CHAPTER 21

She knew shutting the door in the Councilor's face had been pointless – and hugely inappropriate – but lordy, it had given her just so much satisfaction!

Ten minutes later, after Tross had informed Balint of the Councilor's arrival, Rosemary was sitting opposite the Councilor in the living room area. She was determinedly unrepentant. The Councilor looked mildly annoyed when he asked, "I'll take it you'll take the job?"

"Oh, I have a choice?" It was hard to keep the bitterness from her voice.

The Councilor sighed. "Technically, yes... but we both know you'll do it."

Rosemary leaned forward. "You know, I had a very simple dream. I wanted to spend my life serving coffee to people – make them happy. What you're asking is – "

"An immense responsibility?"

"... Yes." She wanted him – no, needed him to understand that the Council wanted her to do the impossible... at least in her case. "I really don't think I can handle that. For one, I haven't had the training. I told you before – I never even went to college!"

"It's never too late for an education," Eastment countered smoothly. "And you will have people who will support you."

"Great! Make one of them Head Administrator!"

Eastment inclined his head. "We toyed with that idea... which is why you'll be Head Administrator – on a trial basis. If at the end of the period, you show complete ineptitude at the task – you will be free."

There was hope! Eastment leaned forward, his eyes dark with purpose. "I want you to try, though. Everyone has dreams, Rosemary. But will you really be satisfied knowing that because you didn't want to do your bit to help – that thousands of children may be at risk? Not everyone gets the opportunity to better the world – or in this case, the galaxy. Do you really want to squander this chance to do real good?"

His words were like shots to Rosemary's heart. Of course she wanted to do good – to leave her mark in the time she had. Didn't most people? That was why she took such pleasure in having her coffee shop, her little happy corner of the galaxy. But that had been the extent of her ambition. Eastment made her think... that what she wanted was just that. It was what she wanted. She wanted to be happy – but who was she to ignore the dreams... the happiness of others? The Council was offering her power – real power.

"Think about it." With that, he left.

Rosemary sat in the living room, thinking. Eastment hadn't known she had already resigned herself to the Council's appointment, but she hadn't fully realized its significance.

Again, she reminded herself – I'm not Shepard. Emma Shepard had fought for what she thought was right – all over the galaxy. She'd died once – and when she'd been brought back to life, been given a second chance – she'd leapt right back into the fray. She hadn't run away to pursue her own happiness like Rosemary would have. She'd died a second and final time – to give the galaxy a future.

What had she done with her life? For so long, her mother's dream had been her own. Have a coffee shop and bring comfort and smiles to its customers – that had been her dream, too. Would Rosamund Fletcher have done more... if she had given the power? She didn't have to think about it. Mom... wouldn't have hesitated. God, I'm being a whiny... selfish baby. Emphasis on whiny.

Eastment had successfully pressed the point home. She knew what she had to do. Damn it.

XOXOXOXO

She was returning to C-Sec the next morning. So she had under seven hours to work.

Screw sleep. Rosemary bathed the children, brushed their teeth, brushed Oliver's hair, oiled Keeya's crest, and tucked them in bed after reading them a story. Then she locked herself in her room.

She needed to organize. Ideas were already cluttering her mind – in a wild, chaotic mess. She cleared everything off of one wall in her room so that she could project her omni-tool's data all in one place. She also got comfortable, taking off all her clothes, and putting on an oversized shirt boasting a print of a sleepy-looking cartoon lion. Then she got down to business.

First, she organized the Wakey Brews' shift schedules according to the employees' availability. When she was done, she sent the final result to Imitha's omni-tool. It would be there when her friend woke up. Next, she set about to equally distribute the workload at C-Sec, to be shared among at least four people. When she checked the time, it was only midnight. Rosemary smiled, pleased with herself. Not bad... not bad at all.

Lastly, she opened the messages Eastment had sent that she'd ignored. Attached to one were the plans for the new development. From his notes, she realized that it was only a few months away from being finished. No wonder Eastment had been so pushy... The architects had chosen to build into the Crucible itself, molding buildings to fit already existing structure. Clever. They must have started work on this a while ago. She studied the plans. A third of the development was already finished – built for commercial use. She had a strong suspicion that it had been done to entice the 'great financial powers' that the salarian councilor had been going on about. She understood his anger a little better now. He had made a huge investment... only to have it re-purposed into a non-profit venture.

The most important thing about the development had to be its defenses. Ideally, she'd want a wall erected around its borders, but she didn't want the children to feel as if they were in a prison.

Someone knocked on the door. Rosemary unlocked it to see Balint, still in his C-Sec armor, bearing a wondrous gift – coffee.

"You are an angel," she murmured, taking a mug. She sipped, and moaned with surprise. He'd done her signature creation – her Black Irishman. Just the right amount of sugar, chocolate syrup, coffee, and Irish Cream... and chilled to perfection. Oh, it's good. Very good. … Almost as good as mine. Is that a bad thing?

Balint closed the door behind him. He had brought his own mug. He scanned the information on the wall, cocked his head, and asked, "Need any help?"

Grateful, Rosemary outlined her most recent problem. "... so I don't want the children to feel confined, but for their protection..."

Balint leaned against her bedpost. "Biotic barrier?"

Rosemary thought about it for a minute, then shook her head. "No, it's a large development. It'll be too much of an energy draw. And even if we do get the funds for it, it'll take at least a year to erect."

Balint put down his mug on her bedstand. "May I?"

Why not? "Go right ahead."

Balint hesitated. "I'll need your omni-tool. You already have all the files up – you just need my clearance."

Rosemary reluctantly extended her arm. The turian stepped close and gently took her arm. Rosemary tried to pretend his touch didn't affect her by maintaining a carefully stoic expression. Balint pressed a few buttons, typed in a code, and drew up plans on her projection. Rosemary frowned, confused. "What am I looking at?"

"These are the plans for the krogan, quarian, and geth embassies."

"Oh! How far have they come along?" Rosemary was thrilled, knowing that the krogan, quarian, and geth people were finally being recognized for their galactic contributions. It was about time! Progress! What a beautiful thing!

"This is it."

"Excuse me?"

Balint sighed. "This is how far they've come. They've been... delayed. The amount of red tape that's been thrown up to delay their inclusion into the core of the galactic community has been... ridiculous and meticulously calculated. Too many races – too many politicians, don't want them. These plans are a... bone the politicians threw to shut them up."

"How long...?"

"A little over two years."

Rosemary sat on her bed, her shoulders slumped. "That's not progress, that's... I don't know what that is. It's stupid... and mean... and stupid... Did I already say stupid," she muttered to herself.

"Sorry, didn't catch that."

"... Nothing imporant. … So why did you bring these up?"

"They're getting impatient – the krogan, the geth, and the quarians. Especially the krogan. You should toss the idea to any councilor but the salarian of building the embassies around the development. Their embassies would be separate from the others, but they would be there – and they could be the development's first line of defense. It's a good compromise. And the combined security would more than deter Divide assassins."

Rosemary liked the idea, but... "And beyond the embassies?"

Balint shrugged. "I still think a biotic barrier would be your best bet. But you're right – that's talking too much power."

Power... Rosemary's eyes widened. "Wait... Hundreds of families will be coming here." She brought up a file and projected it on the wall. "Look, see? Two thirds of the hybrids have asari parentage. Their biotic abilites are off the charts! If we could find a way to siphon off the excess biotic energy into a wall..."

Balint straightened. "That's... brilliant."

Rosemary beamed. She and Balint worked well together – like partners. "We have a lot of calls to make... you ready?"

Balint's golden eyes glinted at the challenge. He bared his teeth in a grin. "Let's get to work."

XOXOXOXO

Author's Note: Lemon ahead!