Mass Effect: The Hunt for Saren

Chapter Five: Insight



[Another chapter already! Getting even just one review inspires me to write much more than seeing extra hits pop up. Please give me reviews; it’ll keep the chapters coming a lot more quickly. Also, you guys will continue to notice the differences in the story of the game and my fanfic.]



“Commander Shepard?”



“Yes, Sergeant Williams?”



“Can we, uh, talk, sir?” Ashley scuffed the deck plating with her boot, kicking the floor bashfully. “Alone?”



“Of course,” John said, trying to add warmth to his voice in order to cover his confusion. He gestured towards his captain’s quarters.



The two walked silently to his cabin. John absent-mindedly scowled in his confusion. They’d just left a briefing; if Williams had anything to say, it should’ve come out then. She always seemed to be leaving something unsaid, though. It frustrated John, who prided himself in being a straightforward soldier, but he chalked it up to Williams’ recent trauma on Eden Prime and--in all honesty--to her being a woman. He sighed, but said nothing as he headed towards his quarters, Ashley beside him.



As they walked, Ashley fretted over what she was doing. She wasn’t acting like herself, and there was no good reason to explain it all away. Regs were flying up in front of her mind’s eye like road blocks. She kept telling herself to just call it off, walk away, do anything but step into the captain’s quarters. But there was something about his face: strong jaw, gray-blue eyes, short-cropped blonde hair, even his scarred cheeks inflamed her lust. She saw John scowling and sighing, and knew that she’d made a mistake, but she also couldn’t bear to make herself look like even more of a fool than she already had to. By the time they had reached the hatch to Shepard’s quarters, Ashley felt like she was going to break out in a sweat.



“After you, Miss Williams,” John said with a smile after he waved open his cabin door and motioned for her to enter.



“V-very chivalrous, uh--sir,” Ashley stammered as she hustled awkwardly into the room. “And very informal. Sir.”



“Protocol ends at the door, Ashley,” John replied as he entered the room with the door closing behind him. “This is the one room where I get to take off the combat boots. Figuratively and literally.” John said as he sat on the foot of his bed and took off his boots. “Have a seat.”



“Glad to sir--I mean, John,” Ashley said as she sat in the des chair beside John’s large bed. Military standard issue for captains was good: the bed was big enough for two with plenty of rolling around space. Ashley scolded herself for the thought, then teased as she pinched her nose: “Do you have to take off your boots just yet?”



“Oh, I’m sorry--I didn’t realize--” John flustered.



“Gotcha,” Ashley laughed. “I’m a marine remember? Smelled a lot worse the last time I took a shower.”



“I doubt that, Ash,” John smiled.



“You called me Ash.” Ashley blushed, then batted her big dark eyes at John. “I like that.”



An awkward silence hung in the air. Ashley felt panic rising within her.



“So? What was it you wanted to talk about?” John broke the silence, voice dry.



“Oh, um...” Ashley stalled. She couldn’t tell John that she had practically fainted when she saw him fall in battle. She couldn’t tell him that she wanted to break every fraternization regulation in the book, strip his clothes off and drag her tongue over his chest. She needed to lie, make up some other reason for seeing him. “I just wanted to make sure you had recovered fully from the mission. You know, soldier-to-soldier. I was a little worried after that short debriefing.”



A half-truth. Maybe he wouldn’t see through it.



“Oh, that,” John shrugged. “I didn’t realize I’d cut it short. I’ve still got a headache, but I’ll sort that out later when I go see Chakwas and Liara.”



“Liara?” Ashley blurted. “The alien?”



“Yes, she’s staying with the doctor for now. She is a xeno-archeological scientist; Liara should get along well with Chakwas.”



“I guess, it’s just,” Ashley murmured. “Do you think it’s wise to give her access to the ship? Long-term, I mean? Shouldn’t we just get her back to the council and let them take care of her?”



“Ash,” John said playfully, “It’s not like we don’t have the room. And besides, she needs answers and she might be able to help us.”



“I think she’ll be more trouble than she’s worth,” Ashley said darkly.



“What do you mean?”



“These damn aliens on our ship--your ship,” Ashley corrected herself. “They’re here to serve their people’s interests. Everyone of them wants to see humans kept in their place.”



“Ash,” John sighed. “I keep getting the feeling that you’ve got something personal that’s motivating you when you say things like that.”



Before Ashley could respond, there was a beep. Someone was at the room’s door.



“Who is it?” John asked brusquely.



“It is Liara T’soni, the asari scientist you saved earlier today,” a sweet young voice replied formally. John tapped a button on his night stand and the door opened, revealing the nubile alien at the door. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”



Ashley was about to tell her that she was interrupting them, but John spoke up first:



“No, not at all. Come on in.” John smiled dopily at Liara for a moment, then shook thought back into his head. “This is Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams, I don’t believe you’ve been formally introduced.”



“I am pleased to meet you,” Liara nodded absently at Ashley before gazing again upon Shepard. “Commander Shepard, forgive my intrusion, but I had hoped to speak with you further about the Protheans. Should I return at a later hour?”



“Oh no, don’t bother,” Ashley blurted angrily. “We weren’t discussing anything important, really. Doesn’t even compare to conversations about long dead civilizations.”



Before John could stop her, Ashley hurried out of the room before he could see her eyes water. Blushing, John sighed and motioned for Liara to sit in the now empty chair.



“What was that about?” Liara asked innocently as she sat down.



“I really have no idea,” John shook his head.



“Are you two coupled?” Liara asked.



“Coupled?” John coughed, blushing even more so that he felt his ears burn. “No, not at all. She’s a soldier like me.”



“And that forgoes a relationship?”



“By military regulation, yes,” John said quickly.



“Hm,” Liara mused. “Interesting. In the other militaries of the Council races, it is not uncommon for many relationships to be formed amongst soldiers. Some sexual. I theorize that it strengthens the bond necessary to function in such high-stress environments.”



“Well, humans have pretty much ruled out that theory,” John shrugged, trying to let the topic of conversation die out. He didn’t want to be reminded about his sexual frustrations by a nineteen year-old blue babe. “So what is it you wanted to talk about?”



“That Prothean Beacon you made contact with on Eden Prime.”



“How could I forget...what about it?”



“Dr. Chakwas tells me the visions still replay vividly in your mind.”



“Well, I remember them clearly. Too clearly for something that happened a week ago and that was so confusing at the same time.”



“So there is still no clear understanding of what you saw?” Liara scooted forward in her chair, leaning closer to John.



“No, none, why?” John asked as he leaned forward, lost in Liara’s saucer eyes. His face was scarcely five inches from hers, and the sweet familiar smell of asari skin was arousing.



“You may not have heard about asari melding...” Liara began.



“Actually, I have,” John confessed. “It is a mental union the asari use for reproduction and coupling.”



“Well,” Liara blushed. “It isn’t always used in that most intimate way. I mean--I could...There is a more ‘shallow’ level of the meld which might help you sort out the images the beacon gave you.”



“Are you offering?”



“Not in the way that--I just--only to help you sort out the visions,” Liara reacted defensively.



“Relax,” John said, his hopes falling. “I’m not going to force myself on some twenty year-old alien.”



“I am only one hundred and six, John,” Liara confessed. “I have never melded in the complete sense. And we’ve only just met: I find you fascinating, but not that fascinating. I want to do this to help you, and to help us all learn more about the Protheans.”



“It’s alright, Liara,” John murmured. “We need to do this if we’re going to figure out what Saren is up to.”



Liara nodded. She slowly brought her hands against either side of John’s head, her fingertips lightly touching his scalp. John tried to suppress his arousal at her touch, at the sight of her softly pouting lips, the swell of her breasts under her simple scientist’s uniform. Suddenly everything was blocked.



“Embrace eternity!” John hadn’t heard the other words she’d spoken like a magic chant before that, but those final two words were the only thoughts in his mind as time froze for him. He saw Liara’s blue eyes turn to indigo as she probed his mind. The visions returned, but this time they played themselves out slightly slower. He felt fear, not the fear of himself though, the fear of someone else coming through the vision. And then, a massive shape, followed by a single, terrible word: Reaper.



Sweating, John came to realize he was holding Liara to his chest. She was faint, breathing lightly and quickly.



“Are you alright?” John asked delicately.



“I’m sorry,” Liara panted. “There was just so much...everything. I need to rest, sort these images out.”



“We’re getting an urgent distress call from Feros now, Captain,” Joker’s voice blurted over the PA system.



“I guess that’s all the time we have anyway,” John muttered irritably.