6 July 2183, Shadow Broker Facility/Alingon

Feron may have been a poor shot, but he had superb piloting skills, and his little ship was much faster than it looked. By the time Tazzik took the Omega-2 Relay for the Hourglass Nebula cluster, we were less than an hour behind him, well positioned to see which relay he selected. We followed him through and Feron immediately set a course for the Faryar system.

"The Shadow Broker only has one major facility in this cluster, as far as I know," he explained. "It's on Alingon. If I coax the engines we might be able to beat Tazzik there by an hour or so."

We spent a very tense day in flight. Feron seemed to be in good spirits, and tried several times to engage me in light conversation, but I could tell he felt wary of me. For my part, I mistrusted the drell and refused to let him out of my sight.

The cramped quarters aboard the Plain Dealer didn't help. A single small cabin and one acceleration chair in the cockpit made up the ship's entire habitable space. We got in each other's way constantly. I ended up sleeping on a cot that took up the entire floor of the ship's tiny galley.

Alingon is a barren world, remarkable for its extremely powerful magnetic field. Charged particles from its primary star get caught in the field, creating a dense blanket of interference for EM communications and sensors. At that time the Shadow Broker used this environment to provide his facility with a great deal of natural security. Any outsider who didn't know it was there would never be able to find it. On the other hand, ships moving in the magnetosphere could easily go undetected, which meant we could get very close without being spotted.

Feron landed in a narrow valley a kilometer or so from the facility, and we approached on foot.

"How are you planning to get us in?" I asked as we made our way across the stony surface.

"I picked this approach deliberately," he said. "Give me your sidearm, and let me do the talking."

I glared mistrustfully at him for a moment, and then obeyed.

We cycled through an airlock, and found two turian guards waiting to meet us. "Morning, gentlemen," said Feron. "I've got a delivery. Someone the Shadow Broker wants to see."

"Hey, Feron," said one of the turians, lowering his rifle. "Good to see you . . . but you're not on our list for today."

"Well, obviously not. Since when does the Broker tell you everything that's on his list?"

The other turian looked confused. "Sure, but we're supposed to know everyone who's coming. The list . . ."

"The list. The list! If your list was his list, you'd be the Broker. Are you the Broker, Delwian?"

"No, of course not, but –"

"Didn't think so," said Feron amiably. "How about you, Joppa? Are you the Broker?"

The first turian grunted. "No. What business are you running today, Feron?"

Feron leered and poked Joppa in the side with an elbow. "Well, it obviously involves shapely asari escorts. Maybe I can find one for you on my next run?"

"Hey, I'd like that."

Feron took me by the shoulder and guided me away from the guards, down a corridor. "Good to see you guys."

"You didn't ask him to bring back a girl for me," said Delwian rather plaintively as we moved away.

"Quit your bitching," growled Joppa.

I waited until we had passed out of earshot, then took my sidearm back from Feron while giving him a disapproving glare. "That was rather impressive. You're an accomplished liar."

Feron shrugged. "Perimeter security is pretty loose here. Besides, Del and Joppa aren't the sharpest nails in the jar. I've smooth-talked my way around them before."

"Is all of the Shadow Broker's network this easy to penetrate?"

"Not at all." Feron frowned. "Although I have noticed a blind spot or two in his thinking. He relies too much on concealment and technical security, and doesn't watch his employees as closely as he should. He's got a reputation for brutality if you displease him, but first he has to notice you haven't lived up to his requirements. That gives people like me some room to maneuver."

Suddenly we heard voices. Feron and I ducked into shadows and watched, as two figures moved across a junction in the corridors up ahead.

The first looked short and tubby. A volus. "The agent has reported in . . . The package will arrive . . . on the north dock shortly . . . I assure you . . . it is just as described."

The second figure seemed a thing out of nightmare: over two meters tall, roughly bipedal with two major arms in the expected places, a row of smaller secondary limbs arrayed down each side. It had ridges and plates of chitinous armor. It had a horribly alien head, a broad, flat, wedge-shaped structure with four glowing yellow eyes. I saw no sign of a mouth, or any organs of respiration. It spoke with a very deep and resonant voice, which seemed to come from nowhere, possibly from an implanted translator or some other device.

"The package must be as we specified," it said. "You know that we do not brook dishonesty or delay."

Goddess. Is that a Collector?

I moved to follow it, but Feron reached out a hand to stop me.

"Wait, Liara. We can't just charge in blind. You heard what they said – there's still time. We need to find out why they're doing the deal first."

"You saw that . . . that thing." I shuddered in disgust. "How could the Shadow Broker deal with them? How could anyone?"

"I don't know," Feron admitted. He looked around, and then guided me down another corridor toward a set of massive sealed doors. "I always trusted the Broker before now. He's a tough customer but he always seemed neutral, no agenda other than simple profit. This, I don't understand. It's not like anything he's ever done before. Maybe that's why I'm helping you. I want to know more."

A flash of deduction came to me. I stared at him. "Back on Omega, when you fired at Tazzik's ship and missed. That wasn't an accident after all, was it?"

He blinked in surprise. "You're sharp. No, that wasn't an accident, although I wouldn't have done it if I thought there was any risk of us failing to recover Shepard's remains as a result. I knew we would be able to outrun Tazzik's ship wherever he was planning to take the body. We just had to see which direction he would go."

"You were still taking a big risk. Why did you do it?"

"Because if we recovered the body there, that would have ended the deal with the Collectors, and we wouldn't have had any way to find out where the hand-over was supposed to take place. If there's one thing I've learned as an information trader, it's that if you need to know something . . . you go to the source."

Feron opened his omni-tool and hacked the doors. Behind them we found a large room, well lit, full of computers and data-processing equipment. At the far end of the room I saw a holographic stage, with a distorted, shadowy figure standing there.

"Reporting in for work, Feron?" said a voice from the stage, deep and mechanical, obviously masked by an electronic distortion device. "People only come to see the Shadow Broker when called. I didn't call."

More indirection. At that time, the Shadow Broker kept his identity a carefully preserved secret. Not even his closest agents knew who he was. His race, his gender, even whether he was a single being or a committee – all concealed in darkness.

"I'm waiting for an answer, Feron," said the voice. "Since when do you believe you can come here uninvited?"

Feron leaned close and whispered in my aural cavity. "Liara . . . I know you don't trust me, but this is a major node in the Broker's network. If I can have a few minutes with these systems, I can find out everything he ordered here. Everything to do with the Collectors, and with Shepard."

"I understand," I told him. "I'll play for time."

"Well?" demanded the voice.

"I don't need an invitation," I said loudly, striding down the length of the room toward the image. "If you're working with the Collectors, if you're planning to sell my friend's remains to them, then I'm going to stop you."

"Your objections are futile, Dr. T'Soni." The voice paused to let that sink in. "Yes, I know who you are and what you want. I have nothing personal against Shepard or any of his friends. The Collectors offered more than sufficient compensation for this task. Simply good business."

"You don't know what you're dealing with," I told the Shadow Broker, my biotics flaring into life around my fists as I advanced. "Shepard died looking for evidence of the Reapers. They were behind the attack on the Citadel. They're threatening to come back into the galaxy and eradicate all of us. Did you ever consider that the Collectors' interest might be related? That the Collectors might be pawns of the Reapers themselves? What could possibly be worth the risk of allying yourself with them?"

"You make too much of this, Dr. T'Soni. It's a corpse. What could they possibly gain from it?"

"You don't know, do you?" I stepped up close to the image, close enough to see the holographic equipment projecting it. Electricity danced up and down my body now, blue-white rage just waiting to be unleashed. "Don't you think it's damnably irresponsible to give the Collectors what they want when you don't even know why?"

"That's none of your concern, Doctor. The deal is done. Tazzik is about to make the exchange. Right now, the only people who aren't where they need to be are the two of you. As soon as I give the word, my staff there on Alingon will come. If you're working for someone else, they will get it out of you. It's not my usual method for gathering information, but it is effective . . ."

"Liara, I've got it!" shouted Feron.

I smashed the holographic projectors with a biotically enhanced blow, banishing the Shadow Broker's presence. Then I turned to walk back the way I had come, lashing out to every side with my mind. With every step my frustrated rage mounted higher, lending my biotics more and more strength. Whips and streamers of telekinetic force curled around me, crushing consoles and data banks. I seized a table with both hands, ripped it out of its mounting, and hurled it across the room to destroy a data core. Finally a scream tore itself out of my throat. Biotic lightning filled the entire space, shattering every display panel or crystal-memory unit it could reach.

The scream stopped. I let my corona collapse and go out. Once neat and orderly, the room now stood full of wreckage, the air laden with acrid smoke and the scent of ozone.

"That felt good."

Feron watched me with wide eyes. "Goddess of oceans, Liara."

"I've been having severe anger-management issues for the past several days. You may have noticed."

"Yes." He blinked rapidly several times, and then decided to take refuge in practical matters. "Well, it's probably a good thing. Alingon is cut off until the Broker's men can repair some of the comm channels you just smashed. I've downloaded everything I needed about the Broker's dealings. All we have to do now is get Shepard and get out of here."

Then I heard something. Voices, coming down the hallway outside.

". . . All I know is the Broker's command channel is suddenly throwing nothing but static," said a flanging turian voice. I thought it sounded familiar. "There's something big going down today. I'm not going to be blamed for anything screwing it up."

I motioned to Feron, who ducked for cover behind a wrecked communications console. I stood in the open, checking my sidearm and calling up my corona once again. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, on the verge of overusing my biotic talents. I hadn't used so much telekinetic force since Shepard, Ashley, and I fought the Saren-monster aboard the Citadel.

The door opened and a squad of the Shadow Broker's men stepped into the room: Joppa and Delwian, two batarians, and a human. "Nobody's ever allowed to talk to anyone else around here," said Joppa. "How do we know this isn't some kind of damn drill?"

"Oh, it's quite real," I said calmly. "Take my word for it."

Seven pairs of eyes opened wide.

A punch followed by a high kick laid Delwian out cold on the deck. My Shuriken chattered and the human twisted briefly before going down. A heavy biotic throw flung the two batarians aside like two sacks of meal, easy prey for Feron as he opened fire.

Joppa managed to recover, firing at me with his assault rifle. My kinetic barriers shed part of the attack, and I flash-stepped aside from the rest of it. A quick spin in place and my fist shattered his jaw, breaking several of his teeth and knocking him senseless. He fell back hard against the wall behind him and slid down to the floor, all the fight gone out of him.

Feron walked calmly past me, but I took a moment to stand over Joppa. "As I recall, you were looking for an asari of your own. Be careful what you wish for."

The drell peered at me as the heavy doors closed behind us. "Are you feeling better, or should I find some krogan for you to beat to death?"

"Don't tempt me. Instead, why don't you tell me who you're really working for?"

"I think you can deduce that for yourself."

I stared at him. "I would say Cerberus, except that Operative Lawson didn't seem to know it."

"She doesn't. It's safer that way. My deal is directly with the Illusive Man."

"So, what, you're a triple agent? Playing me, the Shadow Broker, Cerberus, all of us off against each other?"

"I'm just Feron." He shrugged. "Do we really need to have this conversation now? Tazzik is going to be here any minute with Shepard's body."

"You can talk and walk at the same time."

"True." He sighed and looked pensive as we moved carefully through the Shadow Broker's facility. "I used to work on my own, but that never paid very well. A few years ago the Broker started hiring me for occasional work: intelligence gathering, surveillance, that sort of thing. Small jobs. Say what you like about the Broker, but he's usually honest and he pays well.

"Cerberus tried to recruit me a few times, tried to turn me against the Broker, but I always turned them down. I don't cheat an employer. I don't care how much I'm offered to do it. Besides, why should anyone who isn't human work for Cerberus?

"Then the Broker started negotiating with the Collectors. He even made a bargain to turn Shepard's body over to them. That was too much, too perverse. It wasn't the Broker I thought I knew. So I decided to stop him, but I needed help. I turned to Cerberus. The Illusive Man and I came up with a plan to grab the body, and recover intelligence about why the Broker would be willing to work with the Collectors.

"But then the Broker started to doubt my loyalty. I thought I had been careful, but he must have suspected me of playing both sides against the middle. Maybe I was seen talking to Miranda, I don't know. He started to cut me out. I needed a way back in . . . and then you came along."

I nodded. "I was your way back into the Broker's good graces."

"Right. I volunteered to distract you while the Broker's deal went down."

"It must not have worked, if he sent those mercenaries after us. He still didn't think he could trust you."

"Well, he couldn't trust me, could he? Neither could you." He stopped, turned to hold my gaze. "I was just going to lead you away, lead you to Cerberus, and go back to get Shepard later myself. I guess the Illusive Man thought we would work better as a team."

"He was right," I said reluctantly. "We do work well together. Even if I have wanted to throw you through a bulkhead several times over."

He made a sharp-edged smile.

"I suppose I'm finished as an information trader after this. The Broker will make sure nobody trusts me again, and I'm certainly not going to sign on permanently with Cerberus." Feron produced a data stick, pressing it into my hand. "I'm sorry you weren't able to trust me. Maybe this will make up for it, at least a little. This is everything I was able to download from the Broker's networks. Make sure it gets to Cerberus."

Then he turned and walked away down the corridor, his shoulders hunched as if he carried a heavy weight.

I watched him, and suddenly realized I had been wrong about him. He might have been forced to live on Omega, he might have been working in a twisted and corrupt profession . . . but deep down, he wanted to do the right thing. He was trying to be an honest man.

"Feron."

He stopped, but he still wouldn't turn to look at me.

"You've helped me get this far. I wish you had been more open with me from the beginning . . . but I understand why you weren't." I stepped close and touched his arm. "Words aren't the only things that speak the truth. I trust you."

He glanced at me, still uneasy but grateful. "All right. Uh, I guess this is it, then. No matter what happens, you get Shepard's body – and those data – out of here. Preferably both."

I gave him a determined smile. It felt strange, the first time I had smiled since the destruction of the Normandy. "Don't worry, Feron. We will."