MASS EFFECT CHASM: CHAPTER 16
Major Kaidan Alenko skipped the formalities after entering Anderon's office that afternoon. "Sir, I'm heading out to Arcturus for my next assignment."
"No word from Shepard?" His old CO hopefully questioned.
Alenko shook his head. "I reached out to her regarding this last attack. Silence."
Anderson furrowed his brow momentarily, stunned as well. "Well, don't assume anything, Major. She's with Cerberus after all. I'm sure they don't just allow messages from the Alliance." Despite being in front of a desk the last two years, he still knew his old crew and heard of the relationship that Shepard and Alenko had right before her death. The Alliance never condoned fraternization as long as it was in check and didn't complicate their service. Both the commander and the major were professionals and kept their relationship on the down-low. For their sake.
"Well, if you see her," Kaidan's voice cracked as he spoke. He was still aching inside. "Tell her that I wish her well and to stay safe." There was so much he wanted to say and needed to say. Not in front of the captain. This was an exchange needed between the two only; between former lovers. He knew that Anderson was fully aware of what they had before her death and resurrection. Not all of her was fully back. At least to him, she wasn't the same. She wasn't the woman that he fell in love with years ago. He could never join Cerberus. Kaidan refused to sacrifice his integrity.
"I will," David assured him. "You're a damn fine soldier, Alenko. Remember that."
"Thank you, sir. I just wish I knew what is going on with these random attacks against Shepard. Who are these people and who are they following?"
"Beats me." Anderson sighed in frustration. "Their focus on Shepard is quite alarming. I've tried to put the pieces together. You mentioned strange activity like this before. Followers of Saren perhaps? He had quite the charisma and influenced many individuals including Matriarch Benezia."
Alenko shook his head. "Not that kind of hold. It was almost as if…the attackers were being controlled beyond their own will. Benezia did follow Saren, true, but in the end at Noveria, she was not herself. Even she could not fight whatever hold Saren had on her. I would say Sovereign, but it was destroyed during the battle of the Citadel."
"I know that Sovereign was not just a flagship and that it was an actual Reaper. Can they control their thrawns beyond their termination? If that's just a one percent possibility, then we are in trouble."
"I know everyone has been on edge since the geth attack here. Could be some type of severe PTSD."
"Attacking Shepard? The hero of the battle?" Anderson shook his head at the notion. "Doesn't add up."
"I'll keep in touch with Captain Bailey. I'm sure I have a target on my back as well."
"Stay safe, Anderson," Alenko fired off a quick salute. Procedures only since Anderson lost that title when he took on the new role as the first human council member. Deep inside, Kaidan regretted how distant he put himself on Horizon. It was his first chance to see Zalena himself and he blew it. He gave her such a cold shoulder and placed her right next to the same faction that was responsible for Admiral Kohaku's death. He hurt her. He knew he had. Tension was so high from the collector attack on the colony; still, that was no excuse. It wasn't like they broke up on bad terms. There was no breakup at all. He never moved on even when given the opportunity. He felt bad for what happened to Lilith and the others on Horizon, and he did care for her. Though, not the way he felt about Zalena. No one could replace that.
"I'll send Shepard your regards. Good seeing you."
"Captain Bailey, you said it was urgent," Zalena grabbed the man's attention as he was looking over a datapad at his desk.
Startled, the blonde-haired man looked up. "Shepard," He took a breath to calm his immediate reaction. "Do you have to sneak around?" He then eyed Thane, who was standing beside her. "No offense."
"None taken," The drell tipped his head to accept the apology.
Getting up from his desk, he motioned with his hand for the pair to follow him to a back room. "This is a private matter. Let's go back here."
Kaidan Alenko walked in stride towards the security checkpoint to the docks. His transport to Arcturus had already arrived and he was making his way through the crowds to get there. Pausing for his turn to be cleared to leave, he tossed a glance over to where Bailey normally sat. The desk was empty. "Huh, must have had an earlier shift today," He casually noted under his breath, taking stock of the captain's absence. Seeing the captain sitting out with the rest of the officers seemed out of place, but that was per Bailey's request. He used to be an officer himself and loved to be amongst them. A part of him missed it. The man was so dedicated to his work that he would skip breaks and eat lunch at his desk.
"Okay, sir, your turn. Please proceed forward," The turian officer motioned him with his talons.
Realizing that he paused longer than intended, Kaidan scurried over to the hand scanner for fingerprint checks. A few seconds later, he was cleared and out the door to the docks. Seeing Zalena would have to wait until her mission with Cerberus was finally over.
"That batarian still onboard?" Avery huffed over the comm inside Miranda's room. The call came in about twenty minutes following their arrival at the Citadel.
"Yeah, Shepard wouldn't listen to reason. For now, he's helping with our task," Miranda was still miffed to the idea that one of the most hated alien races was on a Cerberus vessel. Tolerance was something she didn't have much of. She was a by-the-book type of person. Working with Shepard wasn't what she quite expected. Getting over the selected dossier that included non-humans was bad enough, but deviation from that list was a whole other level.
"The Illusive Man said the IFF Reaper was secured. Why are you at the Citadel?" Avery grilled. Miranda was not caught off-guard by this. Of course, there was a tracker on the ship to show the current state at all times.
"C-Sec flagged Shepard due to concerns with strange disappearances throughout the station," Lawson admitted. She had nothing to hide.
"Alien?" The operative on the other end was undaunted. "We are helping humanity," Avery huffed. "I knew resurrecting Shepard was a bad idea."
"I was in charge of the Lazarus Project and I had the Illusive Man's full confidence," Miranda gritted her teeth. She never really had "friends" in her life, but Avery was one of the closest colleagues she had. Before Lazarus, she was in the same cell group as Miranda to help recover Shepard's body following the destruction of the SR-1 and gather intel for dossiers. Avery knew Shepard's service record and psych profile front and back perfectly. She often voiced her concerns on the non-humans when they created the team that would accompany Shepard against the collectors and to the Omega 4 Relay. Avery's foundation for xenophobia stemmed from early childhood days. Her colony on Tiptree was raided by batarian slavers when she was fourteen. Many were taken as slaves while others died trying to thwart the raiders. Avery managed to hide to avoid capture, but she lost both her parents along with many that she knew. Her parents along with the others were taken to Omega to be sold. The colony rebuilt and new colonists came to pick up the pieces, but it wasn't the same to her. She left Tiptree when she was eighteen and traveled to Omega to try to locate her parents. She found one of the batarians that was at the colony. Playing innocent to entice him to prey on her, she caught him off-guard and stabbed him ten times. The poor bastard never stood a chance to her wrath. He bled to death on the dirty streets. No one came to his aid. She was unable to locate her parents that day but later learned after joining Cerberus when she was twenty that both her parents were killed on Camala when they became too exhausted to work in the mines.
Their death made her despise the aliens, especially the batarians. Only humans came to her aid. Not the aliens. They didn't give a damn about Tiptree. "I know you were still loyal, Miranda. I never doubted you," Avery continued. There was hesitation to her voice as if she truly questioned her alliance. "A message came in to Shepard from Kaidan Alenko. It was flagged and pulled. Another alien sympathizer. I'm doing my best to make sure that she stays focused. The more we linger, the more humans die."
Avery's confession about the blocked message surprised Miranda. She knew any direct incoming messages were being pre-screened before being fed by Kelly. Still, she didn't think any were being blocked. Kelly should have told her. "Back to the batarian," Avery redirected the conversation to the true subject of her transmission. The titled species oozed off her coworker's lips like poison.
"He may be quiet, but he has proven his usefulness in combat against what we have gone up against so far," Miranda contemplated. "He saved me from a few close calls during combat."
This annoyed Avery. She knew it. "What? You like him now, too?"
"No."
"Look," Avery sighed hard. "He wants to go back to Aratoht, right? We have a few scrubbed vessels. No associations. I can arrange it."
"I'll talk to Shepard when she returns," Miranda accepted this arrangement. For her sake. This way, it would leave things open-ended. The batarian was useful, but he was still a high-security risk. They had a solid team and minus one wouldn't jeopardize the mention.
"Good luck out there."
"Guess you know about the most recent attack," Bailey sat down at the small desk inside the office he took Thane and Shepard to.
"What attack?" Zalena stood in place.
Bailey lifted an eyebrow in skepticism. "Your friend? Major Alenko. He was attacked a couple of days ago. His description was quite odd…. I don't know what the hell is going on around here, Shepard. I'm hoping you have all the answers."
Hearing her former lover's name made Shepard's heart stop for a millisecond. "Major Alenko? Is he still here? Where is he?" Her voice strained in desperation. She shifted her eyes watchfully over to Krios, who stood there soundlessly and collective. Could he detect any feelings towards Kaidan through her words? She never really disclosed her past relationship about Kaidan.
"Uh, not sure. You may want to talk to Councilor Anderson. Between the two attackers and the random deaths, I'm not sure what is worse. Not all the wards are pristine and safe, Commander. You and I both know that is common knowledge. No merc bands accounted for, but I'm sure a few get through the cracks. Sometimes, we find bodies in the keeper tunnels with blunt injuries. Unsolved crimes. Learn through the database of the victim's background. Most times, it's drug addicts who got in over their heads or black-market deals that have gone wrong. Heh, just like New York City streets back on Earth. Even after over a hundred years, nothing has changed when it comes to murders and crime. These new numbers are an anomaly and to be quite honest, they scare the shit out of me."
"You believe the two that attacked the major could be responsible or part of the group responsible for the murders?" Shepard picked up a datapad from the desk to read over the stats that he was referring to. The victims ranged in various age groups, genders, sexual orientations, races, and religions.
"That is what my homicide team working these cases are hinting at. No definitive answers. The two that attacked your friend, he described them to be in a trance-like state. Not coherent as one would react to a defensive counter. It was as if they were being controlled."
"Trance-like state? Could be red-sand dusters?" Thane interjected as he listened in on the facts so far.
Bailey shook his head. "That was my first presumption too. Toxicology reports came back to all traces of drugs including red sand to be negative. Not a drop."
Shepard frowned at his words and furrowed her brow. This was frightening stuff and it seemed as if it was intensifying. Why would Kaidan be involved? Why would someone be stupid enough to take on an Alliance soldier out in the open like that? "Anything else you can tell me?"
"Yeah," Bailey watched her drop the pad back on the desk in front of him. "Major Alenko said that they kept demanding to know your location."
"Me?" The disclosure sucker punched her. "Why me?"
The captain shrugged. "Beats the heck out of me. Going after you…," He chuckled," Is pure suicide."
"We should be cautious while we are here, Si-," Thane stopped himself abruptly from finishing his new designation for her. "Shepard." The drell seemed a bit uneasy from realizing that he was crossing bounds to openly express their relationship during their duties. "My son could assist in hunting down this cult."
"He's already on the task force to help. Mouse's report troubled him."
Shepard recalled her past encounter on the station to where the asari diplomat tried to attack her. She was killed and her body was destroyed by Sovereign's attack on the Citadel before the completion of her neuro-scan. Her behavior mirrored the ones that Bailey referred to. "Do you still have the assailants' bodies?"
"Yeah, they are down in the morgue. I made sure to hold them until you got here. You want to see them?"
"That won't be necessary. I need neuro-scans of them both ASAP." She glanced over at Thane, still saddened to know that the major was there and she missed him. "I need to talk to Anderson. Let's head out, Thane."
"Good luck, Shepard, and I'll keep you posted on what we find out."
"Tell Kolyat that I'm proud of him. He is honoring his word," Thane paused briefly before following her out.
When they left the room, Zalena began to wonder if Thane would question the details of her friend, but surprisingly, the drell remained still. Her dark eyes darted around the crowds of the wards. She silently desired to see Kaidan amongst them, but there were no signs. She missed out.
Anderson greeted her at the door of his office when she and Thane arrived. "Shepard, it is good to see you. I was beginning to wonder if I would see you again.
"Of course, sir. I haven't forgotten you, "Zalena smiled at her old CO. "I spoke with Bailey about the attack on Kaidan. Is he alright?"
"Nothing he can't handle." Anderson stepped aside to allow the two to enter inside with the door closing behind them. "You just missed him."
Zalena couldn't withhold the frown from appearing on her face by the disappointing news. "Did he debark?"
"Yes, he was heading to Arcturus for his next assignment. He told me to send you his regards."
Shepard's eyes fell by the message. Not what she was hoping to hear. A part of her wanted to know more. There had to be more to it than a farewell. Did he still in fact love her? She felt torn between him and Thane. Realizing how much of her guard she was letting down to fully disclose her raw emotions, she stiffened her posture back up. "He said there were people after me."
"Yes, and they seem to think you are a threat to this station."
"Because of the attack by Saren?"
"Seems like it."
"The asari diplomat tried to kill me before the station got hit. It was as if she knew he was coming and killing me would stop it."
"I remember that. The same type of MO. Doesn't make any sense."
"I requested neuro-scans on the bodies that Bailey is holding. Hopefully, this time, we will get the results back."
"What are you thinking, Commander?" Anderson tried to piece together where she was leading him to. He was stumped.
"I have no idea. Saren had a hold on Matriarch Benezia and he was testing out indoctrination at the facility on Virmire. I came across many captive STG members that were forced test subjects. Perhaps, the research expanded beyond Virmire."
"Saren is dead. Sovereign is dead. Who else could be doing this? Why?"
"Saren's hold on his followers may have not died when he left his body," Thane chimed in. "This new group could be seeking retribution against their leader."
"Like a cult," Zalena agreed matter-of-factly. She rubbed the corners of her eyes with her fingertips as she felt another migraine starting up. The artificial light throughout the station was not helping matters. Her ears felt like they were ringing. Could be a bad one. She had to cut this short. "Like I need this right now…," She muttered. "Having another group after me doesn't simplify matters, does it?"
"Just watch yourself out there. I'll see what I can do here."
"Thank you, sir. "
After leaving Anderson's office, Thane took to her side. Closer than usual, she noted. Was he fearful of her safety? If so, the gesture was moving. Guilt plagued her. She was becoming torn apart. "Are you okay, Siha? Should we look for Kaidan Alenko?" It felt so odd hearing her former lover's name escape her current lover's lips.
"No, Kaidan can handle himself," She shook her head tiredly. "He's an old friend. There's too much riding on us right now. The colonists from Horizon are counting on me along with the rest of the missing colonists. We can circle back here after I'm done with the Omega 4 Relay."
"As you wish, Shepard."
The walk back to the dock was going to be a long one.
