My eyes stared over the bustling city glowing from the neon that stained is blue, red and purple. Friday night still seemed to be a mindless waddle to the nearest pub or club even after all these years. The government didn't cure our drinking problem, despite best attempts. A smile spread, watching a gathering of girls in dresses showing far too short for January weather stumble down the street, clinging to each other in high heels as they clambered down the wide cobbled streets. Goddam you, Glasgow, you'll never change… please, never change… The taste of battered fish, vinegar and salt drove away the sorrow, elbows supporting me on the banister in one of the massive lounges overlooking the expanded city. Glasgow consumed Paisley now, swallowed by Glasgow's bloated size. It had always suffered from being slapped onto Glasgow but… My head shook, clamping down on a piece of flaky fish. The taste hadn't changed in 170 years. Hell, the chippy even had deep fried Mars bars as a tourist food! We were selling our diabetes and obesity to tourists now! It looked worse than it did. It wasn't horrible… unless you were an artery.
"There you are!" A voice said behind me. My head turned as Val approached. "We've been looking everywhere for you! Everything's ready for take-off and… what the hell is that?" he gawked at my food. A sly smirk overwhelmed me.
"A traditional Scottish dish. Sorry, not dextro friendly," I said. His face twisted as he observed the offending pile of fish and chips.
"It… doesn't look very healthy," he said. His words summoned a burst of laughter from me, surprised from his observation.
"Christ no, but this isn't even the worse of it! We deep fry everything," I said with a grin. Val pulled a face.
"Right... Well, we're just waiting for you now. So uh… are you sure you don't want to stay a while longer? We just landed here this morning," Val asked, eyes darting over my face. My shoulders sagged, eyes drawing back to the city.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I've learned the hard way that I don't like coming to a familiar place only to realise has changed beyond recognition. Nothing holds me here now, like I've… moved on, only it's the city that's moved on and left me behind. There's nothing here for me, just painful memories. I'm more… more comfortable on the Starquake, back in the stars. It doesn't remind me of what I've lost, of what time stole from me. Earth will always be a home but it's that home you only go to if you get stuck. It's… it's hard to describe," I said with a shrug, realising my words tumbled out with no real structure. "Besides, there is no guarantee Megan will stay in Ireland. I want away from her until I see what this evidence is," My elbows pushed me back from the banister, munching down as many chips and fish pieces as possible. The huge portions surprised me, although it shouldn't. The remaining crumbs found themselves dumped in the final bin as we approached the Starquake.
"Mat'al is leading the scientists on extracting the data off that device you got in the vault. The tech is old and the electronics are knackered, as you say, but the actual memory seems to be all right," Val said me as the airlock consumed us.
"Some good news at least, any time estimate yet?" I asked. Val shrugged.
"A few hours, we'll be out of the Sol system by that time anyway. The Council will want an update too, so we'll leave that in your capable hands," Val smirked. A scowl made the turian laugh at my expense.
"Giving me the shit jobs, are you?" I grumbled. Val laughed.
"You are the captain," he reminded. My scowl only worsened.
"As I am reminded. Everyone on board?" I asked, entering the bridge. The scene before me caused a soft curse to escape under my breath. "Gideon, off the chair,"
"Aww, but mum-" he whined. Sitting cross legged in the captain's chair.
"Off. Don't you still have homework?" I asked, raising a brow as my hand grabbed the back of the chair. Gideon sulked as he slipped off it.
"No, Ray made me do it all when you were away in Ireland. Lani took me around the dock though," he said, puffing out his chest.
"What did you break?" I asked. Gideon's hackles shuddered and he stuck out his tongue. A faint grin rose. "Lanster, get us out of here. I'd rather not have Saboteurs go for the Starquake," I ordered.
"Aye, aye, Captain. Warming up the engines," Lanster called back.
The bell went off, announcing we the impending take off. The bridge filled as people scrambled to their posts. In the captain's chair of the Starquake, the ship eased away from the dock, turning to return to London. Regulation restricted us from returning to space here, only certain patches of Earth allowed entry and exit. Some say it's because of the trash surrounding Earth, others for safety. It took about 20 minutes before we were back in space, the rotary springing to life and powering towards the mass relay. The passing planets held my wonder, the child who dreamed of seeing this distant orbs of beauty in person surfacing. Saturn's rings looked catching today, drawing me in. They fascinated me once, maybe they still did, but any remnants of Earth could stay away for now. My head shook, too many things hurt me, clutching my heart. Tension clenched my chest the moment eased once we escaped the Sol system, the relay stealing the system away. My hands rubbed my eyes, heaving myself up from the chair.
"If the science team gets whatever was on that phone, call me. I'm off to inform the Council about what I've learned. Maybe they have information on Alea and Megan for us," I said, lumbering towards the rear exit of the CIC. "Oh and Gideon. When I'm finished, it's bed time,"
"Aw but I'm not tired! I'm so pumped right now!" he cried. My heard glanced over my shoulder, a flat expression on my face. Gideon braced against the ground, fists clenched beside him as if powering up Dragonball style. After a moment a flush stained his face. "…I-I'm a little tired…"
"Thought so. Stay out of trouble," I said.
My eye caught him sticking his tongue out in the reflection beside the door, causing a smile to appear on my face. My head still shook when the elevator doors closed behind me. The cold metal wall froze my back as it leaned against it, stretching my aching calf muscles. Bloody Marshal and his bloody overrides. My legs would kill me tomorrow… My room soothed my mood, relieved to have the familiar surroundings of my room, my more accustomed home. There was nothing here that struck my heart strings… apart from the photograph of my parents. That sat on a small table by the couch. My eyes diverted from it for a time, wishing for peace and not more pain. The best way to distract me was to work. Working meant calling the Council. My hand tapped at the call controls to link the systems. As the call connected, my back leaned against my desk as the holographs hovered as hazy balls before me. They sprung to life once everything connected. My back forced itself straight.
"Captain Shaik, good day," Sparatus greeted when the holograms appeared. "How fares the mission?"
"The mission is complete, Councillors, we are retrieving the data we collected and we have left the Sol System," I said, saluting.
"Already? We were expecting this mission to take several days, Captain," Valern said with a frown. A strained half smile lifted my lips.
"Complications and… things sped it up. I could not visit Kinlochleven, my Reaper disallowed it. I could not approach and thus my team continued on. We found my old property, however, and we got important data that a Saboteur was in another property belonging to my parents in Ireland. We did not wait around, there was little in Kinlochleven left to examine anyway," I explained. "Upon arriving in Ireland, we entered the property and could gain access to the old vault which contains data that may be valuable regarding how the Reapers made the Saboteurs. My appearance here to be more specific,"
"I see. And when can we expect to have this information regarding the Saboteurs?" Tevos asked.
"I do not know, Councillor, we are still trying to retrieve it. We do have another Saboteur to add to the list, however. A Miss Megan Prosser, a human female and N7 operative,"
"N7? You are certain?" Udina asked, straightening. My teeth nipped my tongue to silence the sigh.
"Yes, Councillor, I am certain. She wasn't playing around with me like the other Saboteurs. She went straight for the throat. The N7 outfit also looked genuine as far as I could see," I said. "I'll have my full report of the mission forwarded as soon as I am able,"
"Very well, Captain, we await your report. We regret we have no leads on Alea Shea'kal for you. We are continuing our investigations," Valern added.
"Thank you, Councillors. Good day," I saluted, waiting for the holograms to vanish.
Shoulders sagged within seconds of the holograms disappearing, dragging my heavy body up the stairs to the bed. Every muscle felt too heavy, changing out of the uniform beyond the top most layer seemed impossible. My knees caved when it reached the bed. My eyes shut before even hitting the mattress, sleep finding me seconds later. The Reaper Nightmares surfaced, no matter how many sleeping pills Saere gave me, they always came back They were getting worse. They started with a brief start of peace always greeted me before things turned sour. This time, Kinlochleven surrounded me, watching the entire landslip come crashing down the slope towards me, mowing down my family fleeing from it. Even my crew died from the slip. The nightmares always had a Reaper at some point. To keep what little sanity remained, my mind turned it into a game. It never had the same horror effect after that, assuming that the Reaper would leap out at you like an elephant in a bad ninja outfit.
Morning chased the nightmares away and the usual morning headache surfaced in its wake. A pained moan escaped, forcing my spiralling head to sit up and let blood pump to my head. My eyes grazed past Gideon, cuddled up on the sofa, snoring as the duvet ran rampant over him. A small smile stirred, relieved that someone could sleep at peace. Eyes on my duvet, someone had tossed the other half over me, not wishing to disturb me. My head shook as it slid off me, easing myself to the shower. The muscles in my legs felt like jelly, my knees quivering under my weight. My calves threatened to cramp, but my jaw set and the forced themselves on. Although once in the shower, my ass found the floor just in case. The usual morning routine followed, body moving on autopilot despite the changes to muscle pain status. My arm raised, once the uniform zipped up, turning to the omni-tool.
6 in the morning. Great, the skeleton crew would still be on. And with Gideon still sleeping, all that I could do to pass the time was report writing. Not the most glamourous job of the morning without coffee, but my legs needed more time to wake up. My hands tapped away at the holograms, double checking every finished page to double check everything. Read through the ground crew's report – curtesy of Val – and add all of that in too. God, this was the part of the job that dragged, despite the therapeutic side, allowing me to organise and figure out what had happened. The reason for the buzzing never materialised, despite my wishes. What concerned me now was these special 'powers' or specialisations. It made sense, in a way. They had to control the situation and improve their odds. With Megan, she had some kind of reflective material on her skin to shift my eyes from her, not to mention a possible brain wave alteration that sent false readings to your senses. Alea used something like indoctrination waves to twist my mind like hell. Physical Disablement sounded painful, very painful. And what did Tech Incapacitation do? Did it prevent guns from firing… oh. That was a horrible, horrible thought. And with biotic implants and omni-tools… no. My appreciation for the Reaper's brutality and intelligence fluttered upwards, despite my best wishes.
"Na na," Someone said behind me. My head snapped over my shoulder, dragged from my thought processes. Only the duvet remained on the sofa. My head shook. Great.
"Good morning to you too, Jaws," I said, hand typing away again.
"Na na," he repeated. My eyes scanned the room, failing to see where he was hiding. There was glass between me and the upper tier, he couldn't hide that well!
"Gideon," I scolded.
"Nana nana nana nana nana nana ARRH!" he cried. Gideon crashed into me, ripping a yelp from me as we fell to the floor. Little bastard came at me from the roof!
"Gideon you little bandit, I'm gonna kick your sorry ass!" I snapped, struggling with the flailing boy. "You bloody pygmy maw!"
"I'm not a pygmy!" he cried, slipping free from my attempts to grab him. My hands snapped around his arms, pinning him to the ground. My weight held him pinned but he still flailed.
"Oh yes you are! How the hell did you get up there?!" I demanded. Gideon's struggled never ceased.
"The vents!" he grunted.
"The vents?! Why the hell are you in the vents without supervision?! Oh you little-" I growled.
"Good morning," an amused voice sounded. My glare snapped to the door, finding Mat'al smirking at us. "Having fun?"
"Piss off," I snapped. Mat'al smirk grew.
"Oh? And after my team has been working all night to get the evidence on that phone ready?" he asked. My muscles froze, Gideon, seeing an opportunity, squirmed free.
"It's… ready?" I asked. Mat'al nodded.
"It is, there is not very much there but I think we know what the actual evidence is," Mat'al said as he backed out the door. My feet kicked me up, calves forgotten, to chase after him.
"Don't leave me hanging! What is it?" I demanded. Gideon followed, but he kept just out of grabbing distance, just in case.
"We haven't looked at it, we know the medium but little else but the size of the file is telling, as it the access count. We'll all be seeing it for the first time," Mat'al said, his fist hitting the elevator button for Deck
My foot tapped, tension twisting my stomach until it threatened to rip it, my tongue darting over my teeth. Mat'al ignored the heat in my eyes as we waited for the doors to open. The doors opened us up into the squat hall beside the mess hall and one of the large storage rooms. We darted inside the mess hall. The dextro-amino kitchen sat further up the room, the levo-amino acid kitchen next to the door. But what drew my attention was how packed the room was. All 7 massive round tables – able to seat 14 people each – filled with the commanders and Raisha were in the middle table, a hologram set up to project onto the port wall. All 89 other crew members waited, the chatter falling silent as I entered. Everyone wanted to see it, I knew, but still… no. My head shook. This was my crew, we had to trust each other. After a scan of the crew, Sitoln was missing. Ok, so 88 others remained here. Why wasn't he here? My gaze landed on Rosmeni. She shrugged.
"Had a call to take, trouble back home," she said. She knew what I wanted to ask. A sigh sounded, sitting on a chair in the middle table. Shayan made the final adjustments to a computer in the middle of the table.
"M-Morning, Captain!" Shayan greeted.
"Everything ready?" I asked, noting my voice creeped up. A flush burned, a cough attempting to clear it.
"Yep, the controls are here," he said, pulling a screen to my hands. "We thought it best that you control it…" A weak smile spread, a cold stone chilling my blood. Gideon dragged a chair over to cram himself between Val and I. Val frowned, mandibles clicking. My head shook, ignoring the pair, my hand trembled over the screen before me.
"I'm amazed you got it working," I said as a HUD appeared, allowing me to select documents, photos and videos.
"We know what we are doing, nothing too difficult," Mat'al chuckled.
My attention drew towards the documents, but the only thing there was an old essay Travis did for his Economics course. Pictures yielded even less than that, just a few pictures of Travis' friends at a nightclub. There was one of me, but there was a hand entering the screen to snatch the phone away. My stomach plunged to my feet. My heart stabbed itself, recognising the hand… My hand swiped the image away to stop my heart from shattering. The last folder, Videos, held 3 files. One showed one of Travis' drunk friends dancing on a table, it got a giggle out of some people behind me, but nothing from me. The second was of me in a nightclub. My shoulders bunched, holding myself tight in a booth, squeeze myself into the size of a pencil with nothing short of distress on my face. That night… nightclubs always made me nervous. Travis' insistence only hurt me. Fear stained in my mouth. The third video… The third video was a different beast. It was two days long. As Mat'al said, the view counter was abnormal too. 4'368 watches. The only way this phone could record that long was with a battery pack. Travis carried one with him so it seemed plausible. Travis' father ran a tech business. He got a 2 terabyte SD card, so that could explain that. Too bad his video quality was shit since he didn't know how to work it. My finger tapped play.
The video rocked with Travis walking down a small wooded avenue, the trees in full bloom and the sunshine desperate the poke through the leaves. Rare blue sky poked through the sparse clouds. Brown leaves crunched like twigs under his feet. Cones from the pine trees littered the pathway. When he turned the camera, my red hair flashed passed the camera until it refocused, the pixelated blur clearing enough to bring my face into focus. I walked beside him, holding my arms across my chest and gripping my upper arms. My tongue darted out to wet my dry lips. When my eyes darted to face the camera, my teeth clutched my lips and my eyebrows upturned. Something tore me apart from the inside, but nothing seemed obvious.
"Where are we going?" I asked, tone quivering. Travis turned, walking backwards to get a full view of my face. My step faltered, muscles tensing. My skin looked paler than normal.
"Just to the old Elm, I have something I want to show you," Travis said, a strong, south east London accent breaking through.
"I-I'd rather go back to town, please, w-where there is other people," I said.
"10 minutes, that's all I need!" Travis said, his hand reached past the camera and tearing one of my hands off my arm. He dragged me onwards. A small sound escaped me, panicked as my feet stumbled through the twigs. Seconds later, the old Elm, a massive tree in a clearing, stumps dotting the clearing, appeared. The tree stood bare, bark rotted, leaves non-existent. Travis released me once we neared the base of the tree. My hand went back to my arms, hugging myself.
"W-What's going on?" I asked.
"We've been together for about 4 years now, Dell. I'm hearing rumours you're thinking of moving to Glasgow instead of down to London with me. So I need to do this now before this turns into a long distance relationship, Delly. You know they don't work," Travis said, focusing the camera on my face. My shoulders rattled, spine straightening.
"You're not allowed to call me that," I told him, voice firming in a snap.
"Why? Because of that asshole? He abandoned you! Left you die on the fucking moors!" Travis snapped.
"He didn't leave me to die! He called friends to get me!" I snapped, my voice quivering. "You know how much it hurts… you keep bringing it up," I said, tone dropping.
"Because you need to forget that asshole and move on! And I have just the ticket," Travis' said, voice triumphant. My eyes narrowed, half turning away from him. "And I want to catch the moment," Concern crossed over my face, eyes diverting to something as he rustled around with something. The camera dropped, looking up at me. Realisation was replacing concern.
"Dell, would you marry me?" Travis asked. If my skin had been pale before, not a trace of blood coloured me now. My jaw dropped, eyes widened to dishes. Sheer terror spread like wildfire.
"A-Ah T-T-Travis, I-I don't t-think that's a-a good idea!" I stammered, backing away.
"Oh c'mon Dell! Think about it! You and me down in London, showing all those peasants what a high life is! Holidays abroad, a mansion in the country. Maybe even the pitter patter of tiny feet," Travis pressed, closing the distance. Words gagged in my throat.
"T-Travis, y-you know I-I don't want children… I-I don't… Ok. I think this is a good time to say this…" I said, swallowing as a tremor rattled me when his hand touched my shoulder, inching up to my neck.
"Oh Dell, I know you love me-" Travis said.
"Travis, I want to break up with you," I said, voice tense. The camera fell still. My body refused to stop shaking.
"I'm sorry?" Travis asked. My throat contorted with a swallow, composing myself.
"I want to end this… us. O-Over the past month, ever since we first slept together, you have been… pushy. Travis, so fucking pushy and I'm fed up with it. I-I'm not a decoration to drape over your arm and parade around in your fancy parties, I'm not your string puller for when you want me to use my father and mother's connections to lower your tax, I am not a toy to shove to the bed when you feel like it," I said, voice building. My voice faltered when my eyes found Travis' face.
"Are you shitting me? That's why you want to break up with me, because you don't want to be a fucking princess beside me? No, Dell. Here's what will happen. You will say yes because, let's be honest, you aren't the most unpopular girl for nothing, I mean look at you! About as courageous as a chicken and as pretty as a hairless cat. Always hiding behind big strong Julian because you are so useless you can't do it yourself," Travis snapped. My face blanked, staring at the camera with fists shaking at my sides.
A crack snapped beside me, sending my heart thundering in my chest. Val snapped his mandibles so hard it was impressive he hadn't broken them off. My eyes jolted back to the video, muscles tensing.
"You will find no one better than me, let's be honest here," Travis said.
"Well maybe I'd rather be alone for the rest of my life than spend another day with you!" I thundered. My furious expression burnt out seconds later.
"Really, is that how it is?" Travis asked, his tone becoming aggressive. My feet shuffled back a step.
"T-Travis please I'm – oh what is that buzzing? – Travis, please, I just wanna go back," I pleaded.
Wait…buzzing? My brows dropped, concentrating on the audio. There was… a faint buzzing. Like back in Kinlochleven-
"Oh don't you try changing the subject here! You are not leaving me, dammit!" Travis snapped.
"Please Travis! Can't you hear it? I'm going back, I don't want to be here, I wanna leave!" I begged, clinging to anything that would help me get away. My body turned away, walking back the way we came.
"It's fucking bugs, now get back here! Or are you going to go cry to your corrupt father!" Travis demanded.
"Fuck you, Travis! Would you just-… just…" I trailed off, eyes turning wide once more. Travis turned around, the buzzing insane. The camera caught the sight of a massive swarm of insects, each insect almost as big as my head.
"What the actual fuck!" Travis yelped, sprinting away from them. My scream shattered the air as my legs turned to chase him.
"Travis! Wait!" I pleaded.
"Hell no! You wanted to end this right?! I don't have to outrun them, I just have to outrun you! You're mum's money isn't worth this shit!" he cried.
The camera swung with his arms. After a few seconds, a scream pitched free before it cut short. Travis raised the phone, turning the front camera on. The quality was fuzzy, his pale skin dotted in sunlight and a brown eye poking in at the edges. In the distance, my body lay on the ground motionless but eyes wide as several large insects crawled over me. A massive swarm continued after Travis. He returned the camera to the rear camera just in time to see a tree root appear. Travis swore, the camera tumbling through the air as he tripped over. The connected battery back bounced beside the phone. He screamed in terror as the swarm descended, an arm falling still near in sight of the camera as it fell against a tree. He fell silent, as was his arm. Within seconds, something emerged from the trees. Like biped, massive insects with flat, fanned crests on their heads and 4 eyes walked over me, examining me. One of my eyes twitched. After a moment, a pair approached Travis. Their skin warped and brown stained it and they carried rifles not too dissimilar to today's rifles. It only took seconds, but one nodded. A pair picked me up, carrying me off camera while a click nearby heralded the end. A loud bang followed by a massive spray of blood flew past the camera. The large aliens disappeared, but the insects swarmed. Insects covered every inch of Travis' body. Seconds passed, just mere seconds, but when the swarm vanished, not even the blood stain remained. Everything vanished.
The vegetated scene held me transfixed. My lungs couldn't function. My eyes dropped to the timeline at the controls. The audio line was still apart from at the last few seconds. My twitching finger fast forwarded the video, day turning into night then day more than once. Just before the last piece of audio, it played once more.
Leaves rustled in the dark, the camera unable to pick up much other than a few sticks right in front of the camera. A torch beam passed over the area, scanning. The trees lit up within seconds of the first, torches burning the darkness away. The faint cries of 'Dell' filled the air. More torch beams, a few feet strolled past. One torch turned backwards and blinded the camera. The activity ramped up in an instant.
"A phone? Adrian! Adrian, over here!" a man called. The sound of running footfalls through the leaf litter followed soon after.
"What, what is it? Have you found her? Have you found her?!" A gasping man's voice pleaded. He followed the torch beam. He scrambled for the phone, raising it up. His face lit up from the torch beams, dark ultramarine eyes wide and bagged from lack of sleep, wrinkles on his face with greying, blond hair flopped over his soaked hair. His expression looked distraught. "I-It's Travis', oh God if he's hurt her… if he's hurt her I'll fucking kill him!" he turned the phone to face the screen. "Is it… recording? I-Its recording? Oh fuck, how do you work this thing? The battery's almost dead! Julia-!"
The battery died. The video ended. My eyes stared at the blank screen. Every muscle felt numb. Coldness consumed me. He came back… he came back after the aliens took me… he came back… My eyes squeezed shut, tears forming. What was worse; my father's distress or knowing he knew what had happened and there was nothing he could do to save me? My throat tightened, struggled to do anything. I had been… kidnapped by aliens. Even now they didn't look familiar. I had tried to break up with Travis too… why didn't my mind record that? My fingers touched my lips, noticing my entire body trembled. Raisha abandoned her seat, massaging my shoulders with her massive hands.
"Are you well, Endellion?" she asked. My head shook. My earlier headache resurfaced, a headache beyond anything ever experienced. White dots blotted my vision. Strength waned, but somehow, just enough surfaced to speak.
"I-I," I stuttered. My throat tensed, unable to swallow. "I-I'd like to… to do that… that override thing. I-If that chip is there," I said.
"Of course, Endellion. We will have Saere and the rest of the science team see what they can do," Raisha assured. My eyes remained transfixed to the black screen. Raisha had to carry me downstairs to the med bay.
The Galaxy Map has been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.