It was not unusual for for a reply to be delayed, particularly when contacting the commander. What was unusual, was nothing over a nearly twenty-four hour period.
About six hours following her initial message to Shepard, she wondered if, maybe, the commander was still angry after what transpired on Horizon.
Twenty hours in, Ashely decided that if Shepard was angry, she would not have hesitated to tell her so. Her gut told her something was up. If the commander had made it back and was in custody she would have heard about it.
It was perfectly normal not to receive a full reply, especially if your recipient was on a mission. Protocol was, however, to send something to your fellow as soon as you had the chance; this way, everyone knew you were still alive. It was important; it could prevent a lot of trouble later.
And Shepard had sent nothing.
Ashley's fingers twitched over her omni-tool, drafting another message, and when she was done, she hesitated over the recipient box. Who was most likely to know? Who could she trust?
What if the whole ship was in danger?
She shook her head. A wider area of effect made sense. Someone had to know. Ashley forwarded the message to the old crew: Joker, Dr. Chakwas, Wrex, Liara, Garrus, and Tali. She hoped it would be enough.
She hoped she was just being paranoid.
Hey. I know it's been a while since you heard from me, and after my suspicions about Shepard and Cerberus, I understand if you're hesitant to tell me anything.
I already made my apologies to Shepard a while back. For what it's worth, I am sorry for what I said. I had my reasons, but that's not important right now. I thought I'd drop the commander a line a while ago, but she hasn't replied, and I'm worried something's up. (I figured if she was just angry at me, she'd say so in no uncertain terms. I'm sure you know what I mean.)
Maybe it's just paranoia after all this Reaper stuff, but I'd appreciate knowing if there was trouble.
