Chapter Sixteen: Alchera
"The good thing about being a Captain is that no one questions when you want a ship," Hannah said. She threw in a smirk once the asari made eye-contact. "Of course, having Admiral Hackett as a friend doesn't hurt either," she added.
The human asked for a small Alliance ship and, sure enough, had gotten one within a few days. They were talking in the Mess Hall with only a couple of hours left until they touched down on Alchera.
"Yes, that must be nice," Liara told her, but she wasn't really listening.
"You've been like this for awhile now; what's the problem?" Hannah's voice lazily asked. The Captain was obviously very tuned into emotions.
"You think he really wants this, Hannah? I want him back, but… Maybe the dead should stay dead," she said softly.
"Liara, I know it looks tempting to just let Colt stay on Alchera, but the Shadow Broker wants him. He or she deals with the entire galaxy and that means we don't know what kind of sick fuck would get Colt's body and if we can help it, we won't find out," Hannah no longer spoke lazily, instead her voice filled with self-assurance and arrogance.
"You're right, I know that. It just keeps coming back, you know? The thought I mean. It keeps coming back," Liara replied with considerably less bravado than her companion. She really had tried to stop her dangerous thought process, she really did put in the effort, but something kept nagging at her. The thought was like an animal whining at a door. It should've been easy to ignore, but it wasn't.
"Well, put it out of your mind because we both know that isn't an option," Hannah stated clearly, in a voice that wouldn't be argued with. In a much softer tone, she said, "I haven't seen him in years, when I left he was only fifteen...or sixteen. One of those two," she paused for a second before shaking herself off and continuing, "Anyways, how did you say you met him?"
"He rescued me from a Prothean dig site. I had been trapped in some sort of Prothean jail with a Krogan warlord and his men trying to find their way to me," Liara couldn't help but smile at the memory before continuing, "After a few jokes at my expense, he got me out and let me join his crew." She almost got lost in the memory of him sauntering up to the prison panel and grinning at her. That was the first time she had seen that goofy smile.
"So… were you guys pretty serious?" Hannah's voice was misty and had fallen back to that removed tone that she had used back in the Citadel apartment.
There was no lying to this woman. "No, not really. We liked each other a lot, but that was it. We didn't love one another but…it was getting there. If we could've had more time then it would've been easy. The loving part I mean. That, that would've been easy," she revealed. Colt was the first person that had liked everything. He liked her Prothean expertise, he liked her intelligence, he liked her looks, he liked her shyness, he liked her innocence, he liked everything. And that was everything.
Hannah nodded in understanding, but asked no further questions. She was probably too lost in memories to seek out further information. The rest of the ride was silent. That was okay.
…
Their probe detected an anomaly on the south side of Alchera. The planet was far too inhospitable for colonies and held no vast amounts of resources, so the anomaly had to have been the Normandy.
The shuttle ride to the crash didn't even hold the possibility of conversation. Speaking was simply impossible due to the cloud of grief that hung around like a bad cold.
What would be left of Colt? Would there be anything left of him? Why were they even doing this? Why was she even here? She knew she should've put those thoughts out of her mind, but they lingered.
After an hour of total silence, an alarm went off indicating they would be arriving at their destination in a couple of minutes. The pair did final checks on their equipment and sealed their helmets. The shuttle's gentle swaying slowed before stopping altogether. "Destination reached. Planet-Alchera. Year-2183. Commanding Officer-Captain Hannah Shepard," the shuttle VI said. Their depressing journey began.
Alchera was beautiful in its own right. Snowy planets had always been interesting places that offered a sense of mystery. Liara liked them. She liked them a lot, actually. But the asari had always observed the planets from afar. One or two missions with Shepard involved icy landscapes, but she was pretty much unaccustomed to their frigid grip.
Winter wasn't a bad season to the asari. That was probably due to the fact that she had only ever experienced mild winters, but still. In fact, winter was always a sort of magical being. There was something wild about the season. Something reassuring. She liked it. She liked it a lot.
The planet's untouched snow was pure and poignant. When their feet hit the ground, it felt like sacrilege. There was something unsettling about wrecking untainted landscape.
"Stay alert, we're not alone," Hannah whispered, while gesturing towards some footprints on the ground. Liara nodded back in understanding, but her eyes never left a piece of metal with SR-1 scrolled across it. Her entire focus was on the towering pieces of twisted metal she had once called home.
She was utterly alone. The shivers of her realization rattled her bones more than the freezing wind could ever hope to achieve.
A few shocked steps into the cold frontier stopped when she felt something hard underneath her boots. Dread coursed through her body and she tried to guess the chances of whatever it was being her dead boyfriend. Liara reluctantly reached down and started digging through the snow. About half way through to the object, Hannah started to help. The sight before them stopped the pair dead in their tracks.
It was clearly human, but that was about as much information they could get out of the mutilated body. Hannah reached down and grabbed at its dog tags.
"Corporal Thomas Woods," she whispered softly, Liara wouldn't have caught it but their helmet's speakers were quite good. Was it bad that she was relieved? Was it wrong to feel joy? She had seen this man from time to time in the Normandy. She had never spoken to him. "Come on, lets keep going," the Captain murmured.
The next sight was what appeared to be the cockpit. She saw Joker's seat, which was shredded with bits of stuffing hanging out. A narrow hallway that connected the CIC to the cockpit was also attached to this particular ruin. Some consoles were scattered nearby and were in equally bad shape. Their screens were either shattered or non-existent. Wires hung down and the unmistakable mark of fire could be seen along the walls of the hallway. The memories were too painful to stay long, so she continued to the next piece of metal.
The asari passed by Hannah on her way to another part of the wreckage. The human was picking through a pile of twisted metal. She was trying to find her dead son's body. That wasn't okay. It really wasn't. The Captain was a young woman, even by human standards.
The footprints they had seen earlier were now covered by snow. They had no way of knowing where this other person was. The only thing Liara knew about this mystery person was that they had been on the planet not five minutes before the pair had touched down and the possibility of them still being here was very real. For that very reason Liara had no intention of running around corners blind. So when she turned a corner leading to what was the mess hall, she didn't register that she was in a place she had been in only a week ago. Her only thought was to stay stealthy.
Liara poked around the mess hall, but found nothing of importance. Colt's room was still attached to the mess hall, so she shuffled over there.
The inside was completely ravaged. Wires and insulation hung down and pieces of wall were everywhere. Shepard's model ships were thrown on the ground and lay in parts, aside from a model of the now destroyed Normandy, which she picked up and placed in a pocket. She had been happy here. Really, truly happy.
Her numbness morphed into agony. Pure, unaltered agony. How could he be dead? They were here a week ago. He had been alive and well.
A stray tear formed silently and traced the gentle curve of her face before slipping down onto the inside of her breather helmet. For better or for worse, she managed to prevent further tears for no other reason besides the fact that she was in closed suit.
Every ounce of strength left her body all at once. It did so without warning. Her wits and control of the situation were there one minute and gone the next. The asari's legs trembled before giving way. Her traitorous knees stopped supporting her altogether. Her back hit the metal sides of his cabin with a thunck. With nothing willing to keep her standing, Liara slid down the wall. She crumpled into a sitting position once she reached the ground.
...
How long had she been here? Hours? Minutes? She didn't know. She didn't care.
Liara could hear Hannah calling her name, so she let out a pitiful response. The human entered the cabin a second later and gazed fearfully at her. "My God, Liara! What happened? Are you alright?"
The asari weakly gestured to the room in hopes that Hannah would understand. Hannah's eyes looked around curiously before turning dark. She let out a sad sigh and then sat next to Liara wordlessly. The human put her arm around Liara, and together they sat in silence.
The pair sat there until the crunch of boots on snow rallied them. Without a second thought, both women sprang up and ran to the door. Liara hadn't brought a gun in order to focus entirely on her biotics.
"STOP!" Captain Hannah Shepard's voice boomed over the landscape towards a lone figure a couple hundred feet away. A gun appeared in her right hand and was pointing at the stranger. The person's back was turned, but they did stop. "Turn around slowly. I have a gun," Hannah's voice was ice cold and sent a chill up Liara's spine. The asari knew that she might have to potentially kill this person, so she rallied her biotics until an impressive blue ball circled her fists furiously.
"I mean you no harm," said the figure as he turned. His voice was scratchy and deep. Liara could tell that he was a young Drell. A sled of some sort was behind him.
"What you got there?" Hannah growled.
"We all know what I have, but before you decide to blast me to Omega, hear me out. I work for the Shadow Broker. They sent me here to retrieve a corpse, which I did. A couple of minutes ago a buddy informed the true purpose of getting the body. I won't be a part of that, I won't. In fact I was going to take the body to a Doctor Liara T'Soni; she was the only person on his emergency contact information," the Drell's voice drew out. Colt had never mentioned that she was his only emergency contact. Hannah was also clearly surprised because she glanced at Liara before gluing her eyes back on the Drell.
"How the hell are we supposed to believe you?" The Captain was not convinced of his sincerity, if her tone of voice was any indicator. Liara noticed that she was creeping closer to the Drell.
Apparently he noticed too because he started speaking quickly, "I'm guessing one of you is Doctor T'Soni, and to prove that I'm telling the truth, I'll hand over the body to her." The Drell had obviously been picking up on the subtle show of emotion both Liara and Hannah had been displaying.
Before her brain could tell her to stop, Liara stepped forward and announced, "I am Doctor T'Soni." This was an incredibly stupid move, but there was no going back. The Drell seemed to look her over and then slowly started to approach the pair, his hands in the air. The large box started forward to, as it was attached to him. Hannah still had her gun trained on him but she made no aggressive move. When he finally stopped before the women, the two parties eyed each other suspiciously. Liara decide to break the stalemate by reaching out for the container's rope. To the Drell's credit he immediately handed it to her.
"What's your name?" Hannah asked, suspicion still in her voice.
The man replied back calmly, "Feron."