Chapter 30

Shepard stared down at the starry expanse of the CIC's galaxy map.

"Commander Shepard. XO Anchor is looking for you," Jane said.

"Tell him where I am then."

Jane just nodded. A little over half way back, and the mere mention of his name made her teeth grind. He'd spent the last week resuming his duties with gusto. It was more irritating than if he'd returned with a passive aggression or maybe even overt aggression.

"Commander." Anchor's voice came behind her.

She didn't turn. "What is it?"

"Communication from Langley Station."

Shepard snapped around, "What?"

"Langley Station. You know it? The one we took from the Batarian's. Important way point enforcing slave laws, but you'd know all about that."

Shepard didn't say anything. She'd moved past that long ago if it was meant to upset her. Her past with Mindoir was hardened and hidden under calluses layers deep.

"I know of it." Shepard faced him. "What communication?"

"It must still have survivors, Commander. We've gotten pings."

"This true?" Shepard eyed Jane.

It must have been a sharp look, because Jane took a step back and rushed to say, "I hadn't heard any calls."

"Ask Moreau," Anchor said. "Started a few hours ago."

"You didn't think to tell me?"

"You were off duty. Didn't want to bother you. Langley's days off our course. A few hours wouldn't make a difference."

Shepard lowered her voice. "Next time, come get me for anything like that."

A few privates paused across the CIC map and watched them.

"We abandoned Langley when the war started," Shepard said.

Anchor shrugged. "I'm all for staying on course, Commander."

Shepard folded her arms and studied the floor. If there was a chance anyone was alive though.

"I'll check a few things," she said finally and walked to the war room.

She rounded the war room's table up to the comm. It was flashing again. She pounded a fist on it, and it went off. She entered her Spectre codes requesting Alliance intel on Langley. The Council comm operatives should pass her request on to the Alliance. She shouldn't have to wait too long, at least, she hoped.

X

Shepard hung over the railing in engineering to glimpse the reserve core Adams pointed out.

"No problems then?" Shepard asked.

Adams shook his head. "No. What Tali—the quarians—came up with, it's certainly not as practical as fuel stations or as safe, but it's amazing work. Just a few adjustments, I think we can squeeze some more juice out of her."

"We're set then," Shepard said.

"Lola."

James pushed through some engineers fussing over a terminal by the door. Cortez barreled ahead of him with a stormy expression.

"Something the matter?" she asked.

Cortez stopped in front of her.

Adams looked between them. "I'll be around if you need anything more, Commander."

"Thanks, Adams."

Adams went over to the other engineers. Cortez's face sweated redly as James came up beside.

"What's going on?" She glanced between them.

Cortez glanced around, shifted his body to block her from sight, and he pulled something out of his pocket. He shoved it into her hand. Shepard stared down at coiled cord intertwined Red and blue cables. Copper wires stuck out of the frayed ends.

"This doesn't mean anything to me." She curled her fingers around the coil and looked up at them.

Cortez lowered his voice. "Anchor was messing around with that panel, remember? Found that the second time we went down at the site we'd landed before. Didn't know what it was. Tried to show it to you, but you were busy."

"It's a cord."

"That's all it was to me, too, until one of the turiens saw it in my tool kit. He'd worked infiltration during the contact war. It's an amplifier cord. That panel Anchor was digging around in was the lift pulse drive. This puts the feedback loop into overdrive by connect the drive with the accelerator—"

"Just …" Shepard held up her hand with a sigh. "Just need the punchline."

"It'd blow the shuttle apart," James said.

"Blow it apart?" Shepard's eyebrows shot up.

"Quiet!" Cortez ducked his head and glanced around them.

The engineers still huddled over the same terminal down the way. A couple of turiens had joined them pointing at something in the panel.

"Blow up the shuttle?" Shepard said in a heated whisper. "Where'd it come from?"

"If it was installed, circuited in, it could cause an explosion on the lift through the atmosphere when returning to the ship."

"Not before then?"

"It's the lift drive," Cortez said. "You don't use it much leaving the ship and descending. Ascending though, it'd be full throttle."

"And the shuttle would explode?" Shepard asked.

"That shuttle? Definitely. That things a flamethrower, a combustor. Even a good shuttle though, like the V590 Viper, even it would lose control. A crash from atmosphere level isn't a crash you're walking away from."

"This feedback loop," Shepard said, "it works in any shuttle type?"

"Yeah. Turiens used them a lot on us during the war. Got to where you checked before jumping in the shuttle and quacking the throttle. I've never actually seen one. Illegal, but they're around."

"You told one of the turiens about this?"

"No," Cortez said. "He just saw it. Didn't know why I had it."

Shepard rubbed a temple and frowned.

"A shuttle explosion," Shepard repeated. "Anchor thought I was leading that operation."

James's eyed her grimly. "Probably why he disappeared down there. Had to rip it out. Didn't want to die in a fiery blaze. Wouldn't of minded seeing us streaking the sky like a comet though. Probably you too."

"He'd be CO right now if it worked. Have the shard."

"That prothean thing?" James asked. "He wants that?"

"Terra Firma may. They counted on me getting it. Now I'm just be a barrier."

"He's working alone though, right?" James asked.

"I damn well hope so."

She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. If this was true, he wasn't just a theoretical danger. Shepard dropped her hand and looked at them.

"You didn't see him with this cord?" She lifted it in her fist.

Cortez shook his head. Shepard looked at James. He frowned and shook his head as if surprised she'd even ask him.

"This cable couldn't have been at the first landing site because it came from something else?"

Cortez nodded. "It wasn't exposed to the elements, so I'm pretty sure."

"Pretty sure?" Shepard sighed. "You didn't see him tampering with the shuttle some time before we went down? You don't remember a time he could've installed it?"

"No. Lot of time he could have done it though."

Shepard swallowed. "The quantum communicator's been acting up. I've seen him in there."

James's eyebrows rose. "What's that mean?"

"I don't know. He could've gone in my room. I need to get my codes reassigned. James," she turned to him, "change the lock code to the armory. Inventory everything. Change the armory's safe combination. That shard needs secured no matter what. We need something on him more than just suspicion though."

"He's got that datapad he carries around all the time. Probably has messages on it and stuff," James said.

"Good. Let's see if we can get our hands on it. Briggs is following him."

James grunted as if he disagreed.

"Most of the time," Shepard added. "If we can pinch that datapad, let's do it. We have a few more weeks back. We aren't dropping this, but we can't act on it without something more than speculation."

James and Cortez nodded. Shepard moved past them to the elevator. This was making her mind race.