Book 2, Chapter 7 -- Horizon
*****
Grunt settled in relatively quickly. We cleared the crates out of the otherwise empty room opposite to Zaeed on the engineering level, and he was happy enough to stay there. He simply couldn't stay in the crew quarters due to his sheer size but the krogan didn't complain. Straight away, he was eager to get off the ship, ready to join my team and start killing things, ready to prove himself to me and the others. Chakwas had given him a clean bill of health.
I asked Miranda if we had any more dossiers. When I was told no, that left me scratching my head as, apart from blindly searching for the Collectors, or trying to figure out where they might strike next, I wasn't exactly sure what to do next. At least when I was chasing Saren, I had objectives and was generally given plenty of work to do by Admiral Hackett and other members of the Alliance. So far, apart from some recruitment, I had some minor jobs to do but, otherwise, I was tempted to just head to Omega or the Citadel and simply wait for news. The only problem is that, without knowing where the Collectors were, colonies like Freedom's Progress would continue to be hit and we'd only arrive after the fact. We needed to arrive somewhere either before or during, and hopefully we'd stop them in their tracks.
Thankfully, it was only two days after we left Korlus that we received news. The message didn't come directly to me. Kelly received it first, busy at my terminal as I was, I felt an arm around my waist then soft lips on my cheek before I felt her hot breath in my ear. "The Illusive Man wants to speak to you," she breathed.
"God, you even manage to make that sound erotic," I replied with a chuckle.
"Well, I thought you'd be annoyed by it otherwise. Your opinion about him is quite clear, at least."
"Where will I be speaking to him?"
"Conference room." She handed me a datapad. "Instructions to get the link set up."
"Hopefully it's news. I'm enjoying all the training. I feel like I'm still getting fitter and stronger..."
She ran a hand up my arm. "Definitely stronger, Shepard. You can certainly carry me around the bedroom with ease."
"You are rather light, Kelly." I couldn't help sigh. "Better go talk to him."
Heading through the armoury, I let Jacob know that I would be chatting with the Illusive Man. He knew exactly what it would be about. He knew I'd tell him as no doubt Miranda would already be aware of the meeting, and would probably have been told before me. I should find that annoying but I already knew the score. The Illusive Man would only tell me what I needed to know. Miranda was basically his spy within the ranks. Whether she saw herself as that, or even realised she was being manipulated like that, I couldn't exactly be sure. During our conversation, she'd proven to be surprisingly naïve about the man.
After inputting the code, the table in the conference room disappeared, stepping onto some sort of pad and after some technical magic, I could see the Illusive Man sitting in front of me, smoking a cigarette, which was a nasty habit, and holding a drink in his left hand. I couldn't see much else behind him, but the light suggested a star, something like the sun. I figured he wasn't located planet-side but on some sort of space station.
"What are you drinking?" I asked.
"Bourbon, Shepard. A tipple I'm aware you enjoy as well."
"Well, guess we share one similarity at least."
"Perhaps more, Shepard, but I am aware of your opinions. But this isn't a social call. I think we have them."
"Where?"
"One of our colonies out in the Terminus Systems, by the name of Horizon, has just gone dark."
"Gone dark? For how long?"
"Reports indicate at least a few hours. And if it's isn't already under attack, it soon will be. Has Mordin delivered the countermeasure yet?"
"He's working on it. I believe he's close to cracking it. Last time we spoke, anyway."
"Then he'd better work well under pressure, as you need to get to Horizon ASAP." When he paused, I knew, I just knew, he was going to tell me something else. "There's something else, Shepard."
"Yes?" I asked carefully.
"One of your former crew, Ashley Williams, is currently on Horizon."
"What's she doing in the Terminus Systems?"
"Officially, it's an outreach program by the Alliance. They're endeavouring to improve their relationships with the many colonial governments."
"Think that's shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted if they've only just started doing it."
"While that might be true, if they've sent Operations Chief Williams, who was one of the companions of the 'Saviour of the Citadel', then it would suggest that the Alliance is starting to take the threat seriously."
Operations Chief? So she's finally been given a promotion? She should have been at that level years ago considering her talents. But she just so happens to be at Horizon. Can't be a coincidence. The Collectors know, they know I'll be told, and it's a trap.
I kept the thoughts to myself for now. I'm sure the Illusive Man would know I was suspicious already and certainly would never trust him completely. But I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. This was the news we needed. Find the Collectors, pray that Mordin's countermeasure works, and then hopefully save a colony.
But first... "Have you notified the Alliance?"
"We have sent a warning through back-channels. They won't know it's from us. But, as you're already aware, their resources are already stretched thin. You're the only one who can get in and possibly stop the Collectors right now."
"Fair point. We'll head there straight away."
"Do what you need to do, Shepard. And good luck."
I closed the link, immediately returning to the CIC and the galaxy map. Inputting the data, I didn't have to tell Joker as it would have appeared on one of his bank of screens. "
Horizon, Commander?"
"Get us there ASAP, Joker. Whatever you need from engineering, demand it."
