THE VOID
SYSTEM INAPPLICABLE
FIVE HOURS FROM THE OMNI RELAY
NOVEMBER 12th, 2188
"But the ship swept on, and the dusk hushed the hum of the day, and the first stars above blinked answers to the early fireflies on the banks as that jungle fell far behind, leaving only its fragrance as a memory that it had been."
H.P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
JAVIK had been immensely pleased with the 'Negator' and had wasted little time in both goodbyes and departure. The ship Shepard and his companions had appropriated seemed tailored to their needs. The interior had been designed for human (or at least human-like) operators, the computer interfaces familiar yet alien, in no language they'd understood. Vnkar offered no new information on the vessel save to reiterate he knew little. The bridge, buried at the centre of the vessel (smart design, Shepard had thought) consisted of a wrap-around control centre, with two chairs facing forward, likely pilot and navigation with two more stations to starboard and port of a central chair – likely the Captain's. Investigation by Grunt and Jack found several aft-ward cabins as well as a fully-stocked galley with foodstuffs in cyrostasis. Functional toilet facilities were eyed with anticipation but unfortunately the controls to operate them were unfamilar. Grunt had volunteered as official taster. Anything that made him sick would likely kill the rest – when of course they could get the ship in running order. They all gathered to sit on the bridge and tried to figure out the controls.
Shepard took the command spot and the rest sat where they liked. They'd been working nearly an hour on the control interface until one of them somehow activated the vessel's AI.
"Full activation achieved. Request status and initial startup orders." The voice was blandly male with an accent from no ethnicity any aboard had ever met. To Shepard's ears it sounded vaguely German. A holographic representation of a male face appeared above the main console, with features that likely reflected the race to whom this ship originally belonged. It appeared remarkably human, with dark eyes, a sharp nose and high cheekbones. A square jaw rounded the face off. "Scanning. Crew aboard. Current crew does not match personnel records." It paused for three seconds. "Security request – identify or anti-personnel countermeasures with be implemented."
Shepard took a step back and looked it squarely in the 'face'.
"I'm Victor Shepard, Spectre and Commander of the Alliance Navy. You've been docked to this station for a very long time, and your crew is doubtless deceased by now." The AI blinked. "We are appropriating this vessel in an emergency situation and require your cooperation."
"Identify species," the AI demanded.
"I'm human."
"Scanning. Standby." For an instant the AI seemed confused, its face vanishing from the screen for a moment and then returning. "Referent 99797 – Human, system location 112 by 133 by 566 GSP. One H-type mid-sequence yellow star, twelve planetary bodies, five habitable. System was reported destroyed approximately 174 Turns previous to this vessel's standby command override by Mak'Dhorn Energy Consortium armies." Around it the consoles and interfaces lit up. "Human race officially labeled extinct."
Behind them Vnkar looked up sharply at the news.
"Not even remotely," Mulholland told it. She pointed at Shepard's left arm and made button pushing motions. He nodded after a second and activated his omnitool. "Can you scan that device for information, including time referents and translator matrixes?"
"One moment." Shepard extended the omnitool forward and a ball of pale blue light enveloped it. "Scan complete. Data mine translation commencing. Standby."
It took almost five full minutes, the AI's face stolid and unblinking for the duration.
"Translation matrix established. Time referents decoded and converted. As per my directive dated 1198.111, I bid you welcome aboard the Fierce Light, protector vessel of the Sevateem Primacy. I am called Hessam, a Synthetic Intelligence."
"That was quick," Jack snapped, ever suspicious.
"This vessel escaped carrying human survivors of the Consortium War. My databases contain all knowledge remaining of the Sevateem Primacy - Humanity. As I was in standby, I have no idea how much time has passed and could properly assess current conditions. One moment. Vessel integrity decay rate scanned. Confirmed – the Fierce Light has been in standby for six hundred fifty seven years, four months. Standard life expectancies of the crew were exceeded. I had remained here in case any were to follow."
"That's a long damn time," Jack muttered, rubbing her neck. Her muscles ached and she'd have killed a city for a shower.
"All systems coming online," Hessam told them as the ship hummed to life around them. "All flight controls open and interfaces are being translated for ease of use. Do you have a commanding officer?"
"That would be him," Jack stood and stretched, jabbing a thumb at her lover.
"Shepard. Though bioscans indicate you do not precisely match standard physiognomies, this vessel is at your disposal. It is a War-class Protector vessel, heavily armed. It possesses a Terran Stratos Division cloaking system and a Overth-class Fold System."
"Sounds impressive. Give me the specs later. For now, take us out of dock and into open space. About a light year from here is a large object. It's called a Relay. You should find information about it in what you extracted from my omnitool."
"One moment." Hessam scanned the data. "Accessed. This vessel does not require that mode of transportation. However, it would advantageous to have specific coordinates. It can be dangerous to Fold to non-predetermined location."
"Unfortunately, we don't have a clue how to get there from here otherwise."
"This vessel can still utilize this Relay then."
"Excellent." Shepard replied, quite relieved. "You will likely scan another vessel a few hours ahead of us. This is an allied vessel. Follow it at best possible speed." Shepard sat back in his chair.
"As you command."
The Fierce Light eased from the gantry, turned gracefully and was soon on its way. Shepard puffed out a breath and relaxed slightly. Homeward bound at last. He felt… new. Nothing he could explain adequately, nothing he could point to and say 'this is better' but the feeling was definitely there. His body was immensely weary yet he felt stronger than he had in a very long time.
"I'm gonna go try that food," Grunt announced. He looked over at the AI. "Can we still eat any of on this ship?"
"You can," Hessam replied. "My scans indicated cyrostasis has preserved it perfectly. It is human food, after all."
"Good." Grunt stomped away.
"If no one cares," Vnkar announced, "I'm going to go find a dark cabin and sleep for a very long time."
"No one cares," Jack told him. He nodded in a mock bow and took his leave.
"Hessam – that one is to be watched," Shepard ordered when the door closed behind the turian.
"As you say, Commander."
"I need better clothes and a shower," Shepard grunted, stretching as Jack flopped back into her chair.
"All cabins are outfitted with complete cleansing and toilet facilities. Armor and weapons may be found aft of the Operations Stations."
Shepard perked up at that. Mulholland voiced her desire to investigate the ship, her Engineering curiosity aroused. At the door that led from the bridge she stopped and smiled a sudden broad smile.
"That was rather interesting, wasn't it? It was certainly so for me." She shook her head. "It's odd being so many thoughts at once." She shrugged then. "It's funny. Both the Shepards in my head are memories… yet both of those men are more real at this moment than I've been the entire time. You have to love inexplicability."
"No I don't." Jack muttered from her seat. Her stomach hurt and she felt floaty and irritable. She'd been running on reserves too damn long. The fried amp on her spine sent intermittent shocks through her body further aggravating her, nausea ebbing through her. It felt as if she were coming down from some drug.
Mulholland smiled at her.
"I bet it's very interesting to know you, Ms. Hayden."
"You got that right." Jack replied. Mulholland leaned against the door, her manner thoughtful.
"It's going to be very strange out there."
"Let's hope you're immune to culture shock." Shepard told her with a crooked smile. "We'll try and ease you into things. There might be a few people who'll need some …interesting explanations as to your presence."
Mulholland stopped, shivered and then regained control of herself.
"What is going to happen to that Galaxy can't be stopped." She turned and opened the door. "I can't imagine what can be done to help."
"All we can do is all we can do, Amy." Shepard sounded sure of himself.
"Then it will have to do." She looked back at Jack then to Shepard. "I envy you. You will have days to look forward to," she sighed, "and to look back upon."
Mulholland stepped through the door and it closed behind her. Jack sent a skeptical look at Shepard.
"What was that all about?"
Shepard stared at where Mulholland had been for a long moment. It felt as if another door closed somewhere.
"Grace and class." Shepard turned from the door. "Just wished it mattered."
The ship flew on.
THE FOOD WAS EDIBLE if bland and everyone ate in silence. Vnkar had returned to eat. Then he informed all he was going back to bed and Grunt agreed sleep was a good idea and followed him out. Jack and Shepard contemplated one another over the small galley table and the remnants of their meals. One plate remained untouched.
"Amy should have come back by now." Jack noted quietly. Across from her, Shepard looked up with regretful eyes.
"She won't be back." Shepard felt very tired at that moment and put his elbows on the table then dropped his head into his hands, rubbed them back across his head. "I guess that was inevitable too."
"Should I ask how and why?" She gave him a look that said she expected another 'later'.
"You've been a good girl." He smiled at her. "You feel up to it?"
"Just tell me already." Jack leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.
Shepard got comfortable and told her as best he could about his arrival to the station, what he'd experienced, what Amy had told him. Jack listened, at times incredulous and when he'd finished, she ran a hand over her fuzzy head and sighed loudly.
"What the fuck are we dealing with, Shepard? Weren't the goddamned Reapers enough?"
Shepard stood and cracked his neck, his body stiff.
"I don't know what to tell you, Jack. Not exactly the time off I had planned for us."
Jack just looked up at him from her chair.
"I couldn't find a guy that only had to worry about an occasional mob hit. I had to fall for a guy that deals in fuckin' planet-eatin' monsters."
"Sorry. My mother wanted me to be an Engineer."
"The AI know what it's doing?" Jack asked him, pushing her tray away.
"It'll get us there."
"Good." She stood and stretched out a hand, which he took. "Let's find a cabin. We need that fuckin' shower."
Shepard agreed and led the way.
THE CABIN was clean and a good size, had restroom and shower facilities. The lack of personal mementos struck Shepard as odd but Jack couldn't have cared less. As the door closed behind them, Jack shed her armor in a long trail and disappeared into the shower.
"Shepard…" came a moment later. "I'm not doin' this alone. In here. Now."
Shepard paused all of three seconds, shed the clothes he'd found on the station and joined her.
IN THE DARK of the cabin, Jack sat at a small desk next to the bed. Their lovemaking had spilled from the shower across the room and finally into the bed, passionate and fiercely intense, Jack directing that intensity. When they'd finished, she'd pushed herself from his arms to stalk naked about the room until finally sitting with a small huff. Shepard had merely watched her do it. Dim light from florescent strips on the wall and floor bathed her in a dim blue light.
"Something I did?" he asked finally and she sent him a sharp look. She glared at him then looked away.
"Don't start."
"Sorry."
Jack looked back at him, the glare still there. She was beginning to remind him of the early days of their relationship and her mercurial swinging from lover to antagonist.
"I don't know how many crusades I have in me, Shepard. I don't have tons of damn time, you know. I thought we could have a life!"
"I don't know if we're the kind of people that get…" Shepard began but Jack cut him off sharply.
"I don't want any fuckin' speeches, okay? Don't give me assurances and don't you dare condescend to me!"
Shepard sat up startled and swung his feet to the floor so he sat opposite her. She was jittery, clearly agitated.
"I've never done that, Jack, nor will I. You know that." He informed her with an even tone. He knew better than to fuel her ire. He reached for her hand and she glared at his, then relented and took it. She squeezed it spasmodically, clearly distressed.
"What is it? This isn't like you."
"I'm fuckin' tired, yeah? Running all over the damn universe chasin' after you! Makin' me fuckin' worry! What am I supposed to do if…!" One silver tear tracked down her face and she swiped it angrily away.
"It wasn't my idea, Jack." He told her gently. "I wanted what you wanted. I want what you want."
"Oh, you say that and you still go out there and…!" She clamped her mouth shut then bit her bottom lip.
"Was it Murtock?" He asked quietly but it still sounded too loud in the blue gloom. He knew it was the wrong thing to say the instant he said it but she seemed to have run out of steam.
"No. It's just… everything. Just everything." She sighed a sigh that seemed to start at her toes, rush up her body and gush out. She looked at the floor and squeezed his hand again.
"I'm sorry about him."
"You don't have to be." She shook her head.
"He saved you. Twice." Jack looked up. "I owe him."
"His own damn choice."
"I still owe him."
"Were you ever jealous? Even a little?" she asked out of nowhere.
He had been, once. Long ago.
"No."
"Why the fuck not?" Her head came up. She sounded …offended.
"Jack… to be jealous would mean I didn't trust you. I do."
"Bullshit." She sneered at him, pulling her hand away.
His own temper rising, Shepard waved a hand across the space between them.
"What do you want? Yeah, so I'm allowed to not like the idea of the guy. No man is ever comfortable with the idea that the woman he loves loved anyone before him! We're a little weird that way!"
Jack seemed to relent at that and looked almost uncomfortable. She reached for his hand. Shepard drew a deep breath and let her take it.
"Look, I'm… sorry. I'm really tired. I didn't mean to take it out on you." She looked at the floor again. "I just don't feel right."
"Come on," he replied, pulling her gently toward him, knowing that feeling. "You can't run under that kind of tension for that long and not expect repercussions."
Jack let herself be persuaded and eventually they were entwined together on the bed.
"I hate you, you reasonable bastard." Quietly spoken from his collarbone.
"I know, my inky angel."
Jack lightly drew her fingernails across his stomach and repeated it as he flinched. "Dumbass."
"I am sorry about Murtock, Jack. You cared about him once. That puts him in a rather exclusive strata. I have to respect him. For that, if nothing else. That's the truth."
"Shepard… for fuck's sake."
Jack raised herself up and kissed him in a slow thorough way. When she finished she regarded him with serious eyes.
"You're the only one that matters to me." Her voice sounded final. Shepard pulled her as close as he could.
"Good."
They slept.
AN HOUR BEFORE THE RELAY and Shepard had awoken with some vague disquiet. He lay there for a while and just stared at Jack as she slept, that lovely face peaceful and serene. Occasionally she'd flinch as if a bad dream had begun but it would pass quickly. When she sighed and rolled away from him, he had risen and slipped quietly away to wander their new ship. It had cabins and bunks for a decent-sized crew and he estimated the Fierce Light was roughly the size of the Normandy, though a bit less arty and more utilitarian. He'd found an armory, fully stocked with energy weapons and armor that had impressed him. The armor easily outclassed anything he'd worn in the past and he vowed to find a suit that fit him when he had the time. In a rear compartment he found much larger suits of armor and realized they were power armor – mechanized and heavily armed. Those could definitely come in handy. In a large cargo bay he spied several small landing craft and something that looked like a heavy APC, all armed to the proverbial teeth. 'War-class vessel' indeed, Shepard thought. The engines were enclosed and appeared to be run entirely from a wraparound wall of controls and monitors. Only a distant hum indicated they were operating at all. Hessam was running everything but Shepard knew eventually he might just have to recruit a new crew for the thing. He was starting to wonder if he shouldn't just keep it when they finally returned home.
Eventually he made his way to the bridge. A large holographic screen showed the Relay in the distance. It flashed brightly and Shepard knew Javik had just used it. He wished the Prothean well. From one of the pilot stations, he saw Vnkar sitting and staring at a smaller screen below the main one. A glance showed it to be a history but of what Shepard couldn't tell. Shepard had hoped everyone would have been asleep.
"Sleep eludes you as well?" Vnkar asked as he watched the screen. "I thought once I was away from that station I could. Freedom has odd effects on a sleeping psyche."
Shepard sat at the Captain's station, irritated as he'd wanted to be alone.
"Bad dreams are a fact of life for a soldier," Shepard told him. "You get used to it."
"I was not a soldier. Being used to nightmares is not something I would wish on anyone." Vnkar turned in the chair to face Shepard. "I try not to dream. With practice one can forget almost anything, I suppose."
"Look – no offence, but I'm not really in the mood to…"
"A remarkable female," Vnkar interrupted. His face was guileless but then turian faces were notoriously hard to read. It'd taken him years to figure out Garrus'.
"What?" Shepard was too tired to play games. "Who?"
"Yours," Vnkar said simply.
"She is," Shepard agreed. "Remarkable, I mean."
"Do you worry about her?" Vnkar looked for tension in the human at the question and found none.
"No." Shepard replied. "Not that it's any of your business."
Vnkar nodded and pressed on.
"Were she mine, I would worry." His mandibles shuddered. "Perhaps it's best that you do not."
"To worry about her would mean I doubt her intelligence and ability." Shepard told him, not liking what he was sensing in the turian. "I don't worry."
"Well, as you say. Is she your mate? Your body language would say she was," Vnkar asked and Shepard looked up from his console, eyed the turian coldly for a moment.
"Like I said, not really your concern, is it?"
Vnkar shrugged in the turian way and put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture.
"An innocent question." His eyes seemed to focus past the room. His voice was surface calm with an undercurrent of emotion he controlled but there was a razor-edged intensity there, the voice of a survivor of horror, something Shepard knew all too well. "I had a mate. I thought her beautiful though others thought her plain." His voice faltered then regained its strength. "After they'd burned our city, the Inquisitoria fit us with Thrall collars and then forced her to kill our children. We had …three. Yes. One they made her drown. One they made her burn. The last they made her gut and leave to die." He looked as if it what he was saying was something he didn't quite understand, as if it had happened to someone else. "I was made to watch it all. She made a keening noise that did not stop until they forced her to walk off a cliff to die on the rocks below. They released the collar just as she stepped into the air. It was a very long fall. Exquisite cruelty. Magnificent, really." He cast his eyes at the floor. "My family were left for beasts to eat." Vnkar blew a shuddering breath out. "I don't remember their names but I hear them in my dreams that I can't remember." He went silent for a long moment. "Isn't that curious?"
A few heartbeats later he looked back up then rose and seemed to deliberate with himself. As he walked slowly past Shepard he stopped, his gaze looking on somewhere far away.
"If you are not mates, you should be."
Shepard listened to the door shut. On the screen, the Relay yet glowed and the band of stars beyond it glimmered. In that pool of light awaited something beyond his understanding. Behind him an enemy that could become as great a threat as the Reapers.
"Damn it all to hell," Shepard muttered, his mood completely soured. "All I wanted was a goddamn vacation."
HIGH OVER NOVERIA the Fierce Light floated hidden behind its cloaking system. The ship had detailed its many features on the flight and Shepard had been rather impressed.
"Tell me you're keeping this thing," Jack had demanded, seemingly better for her rest. When Shepard had discovered that a 'fold system' was something that negated the need for Relays, he'd decided then and there.
"You're damn right I am." He got comfortable in the Captain's station. Jack had seated herself to his left in the pilot's chair. If necessary, she could fly this ship. Her talents went deeper than just wrecking things but Shepard was content to let Hessam fly it for now. Grunt had squeezed into a chair off to his right – 'weapons station' the AI had informed them.
Tapping into news feeds and the Extranet they came up to speed – as far as those sources knew, at any rate. Especially interesting was the event everyone was calling the 'Miracle'.
"No more Reapers of any kind." Jack had marveled. "Nice timing."
"Suspicious timing," Shepard muttered to Jack's agreeing nod. These beings and their "Negative Function" intonations looked far too much like what they'd just left far behind them.
"You think this 'Pathosis' shit's already started?" Jack questioned. Behind her, Vnkar was absorbed in the news feeds, seemingly finding everything of immense interest.
"It's possible." Shepard replied. "Can't say for sure. Amy was certain it was soon, at least. We don't know enough."
"So what now?" Grunt asked as he watched the floor of information above his head. "Call Hackett and the Council?"
Shepard ordered the Fierce Light out of orbit.
"Not yet. Like I said, we don't know enough yet."
Jack turned in her seat and sent him a knowing smirk.
"But you know someone who might?"
"Absolutely," he agreed with a smile. "Time to find my favourite asari."
The Fierce Light vanished in a white-blue spike of light that Noveria Traffic Control would puzzle over for a long time to come.