MASS EFFECT CHASM: CHAPTER 14

"Hey, Shep! You off to see Thane again?" Kasumi cooed behind Zalena as she turned from the elevator to move towards Life Support. Unaware of the hooded woman being outside the port observation deck made Zalena jump a few inches off the ground. Her alarmed expression generated a teasing smirk on the half-hidden woman's face. "I'll take that as a yes. Awe, that's very sweet that you found someone. He seems like a nice guy." She paused and the smile faded only briefly. "From what I do see of him. He hasn't left the room unless he is called to a mission."

"Thane is hurting…I can't even imagine going through what he did. I never meant someone like him," Zalena glanced over at life support and could feel her heart sinking as she privately reflected over what she knew about the assassin so far. He opened up to her about his past, which surprised her. He wasn't there for payment, a contract like Zaeed, or vengeance like Jack. When she intercepted him at Dantius tower, he admitted that he was dying and a suicide mission was the perfect end for him. He would not charge her for his service. This humbled her. There was an alien whom she never met and wanted to help on his own accord. Something about him was so alluring. Unlike the typical merc or assassin, he wasn't gruff and didn't seek out violence like a blood-thirsty Eclipse or a krogan. Instead, to him, killing was art and his combat moves flowed like water. Seeing him in action against Nassana almost put her in a trance.

She never really interacted with a drell as much as she did with Thane Krios. She passed one or two among ports in her career as an Alliance soldier, but none talked to her. They kept to themselves. Thane taught her so much in such a short time. She learned that the Hanar and the Drell had quite the history together and that the hanar trained the drell for assassination skills. At first, when he mentioned this, she thought he was trying to pull the wool over her eyes to see how gullible she was. She called him out on it and he looked genuinely confused and hurt by her allegation. He further went on to talk about his murdered wife and his disconnected son: Kolyat. Just speaking of his wife's death wounded him deeply and he mourned for his son who distanced himself and blamed Thane. The mercs that killed her were trying to get to Thane. He knew his profession was dangerous and even more dangerous to those that kept close ties to him. Love was out of the picture…. until the day his former lover stepped into his scope to block his shot.

It was then that Zalena felt so alone. Kaidan was still very much alive, but he rejected her at Horizon. He looked at her as if she was Cerberus herself. There was no persuading him any other way. It was over between them. That was how he left it. With the mission against the Collectors, she blocked any emotions to remain focused, but the more she interacted with Krios, the more difficult it was becoming. Something about him was so tranquil. It brought peace to just hear his voice. She longed for him. She had never been with an alien before and yet, she was desiring him…. a drell, of all the species. Someone, she didn't know like Garrus Vakarian. Kasumi giggled and waved her hand in front of Shepard to snap her out of her revelations. "Hello, Shepard. You still there?"

Shaking her head to regain her composure, Zalena cracked a forced smile. "Sorry, just have a lot on my mind."

"I bet…I won't keep you," She gently nudged her towards the direction of Life Support. "I'll be going back to my hidey-hole if you need me." She stopped and flashed another silly grin. "You could send Jacob down here. You know for me to talk to."

Zalena laughed. "You could go up there and talk to him."

"No way," Kasumi held up both hands. "It's quiet down here and I can hear more gossip. Up there is way too serious." She walked backward lightly in her step before turning around to head back into the port deck.

Leaning over the banister, Kaidan looked out among the fountain on the Presidium. The splashing water seemed so peaceful. A feign to what was transpiring outside the station. Colonists were disappearing and Shepard teamed up with Cerberus. Seemed like a complete nightmare to Major Alenko. "What's going on, Zalena…." His mouth dry as the words cracked through his lips. "Where the hell are you…" Since their painful reunion on Horizon, she faded away. A ghost once more. He wanted to wish so badly that the encounter was nothing more than a side effect hallucination from the swarm's sting. That wasn't her. It couldn't be here! She would never do this. She would never betray the Alliance. She would never betray him! He grew stiff in his casual stance and then stood back up. His fists clenched tightly at both sides. He couldn't just accept this.

"There you are, Major," Captain David Anderson called to him from behind. "Sorry, I'm late."

Turning around, he flashed the captain a polite smile. "Not like you to not be punctual, sir."

"Udina," Anderson muttered. "He will never face the fact that I am the Human Councilor and he isn't. Every meeting is a fire drill to him."

"You wanted me to meet you here, Captain?" Kaidan switched straight to the subject at hand. It felt so awkward with him being here. The surroundings were a grim reminder of his former life. When he was by her side…. investigating Saren's hand with the Geth. Being flagged down by everyone who had a problem and felt like it could be handled by the first human Spectre over C-Sec.

"I read your report about Horizon," David started softly, then shook his head gently with closed eyes. "You are damn lucky to be here."

Alenko nodded his head. "Yeah, thanks to Shepard." A pause. "I wasn't ready to see her yet, sir. Not with Cerberus…." A sour taste resided in his mouth.

"Not what any of us wanted to see, Alenko," The captain agreed neutrally. "I trust her though and I know she will do the right thing."

"We've seen what Cerberus is capable of, sir," Kaidan's voice heated by his frustration. "How do we even know that's her? What if Cerberus is just blindsiding us?"

"I understand, Major. We have no idea on what the true motive of Cerberus is right now. I don't think they will ever show their hand. All we do is trust in Shepard, but remain guarded at all times. As the Council told her when she was here to speak with them: Let's hope that her partnership with them ends after this."

Kaidan sighed. He hated this. He hated to be placed in this predicament. It wasn't fair. "Where is she now?"

Anderson shook his head. "I have no idea. No communication and she hasn't stopped by yet. It's not like her to go silent, but I'm sure she has her reasons."

"You think Cerberus blocks any transmissions?"

"Maybe. Or Shepard's being very careful. If I were her and, on that ship, I would too. Cerberus has a hand in all communication. I'm sure that the Illusive Man is being fed everything." Anderson studied the area wearily and became quiet.

Kaidan picked up on this hidden cue. "Eyes and ears on us, sir?"

"I wouldn't put it past them…let's meet back at my private apartment in an hour. I need to stop by and handle something for Udina. We can talk more there. I trust my place more than my own office."

Alenko said nothing more and waved as the captain turned away to head back in the direction he came from. The older man looked so out of place in his civilian clothes. More changes that Kaidan was still trying to get accustomed to.

Strolling through the lower markets, Kaidan figured he had some time to kill before meeting back up with Anderson at his apartment. Morlan, the salarian vendor, greeted him with a big smile and wave. "Hey, again, human. Nice to see you. Want to buy anything?"

"Not today. I'm not off-duty." Alenko blurted out as he avoided any eye contact with the other vendors in the vicinity. He was trying not to draw attention to himself, but it seemed like he was well recognizable with his ties with the renowned Spectre. A movement caught his right peripheral vision and he tracked a male copper tone turian with white face markings and a forest green-skinned female salarian eying him. When he turned to look their way, they appeared to be shopping, but their unspoken body language was inconsistent. They were fidgety with their hands as if they were on edge about something. They didn't appear to be armed, but Kaidan had no idea if any of them were biotic or not. Acting like he didn't suspect them, Alenko moved up the stairs to the upper markets, not increasing his pace. Footsteps behind him confirmed his suspicions. He was being followed. But why? And by whom? Two non-human species ruled out any Cerberus tails. Clearing the steps, he turned to the left to move in the direction of the med-clinic, only stopping to be pretending to admire the view from the window. Multiple vessels were departing the station and heading to the mass relay. This allowed him to glance over to see both the turian and salarian moving in the same direction as he. He was right! Casually turning to his left, he continued his path towards the med-clinic. He had to draw them out. The only problems were not knowing their intentions and the number of civilian casualties. The wards contained ped-traffic. Leading them along past the clinic, he intentionally went to a less popular area of the wards. Slipping around the corner, he waited till he was out of their line of sight and pressed his back tightly against the wall. The timing of this was everything. If it was just one shadow, this would be easy. Activating his L2 implant, he gathered dark energy and felt the popping sensation around him. The unsuspecting turian turned the corner first. Kaidan met him head-on by placing him in stasis. The turian was still in midstride when he was frozen in place.

The salarian nearly bumped into her colleague as she came around. "What?!" Her eyes flickered. Before she could react any further, Kaidan grabbed her by the neck with a firm hold. The purple aurora of dark energy still engulfing his body. A terrifying state for a non-biotic.

"Why are you following me?!" Kaidan demanded.

The salarian didn't struggle. She stood there motionless with her large amphibious dark glossy eyes staring right at him. "Where is Shepard?"

Her reaction to her predicament opposite to most. Kaidan almost let his guard down by this. Subconsciously feeling himself relax his grip. "Who are you guys?!"

"Human," The salarian stated once more in a monotone voice. "Where is Shepard?"

Puzzled, Kaidan lifted an eyebrow as he glanced over to the still frozen turian and then back to the salarian. "Human?" Her comment baffled him. Many salarians didn't greet them by their species' type. "Why do you want to know about Shepard? What's going on?!" He raised his voice once more as fear struck him. These guys were not after him but after Zalena!

"Shepard will bring chaos here. She will bring the Reapers. She must be stopped."

Unexpectedly, the salarian broke me from his loosened grip and seized the opportunity to strike with a quick hit at his center torso. She then retrieved a pistol that was holstered in a collapsed position behind her back. Seeing this, Kaidan used a singularity burst to tussle the salarian in the air, making her drop her weapon to the ground. Just as he did, the hold on the stasis ended allowing the turian to be free. Seeing the salarian flailing around mid-air in desperation, he retrieved his pistol. Knowing it would be several more seconds before he could use a biotic attack, Kaidan had no choice, but to aim his pistol at the turian and fire rapidly. Three shots nailed the avian-like alien in the chest, tearing into his chest cavity due to the lack of armor, hitting his heart, killing him instantly. A faint whimper escaped his lips before he collapsed.

"Hold it right there!" A male voice boomed nearby. Kaidan turned to see a C-Sec officer approaching them in haste with his gun drawn.

"Officer Lang, C-Sec. Put your hands up!" The blonde officer instructed as he kept his pistol beamed on them both. He then tapped his earpiece. "This is Officer Lang. Shots fired outside the med-clinic. I have one turian down. Will need medevac. Possible homicide. Two suspects will be in custody shortly. Appears one is biotic."

The salarian dropped to the floor and desperately scrambled for her gun. "No, no!" She shrieked as she turned on Alenko in a hostile manner. "You must die! Shepard must die! Where is she?!"

"Put the gun down!" Lang ordered.

Shrilling again, the salarian moved her pistol towards Lang, but the officer shot and hit her in the right shoulder. The salarian screamed out in pain and collapsed to the ground. The bullet tore through muscles, rendering the right upper arm useless. She struggled to crawl towards her

dropped weapon. Kaidan swiftly kicked it away. The salarian gaped up at him with terrified wide eyes and curled into a fetal position. Uncontrolled sobs came from her lips as she hugged herself. "Must kill her. Must kill her."

Lang didn't flinch as he kept his weapon on Alenko. "Step away, sir."

"Ease up, officer. I'm Major Alenko, Alliance. These two attacked me and it appears they are after Commander Shepard."

Lang's mouth dropped at his words, then he lowered his weapon. "Shepard? Do you mean the Spectre? Oh, yeah! I remember you." He walked over to study the comatose salarian and the dead turian. "Too crazy."

"You're telling me. I need a direct comm to Councilor Anderson. This is important."

"Uh, sure," Lang opened his omni tool and swiped away at his fingertips. "Try now."

"Anderson, this is Major Alenko."

"I'm heading to my apartment now, Major," Anderson answered. "What's up with the C-Sec line?"

"Sir, there has been an incident in the wards. You better come down here."

"Never a dull moment. I'm on my way."