"Commander, we are approaching the Citadel," the pilot's voice, Joker, rang out through the intercom.
"Alright Joker, bring us in. I'll be there in a moment," Shepard said, glancing up from his datapad opposite me at the table as he finished his coffee.
"Roger that, Commander," Joker's said. Shepard rose to his feet, looking around the mess hall for a moment, eyes falling on several people. He click his tongue.
"Garrus, Kaidan," he called. Kaidan looked up, the dark haired human – muscular in build – had been one of the team members that had found me. Well, to be more precise, he was the one who stepped on me in the snow. The other had been a dark haired female named Ashley. We didn't have time to speak much as she spent her time in the cargo hold. "Suit up,"
"Aye, Aye, Commander," Kaiden rose to his feet.
"Yes, Commander," Garrus said. The pair disappeared to suit up into their armour while Shepard strutted into his quarters opposite to the med bay.
My eyes scanned the hall from my chair at the edge of the table in the mess hall, hugging my knees, wishing my body could grow camouflage. Even though a good 3 days had passed, it had taken that long to pluck up the courage to leave the med bay today. Even that was because Dr Chakwas complained I took up a bed. We had left the 'Exodus Cluster', now approaching the 'Serpent Nebula', the Citadel's cluster. Even saying those names made my heart stutter. A cold sweat broke out at every opportunity; a person walking into view, the ship turning, laughter in the distance, an alien appearing. Especially the aliens. Garrus had made it his goal to get me to trust him, or at least tolerate him enough so when we spoke, I didn't stutter.
Tali, an alien called a 'quarian', was friendly enough. What concerned me was the helmet covering her face caused my tongue to leaden. There was no measure of expression to judge what mood she was in. No one else bothered, though, so there must be a secret way of looking through the mask. And then there was Wrex. That big turtle thing from earlier, that was Wrex, the 'krogan'. Built like a tank, his voice rumbled the air when he spoke. The protruding hips were more akin to the turians, but overall, he reminded me of a turtle. With the red crest adorning his head and the hump bulging over his shoulders to shield the back of his neck. He was the same size as Garrus but stockier. He had a small stumped tail. His red eyes were as harsh as his deep base voice. A nasty scar ran down his face and throat, another has taken a chunk out of his crest.
My voice never found the courage. The black Alliance hoodie tugged tighter around me, trembling as my gaze flicked around the room. The hoodie had been a gift from one of the female crew members. Aside from the clothes on my back, I owned nothing else. Out of the med bay, dizzy spells were commonplace as hyperventilation blinded me. My security blanket stolen from me and it wasn't coming back. To compensate, staying out of the way and be as small as possible became my goals. Aside from that, my mind drifted to the potential life that lay ahead of me. So much uncertainty.
The next few hours would define what my future. Homeless, enlisted, it wasn't yet known. The plan was to hand me to an embassy then leave me to figure out my next step. This was a military vessel and they had a dangerous turian to catch. He had been a Spectre like the commander. Spectres were an elite group. They worked above the law to get the job done that the Council – the seat of power for the galaxy – didn't want to get their hands dirty on.
A clicking sound caught my attention. Garrus emerged in his armour, the black and dark blue outfit highlighted the carapace and his ultra-thin waist. His helmet clipped to his belt, a sniper rifle and assault rifle, both compacted and ready to pop out in an instant, on his back. Kaidan was not far behind, an SMG and pistol at both hips. Garrus gave me a friendly grin. To keep him happy, a small smile flitted over my lips. It never satisfied him, but he didn't push me. Shepard emerged soon after in his dark grey armour. An 'N7' symbol decorated the collar of the armour.
"Alright, Dell, you're coming with us. Look lively now," he said. My back snapped rigid at the commander's order. On my feet, nearly falling flat on my face when my legs got tangled in the bars under the table, my face burned brilliant red. My lips pressed together with more force than necessary as a dark haired woman giggled, pressing my arms tight to my sides. The trio moved up to the next floor with me close behind, away from further possible ridicule. Upon leaving the staircase, a large hologram of the ship occupied the middle of the room. A platform at the back of the room took them over a hologram of the galaxy. In front of that, a long space lit up with a hologram of the ship, computers all around it. The room thinned into a corridor, more computers with holographic screens on both sides of the raised walkway. At the far side, the cockpit sat at the end of the corridor and the sight of the Citadel through the windows.
The 5 armed structure reminded me of a fan that had curled its arms inwards, like a flower closing its petals. My eyes ogled at the massive place, awed by the scale. A tower stood out from a ring at the bottom of the arms. No questions rose, captured by the scale and majesty of the structure before me. The thought of sounding like an idiot paralysed my voice, further silencing my voice. Where did the people live? How did they live without suits, if they did? Was there gravity? My arms wrapped around me, unable to think of good questions that didn't make me sound like an absolute moron. My fear did a good job of keeping me quiet. Shepard approached the cockpit, speaking with the pilot. Radio chatter echoed around the room as the pilot steered the ship around the bustle of the other ships. The Normandy pulled into dock, allowing the shore party to leave.
The city skyline held me gawking at the sight. Pillars of buildings speckled the horizon, lights coloured everything. There was no need for a helmet or a space suit. The city didn't seem encased though. My gaze gawked up to the other 4 arms above me. There were cities like this on those arms, judging by the lights. A breath shuddered free, my mind spun as my mind wondered how gravity worked here. Those people would think we were the upside down ones. No obvious shield coated the city to explain why there was an atmosphere. Garrus' tall frame guided me to the elevator, eyes seized by the lights of the structures as the cars danced between the spires. The elevator forced the city from my sights. Some time off the ship, on my own, would do me good. There was an entire city to explore, whole new races to learn about... Although that didn't fill me with confidence. That or being mugged.
"Something wrong?" A voice asked. My gaze snapped up, eyes wide and heart thundering. Kaidan tilted a head in my direction. The team glanced down to me.
"O-Oh no, I... I've never been here before," I said, trying to appear aloof. "J-Just wanted to look at the sights, I-I guess,"
"The Presidium is a sight to see," Garrus chuckled. "That'll keep you occupied while we speak to the ambassador," My heart skipped a beat. What did he mean?
The elevator coughed us out at a place called the C-Sec Academy, C-Sec being Citadel-Security. Garrus said he worked here before Shepard picked him up to help him chase down this rogue turian. To keep up with the long limbed crew, my legs trotted beside them as we meandered up and down elevators to take me out of 'The Wards'. Aliens littered everywhere, there was no escape. There were even more aliens than what was onboard the Normandy; things that looked straight out of 'Signs', things that looked like walking walruses without the tusks. My body pulled itself closer, shuffling closer to the familiar alien. Intricate flora decorated the place, although most of it was holographic. That alleviated some fear that my hay fever would kick up. Then we broke into the Presidium.
I gawked at the sky, fake as could be, but my earlier fear dissipated. Water swelled in ponds and lakes, the grass didn't rustle though, so the immersion stopped short. The area was much brighter than in the Wards, my eyes shielded as we entered. White metal and pale concrete covered every part of the Presidium, trees dotting the landscape to make it a bonnie sight, as my father would have said. My mind boggled when the horizon found me. After several minutes, realisation hit that we were in the ring that the arms connected to. The water followed the outside of the ring, disappearing into the ceiling as the loop continued. Distractions and the thought of getting lose kept my hand on Garrus' helmet. He grinned, but remained silent.
We entered the embassies, the doors splitting along the diagonal and disappearing into floor and ceiling. My foot hesitated at the threshold, thoughts prodding me with scenes from horror movies and doors cutting people in half. The gap vanished behind me as I jumped over it. We climbed up pale coloured steps to enter the human office. Two men were in large room; one looked older with grey hair and wrinkled face, his dark skin looked sun-bleached. His brown eyes swivelled over to us, turning hard at the sight of Shepard. Judging by the pale outfit he was wearing, he was the ambassador. The second man wore a navy uniform, his dark hair had a few strands of grey. His tanned skin, richer in colour compared to the ambassador, caught the sunlight. His hazel eyes seemed friendly enough, even lit up upon seeing Shepard. Two men with complete opposite opinions on Shepard. This would not end well.
"Shepard, good to see you," The military man walked over to greet them.
"Anderson, keeping well, I assume," Shepard grinned.
"It has taken some getting used to. The lack of military rations are a welcome, however," Anderson laughed. "What brings you back to the Citadel so soon?"
"While investigating a distress beacon on Xawin, we found a young girl passed out in the snow. We've tried searching for her records on the Earth databases but we've turned up nothing," Shepard said. Anderson patted Shepard's shoulder.
"We'll look after her, don't worry," Anderson answered. The other man nodded with a straight face, serious but he appeared genuine.
"But of course," he turned his gaze to me, the only female in the group. "I am Ambassador Udina, the human ambassador on the Citadel," he explained as he approached, holding a hand out. My hand shook it, trembling.
"E-Endellion Shaik," I said.
"I will need you to fill out some information, otherwise trying to find your records may prove difficult. It you would please come this way," he said, sweeping an arm out to a nearby desk. With reluctance, I stepped towards the ambassador, hugging myself with a backwards glance to Shepard and his crew. What to do? My wide eyes found Shepard, a whimper escaping. He saw my plea and furrowed his brows, eyes flicking between Udina and I. Udina had me stand by his desk, facing the door we had entered. A holographic screen before me was alight with empty boxes, awaiting information. "Fill out what you can, we shall see what we can do to help," Udina nodded before he turned to the gathering.
My hand raised to touch the holograms, jolting as my finger passed through the screen but recognised the letter. My fingers danced over the keyboard as they adapted to the alien technology. The information flowed from my fingers as instinct took hold, filling in my date of birth as the 28th of November, 1990. It wasn't until the 'accept' button clicked did I remember about the time gap considerations. My hands folded together as the loading wheel spun, my heart pounding in my ears.
An error popped up, stating that no records were found. It said people who had died before 2030 were not in the system. They classed me as deceased? Well... that explained the lack of any records, My eyes scanned the group surrounding the area near the doorway. There was enough time. My fingers tapped the keyboard, trying to search for records of other family members. Some never appeared, such as my mother's. My blood chilled, stomach knotting. A scan for my father brought his profile up. My mother had died… before 2030? She would have been in her 80s so… maybe health problems? My head shook. Don't think about it. My fingers tapped my information in again, returning the error.
"How are you getting on, Endellion?" Udina asked. My head snapped up, glancing over the screen. I tapped a false year in to hide my time travelling so it was 25 years ago in 2158
"S-Sorry. I-I'm not used to this technology," I said, stumbling over my words, face flushing. A cough spat out to hide my nerves. "N-Nothing's coming up, I-I'm afraid,"
"Nothing? Hmm. Let me take a look," he wandered back over to me, muttering under his breath about the different possibilities. Out of the way, my arms held me as tingles danced down my legs as he hmmed over the data. "Very unusual... " He turned to Shepard. "Thank you, Commander. I shall try and get this girl's details and ensure she is on her way home," Shepard smiled, his expression relaxed.
"Thank you, Ambassador," Shepard answered, although the hitch in his tone showed he tolerated the man and no more. The ambassador dismissed them.
"This will take time, Anderson. We can continue this talk later," the ambassador said still battling with the system. The captain nodded.
"As you wish, Ambassador. I will return later today if you are free," Anderson replied. The group of people departed, leaving Udina and me alone in the room. My hands clamped together, swallowing hard lumps down my throat. My knees trembled as they lowered me onto a chair. Udina sighed and rested his chin on his hands.
"This is very unusual. You have vanished from the system. Did you try searching for any other family members?"
"I-I did. I-I only found great, great aunts and uncles though," I said. Udina mumbled as he checked the search history. He tried to run a trace of some sort but error messages popped up every step of the way. He leaned back against his chair.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You're data is cleaned off the system... were you captured by slavers?" he asked. "They do sometimes have someone on the inside to clean the records,"
"I... I-I don't re-remember," I stammered. That was a possibility. Although, it still didn't explain the 170 year time difference! Udina hmmed, looking over the data again.
"Who is your next of kin?" he asked.
"I-I don't h-have one. Sorry," I mumbled. Udina regarded me, analysing my behaviour and mood.
"Any family? Friends?" he asked. My head shook. "Hmm. Well, there are several options. We can return you to your country of birth and allow the political system there to see to your care. There is the possibility of joining a colony somewhere on another planet as well. We can always use extra hands for the programs. Or you could join the Alliance military. Never a shortage of positions with the rate we are expanding," A hard lump clogged my throat.
"Before all this, I-I was a-a scientist," I said, trying to free my voice up. "I-I took an apprenticeship a-as a geologist before... before the accident. I-I cannot afford university fees..."
"There is not much I can do to help you there, I'm am afraid," he said, typing away at the hologram. "The three options are all that is available to you. Which do you wish to choose from?"
My brain frazzled at the question. It had to deal with enough by my journey here. They now presented me with a choice? This wasn't the time to choose like this, when my mind reeled from realising my whole life turned upside down. OK, ok. Stop. Think. Go back to Earth, back to the UK. With luck, the government benefit scheme could help me until I got back on my feet... damn, how warped was the system now? But then there were the colonies. These were new groups of humans settling on new planets. It didn't strike me as appealing. Too many new people, new environment, new everything. Monsters as well? Oh Christ no... But to join the military? No, no my nerves couldn't deal with that. Well...it was the lesser evil was my choice, but which one was it? Where were my chances better?
"I-I think I'll go back to Earth, back t-to Scotland," I said. Udina nodded.
"Of course, now let me just recreate your profile. Can't have you return to Earth and they run into the same problems and send you back, hmm?" he smiled, lifting the heavy mood. A strained smile lifted my lips. We spent the next 30 minutes plugging as much data as we could onto the computer. Some information I kept to myself. A slow smile grew on my face, muscles easing as the need to cry rose. It was almost over. Soon, my life could restart again, somewhere quiet. "I will book you a ticket for a ship to Earth. Someone will collect you at the dock to ensure you are safe,"
"T-Thank you. W-Where do I go?" I asked.
"Take a cab to Docking Bay F12. Tell the cab to forward the fare to the Human Embassy," he instructed.
"T-Thank you, Ambassador, I appreciate you helping me" I said, standing. Udina smiled.
"Any time. If you need any help, approach a member of C-Sec. They will aid you as best as they can," he replied. With a nod, even a small Japanese bow to avoid speaking again, my feet carried me away for a hasty escape, Udina watched me. My lungs dragged in their first proper breath in ages. My shoulders sagged, a real smile broke free. But... where was the docking bay? My body tensed. Shit!
After leaving the embassies and finding myself in the reception to the embassies, my challenge now was to find my way to the docks. A strange, alien looking hologram seemed to be for help, but my curiosity led me towards a waiting car nearby. The cabs were just outside the embassy, in the open air. In front of the terminal, the options lay before me. There was no driver. Boggled, a nearby human caught my attention. The human was more than happy to help me out. The benefit to looking so young, people take pity on you. He was even kind enough to show me how to forward the charges. After thanking him from the bottom of my poor little heart. The car opened, letting me step inside. It closed as soon as the seatbelt on. It lifted itself into the air and shot off to join the rest of the traffic.
Myself? My knuckles were white as they clung to the seat. My screams were unheeded as it swung me around. Thank God for seatbelts! It was faster than expected and it ducked and weaved like a drunk driver most of the time. Scenes of the Citadel whizzed past me, forgotten as my survival topped my priority list. The fare machine gave a perky 'Hope you have a nice day' as the doors opened. The doors didn't open quick enough. Flat on my face on the ground, my limbs crawled away from the cab. The cab shut itself and took off. Back on my feet, my arms hugged me, stared after it as it vanished into the distance. It could stay as far away from me as possible.
The docking area gave an excellent view of the city, the towering skyscrapers and all the lights that came with it. There were also plenty of chairs and benches to wait until someone called or came to find me. There were a few people around to boot, so my attempt to leave the car had been ignored. Aliens wandered around the dock, sending a quiver down my spine. Maybe being alone wasn't such a good idea thinking on it. Where does one begin when they try to speak to someone of a completely different species? There were blue skinned aliens that looked like humans apart from the tentacle-like hair wrapped over their head. Another green skinned on with 4 pairs of eyes. Then there was a short, stumpy one that appeared to be wearing a suit. Why was there so many kinds of aliens!?
"Miss Shaik?" a voice sounded. My hair whipped around as my toes spun to face the voice. A human approached, tanned skin and dark hair. He wore blue and black armour and held a dark grey rifle in his hands. My hand rubbed my arm.
"Yes?" I said.
"I'm a C-Sec officer, I'm here to make sure you got on your shuttle to Earth safely," he responded. A small smile lifted my lips. Udina must've asked C-Sec to look out for me, to make sure I was safe.
"T-Thank you, officer. I appreciate it," I answered. Tension eased away with a police officer around, it was safer at least. Still, no need to rush into trusting people, you never know with strangers.
"If you come over this way, miss, we can see which shuttle is for you," he pointed with his gun.
"Oh, sure, thank you," I started after him, looking around the room as my feet navigated around each other to stop me falling again. My gaze locked with that of a turian waiting in a pod of chairs with more turians. Coppery skinned with teal markings over his brow, under his eyes, along his mandibles and a small v on his nose. He also had a more decorative one on the 'forehead' plate. His viridian green eyes stared into the distance. Then he noticed my staring and those eyes narrowed, the mandibles tightening against his cheeks. My shoulders squeezed together, adrenaline pumping as muscles tensed. To make sure he didn't hate me, I sent a small wave and smile His eyes widened, and mandibles flaring as the C-Sec officer led me away from the dock, towards where my transportation would be.
The Timeline and Galaxy Map have been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.