A/N: Sorry for the long delay between chapters...been a crazy week. Should be back on course now. Enjoy!

Luka adjusted the controls of the small carrier ship with literally a thought, frowning tensely as the damage warning sent another wave of heat through her arm.

The ship and Osco's direct mind computer interface had their distinct advantages, allowing navigation and control response times to be as quick as one could think, but it had its unpleasant side as well. Interfaced as the pilot, when any ship system was damaged or needed emergency attention, the warning wasn't given with an audio call or flashing red lights. Instead, it presented as an unpleasantly hot sensation- like standing too close to a campfire, or under too bright a sun. It was impossible to ignore, but impossible to disengage without withdrawing herself completely from ship control.

The carrier was stealthed against any current detection method, designed to carry two remote fighters of the kind that swept over Purdue. That particular fighter had been lost to the Aswa, but a second remained locked to the belly of the carrier, ready for use. Though she had made it back to the carrier without personal injury, the Alliance had gotten off a lucky shot as she departed the solar system.

It was her own fault, really. Still not used to the sensitivity of the thought controls, she had drifted too close to a comm buoy. When it rebounded from her ship's shields, the sudden motion of the stationary buoy had alerted the Alliance. Though they could not see her (even if they had looked out a window, the sleek black hull of the carrier would have been all but invisible against the black of space save to the sharpest of eyes), they knew something was there. They had taken a chance and launched scattershot toward the buoy.

As a result, she'd lost her shields and sustained damage, though she was able to jump to FTL before the frigates could hone in on her and seal the deal.

The damage wasn't too bad, but repairs were needed before she would be able to make the trip safely back to base. She also couldn't take the chance that she was leaving an emissions trail behind her as a result- a trail she would have to erase or the Alliance and that Spectre would follow her right back home and to Osco as easily as birds following bread crumbs.

Hitting two relays had done nothing to improve her situation. She couldn't push the ship any further without putting down, but she could not risk putting down in a place she risked being seen or reported.

Ignoring the irritating heat of the damage report, Luka scanned through the nearby star charts, looking for an atmospheric world where she'd be able to patch the carrier up without running too much risk.

Flipping past worlds, she suddenly paused and went back, highlighting a planet only an hour from her position. It met all her atmospheric and gravitational needs, but it was also flashing a Council sanction.

Luka began to smile as she realized what it was.

A developing world with a sentient species not yet capable of space flight, restricted and observed by scientific teams. If I land somewhere remote I won't be seen…and if I am, it won't be by anyone with the extranet or intergalactic communications skills to report me.

She did a quick scan of the system, locating a small base on the main world's third moon, and a scientific vessel in far solar orbit.

Those would be the anthropologists and evaluation teams, which were expected. On occasion, military vessels would patrol the quarantined system as well, making sure slavers and profiteers weren't trying to land and take advantage of an unexpectant, unprepared civilization.

No patrol vessels were in evidence, however, and her small carrier had more than enough stealth left to it to slip in past the scientists. Turning her vessel toward the quarantine zone, she did a geographical scan, selecting a small lakeside in a mountainous and heavily forested area as her landing zone. The lake offered enough clear space for her to put down and attend her work, but it was easily a hundred kilometers from the nearest settlement. She would be running little risk of encountering the natives.

Even if they couldn't report her presence, she did not relish the idea of getting a spear through her back from some hooting primitive.

She entered atmosphere without incident, lowering the carrier to a landing on a grassy patch not far from the lake. She powered down, checking her pistol and slinging a rifle over her shoulder before she disembarked.

It was shortly after dawn, local time. A crisp, chill wind was blowing over the lake, making tiny ripples in its clear surface. In the distance, a snowy peak rose against the pink and purple sky, its craggy head seeming to point at the low, large moon. The second moon was smaller and higher in the sky, the third (where the scientific base was located) was already far below the horizon, invisible from where Luka stood.

The wind stirred her hair as she walked around the side of the carrier to the area of damage, her pale eyes scanning her surroundings for any sign of life. Save for a few sleepy birds stirring in the trees on the other side of the lake, she saw nothing.

Eyeballing the damaged area from outside, she judged there was little she could do from this end to rectify the issue. There was an ugly gash and some small holes in the armor plating, but most of the problematic damage would have to be fixed from within.

Getting back aboard the carrier, she went down to the tiny hold and engineering section, gathering up the tools she'd need to jury-rig a repair. She'd just set to work when carrier's automatic security system lit up her omni-tool.

Immediately she pulled up an infrared feed. Something fairly large was moving about just outside the ship.

No, on the ship. It had scaled up the slope of hull and now stood on the lower aft plating. It looked bipedal, and she scowled.

"Fucking natives."

There seemed to be just the one. She debated going out with her rifle, then smirked to herself. Moving to an interface, she tapped into the computer and rerouted a small power conduit, effectively directing its electrical energy directly to the hull plating. As she hit the final command, the infrared form suddenly stiffened and jolted, then went limp, sliding off the ship into a heap on the ground.

Shutting off and correcting her reroute, she picked up her rifle and headed outside.

The light had grown slightly brighter, the big moon now nearly behind the mountain and the rising sun at her back. Luka held her rifle to the ready, carefully looking over the area again before approaching the limp form sprawled on the grass.

She debated shooting it, then edged up and prodded it with her rifle muzzle instead. When it didn't move, she lowered the weapon a bit and cocked her head.

"What an ugly fucking thing you are," she said.

It was obviously sentient, bipedal and wearing light clothing. Seeing it up close, she was glad she had shocked it instead of coming out to confront it when it was nice and lively. Ugly as it was, the thing looked like it could tear her to pieces.

Conscious and on its feet, it probably stood just under seven feet tall. Its face was long and slightly muzzled, with thin nostrils and a small mouth. It looked, in fact, remarkably like it could be related to the Earth ovines…its facial features astoundingly goat-like, down to the long and droopy ears. It was covered with a short, fine white hair…all but the pads of its large, four fingered hands, which were bare. The hair on its head was longer and shaggier, a shade more to cream than white, and edged in black and gray.

Its body was clearly extremely muscular, forward facing eyes (closed, at the moment) indicating predator, although its mouth and nose structure seemed to indicate prey. Its entire leg structure resembled that of a rabbit, or a kangaroo- powerful thighs, shins curving back to broad, three toed bare feet. The hair was a bit thicker on its toes, but couldn't quite hide a slight gleam. Crouching, Luka reached out and gripped one of the toes, pressing down.

Like the claw of a feline, a wickedly sharp and curved talon appeared, a blade as long and deadly as any knife. Curiosity made her look closer, and she realized the sharp edge of it was actually faintly serrated.

Good kick from one of these and it could eviscerate someone quite handily, she thought. Swinging her rifle back to her shoulder she drew her pistol, aiming it at the unconscious thing's face as she picked up one limp hand.

It was not much bigger than her own hand, sporting three broad fingers and an opposable thumb. Feeling a finger as she had the toe, she pressed, and a talon slid into view. It was smaller, but no less deadly sharp and serrated as the claws on its toes.

Definitely a predator, but what an odd mix! The retractable claws suggest feline, the head ovine, the legs macropodine…

Despite the fur it was wearing clothing- woven cloth that covered it from waist to knee, with a kind of split skirt or leather tasseled flap in front. The tassels joined on to a proper braided belt from which a few bloody and fresh furs hung- likely, it had been out hunting.

There were no weapons. Another cloth wound over its shoulders and across its chest, laced in front to form a rudimentary vest. It was dyed in alternating shades of purple- brightest at the shoulder and nearly black at the waist. Whether it was for fashion or to demonstrate some kind of rank wasn't immediately obvious.

It was still quite unconscious, though she could see it breathing. Sitting back on her heels, Luka pondered and then rose, vanishing back into the carrier. Emerging a few minutes later, she fastened a pair of heavy-duty binders on the alien's wrists, then used her own belt for its ankles, as she had no actual binders large enough.

Luka was strong for her size, but the alien proved to be as solid as it looked. She could not lift it, and had to settle for hooking it under the armpits and dragging it into the ship. Doing so revealed a tail it had previously been laying on- a four or five foot long appendage, thick where it joined the body and swiftly tapering to a tufted end.

Counterbalance for leaping? she thought, wrestling the deadweight form across the deck plates. Possibly prehensile? What a strange beast you are, my friend.

The carrier had a small section in the back cargo area that doubled as a cell. Unlike the regular dark energy barriers commonly in use across the galaxy, the controls produced a kind of kinetic plasma curtain. It automatically strengthened itself against any energy applied to it. If you pressed on it lightly, you felt a light press in return. The harder you pushed, the harder it pushed back, using your own applied force against you. Handy for keeping things locked up.

She dumped her unconscious native on the ground, then activated the curtain. Panting a little, she did another exterior scan, but no other life forms bigger than a rabbit could be seen. Gathering her tools, she set to work repairing the ship.

She wanted to be fixed and out of here before more natives showed up, wanting their friend back. She had no desire to confront even a few of these beasts- especially conscious and lively- but neither did she intend on giving her one specimen up.

There was no telling what use Gellian would get out of her prize. Alive it would be invaluable. Even dissected it would be potentially priceless in terms of unique genetic information, and Luka had never been one for throwing things away that might have some use left to them.

Shepard dreamt that she was back on Purdue, falling to the ground with the infected man pressing down on her. She could smell the fire and smoke from the burning lab, hear the distant stuttering gunshots and shouts of the marines. She could feel the teeth as they sank into her skin and she struggled to throw him off, to tear away, feeling her flesh rip…

She woke and held her breath, staring wide-eyed into the dark room for a long moment before reality superseded dreamscape. Her exhale was shuddering, her hair damp when she sat and brushed it away from her face. A glance at the clock told her she'd only been asleep about three hours, but she also knew she'd be getting no more rest tonight.

Padding into her small bathroom, she took a short shower, grimacing when the warm water hit her burns and quickly switching it cooler. She was shivering when she stepped out, getting dressed and then brushing her damp hair back.

As she stepped through her door to head toward the lab, she steeled herself for the inevitable. It came just as expected, as Ashley straightened from her post outside the door.

"You couldn't have slept."

"I slept enough," she said, not halting as the marine fell in behind her.

"You weren't even in there four hours. That's not nearly enough."

"It will do. I need to work."

"You're gonna exhaust yourself Doc. You're still healing-…you're having nightmares, aren't you?"

Del felt her lips tighten a little, and hoped the marine didn't notice. No dice.

"You are. Hey, that's perfectly normal, given everything-"

"Is it?" Shepard asked, more tersely than she'd meant to.

"Look, Doc-"

"Forget it. I'm awake and I'm not going back to sleep, so I can either go to the lab and get some work done, or we can stand here while you lecture me about not getting enough sleep."

Ashley lifted her brows, but said nothing further as she followed Del to the lab.

Mordin was there, as usual, working along diligently. If he noted or cared about the hour he kept it to himself, greeting Shepard happily and immediately updating her on everything they'd discovered or made progress on.

As she put her attention to work, Ashley took up her position at the door. Despite being under an ocean on one of the most secure planets in the galaxy, Liara had her and Sam still on continuous bodyguard duty. Ash didn't complain-she'd had far worse missions before than simply keeping someone safe.

Sam had been the one on duty the previous afternoon, when Shepard had followed the two quarians to the square. She'd been smirking when Ash came to relieve her, and when her cousin had asked what was so funny, Sam had merely nodded toward Liara and the doctor, and then left.

The two had been sitting on a bench, talking. Nothing more than that, but Ashley had quickly caught on to the source of Feris's amusement.

The spectre looked more relaxed than Ash had ever seen her. She had actually smiled a time or two during the course of the conversation, an act that was very out of character for the normally regimented and closely-guarded asari.

Shepard was far easier to read. The way she'd incline her head just a bit when she smiled, the way she kept tucking her hair behind her ear, even when it was already neatly tucked- she couldn't have been more obvious if she had a neon sign flashing above her head.

Thinking back to the interaction now, Ashley smirked to herself. Now that would be an interesting pairing, she thought. I wonder if Liara would ever loosen up enough to-

"I trust you are smiling to yourself for a reason, Commander," Liara said suddenly, stepping in the lab door and looking immediately at Ashley, as if to verify she was at her assigned post.

Williams straightened a little. "I am," she said simply, offering no other explanation.

"I also trust that Dr. Shepard is up and working at this hour for a reason?" Liara continued, a little more irritation in her voice.

"Doc's been having nightmares," Ashley told her. "She woke up, refused to go back to bed. I can't force her if she doesn't want to go."

"Nightmares?" Liara asked, glancing over at where Del was working. Ashley didn't miss the subtle concern, and fought not to smirk again.

"Yeah. Pretty common when your whole world is turned upside down and some rabid infected monster nearly kills you."

Liara glared at her, and Ashley returned it with an unconcerned look and a neutral, "Ma'am."

"Lawson should be arriving within the hour," Liara told her.

"Be lovely to have her here," Ashley said sarcastically.

"She is the only chance we have of getting safely through the Omega 4 relay."

"I know. But we're swinging an awful lot of 'ifs' on this. If she can get us through safe. If it leads the galactic core. If Osco is actually hiding there. If we can get back."

"I know, but it is what is needed. There are no other leads, and even the Shadow Broker cannot trace her financial backing."

Ashley nodded silently, then noting that Liara was still watching Shepard, cleared her throat. Liara looked at her.

"Something else on your mind, Commander?"

"I was just wondering if there was something else on yours, Captain," Ashley said. "Or did you come down to the lab- where you didn't know I'd be at this hour- just to tell me when Lawson is going to arrive?"

Liara's expression had hardened, and Williams wondered if she hadn't pushed a bit too much. "You know that I am aware at every moment where both you and Dr. Shepard are located. My omni-tool tracks yours and keeps me updated on your whereabouts. I was curious as to why you were in the lab when the doctor should have been in her quarters resting. I now have my answer. Good evening, Commander."

As she turned to go, Williams nearly said, Just go talk to her. In fact, she got so far as to open her mouth when she thought better of it. To push again right now would probably not be wise. N7 or no, she had seen the spectre in combat and had absolutely no desire to get on her bad side.

Mordin had spotted Liara, however, and headed over, catching the asari before she could depart. "Captain! Good! Wanted to talk with you. Been examining that armor you brought in."

Liara paused, then turned back. "The armor that we took off of Dr. Wyatt?"

"Yes. Intriguing design, creates reverse field to bend dark energy away from subject harmlessly. Far in-"

"-advance of anything that should be possible," Liara said. "Yes. I am getting rather weary of that. Have you any idea of where it may have come from? Osco could not have developed it on her own."

"Actually, yes," Mordin replied, surprising Liara. He seemed pleased by this, and waved her across the room toward one of the far consoles. "Not unique."

"Not unique?" Liara asked.

Mordin reached a console and activated it. "Fifty years ago, Isis Belt. Archaeological dig on Deceptor."

"You are referring to the Norvaya Tragedy," she said. "I remember. It was all over the galactic newsfeeds."

"Yes. Old si'vanan city found, millions of years old, buried on Deceptor. Matron Norvaya A'less lead huge archaeological endeavor. Usual artifacts found- pottery, tablets, some drawings…until deepest tunnel reached chamber kilometer below surface. Previous artifacts were primitive, early iron age culture. However, in chamber-"

"There were rumors that they had found advanced technology buried in the heart of the ruined city. Technology that the si'vanan culture should not have possessed at their level of development."

"Precisely. Then, supernova."

"Supernova?" This came from Shepard, who had overheard and looked up from her console. Mordin looked at her.

"Yes. Forgot, disaster before human experience in galactic community. System's sun core collapsed, went supernova. All worlds in system destroyed. Entire Deceptor archaeological team, all artifacts, all worlds. Gone."

Shepard looked horrified. "Why were they performing a dig on a planet in a system whose sun was due for nova?"

"They were not," Liara told her.

"Yes. Deceptor's sun, far too young to nova. No warning. No indication. Just did."

"The sun just exploded?" Shepard said. "That's not possible."

"There have been thousands of theories as to why it may have happened," Liara said. "One of the more unconventional was that the team found some kind of super-advanced weapon in that final chamber and accidentally activated it, unwittingly triggering the sun's core into collapse. There was no way to verify any of the many hypotheses. Everything that might have provided an answer was destroyed, and all that was left was the usual aftermath of a star's death."

"Not common knowledge, but not everything lost," Mordin said. "Some initial data scans and notes of artifacts and designs of interior chamber were forwarded out of the system to research colony in salarian space, just before disaster. Accessing information now."

"You have clearance?" Liara asked, a bit surprised. Mordin replied simply.

"Yes."

After another moment, he nodded and gestured to the display. "Some statistics on chamber size and dimensions, jotted observations. Here, short omni-tool scan. Some visuals."

A line of data appeared on the left hand part of the display. The right was taken up by a broken visual feed laced with static. There was no audio, and both Liara and Del craned their heads as they tried to make out the images.

They saw the edge of a wall, but the impression was that the space beyond was fairly vast. Ranks of what might pass for computers and consoles went past, too fast to see details. Then the scan steadied on a type of pedestal. It was dark, metallic, but looked as if it had flowed up from the floor before solidifying in place. Balanced over it, a small object seemed to be suspended in an energy field.

Shepard squinted. "Some…kind of ore sample? It looks uneven, chiseled perhaps?"

Another flash of static and the feed went to black, the scrolling data stopping. "That is all?" Liara asked, disappointed.

"Yes," Mordin said. "But…according to data feed, composition of scanned 'ore sample' matches composition of material found added to chest-plate. Material is not ore but carefully composed technology, microscopic and bioelectric computational matrices of radical advancement. Identical composition in 'ore sample' suggests identical technology."

"Somehow Osco's gotten her hands on this technology," Shepard said softly.

"Everything on Deceptor was destroyed," Liara replied. "She must have found a similar cache on another world. The si'vanan were not nearly as advanced as this tech would indicate, which means it was not of their making."

"Yes. Older civilization, perhaps thousands of years, buried under where the si'vanan built their city," Mordin said.

"Older, but that much more advanced?" Shepard asked.

"Unknown civilization may have endured thousands, even millions of years before destruction, reaching incredible advancement," Mordin said. "Possible such caches are on hundreds of worlds across galactic space, still undiscovered. Possible were destroyed through passage of time, development of new civilizations, natural disasters. Cannot further speculate without direct examination of artifacts."

"If Osco does have this tech then that means she potentially has a force or device similar to the one that destroyed Deceptor's sun." Liara looked at Shepard as the realization of that swelled in the doctor's dark brown eyes. "This PMD plague may not be the worst she can throw at the galaxy. Not by far."