Author's Note: Sorry this update took so long. I had originally planned on introducing a new plot thread here that would have eventually served as a jumping off point for a future story. But no matter how many times I rewrote it, it just didn't work. It felt out of place. So I ate the bullet, and dumped the whole thing. Anyway, this chapter differs from the rest in that neither main character appears. I felt that after all the drama of chapter 4, the story needed a breather before moving into the third act. I'd love to know what you think. Thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is owned by Bioware and Microsoft. Sometimes, you've gotta let those hard-to-reach chips go.

Rise Above or Sink Below

Chapter 5

“So, what was it like?”

“What was ‘what’ like?”

“You know… working with her. Being right there, fighting alongside her… it must've been incredible.”

Ashley Williams stood in the Jenkins’ backyard, and stared back at the constable. She felt a sudden throbbing behind her eyes, and did her best not to cringe. She was only partially successful. Even after a month of being asked the same question over and over, hearing it still made her blood boil. Folding her arms, she took a long, deep breath before responding. “Well, Constable… I’m sorry, I forgot your name.”

“Oh… Monroe, ma’am. Shane Monroe.”

“Shane, right. And you two?” Williams pointed to the two young men who were standing a few yards away, listening in on their conversation.

“Oh, uhhh… Ben Cole, ma’am.”

“Riley McMasters. We were both friends of Rich.”

“Right” Williams replied. “Anyway, Shane… Commander Shepard is a damn fine soldier. In fact, she’s the finest soldier I’ve ever served with, but all of you had better remember something.” Williams locked eyes with the young constable, and then did the same with the other two men. “Annika Shepard is a person; a human being, just like the rest of us. You’re not doing her, or the uniform she wears, any favors by acting like she’s a damn superhero.”

For a moment, the three men stood in silence, not knowing how to react to the Chief’s statement. Finally, Monroe spoke up. “Gotcha, just a human being” he replied.

“Yeah, a sexy as all hell human being.”

“Hey!” Monroe snapped.

“Sorry, ma’am” Riley blurted out. “We knocked back a few before coming over here, and Ben’s always had a thing for redheads.”

“I’ve always had a thing for women who could kick my ass.” Cole retorted.

Ashley clenched her fists, and for an instant, seriously considered shattering Ben Cole’s jaw. “Drunk at your friend’s funeral, huh boys?”

“Hey, it’s what Richey woulda wanted” Ben replied, with Riley vigorously shaking his head in agreement.

“Tell you what,” Ashley approached Ben and Riley, and grabbed them each by the neck. “Why don’t you two take a seat over there, and keep quiet” she whispered in their ears. “And if I hear another word out of either of you, I’m gonna punch you in the mouth so hard, you’ll be shitting out teeth for a week.”

The two men exchanged nervous glances. Without another word, they turned, and walked away.

“Sorry about that, Chief” the constable called out. “I’m sure they didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”

As Ashley walked up to him, she flashed a quick grin. "Trouble?” she answered. “Everyone mourns in their own way, Shane. Just keep an eye on them, OK?”

“Sure thing, Chief.”

“Good. I’m going around front.”

Sitting on the front porch of the Jenkins homestead, Ashley Williams shook her head in disbelief. Predatory reporters, doe eyed policemen, and drunken guests; this was shaping up to be an eventful morning. Still, Eden Prime was just about the last place she wanted to be. Staring down at her feet, she idly kicked a stone off the porch, and watched as it rolled across the driveway.

“Damn rocks” she whispered. Keying up her omni tool, she scrolled through her messages until she found the right one. The one that had been haunting her for a month. The one that she prayed said something different every time she read it.

To: Gunnery Chief Williams, Ashley

CC: Commander Shepard, Annika

You are hereby ordered to report immediately to Fort Futenma, Okinawa, Japan for reassignment to Advanced Combat Against Synthetics division. Activation in ACAS will commence upon completion of mandatory debriefing and psychological evaluation.

FIFTH FLEET COMMAND

The breeze picked up, and Ashley gazed out across the plains of Eden Prime. Beyond the corn fields, rolling hills spread out towards the horizon like waves on an endless green ocean. Young corn stalks began to rustle and sway in rhythm with the warm gusts. The wind carried with it the sound of a dog barking in the distance, and the aromatic pollen of some unseen flowering tree. The air was rich with the sounds and smells of a world brimming with life. It was a truly magnificent day, and Ashley Williams could not have cared less.

As beautiful as it was, Eden Prime was still just a rock. Ashley had spent her entire military career on rocks, and she had reached the conclusion long ago that every one of them was exactly the same. All they did was keep her from where she wanted to be; in space, on a starship.

Serving aboard the Normandy had given her a taste of what life amongst the stars was like. After helping save the entire galaxy, she hoped that her family's honor would finally be restored. She hoped that her days of serving planet side would finally be over. Her hopes were quickly dashed. Sovereign’s wreckage had barely been cleared when Commander Shepard gave her the bad news.

“I’m sorry, Williams” she said, handing Ashley and OSD,“but you’ve been reassigned to ACAS. I did everything I could to fight this, but you've become a hot commodity. A marine who survived engagements with every known type of Geth is extremely valuable to Alliance Command.”

And just like that, she was back on a rock.

Ashley switched off her omni tool, and stood. Shake it off and fall in, Williams she thought. Time to get suited up. Grabbing her duffle bag, she turned, and walked into the house.

Stepping through the front door of the Jenkins farmhouse was like traveling back in time three hundred years. Wooden floorboards creaked and groaned under her feet. The carpet was worn down to almost nothing in places, and its floral design was badly faded. The walls were dotted with framed photographs hung with nails, and the lighting was controlled with mechanical switches.

Walking over to a large photograph, a Jenkins family portrait, Ashley recognized Richard and his father. There was also a woman in the photo, apparently the Corporal’s mother. Running her fingers along the ornate wooden frame, Ashley studied the intricacies of the design. Impressions of crops and flowers melded with abstract waves and loops. The gold paint was cracked and chipped, and a few small specs came off on the Chief’s fingers.

“Carved that pattern myself.”

Ashley spun around, momentarily startled by the voice behind her. “Huh? Oh, you mean this?” she asked, looking back at the frame. “It’s uhhh… very nice.”

“No it ain’t” Leonard half-chuckled, “not to you anyways.”

“Is it that obvious?” she answered, nonchalantly wiping the flecks of paint off her hands. “I’m sorry, Mr. Jenkins. I’m just not used to all this ‘antique’ stuff.”

“Don’t worry; it’ll take a hell of a lot more than that to get me riled.” Leonard began to walk away towards the kitchen. “Can I get you sumthin to drink, Chief Williams?”

“Sure. A glass of water would be nice.”

“How about a scotch on the rocks?”

“Even better.”

Following Leonard into the kitchen, Ashley was surprised at the number of modern appliances that were scattered around the room.

Leonard handed her a glass of the amber liquid. “What is it, Chief?”

Ashley took a quick sip, gritting her teeth as the whiskey slid down her throat. “What do you mean?”

“What did ya expect to see in here? A microwave oven? Maybe a hand cranked washing machine?”

“No, no…” Ashley shook her head, feeling a twinge of embarrassment. “I just… judging by the rest of your house, I thought maybe you were one of those ‘anti-technology’ types.”

Leonard downed his whiskey in one, long gulp. “Well, yer right. Mostly, anyhow” Leonard gestured around the room, “All this stuff, this was all Mona’s doing.”

“Mona… the woman in the picture?”

“Yeah, that’s her. She's dead too.”

“I’m sorry, I…”

“Ahhh, save it” the old man waved off her sympathies. “Anyhow, she was always buggin me to move into one of them pre-fab modular homes. There was no way I was gonna do that, so this here ‘modern’ kitchen was our compromise.”

“Well, it’s…… nice.”

As Ashley took another sip of her drink, Leonard refilled his. The room fell into an awkward silence as she searched for something to say. Ashley ran a finger along the lip of her glass, and gave the contents a swirl before downing what was left.

“More?” Leonard asked, holding up the bottle.

“No, one’s enough” Ashley answered, resting the glass on the nearest counter. “Thanks.”

The only response she got from Leonard was a grunt as he polished off his second round. The house fell back into silence, and Ashley began to wonder if taking this trip to Eden Prime had been a mistake.

Ten sharp tones suddenly rang through the house, causing Ashley to almost jump out of her boots.

“Relax, Chief” Leonard grumbled. “It’s just the grandfather clock.”

“Oh, the grandfather clock” Ashley answered. “Wait, the what?”

Leonard let out a heavy sigh, and began to walk into an adjacent room. He motioned for her to follow. “Come on, I’ll show ya.”

Ashley entered what appeared to be an office, or more aptly, what used to be an office. An old wooden desk sat across from a large window that looked out onto the back yard. Maps and calendars dotted the walls, and stacks of old books littered the floor. A vague musty smell hung in the air.

“Here she is” Leonard pronounced.

There, standing in the far corner of the room, was the oddest looking clock Ashley had ever seen. It stood over six feet tall, was made out of wood, and contained some kind of mechanism that swung back and forth behind an ornately decorated glass door.

“That’s a clock?” she asked.

“Yep. Hand wound, weight driven, eight day movement” Leonard remarked, sounding somewhat less withdrawn than he was just a moment before. “This here contraption has been in my family eight generations.”

“Eight?” Ashley baulked.

“Hard to believe, ain’t it?” Leonard gingerly placed a hand on his heirloom. “My father had this thing shipped all the way from Earth way back when he first settled here.”

Ashley approached the clock, picking up on its muffled ticking for the first time. “That must’ve cost him a small fortune.”

“I reckon it did” Leonard answered, his voice suddenly softer. “This thing was more than a clock to him, though. I laughed at him back then, but he called it a ‘life jacket’ for our family.”

“Life jacket?”

“Yeah, my dad was a bit of a…” Leonard rubbed the stubble on his chin, trying to find the right words, “a romantic, I guess you could say. When I was just a little thing, he’d plop me down in front of this clock, and teach me how to work it, care for it, even make parts for it if need be.”

“What does that have to do with the whole ‘life jacket’ thing?”

Leonard shuffled his feet, and stared down at the floor. “Well, he used to gimme this speech. He’d say that the clock kept memories afloat. It kept all the memories he had of his father alive in his mind. It did the same for his father, and his father before that, and so on, and so forth. He said it would do the same for me, and for my children. He used to warn me that if I let the clock fall apart, all those memories would ‘sink below the surface of time,’ or some nonsense like that, anyway.”

“And if you let them sink, they’d be lost forever.”

Leonard looked up at Ashley, and she could see that his eyes had become slightly red. “Pretty sentimental, wouldn’t ya say, Chief?”

“There’s nothing wrong with being sentimental, Mr. Jenkins” Ashley responded, “especially when it comes to your own family.”

Leonard grimaced, and waived off Ashley's comment. “It’s all bullshit. What good is this thing now?” Leonard’s voice began to tremble as he gestured at the antique clock. “All those years caring for this machine, it was all for nothing. It all ends with me.”

“But…”

“My son will be rotting in the dirt, all the memories will be lost, and this damn clock will still be ticking. Tell me, Chief. Tell me how that makes sense.”

Ashley opened her mouth to speak, then snapped it shut. She couldn't think of anything to say. Ashley hesitated, then reached out and placed a hand on Leonard’s shoulder. “But what were all the charms to me, when one sweet breath of memory came gently wafting by? And called my willing soul away, from earth, and air, and sky.”

Leonard pulled a tattered handkerchief from his pocket, and dabbed it under his eyes. “What kinda nonsense was that?”

Ashley let go of his shoulder, and slowly pulled away from the grieving father. “Uhhh… Anne Bronte, a 19th century poet from Earth” she explained, feeling somewhat self-conscious. “I sorta have a thing for poetry. It’s a long story.”

Leonard let out a disapproving grunt. “Like I said… bullshit.”

Ashley opened her mouth to respond, but quickly changed her mind again. Folding her arms, she turned back towards the clock. The two of them stood in silence for a long time, listening to the machine methodically tick away the seconds. It was Leonard, in a hushed, almost embarrassed tone, who finally spoke.

“Did you… Did you know Richard?”

“No, he…… I never got to meet him, no.”

“He was a good man.”

“Everyone on the Normandy really liked him.”

“I miss him.”

“I know” Ashley answered. “You’ll see him again, Leonard.”

“Ya think?”

“I know.”

A new noise suddenly began to emanate from the clock. The etched glass façade of the timepiece was vibrating. A faint whine in the distance quickly grew into a roar, and the entire house was momentarily plunged into darkness as something huge passed overhead.

"Awww, shit.” Ashley bolted from the office, grabbed her duffle bag, and ran back in. “Leonard, where’s your bathroom?”