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Shepard dialled in the code at her terminal, opening up a channel to the Citadel human embassy’s offices.
“Commander Lily Shepard for Councillor Anderson,” she requested.
“I’m sorry, sir. Councillor Anderson retired last week, in favour of Councillor Udina.”
She frowned, briefly considering correcting the man before settling on the more immediately useful action of questioning him. “Where’s Anderson now?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t divulge-”
She cut him off. “Spectre authority. Tell me. That’s a direct order from an agent of the Citadel Council.”
He was silent for a moment. “...David Anderson has been reinstated to active duty within the Systems Alliance Navy.”
“Thank you.” She tapped the comm key with a heavy finger, ending the connection.
She sat down at her desk, tapping up her email client.
From: Lily Arielle Shepard <
[email protected]
>
To: Captain David Anderson <
[email protected]
>
Captain Anderson,
Please call me on receipt of this message. It’s not urgent, sir, but I’ve been meaning to call.
Yours sincerely,
Lily Arielle Shepard
P.S. My email client tells me to tell you Happy Father’s Day, but unless you’ve had a kid in the few months we’ve been out of touch, I’m tempted to tell it to mind its own damn business.
She leaned back, relaxing properly for the first time in a while.
Her eyes snapped open to the sound and sharp light of the terminal blinking insistently.
She tapped the key to accept, taking a moment to shake the last dregs of sleep off.
“Lily? You look like hell, soldier.” His voice was a welcome rumble, something she’d been yearning to hear for a while.
“Captain. It’s good to hear from you. Sorry about the… mess,” she waved over her face and cracked armour. “I’ve had a bit of a rough mission, and I’ve just fired off my report.”
“Commander,” he said, and she could hear the quiet sigh as he leaned forwards. “I know we talked about this before, but I’ve been moving heaven and earth at the Admiralty to try to get you reinstated, especially given your consistent reports and actions at the Collector Base. I’m so close-”
She pursed her lips. “I’m sorry, Captain, but it looks like that might not be happening. Admiral Hackett will choose to release parts of this mission as he deems appropriate, but this latest mission wasn’t for Cerberus.” She let out a bitter laugh. “All I can say is that I highly doubt I’ll be coming home in command of the Normandy, sir.”
His whole demeanour slowly shifted, his excited posture giving way to a bowed stance of defeat. “Understood, Commander. Good luck out there, Shepard, and… I’ll do my level best to make sure the Alliance takes the Reapers seriously.”
She understood what had to remain unsaid - he’d support her claims, and by proxy, her. “Thank you, Captain. It’s appreciated - more than you know.”
He smiled a wistful smile. “You’re welcome, Commander.”