The Aswa looked like a small silver shark sleeping at the end of the ramp. Shepard had never been aboard any ship other than the occasional shuttle, or the large transport that had ferried her from Earth to Virmire, and those certainly didn't look like this one.

Truth be told, she had an intense love-hate relationship with space and interstellar travel. On the one hand, from a very early age, she'd been fascinated by aliens. The First Contact war had happened when she was three years old. Despite the war, they had so long speculated on the possibility of life on other worlds, and the knowledge that there was other sentient life out there- and that Man was actually part of an enormous galactic community- had almost literally put stars in the eyes of all humankind. Her entire childhood had been immersed in that- watching vids and waves, seeing news stories and magazine pictures of all these new and exciting beings.

At the same time, there were the other stories. The stories of rapidly developing ship technology and horrible accidents- people being exposed to eezo radiation, and the scores of babies being born with grotesque deformities or cancers. Those that were fortunate to develop normally became the first biotics- children 'encouraged' out of school and sent off to biotic research facilities or training camps. Two of Shepard's elementary school friends had been taken and sent to these camps. Though their families talked about the exciting prospects of the kids being involved in the government programs at Jump Zero, all she knew was that she didn't see them again.

Space could kill you in so many different ways. Vacuum, radiation, exposure, eezo…a minor miscalculation in an FTL jump could put you into the heart of a star, or slam you into a moon. If air filtration and recyc systems failed, you were dead. If your core containment failed, you were dead. Every tiny minor thing that could go wrong inevitably resulted in the same thing- you were dead. Space was vast, eternal, cold, and decisively cruel.

That was without even throwing in the pirates, the slavers, the mercs, and a thousand other hazards that hid behind every moon or within every nebula.

So while she grew up dreaming of these new and exotic people out there in the vast 'somewhere'…space travel itself terrified the shit out of her.

Walking with her heavily armed escort through the halls of the Citadel was endlessly fascinating, so much so she nearly forgot her companions were carrying enough weaponry to take down small colonies- and they were doing so because of a very real and present threat to her life.

Everywhere she looked there were crowds of every alien face imaginable. Tall, hard-edged turians (the males are bigger and have a full crest, she thought as she stared); lithe, wide-eyed salarians (no external sexually dimorphic characteristics, but most you meet will be male by default, since females are much rarer and revered in their culture); serenely floating hanar (completely invertebrate and aquatic based, yet have adapted with technology to function outside of the sea!); and the great living mountains of elcor (when speaking galactic they always have to qualify their words with a descriptive in order to convey to other species what they normally transmit through subtle pheromone and body language cues!).

Spotting the gleam of a helmet as they neared the docks, she craned her neck. "Quarian? That's a quarian over there, isn't it?"

Commander Williams, the older of the two cousins escorting her, looked faintly amused and a little exasperated. "Yeah, probably. You've really never seen any alien before last night?"

Shepard's face went a brilliant red and she cleared her throat. "N-No. Not alive, anyway."

"You'll get used to them soon enough," Feris told her. "They're just people, like any other. Some of them are bloody assholes, just like us. Most are decent enough."

An asari passed by them just then, intently scrutinizing a data pad in her hand. Shepard turned and watched her walk past, eyes wide in fascination. Ashley smirked again, nudging her cousin with her arm before clearing her throat.

"And some are easy on the eyes, huh Doc?"

"W-what?" Shepard blinked at her, then went an even brighter red. Ashley, who had only meant to tease and not humiliate, inclined her head.

"Sorry about that. Didn't mean to put you on the spot. It's true though…everyone seems to like the asari, even if you aren't on that team. They've definitely cornered the market on aesthetics. So don't worry about it. Even hanar stare…though you can't really tell when they do."

They entered the docking ring and that's when Shepard saw the Aswa slumbering in its deadly grace. Her fascination was immediately forgotten as her nerves roared back to life.

They stepped on board near the helm. A younger asari was there, fiddling with some equipment, and turned with a smile as they entered. Sam dismissed their C-Sec guard and sealed the door as Ashley made introductions.

"Dr. Shepard, this is Ariali Jura, the Aswa's pilot. Jura, this is Dr. Delilah Shepard."

"Pleased to meet you, Dr. Shepard," Jura said, offering her hand.

"Delilah is just fine," she said in return, hoping her nerves weren't showing too badly as she shook the asari's hand. "O-or Del. Sometimes 'Lilah…my older sister sometimes calls me Lily but-…I-I usually only hear Dr. Shepard when I'm giving a lecture or a presentation."

Oh good heavens, can I look any more pathetic? she thought. She usually wasn't like this. She was usually far more together, confident…not stammering and rambling like some school kid.

"Delilah," Jura said, inclining her head a little. If she took particular note of the human woman's awkwardness, she hid her reaction with grace. "Very well."

"Captain T'Soni should be here in the next few minutes," Ashley told her. "I'm going to show the Doc down to the mess."

"Yes, we should be ready for departure as soon as Liara is on board. It was good to meet you, Delilah. Welcome aboard the Aswa."

"Thank you," she said, and then mentally kicked herself as she followed Williams to the mess. She sat down, clinging to the cup of coffee that the marine put down in front of her a moment later.

"Oh, thank God," she said, breathing deep of its nutty aroma before she realized Williams was looking at her with amusement. She felt her cheeks heat again.

"Sorry," she said. "I'm usually not like this, believe it or not. I just…sensory overload, I suppose."

"Sure," the marine replied, sitting down across from her. "You've been through a lot in a short amount of time, Doc. It's a lot to process. Just take your time."

Shepard smiled faintly, sipping at her coffee before studying its dark brown depths. "I never really considered myself sheltered, you know. I suppose I was to some degree…virtue of money, family."

Her brows creased a little as she thought of them. They are in danger because of me.

Seeing the look, Ashley looked at her gently. "They're all right," she said. "The Alliance won't let anything happen to them.

She nodded solemnly, then glanced up as she saw Feris enter the small mess and head for the coffee pot.

"I thought myself pretty grounded, growing up. There were so many sick, struggling…people not as blessed as I had been. Kids born on the streets- did you know that in most major cities across Earth, 25% of the homeless population is children? Some live in the streets like feral cats…kids as young as three or four years old. Some are just the children of the less savory, used or abandoned. Growing up, I wanted to help them. I wanted to be a doctor, so that I could. I grandly envisioned myself opening up a free clinic in the darker parts of London or New York…"

She sighed, shaking her head. "Nice to dream, I suppose, but look where I am now."

"From what I understand of your work you were still trying to help people," Ashley told her, as Sam sat down nearby. "Using cross-species genetics to maybe cure deadly diseases…that's noble."

"It's easy to be noble in a lab," Shepard told her. "Everything is clean, sterilized, regulated. You don't have starving faces or deformed little bodies begging you for help. However good my intentions may have been, look what's happened. My research is being used to kill. Thanks to that sad, crazy woman…it's being used to hurt people. I never wanted that."

"So you're going to stop it," Sam said, matter-of-fact. "She's the one that's doing this, and you're the one that's going to fix it."

Shepard looked back down at her coffee. She only hoped that she could. Though she had been top of her class and within the top of her field, that didn't change the fact that Osco was incredibly smart, and sported an IQ almost a hundred points over Shepard's own. Even given her advantages and familiarity with Osco's work, it could take her months if not years to even identify the transmission vector.

A transmission vector that apparently doesn't exist, according to those researchers already dissecting the problem.

Such a mess. This is all just…such a mess.


The world that was home to the Purdue colony was a rather pleasant green/yellow, marbled with blue. It was an old world, with an exceptionally thick crust and a relatively small under-mantle. As a result, earthquakes and volcanos were an extremely rare phenomenon, occurring perhaps once in several thousand years. With no oceans of magma erupting regularly upon the surface, most of Purdue was incredibly flat, only occasional rocky hills or gentle slopes breaking up the endless grassy plains.

It also sported no oceans, its water mostly fresh and contained in lakes and rivers that spanned thousands of miles. This may have sounded paradisiacal and idyllic, but with no greater seas or oceans and little to no variation on landscape, there were no real weather patterns, no diverse oceanic eco-system, and very little both in the way of aquatic and land-based life. The stiff, hardy grass that coated the plains was nearly the only form of vegetation, save a stumpy breed of tree and some various microscopic spores. A few small mammalian and avian creatures clung tenaciously to their endless but thin ecosystem, but none were larger than an Earth chicken or rabbit. Real predatory species did not exist.

Purdue itself was settled on the edge of a river, near some of the largest hills the planet had to offer. Half a dozen rounded prefabs clustered near the hills, much larger domes holding huge hydroponic gardens and pens for larger grazing animals brought from Earth.

When it had boasted its full five hundred souls, Purdue had been slightly bustling. Now it seemed cold and silent, only ghostly shapes in full hazard hard-suits moving here and there, carefully retrieving the dead-most of whom still lay where they fell.

In orbit above, a large salarian medical vessel hung silently in company with two smaller human alliance frigates. The frigates were in charge of security- making sure no unauthorized ships came into or left the quarantine zone. The medical vessel was where the work was taking place, salarian and human doctors, peppered with the occasional asari, bending to the task of unraveling the plague.

It was to this ship, the Percusses, that the Aswa sailed, sidling up close to its belly and connecting its airlock.

Shepard had spent most of the four hours of the trip in the Aswa's mess. It was close, quiet, and didn't have viewports or windows that would remind her she was actually out in space. Despite the coffee, exhaustion was starting to catch up with her. She'd put in a full fourteen hour shift at the lab before returning home to be ambushed by Orthrus, and had really only gotten two hours' worth of sleep since.

If you can call being unconscious 'sleep'.

Combine that with adrenaline from the attack, the irritation of her chest still dully hurting, the situation as a whole, and the caffeine- and she felt seriously on edge.

"You look like a cat in a room of rocking chairs," the medical doctor said as she helped Shepard to put on a quarantine hard-suit. Given the grim nature of what they were dealing with on the Percusses, full quarantine and haz-mat procedures were underway. No one got on board without being sealed against every possible microbe.

The doctor, human, had introduced herself as Helen Chakwas, and she seemed an amiable and pleasant sort. Shepard did her best to hold still as she hefted up a metal chest-plate and started buckling it on.

"You've never been in one of these before?" she asked, and Del shook her head.

"No. I've been part of quarantine procedures but nothing this heavy-duty. Normally we're able to stay with skin-suit level pads."

"Well, it may feel a bit bulky and awkward but you'll be surprised how quickly you get used to it. Be thankful you're not wearing one of the marines' hard-suits. Those are nearly twice the amount of weight. There, how's that feel? Not too much pressure on the chest?"

"It's not bad," she said. "Have you ever met a quarian?"

Helen blinked at the question. "A few, now and again. Why do you ask?"

"They have to wear these suits all the time. I can't imagine living in one of these."

"Well, the quarians suits are more specially designed, far more comfortable. Fortunately, you won't be required to live in that…at least, not for too long."

A form appeared in the doorway. Shepard glanced over, drawn by the motion, then looked away again as she realized it was Liara. The asari carried with her such an air of confidence and self-control that she seemed incredibly intimidating to the geneticist. She hated when she couldn't get a handle on people, and so far she hadn't been able to get any kind of handle whatsoever on the Spectre captain.

She, too, was dressed in a similar hard-suit, her helmet in her hand. "Doctor, airlock is about to engage. Are we ready?"

"She's all set, just needs her helmet," Chakwas said, lifting it and settling it over Del's head. As it locked into place she checked the seals quickly, then nodded. "Good to go."

"Good. Dr. Shepard, this way please?"

As Shepard followed her, she shifted her shoulders awkwardly, trying to get used to the feeling of the suit. Halfway through the ship, she cleared her throat slightly.

"You can call me Delilah," she said. When the Spectre looked around at her, her mouth went abruptly dry, and just that fast…the cloak of awkwardness settled on her shoulders. "O-Or Del, if you prefer. I mean, if you're going to be keeping me safe I figured we could be on a first name basis."

She smiled sheepishly, but when the look aimed her direction didn't change, it faded. "I-I mean, if you wanted…"

To her surprise, the asari smiled. It was slight, but it made her look different- more relaxed. "As you wish, Merah," she said.

Del started to smile in echo, then blinked in confusion. "What-"

"Captain, we're all set on this end," Williams interrupted as they drew close to the air lock. She and Feris were both in their full hard-suits as well. "Once we're across the lock we've got decontamination. Dr. Solus is waiting for us on the other end."

"Very good. Remember, we may be aboard an allied vessel but that does not change our duty. One of us remains with Dr. Shepard at all times. Orthrus has shown themselves to be primarily human but that does not mean they do not have other species on their roster, nor does it prevent them sending in an assassin or a mole."

"I will be able to go to the restroom on my own, right?" Shepard asked. T'Soni and Williams stared at her, but Feris let out a chuckle.

"Only if the facilities are cleared first to make sure an incendiary device has not been placed beneath the toilet seat," Liara said, so dead-pan that Shepard took her seriously, paling a little.

"Incendiary device under the-"

Ashley grinned, and Liara gave that faint smile again. "I am sorry, I was teasing you."

"Oh…good. Getting blown up on the bog is not exactly the way I pictured going out."

Feris laughed again, and Ashley's grin widened. She clapped Shepard lightly on the shoulder pad. "I knew I liked you Doc."

They stepped into the airlock, waiting for pressures to equalize between the ships before stepping into a large containment room. The door behind them closed and sealed, and then a com came into life. The voice on the other end was male, but somewhat high-pitched and very frenetic.

"Good. Welcome. Dr. Solus. Apologize for extended disinfection period. Will take about ten minutes. Try to keep motion minimized but speak freely. Dr. Shepard, look forward to working with you."

"I look forward to working with you as well, Dr. Solus. I just wish it were under better circumstances."

"Indeed."

"Admiral Anderson told me there were two survivors of the initial infection. Are they still alive?"

"Yes. Have them isolated. Subject A is human, male, 39 years of age- Causter, Domingo. Shows no sign of infection or abnormal metabolic processes. High levels of irritability but given situation and reports of previous personality- to be expected. Subject B is human, female, 16 years of age- Paulson, Delphine. Biotic, L2. Also, no sign of infection, however metabolic processes…unusual. Accelerated. Getting healthier."

"Wait a second," Feris said with a frown. "This girl was exposed to a deadly plague that kills forty percent of those it infects in twenty minutes…and she's getting healthier?"

"Yes."

"Is it because of her biotics?" Shepard asked.

"No. Four other biotics in colony, dead. Reacted same to exposure as others. Biotics apparent non-factor."

"Age?"

"Six others of age or younger. Dead. Non-factor."

"Have you identified the transmission vector yet?"

"Contaminant spreads through fluid- blood, saliva, waste matter- however no contaminant component yet identified. Unprecedented. Hoping you can enlighten."

"It makes no sense," she said softly, speaking more to herself than anyone else. "Toxins, viruses, nanites, bacteria, there has to be some kind of carrier or pathogen…."

"All eliminated through extensive testing. No trace of any known carrier is present."

"C'mon, Gellian…what did you do?" she whispered quietly. She was still pondering the matter as the decontamination cycle completed, and the interior door opened.

Dr. Mordin Solus was just outside the door. A salarian of some advanced years (in the way salarian's measured things, of course), Dr. Solus was tall and almost as frenetic in his motions as he was in his speech. He was also wearing a full static-free hard-suit.

She had heard of him of course- their lines of work followed in close parallels, after all- but she had never met him face to face. He greeted Liara and the marines, then enthusiastically shook Shepard's hand.

"Delighted to meet you! Look forward to discussing parabolic thermal regulation alteration to base-pair triglycerides in vorcha but more serious work first. Will take you to main lab."

"Th-thank you, Dr. Solus. It's good to meet you too. Can I talk to the two survivors?"

"Yes. Isolation cells flank the lab. Better for interaction-not prisoners, don't want to punish them more than necessary."

"Have you had any problem with security breaches?" Liara asked. "Strange ships in orbit? Any communications with Osco?"

"No. Few ships warned off by Alliance but none have pushed the matter. Osco silent. No incidents on board or in colony."

"I know there is only a small wildlife population on Purdue but there are some native animals. Any indication that they are affected by this contagion as well? Or the livestock in the colony?"

"No. Wildlife samples show no effect. Domesticated livestock showing no effect. Lab animals as well, even when injected with blood samples from dead or dying patients. Would say it is human only contamination but-"

"But…?"

He looked at her. "Turian on colony. Married to hydroponics technician. Died as well in initial infection. Might just be human and turian, won't know for sure until we can isolate contagion and run further tests."

"I doubt it," Shepard said. "Our initial research covered all Council races. It's wishful to think this may be only limited to humans and turians."

"Agreed. Must assume worst-case for now…any sentient creature at risk."

"Is Osco particularly xenophobic?" Ashley asked. Shepard shook her head.

"No. At least, she wasn't when I knew her. She called Terra Firma and those God's Planet folks 'a bunch of ignorant, delusional miscreants.'"

"Don't see xenophobia in infection," Mordin agreed. "Would target alien colony, engineer to leave humans immune."

"Perhaps she is a self-hating human," Liara said.

"Unlikely. Self-hating on species level is incredibly rare abnormality. More likely to self-hate on economic-"

As they had been talking, they had been following Mordin toward a secure set of doors bearing the universal quarantine symbol. As they approached, the door sensor picked up his security clearance. As they slid open, he broke off, jolting to a halt. Shepard, immediately at his shoulder, looked away from him at his abrupt halt and into the room.

The first thing she saw was a dead salarian.