Chapter 2

As the shuttle came out of FTL, Rhova glanced out the window toward Cartagena Station and felt a small degree of reassurance at the amount of activity occurring around the station. There would be no difficulty to hiding the shuttle's energy signature among the traffic coming in and out of the station, or at least she would be able to hide it well enough to be in and gone again without being found. As she approached the space hub, an incoming message from station security blinked up on the comm channel. Rhova touched a dial and a disembodied voice, filled with authority, came over through the cockpit's speakers.

"Shuttlecraft two-two-nine-alpha, please wait for docking clearance."

She reached for her helmet as she responded to the direction. "I've prearranged clearance with Thaisa Silveris and am expected in docking hangar 3-7X."

There was a minute of silence from the comm and in that time she secured her helmet into place, effectively hiding her face. The voice that came back across the comm channel this time was different, the voice stern and even more commanding. "Identify yourself two-two-nine-alpha."

No doubt they had checked the name supplied to them and were doubtful that someone with her reputation would be seeking out Thaisa purposefully. Hiding the smile in her voice, she calmly replied. "Shuttle 229A, single passenger only - Rhova Lyft - here by appointment. My ident card information has been sent through."

A minute passed before a green light flashed across the control panel, indicating her identity was confirmed and permission to dock had been cleared.

"Clearance to proceed granted."

Rhova guided the small vessel into the docking hangar Thaisa had arranged for her use and after initiating the engine shutdown procedure, she left the cockpit. In the cargo area, she only took a second to glance around the cramped space that had served as her home for the past two weeks before she picked up the small case she'd packed.

When the airlock opened, there were two guards waiting on the other side, both turian and both heavily armoured. As she walked off the shuttle, she nodded her head politely to the guards before making the quip, "Welcoming committee?"

The senior-most guard grunted and replied, "Standard procedure. Just need to be sure your clearance pass checks out. "

As she handed the guard her credentials, Rhova noted that his gaze had drifted downward to her chestplate and the symbol that was placed just off-center. With her face hidden behind her helmet, she allowed her lips to curl upward in amusement. The marking - a small self-indulgence that she allowed herself - was hard to ignore.

Etched in cerulean blue, it was the greek letter 'Rho' but it had been fashioned so the tail on the 'P' was extended and angled to resemble a dagger. By now, most people who saw the mark recognized it by reputation and were willing to let her by without much trouble, unless they were looking for trouble themselves.

The guard pressed a few keys on his own datapad before handing Rhova back her ident card. "Thanks, that will be all."

"In that case, gentlemen, I should be on my way. Appointment to keep and all…"

Rhova moved past the turians but the second guard called out before she got too far away. "Ms. Lyft... the security captain wanted to remind you there's no trouble on this station that you don't go looking for yourself."

Her back to the guards, Rhova just shook her head to herself; she had to at least give them points for daring the subtle threat. Without looking back, she quickly left the docking area and went in search of the taxi hub.

As she strode through the station, she barely noted that most people gave her wide berth either because they were cognizant of who she was or because of the commando armour she wore. With her head and face hidden beneath her helmet they naturally assumed she was asari; an assumption that she was well aware of and in fact encouraged.

Ten minutes had passed since her arrival before Rhova finally arrived at The Fringe, which put her nearly on time from when she had told Thaisa she arrive. Outside the entrance of The Fringe, stood a bored looking krogan who apparently served as the club's bouncer. He ignored several people as they entered the place ahead of her, however, when he saw Rhova approach he pushed away from the wall and held out a hand to stop her.

"Hold it! You can't go in there with that case; it needs to be left with security."

There was no apology or hesitation in her reply, "No. It stays with me."

"Then you can't go in… Check the bag," the krogan retorted gruffly.

The air shimmered around Rhova's armour as she gnashed her teeth in annoyance. She could feel the hairs along her arms bristle with the energy of the biotic field that was beginning to form in an involuntary response to her temper. She had to force herself to take a deep breath just as an asari wearing commando amour similar to Rhova's exited the club, interrupting the bribe she was about to make the bouncer. If an expression could be described as both surprised and impatient, the asari demonstrated it.

"Rhova!"

Wide blue eyes took in the situation in a glance and the asari's expression became smug. "Stop flirting with the krogan and come along; we've got to be on our way and don't have time to waste on your personal life."

Rhova spluttered and the krogan growled in indignation, exclaiming at the same time. "Flirting!"

The asari ignored their grumbling denials and swiftly walked past them, heading in the direction of the taxi hub. The krogan waved the two away in disgust before resuming his position against the wall, while Rhova quickened her pace to catch up with the asari. Her voice held more than a little sarcasm when she did catch up.

"Good to see you too, Thaisa."

"Don't use that tone with me, Rhova. I just received a report that a merc ship just docked at the station, coming in from Bekke space. Which, if I'm not mistaken, is where you just arrived from. Perhaps someone you know?" Thaisa didn't bother to slow her step but she did glance over her shoulder to give Rhova a meaningful look.

They passed by the hub without stopping and Rhova knew better than to question Thaisa. She'd likely not get any response from the asari. Their destination couldn't be far if Thaisa was worried about time, so it was no surprise that they turned off the main corridor toward a hangar only a couple minutes away. There was less traffic down the hallway and the few people that they did pass seemed to have no interest in the pair and Rhova and Thaisa remained focused on reaching the hangar.

Despite the fact there were no windows along the hangar approach, Rhova didn't need to see outside to know which ship was docked in the bay. Owned in part by Thaisa and herself, the asari ship Mahet served as their home away from home. An older ship, it had seen a lot of action but upgrades had improved the ship so the lines were still sleek while it sported some of the most advanced armaments. It was not so large that it needed a big crew to run but it had room for twenty people; however, besides themselves, the regular crew consisted of a handful of asari and one quarian.

As they waited in the airlock, Rhova removed her helmet and rubbled a gloved hand over her hair. She did not bother to make any small talk with Thaisa but instead stood in companionable silence. It was merely a relief to finally feel like she was back on familiar footing.

The decontamination and pressurization cycle completed and the interior door opened with a whoosh. On the other side stood yet another asari commando, her arms folded across her chest and frowning expression on her face; however, Rhova spotted the unmistakable sparkle of amusement in the asari's violet gaze. Standing to the commando's right stood a male quarian, his blue and black enviro suit gleaming brightly beneath the overhead lights.

The asari was the first to greet the pair. "So, the roving prodigal returns." Her lips curled upward at the play on Rhova's name, a joke that never seemed to grow old with the asari.

In a dry tone of voice, Rhova supplied the expected response. "Wow, that's very witty Mara. Did you come up with that on your own? I can't imagine it ever tiring."

Mara gave an over-exaggerated roll of her eyes before breaking into a wide grin. Reaching out with both hands, the asari gripped Rhova's forearms and squeezed them in a warm greeting. "We were starting to get worried about you. Another day longer and your sister would have had us out scouring the Abyss for you."

Thaisa wrinkled her nose and gave a snort. "Unlikely. Another day longer and I might have posted for a more pleasant first officer. Although it might have been hard to explain to Bexia why I returned home without our sister."

Thaisa winked at the quarian and moved past the group. "Excuse me but it seems like we have the need for a bit of haste. Another of Rhova's admirers has picked up on her trail."

Mara excused herself as well to join Thaisa, leaving Rhova with the quarian. Tall and broad-shouldered, Dhar'kenn vas Mahet had the sole honour of being the only masculine presence aboard the ship. An expert at data retrieval and intelligence analysis and a considerable force with a gun in his hand, he was as much as part of the crew as any of the asari aboard, and her closest friend. Smiling widely, she punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Drake! I bet you'd be the first to apply if Thaisa was looking for a new XO."

There was a soft metallic click and a rasping laugh emitted from inside the suit. "Yes certainly, but only because I eventually want to be captain."

Rhova picked up her case and left the airlock, motioning for Dhar'kenn to follow her. "I've missed you friend, seventeen days is a long time to go without having anyone to talk to, even for me." As they walked through the corridor she nodded to an asari seated at a console but didn't stop to talk.

The floor trembled under their feet and there was a slight jarring as the ship pulled out of dock before Thaisa's voice came over the intercom. "We'll be making the transition to FTL in less than a minute and then an estimated 47 minutes until we reach the Relay."

At the elevator door, Rhova took the data card she had recovered from the derelict ship out of her armour and held it up. She eyed it critically before handing it to Dhar'kenn. "Take a look at this will you, Drake? Let's find out what's important enough to hijack an Alliance ship and kill everyone aboard."

The elevator opened and she made a face as she stepped into the empty carriage. "I'll meet you in the communications room shortly. Be thankful for your enviro suit, friend. The smell out here is dreadful. Seventeen days is a long time to go without a proper shower." His laugh echoed through the corridor as she punched the button for the second floor.

On the crew deck Rhova entered her room, a moderately sized cabin with a single bunk and space enough to allow a tiny desk and chair. Dropping her case on the chair, she turned to the recessed closet space in the side wall that held all her clothing. Taking out a set of plain brown commando leathers, she set the outfit onto her bunk before she unfastened her armour. She removed each piece with practiced efficiency and left her armour lying on the floor as she entered the bathroom that adjoined to her cabin. After flicking on the shower, stepped inside and roughly scrubbed soap through her hair and over her skin. She denied herself the leisure of enjoying her first shower with running water in three weeks and instead cleaned quickly, intent to rejoin the others for a briefing before their arrival.

Rhova grabbed the towel that was folded neatly on the shelf in the bathroom and dried her hair before wrapping the damp cloth around her body. Standing before the mirror she paused to glance at her reflection. Aqua-green eyes stared back and her black hair was shaped close to her skull in damp curls. She turned her chin toward her right shoulder so she could have a better look at her left cheek. Rhova twisted her mouth so that the skin stretched across the cheek; she couldn't prevent herself from tracing the pink scar that lanced across the pale skin, a reminder to never let her guard down. Though it had faded significantly since she had received it, she knew it was never going to fully disappear.

In her room, she dropped the towel onto the bed and pulled on the commando outfit. Glancing at small console sitting on her desk, she marked the time before leaving the room. Twenty minutes remained before they went through the Relay.

Back up on the main deck again, Rhova joined Dhar'kenn, who was seated at a table next to array of consoles on the starboard side of the ship. Referred to as a room, in actuality it was a wall covered in screens and holographic displays, used not only for communication but also to access to the extranet and a secure database of information back on Illium.

Dhar'kenn's hands were moving quickly as he flipped through menus over the holographic screens before him. Rhova stood behind his chair waiting for him to acknowledge her presence instead of interrupting his search. She noted a few words that flipped by on his screen were in English but for the most part, they were asari mixed with a few quarian words. Dhar'kenn flipped back to a previous screen, a star map, and pointed a finger at a marking in the top corner.

"There. See that?"

She leaned close to get a better look; it was a symbol that resembled a crescent-moon shape. "What is it? Does it belong to any known organization?"

Dhar'kenn shook his head and keyed through a few more entries before bringing up another screen. This one was filled with numerical data in columns and again he pointed to a crescent embedded in the data. "I haven't been able to match it to any of our records but as soon as I started pulling data off that stick and began my search, it's been coming up every where." The quarian turned to glance up at Rhova, his face all but obscured behind the blue tint of his faceplate, so she had no insight to his expression. However, she could hear the quiet concern in his tone.

"Tell me Drake… what have you found so far." Taking the seat next to him, Rhova waited for him to answer.

"To be honest, I don't know what most of this stuff is yet. There is a lot of scientific data, possibly genetic sequencing. There's also some imaging that looks to be from plants or another type of organic life, along with star charts." Dhar'kenn started to type on the console again, pushing through several more screens of information, a lot of which appeared to still be encrypted. Rhova turned her attention to the screen and watched for a few more minutes as he sorted through even more data.

"Approximately seventy to eighty percent of this is encrypted; what I've seen so far mostly just points to scientific research. Not really your typical Alliance intel."

"No one said that the intel belonged to the Alliance. Perhaps that is why they are all dead now." They both turned around as Thaisa came up behind them. "Eleven minutes before we pass through the Relay," she added.

Rhova nodded absently, her thoughts on the details that Drake had revealed. "Perhaps Kjaera will have a better insight." She tapped onto a keyboard and brought up the sensor functions. "Any further sign of my pursuer?"

"No. Hopefully that means they have no idea about what was on that ship or who was there. They likely won't follow us out of the Abyss but if they did, they'd be fools to come after us."

"Fools or just very determined."

"True." Thaisa finally gave her attention to Rhova. "Ugh, your hair is still wet. Did you forget that you're back with civilisation?"

Dhar'kenn continued to scan data as the pair conversed, but finally interjected with a trace of annoyance in his voice. "Hello? Trying to work here, a little bit of quiet would be nice."

Used to the quarian's highhandedness, Rhova made a face at him but stood up. "Fine, we'll leave you to it. The more you can have deciphered by the time we reach Illium, the better."

"Illium? But we're going to..." Dhar'keen question was cutoff in an abrupt grunt as Thaisa put a hand on the quarian's shoulder and squeezed.

In a forced tone, she corrected him. "Illium."

Rhova looked between the two before glaring at Thaisa suspiciously. "Where did he think we were going, Thaisa?" Each word was enunciated carefully.

The asari pressed her lips together and shrugged, refraining from saying anything further. Rhova shifted her gaze to Dhar'kenn but the quarian bent his head and, if it were possible, he'd begun to type faster. Her eyes went wide, more green than blue now, and she fisted her hands at her sides as they began shimmer and glow with biotic energy. In a warning tone, she said, "Thaisa... Please tell me what I'm thinking is wrong."

When the asari woman said nothing, Rhova whirled on her heel and walked away, heading back toward the elevator and her cabin. Over the intercom a voice reminded them, "One minute, captain."

Thaisa couldn't prevent herself from giving a parting order to her sister. "And dry your hair while you're down there, Rhova. They won't let us on the Presidium if you're looking like a drowned cat."