For the first time since arriving in this strange, new time, my morning began without a headache pounding my sanity away. In the unfamiliar bed, staring at the ceiling as tension gripped me, time ticked while waiting for the headache to smash me into the ground. A slight pressure around my temples stood out like neon lights in my brain as it scanned the pain signals, but was otherwise minimal. Air whistled between my teeth, eyes fluttering across the room. Had all of that happened, was the nightmare… gone? Vivid memories of the 'RIT' procedure flicked past me at random, but aside from those, no memories of a Reaper Nightmare surfaced. The heels of my hands rubbed the last of the unease from my system before plucking up the courage to sit up.
The room wasn't huge and it lacked an office or anything of the sort, reminding me that this was not 'home', not the Starquake. It looked like a normal room rather than a room inside a ship. The walls were half panelled in darkish wood and painted pale beige above it. The double bed was lumpy, but reasonable enough. It sat at the back of the room, in the middle of the back wall. With tentative feet, they touched the floor, testing my quivering knees. A holographic clock hovered above a small, delicate, wooden bedside table. 7:30am blinked on the face. A smile lifted my tired lips, realising my body had adjusted to the military hours without noticing. On my feet, a wardrobe faced me with a bathroom door just further down. On the opposite wall behind me, a desk with a computer and some photographs. No photographs I remembered though. One of them was me staring up at a camera, sitting in a chair not too dissimilar to my captain's chair with holograms all around me and wearing a uniform similar to Julian's. So much happened before Xawin, including the photos but I couldn't for the life in me remember. My mind tore itself away from the images, glancing over a bare patch of wall covered in pictures of suns, planets, nebulas, ships and God knows what else. Once again, collected during my time here.
The bathroom was again small only white this time, which dazzled me compared to the softer blue-grey back on the Starquake. But unlike my home, my hands flurried to get me presentable and get moving. There were things I had to do, and people to find. Julian left black, blue and light grey uniforms in the wardrobe, but they never got a second glance from me. With only the uniform I wore yesterday with me, it smothered me in familiarity. Although after yesterday, it needed something to kill the smell. Although using stench against Julian to get fresh stuff from the ship may work… Once back in the bedroom, my eyes spun to set sight on the door leaving the room. The unknown lay beyond it, a massive ship run by a massive cunt. But dammit, that would not deter me from finding my crew and family!
Determination pushed a touch more force than necessary to slide the door open. A living room greeted me, a u-shaped bank of sofas in the middle with a TV on the wall. A small kitchen even dotted the far corner. So it was more like a studio flat with additional bedrooms judging by the additional doors branching off. The dark wooden room with warm fawn paint poking through the mishmash of wooden panels decorating the walls like a contemporary artist on acid. The room was empty. Frustration curled my upper lip. Did it count as abandonment if he left me on a ship I didn't know? With little else to go on, a set of double doors attracted my attention – or, well, double doors that slid the entire length rather than opening in the middle. In an instant after crossing the threshold, the warm, cosy living area turned nasty and military. There were still plenty of 'living' things to do, such as a games room across the way through the window, but the hall had lost the carpet and wooden walls. No map, no nothing, so a random direction it is!
A tall krogan crossed my path, his bright green crest an eyesore to my growing annoyance. The bright tan skin hurt too. As the only living thing I had discovered, he would have to deal with me. My shoulders rolled back any apprehension disappeared into the back of my mind. There was only one question on my tongue…
"Where is my crew?" I asked, crossing the lumbering alien's path. The krogan glanced down, piercing yellow eyes narrowing a touch. He snorted.
"No idea, Shaik," he rumbled. My hackles rattled.
"Then take me to someone who knows," I growled between grit teeth. The krogan growled overhead.
"Look, Shaik, you may be the admiral's baby sister but I don't have to do a damn thing for you," he barked. My eyes narrowed.
"Fine, I'll find someone less incompetent then," I snapped. My heel clicked off the ground in a snap, storming off with heat rising off my shoulders. About 2 seconds later, something grabbed the back of my top and slammed me into a wall. A grunt surfaced as my lungs emptied, turning to snarl at the pissed off krogan behind me pushing my chest into the wall.
"You've gotten a foul mouth since you buggered off," he snarled. My lips lifted, a dark smirk spreading. Something to vent my anger on!
"Oh? Wanna know what else I've gotten since I buggered off?" I asked. The krogan, scanning my expression for my meaning. My hand reached for the omni-tool commands.
The krogan cried out as an overload shocked him. I pushed myself off the wall, bringing out the omni-blade. It swung behind me as he fell back. The blade skimmed past his nose. He fell on his ass as my feet squared me up on the ground. They took the 4 extra strides to tower over him, pointing the blade at him. He snarled below me.
"OK! Time out!" a voice shrieked. We both leapt, turning to find a lime coloured female drell with yellow tinges to some of her scales sprinting over. Her pale ochre eyes buldged when she threw herself between the pair of us. "I'm so, so, so sorry about Grennon, he's temperamental. Soldier, dismissed, return to your duties. Go lick your wounds!" she ordered. The krogan opened his mouth, but something stopped him. He rumbled as he heaved himself up, sulking down the hall. "Captain Radayah Zehlrun, I'm not sure if you remember me,"
"Sorry, I recall no one on this ship," I said, slowing my voice down to assess the drell, taking her offered hand. My eyes glanced back down the hall at the krogan. "I'm trying to locate my crew. Where are they?" The drell shifted her eyes.
"Ah well, uh… the admiral said-" she began. My temper flared once more at title.
"Fuck him. My crew. Now," I demanded. The drell sweated under my fire.
"Ah, well you would need to ask the admiral-" she started again.
"Then take me to him," I growled in my throat. Radayah raised a finger before she seemed to doubt her ability to calm me. She coughed, shuffling down the hall with me stomping on her heels.
She led me down a maze of corridors and stairs. After about 5 floors, the body count climbed and the corridors lengthened until they took up the entire length of this God knows how many kilometres long ship. Travellators helped us cover the needed ground quicker, and by God this ship needed them. Aliens from all species filter through the crowds, a loud hum filling the air. The crowd worsened as we got closer to the bridge. Even through this thick crowd, the drell never left my sight, but that was because fear of getting lost on this huge ship had sunk in. The metallic walls no sign that there was anything that counted as 'comfort' or 'home' here now. This was a working area, and dammit it straightened my back. We reached the bridge, the room was the same size as the Starquake's entire 5th floor, although they had bulkheads that separated the different areas out. The bright, 4-tiered room dropped in an oval shape. a large hologram hollow sitting at the lowest point of the room. Banks of computers circled this hollow until a taller, 5th tier at the back of the room. A small bank of computers facing the rear of the room towards a door that led to another room on this tier. Julian sat there, staring a dozen screens before him with the rest of the room before him. The noise in the bridge was… well, it reminded me of the Kinlochleven buzz; just constant white noise.
With Julian in sight, the drell floundered as she stood abandoned. My eyes found a set of stairs and stormed towards them. Julian hadn't noticed me, transfixed by what was before him. A turian stood guard at the base of the steps, a datapad in hand. He raised his hawk coloured eyes at my approach. My eyes narrowed, keeping eye contact with him while passing him. He glanced to the stairs but seemed to have the sense to let me pass. The small set of stairs hid Julian for a second, but my blood boiled as we reappeared. The blond man frowned at a screen before him when I came to a stop beside him. He didn't even look up.
"Do we have any reports on Elcor Saboteurs?" he asked. A snort burst free.
"No, but how does a pissed off sister sound?" I asked. Julian closed his eyes. With great effort, he spun his chair the 90 degrees required to face me. My arms folded over my chest, chin rising a few notches.
"Delly, good morning," he greeted. "And to what has put you in such a sour mood? I also thought I had left out fresh clothes too," he said with a frown.
"Oh, where to start… First, my crew, I want to see them. Second, I am not wearing your uniform. I have my own and I am sticking to it," I growled. Julian blinked, his eyebrows dropping as his gaze diverted. A frown formed. "What?" Julian glanced to the bridge before he pushed himself up. He turned to the back of the room, towards the door. He held it open. With a deepening frown, his silent action coaxed me across the threshold. A small meeting room with an oval table with enough space to seat 20 people. Hologram screens hovered over the walls, blank as they waited for data. Julian closed the door behind me, my eyes refusing to leave him. He took a deep breath in, eyebrows knotted together.
"You have been doing a poor job of shielding those spines, Delly," Julian said. My face scrunched up, reading his expression.
"What makes you say that?" I asked. Julian tapped on a screen on the wall, bringing up more screens. Images of my crew appeared. My shoulders rolled back, hackles shaking.
"Because, Delly, you had an indoctrinated servant in your science team," Julian said. "He seemed to realise the game was upand injured 5 people, 2 of them are in critical condition. The rest of your science team, if what we pulled from your servers is correct, were closer to the point of no return than you or were about the same level as you. We've put down the indoctrinated servant already,"
My mind fell numb. We shielded Saria's spine with every piece of new tech the Council could give us! … or… was it the time before then? No, no we only had the spine 2 months before we crashed, it takes months to indoctrinate! …oh God, how many people had fallen to indoctrination in the 9 months it was off the Starquake?! And… w-who was indoctrinated? How long? We noticed nothing! No one mentioned headaches or dreams!
"W-Who?" I asked. Julian's strict expression faltered. He cleared his throat.
"A Saldan Liseol, salari-" Julian said, reading off the screen.
"I know who he is!" I snapped, my voice snagging in my throat. Saldan… Saldan was one of the few people who had been in my original crew… My hands rubbed my eyes, quivering when they felt moisture. Dammit, we shielded as best as we could! We used everything we had… "How long?" I asked, borderline whimpering.
"We're not sure. At least a month," Julian said. My shoulders rattled. That long? A month and no one noticed an indoctrinated servant on my ship… What was more terrifying; that no one had noticed indoctrination or what he could have done… had done to the ship and the crew? My neck itched, a bottle of emotion swelled up from the darkness of my mind. A month and no one said a thing, 4 months and no one had mentioned headaches or dreams or anything unusual, despite the repeated warnings…
"I need to see my crew," I said.
"Delly, until we have verified that everyone else is clean, I am not letting you near them," Julian said, crossing his arms.
"Julian, I need to see them," I pleaded, my eyes stinging. Saldan's failure was on my shoulders… I am the captain, it is my responsibility to ensure my team follows protocol. More measures could've in place to keep the people away from the spines. Maybe have moved them elsewhere… but we had to study it! Where could we put them? Maybe a crew rotation would help? What was Saldan's job within the science team? Dammit, there were too many questions.
"No," Julian said. "They're dangerous, I am not letting you-"
"Dammit, Julian, I want to see my fucking family! They're the only fucking thing I've had!" I snapped, a small bubble bursting in my throat. My hand smeared the tear away with a vicious swipe, eyes diverted to the door. "I need to see them. Now more than ever," My throat tried to swallow the hard lump in my throat, but it seemed super glued. My eyes lifted to the silent Julian. His expression had lost the hardness. Maybe he was understanding… maybe he just felt sorry for his teary eyed sister. Who knew, but if it meant he took me to see them, then it didn't matter. He sighed.
"Fine. Fine, I'll let you see them," he sighed. The tension in my shoulders eased.
"Good. Take me to them. Now," I tried to order, but my voice held as much hardness as water. Julian trudged out of the room, casting glances over his shoulder, as if wishing me to change my mind. My jaw tightened whenever he looked. Julian responded with a sigh or clucking his tongue.
He led me back into the depths of this colossal ship, retracing my earlier steps. He took me down a few floors and the crush of the people around me eased. When we reached the deck with my crew on it, the guard numbers jumped, a pair at every corner, patrolling. A frown decorated me as concern bubbled like a cauldron in my gut. Julian led me down halls with windows peeking into the living quarters within. Most had a few members of Julian's crew. No sign of mine. Then a hum attracted my attention, a hum of voices, unhappy voices. Julian stopped outside a door with 8 guards outside, all glancing down to me with elation in their eyes. They saluted when Julian approached.
"How is the situation?" Julian asked over the discontented hum.
"Rowdy, Admiral, but they aren't smashing the place up… much," the turian clicked his mandibles. "We would radio ahead if they didn't settle down," Julian sighed.
"Then let's hope my sister can calm them down for a time," Julian said as he tapped on the keypad by the door. The doors opened. The hum silenced in seconds. Julian grunted as my shoulder shoved him out of my way.
The large room greeted me, several doors branching off into halls in the back towards the bedrooms. A series of couches and chairs scattered the room, but some upheaval had disturbed any order to the room. A single TV kept the people inside entertained on the left wall and 2 small kitchen areas for dextro and levo-amino acid aliens in the far right corner. My crew sat or stood scattered around the room, some sitting on the counters of the kitchen, a few on the floors and tables at the back of the right side of the room. They all had the same silver coloured bands on their heads as me. Their initial expressions narrowed upon seeing Julian. When they saw me shove him to the side, their expression's brightened. Most jumped to their feet and saluted. Julian stood silent.
"As you were," I ordered. The crew settled down, looking between Julian and me. A sour breath stained my lungs even as it filled it, my eyes hunting for Saldan, the black and red salarian who was long gone. "I'll speak to you all soon, however I must speak to the science team in private," My eyes passed over Julian, pressing deeper into the room. He reached out. My body twisted away from his grasp. "Commander Delern too," I added, catching the silver speckled navy eyes tracking my progress.
Mat'al's eyes narrowed before he pushed himself off the pillar near the kitchen to follow. The 9 remaining members of the science team followed in behind, muttering as my fingers pressed the door open. A 10 person bedroom, as suspected, greeted me; the bunks lined up on the left side with a scattering of lockers on the right. There wasn't much else in here other than a table or two. I strode to the back of the room before turning to face the crew. The door closed behind them.
"I've only got one question for you all," I began, struggling to control the swell of emotions raging in my chest. "Have any of you, in the past few months, had strange dreams, headaches or any other strange phenomena?" They shifted their eyes to each other, wishing to communicate without my knowledge. It set my teeth on edge.
"No, Captain," Hagan said, the teal eyed, red salarian rubbed one of his yellow speckled eyelids.
"Really?" I asked, my voice peaking. "So would you like to explain to me how Saldan fell to indoctrination and I did not know of any issues?" The group before me winced, their worst fears come to light. No one looked surprised though which sent my blood flowing. Mat'al squeezed his eyes shut and turned his gaze away. My breathing turned ragged, fury melding with grief. "So I will ask again. Have any of you had any strange dreams or headaches?!" A tense silence followed.
"W-we didn't want to worry you," Marta said with a quiver.
"So you have," I said. A reluctant nod followed a slight pause. "You never told me. You never told me!? How the hell am I meant to protect you people if you don't tell me you're being indoctrinated?!" I screeched.
"Y-You were under a great deal of stress-" Lynetlia tried, the pale asari rubbing her hands.
"Stress? Stress?! Saldan is dead because you people didn't tell me you were experiencing indoctrination! How the fuck is that less stressful than me jumping on the Council's ass to develop better shielding?! Or putting you guys on rotation so you get a month away from the spine?! Do you realise that that spine was on the Citadel was 9 months using the same shielding technology we are? Think of how many indoctrinated servants there are in the Citadel! And I haven't been able to warn the Council!" I thundered, tears swelling.
The ground vanished beneath my feet as I paced, heels of my hand buried into my eye sockets. The tears swelled, closed my throat until nothing short of wailing would appease me. No, pull yourself together, woman! You are the captain, be strong, you must be strong. My lungs forced air through my system, my heartbeat eased with each tentative second. The science team shuffled nearby, eyes down as they watched me pace myself into some form of calm. As the minutes ticked by, the pacing stopped.
"Alright, I need you to tell me when weird shit is going down. Alright?" I pleaded. "I understand you were trying to take pressure off of me but I will not allow you to put yourself in danger for a little bit of stress. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Captain," the team muttered. My head nodded, finding peace in their words even if part of me didn't trust them to keep to it. My head bobbed towards the door. They slunk out of the room, looking more sheepish that they got caught than worried about my wrath, which scratched me in the wrong way. My shoulders rolled back after following them, back into the main room. The air hung heavy and silent. My eyes narrowed.
"How thin are the walls?" I asked, walking forward until I stood between the team and Julian.
"Thin enough," Rosmani said. "We heard you screeching,"
"Then I won't have to repeat myself them, will I?" I grumbled. "Any weird shit, you tell me that second. If I find out you have been putting yourself and everyone around you in danger, I swear to God, I will kick your face in. Kapeesh?"
"Aye, aye, Captain," the room rumbled. My eyes landed on someone then. Relief thundered through me, pulling me towards the kitchen. Gideon sat perched on the counter, glued to Val's side. He glanced up as he heard me approach. A strap of medical tape slipped over his nose. My arms flung around him, squeezing him. He pressed deeper into the hug which only flared my anger at Julian Julian's eyes burned into my back.
"Gid, I need you listen to me," I whispered. Gideon gazed up at me with wide eyes. "I know you try your best and dammit if I don't appreciate that. But I need you to be extra careful now and be on your best behaviour, ok?" He jumped, startled as his mouth floundered. "Gideon, we aren't on the Starquake now. I cannot protect you here. Only you can. If you act up, I will lose what little leverage I have. Whether we like it or not, you reflect on me. If you annoy everyone, I'll get the blame for failing to parent you right," I pressed.
"But you aren-" Gideon whimpered. My head shook
"Gideon, they don't care. They don't care about the backstory; they don't care about how long I've had you. It doesn't matter because I should be able to get you to do as you are told. You don't want to know the skinning I got after your little show in the docks yesterday," I sighed. Gideon's expression dropped. "This is a real warship, Gid. They will not take any crap from anyone. And I need you to work hard and keep out of everyone's way. I'm trying to get Julian to let us go but if he thinks I can't handle you he will think I can't handle a ship. We'll never leave. Do you understand?" I asked. Gideon swallowed, glancing to Julian.
"B-But I want to help," he muttered.
"Then ask. And if they don't give you anything, accept it and move on. I know it's hard, but it hurts me more to know you got hurt for taking a tantrum and I wasn't there to protect you. And please, for the love of God, stay with the crew. Fight no one, don't back talk, do nothing to annoy someone. I need to know you are alright," Gideon quaked under my hands. As the seconds ticked, he nodded. "Good. Now, look after Val, you know what he's like, he needs an adult," I grinned. Gideon managed a weak smile. My gaze turned up to Val then, ignoring his scowl at my comment. My arms hugged him tight regardless. "Keep him safe. Please," I pleaded.
"You got it," he whispered. My hands squeezed his shoulders as we pulled away. Somehow, my stubbornness fought the war to tear me from Gideon's side to move to Raisha, hugging her as tight as possible.
"Keep everyone safe, Raisha. Anything happens, tell me as soon as you can," I said.
"I will, Endellion, do not fret, we will be fine. Just worry about you for now," she assured. My shoulders tensed, preparing for the next part of the battle before parting from her, sucking in a deep breath as my war path turned on Julian, hardening my expression.
"I want to talk Saboteurs, Julian," I demanded. Julian raised a brow.
"Delly, the only thing you will do is go back to your quarters and rest. Have you even eaten today yet? And please change into some fresh clothes. I dread to think what mum would say if she thought I wasn't talking care of you," Julian rumbled.
"Then get me my clothes off the Starquake. I will not wear your uniform! Over my dead body!" I snapped. Julian rubbed his eyes with a hand.
"Will you wear non-uniformed clothes?" he asked, exhausted.
"Sure, but I want captain stripes on them," I said with a raised chin.
"Oh for fuck sake!" Julian groaned, arms flopping to his sides. A smirk grew. "Delly, you are not a captain," My eyes narrowed before looking over my shoulder.
"The people behind me would argue against that, Julian. I've been a captain for about a year and 4 months. If you think I will sit here and not wear those bloody stripes after being strong armed into the position to begin with and am now just getting used to it, you can think again!" I crossed my arms, my stubbornness rearing. Julian sighed through his nose.
"Fine, fine! I'll have someone raid your wardrobe on the ship," Julian conceded.
"You will let someone go through my underwear drawers?!" I gaped. Julian mustered a croak before he stared at me with a flat expression. My smirk grew at the sniggers evolving around me.
"Now you're just being difficult. Out, now," he demanded. "I am more than happy to drag your ass back to your quarters," A single brow rose in answer.
"I'm not though," I retorted.
"Fucking hell!" Julian snapped as he stormed over. "If I ever find out who put this bloody temper in you, I'm gonna kill them," he grabbed my scruff and pushed me forward. Mat'al smiled in the back at his words. His grab activated the defence mechanisms, starting with a snarl. His grip was true and my flails did nothing in his grip. Damn, he had a good hold! However, I had tricks up my sleeve.
"SECURITY!" I cried. My omni-tool vibrated in answer. In about 2 seconds, Julian screeched and a loud metallic thunk rang out behind me. His grip vanished, freeing me before a thud sounded behind me. My gaze flung over my shoulder to see Julian on the deck, struggling to deal with Mar. My drone's furious beeps released a few giggles.
"What the fuck is this?!" Julian demanded, grunting under the strain to stop Mar from crashing headlong into him. A sweet smile covered the smirk.
"Julie, this is Marshal. Marshal, this is your dinner," I introduced. The drone beeped and Julian struggled more. My eyes found the open door and the sniggering guards outside. A new idea formed, a grin taking over. "Ok, thank you, bye!" I cried before charging out the door. Turning down one hall, the guards yelped in surprise. Julian roared in rage.
"Endellion Shaik! I'm going to fucking kill you!" Julian thundered. After a few seconds, Julian run out the door. "Dammit, Marshal! Secure the doors! Corner her!" he ordered. He swore when my drone screeched up to him. "Fuck off, drone! I wasn't talking to you!" A gleeful giggle as every door that approached me closed and locked, including the door ahead of me.
The Fact Sheet has been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.