DARK SPACE: Infection.

CHAPTER ONE: New Arrivals: Part 1

Remains Of A Lost Life.

"Isaac, It's me... I wish I could talk to you... I'm sorry... I'm sorry about everything... I wish I could just talk to someone... It's strange... such a little thing…"

Isaac Shepard had watched the recording a dozen times now; although it was garbled and grainy he could already tell it was her... Nicole Brennan, his first love. He and Nicole had split up a year before the battle of the citadel, and he had never completely gotten over it.

He chose his military life over her, and eventually she stopped waiting. She left him to pursue her medical career aboard an old mining ship, leaving Shepard heartbroken. Nicole had only contacted him once just after she left. Until now, that is…

Nicole had told him she didn't want to stay in contact with him anymore. But the message... The message that was just sent to him an hour ago, simply out of the blue, puzzled him.

Nicole looked tired, very tired. Black rings shadowing her once vibrant blue eyes, her hair hanging in greasy strands around her face. The way she spoke was as if she wasn't really there, as though she was spaced out in some happier place, almost as if... She had just given up. The way the video just cut, supported Shepard's theory.

"How many times have you watched that now?"

Joker's voice snapped Shepard out of his thoughts with a flinch, "What...?" He whispered breathlessly.

Joker turned his seat to the console Shepard was sitting at, "That recording, you've been watching it over and over for the last ten minutes, never seen you so quiet...although, seeing how the reapers are pretty much stuck in limbo I guess everything would be quiet...huh," Joker said, resting his head on his hands.

The Reapers...Current research into the relays prevented the machines from using them. And destroying the collector base had severed any stream of data the Reapers could gain on the current cycle. They were still out there, in dark space, but Shepard wouldn't live to see them arrive.

Now, Shepard's purpose was fulfilled; there were no more wars for him to fight. He could have just retired into a comfortable peaceful life on Illium. Yet, he chose to remain on the Normandy. It was his ship now, and what remained of his crew was still loyal to him: Miranda, Grunt, Tali, Mordin… Even Wrex had re-joined him in the hope of some action.

Last he heard Cerberus was making its move on him, the Illusive man still thought he owned Shepard, but he would have to catch him first. Cerberus had no friends in the terminus systems, or council space. Not implanting that control chip and giving him one of the most advanced ships known to man wasn't the smartest move the Illusive man could have made.

"Joker, how much longer until we reach the Ishimura?" Miranda Lawson asked as she walked up the cockpit, her boots echoing on the metal. The bridge used to be filled with chatter; the crewmen in the other chairs that lined the catwalk would speak to each other while they worked.

But after the collectors attacked, the team didn't get to them in time before they were melted into organic paste... The ship was damn near empty now.

"Well?" Miranda pressed, standing next to Joker's seat with her arms folded.

Joker looked up at her, "ETA: ten minutes," he said, boredom evident in his tone.

There was a fizzing noise as EDI's blue avatar popped up, "Sensors indicate there will be a heavy debris field surrounding the ship," EDI explained. The lack of emotion in her voice was unsettling to say the least.

"Don't worry about it," Joker replied flippantly.

Miranda rolled her eyes and turned to Shepard who was watching the recording again, his eyes were locked on the woman in the image. Miranda placed a hand on Shepard's shoulder, giving him a light squeeze to get his attention. He turned his head slowly to look at her, "Ten minutes until we reach the Ishimura Shepard; do you want me to bring everyone up?"

Shepard sighed and disengaged the omni-tool, stopping Nicole's message, "Yeah. Bring them up," Shepard mumbled.

Miranda narrowed her eyes, "Shepard. Who was that woman, in the vid?" She asked, trying not to sound jealous.

Shepard ignored her and continued looking out into space.

"...Okay" Miranda whispered to herself, she had grown used to Shepard being somewhat quiet, ever since losing most of the team in the collector base assault.

Miranda walked back down the catwalk and stepped into the elevator, but not without taking one last look at Shepard before the elevator door shut.

.O.

For the first time since destroying the collector base, Urdnot Grunt was actually happy to be going on a mission. After being stuck in the hull for an entire month, with his only escape being the airlock, this Ishimura thing seemed like a godsend. A distress beacon of all things, just floating in space couldn't have made him happier.

He picked up his custom Claymore shotgun from the work table next to his tank, staying out of the others way as they sorted through various weapon parts Shepard had collected for them to keep themselves busy; he himself had gotten quite adept at customizing his own weapons.

The others in the room were the only survivors besides, Miranda, Shepard and Joker that survived the Collector base. There was: Tali, a young quarian; Mordin Solus, a salarian professor; and Urdnot Wrex.

Wrex had joined Shepard in the hope that he would be fighting reapers and heretic geth across the galaxy. But unfortunately, after he found out the reapers were trapped in dark space, his plans were ruined.

Wrex had re-joined the crew. He had left clan Urdnot in the care of one of his more trusted clan-mates, seeing as he would rather see the void rather than let that asshole rule. He wasn't going to stay much longer and when Shepard found the time he would drop him back on Tuchanka.

Wrex and Grunt were civil enough to each other on Shepard's orders, but being in such a confined space with little shore leave or room to move, the young Krogans alpha male instincts would eventually kick in. Wrex may have been Grunt's clan master, but the Normandy was his territory.

There was a clicking and a chirping sound as Tali tested out the targeting systems on a katana shotgun.

"So, why do we need guns again?" The young quarian asked, lowering the shotgun. "What are we expecting to find on a mining ship that could be dangerous?"

"Possible that ship was attacked, have experience with Ishimura, know many scientists aboard," Mordin said quickly, switching through ammo types on a sub-machine gun, "Mercenaries perhaps or...," Mordin turned to see the other staring at him wearily and stopped talking immediately.

Wrex chuckled "Well, that could be it, but I'm not sure why anyone would want to waste ammo on some rock huggers and unitologists," Wrex grumbled, leaning against the wall, "Damn, don't you all remember the good old days, blowing shit up with big guns?"

Tali scoffed, "Yes, because I really enjoyed getting shot at on a daily basis," Tali said with a sarcastic roll of the head as she sat on a desk next to a couple of what looked like custom made grenades.

"I wouldn't do that," Grunt said gesturing towards the grenades, "They don't look like much, but if even one of those things goes off, there won't be enough left for a burial," Grunt warned with a grin before Tali moved off the table quickly, edging away from the grenades.

"So, anyone know about this ship?" Grunt asked folding his arms.

The others stared at him, "The USG Ishimura... You've never heard of it?" Tali asked incredulously; yet subconsciously knowing a krogan wouldn't show much interest in a mining ship.

Grunt growled, "No, and why would I care?"

Wrex chuckled, "It's a mining ship, two kilometres long, Armed to the teeth with mass driver cannons and it's not restricted to alliance and council space," he walked up to the younger krogan and slapped him on the arm, "Just you wait, maybe you can rip out some mercenaries spines. A trophy or two couldn't hurt would it boy?" The older krogan laughed heartily.

"Do you have to encourage him?" Everyone turned to see Miranda in the doorway stony faced and cold looking as ever.

"Miranda, mission update?" Mordin asked holstering his handgun into his suit.

Miranda motioned to them, "We've almost arrived, Shepard ordered me to bring you all to the bridge... and Grunt, clean up down here," She didn't react to Grunt's growl as he walked past her to join Mordin and Wrex, but Tali stopped in the doorway, and cleared her throat to get the other woman's attention.

"Shepard... Is he okay? It's just... He's been so quiet lately, and you're the only person he seems to talk to," Tali asked, she was concerned for the man she came to know as her friend.

Miranda didn't respond, she didn't even acknowledge the question; she simply turned and entered the waiting elevator.

.O.

Once everyone had gathered at the bridge, Shepard stood up to face his crew.

"As you all know, five hours ago we received a partial message from a distress beacon from the Ishimura. The message was distorted but it was sent by an officer Alissa Vincent: Chief of security," Shepard explained, standing straight with his arms behind his back.

"Is there a possibility the ship was attacked?" Tali asked, wringing her hands uncomfortably.

Shepard squared his jaw and removed his hands from behind his back. "I don't know, but any attempt to contact the ship has failed, which could also mean their communications array is compromised," There was a rumble of murmurs from the people in front of him.

"And… If there has indeed been an attack, lethal force is authorized," Shepard added with a grimace, it had been a while since he had to kill anyone, even if it was a slaver or merc…but Nicole was on that ship and if they had hurt her, he would butcher them.

Miranda stepped forward so she was next to Shepard, "This is the message we found, the video is severely distorted, but some of the audio is still intact," She explained as she flashed her Omni-tool once and a crackling filled the room.

The sound fizzed and popped before a feverish voice starting coming through, "My name is Alissa Vincent… May be the soul survivor… Encountered a hostile... Artifact… Find this… Ishimura," then the audio went dead.

"Keelah…" Tali breathed softly, her body language showing her shock perfectly.

Everyone was silent as what they had just heard sank in, even Grunt was unusually quiet. The woman sounded tired, as though she had given up something she had been holding onto for a while.

"What did she encounter?" Wrex asked, stepping forward. He knew the question would not be answered, but the fear in her voice… No one could be that disturbed by some mercenaries.

"That's unknown at this time, but our first course of action would be to identify the threat," Shepard explained.

"What about survivors, Commander?" Miranda asked, placing a hand on her hip as she always did when in a briefing. Shepard turned to her with a subtle grim expression.

"Vincent mentioned being the only survivor, but it's a very big ship, someone's bound to be left somewhere," Shepard replied, he couldn't think of Nicole being dead. It is a big ship and there were plenty of places to hide. Nicole has to be alive!

"Commander, we have arrived," EDI suddenly stated.

Shepard turned and walked back up towards the bridge with Miranda following closely. When he arrived at the bridge, the first thing he saw through the window was a large piece of rocky debris floating towards the ship.

The Normandy danced around it with ease, and when it did, Shepard's eyes went wide instantly. He could see the Ishimura; it looked small from the distance of where the Normandy was currently placed. But there it was, like a dead leviathan, unmoving.

"Take us in Joker, nice and easy," Shepard said softly, but reluctant to take his eyes away from the window.

"Keelah… It's huge…" Tali gasped as she leaned towards the window.

"Agreed, size impressive… Yet, could also be a hindrance," Mordin replied, sounding equally in awe but earning an annoyed glance from the Quarian.

Grunt pushed past the pair to get a better look at the massive ship that lay ahead.

"This is what all the fuss is about? That heap of metal looks like it's falling apart," the young krogan scoffed.

"It's an old ship by human standards; it was built just after the first contact war, with some alien input as a kind of peace offering," Miranda explained, but Grunt was disinterested and simply dismissed her.

As the Normandy drew closer to the ship, more of Aegis VII came into view, but in turn the debris grew bigger. There was a continent sized chunk of rock torn from the planet and hanging just under the Ishimura.

"Looks like they already cracked the planet… Maybe they brought something up that could be valuable?" Tali asked, leaning in to get a better look.

Mordin made a thoughtful noise, "Possible, also valuable personnel on board, scientists, doctors, former colleagues aboard also," He explained, standing with his arms crossed. His expression as worried as a salarian could show.

Shepard bowed his head slightly to hide the grimace that crossed his face. He couldn't tell anyone about Nicole, he couldn't let his personal problems affect the mission or his judgement. He had to identify the threat and then find any survivors and stay focused.

"Debris fields getting pretty dense commander," Joker piped up without taking his eyes off the holographic console in front of him.

"Can you see a way in?" Shepard asked, leaning on the back of the helmsman's seat to get a better look outside.

"There is an open docking station on the port side of the Ishimura. However, I am not sensing any vital signs from inside," EDI said somewhat gravely as she popped up again.

Shepard swallowed hard and leaned back from Joker's chair. "Are you sure?" His voice strained.

"It is possible that the Resource Integration system the Ishimura uses has been shut down, this would render me unable to locate any vital signs from a certain distance" EDI replied, yet doing little to remove the feeling of dread that had settled in Shepard's stomach.

"Isaac?" Miranda asked worriedly as she put a hand on Shepard's chest.

Shepard turned to her, his face white as a sheet. He couldn't tell her, he and Miranda had gotten quite close over the last few months, but for some reason he couldn't tell him about Nicole. He had to remain professional.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Joker, have you found that docking bay?" Shepard asked, shrugging Miranda's hand off.

Miranda was shocked at Shepard's coldness. After how close they had been after everything they had been through. She stepped back from the helmsman's seat and walked back down the catwalk.

Tali watched her go. She could understand why the other woman was upset, Shepard was her friend to and she had never seen him like this.

"Do you want me to try and hail them?" Joker asked.

"I thought the communications array was down?" Wrex asked taking the space Miranda had been in standing moments ago.

Shepard nodded, " It's worth a try, close range communication might still be working."

"Okay," Joker said under his breath as he looked down at the console.

There was a chirp from the console and then static. "USG Ishimura, this is Normandy SR2 responding to your distress beacon, please respond!" Joker said over the console.

All was quiet, no response came. Only more static and soft clicking sounds.

Joker turned to look at Shepard with an 'I told you so expression'. Which then earns a glare from the Commander.

"Watch it!" Grunt suddenly roared.

Joker turned back around and saw a large chunk of rock heading towards the ship.

"Shit!" he yelled in surprise as he started working on the holographic display, causing the ship to literally dance around the rock.

"Get us there in one piece Joker!" Shepard growled; gripping the flight lieutenants chair hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. Joker grimaced under his breath and began to concentrate on the path to the Ishimura, the debris was clearing up by now.

The Normandy was right next to the Ishimura now. The leviathan of a ship was daunting in size and scale up close, and under her mask; Tali's mouth hung open. The ship moved under the massive belly of the ship and some damage became visible.

Small holes had been punched into the ship from what looked like a fire-fight, which made it look more and more likely that mercenaries or slavers had attacked.

Wrex growled softly and moved to the front of the bridge to get a better look, "There should be more damage, that's one ship worth at least,"

Tali turned to him; confusion and shock showing in her body language. "But… One ship wouldn't be enough surely!" Tali exclaimed as she moved to stand next to Wrex.

Wrex grumbled in reply, "Yeah, This ship would destroy anything other than a cruiser, looking at those holes! Whatever attacked them wasn't much bigger than a passenger shuttle."

There was a flash of blue as EDI appeared again, "Wrex is correct, the damage on the hull was most likely caused by an executive shuttle… It is probable that the Ishimura opened fire, but I am detecting no debris from the shuttle in this area," EDI explained with a hint of curiosity.

Shepard pinched the brow of his nose; this made no sense whatsoever. There was no way a shuttle could have breached the defenses and made it into the hangar bay in one piece.

The bottom of the ship faded from view as the Normandy cruised to the other side of the ship.

Joker craned his neck to get a look at something everyone else couldn't quite see. He grinned before turning to the others. "And that's our way in!" He said brightly before turning back to the console.

Through the window a docking bay was visible… It was open. Wide open.

Joker piloted the Normandy in line with the docking bay and began to move inside the dark gaping maw like tunnel. It was pitch black inside the docking bay and the lights on the Normandy did little to illuminate anything.

Joker groaned in annoyance as he squinted into the dark, "EDI, bring up some more lights!" He ordered. Lights on the front of the ship lit up and more of the docking tunnel became visible.

"Jesus… What the hell happened?" Shepard was shocked by the state of the tunnel. Shards of metal were everywhere and the walls were scored with deep gashes that resembled a deep bloody wound. Whatever had come through here must have made a crash landing… But there was no sign of any wreckage.

A gasp of horror snapped Shepard out of his trance and he turned to see Miranda standing with a hand over her mouth.

Shepard followed her horrified gaze to the window and saw what she had seen; a corpse, floating towards the Normandy like some kind of deformed specter. It's arms were outstretched as if it were calling… Begging for help. The legs were gone, severed at the waist and his face was contorted with pain.

The corpse continued to float towards the ship until it floated over the Normandy and bumped the hull with a dull thump causing Shepard to shudder and squeeze his eyes shut.

Grunt growled softly, "No human could do that sort of damage,"

Mordin cleared his throat and put a finger to his mouth which he always did when in deep thought, "Grunt Correct… But krogan could easily sever human spine,"

Grunt glared at Mordin but didn't speak.

"I suppose we should assume that whoever attacked the ship could have paid some krogan mercs," Miranda offered. It made sense in the respect that the attackers would need a little muscle. But how could someone be as sadistic as to tear someone apart like that?

The ship jerked suddenly and Shepard almost lost his balance. Warnings appeared on Joker's console and emergency lights began to flash.

"Shit! Joker what's going on?" Shepard yelled as the ship began to shake violently.

Joker's hands were a blur as he worked the console before him; his eyes were wide and alert as he battled for control of the ship, "The gravity tethers!" the helmsman hissed passed gritted teeth.

Shepard nearly lost his footing as the ship jerked violently once more, "Joker, do something!"

Joker didn't answer but his movements became even faster if possible, "EDI! Take out those gravity tethers" He yelled over the blaring warning alarm. EDI did not respond.

"EDI?" Joker whispered; his eyes wide and his voice carrying a note of worry and shock.

The Normandy jerked violently and slammed hard into the wall of the tunnel. It slammed into the wall so hard that everyone inside were thrown to the ground with various grunts of pain, as they were rammed into consoles or the hard floor.

"Brace for impact!" Joker groaned from his chair which he was clinging to for dear life. Joker slammed his fist down on a glowing portion of the panel in front of him causing a protective ablative sheet of metal to cover the window.

The ship continued to shudder violently as it was dragged down the docking bay… 'This never ending fucking docking bay' Shepard thought as he squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself against the metallic floor.

There was one particularly strong jolt which caused Shepard to be literally thrown from his place on the floor and slam into the airlock door hard enough that he felt something crack and wind himself. His eyes fluttered open as he fought for breath and in doing so was at mercy of the unrelenting tremors.

He could see the others bracing themselves on whatever they could hold onto; he could also make out Miranda. She seemed to be yelling at him, but the sound of the ship scraping along the inside of the tunnel, and the ringing in his ears prevented him from hearing anything else.

He tried to move his head but it throbbed viciously when he attempted to do so. He felt wetness on the back of neck and his vision was fading fast. Everything seemed to go black; his body started to feel warm.

After a moment the noise around him turned into nothingness… He was drifting into unconsciousness. But the moment before he fell into that state of oblivion he heard a voice… So clear… And so familiar…

"Take us Home…Make us whole again…"

Her voice… Nicole.

.O. End of Chapter .O.

A/N Someone who tried to beta this for me pretty much said this stories grammar was so bad she couldn't help me…

So I'm rewriting the story with some changes. Also I'm keeping this in the main Mass Effect archive. The Dead Space/Mass Effect Cross over section is a little baron.

Anyway, should anyone for some miracle like this, review and tell me if the grammar is okay.