Encounter: Chapter 15

Title:  Encounter
Author:  Loraine95
Game:  Mass Effect 2
Characters:  Kaidan Alenko, Kasumi Goto, Female Shepard
Disclaimer:  All characters are the property of Bioware.


I emerged out of the shower, clean at last.  Kaidan was dressed and busy admiring my collection of model ships.  As he leaned over to get a closer look, the small picture frame near my personal terminal flickered to life.  It was enough to catch his attention.  He glanced over to find an image of himself staring back.  "You know, I have an old picture of you in my quarters from after we defeated Saren.  Even after I thought you were dead, I couldn't bring myself to put it away."

"Really."  I didn't know what else to say.  I was bracing myself for the inevitable conversation we had to have.

He came over and grabbed my hands in his.  "You still look the same as that picture.  Beautiful as hell."

I managed a weak smile.  Gently pulling my hands away, I walked down the steps and took a seat on the couch.  "You never did explain what you were doing at Hock's mansion."

He came down to join me.  "I wanted to tell you, all of you, in the debrief.  I thought it would help you make a decision."

Let's see how beautiful he still thinks I am when he finds out I already made it.  "So tell me now."

He stared straight ahead as he began to speak.  "I received an encrypted message, sent directly to me, from an unknown source.  It said there was some kind of security breach in the form of a greybox, something that was highly confidential.  It gave coordinates of the box, attachments for a fake identity for me only, and instructions on how to retrieve it.  I would have dismissed it as some kind of joke, except the end of the message said that Cerberus had hired a trained thief to steal the box and blackmail the Alliance.  I decided to forward it on to Hackett."

I leaned back, carefully picking apart every word he said.  "And then what?"

"It got weird after that.  I thought they'd spend time researching where the hell this message came from and evaluate its validity, or why it came to me and not to some other Alliance official.  But only an hour after I had sent it to Hackett, I was called into his office and told this was top priority.  They shipped me out with a team the next day.  On the way to the mission site, Hackett briefed me on some of the information on the box.  It has secret communications about hits on alien dignitaries a former Alliance admiral had contracted out.  He was secretly kicked out of the Alliance and privately tried for treason last year, but it doesn't matter.  If the information were leaked, it would cause a full-scale war against humanity and the Alliance."

I didn't get it.  What use would that be to Cerberus?  "That doesn't make sense.  Cerberus couldn't use the information to blackmail the Alliance and still claim to be pro-humanity."

"Well, that's the thing.  Hackett said that was all he was allowed to tell me.  My guess is that there's something else on that box, and it's important enough that the Alliance ordered me to bring it back intact if possible.  And I want to know what it is.  That's why I need you to give it to me."

This all seemed too obvious.  "Did you ever stop to think that it was Cerberus who sent you the message in the first place?"

It took a few moments for him to respond.  "Why would you think that?"

I stood up and walked to the end of the bed.  "The Illusive Man is the only one that could send you a message and who knew where Kasumi and I would be.  Besides, Cerberus didn't send Kasumi to get the box.  It's her property, stolen from her by Hock.  She was the one that wanted it back, not Cerberus."

Sitting down, I continued.  "Think about it.  The Illusive Man sent me the dossier on Kasumi so I could recruit her for my mission against the Collectors.  The only way she'd join is if I help her get the greybox back.  He concedes and sends us off with his blessing.  Only he doesn't want her to get the box; the information is too dangerous to humanity.  So he sends the Alliance swooping in to take it instead."  

I waited for what I said to sink in.  "Kaidan, I think you've been working for the very organization you claim to hate.  Not only that, but I think Hackett knew the message was from Cerberus.  He probably recognized the encryption method and that's why he trusted the information.  Face it; he and Cerberus are reluctant allies."

He was suddenly on his feet, clearly frustrated with me.  "That's going too far.  Think of what you're accusing the Alliance of."

"The Alliance isn't as holy as you think it is, Kaidan.  The fact that they have secrets on this box they don't want anyone to know about proves it.  You suspect it yourself; that's why you want to see what's on it.  Except you didn't know that the only one who can open it is Kasumi."  

I needed to tell him my decision.  Time to face the fire.  "I let her have the box."

His frustration turned to anger.  "You what?  Even after you knew what was on it, you let a known criminal take it?  Are you insane?  You put all of humanity at risk!"

I stood up and took a step toward him.  "Have you listened to anything I've said?  The Alliance couldn't crack it if they wanted to.  Only she can, which proves it's hers by right. It's all she has left of the man she loves!  Put yourself in her place.  What if the only thing you had left of me after I died was stolen from you?  Wouldn't you want it back?  Who am I to take that away from her?  Who are you?"

He was furious. "Why are you never on my side?  You always think you're making the right calls, but you screwed up this time, Shepard.  You can't justify this."  He shook his head.  "I can't believe, after knowing that information could start a galaxy-wide war, you chose to give her, a thief, the box just because she was sentimental about it.  You chose that over humanity's safety, over me."

After everything Kasumi had done for me, after saving my life and committing to help me defeat the Collectors, I knew I had made the right decision.  I wasn't going to back down.

"I chose you when I saved your life.  I was ready to die for you.  Remember that."  My voice softened.  "Kaidan, please try to see this from my point of view.  I don't claim to always be right, but I had to make a decision.  I did what my conscience told me to do."

He buried his face in his hands, trying to calm himself down.  "I'm sorry, Shepard.  This was all a mistake."  He headed toward the door.  "I gotta go."

I placed myself directly in his path.  "No, you're not doing this to me again.  You can't just walk away every time something doesn't go exactly as you'd planned it."  He tried to look away, but I put my hands on his shoulders to hold his gaze.  "How can you so easily turn your back on us?  After everything we've been through together, is the decision I made so damning to you that it overrides any love you have for me?"

His voice held an icy edge.  "When I first came in here, you should have told me.  You led me on."

I was incredulous.  "I led you on?  If you're saying that if you would have known I let Kasumi keep the box, everything we just did together never would have happened, you never would have told me you loved me, then you're the one with the wrong motives."

He had such a look of pain and heartache on his face.  I was searching for the right words, something to let him know how I truly felt.  "I love you regardless of the circumstances, Kaidan.  It's not conditional, and it's not negotiable."

He took my hands off of his shoulders.  "I just...I need time to think.  I don't know how I feel anymore, about you or about us."

I dropped my arms to my side.  "Where will you go?"

"Dr. Chakwas has a bed in the med bay I'll use.  I'll head back to my ship after my checkup.  If I don't see you again, good luck.  With everything."

He brushed past me and I stood there, dumbfounded.  Right as the door slid open and he took his first step out of my quarters, EDI's voice penetrated the silence.

"Commander Shepard, one of your base assumptions is incorrect."

What in the world was she talking about?  Kaidan stopped right outside the door and turned around.  He looked just as confused as I did.

"Explain, EDI."

"The Illusive Man did not send the encrypted message to Commander Alenko.  I did."