Chapter Eleven
Orbit of Saradril, Pranas cluster, Annos Basin System
Normandy SR-2 Vid Com Room, 1919h
Shepard nervously paced as he waited for both Admirals Hackett and Anderson to appear on the QEC. This was it. The final battles for Earth would begin tonight, and humanity was not alone in the fight any longer. There was peace between the krogans and the turians, peace between the geth and quarians, and finally a decent amount of respect for humanity, not just fear or doubt. But it could all end tomorrow morning if they didn't regain control of the Citadel. And just what in sam hell would the Crucible do when it docked with the Citadel?
"Commander, are you ready to bring the Reapers down with the rest of the galaxy's best?" Hackett inquired as his image came into view.
"Yes, sir. But before we do that, I'd like to update you upon Ms. Lawson's decision and ask if I may, another favor," Shepard informed them with a salute.
"You may, Shepard." Hackett returned the salute.
"Ms. Lawson will join the Hammer forces on the ground. We'll be bringing her down with my squad to London to join you, sir."
"Good, we'll take all the help that we can get. Have you heard about the Citadel, Shepard?" Anderson asked and wiped his brow with the back of his hand.
"I have. The Citadel is the missing piece we've all been scrambling for; the Catalyst."
Anderson brought up an image from his omni-tool. "And if that isn't bad enough, we've got another complication."
"Shit. The arms are closed-gotta get 'em open," Shepard pounded a fist onto the rail in front of him.
"Mmm, yes, and there's a conduit beam here that the Reapers have set up in London." The image changed to illustrate Anderson's point. "No one knows why it's there for sure, but they may be sending bodies through it. And there's more bad news-sorry to keep piling it up on top of you like this."
"I'd be out of a job if all we heard was good news," Shepard said with a shrug.
"There's a cannon that's preventing the majority of Hammer from landing and dealing with the destroyer that's guarding that conduit beam."
"We'll deal with it, Anderson. Just keep holding the line with the resistance like you've been doing."
"The Sword fleets will begin their entry into the Sol relay in five minutes," Hackett told them both. "This process will take the majority of the evening, so anticipate all of the fleets' arrival in Earth's orbit to be at approximately 0500 hours. The strike will begin once all fleets have been accounted for and only upon Shepard's orders. The last of the convoy will be the ships protecting the Crucible."
"It'll be good to see some more friendly faces," Anderson nodded and gave his colleagues a thin smile. "Anderson out."
"Commander, I assume this favor is personal?"
"It is, Admiral. I'd like to place Miranda's sister, Oriana Lawson on an Alliance ship in the Fifth Fleet. She is a civilian, sir, but she has been studying communication protocols with Communication Specialist Traynor and catching on remarkably fast. I would send her back to her parents, but I don't know where they are."
"We are running short of bodies," Hackett agreed and glanced away. It appeared that he was studying a list. "I believe that the SSV Benjamin Davis could use an extra pair of eyes for the current communications specialist. After I come aboard the Normandy to assess the fleets, we'll bring her aboard my ship and brief her about her assignment."
"Much obliged, Admiral, sir. Shepard out." Shepard journeyed back to the CIC to approach Specialist Traynor, who immediately turned around to greet him.
"Commander, have you got a minute?" she wondered.
"I was just about to ask you that question, Traynor," he chuckled and waggled an eyebrow at her. "You must be psychic."
"Well, I did happen to purchase a crystal necklace the last time we were on the Citadel. Anyhow, sir, Javik would like a moment of your time in the port cargo hold. And, should I not be able to say it later on, it's been an honor to serve under you, Commander Shepard." Traynor stiffened up to give him a salute, and he returned it.
"Likewise, Specialist Traynor. You're a credit to the uniform."
"So…uh…should we all survive this attack and kick the Reaper's proverbial asses back out into dark space, can I get a date out of you for a rematch?"
"You can bet that I'll make it a priority. And this time, you'll be the one pounded into submission." He gave her a wicked grin, which she also returned.
"Challenge accepted, Commander."
Shepard spun around on his heel to head towards the lift but then halted in his tracks. "Oh, and Traynor?" He glanced over his shoulder at her.
"Yes, sir?"
"Oriana Lawson will be accompanying Hackett after he makes his rendezvous with the Normandy to the SSV Benjamin Davis. I noticed that she's been catching onto your lessons extremely fast and asked her if she'd like to go. Would you mind giving her a bit of a heads up as to what she can expect? Hackett said that he'll brief her, but since you were a civilian and can remember what that feels like more recently than any of us, well…"
"I'd be happy to do that, sir. In fact, I've just got one or two more responsibilities left for the night, so I can do it in about ten minutes."
"Thanks, Samantha. Take care of yourself."
Shepard passed his hand over the port cargo hold's sensor and opened the door. Javik sat upon his floor mat, his legs were folded together, one underneath the other, and his eyes opened when Shepard walked inside. "You wanted to see me, Javik?"
"Yes. The time has come for us to begin our final fight against the Reapers, Commander, and I sensed that it is now appropriate for me to address you should we not have a chance to speak once we are down on your planet."
"I think that we will, but, please, tell me what's on your mind." Shepard joined Javik on the floor and sat in front of him.
"I've mentioned that you should not care what others think many times, Commander. Perhaps…I was wrong." He turned his head to notate an image of the previous Normandy that was slowly rotating upon the holo screen. "There is another reason why I act the way that I do besides the fact that I am haunted by the complete annihilation of my people. I have been studying your previous ship and reading about the actions of its previous members. You died in a surprise attack, did you not?"
"Yes, by the Collectors," Shepard nodded. "That's why this ship was previously owned by Cerberus. They resurrected me so that I could fight against the Reapers. Sound familiar?"
"Indeed it does, Commander. I had a ship of my own to command as well. Many of its crew members were closely tied together. We all knew one another's thoughts."
"Sometimes I'm glad that I don't have that ability that you do. I'd rather not know what everyone is thinking or feeling on the inside." Shepard leaned back on his palms. "I have a hard enough time dealing with them all when those feelings all suddenly come out. Was that sensory ability of yours able to detect when your crew was about to get into a quarrel?"
"Only when I was in close proximity with them. But regardless of that, you also have more than camaraderie. You and the human female biotic…you are joined, are you not?" His four eyes seemed to pierce themselves right through Shepard's like a recently sharpened sword.
"Yes, you could say that."
"I'm not. Your pheromones speak for themselves. I sense them stronger now than ever since she joined the ship." The Prothean arose and walked over to the tub to wash his hands.
"Sorry."
"I have not explored the Asari's office, but I believe that I am correct in saying that those accommodations used to belong to your lover?" He turned to look at Shepard.
"Yes, they did."
"Your spirits are in harmony; she is truly your equal. Should you two have offspring, they will also share the best of both of your traits." He deliberately waited for Shepard's eyes to stop wandering the room before he went on. "I have also felt her presence with yours nearly everywhere else on this ship: the observation decks, the medical bay, and…" his eyes narrowed, "the engine control room. Were your own quarters not sufficient?"
"I assume that you're leading up to a point here, Javik," Shepard's jaw tensed up and he cleared his throat as he deflected the Prothean's query.
"I am. All of my colleagues on my ship became indoctrinated after it was captured by the Reapers. I alone escaped and became hunted by them all later on." Javik took a few steps toward Shepard. "Remember that this tactic is deeply favored by the Reapers, Commander. Yesterday, I took a glimpse of the pain in the Echo shard. My weapon had no more ammunition during the battle of the Cronian Nebula; I had only my knife left. The only way that I was able to survive it was to slit each of my men's throats, one by one. I stayed behind to ensure that they bled to death."
"Javik, I…don't know what to…that must have been…-"
"I am not recounting the story because I desire your pity, Commander. I have shared it with you because there is a remote chance that you will have to do the same thing one day. And upon that day, I came upon an epiphany. I do not wish it for you."
"What was that?"
"There is no such thing as a 'good war'. It is committed purely in the name of cruelty and survival. I wish that I had never learned that truth."
Shepard remained taciturn for a few moments as he considered the Prothean's wisdom and arose. "When it's the only thing you've ever known…"
"A great moment lies ahead of you, Commander, and for all life. Prepare yourself to do what you must. That is all." Javik turned around again, and Shepard left.
Orbit of Halegeuse, Pranas cluster, Annos Basin System
Normandy SR-2 Port Observation Room, 2004h
As Miranda traveled into the recreation room, she witnessed Ashley Williams handing over a bottle of wine to Oriana as well as a corkscrew and two glasses. Williams splashed some ginger ale into a very full glass of what appeared to be some sort of whiskey as well as two large ice cubes. She then left the bar, gave Miranda a curt greeting, and walked out of the room back to her own quarters.
"I'm glad that you came; I was afraid that Sam forgot to tell you to meet me here," Oriana's face lit up. She rushed over to the table in front of the couch closest to the poker table, gave Miranda the corkscrew, and set the glasses down as well as the wine bottle. "I thought that before I left, we could have a toast celebrating the success of your previous mission."
"Yes, I suppose you could call part of it successful," Miranda nodded and sat down next to her. She rotated the bottle towards herself so that she could read the label. "A Bordeaux from Earth? Did Williams say who gave this to the Normandy?"
"Hmm…I think that she mentioned someone named Dr. Chloe Michel who gave it to her when she was in the hospital on the Citadel. She said that she wanted to give Shepard something more than her words for something he did for her clinic years ago, whatever that means," Oriana said with a waive of her hand. "Do you know what she was talking about? Ash was going to tell me the story, then you came in, and I guess well, that'll have to wait for another day."
"No, I don't, Ori. You could ask him yourself, you know." The Aussie inserted the corkscrew precisely in the middle of the cork and began to twist it downward.
"I do. So I've never had French wine or any kind of wine for that matter before. Is it good?"
"That depends on a lot of variables. The most expensive wine isn't necessarily the best tasting wine, either. But the French people are known for making quite exquisite wine, as are the Asari." She lifted the cork perfectly out of the bottle and poured a tad into both glasses. Oriana frowned and gave her sister a puzzled expression.
"Why didn't you fill it up all the way? I'm not planning on drinking the whole bottle tonight, you know."
"It's part of the tasting process, Ori. Now lift your glass up to your nose and inhale the bouquet," Miranda instructed her and completed the action herself.
"Okay, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be smelling here." Oriana did as she was told and took a deep inhale. "It's not exactly a bunch of flowers."
"Did your adopted parents ever drink?"
"Yeah, but they never told me anything about it other than 'you're too young' and 'we'll let you take a sip of it someday'. But they never did," Oriana said with a roll of her eyes. "Okay, I've smelled it, now what?"
"Think of what it reminds you of. I don't expect you to specifically be able to pick out what kind of fruit, spices, or type of barrel that it was fermented in. Not all wine is made only from grapes, you know," Miranda said and crossed her legs. "Now while you're holding onto that memory, bring the glass up to your lips and let the wine settle to the front of your mouth. Swish it all around your mouth so that you can fully taste it upon every single cell on your tongue. Now this is the important part, Ori. Close your eyes and think of something pleasant while you savor the taste. Then when you've gotten to the best part of it, let the wine pour down your throat."
Miranda waited until Oriana tipped the glass up to her mouth, swirled it around in her mouth, and obeyed her. A smile crossed Miranda's face once Oriana closed her eyes to concentrate as she tasted the wine herself. Seconds later, Oriana's eyes reopened, and she put the glass back down onto the table. "Could I have some more, please, 'Randa? It was really great!"
"Of course." Miranda picked up the bottle and gave her sister a full serving this time as well as one herself. "So, what did you think about?"
"The first time Danner and I kissed. We'd gone out to the library at school for a group study session, and we were talking on the way home. He mentioned that he'd taken a sneak peek at the research paper that I was writing for 20th Century North American history while I was in the bathroom, and that I needed to fix my footnotes as well as my punctuation. Can you believe that our professor wanted them all printed out on paper? How crazy is that? Danner then apologized for not asking first but then said that it was a good thing that he'd looked at it. Professor Baum would have given it back to me to redo before he'd even finish reading it."
"Strict man," Miranda nodded and took a sip of her wine. "What happened next?"
"I don't know; the next thing I can remember is that we weren't talking anymore, and I was floating. Or at least, well, it felt like I was floating," she giggled as she drank some of her own. "What did you think about? When was your first kiss and who was it with? Or were you thinking when you and Shepard first kissed?"
"Well, I…uh-" Miranda twirled the wine about the glass as she pondered her sister's question. "I wasn't actually thinking about…"
No, don't tell her about him yet. Wait until she's at least had a full glass in her.
Are you kidding? Don't draw it out! Get it over with so that it won't be last thing you talk about!
"'Randa?" Oriana's voice brought Miranda back to the real world. "Are you there?"
"Mmm, yes, sorry, Ori. I was remembering the night that I came back to Father's house for you." Miranda lied, consumed some more of her wine, and switched legs. She had indeed been thinking about her relationship with Shepard.
"I thought you said to pick out something good," Oriana commented with a frown.
"Well, a lot of good came out of what I did, Ori. Getting you out of there was the best thing I ever did, aside from bringing Shepard back from the dead."
"What time was it? Did you sneak in like a spy on one of those vids?"
"I distracted the guards at the front gate by setting off some of Father's car alarms in his private garage. While they were pre-occupied with the commotion, I disabled the cameras, hacked the gate's lock, and went for the mansion. I had an inside man, or a woman, I should say, that wanted to help me with my plan. That was your nanny Patricia. She'd disclosed the location of a place that she'd meet me on the grounds with you and head back to the mansion before anyone knew what had happened. To make things easier, we did this on a night that Father was away on business. She made sure that the guards around the floor where your room was were comfortable watching some kind of sport on the vid screen with a few refreshments that she'd doctored."
"You mean she drugged their food and drink?" Oriana wondered and took another sip from her glass.
"Exactly. When she was satisfied that they were all incapacitated, she grabbed you and came to me. We met under the tree where I broke my arm once. Then after she went back to the house, she started to scream bloody murder that you were missing from your crib. As planned, everyone went into hysterics trying to find you, and I slipped out the front gate into the dead of night back into my rented car." Miranda let some more wine slide down her throat. "No one was the wiser."
"What happened to Patricia?"
The Aussie sighed. "I don't know. I never heard from her again, so I can assume that either she was too frightened to write or talk to me, or…-"
"Father made her disappear?"
"I hope not, but, well, if she didn't tell him what he wanted to know," Miranda shrugged. "You saw what he was capable of, Ori. I wish you hadn't, I really do."
"There's something else that you want to tell me," Oriana pronounced after examining her sibling for a long hard minute. "What is it, 'Randa?"
"It's n…" Miranda corrected herself. "It's some bad news that I have to tell you…about Danner…-"
"What happened?" Oriana put the glass onto the table so that she wouldn't drop it in shock. She suddenly gasped as she inferred what her sister was going to say. "Is he-"
Miranda swallowed hard. "Yes. The Shadow Broker's agents searched through Freedom's Progress. No one was alive. I'm sorry, Ori." She could not bear to tell her sister that Danner could have been taken to Sanctuary alive and turned into a husk. That was even worse than discovering that he was dead.
"Was it the Reapers?"
Miranda finished her wine and also set down her glass next to her sister's. "We don't know. There was a lot of rubble, and the Broker's agents couldn't linger in the system for too long. It is in a Reaper controlled system, Ori, but…-"
"I understand. Do you know the Shadow Broker?"
"I have a connection to the person, yes," Miranda nodded. In more ways than one.
"Can you get a message out to him or her?"
"There's a remote possibility, yes. Why?"
"Tell him or her thank you for me, at least for looking." She brought her hands over her eyes. "At least…" her voice grew shaky. "At least I know now." Tears finally came through her eyes, and Miranda brought an arm around her to give her a tight hug.
"I'm afraid I'm not very good at offering words of comfort, Ori, but I'm here to listen, too, if that helps any."
Oriana buried her eyes into Miranda's shoulder. "Just…just tell me another story. If I keep thinking about his eyes or his voice…or about what happened to Mom and Dad..." she sobbed and trailed off as another round of tears hit her.
"Well, I suppose that I could finally tell you about why your family had to move other than the reason 'that it's for your safety'," Miranda remarked with a deep exhale. "Although since you're just as smart as I am, you'll know that it was because Father had tracked you down."
"Yeah, I do," the younger woman sniffled. "What happened?"
"While we were on the mission to stop the Collectors, I'd heard from my contacts on Illium that Father was doing some inquiries of his own. Many of them led to the neighborhood where your family lived, and he even had someone watching you while you were at university. That was enough to arouse my doubts that you were no longer safe in Nos Astra, and that's why you and your family were moved to New Cousteau on Trident."
"So you were there, in Nos Astra with Shepard at the transport station. I'm guessing that not everything went exactly as you planned, did it?" Oriana pulled away from Miranda's embrace and wiped her eyes.
"There were a few…mmm…complications, yes. I'm sure you've heard of the mercenary band called the Eclipse?"
"Oh yeah. I saw them hanging out at Eternity all the time either bragging or complaining about their jobs."
"One of their commandoes was hired by Father to bring you back to him no matter what. Shepard and I dealt with them all."
Oriana retrieved her glass and began to finish the remaining portion from it. "There was another complication, wasn't there?"
"Yes. The only friend that I'd kept before and after I ran away, Niket, was supposed to come along and escort the three of you to Trident. Only Father got to him first before I could tell him the truth about myself or what I'd done for you. Naturally, he manipulated Niket into thinking that what he was doing for you was for your own good and made me sound like a pathological liar or a common criminal. So Niket volunteered to bring you back to him."
Miranda lifted the bottle up to offer some more to Oriana, who held up a hand and shook her head 'no'. She filled her own glass halfway and then set the bottle back down. "When I confronted Niket about this, he confessed everything to me and accused me of being hypocritical," she glowered.
"So what happened next?"
"I didn't want Father to be able to somehow manipulate Niket again into kidnapping you or reporting your whereabouts to him, so I was about to end his life."
"Did you reconsider your actions or did Shepard interfere?"
"He stopped me. Niket ended up dead, nonetheless," Miranda mused and shook her head. "The asari commando shot him in the back. Watching him get gunned down by a complete stranger…I lost any remaining control over my emotions then and there. That last push to get to the transport station, to get to you, Ori, was no longer a simple task. It became a quest." She downed another bit of wine. "But at least Niket tried to redeem himself, in the end."
"I'm so glad that you came over to talk to me and my parents. When I first saw you, it looked like you were having second thoughts about it."
"You're right, I certainly did. But Shepard talked me into it, and at the time, none of us knew if we were going to come back from the Omega 4 relay. I didn't want to regret not knowing anything about you if I, well…if I were dead."
"And what about Shepard? I mean," Oriana picked up the wine bottle and set her eyes upon studying the label. "Before the Normandy went through the Omega 4 relay on your suicide mission, did the two of you…you know…?" She made a sweeping motion in the air with her hand.
"Ori…"
"Come on, 'Randa, spill it. We're not talking in some online chat room. It's just the two of us in here." Oriana put the bottle back down and stared her sister down.
"All right, fine," Miranda caved. "Yes, Shepard and I consummated our relationship before we went through the Omega 4 relay."
"And…"
"And then the Normandy went through the Omega 4 relay to the Collector base, simple as that."
"You're not getting off that easily, 'Randa. I saw how his eyes were devouring you back at the transport station in Nos Astra. You couldn't have been wearing any clothes in the fantasy that his mind was painting. You have got to tell me how your first time with him was."
"At the time, the Normandy was wired with nearly every single kind of audio or vid monitoring device you could possibly imagine. The Illusive Man wanted tabs on everyone to ensure himself and probably Cerberus' backers that their investments were being wisely utilized. I selected a place that could easily catch interference or be subverted which was right near the drive core in the engine room."
Oriana's mouth dropped slightly open, and she gestured towards the floor. "That same engine room I saw downstairs?"
"Well, this is the same ship, Ori. It's just got Alliance colors, somber ambient lighting, and their personnel now," Miranda declared with a shrug.
"So you two didn't do it in either of your rooms because the Illusive Man would be watching you? Ugh. Wait, wait, why didn't you just disable the bugs in either place?"
"Because it'd be a lot easier to blame my sabotage in the engine room upon a capacitor's discharge from the drive core as we had passed through the Omega 4 relay than it would be to explain any damage in Shepard's or my quarters."
"Right, and you didn't quit Cerberus until a little later on. Okay, but you still haven't answered my question, 'Randa," Oriana pressed and shook her sister's knee. "How was he? Did he have the largest gun in the galaxy like the magazines say?"
Miranda's eyes widened with shock. "Ori." After another moment of pause, she drained all of the wine from the glass, set it down, and uncrossed her legs. "It wasn't…amazing. But we were kind of rushed for time then, so…I'll say that it was nice. Later on, he…" she felt her cheeks flush. Perhaps the feeling was from the high alcohol content of wine she just consumed. "Later on after the suicide mission was over, we made love again. And we spent hours together. I never dreamed that a soldier would or ever could do the things that he…" she trailed off as she lost herself in the moment. "Well, never mind. I'm sure that you can use your own imagination."
"I'd rather hear it from you, but fine," Oriana pursed her lips together tightly. "It's obvious that you'll need a whole bottle of this stuff to loosen up." She made a gesture to the wine and arose from the couch. "I'm glad that we could share a drink and some secrets together finally."
"So am I, Ori," Miranda proudly announced with a beam. She also got up and gave her a hug. "We'll be fine down there on Earth. Don't worry."
Oriana returned the hug. "I love you, 'Randa."
"I love you, too, Ori."
**A/N**-I received a message late last night asking me to advertise this, so I'd be more than happy to do so. There is a project currently going on by quite a few fans of Miranda; as I understand it, this project is a conglomeration of art, essays, and stories from them all. This will be physically delivered to Bioware, and a virtual one also will be available to all who wish to view it online. I'm not sure which office this book will be delivered to or precisely when that will happen; however, I do know that the deadline for all submissions is on May 30th. These submissions can be made through the group on the Bioware Social Network called the Miranda FanBook Group. I am currently debating whether I should also contribute to it myself, but that's a moot point right now since I haven't even finished my novel. Oh, and here is the "official" website link:
wwwholdthelinecom/threads/miranda-fan-book-project.1576/
.com/threads/miranda-fan-book-project.1576
Happy writing, drawing, painting, or photo shopping! (I'm still amazed by how talented some people are with graphics. I could never do that myself).