Andromeda

by Jason M. Hough

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Forthcoming from Titan Books

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  NEXUS UPRISING

  FORTHCOMING FROM TITAN BOOKS

  MASS EFFECT ANDROMEDA

  Annihilation

  by Catherynne M. Valente

  Initiation

  by N. K. Jemisin

  NEXUS UPRISING

  JASON M. HOUGH AND K. C. ALEXANDER

  TITAN BOOKS

  MASS EFFECT ANDROMEDA: NEXUS UPRISING

  Print edition ISBN: 9781785651564

  E-book edition ISBN: 9781785651571

  Published by Titan Books

  A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd

  144 Southwark Street, London SE1 0UP

  First edition: March 2017

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Editorial Consultants: Chris Bain, Mac Walters, John Dombrow

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  © 2017 Electronic Arts Inc. EA, the EA logo, Mass Effect, Mass Effect: Andromeda, BioWare and the BioWare logo are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

  Did you enjoy this book?

  We love to hear from our readers.

  Please email us at readerfeedback@titanemail.com or write to us at Reader Feedback at the above address.

  TITANBOOKS.COM

  NEXUS UPRISING

  PROLOGUE

  Even the worst hangover of her life couldn’t keep the smile from Sloane Kelly’s face.

  She stood, hands clasped behind her back in a posture expected of a security director, on a ceremonial platform erected inside one of the Nexus’s many docking bays.

  Up until yesterday, the bay had been full of ships, each bustling with people and equipment, workers and staff. As the last-minute preparations were made, Sloane held one last briefing with her security officers, drilling down the procedures they’d all prepped for until she was confident they could enact them in their sleep.

  An unnecessary test, Sloane knew. She’d worked damn hard to ensure her people were up to the ironclad standards of the Initiative, and they didn’t disappoint. By the time the last box had been ticked and the massive space station had been declared ready for launch, her teams were as rock solid as she’d ever hoped for.

  Years of planning. Hours upon months upon years of work. Hundreds of thousands of applications, and the manpower needed to sort them all. Sloane had never seen the like, and all that focus and drive had been poured into one thing—the Nexus. Smaller than the Citadel, but more advanced and streamlined than anyone had ever thought possible. Even half-built, its corridors and wards folded down and locked in for launch, the gleaming station drew every eye. Once they arrived in Andromeda, construction would begin again, turning all the stripped-down parts of the Nexus into flourishing districts and functional docks.

  But before all that, the Andromeda Initiative had to get underway. So here she was, standing on this platform with a smile she couldn’t shake—and a hangover throbbing behind her forehead. The pain of that indulgence was real enough. This wasn’t some kind of dream.

  This was a goddamn miracle.

  And she was its Security Director. Standing here with only one ship in the bay. The cavernous interior caused an enormous feedback echo she wasn’t used to, turning whispers into shouts and words into a distorted wave. As soon as everyone had said their goodbyes, the Hyperion would leave, carrying with it the human Pathfinder and his crew.

  Jien Garson, founder of the Andromeda Initiative and awe-inspiring in her own right, stood a step in front of Sloane. She hugged Alec Ryder as if they were old friends, as she had with the other Pathfinders just before their ships had gone. Side by side with Ryder, Garson looked laughably diminutive, with the top of her head just barely reaching the man’s shoulder. Even Sloane stood taller—though that did nothing to alter Garson’s larger-than-life presence.

  The two separated slightly, still clasping each other’s arms, and exchanged final good wishes.

  Sloane couldn’t hear them clearly over the echoes, but she could read their faces. Garson, all hope and excitement. Ryder less so, but that was just his way. She’d never taken his aloofness to heart.

  Funny to see them now, acting so professional and diplomatic. All business, unlike the previous night’s farewell party. Thousands of pioneers, plus twice as many more of their friends and family, had all gathered for one final hurrah before the mission began. The last night of 2185 ad. For those joining the Andromeda Initiative, it was the last night they would spend in the Milky Way.

  By the time the Nexus arrived at its destination, all this—these people, their families, and all the problems in this galaxy—would be six hundred years in the past. Millions of light years in their wake.

  Wild, when she really thought of it. Jarring, and a little frightening. Not that Sloane was scared. She shifted her weight foot to foot, caught herself and firmed her stance. Not scared, more like…

  Anxious.

  A new galaxy. A new start, for them and for her.

  And as Security Director, Sloane would have far more influence than the grunt she used to be. Born too late to solve anything, strung out too far by old men in uniforms slinging around old grudges. And that was just the human side of it.

  This time, she thought, things will be different. Decisions would be made better.

  No more battle lines drawn between species. No more old vendettas, greedy piracy, no more Skyllian Blitzes. This time, they had a chance to do things right, starting with a station full of handpicked pioneers eager for the same dream.

  Sloane wasn’t alone. All of the pioneers had signed up with a hope for something different. Something better. Everybody locked it down behind a veneer of pride, dedication to work, or just raw enthusiasm, but Sloane knew.

  Leave it to a farewell celebration to crack that shit wide open.

  Everyone had wanted a party that would never be forgotten. They got that much. Well,
except for those euphoric moments that this party, like all great parties, had claimed as tribute. Sloane resisted the urge to rub her pounding temples. It wasn’t very professional to be nursing a hangover the day of the launch.

  Not that I’m the only one.

  Jien Garson put up a good front, but if she wasn’t hiding a pounding headache and burning gut, Sloane would eat her badge. Still, the woman was hard to read. She finally released Ryder’s arms and took her place beside him, not a shred of green around her proverbial gills. As she looked at the gathered leadership of the Nexus, all standing in a line beside Sloane, the overhead lights gilded her high cheekbones and tawny skin in shades of sheer glee. No sign of headache or exhaustion, not even a nauseous damper to the sharp gleam of intelligence in her straightforward gaze.

  There was so much more to the woman than met the eye. More than Sloane had initially credited her for. Boy, was that a mistake. Whatever else the Council said, whatever else the private investors said, the Andromeda Initiative was her mission more than anyone else’s. Garson had proposed the idea and rammed it through mountains of resistance and red tape by sheer force of will. She’d even managed to convince Alec Ryder to join as the humans’ Pathfinder—no small feat, given his widely known obsessions to his own array of mysterious projects. By all accounts, Ryder had been a damn good asset before he’d lost his wife, leaving him on his own to raise two kids and whatever demons he carried over it.

  Sloane had overheard committee members taking bets on whether he’d sign up or not. His N7 designation carried a hell of a lot of weight, but so did he. A few meetings with him told Sloane he wasn’t a man to be taken lightly. Given that Ryder now stood beside Garson—with something resembling eagerness, even—Sloane figured a few people were starting the journey a bit less rich than when it all started. Then again, she’d also heard his kids had joined the program. That had probably been enough to goad the man into the role. Or maybe the kids had. Who knew?

  Kids or not, she had a suspicion Ryder wasn’t going to be as easy to work with as maybe the committees hoped. She didn’t have to be a mind reader to know he was impatient. All this ceremony probably grated. “Let’s get this over with,” he was often heard to say. “So the real work can start.”

  Always more real work.

  “Well,” he said, dusting off his hands and right on cue, “it’s time to go. So the real work can start.”

  Sloane’s smirk earned her a quizzical stare—she wasn’t even sure he registered her as anything more than another body, to be honest—and a nod. She nodded back.

  As if remembering the same courtesy, he gave the rest of the staff the same nod. “Godspeed to us all.”

  Garson’s grin was full and unfettered. “See you on the other side.”

  To Sloane’s surprise, Ryder’s impatience made room for a brief chuckle.

  Whatever he found funny, they didn’t dwell. Another few minutes of farewells and then it was over. Ryder boarded the last shuttle, which quickly departed without further fanfare. He had his own job in the Initiative, and the Hyperion would depart soon after the Nexus.

  The plan was as simple as they could all make it: The Nexus arrives in Andromeda first and completes its final stages of construction, unfolding like an origami surprise from its compact travel form. The Pathfinders would arrive soon after, guiding their arks to dock with the central station. Once up and running, it would serve as a central hub of logistics and government in the colonization of the new galaxy—the Citadel, as it were, of Andromeda.

  Only better.

  Garson didn’t like it when people called the Nexus that. Sloane understood why. The Citadel carried a lot of baggage for a lot of people, humans or otherwise. Between the politics, the Council’s efforts at outmaneuvering each other—or, collectively, the krogan—and all the bullshit about humans being “too young for the responsibility”…

  Sloane shook her head, as if she could shake the irritation out. The list was long, and the death toll attributed to the backlog was even longer.

  The Nexus would be everything the Citadel had failed in.

  She watched as the hangar doors clanged shut behind Ryder’s shuttle, and a thrill of excitement coursed through her, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

  This was it. The final gateway outside the Nexus, at least for a long, long time. Sloane couldn’t look away. They all stood in place, watched as the narrow beam of light from the shuttle’s thrusters got thinner and thinner. Until the doors sealed shut with a final, poignant clang.

  Sloane blinked. Looked around furtively, unwilling to be the one to break the silence left behind.

  Garson had no such compunction. “Now we rest,” she declared, cheerfully brisk and deliberately nonchalant. As if she knew what Sloane was feeling. What they all felt. “I’m actually looking forward to this part.”

  “You are?”

  “Why not?” She stretched. “A little sleep, and then we’re there. I don’t know about you,” she added, laughing, “but I think we’ve earned a nap.”

  Several of her staff chuckled politely. The others gave knowing, happy nods. They were really going. Really getting it done. “The Nexus,” an announcer trilled over the system-wide comms, “is prepared for final inspection. All personnel to your designated stasis pods.”

  Garson held up a finger, pointing up at nothing as the echoes rebounded. Most came from the sudden rise of chatter, of giddy laughter and nervous exhales. “Hear that?” Her dark brown eyes sparkled. “Let’s get to where we need to be!”

  Sloane took a deep, steadying breath.

  “Repeat,” came the voice, “all personnel to your designated stasis chambers. Launch will commence shortly.”

  “To a new world,” Sloane muttered. To herself, really, but Garson slid her a sideways glance full of amusement.

  “To a better galaxy,” the woman corrected.

  Yeah. Okay. Sloane liked that one, too.

  * * *

  Sloane walked with the party of the core leadership as they finished one last ceremonial review of the vessel. Everything was as it should be, and she felt enormous pride at this culmination of all the hard work they’d already done.

  She’d known it going in, but every time she paced the ship, she thought it again. The Nexus was a freaking marvel. Part ark ship, part space station, the construct was second only to the Citadel in scope and ambition. Yet unlike its spiritual progenitor, this place had been built by them. For them.

  For a new future.

  Humans, salarians, asari, turians. The only non-Council species on board the Nexus were the krogan, and the Nakmor clan had signed on under the contract of working for it. Even so, equals or not, they’d all come together, driven by Jien Garson’s vision. And they’d done it. The Nexus was almost ready to go.

  Sloane stood back as the leadership made their way to the designated cryostasis pods. Of them all, she only had more than a passing relationship with two: Garson herself, and Matriarch Nuara, who served as one hell of an advisor on the team. Whatever else the asari did, Sloane appreciated having the long-lived Matriarch on board.

  If they were going to make a successful run at this, they’d need the asari’s wisdom. And, Sloane noted with an inward laugh, her biotics. Only a fraction of the Nexus’s passengers and personnel possessed the ability, and much of that came from the asari themselves. Having Nuara made a lot of them feel better, too. Remnants of speciesism the Nexus’s journey was designed to quell.

  They were all in this together, now. Nuara and Garson clasped hands, friendship clear between them, and parted with encouraging farewells.

  Sloane watched them carefully, mindful of the launching procedure. Their pods had to seal correctly, with no abnormalities in final readings. They and the other first-tier leaders would be first to wake in Andromeda. The hierarchy was set, and it began with top-tier staff—a trained and prepared doctor among them. Top medical would follow, then Sloane would wake soon after. Then the colonization effort would begin in
earnest.

  A short nap, huh? Sloane shook her head, bemused by the brevity of the concept. Six hundred years was a bit more than a nap. Not that they’d feel it.

  She waited while the others, personally escorted to their stasis pods, exchanged farewells and encouragement. She’d oversee the sealing of this chamber before returning to hers, where part of her team was already fast asleep.

  Soon enough, Sloane found herself alone with Garson. As if the woman felt like she had to, she waited and watched with Sloane until every pod was sealed and blinking all the right colors for successful stasis.

  Sloane wasn’t sure what to say.

  Garson had no such problem. “Did you enjoy my speech last night?” she asked brightly.

  “Er…” When the woman’s smile turned wry, Sloane grinned sheepishly. “I didn’t hear it. I was…” She trailed off, trying to frame an excuse that was honest, but didn’t make herself out to be a total asshole. Not my thing probably wasn’t it.

  “It’s alright, Director Kelly.” She tapped her nose with a knowing finger, dark eyes openly laughing up at Sloane. “It was a very busy night.”

  “Busy,” Sloane repeated. And if Garson believed that, Sloane was a naked quarian. “Yes, exactly. Lots to prep. Briefings and things.”

  “Well.” She stepped into her own waiting pod, her tone amused. “If you want to listen to it, there is a recording in the core. Just in case people needed some last-minute inspiration.”

  Sloane shrugged, but knew she would. “Everyone did say they really liked it,” she admitted. “I guess I should know what my team’s been raving about.”

  “Good. Do that.” Another smile, this one more her signature power move. Clean, bright, and not a thing weak about it. Or her. Garson hadn’t gotten this far by being a pushover.

  Sloane respected that.

  Garson lay back, adjusting the folds of her uniform. Like maybe she’d get uncomfortable? Sloane wasn’t sure how it’d all work, but she figured a centuries-old wedgie would be among the worst of their problems.