When Fates Collide
Chapter 18
Normandy
~ ~ Meeting of the Minds ~ ~
The next morning a well rested asari gathered up her breakfast as her guardian watched from one of the tables on the mess decks. An observant quarian exclaimed, "Wow, Liara you look refreshed. Looks like you finally got some sleep."
When the blue eyes glared in Shepard's direction, the human shrugged her shoulders implying she had not told anyone about Liara's predicament.
Just then a groggy looking medical officer staggered out of the medical bay with a coffee thermos in her limp hand. The sleepy woman poured her morning breakfast completely unaware of the eyes gazing upon her.
Mocking the professional, Shepard chirped, "Hey Dr. Chakwas! Would you like to join us for morning chow?"
Fastening the lid back onto her coffee container, the doctor took a deep breath of the fragrance before she answered, "I have all the breakfast I need right here. Thank you Shepard." As the drowsy eyed Medical Commander dragged her feet back into the medical bay, she winked at Shepard without another word.
The amused redhead scratched her temple as she chuckled, "Woman after my own heart."
Shepard's free hand stopped stirring her own cup of coffee that served as her only breakfast as well. About a half an hour later, as the mess hall began to empty out leaving only Liara and Shepard at the table, the commander decided now was the time for the question she'd been wanting to ask all morning. Considering the asari's previous reaction to Tali's statement, she cautiously asked, "So, how did you sleep last night?"
The question caused the asari to instantly blush and lower her head to try and conceal her embarrassment. Liara still didn't want to admit she had been having problems sleeping.
Sipping the last of her coffee, Shepard continued, "Since you're more rested and we are only a couple of days from the Citadel, I was wondering if you wanted to try and review the cipher?"
The prothean expert's eyes flickered as she had almost completely forgotten about Shiala's gift, "Oh Goddess, I almost forgot about that." Waiting for her cheeks to return to the normal azure color, the young professor asked, "When would you like to conduct this little endeavor?"
Trying to hide a light blush of her own, the former marine stated, "Well, I need to make my rounds with Pressly this morning, but I was thinking we could try just after lunch; does that sound alright with you?"
Since she had started knowing Liara better, Shepard could tell by the asari's expression her mind was already calculating what prothean data she wanted to review before the information exchange. Rapping her slightly bruised knuckles from the encounter with William's on the table right in front of Liara, Shepard asked, "So after lunch? Yes?"
A slightly startled asari muttered, "Yes, yes; after lunch would be most acceptable." Still lost in deep thought, the maiden stood from the table and wandered into the medical bay.
As the mock commander, who seemed to be taking on the unspoken role of Executive Officer of the Normandy, watched the absentminded asari move about; Shepard stood, picked up Liara's left over tray and pushed in her chair, mocking, "Here let me get that for you!"
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As promised the young T'Soni strolled into the Captain's Cabin at 1258 hours. The mock commander in her battle dress uniform, BDU's, was shutting down her terminal when she heard the asari enter. Slowly rising to her feet, not completely excited about another meld Shepard chimed, "So, you ready to do this?"
Immediately taking a defensive position, the prothean expert began to recite the safety and harmlessness of asari melds. Just as she was about to go into how pleasurable they could also be Shepard stopped the woman, "Liara!"
Taking the soft blue hands into her soft pink hands, Shepard announced, "I'm not worried Liara. I know you won't let anything bad happen to me."
The words dramatically stunned the maiden. She hadn't thought how vulnerable Shepard really was during these melds before. A human doesn't have the control to defend or fight back in a mental capacity like a natural born asari. A slow smile crept across the blue face as she realized how much the former rogue soldier was in fact, trusting her with her very life.
Also reveling in the trust admittance, the brightly colored emerald eyed woman asked, "So, are you ready to head to the conference room? The others are waiting." The asari kept her shy but proud smile, knowing how much the human had come to trust her and nodded to Shepard's query, knowing she had come to trust the human just as much.
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Safely inside the conference room, Liara and Shepard stood under the watchful eye of Dr. Chakwas in case anything bad should happen during the meld. As Shiala herself had warned, the cipher was a great deal of knowledge to accept all at once, so Shepard thought it best to have the doctor standing by in case any problems arose; just to be on the safe side.
Feeling her hands inside the unusually warm human hands momentarily caught the young maiden's breath. Noticing that the asari was distracted, Shepard softly whispered, "Are you ready for this?"
Large, sapphire doe eyes lifted up and admired Shepard's eyes as Liara leisurely whispered, "Yes"
Inching perhaps a little closer than needed; the soldier delightfully hummed, "Ok, let's get started."
Completely unperturbed by the proximity of the human to her, Liara slowly closed her eyes and took in a solitary deep breath. It wasn't only the asari's head shooting upwards as her eyes turned to dark onyx, that let the former officer know the asari had entered the meld, but she also felt the blue hands clutch hers.
Like a gentle breeze carrying a leaf on the wind, Liara floated into Shepard's mind. Ensuring the meld would be successful, asari were taught to ease into an unfamiliar mind. The professor fluttered about the soldier's memories until she found a pleasant one… In the air, Liara could hear a young Shepard laughing while standing in her mother's lap. She could barely make out the words of the human mother as she visibly saw the woman wipe dirty from the child's face, "What am I going to do with you little bit?"
The freckled face redhead child giggled as her mother lovingly poked at her stomach, "Momma!" The sandy blonde woman smiled at her daughter and adoringly informed the smaller version of her, "I love you Katherine. You know that right?" As the young child grabbed a hold of her mother's prodding finger, she giggled, "Yes ma'am!" Tender kisses smothered the young girl's face as her mother reiterated, "Don't forgot little bit, I will always love you, no matter what!"
Unexpectedly, a small imaginary wave crashed between Shepard and Liara's thoughts, as their attention was harshly directed somewhere else. As fierce as a door being ripped off its hinges during a storm, the prothean visions played back throughout human's mind. The soldier instinctually felt Liara's body lurch from the assault and reached out to steady her. In between the stabbing images, Liara heard Shepard's voice call out to her. "I've got you."
The phantasmagoria went flying through Shepard's consciousness into Liara's subconscious, a horrifying chiaroscuro of death and destruction. The complete decimation of an entire species vividly and graphically displayed…. scene after terrifying scene in their joined minds…. Sentient machines, eerily reminding the asari of the rachni queen on Noveria seemingly the harbinger of doom…. Planets from a far off solar system eclipsed a mother sun…. The images almost flew by too fast to discern between them…. Mercifully, the message ended but not before leaving one last clue to this fifty thousand year old travesty….
As spontaneously as it had started, Liara's onyx pupils returned to oceans blue as the knowledge bond ended. Slightly dazed, the asari gradually lifted her head and uttered, "I do like peanut butter."
The professor's assigned guardian snickered before asking puzzled, "What was that?"
Liara's cheeks flushed when she tried to further clear her mind and she dismissed her previous statement, "Oh nothing."
Taking a few moments to gather her thoughts, Liara suddenly realized Shepard's hands were still hanging onto her slender waist. However pretending to evaluate her vision, the asari made no attempt to pull away.
The proximity of the two did not escape the attention of Dr. Chakwas as she mentally noted, the pair seem to be getting closer.
The couple stood in silence for a moment only a breath apart. The asari could almost taste the coffee on the soldier's lips before the prothean expert's mind kicked into full scientific gear.
Purposely interrupting the duo's moment, the eager gunny chief requested, "Well, did you see anything?"
Inadvertently the asari broke Shepard's grip on her slender form, "I ... I... Oh, goddess!" Liara sputtered as she tried to collect herself from the meld with Shepard.
Pacing and frantically waving her arms about, the young professor blurted out in enthusiastic tones, "Of course, how could I be so dense? It all makes sense now."
Realizing she had been holding onto the asari a bit too long, Shepard, looking rather pale herself, blushed slightly; then the extremely befuddled but concerned guardian asked, "What is it Liara; are you okay?"
"Yes Shepard. Thank you for asking. I am fine." Liara responded feebly as she held a hand to her head clearly looking anything but fine, "You must be remarkably tenacious Shepard...to have survived not one, but two interactions with prothean beacons and receive the cipher."
The blue asari gazed at Shepard as she reverently continued, "I am amazed. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by such a process."
"Yeah, yeah she's great, but this isn't helping us find Saren or the conduit." an impatient Ashley interjected.
"I am sorry I never expected the images to be so intense, but you are right. My scientific curiosity got the better of me." The prothean expert contritely replied to Ashley as Shepard scowled in the chief's direction.
"It's okay Liara, just tell us; were you able to make sense out of the vision?" Shepard asked as she offered the young asari a reassuring smile.
"Yes. The Protheans were definitely wiped out by a race of sentient machines: the reapers."
"The reapers?" Garrus asked.
Liara nodded and continued, "The message in the beacon was a distress call sent out across the Prothean empire warning about the reapers."
"Was there anything else? What about the conduit?" inquired Pressly.
Liara was quiet for a moment as she replayed the scenes of the vision and tried to piece the puzzle together, "Yes! There were other images, places I recognized from my research." she contemplated some more before excitedly exclaiming, "Ilos! The conduit is on Ilos!"
Shepard calmly recited, "Ilos?"
"Yes. That explains why my mother, I mean Saren needed the coordinates for the Mu relay. It is the most expeditious way of accessing the planet's system."
"What do you mean?" asked Tali as she joined the conversation.
"Well, when the Mu relay was lost; so was the access to the planets in that part of the Terminus system. Without that access, it would be a major scientific undertaking to blindly journey into the depths of the Terminus in the hopes of running into one of them."
"Like looking for a needle in a haystack," grumbled Shepard.
"I was thinking more 'pin the tail on the donkey" chimed Ashley.
Tali looked at Wrex and quietly asked, "Needle in a haystack?"
As Garrus leaned in on the other side of Wrex, "… And why would you pin a tail on a donkey? Don't they already have tails?"
"They're human." shrugged Wrex, justifying the puzzling comments as the three aliens returned their focus back to the conversation.
"Great! Ilos is in the Terminus system." Pressly shook his head and stated sarcastically, "The council is just going to love this!"
Concerned upon hearing the words the council, Shepard probed, "What's the problem?"
"The council will not want to do anything that could possibly strain their already tenuous relationship with the Terminus System." intoned Dr. Chakwas, "It would be political suicide."
Flabbergasted Shepard shot back indignantly, "Are you kidding me?" Feeling the blood rush to her head as the stress began to swell in her gut, the former alliance officer remarked, "But the council already promised to rally the Citadel's Fleet and go after Saren!"
Attempting to sway the mock commander back to the seriousness of her findings, Liara marched over to the marine's side and placed an unexpected hand on Shepard's upper chest. It caught more than just Shepard's attention. The trio of aliens snickered at the 'closeness' the meld had apparently made the two. Even Dr. Chakwas mused, but not from the growing relationship of the asari/human pair, but the increasing camaraderie between the team as they reacted to the couple's mounting intimacy. Off to the side, even the gunnery soldier was shielding a smile from her lips at the couple's silent dialog.
Liara's deep sapphire orbs stared endlessly into Shepard's emerald green eyes before the asari was able to compose her thoughts again and stated, "The conduit is on Ilos. I can't believe I didn't see it sooner. Shepard, we have to go to Ilos!"
Reeling in her anger, Shepard swore, "We will convince the council that is where Saren is headed. Liara, I promise. I'll take you to Ilos!"
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In a darkened room the only sounds filling the space were the distant hums of the ventilation, the electricity vibrating throughout the shipboard systems and a faint whimper from the only bed in the room; if anyone had been awake to hear such things. On the desk was a computer terminal that was still on as the user had clearly fallen asleep while using it. On the screen were official Alliance files Shepard had been reviewing. Across from the workstation was a bed and its only sleeping occupant was beginning to stir with growing intensity.
Small beads of perspiration started to collect around the face and chest of the pale flesh; the sweat glistening under the monitor's faint illuminating glow. The human N-7 t-shirt covering the woman's form was beginning to unconsciously feel more like a straight jacket than the comfort it was supposed to be providing. Her sudden movements at first were spontaneous but then became more and more frequent and unpredictable as the woman's mind raced. A single kick sent the blanket flying to the floor leaving only a sliver of the remaining sheet to cover her increasingly clammy skin.
Inside the dimly lit room, horrifying images assaulted the woman's brain. The individual trapped in suspended consciousness jolted almost violently as another bad dream wracked her mind but this shadowy vision seemed much worse then the others. The body of the tortured soul heaved beneath the bed sheets. Shuddering legs flailed, while trembling hands clutched the cotton fabric as gruesome images tore at her mind. Her whimpers were only a few octaves from being an outright broadcasting of terror. Her soft skin barely felt the streaks of sweat drip down her forehead, before her mind was forced deeper into the empty abyss of her nightmare.
Shear panic and high-pitched wailing echoed in her cranium. She was an unwillingly participant in the atrocity she was experiencing. Her own body tried to fend off the assault on her mind as it thrashed around. As mighty as her will was, the ghastly mental assault was almost unbearable as she witnessed first hand the cries of the Rachni's daughters being slaughtered by krogan forces, hundreds of years ago.
The earsplitting cries were both blaring and heart breaking. Knowing she didn't understand their language or rather their songs, she was certain she knew what every single terrifying plea for help was as if she were there herself; as if she were the Rachni herself.
She felt the last of her kind come to her aide and they evacuated the battlefield as fast as possible. As her children fell at her feet by the thousands, it was understood this queen had to survive or the entire race would be lost. From inside the shuttle, the Rachni queen could hear the fading cries of their songs; songs of her children being silenced by a race of bludgeoning tyrants the likes of which they had never seen before.
The queen fought and pleaded with her own song for the shuttle to return to their planet. The protective and extremely committed mother wanted to return to the sour notes of her children's songs as they were silenced and wept as her children's cries were slowly devoid of color replaced by the emptiness of silence.
Great sorrow fell upon the tortured soul of the sleeping woman before she abruptly shouted, "NO! NO! Make it stop! NO!"
The resounding bloodcurdling screams and barbaric deaths were too much for the dreamer's brain to handle as the shrieking became louder and louder until finally their host bellowed out loud in horror.
"Liara! Liara!"
It wasn't long before the woman having a nightmare was shaken awake by both the disturbing dream and the calm hands that clutched her. Seeing the terror on the young asari's face, Shepard asked as she held a blue hand, "Liara, are you ok?"
It took a few moments for the asari to realize where she was and who was at her bedside. Recognizing Shepard's face, Liara began to breathe easier. The human was sleeping at the terminal on the desk and was at the asari's side faster than imaginable when the ruckus had awakened her. The concerned guardian grabbed a towel and tenderly wiped the droplets of sweat from the asari's face, "It's ok Liara. It's ok. It was only a dream."
A shaky blue hand reached out to the human, "No, Shepard. This dream was different. This wasn't like my other nightmares from the beacons."
Clearing, glossy eyes peered up at the softer green ones as her hoarse voice rattled, "This was so different. It was utterly execrable." Attempting to comprehend her dream, the asari stammered, "Shepard it felt….more like a memory…. then a dream. I was actually there."
"How is that possible?" questioned a worried soldier.
Seeing the tiny glistening pools of sweat trickle down the asari's temple, the marine reassured her, "I'm here Liara. You're safe now. I promise." A weak smile etched its way over the asari's pale blue skin.
Reaching for a thermos on the desk Shepard handed the bottle to the maiden, "Here drink some of this. It's water." The heaving chest of the asari began to slow as she took the water from the human and slowly sipped the cool refreshing water. When her nerves settled Liara spoke of what she remembered from her tragic event.
"It was so real! So.… awful!" Crying the asari fell into the caring arms of her protector.
Shepard's gut wrenched. She knew how to protect Liara from physical harm but these nightmares, these horrible dreams Liara had experienced since her first night on the Reapers ship, were something completely different and it tore at the former alliance officer as she didn't know how to protect the asari from this. Once again, Shepard found herself wishing to seek Matriarch Benezia's guidance. The red headed woman paused and thought, if only she were here.
As a flood of information swelled in the young professor's mind, she caught Shepard completely by surprise, blurting out her statement, "The Rachni were a normally a peaceful species."
The human's mouth dropped open. Although the Rachni Wars were centuries ago, even the humans had heard about the horrific battle. One they were more than happy not to be a part of.
In total disbelief, Shepard asked, "Come again? Are we talking about the same Rachni?"
"The reason the normally peaceful Rachni suddenly attacked other species is they were Sovereign's original indoctrinates." The severity of the 'secret knowledge' was beginning to unfold.
"Oh Goddess, the Rachni were essentially an antisocial but peaceful species but then something set them off. The turians, who were the basically the police force of the galaxy were asked to handle the Rachni by the council, but they needed an alternate plan when their fleet was getting creamed after several months of fighting. That must have been when the council asked the krogans to step in because the turians couldn't handle it."
"Krogan were genetically hardwired for constant battle with their high birthrates and redundant organ systems so their numbers wouldn't be greatly affected by the heinous war. Afterwards though, when their numbers were dangerously on the incline, the council worried the galaxy would be on the verge of another war so they called upon the salarians, who are the scientists of the galaxy, to subdue the krogan breeding rates; keeping their numbers in check with the genophage."
Shepard added in a snarky tone, "It seems that the salarians were a little too efficient in their work."
Upon thinking of her former adversary a theory came to Shepard's mind, "Liara, do you think it's possible this nightmare came from your mother?"
A teary eyed asari looked up in complete confusion as Shepard continued, "Like how she downloaded or rather uploaded the dragon's tooth information during one of your meldings?"
Seeing the gears click in the scientist's mind the human went on, "Perhaps she was able to share her memories, or rather, the Rachni Queen's memories with you just before she died?"
The asari obviously lost in deep thought uttered, "It must have been from Benezia. I mean my mother."
Glaring back at Shepard, Liara suddenly felt a flash of hope she wasn't losing her mind as she suggested, "I thought I felt her voice in my ear but she was dying and it was so brief. I'm not sure what I experienced."
"Perhaps Benezia purposely planted a door within your mind and our last melding opened that door, triggering this horrible nightmare? Maybe she wanted you to have this knowledge and knew it would be kept safe until the right time."
The Matriarch was long dead but still managed to impress the veteran soldier. Again she wished they had been able to meet on better terms. As it was, it was a great honor for the human to simply have been in the woman's presence.
Shocked by even her own words that emitted from her lips, Shepard sharply inhaled. "I know it sounds crazy but lately anything seems possible. Maybe your mom was trying to tell you something."
A worried expression blanketed the young asari's face when she asked, "Oh Goddess, we were so wrong about the Rachni and the Reapers control over them. Shepard what are we going to do?"
"Well, I'd bet my life your mother planted this valuable information in your head. This is just the evidence the council needs to hear to believe us about the Reaper invasion."
"Shepard we need to inform the rest of the squad. We need to come up with a plan of attack before things really get out of hand."
Confident that Liara was absolutely correct, Shepard affirmed, "First thing in the morning when we pull into the Citadel, I will call a meeting and tell the team everything you just told me." Offering a small smile, Shepard half whispered, "But right now, I want you to try and get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a pretty big day for all of us."
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A/N: The peanut butter reference is a small indication of what might, or might not be said by Liara in ME3. I couldn't resist, sorry PMC.