Chapter Six

Orbit of Mavigon, Han cluster, Gemini System

Normandy SR-2 CIC, 0122h

Lt. Commander Williams strolled out of the elevator and approached Traynor. "Sorry, Specialist, I know you were about to get some shut eye, but I've got to make my report to Admiral Hackett now. You can interface us and then bug out. I'll close the channel; I just need you to establish the connection."

"Yes, ma'am. How's the Commander doing?" Samantha inquired.

"Well, we've got two doctors working on him with a fully stocked med bay," Ash said with a worried sigh. "But it's all in God's hands now."

Traynor nodded and watched the Normandy's executive officer pass through the door to the security checkpoint. "I hope he pulls through," she muttered.

When Williams came through to the vid com room, Hackett's GUI appeared. "I wasn't expecting to hear from the Normandy until much later, Williams, considering the circumstances," he said in his matter of fact tone.

"A mission debriefing is still mandatory, even if it is from the next superior officer in line, sir," she saluted him. "I apologize for the…lack of paperwork. That will come soon."

"And what did you accomplish, Lt. Commander?"

"The majority of the scientists made it out of there alive, Admiral. Armistan Banes was unfortunately killed in action."

"I thank you for all your team's hard work, Williams. When can we expect the team of scientists to arrive?"

"They're resting in crew quarters at the moment, sir, but we'll deliver them wherever you'd like in the morning."

"And Shepard?"

Williams leaned against the rail in front of her and made eye contact with the floor. "It's complicated, Admiral. He caught some heavy fire down there on Amaranthine, and Dr. Chakwas is doing everything in her power to save him."

"If need be, get him some outside help." Hackett gave her a stern look. "I don't think that I should have to remind you about how important it is for him to stay alive."

"Will do, sir." She recovered her composure and nodded.

"Good." He was about to disconnect the call, until she raised her hand.

"Admiral, if I may, I'd like to ask you a question."

"Can this wait?"

"I'll try to make it as brief as possible, sir."

"Ask away, Lt. Commander."

"Who was Armistan Banes to the Alliance? 3 years ago, after we recovered Admiral Kahoku's team from Edolus in the Artemis Tau system, we approached him for a debriefing. Then the Commander asked about Banes' involvement, and Kahoku never gave him a real answer. He only spoke about some ship that went missing, and that he had sent the marines to check it out. About a week after that, Kahoku went to follow up on them, and we found him dead at a Cerberus facility."

"Banes was an operative who turned dirty. Details about him were deeply classified because of…well…Cerberus. They were still an offshoot of the Alliance at the time. That's likely why Anderson, Dr. Chloe Michel, nor even Admiral Kahoku could give your team any more details about him," Hackett recalled.

Williams bit her lip; she was being stonewalled yet again. But wisely, she decided against pressing the matter any further. "Thank you, Admiral. I'll keep you informed of Shepard's progress and send you the mission report tomorrow morning."

"Well done, Lt. Commander. Understand that this up and coming objective at Cerberus HQ is being highly anticipated. Hackett out."

After giving him one more salute, Ash strolled out of the war room and journeyed down to the crew deck to check on the progress in the med bay. A few crew members were up and about preparing snacks for themselves; one offered a mug of tea to her, which she politely declined. She gazed through the window; neither Miranda nor Chakwas were hurrying about the infirmary as they had previously been, so that might have been a good thing.

The door to Liara's office opened; the Asari came out wearing a set of silk pajamas and she held a data pad in her hands. "Couldn't sleep, huh?" Ash inquired, still keeping her eyes peeled on the med bay.

"I tried, but then I couldn't stop thinking about the commander. And I was reminded of when…" her voice faltered. "Of when I first saw his corpse."

Ash turned her head towards Liara. "So you were the one who turned him over to Cerberus."

"He didn't tell you?"

"I'm not in his inner circle of trust like some others are. I'm also getting a little worried about him. Have you seen him lately? He stares off into space, rarely sleeps for more than a few hours a night, and it's almost as if…I don't know..."

Liara's eyes traveled back to her data pad. "Cerberus was the only faction who seemed to want to help Shepard at the time, since the Alliance had declared him dead."

"Hey, well, none of us would probably be here now if you hadn't done so," Ash said with a shrug and walked towards the med bay door.

Shepard lay peacefully on the bed closest to Chakwas' bureau hooked up to an IV; a bag of blood was also present. Chakwas threw away two more empty pint bags into a medical hazardous waste bin and gave a nod to Miranda, who was busy unrolling her sleeve. "Thank you, Ms. Lawson. Can I get you something to eat?" the doctor inquired.

Lawson's eyes met Williams', and she agreed. "Perhaps some orange juice would be appreciated, thank you."

"What's our sitch like, Doctor?" Williams demanded before she could leave.

"The commander will make a full recovery, thanks to Ms. Lawson. And of course, everyone else's expedient efforts to get him quickly to me here."

"Do we need to take him to the Citadel?"

"They're too busy taking care of all the refugees, Williams," Miranda shook her head 'no'.

"I don't think that that will be necessary, Lt. Commander. We are not in a short supply of medi-gel here, although we did lack some blood for the transfusion, which is why I thanked Miranda here for her contribution first. I apologize if it came off as being dismissive towards everyone else's hard work," Chakwas commented. "I'll return in just a moment with your beverage, Miranda." She made her exit.

Ash crossed her arms defensively across her chest. "We should still go there, in case he needs any more blood. And I'm still in command of this ship now, even though Shepard's unconscious. Joker, can you chart us a course to-"

"Did Hackett tell you who Armistan Banes was?"

"Excuse me?"

"I asked if Admiral Hackett gave you an explanation about Armistan Banes."

"He might have, but I don't see how that has anything to do with-"

"Well I do know, and I'm more than happy to give you full closure about the man." Miranda slipped her fingers through her catsuit's truncated fingertips.

"Make it quick, then," Ash huffed. "I'm worn out from all the crap that's gone wrong today."

"Armistan Banes was a Cerberus operative who was responsible for causing the MSV Anixara to explode in '82. The resulting explosion killed a member of the Turian hierarchy, although the Alliance's explanation was supposedly due to 'faulty engineering'." Miranda halted her speech momentarily to brush away a stray bit of hair that had fallen into her eyes. "That was what prompted Admiral Kahoku to start looking into Cerberus on his own accord; he wasn't ordered to look into it by Admiral Hackett."

"So what're you saying?"

"If you'll remember, Hackett never commanded Shepard to follow up on those missing marines on Edolus or rescue Admiral Kahoku. He was given a lead by Kahoku, and that's why your team went down to Binthu 3 years ago to try and uncover what had become of him. The Alliance officially attributed Kahoku's death to natural causes. They were protecting their asses from the general public and Council at the time because Cerberus was still part of them."

"Knowing this might have made our jobs down on Amaranthine a little bit easier, Lawson," Ash gave her a glare. "Why didn't you tell Shepard about this?"

Miranda's brow arched upward. "Hackett also could've been honest about Banes' identity if he wanted to, but it's quite a moot point now, isn't it?"

"Then why bother to tell me any of this?"

Chakwas returned, gave Miranda the glass of juice, and exited without a word to either woman.

"Because you're still blindly trusting the Alliance as if they have all of the right answers," Miranda remarked and took a sip from her glass.

"Oh, and I suppose you do?" Ash's eyes narrowed.

A groan from Shepard's bed caused both women to momentarily discontinue their verbal altercation. "Please don't fight," he spoke with a cracked voice. They both hurried to his side just in time to see him open up his brown eyes. "Hey. Would it be a pain to ask for a little bit of some water?"

"Not at all, Commander," Ash shook her head and crossed the room to fill a glass from a pitcher. Miranda located the controls at the side of the bed and levitated him. Williams came back, stuck a straw into the glass, and held it for him while he drank.

"Thanks. Now, what's all the fuss about?" he asked.

"Lawson here was just filling me in about the Alliance's cover up policies."

"In regards to what?'

"Our previous mission," Miranda informed him. "It seems that your Admiral Hackett wasn't exactly forthcoming with Mr. Armistan Banes' true identity."

"Oh, well, that's no big surprise." He motioned to Williams for another drink, and she complied while Miranda consumed some more of her own. "Hackett treated me just the same as the Illusive Man did; I was a broom and a dustpan. But he's gotten a bit more encouraging about it now at least."

"What do you mean, Commander?" Ash inquired.

"I have to admit that Hackett never asked about the report that I filed on Admiral Kahoku nor his men's disappearance. In fact, the information that I found on Cerberus three years ago had nothing to do with Hackett at all, and that's why I gave the files we recovered from all of those bases we assaulted over to the Shadow Broker's agent."

"Well, if you'll both excuse me, I'm gonna go catch some sleep now. I think I've heard enough bullshit for one night. It's good to see you're going to be okay, Shepard." She placed the glass onto Chakwas' desk and made her departure with a loud sigh.

"That woman is in complete denial," Miranda rolled her eyes and finished her juice. She exchanged her glass for the one Ashley deposited and offered some more to Shepard, who gladly accepted it.

"She just needs some time. Ash's family runs in the Alliance for the past two generations."

"Hmm, Williams…" Miranda's eyes moved about the room as she thought. "Then she'd have to be related to the general who surrendered to the Turians at Shanxi during the First Contact War."

"Yep, that was her grandfather. Her family's faced a great deal of punishment and scrutiny ever since. I'm glad that she's finally been able to advance to where she is." He yawned. "Hey, I've got some more questions for you, but they can wait until tomorrow morning."

"Of course. I'll come and visit; if you're up to it…would you like to share some breakfast?" She gave him one last drink and ran her thumb over his chin to clean up some water that had dribbled onto it.

"By all means, Ms. Lawson." His hand caught hers and kissed the back of it.

Orbit of Pietas, Fortis cluster, Minos Wasteland

Normandy SR-2 Infirmary, 0748h

"Good morning, Miranda. Would you care for some privacy with the Commander?" Chakwas questioned the Aussie as she entered with two mugs of coffee and a pair of bagels on a plate.

"Stay, Karin. But if it makes you feel uncomfortable or if we're disturbing you, just let us know," Shepard told her. Miranda set the mugs down first on a bedside tray followed by the plate.

"I know how you like your coffee, but I wasn't certain about the bagel. Are you all right with only cream cheese on it, or shall I go put some preserves upon it?" she asked.

"Nah, I'm not picky. Thanks for this, by the way. I could get used treatment like this far too easily." He shoved a good chunk into his mouth.

She sidled up next to him upon a stool and also partook of her own bagel, which was lightly buttered with a blackberry jam. "So, I have a feeling that I know what your first question of the day will be."

"Oh, do you? Well, it might not be what you think," he lifted up an eyebrow and put down his bagel.

"Try me."

"Okay, so where's my good morning kiss?"

"Probably at the bottom of your mug." Her dead-pan humor made him chuckle as he reached for his coffee.

"Guess I walked right into that one. All right, Lawson, all joking aside, since I know that you will tell me nothing but the absolute truth, spill everything you know about Banes' involvement with Cerberus." Shepard lifted the mug to his lips and took a light sip of the steamy beverage.

"About five years ago, the Alliance had made a deal with the Turians to co-develop a frigate-"

"Thanks to Cerberus' influence," Shepard interrupted her.

She put down her bagel and consumed some of her own coffee. "Yes, right. I'd forgotten that Joker had removed EDI's shackles and given you full access to all of our…I mean…their databases. So then, in 2182, plans for the original Normandy started to be drawn up with the Turians, and Cerberus secretly started to make our…" she cleared her throat and put a hand in front of her mouth to disguise a burp. "Excuse me. Cerberus secretly started to make their own ship at the same time, only better. The Turian engineering corp got word about this second ship coming out and sent one of their engineers to check out where these supplies were being sent."

He took this opportunity to shove more of the bagel into his mouth.

"They found out that the supplies were being sent to the Attican Traverse, in the Voyager cluster, specifically, and sent out the MSV Anixara with this engineer onboard to investigate. Armistan Banes was the operative whom we sent to stop the ship before the turians could find out about this, and he successfully completed his mission." Miranda swallowed some more of her coffee before continuing. "We…Cerberus had no reason to believe that he survived, since the ship was found in millions of pieces all over the system. So as the Alliance built their Normandy, so did Cerberus in '83. They didn't finish until much later, of course, because they had to monitor supply chains a bit more carefully and so on."

"When did you find out about this second Normandy?"

"About the same time that you regained consciousness during the end of the Lazarus project. I knew about Banes' mission at the time, but I had no idea what we were doing with the supplies and so forth. I wasn't even aware of what the supplies were, either, nor did I have access to them."

"Uh-huh. More plausible deniability?"

"Well, to be fair, I did have my hands full with other things at the time, so the Illusive Man didn't burden me with it," she shrugged and retrieved the remainder of her bagel from the plate. "Shepard, about what happened on Akuze…"

"Yes?"

"I read over your report to Hackett from three years ago. What the scientists did to Toombs was just as wrong as what my father was doing on Sanctuary. I apologize if it sounded as if I was siding with Dr. Wayne."

"So if you'd been at that facility instead, would you have let them continue their experiments?"

"If he'd volunteered for it, possibly," she shrugged. "But since the Alliance marines were duped into the project like the refugees on Horizon…no. That's an entirely different matter."

The med bay door opened, and in walked Oriana with a data pad in her hands.

"Morning, 'Randa. Morning, Commander," she nodded. "Morning, Dr. Chakwas." When all three had finished greeting her, she came closer to the bed.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but something's come up, and I need your help, Commander," Oriana confessed.

"What can I do?" he asked and drank some more of his coffee.

"If it's possible, could the Normandy please drop me off at the Citadel or any other major port, please? I'd like to be able to catch a transport to Freedom's Progress since I can't get in touch with the colony."

Miranda's expression instantly darkened as if her favorite shoes had been destroyed in the mud. "Absolutely not, Ori," she shook her head. "If the colony's gone silent, then that means that the Reapers have taken over that area."

"But what about Horizon? They were blocking all communication signals to ensure that the Reapers didn't come there. Maybe Freedom's Progress is doing the same thing," Oriana argued and pointed to her data pad.

"I think that it might be possible for the Normandy to make a quick pass through the system to see if the colony's truly gone silent because of the Reapers or for some other reason," Shepard nodded through his mug as he finished his beverage. "But there won't be any landing parties or shuttles deployed until the truth is out."

"Thank you, Commander." Oriana spun around and left the med bay as quickly as she'd come.

Miranda gave him a sour look. "You shouldn't put the Normandy at risk like this, Shepard."

He shrugged. "I just told her what she wanted to hear, Miranda. We're not going to truly divert our time or resources for a mopey teenager, even if it is your sister. When Oriana comes to ask about it later, I'll just say that the Reapers came, and that we won't be able to send out a shuttle to recover anyone."

She arose and collected the dishes from the bedside tray. "I'd rather you tell her the truth, Shepard. You wouldn't lie to me, so don't you dare do the same to her." With that, she disappeared from the infirmary.

Normandy SR-2 Port Observatory Room, 1016h

Garrus and James sat across from one another on opposite sides of the room as Ashley entered with two steaming hot tall mugs of coffee. She placed one of them onto a table next to Vega and joined Garrus on the couch. "Hey, you two, mind if I join you for a coffee break?" she asked.

"After you bring a peace offering for taking me out of the action yesterday, how can I refuse?" Vega picked up his coffee and lifted it up in her direction.

"I wasn't about to order Javik to go heave someone he's barely known for more than three or four months onto his shoulders. Besides, you wear heavy armor, Vega. You were the best choice." She paused and blew off some steam from her drink. "What were you two talking about?"

"Oh, this and that. We've been sharing some old war stories with one another," Garrus chuckled. "Ash was with us when we stopped Saren from letting Sovereign and the rest of his friends invade the galaxy." He rotated his torso towards her. "And if I remember this correctly, you were there with me and Shepard when we faced him down in the Citadel tower, weren't you?"

"Yep, that was me. I wish our fight were that simple this time," Ash remarked and shook her head. "Now we've got to trust people that were fighting against us before or against one another."

"Hmm…never a dull moment," Garrus mused and nodded. "I got an email from Wrex the other day, and he sends his warmest regards to you, Ash."

"Whoever would have thought that he'd be leading millions of krogan?"

"Yeah. I've got the feeling that you've uh, what's that human expression 'got something on your chest' to talk about?" He relaxed his length arm across the back of the couch.

"Get something off of your chest, Scars," Vega interjected.

"Close enough. Well, I'm not too crazy about this Miranda Lawson, to be honest. And James, I'm sure you feel the same way." She made eye contact with him.

"Hey, I certainly can appreciate the new scenery, Mommy, but you're right. I don't trust Legs at all."

"Yeah. I think Shepard's judgment is getting clouded because of her." She leaned forward and rubbed her hands over one another.

"I used to think the same way, back when this ship belonged to Cerberus," Garrus told them. "But, Shepard changed Miranda for the better, and she actually became a bit more of a team player. The woman you see now is not the same woman I met when I first came aboard this ship about a year ago." He pointed outside the observatory with a wide finger.

"Really?"

"Also, have you noticed how much lighter the mood has gotten around here? That's because Shepard's happy. A happy superior means happier underlings."

"You've got a point there, Scars," Vega agreed. "But she's so aloof. She won't talk to anybody but Shepard and her sister. Wait, hang on a second, I think she said hello to me and Esteban once. And that was when she had to come down to the armory to get Shepard's armor fixed."

"Don't get me wrong, Vega, I still don't like her as a person." Garrus lifted one hand up by the wrist towards the ceiling to make his point. "But she still makes a good match for Shepard. Believe you me, I think he could use some of that happiness, especially after what just happened on Thessia."

"Garrus, did you have any doubts that Shepard had been changed by Cerberus?" Ash inquired.

"Yes, I certainly did, at first. However, when we went to Tuchanka to go investigate the disappearance of a colleague of Mordin Solus', that was when I knew that Shepard was who he said he was. He berated Mordin for working on the genophage modification project all throughout the mission, he yelled at a lost krogan scout who'd been abused during this psycho's crazy experiments and got him back up on his feet. And when we got to the end of the mission, he stopped Mordin from killing his old colleague."

"I'm guessing that that was the Maelon fella that Mordin was talking about?" Vega asked. "He was trying to cure the genophage, too?"

"Yes, and the tests that he was performing were absolutely barbaric. But if Shepard had truly been under Cerberus' control, he wouldn't have cared less about saving the data for the cure. He insisted that Mordin save it. Cerberus could certainly have cared less about curing the krogan genophage."

"That became pretty obvious on Sur'Kesh," James agreed.

"The next point I'm going to bring up is a little bit more personal," Garrus recollected. "After we stopped Saren on the Citadel, I tried to train as a Spectre. But there was too much red tape, and I just felt so useless there. So I went to Omega, got a team of vigilantes together, and that was the birth of Archangel."

"That was you?" Ash laughed and punched him in the arm. "I was wondering about that."

"Hmm, well, it all fell to pieces eventually after one of my team mates betrayed me. That bastard got my entire team slaughtered while I was out on a goose chase. I tracked him down eventually with Shepard's help, and he nearly talked me down from repaying the debt I owed to my men."

"Nearly? What happened?"

"Shepard saw how Sidonis wasn't really alive anymore. He described how food had no taste in his mouth and that he rarely slept at night. So, Shepard decided to do the man a favor and put an end to his misery." Garrus' mandibles twitched erratically together as he thought for a moment. "Although I don't usually converse with EDI too much, she once explained something to me just before we went through the Omega 4 relay. I must have been bitching about Miranda in the batteries to myself or something, because she brought up a good point. Lawson was the ranking Cerberus officer on this ship then, and the Normandy as well as the entire crew was all considered part of her cell at the time."

"Cell, what is that, like a unit or something?" Vega wondered.

"I think so. EDI called us all the 'Lazarus cell', and apparently, Lawson could have usurped Shepard's authority at any time or overridden any decision that he made, but she didn't."

"She didn't?" Ash's eyebrow arched as she drank some of her coffee.

"No, not at all. I also remember hearing advice that Miranda would give to Shepard constantly like he was some goddamned rookie, but even when he didn't follow it, she never stopped him. Even when he brought Legion aboard and kept him instead of handing him over to Cerberus as she suggested."

"Damn, I can only imagine what the hell could have happened if he'd done that," Vega shook his head and consumed some more of his own coffee. "The Normandy's one helluva freak show. Geth, krogan, quarians, asari, turians…"

"Yeah, we'd be in a shit load more of trouble, that's for sure," Ash nodded.

The observatory door opened, and Dr. Chakwas entered. "Hello, everyone. I wonder if I could steal the Lt. Commander away from this conversation for just a bit," she greeted the room's occupants.

"Uh-oh. Well, whatever it is, I didn't do it," the Alliance soldier held up her hands with a crooked smile and got up from the couch.

"The commander has asked to speak with you privately."

"Oh. Sure. Would it bother you if I brought this in with me?" She pointed to her half-filled mug of coffee, and Chakwas nodded.

"Not at all, Lt. Commander. He's alone in there, by the way. Neither of you should be interrupted for a while." After she left, Vega lifted up his mug.

"Hey, Doc, you wanna join us for a drink tonight later on?"

"No, I'd rather not, Lieutenant, but thank you for your offer. I remember how massive the Lt. Commander's headache was after consuming an entire bottle of your mescal." She was about to turn upon her heel and leave until Vega reached out a hand to stop her.

"Do you ever relax, Doc?"

"Yes, I do. I had a quiet drink with Shepard…twice, in fact," she responded and this time was able to leave.

Garrus and Vega exchanged quizzical glances. "When did that happen?" the turian wondered.

"And why weren't we invited?" Vega demanded with a huff