MASS EFFECT CHASM: CHAPTER 20
Several days later, a familiar face greeted Thane at Huerta. "Thane Krios!" Dr. Karin Chakwas made a beeline to his direction from where she previously was conversing with another red-head female physician. "Thank, God. You are still with us."
"It is good to see you," Thane extended his hand for a handshake. "I thought you may be with Shepard during these times of turmoil."
"I'm being reassigned to the Normandy. I'm set to head out shortly," The gray-haired woman grinned. "Per Shepard's orders. You know I can't refuse that."
"Shepard is here?" Thane's heart leaped in his amphibian-like chest.
"You just missed her. About three hours ago. Major Alenko was brought here immediately after they arrived in code gold status. Severe head trauma from their mission on Mars. It took three doctors to stabilize him. I just came from his L2 diagnostic scan. I insisted to be back there since I worked with him before. The L2 implant patients we have to worry about."
"You say he worked with Shepard? May I go see him?"
"Of course," Chakwas seemed to be thrown off by his request. "Sadly, he regained consciousness about an hour after she left him. He hasn't been cleared for visitors, but I know the medical staff. Follow me."
The woman led him to the Critical Care Unit and over to the right-wing of the facility. She stopped him and moved over to a staff worker, who was standing near the door. After a brief second, she gave Thane the thumbs up and motioned him to step inside with her. A black-haired man was propped up in the elevated bed with the sheet sitting comfortably at his waistline. His dark eyes looked their way with a mixture of joy and confusion. "Dr. Chakwas. They said you were working here."
"Sadly, I'm leaving. I'm being called to the Normandy." Karin smiled at him. "Shepard knows I need to be on a ship."
"And the perfect ship for you."
Dr. Chakwas stepped aside to allow Kaidan a clearer view of Thane. "Major, this is Thane Krios. He served with Shepard during the fight with the Collectors. If it wasn't for him and her team, I don't think I would have survived…. I still have nightmares about being on that vessel."
Thane nodded his head politely towards Alenko's way to note the man's fragile condition. "An honor to meet you." He then looked over at Chakwas. "I am glad we were able to save you all in time."
The woman smiled at them both. "I must be off. I need to get my things before I leave the station."
The room fell quiet for a few moments upon her departure. Till finally, Alenko broke the ice. "Is Shepard still here?" His words filled with eagerness. Thane noted this to be more intense than casual.
"I was not aware that she was even on this station until I ran into Dr. Chakwas," The drell admitted. His mind flashed to Shepard's debrief after Horizon. Come to think of it, the man's name did sound familiar, but he never had a face to match. Not until this day. "Shepard spoke of you after Horizon." A poke to remind the major of the hurt and pain he brought her. Thane knew that Shepard seemed very off following that mission, though she would not fully disclose why.
Alenko frowned. "Yeah, that was a rough time…"
"Well, if you are part of Shepard's team, then I will watch over you during your time here."
"Uh, thanks. So, um, I've never been around many drell. Are you part of a spec-ops group?"
"No, I'm an assassin."
"An assassin?" Kaidan's eyes became wide. Seeing that the drell was put off by this reaction, he cleared his throat. "Sorry, just that's a first…then again, Shepard does pick 'em," He chuckled.
"Shepard advised that the Illusive Man gave her my dossier. Cerberus selected me."
"Never knew that Cerberus would resort to alien assistance. No offense. They are just pro-human."
"I have to admit. I was also confused by this. However, I am glad that I was part of it." Thane stopped the conversation for a moment, then decided this was the best time if any to reveal his relationship to Alenko. "Shepard and I grew very close. She awakened me from my battle sleep."
Kaidan's jaw clenched from the news. Not what he expected to hear. It felt as if the assassin pierced his heart with a knife. "Oh…. well, I-I'm glad that you two were able to find one another. Shepard…." He could hear his voice crack. "She deserves happiness."
The man's reaction was what he expected. Krios pressed on to clear the air more, "You and her were together before?"
"Yeah…. we were…," Kaidan couldn't meet his eyes anymore. He looked towards the window. The view didn't look so spectacular. He was pained deeply. He could tell that Shepard grew apart from him, but he never expected that she would fall into the arms of another…more so, a drell. "We didn't come to terms about Cerberus."
"I see. Then we both care for the same woman." Thane then bowed his head respectfully. "I should let you rest. I will stand guard outside your room in between my breathing treatments."
Kaidan couldn't face the drell any longer. There was too much agony. It was only when the drell left did he turn his head to look at the door. "I guess we both love Shepard…" He shoved his head back hard against the pillow as tears prodded at his eyes. "Damnit!"
When Zalena received the message from Kaidan that he was awake and offered the title as the second human spectre, she went back to the Citadel after picking up the turian Primarch. Urdnot Wrex and the salarian Dalatrass were on their way for the scheduled war summit. She had time to make the trip back to the station. When she reached the Alliance docks, she noticed a soldier woman with long blonde hair taking notice of her arrival. The woman's green eyes followed her to the elevator near the sky cars to head to Huerta. The extra attention was odd and Shepard didn't relax her guard until the elevator doors closed behind her.
When she reached Kaidan's room, the major was sitting up more in the bed and the contusions on his face were fading away along with the facial and head swelling. His appearance made her smile big. He was going to pull through! "There you are," Her voice beamed with joy.
"Hey, Shepard," He returned the smile. "I guess you got my message."
"I did," She took a chair next to his bed. "Spectre Alenko, hmm? I guess I may have competition."
Kaidan chuckled. "Not even close, Commander," He then tossed out, "You know it's not much of a fair fight for you."
She laughed. "It's so damn good seeing you like this."
"Heard you picked up the turian Primarch. How was Palaven? Did you find Garrus?"
"I went to Menae', Palaven's moon. Garrus is with us. You know he wouldn't dare miss a chance to calibrate the Normandy's weapon systems," She teased. "Urdnot Wrex is on his way for the summit. His clan is in control of Tuchanka."
"Really?" Kaidan chuckled. "Him? Well, I guess it will make things easier to get the krogan to side with us. We need them on Earth."
"And on Palaven….it looked bad. I can't even imagine what Earth is like right now."
"I don't want to think about it…. between my mom and my students…. I just…can't," Alenko sighed hard. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before glancing out the window. "Shepard, I never got to apologize properly. I should have on Mars."
"About what?"
"Horizon. I was such an ass. All I saw was Cerberus and what they did to Kohaku. I felt so betrayed."
"Emotions ran high there. The fight against the Collectors, Harbinger, and the taken colonists…. I can't even imagine what was going on there before I arrived."
"You don't even want to know."
"Seeing the Reapers on Earth brought a reality-check. Our time is running out and I needed to get it off my chest."
"Cheer up, Alenko," Shepard punched his arm teasingly. "Your fight is not over yet." Seeing him grow still, made her frown. Her brown eyes then panned over to the view of the Presidium. "At least your room has a window and not just a wall to look at. That's gorgeous. First-class, huh?"
Kaidan turned his head to look at her directly with a silly grin. "I don't know, I like the view right here now."
Zalena blushed badly. "Kaidan…"
"You know, when I thought you were dead, I almost was tempted to pursue a relationship with a colonist on Horizon. I know she had feelings for me, but I couldn't return the affection." His voice softened. "She wasn't you. There was no comparison at all."
"I missed you too, Kaidan…" She then puzzledly looked at him. "Why are you saying this now? Is it because you still feel guilty about being an 'ass.'"?
Kaidan noticed out the window next to his door that Thane was nowhere in sight. He must have had a breathing treatment. Lucky timing. "A drell stopped by here. An assassin. He mentioned that you two were together. After Horizon, I guess I deserved it. Where does that leave us? I need to know…"
Zalena bit her lip as she cupped her face. "Kaidan…. I'm sorry. I should have told you earlier. It was rocky times and you are right. After Horizon, I thought we were done. At least, that's where we left it."
Feeling himself becoming angry, Kaidan's voice rose, "I stayed loyal to you, Shepard. I even tried to send you messages and I checked in with Anderson. I guess the timing was off."
"I never meant to hurt anyone…" Zalena reached out and took his hand into hers. "Kaidan, I still love you. I never stopped. I thought about you all the time."
He squeezed her hand as he held it. "You know I can't share you."
Her first instinct was to tease him and ask why not, but she knew that would just not come out right at the moment. "No. I need to tell Thane that it's over between us. He deserves that." She rose from her chair. A difficult task was ahead of her.
"You know, he has been standing guard over me ever since he met me. He said he wanted to do it since I was part of your crew," Kaidan called out to her in awe. "I've never met anyone like that before." Reflecting on the private conversation the two loves had.
"No," Zalena swallowed hard to fight back her tears. "Thane is different. Get some rest, Major. That's an order."
"Aye aye, mam."
Heading out of the wing towards triage and the waiting room, Zalena saw Thane sitting comfortably in a chair next to the window. He immediately stood up when he saw her exit. "Siha!"
She walked over and he offered the chair next to him first. Once she sat down, he joined her. "It's so good seeing you," Shepard beamed over at him.
Thane immediately silently noticed that she did not embrace as one intimately would. Her prior location gave clues to her demeanor. Major Kaidan Alenko was back there and the odds were that she visited him. "You have cut your hair, Siha."
Zalena reached up to touch the strands near the back of her head. The feeling still felt off for her as well. "I think it's pretty noticeable."
"I heard Earth was attacked. The dark days are coming for us."
"Yeah, a wake-up call to many."
"You tried your best to warn them."
"That I did. A lot," Zalena sighed tiredly. Just thinking about all her fights with the council made her exhausted. No one dared to listen to reason. They all thought Saren was a fanatic and that his eccentric beliefs rubbed on her. "I bet Saren is stirring in his grave."
"How is he?" Krios asked.
"Who?"
"Major Alenko. I've been watching over him."
"Yeah, he told me. I feel better knowing that he's in good hands."
"He asked if you were still on the station when Dr. Chakwas brought me there to introduce us. He seemed very hopeful. Is there something going on between you two that I need to know about?"
"We were together before the Collector attack on the Normandy and grew apart during the fight with the Collectors. He didn't like my association with Cerberus. I can't blame him for that." A beat. "I still love him, Thane…"
"I see….it is hard to let go of someone so close to you so easily. My wife's death did not end my love for her."
"Thane, I never wanted to upset you. I thought it was over between Kaidan and me…."
"Battle can sometimes blind you. I'm at peace with this. I'm near the end of my life and now is not the time to become possessive. It was good while it lasted."
Zalena smiled wearily. "We would still love to have you join us on the Normandy."
"No," Krios shook his head. "You need someone at their best and I'm not at mine. I constantly need breathing treatments here to prolong whatever time I have left. I have a relationship back with my son."
Zalena nodded her head as she stood up. The longer she sat there, the more painful it was to be near him. She still yearned for him. "I better get back at it. Wrex won't wait around forever."
"Shepard, do not worry. I will continue my vigil over him until he is discharged."
"Thank you, Thane."
Seeing him stand up to look past her towards the elevator, Zalena turned to see Kolyat walking briskly to their location. He appeared to be bothered. Thane picked up on this. "Kolyat, is something wrong?"
"Commander Shepard, they found Mouse's body in one of the keeper tunnels. Bailey said you were still on the station so I came here to tell you."
"Mouse?" Thane was alarmed. "How did he die?"
"Two concussive rounds to the chest. Forensics are running scans and prints."
"Any ID on the shooter?" Shepard inquired.
"A human maintenance worker was located. A gun was found on him."
"A maintenance worker?" Thane sounded stumped. "A disguise?"
Kolyat shook his head, "No. His ID matches him completely. He is out of his location though. He's assigned to Dr. Bryson's lab on another ward."
"Good, tell Bailey we need to question him immediately." Zalena's time at the Citadel just extended. Hopefully, she was wrong about Wrex not waiting for the summit to take place.
"The worker is dead," Kolyat replied plainly.
"What the hell?" Zalena was shocked. This wasn't the response she was expecting. "How did that happen?"
"Before the officers could apprehend him, the worker just snapped and went to fire his weapon. He was killed on the spot."
Thane glanced over at Zalena. "There goes that idea."
"Tell forensics to include neuro scans on the worker immediately," Shepard ordered.
This bewildered the drell officer and he blinked at her request. "What for?"
"Just do it. I'm heading down to see Bailey."
"Want me to go with you?" Thane asked.
Zalena glanced back towards where Kaidan was. The worker's MO matched the other unprovoked assaults on the Citadel including the ones against her and Alenko. This trend was not tiring since her arrest. They could all be in danger now. Even Kaidan. There was no telling if someone in Huerta was part of the cult. "No. Stay close to Alenko. I need to find out what the hell is going on around here."
"I'll go with you, Commander," Kolyat led her out.
