Lazarus Project: Mass Effect 2 (Shenko)

Chapter 31

Milky Way/Serpent Nebula/Widow System/Citadel

Earth year: 2185 CE --- May

Callie bolted upright in her bed aboard the Normandy. She and her squad had cleared the quarantine zone and taken out the vorcha. Dr. Solas was now on board, working on what little they had on the Collectors and the mechanical bugs they were calling Seeker Swarms. They'd and Callie had headed straight to her cabin. She was exhausted, her eyes closing before her head hit the pillow.

She blinked in the dim light of her cabin, the fragments of the nightmare that had woken her slowly fading from memory. Her heart was still racing though and she rose from the bed to get a glass of water. It had been about Kaidan, her mind whispered as she the cool liquid flooded her dry throat. Usually that was a good thing. She'd wake filled with a renewed sense of hope and quiet expectation of seeing him again and the peaceful images would sustain her throughout her day.

But this was different. This time, Kaidan had been angry, snarling at her, calling her a traitor, saying she had betrayed him and the Alliance. But the worst had been that after he'd tore a strip from her with his words, he'd turned his back and walked away without saying goodbye. She'd woke feeling as though her heart had been ripped from her chest and for a moment she couldn't breathe. As the images faded, she could still feel the emptiness inside where the chill of his rejection and anger had lodged in her heart.

"Commander?" EDI's voice came over the intercom. "We are on approach to the Citadel. ETA in ten minutes."

"Thanks EDI." Callie said, lost in the dark circles under her eyes as she stared into her reflection. "Tell Miranda and Garrus to meet me in the cargo bay."

"Yes Commander." EDI confirmed.

----xxx----

Callie heard her name as they stepped out of the shuttle and onto Zakera Ward on the Citadel. Kasumi Goto, the best thief in the galaxy was addressing her from a video advertisement and wanted assurances she really was Shepard. After a brief conversation, Kasumi told her that Cerberus had promised to help her retrieve something of a personal nature from a man named Hock who was on the planet, Bekenstein.

Callie sighed. Again with the help, she groaned. Can't anyone solve their own problems? Kasumi was pleased by the end of their conversation and told her she'd see her on the Normandy.

Callie continued on through C-Sec security, trailed by Garrus and Miranda when they were stopped by an alarm that sounded as they approached.

"Sorry for the inconvenience ma'am." The turian officer said. "But my scans are telling me you're dead."

"Yeah. I've been getting that a lot." Callie huffed. "It's a real pain in the ass. Who do I talk to?"

"Commander Bailey. You'll find him in the next room."

"Thanks."

"Ah." Said a middle-aged human male, his blonde hair cut so short as to be almost bald. "I see the problem already Commander Shepard."

"You know who I am?" Callie asked. "You're not worried I'm some kind of imposter?"

"The DNA scanners here can identify people from skin flakes. You're you. So what do you say I push this button here and you can be on your way?"

"Couldn't one or both of us get in trouble for that?"

"Look. Down here we deal with red sand, smuggling, murder, you name it. On the Presidium, the Council does everything by the book. They've had thousands of years to perfect it and the only thing they need worry about is if someone's poodle pees on the grass. Sometimes things just need to get done." Bailey said, slamming his hands on the desk.