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"I believe alien life is quite common in the universe, although intelligent life is less so. Some say it has yet to appear on planet Earth."
(Stephen Hawking)
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MFV Neema, April 6th, 2:13 PM, 2183
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I had just left the Conclave held by the Admiralty Board, fighting the urge to scratch the part of my face where my breathing mask sat. I did it more out of habit than anything else now. I had since gotten used to ignoring sensations that occurred in places I couldn't reach... or maybe I was doing it purely out of nerves, even I wasn't quite sure.
The announcement yesterday of an attack on Eden Prime by the Geth had thrown a wrench into the whole Fleet's gears. That was the "official" reason behind the Conclave, to calm people down, though I had a theory as to what the true purpose was. I think the Admirals were trying to gauge popular opinion, seeing whether or not their people wanted to go to war.
The thought alone scared the hell out of me. I really hoped I was wrong.
I had to go to represent my ship as a member of the Conclave. Even if we were mostly under the control of the Admirals, I still had all the rights afforded to any other ship captain here in the Fleet. It was a nice privilege, though I often times disliked all the authority given to me. I had no choice regardless, my colleagues selected me for this and it wasn't going to back down.
Even after spending a little over a year here in the Fleet, the sight of me and my "crew" was often polarizing to many of the Quarians. It was relatively easy to tell if someone didn't like us, they would often call us "nefnast" or "vreemd", meaning "outsider" or "alien". Luckily, not many people saw us in that light. Some of them were even nice enough to address me in Quarian fashion.
Captain Sean'Michaels vas Explorer. I actually liked it, and it was a badge of respect.
I fiddled with my father's old class ring as I walked, thinking back to Earth. It had been so long since I had set foot on a planet, the mere thought of it made me readily apparent that I was suffering from cabin fever. I couldn't understand how the Quarians could put up with this, because it was starting to drive me a little crazy.
Regardless of how I felt, I was thankful there was no mention of any war yet. Still, I knew it would only be a matter of time before the subject popped back up again. Even if it didn't, they would likely begin stockpiling the supplies needed for such a war regardless.
I walked into the decon chamber, yanking off my mask and taking in a breath of fresher air. Once the cycle had finished running its course, I was immediately met at the doors by Mara who had a look of confusion and horror on her face.
'What's wrong? What happened?" I asked, not wanting to beat around the bush.
"Richard is gone!" Mara quickly said, almost yelling. "He left and it looks like he took Powell with him!"
"What!?" I exclaimed, looking over at Lydia's projection in the cockpit. "Lydia, where did he go?"
"I don't know, he somehow managed to erase his signature in the system." She explained, looking off into the unseen distance as she tried to focus. "He's been gone for at least an hour."
"He couldn't have gotten that far, I was only in that Conclave for thirty minutes." I remarked, looking through the security monitors to see he was in fact not in any of the recordings. "Lydia, how did you not spot this?"
"I don't know!" She yelled, causing the lights to briefly flicker before her face changed. "Wait a second… what's this?"
"What is it?" I asked, trying to calm myself down.
"I've found a well-hidden message in the ship's systems." She explained as the main view screen came up nearby, showing Richard and Powell in the cockpit.
"Hello guys." The recording started, with Richard looking directly into the camera. "By the time you guys see this message, me and Powell will be gone with nothing to trace us by, the Fleet far behind us."
"If any of you are worried, don't be." Powell remarked afterwards, looking at the camera as well as Richard looked back at him. "I am leaving with Richard by my own choice, and I am not under any duress. We have some places to visit, and we can't have you following us."
"I really am sorry about this, but what we're setting out to do must be done." Richard explained, a look of worry crossing his face as hesitation crossed his face for a brief moment. "Keep helping the Quarians, but please do your best to steer them away from war. I wish you all luck in the future, my friends, and I hope we will see each other again someday."
The screen flickered and turned to static as I was filled with a mix of bewilderment and anger.
"The message ends there, no signature or anything." Lydia informed as the two of us stood there in bewilderment. "I have no idea where they went."
Richard just left with one of the most advanced A.I.s in the galaxy, leaving no trace behind. If Lydia had no idea where they went, there was little chance we'd have much better luck going out there and looking for them. I paced back and forth for a minute as everyone stayed silent, before my composure finally broke.
"Great, just fucking great!" I yelled in sudden and violent frustration, beginning to shake with rage. "How am I supposed to explain this when the Admirals discover a member of my crew is missing? Oh, he just decided he didn't want to be here anymore, sorry Admiral Gerrel. Sorry Rael."
Before anyone could say anything else, one of the doors on the other end of the CIC opened. Kirva walked out, holding a broken sniper rifle under her arm as she stared at a datapad. Lydia had already killed her hologram as she walked over.
"I thought I heard yelling out here. What's wrong?" Kirva remarked in her deadpan, looking at me and Mara with what I could only imagine was a confused expression. Unlike most other quarians here in the fleet, she had a custom piece of armor covering her faceplate, leaving two ovals for her to see with. While I found it unnerving, that wasn't even the worst part.
No, what truly unnerved me was the necklace she wore. It was adorned with what I swore were teeth from several other alien species, likely Batarian, Turian, and Human. I hadn't seen anything like that since playing the Fallout series.
I refocused myself, looking at Mara who nodded to me.
"Richard, our old friend, has left the ship. He packed up his things, took one of our shuttles, and is now off to parts unknown." I answered truthfully, letting some of my anger seep through. "He didn't even tell any of us that he was leaving, he just left."
"Is that what he was doing earlier?" Kirva inquired, shuffling slightly where she stood. "I saw him run off with a box while I was eating lunch."
"A box of what?" I asked, wondering if he might have stolen something from us.
"Just a few of those rations, it looked like. Nothing vital or important." She tempered, obviously picking up on the anger in my voice. Still, she seemed remarkably calm compared to us. "I guess he isn't coming back then?"
"It appears that way." Mara nodded, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall.
"I'll just let you deal with it in private, Captain." Kirva said, nodding slightly as she readjusted the rifle tucked underneath her arm. "I've got work of my own to do."
"Right. Carry on." I replied as she walked back down to the armory.
Mara and I looked at one another with the same look. This could potentially cause problems. Big problems.
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MFV Explorer, April 14th, 1:02 PM, 2183
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Despite the news of the Geth incursions into the Attican Traverse, things had stayed relatively calm around the Fleet. The ship was still mildly stricken that there had been no contact from Richard over the last week, and it was beginning to worry me. He and Powell... if something happened to them, they weren't getting any help out there by themselves. I guess there wasn't much I could really do by this point. Still, we had lost a member of our small crew, and that was a sad fact.
I seriously hoped he hadn't gone Section 8. Whatever he was doing out there, he was smart enough to be potentially dangerous, especially with Powell helping him.
Shaking my head, I redirected my attention to the matter at hand. The findings from the scouting vessels sent off with the new drive systems.
The MFV Kavna had reported great findings from the system they had scouted. They have dubbed it the Klenot System, which I believed was Quarian for "gem." It had two gas giants, both with large amounts of moons and asteroid belts, and a large nebula. Basically, the system had exactly what we needed. Element Zero, Titanium, and Helium-3. All three of these resources were vital to the Migrant Fleet, whether it be for personal use or trading with other species.
Captain Teera'Soran was so pleased with how well our Reach System ran that she wanted us to come visit the system ourselves. She thought it was "only fair" that I at least get to name one of the planets. I was piqued, and immediately jumped at the offer.
To be perfectly honest, the mineral scans aren't what got me interested in the system. What got my personal attention was the large garden world in the system. According to initial scans, it was about three times the size of Earth, had large oceans, and similar plant life. It didn't look to be dextro like the Quarians technically needed, but that thought had completely slipped through the cracks.
Besides, dextro or not, I knew they would take it regardless. The Quarians had tried to claim much less habitable worlds in the past.
Regardless, I wanted to take my crew for a miniature vacation, land on the planet and get out for a bit. Staying confined to ships for a little over a year was a little maddening, and I needed to get out and stretch my legs like crazy.
It did take a bit of negotiation to convince the Admirals to let me mobilize the volunteer ships, but popular opinion finally broke their shells. Koris, Raan, and Gerrel all supported my decision, though Rael and Zadie didn't seem too thrilled. As a tradeoff, I was going to leave the Plasma Gun and my experimental new shielding design with him so he and his techs could work on it in the interim. No harm, they were all very capable, and they were closer than ever to getting the cells working.
I stood at the front of the bridge as Dimitri punched in the coordinates for the system. I looked at the rear view monitor, seeing ten other ships closely knit into formation.
"All ships are giving us the green light, Captain." Lenlo announced from the communications console, looking up at me. "We are ready for the jump."
"Good, begin the countdown." I ordered as a thirty second timer appeared on the main viewscreen.
The timer slowly ticked down before all of us simultaneously jumped at once, quickly distorting the space around us for thirty seconds before snapping us into an entirely new locale. I looked back to the monitor, seeing every ship had managed the jump without mishap.
We were now in the newly-christened Klenot System.
The garden world Teera'Soran had scouted was right in front of us, filling most of the cockpit's viewports. Seeing the blue-green orb in front of me… it triggered something I hadn't felt in a long time.
I sat down out of weakness as a single tear of joy came out of my eye. It didn't go quite as unnoticed as I hoped it would, as Dimitri flipped around to look at me.
"Are you alright, my friend?" He asked, always worried about everyone on the ship.
"This… is all I ever wanted." I forced out with a smile, barely able to keep my voice at a normal pitch. "My dream of exploring the galaxy finally came true. Everything we've worked towards, all the hardships we've endured… and it finally happened."
Dimitri let a large smile cross his face as Jack laughed from the radar console.
"Well, let me know when you've calmed down, Sean." Jack mused, looking over at me with a grin equal to Dimitri's. "Captain Teera'Soran wishes to speak with you."
I nodded, wiping away the tear as I stood back up and recomposed myself.
"I'm here, Captain." I greeted over the channel, still smiling like a dummy.
"It's good to see the Admirals finally let you off their leash, Michaels." Teera'Soran remarked, sounding pleased. "I can't express how amazing this new FTL system is, it's allowed me and my crew to cover more ground in a week than we could have in three years."
"We always aim to please here on the Explorer." I replied back, leaning on the back of Lenlo's chair.
"You certainly did that, no denying it." She finished off with a short pause. "So…, what are you going to call the planet?"
I stared at the green/blue ball before me, which floated in a bluish nebula that gave the world a brilliant sheen along the edge of the atmosphere. I had been pondering several names over the last few days, but one kept sticking in my mind like a fly to sticky paper.
"I'll call her Reach." I finally decided, folding my hands behind my back in satisfaction.
I was such a nerd.
…
Reach, April 28th, 11:51 AM, 2183
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I sat out on the hangar bay doors, staring out into the vast mountain range before me. They looked like something you'd see in an old Bob Ross painting. Sweeping, snow-tipped mountains with rows upon rows of trees lining the very bottom. The air had a mild chill to it, but it was nothing a coat couldn't fix.
It was the single most relaxing thing I had experienced in years.
Part of me still couldn't believe it, I was standing on another planet, a planet unmolested by cities, mines, industry, or light pollution. A truly virgin world.
We had touched down just a few hours ago, having spent the last week helping the volunteer flotilla map out the system. It was a slow and tedious process, but we got it done with a little silent help from Lydia. She was still stricken with mild anger and guilt regarding Richard and Powell disappearing under her watch, but Dan insisted that his sister was slowly getting over it.
My mind drifted off to everything that had led up to this point. The SDD, The Citadel, Aldrin, the Migrant Fleet, and now this… it was almost as if the galaxy was just pushing us from place to place, unsure as to what it wanted to do with us.
It reminded me of my upbringing as a Roman Catholic, when we used to go to church every Sunday and take Sunday school classes shortly afterwards. I never was a good Catholic, I constantly questioned everything around me to the point where it angered even my parents on occasion. I eventually shut my mouth and kept my thoughts to myself for the sake of my family, but that didn't change my skepticism.
After leaving home and going to college with Dan, I basked in all the weight that had been lifted from my shoulders. No more mass, no more "no meat during lent", and I got to sleep in on Sundays. The freedom I had outside of religion was immediately apparent, and I loved it.
Still, no matter what I did, I always had that constant thought in the back of my head. No matter how hard I tried to express it, it would always be there.
Was there really a God or not?
It was a question we could never truly answer, though conventional logic would always suggest that there was no God. If the Bible were to be believed, aliens such as the Quarians would have never existed. God apparently created us all in "his image", so which of us was more in his image out of all the races in the galaxy?
I shook the thought from my head, realizing I was dwelling too much on it. I looked back to the mountain range a few minutes longer in silence before heavy footfalls could be heard approaching.
"It is quite the sight, is it not?" Dimitri mused, taking a seat next to me on the cargo bay door. "The closest I have ever seen to this are mountain ranges on Elysium. They had beautiful sunrises, the kind that cast brilliant beams of light through misty clouds."
"Forget the mountains, I'm just happy to be off of the damn ship." I remarked with a smile, looking back at him. "Do you realize how long it's been since we've set foot on another planet?"
Our string of sentences was briefly cut off when I heard a distant mass accelerator go off, signaling a kill for our now-huntress Kirva. She insisted on going out and "testing the wildlife" for strengths and weaknesses.
Yeah, I was about 90% sure she was completely insane.
"Uh... so, what's everyone else doing right now?" I asked, redirecting my focus to Dimitri.
"Mara is discussing something with Biss, Jack and Dan are having chess match, Sira and Lenlo are out running biosphere analysis…" Dimitri listed off, pointing out into the distance at a figure emerging from the tree line. "And it looks like Kirva has managed to kill something big."
He wasn't kidding, either. She was dragging what looked to be some sort of large, hairy beast behind her. It looked like a cross between Sabre-Tooth Tiger and an American Black Bear. It had weird-looking grayish skin, claws and large teeth.
"Kirva, are you determined to kill the entire animal population of the planet?" I scolded, crossing my arms as she dropped the beast at the foot of the cargo bay platform.
"Hey, at least this one put up a fight." She deflected, pulling at the torn part of her hood. I noticed that one of the beast's exposed teeth were missing. Sure enough, there was now a large, three inch tooth dangling off of her necklace.
That confirmed that theory.
After she started skinning the thing, I decided to walk off and visit Mara and Biss. They were relatively close, just inside the reactor room.
"No, the reactor can't produce dark energy, it just creates mass effect fields." Mara explained once more as he stared over at the Eezo core. "How many times do I have to explain this?"
"Yes it does, you just aren't listening to me!" He yelled out in frustration, looking practically manic based on his body language. "Element Zero is the closest thing we have to true dark matter, and every time you apply an electrical charge to it you release more dark energy!"
"Is everyone getting along in here?" I inquired as I walked over and crossed my arms.
Biss was still a difficult person to figure out. He was extremely intelligent, that much was apparent, but he was also extremely lazy and did little around the actual ship. I didn't get it. The only thing he ever jumped at was anything relating to math or physics. I was beginning to think he was some sort of savant. I couldn't deny this theories, though. They were well grounded, despite how outlandish they often sounded.
Dan and I had done a little bit of digging into dark energy during the development of the SDD back in 2023. We never got very far with it, but we did determine that it did indeed exist. Collectively, dark matter and dark energy made up about 95% of the known universe. While back then we still lacked the technology to measure the overall effects of dark energy on the world around us, we did know it was the most widespread and constant form of energy that existed.
Eezo was the closest thing we had to dark matter. Now it was what enabled us to manipulate matter via mass effect fields. Even though we now understood how to manipulate the energy generated by Eezo, there was the issue of what happened to that energy when we stopped using it. Einstein himself said that energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.
That unused energy went somewhere, but we had no idea where that place was. The most popular theory was that it was responsible for the expansion of the universe, but the universe has been expanding ever since the Big Bang.
Biss had about ten different theories as to what happened to it. The fact that he couldn't narrow any of them down was driving him insane.
"Sean, you agree with me, right?" He asked in his fast-paced, almost frantic tone while holding his hands together, likely out of nervousness. "You agree that it does produce mass effect fields, right."
"While I do agree that it produces dark energy, Biss, I don't see how it matters when it disappears before it has any tangible effect." I explained, looking hard at him before looking back at Mara. "Besides, what kind of effect could a little ship like this have on the world around us?"
I mentally chastised myself for saying that, knowing that it's blatantly false. The pollution humanity suffered during and after the Industrial Age was a clear indication that no matter how large or small, everything effected something. The Aral Sea was one of the clearest examples of that. Formerly one of the largest lakes in the world, it was reduced to 10% of its original size in the short time span of fifty years. It became a desert.
Humanitarians back on Earth were still trying to fix the Aral Sea all these years later. It wasn't as simple as it was with California, the Aral Sea needed to have water brought to it, whereas California had a plentiful source right next to it.
"It's got to go somewhere, I'm sure of it." Biss said loudly and with finality, walking past me and back through the door. Mara and I were alone once more.
"He really is twitchy, isn't he?" I remarked after the door had closed. "He's even worse that Richard was."
"And you let him aboard." She chastised, crossing her arms as she gently shook her head.
"Hey, I didn't really have a choice!" I defended, feeling as if I had been accused of allowing a basket case onto the ship. "What would it say about me if I didn't accept a Pilgrimage gift like that?"
"Calm down, I'm just poking fun at you." She eased down, letting her arms hang back to her sides. "I know he's… infatuated with this topic, but I just wish he could talk about something else once and a while."
"Yeah, I know the feeling. Dan used to be the same way over knives." I agreed as both of us were left with a brief, mildly uncomfortable silence.
"So… um…" She tried to start up again, but failed after a few seconds.
"Maybe…do… you want to go take a walk outside with me?" I awkwardly invited, some of my old, brewing thoughts reemerging. "There are some incredibly beautiful shadows being case by the trees right now."
I immediately chastised myself mentally the moment those words escaped my lips, and I wanted to punch myself for saying something so dumb and clichéd. The worst part is that she actually accepted my offer.
"OK, we can do that." She agreed after a few seconds, having visibly pushed her tongue against the inside of her cheek in though. "Let me grab a coat."
Five minutes later we were silently walking together in the strange, alien forest. There was large amounts of space and the area lacked any underbrush to impede on movement. The trees were certainly interesting, they looked like oversized Evergreens that had been crossed with the leaves on a Bonsai. The canopy above us was at least twelve feet at its lowest, and God-knows-how tall it was near the top.
This was, of course, bullshit I was thinking of to distract myself from Mara. She looked incredibly beautiful, especially with her formerly short blond hair reaching nearly down to her shoulders. My attraction to her was becoming more and more unbearable by the day, especially considering how much time I spent in close proximity to her these days. If I was ever going to get my mind focused back on my projects I would have to say… something, I don't know.
I had to say something.
"Hey Mara… I have a… q-question I've been wanting to ask you for a while." I said, slowing down as badly as Dan did as I spoke. She turned to face me, a look of slight confusion crossing her face.
"What's that?" She asked with and interested look and raised eyebrows.
"Over, the course of our… professional partnership, I've… noticed things, things very… important to me… I've… grown attracted to you." I admitted, gathering up all my courage in an attempt not to seize up. "On this beautiful, new world, I would like to ask… will you consider going out with me?"
My question seemed to initially confuse her as she looked off to the side. I thought she was annoyed for a moment, but then she did something I had never seen her do before. She blushed. Looking down at the ground as she tried to avoid my eyes, I noticed a smile cross her face.
"I…well…" She nervously sputtered out before finally looking back up at me. "I must admit, I have had… a mutual interest as well."
"You have?" I blurted out in near disbelief, my eyes going wide in surprise as the lump in my throat dropped into my stomach.
"I've been attracted to you... ever since you rescued us from Cerberus." She admitted, looking up at me as her cheeks blazed red. "I didn't know until then, but I actually liked working with you back on Aldrin. You took the initiative, saved our lives, and well... I also like a man with brains who can sport that form-fitting armor."
"I could say the same about you." I immediately replied, causing her to shoot me back a suggestive look. I mistook this at first as annoyance. "Well, I wasn't… I… well…"
"Shhhh." She stopped me with a sly smile, walking up and gently pressing her fingertip against my lips. "I accept your offer, Dr. Sean Michaels. In the meantime, I will offer you this."
She then pulled me in for a long kiss. This surprised me, causing me to almost catch on fire from how hot my cheeks got. I fully accepted it a few seconds later, returning it just as well, if not better than before. I had never kissed a woman before, I hoped I had done it right.
We slowly pulled away from one another, looking each other over for a bit before I spoke again.
"I'm… thrilled you accepted my offer." I announced bluntly with a large, stupid smile on my face, feeling the heat rising from my own cheeks in the cold air.
"I'm glad you offered." She shot back, giving me an equally large smile as a small pause went by. "What, you aren't going to start playing 1980's love tunes, are you?"
"Well, now that you mention it, I have some 60's, 70's, and 90's I could try instead." I joked with a healthy dose of saracasm, getting her to laugh out loud.
We both held each other's hands, walking back to the ship as we casually discussed our interests. In this moment, I couldn't have be happier.
This was the best thing that has happened to me in years. She was the best thing that happened to me in years.
…
A/N: Things are changing for our characters. Whether or not the world will change them or the other way is yet to be seen. Richard and Powell are gone, the exploration ships have discovered their first system, and Sean and Mara have hooked up. Things can only get more interesting.
This was a really hard one to write, I admit. The chapter initially started in the middle of the Conclave, but I decided my characters were more important than listening to the Admiralty Board go "we don't know what the Geth are doing, go about your business." Still, the hardest part was writing anything pertaining to romance or love. I was kind of inspired by the scene from the 1943 movie Madame Curie where Pierre proposes to Curie. Nerds that have trouble proposing to one another, so touching.
I'd love to read any reviews, I'm always up for suggestions or constructive criticism. Stay tuned!