One Eye Open - Chapter Fourteen
A team of bio-suited salarians filed into the hanger behind Executor Pallin as he watched the Spectre take Shanxi away on the level below. The sight of a stranger leading one of his own bothered him more than he cared to admit, but the girl needed to learn a lesson only time and experience could teach. He sighed into the cold hangar air and told himself it was for the best.
"Are you sure you should be letting her go with him?" a voice spoke up from a short distance behind his back.
Pallin recognized the familiar voice and shifted where he stood. The truth was that he wasn't sure about it, at least not completely. Letting Shanxi go had been a calculated risk; just one of many tough choices he'd had to make over the years as the head of C-Sec. He knew that the Spectre would be on a short leash and Chellick would have his eyes on the pair the minute they reached the Citadel, but like all men in power, he never stopped considering the consequences of his actions. That was a part of the job his subordinates never seemed to understand…
"Shanxi needs to learn to deal with difficult people if she wants to rise any higher at C-Sec," the Executor replied critically, "I can't have her excel in the field only to fall apart in front of Ms. Wong on the evening news."
"Why does that matter?" the speaker argued, "She's an investigator. Shouldn't you be more concerned about whether or not she can close a case?"
"It matters, Garrus," Pallin said sternly, "Because our image matters. C-Sec needs the publics trust to operate, and to gain that trust, we must present a face of stability and accountability. Of integrity."
The older turian clasped his hands behind his back and continued to peer over the railing at the two retreating forms.
"Shanxi has integrity; what she needs is gumption."
Garrus shook his head and caught a box as it fell from its precarious perch atop a load of equipment being lugged to the Admiral's hangar. He handed it off politely to a passing salarian before turning back to this superior.
"So," he said to Pallin, deciding it was best to drop the previous matter, "Are you going to tell me why I'm here or am I going to have to guess?"
"Did you get the files I sent you?" Pallin asked plainly.
"I did."
"Then you've seen the list of names among them," the elder turian continued, "These are officers Huit has implicated in illegal activities. I want their terminals, lockers and quarters searched; get a warrant for anyone living off barracks. If you find anything, bring them in."
"Taken care of," Garrus replied.
"And Garrus," Pallin added as he turned to face his subordinate, "Make certain you follow procedure. I can't have these men getting off on technicalities; they're a threat to this organization and everyone around them."
Garrus simply nodded as the Executor stalked off to supervise the salarians' tests on the Admiral. Once his superior was out of sight, the remaining officer walked up to the railing and caught the last fleeting glimpse of Carrick and Shanxi as they disappeared into a large ships airlock. He brought up his hand and adjusted the depth of the scanner over his left eye thoughtfully.
"Don't sweat him too much, kid."
.oO--Oo.
"There is no internal affairs agent is there?" Shanxi muttered as the Spectre stiffly guided her to back to his ship. Carrick seemed pleased she'd finally spoken to him and he looked over at her with a smile.
"Well, that depends on how you look at it," he replied, "I do work for the Council, and I did come here to ask about your last case."
"Not good enough," she replied flatly, "You lied to me, you lied to Devaki, and you lied to Executor Pallin. Do you know what he would do if he thought I had some kind of connection to the Spectres?"
The turian let out a slightly amused laugh as he pulled up alongside a double-paneled airlock set with thick, blue-tinted windows. He stopped in front of it and punched a code into a keypad set with characters Shanxi couldn't understand. Turian script, she guessed. The make of the ship the airlock belonged to certainly followed their sleek, minimalist model.
"With all due respect, Miss Starling," the Spectre replied evenly as he waited for the doors to open, "Don't you think that's why I lied in the first place? Pallin's distaste for the Spectre program is no great secret. Would you have met with me at the opera house if you knew I was one?"
"No," she said with a small frown, "Spectres are known for nothing but trouble."
A hiss from the airlock punctuated her remark and Carrick sighed, throwing off sparks from his shiny skin again.
"You were much less confrontational at the opera house," he observed.
"You weren't a Spectre at the opera house," she countered, bringing her arms across her chest defensively. He ignored the comment and tried to wave her onto the ship, but she stood her ground stubbornly. When it became apparent she wasn't going to back down from the standoff, Carrick took a step towards her.
"Please board the ship," he requested calmly, "Those amps are still out there somewhere; we don't have time to waste."
Shanxi shifted nervously at his comment and uncrossed her arms. This wasn't how she'd imagined a Spectre; or at least, this wasn't how Pallin had always described them. With all the tales the Executor had told her, she'd expected someone more heavy-handed and commandeering. This strange-colored turian, however, was nothing but patient, firm, and polite. Despite his previous deceit, she found a part of her wanting trust him and his cool countenance. As his reminder of the job at hand calmed her down, she became aware of how childish her current behavior must seem to him.
"Will you at least tell me why you were at the opera house?" she flustered, "I came out here today expecting to re-examine a ship and speak with an internal affairs representative, not to find the Admiral falling apart and a Spectre waiting for us."
Her frown deepened and her eyebrows pinched together. "I feel like someone is playing a bad joke on me…"
Carrick laughed lightly, and Shanxi's ears found the sound to be free of her expected mockery.
"I've read your file, Miss Starling, and I can understand how this is upsetting for you," he replied carefully, "But if you will simply get on the ship, I will answer all of your questions."
Shanxi nodded slowly, then took a deep breath and walked through the portal only to find herself in a smaller chamber with yet another airlock on the opposite wall. Carrick followed closely behind her and tapped a button that slid the outer doors back into place before folding his hands in front him and looking forward blankly. The human became confused when the interior doors didn't open, and she was about to ask Carrick what was happening when a translucent laser started to pass along the chambers walls.
"Decontamination in progress," declared a synthesized voice from nowhere in particular.
Shanxi glanced up in surprise as the wall of bluish light approached them, and she felt herself begin to panic when she heard a soft whirring noise coming with it. Carrick noticed her alarm and immediately reached out for her shoulder.
"It's alright, Starling," he said in comfort, "It'll be over in a moment; it can't hurt you."
The human's eyes glossed over as the bright beam warped over the contours of her hard suit, and she put a hand to her chest as if her heart might stop. Carrick's words were lost on her as she fought for air through the pressure that speared her ribcage. The Spectre reached out to catch her in alarm as she took several unsteady steps backwards. He shifted her weight into one arm and punched the release button on the wall with the other.
The minute the inner airlock opened, Shanxi pushed away from him and rushed into the ship's interior where she collapsed next to a seat coughing. Carrick situated the sputtering woman upright and went quickly to a compartment marked with a red cross. He shifted through the objects within and drew out at small device with which he returned to Shanxi. He kneeled on the ground beside her and held it out.
"Relax," he said calmly, "Open your mouth."
Shanxi did so and took the inhaler between her teeth.
"Now bite down," he instructed.
She felt a seal break somewhere in the device and a rush of oxygen flooded into her lungs. Her body relaxed immediately and the fuzziness around the edges of her eyes retreated. She took several breaths and raised her hand to brush away a trail of sweat that ran down her face from her hairline. Carrick watched impassively.
"It reminds you of an MR scanner doesn't it?" he asked at last.
Shanxi nodded, still trying to catch her breath. He nodded along with her and frowned a bit.
"I suppose I should have anticipated that. Now you really think I'm out to get you, don't you?"
She moved the inhaler away from her face and he propped her up so she could speak.
"I'm…sorry," she said airily. The turian cocked his head to the side and appraised her with grayish eyes.
"For what?"
"For…my reaction. That's not…very…professional."
"Heh. More people are scared of decontamination chambers than you might think, Miss Starling, and only a handful of those are people like you," he said softly, "Believe me when I say that I completely understand."
He turned away from Shanxi and waved his hand at the cabinet he'd just opened to retrieve the inhaler. The door closed on cue, and his meaning dawned on her.
"You're a…biotic," she whispered.
"Yes," he confirmed as she put the inhaler back in her mouth and listened attentively, "Biotics don't come any more naturally to my people than they do to yours. I had to undergo a lot of tests and training before finally be trusted with my own abilities, and, like you, they have left me with some unpleasant memories."
Shanxi tried to stand and he helped her into the passenger seat behind her.
"Is that why you look like you do?" she asked, her breathing finally returned to normal, "Is that what exposure does to turians?"
"It effects us in different ways just as it does humans," he explained as he contemplated the pearly scaled skin around his talons, "But in my case, yes, this is not a natural coloring."
Now that she had recovered herself, Carrick walked past her to the front of the ship and took his place in the pilot's seat. He began flipping switches and the engines hummed to life. A panel protecting the windshield slid away, and she felt the magnetic buoys detach from the sides of the ship. She'd never been in such a sophisticated vessel before, and she was impressed by several details of the uniquely turian design. What caught her attention most was an array of reinforced mirrors lining the ceiling above the flight deck; put there so the pilot needed only to make a quick glance upward to see what was happening in the ship behind him.
"This is a nice ship you have," Shanxi called to him.
"Yes, and it flies much faster than your shuttle," Carrick replied as he met her eyes in the mirror, "Please put on your seatbelt."
Shanxi did as he requested, and the Spectre drew back on his joystick. The human could see through the window that the ship had begun to pull away from the hangar, but oddly, she didn't feel even the slightest vibration underneath her feet.
"Exactly how fast can this ship go?" she asked curiously. Even though he didn't look up in the mirror, Shanxi could see a slight trace of a grin cross the turian's face.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he replied.
Shanxi accepted the response as a polite refusal of what was likely confidential information and settled into her seat for the ride back to the Citadel. Once Carrick's ship was free of the hangar, he put it into auto-pilot and swiveled around to face her.
"Your mother came here with a group of delegates right after the First Contact War, didn't she?" the turian asked, "They were hoping to find new ways to treat biotic cancer…"
"Yes," Shanxi replied as she pieced some information together, "Is that why you met me at the opera house? You think my history makes me more sympathetic to this case?"
"That's part of it," Carrick admitted, "Most people don't understand the dangers that element zero exposure poses to humans, turians, and other races where biotics are not naturally occurring. Exposed parties often experience severe health problems, whether they develop the nodes or not. For those that do, the implant surgeries make their medical histories that much more complicated. I would be lying if I claimed I don't take this business about altered amps personally."
"As for the other part…I simply wanted to know more about you. I learned from one of C-Sec's rosters that you and your partner would be picking up the job at the docking bay. I figured if you were any good at your jobs, you'd be able to locate the amps there and retrieve them without my help, but I needed to make sure you weren't one of the officers allowing the amps to be smuggled off the Citadel in the first place."
"So you tried to trick me into giving you confidential information about the C-Sec armors and other equipment," she finished.
"Correct, and for what it's worth, you answered well. Nothing you told me couldn't be found out by simply checking C-Sec's public spending reports. If an internal affairs agent had been here today, you'd have been just fine."
Shanxi smiled a little at the praise.
"However," the turian continued, "Your nervousness could make you look suspicious to an untrained eye. Physical tension, sweaty palms and absence of eye contact are all traditional indicators of lying. It takes an experienced person to know the difference between someone with a deceitful nature and someone with a sensitive one."
"Oh," Shanxi said with a slight flush, "How could you tell with me?"
This time the Spectre smiled.
"You didn't tell me anything you weren't supposed to for one," he explained, "And for two, you spoke to me with great regard about your work and those you work with. Your job seemed far too important to you to be something you'd risk over a few petty credits."
Shanxi nodded. "I still can't believe another officer was letting people get away with smuggling."
"It happens."
"It shouldn't happen."
"Hmm," Carrick murmured after a span of silence, "You have a lot of faith in people, don't you Miss Starling?"
"I try to," she replied thoughtfully, "If I didn't have faith in people, then there'd be no point in doing my job. Devaki always says that to change something, you have to believe it can be changed."
"Wouldn't you also have to believe that you can bring about that change?" Carrick asked her.
Shanxi knit her eyebrows at his words, so the turian elaborated.
"For your philosophy to work, to truly have faith in others," he rephrased, "Shouldn't you first have faith in yourself?"