Chapter 11: Homecoming
As she poked his chest playfully, Miranda asked Shepard, "What are you thinking about?"
Having the genetically perfect woman laying next to him, he wished he could focus on any of a hundred other pleasant thoughts, but Jared Shepard couldn't help but think about this next mission and how the ship felt so empty.
He smiled, deflecting his concerns, "How could I think of anything else but you?"
She laughed gently, and said, "You're a terrible liar, Shepard. You've hardly looked at me, and that is not like you, one bit."
Rising, he had but a moment to admire her naked body before she found the robe she had left in his quarters and covered herself. She walked to the small cooking unit and put water, preparing two mugs for tea. As she looked back, she smiled, and said, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Jared knew how this conversation would go, and asked in return, "Do I have a choice?"
Taking mock offense, Miranda said, "You always have a choice. You can tell me now," and then she offered her brightest smile, "or you could tell me later." As she waited for the water to come to a boil in the small microwave she commented "But I don't know if you'll like my methods if you make me wait."
Jared couldn't help but laugh as he said, "I'm a prisoner on my own ship. How will the great Commander Shepard escape this one?"
Lawson tossed a sugar cube at him, "Most men would love to be my captive. Now spill!"
Jared began to open up, "It feels like this ship is empty with everyone gone on their own missions. And heading back to Earth, it has been years for me, and I just don't know what to expect."
He thought about all that had happened since he took command of the first Normandy. It had been a nonstop whirlwind, but through all that time, he had never made Earthfall. It was funny how that life seemed to be literally a lifetime ago, when he was just another boy on those crowded streets.
Miranda took the hot water out and poured it into the containers. She drank hers with a little lemon, where Jared took sugar and cream. Walking back, she offered, "Well, you're a hero. That should count for something, right?"
He laughed and said, "Or a traitor. It depends on the day, probably. I remember Captain Anderson once told me something that stuck with me: There is no more dangerous encounter you'll have than with your own command."
Shepard thought about their plan to rejoin the Systems Alliance, about how he had enjoyed the flexibility of being an independent operator even though he didn't trust Cerberus, and didn't know what to expect.
"Miranda, do you think we're doing the right thing going back?"
She took a sip of her tea and looked thoughtful for a moment, "I think you're doing what has to be done. Humanity needs to be prepared, and Cerberus could only do so much." She didn't share his distaste for the organization, but she understood it better and had become more balanced in her appraisal.
"Honestly, I don't know how I feel about putting on the uniform. But, I know I belong here fighting with you, so I will do my best," she said with obvious affection.
Jared smiled before saying, "And here I found myself hoping you would do your worst!"
"Well, Commander," she responded, "I think you'll need to save your energy for that."
Just as she put down her tea to get to other business, a call interrupted the two lovers,
"Commander Shepard," called the familiar voice of Yeoman Chambers, "Incoming transmission from Admiral Hackett. Where would you like to take it?"
Jared grunted as he got up, thinking about how lousy this timing was, especially as the ship would be at Earth in just a few more hours. In response to the summons he said, "Thanks, Kelly. I'll take it in my cabin."
All business as if nothing had happened, Miranda asked, "Would you like me to go?"
Shepard shook his head and said, "Whatever it is, you'll know soon enough anyway. Just don't say anything."
The voluptuous brunette saluted, and slid back down into the covers to listen.
While she did that, Shepard put on his uniform. It wouldn't do for him to appear as he actually was, as Hackett had been one of his best allies, and probably was contacting him for a reason. Though he didn't know what that could be, he hoped it was nothing terrible.
As he sat at his desk before the terminal, he said to EDI, "Patch it through."
The face of Admiral Steven Hackett appeared before the Commander, and he offered this acknowledgment.
"Admiral, the Normandy is en route to Earth as we speak and we should be there in two hours."
"Goddamnit, Shepard, have you been listening to any of the news reports?" exclaimed the man with the white mustache and beard.
"No, sir. Has something happened?" Shepard asked with obvious alarm as he thought of all the possibilities that might follow.
"Read it yourself," said the Admiral, as he transmitted a story from the Constant Times, one of the most widely read terrestrial newspapers which appeared on the terminal before Shepard.
Commander Shepard Strikes Back
Commander Jared Shepard, savior of the Citadel, has struck another blow in defense of humanity. Working as an undercover agent for the Systems Alliance, he led a successful mission to extract captured scientists from a Batarian prison located in the Viper Nebula. When the Batarians attempted to reclaim the prisoners, Shepard destroyed the prison planet in retaliation, taking necessary action against the Batarian threat.
As this publication has reported on many prior occasions, the Batarians remain a nuisance to the legitimate aspirations of humanity to colonize the Terminus Systems, and they have never forgotten or forgiven the beaten we gave them at Torfan. Commander Shepard, who is expected to return to Earth within the next few days, deserves a hero's welcome for ridding the galaxy of this filth.
As Shepard finished reading the story, he swallowed and wondered what it meant. He was angry to think some rag would accuse him of murdering 300,000 sentient beings just to make a statement, and yet it painted him as some renegade hero.
"Admiral, I didn't tell anyone the story except the Council as we had agreed," claimed Shepard as he thought more carefully about who knew what and when.
Hackett, visibly irate, said, "Half the admiralty wants your head on a stick, and the other half wants to give you a medal."
The Admiral continued, "I don't know how this happened, but as soon as the Batarians get wind of this, they will be pushed into going to war unless we offer you in return. You know that, don't you?"
As it dawned on the Commander just what sort of hole he had been backed into, he thought about who would do something like this and whispered, "Cerberus."
"Speak up," responded the Admiral, "if you know something."
"Sir, I believe this to be the work of Cerberus," he said as he looked over at Miranda, who said nothing but listened intently, "They could not have been happy about the impending defection of the Normandy, and this sounds just like the sort of game the Illusive Man likes to play."
"I don't know, but it doesn't matter now," responded the leader of the Fifth Fleet. "Damned if we're going to give any man to the blood sucking Batarians, innocent or not, but this is a real quagmire that is coming. You were supposed to be discreet, Jared."
"Sorry, Admiral," he said with exasperation, "I was too busy fighting the enemies in front of me to worry about the ones who were busy stabbing me in the back."
Hackett relented a bit, "Point taken, Commander. We will have to sort this out when you get here, but I want you to rendezvous with me at Arcturus before you return to Earth."
"Yes, sir. Is there anything else?" asked Shepard.
"Watch yourself, Jared. That'll be all."
The transmission ended abruptly, leaving Shepard to puzzle it all out. Was he right to suspect Cerberus, or was there another actor involved? Who would do this, and why? Who would benefit from a war between the Systems Alliance and the Batarians at this point? They might be slavers and Shepard had never met a Batarian he trusted, but open conflict was not something they sought unless honor demanded it. He could think of a few hundred thousand reasons why this would be the case.
Miranda stood up and walked over to Shepard, asking him, "Why do you think Cerberus did this?"
The Commander said, "Because every time I walk into a trap, it is either set by the Reapers or by your old boss. And we already stopped the Reapers this week."
Ignoring the gibe, Lawson offered her own analysis, "Cerberus never thought highly of the Batarians and clearing them from the Terminus Systems for good would certainly assist Human settlement of that region. But who would have told them this information?"
Shepard looked over at Miranda with a critical eye for just a half moment, before thinking better of it, but it was too late.
"You think I did this. Jared, after all we've been through, why would you even…"
He stopped her speaking before she had the chance to get really upset by saying, "Of course not. I was just working through the list of people who it could be, and I know it wasn't you" and as he thought a little more, he said, "or Jacob, for that matter."
Not quite mollified, she said, "Of course it wasn't. You have a whole crew of people here who were put in place by Cerberus. It could be anyone."
The thought hurt Shepard more than he wanted to admit, thinking one of the men or women he had saved would be sharing sensitive information. He wanted, no, needed to trust the crew of the Normandy implicitly, and this seed of doubt had been planted.
"EDI, can you track where outgoing messages are sent?" asked the Commander.
"Yes, Commander, but it would violate my privacy protocols to share personal content of the messages which is restricted."
Frustrated by this response, Shepard didn't know what to ask. Miranda did, however, "EDI, is it possible to determine if any messages were sent to the following Cerberus accounts in the past week?"
She rattled off a series of accounts that presumably went to different leadership figures within the clandestine organization. Besides the Illusive Man, there were other heads of different cells, all of whom Miranda seemed to know.
"Yes, it is possible. Would you like me to do this, Commander?" asked the virtual intelligence.
"Do it," said Jared authoritatively as he waited for a response.
"The last message sent to the mentioned accounts was six days ago, and it was sent from the personal terminal of Dr. Miranda Lawson."
She opened her mouth in shock, and looked at Shepard with disbelief, "Jared, you have to believe me. I didn't do anything."
Shepard didn't say anything, but simply thought through the situation. "EDI, do you have video footage of Miranda's office at the time in question?"
"Yes, Commander. Would you like to see it?"
"Please, EDI," said the Commander as the footage came upon his monitor. With Miranda standing behind him, they both saw the same images. Miranda was sitting in her office, as she normally did, typing away at her machine. It was impossible to tell what she was writing from the angle of the camera, but she was the unmistakable figure.
Getting angry, Miranda now said, "This is bullshit. I didn't do anything."
Choosing to use discretion, Shepard said, "I didn't say you did. But we need to get to the bottom of this, and figure out why messages are going from your terminal to Cerberus."
Nodding her head though shaken, Lawson began thinking what she would do next, "Right. I am going to get to the bottom of this." Reaching up to give Jared a peck on the cheek, she went into the hallway wearing nothing more than her robe and went down the lift.
Jared didn't want to believe Miranda would do such a thing, but it was her role in the past. He trusted her, but trust was a funny thing. Keeping that in mind, he said to EDI, "Keep an eye on her terminal and her office, and if anything is sent to any unknown account, let me know before it is sent."
The pleasant mechanized voice simply said, "Yes, Commander."
The trouble on the ship was almost enough to distract Jared from the larger issue that another species would now be looking for his blood. The Batarians and Humans had never liked one another, and they had already fought a war in the past. While it was a resounding victory for humanity, he didn't want to be the cause of another major conflict.
Unable to clear his thoughts, Shepard walked down to the armory to find Taylor down there inspecting some weapons. He had out a series of pistols, making sure each was shined to perfection, and he stopped only for a moment when the Commander entered.
"Shepard, good to see you," said Jacob. He offered his fist for a bump, a personal greeting the two men had developed during their time together.
Pointing to the guns, he explained, "I like to be ready for anything."
Jared understood the feeling all too well and made a suggestion he had not made before, "Why don't we go shoot a few rounds off and we'll see who is the better shot?"
As it was, Shepard was a very effective infiltrator, using pistols with expert marksmanship. For all his skill, however, he doubted he could compare with Taylor. But it would be a fun contest, and he needed the distraction.
"Sounds good, Commander," said the weapons specialist. "What will you be shooting today?"
He pulled out a selection of various handheld weapons ranging from common designs from the major arms manufacturers to some one-of-a-kind pieces Shepard had found during their travels such as Collector firearms.
"I'll take the Phalanx," said Shepard. "And you?"
Jacob said, "What sort of contest would it be if we shot different weapons? It just so happens I have another of those right here," and he pulled out an identical weapon to Shepard's own.
Content with their choices, the two officers walked to the Starboard Cargo Area on the fourth deck. As Jacob set up the targets, he said, "Hard to miss at this distance, Captain."
Jared responded, "It's nice to have a clear target that is easy to hit for once." He took a shot and hit the center of the target, sending it flying across the room.
Rather than shooting, Jacob asked, "So what's eating you?"
"You've known Miranda a long time, right," asked the Commander.
Jacob laughed, "Woman trouble, I should have known. I've never seen you so spooked before."
"Should I trust her?"
It seemed like an odd question to Taylor, but he offered the best answer he could, "Miranda and I have known each other since the beginning, and she has always done right by me. I don't know if she is an easy person to trust, but if she tells you something, she'll stick to it."
Jacob stopped talking and took aim at his own target. A quick blast and a perfect strike followed.
"Does that help you, Shepard?"
Although he hadn't found the answers he wanted, he clasped Jacob's shoulder and said, "You're a good man, Jacob Taylor."
While he was here with the arms master, Shepard decided to tell Jacob about the other problem facing them as they moved toward the Earth approach. The Commander mentioned the article, the reception of the admiral, and his own suspicions.
Taylor said, "I don't like it, but we'll find out when we get there, I suppose."
The simplicity of a warrior who was ready to fight and simply wanted to be pointed in the right direction brought comfort to Jared. It reminded him of who he once was, and it brought a much needed smile to his face. As he prepared to shoot another round, an interruption came over the loudspeaker.
"Excuse me, Commander," came the dulcet tones of the ship's integrated computer, EDI, "I have an update for you on the situation you asked about at the cabin."
Not needing to be asked, Jacob took his weapon and left Shepard's behind as he said, "I'll get ready for when we land." He left the room quickly, and then Shepard turned his attention to EDI.
"A message has just been sent from Dr. Lawson's workstation to one of the addresses provided."
Thinking he had found proof, Shepard said, "Can you show me on screen?"
"I cannot, Commander. It appears someone has disabled the main camera in that room, but the login identification used is that of Dr. Lawson and…"
Before the thought was completed, Shepard holstered his sidearm and took off at a sprint, determined to catch the perpetrator in the act. Taking the stairs rather than the elevator, he instructed EDI, "Don't let that door open until I get there. I don't want you alerting her, but I'm heading there now."
"Understood, Commander," was all EDI said.
Barely a minute later, Commander Shepard had reached the door. A thousand questions rushed through his mind as his anger grew. Now, he would finally get some straight honest answers.
The door opened to reveal a familiar young woman furiously typing some unknown message.
Shepard was stunned, because this was definitely not who he expected to betray him.
Author's Note: How do you like the cliffhanger? It seemed like the perfect place to end the chapter, but Shepard's life is only going to get more complicated from here. Don't assume anything either, it's not going to be what you expect.
I'm curious to hear your theories as to why someone might incite a war with the Batarians. I'll tell you there is logic behind it, but let's see who can think like the Illusive Man.