Finding a Way: Mass Effect 2

He spent the better part of the journey back to the Citadel fuming, the words how could she repeating over and over in his mind.

As soon as the ship docked, he made for Anderson's office. He had sent his official mission report but wanted an in-person debriefing sooner rather than later.

"Commander," Anderson said, somewhat surprised, as he walked in.

"Admiral. I trust you got my report on Horizon."

"I did," he said cautiously.

"What is the Alliance going to do about Commander Shepard, sir?" he asked.

"Why don't you sit down, son," Anderson replied, a flicker of guilt passing across his features.

He had known. The realization hit Kaidan like a ton of bricks. "You already knew she was alive," he whispered, making it a statement and not a question.

The admiral slowly nodded and started to explain. "Aubrey came to me a week or so after she woke up. First thing she asked about was how to rejoin the Alliance, but there wasn't a way for that to happen."

"Why not?"

"Oh, come on, Alenko...use your head. What do think the admiralty board would have done if a soldier killed in action two years earlier had come waltzing back into HQ asking to be reinstated?" He didn't give time for Kaidan to try and answer. "They would've locked her in a brig for interrogation as a Cerberus spy, or even more likely, sent her to some lab for study to try and figure out how they brought her back and try to replicate the process."

"You honestly think that?"

Anderson huffed a small laugh, "The possibility of immortal soldiers, Commander? Oh yes, I think some of the admirals would have been all too eager to turn her into a lab rat for something like that."

An image of Aubrey strung up like David Archer briefly entered his mind and turned his stomach. "So, what? You both decided it was better for her to turn traitor?"

"No. We decided it was better for her to be our eyes and ears behind enemy lines."

Kaidan's expression must have mirrored the confusion in his mind causing Anderson to elaborate, "Who do you think has been feeding us our intel, Commander?"

"Aubrey's your mole?" he asked, knowing that he sounded like an idiot asking the obvious.

Anderson nodded. "She's done everything possible to undermine them, while using their resources to protect our colonies."

"Then you knew Cerberus wasn't behind the attacks?" he asked, trying to piece things together.

"We weren't sure," he confessed. "Aubrey knew they were pointing the finger at the aliens dubbed the Collectors, but she didn't know if Cerberus was involved with them. It wouldn't be the first time they used aliens as a scare tactic to increase xenophobia."

"Why would these Collectors and the Reapers be kidnapping humans?"

Anderson shrugged, speculating, "Maybe this is a new tactic for eliminating organic life since we stopped Sovereign's invasion plans."

Kaidan shook his head. "I'm sorry, Admiral, but this isn't possible. There's no way she was dead and brought back to life. Cerberus had to have found her alive and reprogrammed her... turned her against us. We can't trust her."

Anderson looked surprised at his words and then his face went stony. "Your objections are noted, Commander. Go get some rest. Dismissed."