Chapter 7

"There was a virus embedded in the vid-mail you received from Kahje, Commander. It was inert until the last day cycle." EDI's blue globe blinked at him in the cockpit.

"In other words, it was like the Reaper IFF all over again," Shepard said, scowling. He'd liked Asaera; respected her for being willing to perform a thankless task, for watching over Thane when Kolyat and Shepard couldn't be there. Had she been playing him the whole time? Why?

The answer was obvious: Cerberus. He'd been dodging Cerberus' attempts to bring him back to the fold ever since he destroyed the Collector base and told the Illusive Man who would be calling the shots from then on. "Timmy-boy" knew better than to try to kill him—Shepard was too much of an investment; too important to the fate of humanity—but that didn't stop him from various hack attempts, bribery, and other heavy-handed efforts. This was just the latest.

"The analogy is similar," EDI admitted, "though the signal in the Reaper IFF was far more sophisticated. This virus did not disable any of the Normandy's primary systems."

"As far as I can tell, Commander, the virus was just to 'distract' EDI long enough to get a look at our systems and set off a few alarms while the virus poked around." Joker lifted his cap and scratched the crown of his head.

"So did they get what they came for?" Shepard looked at EDI's blue globe.

"They were able to retrieve some information before I blocked the attempt, but all of it was non-critical, non-sensitive data. I may have blocked them before they were able to siphon what they wanted."

"Okay." Shepard nodded. "But from now on, full firewalls and other defenses up when we link to a comm buoy or any other outside communications port. I also want you to scrub any incoming transmission that could contain something like this. It might be worth it to self-diagnose at least once a week too."

"Doing so will create a lag in our communications operations, Commander."

"That's an order, EDI."

"Understood, Commander."

"I told you not to talk back to Shepard," Joker muttered out of the side of his mouth.

"The Commander is still within auditory range, Jeff."

"He knows, EDI. That's part of the fun," Shepard said.

"I see," she said, though it was clear she didn't.

Shepard turned and walked back toward the main part of the CIC. He had half a mind to turn the Normandy around and head back to Kahje so he could get some answers from the yellow drell personally, but he had a responsibility to keep Kolyat safe. Not to mention he still had to retrieve Samara from Omega—not exactly the best place to be wandering around with a young drell who didn't even know how to use a gun. Cerberus was after Shepard—not Kolyat. It wasn't right to keep him in the line of fire.

There was really only one place the kid might be safe. Shepard called back over his shoulder, "Joker, set a course for the Citadel."

"Uh, roger that, Commander. What about Samara?"

Shepard shook his head. "We'll have to make two trips. Anderson will understand."

I hope.

Shepard palmed the bio-metric release on his door and it hissed open. Kolyat scratched at his neck, looking awkward. Shepard couldn't exactly blame him—their conversation over the last couple of days of FTL travel had been stilted and forcefully polite.

"This… this is your room?" The young drell sounded reluctantly impressed. "Hey, are those ships?" He took a few enthusiastic steps to the display case behind the desk.

"Yep. Couldn't help myself when I found the model for the SR1 Normandy," Shepard chuckled. "Then it just seemed lonely in there by itself, so I had to get others." He pointed to the glass case release button. "Go ahead and open it up if you want."

Kolyat did so, taking special care as he removed the model of a turian cruiser from its display knobs.

"Kolyat, I know that I haven't been really good at this... but I hope you know that any time you need to talk, you can come find me, day or night." Shepard eyed the young drell, but his expression was unreadable as he turned the model ship around in his hands.

"What if…" Kolyat began, not looking at him, "what if there's someone… here?"

Shepard blinked. "Someone…?"

"You know… someone else. With you. Here." The folds of Kolyat's leathery neck seemed to bloom a deeper red. Shepard almost laughed out loud. So he and Miranda hadn't been as secretive as they thought.

"Well, it shouldn't be a problem." Shepard rubbed the back of his neck, thinking of how Miranda was avoiding him at the moment. "Just tell EDI you'd like to speak with me, and she'll wake me up and, uh…. give me fair warning."

Kolyat nodded, his fingers teasing the extendable gun turrets on the model ship. "Are you sure I can't go with you to Omega?"

"Yeah. It's a dangerous place," Shepard said, leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed. "Plus, if someone tries to infiltrate the Normandy again, I don't want you in harm's way."

"I can take care of myself," Kolyat muttered, though without heat.

Shepard put a hand on the kid's shoulder. "Kolyat, if something happened to you..." He shook his head. "I don't know if drell believe in ghosts, but I'm pretty sure your father would come back to kill me if I led you into harm's way. Everyone on this ship is trained in combat—you're not. We've been boarded before by enemies and it could happen again. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Then I want to be trained." Kolyat's eyes came up to meet Shepard's. They were calm; determined—Shepard didn't see any bloodlust or childish eagerness in the young drell's gaze. He nodded slowly.

"Alright. When I can squeeze in some time, and get you the proper paperwork from Bailey, we'll get you sidearm certified."

Kolyat's inner eyelids nictitated. "Really? I mean—yeah, great!"

Shepard held his gaze. "You will also have sessions with Kelly—or another therapist if you're on the Citadel."

"What? I don't need to see a shrink!" the young drell protested.

Shepard shook his head. "Kolyat, you've been hit with a lot these past few months: your father coming back into your life, trying to undo ten years of neglect; your attempt to harm that turian politician, and then your father's death."

Kolyat looked away.

Shepard stepped forward and gripped the drell's shoulder forcing him to look up at him. "There's no shame in seeking help when you're having problems. I've been talking to Kelly almost every week ever since I woke up."

"Really?" Kolyat looked doubtful. "But you always seem so… put together."

Shepard shook his head. "I'm the commanding officer of this ship—it's part of the job. Mostly, it's part acting and partly because Kelly helps me sort out the jumble of baggage I carry around." He sat back, leaning against his desk as he rubbed his brow.

"I grew up on Earth – the human homeworld. I never knew my mother and my father—my biological father. The man whose house I lived in said he was my step-father. He…" A muscle twitched in Shepard's jaw. "He was a drunk. I learned early to avoid the apartment after he came home from work, because sure as clockwork, he'd hit the booze. Sometimes it just made him sleepy; sometimes it made him mean." Shepard shook his head. "I was ten years old when I decided I'd had enough—I joined a gang to learn how to hit back."

"You were… like me then," Kolyat said, looking at him, eyebrow ridges pulled together. "Before you and dad found me."

Shepard nodded, surprised but seeing the analogy. "And just like Thane saved you from becoming a murderer, someone saved me from myself as well. It was because of his influence that I left the streets and joined the Alliance. He saved my life." He eyed the drell, a little embarrassed at how much he was revealing. "If I've been… distant, it's because of that—because of my step-father. I've always hated my temper—it was too much like his. I think that if I lose control, it's like he's winning."

Kolyat touched his cheek fringe. "So… that time when you came with dad to stop me… when you hit me? That was…?"

"No!" Shepard said sharply, then took a deep breath, calming down. "No, I have never hit a civilian out of anger. To be honest, when I hit you, I was just hoping to distract C-Sec; I thought they would shoot you before Thane had a chance to talk you down." Shepard shook his head. "Angry? Not at all. I was scared out of my mind." He glanced up, rueful. "Sorry about that, by the way."

Kolyat shrugged, fiddling again with the model ship. "It didn't hurt that bad—mostly just startled me."

"Well, you got your revenge anyway," Shepard chuckled, pointing to the skin on his knuckles. "Turns out drell skin against human skin isn't exactly a nice match—I got a very itchy rash on my hand. Wouldn't go away for days. Mordin was thrilled; chattered on and on about 'interspecies' interactions and the unexpected things that happened."

Kolyat laughed and Shepard felt a jolt when he realized it was the first time he'd heard such a happy sound coming from the young drell.

"You hungry?" Shepard glanced at the clock on his desk. "Rupert told me he's making lasagna."

Kolyat's brow crinkled. "I don't know what that is…"

"Guess you'll just have to find out then." Shepard chuckled.

Kolyat made a chuffing noise deep in his throat. "You know, you're not as cool as people think you are."

Shepard looked sidelong at him, but there was an amused lift to Kolyat's segmented mouth, so he grinned. "Laugh it up, Kolyat."

Despite Kolyat's verbal acceptance at being dropped off at the Citadel, when the Normandy actually arrived, he was back to his brooding silence and curt, monosyllabic replies to questions.

Shepard walked him out of the Normandy, nodding to the C-Sec officer—a human woman—who'd come to escort him back.

"Hey, Kolyat," she said with a kind smile. "Welcome home. Captain Bailey will be glad to see you; his datapad froze up again this morning and he won't let the techs near it. Says only you're allowed to touch it."

Kolyat glowered at the floor, not responding, and Shepard caught the officer's eye with a shrug. "Thank you, Officer."

"Not a problem, sir."

Shepard thought about leaving right then, but Kolyat's apartment likely needed fresh groceries after being empty for so long. He joined the officer and Kolyat in the quick cab from the docking bay to the C-Sec offices on Zakera Ward.

"Kolyat," Shepard said, as the young drell slipped the garish "volunteer" vest on over his clothes, "I'll be back before you know it, okay? And when this thing is over—I'll see about staying on the Citadel until your community service is over. How does that sound?"

Kolyat looked at him, then away. "Don't you have a galaxy to save?" He walked away, leaving Shepard staring after him.

If you like Kolyat stories, you should also go read ghost.713's Kolyat story "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained." It's pretty fantastic.