"I have seen nothing like this," Mat'al said, rubbing his chin as he stared at a screen before him. My arms leaned against the back of his chair, eyes scanning the data before the salarian. Graphs wriggle like worms and data scrolled as the salarian tried to piece everything together.
After days in bed, Raisha pushed me enough to pluck up the courage to test my legs. They quivered when not walking and to an outsider, I walked with a limp, but lack of use and weakness caused that. My little talks with Raisha had nudged me to press on, despite my stupidity. Fear. That is what the Reapers want, unless they reprogrammed me. Sitting in that bed, in the quiet, made me realise fear pinned me to the bed. Afraid of ridicule, of the crew staring at me with suspicious eyes. It hadn't comforted me, but it made me realise Nyryntha may make another attempt with control with this opportunity. She would wreak havoc on me or my crew. The crew babied me while I staggered to recovery. A mug of coffee now waited for me on my desk every morning, an encouragement to get moving. Since when dare enter my domain without a panicked examination of my expression? Oh, wait, Indira, she would.
But my focus stayed on Mat'al. Gideon had done as requested and passed my message on. Mat'al prepared a report for me, but refused to deliver it. He made me come to him. A future lecture awaited me for taking so long to get myself back into shape. Despite my shaking legs, Mat'al smiled when I stumbled into lab, relieved to see me up and about. The labs crackled with activity, another awing sight to weary eyes. The final layout battles still sparked heated debate, but they set the majority of the layout in stone. Banks of computer terminals sat in the middle of the room, encircling a holographic sphere with individual screens appearing on it. The teal coloured hologram released a school girl squeal from me. It looked straight out of a sci-fi movie.
"The frequencies of the waves are similar to that found in ultrasonic and electromagnetic waves. And the effects on your brain... I'll keep it simple. These waves seem to alter your normal internal brain waves, beta waves, a few delta waves. Nothing significant that would make you think 'There's something wrong with my head''. It seems to be... stimulating certain parts of your mind," Mat'al explained as he took a quick sip of his tea. A sound escaped my throat, his words drifting in my mind.
"Headaches, hallucinations, anything to weaken your control over your own mind. Then the Reaper swoops in, tugs a few strings and you do it," I said, shaking my head while a hand rubbed my eye. "Any ideas on how to stop it?"
"Not at the moment," Mat'al said, sounding more annoyed than anything else. "While we can see the effects of these waves on your brain, when we replicated them for a salarian brain or a turian, nothing happened. We then replayed the signal in a human mind. The signal wasn't right, as if something masked the true frequency of the waves. Dell, we need a direct source of the waves. Waves travelling through air. Your Reaper cannot help us with that. We need to find something that causes indoctrination,"
"I could try to indoctrinate someone," I said. Mat'al snorted, the idea amusing him.
"Maybe make Shayan straighten his spine-" he began.
"Oi!" I snapped. Mat'al raised a cool eyebrow in my direction. His expression remained flat otherwise. My arms pushed me off the chair, eyebrows dropping. "Shayan is not a fighter. Remember when you first met me?"
"Then find me some geth and I'll take him through the crash course," Mat'al smiled, although a shudder ran down my spine.
"No thank you," I said, clearing my throat. "He's out of the medical bay. I don't want him punted back inside," Mat'al returned his stare back to monitor before him.
"So what is our next goal then?" Mat'al asked. "Once we analyse the data, we need to collect more and perhaps start prototypes to combat indoctrination. Maybe even start Saboteur identification, if you do no mind becoming a guinea-pig,"
"Sure, if Nyryntha doesn't kill me, something else will. May as well use me while you can," I muttered. Mat'al chuckled, although his expression held no warmth. The idea didn't please him.
"That won't happen until we have other information to work with," he said, a slight frown forming as he looked over his shoulder at me. "I take it you still are not speaking to Valérien," he made it a statement.
"Was it that obvious?" I asked, my voice drying at the name of the turian.
"Oh no, I haven't noticed a sulking turian glued your shadow and stalking you every second of the day," Mat'al grinned, his dark eyes sparkling.
"You know, it's creepy when you stay it like that," I shuddered. Mat'al smirked. Val's eyes prodded my back. Val's hiding spot remained hidden from me, but he was here. Somehow, he thought stalking me would make things better. Or maybe he was waiting for an opportunity to get me to say over two words to him. Until then, he would know my wrath through my lack of interaction to him. A few orders here, ignoring him there. Judging by his shadowing, it worked. Just thinking about his constant battles against me coated me in a film that sent sour shudders down my spine and unsettling my stomach. My chest tightened whenever the memories rose, doubt tickling my courage as to whether this was the correct course of action. It left me betrayed and two-timed.
"I'll leave you to work, Mat'al. Let me know if you find anything else," I said, patting the back of the salarian's chair. Mat'al gaze fixated to the screen before him.
"Of course," he answered, distracted. My head shook as my legs wobbled out of the labs. Leave him to his musing, best not poke the working salarian. Before crossing the threshold, my eyes spotting Val's hiding place by a console near Jacques, the dark turian with off-white markings and pale green eyes. The pair spoke, although Val looked over his shoulder too much to be paying much attention. My head shook, continuing on my path towards the engineering deck.
It wasn't a deck often visited by me. People prone to clumsy spells, such as myself, avoided this deck because the engineers could not keep this place tidy. The maze of computer banks had turned me around more than once, leaving me calling out for someone to lead me to safety. Leaving the elevator, an enclosed room greeted me, much like the war room in the labs. Several engineers enjoyed a coffee break around the table, some screens high on the wall with numbers and graphs floating on them. Lockers, chests, tables and computers hugged the walls. It was the 'small part' holding area. Shayan was not present, so my eyes snapped down, meandering my way around the room towards the drive core, aware of my feet and the objects around me. Dammit, this place needed a tidy!
A glass wall awaited me, a brilliant blue light pouring out from a small corridor at the back of the room on the other side. A round ball – our drive core – occupied the back of the room, small loops of light radiating from it. It reminded me of a sun. The Drive Core side of the engineering deck looked worse than here. Computer banks lined the far wall on either side of the corridor leading to the drive core. Large storage units containing pipes and larger pieces of repair gear took up the remaining two walls. Shayan stood by a computer near the corridor, running some kind of diagnostic or something. Either that or he was playing minesweeper. Why did I introduce him to that game again?
"Shayan," I called, cursing as a wire or cable tangled in my feet, leaving me hobbling. The quarian jumped, trembling before recognising me. He scrambled over to save me from falling on my face. "Ok, Captain's orders. I want this deck tidy. I do not need a concussion on top of every other problem on hand,"
"But it is... " Shayan said until he noticed my stare. He flushed. "Yes Captain," My eyes rolled, turning my gaze to quarian as he shifted his weight.
"Right. I came down here to see how you were doing. Glad to hear you are back on your feet," I said. Shayan shuffled, swallowing as he glanced around the room, as if looking for a distraction.
"I-I'm alright, thank you," Shayan answered. A frown grew. This… Shayan seemed quieter, more wary, even more so than normal. What the hell happened to him to make him even worse than he already was? Had someone said something to him? I swear to God... the mission report, read the last mission report. Maybe that held the answer. Shayan refused to tell me himself what had happened.
"Are you sure, I'm just getting worried about you..." I said. The quarians smiled but otherwise kept to himself. My arms folded, holding back on the annoyance over his silence.
"I'm fine, Captain. Um... h-how is Corin?" Shayan asked, shuffling while rubbing his arm. My eyes narrowed, reading small movements and words to piece together what happened. I needed Raisha or Mat'al to teach me how to read people!
"He's doing fine, last I checked. Why?" I asked. Shayan shoulder's sagged, tension leaking away before he realised what he had done. His muscles tensed again, but he tried to shrug it off.
"J-Just asking. I-I heard he got hurt. A-Anyway, sorry, Captain. I-I need to finish checking the engine stability," Shayan said, stumbling over his words. He cleared his throat. "I-I'll get the deck cleared," I nodded, masking my concern with a smile. Something bothered him but hell if I could figure it out.
"No worries, Shayan. I'll see you soon. Try to relax, big guy. You're worrying me a little with how jumpy you've been," I tried not to make that a threatening promise, but I didn't like my team acting strange. Shayan was more edgy than normal. Maybe taking him on a field crew wasn't such a brilliant idea. Shayan seemed to smile as I turned to leave the deck.
A hasty escape of the engineering deck began, after avoiding falling on my face at least 3 times. My room was my only sanctuary, the only place on this ship Val couldn't shadow me to without my knowledge. Even during my flight from engineering, his eyes tickled my skin. Damn it, Mat'al, why did you make it creepy?! Yes, Val, you are feeling guilty but Christ! My hand rubbed my nose as my back leaned against the elevator wall, collecting myself. I had one commander who was following me like a lost puppy and another who was panicky to the point of a heart attack at any moment. I hated Reapers. Really hated them.
My room was a welcome sight. The door locked behind me to secure myself away from any curious peeks. Caution also put Mar on guard dog duty. Val wasn't getting in without a nasty shock, Mar would make sure of that. My weakened knees cheered when my ass landed on the sofa, my eyes captured and lost in the stars. This wasn't stressful per say… ok, it was stressful but only because a Reaper came so close to killing me. No one would blame me for ebing on edge for that, right? A sigh sounded as my back slid, torso collapsing onto the cushions below, arms sprawled over my head. Until we had data, we couldn't plan our next destination. Aside from the Citadel, we had no other leads. For now, the Starquake orbited some poor planet not even worthy of a name after a well needed refuel. Every now and then, the rings that hugged the planet drifted past the window.
My hand dug in my pocket until my datapad pulled free, eyes staring at it as it connected to the extranet. My daily trawl of digging around on the news sites began. You had to scour the extranet and news, to keep up to date with major events in the universe. Anything could be a Saboteur at work. After flicking through my usual links, nothing major leapt out. Krogan complaining about another failed cure for the genophage, some activity with batarians and humans going at each other's' throats again, an attempted assassination on a council member, some new Prothean ruins found on a explored world out in some random system, some poor salarian colony was being forced to abandon the project due to some plants altering their sex drives-
Whoa, whoa, whoa, my head shook, rereading a headline. Attempted assassination on a Council member? A frown grew as suspicion rose. I quick skim through the article weaved a tale about the turian councillor escaping a targeted hit, saved by a C-Sec officer. The office, as a reward, promoted up a rank. The now Commander Saria T'Spia had started an investigation into the hit and had arranged security for the Council... members... Saria's target was the Councillors. Was she trying to destroy the political structure from the top down or did she want to plant Saboteurs in their place? Maybe she wanted to access the relay controls to activate the Citadel relay...
The datapad clattered on the table, my fingers pressed to my lips, frowning as my mind wandered. The Saboteurs were at work, always working to further their agenda while we flailed in the dark. While we wandered the galaxy looking for things to research, Saria had climbed so high in the C-Sec ranks making a strike against her would be a suicide mission. Trying to get her along would be difficult enough. The memory of lines of indoctrinated C-Sec officers gave me more than enough reason to quiver in terror. What could we do? She was a threat to everything the galaxy needed for political stability.
We had to take her out. We had to remove her from the universe once and for all before she succeeded. The Council was too important for the galaxy to be fucked over and or replaced by Saboteurs. She would endanger trillions of lives, a danger to everyone. Anyone who stood in her way, or changed the plan she had in store, disappeared or fell into her snare with only the barest of whispers. The only thing worse than that was a Saboteur Councillor... unless one existed already. Good God, don't even go there. My head shook. As much as I hated the thought – and the possible consequences – we had to prepare for every eventuality, including the Council falling to the Saboteur ranks. A Saboteur Councillor would be high on my fear list.
"Ow, piss off, Marshal!" A voice growled. My eyebrows snapped, frustration mounting. And to add to my mounting problems... "Ow! Stop it, Mar. Spirits sake!" Mar beeped, a series of manic beeps that drilled into my skull. My hands burrowed into my hair, wincing at each beep as it drowned out every sane thought. Now I had two headaches!
"Val, piss off! I swear to God!" I snapped.
"Dell, c'mon just give me- ow! Marshal! Dell, a minute, please!" Val pleaded through the door. My glare wished to melt the door to get to Val while he struggled to get around the annoyed droid and through the door. "What do I have to do to get you to listen to me? Please!"
A bitter taste crept up the back of my throat. What did he have to do? An apology wouldn't cut it. Would it even be a good step in the right direction? No, the knife wound in my back didn't cover the half of it. My patience with the man had given, him and his inability to keep his pants straight every time I did something without him, or gave an order he didn't like. The lift of things he could do to make it up to me would fit on a postage stamp. My eyes drifted away from the swearing turian and the pissed-off drone at the door to the datapad lying abandoned beside me. There wasn't a damn thing he could do... Although...
"Mar, let him past," I said. Mar beeped, the door parting as it floating to my side. Val sigh, eased as he mounting the stairs to reach me sitting on my sofa. My back pressed back into the upright cushions again, arms folded as my gaze levelled. He would receive no quarter, not this time.
"Thanks, Dell. Look, I'm-" he began.
"So you want to make me listen to you? To forgive you?" I asked. Val stared, considering my words. His expression scrunched, studying my expression as he calculated my mood. He nodded, shuffling his weight as he waited. "Then here's how you can help. The Saboteurs are mobilising,"
"Mobilising?" he echoed. My tongue clicked, eyebrows dropping. A repressed grin wished to lift my lips when his shoulders rolled back, his copper cheeks staining a faint hue of purple. He snapped his mandibles shut. He waited.
"Yes, Mobilising. Saria T'Spia has attempted to assassinate a Councillor. We will put an end to her," I said. Val frowned, mandibles clicking. "You want me to forgive you? Get me onto the Citadel," I ordered. Val paused, considering my words, trying to form an argument or plan.
"Saria is an asari, a biotic. I don't think you have the skills necessary to take down a biotic on your own," he said. My thumb rubbed my pinkie, my jaw popping.
"Val, I have to do this. The Saboteurs cannot rip the Council apart, nor be given the chance to force one of their own into the fray. By all means, squeeze as many of the team in as you can, I'll need the backup, but I have to get to Saria and I have to put a bullet in her brain," I said. Val breathed, swaying his weight as he struggled to find words that wouldn't shove me over the edge and ruin this chance to listen to him
"Assuming a bullet to the brain works," he countered.
"I'll take my chances," I said.
We stared each other down then. The captain who wanted to get onto the place she feared of getting caught in and the commander who wanted his ego rubbed but keep his captain alive. Who would win in this battle of titans? Val had many reasons follow my commands without question, but he had a hundred more against the whole idea. My fingers drummed over the back of the sofa, waiting. Val ran a hand down his face.
"The Council is unaware of the majority of the crew, you may need dye for your hair and coloured contacts though. We also must fool the DNA scanners leading into the Citadel. I imagine the security has increased after the geth attack. Mat'al or Indira would be better at the actual planning but... I'll convince them to go through with it. I'll get a team arranged, see if I can't get a spare ship to get us in and out of the Citadel, the Starquake is unmistakable. We can't allow the Saboteurs to know we're coming. And if the STG have reported to the Council about a stolen ship to get back at us for foiling their plans... Have you got any contacts on the Citadel?" Val asked, his tone sullen but at least he toyed to go through with this. A smile lifted my lips.
"I might have one. I'll see how willing he is to help me though," I said. Val nodded.
"Fine. I'll talk to the others then," he said, marching down the stairs and out of my room. My gaze followed him, hand dropping to the datapad beside me. Saria T'Spia the timer on her head ticked down. Now my body needed training against biotics to get back into shape. My body would be black and blue by the time Mat'al was done with me.