Visions of a reality not her own assaulted her senses; synthetics at war, destroying everything in their path, races unfamiliar vanishing from worlds unrecognized. Mass destruction, fire, pain. Screams of agony, in realization that they are watching the extinction of their species, totally unable to comprehend the magnitude of the enemy, even as they began to understand the inevitability of their own annihilation.

Shepard's eyes flew open as she scrambled to grab her weapon to fight some unknown enemy. As alarms started ringing, Dr Karin Chakwas moved immediately to her side. Samantha heard that familiar crisp British accent, a little more forceful than normal, and sounding a bit stressed. "Commander! Relax! You're back on the Normandy, in the med bay. Take a deep breath and lay back down, please!"

Shepard frantically surveyed the room, taking everything in at a glance, and stared at Karin as she eased herself back prone. "What the hell happened? How'd I get back here?"

Eying the commander critically, Karin spoke gently, "Alenko and Williams brought you back. What's the last thing you remember, Commander?"

Shepard narrowed her eyes, trying to block out the remembered pain. "Trying to keep that damn beacon from drawing me in. The thing made my head feel like it was going to explode!"

Karin breathed a sigh of relief as she answered, happy that memory loss seemed to not be an issue. "Well, something exploded, but it was the beacon, not your head. It tossed you a good distance in the process, but you escaped with just a dislocated shoulder, a mild concussion and some scratches and bruises. You don't remember anything else?"

Shepard noted the tone of that last question and wondered what the doc was getting at. "No, that's all I remember, but what aren't you telling me, Karin?"

Doctor Chakwas sighed, "Well, a minor concussion does not explain the fifteen hours it took for you to wake up, nor the unusual brain activity you were registering for the majority of that time. Physically, it was like you were in a coma...totally nonresponsive to outside stimuli, even though the anesthesia wore off hours ago, Mentally, your brain activity said you were wide awake, involved in some very intellectually demanding task. It was off the charts." Karin shook her head, unable to make sense of the symptoms. "You seem wide awake now. If you feel alright, why don't you try sitting up?"

Samantha eased herself into a sitting position, dropping her legs over the side of the bed, and narrowed her eyes in contemplation. "Fifteen hours? Well, I may have an answer to that. Kind of... I was dreaming. No, not really. More like having a nightmare, but it wasn't. When I got close to the beacon... it... I don't know. It's like it was jamming pictures into my brain, and it just kept getting faster and faster, until I couldn't keep up. That's what made my head want to explode. Then they just kept replaying over and over in my mind. That's what I woke up to. They weren't very pleasant pictures."

The door on the med bay opened and Capt Anderson strode into the room. "How's my XO doing, Doctor?" He glanced quickly between the two, and then focused on Shepard.

Karin gave him a quick rundown on Shepard's physical condition, and then continued, "And, we were just starting to discuss her nightmare, or beacon images, whichever you want to call it." Anderson quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Knowing the Captain was waiting, Samantha explained what she remembered of the visions. "It's all very disjointed. I have no idea what it means, and I didn't recognize any of the places. Since it's a Prothean beacon, I assume the majority of the people I saw were Prothean, but there was more than one race." She paused, then her head snapped up and she blurted, "By the way, how's Alenko?"

Anderson smiled in response. "He's fine, Commander, as is Chief Williams. We couldn't very well leave her on Eden Prime without her squad, and both she and Alenko needed some minor medical treatment, so everyone's on board. Based on Kaidan's mission report and personal recommendation, we're going to keep the Chief on crew. Heard she's a hell of shot with that sniper of hers, and good in a fight."

Shepard nodded in agreement, "I concur, Captain. She lost her whole squad, but she didn't let it stop her...she stepped right up. Though, I'm sure someone's going to want to talk to her about that before they complete transfer paperwork to the Normandy. You might want to consider her for N-school."

Anderson's eyebrows rose at her last comment, but he didn't address it. It was obvious he wanted her for the Normandy mission, at least for the short term. "Don't you worry about that, Commander. Dr Chakwas did an initial evaluation, and William's transfer paperwork is already waiting for Admiral Hackett's signature at the Citadel. Which, by the way, we should be at very shortly. The Council is going to demand a full accounting. Geth attacking Eden Prime, a Council Spectre dead, and the beacon we were sent to recover completely destroyed. Not exactly a textbook operation by any standard. They want answers, and Saren isn't an easy scapegoat. He's also a Spectre."

Shepard's face turned beat red, suffused with anger. "You've got to be kidding me! Saren's a Spectre? What we have is the truth... and an eyewitness testimony! They can't turn that around and lay that shit on us! And we've verified it really was Geth? Geth, beyond the Vail! And led by a damn Spectre to boot! Intel really dropped the ball on this one, Sir. We had no idea what kind of cluster fuck we were walking into."

"Take it easy, Commander. No one said anything about them laying this on you. They just need to know what happened. I've had run-ins with Saren before, and he's the Council's golden boy. And no matter who we're talking about, they aren't going to take the word of a smuggler against a Council Spectre, especially since you never actually saw Saren to confirm any part of the story... And Geth haven't been seen in centuries...no way intel could have predicted that one unless they had a damn crystal ball. Now, get yourself cleaned up and get some food in your stomach, we've got an appointment with Ambassador Udina."

Shepard hung her head, lowering her voice as she said, "Sir, before you go... about Jenkins... he was inexperienced... I should have watched him closer...he was a good soldier."

"Don't worry about that, Commander. He was a Corporal, not some fresh recruit. You have your own job out there; you can't be doing every soldier's job on top of it. Plus, not having any idea when you were going to wake up, I've already taken care of next of kin notifications. He was from Eden Prime; the relief forces will get his remains to his family." Anderson turned to Dr Chakwas, "Obviously keep me updated on her mission readiness, Doctor. I'm hoping the Citadel is just a short stop before she's back out on the job."

After getting in a shower and into a clean uniform, Shepard walked into the mess hall to see Alenko and Williams sitting together at a table. After grabbing a cup of coffee and something remotely resembling lasagna, Shepard pulled up a chair, and stuffed chow in her face while starting a conversation. "Hey guys, how you holding up?"

Ashley glanced at her with a guilty look on her face. "I should be asking you that, ma'am. You're the one that got blown half way across the loading dock, all because I got too damn close to that thing."

Shepard chuckled, "Ahhh, no worries, Chief. It's nothing you did. I make a habit of that...just ask the doc how many times she's put me back together after a mission. That one was a walk in the park. By the way, when we're off duty or in private conversation, it's just Shepard. No ma'am, no Commander. Just two folks having a chat."

The chief gave her a quick nod, "Yes, ma'am. Ahhhh, sorry. Might take me a while to get used to that. You can just call me Ash. And thanks... for helping me take back Eden Prime from those tin cans. I still can't believe...my whole damn squad... Shit! Sorry." Ashley looked down at the table, blinking back tears she didn't want the commander to see.

"Hmph. Sorry, twice in the same speech. Unacceptable Ash. You've got nothing to apologize for, unless you sent the Geth an invitation, and I'm pretty sure we can pin that one on Saren. We all took a beating today. Losing good folks is never easy, but we're soldiers. It's an unfortunate fact in a soldier's life. Doesn't mean we have to like it, but we do have to live with it...just promise yourself to do better next time. Don't let their deaths be in vain. If you want, I can help you with next of kin notices..." The commander's voice faded out as she watched Ashley's reaction.

Ashley's head came back up and she met Shepard's eyes as she answered. "No, ma'am. I'm on that one. I knew them all, knew their families. It's on me to take care of them, best I know how...but thanks for the offer. I..." She paused for just a moment. "Never mind, you know."

"Yeah, I do. Anyway, get some rest, both of you. We're headed to the Citadel to meet with the Council, and Anderson says it's not going to be pretty, so dress up nice and bring your best behavior. I think we're going to need it. Well, I've got a report to get done before we hit dockside. Later!" Shepard dumped her dishes in the cleaning bin and headed off to her room.

Ash looked at Kaidan with wonder on her face. "She always like that? Up close and personal with her crew, that is?"

Kaidan's eyes followed the commander for a bit, and then finally looked back at the chief as he answered her question. "As long as I've known her, which I have to admit hasn't been long. But, I've never heard a bad word from anyone she's ever worked with. Doc Chakwas has great things to say about her, professionally that is, she's not much one for rumor mongering. Personally, Shepard seems very reserved. Hard to get to know. Everyone else sits around bullshitting while playing cards or relaxing, and she's always been pretty private. Other than her military record and chats like the one we just had, I don't know much about her."

A look of awe passed over the chief's face. "Well, her record certainly speaks for itself! Damn, when she blasted by me today and played ping pong with those husks... holy shit that was impressive! I mean, I knew she was the Hero of Elysium and that she's a Vanguard, but knowing it and seeing her in action are two different things, ya know?"

Neither Kaidan nor Ashley realized that Dr Chakwas had strolled up with a cup of tea. "Don't let her hear you raving on like that. She'll call you on it, tell you she's just doing her duty, and it's not your job to discuss it. You're right, Kaidan, she is very private. She'd make a good Brit. Both of you should respect that. It will take you far in her eyes." Both soldiers looked like three-year olds caught with their hand in the cookie jar, as Karin chuckled and returned to her office to finish up her medical reports.

When they were fifteen minutes out from the Citadel, Shepard left her cabin and walked up to the bridge to get a view of the huge structure as they came into dock. No matter how many times she'd seen it, it was always impressive. To think it was still a functioning piece of technology left over from the Prothean empire was enough to spur interest in the otherwise dead culture, for her at least. But then again, she was a student of history, so maybe that wasn't necessarily saying much. Joker was harassing Kaidan when she walked up, so she stopped and leaned in the doorway, not speaking.

"Soooooo, LT, find anything in your extranet search? I mean, come on, I know you spent some time today with the two nicest asses on the Normandy, but really? Searching on 'Ashley Williams naked' isn't going to get you anywhere other than in hot water!"

Alenko's neck turned bright red as Joker spoke. "What? How?... And what are you doing, shadowing my extranet terminal?"

Joker could hardly contain himself. "How else am I going to be able to afford a nice bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy and support my porn habit, if you aren't buying them for me...right LT? I mean we are coming into the Citadel, and the Presidium has some pretty nice stores..."

"Has anyone ever told you you're an ass, Moreau?" Alenko's expression quickly changed from embarrassed to perturbed.

"All the time, LT, all the time. Speaking of ass... So, you were following the Commander's mighty fine ass around quite a bit today, so your opinion is highly qualified. I hear that in real life, it's..."

"Standing right behind you, Flight Lieutenant." Shepard glowered at the back of the flight lieutenant's head.

Joker momentarily froze, then slowly turned in his chair to find the source of the ominous sounding voice, which turned out to really be right behind him. My life as I know it is now over.

"Oh, um, hey, Commander. Didn't hear you come in..." Joker at least had the good sense to look apologetic.

The commander, however, wasn't in a very forgiving mood, growling at the two helmsmen. "Apparently not, since you seemed to be having quite the time conversing about Chief Williams, and let's see... what else? Oh, yeah. My. Mighty. Fine. Ass. No worries, boys. Seeing as we're approaching the docking bay, we don't really have time for all that paperwork right now, do we?" Her growl changed to a vindictive decree, "However, once back on board, we are going to have the cleanest kitchen, bathrooms, and trash chutes in the Alliance Fleet. And if I don't find them satisfactory, you get to do it again, and again, and again, until I do. Have a nice day. Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed flying Alliance Air." With that, Shepard turned and left the bridge.

Shit shit shit shit shit! Moreau, you are such a freaking moron!

Kaidan didn't say a word, but Joker knew from the murderous look cast his way that there would be no brandy or porn vids headed his way any time soon.

Shepard enjoyed walking into Udina's office. Not because she particularly liked the Ambassador, but because when they entered, he was in a particularly 'animated' discussion, his arms flailing, and he was getting his ass handed to him by the Council. Served the self-centered political toadie right. I hate politicians.

As the call ended, Udina turned to Anderson. "Bunch of self-absorbed jack asses. They refuse to believe their wonderful Spectre could have anything to do with this. They won't suspend his Spectre status, but at least they are willing to hear us out." He paused in his tirade and took in the whole scene before him. "Did you really feel the need to bring half your crew with you for this meeting?

Anderson calmly replied, "Only those who were on the ground at Eden Prime, Ambassador... just in case the Council had any questions about what was in the mission report."

Udina sneered, "I think they've done quite enough to call our chances at a human Spectre into question...but if you insist. Our meeting with the Council is in two hours, Shepard. Be there then and not one second later. I assume you know how to read a chrono? Dismissed." Shepard just looked at the Ambassador in amazement at being discharged so indifferently. She double checked with Anderson, who nodded and pointed to the door with a quick movement of his head while giving her the 'I know he's an ass' eye roll. Shepard turned smartly, and catching Alenko and Williams' attention, they stepped back out into the hall.

"Well, that went well!" Shepard chuckled. "Guess he had to beat up on someone for the whipping he took from the Council. At least he got us an audience. Let's see what kind of trouble we can get into in two hours, shall we?" Little did they know just what all lay in store for them.

They had barely gotten outside, when they heard a voice call out Ashley's name. The three turned to the sound of the voice, and Ash turned extremely pale, and whispered, "Samesh?"

Noting Ashley's reaction, Shepard quickly stepped between the man and Ashley, quite efficiently blocking his access and looking quite imposing for her small stature. Dropping her hand to her pistol, she stared him down and demanded, "Who are you and what the hell do you want with one of my crew?"

Ashley quickly came to his defense, "No, Commander, it's OK. I know him... I served with his wife on Eden Prime. She... Nirali Bhattia was part of the 212..."

Shepard blinked and apologized, the steeliness of her eyes immediately softening in understanding. "My condolences, sir, I understand the 212 fought heroically to protect the civilians on Eden Prime. I'm sorry for your loss." She then quickly stepped back so the two could talk. Most of the bodies from Eden Prime had been brought to the Citadel, but for some reason, Nirali's body was not being released, and they wouldn't tell Samesh why. Ashley gave the commander a searching look and Shepard stepped up to the implied request for help. "Mr Bhattia, who said you couldn't take Nirali home?"

Samesh, tears streaming down his face, looked at her. "Please, Commander, I need to bury her. I need to bury my wife. The man's name is Clerk Bosker, and he's in the Embassy Lounge right now, a table just across from the main door. He's dressed in a purple suit."

Samantha looked at Kaidan. "You're here. Do not leave Mr Bhattia alone. Ash, you're with me." Commander Shepard turned sharply and headed with determination straight to the lounge, making a beeline to the man in purple. "Clerk Bosker? I believe we need to have a chat."

"I'm extremely busy right now, so if this isn't an emergency, please call my office and make an appointment," not even bothering to look up from his datapad.

Shepard glared, and with a low voice said, "I'm Commander Samantha Shepard and my associate is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Alliance Marines, and we didn't fly across the galaxy from Eden Prime to waste anyone's time, Mr Bosker."

Bosker's head snapped up and he subconsciously tugged at his collar. "C-Commander Sh-Shepard? Yes, of course. What can I do for you, ma'am?"

After a brief discussion about unique Geth weapons signatures needing to be studied, and the needs of research and development, it seemed Bosker was no closer to releasing the body to a grieving husband. Bosker finally stated flat out, "Commander, we need that body to develop better defenses against Geth technology." After putting up with the disrespect from Ambassador Udina, Shepard was done with bureaucratic bullshit and leaned very much into Bosker's personal space as she rested her hand on her pistol grip.

With eyes like daggers and a voice that dropped to the pits of hell, she spoke. "Let me make myself perfectly clear, Mr Bosker. I was at Eden Prime. We left uncounted dead Geth and all their weapons laying all over the ground from one end of Eden Prime to the other. You have plenty of material to work with for your precious R&D, without holding ANY human remains back from their families. You are not a body on a slab with a grieving widow needing to bury you to get on with their life, so you obviously lack a fundamental understanding of that pain. That knowledge deficiency will be remedied if I don't hear from a very thankful Mr Bhattia by the end of today. Do. We. Understand. Each. Other?"

Bosker was suddenly trembling and sweating profusely. "Y-yes, ma'am. I... I need to m-make some c-calls, immediately!"

Shepard stepped back. "Make them, Clerk Bosker, and you better hope I get a thank you from Mr Bhattia by the end of the day. If we need to discuss this further, I won't need my voice."

She quickly turned and walked out of the lounge. Ashley quickly followed two steps behind, thinking of how the Shepard who sat down and had an easy going chat with her troops at lunch was so much in contrast to the pissed off Commander Shepard she just saw with Bosker. She prayed THAT Commander Shepard never had any reason, ever, to be mad at her! Combined with the biotic display she had seen on Eden Prime, that woman now scared the shit out of Gunnery Chief Williams, and that generally wasn't an easy thing to accomplish.

When they got back outside, Shepard wheeled around to Ashley and took a long, slow deep breath to relax. "Williams. That conversation never took place. I will never hear so much as a peep of any part of what I said to that man. Understood?" Ashley didn't say a word, just vigorously shook her head yes. "Good. Now, let's go talk to Samesh." When they got back to Samesth, they found him and Kaidan sitting on a bench. Shepard knelt down so she could look him square in the eye to inform him he would be getting his wife's body back before the end of the day. She reached across to his omnitool and punched some data in. "That's my personal number. One way or another, you call me before the end of today and let me know what happens, OK? We'll get this fixed. I promise."

Samesh looked at her with tears in his eyes. "Thank you, Commander. I never expected to get help like this from a complete stranger. I am honored that you would take the time to assist me." Shepard patted his knee, and then stood up, signaling Kaidan to give Samesh and Ashley some privacy and they walked a short distance off to the side while the two friends consoled each other in their loss.

After taking her time with Samesh, Ashley rejoined Kaidan and the commander. Since they still had over an hour to kill, Shepard decided it was time to hit a bar and drink a toast to everyone lost at Eden Prime. She was still pretty upset over the whole Bosker stupidity, but that wasn't the only thing. Over time, she had developed a pretty good sixth sense that had kept her alive over and above all her training. It had been yelling at her loud and clear ever since they met Samesh, but she just couldn't nail it down. Wanting to stay out of the crowds, Shepard directed them down a back alleyway. As they rounded the last corner before the dingy bar, Chora's Den, three mercenaries popped out of hiding. Shepard was already on edge, so as soon as she saw the first assault rifle coming up, she pulled up a barrier. Without hesitation, Ashley's sniper rifle snapped out and Kaidan was throwing a singularity out over the merc closest to them. Ash polished that merc off with her first shot, while the commander was pulling out her Locust submachine gun and nailing merc number two. Mercenary number three wasn't so foolish. His rifle flew out over the wall, and a disembodied voice said he wasn't getting paid enough to die. Two hands came up over the wall and he slowly stood up. Ash trained her sights and said, "I've got him, Commander. Do whatever you need to do."

Shepard pulled up her tech armor just to be safe, and walked toward him, never dropping her Locust SMG. "Who sent you?"

The merc laughed. "Like I'm gonna tell you that. If I do, I'm dead."

Shepard raised her eyebrows. "No. If you do, you can hide. If you don't, you're dead."

The merc sneered, "You won't kill me in cold blood."

"Let's see." The commander pointed, "Merc kill number one." She pointed again, "Merc kill number two." She then pointed her SMG at his knee. "You can't run and hide if I cap you. You'll go to prison. Whoever sent you will know you failed. You'll die in prison...or worse. I don't need to kill you, just keep you from getting away, and that's pretty much in the bag. So what do ya say, Merc number three? Saren? That's my guess... The real question is why."

"I say, fuck me. They don't pay me to know why." He suddenly dived out to the side and pulled a pistol out from his back as he was rolling. As soon as he stopped moving and went to point the pistol, Ashley took her shot and his head snapped back from the impact on his forehead, just before he collapsed dead on the ground.

Shepard glanced at the chief and shook her head, "Well, damn. Thanks, Ash. More guts than I gave him credit for. Maybe just desperate. So much for our free time. Drinks later guys, let's clean up this mess and get to the Council before we're late."