Two-thirds of the habitable surface of Feros was covered with the ruins of crumbling Prothean megalopolis, fouling the atmosphere with thick dust. It was considered a poor prospect for colonization and for good reason, as little open ground remained for agriculture. The only sizable fresh water sources were the poles, which were tapped by the decaying Prothean aqueduct system. The dead cities, while in good condition considering their antiquity, were of uncertain stability. Ground level was congested by a dozen meters of fallen debris, and the air was fouled by dust.
In 2178, the ExoGeni Corporation announced its intention to place a permanent colony on Feros, to thoroughly explore the ruins. The pioneer settlement was placed on the upper levels of the several intact skyscrapers, using the surviving Prothean aqueducts and rooftop hydroponics gardens to support the population. At its height, the colony supported nearly three hundred colonists.
"So what do we know about Exo-Geni Corp?" I asked, standing at the platform of the CIC. My ground team was poised around the large galaxy map, watching and listening intently to the info brief.
Pressly switched presentations and pulled up the next deck of slides.
"Exo-Geni specializes in planetary exploration and colonization." He said flatly. "Under that umbrella, they exploit undiscovered resources and alien technology from the colonies they've funded. Recently, they've been specializing in bio-medical research, specifically genetic engineering and artificial organs, which are a break from their business model of re-purposing found relics.
"Right now we can expect approximately 300 colonists; casualties at this time are unknown." He moved the infographic about Exo-Geni to the side of the screen and pulled up a 3D map. "The pioneer settlement known as Zhu's Hope was placed on the upper levels of several intact skyscrapers, here. It converted one of the ancient towers above the Skyway, here, into a base of operations, using Zhu's Hope as a port and housing most of the researchers closer to the labs."
Joker raised his hand but didn't wait for Pressly to call on him before speaking. "So we can use the settlement as an APOD? Or…"
"For our non-Alliance friends in around the table, APOD stands for Aerial Port Of Debarkation." Charles informed and Garrus muttered a thank-you loud enough for everyone to hear. "And yes, Joker. This tower here will be the primary. Secondary APOD 'Tower Ten', which was abandoned in favour of the current settlement location. That is assuming we want Normandy complete on Feros, Sir."
I crossed my arms and leaned back on my right leg, shifting my weight and taking pressure of my unusually sore body. "Yes. I want everyone and everything available to us. In case we need the Mako or our own medical capacity."
"Aye, Sir."
Tali raised her hand and Pressly nodded in her direction. "What do we know about the Geth there?"
"Our planetary scans indicate two drop ships, one in vicinity of the colony and one in vicinity of the skyway." He said, zooming into the scans of the Geth ships. "We're running silent for the moment, but there are no indications of larger Geth presence."
"Any sign of Saren's dreadnaught?" Ash inquired.
"Not at this time, no."
"Thank god." Kaidan mumbled.
I felt a chill run through my spine, remembering the devastation the dreadnaught had caused to Eden Prime.
"That thing moves crazy fast for its size." Joker added. "So we'll need a quick escape plan. If it decides to land in Zhu's Hope, it'll bring the whole place down."
"Agreed." I said, my hand rubbing my chin in thought. "We'll land, establish a FOB –"
Wrex cleared his throat by way of asking for an explanation on another acronym.
"A Forward Operating Base at Zhu's Hope. Normandy will provide emergency medical assistance, considering he colonists may need it. But we need to be careful. The Geth are there because Saren wants them to be. There may be another beacon, or some other technology we haven't considered."
"It's unlikely to be a beacon." Liara stated. "Given what we know about Feros, if there was a beacon it would likely be buried under the remains of the colony. That planet has been studied thoroughly and it's mostly empty concrete."
Kaidan shifted in his seat. "If it's just empty concrete, why would Exo-Geni invest in the first place?"
"Could be the Geth and Exo-Geni are there for the same thing." Garrus suggested.
"Whatever it is," I interrupted. "We need to get rid of the Geth and find it. If we're lucky, Saren will be there too."
Wrex was the first to rise from the map, pre-empting my dismissal. "If it's concrete and buildings you'll want explosives. I'm going to go clean our your quarter master."
"The rest of you, be ready to disembark once we dock in…"
"Eight hours, Sir." Pressly finished.
"Eight hours. Get your gear ready, get some sleep, everyone will have three days rations and water on them. Dismissed."
As I walked off the platform, Kaidan came trotted towards me, gently moving others out of his way. "So how do you want to split the ground team?" He asked, getting straight to business. I leaned against the railing close to the galaxy map, and watched the crew hustling towards their stations and tasks.
"I'm not sure yet. First thing is to get there and link-up with the colony. They likely have an idea of why the Geth are there, what they're looking for and give us an idea of what to do next."
"I'm not used to not knowing what the plan is." He said honestly, a hint of worry in his voice.
"Neither am I."
"Hmm." He broke away, heading towards the lift, no doubt to sort out his kit. "You'll get us through the other side. You're batting 100 so far."
I forced a smile by way of reply and watched him depart. It was true, we had found ourselves in the uncomfortable position of constant reaction, unable to anticipate anything the enemy was doing. Hell, I wasn't even really sure who the real enemy even was. When I would think about Saren or the Geth, a hazy uneasy feeling washed over me, stirring a strange sense of anxiety bordering on panic. When I closed my eyes to sleep, I could see the images from the beacon, clear as the light of day. I wanted to run, to hide, to flee. The reapers would come.
Standing at the railing, I drowned out the cacophony of activity around me in the CIC, completely drifting away in thought.
"Shepard?"
"Hmm?" I snapped back to see Tali standing in front of me.
"I wanted to run something by you."
"Sure."
"Well I was installing some weapon mods for Wrex the other day, and I realized that I could rig the ship's fabricator to produce modified ammunition. I have schematics for disruptor modifications. The Flotilla developed them for use against the Geth and I figured they could help us."
"Tali this is great," I said, unable to hide my excitement. "I'll have the QM look into it."
"Well…it's a little more complicated than that. These schematics are sort of protected military secrets, but I'm banking on the fact that the Flotilla will understand me invoking the rule of reciprocation. I've been so lucky to observe the stealth drive, and I wanted to return the trust."
"I don't want you getting in trouble over this, but this ammo mod sounds really helpful. I'm not sure I can release the stealth drive design outside of the Alliance, but maybe I can reciprocate in another way."
"Oh?"
"We're going into enemy territory here. Whatever data we collect on the Geth is yours."
"Really?"
"I would have insisted anyway, but I'm happy to take the weapon mods in exchange."
I could tell she was smiling as she leaned close to my ear. "I would have given those anyway, too."
"Good." I said, smiling as I lead her to the lift and punched the level for the staging deck. "Now let's go illegally rig the ship's fabricator and make our own secret ammo."
She laughed. "You really would have given me the data regardless?"
"Of course." I said. "You're a valuable member of the team. I want to do whatever I can to help you on your pilgrimage, and to help the Quarians in their fight. Although…"
The lift made a sharp jolt as it began its descent. "Although?"
"I wonder if you'll be tempted to leave, having fulfilled the terms of your pilgrimage."
She threw her head back incredulously. "You're kidding, right?"
I screwed up my face, assuming the question was rhetorical. When I didn't answer right away she continued.
"I'm on a mission in possibly the most sophisticated ship ever built, with the most diverse and incredible team possibly ever assembled, tasked with stopping a Spectre and his Geth army from ushering in the end of civilization itself. And you want to know if I'm in a rush to get back to the Flotilla, so I can study soil samples or work on increasing our water filtration efficiency by another 0.3%."
The lift stopped at our intended destination as if she had timed it perfectly.
"Fair point." I said as the doors slid open.
"Uh huh."
We worked on the fabricator together, under the protestations of my Quarter Master, Lt. Orden Laflamme. We almost had the whole thing apart when I felt Garrus' looming presence behind me.
"I thought you weren't a rule breaker." He flanged.
Standing with a groan, I placed the intricate tools on the table beside me as he peered down at me. "I make exceptions for expensive Alliance tech." I joked.
"Need a hand?" He asked.
"Yeah, I think Tali could use someone a little more technically inclined. We don't have a lot of time for her to teach me mechanical engineering," I laughed.
His mandibles flared as he leaned closer to me, "You should get some sleep, boss." He said quiet enough so no one else could hear.
I faked a smile, "is it that obvious?"
"We're about to go into urban hell," He reminded me, "you should take advantage of the time now."
"I need to get my equipment ready." I mumbled, trying to make excuses and feeling stupid about being afraid of the dark and my bed.
"I already asked Ash to take care of it. She was actually already handling it when I came up with the idea."
A muscle in my jaw clenched and my lips pressed together. Out of excuses.
"Alright. Have her wake me when we're a couple hours out. And please stop calling me 'boss'."
"No problem, sir."
I shook my head and huffed, handing him the tools and slinking away back to the lift. I rode up alone and took a left instead of a right once reaching the crew deck. Dr. Karin Chakwas turned her head towards the sound of the med-bay doors opening, giving me a quick once over and assessment as she usually did.
Glancing up at the ceiling and knitting my brows, I tried to think of a way to ask for the same thing in a different way for the hundredth time.
"No." She breathed, annoyance in her voice, re-empting my request.
"You don't even know what I'm here for."
"You're here for sedatives. Any more and you're going to need full blown tranquilizers."
"I need to sleep." I said firmly.
Sighing, she turned her chair to look me in the eyes and invited me to sit across from her. "I don't have anything that won't just make you feel groggy. You need 8-10 hours of rest and there simply isn't enough time between now and when we make port. I'd be putting you and your subordinates in danger."
Plunking down in the seat I squeezed my eyes shut and felt my cheeks flush red with frustration.
"What do I do, doc? I can't sleep." I said softly.
"The beacon?"
"I – I don't know," my hands started to tremble and I squeezed them into fists urging my body to get itself back under control. "Maybe…Probably."
She squeezed my knee as a show of comfort but it did very little. "I can give you some natural remedies. Go to the crew mess, take two tea bags labeled 'chamomile', drink it," she turned back towards her supplies and began rummaging in the back of the cabinet. "Ah ha! Here it is." She handed me a single green pill.
"Valerian root." She said, handing me the large capsule with the tiny green grains held inside. "Do some tactical breathing, focus on the counts and nothing else. Then when you wake up, come see me for an immuno boost."
Closing my hand around the pill, I sighed in defeat. "The problem is what happens when I'm asleep."
"I don't have medications for nightmares, Commander. But there are strategies to ensure you deep sleep is as restful as possible."
"Like sedatives." I quipped.
She laughed politely but wouldn't budge. "Yes, but also meditation, therapy, and when there isn't time for those we have tea and valerian root."
I gave her a half smile. "Alright." I acquiesced. "But just so you know, I hate chamomile."
"Sleep well, Commander." She called as I left the med-bay.
Grumbling, I filled a mug with hot water and tore open three bags of tea instead of two, almost out of spite for Chakwas.
A body sidled up to me, grabbing the kettle after I set it down. "You know that's going to taste terrible."
The corner of her mouth lifted. She was making fun of me.
Sneering, I pushed the cup at her.
"If you're so smart…"
She took it without hesitation and poured the foul liquid down the drain and discarding the used tea bags.
Studying me, she began reaching for a tin at the top of the shelf. "I assume it's for sleep?"
I nodded. She pressed her lips together and scooped a spoonful into a steeping ball and dropped it into fresh hot water.
"Give it a few minutes." She told me.
I stared at the water as it slowly changed colours, the mixture of dried herbs and flowers seeping into the mug. My eyes occasionally drifting upwards, observing Liara as she scrutinized the brew.
"I didn't know you drank tea," she said at last.
"I don't," I told her. "But I'm desperate."
Taking the mug in her hands, she blew it down and took a careful sip, forgetting herself or more likely neglectful of human customs around sharing. When I let out a strained laugh, her eyes blew wide.
"Oh goddess! I am so sorry," she said quickly moving to dump the tea to make another. My hands flew out to stop her, clutching the mug and her arm at the same time.
A bit of hot liquid spilled on my hand and I hissed, furthering her embarrassment.
"It's okay." I said, trying to contain the uncontrollable exhausted laughter that threatened to break free.
She finally started laughing with me. I was so tired my amusement turned nonsensical and silent. When I snorted, she clutched the countertop and actually guffawed. We must have been a sight for those few seconds. When she noticed the tears in my eyes, she became concerned.
"Did I burn you, are you hurt?" She asked, setting the tea aside as I settled down.
I scrunched my nose before I realized she was referring to my watering eyes. "No, I'm fine. Humans tear up when they laugh really hard." She relaxed and I dried my hands.
"I am so sorry. Goddess, I'm making a fool of myself." She muttered, her hand rubbing her forehead.
Reaching for her free arm, I stoked my thumb along her elbow without thinking. "It's really alright. I don't mind sharing a cup with you."
She removed the steeper and slid the mug towards me, my hand leaving her arm and settling on the counter. Her eyes shimmered when they met mine.
"Thank you for the tea, Liara." I said gently
Her mouth twitched, committed to her embarrassment and unwilling to accept my forgiveness.
"You're welcome, Commander."
I walked to my command suite with the corners of my mouth quirked up in a small smile that quickly disappeared when I remembered the journey ahead. After I undressed and crawled into bed, I threw back the herbal pill and pulled a sip of the tea Liara had prepared for me. I took time to examine taste of it, both spicy and sweet with hints of cinnamon, ginger and some unidentifiable unfamiliar floral aftertaste. It's not entirely unpleasant, I thought as my eyes became heavy and I drifted off to sleep.
I wake up, unable to move, face down on my pillows, panicked, close to hyperventilating, feeling as though someone were trying to smother me in my sleep. I can still partially see the room around me and see a figure standing in the corner of the room near the door. I panic and try to scream for any one of my family members to come and help me, but am unable to speak or move. I hear a voice coming from the corner then, distorted and whispery almost, sort of mumbling.
The sound like someone talking through the walls and next to my ear at the same time. Someone whispering at the back of my head, unintelligible at first, but after a while words like 'no', 'not', 'never' become clear. I close my eyes and tried to breath, but the knees on my back are getting heavier and the urge to scream getting more desperate.
Suddenly I'm in the center of a room. It has a table and chairs all overturned. There's blood all over the floor. The scent of burning brush and wood fills the air. Black, dead hands come out of the floor. I fall in the middle of the room, curl up in the fetal position on my side and try screaming, again there's no sound.
A sickening wail draws my attention to the door where my father lays dead. Shambling corpses, bright blue and glowing are drawing towards me, shrieking and clawing at the walls.
I scream for my mother, my voice horse from running and crying.
The sickly hands find their way to my body and tear into me.
I woke up with a shout, skin slick with sweat and breathing heavy.
"So much for the valerian root." I croaked and slammed my head back onto my pillow. I glanced at my watch and knew Ash would be chiming any second to wake me up. Pre-empting her wake-up call, I sent her a message and padded towards the refresher to prepare for the task ahead.
It was going to be a long few days.