Well, boredom has hit so here is another chapter.

"Change of plans, Marley," I told her, "There's a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there." I took my time on the way there, clearing as much of the hills as I could manage. Technically I was only supposed to observe how Marley approached combat, but finding the geth on the planet meant that all bets were off. There was no way I was going to risk her being injured or killed just because I wasn't supposed to be involved in the mission beyond observation. I worked my way down into the valley to one side of the shipping platform then ducked down behind the wall to avoid being seen as I reached the top of the stairs. I stood and started cautiously onto the platform but nothing prepared me for who was standing there. "Saren?" I asked, trying to decide if I should be glad for the help, annoyed at the interruption, or telling him in no uncertain terms to get lost. "Nihlus," he said, turning around to face me with a smile. Apparently Saren wasn't having the same problem.

"This isn't your mission, Saren," I said flatly, "What are you doing here?"

"The Council thought you could use some help on this one," Saren said, putting his hand on my shoulder as he walked past me. I watched him for a few seconds then turned back to study the rest of the shipping platform. "I wasn't expecting to find the geth here," I said quietly, "The situation is bad…"

"Don't worry," Saren said from behind me, "I've got it under control." I had been about to walk away from Saren, but something in his voice made me turn around only to find him holding a gun on me. There wasn't time to think, I just grabbed Saren's arm and forced the weapon down and to my right trying to take it away. I didn't even notice that the gun went off at some point during our scuffle. We backed away from each other, but it hurt like hell to move and I looked down to see I'd been shot. When I looked back up at Saren he had an annoyed expression on his face and was stalking toward me. "What's going on, Saren?" I grunted, putting a hand over the bleeding wound as I moved behind a shipping crate to get some distance between myself and the other Spectre.

"You shouldn't be here," Saren said coldly, checking the load on the pistol before continuing, "But now that you are I can't just let you leave, not alive. I can't have you going to the Council and ruining my plans. Such a waste too, you were a good soldier and a good Spectre. Why are you here anyway?"

"That's classified," I couldn't help but snap, "If you don't already know I'm certainly not going to tell you."

"Oh come now, I already know about the beacon," Saren said, "I know that you came here with a human crew to pick it up. Why aren't you with the rest of the extraction team? Unless… It's Shepard, isn't it? You're still helping her play Spectre, trying to convince the Council they should recruit her."

"What is it with you?" I demanded, "You've had it in for Marley ever since I suggested she might make a good Spectre!"

"So now it's 'Marley' is it?" Saren sneered, "What did she do, promise to warm your bed for you if you put her up as a candidate?"

"How dare you think such a thing?! She's not that kind of woman!" I spat furiously, still moving away from Saren. I managed to get a few more crates between us before ending up backed into a corner. I couldn't keep this up much longer anyway, the wound was starting to make me pay for moving. Saren started to say something else but was interrupted by the sounds of gunfire coming from over the last hill. He looked away, giving me the time to duck down behind the crates. "I don't have the time to play games with you," Saren said, "But you're not going anywhere. By the time she gets down here my geth will already have finished you off. And the best part? The Council will think Shepard had something to do with it. She will never be a Spectre, assuming she even survives." I knew that already and it was the only thing keeping me from attempting to strangle him. I couldn't let Marley get the blame for this. I heard Saren start to walk away and I took a quick look to see him heading in the direction of the cargo train. The Geth started toward my make-shift fort and I pulled back out of sight. They didn't get more than two or three steps before there was an explosion and all but one of them stopped moving. The last one starting shooting, then the sound of a sniper rifle echoed around the valley and the Geth dropped dead on the platform.

"What is that?" Kaidan asked, pointing, "Off in the distance."

"It's a ship," Ashley said in amazement, "Look at the size of it!" I was ignoring them, something more interesting was going on down on the shipping platform that was just too much of a temptation to pass up. How many times do you come across a whole group of your enemies standing around in a circle like idiots right by a fusion containment cell? I smirked a little, got down on one knee to steady my sniper, took careful aim and squeezed off the shot. The cell exploded and only one geth survived to start shooting at us, and I made short work of it with a well-placed shot to the main processor. "Commander, a little help would be nice," Kaidan hollered.

"On it," I said, lifting the husks of the dead colonists into the air with my biotics and helping my team pump rounds into them with my pistol as they came charging up the hill at us. My Lift didn't last very long and Kaidan, Ashley and I continued shooting and backing away. The last one finally dropped and we all sighed in relief. The husks hadn't even had time to overload on us. "What the hell happened, Commander?" Kaidan asked. He was annoyed, and I really didn't blame him. "I'm sorry, Lt, I should have warned you," I said, "I decided to take out everything that could shoot at us before they saw us. There were no zombies running around when I started."

"It's ok, Commander," he said, "It just scared the hell out of me."

"Me too," I said, "We got lucky on that one, next time I'll warn you."

"We should probably keep going, Commander," Ashley said. I nodded and lead the way down the hill, then took a detour when I noticed that the door to one of the sheds was locked from the inside. I motioned my team to keep watch then I went and hacked the electronic lock. "Everybody stay calm out there," the first man said as he came walking out with his hands in the air, "We're coming out, we're unarmed."

"Is it safe, are they gone?" a young woman who looked to me like she was in her teens asked quickly as she followed him.

"You're ok," I told them gently, "Nobody's going to hurt you."

"Those things were crawling all around the shed," the man said, "They would have found us for sure. We owe you our lives."

"I—I still can't believe it," the girl said, "When we saw that ship I thought it was all over!"

"It showed up right before the attack," the man said, "Knew it was trouble the second I saw it, so we made a break for the sheds."

"I need you to tell me everything you remember about the attack," I told them gently.

"The three of us were working the crops when that ship showed up," he said, "We just saw it and ran. I don't know what happened to the rest of the crew."

"They were by the garage, over by the spaceport," another man said, coming to stand by the other two, "Right where that ship came down, no way they survived."

"You don't know that," the girl told him, "We survived. If they made it to the garage they could have had a fighting chance."

"Can you tell me anything more about the ship?" I asked.

"I was too busy running to get a clear look at it," the first man said, "I think it landed over near the spaceport."

"Tell them about the noise, Cole; that awful noise," the girl said, sounding terrified.

"It was emitting some kind of signal as it descended," Cole said, "Sounded like the shriek of the damned, only it was coming from inside your own head."

"Trying to block communications, maybe?" I wondered.

"I don't know," Cole said, "Whatever it was, it felt like it was trying to tear right through my skull. Almost made it impossible to think."

"I have to get going," I said, "You three should be alright now."

"Hey, Cole, we're just a bunch of farmers," the quiet man said, "These guys are soldiers, maybe we should give them the stuff."

"Gees, Blake, you gotta learn when to shut up!" Cole snapped.

"Do you have something to tell me, Cole?" I asked him sternly, going into 'commander mode.'

"Some guys at the spaceport were running a small smuggling ring, nothing major," Cole said, "In exchange for a cut of the profits we let them store packages in our sheds."

"What sort of packages," I asked.

"I found a pistol," Cole said nervously, "Figured it would come in handy if those things came back, but you'll probably get more use out of it than we will."

"We're risking our lives to save this colony," I told him quietly, "You sure there's nothing else in here that could help us out?"

"Yeah, there's one more thing," Cole said, handing me a gun module, "I was going to sell it after this was over, but you probably deserve it more than I do."

"Who's your contact at the spaceport, Cole?" Ashley demanded, "What's his name?"

"He's not a bad guy," Cole defended, "I don't want to get him in trouble. Besides, I'm not a snitch!"

"He might have something to do with this whole attack, Cole," I said in frustration, "We need his name, it's important."

"Yeah, okay. You're right," he said quietly, "His name's Powell, works the docks at the spaceport. If he's still alive."

"Come on, let's go," I said to my team.

"Good luck," Cole said and I nodded to him as we walked away. We searched the place while working our way down to the shipping platform then started up the stairs. "Um, Commander..?" Kaidan asked, his tone full of worry.

"Oh no…" I whispered, seeing that the platform was smeared with very blue blood. "Hello?" I called, looking around nervously, "Is anybody here?"

"M-Marley is that you?" I heard Nihlus call from somewhere I couldn't see.

"Yeah, where are you?" I asked. I heard movement and I turned to see him stand up from behind some low crates in a corner to the right of the platform. "I'm here," he said, then he hissed in pain and stumbled as he started to take a step towards me. I vaulted the crates and helped him sit on top of one of them while I inspected the still slightly dripping wound. It was hard to tell how bad it was, but I wasn't going to take chances. "When I said be careful this isn't what I had in mind," I joked softly, applying medi-gel to stop the bleeding as much as I could, then I pressed a clean bandage over that.

"This certainly wasn't the plan," he grunted with a shake of his head.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Saren was here and at first we were just talking," he said, "I only turned my back for a few seconds but it was enough. When I looked back at him he had a gun on me. We had a fight and he shot me. I don't know why he didn't just finish me off."

"It's just a damn good thing for him he didn't," I growled.

"Commander, there's something moving over there," Ashley said suddenly, training her assault rifle on a stack of crates close to the wall of the garage while Kaidan and I aimed our pistols. "Wait, don't shoot, I'm one of you, I'm human!" a man said as he stepped nervously from behind the crates.

"You're a lucky bastard," I snorted at him, "Sneaking up on us like that almost got you killed."

"I-I'm sorry," he said, "I was hiding from those creatures. My name's Powell. I heard the whole thing, that guy, Saren, just…"

"Slow down," I said, sounding a lot calmer than I felt, "Where did Saren go?"

"He jumped on the cargo train and headed over to the other platform," Powell said, "Probably going after the beacon. I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First that damn mother ship shows up, then the attack. They killed everyone; everyone! If I hadn't been behind the crates I'd be dead too!"

"Do I look dead to you?" Nihlus grumped, giving the man his best shut up look.

"N-no," Powell stuttered.

"Why are you the only one who survived? Why didn't anyone else hide back there?" I asked him, knowing full well that he would be dead if Saren had known he was there.

"They never had a chance," Powell said, "I… I was already behind the crates when the attack started."

"Wait a minute," Kaidan said focusing in on the same thing I started to, "You were behind the crates before the attack?"

"You do know that doesn't make your story sound any better, right?" Nihlus growled at him.

"I…" Powell gulped but he kept talking, "Sometimes I need a nap to get through my shift. I sneak off behind the crates to grab forty winks where the supervisor can't find me."

"You survived because you're lazy?!" Ashley exploded.

"You're Cole's contact here on the docks," I said, "For the smuggling ring."

"What? No!" Powell protested, "I mean… What does it matter now? So I'm a smuggler, who cares? My supervisor's dead, the entire crew is dead. It doesn't matter now, does it?"

"Anything hidden nearby that we could use against the geth?" I asked him.

"A shipment of grenades came through last week," Powell admitted, "Nobody notices if a few small pieces go missing from the military orders."

"You greedy son of a bitch," Ashley snarled, "We're out here trying to protect your sorry ass and all you can think about is how you can rip us off?!"

"I never thought you'd actually need those grenades!" Powell protested, "Who'd want to attack Eden Prime? We're just a bunch of farmers, how was I supposed to know?"

"Just give me the grenades," I said evenly, his whining wasn't doing my temper any good.

"They're yours, take them," Powell said, "My smuggling days are over, I swear."

"A lot of marines died here, Powell," I told him coolly, "Those grenades could have come in handy. If I were you, I'd think of some way to make it up to them."

"Yeah, okay," Powell wisely gave up, "There is something else I was saving. It could be worth a fortune, experimental technology, top of the line. Take it, I don't need it. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, really. I'm sorry." I just nodded and took the module he handed me along with the grenades. "I need to find the beacon before it's too late," I told him.

"Take the cargo train, that's where that other turian went," Powell said, then he wandered away saying, "I… I can't stay here… I need to get away from all this…" I rolled my eyes and shook my head, then bent to take another look at Nihlus' wound. It didn't look bad, but it didn't look much better either. Clearly medi-gel will only do so much. "Marley, you should go," he said, trying to push me away. I didn't budge; instead I gently took his hand and turned on my comm to link up with the Normandy. "Joker don't respond, just listen," I said, "I need you to call Dr. Chakwas and get her as near as you can to these coordinates. Tell her to make sure her equipment is absolutely sterile." I turned off my comm and looked at Ashley, "Williams, I need you to stay here until the Doc gets here, catch up with Lt. Alenko and me when Nihlus is safe."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Commander?" she asked.

"I'm not arguing with you," I said, "One way or another someone is staying here and catching up later."

"Alright, Commander," she said, "Be careful, you hear?"

"I'll be fine, Chief, thanks," I said, "Let's go, Lt." I hated leaving Nihlus like this. Even though there was nothing else I could do, I still felt like I was deserting him. I sighed and gave his hand a slight squeeze, then Kaidan and I headed for the cargo train. When we rounded the next corner we nearly walked right into the two geth soldiers that were coming our way. I lifted them up in the air, giving Kaidan time to throw them against the wall. After that they only took one shot each to kill and we kept going. There were some crates standing at the top of the staircase we were coming to and out of habit I looked around them and down over the rail. On looking down I noticed at least one geth on the platform below, standing next to another conveniently placed fusion cell. I pulled out my rifle and blew up the cell, sending the geth flying through the air while it disintegrated. There were more down on the boarding platform for the train, but again, Kaidan and I had more than enough firepower to make short work of them. Even a juggernaut doesn't last long when hit with two or three overloads and a lot of bullets. Ashley caught up with us just as we were getting to the train. "Did I miss anything?" she asked.

"Nope, nothing important," I answered as we stepped onto the train, "You're just in time to help us get the beacon though."

"I hope this thing is worth it," she grumped.

"Yeah, me too," I said, starting up the train. Five minutes later we pulled into the next station and got off the train. "Demolition charges!" Kaidan said suddenly, "The geth must have planted them."

"I'll get them, cover me," I said. The first one was right by us and I dropped down beside it and went to work. I noticed they were on a 4 minute timer which didn't give me a lot of time so I started my electronics scanner and finished punching in the code to turn this one off. The next three were on the other side of the rails on an adjacent platform and we would have to fight through a lot of geth to get to them. "They have a sniper," Ashley warned.

"There's a destroyer and a couple of soldiers coming across the bridge too," Kaidan added.

"Alright, you two concentrate on them," I said, "I'll get the sniper and whatever stays close to it." I dodged behind a shipping crate and waited until I saw the laser from the geth sniper's sight pointing down at the bomb I had just defused. I followed its trail, lined up my shot and squeezed the trigger. The sniper dropped, but another geth destroyer unit stepped out from behind a crate and fired a rocket at me. Luckily the rocket moved slowly enough that I had time to duck. The force of the rocket still drained my shields completely and I got a few good burns. My armor started pumping painkillers into me and I rolled my eyes, then I stood up and hit the destroyer with an overload, then a lift. My lift… Well that just made it mad and it launched another rocket in my general direction. Kaidan had a better idea, he picked it up and threw it against a shipping crate, used his own overload, and Ashley finished it off with her assault rifle. She and Kaidan covered me as I ran across the bridge and got to work on the bombs. I sighed in relief when I had them all down. The whole fight had only taken about two minutes and 35 seconds according to the timers, but it had felt like years. We did a quick search of the platforms but only turned up a packet of omni-gel and a couple of stray grenades. Still, better than nothing. We started down the stairs but were met with three more zombified colonists who came charging at us. Kaidan and I overloaded two of them, then we hosed all three with bullets and they all finally died. We had just gotten to the first landing when I saw a lone geth taking aim at us with a sniper. I turned and pumped shot after shot into it with my pistol until it died. We didn't relax after that until we'd searched the whole platform and were satisfied that there would be no more surprises. My team and I then headed for the beacon and I turned on my comm. "Normandy, the beacon is secure," I said, "Request immediate evac."

"We read you loud and clear, Commander," Captain Anderson responded, "We're en route; stand by for pickup."

"Roger, Normandy, standing by," I said. I turned to say something to Ashley, but then noticed that Kaidan was being pulled toward the beacon. I didn't think about it, I just pushed past Ashley and ran over to Kaidan and grabbed him, throwing him out of reach of the beacon. I tried to back up myself, but it was too late. My vision clouded then all I could see were fire and destruction as I felt myself being lifted into the air. The next thing I knew there was an explosion that sounded like it was coming from inside my head, then everything went black.

The first thing I heard when I started to come back to the land of the living was Kaidan informing Dr. Chakwas that he thought I was waking up. All I could do for a moment after I sat up though was groan. Damn, that fool beacon must have blasted me harder than I thought… "You had us worried there, Shepard," Dr. Chakwas said, coming over to steady me, "How are you feeling?"

"Minor throbbing, nothing serious," I said, "How long was I out?"

"About 15 hours," she answered, "Something happened down there with the beacon, I think."

"It's my fault," Kaidan was quick to take responsibility, "I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it, you had to push me out of the way."

"You had no way to know what would happen," I told him quietly. He just nodded and gave me a half smile. "Actually, we don't even know if that's what set it off," Dr. Chakwas said, "Unfortunately, we'll never get the chance to find out."

"The beacon exploded, a system overload maybe," Kaidan said, "The blast knocked you cold. Williams and I had to carry you back to the ship."

"I appreciate it," I said, choosing to ignore his nod and smile combo this time as I stood up, then leaned against one of the counters when the room started to spin.

"Physically you're fine," Dr. Chakwas said, "But I detected some unusual brain activity, abnormal beta waves. I also noticed an increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming."

"I saw—I'm not sure what I saw," I finished lamely, "Death. Destruction. Nothing's really clear."

"Hmmm. I better add this to my report," she said thoughtfully, "It may—Oh, Captain Anderson."

"How's our XO holding up?" Anderson asked as he came striding into the med bay.

"All the readings look normal," Dr. Chakwas informed him, "I'd say the commander's going to be fine."

"Glad to hear it," he told her then he turned to me, "Shepard, I need to speak with you—in private."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Kaidan said with a salute, "I'll be in the mess if you need me."

"Sounds like that beacon hit you pretty hard, Commander," Anderson said quietly, "You sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine," I said quietly, "I just—Jenkins was just a kid, Captain. He shouldn't have had to die that way…"

"Jenkins wasn't your fault," he said, "You did a good job, Girl." I wanted to contradict him and tell him I didn't, but I knew he was right. No matter how guilty I might feel over Jenkins' death and Nihlus' injury, there wasn't a thing I could actually have done to prevent either. "Did we leave Gunnery Chief Williams back on Eden Prime?" I asked, suddenly remembering the young marine.

"I figured we could use a soldier like her," Anderson said, "She's been reassigned to the Normandy."

"Williams is a good soldier," I sighed in relief, "She deserves it."

"Lt. Alenko agrees with you," he said with a smile in his voice, "That's why I added her to our crew."

"You said you needed to see me in private Captain..?" I finally asked.

"I won't lie to you, Shepard, things look bad," he said, "I haven't gotten through to the Citadel yet but with Nihlus out of action completely for the time being, the beacon destroyed and geth invading, the Council is going to want answers."

"Is Nihlus going to make it?" I asked.

"Dr. Chakwas says it's too soon to tell, but she thinks he will make a full recovery," Captain Anderson said.

"That's some good news anyway, better than I hoped," I said, "I didn't do anything wrong, Sir. Hopefully, the Council will be able to see that."

"I'll stand behind you and your report, Shepard, you're a damned hero in my books," Anderson replied, "But that's not why I'm here. It's Saren, the other turian. Saren's a Spectre, one of the best. A living legend. But if he's working with the geth, it means he's gone rogue. A rogue Spectre's trouble, Saren's dangerous. And he hates humans."

"So I've heard," I said, "But he didn't come to Eden Prime because he hates humans, Captain."

"You're right, Shepard," he said, "That beacon was the only reason he could possibly have had for going to Eden Prime, or allying with the geth. You were there just before the beacon self-destructed. Did you see anything? Any clue that might tell us what Saren was after?"

"Just before I lost consciousness I had some kind of vision," I said.

"A vision?" Anderson asked, "A vision of what?"

"I saw synthetics, geth maybe. Slaughtering people, butchering them," I answered.

"We need to report this to the Council, Shepard," he said.

"Pff. What are we going to tell them, I had a bad dream?" I asked.

"We don't know what information was stored in that beacon," he said, "Lost Prothean technology? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever it was, Saren took it. But I know Saren, I know his reputation, his politics. He believes humans are a blight on the galaxy. This attack was an act of war! He has secrets from the beacon, he has an army of geth at his command. And he won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the face of the galaxy!"

"I'll find some way to take him down, even if I have to pay somebody," I growled.

"Cool your jets, Girl," he cautioned me, "It's not that easy. He's a Spectre. He can go anywhere, do almost anything. That's why we need the Council on our side."

"We prove Saren's gone rogue and the Council will revoke his Spectre status," I said.

"I'll contact the Ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the Council," David said, "He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel. We should be getting close. Head up to the bridge and tell Joker to bring us in to dock."

"Can I ask you a favor, Captain?" I asked.

"What is it?" he asked. He was so used to my odd favors by now that he always asked what I wanted before giving me any kind of an answer. "Would it be possible to withhold information or would that get us in even more trouble?" I asked, "I could be wrong, but Saren tried to blow up the whole colony, I don't trust him not to try to finish Nihlus off if it gets out that he's still alive."

"Nihlus could prove Saren is a traitor," Anderson said doubtfully.

"That's the point, Saren is trying to leave no evidence," I said, "And no evidence means no witnesses. He doesn't care how long a trail of bodies he leaves, so long as no one can prove what he's up to."

"I'll think about it, but I can't promise anything," he sighed, "I wouldn't mind, but if the brass found out that we left something out of a report a whole lot of things could go wrong."

"Yeah, you're right," I said, "And the Council probably wouldn't appreciate us using them to play poker with Saren. He can't fool everybody though and I'm sure something will turn up. Could you have Dr. Chakwas come back in here when you go?"

"Sure," Anderson said, "You feeling alright?"

"Yeah, Da, I just have a pounding headache that will keep me company for a while is all," I laughed, "You do what you have to do, I'll be okay."

"Take it easy, Marley," he said, and I nodded as he sent Dr. Chakwas back in.

"The captain said you asked to see me," she said, coming to stand in front of me, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine, Doc, thanks," I said, "How is Nihlus?"

"I just finished checking up on him, I think he's going to be fine," she said, "His wound is actually less severe than it looked when Chief Williams helped us get him on board. He asked for you as soon as the anesthetic started to wear off after I finished the surgery."

"I'm not surprised," I said, "We… We're pretty close."

"I assumed so, he asked for you by your first name," Dr. Chakwas said, "He's in the captain's quarters. I decided he would get more rest there than he would here."

"That's probably true," I said, "Thanks, Doc." I stood up as carefully as possible, and when the room finally stopped spinning I left. Fifteen hours… That's a long time to be out no matter how you look at it and I'm not even the one who got shot. I bypassed the mess and went straight to the captain's quarters, deciding that a little wait wouldn't kill Udina. Politicians are like cockroaches, they can survive almost anything. "Spirits, Marley, I was worried about you," Nihlus sounded like he'd been just about ready to ignore the predictable order to stay in bed and come looking for me. "What happened to you?" he growled, and I had to look in a mirror to figure out what he was talking about.

"Oh this," I laughed, pointing to the cut over my left eye.

"Yes, that," he said.

"More my clumsiness than anything else," I said, carefully sitting down on the bed beside him and taking his hand, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm not made of glass, Marley," he laughed, "You and Chakwas are, how do you humans say it? Mother birds."

"Mother hens, Nihlus," I giggled.

"What's a hen?" he asked.

"It's a bird," I explained, "They're called chickens, females are hens, males are roosters."

"That seems odd to me, since you also call someone who is a coward a 'chicken' but you are the least cowardly human I know," he said.

"Yeah, there's no way I can explain this so it will make any kind of sense," I laughed.

"Is this the same as your human thing of calling someone a bitch?" he teased.

"That one makes about as much sense as this one," I said, "A bitch is a female dog, the only reason I can think of that it somehow became a curse word is because of how it sounds."

"It does have an angry sort of sound," he commented, "So you're off duty for a while, right?"

"No, unfortunately," I sighed, "I have to be up on the bridge in a few minutes, I'm supposed to go with the captain when he has the meeting with Ambassador Udina."

"I should be there," he said quietly.

"No, you need to be here getting better," I said softly, "I don't really think the ambassador will much care whether I'm there or not, so once I've done whatever it is Anderson wants me to do I'm coming back."

"Alright," he sighed, "Just let me know when you go talk to the Council. They'll ask questions eventually and I don't want Saren to be the only one answering them. He will try to undermine you."

"I would expect nothing less, you told me he doesn't like humans," I shrugged.

"This is worse, Marley," he said, "I couldn't keep my damn mouth shut and now he knows we've been seeing each other."

"Are there regs?" I asked.

"Technically no, but they would question both our motives," he sighed.

"I don't suppose it would matter that you suggested 'Commander M. Shepard, Alliance Marine' before you figured out that was who I am," I said.

"No, and they wouldn't believe you didn't know I was a Spectre either," he replied.

"I don't care," I said, "Saren can say what he wants, you're alive and that's what matters to me."

"Nothing gets to you, does it, Marley?" he asked with an amused smile.

"Just you," I smiled back, giving him a kiss, "You get to me all the time. Listen, I have to go. If I don't Captain Anderson will wonder what is taking so long."

"I miss you, Marley," he said softly.

"I miss you too," I kissed him again, "I'll be back as soon as I can, Nihlus; I promise." He pulled me close again and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips, then I finally stood up and left. This was getting old, seemed like every time I turned around lately I was leaving him somewhere. As I started for the ramp leading up to the CIC I noticed Ashley standing off to one side of the mess. She looked a bit out of place and I could tell she was feeling pretty awkward too, so I went over to talk to her. "Oh! Commander, I'm glad you're ok," she said, "The crew could use some good news after what happened to Jenkins."

"He was a valuable part of this crew," I agreed, "He'll be missed."

"Part of me feels guilty over what happened," she admitted, "If Jenkins was still alive, I might not be here."

"You're a good soldier, Williams. You belong on the Normandy," I said gently, "I'm sure we could still have found a place for you here."

"Thanks, Commander," she said, this time with a smile, "That means a lot from you. I've never met anyone who was awarded the Star of Terra."

"Well now you have," I laughed, "Things were pretty rough down there. Are you okay?"

"I've seen friends die before," she said, "Comes with being a marine. But to see my whole squad wiped out… And you never get used to seeing dead civilians. But things would have been a lot worse if you hadn't shown up."

"We couldn't have done it without you, Williams," I said quietly.

"Thanks, Commander," she said. I smiled and then I really did head for the bridge, I was probably pretty late by now and if I took any more time Anderson wouldn't be the only one who would have my ass in a sling. As much as I don't like politicians, you can still only push them so much before there are consequences. From the little I'd heard of Udina though it seemed he might tolerate more than most. "Good timing, Commander," Joker said as I came up to stand behind him on the bridge, "I was just about to bring us into the Citadel. See that taxpayer money at work."

"I'm just along for the ride," I laughed. Ashley and Kaidan showed up a few seconds later and we all stood there looking out the window as Joker navigated the Normandy through the traffic around the space station. "Look at the size of that ship!" Ashley said suddenly in amazement.

"The Ascension," Kaidan said, "Flagship of the Citadel Fleet."

"Well size isn't everything," Joker smirked.

"Why so touchy, Joker?" Ashley teased.

"I'm just saying, you need firepower too," Joker defended.

"Look at that monster!" Ashley protested, "Its main gun could rip through the barriers on any ship in the Alliance Fleet."

"Good thing it's on our side, then," Kaidan commented.

"Citadel Control, this is SSV Normandy, requesting permission to dock," Joker said, ignoring the rest of the discussion.

"Stand by for clearance, Normandy," an operator responded, then a few seconds later he said, "Clearance granted. You may begin your approach. Transferring you to an Alliance operator."

"Roger, Citadel Control," Joker said, "Normandy out."

"Normandy, this is Alliance Tower," a new operator came on the line, "Please proceed to dock 422." The dock we were directed to was fairly unimpressive, but there were still plenty of other ships locked in there, and the place was moderately busy. As soon as the docking bay airlocks were in place, Kaidan, Ashley and I met up with Captain Anderson and we all made our way to the Citadel Embassies.