CHAPTER 33: QUESTIONING
Commander Shepard felt the Normandy docking clamps engage. She straightened her uniform as she left her quarters, meeting up Lieutenant Alenko in the mess waiting for her.
"Ready, Kaidan?" she asked with a small smile.
He nodded in response, noting that she had been using his first name much more frequently now.
"You two have fun," Williams said with a small smirk.
Kaidan followed her up the stairs into the airlock. While the decontamination process continued, Layla fidgeted with the ends of her hair, and said a bit sheepishly, "Sorry that you're stuck babysitting me. There's probably a bunch of other things that you'd rather be doing than keeping an eye on your CO."
I don't have a problem keeping both eyes on you, he almost said out loud. "Not at all," he said a moment later to a quick, nervous laugh. "It's certainly more interesting. Not every day one gets shot at when on the Presidium."
"Well, hopefully it stays boring," she replied. "Boring can be good."
Alenko nodded nervous agreement; one of these days around Shepard, he was going to stick his foot so far in his mouth that it would pop out of his stomach. He had done that once before, and he was lucky that Shepard had just let it slide…that time. He wouldn't be able to get away with such things with the first human Spectre again. He shifted his thoughts away from his CO as he reviewed their itinerary. First AIA wanted to discuss a topic with her, then a conversation with an eccentric Volus billionaire that might have a tip on prothean ruins. Lastly, Shepard would pick up her new Kassa armor. The last two were in the Wards, albeit in nicer areas, and not in the Alliance embassy complex, so he would have to be vigilant for threats.
The skycar slowed to a quick stop. "Well…" Shepard began. "We'll see what this is about."
Shepard and Alenko waited silently in the office for the AIA officers. Curiously, she didn't know anything about why they wanted to speak with her. However, while they didn't have a military rank, their civilian equivalent pay grades were quite a bit higher than hers, making her wonder even more what they wanted with her. And this request hadn't come through her command channels…probably AIA, playing their cloak and dagger games again.
She didn't have to wait long. "Commander? They're ready for you now," the secretary said.
Shepard stood, giving a brief nod and smile to Alenko before she walked to the room. The door noiselessly swished open and she entered to see a man and a woman sitting.
Shepard saw immediately that the man had been in the Alliance military; his expression and posture told any trained observer that he was an experienced soldier, and probably had a side job of bodybuilding. She could tell from his dark eyes that this man had seen a lot and had successfully dealt with all of it.
The woman, though, instantly made the commander both uneasy and jealous. She looked to be more of a model than an intelligence officer, with black hair, piercing blue eyes, and makeup to complement both. Her stylish outfit didn't do anything in particular to highlight her chest, but it didn't need to, either. The first human Spectre suppressed a surge of envy and a frown. It takes both of mine to equal one of hers, Shepard thought sourly.
"Commander Shepard. I'm Miranda Lenner, and this is Jacob Teller," the woman said matter-of-factly.
Both offered their hands. Shepard took them. "Ma'am. Sir," she replied politely.
"Take a seat, Commander," Jacob said, gesturing towards the chair.
The commander hesitated for a split second before taking her seat, pushing down the surge of surprise at the situation. This wasn't quite what she had expected. She had thought they would be briefing her, but the reverse almost seemed to be true from their attitudes and the setup. She quickly glanced around with a hint of apprehension.
"We'd like some clarification and additional information about your mission to Noveria," Miranda said.
"Of course, ma'am," Shepard replied, keeping her voice and gaze neutral despite the sudden sink in her stomach about having to answer for the rachni decision. "What can I elaborate on?"
"Your original purpose on traveling to Noveria was to investigate Saren Arterius' investments, correct?" Miranda asked.
"Yes, ma'am."
"And soon after your arrival, you learned that Matriarch Benezia had recently arrived as well?" Jacob asked calmly.
"Yes, sir."
"Spectres aren't exactly given free rein on Noveria, but you managed to get passage to Peak 15. Would you mind elaborating on how you did that?" Jacob asked.
Shepard paused for a moment, quickly glancing between the two AIA officers. Both wore completely blank expressions, not friendly, but not hostile, either. She complied, talking through both what happened and why she made the choices she did.
"You removed Anoleis from power?"
Shepard took a breath, pausing for a moment. "Given Mr. Anoleis's behavior, I reasoned that he would soon make a request that…I was both unable and unwilling to accept," she said quietly, subconsciously rubbing her hands together under the table. "Once his illegal activities were determined, I made the judgment call that working with Mr. Qui'in and Ms. Parasini would be the best method to get a garage pass. That would require the removal of Administrator Anoleis from power, since it was highly unlikely he would allow the Normandy team to travel to Peak 15."
"Understandable," Miranda nodded evenly. Shepard suspected that the brunette, with her supermodel appearance, had to deal with similar situations rather often. "Acting Administrator Qui'in will also be in your debt for your actions, which can be exchanged for favors or concessions from NDC."
A tight expression formed on the commander's face. Any favors that Qui'in would owe to the Alliance or her in particular would be massively overshadowed by her sparing the rachni. She knew her decision was near-universally reviled by everyone who knew about it. Shepard lost any goodwill she had with Tevos; while the asari was still understandably concerned about the threat Saren and Sovereign posed, she had been alarmed and angered by the choice. Sparatus would have been angry regardless of her decision; if she'd killed the queen or left her for the Council to decide, he would have claimed she committed genocide.
Shepard figured the Council had discussed dismissing her from the Spectres. That, however, would leak to the public very quickly, and an explanation would have to be given. At some point, the rachni decision would have to be revealed, which could easily cause a galaxy-wide panic. If the commander had learned anything about the Council the past few weeks, it was the Council did absolutely everything possible to avoid a panic. Understandable, she knew, but sometimes the Council needed to act rather than just maintain the status quo and avoid uncomfortable conversations.
The questioning continued, including to the topic of the rachni. Shepard expected yet another reprimand and verbal lashing, but it surprisingly didn't come. Now she was even more confused. Just what were these two intelligence officers looking for in their questioning?
They asked about the duel with Benezia, and then the encounter with the rachni queen. The topic then switched to the neutron purge.
"I hadn't heard any indication that Binary Helix had developed technology that could do that," the commander said.
"Did the operations director explain what it was?" Jacob asked.
The commander shook her head. "He only stated that it killed all life in the station. He even said he didn't know how it worked. He was killed quickly by rachni. Sir, the entire conversation can be viewed and listened to on armor cams."
Jacob nodded. "You took the purge codes and the key from his corpse after the rachni killed him?"
"Yes sir." Shepard recalled the end of the mission to Noveria, and an odd fact returned to her mind. "I found…the firing key was a little bit odd. And their security seemed a bit…"
"Lacking," Jacob stated dryly with a slightly incredulous expression.
For the first time in the meeting, Shepard smiled slightly. "That's an understatement," she nodded. She paused, narrowing her eyes slightly in puzzlement. "There were time and range combinations for the purge, but both numbers were divisible by…I think about a half-second for time and about three meters for range. I'd have to look at the logs to remember exactly. I mean, there weren't options for ten minutes and a hundred meters, or ten minutes and two hundred meters. You'd think that Binary Helix would give their staff several easy-to-remember combinations, or at least ones with round numbers," Shepard answered. "So…I picked the number with the longest range. With more than twenty minutes, I was confident that we could leave the entire complex in time. From that location, it was only about a five minute walk back to the Mako. But…the largest horde of rachni we had seen burst through. There were more in that wave than all other ambushes combined." She paused. "Maybe…because it was close to the research area where they slaughtered the staff, or it was warmer there."
Jacob nodded. "Did you get the impression while you were that any of the Binary Helix labs were rush jobs? Hasty setup, disorganization, things like that?"
Shepard thought about it for a few moments. "It…to answer with higher confidence, I'd like to review the armor cam footage again. By that point, I was fatigued from using my biotics. But…" she paused, trying to recall details. "A few of the panels seemed…jury-rigged. Like when they found the egg, they quickly set up the purge as a backup. It…I'm not sure what their other plans were to contain the feral rachni," she finished quietly, her mind recalling through the haze of the fatigue to try to recall the precise details.
Miranda and Jacob continued their questioning about the mission to Noveria for what seemed to be an eternity to the commander.
"Commander, we have one last topic to discuss with you. You have been recently briefed about Cerberus," Miranda said.
Shepard twitched at the mention of the name, and her eyes narrowed slightly. "Only a little, ma'am." The AIA officers asked clarification from her on the mission to Edolus, and Ontarom. She couldn't keep the slight anger at what Cerberus had done out of her responses. "I haven't received much information on where else they are hiding, sir. If you learn of anything, I would request that you inform me immediately, and the Normandy will deal with them."
Miranda nodded, her face completely impassive. "Of course. Thank you for your time today, Commander. Remember, nothing about this discussion can be repeated. Any information you heard today is eyes-only to you. Understood?" Miranda asked with a sudden, harsh edge to her voice.
Shepard bobbed her head like a new recruit. "Yes, ma'am." Not that you really gave me any information, and I don't think I really gave you anything of value either…
"Thank you for your time today, Commander," Miranda told her.
"Of course, ma'am."
"Thank you, Commander. Good job out there," Jacob said.
"Thank you, sir," Shepard responded. Shepard slowly stood and headed towards the door. Though she couldn't see them anymore, it felt as if their eyes bored in on her, and the feeling didn't end even after the door closed behind her. Okay, so…just what was that all about? she wondered.
Alenko stood as Shepard walked around the corner, a narrow-eyed look of concentration on her face. She glanced up from her look of deep thought, noticed him, but didn't smile.
"How was the briefing?" he asked her.
"It wasn't…quite what I was expecting. Well, we have a bit of time before we meet Shol," Shepard said.
Alenko got the hint. She couldn't say anything, but he gauged his CO closely. She didn't look worried, or even concerned, but rather very confused instead.
"And I'd prefer us not to get shot at," she shrugged. "We were lucky last time with the assassins, and, well…while I really enjoyed the time with you all, I should not have been walking around the Presidium alone after that ceremony, especially after I had been drinking…and the fact that Conrad could find me. Ugh," she said with a frown. "And given that people already knew I was on the Citadel…" her voice trailed off.
"That's why I'm here," he reassured her. "Extra sets of eyes never hurt."
"Well, it doesn't make sense to go back to the Normandy," she said, bringing him back to the present. "And as much as I'd like to go sightseeing on the Presidium with you, we should stay in the embassy compounds."
"That's a safe bet," he agreed with a nod. He looked around to see the Alliance complex nearly empty. They strolled outside the Alliance facility and into the rest of the secured complex that housed embassies for over a dozen species. Alenko spotted a small breakfast place catering to humans that had several open tables. "Let's see what tea they have for you. And with these hours we've been keeping, I could use some coffee."
"That sounds great," she said with a warm smile.
The two of them walked in and purchased their drinks, glancing around to find the best spot. "How about that table? It's in a good defensible position," he said, gesturing to the corner.
She grinned up at him. "Not the best view, but we won't get shot at there. That works for me," she replied as both headed over to the chosen spot.
She sat down with her elbows resting on the small circular table, tea mug grasped in both hands as she lifted it to her face to smell the contents. Placing it to her lips and taking a sip, she placed the cup down on the table as she looked back up at him.
"So…I did a bit of searching on BAAT," Shepard stated after several seconds of silence as she fiddled with the ends of her hair, glancing down for a moment before resuming her gaze into his eyes, before looking away again.
"What, uh, piqued your interest in it?" he asked, a nervous feeling forming in his gut.
"I probably would have been there if I wouldn't have lived on a small colony and escaped notice. I was curious about…it," she replied, again not quite meeting his gaze.
"What…did you find?" he asked cautiously.
"Not a whole lot. It's surprisingly restricted. Most of it isn't classified, but they've locked down those files pretty tight," she replied, sensing the slight apprehension in the lieutenant sitting in front of her.
BAAT, and specifically, the reason BAAT shut down, were topics that Kaidan specifically tried to avoid. He'd never discussed it with anyone outside of his parents and the Biotic Affairs Department. But Shepard had revealed her traumatic past, making everything he had been through look fairly tame by comparison, and she had confided her thoughts and concerns to him…
"There's a reason that nearly everything on BAAT is restricted," Alenko told her with a sigh. "Staff, children, results. The Alliance made mistakes. After first contact, Conatix was set up to track element zero exposures and develop implants for humans. This was before we had an embassy on the Citadel, so Conatix would bring in 'experts' instead of taking it slow."
The commander kept silent for a couple moments as she thought about what he had said, a small frown appearing on her face. "The only experts on biotics would have to be non-humans," Shepard replied.
"Dead on. Turians, actually," he replied, watching her concerned look change into a wince. "That's why Conatix kept it under wraps. They were afraid of what people back home would think. Asking the turians for help when we'd just fought a war with them just a few years earlier."
"The asari would have been far more acceptable than the turians. Why didn't they hire asari?" Shepard asked.
"Conatix didn't go through the Citadel. It would have made Earth look weak. So they discreetly hired some turian mercenaries."
"I don't see any part of that going well," she replied.
He nodded grimly. "It didn't. They brought in an ex-military turian named Commander Vyrnnus. To introduce himself, he liked to say, 'I was at the helm of the dreadnought that killed your father.'" Shepard bit her lips in response. "I told him my dad wasn't in the war. He'd retired to Vancouver. My family had an inland home that matured to new beachfront. Vyrnnus had it in for me after that. He pushed me harder than another of the other kids."
Kaidan saw the look in Layla's eyes; she looked both upset and concerned. "How bad was it?" she asked quietly.
"You either came out a superman or a wreck. A lot of kids snapped, and a few died," he said soberly, pausing for a moment as he remembered Minoru and Andrea, recalling exactly how they died…
"What caused BAAT to finally be shut down?" she asked.
He closed his eyes and sighed. "There was…an incident. In 2169. There was a girl there. Rahna. We…w-well, it was…w-we were," he stammered, pausing for several moments before continuing. "Close."
Shepard didn't say anything, just looking at him with a tight, concerned expression on her face, waiting for the lieutenant to continue.
"Vyrnnus hurt Rahna. He snapped her arm. She reached for a glass of water instead of pulling it biotically. She just wanted a drink without getting a nosebleed," he said, his voice slightly rising and a hint of frustration entering his voice. "Like an idiot, I stood up. I didn't know what I was going to do. Just something. And Vyrnnus lost it. He beat the crap out of me. Cracked ribs, broken jaw. He kept shouting how they should have bombed us back to the stone age. That's when the knife came up. Right in my face. So it…I don't know what cause me to…I-I cut loose. Full biotic punch, right in the head."
"You wanted to help a girl you cared for. That's a noble thing," she said softly, reaching her hands across the small table to place them on one of his own.
He tensed up at the unexpected contact, feeling his skin tingle at the contact from her small hands before she withdrew them a moment later. "M-maybe my intentions were noble," he said finally. "But…I killed him. I crushed his head." He sighed, closing his eyes before continuing. "It caused a bit of a stir when they shipped him back home. BAAT shut down a few weeks later, and Conatix folded a couple years later."
Shepard remained silent, a sad look on her face. "Was Rahna okay?" she asked finally
"Rahna? Yeah. Yeah, she was fine. We never really, uh—We stopped talking after that. Rahna had a gentle heart. Vrynnus terrified her. I always tried to protect her from him. But after what I did to him…she was terrified of me, too."
She remained silent for several moments. "That's…I'm sorry, Kaidan," Shepard said softly.
He shrugged. "I'm thirty-two. That all happened fourteen years ago. You move on, and learn."
Shepard nodded in response, and they remained silent for a while before the commander finally spoke. "It…it explains your biotics. Your level of control…well, it's very impressive. You keep a close check on your abilities due experiences in the past," she said softly.
He nodded solemnly. "Our pasts shape us into who we are." He didn't specifically mention her past and how it shaped her. She found herself in fights for her very life, and had pushed her biotics to the absolute limit to survive. That certainly explained her peak biotic power, but to have that much power… "But anyway, you don't have to worry about me. I'm a fully functional human being," he said, then shrugged. "Most of the time, at least."
"Well, I'm glad one of us at this table is," she replied with a chuckle. She finished her tea, then glanced at her omni-tool. "As much as I'd like to sit and chat, we have that appointment with Kumun Shol in a few minutes."
Alenko snorted. "If you say so. Still wondering what value he could provide."
Shepard shrugged. "Well, compared to the intel, or lack thereof, we have been receiving, talking to an eccentric volus is better than receiving absolutely nothing. But yeah…I do wonder why they think I'm the best person to talk to him."
The two Alliance officers took a skycar to Kumun Shol's office in the Wards. The eccentric billionaire volus shipping magnate claimed to have seen a vision, which told him to seek out the "lost crypts of beings of light" on a planet called Klencory. The alleged beings were supposed to protect organic life from the ancient "synthetic machine devils." Before their limited intel on the Reapers, and before she had seen Sovereign, the commander would have laughed away his claims as lunacy. Now, while she still figured Shol still wasn't playing with a full deck, or even part of a deck, part of her wondered if there was a bit more behind the story than one would think at first glance.
She also knew dismissing someone as crazy simply for seeing a vision was rather hypocritical. She had received a vision that she thought she understood as a warning, but that warning still remained mostly split between incoherent fragments. People in the Alliance and elsewhere that knew about the beacon's vision had been calling her crazy or a lunatic, with a few falling back on the rather common "another biotic lost her marbles, or more likely, never had the marbles in the first place." She hoped at some point people would wake up and realize that Sovereign's demonstrated capabilities far exceeded anything ever seen before. That was something she hoped that everyone could agree upon, but there were enough people in the Alliance that didn't care for her.
When the skycar landed, Alenko remained alert for anyone or anything that looked suspicious. He couldn't read non-human expressions well at all, and Shepard received a fair number of glances. Combine that with the crowds…
Fortunately it only took them thirty seconds to reach Shol's office. She turned towards Alenko before approaching the door to Shol's office. "Well, we'll see how this goes. I really have no idea what to expect from him. I would normally just dismiss his visions as mental instability, but that'd be rather hypocritical of me," she said with a small grin.
The lieutenant shrugged. "I'm biotic too, we're all crazy. It's just a matter of finding a complementary set. Make sure it's constructive interference."
Shepard laughed in response. "Exactly," she replied as they reached the door to the volus' office.
She took a deep breath before pressing the button to open the door. A lavishly furnished entrance held expensive decorations that clashed oddly with each other, both in design and coloration. An asari in an elaborate top sat at a desk. She looked up from her terminal to Shepard, and a frown appeared on her face.
"Good morning, ma'am," Shepard said politely to Shol's administrative assistant. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Layla Shepard, here to speak with Mr. Shol. I had an appointment with him."
The asari assistant eyed Shepard suspiciously. "You're the new Spectre. Why do you want to speak with Mr. Shol?"
"As part of one of my investigations, I'm searching for information contained in ruins of other civilizations. I'd like to hear from him what he's found on Klencory," the Spectre responded.
"Ah, you're here to ridicule his excavation? Sorry, but Mr. Shol has better things to do than deal with additional mockery from public celebrities," the asari said dismissively.
Shepard held up her hands in defense. "Ma'am, I'm not here at all to pass judgment on Mr. Shol. I have an appointment with him in a few minutes. I'm interested in hearing what he has found during his excavations of Klencory."
"Sure," the asari replied with a scoff. "Let me guess, it's a matter of galactic security?"
If only you knew… Shepard thought. "I have an appointment with him in several minutes, if you could take a look at his calendar to verify, ma'am," Shepard said, keeping her tone respectful.
The asari did look at the schedule with a scowl, and seeing indeed that Shol had an arranged appointment with the Spectre that stood in front of her. But it hadn't said anything about another human… "Who's that? And why is he armed? You'll need…good afternoon, Mr. Shol!" she said perkily as she stood. Both Shepard and Alenko turned to follow the asari's eyes to see the oddest volus pressure suit the commander had ever seen.
In addition to the standard suit, he had adorned it with several ornaments and padding, with some looking like it came straight from a set of hockey pads. He carried something on his back that Shepard could've sworn was a wizard staff. His tie-dyed – or radioactive – pressure suit took the cake though. She shot a glance to Alenko. Okay...just what have we gotten ourselves into here?
"Good afternoon, Lynetha!" the volus replied, then he looked towards the two humans. "Ah, you must be Commander Shepard!" he exclaimed in the slow voice of his species, interspersed with his breather kicking in, as he saw Layla. "Welcome! Welcome!"
"Mr. Shol?" she asked.
"Ah, no need for formalities here! Just call me Kumun! I hear that you want to hear about my wonderful excavation on Klencory. Come, you and your mate can follow me to my tall people office!"
Kaidan froze for a couple moments when he heard just what Shol had said, before stammering out quickly, "W-we're not mates we're both officers Alliance officers."
"Ah sorry," the volus said dismissively. "Other species' mating rituals always confuse me. But, enough of that. Anyway, follow me, and I will tell you all about Klencory!"
Layla walked slowly after Shol, matching his slow pace, not wanting to even look anywhere near Kaidan. That particular thought with Kaidan had crossed her mind, more times than she'd care to admit, but she couldn't act on it. She was on thin ice as it was, and any sort of attachment to a subordinate in that way…she knew her face probably looked like a bright red apple right now, and she kept her head to the side away from the lieutenant as she instead focused at the decorations lining the walls that ranged from eclectic to bizarre to unsettling. She knew she would absolutely refuse any refreshments from this office; she figured they would have to be laced with psychedelics.
"It's uncommon for any people, tall or short, to ask about Klencory, or any of my operations," Shol said after a couple seconds.
I am NOT surprised, Shepard thought. "We're looking for a little information on Klencory to aid us in one of our assignments," she said cautiously and quietly.
The volus' response was neither cautious nor quiet. "Interested in ruins, yes?" Kumun asked as Shepard and Alenko took a seat on chairs, the two Alliance soldiers still studiously avoiding looking at each other. "I will tell you everything about Klencory!" The volus then began to describe the ruins and the planet in flowery prose. Shepard tried to draw important bits from it, but there was little substance to his words.
Alenko diligently listened to the eccentric volus describe the ruins on Klencory, relieved to have something to focus his mind on, rather than Shol's words about him being Shepard's mate. Only in your dreams, Kaidan. Only in your dreams. His superior officer and CO asked after Kumun had finished, "You mentioned 'machine devils.' Do you know anything about those?"
"Yes, the ancient machine devils! The scourge of existence!" he replied, pounding his fists repeatedly on a small table.
"How did you find out about them? What are they called?" Shepard asked.
"I had a dream, you see. I travel to new, uninhabited planets. Places where no one has ever stepped before. You see, I can be the first, and the only, person to take those steps. I explored newly discovered ruins, and that night, I had a vision." The volus paused for several moments, and the commander could imagine Shol's face underneath to be deep in thought. "The vision. The vision told me to seek the lost beings of light on Klencory, that these beings will protect us from the ancient machine devils."
"Can you explain the vision in detail?" Shepard asked.
Shol did, and while his vague descriptions and flowery prose didn't really make sense to the commander, she could quickly tell that the vision he received was nothing like her own from the beacon.
"What planet were you on?"
"Ah, the planet does not matter!" Shol said dismissively with a wave. "The important thing is it led me to Klencory."
"When did you receive this vision?" she asked.
"One or three years ago, perhaps," he replied, again slightly dismissive.
Not helpful at all, Shepard thought, keeping the frown to herself. "Have you explored any prothean ruins?"
"No, never. The hanar don't like it when we desecrate the holy sites. Their words, not ours. And I would never upset my hanar friends."
"Have you found any prothean ruins on Klencory?" Shepard asked, at this point just wanting to leave and have someone else do the questioning.
Upon hearing the name of the excavation, Shol again launched into a detailed description of the planet and the ruins. He finally answered the question after some gentle prodding from Shepard. As the discussion wrapped up, Shepard half-wanted to question Shol in a more formal setting, since there was something he wasn't telling them, but the other half of her said it wouldn't provide them anything useful. He clearly knew a bit more than he told, and his dismissive nature towards facts such as where and when he received his visions didn't help matters. But Layla figured they would get no more out of him at this meeting. Maybe the Alliance, or C-Sec could question him a bit more. Or…maybe Tali could infiltrate his network. While illegal, she was a Spectre, and could get away with it…probably. Well…Tali could search for travel records for Shol, and see what came up. It would give the quarian something to do.
All three stood, and Shol said, "It is always wonderful to talk to people about Klencory! Please, stop by and chat anytime!"
I'll pass. Shepard nodded in response. "If you learn of anything else regarding the machine devils, or learn about more prothean ruins, please let me know. Just send a message that you'd like to meet. No details, just that you'd like to meet. Understood?"
"Of course, Commander. Discretion is my speciality!"
Shepard nearly gagged and somehow managed to choke back laughter at the words from a volus in the brightest, most multicolored pressure suit she had ever seen, sitting in a room that looked like it belonged in a psychedelic dream or a nightmare. Sure it is, she thought.
They parted ways, with the two humans walking without words back to the skycar pickup. Silence hung heavy between the two while they waited for the Alliance skycar to arrive. Alenko felt a continuous dread ever since Shol's comment, offhanded as it was, about the two of them being "mates." He didn't want to meet his CO's gaze, didn't want to even speak.
"I never thought I would see a volus in a rainbow-colored pressure suit," Alenko finally said slowly after an uncomfortably and unusually long silence between the two of them after climbing into the skycar.
Shepard laughed. "Right!? I think we need to take drug tests, I think that restaurant laced our drinks with psychedelics."
"I wish we could have gotten more hard facts from him, instead of just dismissive on how he learned about Klencory." He studiously kept his eyes looking out the window.
Though he didn't see it, Shepard nodded agreement. "Thankfully he forwarded information on the ruins. Given what little evidence we have to go on…well, we at least know of another civilization that vanished. Thirty-seven million years old…and still apparently in remarkable shape," Shepard said. She began wondering...what happened to that civilization? How many others had vanished?
Silence descended between the two of them again. Kaidan began to fidget with the door controls momentarily, before he placed his hands back in his lap, trying not to focus on the awkward silence nor the volus' offhanded comment.
Shepard sighed in the seat next to him before she finally said, "Kaidan…" she paused for a moment, then sighed. "You probably think I'm about as sharp as a bowling ball."
Alenko couldn't help but laugh at her idiom.
"Claiming to have seen a vision from a prothean artifact, basing investigations on trying to find another beacon, entertaining an eccentric volus. I half expected to see a couple MPs waiting with a straitjacket inside of Shol's office. 'Sorry folks, but she's actually an escapee from the lunatic asylum.'" She sighed. "I wouldn't blame you for thinking the same thing," she finished quietly.
He immediately shook his head in the negative. "I believe you, Layla," he said softly. "I know…I know you saw something in that beacon. I heard you scream, I saw you flail to try to get away. And that something you saw in there…whatever it was, it spooked you," he said quietly. "What…have people been questioning…what you saw?" Slowly he turned his gaze to her. She looked intently at him, staring into his eyes. Then she closed her own and nodded.
"There have been some senior people in the Alliance…well, they think I'm not playing with a full deck, or never had a full deck to begin with. It's…I just hope we find some hard information that corroborates the vision. Saren certainly doesn't have someone looking over his shoulder, questioning his every move. Spectre or not, this position is proving to have a lot more scrutiny and second-guessing than I thought. Probably from that one decision…" she said quietly, then sighed again. "I hope we catch a lead on him soon. Noveria was a month ago, and we've had nothing new since then," she finished.
"Something will turn up. A ship like Sovereign stands out. If he or the geth show up somewhere, we'll find them," Alenko replied, more confidence in his words than he felt.
"Not sure I want to find Sovereign, though," she said to herself quietly, almost a whisper.
He never got a chance to respond, as the skycar landed near Kassa's Citadel office. The two officers exited and walked towards the Alliance's premier armor manufacturer's facility. Both kept their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. This section of the ward was not particularly crowded, with perhaps three dozen people strolling about in groups of twos or threes. A group of several turians in their equivalent of military fatigues entered a store specializing in higher quality turian firearms.
The commander stopped in front of the office for a moment. "This…this may take a bit. I'm trying it out before taking delivery, and Kassa also wants to…" she sighed. "They want to say they're outfitting the first human Spectre in armor. Advertising."
Alenko winced. "Ouch."
She took a deep breath and both entered the office. They took Shepard to get some pictures of her before giving her the armor to test out. He pretended to read his omni-tool casually, but instead kept his eyes out for anything or anyone unusual. None of the staff had flagged as possible concerns, but Saren doubtlessly had influence over many corporations such as Kassa.
Twenty uneventful minutes later, Alenko saw Shepard emerge from the changing room. Rather than the black with red highlights that Colossus armor had, her armor was a much more subdued slate gray. He immediately noticed that this armor hugged her every curve, and his position to the side of her gave him a very good view of her hips and rear. He quickly shook his head clear of those thoughts as she turned to face him. He noticed that she had a small grin on her face as she then approached him.
"Well Kaidan," she began. "Would you mind checking me out – m-my armor out I-I mean," she finished quickly. She looked down as she let out a quick laugh, not making eye contact. "I want y-you to check out the armor," she continued quickly. "All the diagnostics look good, but it never hurts to have a set of eyes and an omni-tool have a visual check." She scratched the back of her neck, letting out a sigh.
"Of course," he replied. The two officers silently and quickly walked into the diagnostic room, clear of Kassa employees. Shepard held her arms out straight as Alenko powered up his omni-tool, slowly running it over every centimeter of her armor as his own eyes searched for defects as well. He felt a lump appear in his throat as his eyes and his omni-tool looked closely for any defects in the armor seals and interfaces. He imagined her soft, pale, smooth skin just a few millimeters underneath the armor and undersuit…
He shook his head clear of his inappropriate thoughts as he continued the inspection. Interfaces looked great, joints clean… "Looks great. I don't see any issues," he said, his omni-tool coming back clean as well.
"Great," she said with a quick smile. The commander then went to test out the armor in a simulated combat course. Alenko watched her cut through the course with frightening ease, barely even using her biotics. When she did, though, it was to devastating effect, prompting nervous looks from a few of the Kassa employees that were watching.
"Well…" Shepard said with a grin thirty minutes later as she placed the bag with her uniform in the back seat of the skycar, then climbed into the driver's chair.
"How is the armor?"
"Fantastic," she said with a grin. "I've been running Titan for years, and this makes Titan feel like scrap metal. It fit perfectly, too."
"Good," he replied.
Her grin faded. "I'm less enthused about the pictures and marketing that will result, but oh well. Since they had to custom-make the entire suit for someone my size, the cost was…exorbitant."
The lieutenant raised an eyebrow. "You couldn't get it covered through your expense accounts?"
Shepard chuckled. "Only in my dreams. And my spending spree for all of our armors already received plenty of scrutiny. So when Kassa offered the significant discount in exchange for advertising, I had little choice."
"How much did it actually cost?"
"Before the discount? More than the rest of your armors combined. They literally didn't have tooling and molds to make Colossus for someone as small as me."
Alenko gave her a surprised look. "Wow," he finally said. "And I'm also surprised they took so many pictures. I thought they would just get three or four, not thirty."
"That's what I thought too. I guess the chance to say they're outfitting the first human Spectre is too good opportunity to pass up," Shepard replied with a frown.
"Ah, now your face appears in more pics," he said with a chuckle.
"Don't remind me," she frowned while she set the destination as the Normandy's docking bay. The Alliance skycar immediately zoomed off, merging with other traffic on the Presidium on the way to the docking ring.
"Look on the bright side, at least it's not pink armor this time."
She glared at him. "That never happened."
"The extranet still says otherwise."
A minute later the two boarded the Normandy. Ashley whistled as the two of them exited the airlock. "No one's going to mess with you in that armor, skipper."
"If only they'd let me wear it around the Citadel with a rifle or shotgun on my back," Shepard replied with a small smile as she walked back towards CIC and the elevator. The two marines followed her.
"Didn't like the black color scheme of the Colossus?" the chief asked with a smirk.
The commander shrugged in response. "It with the red highlights stands out a bit too much. This is a bit better for concealment."
"I'm surprised you didn't just spring for pink," the chief said as an evil grin appeared on her face. "Hey, it would be useful on a desert planet."
Shepard didn't stop grinning. "Half the galaxy probably already knows. I don't particularly want the other half of the galaxy to know as well."
"If there was a time to ever select a gaudy armor color, this set would be it. With that woven armor, and those kinetic barrier capacitors, you don't really need concealment," the chief replied.
This got a chuckle out of Shepard. "That's what all the new recruits say. And you're the gunny, you're supposed to tear them a new one when they say that."
The chief grinned in response as the three marines entered the mess. "Given the fact you can't stop grinning, it's good armor?" Ashley asked.
"It's amazing!" Shepard replied with a grin on her face as they stopped at the bottom of the stairs, rolling her shoulders then jumping into the air as she flexed all of the joints. "It fits perfectly – something rare for someone my size! And it doesn't weigh me down at all, it feels light as a feather. It's almost like I'm not wearing anything at all."
Kaidan blushed as he, for the second time in just as many hours, imagined his commanding officer wearing absolutely nothing. Soft fair skin, thin waist accentuating the curves of her hips and rear –
The chief immediately held back laughter, succeeding for the moment. "That could raise an eyebrow or two. Right L-T?" Ashley asked with a look to Alenko, trying and failing to suppress a grin.
"Not going there," Alenko said quickly, instinctively, holding up his hands, getting a long-suppressed laugh from the chief.
"T-that's n-not isn't what, just…nevermind. It's good. It fits fine," Layla replied in exasperation as her face flushed, her hands balled into fists. She frowned at Ashley for a moment but did not look at Alenko. "That's enough. Back to business. Let's just make sure the rest of the rations are on board so we can depart."
Pressly approach the three. "We'll be set to depart in fifteen minutes. We're bringing aboard the last perishables now. What are our orders, Commander?" Pressly asked.
"Back to the Traverse to scout for geth," Shepard replied, then sighed. "No new leads. Colonies are getting more and more worried. More freighters are being attacked, and colonial administrations are saying it's just a matter of time before a colony gets hit again," she replied quietly. "And they're probably right."
"Freighters being hit?" Pressly asked with puzzled, narrow eyes.
"Nearly twenty in the last week," Shepard confirmed. "That doesn't make sense. What do the geth have to gain by attacking cargo ships? It's got the shipping companies in a bit of a panic, though. They're demanding more patrols along the trade routes, but so far the Council-affiliated species are keeping their ships close to colonies and relays."
Pressly nodded agreement. "It doesn't make any sense. There's little of value for the geth in most of those transports. Consumer goods, foodstuffs – things that they don't need."
"They're just blasting them apart with their weapons, not bothering to loot anything – like you said, nothing of value to them," Shepard added. "The other strange thing is crewed ships are starting to vanish. There's been three of them now in the past two weeks. No trace of the ship or the crew. That's…a much different MO than blowing up unmanned transports." She sighed. "There's something there, some reason for all of the attacks, with two very different MOs, but I'm just not seeing it."
"Neither is AIA," Alenko added to a nod from Shepard. "They have the same questions we all do."
"About all we can do is think outside the box and try to get some leads," Shepard said.
"Anything from that crazy volus with those visions?" Ashley asked.
Layla laughed quickly. "I'd be careful calling people on this ship 'crazy' for seeing visions," she replied, though her amused expression disappeared rapidly, replaced by a very brief wince and closed eyes. "It's hypocritical for me, at least. But no, nothing useful from him. He's…a bit eccentric, wouldn't you say, Kaidan?"
"He's a lunatic," the lieutenant confirmed quickly.
Shepard crossed her arms and turned towards him, trying to remove the grin from her face as she attempted to glare up at him. "Calling anyone who has visions a lunatic? And what does that say about me, Lieutenant?"
"Uhh…no comment?" he replied evenly.
The chief chuckled and Pressly gave the two other officers a raised eyebrow. "Unless there's anything else we need on the Citadel, I'll get the ship prepped for departure."
Shepard nodded. "Get us back to the Armstrong Nebula." Again."