EPITEIA MAIN STREET, DAY ONE.
17:32 pm

I jogged back to the station in my armour, despite the odd looks. Galnius sat at his desk when I entered the station, hands clasped in front of him. He really was petite for his kind; I could look him in the eye when he stood up, even if I was tall for a drell.

"Detective Investigator," he said, brow raised. "What can I do for you?"

"Transport. I have something reserved, according to Adaraka."

It was as if I told him it was Unification Day. Galnius sighed in happiness and clapped his hands, relieved to be off desk duty. "Follow me," he said, closing his post with a flourish of his omni-tool. "I can show you the garage."

"Please do."

His happiness continued as we walked outside. Galnius seemed to have a face built for smiling, as much as a turian could have one. "Lovely day, isn't it?" he told me, gesturing to the skyline. "Can see the pits of Iritum, the biosphere has cleared up for us."

There was a basketball hoop installed in the courtyard when we reached the hangar, and it was predictably in use. The pair using it, however, were clearly not cops.

A tall male human held up a tiny turian girl to the basket, laughing as she threw the ball into the net. I knew who they were- part of Captain A.D's family, the ones from the holo in her office.

The ball was thrown at me one handed as soon as soon as the human saw us. I caught it just in time, annoyed at the gesture. "Interesting," I said.

"Nice catch," he replied, nodding. "You play?"

I passed the ball to Galnius with a brow raise. He grinned and took the shot instead, bouncing it just off the rim. "Ah, bother."

The little girl tugged the human's shirt before he could do anything else, begging for a safe place to hide. "It's okay, sweetpea," he said, forehead against hers. "He's a new detective that's helping mom find your school friends."

I couldn't exactly offer him a hand in greeting, thanks to his armful of squirming child. "Well, I'll keep out of your, ah, hair," I said. Impressive hair it was too; he had cables of the stuff tied back from his face, almost as solid as a turian's fringe. "I need access to the garage."

"And we'll keep out of your cowl," he said, smiling back. "Or frill, in your case. Come on, let's go get you a tupari from the canteen," he said to the girl. "Don't tell your mom." I heard a trill of excitement from his daughter- that was one hell of an offer to a five year old, no matter the species.

Galnius smiled as they left, hands on his hips. "Nice guy," he said. "Captain's husband. He comes here sometimes after he picks the kids up from school."

Never in a million light years would that happen back in Zakera. The precinct was not a place to bring your children, not if you could help it. "I see," I said. "Which skycar, please?"

He managed to smile wider somehow and gestured for me to follow. "Calibrated this one myself," he said, patting the roof on an unmarked skycar. "Go steady with the speed, she's a beauty. Feel free to drive it back to where you're staying. Captain A.D has it marked for your use, anyway."

"Good to know," I said, sliding into it with a sigh. I crossed my arms as the haptic interface gauged my height and weight, the seat sliding up in a hiss. As soon as the panel flashed green, I pulled down the barrier.

"She's just your standard X3M, though I boosted the contragravity propulsion unit a little for a smoother ride, managed to balance out the thrusters by 2.3%. Not much, but it shaves a little of the bumps out," he said, jerking his thumb to the engines. "Trust me, she'll fly pretty, no matter how hard you turn."

"That's …thorough." Galnius still hadn't moved and watched me as I flicked my hands over the controls. "Thank you for your help, sergeant."

"You come to me if the old girl gives you trouble."

He still hadn't moved, even when I looked away to program my route. "Anything wrong?" I said, finger over the ignition.

It took a while for him to take the hint, but he patted the skycar one last time. "Oh! Right. Let you get on. You have a good evening."

"Thank you again," I said, forcing a smile on my face. Gods save me from obsessive turians, I was surrounded.

The station's database listed Tulnea Calanion with an address, but I would try the Lifebearer Brigade HQ at the centre of town before I left for the outskirts; it took me literal minutes to find it and park.

The door was an old fashioned push and pull, an odd choice for a colony. A chime announced my arrival, and I glanced around at the piles of donated clothes and furniture. This place was the turian equivalent of Kahje's Healing Waters and the Galactic Red Cross, and was in heavy use.

There was a mustiness that choked my frills and I pinched my nose to stop a sneeze. I recognised a box of supplies from my time with the refugee camps on the Citadel; basic packs of aid that were still needed, even six years after the war.

No one was in the store. I was halfway across the floor until I realised that the pile of clothing stacked on the side was the oldest turian I had ever seen in my life, camouflaged by the donations stacked around her chair. She reminded me of the trees I saw barely an hour ago in the Watchtower, all mottled hide and gnarled plates.

"Forgive me, I didn't realise there was anyone here," I said, startled by the movement. I really didn't think she was who I needed, but I had to say something. "I'm looking for Tulnea Calanion, is that you?"

"Oh, lovely," she replied, clearly not hearing. Her voice was as cracked as her face plates. "Have you come to help?"

"Be with you in a minute!" I heard from the back room, and I flicked my coat into shape; this place had made my scales itch.

"You're foreign," said the old woman. "Do they let aliens on Epiteia now?"

"Mom!" A middle aged woman chuffed, joining us now, clearly related to the other turian. She was dowdy for her kind and had an armful of boxes to put down before she reached us. "Ah, sorry. Um, my mother is- she's, uh-"

I cleared my throat. No one that old would change their views, no matter what I said. "Not an issue. I'm DI Krios of C-Sec's Investigation Department, here on behalf of Epiteia Police and Security." I flashed my ID with a flick of my omni-tool. "Are you Tulnea Calanion?"

"That's me, dear," said the old woman between us. "Call me Mavia."

Her daughter held out her hands in apology. "It's me you want, but give me a moment," she said, going to the older woman. "Your hearing implants are off, Mom. Why do you fiddle with them so much?"

Tulnea held a glowing omni tool over her flinching mother, a diagnostic program open. "Would you stop your fussing," said Mavia. "I don't like it when they whine, you're making them buzz again. Your father knew how to fix them, you don't. Go ask the nice drell if he wants a kava."

"Dad's not ali- here, remember?" she replied. "I apologise about my mother," her voice was low now. "You're her first, ah, drell," and Tulnea's eyes practically begged me for forgiveness.

"I'm used to it," I said. "It is no problem."

"No he's not," said Mavia. Clearly, the implants were working. "When we were on Illium we met drell, do you remember? You played with them all summer, they almost made you sick when you tried their food. Beautiful children, lovely scales."

I tried not to flinch at her words. She described my people as if they were pets. Tulnea flicked me another look of apology, aware of the unsaid. "You're right. Funny you remembering all that."

Mavia beamed, happy to be proved right. "You was only six. They were called Enna and Tulon. Such pretty things."

They looked at me like I was supposed to know who they were. I raised a brow. "Sounds like you had a delightful time," I said, jaw tight from a fake smile.

The old woman patted the arm of her chair, still pleased with herself. "I never forget a thing." Tulnea rolled her eyes at her mother. Apparently, she disagreed.

"Do you have somewhere we could talk?" I asked her.

Tulnea gestured with a jerk of her head towards the counter, away from her mother. "Sorry about that," she said, glancing at the older woman. "It's peculiar, she can recount memories of her childhood with a talon click, but can't remember what she had for lunch. Anyway. What can I do for you?"

"It only concerns a small matter. Just a few questions to help with our enquiries towards a murder investigation."

"Oh!" she said, hand to her keel. "Is anything wrong?"

I placated her panic. "I'm here for a witness statement, nothing more. Where were you during the hours of seven and ten this morning?"

There was always a perk to interviewing turians. Tulnea never even questioned why I had connected her to the Abtion case, though clearly she was rattled I had asked. "Give me a moment. I'm not my mother, but I haven't had my afternoon kava."

"Take your time."

Her omni-tool was opened, and I could see her scroll through her alerts and the calendar function. "I was on my way here to-"

The door slammed open and swallowed her words. Both of us turned to watch as a flustered young turian my age entered the store, datapad clutched in his hands. "Tulnea! It's an emergency."

"What is?" she asked. It was said in a resigned sigh, and I got the impression that this was a regular occurrence.

"You got any fabric?" He took one look at me, then shrugged. Clearly I didn't matter.

"What for?" Tulnea said, baffled by the question.

"The banners for Unification Day. Thought we could pretty up the street for the parade. Come on, I know you have the goods, Tuls."

Tulnea was as annoyed as me at the interruption. "Ferox Gallus, watch your manners." His words still made her pause, however. "What's wrong with the holos?"

"You can't see them from a distance, not on the generators we run," said Ferox. "Maybe we could cut up the emergency blankets? Nobody needs them now."

"What? Yes they do. Blankets are for blankets!"

"Hello dear," said Mavia, smiling at us all. She had no idea what was going on. "Have you come to help?"

"Don't be mad that I have ideas and you don't," he said, after greeting Mavia. "What about you?"

The newcomer was talking to me, I realised. It was always a gamble to interview people at their work; interruptions like this would invariably happen, and I finally lost my patience. "What about me?"

Ferox chuffed, annoyed I refused to answer him. "The banners, man! Good idea, or no?"

Tulnea was indignant; rudeness towards an officer of the law was a step too far for her. "Don't you bring him into your nonsense. He's all the way from the Citadel, you know."

I had reached my limit of inane provincial garbage and flashed my ID again. "I'm in the middle of an interview with Ms. Calanion. My thoughts on banners, blanket or otherwise, can wait," I said, putting on my politest of smiles. "Perhaps we could go somewhere more private?" I asked her.

"It's no use," she told me. "If I don't give him something, he won't go away." She went behind the counter and pulled out a large bundle of bed linens. I caught the scent of stale bodies as she handed them over, and memories of the refugee camps came flooding back.

-please just something to eat,' she said, dirty hands gripping my uniform. 'It's for my children-

"You're a lifesaver," Ferox said, practically skipping out the door with his bounty. "Knew I could count on you. You'll see, I can make something beautiful."

In some ways, his distraction had helped. Tulnea Calanion was calm enough for me to ask the questions again, and this time I got my statement. Turned out the Historian was telling the truth and I got his alibi, and I thanked both of the Calanions for their time before I left.

"I like him," I heard Mavia say as the door closed. "Such lovely scales."

If this was a normal day and I had worked my shift as planned, right now I would be facing the end of it. Since I started this case early, I didn't know what to do with myself- other than going back to the station to face the monotony of reports and reading.

Before I could think about anything else, a tall, tan plated turian caught my eye. He lingered by an impressively bland Z-7, and I leant against the shadows of the Lifebearer HQ to work out why he was bothering me.

He began to move away from his vehicle, a slow meander along the main road. If I wanted to tail him, I had to be careful; I knew what he was as soon as he was free of the skycar, despite his colonial civvies.

It was always the shoes and the gait that gave a Blackwatch guard away. Military grade boots were hard to pry away from those used to them, even when they had to go undercover.

I trailed him from the other side of the street, curious now why he was here. I didn't believe for one second he was a native of Epiteia and something felt off about this; what interest did the turian's answer to a skilled special ops force have in this colony?

He put a finger to the side of his head, a sloppy gesture for an undercover agent. There was a commline there, and he was listening to something.

Who, though? Why was he here?

I would've found out more if a bullet hadn't stopped me. I felt the crumbs of the wall graze my fins as it missed, ears ringing from the roar of the shot.

My omni-tool was open in an instant, pistol unholstered with a snap. "VITA call the station, 805 at my location," I said, naming the code for officer under fire. "I am in pursuit by foot. Unknown assailant, no visual."

"Understood."

The shot had come from the roof tops, it had to. I could see a flash of the gun in my memory, white and green- a Viper? The person carrying was obviously stealthed. Too short for a turian from the angle, but why did they shoot me?

I was running before I knew what I was doing, heading into a food store opposite the road. Whatever pretence I had for tailing Sere Blackwatch was gone, and I was now intent on pursuing my shooter.

"C-Sec, let me through," I said. Unlike the rough ration depots I was used to, this one was free of protective glass and armed guards, and I vaulted over the counter before the shopkeeper could say anything.

"Open!" I yelled at the poor woman. She took one look at my pistol pointing at the door behind her and flailed. "I'm C-Sec. Just open the damn door!"

She did so with a flash of her onmi-tool. "Please don't shoot-" she started, but I had ran through the storage room to find my way up.

I took the steps three at a time to get to the roof, forcing the skylight open with a kick. As I reached the top, I was alone. Of course I would be.

"Son of a bitch," I said, holstering my pistol so hard the magnet strip nearly splintered.

My ears still rang from the missed shot. "Krios?" I heard through the commline. It was Adaraka; he had answered the call out first.

There was literally nothing around me. I checked the roof again, hand over my gun just to make sure; not even a skycar went by. The Blackwatch agent I tried to tail had left the scene, leaving me with a double handful of nothing.

Did Blackwatch watch me from here as I watched them? Unless they employed midget turians now, I had to wonder if the shooter was even connected.

"Lost them," I said, kicking an empty Paragrade can. This place looked like it was used by the staff on their breaks, and I wondered who else had access. "Subject was 170 cm and stealthed, it's all I got."

"I'm a couple of clicks away, can scout the radius from you. You injured?"

"Nope." I put my hands on my hips to stare at the rings of Iritum, willing myself to calm down. "I was shot at from the rooftop of the ration station," I said, keeping out the Blackwatch part. "They're long gone."

"Well, shit," he said. "Someone wants to shoot you? Shocking."

That made me snort, at least. "I'm sure I could scrape together a list." I had moped enough, and set my omni-tool to bioscan mode since I had a perp to find. Predictably there was plenty of turians; considering that the store used the roof as breakroom, hardly surprising.

But my attacker was shorter- had to be, from the angle of the shooting alone. Whoever they were also knew how to fool a basic CSI scan, and have access to expensive stealthing devices.

"Wouldn't you know it. There's been a call in for an angry drell holding up the store at gunpoint. Perp claimed he was from C-Sec," said Adaraka. Of course the bastard was amused. "I wonder what happened there?"

"You're hilarious." I walked to the edge of the roof, trying to work out my attacker's route. Where did they go? The only way was through the store, or over the edge. Did they have a skycar parked close? Jumpjets, maybe? I sighed, annoyed at the loss. "I'll go get a statement from the staff."

"DI Krios!" called Galnius from the street. He gave a cheerful little salute when he saw me on the roof. It seemed the entire station had turned out, climbing out of their flashing X3Ms; Sully and Terix had even begun to set up a perimeter, pushing away curious bystanders. "You okay, lad?"

I shrugged my answer. "Go ask around the stores if they heard anything," I said. "Nothing up here. Not even a heat trace."

After I had placated the staff and met up with Adaraka, Captain A.D joined us, her battered skycar parked down the road.

Captains were rarely on CSI duty, especially desk jockeys like A.D. As she approached, I noticed a child's hand print of something suspiciously sauce-like staining her armour. Captain A.D wiped the mark off as much as she was able to and chuffed.

"Report," she said, through a gritted jaw.

I finished uploading a witness statement before I spoke, closing my omni-tool with a snap. "I was shot at. I tried to chase my attacker. They disappeared before I could reach them."

"Got the call out from Krios's fancy VI at 18:54," said Adaraka. "I checked the area around us, found nothing."

"You're certainly making yourself known around here." Captain A.D narrowed her eyes at me. "Anything else to add?"

"Not really," I replied. The three of us stared at a dent on the wall left by the bullet. "Sergeant Galnius is on door to door. I gathered a few statements from the ration depot. No one saw anything, but a few heard the shot." And they knew it was a gunshot, too. The war saw to that.

"Hmm." She fussed with the bangles at her wrist, frowning still. "I assume CSI has been called in for the ballistics." We both confirmed with a nod. "From the roof, you say? Are you sure?"

It took all the patience I had left not to snap back. "Should my testimony not be enough, I'm sure there's something on a vidfeed somewhere," I said, looking away. All captains seemed to have that I'm not angry, just disappointed tone mastered, no matter the species.

Adaraka had set up a holo projection around the bullet hole from his omni-tool, looking up from his measuring to speak. "Rifle looks like. Surprised they missed, good vantage point from up there. Whoever it was was a lousy shot."

All Captain A.D could do was stare at me, face politely neutral. "Anything else to add?" she asked.

"Galnix is getting the vidfeeds from all the stores now. Should be something," said Adaraka, taking another picture of the scene.

"Is this related to the case?" she said.

The snark fell out of my mouth before I could stop it. "I didn't actively ask to be shot at, no."

"You didn't answer me." Her mandibles tightened to her face, annoyed. "This is my jurisdiction, and you fall under it- that was the agreement we had with the Council. I take threats to my officers very seriously, DI Krios. What happened?"

I coughed before speaking, despite the dress down. "I had taken a witness statement from a Ms. Tulnea Calanion of the Lifebearer Brigade concerning the Abtion homicide at 18:15, and was on my way back-" -a lie, really- "-to check the evidence at the station before I was shot at. The shooting happened at around seven."

"Anything on your attacker? The call out was vague." I didn't mention the Blackwatch agent. Something told me not to.

"The perpetrator was cloaked, though I caught a glimpse of their weapon- I would guess at a Viper. They were around 170 cm tall, give or take. I assumed they were not turian, going by the height alone."

Her subvocals thrummed her displeasure. "I think we're done here," she told me. "I shall speak to you tomorrow in the incident room. Come in early, and I expect a report in my mail when I wake up." She walked away but turned on her heel to speak before she left us. "Oh, and DI Krios? Have the rest of the night off."

All this fuss over one bullet. Story of my life, obviously. "Son of a bitch," I hissed, rubbing at my fins as she went back to her skycar.

Galnius ambled over as soon as A.D left, his omni-tool lit up. "Evening detectives," he said, smiling at us both.

I would bet half my paycheck he waited until his captain had left before he approached, if only to avoid the paperwork trail. "Get anything?" I said.

"Well, yes and no- there's been a bit of bother. Turns out someone used a scrambler in the area, even the skycars were knocked out. All the cameras in a thousand metre radius took a nap for five minutes. Clever little bastard, whoever it is."

Adaraka looked at me and flared his mandibles in surprise. It was a very expensive trick to pull off, even if a hack was synchronised. That would mean an accomplice or a skill set of damping few were capable of. "Convenient," I said.

"Just about," replied Adaraka. Despite the use of military grade tech, he was right; the shooter had a lousy aim. I brushed off dust fragments from my shoulder, still lodged in the folds somehow.

The bullet had landed over a metre away from where I had been. My attacker had a perfect location from the roof of the store and still missed. The shields of my tech armour never even registered the shot.

"Ah, thrice fuck this," I said. "I'm going back to my prefab. You chased up the rifle from this morning?"

"I got nothing," said Adaraka. "Either it's destroyed or still in the area somewhere, it's not turned up in the usual smuggling holes. Sully's keeping an eye on most of the extranet's auction sites, but I reckon it's not off world yet."

Another lead dropped. Did I have to do everything? "Gods damn it."

I was stopped with a shoulder tap from Adaraka before I could leave. We stood by the flickering holotape of the scene's perimeter, an unofficial station meeting in the middle of the street.

"Officers Sully, Terix- you're waiting for CSI," he said. "Sergeant Galnius and Detective Krios are off duty. I got reports to log back at the station if you need me."

Sully shrugged. "Figured."

"You going to be okay alone?" Adaraka asked me.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I got my tin of se'aus out and pinched off a thumbnail's worth.

He cleared his throat. "I just mean, ah. You can always stay with someone, just in case. I have a spare room."

Spare me the embarrassment of this conversation, Arashu I beg you. "No."

Adaraka rubbed the back of his neck. "It's just you're all the way out there by the lake, and-"

"Flirting again, detective?" I replied. Terix snorted and leant against his skycar. The fussing rankled now, and put the se'aus under my lip, desperate to leave.

He sighed, then chose his words carefully. "Just an offer. Someone just tried to kill you. I mean, you can always stay with Sully instead, if it's a turian thing."

"Say what now?" said Sully, eyes darting between us. She stepped back so she could look at us all without straining her neck, tiny human that she was. "Erm. The place isn't really tidy for a guest, but the couch-"

"No. Thank you," I said so tightly I could feel the hiss in my throat.

"What about Galnius? He lives near that prefab of yours," said Terix. His brown eyes looked me up and down; I was still dirt under his talons, it seemed. "If you're lucky, you can play with his toys. He's got quite a collection."

Sully snorted at that, then nudged her partner with her shoulder. "Hey, they're models, not toys. Maybe he'll let you press the button that makes the Watchtower ring."

"Always room at the House of Galnius," said the sergeant in question, refusing to have his hobby shamed. "You're more than welcome, DI Krios. I have a miniature model of the colony I work on, that's what these buggers are teasing me for. I'm trying to get a working space station, but the anti-grav batteries refuse to integrate themselves into the circuit and I've already had two blow outs trying."

I had reached my limit; it was time to remind them why I was here. "Today has been a strange day of introducing ourselves," I said. "I know we were all meant to meet tomorrow, but circumstances brought us together earlier thanks to the murder."

Adaraka cleared his throat. "That, ah, still doesn't explain the shooting."

Out of the corner of my eye, Officer Terix smirked. "I'm here because I have a case to lead," I said, pointedly ignoring him. "Tonight I will go over every scrap you have written, every vidfeed and interview you have made so far just to see why all of you couldn't find three children. Do you have anything else to add?"

All four of them stood up straighter. "No sir," said Officer Sully.

"Excellent. See you tomorrow, 0800 hours. Good night, officers."

"For you maybe," Terix had muttered, just loud enough for me to hear, even though I was walking away. "Some of us have to stay up for the CSI."

Much as I would love to drag Terix by the cowl and rub his nose in it, I really had enough. "So. This a normal day for you?" asked Adaraka, not quite getting the hint of what 'good night' meant. "Because I would be on my second glass of Drossix Blue by now."

I shoved myself into the skycar and clicked down the barrier before speaking. "This is not the first time I've been shot at," I said, starting the engines. "Won't be the last, either. I can handle myself. Good night, Adaraka."

Famous last words, I suppose.