"Officer! Officer!" A voice shouted from the bustling crowd on the Zakera Ward. Andromeda glanced over as she tried to make her way through towards C-Sec. Even though technically she wasn't on duty yet, Andromeda decided to pause in her journey to see what the young Salarian vendor wanted.

"Yes?" She asked as she finally made her way up to his counter. She assumed that he needed help, but Salarians were very easy to read…and he didn't look that distress. In fact, he looked excited…

The Salarian took a second to respond and then pointed his finger out to her with a huge smile across his soft face. "You look like you would be interested in the new Blasto game. Just came out and I'll even give you a discount." The Salarian spoke quickly as he picked up the OSD in front of him.

Andromeda looked at him painfully. She lost her place in line to where she needed to go for just this? Exhausted already, she looked over at the crowd that she would have to fight through to get where she really needed to go. "You're kidding right?"

"No, I'm not. It has great ratings! I have a copy myself and let me tell you, I never could put it down!" The Salarian continued rapidly. His eyes blinked as she finally noticed that he took a breath.

Andromeda held up her hand and turned her right foot towards C-Sec's direction. "Sorry, I'm not very interested."

"Not a problem, Officer. Remember to come back to my booth in a few months! Rumor has it; they are making a game off of Commander Shepard. Now that may be more up your alley."

Hearing this, Andromeda paused in mid stride and pivoted around to put her attention back on the vendor. She was dumbfounded. "They are making a game?"

The Salarian's smile grew even bigger this time and he outstretched his arms in awe. "Why not? Commander Shepard fought off the evil Saren and those…Geth! Saved the Citadel! That game would be ten times better than Blasto in my opinion. "

Andromeda shook her head sadly and walked away, not even bothering to respond. For one, she knew if she stayed there, the Salarian would keep talking and she would end up buying something from him. Two, she would be even more late to work. The Salarians were known to be great negotiators. However, those were not the reasons she walked away. The whole game concept bothered her. How could make they make a game about the attack after a lot of people died?

Pushing the pointless argument out of her mind, she finally made it to C-Sec and her blue eyes settled upon Captain Bailey sitting at his desk at the front. Captain Bailey was an average built C-Sec Officer with broad shoulders from probably sort of military background. He had blonde hair and looked to be in his late forties, early fifties. "Finally made it I see," Bailey greeted her as he kept his eyes on the monitor in front of him.

"Sorry…one of the vendors stopped me and I-"Andromeda started to explain herself, but Bailey lifted up his hand to stop her.

"It's only been a month since you've started to work the wards, Officer Kryek. You'll learn…" Was all that Captain Bailey said as he returned his focus back on his monitor. "Hopefully it will be a quiet evening….I want you patrolling around Dark Star. Think you can handle it?" This time he glanced up to look at her. She knew he wanted an honest answer. The Dark Star lounge was nothing compared to Chora's Den, but it still drew in the crowd with its variety of liquor from Krogan Ale to Asari Wine.

Andromeda saluted and nodded with solid confidence. "No problem here, sir."

"You're out of basic training now, Kryek. Don't salute me…damn it makes me feel old. Just watch yourself…and you contact dispatch if you spot anything. You got it? Don't go out there and think you're a Spectre. That's the best way to die when you're a new officer."

"Yes, sir." Andromeda turned to go to her post when she almost bumped into a Volus. "Excuse me…" She blurted out as she felt embarrassed for not even seeing him there. The Volus were a pretty standard looking species on the Citadel. They were about three feet tall, with a round shape. They wore some sort of environmental suits with a respirator. You could always hear them taking a breath as they spoke with their raspy voices.

"It's no problem, officer…." The Volus replied. "My credit chit has been stolen."

Captain Bailey glanced over casually and then looked back the monitor with a response, "Kor Tun…are you sure this time?"

Andromeda seemed very impressed that her captain could easily recognize this one. "Yes…" Kor Tun rasped. "I spotted a Quarian nearby….and I believe that he may have taken it."

"Sir?" Andromeda asked, seeing if her captain wanted to continue this one on his own or have her take over. Captain Bailey waved her off and she looked down upon the circular shaped alien. "Belief is not concrete evidence, sir, did you or anyone see the Quarian take your credit chit?"

"Well…no…..but it had to be him!" The Volus shouted out in dismay.

"Alright…let me get some facts from you. Where were you prior to noticing that your chit was missing?"

"I was at Dark Star to meet a coworker of mine…and…" The Volus paused to take a breath, then continued. "I had my chit out to have the bartender pay my tab with and then….when I walked out of the lounge….that's when I was missing it."

"Maybe you left it in Dark Star?" Andromeda curiously asked as she kind of knew where this was going.

"I don't know…..it was pretty crowded…that Quarian may have been there too."

"Well that area is where I'm working this evening. Before we jump to conclusions, why don't we both go to Dark Star and ask the bartender if he knows anything?"

"Alright….couldn 't hurt."

"I need to speak with my Captain. You go on over and I'll meet you there." Andromeda motioned in which the Volus complied. She figured she would have a few moments to spare since she could probably walk there faster than he could. Once he was out her sight, she turned around to Bailey. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking….how did you know that was Kor Tun?"

Captain Bailey looked out to see the Volus trying to squeeze his way through the crowd to make his way to Dark Star. "Because this is not the first time he has managed to lose that credit chit. Every time he loses it, he starts to blame someone stealing it from him. He's just lucky we manage to recover it. I'll bet the credit chit in my pocket that he left it with the bartender at the lounge."

"I think I have a lot of learning to do," Andromeda smiled as she looked at the brutal walk she would have to do through the crowd.

"Give it time. "

"Sir! You have to see this newscast!" A young human male officer excitedly yelled as he ran past the Captain to turn on the vid without even asking for permission. There was such urgency behind his voice that it sent a cold chill down Andromeda's spine.

The vid came to life and the famous Citadel news reporter, Emily Wong, appeared on the screen. Usually the Asian descent woman would have a cheery smile on her face, but this time it was a look of remorse and despair. "News of a tragedy struck Council space today…the Normandy was attacked by an unknown vessel and destroyed. A distress signal was sent out prior to the ship's communications going offline. Alliance ships have been dispatched to locate the Normandy and its crew. There is no word on how many survived the attack including the human Spectre Shepard." Emily paused as if she was unable to continue on, a few tears dripped from her eyes. Andromeda couldn't determine if there was any sincerity in the reporter's on camera performance. "More as this develops..."

A complete hush surrounded C-Sec and the surrounding area of the Zakera Ward. The words were still trying to penetrate the mental barrier Andromeda placed up to block this devastating assault. Attacked? Unknown vessel? No word survivors? Bile formed in her throat as a huge knot developed in her stomach. Finally, everything seeped in. The Normandy was the ship that Garrus on…assisting Shepard with the Geth incursions. He was on board! Did he not survive the attack as well? No! He had to.

"Andromeda…." Captain Bailey spoke out her name. She was not used to him calling her by her first name. "I think you said at one point when you joined C-Sec that you had a friend helping Commander Shepard….Garrus Vakarian. I'm sorry…..he was a damn fine C-Sec officer. Wish I could have had him on my team now…

She knew her captain was trying to sympathize with her loss, but she knew that he couldn't. Her ears perked up on distant conversations nearby as listeners were now conversing among one another and making their own assumptions. She didn't want to hear anymore…she wanted to get out of there! "Sir…I need some time alone…" She felt the hot tears wanting to be released and her voice cracked.

"I understand…take the rest of the week off…I'll send an officer down to meet the Volus. You just take care of yourself and no funny stuff got it?"

Without thanking him, she turned and hurried as fast as she could towards her apartment in the lower Wards. This could not be happening!