them to the elevator. "He's on the 3rd floor. I will let him know you're coming to see him."

The elevator door slowly opened. There was a man standing there in a brown suit.

"Welcome! Welcome! It's truly an honor to meet you Admiral Shepard!" said the mayor enthusiastically shaking Shepard's hand.

"I am Mayor Joseph Paulson."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, mayor," replied Shepard. He then turned to Ashley to introduce her, "And this is Ashley…"

"Williams. I know," replied Paulson finishing Shepard's sentence. "I knew Sam Williams. He was a good man. I am sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, mayor," replied Ashley.

"Sam came to me years ago when he wanted to settle on that property on north shore. At that time, there were no other settlements out there. I was worried about your family's safety. But Sam was insistent. He was a modest man. All he asked for was five Acres. He said he just wanted a quiet place to raise his girls. Is your mother doing well?"

"Yes she is, Thank you," replied Ashley.

The mayor walked Shepard and Ashley to a couch, "please have a seat." They both sat down. The mayor sat on the couch opposite of them.

"Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"I am not here in an official Alliance capacity. We are here on our personal time to help Ashley's family resettle at home," replied Shepard. He continued, "There's been a lot of devastation on Amaterasu just like the rest of the galaxy. We want to do our part to help. We are especially concerned about the persistent rumors of gangs in this town. So how can we help?"

Paulson looked down and sighed. Then he looked back up, "I'm glad you came. We are a small colony at the very end of the Illium-Amaterasu shipping lane. We usually don't get Alliance help out here. Our only exposure to Alliance Military is due to Czarnobog Fleet Depot. With the depot destroyed, and no soldiers coming around, it will be very tough on our economy.

When the Reapers first attacked, our security force and some Alliance soldiers fought them off. But it came at a high cost. Almost the entire security force was killed. Then the Alliance soldiers were ordered back to Czarnobog to defend that base. This left us with no protection from the Reapers. I ordered for the colony to evacuate. But most stayed to defend their homes. We were fortunate to not have had additional Reaper attacks after that initial assault. I guess they were all going to Czarnobog."

Paulson stopped, and pulled out a cigarette, "Do you mind? Would you like one?"

Shepard and Ashley both declined, "We don't mind."

Paulson lit the cigarette with his lighter and stood up to walk to the window. He opened the window slightly to allow in a breeze.

"At this point, we don't have a security force. We are also short on food, medicine, and supplies. About 2 weeks ago, I got news Czarnobog was reclaimed by Alliance. They are rebuilding. I have a few personal contacts at that base, and I pleaded with them to get some supplies here. They are short on supplies themselves, but were able to send some few days ago. But you are right, at least two supply trucks were ambushed between the spaceport and the school. The report was similar in both incidences. They were stopped by a road block. The truck drivers reported 6 men with rifles forced them out of the vehicles and then drove away with the truck. We don't have any known gangs out here. So I can't say how many men belong in this group. But it doesn't matter at this point. I don't have any security force that I can send to protect the shipments."

Paulson put out his cigarette in the ash tray at his table and then walked back to the couch and sat down. He looked Shepard in the eye, "Admiral, these are good hard working people here. But when there's no food or supplies, people can become desperate. And desperate people can do desperate things. If we don't get the supplies through, I'm worried what will happen to this colony."

Shepard placed his arm on the Mayor's shoulder, "we're here to help."