Shepard leaned against the bulkhead, her posture the loose, casual one of an Eclipse mercenary eager to show off the uniform. That swagger had intoxicated Liara once: the hero of Elysium who could make the impossible possible by will alone. These days, Liara wondered how Shepard could manage it at all. Shepard peered at her. "Are you okay, Liara? You seem a little off your game. Figured the Shadow Broker of all people would know about the females."

Liara bristled. The old Broker would have known because he knew everything—really, who cared what kind of music Garrus piped through his visor? Liara didn't have the luxury of omnipotence. The attack on her ship had cast her world into darkness and she had to choose where to shine her flickers of light. Krogan females weren't important enough. "You got what you needed. You always do."

"Yeah." Shepard snorted. "Don't think Linron's too happy about it."

"No, she isn't." Liara didn't need her network to know that; the entire crew had heard the dalatrass' ravings. "It wouldn't surprise me if the Union made their assistance contingent on sabotaging the genophage cure somehow."

"They wouldn't be that—no wait, they probably would." Shepard's jaw jutted out with a defiance that ensured she graced a thousand recruitment ads. "Well, I'll just have to beat the Reapers without them."

Liara stared. She would have liked to see the genophage cured, of course. Wrex was a friend and he wanted a cure. She had touched Miranda's mind during their unions; the pain of losing a child in the womb was always buried just beneath the surface. To feel that a thousand times over a year after year must be unendurable. But the price… "The salarians could help with the Crucible far more than the krogan. Maybe even help us figure out what it does."

"It'll destroy the Reapers. That's all I need to know. And the genophage was a war crime. Also all I need to know."

And there it was again, that terrible, wonderful certainty. "Our immovable center" Chakwas called her. Shepard did what she thought was right without hesitation and without fearing the consequences. And so people followed her. They needed a bright, shining hero to give them hope, not a shadowy figure who waded in the filth. Liara wondered what Shepard would do if she knew how Liara had spent her shore leaves on the Citadel, that she had ordered a general murdered so the Blue Suns would join their cause. And to think she had dreamed of using the Broker's network for good. Miranda had told her once upon a time that the Shadow Broker was without good or evil. The Shadow Broker simply did whatever it took to survive and prosper. She would find herself no different from the yahg or she would find herself dead.

One of these days Miranda was going to be wrong and they were going to laugh about that.

Shepard smiled at her. "Cheer up, Liara. We'll get it done." A light flashed on the console nearest Liara. "New message, I'll leave you to the supersecret Shadow Broker stuff. Why don't you go to the Citadel? Play a few rounds at the arena or blow some credits on quasar."

Liara scanned the subject line. Sweat formed on her palms. Miranda had returned. "Yes, I think the Citadel is exactly where I need to be."

Miranda sat on the bed, one knee pulled to her chest. Liara indulged and took a moment to simply look at her. She was no longer the immaculate, polished goddess who taught Liara to survive and thrive as a broker before taking her to her bed. Her hair was short and ragged and her pallor was sickly instead of lustrous. But her eyes had never changed. A mix of blue and grey, always scanning, always trying to find the next threat. Liara had thought her cold when they first met. Perhaps she was. There was still ice in her gaze. Only now, Liara knew what was behind it

Miranda noticed Liara and smiled. Not the open, unguarded smile she had when she spoke of Oriana, but the lines smoothed from her face. Her movements were stiff as she crossed the room to take Liara's hands in hers. She pressed her mouth to Liara's own. Desire offered and reciprocated, but never demanded. Liara luxuriated in the feeling of Miranda's mouth on hers. Miranda was thoroughly alien, warm and smooth where Liara was cool and scaly. Liara wondered if she would ever grow accustomed the novelty.

Miranda pulled back. Playfulness danced in her eyes. "Oh, you have missed me. How are things on the front line? Shepard brokered the treaty with the krogan in record time I assume?"

Liara shook her head. "Wrex wants a cure for the genophage before he'll commit to sending troops to Palaven. The salarians likely won't send scientists unless we don't cure the genophage."

"Naturally." Miranda's eyes narrowed. "The entire galaxy is facing extinction and every species is still looking after themselves. Could we fake the cure? Pacify Wrex and the salarians long enough to get the turians to Earth?"

Liara's mind whirred. Even after all this, she was an academic. Here was a problem. Could her old friend be fooled? The STG would cooperate and they were masters of secrets. The deception didn't need to hold up for very long. A few months at most. But…no. "Wrex already has one source in the STG. And where there's one leak…"

"…assume there are three. You were paying attention." Miranda was trying for lightness, but the curse of joining minds was the deception was almost impossible.

"So that's it then? We proceed without the salarians." The small part of Liara's conscience that hadn't been folded, spindled, and mutilated breathed a sigh of relief.

"Maybe not." Miranda sank to the bed and Liara followed her. "The samples were long gone by the time I got to Sanctum, but I was able to intercept this transmission." She tapped a button on her omni-tool.

Udina. "Can you do it?"

The other voice had Shepard's arrogance, but Liara had never heard such malice and contempt cross her friend's lips. "Don't worry, Councilor. A few hours of panic and the other councilors dead and what's left of the galaxy will be all too happy to grant you or emergency powers. Of course Cerberus will expect you to hold up your end of the bargain."

"Don't worry. I'll get Shepard off your back."

Cold flooded Liara. Cerberus was plotting a coup. Even with their upgrades, the Cerberus troops couldn't take or hold the station against the combined might of the Citadel Fleet and C-Sec special response. But thousands of people would die in the attempt and if Cerberus succeeded in assassinating the Council, the political destabilization could doom the war effort before it had properly begun. "We have to share this with the Council."

"We could. It would save a lot of lives." Miranda's shoulders straightened, and the woman was replaced by the operative. Fatigue and affection vanished; only ice remained. "We could save more if we didn't leak it."

"What?"

"Think. What happens if the attack succeeds and Cerberus fails?"

Another problem. Use the known variables to extrapolate the unknown. Still not that different from archaeology And the bodies still smelled. "Assuming the Council survives and Udina dies or is arrested? The Council will panic. The war will seem real to them and the rest of the Citadel in a way it hasn't before. The public will demand that something be done. And terrified politicians will rally around anyone with a plan." The credit chit dropped. "Which would be the Alliance. The asari and salarians will be falling all over themselves to send resources to the Crucible. And Linron won't be able to do anything about it."

There was a time when Miranda would have smiled at that: her brilliant pupil learning just how devastating information could be. Now she simply squeezed Liara's hand. The last three years had changed both of them. Liara had learned to order assassinations, to make any species beg for death, to commit treason without getting caught. Miranda had learned to feel remorse for doing it. Liara wasn't sure it was an improvement for either of them.

Give me ten minutes and I can start a war. She should have wondered about stopping them. "I hate this."

"I know." Miranda kissed her on the cheek. "Someday it will all be over. You'll go back to your digs. I'll retrieve Oriana. Shepard will be so proud she never had to sacrifice her honor. We'll have our little blue children and everyone will live happily ever after."

More lies. Her voice broke. "We'll be heroes. No more hiding no more secrets." After Benezia had despaired of her daughter spending her first century in a useful career, she had told Liara to release be an ambitious archaeologist. Say she was going to do the impossible and discover what happened to the Protheans. An impossible dream would keep her moving forward when she thought of giving up. "Lots of little blue children."

The Shadow Broker did what she had to do.