Chapter Text
Rematerializing in the Gallena’s transporter room, Subcommander V’lana was at once greeted by her first officer, Centurion Tovan Kev. “Subcommander. The prisoners are in security confinement and our ‘guest’ is currently undergoing treatment in sickbay.”
“Have you begun interrogation of the prisoners?” V’lana inquired as the pair exited the transporter room.
“Not as yet.” Tovan replied. “I wanted to wait for your orders as to how extensive you want the interrogations to be.”
“Are they offering resistance?” V’lana inquired as the two officers stepped into the turbolift. “Security Confinement.” V’lana ordered as the turbolift began to move first towards the warbird’s stern and then to go down into the lower decks.
“You might say that.” Tovan grinned. “One of the four-eyed aliens decided to charge his cell’s restraining force-field. He’s still unconscious. The others seem to have gotten the message, but they’re not talking.”
“Well…” V’lana replied, her lips turning up into a crooked grin, “Let’s take a look and see what we have in the zoo.”
As the two senior officers entered the confinement area, they were met by the security officer commanding, a taciturn Romulan named Merek, as well as the Gallena’s science officer, Lieutenant Satra.
“That’s the one who ran into the force field.” Merek noted, pointing at a four-eyed alien lying unconscious on the bed in his cell.
“According to the library database on the freighter, he’s called a Batarian.” Satra explained. “Their political entity is the Batarian Hegemony. Slave-holding society, they’re active slavers and pirates in this region of space. They also serve in several mercenary units.”
“Thugs for hire.” V’lana quipped as they moved to the next cell, in which sat a taciturn individual with bird-like features and mandibles.
“This one is a turian.” Satra reported, “They are one of four species that possess seats in the governing body of this…universe.”
“Universe?” V’lana exclaimed, raising an eyebrow in an almost Vulcan gesture.
“That is the conclusion I have come to, Subcommander.” Satra nodded her head, further explaining, “The anomaly wasn’t a wormhole to another section of our space. Rather, it was the doorway to another universe. The aliens who opened this apparently harnessed dark energy to do so.”
“I see.” V’lana paused for a moment to brush back another stray lock of hair. “And you say these turians are one of the dominant species in this universe?”
“Yes.” Satra nodded her head, “Along with the asari, salarians, and…most recently…humans.”
“So…humans are present here.” V’lana commented and then asked, “What about Klingons, Romulans, Vulcans…any other races from our universe.”
“Not that we are aware of.” Satra shook her head, “But then…it could be a simple matter that our races hadn’t been contacted yet due to the method of starship propulsion they use.”
“We can discuss that in greater detail later.” V’lana quickly cut off her science officer before she could deliver yet another lecture. “Have you gotten any information from this prisoner?” The subcommander asked, turning her attention to Merek.
“No, Subcommander. He hasn’t said a word since he regained consciousness. I wanted to wait to get your approval before resorting to more extensive interrogation techniques.”
“You acted correctly.” V’lana nodded her head approvingly. “Let’s see the last prisoner and then I’ll decide.”
“Very good, Subcommander.” The security officer saluted. “This one is human. He’s the only one who has been even slightly communicative.”
“What is your name?” V’lana asked the bearded man pacing in the cell. “What is your planet of origin?”
“I’m not telling you anything, you pointy-eared freak.” The human sneered, “The Blue Suns will fix you.”
“Typical human bluster.” Tovan snorted, “No offense.” The first officer cracked a grin at his part-human commanding officer.
“None taken.” V’lana smiled back. Speaking loud enough so that their prisoner could hear, V’lana ordered, “Bring in Neilana. She’s a telepath. Have her tear into his mind and rip everything out. I want her to dig as deep as she has to. Tell her I don’t care if she leaves nothing more than a husk when she's done.”
“Immediately, Subcommander!” Merek crisply acknowledged and then spoke into the comm channel on his console. “She’s on her way and says she’s looking forward to it. It's been too long since she’s ripped up a human’s mind.”
“Neilana’s going to love you…’ V’lana purred evilly as she addressed the prisoner. “Speaking as a telepath myself, I can tell you first hand that there’s something…orgasmic…about ripping into someone’s mind…tearing into their innermost secrets and desires…and then stripping everything away from them. Gets me juiced just thinking about it…” V’lana sighed as she began to feel aroused in spite of herself at the prospect of letting that other part of her, the dark side that she kept carefully under control escape, even if only momentarily. “I might just have to join her. I love a good mind-fuck. It leaves me feeling so…so sated.”
“No!” The human mercenary screamed as he saw the look of predatory anticipation on the alien woman’s face, “Please. Don’t do it. I’ll tell you what you want to know! Just don’t rape my mind.”
“Shut up!” The turian cursed, “They’re bluffing.”
V’lana gazed wordlessly into the human prisoner’s eyes, transfixing him with her stare. “You look so scrumptious…” She purred as her lips turned up in a grin that was both lascivious and sadistic at the same time. “I’m not sure I can wait for Neilana to get here before I start feasting on your thoughts.”
“I don’t think they’re bluffing Tyran.” The human cried, “I’ll tell you what I know…just leave me alone you sadistic...”
“Talk then.” V’lana commanded as Neilana sauntered through the doorway, “Who are you and where are you from?”
“My name is Trask.” The human confessed, “Jeffrey Trask. I was born on Earth. Hung out with the gangs…joined the Alliance to keep out of prison…deserted a year ago after killing my sergeant…and joined the Blue Suns.”
“Why did you attack that freighter?” V’lana questioned.
“We were supposed to snatch that Alliance officer and bring him to Vido on Zorya.”
“Who’s Vido?
“Shut up!” The turian named Tyran growled menacingly as he stood up in his cell.
“Merek.” Subcommander V’lana ordered, “Silence that prisoner.”
“With pleasure.” The security officer responded as he drew his disrupter and, setting it for stun, fired at the turian, instantly knocking him unconscious.
“Now…” V’lana again turned her attention back to the human prisoner, “Again…who is Vido?”
“Vido Santiago. The head of the Blue Suns. I don’t know why he wanted him.” Trask quickly added, “I’m just a grunt—that sorta stuff’s way above my pay grade.”
“I think he’s telling the truth.” Tovan whispered as V’lana nodded her head. Raising her voice, she again addressed the prisoner. “So…you were to take him directly to Zorya…”
“No.” Trask shook his head. “We were to go to Omega first, switch ships, and then go on to Zorya.”
“Shake off possible pursuers.” Tovan murmured.
“Very likely.” V’lana agreed. “I think we’ve gotten everything we’re going to get from him for now.” Turning to the security officer, the subcommander ordered, “Increase the quality of his rations and permit him limited entertainment media—and make sure the other two prisoners know that you’re doing it.” Turning to her first officer, the lovely subcommander remarked, “I think it’s time we paid Commander Alenko a visit.”
“Yes, subcommander.” Merek grinned as he quickly picked up on his commanding officer’s intent.
“You’re creating a wedge between him and the other two.” Tovan whispered as the two senior officers walked out of security holding and back to the turbolift. “They’ll regard him as a traitor, forcing him to turn to us for protection.”
“You know me too well, Big Brother.” V’lana laughed as she commanded the turbolift, “Sickbay.”
Glancing down at his petite commanding officer and best friend, Tovan remarked, “You’re not that strong a telepath, you know. I mean…you’re stronger than most Romulans, but you’re nowhere near as powerful as Neilana, much less a trained Vulcan.”
“I know…” V’lana replied, “But he didn’t know that. Still…getting into someone’s mind…digging into their intimate moments…it really is an aphrodisiac for me.”
As the turbolift door opened to let them out near sickbay, Tovan said only half joking, “You know, Little Sister, there are times you scare me to death.”
Omega
Mordin’s Clinic
“Compound not successful. Arrests course of disease but does not cure. Provides temporary respite only.” The salarian doctor murmured as he moved quickly from one computer console to another. “Adrenaline levels?” No. Amino acid sequences? Not likely. Hemoglobin!” Mordin jerked his head up as he finally arrived at a solution. “Cure needs elements of human DNA, but iron in the form of hemoglobin or hemocyanin not effective. Nickel? No. Nickel-based blood still subject to contagion. Cobalt? Not likely. Silicon? Possible. Most likely candidate—copper!”
“There are no species we know of that use copper as the base for their blood cells.” Miranda pointed out.
“Then must find way to synthesize.” Mordin declared, “Or discover new copper-based species.”
“I think we took care of the vorcha by the residents’ quarters.” Jacob announced as he and a team of clinic guards guided a group of refugees into the hospital. “Found these people holed up in an apartment. Food’s almost gone.”
“Take care of them, Daniel.” Mordin ordered one of his assistants. “Thank you, Jacob.”
“Anytime, Doc.” The former Cerberus operative smiled, “Feels good to be helping people again.”
Zaeed
As his transport docked at Omega, Zaeed Massani inspected his weapons yet again. His lips turning up in a slight smile, the mercenary and former leader of the Blue Suns recalled his recent conversation with a representative of the Illusive Man, a lovely chocolate-skinned woman who spoke with a slight posh accent.
“That’s a lot of credits sweetness.” Zaeed remarked, “Enough for me to retire on.”
“That was the idea, wasn’t it?” The woman responded, “One final job. Complete this favor for us, and we’ll help you tie up your last loose end and then you can retire.”
As he looked at the pictures of his targets, Zaeed sneered, “Consider Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor dead and Dr. Solus yours.”
Archangel
“This ought to put a crimp in Jaroth’s eezo shipments. Archangel smirked triumphantly as his team secured the contaminated canisters for treatment and disposal. “That’s the third one. Jaroth’s having a bad week.”
“Garrus?” Turning about, Garrus Vakarian nodded his head as one of his team approached.
“What is it, Sidonus?”
“I’ve come across a possible lead on a Blue Sun shipment, but the contact insists that he’ll only talk to you.”
“Do you trust this contact?” Garrus inquired.
“He’s the one who tipped us off to this cache.” Sidonus replied.
“Excellent.” Garrus grinned, “Arrange the meet and then afterwards, we’ll brief the rest of the team. For now, get some rest. You’ve put in a good week’s work—I’d say you’ve earned a little downtime.”
R.R.W. Gallena
“The spacefaring races use a different form of FTL travel than we do.” Satra lectured, “They use something they call element zero to create mass effect fields which effectively reduce the mass of an object to the point where FTL travel through normal space is possible. They can travel roughly a dozen light years a day with these mass effect drives.”
“That’s faster than we can cover with warp drive.” V’lana noted.
“True…but that implies constant acceleration and good quality engines. The ship would have to decelerate which would add to travel time and other factors such as the need for the ship to discharge static electricity buildup at regular intervals and refuel act as limiting factors. Also, to attain high speeds requires correspondingly large engines. Given the positives and negatives, I would say that our FTL systems are roughly comparable—each has advantages the other doesn’t, and each has disadvantages the other doesn’t. But…” The science officer added, “Most of their civilian ships aren’t even equipped with FTL drives—they use mass effect relays.”
“Mass effect relays?” Tovan repeated, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes. These relays allow for instantaneous travel between two points by creating a mass free corridor between two relays. A primary relay permits instant travel over thousands of light years, but a ship can only travel between those two relays. Secondary relays allow for shorter range, but more flexible travel.”
“So…the great majority of trade, commerce, and exploration goes along the roads set up by these relays.” V’lana observed. “Did the dominant cultures here—the turians, asari, salarians, and humans—develop these mass relays?”
“No.” Satra shook her head. “The library records indicate that it was a civilization calling itself the Protheans that disappeared approximately fifty thousand years ago.”
“Disappeared?” Tovan interjected.
“Yes. The records in the ship’s library didn’t explain how or why.”
“Hmm…maybe our guest might have some insights.” V’lana commented as they reached the sickbay door. As the door slid open, V’lana and the other officers entered and, approaching the patient’s bed, noticed that a security force field had been erected.
“Is there a problem with the patient?” V’lana asked Aven, the warbird’s Romulan doctor.
“When he regained consciousness, he panicked.” The doctor reported, “Apparently he’s a telekinetic as he picked up Nurse Doniela and threw her back. Fortunately, she’s not hurt. We managed to sedate him, and I erected the confinement field.”
“He must be what they call a biotic.” Satra surmised, explaining to the others in the room. “A biotic is someone who was exposed to this element zero in utero and develop nodules throughout their bodies that can generate mass effect fields. These mass effect fields can be used to manipulate objects or a great variety of other abilities.”
“Sounds useful.” V’lana remarked, “But potentially dangerous.”
“Yes.” Satra agreed, “Different societies have different laws regarding biotics. Some direct them into the military, others license and regulate them, and the asari are all naturally biotic.”
“Interesting.” V’lana commented, “And our patient. Do you think it’s safe to awaken him?”
“It should be now.” Aven declared, “The confinement field should keep his abilities in check.”
“Very good. Wake him up.” The subcommander ordered as Dr. Aven administered a hypospray into the patient’s neck, then withdrew back behind the confinement field.
As Kaidan opened his eyes, he found himself lying on what seemed to be a hospital bed. He had imagined that he had woken up earlier to find a woman looking down at him with pointed ears. When the woman stuck something to his neck, the biotic reacted instinctively, tossing her back with a biotic throw. He then saw a flash of yellow light and then darkness. Waking up and raising his head, Alenko could make out four blurry figures.
“Ah…you’re awake.” The middle figure seemed to be the one speaking. As his vision cleared, Kaidan blinked. He was right. There were four individuals—two male and two females and all four had pointed ears. However, it was the one in the middle that caught his attention. Her hair…it was almost the exact same shade of auburn as Shepard’s and her eyes that same hue of stunning green. She was much shorter than Jane though—barely five feet nine inches Kaidan guessed. She also wore the same miniskirt and top as the woman he saw on the freighter. His eyes wandered down to her thigh-high maroon leather boots and…Kaidan had to admit, nicely curved thighs. She was cute in that almost, but not quite pudgy way, Kaidan thought as his appreciation for her form was interrupted by a voice that sounded more amused than offended.
“My eyes are up here.”
Startled, Kaidan quickly looked up to see the auburn-haired woman flash a mischievous smile at him. “I’m sorry…”
“V’lana.” The woman replied, the teasing grin still on her face. “Subcommander V’lana Avesti. You’re on board my ship, the Romulan Republic Warbird Gallena. We came in answer to the distress call of that freighter you were on. We destroyed the pirate ship, but, I’m sorry, we couldn’t save the freighter’s crew—they were all dead by the time we got there. You were the only survivor.”
“I see.” Kaidan replied, quickly adding, “Ummm…thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” V’lana nodded her head once in Kaidan’s direction.
Kaidan then noticed a shimmering around his bed. “Confinement field.” The subcommander explained, “It seems you used those interesting abilities of yours to toss my nurse clear across sickbay.”
“I’m sorry.” Kaidan apologized, “Is she hurt?”
“Other than a few bruises, she’s fine.” V’lana replied in a gentle voice.
Sighing in relief, Kaidan again apologized, “I didn’t mean to. I guess I must have woke up and panicked when I saw her.”
“I think we can drop the field if you promise not to throw any more of my doctors or nurses into bulkheads. I need them to fix my bruises and not their own.” V’lana replied with a smile.
“I promise.” Kaidan smiled back.
“Doctor?” The subcommander asked, turning to the older male, “Is Commander Alenko fit for release?”
“Let me check, Subcommander.” Dr. Aven replied. Approaching Kaidan, the doctor stated in a calm, reassuring voice, “I just have to run a quick diagnostic on you. It’s non-invasive and you won’t feel any discomfort.”
“All right, Doc.” Kaidan replied as the doctor ran some sort of device over his body.
“As far as I can tell, he’s healthy.” Dr. Aven reported, “Those nodules give off readings that are not standard human, so I had to recalibrate. I would ask that he come in for regular checkups until I can build a baseline for him.”
“Commander Alenko?” V’lana addressed the human biotic, voicing her command as a request.
“Of course, Subcommander.” Kaidan responded with a slight smile, “Your ship…your rules.”
“I just love it when a man knows his place.” V’lana riposted with a grin of her own. “Now, if you would accompany me to my office, I have a feeling we have much to talk about. Tovan? Keep us in position and cloaked for now. I’m curious to see whether these Blue Suns have friends. If so, we’ll arrange an appropriate greeting.”
“Yes, Subcommander.” Tovan grinned as he made his exit.
“Satra? Would you accompany us? I think I’d like my science officer on hand.”
“Of course, Subcommander.”
“This way, please Staff Commander…” V’lana gestured with her hand towards the door.
“Thank you.” Kaidan replied as he tried to take in the strange surroundings. As he walked down the corridor with the subcommander and science officer, he couldn’t help but notice the traffic going to and fro. “No offense, but your race seems quite advanced. I’m surprised we haven’t run into you yet.”
“It’s complicated.” V’lana chuckled as they entered the turbolift. “Bridge.” She commanded and then turned her attention back to her guest as the lift began to move. “I’ll explain when we get to my ready room. I have a feeling we have a great deal to discuss.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.” Kaidan replied as the lift door opened on to the warbird’s bridge. Mouth agape as he took in the viewscreen and the sight of the officers at their consoles, Kaidan shook his head in wonder until he spotted a human woman with close cropped blonde hair, almost shaved off, wearing a black and red uniform. “Human? Where did she come from?”
“Ensign Weller?” The subcommander called out, gesturing for the young human to come to her, “Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, this is Ensign Julieta Weller, she’s an exchange officer from Starfleet.”
“Starfleet?” A thoroughly confused Kaidan exclaimed.
“It ties into where we come from and why you haven’t heard about us.” V’lana declared. Turning her attention to the young ensign, the subcommander further requested, “Ensign Weller, why don’t you join us? I’m sure the Staff Commander would like to talk with you.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” The youthful Starfleet officer responded as she fell in behind the other officers.
“This way, Commander Alenko…” V’lana gestured, “My ready room is on the other side of that doorway.”
Ilium
All for naught! Liara sobbed at her desk. All the pain…the heartache and misery…Feron. It was all for nothing. Again, she read her source’s report. Shepard was killed—irretrievably killed. Her body gone…apparently destroyed when the Cerberus base possessing it was destroyed in the aftermath of the Illusive Man’s cleaning up after the failure. The man apparently responsible for Shepard’s murder, Wilson, seemingly dropped off the grid—probably dead. His employers—unknown. Liara mentally ticked off the possible candidates: Another faction within Cerberus—doubtful. The Illusive Man seems to maintain very tight control over his organization. Alliance Intelligence? Unlikely, but not outside the realm of possibility for a black ops group to carry out such an operation. The Council? Highly unlikely. It had already written her off as dead. An unknown party? Very likely—will have to keep monitoring to see who or what shows up. The Shadow Broker? While he wanted Shepard’s body intact to give to the Collectors, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that he’d order her killed if he couldn’t get to her. He’s still my priority target. Liara decided as her face took on a determined look. Not only do I owe him for what happened with Feron, I’m going to need his resources if I’m ever going to find out what happened to Shepard. I owe her that much at least.
R.R.W. Gallena
As the doors slid open to reveal the subcommander’s ready room, Kaidan again gasped in astonishment, “Your office! It’s so…large!”
“Wait until you see a D’Deridex or a Federation Galaxy.” V’lana chuckled. “Have a seat on a chair or the couch and we’ll talk. Would you like something to drink? I’d offer you Romulan ale or Khellid nectar, but it’s probably a little too soon after your release from medical for you to be indulging in spirits. Tarkalian tea, perhaps? I find it soothing after a hard day.”
“Thank you.” Kaidan replied with a smile, “I don’t think my system could go with anything stronger right now anyway.”
“Ensign?” The subcommander requested.
“Right away, Ma’am.” Ensign Weller responded as she walked towards a small alcove in the wall and placed an order for three Tarkalian teas. Again, Kaidan gasped as he saw three cups filled with a steaming beverage materialize in the alcove from nothing.
“Replicator.” V’lana chuckled. “It converts energy into matter and vice versa. Very convenient for long trips.”
“Cuts down on having to carry provisions.” Kaidan noted, “But you say it converts energy into matter? That’s remarkable! No hunger…”
“There are limitations.” V’lana replied. “Not everything can be replicated, and you need to have the power grid to support replicators—they are power hungry. Besides, to me, replicated food doesn’t have quite the same taste as real food and drink. That’s why I always ensure that I bring along enough Romulan ale and Khellid nectar along with a few other guilty pleasures.”
Picking up two of the cups, the young ensign handed one to the subcommander and then approached Kaidan, “Sir?”
“Ummm…thanks.” Kaidan replied as he cautiously took the cup in his hand and sniffed the pleasantly fragrant aroma of the tea.
“Go ahead, take a sip.” V’lana prompted, her lips turning up in an amused grin, “I promise it’s not poisonous. See…” She then took a sip from her cup as the ensign did the same from hers.
Cautiously sipping the tea, Kaidan was surprised at how it tasted—a touch sweet, but with the slightest amount of tanginess reminiscent of, but not quite, lemon. “This is good.” The human biotic exclaimed as his eyes appraised a painting hanging over the couch.
“It’s a painting of Virinat, my home.” V’lana explained in a somber voice. “Before the Elachi and Tal Shiar came.”
“Elachi? Tal Shiar?” Kaidan asked as he sat down on the couch.
“The Tal Shiar started off as a combination intelligence and secret police branch of the old Romulan Star Empire.” V’lana explained, “But it gained more and more power—to the point where its ships and troops were as powerful as the military’s.”
“That can lead to disaster.” Kaidan noted.
“It did.” V’lana agreed, nodding her head. “Don’t get me wrong—even before the Tal Shiar took power we Romulans were a passionate and warlike people—and more than a little xenophobic, I’m afraid. We conquered a large empire and fought a bloody war with your people, but even then, we loved colors and music and in spite of the violence and the wars and the martial and xenophobic airs we put on, we…we knew how to live and love. The Tal Shiar took much of that away. Our lives became gray…we were afraid to talk to each other…unsure as to whether our best friend or our brother or sister was a Tal Shiar agent.”
“Wait…the Systems Alliance hasn’t even met your people, much less fought you in a war!” Kaidan interjected.
“That’s where things get interesting…” V’lana hesitated for a moment before continuing, “You see…we came through a subspace tear from another universe.”
“What?” Kaidan sputtered, spitting out a mouthful of tea.
Gesturing for Weller to replace Kaidan’s cup with a fresh one, V’lana tried to explain. “My warbird had just taken out some Hirogen ships in the Beta Thoridor system and some of their friends showed up with a battleship. I was getting ready to warp out when an anomaly appeared close to our location. Whenever this anomaly appears, it is usually accompanied by an alien ship that proceeds to attack and abduct any other ships or beings it encounters. Besides Beta Thoridor, we encountered anomalies at Khitomer, Helix, and…” Her voice trailed, “Virinat.”
“Your home?” As V’lana nodded her head sadly, Kaidan said in a soft, low voice, “I’m sorry.”
“They were there before the Tal Shiar.” V’lana explained and then told the story about how she had encountered the spider-like creatures and a strange device in the Khellid caverns. “I don’t know how long they’d been there—not long, I think. The Khellid had only recently been acting strange—normally, they’re pretty docile, but a few days before the attack they had gotten much more aggressive. Anyway, when the Tal Shiar attacked, I, Tovan, and a few others did everything we could to get as many to the shuttles as possible and as we were fleeing, I saw…things…picking up colonists…people I loved…being snatched up and taken away and I couldn’t stop it.”
“I’m sure you did everything you could.” Kaidan empathized, the Romulan subcommander’s actions reminding him very much of what someone else he knew…and loved…would have done in similar circumstances.
“Thank you.” V’lana replied with a gentle smile. “Anyway, getting back to Beta Thoridor, I decided that I was sick and tired of reacting instead of acting, so I ordered us into the anomaly. Hopefully, we’d be able to do reconnaissance on who or what these beings are. Find out who’s kidnapping my people and maybe even figure out where they were based. Instead, we got spit out here and we picked up your freighter’s distress call…”
“For which I am grateful.” Kaidan interjected and then asked, “Were you able to find out anything at all about who these beings might be?”
“We’re not sure, but, before the Hirogen and that anomaly appeared, we picked up some interesting scans on our sensors centered on the fifth planet. I decided to investigate and sent Lieutenant Satra and a science team down to the surface.” The subcommander then nodded her head once at the science officer.
“Upon landing, we found ruins—ancient ruins.” Satra explained. “I dated the ruins as being at least fifty million years old. We also detected faint neutrino emissions and this…” She then activated the monitor. Kaidan paid close attention to the faded etching on what appeared to be a polished slab. She then showed an image of one of the walls of the ruin. Kaidan gasped as he saw strange alien creatures being apparently herded by other aliens into a ship. As he examined the ship, the human saw something vaguely familiar.
“Can you enhance that?” Kaidan asked, pointing at the ship. Nodding her head, Sartra touched a few buttons on the console, enlarging and cleaning up the image. “No!” Kaidan shook his head as he saw the unmistakable cuttlefish-looking form. “Can’t be. That’s impossible!”
“What is it, Commander?” V’lana inquired, her stomach beginning to tighten as she at once recognized the mixture of worry and fear on the human’s face, “Do you recognize what that thing is?”
“It’s a Reaper.” Kaidan replied in a soft whisper.
“What is a Reaper?” V’lana asked. Kaidan then told an increasingly rapt audience the entire saga of Commander Jane Shepard from Eden Prime to the destruction of the Normandy, tactfully leaving out what had happened between him and Jane just before Ilos. “Sovereign told Shepard that he was just one of many similar…entities…I guess you could call them that…and that they were coming to destroy us all just as they did the Protheans fifty thousand years earlier.”
“Do you know why they’re doing this?” V’lana inquired.
“No.” Kaidan shook his head, “I think they see us as resources to be harvested—but I’m not sure.” He then paused for a moment before saying, “It looks like they might be doing the same thing in your…universe.”
“There are no records of similar ‘harvests’ of species in our universe.” Satra explained, “Nor do any of the spacefaring races use mass effect technology.”
“What do you use?” Kaidan inquired.
“We travel by warping space.” V’lana replied, “Most of the races such as the Federation and the Klingon Empire use matter-antimatter engines while we rely on artificial singularities.”
“Wait a minute!” Kaidan paused to take a deep breath before continuing, “You’re saying that this ship is powered by a singularity and the other races use matter-antimatter propulsion?”
“Yes.” V’lana replied with a twinkle in her eyes.
“And warp travel is by no means the only method of FTL travel in our universe.” Satra interjected. “Some species rely on ion propulsion, still others use other means.”
“Sovereign did say that the Reapers had created mass effect technology intending for it to guide the development of the different cultures along the lines that they wanted.” Kaidan recalled. “But…if your universe doesn’t have Reapers, then how do you explain that artifact or that artwork?”
“The artifact could have come from a ship from an earlier one of your extinction cycles.” Satra speculated. “Perhaps it fell into an anomaly and broke up either on impact or more likely, prior to impact. And the artwork on the ruin—possibly from survivors or others who came through later.”
“So…who are the Elachi?” Kaidan asked.
“We’re not really sure.” V’lana replied. “While we were investigating a matter involving the Tal Shiar, we boarded some Cardassian freighters. On one of the freighters, we recovered a log entry. Play it, Satra.”
Kaidan watched in fascination as he saw humanoid aliens being literally fed into a black anomaly. Then, as he gazed at the feet and lower legs of the intruders, he exclaimed, “Those look almost salarian!”
“They’re an amphibian race in your universe, right?” V’lana asked.
“Yeah.” Kaidan nodded his head, “But if those are salarians, what are they doing on that ship? How did they get there?”
“Those are both very good questions.” V’lana remarked.
“I remember when Shepard and I were on Virmire…” Kaidan recalled, “We ran into some salarians who had been indoctrinated.”
“Indoctrinated?”
“Sovereign…the Reapers…” Kaidan explained, “They can get control of your mind…force you to do what they want you to do.”
“Similar to the Platonians.” Satra observed.
“I hate god-like aliens. They’re nothing but fucking pains in the ass.” V’lana grumbled, drawing a chuckle from Kaidan and a shy smile from Ensign Weller. “So…it appears there might be more than one connection here.” V’lana noted, “But where do we begin to investigate? Any ideas?” She asked, directing her inquiry at Kaidan.
“Maybe.” The biotic nodded his head, “The freighter I was on was enroute to a human colony, Freedom’s Progress, that had gone dark a few days ago. I was sent to check the colony out to see what was going on.”
“You think what might have happened at Virinat and Helix happened to your colony?” V’lana asked as a cold chill ran down her spine.
“I don’t know.” Kaidan answered, “Could be. It’s worth checking out, isn’t it?”
“It is.” V’lana nodded her head. “Give the coordinates of the colony to Satra and she’ll pass it on to our helmsman and we’ll warp to the colony.”
“Umm…subcommander?” Kaidan proposed, “That might take too long and there is a mass relay close by. Your ship should be able to use it.”
“Satra?”
“Theoretically, we should be able to travel via their mass relays. We would need to feed into the relay’s computer the ship mass and destination, but the relay should treat our ship like any other.” The science officer replied.
“What about the singularity core?” V’lana pointed out, “Would the energy from the mass effect field have a negative impact on the singularity or vice versa?”
“I’ll run the numbers as the humans say.” Satra replied, “And coordinate with Veril, but, at this time, I don’t foresee any problems. Our shielding should be more than able to handle any possible stresses.
“One other thing, Subcommander…” Kaidan tentatively inquired, “You mentioned you have humans on your crew and that they belong to something called Starfleet…”
“Yes.” V’lana smiled, “Ensign Weller…why don’t you fill the commander in.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” The young ensign replied, “My name is Ensign Julieta Weller and I was born on Earth.”
“Where on Earth?” Kaidan inquired.
“Berlin.” Weller responded. “I entered Starfleet Academy and just graduated. Applied for and was accepting into the Officer Exchange Program.”
“Officer Exchange Program?” Kaidan interjected.
“It’s where Starfleet officers and officers belonging to allied governments like the Romulan Republic exchange officers. I’m doing a tour of duty on the Gallena while a Romulan officer from this ship is serving on a Federation vessel.”
“Federation?”
“Earth belongs to the United Federation of Planets.” Ensign Weller explained.
“I’m sure that Commander Alenko can find out everything he needs from our library computer.” V’lana smoothly interrupted. “Right now, though, we need to get the commander properly outfitted and get those coordinates to the mass relay so that we can set a course for Freedom’s Progress.” The subcommander pressed a button on her desk, “Tovan? Can you come in here for a moment?”
“Subcommander?” The first officer inquired as the doors slid open to admit him.
“See that Commander Alenko has clothing replicated for him and have the quartermaster issue him body armor and personal shield. I think body armor that can resist kinetic energy and rounds would be best as this universe tends to make use of projectile more than energy weapons. Kinetic armor will also help against biotic attacks. After you get him outfitted, take him to a holodeck and give him some range time with the plasma pistol and rifle and then find him some quarters.”
“Yes, Subcommander.” Tavon acknowledged.
Turning her attention to Kaidan, V’lana explained, “As you’ve probably already noticed, we’re fairly lax on uniforms on this ship. Partly it’s a matter of it being a command decision on my part—as long as the crew performs to the standards I expect, I don’t care what they wear or don’t wear. They can report to shift naked as far as I’m concerned, as long as the job gets done. Other starship commanders, both within the Republic and the Federation, are much stricter and others are like me—shipboard uniforms are captain’s or commander’s prerogative. Our rank and other personal information is stored biometrically and easily attainable, so uniforms are really more a matter of idiosyncrasy than anything else. I’ve seen officers and crews in civilian clothing…23rd century uniforms like what I’m wearing…24th century uniforms—you name it—it’s probably being worn out there somewhere. If you feel more comfortable in a service uniform you’re familiar with, please feel free to have one replicated.”
“Thank you.” Kaidan replied as he stood up, seeing that the meeting was coming to an end.
“If you’ll accompany me, Commander?” Tovan gestured with his hand towards the door.
“Oh, Commander!” V’lana called out before Kaidan could exit through the door, “I’d appreciate it if you could join me for evening meal tonight in my quarters. Tovan will show you the way.”
“Thank you, Ma’am.” Kaidan modestly replied, “I think I’d like that.”
“Satra?” V’lana commanded as the men left the room along with Ensign Weller, “Be sure about those calculations. We only get one shot at this.”
“Understood, Subcommander.” The science officer nodded her head as she left the ready room.
“Now…” V’lana murmured as she sipped her tea, “Things are really going to get interesting.”