Chapter 8
Half awakened
Here is chapter 8 where doctors, when desperate enough, decides to try unorthodox treatments. You can already guess by the title how it shall end. As always tell me if you find it interesting or not and I do not own etcetera. etcetera.
P.S. I used a peculiar word inside this chapter, a small homage to the Star trek series (deep space nine to be precise) can you find it?
P.P.S italic words are yoma's speech.
Normandy Sr 2, 14 march, infirmary
The ship was slowly fluctuating across the void of space, its occupants mostly at bed because of the night cycle and yet an attentive ear would have heard small voices and rumors coming from the infirmary. Inside it doctor Karin Chackwas, together with Mordin Solus, were still busy working on small blood samples and tissue fragments, trying to find a way to heal the currently only patient lying in coma in one of the few medical beds. The face of the good doctor was a mask of tiredness , the attack of tiredness blocked only by dozens of now empty cups of coffee placed everywhere on her desk; this was the eleventh modified sample that the good doctor was testing inside the testing machine of the infirmary and her tired brain hoped that this would have brought at least some success. Unfortunately the machine said otherwise and a loud beep followed by a red light dimly illuminated the machine.
"Bloody hell!" cursed Karin while trowing away the failed sample in a fit of frustration "This is ridiculous: another failure! Just what the hell is this cursed yoki?!"
One week, one entire week after that fateful day when Lena came back from the mission literally in pieces and still the good doctor had no idea how to cure her.
At the beginning of the first day of this week Karin had been quite pessimistic about Lena's chances of survival. The poor girl was in shambles, a mangled piece of flesh barely kept together by patches of skin and comatose brain but still she did her duty hoping for a miracle, and a miracle somehow arrived.
It happened at the dawn of the second day, Karin had just began her shift at the infirmary only to have Lena's body suddenly jolt and move like a possessed woman; surprised by this reaction Karin was immediately at Lena's side, trying to keep her still and checking her vitals and what she saw left her speechless: Lena's brain was still in a coma but the parasite inside her clearly was not and somehow managed to take control of her host's body and regrowth Lena's lost eye!
After witnessing this miracle the doctor immediately summoned Mordin on the infirmary and together they scanned and analyzed Lena's ravaged body, discovering that the parasite inside Lena possessed a far greater control of her host despite the Claymore's apparent human nature, so great that it was right now working in place of the girl by moving streams of yoki everywhere in a desperate attempt of healing itself.
Relieved for the new predicament and far more optimistic than before they both began working with renewed vigor, hoping to find a way to use the parasite's amazing regenerative abilities to speed up Lena's recovery, but here they found a roadblock. This substance, this yoki, proved to be a barrier for any medicine known to galaxy as well as almost impossible to analyze, let alone control it: every time they performed a scan the results were different because of the virulent and volatile nature of said substance; every time they tried altering the substance, trying to make it more stable or at least not so aggressive toward any medicine inserted inside Lena's body they were rewarded with a failure. This yoki substance was simply too unstable.
-How the hell Lena manage to keep it under control is beyond me- thought Karin while calming herself -I should ask her if she manage to wake up.-
After some tense seconds Karin's body finally calmed down, and her scowl was replaced by a professional facade. She was a military doctor with twenty years of experience after all, not a near graduate medicine student during her first real fieldwork experience.
Truth to be told the doctor's mind was frustrated for two other reasons: first of all Lena's body, because of this yoki, kept moving and moving day and night, regrowing a broken bone only to have another one snap at the same time, something that Karin found generally creeping but was unable to stop. Second of all during this week every time she headed toward the infirmary, Karin always saw Raina near the door, oblivious of Kelly or Kasumi's attempts of cheering her up or simply distracting her. The child never asked her anything or tried to sneak inside the infirmary; she simply stood still, for entire minutes sometimes, her eyes looking at the heavy metal door, waiting.
It was honestly unnerving.
"Your frustration comprehensible doctor. Mental strain always hight when dealing with this kind of situation, especially when relative present or near during work. Still, suggest stopping drinking coffee and focus on the matter at hand. Agent Lena still need our help and your caffeine levels are dangerously high."
Said Mordin after patiently waiting for Karin's outburst to end. The old Salarian, in contrast to doctor Chackwas, was perfectly composed and calm despite the situation. On his right hand a data pad rested ready to be activate and his eyes showed no emotions.
Karin for a moment envied him and his STG training; he was also worried for Lena but his self control was impeccable, even after a week of failures mixed with the constant sound of Lena's body squelching and twisting in a macabre dance of sinews and tissues.
"Doctor Solus, yesterday you said inside the message that you found a possible cure for Lena, correct? Care to elaborate?" asked Karin skipping the pleasantries
"Of course of course" answered Mordin quickly "Had some free time during this week, research about Collectors countermeasures almost done so redirected myself to this peculiar problem. Yoki substance clearly too complex to be analyzed using only small samples despite the advanced facilities of the ship and Lena's body right now too damaged for a total scan. Temporary blocking the influx of yoki and using conventional medicine also too dangerous: substance present in every part of Lena's body, blocking it would cause irreparable damage. I devised a third option."
Mordin activated his data pad and showed it to the doctor
"Yoki substance clearly capable of mending and repairing biological bodies at an astonishing rate, but agent Lena's body is currently incapable of pumping enough of this substance necessary for a speedy recovery, so the best course of action is increasing this yoki production by stimulating the current host's body cells, allowing it to manually regrow the damaged parts. Lateral thinking in a way.
I have already made twenty-six simulation using some of the samples previously received and discovered that small doses of white Ketrachel can moderately improve yoki production inside Lena's body, enough to improve her healing factor for the 40% according to my test runs. Here are the results of my work."
Mordin handed his data pad to doctor Chackwas that quickly scanned it. She found no flaw in Mordin's theory, on the contrary: true to the author this work was a state of the art dissertation of the yoki substance followed by ingenious ideas about how to bypass it and all of this in less than a week and without having proper samples.
Still, the doctor was unconvinced.
"Mordin, your work is flawless as always but let's be honest here: this is a theory, an intriguing and ingenious one but still a theory. We have no idea how exactly this yoki work because Lena always flat out refused to submit herself to a full body scan after that first time at the infirmary with me and we had to respect her wishes; what if increasing the current amount prove to be too much for Lena's body to handle? Or if there is a very good reason for Lena to keep this substance's level as it is? A single mistake and we kill her, or worse."
"I am very conscious of the risks, doctor" answered immediately Mordin "but I am also conscious that agent Lena is slowly dying. We cannot cure her and her current regenerative factor cannot save her. I know that this is an unorthodox method but desperate times requires desperate measures and as the chief doctor of the ship you have the authority to allow or forbid this new treatment, that is why I am here. Not even commander Shepard can command you to use it without your consent."
Doctor Chackwas massaged her tired eyes and thought for a long minute about the idea: testing new healing methods was not something that Karin liked to do, but Mordin was right, conventional medicine was powerless against Lena's wounds. She needed something new.
"Fine Mordin. Prepare three doses of white Ketrachel, I will warn Shepard about this and prepare Lena." Karin was unable to hide her worried face "Let's hope this is not a mistake."
After ten minutes of silent working everything was ready: three doses of Ketrachel were waiting to be injected and even more straps now adorned Lena's body, making sure that she stopped moving.
"Injecting the first vial."
The white, slugging liquid entered inside one of Lena's veins.
"It is working." said Mordin with chirped voice "Yoki levels are increasing. What about Lena's condition?"
"Improving" answered Karin without even stopping checking the girl's vitals "Her bones are healing, blood cells are revitalizing, the brain is starting to respond. She is coming back."
And yet the doctor was still uncertain. Things were going too smoothly.
Cold.
The cold, inviting embrace of darkness, of being neither alive nor death. Lena knew it very well; after all this was not the first time she ended up gravely wounded; the life of a Claymore was dangerous even before being kidnapped and forced to fight on Omega, this was only another bump in her road. Granted, every time she awakened from the slumber, her memories about this place faded away but this was unimportant in the end.
-I should wake up- thought the warrior inside her own mind -But I feel so tired; I just want to rest for once!-.
Inside this strange dream Lena had only a limited perception of herself and the true world: she knew that her body was desperately trying to heal her wounds and sometimes felt other people's voices, but she had no true notion of time.
-Just another hour or so, then I will try to wake up. I bet that Raina miss me terribly; I wonder if-
Splash.
The strange sound scared Lena and forced the Claymore to collect what little focus she possessed. This was her world, her mind was the conjurer of all of this, but this sound was wrong, strange.
-What is going on?- she thought scared -It sounded like a liquid of some kind.-
And as if called by her words a strange, black liquid started leaking down from everywhere, dripping ominously.
"It is working!" said a distant voice, echoing inside Lena's ears. What was working?
Them, all of a sudden, a violent contraption hit her with the force of a thunder strike. Lena's body arched violently, surprised and hurt by the sudden change and the girl barely managed to stay still. Something was wrong with her body, very wrong.
"Increase the dose." said another voice, this time more feminine
"No stop!" pleaded Lena with rancorous voice, but she knew that this was useless; she was alone.
This time the seizures increased ten fold and the black, strange sludge began covering her world like a poisonous herb. Lena felt her barriers keeping her yoma side fading away; the beast inside her was awakening.
"No!" this time Lena screamed while every fibre of her being fought against this new danger
"Please, stop this before is too late! Please!"
"What the..." noted a surprised doctor. Lena's vital, just one second ago stable and rising, were now going insane! At the same time Lena's body started trashing and moving even more violently than before.
"Mordin, stop administering the Ketrachel, now!" ordered Karin. Mordin complied immediately but it was already too late: Lena's body was now almost completely healed, but her yoki was not stopping as intended! Her limbs started stretching beyond human limits and a growl, not a scream but a true, animalistic, growl, escaped from the Claymore's lips. Her body mass was steadily increasing; her left arm, previously only a stump, was now fully regrowth but was also showing off dozens of spikes and fangs, and Karin could swear Lena's feet were becoming arcuate, almost bird-like.
"Rabid mutations, substance out of control; unexpected: Yoki is overwhelming all human cells at the same time but only now. Why?" muttered Mordin
"Spare me the biology lesson for later Mordin!" shouted the doctor "You can inflict a neural shocks with your omni-tool right? Then use it before is too late!"
Mordin complied immediately and his omni-tool flashed for a second, followed by a shout Lena's shout of pain but this remedy only worsened the situation.
Enraged by the sudden pain the thing now in place of Lena snapped the straps keeping her in place and hit Mordin with one of her taloned hands; Mordin fell down on the floor dazed; he tried to wake up but Lena simply kicked him in the stomach, making sure that he remained still.
"EDI, warn Shepard!" shouted Karin "Tell him agh!" with a lightning movement Lena grabbed Karin by the throat and lifted the poor woman effortlessly; Lena was now standing on her feet and her look was downright monstrous: she was over two meters tall and her once fair skin was now black and scaly; her hands were covered in talons and strange appendices; her eyes, once silver colored, now were brightly yellow and full of animal rage.
New people moved outside the infirmary, probably warned by the noise inside but Lena's heightened sensed noticed them and the girl quickly reacted. She raised the left hand and a spike of all things darted out from her palm, embedding itself deeply inside the door and destroying it in the process.
"Lena, please...not" Karin was barely able to speak, the grip of Lena one stronger than iron.
Lena's answer was slamming the poor doctor on the wall with one hand and ripping out art of the doctor's uniform, revealing her stomach and the guts inside it.
"Food." Was Lena's simple answer. Doctor Chackwas closed her eyes and waited to the inevitable.
"What do you mean you cannot open the door?!" shouted a furious Shepard at EDI. Mere seconds ago, just when he was about to go to sleep, EDI had called him saying that Lena was now some kind of mutated crazed beast hell bent of killing the doctor and the whole crew, urging him to take -appropriate measures- (her words) and now he was just outside said infirmary, unable to enter for some mysterious reason. Next to him Garrus, Jack, Jacob and other armed members of the crew were looking nervously at him. They knew next to nothing about this emergency but the roars coming from the infirmary already gave them quite an idea about what they were about to face.
"The mutated form of Lena just shoot an unidentified object against the door, jamming them in the process. I cannot open them." was EDI's monotonous answer
"Fucking great!" swore Shepard "Jacob, explosives on the door."
"I will need one minute." observed Jacob while immediately beginning to work
Another guttural growl erupted from from the infirmary "You do not have a minute." commented Shepard
The black sludge was now everywhere, a formless mass threatening to drown the poor Claymore inside her own mind. Lena tried with all her might to stop it but it was like blocking the sea with her hands: brave but hopeless in the end.
She was drowning in yoki and that bastard was even gloating about it. Lena could sense it; a formless voice cackling and laughing at her demise, ready to feast with a banquet of guts, both human and alien.
Stop struggling, said the voice, stop struggling and let me have control. You will love it and besides, our first meal is already in our hands.
The image of a clawed hand holding doctor Chackwas flashed for a second inside Lena's mind, sending the girl into a desperate frenzy.
"You are not going to kill anyone you monster!" shouted Lena defiantly "Not on my watch!"
Lena started hitting the black barrier with renewed vigor, uncaring of the throbbing pain inside her head.
"Know this yoma: you will give me back control of my body or I shall kill myself trying and dragging you with me into oblivion."
The voice snarled but refused to comply; he was free for the first time in years and it refused to be brought back on its place. A furious battle ensued and this influenced even the fleshy container they were trying to control
Doctor Chackwas was barely breathing: Lena's clawed hand was slowly strangling her in a vice grip worthy of a Krogan. Blood leaked from dozens of small claw marks and her limbs were stiff and sore.
She knew that she had no hope of defeating such a beast, even armed with some kind of weapon, so she didn't even tried to fight against it, simply waiting the killing blow.
So when instead of an attack she felt her body hitting the floor suddenly free saying that she was surprised is saying nothing.
The hit awakened doctor Chackwas from her fear induced paralysis and forced her to open her eyes once again and what she saw left the wounded doctor baffled: Lena was still next to her but now her eyes, while still yellows, possessed some measure of humanity in them; one hand was still trying to reach Karin but the other one was gripping her own throat; sweat glided her body and her mouth was opened in a bestial scowl
"Food, kill, must eat. No leave me, leave me I said."
These words came out from Lena's mouth but they came confused, bestial and human-like at the same time. As if two beings lived now inside Lena's body. The Claymore's body started trashing and moving like a broken machine, hitting beds and pieces of equipment. Luckily Karin managed with her remaining forces to drag away a conscious but still weakened Mordin away from this new danger.
"Must eat. No eating. Leave me. Let me. Go! Food!"
Lena's raving suddenly stopped and the girl collapsed on the floor like a puppet with its strings broken. A terrible wind erupted from her body that almost knocked Karin down. Medicines, bed sheets and other pieces of furniture flied like leaves captured by a cyclone.
"Foolish Claymore. Insane beast. This body is Mine!" shouted Lena in rage.
"Amazing" whispered Mordin, omni-tool opened and always the scientist even now "Lena's body is forcefully expelling yoki substances from her body."
The sudden tempest lasted only ten seconds but they were more than enough to devastate what little was left of the infirmary. Beds were broken, medicines littered the floor, pieces of equipments were scattered like small metal leaves. At the center of all this a now human Lena, barely moving and now apparently normal. Gone were the claws and the talons, gone the yellow eyes and the abnormal growth. She was whole and sane once again, at least she appeared so.
So surprised was Karin by this predicament that she didn't even noticed the small explosion behind her followed by Shepard and the others entering inside the infirmary with guns ready.
"Doctor Chackwas, are you ok?" asked Shepard concerned by her battered appearance while Jack and Jacob kept their weapons aimed at Lena just to be sure "What the hell happened here?"
"I...i do not how" tried to say doctor Chackwas but words failed her. Thankfully Mordin helped her
"I made a mistake Shepard. My experimental treatment proved to be disastrous."
Shepard looked at what was five minutes ago a fully functional infirmary
"A destroyed infirmary, biological warning flashing all over the ship and all you can say is -a mistake!?-"
"Commander, we can explain everything" said doctor Chackwas with a whisper "But first let's help Lena. I know that it will sound crazy to you, but she is the only victim of all this mess."
Fifteen hours later. Lena's chamber
-Oh goddesses my head.- groaned a very dazed and tired Lena. Her head was killing her and all her limbs were stiff for some reason.
She was back on her bed room and the first thing the Claymore noticed was that she was not alone: Raina was next to her, her eyes red and watery; a bit more distant the familiar face of Kelly was also present. She appeared unnerved for some reason.
"Raina" asked Lena weakly "What is that face?"
Raina answered by tackling her with a furious hug.
"You are alive! I was so terrified mom. First you almost die and then you end up on the verge of awakening! I was so scared of losing you mom! Why are you always so reckless?! Cried Raina with tears of fear and joy.
Memories of the previous days came crushing down in a flash: the exploding mech, the time in coma, the incident in the infirmary. She had been gravely wounded and somehow ended up awakening inside the infirmary, only to somehow manage to revert back the process.
She was now a half awakened warrior, just like the seven ghosts.
"Why?" she simply asked to no one in particular "Why am I still alive? I almost killed doctor Chackwas and Mordin. Shepard should have ordered me killed on the spot."
"Shepard would never do such a thing" intervened Kelly for the first time "Karin and Mordin explained to us that your particular condition of yours inside the infirmary happened because of them, besides Shepard would never order the death of an agent without giving him a chance of explaining."
Lena looked at the red-head still standing on her room
"Kelly, not that I am unhappy to see you but, why are you here?"
"Shepard told me to stay with you and warn him in case you woke up. The commander urgently want to speak with you. Apart from that" Raina grabbed her hand and forced her to come closer to the bed
"Mum, she stayed with me while you were sleeping. She was so good and caring, just like Galatea back home." finished Raina with a small smile. Kelly nervously laughed, Lena on the other hand looked at her with neutral eyes.
"Why?" she simply asked Lena "Shepard ordered you to keep an eye on her?"
"Y-yes Lena" answered quickly Kelly, slightly "At least at the beginning. I am the counsellor of the ship after all and so ordering me to keep an eye of your daughter while you were in a coma was not so strange."
"You did more than keep an eye." noticed Lena "Raina does not easily accept strangers entering inside her life."
"The first day she outright refused to speak with me, but in the end I managed to break her shell. Your daughter is a little angel; in the end I decided to stay with her because I could not stand seeing her so...devastated. It was heartbreaking."
Lena for some moments refused to reply, her mind busy absorbing Kelly's words. Then, all of a sudden, she did something the young counsellor would have never expected: she got up and hugged her.
"Thank you." she genuinely said to Kelly "Raina is my life and you helped her when I could not. I will never repay you enough!"
"N-not a problem Lena" answered Kelly surprised by this unexpected outburst of friendship, especially coming from an apathetic girl like Lena. The Claymore noted that she was blushing; maybe she was hugging her too tightly?
"Raina, I need to speak with Shepard for a while; can you stay with Kelly until I come back?"
Raina simply nodded
"Then wait for me. Thanks for everything Kelly, I will be back in a minute."
Lena opened the door of her room
-Assuming Shepard does not decide to end me now that he knows how truly dangerous is a Claymore.- she added darkly
Shepard was waiting her at the ship's mess hall, just some meters away from her room and yet the short walk from her room was all that it took to see a drastic change in the crew's behavior: people that just one week ago noticed or greeted her now outright avoided her like the plague. No one dared to talk near her but her ears caught hushed sentences and whispered words said behind her, when they thought she was too far for listening them.
It was almost like being at home once again.
When she reached the mess hall Lena noticed that Shepard was waiting for her together with Miranda. The pair, in contrast of the rest of the crew, acknowledged her at least.
"Ah Lena, glad to see you are back in the saddle! We missed your sword during this week, especially when dealing with a problem for Zaeed." said Shepard waving at her. Miranda said nothing. "Have a seat, we have much to discuss."
Lena complied without saying a word, her face one of a person ready to die
"Before we begin Lena, I want to tell you that Mordin and Doctor Chackwas explained me everything in details about the little incident inside the infirmary and I know that what happened some hours ago was not your fault so wipe that cadaveric smug from your face. No one want to execute you, however someone" Shepard launched an annoyed look at Miranda "Expressed some serious concern about your mental and physical stability, urging me to break the contract signed when we met on Omega."
Lena sighted in resignation. She had expected something like this to happen
"So I am out of the squad?" she asked. Shepard looked at her and smiled
"No."
"What!?" exclaimed both Miranda and Lena in utter surprise
"You heard me well girls." answered Shepard
"But commander, this is insane!" intervened Miranda "Agent Lena is clearly a danger for the crew and the mission in general! We cannot afford to keep a person like her on the team! She is like a ticking bomb inside the squad and now we have a Krogan who can substitute her. Let's just dump her on a Cerberus facility and be done with it!"
Lena scowled at the idea but refused to comment. After all there was some truth in Miranda's word and the girl was not cruel; just callous.
"As I said" patiently answered Shepard "Lena's peculiar condition was caused by a mistake made by Mordin, not by herself. Accusing her of being the true danger would be like accusing my gun of overheating only because I kept my finger on the trigger."
"Is the principle that count!" insisted Miranda "Now we know that something like this could happen. What if she transform right into the middle of a battle?"
This time Lena refused to stay put
"Wait Miranda, this kind of transformation happen only when a Claymore like me goes beyond her limit and flood her body with 80% of her yoki energy and I would never do such a thing by myself."
"But can you tell me that you possess an absolute control of your ability? That you would not risk going beyond your limit during a particular brutal engagement?" replied Miranda unfazed
"I cannot give you an absolute answer but"
"Then it is not enough!" finished Miranda "This team must be composed by efficient and dependable agents. At least a Krogan does not"
"Enough!" bellowed Shepard with his authoritarian voice, and Miranda quickly complied.
"By following your reasoning I should kick out from the team both Grunt and Jack or do you think consider them stable? Lena is dangerous but also powerful, besides kicking her away would drop the agents's morale."
"How so?" asked Miranda
"Apart from you and Zaeed, all others agents see Lena as a valuable member of the team and told me that would not mind fighting alongside her, even after this little incident."
"The others are a bunch of idiots!" this time Miranda lost her composure and slammed her fists on the table "Garrus is fine with whatever you want, Jacob and Kasumi a pair of softies, Jack is just happy to have another mad woman inside the ship, Grunt is only an attack beast right now and Mordin only want to analyze her!"
"And you are the supposed perfect woman who is now trowing a tantrum for nothing. My decision is final Miranda, if you are not fine with it go cry on the Illusive Man's shoulder for not plugging inside my brain a control chip. Dismissed."
If look could kill Shepard would have been incinerated on the spot.
"Fine Shepard." she simply said in the end, just before leaving both Shepard and Lena, stomping all the way thought the lift barely containing her frustration and anger.
"Thank you Shepard" said some seconds later Lena, and she really meant it
"You can thank me by telling me what you truly are." answered Shepard "You see, during these days on the Normandy I noticed a lot of strange eccentricities about you, first of all your language: you speak with a translator up but according to EDI your are speaking in French, only that kind of French used nine hundreds years ago in the province of Aquitaine. Curious don't you think? Second thing, you do not like technology and prefer fighting using only a sword and some grenades, and yet your martial ability when using that giant lump of metal of yours are amazing, worthy of a sword mistress of the past; now correct me if I am wrong but you need at least ten years of rigorous training before reaching this kind of level no matter the mutations inside your body, meaning that on Omega you already knew how to fight. Am I right?"
Shepard's words were calm but sharper than her sword
"There is another thing that surprised me: Cerberus possess one of the biggest and most detailed spy network of the galaxy, second only the Shadow broker's one and yet they know nothing about you: you just appeared on Omega two years ago, brought by a common smuggler/slaver during one of his work trips. No ID card, no credit cards, no banking movements, nothing. You call yourself a Claymore, an apt name considering your favorite weapon, and by the way you talk there are more like you out of here, but there are no records of such a group in the galaxy, not even the faintest trace. You would think we would have noticed by now a secret organization that create warriors like you."
Shepard looked at Lena right into her eyes
"Care to explain?"
"Commander" began Lena uncertain about how to proceed "I must ask you to forgive me, because I cannot do so. It is not that I do not trust you, is just...you would not believe me. First I need something from the bastard that kidnapped and sold me on Omega; once I shall have that I will be ready to tell you my story. Again forgive me but it is necessary."
Shepard looked at her with an indecipherable expression for several seconds and Lena feared that such a weak (but sincere) denial had only angered the commander; all these concerns evaporated when Shepard started laughing of all things, leaving the Claymore and the crew near him, dumbfounded.
"This is incredible" said Shepard between the laughs "Here I am, a dead specter that Cerberus managed to resurrect of all things, and you still think that your story is too crazy to be narrated."
Lena looked at Shepard with incredulous looks. Resurrected? Seriously?
Shepard noticed her looks and sighted
"And now you look at me with that incredulous look, when the entire galaxy know about this at this point. You really know nothing about this universe, am I right? Fine Lena, I will let you collect your evidence but do not take too long please. Hell I am also ready to give you a hand if you need."
"I...thank you Shepard, for everything." said Lena stunned by this display of trust
"Don't mention it. You deserved it after two successful missions. Speaking of missions, I need you for a particular operation on planet Berkenstein. Are you up for it or need more rest?"
"Ready whenever you are Shepard" answered Lena without a doubt "What is it this time? Infiltration, assassination, recruitment?"
Shepard flashed at her a devious smile
"A party, Lena."
End of chapter eight. I am slowing down a bit because real life is catching up and I cannot pass all the time writing. Hope you do not mind
Happy easter for every believer, if not happy holiday!
