A big thank you to NormandyStarlight for being an awesome beta. You really helped flesh this chapter out.

Sudden silence in the comm. room pounded in Shepard's ears. Or maybe it was the start of another headache. It was hard to tell anymore. Hackett's request hung over her, the weight of the decision heavy on her mind. It was true that the Local Cluster was on the way to Arcturus so heading to Luna base first made sense, but the girl was still in need of more care than a ship could really offer – even one as impressive as the Normandy. The fact that Hackett pressed the issue with not-so-subtle reminders of Shepard's allegiances, that she was Alliance first, rubbed her the wrong way. There were unspoken undertones to the reminder; it was obvious this was a personal request. That meant things were worse than he let on.

Shepard swore quietly under her breath. These were the kind of choices that always weighed heavily on her mind, since there was a very real possibility she was being asked to sacrifice one for the sake of many. The lives on Luna base were already lost. There was no bringing those soldiers back. Anyone else that went in there now knew what they were signing up for, and someone would go in if Shepard didn't. The harsh truth was they probably wouldn't be as trained as her team, though, so the blood of any soldier who went in her place would be on her hands, too.

That didn't mean this decision was to be made lightly, or in a vacuum of knowledge. Shepard wanted a professional opinion before she committed either way, which meant she needed to speak with one of the doctors aboard before making a final decision. Fortunately, Dr. Michele agreed to accompany the girl to Arcturus so she'd have round-the-clock care. One of them would be able to give her an immediate answer so she could make a decision. With a plan of action in place, Shepard jogged towards the stairs.

The door slid open and Shepard dashed forward, assuming the path was clear. Tali darted in from the other side after making the same assumption, and the two women collided at the top of the stairs. If not for Shepard's fast reflexes there was a very real possibility both women would've ended up in a heap on the crew deck floor. Instead, they both plopped down hard on the top step, shaken but unharmed.

"Sorry about that, Tali. I should've looked…" Shepard began to apologize as she stood, but was cut off.

"No, it was my fault Shepard. I was hoping to run into you, just not quite that hard." Tali chuckled nervously and Shepard was powerless against the urge to join in.

"Fair enough; let's try walking in the same direction this time and see how that works for us," Shepard suggested through a wide grin as she pulled the quarian to standing, gesturing broadly at the open stairwell. "Are you sleeping any better?"

"I'm still getting used to the silence, but I'm usually so exhausted after a mission it doesn't really matter anymore."

"Are you sure? I could always send Wrex over to stomp around while you nap…" Shepard teased as they carefully made their way down the final steps. Shepard broke to the right at the elevator and Tali followed.

"I'll pass on that offer, Shepard. Thank you anyway." Tali hesitated outside the door. "I have a couple jobs to get back to, but thought this was important enough to rush over. I finished decrypting some of the files we recovered from the ExoGeni lab. It is self-explanatory, so you shouldn't need me." The young quarian thrust an OSD into the unsuspecting commander's hand and rushed off.

Shepard watched Tali disappear into the elevator before turning back to the OSD to skim the contents as she entered the med bay. It appeared to be a personal log of an ExoGeni employee. The doctor's notes expressed concern about the samples they provided to a group he referred to only as Cerberus. Shepard paused by the doctor's desk, closed her eyes, and sighed. This was important information, but that didn't mean she had to like it. After all, she knew what ExoGeni uncovered on Feros. The fact that some viable samples still existed was bad enough. Who knew what this mysterious organization would do with such dangerous materials. Centered once more, Shepard read the rest of the file. The final words on the screen sent a jolt through her body, the world tilting dangerously. The location where the samples were sent… it had to be a coincidence. If not, things were worse than she though.

"Are you ok Commander?"

Shepard found Alenko watching her carefully from a seat next to the bed in the corner, where he kept silent vigil over the child. Her eyes drifted to the tiny figure. It broke Shepard's heart to see someone so small forced to endure so much, to see her engulfed by the meager bedding, surrounded by a myriad of machines. Granted, they were helping. She was stable and occasionally alert, but that didn't ease the pain in Shepard's chest every time she even thought of the child, barely more than a baby. At least Ellie was never left completely alone. Alenko was exactly where he'd been the night before, but this time he was awake and in uniform. That image of him sleeping peacefully, hand engulfing the tiny hand on the bed, was the only thing that eased Shepard's tortured mind and finally lulled her to sleep. It was almost too much to see in the light of the day cycle.

"Commander?" he repeated carefully, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"I'm fine," she replied quickly, shrugging off the question. "Is Chakwas or Dr. Michele around? I need to speak with one of them before I plan our next move."

Kaidan didn't press the issue, but the look on his face made it clear he didn't fully buy the casual response. It didn't matter, though. Dr. Chakwas appeared from the back room, putting an end to any further line of questions.

After the brief question-and-answer session Shepard felt comfortable moving forward with the Luna base mission. It was a good thing the discussion was fast, too. Much longer and they'd pass the Local Cluster by. Shepard thanked the doctor and made a dash for the CIC to get the course set before it was too late.

"Hey Joker, how far out are we?" Shepard asked the moment he plugged the destination in to the system.

"About an hour," he replied automatically.

"Perfect. Have Williams and Alenko meet me down by the Mako. I have a quick call to make."

"Going with Team Milky Way, eh?" Joker asked, really stretching the words out as if Shepard should be impressed by the moniker he bestowed on them. If only he knew…

"Come up with that yourself?" Shepard asked casually from her position behind his chair. Thankfully he couldn't see the knowing grin on her face. Williams called the all-Alliance ground team by that name for quite awhile, and was the only person who did so. Clearly Joker'd been spending even more time with the soldier and he just outed himself without even realizing it.

"Sure, let's go with that." He peered over his shoulder, sizing her up. "Not that I'm questioning your judgment or anything, but shouldn't you bring a few more tech specialists with? I mean, a rouge VI and all…"

Shepard's eyes narrowed on the pilot as she leaned into the back of his chair. He wasn't supposed to know about that detail, but she wasn't going to press the issue. Not yet, at least. "It's an Alliance training facility. I doubt they want aliens traipsing around, even if they're with me."

"Did they specifically tell you not to bring them? Because they know you have a diverse crew, and you are doing them a favor. Plus, everyone's screwed if we're counting on your tech expertise."

"You never hesitate to bring that up, do you?" she scoffed, rolling her eyes for good measure. He never let slip an opportunity to bust her ass about tech, but this time he had a point. "I guess I can't argue with that, though. Have Garrus, Tali, and Alenko get ready and meet at the Mako. Fill them in, too, since you clearly know more than you should." Her lips curled up as an ornery thought came to her. "I owe you a beer for that, and some whiskey. Hell, I'll even throw in some sushi after you're good and drunk. The really slippery kind that just slides down your throat…"

Joker's gags filled the cockpit, which was exactly the reaction she was going for. He was always a total lightweight after a bender, and she never missed an opportunity to rub it in. "That'll teach you not to eavesdrop," she whispered in his ear before turning on one heel to leave him to his misery. She still had one more stop to make before the mission, so she had to make it fast.

Static in a vaguely human shape sprang to life in the comm. room. That wasn't an encouraging sign. Shepard fiddled with a few controls to little effect.

"Commander Shepard, is that you? Can you hear me?" the familiar female voice called out. At least the call went through this time.

"Yeah, it's me Juliana. I can't see you, but at least the connection's good enough to talk in real-time."

"Oh thank…" the static form froze along with the words, and Shepard squeezed her eyes shut in frustration. The desperate relief in the woman's voice was clear in the few words spoken. Shepard thought about everything that had happened since they were on Feros – the Council report that all traces of the Thorian disappeared; the notes contained within the files Tali decrypted; the mysterious inquiries about the child at all Citadel hospitals; the attack on the med clinic… All things considered, Juliana's relief was no surprise but probably signaled even more intrigue, which only made this call all the more necessary. Something fishy was going on with that colony, and it followed the girl to the med clinic, too. Juliana still didn't know about that part yet, and it was information best given in person. Vid-com was the next best option, and the only one really available at the moment. Shepard shouted to Joker to find help, desperate for assistance from any tech on board, when the image sharpened and moved.

"Did that work?" Juliana asked someone out of view.

"You're coming in loud and clear," Shepard answered, relieved. Now it was time to get some answers.

~ X ~

Everyone made their way back through the surprisingly intact bunker on Luna base in silence. There really wasn't much of a choice, since nobody could hear a damn thing after that white noise tore through the comm. channels. That wasn't entirely true; Shepard could hear, but everything sounded like it was coming through a tunnel filled with pillows. It just wasn't worth the effort to communicate at this point.

Flickers of light cast strange shadows along one wall at the far end of the bunker. Nerves still on edge, Shepard raised her weapon and prepared to attack. Those waves of drones were a pain in the ass, but any they missed should've been shut down when everything went offline. That meant it was something else entirely. It only took another second to figure it out, and Shepard sighed as she holstered her weapon. This was one more thing to do before they left, since it would cause more damage than the rogue VI ever could if not handled immediately.

"It's just a small fire," Shepard shouted to the team. In that moment she realized her hearing was back. So was everyone else's based on the way they flinched. "Sorry about that," she chuckled self-consciously. "I'll take care of this while you guys check on the Mako. I know it took a few hits and I won't be able to do much more than watch anyway."

Alenko paused next to Shepard and waved the other two on. "The Mako's a two-person job, tops, so I'll help here. We can use our biotics to smother the flames."

Garrus and Tali didn't argue. If anything, Tali looked relieved to get out of the bunker. It made sense; fires in space were a bad thing, so quarians probably had an innate fear of flames to begin with. Garrus just preferred to tinker with the Mako. He didn't even complain about the damage Shepard inflicted on the machine every mission since it kept him busy. In fact, he almost seemed to enjoy it, not that he'd ever admit as much.

The two biotics set to work in silence, which wasn't broken until the sound of doors closing echoed through the bunker. "What's really going on here, Shepard?" Kaidan asked suddenly and Shepard stared back, unsure what the question was let alone how to begin answering it. "That readout on our hardsuit's heads-up display… it was binary code. It was a plea for help. The 'VI' called for help as it died."

Shepard sat back roughly, small fingers of smoke from the dying flame curling around her armor. She waved them away as she thought about what Alenko said. That revelation wasn't a complete surprise, but the implications were troubling. There was no right answer to that question, especially considering the additional concerns that it brought up, so she replied as vaguely as possible and hoped he'd understand. "I want you to treat this mission exactly like the one where we found the beacon on Edolus. Do everything exactly like I instructed you then." She tapped one finger along the side of her head twice, gestured around the room, then pointed to the door. If her suspicions were correct then they had to leave the bunker to continue this discussion. Good thing the flames were out.

Shepard left the bunker, confident Alenko followed in her wake without orders to do so, and stopped once she reached the plateau's precipice. Everything looked so calm and quiet from that vantage point, the earth's reflected light illuminating the grey expanse. "Do you believe in coincidences?" she asked when he reached her side.

"One or two small ones here and there? Sure. But I get the feeling that isn't what you're talking about."

Shepard shook her head slowly, never pulling her gaze from the desolate beauty of the landscape. Part of her was afraid to admit the truth. Once those fears were given voice they'd become a reality, and that was a very scary thing.

"Have you synched your 'tool to the Normandy since we were on the Citadel?" Shepard asked in an almost off-handed fashion. If the sudden topic change fazed Kaidan he didn't show it. He merely shook his head and waited for an explanation.

"Good; don't. Keep everything of importance on your 'tool. Write up this mission report and encrypt and store it like I suggested after we found Kahoku's men." Shepard turned to leave but Alenko held her fast, one hand on her shoulder.

"Do you think the Alliance was behind this too? That they were doing AI research and didn't want to admit it?"

"I don't know who to trust anymore," Shepard finally admitted, the words bitter in her mouth.

One gentle hand guided her head up until her eyes met his. "Do you trust me?"

Shepard stared back without flinching. His soul lay bare under those amber pools, and she knew the truth as plain as if it were spelled out on her display. "Completely."

His gaze softened with that single word, a faint smile peaking into view in his helmet. "Then let me help. They always say two heads are better than one, right?"

Shepard heaved a weary sigh. He had a point. "I'm not sure what's going on," she admitted. "All I have is suspicions and half-formed ideas for now, but I'll know more after I investigate the info Tali gave me."

"The OSD you were reading in the med bay," Kaidan assumed correctly.

Shepard nodded, unsure how to respond verbally without giving more away. "It was a file from ExoGeni. After what I heard from Juliana today, I really need to follow up on it." She couldn't just dangle the hint of information out there and let it drop, not after he made it clear he wanted to help. Besides, he was on Feros with her. He had a vested interest. "You know how the Council said their teams found no traces of the Thorian?" Shepard asked hesitantly. She honestly wasn't sure if he knew that fact or not, now that she thought of it, but he nodded so she continued. "Well, I know why… kinda. A day or so after we left, everyone in Zhu's Hope woke up in strange places, as if they passed out in the middle of their tasks. Nobody remembered how it happened. All they knew was they woke up groggy and sick – most just had light nausea and headaches, but a few of the smaller colonists became violently ill. They searched the area for any signs of attack or reasons behind the mass-collapse, but all they found was spotless tunnels and a missing security guard. Arcelia hasn't been seen since."

"You think she was the insider for the attack?"

"I don't know," Shepard sighed. "I just know she really wanted off that colony and onto our ship. Now I'm really glad I refused."

"Does this have something to do with what happened in there?" Kaidan asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder towards the bunkers.

"I can't shake the feeling all of this is connected somehow, and at least some members of the Alliance are tied up in it too. I just don't know how deep the rot goes. Just… watch what you say on the Normandy right now. Call it a hunch."

"Does this mean no more flirting in the mess?" he asked less-than innocently.

"You can flirt with Joker all you want." Shepard's wide, ornery grin gave way to peals of laughter when Kaidan stared back in confusion. Clearly he'd yet to hear the rumor she and Williams started. That would come soon enough. Shepard leaned forward until her helmet bumped against his, so she could stare directly into his eyes. "Thank you," she whispered, entwining his fingers with his, "It feels nice to have someone to trust."