Chapter Nine

Normandy SR-2

The Normandy is in Elysium's orbit. Admiral Hannah Shepard has told both Joker and EDI to keep an eye out for Commander Shepard and Dr. T'Soni's shuttle when it docks at the spaceport. Hannah isn't in a big hurry to go down and break up their family vacation. The Prime Minister Landon Prisenscot is being insistent that Commander Shepard come to Arcturus Station to resolve a few issues. One is about the incident at Shanxi. The other is about the Normandy then add in some of the pro-human leanings this politician has shown of late. This is something that could blow up into something very unpleasant. Or so Hannah thinks could happen anyway.

All I ask is this, Leia, keep your cool in this and I can get back to your family quickly. You argue with him and it may get very unpleasant. I don't know exactly what Joker told you, but this isn't anything I wanted. It should all be on me, but they want to talk to you for some reason. I'm sorry, Leia...Liara... Hannah is looking at a slide show of pictures. They contain pictures of Leia when she graduated basic training, N7 training, and various other Leia pictures from her childhood.. It also includes several pictures of Leia, Liara, and their two daughters that Leia has sent her mom over the years. The slide show stops after the last picture. Hannah stares at the picture, it's of Leia's 10th birthday party. I was so proud of you then. More so now. Hannah brushes away a tear. She finally closes down her omni-tool and brings up the computer terminal to check for any new messages while waiting for her daughter to land.

After ten minutes of reading a couple of messages from former Alliance friends, Hannah sees a message she is hoping to receive:

Admiral Shepard

I'll be there. Even though I retired from the Council, I'm not retire from the Alliance. I've read all the reports. Yours, Alenko's, and Commander Shepard's comments to the Council. I understand what is going on and I'll do what I can to help.

A.

Hannah has a grin on her face and feels very relieved that at least her daughter has someone on her side. EDI announces that Commander Shepard's shuttle has landed at the spaceport. As quickly as the blue avatar appeared, it disappears.

"EDI, is the shuttle ready for departure?" asks the Admiral as she heads down to the hanger.

EDI replies quickly, "Yes, Admiral. Pilot says the shuttle is ready when you are."

"Thank you, EDI. Inform Wiggins, I'm on my way down now," says Shepard as she hits the elevator button to head down the shuttle. Less then five minutes later, the Normandy's shuttle leaves to land at the spaceport to pick up a passenger, Commander Leia Shepard.

Elysium Spaceport

Liara is landing the family's shuttle, The Little D, at the spaceport while Leia is explaining to Kaja and Gaia that she will be leaving and didn't know how long she is going to be gone for, but it should only be for a few days. Kaja takes the news without saying a word. Shepard can see the disappointment in Kaja's face. Gaia is not taking the news very well, "Why can't we go with you?" The youngest daughter is standing very rigid with arms across her chest. Her face has a look of defiance.

"This doesn't involve you, Gaia. This is something that only I can take care of. When duty is called upon you, duty comes first even before family. I know you don't understand that now, but you will in the future." Shepard is sitting between the girls. Kaja on the left while Gaia sits on the right. "Kaja, you didn't say anything. Have anything to say?"

Kaja wraps her arms around Shepard and hugs her dad, "No, not really. I wish you didn't have to go."

Leia hugs both daughters tightly, "I don't want to go either. But this is something that needs my attention now and I'm afraid it can't wait."

Dr. T'Soni is finished landing the shuttle and has shut the engine down and appears from the cockpit. "No sign of anyone here at the dock waiting for us. What do you want to do now?"

"Go ahead and check into the hotel. Maybe that is what she is waiting on. For us to check in. Or I hope, I want to talk to her before getting back on the Normandy," answers Shepard.

The Commander goes to stand up and Gaia will not let go of her father, "No, don't go, dad. Don't go."

"Gaia, let go now!" says Liara with an extremely authoritarian tone in her voice. She walks over and kneels in front of her youngest child. "Gaia, I don't want her to go either. But we all have to do what is needed. I know we're on a vacation. It's hasn't exactly gone as planned, but we are trying to make do the best we can. Do you understand that?" Gaia nods that she understands, Liara reaches out and gives Gaia a motherly hug.

Shepard stands up then heads over to the control for the door. The door to the shuttle opens and no one is waiting outside. "Still looks like no one is here. I'll get a luggage dolly, while you get the bags out of the storage."

Kaja asks, "May I go with you, dad?"

"No, stay here and help you mom and sister with all of the bags. I promise, I'll be right back," comments Shepard with complete confidence she will return with the luggage dolly. She heads down the walkway to get the dolly.

Kaja and Gaia are busy grabbing their bags and places them on the edge of the shuttle floor next to the door. Liara grabs the rest of the bags, including the ones with Shepard's belongings and places them next to the other bags. T'Soni is almost positive that Shepard will want to shower before leaving if possible. Shepard comes walking back towards the shuttle pushing the luggage dolly. Both girls go running up to their father and finish taking the dolly to the shuttle.

While Kaja and Gaia are busy placing the luggage on the dolly, Liara walks up to Shepard and wraps her arms around Leia's waist. Shepard pulls Liara in closer, whispers into the asari's ear. "I love you, Liara." Shepard nods towards the front of the shuttle then they both walk out of hearing range if they keep their voices down. Shepard continues, "If either of them wants to go home, tell them what's next. I'm almost positive Gaia will want to see "Cats". If they still want to go home, then please Liara take them home. I'll take a transport home."

"I love you very much, Shepard. But I'm not leaving you and going home. If either act up, I will deal with it and then you can deal with them once you get back." Liara moves a couple of strands of hair out of Leia's eyes.

The couple is kissing when their youngest daughter walks up to tell them they are done loading the dolly, Ah, mom, dad. Mm.." The couple stop kissing then both gives their attention to Gaia. "Kaja and I are finished loading the luggage."

Shepard nods a 'let's go' to Liara. Both wrap their arm around the others waist. Gaia walks next to Shepard holding her hand. Kaja has already closed the shuttle door, but didn't lock it. Liara leaves Shepard's side to check over the shuttle one last time to see if there is something she missed then locks it down and turns on the shuttle's security.

Liara turns around to see Kaja has taken her place at Shepard's side. A somber smile crosses the asari's lips. The sight is wonderful to see, but the situation is worrisome. Liara did notice the Normandy in orbit. Which makes T'Soni wonder what Hannah is waiting for. Or was Joker's message a ruse. She really didn't think that. What she is afraid of is Shepard will be gone for more than a few days. The last time the Alliance was this uptight in regards to Commander Shepard was after she blew up the Alpha Relay and over 300,000 batarians died because of it. Something isn't adding up and Liara knows it. She is also sure Leia knows it too.

Admiral Shepard's shuttle lands at the military section of the space port. The pilot is starting to shutting down all the shuttles systems when EDI comes over the shuttle's comms. "Admiral, Commander Shepard and Dr. T'Soni are in line at customs. From the information I have gathers, it looks like Dr. T'Soni used a public terminal to check on their hotel, The Grand Hotel of Elysium."

"Are they checking in there, EDI?" asks the Alliance officer. Hannah is still sitting in her seat. Wondering to herself how long can she postpone this before her bosses figure that out. Hannah is concerned the brass or politicians will contact the local police to bring Leia in. That is that last thing Hannah Shepard wants to happen.

EDI's monotone voice says, "Yes, Admiral."

The middle aged human with mostly gray wavy hair responds, "Thank you, EDI. Joker, I want you to contact me if anyone from the Alliance at Arcturus Station inquires an update on what happening with the Commander." Hannah gets out of the chair, she takes in a deep breath and exhales slowly. She is trying to calm down, but nothing seems to work. The Admiral decides she might as well get it over with.

Lt. Wiggins asks, "Am I to accompany you, ma'am?" Wiggins is from London and was fifteen when the Reapers attacked Earth. He has only been assigned to the Normandy for less than two years.

"No, Lt. Stay with the shuttle. I shouldn't be gone long, now that I know which hotel they are checking into," replies Shepard. Hannah already knew which hotel they were staying in, but since they left early. She wasn't sure if they were still going to stay there.

Admiral Hannah Shepard walks away from the shuttle, she goes through the military check point. Hannah takes the long walk with both a heavy heart and feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her posture is upright and tall and gives off the aura that radiates proud. Even though right now she is anything but proud.

The taxi containing Shepard, Liara, and their children pulls up to front door to The Grand Hotel of Elysium. The girls are in awe of the sight of the outside of the hotel. Both are forgetting at least for the moment, their father will be leaving soon. The taxi comes to a stop, the driver gets out and opens the back door for the family to get out. The trunk is already open and the doorman is busy putting the luggage on a dolly.

The Grand Hotel of Elysium is built with modern materials, but is designed in a 1920's art deco look. The retro look really stands out from the rest of the businesses and hotels in the area. Gaia is craning her neck as far back as it will go. Her face lights up as she views the entire front of the building. Gaia's mouth is open as she says, Wow!"

Gaia takes a few steps forward and steps on the back of Kaja's foot. Kaja caught her sister as Gaia continues to look upward. Kaja's mouth is open in shock of how the building looks. She never though she would see anything like this before. It is fascinating to her, "Wow, this is so neat looking. Isn't it?" The eldest sibling puts her hand around her sister's shoulder.

"Yes," squeals Gaia. She jumps up and down in excitement and giddiness. "This is the neatest place, I've ever seen." Gaia isn't paying any attention to where she is walking. She trips over the luggage dolly and falls on the sidewalk. "Ow"

Kaja laughs but also bends over to help her sister get back on her feet, "You okay, sis?" Gaia T'Soni smiles nods that she is fine then takes her sister's hand as they both walk towards the revolving front door.

Liara and Shepard are still standing next to curb holding hands, watching their two daughters reaction to the sight of the hotel. Leia comments, "This hotel was not here last time I was here, Liara. This place is beautiful. I wish I didn't have to go."

Another taxi pulls up to the hotel. It stops on the further down the unloading area in front of the hotel. The passenger in the car isn't getting out. The taxi takes off again. Shepard thinks that is very odd and keeps a look out of the taxi to return. She has a feeling it is her mother, Admiral Hannah Shepard, but she isn't one hundred percent sure on that.

"It was built eight years ago. 1920's art deco theme. It's suppose to be the best hotel in Elysium. The pictures don't do it justice either. This is stunning." Liara is also amazed at the look of the hotel. Dr. T'Soni also notices the odd behavior of the taxi, "Think that is your mother, Leia?

Shepard rubs the back of her neck with her hand while responding, "Or someone else from the Alliance. If it was someone else from the Alliance, why wou..."

Liara cuts her off when Gaia trips over the dolly. "Gaia, pay attention to where you're going." Her lips move upward in a smile as Kaja helps her little sister off the ground. Liara watches her daughters use the revolving door to enter the building and is pleasantly surprise when they don't play around in the door.

Leia eyes get big in complete shock her kids are not playing with the door. Not only that, they didn't need to be told to not play with the door. She can see them through the window and both girls are sitting in a chair looking around the lobby. "They are behaving, Liara. Look." Shepard points in the direction of where Kaja and Gaia are sitting. Quick, take a picture. We may never see this again."

T'Soni opens her omni-tool and snaps off a few pictures of her daughters sitting in the lobby with their mouths wide open in amazement. The taxi pulls up again, but this time it stops behind where Liara and Leia are standing. Liara turns to show Shepard the picture she likes the best out of the few she took. The asari notices the taxi sitting, waiting. Waiting for what, Liara isn't sure. She can't see the passenger in the back seat. Could it be Hannah or some one else? It does seem the passenger is waiting for someone or something to happen. "The taxi is back. Let's go inside and check in. I'll check us in and you can keep an eye on who is in the taxi. I have a feeling, Leia, it has to do with us. Who ever the passenger is, is waiting for us to go inside."

Shepard turns her head slightly, looking over her shoulder. She notices the taxi and agrees with Liara's assessment of the situation. "Ready to head in? Our kids and our luggage are already in the lobby. Should we join them?" Leia offers her right arm to Liara, which the asari takes. They look at the outside of the building one last time before heading into the lobby to check in.

Once the couple enters the building, the passenger in the taxi finally emerges from the taxi. The mysterious passenger makes her way to the hotel lobby.

The taxi Hannah Shepard is in pulls up in front of where Leia and Liara are standing outside The Grand Hotel of Elysium. It is not where Hannah wanted the driver to park. The driver of the taxi, a drell, asks, "You getting out, ma'am?"

The Alliance Admiral thinks for a moment before answering. "No, I want to be dropped of on the other end of the hotel," replies Shepard as she points her thumb behind and over her shoulder. She is very certain Leia or Liara noticed the taxi has stopped and no one is getting out of it.

The drell puts the taxi into drive and takes off without a word to his passenger. The drell has learned over the years of driving taxi both on Elysium and a short time on Earth not to question the passenger. Even if they request the silly most outrageous things, smile and do as requested. He is driving slow enough to please the human in the back seat. Taking the long way around the parking area to enter the circle drive by the front door.

As the driver pulls up to the circle drive, Hannah says, "Park here." She looks over to the fare meter to see how much is on it. Sixty-six credits. The Admiral looks through her small pouch for a two hundred credit chit. Finding the last one she has, she hands it to the driver as taps him on the shoulder, "Here is two hundred credits. I need for you to wait for me and one other person and then to drive us back to the space port."

The drell takes the chit, scans it with his omni-tool to make sure the amount she said was on it is correct. He reads the display and see the chit is worth two hundred credits. "Of course, ma'am. I'll move up closer to the door once you get out." He turns off the fare meter. He feels he has been paid and no need to have the meter running while he is waiting. The drell knows he has an Alliance Admiral that looks like an older Commander Shepard as his passenger and he also has noticed the Commander standing with an asari in front of the hotel. He is thinking that Commander Shepard is the person the Admiral is picking up, but is waiting to do so. Why is the question. The driver knows he will never get an answer to or he doesn't believe he will anyway. Not that it is any of his business anyway, his job is to drive people around Elysium.

Hannah notices the driver turning off the fare meter. Good is her thought. She really didn't want to pay him any more credits than necessary. She waits in the taxi with military patience. Keeping a close eye on the human and asari couple still standing on front of the building. They both notice the taxi then the couple finally walk into the hotel. Admiral Shepard gets out of the taxi and makes her way slowly to the revolving front door. She can see Liara talking to a human female behind the desk. Leia is kneeling down, talking and points out things with the girls. Hannah is starting to feel like a stalker by watching Leia with her two asari daughters from afar. The Alliance officer lets out a heavy sigh with a heavy heart then proceeds to walk into the hotel.

Liara is the first one through the revolving door with Shepard in right behind. Kaja and Gaia are sitting in two chairs in the corner talking and pointing to things they find fascinating in the lobby. Shepard is still amazed they are behaving. It makes her wonder if they are behaving because they know she is leaving or because they find the hotel fascinating and are soaking it all in. Liara goes over to the front counter and checks into their room, Leia goes over to where the girls are sitting and kneels down in front of them saying, "I see you two like this hotel?"

"This place is so nice and very different looking from anything we've seen before, dad," answers Kaja. "There are pictures that are not in color on the ceiling," says Kaja as she points with her arm extended up to a picture of Al Capone and other notorious criminals during the 1920's and 1930's.

Gaia asks, "Why are all the pictures on the walls have no color?" She is pointing directly behind Shepard to forces Leia to turn around to see what her daughter is pointing to. Gaia is pointing at a scene of a speakeasy with people drinking and flappers dancing.

Shepard scans the décor of the lobby before answering the questions posed to her by her daughters. Leia points to the picture of Al Capone, she turns slightly to the left so she can place her other hand on Kaja's thigh, "That is a notorious gangster from the 1920's Chicago. His name is Al Capone." Leia scoots closer to Gaia so she can answer her question. She looks out the window and notices her mother, Admiral Shepard, standing outside the hotel watching them. Pointing to the speakeasy scene with the flappers dancing Shepard says, "Back in the 1920's in the country United States of America, they outlawed liquor for over a decade. Also, back then pictures where taken in black n white. Color pictures came about a decade later."

Liara walks over to Shepard, Gaia, and Kaja. "We're in room 1024. The restaurant has a table for us right away, if you three are hungry. The bellhop is putting our luggage in our room. First rate service here." A smile with teeth showing appears on Liara face.

"Sounds good, mom. I'm starving," replies Gaia as she rubs her tummy with Kaja nodding in agreement with her little sister.

Shepard watches her mother walk into the lobby of the hotel, scan the area then head towards the bar. Mother and daughter made eye contact with Hannah nodding in the bar's direction. Leia gives a nod in return. "I'm with Gaia, I'm hungry. Lets go," says Leia Shepard. She slides her arm around Liara's waist, whispers into her ear, "My mom is here. She went into the bar. I'm going to ask her to join us. I want to eat dinner before I leave with her."

T'Soni gives a soft peck of a kiss on Shepard's cheek then whispers, "Okay, Leia. If she insists on leaving now, let us know, please"

"I will." comments Shepard as she kisses Liara's cheek then heads over to the bar to talk to her mother. Hannah is sitting at the end of the bar sipping on a glass of scotch on the rocks. Leia walks up to her mom and says, "We're having lunch in the hotel restaurant. Care to join us?"

Admiral Shepard sips her drink some more before setting the glass back on the bar, "Sure. I'll join. I do have a taxi outside waiting, but he can wait until we eat. I haven't ate nor slept since my meeting with the Prime Minister." The elder Shepard slides off the bar stool, hugs her daughter, whispers, "I'm sorry to be doing this, but I wasn't given much of a choice."

"I know. Do you know why he want to see me so badly he has to interrupt a trip that has already been interrupted?" asks Commander Shepard as she hugs her mother tightly back. "I'm not blaming you, mom."

They both walk side by side in perfect military step. Hannah answers Leia's question, "Yes, but I'd rather talk about that in private. I would love to spend some quality time having a meal with you and your family. Is that okay with you?"

Leia chuckles at her mothers comments, "That's perfect, mom. The kids will be happy to see you. They always are." They turn a corner to the hallway that leads to the hotel's restaurant. There is no line when they reach the entrance.

The maitre d' notices recognizes both Admiral and Commander Shepard. "This way, your table is waiting. The maitre d' leads the two humans to the table in the back of the restaurant where Liara, Kaja, and Gaia are waiting. The table gives the family a little bit of privacy. "Please enjoy your meal," says the maitre d' before he walks away to head back to the podium next to the entrance.

Dr. Liara T'Soni stands up to allow both Hannah and Leia access to the two empty seats next to Liara in the booth. While Liara is standing, she says, "I've order drinks for everyone and a cup of french onion soup. I hope that is alright with you, Hannah." Liara already knows Leia likes that type of soup, so she won't mind at all. She thought daughter is like mother, so Hannah might like it as well. Or she hopes so anyway.

"That's fine, Liara. Thank you," replies Hannah Shepard with a soft tender smile across her face with sparkling teeth showing. Along with the smile, the stress Hannah has feeling is slowly leaving. Everyone acting normal is soothing to the elder Shepard. She has been worried for the past few days that there would be some slight resentment from Liara about what happened at Shanxi. So far Hannah isn't feeling there is any of those types of feelings coming from the asari. The more she is around Liara and the kids, the more Hannah seems to learn about the asari in general. Or maybe Liara isn't a typical asari. Hannah knows Liara is young for an asari to start a family. The girls are very well behaved and mature for their age which tells Hannah a lot about how much discipline Leia and Liara are giving them.

The waiter looks like he is barely nineteen-years-old. He has long wavy brunette hair that is pulled back into a ponytail. He has a tray with five glasses of iced tea. He places one glass in front of each person sitting at the table. "I'll be right back with your soup. Then I'll be happy to take your order." The youthful looking waiter turns on heel and heads back to the kitchen to get five cups of french onion soup. Two minutes later, he returns to the table with everyone's soup. Carefully he places each cup in front of them. "Are you ready to order now?"

Hannah orders a bread bowl with potato soup. Leia orders a bread bowl with New England clam chowder. Liara orders a salad. Both girls order the same thing Leia did the New England clam chowder. The waiter types all of this in his data pad and hits enter. This should be ready in about ten minutes," says the waiter before he leaves to take care of another table in his section.

"Mom, you know how to pick a neat hotel to stay in," comments Kaja as she looks around the room. Her eyes are bright, open and soaking the entire room in as she looks at every little thing that is within her eye sight. There is jazz from the 1920's playing through out the restaurant.

Gaia is moving her upper body to the beat of the music playing while waiting on their lunch to arrive. Since she is sitting on the edge of the booth, she decides to stand up and start dancing to the music. Hannah looks over to both Leia and Liara to see what their reaction is. Liara has her hand over her face and an "Oh Goddess" escapes her lips. Leia has no reaction, she is watching Gaia dance like the flappers did then.

Liara looks over to Shepard, who is sitting there saying nothing to their youngest. Liara looks over to Gaia dancing and is stunned like Leia on how good she is. The waiter is standing behind the dancing asari with a huge smile on his face. He moves with her as much as he can with a tray full of food in his hands. Commander Shepard finally says, "Gaia, please sit down. Our lunch is here."

Gaia turns to the waiter and says, "Oh sorry, excuse me." She gives him a cheeky grin then sits in her spot at the table.

The youthful looking waiter gives everyone their meal. He leans in closer as he gives Liara her salad he says, "Your daughter is quite the dancer. Has she taken lessons?"

Liara gets a tad flush by the question, "Thank you. And … no, that was something we've never seen before." The waiter nods and smiles at the asari then leaves to attend to another table. Liara slowly mixes the ingredients in her salad together and stabs her fork into the lettuce, taking a bite.

Kaja tips the top portion of the bread bowl into the soup and eats it. She is copying both her father and grandmother. Liara smiles to herself at the sight. Gaia is eating her bread separately while using a spoon to eat the soup out of the bowl. Liara is always amazed at Kaja and how her mannerisms are almost spot on with Shepard's.

Hannah is sitting between Kaja and Leia and even she notices how Kaja eats like Leia. Hannah says, "This is excellent soup. Bread is perfect." She dips another piece of the bread into the soup and places it into her mouth. A slight 'mmm' could be heard escape Hannah's lips.

Gaia giggles at hearing her grandmother's 'mmm' while eating. "Why don't we have this type of meal at home?"

Leia and Liara both look at each other, each shrugs their shoulders. Liara is the one to answer, "I don't know, Gaia. Maybe when we get home, we can have it at home. I'm sure one of us will be able to cook it."

Hannah almost chokes on her food when she hears what Liara is saying. She never thought Leia would ever be able to cook. Hannah, herself can burn toast. When you spend most of your life on star ships, one never learns how to cook. "Leia, my child, since when can you cook?"

Kaja comments quickly, "Dad's a great cook." Kaja is hoping that comment scores some suck up points with her father.

Commander Shepard looks over to her bondmate thinking when did she teach herself to cook. She remembers now, "Liara, when did I cook a meal for the first time?" Shepard isn't sure how Liara wants this type of question answered. The kids know nothing of a Shadow Broker. Hannah knows the Shadow Broker's network got weaker after the Reaper War or Leia thought that is what her mom knows. That is the rumor. Even though over the years the network has slowly gotten stronger, but no one know who the Broker is.

"It was when I was away working away from Illium and you came to visit me there. You made french toast." answers Liara before she takes another bite of her Greek salad.

Admiral Shepard is stunned. She didn't know her daughter learned to cook. "Who taught you?"

"No one, I taught myself. Not everything I made came out like it should, but normally was at worse eatable. I would look at a recipe and take it one step at a time at first. I did easy recipes. French toast is easy. Whip up some eggs. Add some nutmeg to the eggs mixing it well. Dip bread in to eggs. Place on hot skillet with butter. Flip when brown on down side. Remove when other side is brown. Not that hard mom. You might want to try it some time." The Commander takes another bite of bread with some soup. She has already eaten the top portion of the bowl. Now Leia is scrapping the inside of the bowl for the bread pieces.

Hannah looks down and notices the time, "I hate to do this, but it's getting time to leave. The longer we wait the longer it will take for you to return." The Admiral is scraping the bottom of her bread bowl for the last piece of bread to go with the last bite of soup.

"Okay. You did say you had a taxi waiting outside. I guess we should go." Leia is wiping her mouth with a napkin. She looks over to her daughters, "Remember what I told you on the ride over here. Do what your mother asks of you. If you don't, she will tell me about it and then you will have to deal with me. Understood?"

Both daughters nod with big bright eyes that both understand their father perfectly. Don't get into trouble while dad is away or there will be more punishment later. Gaia is still eating her lunch, while Kaja is almost finished with hers.

Liara stands to allow both Hannah and Leia out. She runs her hand over Leia's arm. Liara grabs the Commander's and pulls her close, "Come back quick, Leia. I love you, Shepard."

Shepard responds with, "I love you too, T'Soni and I'll be back as soon as possible." Leia moves her head slightly to plant a big wet sloppy kiss up T'Soni's lips. She breaks off the kiss after a few moments. Both mother and daughter leave the restaurant to take the taxi back to Admiral Shepard's shuttle.

Liara sits back down to finish her salad. She notices that Hannah left an OSD and a credit chit. The chit was worth seventy-five credits. It's enough to pay for the meal plus a tip. Liara scans the OSD onto her omni-tool and reads the message.

Liara,

I wanted to make sure you understand what is going on. The Prime Minister of the System Alliance has requested that Leia meet with him A.S.A.P. Some of it has to do with what happened on Shanxi and Leia's disrespect towards Councilor Maclin on the debrief afterwords. The other has to do with the Normandy. I know neither one of you want it, but there is still some major red tape regarding it.

I have no idea what is going to happen with all of this. The Prime Minister did threaten my rank if I didn't bring Leia in. He seems very pissed off about something and I'm not sure what it is about.

Again, I'm sorry for all of this. I really wish this could have waited. I did plead for it, but it went for naught. The PM does not care if he is interrupting your vacation. I get a sense, he is enjoy ruining it. I don't know what you know about the Terra Firma party, but he is a member. They have several key positions within the Alliance.

I'll get Leia back to you and the kids as soon as I can, Liara. That I promise.

Hannah

Liara burrows her brow in frustration. Who does this guy think he is? We don't even live in Council Space let alone Alliance Space are two of many thoughts running through her mind at this very moment. T'Soni lets out a sigh of discontentment at the situation that has been thrust upon her and her family.

The waiter stops by the table and asks if there is anything they need. All that is left say no, so the youthful waiter leaves the check along with device to scan credit chits with on the table. Dr. T'Soni looks the check over and it comes to sixty-nine credits. She scans the chit Hannah left on the table. Gaia is finishing up the last of her bread. She ate the whole thing. Bread and all. Kaja ate most of her bread as well. Hannah and Leia both left most of their bread bowl intact, but the inside of the bowl was empty. Liara thinks they left before either one was really done eating.

"Okay you two. Ready to check out our room?" asks Liara with a smile across her lips. She is really trying hard to be upbeat while Leia is gone. Liara rummages through her credit chits and finds one with ten credits on it. She isn't sure why she has one with such a small amount on it, but it perfect for what she needs right now. The chit is left on the table as the three asari walk to see their room for the next few days. Liara has a daughter on each side of her and a warm feeling because of it.

Hannah and Leia are off to the side near a couple of trees having a quick chat about what is going on. The Admiral wanted to make sure her daughter is not walking into this blind, "Leia, the Prime Minister is wanting to see you. He seems to be enjoying interrupting your vacation because I tried to get this moved back until the end of your trip. Prime Minister is up to something, I don't know what it is though." She wraps her arms around the Commander's shoulders and gives Leia a warm hug. "I'm sorry, I can't do more to delay this."

"I don't blame you, mom. Lets get this over with." Commander Shepard points in the direction of the taxi, "I think he is ready to leave."

Admiral Shepard answers, "I agree." She places her arm around her daughter's shoulder as they walk the few short meters to the waiting taxi. As soon as the car door shut, the taxi took off heading to the spaceport.

A/N:I hope you enjoyed the chapter this week. Still plenty more to come between now and Mass Effect 3. I do have enough written for a new chapter every week until 6 March. Some weeks you may get two chapters.

See you next week.