This work is based on Mass Effect, which is owned by BioWare. It follows the first game, mostly with interludes between the missions.

The Heart Knows

Chapter 1

Cassidy Shepard walked aboard the Normandy, receiving the respectful salutes and congratulations of the crew in honor of her new command of the ship and her new status as a Spectre, the first human one at that. She returned to the bow and announced over the intercom that their mission was now to hunt Saren, the turian that brought the geth to attack Eden Prime. Turning the com off, she told Joker to set course to the Hades Gamma system so they could look into missing ExoGeni scientists on their way to the Artemis Tau cluster to find Dr. T'Soni.

Satisfied with the crew's response to her mission announcement, she went down to the captain's cabin to find her new linens tightly tucked onto the double bed and her few personal possessions placed on the desk. She went and picked up the frame, currently set to the picture of herself with her mom and dad, taken just after she had joined the Alliance, in her new uniform. She had been so proud and hopeful, not knowing of the black cloud she would acquire on Akuze. Her vision turned inward and back to when everything went sideways and only she made it out of the thresher maw's reach, stumbling determinedly onto the shuttle, holding back her shock, dismay and pain from venom burns, as she instructed the VI to set course back to their ship.

She shook her head and wanting to distract herself from further remembering, she opened her personal com account and started a message to her mom,

To: XO Hannah Shepard, SSV Kiliminjaro

Hi Mom! I hope you hear this from me before the news accounts. I'm a Council Spectre! If you get some leave on the Citadel, let me know, maybe we can meet up and catch up. I love you!

She sent the message, wishing that the communications were secure enough for more details, but Hannah would have to be content with the public news accounts for the time being. She sent a memo to Pressly for a meeting to transfer personnel duties, and then went out to inspect her crew and her ship.

–

At the excavation site on Trebin, Cassidy stared thoughtfully at the spikes in the back chamber. "Apparently the geth have been here, too." she said. Ashley replied, "We can look for signs but the husks have been wandering around for days at least so they may have muddled any prints geth might have left." Tali asked about the connection to Eden Prime and Ashley filled her in about the spikes. "They look like dragons' teeth", commented Ashley as Tali took video recordings with her omni-tool.

Back in her cabin, Cassidy sent off the report then printed images of dragons' teeth, husks, the glowing orb, geth, Matriarch Benezia, Saren, and that huge ship that they had seen lifting off of Eden Prime. She took them up to the conference room, pulled out a presentation board and taped them on the board and then wrote up notes of everything they knew about each one so far and then taped the notes up by their respective images. She liked the manual approach to solving mysteries and the manual effort of note writing helped her keep the facts in focus. She then hung the board on the wall for any of the crew to come and learn.

Garrus came in to the room as she was securing the board's last support. He walked up and read one of the notes. "Very organized, Commander, but surely you could have done this project on the computer more easily?"

Cassidy gave her stock reply, built up from all the times everyone else had made the same comment to her, "Well, doing it with paper helps me think as I write and this won't be inaccessible during system shutdowns or power outages. I also think that collaboration in person is more fruitful than through messaging, so this way encourages folks to come and think together." Garrus folded his arms across his waist as he continued to read her notes. He asked her about Eden Prime and soon they were chatting easily.

Cassidy invited Garrus down to the mess for lunch and inquired if they had stocked well enough for his needs.

"While you were in Spectre orientation, Captain Anderson gave me a requisition code, so I had some turian rations and supplies sent in. Dr. Chakwas brought in some dextro medical supplies as well. It's all good, Commander. Your crew is quite efficient."

They ate at the crew table and listened as the soldiers told stories about where their loved ones were and what they were doing based on the latest messages they had received. Kaidan and Ashley came in and joined the table, listening to Rosamund Draven tell jokes about her latest ex-boyfriend, a customs agent on Earth, with Talitha Draven piping up with snide comments from time to time.

As Cassidy and Garrus were getting up to leave, Wrex and Tali were arriving. Cassidy remained long enough to get assurances from them about their accommodations, then headed up to the CIC.

Edolus: The thresher maw finally went down as that last explosive round ripped its skull wide open. Cassidy let out a breath of relief. "Nice shooting, Ashley" "Nice evasive driving, Commander," Ashley replied. Cassidy drove over to the bodies scattered over the ground and leaped out. "Fan out and check for any signs of life." Cassidy felt her anger build higher with each body she found lifeless, the memory of venom burning into her skin alive in her mind. She straightened up, began to glow blue, then gathered the biotic energy, aiming the Warp at the distress beacon. Then she pulled out her pistol and shot at it, round after round until its lights went out and it was no longer upright. "We need to tell Admiral Kahoku what happened here," said Kaidan, finishing the scanning of dog tags. Cassidy just glared at the mangled beacon then turned and stalked to the Mako. She reached in and turned on the outside speakers. She stood at attention as "Taps" floated over the scene. After the final note faded off into the distance, she turned toward the Mako. "Kaidan, take the wheel" she said as she crawled into the back. Under the helmet she let a tear fall as she silently reprised "Taps" in her head.

Back on the ship she sent a coded message through Alliance channels for Admiral Kahoku to contact her via secure channel. She wasn't feeling ready for personal contact, so she sent a directive for her dinner to be delivered to her cabin. A tray was left outside her door shortly afterward. A hour or so later, Cassidy's door chimed and she heard Dr Chakwas announce herself. She sighed, "OK, doctor, come in." Dr Chakwas came in and debriefed Cassidy about the mission then carefully did a quick psych assessment. "Well, Commander, I believe you are handling your emotional health issues adequately but for tonight I prescribe mental relaxation and distraction. I brought popcorn if you want to cue up some sappy romance movie." Cassidy considered for a moment. "OK, doctor. VI, cue up 'A Room with a View' the 2163 version with Merida Flaran and Harrison Chase." "Oo, I do like the views in that one, Commander, good choice." No contact came from Kahoku that evening.

Cassidy dreamed that night, herself as the lovely ingenue, anticipating the touch of her lover from behind. She felt a hand land softly under her left arm and then another hand on her right hip. She closed her eyes, feeling the left hand come up under her breast and gently stroke while the right hand moved onto the top of her thigh. She put her own right hand on his, but then stopped cold. There were not enough fingers there. Her dream self opened her eyes and looked up over her shoulder into the smoldering turian eyes of Garrus Vakarian. Cassidy awoke into the dimly lit cabin, exploring in wonderment what her dream revealed about her desires. She smiled as she thought of the blue painted former C-Sec agent, so earnest in his will to take down Saren.

She got up, intending to do some extranet searching about turians in general, when Joker buzzed her with the info that Admiral Kahoku was requesting a secure channel communication. "Put it here in my cabin, Joker. VI, audio only." Soon she heard Kahoku's anxious voice come on the line, "Commander Shepard, have you found my unit?" She tamped down on the emotions reawakening in her and replied evenly, "Admiral, I have bad news . . ."