Chapter 33

Shepard stepped out the elevator into the cargo bay. She collided into James.

"Whoa. Happy to see you too, Lola," James said grinning crookedly and waggled his eyebrows.

"Where are you going?" Shepard stepped out of his way.

James watched the elevator doors close and turned to her. "Engineering. Esteban's going over some stuff with Adams. Thought I'd join the fun. Stop getting all solitario, right?"

"Didn't know engineering talk qualified as fun in your book."

"There are worse things to talk about. For instance …" He leaned an arm against the wall and glanced over his shoulder. A group of station soldiers huddled in the cargo bay's corner talking. "Those guys … eh."

"Eh, huh?" Shepard smirked. "Won't play card with you?"

"Nope. Get the feeling they'd have excellent poker faces too."

"That right?"

"Oh, yeah. Had some weird chit-chat with 'em."

There were six of them. They face in toward each other in a circle and gestured as they spoke. The one woman in the group kept glancing over her shoulder at them.

"Seems like a tight bunch," Shepard said.

"No joke, Lola. Try to ask anything friendly, you aint getting far. Not forthcoming. And that one? Asked about her role on the station. Still shivering from the freeze out."

"Did you open with the line about the showers?"

"Nah, Lola, feel special. That's only you." He grinned pushing off from the wall. "Either way, they're a weird group."

"Maybe that's what years stranded in space does."

"Don't know about that. Ten months stranded in space, and we couldn't wait to bust off this ride. But them? It's like it melded them together."

"Commander," Brigg's voice said into Shepard's earpiece.

"Yeah, Briggs. What is it?"

"Want to come up here?"

"Why?"

"I just stepped out for a moment, I swear, Commander."

Shepard's face crunched. She glanced at James and hit the elevator button. Damnit. What now?

X

Briggs lurked the engineer's floor portside doorway. Shepard remembered Diana Aller standing in the corner speaking to her floating camera. Now, Anchor slumped against the wall with his hands secured to a piping vent by biotic cuffs. At he was still here then. Shepard shot a frown at Briggs and caught her eye on the figure slouched against the wall by the door.

"What're you doing here?"

Sable's lazy eyes met Shepard's.

"Commander Shepard." He gave her a nod. "Just exploring the ship. Didn't realize you had a prisoner in here."

"Got back from taking a piss. Found him here with Anchor," Briggs said.

Anchor met her eyes with a blank stare and repositioned her wrists on the vent.

"You didn't lock the door?" Shepard asked Briggs.

"It was a piss not a … uh, dumb, you know?"

Shepard's mouth tightened, and she gave him a long stare. Briggs was definitely getting fired on this. He may be their biggest marine, but he was an idiot. She'd bring Stofsky up here instead.

Shepard moved over to Sable. "Did you talk to him? He's obviously in detention."

"Commander Shepard, I apparently caused a problem. I'm sorry about it. I was walking around, came across him. Just curious why someone's chained to the wall. Wouldn't you be?"

"If I was curious, I'd ask the CO, not talk to him myself. Interesting timing. His guard being gone."

"I suppose so …" Sable cocked his head. He folded his meaty arms and staring off as if considering it.

"And you?" Shepard turned to Anchor. "You have a nice chat with Captain Sable?"

Anchor didn't answer. She turned back to Sable.

"Leave." She gave him a pointed stare.

He shrugged and stepped away from the wall. "Sorry about that, Commander. I regret the misunderstanding. I'll restrict myself to public areas." He paused in the doorway. "All good with me doing some physical training in the cargo bay with my guys? We get cabin fever boxed up like this."

"Fine," Shepard said but gave him a sharp look. "Stay to the public areas. You and your men. This was not acceptable."

"Understood, Commander."

He disappeared out the doorway.

"Briggs," Shepard eyed him. "Go get Stofsky. You can find other duties. You should have been watching him. If you needed a break, find someone to relieve you. Even for a piss."

Briggs face drooped under her words, but he nodded. "Yes, Commander."

"Go."

He stalked away. Shepard moved over to Anchor.

"Anchor, I want the truth from you."

He glared up at her but didn't speak.

"Let me tell you what I think," Shepard said. "I think you're working for Terra Firma."

His eyelid twitched. She sank down to the floor and rested on her heels in front of him. He straightened away from the wall and stared her back in the eye.

"You want that shard, and you've concocted some plan to get it. Am I right?"

Anchor frowned. "That's preposterous."

"Why'd you break the quantum communicator? That chip I took off you has some code on it. What's it say? No answer? How about the shuttle? You really thought you could just blow us up?"

His eyes bulged.

"You know this guy?" Shepard motioned at the doorway. "You met Captain Sable before, Anchor?"

"No! I've never met him."

"He connected to Terra Firma?"

"Him? How should I know!"

"What about your little talk?"

Anchor sank back. His head tapped against the wall as his stare sharpened. Shepard folded her hands and stared back at him.

"You know," he said, "I respected what you did. Don't necessarily agree on the decisions you made to get there, but the end results. You charged in, did what thousands of others couldn't. And, I respect that. But you're done. You should have just died up there. It'd be a better death than fading away as a disappointment."

"That supposed to hurt my feelings, Anchor?" Shepard raised an eyebrow.

"I hate you," he said softly. "I can't wait to see you thrown off that pedestal. I hope I'm there when it happens. When you're bleeding out and no one around to help, I'll be in line for my turn to grind your face into the dirt."

Shepard smirked and rose.

"You're not clever enough, Anchor. You haven't covered your tracks. I'll find what you're about. The only line you'll be waiting in is for the firing squad. I'd love being the one at the trigger. You want to talk, make a deal, let me know. Other than that, you can go to hell, you son of bitch."

She stood outside the door and waited for Stofsky. Blood rushed in her veins, and she checked the time on her Omni-Tool. The closer they got to Earth, they closer they got to offloading that bastard.

X

"Joker," Shepard walked up to the cockpit. "How far out are we from getting FTL comm signal?"

"'Hi' to you too, Commander."

"Joker," Shepard sighed.

"Forty-eight hours we might pick up some stuff. Probably be spotty, staticky as hell. Gagarin's still a good way off, Commander. That detour put us off course."

"Plans for the next discharge?"

"Ten hours off. Given the planet's mass, probably be eight to zero charge."

"Good." Shepard turned.

"Hey, Shepard."

Shepard stopped. Joker swung around in his chair.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"Just thought you should know. Marx, one of those space station chaps, yeah … I think he's planning on taking me out or something."

"What?" Shepard spun around. "What the hell does that mean?"

Joker's mouth dropped. "That, uh, hit some button?"

Shepard glanced over her shoulder then stepped in closer. "What do you mean?"

His eyebrows drew together watching her.

"Jeff …"

"Not 'Jeff.' I really did it, huh?" he asked. "Bet you've seen my middle name in a record somewhere. You're just holding in reserve for when I really, really do it."

"I'm serious here."

"I know! You called me 'Jeff.'"

Shepard glared. "Don't say something like that if you don't mean it."

She stood up and waved a hand back at him as she turned.

"I'll talk to you later."

"Wait," Joker said. "I mean, well, I was joking. Kinda. But I'm serious too."

"Okay." Shepard gave a long sigh pivoting back to him.

"Yeah, I mean, that guy, Marx, he's up here all the time since we left Langley. If the geth weren't gone, I'd be seriously wondering if he was one."

Shepard's jaw tightened at the mention of the geth, but she let it go.

"You're worried, because he's up here all the time?" she said.

"Well, yeah. I mean, come on. He brought his food up here to eat."

"You're up here all the time."

"Yeah, but I'm the pilot. It's different. He's, you know, a passenger I guess or whatever."

Shepard folded her arms.

"So, what's he doing? Bother you and Michael. I don't see Marx here now."

"Yeah, think I finally wore him out. Must actually be sleeping or something."

"Sleeping? When do you get off? You've been with him the whole time, and now he's finally gone for his bunk. What's that tell me about you?"

"Not the point, Commander."

"Then get to it."

"Well, he's asking all sorts of weird questions. Pilot type questions."

Shepard shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe he is one. We picked up soldiers that probably worked all sorts of jobs on that station. You spend over a year and a half stuck on a station. You'd be the first person up bothering the pilot until you couldn't stay awake any longer."

Joker tilted his head and put his lips out as if considering. "Maybe. But, I don't know. Something's off."

"What though?"

"I don't know," Joker said. "Just never mind, I guess."

Shepard leaned her shoulder into the wall. She felt the same thing. Something was off. Her mind rolled over the facts, but she couldn't figure out what.

"I feel it too," she said simply.

Joker rubbed his beard. "What do you think it is?"

Shepard shook her head. "I'm not sure, not yet. But I'll find out."

"How?"

"I'll have to think about it. Until then, tell me if Marx comes back. I want to talk to him."

"Aye, aye, Commander." Joker gave a small smile.

Shepard backed up and turned down the gangway to the CIC. Her eyes fell on the war room's doorway, but she looked away. The QEC was still down. Even it wasn't, there wasn't anyone to talk to there. The council, Admiral Wilson, even Admiral Hackett, they couldn't do anything. They wouldn't have any insight to some intangible, irrational "feeling." She needed to do something though.

"Commander, you okay?" Jane asked.

"Uh, yeah. I'm good. Thanks, Jane."

Shepard marched to the elevator. She'd just have to watch them then. She'd watch them herself until she couldn't stand up right if she had to. And when she couldn't stand upright anymore, she'd have James or Jensen or Plastino watch them. They'd be watched day and night cycle until they reached Earth. Then, they'd sort it. They just had to get that far.

Shepard walked into the shuttle bay and took a spot against the wall. A few of her shuttle bay crew glanced back at her from the horseshoe console in front of the elevator. In the distance, the space station soldiers ran laps around the crates.

X

Shepard lingered outside the lounge by the elevator. The station soldiers had laid out their cots in the lounge and shut the door. She'd sat at a mess hall table and chatted idly with Jensen for a while, but it was getting late. She pressed her ear against the lounge door. Quiet. She checked the time on her Omni-Tool that Adams had pieced back together. Two hours since they went in. They must really be sleeping. She swung around the corner of the mess hall. Jensen looked up from her bowl of soup. Shepard leaned in with a low voice.

"Hey. Keep an eye on our friends will you?" Shepard tilted her head toward the lounge. "Have Jane message me in my room if they stir."

"Aye, aye," she nodded.

"If they go separate ways, just stay with Sable. And call me," Shepard emphasized.

She scurried to the elevator. She'd get what rest she could, then she'd be right back down here. She was going to be their shadow until they walked out the airlock into HQ.