New longfic has started! Aegri Somnia details that month of shore leave between the end of ME1 and beginning of ME2:
The threat of the Reapers has been held at bay with the defeat of Saren and Sovereign. The Citadel Council has been saved, albeit at the expense of many Alliance lives. With the Normandy in dock for repairs and shore leave ordered for the whole crew, Kaidan invites Allison Shepard to join him on his planned shore leave to Casablanca and Vancouver.
What starts off as fun and responsibility-free time together begins to unwind as the dreams Allison has been having since Eden Prime resurface with more frightening visuals. And when news of Terra Nova under threat from batarian terrorists filters through, Kaidan begins to see a side of Allison he'd never suspected would exist.
Aegri Somnia - literal translation 'A Sick Man's Dreams', taken from Ars Poetica by Horace.
Chakwas caught Shepard before she could fully move from the medical cot. "Easy, Shepard. You were unconscious for fifteen hours - I've still got tests to run to make sure you're well."
"Fifteen hours?" Shepard slumped back on the cot. "Fine, whatever you need, Doc." She looked over at Alenko.
Chakwas interrupted before Shepard could say anything more. "Kaidan, would you report to Anderson and let him know our XO is awake."
Alenko nodded and turned on his heel. Chakwas was silent until the medbay doors closed.
"While you were unconscious, I detected some abnormal beta waves, along with a marked increase in rapid eye movement - signs of intense dreaming." Chakwas held Shepard's head steady and flicked a light from her omni-tool into Shepard's eyes. "Do you remember what you were dreaming about?"
Shepard pulled her head back. She pressed a hand to her forehead. "It's not much. Feelings rather than images, brief snapshots." Shepard paused. "Death and destruction."
"That's a cheery thought."
Shepard straightened in her cot and saluted; Anderson dismissed the formality with a wave and chuckle. "At ease, Shepard. Glad to see you're all right."
Shepard smiled and relaxed a fraction. "Have to say, sir, not exactly how I like a mission ending up."
"Me either. I'm just glad I get to escape your mother's wrath - who knows what she'd do if I had to deliver bad news."
"I don't know, sir. I don't recall anyone ever surviving giving her bad news." Shepard's grin disappeared. "In all seriousness, intel dropped the ball. Geth on Eden Prime? We walked into a death trap."
Anderson shook his head. "The geth haven't been seen outside the veil in two hundred years. Unless we presume unknown enemy combatants everywhere we land we can't anticipate events like these."
Shepard bit her lip and turned away, belatedly realising that Chakwas had slipped away into the back room.
"I read Alenko's report. There was nothing you could have done."
"I could have avoided sending him on point. I could have scouted ahead. I could-"
"Be a body laying on Eden Prime?"
Shepard gritted her teeth. "Was there anything else, sir?"
"Yes." Anderson folded his arms behind his back. "This is a bad situation, Shepard. One spectre dead, a destroyed prothean beacon, and a second spectre doing who knows what on a human colony. The Council is going to want answers."
Anderson paused, seeming lost in thought. He leaned against the cot next to Shepard. "'Death and destruction' - what did you mean by that?"
It was Shepard's turn to pause and think. She chewed on her inner cheek for a moment. "Before I lost consciousness, I saw...something. War, people being slaughtered by the thousands, synthetics tearing through them, going system by system." Shepard shuddered. "And an overwhelming sense of dread and loss."
Anderson paused to take that in. "That came from the beacon?"
"I don't know. Nothing's really clear. If Saren was there, what're the odds he or the geth did something to it?"
"Quite likely I'd say. Saren and I have a troubled history; he was also around for the First Contact War. He, like many others, think that humanity is spreading too far, too fast. I wouldn't be surprised if this geth attack was an initial assault."
"So what do we do? The Council will never believe someone over their own spectre."
"We'll find a way, Shepard. Spectres aren't completely untouchable." Anderson's expression softened and his voice caught a gentler tone. "Rest up, Shepard. We'll be arriving at the Citadel soon and I want you in as good shape as you can be."
"Don't want to catch flak from my mother?"
Anderson chuckled. "Be nice to Chakwas." Anderson briefly headed to the back room and said something inaudible to Shepard; he was heading to the main doors before Chakwas walked into Shepard's line of sight.
