A/N: Thank you ela11, Jules Hawk, jediserenity82, OnlyEvilJo, Kirabaros and SerenityFalconNormandy for your reviews on my last chapter. Vorcha Girl, as always thank you for being my beta!
Enjoy!
Chapter 38. Orders
The shuttle landed with a soft thump and Shepard jumped out, not bothering to wait for the two Cerberus operatives as she headed for the QEC. She wanted to get the debriefing with the Illusive Man done as quickly as possible. She curled her hands into fists she stepped inside the holographic projector and fought to keep her face neutral as the Illusive Man's figure appeared.
"Shepard. Good work on Freedom's Progress," the Illusive Man greeted her. She merely nodded in return, waiting for him to continue. "The quarians have forwarded the intel from Veetor's debriefing. No new data, but it was a surprising olive branch given our history."
"What about the data from his omni-tool?" Shepard interrupted.
The Illusive Man took a drag from his cigarette. "It's still being analyzed. But more importantly you've confirmed that the Collectors are behind the abductions."
Crossing her arms in front of her, Nick stared at the Cerberus Leader. "Why do I get the feeling you knew about them already? You seem very unsurprised."
"I had my suspicions," he confirmed, "but I needed proof. They periodically travel the Terminus Systems exchanging their technology for seemingly unimportant items. When their transactions are complete they disappear back beyond the unmapped Omega 4 relay. "
"Unmapped? Why is the Omega 4 relay unmapped?"
"Because no vessel apart from Collector vessels have ever returned from beyond. The relay reacts differently to Collector vessels than to others, and if they can manipulate relays that is just further proof they're working together with the Reapers." The Illusive Man took another drag from his cigarette, his cybernetic eyes lingering on Shepard. "Why they have begun abducting human colonists in large numbers is another question. If they're agents for the Reapers their interest in humans could have to do with the defeat of Sovereign, but it doesn't explain the abductions."
"And just how do we know they're working with the Reapers?" Shepard inquired.
The Illusive Man leaned back in his seat. "The patterns are there, hidden in the data. The Council and the Alliance want to believe that the threat ended with Sovereign, but you and I know better. We need to take the fight to them. I've compiled a list of soldiers, scientists and mercenaries. You'll get dossiers-"
"I had a good team, a team that I trusted. You have your spies everywhere, so you probably know where I might find them." Shepard batted down the sinking feeling in her gut. It looked as if she would have to work with Cerberus for some time yet, especially if the Reapers were really involved and neither the Alliance nor the Council believed them to be a threat anymore. So far she had hesitated to ask about her old team, but now she couldn't resist anymore and asked about Garrus and Liara before getting to the one person foremost on her thoughts. "Where is Kaidan Alenko?"
Her heart thudded loudly in her ears while she waited for a reply. Perhaps it was her imagination, but she thought there was a flicker in his eyes, as if she had just unwillingly confirmed something. Lifting her chin a little higher she stared at the Illusive Man defiantly. He took another drag from his cigarette, watching her closely. "Commander Alenko is still with the Alliance. His files are surprisingly well-classified."
But you know his rank, Illusive Asshole.
Nick exhaled slowly, barely listening to the Illusive Man telling - no, ordering, she thought annoyed - her to head to Omega to recruit a salarian scientist. She turned and left the QEC, heading for the docking bay.
A scowl appeared on her face when she saw Miranda and Jacob waiting to intercept her before she boarded the Normandy SR-2 for the first time. Shepard let her eyes run over the new ship once more before stepping past the Cerberus operatives into Normandy's airlock. She was definitely a beauty, but the large black and yellow Cerberus emblem left a bitter taste in Nick's mouth.
Another Cerberus symbol met her eye as soon as she stepped aboard. An odd mixture of reluctance and desperation shot through when she saw the logo again and again on the uniforms of the crew as she walked towards the CIC. Her eyes darted from one symbol to the next, her hands curling to fists, resisting the urge to touch the N7 logo on her armor. She wanted to get off this station as quick as possible, but she did not want to be on a Cerberus vessel.
You're out of luck with that, Shepard.
"Welcome aboard the new Normandy, Commander," Jacob said as they reached the CIC. It was unusually bright compared to the Combat Information Centers on Alliance ships and Shepard squinted, missing the dimmed lights she was accustomed to.
Miranda took a step towards Shepard, datapad in hand. "I've been looking at the dossiers. I strongly recommend we go to Omega and contact Mordin Solus, the salarian scientist," she declared in a superior tone. "He would be a useful asset in finding a countermeasure to the seeker swarms."
"No. This ship was put under my command, and it will go where I say when I say," Shepard replied, her eyes cold as ice as she turned them on the Cerberus officer. A voice in her head told her it was a foolish, spiteful reaction, but she shut it down quickly.
"Operative Lawson makes a valid point, Shepard," a voice interrupted from above.
Nick froze, her eyes darting around for the source. "Who the fuck are you?"
A holo popped up behind her and she turned to look at it, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm the Normandy's artificial intelligence. The crew refer to me as EDI."
An AI? A fucking AI?
Anger washed over Nick like a raging hurricane. "You have got to be fucking kidding me," she growled. "I spent months of my life fighting rogue AIs - mostly geth, then that incident on Luna - and now I'm supposed to say "Hey, lovely, I have an AI on my ship!"? I don't fucking think so."
"Your distrust is logical, Shepard," EDI responded. "However, I am no threat to you or any member of the crew. I observe and offer analysis and advice. Nothing more." The holo disappeared, leaving Shepard staring at an empty spot.
I need to be alone.
She turned to Miranda and snapped, "Where's my cabin?"
The Cerberus operative told her, and Shepard stalked towards the elevator, ignoring any further remarks. She just wanted to get away from them. A sense of being trapped rushed over her and she all but stormed off of the elevator when the doors opened to a spacious cabin.
Nick stopped short and looked around in disbelief.
Her eyes were drawn to the large, empty fishtank dominating a large part of the wall as she walked into the cabin. Then her gaze wandered to the king size bed and the skylight above before they moved on, taking in more of the cabin. Finally her eyes landed on the desk, an empty picture frame catching her attention.
Why was an empty picture frame on the desk?
Tentatively she stepped closer. The holo in the frame flickered to life, and her breath caught in her throat.
Kaidan.
She swayed as a cascade of emotions ran through her. The anger that seemed to be lurking under her skin ever since she woke up boiled up again as she stood rooted to the floor, her mind revolving around How? and Who?.
How could they know? Who had put this here?
Why did they put it there?
The skin at the nape of neck her tingled as though she was being watched while she looked at the image. It was by no means a good picture of Kaidan. He looked stern, but the lighting emphasized his cheekbones and jawline perfectly. Nick wanted nothing more than to want her fingers along both, preferably the real thing. How could she have been dead for two years if even just an image of him made her feel so strongly?
"Joker?" Shepard ordered, pushing the comm button and hoping her voice wouldn't betray her as she shook herself out of her reverie. "Set course for the Citadel."
With an enormous effort she pulled her eyes away from his image and sat down at the desk, opening her personal terminal and pulling up the dossiers. She would have plenty of time to read them while they were en route to the Citadel.
"Do you think it's true, Steve?" Anderson asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "With Cerberus?"
Hackett sighed and sat down opposite of his longtime friend. "I'm just as skeptical as you are, Dave, but we've received several anonymous messages all containing the same data in the past five days. The last hint, if you want to call it that, came in yesterday together with security footage from Freedom's Progress."
The Admiral turned to the vid screen and showed the security footage to the human councilor. A very clear image of Shepard appeared, and he paused the recording.
"I'm afraid it is her. Or, it looks exactly like her, apart from the scars," Hackett said quietly.
Anderson nodded slowly, walking towards the vid screen. It looked very much like Veronika Shepard. Her hair was shorter, and, as Hackett had mentioned, her old scars were missing, but other than that it was her face. He frowned, and turned around. "Could it be a clone?
"Possibly," Hackett admitted. "Or she could be brainwashed. Neither option sounds promising, but I can't picture Shepard working for Cerberus."
"No, not with the history she has with them." Anderson tipped his chin thoughtfully. "Could she be held against her will?"
The two men sat silently for a moment considering the options.
"There is one more thing," Hackett said breaking the brooding silence. "Along with this footage a note arrived mentioning that Cerberus is showing particular interest in the colony of Horizon. I believe we should send somebody there, considering they've shown interest in all colonies that have been attacked recently."
Anderson looked up. "Do you have somebody in mind?"
Hackett looked slightly guilty. "I think we should send someone from her old crew, either First Lieutenant Williams or Staff Commander Alenko."
Anderson nodded again, walking back to his desk. "Horizon is one of the fringe colonies that was recently refitted with GARDIAN laser turrets, if I'm informed correctly." He opened his notifications. "That could give us an excuse to send someone there under the pretext of the outreach program." He paused. "If we want to get Shepard to go there, then I suggest sending Alenko."
"You think the rumors that went around after her death were true?" Hackett looked thoughtful.
The younger man shrugged. "Possibly. But that aside, he is also the more proficient soldier. As far as I know he just started the N5 tier at N-School."
They looked at each other and silently reached an agreement. Hackett nodded.
"I'll send for Alenko."
Voices drifted from the small kitchen when Kaidan opened the door of the apartment he and Ashley shared on the Citadel a few days later. He sighed. Knowing Ashley, she would want to drag him out and try to hook him up with every single man and woman she spotted. Well, not every, but sometimes it seemed that way.
The only time he had caved in was when she had insisted he go out with a friend of hers the last time he'd been on the Citadel, mainly because it was a guy. Sure, the doctor had been good looking and pleasant to talk to, but he hadn't gone looking for a new possible relationship.
"Hey, Ash!" he called by way of greeting and headed to his room.
She stuck her head out of the kitchen, closing her omnitool. "Hey! I thought you were in Rio for another week yet to finish your N5 training?"
"Normally yeah, but I got orders from Hackett to meet with Anderson tomorrow." Kaidan shrugged. "So here I am. Guess making N5 is put on hold," he added, not hiding his disappointment.
"You're such an overachiever," his friend said with a grin.
"Am not," Kaidan countered.
He had never expected to be invited to N-School, but he was determined to do his best. The training had helped him keep much of his sanity over the past two years, mainly because it pushed him to the brink of exhaustion; nightmares were scarce then. The other thing that had kept him sane was his friendship with Ashley. She was always there to drag him back on his feet. He knew a lot of people thought they were more than friends since they lived together, but he was used to ignoring the comments by now.
Ashley snorted. "Says the person that made it from Lieutenant-Commander to Staff Commander in just over a year. Keep it up like this, and you'll have to add another bar on your uniform within a year."
Kaidan laughed. "Right."
He tossed his bag on his bed and went back to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and frowned at the lack of content. A case of beer, and little else.
"I just got here an hour ago, Kaidan," Ash explained. "We can either go out or order some food."
"Order," Kaidan replied, closing the refrigerator and grabbing a flyer for take-out food. There was no use in stocking up as there was a big chance neither of them would be there more than a few days. "That way I can take a long, hot shower without you complaining that you want to get going." He dodged the kick she aimed at him and grinned.
The next morning Kaidan went to Anderson's office for the meeting with a strange feeling churning in his gut. He couldn't help but wonder about what he should expect. People weren't called away from N-training unless it was really important.
The Presidium lay quiet as he got out of the rapid transit shuttle and he let his gaze wander over the Presidium lake and the surrounding paths and frowned. There wasn't any kind of reminder of the Battle of the Citadel two years prior. While he fully understood the urge to get things back to normal this had a flavor of downright denial. All over the Citadel any hint of the Reapers had quickly been discarded and both the Council and Alliance brass brushed any mention of them to the side. For them it was always the geth.
Only, it wasn't.
Kaidan couldn't understand how both the Alliance and the Council could be so focused on the geth and ignore the Reaper threat completely.
God, you'd hate how they dealt with things the past two years, Nick.
His brow was still furrowed with concentration when he reached the embassies and he barely registered the asari at the front desk waving him through. It was only when Kaidan reached the office door that he stopped. Taking a deep breath and straightening his uniform one last time he knocked and stepped into Anderson's office.
"Commander." Anderson rose from his chair holding out a hand. Kaidan shook it before sitting down. "Glad you could make it so quickly," the former Alliance Captain continued. "Admiral Hackett will be here shortly, and then we'll begin the debrief. Coffee?" Anderson gestured at the coffee machine and poured a mug.
"Thank you, sir." Kaidan took the mug, shaking his head at the offered creamer and sugar.
"Commander." A voice sounded from the door. Kaidan rose and turned around to face Admiral Hackett. "Good to see you. Has the Councillor told you why you are here?"
Kaidan shook his head. "No, sir. I only arrived shortly before you."
A while later he left the office again with his new orders, and they did nothing to allay his unease. Something about it rubbed him the wrong way, but he couldn't put his finger on it. All the way back to the small apartment his thoughts ran in circles.
"I'm supposed to supervise the refitting of the colony on Horizon with GARDIAN turrets and function as liaison officer between the colonists and the Alliance, and I have absolutely no idea why," he declared as soon as he closed the apartment door, disbelief coloring every word.
"Horizon?" Ashley repeated. "That's in the Attican Traverse."
"Yep."
She frowned at him. "I don't think that's going to be a very enjoyable assignment. The Alliance isn't exactly welcome on those backwater colonies. I should know. I spent half my life in places like that."
"There's more yet," he put in. "Apparently the Alliance has intel that Cerberus is showing interest in Horizon - ."
"And you're supposed to keep an eye out?" she finished for him. "Kaidan, that kinda stinks. Watch your back."
"I know. I will." He met his friend's worried gaze with a matching frown. Ash was right. The Alliance wasn't welcome on many colonies in the Traverse, and being a biotic would probably make him even less welcome, but that was something he was used to. He could deal with it.
A/N: Sorry this was so short, and still too me so long. I hope you enjoyed it nevertheless! Reviews are welcome as always.