Chapter Seven
Interlude
"What I've felt, what I've known
Never shined through in what I've shown.
Never free. Never me.
So I dub thee unforgiven."
Metallica: The Unforgiven
The team Beckett had put together to defeat Saren gathered in the Normandy's holographic comm room as it was the only reasonably secure location on the ship large enough for them to all be seated comfortably, considering one of their number was a rather large krogan.
Nearly the entire mid watch chattered nervously when Wrex passed through the CIC in full battle armor, weapons on display, grumbling about the width of the passage up the stairs, from b-deck along with how narrow and low the doors were. Ryan had a shotgun from the flying bridge weapons locker next to him on his seat, charged, locked and the safety off just in case while he plotted the relay jumps necessary to make a rendezvous with the nearest Alliance task group to replace the Mako which had been lost when the caldera underneath the Prothean ruin had gone active.
When everyone took a seat, including their new guest, Dr. Liara T'Soni – who was seated a little too close to Castle for Beckett's liking – she brought the meeting to order.
"Now that we've made our escape, Dr. T'Soni, what exactly did the Geth want with you? Do you know anything about this Conduit?"
Liara cast her eyes about nervously, Wrex being a little too close for her own comfort - the last Krogan she'd met had wanted to either kill her or abduct her to goddess knew where - and she could sense the latent hostility coming from the human woman in charge. The broad shouldered human male seemed to be the only sympathetic person in the room, so she'd gravitated toward him, which seemed to be a mistake as that seemed to increase said latent hostility.
"Only that it seemed to be connected to the Prothean extinction, the real focus of my field of study," she replied. "I have spent the last fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them, but only found scant evidence either way. This... 'conduit' you speak of has only come up twice before in my research, and only by name."
"Fifty years?" Esposito choked out, "just how old are you exactly?"
"I hate to admit it," Liara replied, "but I am only one hundred and six. A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours, but amongst the asari, I am barely considered to be more than a child. This is why my research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on the extinction of the Protheans."
"Did your research turn up anything we can use?" Beckett asked, getting her jealous reaction under control by force of will.
"What I found most interesting is what I did not turn up," Liara replied, turning to face Captain Beckett. "There is little archaeological evidence of the Protheans to begin with, even less that might explain why they disappeared. It was almost as if someone did not want the mystery to be solved and came along after they were gone to cleanse the galaxy of clues."
Liara paused for a moment for effect, like this was a litany she had repeated for grant proposals more than once.
"But according to my research, the most incredible part is that the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish this way, merely the most recent."
"Where did you come up with this theory?" Kate asked, her detective's instincts taking over, pressing for more like she would have in an interrogation room. "I thought there wasn't any evidence?"
"As I said before," Liara explained, "I have been researching the Prothean extinction for fifty years. I have tracked down every shred of evidence I could find at dig sites both in and out of Council space. Eventually, subtle patterns began to emerge in the available data that hinted at the truth. It is difficult to explain to someone else, I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is a theory derived from a half century of dedicated research, but I know I am on the right track and eventually I will be able to prove that not only were there other civilizations before the Protheans, but that they all met the same fate the Protheans did."
"If the Protheans weren't the first," Castle asked, clearly fascinated by Liara's theory, oblivious to how it was effecting Kate, "then who was?"
"I do not know," Liara replied with difficulty, clearly frustrated with how little she had actually learned considering she'd been at it for fifty years. "There is barely any evidence of the Protheans, even less of those who came before them. Not enough to conclusively prove my theory at any rate, but I know I am on to something."
Liara paused for a moment to look over at Captain Beckett, who rolled her eyes, but nodded for her to continue.
"The galaxy is built upon a cycle of extinction. Each time a great race rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down, leaving little but ruins behind. The Protheans rose from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy, yet even they rose to the heights they did on the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements – the mass relays and the Citadel – are based upon the technology of those who came before them. Then, like all of the forgotten civilizations who preceded them, the Protheans disappeared and I have made it my life's work to find out how and why."
"I know what happened to them," Castle blurted out before Kate could stop him, worried he would be scoffed at or ridiculed, like the council had done. "They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines they called the Reapers."
"The... Reapers?" Liara asked, slightly gobsmacked, her curiosity piqued. "But I have never heard of... How do you know…? What evidence do you have?"
Kate gripped the armrests of her seat, her nails digging into the padding. She'd wanted to avoid this entirely.
"There was a damaged beacon where I was stationed on Eden Prime," Castle began, his voice dull as he tried to explain the visions he still couldn't understand that plagued his dreams and waking hours equally. "It... burned a... vision into my brain. I'm still trying to make sense of... of what it means."
The last thing that Kate expected to see was... understanding cross Liara's features, as if the beautiful young asari comprehended the thing that was hurting Castle in a way that she couldn't. Which inexplicably made her both cautiously optimistic that Dr. T'Soni would be able to help Castle and even more jealous at the same time.
"Visions?" Liara asked rhetorically. "Yes... that makes sense. The beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that is still functional is incredibly rare. It's little wonder why the geth attacked Eden Prime in that case. The chance to acquire a working beacon - even a badly damaged one – would be worth almost any risk.
"Unfortunately, the beacons were designed to interact with Prothean physiology," Liara explained, casting a sympathetic gaze at Castle, "whatever information you received would have to have been confused, unclear. I am amazed you were able to make any sense of it at all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process. You must be incredibly strong willed, Chief Castle."
"Okay," Kate stated sharply, her jealous bone back in full force as she imposed order back onto the proceedings, "this isn't helping us find Saren, or the Conduit."
"Of course," Liara replied, trying hard to figure out where she was going wrong. She had never interacted with humans before and was unaware of the traps she was falling into. "You are right, Captain. I am sorry. My scientific curiosity got the better of me. Unfortunately I do not have any concrete information at the moment that could help you find Saren, or this 'conduit' you speak of."
"Captain," Castle interjected, "I don't know what Saren wanted from Dr. T'Soni or why he wanted her out of the picture, but I think it would be a good idea to bring her along."
"Agreed," Kate replied grudgingly, "Dr. T'Soni certainly knows more about the Protheans than any of us do."
"Thank you, Captain," Liara replied, "Saren might come after me again and I cannot think of anywhere safer than here on your ship. My knowledge of the Protheans could prove more useful to you later on."
"Not to mention her biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts," Wrex added. He'd been so quiet – for him anyway – that Kate had thought he'd fallen asleep.
"Welcome aboard the Normandy, Dr. T'Soni," Kate stated, "I will have XO Pressly find you some quarters."
"Thank you, Captain, I am very grateful..." Liara began as she rose from her seat, apparently too fast as she wobbled on her feet and nearly fell back into her chair, "woah... I... am.. afraid I am feeling a bit light-headed."
Liara managed to stay on her feet, primarily because Castle caught her before she could fall over.
"When was the last time you ate?" he asked. "Or slept? Dr. Parish should take a look at you."
"It is probably just exhaustion," Liara replied, managing to find her balance again, "coupled with the shock of discovering the Prothean's true fate. I need some time to rest and process all of this."
At Kate's raised eyebrow, Liara nodded. "Still, it could not hurt to be... examined by a medical professional. It will give me a chance to think things through. Are we finished, Captain?"
"Of course, Dr. T'Soni," Kate replied, "go see Dr. Parish."
"Mission reports are filed, Captain," XO Pressly reported over the intercom. "Shall I patch you through to the council?"
Kate mulled it over for a few minutes, weighing whether the news that they had secured Matriarch Benezia's daughter would outweigh the destruction of a rare, nearly intact Prothean site and made a decision.
"Negative, Mister Pressly," she replied, "I think it would be better to consult with them directly when we have something concrete to give them about our progress."
"Aye Aye, Captain," XO Pressly responded. "Setting course for the Hades Gamma Cluster to rendezvous with the Orizaba battle group. Eta, four hours."
"Send my compliments to Rear Admiral Shepard," Beckett stated crisply, "and transmit our requisition list for resupply, Mister Pressly. You have the deck."
Four hours later
SSV Normandy dropped out of FTL within hailing distance of the Dreadnought Orizaba's battle group according to schedule, her IFF broadcasting over Alliance frequencies as they came within range of the battle group's interceptor screen.
"SSV Normandy this is Wild Card Lead," a woman's voice stated over the guard channel, "you are clear to approach on course two-three-niner to dock with SSV Saratoga for reloading and cargo transfer."
"Affirmative, Wild Card Lead," Captain Beckett replied. "Course two three niner acknowledged."
"Transferring you to Saratoga control, Normandy," Capt. Shane Vansen responded over the guard channel, "congratulations for scoring the first combat victory against the geth."
Ryan guided the Normandy through a textbook docking maneuver with the heavy cruiser SSV Saratoga. Captain Beckett, Chief Castle and XO Pressly met Commodore Ross, his wing commander Lt. Col. McQueen and Saratoga's Chief of the boat in the forward airlock for a small ceremony during which Chief Castle saluted and presented Commodore Ross with a broom to denote Normandy's "clean sweep" of the enemy during her first patrol. The three of them were then invited to take dinner at the Saratoga's officer's mess, which they accepted.
As Castle, Beckett and XO Pressly sat down to dinner, Chief Engineer Adams ordered Normandy's cargo bay depressurized and opened and a well choreographed dance began as engineering crews from both ships performed the laborious process of transferring dangerous munitions in space. Shortly after that process was completed, the fighter carrier, SSV Issac Asimov came alongside and a new Mako was transferred over to replace the one lost on Therum before Normandy's cargo door swung closed. After which the weapon control officers transferred the torpedoes to the magazine and the deck gang pored over the new Mako.
After taking on HE3 to refill her fuel tanks, a space-suited engineer came alongside Normandy's hull and painted a geth cruiser silhouette to the side of her hull just below the window of the flying bridge.
Whilst she was acting chief of the boat during Chief Castle's absence, Gunnery Chief Hastings began her inspection tour of the ship, paying special attention to the areas where the "non-regulation" crew members frequented.
Though she was aware of Captain Beckett's standing orders that their non-human crew-members were to be shown every courtesy, she couldn't just deny her suspicions out of hand. Her grandfather had served in the First Contact War under Admiral Kastanie Drescher during the reclamation of Shanxi and had personally led the detail that brought General Richard Rodgers who'd surrendered the Shanxi garrison -the only human commander to surrender to an alien race- back to Earth in chains. He'd never had a good thing to say about turians in particular or Aliens in general - regardless of species - in her lifetime.
Though her feelings about aliens were a lot less severe than her father and grandfather's, she couldn't deny her suspicions. She would not act on them without express orders from the captain, of course, but she couldn't deny them either. As a Marine, it wasn't in her nature to simply ignore her instincts, and they told her something was wrong in Denmark.
She'd looked into the Turian, Garrus Vakarian, first, but he kept to the areas he was assigned, behaved appropriately and his record in C-Sec spoke for itself. Besides, from what she'd been told, the Turians had co-developed the Normandy - her Turian design elements were hard to miss- so they had no need to place a spy aboard.
As far as she could tell, the asari, Dr. T'Soni rarely strayed far from the meager quarters assigned her near the mess hall and she was too socially awkward -especially for an Asari- to be a spy. She seemed too busy trying to chat up Chief Castle about the Prothean data crammed in his skull to notice that half the male crew and a few of the women were completely besotted with her.
The Krogan, Urdnot Wrex - aside from the potential for blood rage that surely posed a security risk- was barely able to pass from one compartment to another without every eye turning to him. He'd be the worst spy ever, not that Krogan were known for the subtlety required for espionage. From what she'd read of the Rachni Wars they were uplifted for one thing and one thing only, their propensity for violence. It had taken the Genophage bio-weapon after the Krogan Rebellions to severely curtail their ability to breed and bring their numbers under control. If Wrex didn't seem to thoroughly enjoy scaring the living bejesus out of half the crew, she'd almost feel sorry for them.
That left the quarian, Tali'Zorah, who was far too enthusiastic about Normandy's technology and spent nearly all of her spare time down in engineering. That her people had created the geth did not win her much in the way of sympathy points either. That one she would make a point of keeping an eye on.
"So, what do you think of the quarian?' Hastings asked Adams over lunch in the mess, thankful that his shadow tended to pick up her turian food paste and go back to her bunk in the infirmary where Dr. Parish had set her up in one of the clean rooms as a temporary living space.
"You mean Tali?" Adams replied. "She's been spending most of her time down in engineering asking me about our engines and how the drive core works."
Hastings did her best to cover her mortification, Adams' admission seemed to confirm her worst fears. She knew most of the crap the Terra Firma threw around was xenophobic nonsense. They'd had good ideas when they were founded, but had long been overrun with jingoists and "species purists" that made her sick to her stomach. Ann Hastings might not hold much trust for aliens, but she certainly meant them no ill will. Something she and her father had argued long and hard about at home when she announced that she had no interest in joining the party. Granddad thought she was too soft and hadn't spoken to her since.
"I'll talk to the Captain," Hastings replied, "get her to tell Tali to leave you alone."
"What?" Adams spluttered. "No! That kid's amazing, I wish all of my guys were as smart as her. Give that child a month and she'll know our engines better than I do. Captain Beckett certainly has a real eye for talent. She's already suggested drive core settings that have increased engine efficiency by twenty percent. I'd offer her a commission if I thought the brass would go for it."
"I assume you're taking all of the necessary security protocols?" Hastings asked before she could stop herself. Forgetting for barely a nanosecond that she was speaking to a superior officer. Adams didn't let that pass though.
"As you were, Gunnery Chief," Adams barked, watching the ramrod slide up her spine as she snapped to her feet at full attention. "I'll pretend you didn't just say that, but come at me like that again and I'll snap you back so hard you'll think you were back in boot. The Captain assured me these people can be trusted, that's enough for me. Understood, Gunny?"
"Sir, yes sir," Hastings replied. She knew she'd have to be more circumspect about keeping an eye on the quarian for the time being. Until she was sure that Tali'Zorah didn't pose a threat to her ship, she would keep her suspicions to herself and simply be vigilant.
An hour later Captain Beckett, XO Pressly and Chief Castle returned from the Saratoga, the Normandy disengaged and departed the Orizaba Battle Group.
In her absence a data packet had arrived from the Council with their next clue to investigate in the search for Saren. On Captain Beckett's order, the Normandy set course for the Horsehead Nebula and the frozen world of Noveria.
**Author's Note** I felt the last chapter was long enough, so I gave this part it's own chapter. For the record, no Ann Hastings is not a racist, but her grandfather definitely was and his xenophobia has left Ann with an arc of personal growth ahead. One that I wish the Mass Effect Series had worked though more carefully story-wise with the Ashley Williams character.
Yes, I watched "Space: Above and Beyond" back in 1995, what wasn't to love? It lasted longer than Firefly, but not by much and had an even more unsatisfying ending, if that's possible. (WTF Fox network?)
History lesson: A "clean sweep" for a naval vessel refers to having "swept the enemy from the seas," or a completely successful mission. It is traditionally indicated by hanging a broom from a mast or lashing it to the periscope of a submarine. The United States Submarine Service during WWII generally considered a patrol a "clean sweep" if the sub sank every target she engaged.