Arashu's Gift

Chapter 26

"Shepard. Looks like EDI extracted some interesting data before the Collector ship came back online."

Shepard stared at the holo image of the Illusive Man with his fucking cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other. She begrudgingly had to admit that son of a bitch was smart, for he was well-hidden somewhere in an unknown corner of the galaxy. She knew that if she had him face to face at that moment, she would have ripped out those blue bionic eyes with her bare hands.

"You'll tell me something right now, straightforward and without rhetoric," Shepard said. "How close are you to the enemy? Have you already shared a few drinks with Harbinger?"

"I couldn't care less about your follies, Shepard," he said, taking a puff of his cigarette. "If you're half the commander the galaxy believes you to be, you'll focus on the mission and leave your personal opinions aside."

"Second time, whatever your real name is," Shepard said, biting the words through the burning of her throat suppressing an impotent cry, "second time you set me and my team a trap. First it was Horizon and now this. We're supposed to be on the same side, but I can't trust you. You give me no reason to do so."

"We're at war, anything goes," he said, unfazed, drinking a sip from his glass. "Without that information, we don't reach the Collector homeworld. And you and every other human may as well be dead. It was a trap ... but I was confident in your abilities. And don't forget EDI. The Collectors couldn't have anticipated her."

"I can't begin to explain to myself why the hell you don't inform me of these things. I'm the commander!" Shepard rubbed her face, unable to shake the rage tensing her features to the point of aching. "I don't know if you were ever in the military, so I'll educate you whether you like it or not: strategies are planned as a team and everyone must be aware of the plan of action. Because if you don't, you risk lives! Perhaps you don't care, but I do. I don't risk lives and that's why these people are here aboard with me and not with you. If you brought me back to life to lead this operation, then set your ego aside and learn to be part of the team. If you don't, your information is useless to me."

Shepard was aware that her shouting could be heard beyond the Comm Room. Thane and Garrus were in the aisle behind the closed door. She knew she was voicing their frustrations as well. The image of Thane unconscious on the floor, at the mercy of the praetorian, twisted her insides with anxiety and dread for him.

"I needed the Collectors to believe they had the upper hand," the Illusive Man said without showing the slightest hint of regret on his face. "Telling you could've tipped them off in any number of ways. Besides, I wouldn't have sent you in if I didn't think you could succeed."

"You say you trust in my ability and success, but that means nothing if you keep on sending me and my team to ambushes like this one and Horizon."

Shepard paced the length of the room like a caged lion. Not having him before her in person to punch in the face a few times was driving her crazy. She was shouting like a madwoman in an empty room.

"You may not like being on the receiving end," he said mockingly, having a puff of his cigarette. "Neither would I, but the facts are with me. As much as we try to avoid them, these decisions need to be made. But more importantly ... it paid off. EDI confirmed our suspicions. The Reapers and Collector ships use an advanced Identify Friend/Foe system that the relays recognize. All we need to do is get our hands on one of those IFFs."

Shepard had to focus all her energy to cool her head and consider the facts. The Illusive Man explained about a derelict Reaper that a Cerberus science team had found trapped in the gravity of a brown dwarf. Supposedly, it was a thirty-seven-million-year-old ship that had been shot by a mass accelerator weapon. The Reaper was still in orbit with its mass effect field. They had to board it to extract that IFF module, with which they could cross through the Omega 4 relay without being annihilated.