Chapter 4Shepard tossed violently in his sleep, his brow furrowed with tension.
He’s reliving it all again, Miranda thought. She was sitting up in bed, resting on her elbow, watching Shepard as he fitfully slept. Each night for the last four nights had been like this. Miranda gently slid out of bed and moved quietly towards the pile of clothes on the sofa, her naked form silhouetted in the light of the aquarium. She dressed slowly, taking care not to wake Shepard, looking back at him wistfully.
I wish I knew how to help him, it frustrated her that she didn’t know what she could do for him directly.
Directly...what about indirectly? A little smile spread across her lips as she stepped quietly toward Shepard’s desk. She sat down and turned on his private terminal. She opened the monitoring programs planted onto his email and scanned through his message archive until she came across a message sent to him a couple of months earlier. A message from Councillor Anderson.
Perfect, she thought. She hit reply and started writing a message of her own, trying to imitate her lover as best she could. She hit ‘Send’ and then quietly stepped out of Shepard’s room so as to not wake him. “EDI,” she said, “I want us to be at the Citadel as soon as possible. Please inform Joker as soon as he’s available.” “Very well Miss Lawson.” replied the Normandy’s AI. With that done, Miranda went back inside and slowly peeled off her clothes, letting them fall to the floor in a puddle around her feet as she reached Shepard’s bed and carefully slid back under the sheets. “I’ve got a surprise for you later,” she whispered in his ear. She kissed him lightly on the cheek and lay down next to him, cuddling up and wrapping her arm over his chest. She slowly drifted off to sleep, a contented smile on her face.
Miranda was nervous. She’d held hundreds of private meetings with influential people before, so why was this one making her so nervous.
Maybe it’s because it isn’t business, she thought to herself. “Damn it!” she said aloud. Joker’s voice suddenly sprang from the intercom, “Err, Miranda? We’ve just cleared the Mass Relay, on final approach to the Citadel now.” Miranda composed herself before responding, “Understood. I’m on my way up to the bridge.” She left her office and headed for the elevator. She got inside and hit the console for the Combat Deck. A smile crossed her face as she thought about what she had planned for Shepard and hoped that she could at least get some answers as to why the dreams were affecting him so much. As the elevator doors hissed open her smile disappeared behind a professional veneer of calm and discipline. She walked past the CIC operators, nodding to Yeoman Chambers. She mounted the steps heading towards the bridge walking past Crewmen Hadley and Matthews, deep in conversation as ever. As she entered the bridge she saw the gleaming light of the Serpent Nebula in front of them, illuminating the Citadel for all incoming ships to behold. Joker turned as she entered, “Miranda, Citadel Control has directed us to dock 422 in the diplomatic wing. Is there something I should know about?” Miranda half-smiled, “We’re receiving a special visitor. I’d like the team assembled to meet him at the airlock in ten minutes.” She turned and headed back to the CIC, readying herself for what was to come.
The airlock hissed open in front of Anderson, and what he saw around him was oddly familiar. “Attention on deck!” ordered a female voice in front of him. He turned his attention to the welcoming party, “At ease.” He looked down the ragtag line that made up his welcoming committee. Three humans; two well presented, the third looking like she’d just escaped from an asylum, a Salarian who seemed somewhat restless, an Asari, a Krogan, a Quarian, a Drell and a Turian. None of them seeming familiar, at least not until he recognised the scarred face of Garrus Vakarian. “Good to see you again Garrus,” he said, taking the Turian’s hand. Garrus returned the handshake, “It’s an honour to see you Councillor, and I just wish it were under slightly better circumstances.” “What do you mean Garrus?” asked Anderson. “Allow me to answer that Councillor.” Miranda stepped forward, causing Anderson’s C-Sec guards to move to block her. Anderson waved them aside, “So what’s going on here Miss....” “Lawson, Miranda Lawson,” Miranda replied. “This isn’t something that should be discussed in the open, if you’ll follow me we’ll talk about this in my office. If your guards are feeling nervous they’re more than welcome to escort you there.” Miranda started to head down the passage leading back to the CIC. Anderson stopped her, “Hold on a minute Miss Lawson, where is Commander Shepard? The message I received from him sounded urgent and yet he isn’t here. What’s going on?” Miranda turned to face him again, “I’ll explain everything once we’re in private Councillor, you have my word. This is too sensitive to talk about in the open.” Anderson nodded to the C-Sec officers and followed Miranda towards the elevator at the back of the CIC. Garrus followed close behind.
The elevator door opened and the party followed Miranda out and towards her office. As they approached the doorway she turned, “Councillor, could I ask that your guards wait outside. There is a...personal...matter that I’d rather not have other people listening in on.” One of the C-Sec officers, a Turian, stepped forward to protest, but was cut off by a stern look from Anderson, “I’ll go along with this for now Miss Lawson, but I want answers. You understand?” Miranda nodded in agreement and stepped inside her office, walking around her desk to one of her sofas and motioning for Anderson to have a seat. “First of all, Councillor I must apologise to you. Commander Shepard didn’t send you that message. I sent it, using his address. I didn’t think you’d come if it came from me directly, so I sent it using his name.” She looked at Anderson, but his expression had remained calm and collected. “I’d guessed as much once I was onboard,” he said, “but I had to know what was so important that somebody used Shepard’s name to get me onboard.” Miranda let out a small sigh, “It’s about Shepard. He’s not sleeping well at night. He’s reliving our last mission over again in his mind and not even he knows why. We didn’t lose anybody, which is a miracle given the nature of the mission, yet he keeps going over and over it again in his dreams. I do my best to comfort him, but he’s still not sleeping.” She stopped and raised her head to look at Anderson, who was now sitting back. “You care about him don’t you Miss Lawson?” he asked. She nodded, “Yes Councillor, I do care about him. And I’m starting to worry about him.” Anderson looked at the window across from him, stood up and walked over to it, looking out at the Citadel through the viewport.
After a few moments, Anderson turned to face Miranda. “I think I know what’s really troubling him, what’s secretly troubled him after every major operation in the last nine years. Elysium. The Skyllian Blitz did more than make Shepard’s reputation as a hero. It made him the man he is today in ways very few people know. He lost a lot of good people when the Batarians hit Elysium, other than that it’s not my place to say. If you care about him like I think you do, then my advice would be to take him to Elysium. I saw the damage to the
Normandy from the dock, I’ll have a talk with Matriarch Lidanya and see if we can get this ship into dry-dock for repairs. Now though, I’d like to see Commander Shepard.” Miranda rose from the sofa and waved him to the door, “Of course Councillor, if you follow me I’ll take you up to his cabin.” Anderson left Miranda’s office and quickly spoke to his guards. They fell in behind Anderson and Miranda as they entered the elevator and got out at the Combat Deck. Miranda gave Anderson a quizzical look. “I told them to make the arrangements to have the
Normandy moved to dry-dock first thing in the morning.” A smile crossed his lips, “Besides, I didn’t want them hanging around outside while I’m enjoying a nice long talk with a friend.” Miranda smiled as the elevator door opened at Deck One. “Sir, tell Shepard I’ll be in the CIC if he needs me.” Anderson nodded once, then stepped out of the elevator and hit the chime on the door console in front of him. “Come in!” came Shepard’s voice from inside. Anderson stepped into the spacious cabin and saw his former protégé in bed, reading over a data pad.
“You look like hell Shepard.”
Modifié par DarthReavus, 05 mars 2010 - 07:55 .