ME: All the Things Ch.19

Chapter 19 – One Battle After Another

Kaidan stood outside the door to Anderson’s office and waited to be called in. He was told that Anderson was in a meeting with the Council but the Councilor was aware he was there. Still, waiting on politics chafed with Kaidan. ‘And that is why I hate politics.’ Ashley once said on their first trip to the citadel. Mira agreed to the sentiment immediately but had to keep her opinion quiet. Kaidan sighed softly at the fond memory and looked up as the door opened and Udina stormed out without looking up to see him standing there.

With a raised eyebrow, Kaidan entered Anderson’s office, watching the older man try to calm down but the telltale sign of grinding teeth was noticeable to Kaidan’s keen perception. “You really need to do something with him, sir.”

“I wish I could punch him out again.” Anderson chuckled and motioned for Kaidan to grab a seat across from his desk.

“Have you got an assignment for me?” Kaidan asked, and in part was wishing that there was an assignment off the Citadel. He was starting to get a little antsy for the feel of a moving deck under feet again.

“In part, yes, a special assignment. Have you been listening to the news and watching the vids these past few weeks?”

“Some but once something comes up regarding Shepard and the slandering of her name and memory, I turn it off.”

“You should pay closer attention to some of it. Some of it is false leads and rumors but the news has some speck of truth.”

Kaidan narrowed his eyes at the Councilor, not sure what the man was getting at. “Are you saying that some of this trash about Shepard being alive and running around the galaxy is true?” His words came out a little clipped and Kaidan instantly regretted the tone it took.

“I have some intelligence into some Cerberus activities that say, yes, Shepard is alive. Remember those reports we scrutinized over a few months back?”

“The shipping manifests?” Kaidan asked.

“Yes. My sources say those supplies were high-tech equipment and materials for medical rejuvenation and resuscitation.”

“What?” Kaidan leaned forward, his eyes open in shock. “And just who is Cerberus experimenting on this time?”

“Not experimenting, reviving. I know, I know, it is unbelievable and something out of horror novels or bad science fiction but our medical technology is close to doing miraculous things these days.” Anderson leaned on his desk, hands steepled before him and tapping gently on his chin.

“No.” Kaidan shook his head, refusing to believe that Cerberus would try anything of the sort with Shepard. They would need a body….but they never could find the body. His jaw set in a hard line, refusing to believe the grief over Shepard was for nothing if she was somehow alive. “No, even they wouldn’t do that.”

“I don’t know any details, just what my gut is telling me and from what I’ve seen as proof positive. I, however, need you to go to one our outlying colonies and check up about the disappearances that have been going on lately. I suspect Cerberus may be behind the abductions but even that is stretching the imagination for me.”

“It wouldn’t be like them to abduct colonies, sir. Too many people and a lot of manpower to do it. From the reports, those colonies were untouched by violence.”

“But they have been smaller colonies. Still, Freedom’s Progress has been the latest colony hit and common reason is suggesting that these abductions are going with those worlds settled by us on the fringe of Terminus space. We have requisitioned a defensive battery for Horizon and that will be your guise to go and install the GARDIAN laser system on the colony.”

“Do you think the colonists on Horizon are going to buy that story?” Kaidan asked.

“Probably not but we have to take care of our people, even if they are out of Alliance jurisdiction. Use this as an outreach to them in order to better our relations with the colonists.”

“But keep my ear to the ground about any Cerberus activities…”

“And Shepard.” Anderson added.

Kaidan’s face clouded at that last part. He was being asked to check on the legitimacy of Mira being alive.

“I know about your closeness with Shepard, Kaidan. I wouldn’t ask this of any other Alliance officer.”

“Then why are you asking me to do this, Councilor?”

Anderson’s face dropped a little, eyes closing for a moment. When he looked back up at Kaidan, it was as closed as Kaidan ever seen it during the time he served with the man. His stomach fluttered a little in warning, just as it did before Eden Prime. “Just find out what you can, Kaidan.”

Stonewalled. Kaidan couldn’t believe that he was being stonewalled by Anderson. Getting stiffly up from the chair, Kaidan nodded. His mouth was set in a grim line. “I will do what I can, Councilor, and report back anything I find out.”

“Dismissed, Commander.” Anderson said gruffly.

--/*\--

“It’s done.” David said to Admiral Steven Hackett. “I hate having to send him out there to see if can confirm Shepard is with Cerberus.”

The Admiral sighed deeply, “She’s N7 trained. You know she wouldn’t be willingly working for Cerberus. If there was something she needed and they had it, Shepard would take advantage of it.”

“I know and trust me, if I had no support and the devil offered me a hand out of hell, I would take it too, however, temporary. Very temporary.”

“So, this Cerberus mole you have is reliable?” Hackett asked David.

“Yes. He was in the Lazarus cell but part of the docking area, so he never really got access to the bio wing of the station. Damn, Steven, she is alone in a den of wolves!”

“Shepard is strong.” Hackett reassured his friend.

“But how strong? We don’t know what this resurrection has done for her psyche. I don’t think I would be all right in finding out I spent two years dead and now I’m Frankenstein’s monster.”

“We don’t know everything that has happened!” Steven said a little forcefully. “We can’t support her outright because the Alliance has shut the door on her and her former team. However, we can send little assignments to Shepard, so she has some sense of ties with her former life.” The older man crooked a smile, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Her Alliance email is still active.”

“What are you getting at, Steven?” David looked at the sly Alliance Admiral of 5^th Fleet.

“I’m sure Cerberus will be keeping tight watch over their investment but the Alliance email network is specially encrypted that she could receive emails from those of us who wish to contact her.”

“What about her contacting us?” David looked on with worry.

“I don’t know, to be honest. I would assume that outgoing messages will not be happening.”

“Then let’s hope that Shepard gets our little messages and it helps her.”

“Well, if she truly is up and about, then I will send her a message to come see me.” David went around to his desk and the terminal there. The picture of Kaidan flickered on, along with Mira, at their award ceremony after the battle of the Citadel. “I really hated having to stonewall Kaidan.”

“It’s better this way.” Hackett replied dryly.

“I don’t think so, Steven.” David chewed at his lower lip. “God, this office has gotten to me!”

--/*\--

After the third meeting with the Illusive Man and his perpetual sneer on his face, Mira needed a shower. The man, she swore, seem to leer at her and it made her skin crawl. She sighed in relief as she reached her cabin. It was by itself on the topmost deck of the Normandy, one wall dominated by an aquarium. She never had an aquarium before and was a bit unsure if she wanted to fill the tank with fish. The desk area was nice, with little touches to make her feel at home. It was a bit disturbing that all this was for her, to make her feel at home, in a Cerberus owned ship.

But since the launch of the Normandy SR-2, it had been straight to Omega to do the first round of recruiting. Mira didn’t have much time to download personally since waking up on Lazarus Station. Sleep between shifts was fitful and the constant buzzing from her new implants pervaded through her head. The fresh coffee provided by Gardner was the one redeeming feature in his galley, compared to the barely edible rations he tried to make meals out of. He had asked if she would keep a look out for some better provisions, should they make it to the Citadel.

Kelly kept reminding her that she had unread messages but Mira never had time or opportunity to check, until she got back from the latest recruitment of a mercenary, Zaeed Masani. The terminal on her desk flicked on promptly and her inbox flashed. What was odd was that it was her Alliance inbox. The first message that came to her attention was from Anderson. Mira immediately opened it and read it. He knows I’m alive! She smiled and then it dimmed. Anderson knows, how?

“The Illusive Man,” Mira whispered. “That bastard!”

“Hey, Commander!” Joker greeted cheerfully as Mira approached the pilot.

“Joker, set a course for the Citadel.” Mira told him.

“Um, sure.” He hesitated.

Mira looked at him intently, “What’s wrong?”

“Is this wise? I mean, the Council and Alliance will not be so welcoming to see a Cerberus ship coming to dock.”

“Then we don’t dock at the Presidium. There are other wards we can go to, that won’t immediately flag us.”

“The Normandy is sort of hard to miss, Commander. The news will spread back to the Tower before we even clear customs.”

“Well, I have a feeling that we will be able to dock.” Mira looked out the viewport in the cockpit. “I got a message from an old friend to come drop by.”

“Anderson.” Joker said and turned his chair back to the console, hands inputting the coordinates for the Citadel. The blue orb of EDI remained silent, which Mira was thankful. Despite being an AI, shackled as she was, EDI had proved helpful in their mission so far. Mira walked around to the right side of Joker’s chair and laid a light hand on his shoulder, giving a little squeeze.

“Thank you, Jeff.” She told him quietly.

“Don’t think anything of it, Shepard. Anderson is okay and if he wants to talk, then we better go pay him a visit. Besides, I owe him more than one favor for…” Joker trailed off into silence.

“For what?” Mira looked down at the pilot and her friend.

“Let’s say I am not proud of my actions after you died. Anderson bailed me out a few times and sent me on my merry way. So, are we done with Omega? We got that crazy Salarian, the grumpy merc and well, Garrus is back.”

Mira chuckled. “Who would have thought Garrus would be a vigilante. It is good to have him back onboard. I bet the Illusive Man didn’t see that one coming, as much as he is trying to keep me from reconnecting to my old crew.”

“It isn’t his intention to isolate you, Commander.” EDI quipped.

“I think it is!” Joker snapped at the AI and turned his gaze back on Mira. “Seriously, except for the doctor and me, who you need, it is bullshit that he won’t let you recruit the others and even blocked you from contacting them!”

Mira blinked. “He what?”

“Have you checked your emails? Obviously, as you got the message from Anderson. Now, have you tried to send anything back?”

“Today was the first time I looked into the email, Joker. So, you are saying I can receive stuff from my Alliance mail but not send mail out?”

“Bingo.” Joker grumbled.

“It is to keep you focused on the mission at hand. The Illusive Man doesn’t want you distracted by old ties.” EDI said in a pragmatic and unemotional way.

Mira’s felt the rise of heat of anger. “EDI, if the Illusive Man knew anything about me and my abilities, then he would realize that I can handle my own personal affairs apart from my duty.”

The blue orb remained silent. Joker shook his head and looked back to Mira. “I’m sorry.”

“I am going to assume Miranda knows this. Part of Cerberus’s attempt to control me so I accomplish their goals.” Mira gritted her teeth, keeping her anger under control. Still, the hard edge to her voice was noticeable. “Joker, get us to the Citadel, pronto. At least, while there, we can pick up a couple of things.”

“Aye aye, Commander.”

Mira stormed down the length of the CIC toward the elevator. As she was about to call the elevator, the doors opened and Miranda stood there in the car, a data pad in hand. Mira fixed her with a steely gaze and stepped in, putting a hand up for Miranda to remain. When the doors closed, Mira hit the stop button, halting the elevator’s progress.

“Commander?” Miranda raised an eyebrow in query.

“Just what sort of surveillance do you have on me?” Cold anger edged Mira’s voice, while her face was a neutral mask and her body didn’t betray what she was feeling.

“The Normandy has cameras in all sensitive areas. Of course, there is one at your quarters.” Miranda pursed her lips, tilting her chin up a little in defiance.

“Anything else?” Mira asked steadily, giving the other woman a chance to confess about her email access or other things that regarded about keeping Shepard under watch.

“There are some…access blocks on your terminal. We felt it was best to limit your access so you remain focused on the mission. Personal….”

“Personal communications are just that, Miranda, personal. Never once, in my career have I let my personal life interfere with duty! It doesn’t affect my judgment.”

“Except on VIrmire.” Miranda said smoothly.

Mira’s body lit up with blue fire as she took a threatening step toward the Cerberus officer. “That is not for you to judge, Ms. Lawson.” Mira said quietly, her eyes boring intensely into Miranda’s. “Now, I would suggest you lose the cameras on my quarters, so I can have SOME privacy without eyes boring into my back. For the extranet…”

“I don’t control that, Commander.” Miranda’s face grimaced a little.

The fire died around Mira as she stepped away and shook her head, sighing deeply. “I can’t have my every move monitored. If we are to work together and any trust is to be gained between us, Miranda, meet me halfway in some things.” Mira was feeling very tired and a dull ache was starting to form behind her eyes.

The other woman dipped her head slowly, “Okay, Shepard.” Miranda paused and narrowed her eyes, “I guess I underestimated you.”

“Years of reading my file and documents on my career do not show the person I truly am, Miranda. Get rid of any assumptions you may have about me because I can tell you they are wrong.” Mira hit the start button and the car quietly ascended to her cabin. She stepped off the deck and went into her cabin.

--/*\--

A week prior to Horizon…

Confirmation of the defense laser pinged on Kaidan’s omnitool, as he packed up his duffel for the trip to Horizon. At least he was getting away from the Citadel and the incessant talk about Shepard sitings. It was hard to believe she could be alive! Where has she been, why didn’t she drop a line to him? If the rumors were true, Mira would have contacted him. But as there were no messages waiting from her, Kaidan had to believe that Shepard was truly dead. His life was beginning to move on and he even was sort of looking at another date with Cordelia, if their schedule would permit it.

The chain with the dog tags clanked as they settled back on his chest, as he straightened up from packing. Looking down, Kaidan saw St. Valentine resting on top of Mira’s tag. He couldn’t bring himself yet to take them off the chain. Grabbing a shirt, Kaidan pulled it over his head, hiding the piece of Shepard of he had left.

C-Sec Academy was busy as Kaidan arrived to head toward the Alliance docks. Seeing more human faces among the C-Sec security forces was good. After the Battle with Sovereign, the Citadel security forces lost many of its people. When Anderson was confirmed as Councilor, he volunteered humans to supplement the alien ranks. Harkin, however, was immediately fired, despite his status. So much sacrifice, Kaidan thought.

“Commander Alenko!” an insistent voice called out and waved to him. When Kaidan saw that Westerlund reporter, he groaned. He tried to ditch her among the crowd but she rapidly closed in on him, along with her camera bot.

“Ms. Jilani,” Kaidan gave a polite nod, his face a neutral mask.

“Commander, I’m glad to have caught up with you. I am writing an article about the Battle of the Citadel and the human casualties. I have been trying to locate survivors and get their take on the battle.”

“I thought you had done a piece already after the Battle, didn’t you?” Kaidan asked.

“Yes, yes, but this is a perspective piece two years after the battle. You served on the SVS Cairo, did you not?” the reporter tapped at her data pad, the camera bot’s light coming on, making Kaidan blink.

“Yes, it was my first ship assignment.” Kaidan responded in a guarded tone.

“The Cairo was one of the ships on the front line at the Battle of the Citadel. It sacrificed itself in that battle, many human lives lost for the defense of the Citadel.” Jilani weaseled head long into her insinuations.

“The Cairo was an exemplary ship, Ms. Jilani. I’ve never known a better captain, next to Councilor Anderson, that could have managed to fight for so long in that battle.” Kaidan clenched his jaw, his voice remaining even and calm, though decidedly cooler.

“Then you were transferred to the Normandy, under Captain Anderson. If you had such a good career going on the Cairo, why were you picked for the Normandy crew?”

“Maybe you should interview Councilor Anderson and ask. I don’t question orders, ma’am.” Kaidan was starting to lose his cool composure as the irritating journalist was poking at his service record.

Kahlisa Jilani waved a hand and plowed on. “And you have an exemplary record aboard the Normandy, with a couple of commendations by Commander Shepard. She had even put you forth for a promotion before the Normandy’s destruction. Rumors were that you two were….quite close.”

Kaidan clenched his fist, trying to calm the roil of anger that was starting to rise up in him, causing a little flicker of dark energy around his hand. “That is none of your business….if rumors had any shred of truth to them.”

“Speaking of rumors, did you hear that Shepard may yet live?” Jilani tilted her head at Kaidan.

Working his jaw, keeping his temper in check, Kaidan shook his head and turned away before he did something that would get him arrested for assault. He took long strides to the elevator leading to the Alliance dock where his ride was waiting. Thankfully, he was the only one during the ride up the tower. That damn reporter brought up memories he had spent two years to come to terms with. His thoughts turned to the battle and Sovereign, nearly losing Shepard then, and the loss of many friends from the Cairo.

The elevator opened up onto the dock where the frigate taking him to Horizon was docked. Kaidan set his mask in place and went to board.

At the time that the Normandy is heading to the Citadel…

Stepping back from the laser, Kaidan wiped his forehead from the dripping sweat. He blinked his eyes to focus them back to normal after staring at the haptic interface for so long. The colonists grudgingly accepted him and for the work he did do when not working on the targeting system of the laser. Lilith was the most polite and friendly one of the group and was elected to be the liaison for the colony. "Damn it, why aren't you not setting?" Kaidan muttered. He had run over thousands of lines of code and couldn't find the mistake that was keeping the turret from aligning properly.

"I don't think cursing it is going to make it magically fall inline." Lilith chuckled as she walked over to him, holding out a cup of coffee. Kaidan thanked her gratefully and took a swig of the black beverage.

"Maybe not but I am getting tired of yelling at myself in my head." Kaidan gave a sheepish grin and drank more of the coffee.

"Take a break and then come back to it. Sometimes, things come to you when you step away from a problem for a while." Lilith offered.

"You are probably right. I don't want to give others the impression that I'm not doing anything to fix the problem though."

"Do you care what they think?"

Kaidan tilted his head to the side and then shook it, "Not really. I'm here to do my assignment and make sure that this colony is protected."

"Not everyone here on Horizon is dead set against Alliance help, Commander. We know that there are dangers being out in the Terminus but we have been lucky that the slavers and raiders have taken little notice of our little backwater world." Lilith smiled.

"Let's hope it stays that way." Kaidan did hope but his instincts were flashing red back in his mind that something was going to happen here.

-/*\-

The Normandy was approaching the last relay to take them to Citadel space when the boards lit up with an incoming call. Joker looked over his shoulder to see Mira standing there. She nodded and he punched the accept button. The only person who ever called the Normandy was the Illusive Man and Mira exhaled slowly to dissipate any lingering anger. Talking to the man was a trial in patience and Mira found her patience was rather thin since her awakening. The lack of proper sleep might also be contributing to it but Mira rolled her shoulders, her Commander mask in place as she headed to the communications room.

When she stepped forward to the table, it sank into the deck and brought up the holographic display of the head of Cerberus, sitting in his chair, blowing smoke from the darkened room. The only light was the dying sun behind him and the eerie glow from his cybernetic eyes.

He didn't waste any time. "Shepard, I think we have them. Horizon, one of our colonies in the Terminus Systems just went silent. If it isn't under attack, it soon will be." The inflection of anger was in his voice, Shepard noticed, despite his deadpan features. "Has Mordin delivered the countermeasure for the Seeker swarms?"

"Not yet." She replied truthfully.

"Let's hope he works well under pressure. There's something else you should know," the Illusive Man paused dramatically, taking a pull off his cigarette before continuing. "One of your former crew, Kaidan Alenko, is stationed on Horizon."

Kaidan. Mira's heart panged briefly. "Last thing I knew, Kaidan was Alliance. Why is he in the Terminus Systems?"

"Officially, it's an outreach program to improve relations between the Alliance and outlying colonies. But they're up to something and if they sent Alenko, it must be big. Perhaps you should take it up with him." The last remark was a hit on Mira's personal relationship with Kaidan.

"Send the coordinates. We'll head straight there." Mira said without emotion showing. Kaidan is in danger!

"This is the most warning we've had, Shepard. Good luck."

The connection was cut and the lights brightened in the comm room. Mira stepped out from the middle of the room and left, taking long strides to the cockpit. Joker's hands were already flying across the navigation panel.

"Course is set, Commander." Joker told her as soon as she arrived.

"Then get us there quickly." She clasped her hands behind her back and watched the stars start their slow streak as the Normandy entered hyperspace toward Horizon.