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Following The Trail

God breakfast, yeah that's how she felt. Just wake up and you're forced to eat a meal. Well normal people could skip it, but she had given her word that she would join him and eat something every meal. Now it was starting to get on her nerves. Shepard felt antsy and she wanted to be up doing things, or even running, if she couldn't find something to do. Dr Chakwas, Garrus, and Joker were sitting there with her and Kaidan chatting away about something or other and she was paying them no mind. Kaidan had filled her bowl with some kind of breakfast protein glop and fruit paste. She had a cup of coffee which she had finished and a glass of juice which she was still working on. She hadn't finished eating and quite frankly she was trying to figure out a way to leave the table without finishing the meal and still keep her agreement. If she could figure out what he was up to she could get up and he wouldn't be able to say anything and she could then occupy her time figuring out ways to get even with him. She just couldn't fathom what he was doing.

Kaidan was talking to Dr. Chakwas now who was sitting on the other side of him. He was looking at the doctor so Shepard thought that he wouldn't see if she just got up and tossed her bowl in the cleaning chute and didn't finish it. She went to get up and felt his hand on her leg holding her in place. She scowled, he didn't even turn around to look at her. He gave her leg a warning squeeze. She sighed and started eating again. When she finished she took the bowl and shoved it under his nose.

"Happy now!" She cracked at him.

"Immensely" he told her with a smile on his face.

She put her lips next to his ear and hissed "you know it is only a matter of time, and I am planning many ways to get even with you for this." And she nipped his earlobe.

"Ouch, behave!" He told her.

"Never!" she snapped at him and stormed out of the mess.

He chuckled at her retreating back.

"What was that about?" Dr. Chakwas asked him.

"Oh she thinks I have ulterior motives for making her eat all her meals with me and actually eat her food." Kaidan told her. "She has threatened me with grievous harm when she finds out what my motives are" and he laughed.

"So what's so funny?" Joker asked "you know that she can really make your life hell if she wants."

"Right, but she would have to find out what those ulterior motives were." He said still chuckling.

"Well, what are they, tell us." Garrus said curious now.

"If you promise not to tell, I will share my secret with you" he told them and they all agreed.

"I have no ulterior motives, I just wanted her to eat all her meals." He said. "The only way I could get her to do it is if she thought I had something up my sleeve. You know she will only keep coming as long as she thinks I am hiding something from her, otherwise she would have stopped by now."

"Kaidan that was brilliant" Dr. Chakwas tells him. "She is looking better and she isn't losing anymore weight. My hat is off to you."

"You do realize when she finds out, your toast." Joker told him.

"Yeah, but hopefully by than we will be on the new ship and she will be in a much better frame of mind."

"Yeah, on the other hand, she will have more ways to embarrass you with more crew members around." Garrus said.

Kaidan stopped chuckling "Shit, I didn't think of that."

Garrus called Shepard up to the cockpit. "I found a planet where the vorcha landed but it looks like they took off again." He told her. "So we can follow them or we can go down to the planet and see what problems they have caused, if any."

"Let's do both" she told him. "Liara, Wrex and I will go down to the planet and see what we can find out. You and Kaidan will follow the trail and see what you can find out and then you can rendezvous back here and pick us up." She turned and went to find Kaidan to tell him what they were doing.

After listening to her plan Kaidan said "What happens if we find the ship?"

"Well if it's the attackers than FTL out really quick, if it's the vorcha vessel keep you distance but follow them and see if you can find anything out." Shepard told him.

"But Liara, Wrex and you will be stranded on Prenedee until we return."

"It's a colony world, I am sure they have other transports as well as the ability to call the Alliance if needed."

"Well, I don't like leaving you behind, but I wouldn't want to lose the trail because we delayed either." He ran his hand through is hair, it's a habit he had when he didn't like something she was doing.

They were standing next to the mako so she pushed him behind it so they had a modicum of privacy. She pushed him against the wall pressing and rubbing her body against his, kissing and nibbling his neck, until she caused him to groan. She whispered huskily in his ear, "I will be fine, you go and get me the information I need and then you just hurry your sexy little ass back here and pick me up." She kissed him hard and then turned and left him there to collect himself.

The planet Prenadee was another one of those planets that was perfect for an agriculture community. The settlement of Fullers Run was full of prefab residences and little else. Going down the ramp from the Salice Shepard, followed by Wrex and Liara, took a good look around. When she faced forward she came to a stop. Coming out of a building just ahead was a group of four men armed and pointing their weapons at her and her squad members. She placed her hands out in front of her as a show of surrender but close enough to her pistol to grab it if she needed it. Her shields were at full strength so she should be able to get hit with a shot or two with no problem. Kaidan in the Salice just out of sight and Liara and Wrex on the ramp were all ready to each take out a subject having signaled to each other to indicate the one they were taking. Shepard would have the lead subject in her sights if she pulled her gun.

"Gentleman, I am Commander Shepard, I am a Council Spectre, we mean you no harm, but I am not without defenses and I will use them if you force me to." Shepard said.

"The Commander Shepard, Savior of the Citadel?" One of the older males in the back asked lowering his weapon.

She guessed sometimes these stupid titles were helpful "that would be me." She told him.

He turned to the men next to him and started to push the weapons down. "Put your guns down you fools this is the woman that got a seat on the Council for humans, show some respect!" The male in the front held his weapon on Shepard a moment longer and then lowered it. Only Kaidan didn't relax his vigil on the men.

The older male pushed past the younger male in front. "We're sorry Commander, we didn't know that it was you and after what happen… well we were just being cautious. We just sent word a little while ago and we didn't expect you so soon."

Shepard turned around and looked back at Kaidan in the Salice, he nodded at her and turned around and walked back into the ship.

"Well gentleman, we happened to be in the area…" She let her voice trail off so he would provide more information.

"Well, Ma'am that is fortuitous. I am Jacob Smith, this is my son Justin, and these men are Caleb Jackson and Brent Mullman." He pointed out the young man from the front and then his other two companions. "When we found the bodies Ma'am we didn't know what else to do. That's why we called the Alliance."

"Yes that was quite smart of you Mr. Smith." She told him. Kaidan's voice came over the comm. "Hackett says they just received word of an attack on this world by alien raiders. There are six dead bodies and there is possibly four people missing. He was calling us as I got into the cockpit."

"Got it" she said in a low voice into her comm to Smith she said "You should take me to the scene, you didn't move anything did you?"

"Well Ma'am we know you're not supposed to, but we couldn't leave the people out like that. It wasn't right. We did leave the alien where he fell though." Smith told her.

"Lead on Mr. Smith." She told him. She turned to Wrex and Liara and said softly "would either of you know a vorcha if you saw one?"

"I would" Wrex told her.

"Good" then into her comm. "Kaidan, you go and find the vorcha ship, use caution and don't board unless necessary, don't put yourself in any unnecessary danger."

"Aye, aye Commander." She heard him answer in her ear and then she followed Mr. Smith.

Smith brought them to a large warehouse with two smaller rooms one at the southwest corner and one at the northwest corner of the warehouse. It was over a hill and obstucted from the view of the rest of the colony. The dead humans might have been moved but the blood on the scene left nothing to the imagination. The attack had been brutal. Smith led Shepard to the dead alien. It was an ugly creature that resembled a scary clown with very sharp teeth. Shepard looked at Wrex, he nodded at her. Well she had her evidence that the vorcha were here but she doubted the council would take her word that they were involved with the attackers, energy trails not withstanding. This attack lacked the precision and cleanliness of the last attack.

"Mr. Smith we were advised that people might be missing." Shepard said.

"Might be, well there isn't any might be. They are missing alright, the only question I have is, are they still alive?" He told her. "All four of them are gone."

Trying to think of a way to get the information without leading Smith down the path she wanted him to go she asked. "Were the missing people in the same family?"

"No Ma'am." He used his fingers to tick off the people to her. "Jade Sanchez is a young pretty thing about twenty years old with a sweet disposition. Aaron Chisson is about thirty and just your average guy. The same with Rob Charles, he is just a normal Joe at age fourty six. The last is Aster Mace age fifty four, she is just as mean as they come, she would shoot you as well as your dog."

Shepard took the last part to be a local idiom, she just accepted that Aster Mace must be a bitch. Okay no relations, that leaves out twins, but maybe biotics come into play.

"Was there anything different about the four that were missing from the dead colonists?" Shepard asked trying not to lead him on, but having trouble thinking of any other way to ask without giving him the information she wanted him to volunteer.

"No they were colonists too" Shepard was disappointed with that answer. "Yeah they will be missed too because they were all biotics. We didn't like them much at first, but they grow on you when they have skills and they can help with the farm equipment, you know, because it's heavy." And there it was the connection she was looking for.

"Mr. Smith if you don't mind we would like to look around here and see what evidence we can find."

"Certainly Commander, I understand. If you need me I will be in the square by the spaceport." He told her.

"Thank you Mr. Smith." She shook his hand and he left.

When he was out of earshot she turned around to Wrex and Liara. "Okay here is what I want to look for, anything out of the ordinary. Anything that doesn't look like it would be of vorcha manufacture, Garrus says they are not very tech savvy."

"They may not be tech savvy Shepard but they do a lot of trade and theft too." Wrex pointed out.

"Yes and that is what I am looking for, something that they had to get from another race that might lead us back to the attackers." Shepard told him. "Wrex you search on the west side of the warehouse and Liara you search on the east. I will take the inside. When you finish Liara you take the front and Wrex you take the rear." They both acknowledged and set off.

Shepard went over to the dead vorcha and searched him. She didn't find anything unusual there. She searched around him using his body as a base and made a widening circle around him until she reached the wall, picking a location were it looked like a human body had fallen she started again. She repeated this procedure until she had covered the whole room overlapping what she felt were the important areas. She found nothing unusual in the warehouse proper. So Shepard walked over to the northwest room. When she opened the room she noticed it's order was a stark contrast to the mess in the warehouse proper. There was nothing out-of-place, it's doubtful that anyone even entered this room or bothered to check it. She did a cursory walk around but she knew it was a waste of time.

She walked to the Southwest room. Now this room was full of blood and it was obviously that it had been part of the firefight. The room was a mess with blood and papers and damaged equipment all around. She methodically searched the room starting at one end of the room and ended at the other. There were some things that she couldn't identify, but they didn't look like they were strange technology. She got an empty box to put them in it anyway.

Liara called her on her comm. "Shepard, I think I found something."

"Where are you?" Shepard asked her going towards the front door with her box of unknown items.

"I am two thirds of a click from the front door of the warehouse but on the west side." Liara answered her.

"Okay I am coming" Shepard said, she looked off in the distance and saw Liara's red armor. "I see you now" she told her.

Walking slowly up to Liara so as not to destroy any other evidence that might be around, she looked at her. Liara pointed down and Shepard looked down where she indicated. There was a piece of something; it looked like it might be organic with tech running through it. Whatever it had been, there was only half of it left, other half of it having been melted away.

"Your right Liara I think you did find something" Shepard picked it up in her gloved hand and put it in the box. "Are you finished searching?"

"I only have a little more to go." Liara said as she pointed to the direction she was going in.

"Okay I will meet you back at the warehouse." Shepard told her.

Shepard walked back to the warehouse and then went to the rear to find Wrex. She could see him in the back on the east side walking slowly and looking around still heading east. She went out to talk to him.

"Did you find anything Wrex?"

"Just a jammed pistol that looks like it belonged to one of the colonists. It's never been cleaned I suspect." he showed her the pistol.

"Yeah you're probably right" Shepard told him after a cursory examination of the jammed pistol.

"Have you ever seen something like this Wrex?" She pointed to the item that Liara had found.

He looked it over "no I have never seen that before, what does it do?"

"I think that is one of the things that we need to find out."

"With it broken like that I don't know how far we are going to get."

"Yes, I know."

Liara came back to join them. "I didn't find anything else Shepard" she told her.

"Are you finished Wrex?"

"Yes I was just going over the corners again to make sure I didn't miss anything."

"Alright then, let's head back to the space port."

The Salice was now a day away from Prenedee following the trail. They couldn't use FTL because they might lose the trail. Garrus was sitting next to Joker monitoring the trail and correcting the heading when needed. Kaidan came into the cockpit again for the sixth time in the last hour.

"Did you find anything yet Garrus." he asked.

"Kaidan, you know that you and Shepard are just perfect for each other."

"What, why do you say that?"

"Because, both you and she know that I would let you know, right away, the minute I found something and here you keep coming into the cockpit to question me every ten minutes, just like she would."

"I'm sorry Garrus, I just don't like leaving them behind on that planet."

"Leaving her you mean." Joker said.

"Yeah, okay leaving her on the planet alone."

"You mean without you, since she is not alone. You know she is more than capable of taking care of herself." Garrus told him.

"Alright! God you guys are the worst friends a guy can have. Instead of supporting me you torment me."

"Yeah, it's so much more fun that way." Joker told him. "Now leave us alone, go bug doc or Adams."

"Okay, I will leave you alone. Just let me know the minute you find something." Kaidan said.

"Don't worry," Joker said, "you won't be the last to know." Kaidan was halfway down the corridor before he realized what Joker had said and laughed.

Dr. Chakwas looked up as Kaidan entered the make shift med bay. "Do you feel a migraine coming on?"

"No Doc I am just trying to keep myself busy while I wait for us to find something, I just came to talk. If you're not busy that is."

"No, not busy, we have been lucky so far on this trip."

"Yes, that we have, let us hope that doesn't change."

"So what is bothering you?" she asked.

"What, oh nothing really, I just keep going up to check on Joker and Garrus and they say I am driving them crazy."

She laughed "I think you're taking 'doing the Commanders job' a little too seriously."

"Yeah, that is what Garrus implied. No wonder she gets so frustrated when she is waiting for something to happen."

"Yes, well where most of us have other duties, we are her other duties. On the Normandy she had many others she could check on and things she could work on like keeping the personnel files updated and such, here we have only a handful of us so she doesn't have so much make work to do."

"Yeah I am beginning to see what the problem is."

"But Kaidan you have other duties to perform, why aren't you just working on them."

He looked embarrassed "I have nothing that is imperative and I just can't concentrate on the little I haven't finished." He admitted to her.

"Are you worried about the Commander?"

"Yeah, I think that is the problem. If we were busy I wouldn't have noticed, but this waiting just brings it out. I am usually with her so I don't usually worry like this, and it's the not knowing that is driving me up a wall."

"Kaidan, you left her on a colony world and you are following the bad guys. Even if they were to return to the planet, Shepard, Wrex and Liara are certainly more than a match for them."

"I know it makes no sense right?"

"On the contrary, it makes perfect sense. Your head is telling you that she is okay and safe, and your heart is telling you that you don't know if she is safe, because she is not with you. You are almost always together, or at least on the same ship. This is the first time you have actually be separated since, well since you and her became… well you know."

"Together, you can say it Doc, it's not like we don't look on you as part of the family. But what you say makes sense, and you're right, we haven't be separated like this. I mean she has gone on missions without me, when I have had a migraine or been injured, but we are right above the planet she is on. I feel like I have abandoned her. I haven't felt like that since… well since…"

"Since she made you leave her to secure the safety of the crew on the Normandy." The doctor finished for him.

"Yes, that is exactly it. She had to order me to leave her, did you know that?" the doctor shook her head at him. "Yeah I didn't want to go, and she ordered me to, then she went to get Joker. I felt so helpless when we were on the ground waiting for the pods to all land. I don't know what I would have done had I opened the pod and she wasn't in there."

"But she was, and you know she is safe. This situation is just bringing up those feelings again. Kaidan there is nothing wrong with you, okay it's just normal worry. You'll be fine."

"Thanks doc, I needed someone to tell me that."

"Hey, I live to serve."

"Don't we all." He said.

It was three more hours before they finally found something. Garrus called Kaidan to the bridge since true to his word he hadn't returned to bother them.

"What do you have Garrus." Kaidan asked coming into the cockpit.

"I think we have found the vorcha ship, it's just out there dead in space. I trace a strong trail that matches the trail of the attackers with an entry and exit, but it is so strong I can't even give you a directional. We must have just missed it."

"Yeah, well that may be a good thing. What can you tell about the ship, any life signs?"

"No, none detected anyway, although they may have a blocker up." Garrus advised.

"Well I think we are going to have to go over there and check it out. Let's suit up."

"I'm right behind you, Kaidan." Garrus said.

There was an eerie silence in the ship, the drives were offline. Kaidan and Garrus went methodically from area to area, room to room. There were a lot of dead bodies, all vorcha according to Garrus. There was no signs of any humans on board, or any evidence that there ever had been any humans on board, at least none that they could find with the equipment they had available.

"This is strange, why would they kill all of the vorcha?" Garrus asked. "They didn't kill that batarians."

"Maybe they did, we just haven't found them yet."

"Anything is possible."

"Well let's head back and pick up the Commander. Maybe she had better luck then we did." Kaidan told him.

"I hope so, if she didn't she is going to be pissed because we haven't found her anything."

"Well we might have found something, but we just don't know what it is yet ." Kaidan told him heading back to the ship with Garrus following him.