"The comms are back!" shouted Mostar Geban, the colony chief, running into the clinic. "I've just spoken with the Union's Colonial Affairs Office!"
Two Salarians who sat in the waiting room blinked rapidly and then started asking questions with the speed of light. Jane lifted her head from a Turian war memoir she was engrossed in. Lyina opened the door to the small lab in which she was operating the blood analyser. More colonists followed Geban into the clinic, crowding into the waiting room and making a lot of noise. The chief was not only not able to answer all their questions but even to hear them over that hell of a noise.
Suddenly, a boom sounded, silencing the rumor.
"Don't panic", Jane said calmly, lowering the Carninfex she was holding in her hand. "It was just a blank. Just let him talk."
Geban took a deep breath, nervously rubbing his tall forehead, not sure whether he should comment on her quietening methods, but finally decided to go with the information he brought.
"The bandwidth is shitty at best, I wasn't even able to get a vidcall, only a crappy voice connection. They sent me the official statements of both the Dalatrasses and the Council, I'll forward it to you all soon. The war is over, the Reapers have been defeated by the combined galactic forces over Earth, but somehow the weapon they used brought down with them all the mass relays. With the help of the Quarians we were just able to restart them, but they are operating on just a fraction of the efficiency they used to, so both the travel and the communication are strictly regulated. I'll be allocating some data transfer to each of you, but some things have priority over private calls. Lyina should contact her leading physician on all the health topics she's been struggling with on her own. And then the accounting division will be contacted regarding the crops we've recently gathered and possible refugee allotment. I've been told we'll be receiving a lot of them."
The colonists had millions of questions after he stopped speaking but Jane relentlessly pushed them all out, the gun tucked into her waistband, as Lyina and Geban disappeared for a few moments into the surgery.
Jane went back to her terminal at the reception desk. She pretended to be calm, but inside she shook with excitement. The return of the Extranet meant the upcoming return of mass relay transit and that meant she'd be able to get off this colony and start searching for who she was. Breath, she tried to calm herself, brushing her hand through her short, gray hair. When she had woken up she had been completely bald and she had been quite curious about her hair color. Gray was disappointing. According to Lyina's assessment, Jane was in her thirties, so quite early for a human to go totally gray. Was she bald because she hated that color? The moment she got some hair dye into her hands she was going to make it vibrant, red or pink or maybe even violet.
Geban left the clinic not even ten minutes after he had appeared, telling Jane she deserved a severe scolding for scaring law-abiding citizens but unfortunately he had no time to spare for that. The woman did her best to pretend to care until the doors closed behind him. Lyina did not emerge from her office for almost an hour, caught up in the first interplanetary call in months.
Jane tried for the extranet connection but it was still down. To keep her mind busy she started writing down a list of clues to her past.
Human female, mid-thirties, 5'5", green-eyed, hair gray, Alliance officer, in a relationship with a Turian, biotic, loads of scars, no tattoos. It gave her a place to start, either with Alliance HR or Hierarchy Register Office. But would it be enough? If it doesn't work maybe she could try searching for her omnitool serial number - somehow its drive was scrubbed of all the info before or in her accident. Or her biotic implants...
The sound of the door opening woke her from her thoughts. Lyina was standing in it with a confused look on her violet face.
"You looked as if you've just learned that someone cured the genophage," she tried to make the nurse smile and it actually worked. She walked to Jane's desk and leaned against it.
"Glad you're in a good mood," she said a bit nervously. "I gave my leading physician a short briefing on all my cases in the past weeks, including yours. He was quite surprised by the scans I've shown him. He said he had never seen anyone with so many implants and cybernetic augmentations. He promised to look deeper into it later, but in his opinion you must have been severely wounded, probably on the brink of death many times to have that many cybernetics implanted. And that your amnesia might have been caused by most of them shutting off."
Jane frowned.
"He said he'd like to look further into it later. That's not his specialty and he'd have to reach out to his colleagues and with the mess we currently have in the Milky Way…"
"Meaning that once more I have more questions that answers," Jane sighed. "I guess it's just my frigging luck. Thank you anyway," she rose up and pulled the Asari in a hug. "For everything."
That night Jane fell asleep many times, only to be woken by nightmares time and time again. She dreamt of cold, empty space and of suffocating. More than once she woke up in them on an operating table to a strangely familiar voice.
Fortunately in the morning she couldn't remember any of her nightmares.
The first transport vessel was scheduled to land in two days. It was supposed to bring in the
first group of refugees (mostly Salarian and Elcor, as the word got around) and take the first
shipment of the locally grown high-protein grain. What everyone was most interested in was the news the refugees were supposed to bring with them. The official reports of the Battle of Earth (or London, as Alliance sources called it) were vague at best. Thanks to bravery of united galactic forces, the SWORD fleet and the freshly constructed weapon named "the Crucible" were able to destroy most of the Reapers and deactivate the rest of them, together with the Relays. There was also rumor of Geth and Rachni being involved in the fight and of genophage being cured.
From the moment the access to the Extranet had been restored Jane spent most of her time researching different authorities dedicating to helping families to reunite and arranging passage back home for the unthinkable number of refugees. Unfortunately due to the enormity of the task all her requests met with a polite autoresponse of "we'll get back to you as soon as we're done with the underaged and disabled". For a moment she even considered applying for a disabled status because of her amnesia, but she was of sound body, she could work and was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Even if she wasn't able to find out who she used to be, it wasn't the worst possible outcome. Despite her gray hair she was young and could start building a new life for herself. What if all her loved ones have been lost in the war? What if there was nothing to go back to?
In the morning on the day the first transport was to arrive Jane was in the kitchen, making coffee for Lyina and herself, when the past literally knocked on her door.
"Jane," called the Asari with apparent excitement. "There's a Turian here for you!"
She'd be lying if she said her heart didn't skip a bit. She rushed to the door, the half-full coffee cup totally forgotten on the kitchen counter. She stopped in the narrow door next to her friend and looked at the Turian. Tall, with greenish plating and coarse brown clan markings.
She felt nothing.
"Jane?" he asked, hesitation in his voice.
"And who are you?" She was unnecessarily stiff.
"You don't remember? She just called you Jane."
"And what of it?" she crossed her arms on her chest, trying to keep her voice even.
"It's your name. Jane Santiago."
Once again she felt nothing.
"And exactly who you would be?" she asked.
"I'm Seus Albiraka", he let the name hang in the air for a moment, expecting some kind of understanding from her. "I'm your bondmate," he added after a moment of uncomfortable silence, pointing with his middle talon to the scar on her right shoulder, only half-hidden beneath the collar of her shirt.
Jane looked him up once more. There was nothing familiar about him, nothing that made her want to touch him or even get close to him. He looked… shabby. There were grease stains on his tunic. And his coloring… It was so plain, seen so often on so many Turians. There was nothing in his look that got her heart to beat faster.
The meeting that followed was strange. Lyina busied herself with coffee and breakfast
as Jane and Albiraka sat on the opposite sides of the kitchen table and stared at each other. She had so many questions, but couldn't find a way to ask any of them. She had no idea where to start.
"I've missed you, Jane," he said finally. "I was sure you died in the accident. I was devastated. When I heard the rumor about a human who escaped a crash I was afraid to hope. But it's really you. Do you really not remember anything?"
She shook her head. Accepting a full mug from Lyina was a welcomed distraction, giving her one more moment to gather her thoughts. She carefully breathed at the hot coffee before speaking.
"I remember nothing from before I woke up in the cryopod during the fire," she finally answered.
Wait, did his shoulders relax a little or was it just a figment of her imagination?
"You were severely wounded. I thought the medship would help you, but they didn't have the resources so we decided to put you in cryo instead."
"What happened?" Lyina asked with interest before Jane opened her mouth.
He chose to start from the beginning. Jane Santiago was born on Earth and orphaned early. She joined the military exactly the moment she became of age, and never spoke of her life before that. She was a marine, he was a gun for hire. They met during shore leave in one of the Citadel clubs, where he worked as security. She caught his eye when she was dancing and he bought her a drink. After that they went out together every time she was back. Finally she decided to leave the military and start working with him as a mercenary. Not long after the Reaper invasion started. They were trapped on a small cargo transfer outpost on some forgotten moon. They were attacked by pirates but managed to hold the outpost. She was gravely wounded in the process. He couldn't believe his luck when a small medship picked up their distress call. They were looking for a hospital able to help a human when the ship malfunctioned.
They were lucky to crashland on a habitable planet.
"Since the fire started in the medbay I was sure you were dead," Seus moved his
hand over the surface of the light, white table and laid it on hers. His skin was warm and dry, more akin to Krogan than human, his talons long and sharp-looking. The way he held her hand was strange and unfamiliar, but she didn't pull back.
"I've already contacted the transport vessel that's coming tomorrow. We can get off
this... lovely colony," he said eagerly.
His offer caught her by surprise. She wanted to discover who she really was but this was totally not what she had imagined. No long quest, no questions to be answered, not a sudden return of memory the moment she met someone important from her past, like in one of the romcoms she watched with Laina and... someone else before that. She had made fun of their plotlines and that annoyed that someone very much. Jane almost saw a
face for a moment, hidden by some kind of opaque surface. Shit. She hastily pulled her hand from under Seus's and brought it to her face, rubbing her forehead and temples.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"No, it's just... a lot to take in."
She wanted to take another sip of coffee, but her mug was already empty. It was
white, with gold and black "believe in yourself" on the side. It was not her mug, hers was black with a logo, something white and red... She closed her eyes and massaged her temples once more.
"Where would we go? As far as you've told me we don't exactly have a home to
return to."
"I was thinking we call stay with my brother on Omega till you're better."
Omega was a cesspool, but still some people called it home, trying to somehow live normal lives there. Some even settled down and had children, though Aria didn't provide anything even akin to public education. Aria T'Loak, with her violet skin, touchy bodyguards and a hell of an attitude.
How did she know Aria?
"Have we been there before? Is that the reason I know the Queen of Omega?"
He was taken aback by her question.
"I don't... Well, everyone who's ever been to Omega knows Aria."
"Don't fuck with Aria," Jane muttered under her breath.
"I think it would be best if you lie down now and get some rest." Lyina interrupted suddenly. "Seus, I know you've missed her, but it really was a lot. You have to let her rest and come to terms with what you've just told her,"
Lyina got up slowly, gesturing him towards the doors.
"Jane, will you go with me?" Seus ignored the Asari.
He stood up from his chair and came closer to his bondmate. He grabbed her hand forcefully and continued speaking.
"You have to go with me, it would be best for you."
The woman kept silent but looked up, fixing her green eyes on his honey-colored ones. She tried to smile.
"I'll go with you," she said with certainty.
"Good," he let her hand slip from his grasp. "I'll get you a day after tomorrow in the morning."
She nodded a bit stiff but he seemed not to notice her doubts. His mandibles widened for a moment in a satisfied grin and then he left without throwing another glance her way.
The moment the door closed behind him with a hiss Jane seemed to deflate, falling
heavily on the backrest of her chair.
"Definitely not a charmer, this one," she said more to herself than to Lyina.
The Asari was next to her in a second.
"Jane, there's something fishy about him," she said slowly. "I've had friends mated to Turians and that definitely wasn't the way they react when they reunite with their mate. Especially a deceased one."
"I have no doubts I've never been mated to him," Jane answered with certainty.
Lyina's mouth fell open in disbelief.
"I don't like him, not physically and not as a person. I'd never let him buy me a drink and I'd never quit an honest job to be a goddamn merc."
"Then why have you agreed to leave with kim?"
Jane breathed in, fixing herself more comfortably on her chair.
"First of all, as much as I am grateful for your help, I need to leave Chillon if I want to learn the truth about my past. And, having no money and no apparent skills, I could use someone with credits and connection," she lifted her hand to stop Lyina from interfering. "I am quite certain his story was bullshit, but I can't stop wondering about his reasons. He must know something about me, something he doesn't want me to learn. And that means I need to play his game until he spills what I want to know."