Thessia
Liara rolled her shoulders as she exited the transport and picked up her single bag. She smiled as she hefted the minimal weight and slung it over her shoulder. Her time spent as a soldier in the Reaper War had taught her the benefits of packing light, and she could live for a month out of a single carry-on backpack. Alas, she had only needed to be on Sur Kesh for two weeks, rendezvousing with one of her agents in the STG. Her agent, of course, had not been appraised that he was meeting with the Shadow Broker.
Unlike her reclusive, paranoid predecessor, Liara had employed the strategy of hiding in plain sight, and it had worked for over three hundred years. All of those who had known her secret were long dead or on Tuchanka, and no one would have ever guessed that the great war hero Liara T'Soni still stood at the forefront of the galaxy's underworld. The underworld itself did not know.
She smiled as she approached her skycar, letting her mind drift to the comforts of the T'Soni estate, including the pool-sized jacuzzi. The thought of a glass of wine, an selection of asari operas, and a hot bath made Liara shiver with the anticipation of creature comforts and the home she had missed for two weeks.
Liara opened the door as her omni-tool chirped, alerting her to a call on her private frequency. She frowned, wondering who would be calling her at this obscene hour. But confusion transformed to worry as she saw Sen's name across the screen and she quickly accepted the call.
The asari on the vid-link looked distraught and Liara scanned the background visible through the screen, attempting to discover Sen's location.
"Liara," Sen's voice sounded ragged, and Liara could see the remnants of tears on her cheeks, the violet veins standing out in her bloodshot corneas, "Liara, I apologize for calling you; I know you're off world but…"
"Sen, what's happened?" Liara kept her voice calm, a tone that could cut through worry and draw coherent information out of the most fractured mind.
"There was an accident…it's on the news." Sen explained, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes, as though seeking clarity and pertinent information. "A skycar…the anti-grav system malfunctioned and it fell, skidded across the street into a building. The engine was destabilized by the impact and it…the car exploded…"
Sen's voice broke and Liara took a deep breath, attempting to control her heart rate. "Sen, are you hurt?" she asked the question pressing at her.
"No." Sen shook her head and Liara breathed a sigh of relief. "But…but Mira was walking home. She was caught in the explosion. I'm still listed as her emergency contact but we're…we're not bonded and we're not family. I'm at Thessia Medical but…I'm still suspended…and no one will tell me anything. They won't let me see her and I'm…" Sen's voice cracked again and tears slipped from her eyes and down her cheeks, "…Liara, I'm scared."
"Stay where you are." Liara counseled her. "I just returned to Thessia, and I will be there as soon as possible."
"No." Sen's voice sounded strained. "You…you don't have to come I just…"
"For the goddess' sake." Liara snapped, knowing that the harshness in her tone would clear Sen's mind. "Get yourself some water, sit down, and wait for me. I'll try to find out what I can."
"A…all right." Sen nodded, looking around as though trying to find her functioning mind. "Thank you, Liara."
"Think nothing of it." Liara replied, severing the link with Sen, bringing up a news feed and gleaning pertinent information before opening an encrypted channel and calling the only entity who knew all of her secrets.
"Greetings, Dr. T'Soni." Glyph's voice rang over the link. "How might I assist you this morning?"
"Glyph, access Thessia Medical and the peacekeeper's station records from Sector Seventeen. Find anything and everything you can on Mira Dorsen and send it to me on this channel, text only, no audio."
"Of course. It will be done." Glyph replied and Liara swung into the seat of her vehicle, keying in the auto-pilot and setting the destination.
She needed the time to concentrate. Sen's eyes had held a wild frenzy, a panicked disbelief, a shock that Liara had seen once before. In her own eyes on that terrible…terrible day. Her hands trembled and she laced them together as memories, rarely revisited, assaulted her anew. Her throat tightened as her mind filled her senses with the stench of smoke. Her eyes closed and fire flashed behind them in sickening oranges and reds.
Liara's heart rebelled against the memories, but it hurt with the thought that Sen might have to endure those same emotions…it would be made all the worse by her strained relationship with Mira. The Shadow Broker had no doubt that Sen loved the human technological engineer, it shone in her eyes and lived in her voice…and that manner of loss, so sudden and unexpected…it could break a stronger heart.
Just as it broke mine, all those centuries ago.
Her omni tool chirped and Liara thanked her predecessor for engineering such efficiency into the little VI that somehow managed to keep her life from utter and complete chaos. She opened the message and her heart sank. The pictures of the accident scene were grisly. There were more than a few bystanders who would not be at the hospital…but in the morgue. Liara appraised the pictures with an impartial eye, looking for signs that this had been a purposeful attack. It would almost be impossible to do so through images alone, and Liara dashed off quick message to one of the Broker's agents in crime scene investigation.
Another chirp alerted her to an incoming message, and she opened the readout of the emergency services report on the condition of Mira Dorsen. Liara paled at the litany of injuries.
Found unconscious at the scene. Multiple shrapnel wounds to the extremities and abdomen. Torn intestine. Internal hemorrhaging. Collapsed lung. Open fracture of the tibia. Probable skull fracture, requires further evaluation. Exhibiting signs of septic shock.
"Goddess." Liara breathed, staring at information that she should not have…information that Sen, as a physician herself, would desperately desire…information Liara did not want to give.
It is very likely that Mira will not survive. Liara knew all too well the fragilities of the human body…even when that body belonged to a soldier, hardened by injury and with more reason to live than most.
Tears, tears that had been shed a thousand times, pricked Liara's eyes, and she let them fall as she forced herself to think of happier times, of better days and sweeter dreams. She still had time…time before she had to face Sen and see the terror in her eyes. Enough time to calm herself and remember…remember what had come before the darkest days of her life.
