Born
from W.B. Yeat's The Second Coming
Surely some revelation is at hand...
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds...
what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
"But I'm not that kind of doctor!" the asari before Saren protested. "I'm a neurospecialist who studies melding and joining brainwave patterns, abnormalities and potentials in asari and other species …"
"Dr. Thanoptis," Saren interrupted, "may I call you Rana?" He advanced on the protesting asari. "I assure you that your skills are exactly what is needed."
"You can't possibly be asking me to …" Rana cringed and backed away from him. "That's … I know who that is …"
"I also am well aware." Saren couldn't help looking over to where Benezia now lay quietly, a stark, white gauze bandage around her neck, and her skin a paler blue than ever. The bright eyes of her followers stayed on him. "That's why I can't allow you to refuse my request. You see her injury. One of her own did this to her, and very nearly killed her. Mind control must be at work here, and I fear it may affect even her. How else could she have been injured, and so gravely?"
"That would be … fascinating…" Rana shook her head, caution overcoming curiosity. "No! Do you even know what they'd do if I…? I don't want to get involved." She turned toward the door.
"You already are." Saren stood between the Rana and the exit, where the Colonel and one of his men stood guard. "The other matriarchs may have difficulty understanding why you didn't volunteer to help her, for Thessia."
Rana clutched her stomach.
"Enough, Spectre. You asked, she answered." Colonel Toredo interjected. He jerked his head at Rana to indicate that she should leave the room, his hands tightening on his weapon.
"So true," Saren agreed. "Which is such a good start. I have so many questions. For instance, I am curious why a strip and salvage operation needs a neurospecialist in the first place." His talons wrapped around the doctor's arm as she tried to pass him. "Before you leave, perhaps you would explain?"
"Let her go," the human growled, raising his weapon.
Keeping the doctor between them, Saren smiled at the human. "I wouldn't advise that, Colonel."
"Let her go, or …." The human swung his weapon toward Benezia. Bright blue lit the room, followed by a soggy crunch.
Saren glanced back, noting the alien red of the blood pooling by the wall. A human doctor checked the body.
The remaining guard backed out of the room quickly, his omni on. "They killed the Colonel! Fall back to defensive positions. Scramble assault teams to medbase! The Spectre and asari have gone hostile!"
"It'd be wisest to stay where you are." Saren told the medical team. "As long as you don't threaten the Matriarch, you should be safe. She's very important. Isn't she Rana?"
"We are non-combatants, "a surgeon protested, "who just saved her life. It'd be against every code of law to hurt us."
"Continue to monitor her transfusions. I promise you won't be hurt as long as you're helping her." Saren walked calmly to the desk on the far side of the room, his talons still firmly around Rana's upper arm. He sat on its surface, pulling her to sit beside him. "Where were we?"
Sparatus stood in front of his desk, took a dagger from the fan-like stand there and threw it at the printed galaxy map on the wall. The print showed the galaxy before the Relay Incident. He'd hung it there to remind him of the price of pride. The previous turian councilor had underestimated the humans, encouraged war with them and had boycotted the negotiations that had ended it. He'd gotten on the wrong side of history, and the asari. The dagger's point sunk into the wall. Sparatus had no intention of making the same mistake. Humans had been worthy opponents, but they had yet to be worthy allies. The fall of Eden Prime and their feeble attempts to discredit Saren proved how weak and clumsy they were at the great game. Tevos, however, was an entirely different matter, and she was hiding something.
He plucked another dagger from the stand, testing its balance, turning it over in his talons until he clutched the point, admiring the perfection of its sharp edges. Saren too was a perfect weapon. With practiced ease, Sparatus spun the dagger toward the map. It sunk deep with the barest thud. Saren had done what he had failed to do; he had succeeded with Tevos. Yet now Saren stood accused, and she had done little to help him. Maybe it was overcompensation? Saren had said she'd been gagging for it. Sparatus smiled. After so many years cautiously avoiding liaisons, Tevos had finally created her own weakness; asari were not designed to be celibate. He should hold a trump card in this matter, then, but she'd been seen entering and leaving the Consort's many times since Saren had left, and Sparatus wanted to know why. He wanted to know why she'd been sequestered with the Consort and another companion in her office for more than an hour this afternoon. It wasn't Janiris yet. She was up to something, in the very least loosening Saren's hold over her. Sparatus frowned.
He activated his earpiece. After a few rings, he heard his hail picked up. "Septimus, my old friend, how are you?"
"Leave me alone, Sparatus."
Sparatus recognized the background music. "Why are you in Chora's Den in the middle of the afternoon, General?"
"I'm retired. I do what I like."
"That's exactly what I want you to do, something you like. I need you to pump the Consort for information."
"…"
"Septimus?"
"I can't help you. She's refused to see me anymore." Sparatus could hear him taking big swallows of whatever he was drinking. "I asked her to bond with me, and she barred me."
"You what?!" Sparatus closed his eyes. "You were only supposed to get close to her, not…."
"Bonding is close. You can't get closer."
"She's the Consort; she can't bond. Does everyone else know how her job works except you?" Sparatus let his incredulity seep into his voice. Septimus was one of their leading tacticians, or had been.
"She cares about me. She listens, and—no one else has ever made me feel the way she does."
"That's her job." Sparatus walked to the map and pulled a dagger out with a deft tug. "She does that for each and every one of her hundreds of clients."
"I'm special to her." The general's voice got louder. "She's just afraid to face it!"
Sparatus went to the other dagger and pulled it out as well. "Do you know how pathetic you sound right now?"
"I love her!"
Dear Spirits, was the great great grandson of the turian who had defeated the krogans actually crying?! "Have some pride, General! She's making a fool of you!" Sparatus growled, embarrassed, before he disconnected. With one hand he threw both daggers at the wall. One bounced off. He could only imagine what must be going on in Tevos' office right now. His two most-trusted turian agents certainly weren't part of it! He crossed his arms. There had to be a way to turn this to an advantage. His earpiece rang as he placed another call.
"Yes, Councilor? What can I do for you?"
"Pallin," Sparatus felt soothed by the Executor's balanced tones. Here was a turian he could count on. "I wanted to check on the trouble maker who recently arrived."
"The human soldier? She had some disagreement in the lounge over releasing bodies from Eden Prime, then left with that reporter who angered Fist last month."
Yes, yes, Pallin was a true patriot. It wouldn't do to let Shepard use the power of the press against Saren. Udina was making enough fuss, and he'd agreed to leave Saren's name out of it, in exchange for some concessions. "I want you to keep an eye on them, Executor. Commander Shepard is supposed to come before the Council later today to debrief on Eden Prime and to accuse Saren. Emotions are running high. It would be very unfortunate if anything happened to her before she could make her report."
"These humans have no decency, slandering our heroes." Pallin, who had lost sons in the First Contact War, was easily angered by some subjects.
"I suspect they are attacking him in an effort to advance Shepard as the first human Spectre. Keep an eye on her, Executor. The galaxy is a dangerous place." He felt a slight chill as he remembered he'd sent Nihlus to assess Shepard's candidacy with similar words. "The humans are newcomers. They will come to harm without our help."
"Yes, Councilor."
"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol…"
A current of electricity from those attentively watching and whispering seemed to dislodge many of the petals, which fluttered bright and quiet against the deep blue synthetic sky.
"… the embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance."
Standing there, darker than the trees in her arms and armor, Shepard felt a flash of curiosity about the slender, elegant being addressing her. How many Spectres like Nihlus had Tevos seen come and go? How many times had she held this ceremony?
"They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."
Shepard smiled reassuringly at Leyne as the krogans pushed them, arms bound with plastic cords, through one set of doors. In this space, there were only five krogans, two checkpoint guards ahead, and the four of them.
"You know they're going to kill us, right?" A cut on Leyne's cheek bled freely.
Alenko glanced back. "It's going to be ok, ma'am."
"Don't call me m'am!" Leyne rounded on him. "I'm not even thirty!" She glared at Shepard. "I'd like to live to see thirty!"
The scarred krogan keyed a second set of doors open, and the krogans escorted them into a large private lounge where, in the raised middle section, three couches had been set up in with one in the center and two on either side facing each other. A man in black armor sat as if enthroned on the middle one. A slight figure completely covered in a bodysuit and helmet stood in front of the couch on the right. Besides them and the four krogans escorting them, Shepard counted the battlemaster, a turian and two salarians up behind the couch on the right. The odds had been better in the hallway, but at least here, if they could bar the door, they wouldn't have to fight on two fronts.
"I want a ship." The alien told the human, presumably Fist.
"Why not ask for a moon?" The man responded. "Some planets have so many, I'm sure they wouldn't miss one."
"The volus said you could arrange for me to meet the Shadow Broker." The slender alien crossed her arms over her chest. "He can afford my price, if you cannot."
The alien's eyes glowed. Shepard had never seen such a species before and was intrigued.
The man stayed where he was, arms stretched along the back of the couch, registering Shepard's group. A grin eased over his face. "And what makes you think he'd be interested in paying so much?" A turian with white paint covering his face advanced on the alien.
"Information vital to the safety of Council space," she kept an eye on the turian, "deserves a high price."
"Big talk for little proof." The man affected looking bored.
The turian circled the alien, reaching out an appraising hand. She smacked it away. Shepard was starting to like this alien. "I'll only share it with the Shadow Broker."
"You'll have to share some of it with me so I can decide whether to get you to him." The man crossed his legs, as Shepard continued to stare at him.
The alien dialed up her omni, and a voice could be heard. "Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."
Shepard stepped forward, and a rifle butt hit the back of her head with a loud crack, knocking her to her knees. Stars danced in front of her eyes as the turian exclaimed, "That's Saren's voice!"
Leyne knelt beside her.
Fist stood. "Nobody else fucking move!" Fist gestured to the battlemaster. "Shoot the next one who does."
"Commander…" Alenko's voice seemed to come from very far away.
A krogan's boot pressed on her back, and Fist strode toward her. "This is Commander Shepard?" He paused in front of her, spit to the side, then pulled back his leg and kicked her across the face. "The Hero of Elysium. I thought you'd be tougher."
The krogan behind her removed his boot. "She killed the others."
Fist nodded at the krogan. "You've done well. All of you will get a big bonus for this."
Through the haze clouding her vision Shepard noticed the salarians moving to get behind the alien. Her ears rang and her mouth had a metallic taste. Leyne said her name, then the krogan behind Leyne yanked her up by her restraints.
"Ah, Leyne Simmons, star reporter. I'm really looking forward to this. Do you have any idea how much business your stupid fucking story cost me?"
If he touched her…. Someone yanked on Shepard's arms. Stay conscious. Stay conscious
"No leave her!" Fist ordered. "I like her like that." She spit out a gob of blood. Don't vomit. Deep, slow breaths.
"Do we have a deal?" The alien had tensed at the violent display, and at the salarians closing in. Shepherd could feel the solid heft of her pistol, closer in this position, mere inches from her fingertips, right where she needed it. The whole situation was about to explode.
More asari filed into the medbay from the now quiet hallway. The area had been secured. Satisfied that he would be keeping his promise, Saren turned to a doctor near Benezia. "Wake her."
"Her body has suffered extensive trauma." The doctor did not look at him. "She needs rest in order to recover. I advise against waking her."
"You said you've replaced her lost blood volume." Saren kept a hand on Rana's thigh. He was pleased that Benezia's color was much improved, but not happy that Rana hadn't been forthcoming. She wouldn't hide her secrets from the Potnia.
"Yes, but …." The doctor stared at him.
Saren lifted his gun. "I won't ask you again." Saren could see that he knew.
The doctor scowled, went to the cabinets and prepped a syringe. "You claim to care about her wellbeing," he muttered.
"I do." He nodded to an asari near Benezia, and that asari approached the doctor. "What's in the syringe?"
"Just a mixture of…"
"Check it." Saren ordered, and the asari took the syringe from the doctor, and the bottle.
"I'm sworn to do no harm!" the doctor protested. "I just helped save her life!"
Saren's omni-tool beeped. He answered it, audio only. "Yes?"
"Have I got a gift for you!" A human's voice, Fist's, came over the connection very loudly.
"You have Commander Shepard?" He hadn't expected Fist would be able to come through so quickly.
"She walked right in. It cost me a great deal, but I made sure she couldn't walk out again. However, I have something even better for you," Fist's grin could be heard in his voice. "I have a quarian here with proof that none other than Spectre Saren Arterius masterminded the massacre at Eden Prime."
The humans in the room stirred. Saren stood. "That's not possible."
"She got it from some fucking robot. The recording's clear, recognizable and legit. I heard it myself, and I bet anyone with the right equipment could prove its authenticity. Given all the very powerful parties who'd be interested in this juicy tidbit, you're gonna have to make it a fucking no brainer to go with you."
Saren paced toward the door. All geth sharing memories didn't surprise him; their memory being vulnerable to salvage if they were destroyed was. The quarians must know some trick, but there had been no quarians on Eden Prime or near any of his operations. They weren't supposed to know the geth had gone beyond the Veil. "What do you want?"
"A ship." An accented voice, the quarian, could be heard. "A freighter." The idiot had her in the room with him!
"A small, fast ship, a corvette," Fist suggested.
Saren paced back toward the desk. "Is Commander Shepard with you now?"
"With FTL and disrupter potential or equipment." The background voice added. "If it's only a corvette, I want 10 dreadnought canons in addition."
"Yeah, she's here." The human adopted a more serious tone. "If we can work out a deal, the quarian wants to meet with you, Shadow Broker."
Behind him, Saren could hear the doctors whispering about Commander Shepard. They had recognized the name. He typed three words into his omni, sent the message and disconnected. He turned as two of the nurses rushed him. One's head he palmed and snapped his neck. The other stabbed him with a scalpel.
"Remember Elysium!" she yelled. He grabbed her, slashed her face, crushed her throat and threw her to the floor. The remaining humans he eliminated swiftly and methodically. When the room was quiet again, he shipped his gun and nodded to the asari with the syringe to inject Benezia while he removed the scalpel and dropped it on the floor. Rana had curled up on the desk. They'd deal with her together, and then they'd kill them all, all of these humans, just like Fist had better be doing to Shepard.
On the far wall an ad shifted from a flyover of a complete set of Armax Arsenal Predator Armor on red silk to a white screen with Binary Helix and a spiral in gold. The spiral turned into a staircase while an asari voice said, "Designing Your Tomorrow Today. Visit us on Level C and Step into Your Future."
"Secure the data," Valern typed and sent to the STG agents querying him. He sat for another minute with the Association of Salarian Economic Interests Coalition, appearing to listen while sending a request to Tevos to discuss Saren. He'd use this powerful bargaining chip to strengthen ties with the asari. A minute later, he excused himself and walked briskly to the elevator. The Dalatrass needed to be informed at once, and that would require the privacy of his office QEC.
As he walked, he absorbed the new information. What was it the humans said? He had backed the wrong, mmm, dog? It was some animal they didn't eat; and they weren't like krogans. Not at all. They were less useful and less of a threat. It was too bad about Commander Shepard, but it would be poor strategy to lose such an advantage to the humans. In time, they would no doubt forge another worthy candidate. Time he did not have. He could dismiss them to deal with larger concerns.
Saren was dirty, which meant he might even be starting a war. Sparatus must have known. Tevos too? Valern believed she would not have covered for the Spectre if she'd known. Asari could use sex as a potent tool, but were unlikely to be influenced by it themselves, being more accustomed to it than the other species, including his own. So much practice and control had to be admired. No doubt, the Consort spied for Thessia, and Tevos' meeting with her most likely included an exchange of information. He would catch her before they were supposed to debrief with Udina, and let her decide whether to give Sparatus a chance to save face.
He hummed as he entered his office. If his other team found the missing beacon in the human's ship, his day would be complete. If they could smuggle it out to Sur'Kesh without anyone finding out, his career would be.
Fist smiled as he read the message, and Shepard knew it was now or never. Grabbing her pistol, she squeezed off four shots in quick succession, hitting the krogans behind her and the others where their armor was weak, in the sides of their knees. A shotgun thundered, drowning out the krogans' roars of pain, and the heat of its discharge seared her ear as she rolled to the side, knocking Leyne to the floor. Williams threw herself against Leyne's krogan, catching his chin with her shoulder and landing on him as he fell, while Alenko, using his biotics, burst his bonds and spun the krogan behind him into the one who'd been behind Williams. The two dropped.
"He was talking with Saren," Shepard shouted in explanation at the alien as the battlemaster pumped another shell into the chamber as she watched. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the alien evade one salarian, push the other away and throw a flashing disc into the middle of the room. Shepard flung herself backward, twisting and flattening herself over Leyne as another shotgun blast ripped past close enough to take out her shields. The disc exploded and a thick cloud of stinging dark gas poured into the room.
"Stay low and go to the exit," she said to Leyne before rolling off her. Pressing her wrists together, she managed to extend her omni-blade. She cut her bonds, freed Leyne's hands and pushed her in the direction of the door. "Alenko, protect the non-com. She's headed your way. Williams, pattern Delta."
Scuffling, thuds and grunts came from the floor nearby. "Some help!" Williams' cry sounded muffled.
"Got you!" Ripples of biotics swirled in the dark cloud from Alenko's direction before something hit the back wall with a big crash.
Holding her breath, Shepard crept toward where she'd last seen Fist, her eyes watering. If she could take him hostage, it was her best chance of controlling the room. Neutralizing the battlemaster was another priority, but his shields and aim were too good for a direct attack, even in the smoke. A whine and ping told her the turian or one of the salarians had unshipped a high caliber weapon. It also told her where the shooter was. The smoke swirled just ahead, and she leapt, knocking a slender, very slippery salarian to the ground. They grappled, each seeking a hold, rolling across the floor. Her hands slid up his helmet with a loud squeak, forcing him to face away, taking away the advantage his protected sight had given him. A narrow blade punched between her ribs. She swore, and wrestled him to the side, getting her knee on his weapon hand wrist, pinning it before he could stab her again, and punching his helmet. His free hand scratched at her face, his fingers seeking her eyes. She knocked the air out of him with an elbow drop, and as his grip weakened for a second, her omni-blade flashed, slicing below his helmet into his throat with a hiss. Warm, green blood spurted out. She stood, hauling his twitching body in front of her like a shield as a shotgun roared again behind her, and light flashed in the smoke. She ducked instinctively, but the shot didn't come near her.
From the door, knocking and shouts could be heard. She squinted through the thinning smoke and counted seven down. One salarian lay in a pool of dark green by the battlemaster, the four krogan she'd kneecapped were struggling but none of them had regained their feet. Alenko shielded Leyne by the door where sparks cascading from a nearby panel showed he'd disabled its controls. Williams had a bead on the battlemaster, but no cover. The battlemaster could take Williams out, but Shepard hadn't heard him reload, so Williams might have the draw on him. The turian had taken cover behind the far couch and had a sniper rifle out and aimed toward the far end of the room, so even if Williams succeeded in taking down the battlemaster, things did not look good for her. Shepard swore under her breath. The alien had crouched behind the couch on the right and had a shotgun pointed at the turian, who as Shepard watched, floated up into the air, victim of a biotic lift. She grinned. She could kiss Alenko right now! As Williams' shot rang out, the alien's barrel shifted to track Fist. He'd run behind the column on the right, flanking the alien. Shepard barely had time to wonder why Fist's omni was bright before the tops of the columns opened.
"Turrets!" Shepard yelled, tossing the salarian's body toward the left turret and diving over the lefthand couch. The turrent went hot, its auto-targetting light flashing rapidly as it picked up movement. Its slugs thudded into the salarian's body as it fell. Shepard rolled toward the end of the righthand couch. No cover could protect her from both turrets, but the right turret would get a lock on the alien in a few seconds, if Shepard didn't do something. The little red light on the right turret blinked steadily as its fire strafed the floor and the back of the room. Shepard shot at it, causing its shields to flicker, as she rolled toward the righthand couch. Her gun's grip grew warm as she came to a crouch behind that sofa's end, not far from the alien, squeezing off shots as fast as she could. The turrets slugs sparked a trail across the floor, inches away. She wasn't going to get it down in time!
Suddenly, with a pop, the shield overloaded and one of her slugs got through, knocking the turret askew. Its slugs straffed away along the wall, sending chunks flying as its shots went wild. Shepard tried to shoot again, to take the turret out, but her gun overloaded with a loud click. Shit! Now she'd have to do this the hard way. Slugs from the left turret thumped into the couch near her. She rounded the edge of the couch and sprinted past the alien directly at the right turret, slugs from the left hitting the wall behind her, and its light flashed as it got a lock on her. She jumped toward the right turret, which exploded in a fountain of hot sparks before she could touch it. Wrapping her elbow around the narrowest part of it, Shepard let her feet swing over the desk and released the turret to barrel feet first into Fist, knocking him to the floor. "Turn it off!" she yelled, as the left turret fired into the couch by the alien.
Fist scrambled to regain his feet. "No fucking…."
Shepard felt a tearing in her side as she hauled him up by the collar of his armor and shoved him into the line of fire. He fell backward over the desk and the remaining turret stopped firing abruptly, seconds later exploding in a massive electrical discharge.
As silence filled the room, Shepard aimed her pistol at Fist's head. "Saren, where is he?"
"You BITCH!" Fist stood, livid. "It could have killed me!"
"That's what happens when you play with guns." Shepard kept Fist between her and the battlemaster. "Answer me. I hate repeating myself." Her arm was steady although she could feel her adrenaline surging. A deadly calculating calm settled over her, as if a vast silence listened inside her with a terrible joy. Somehow she was still alive, hyperaware of every sensation and detail of the room, and channeling all the fear and rage of the past ten minutes into a cold, boundless determination.
The alien moved away from Fist to pick up the sniper rifle, backing away to take cover behind the left turret as the turian dropped to the floor.
"I don't know what you're…" Fist's head exploded in a wet red burst with the roar of a shotgun. Leyne screamed, and the alien ducked. Pink mist spattered Shepard's face and the front of her armor. All eyes turned to the battlemaster. Smoke snaked from the barrels of his rifle.
Williams' assault rifle cocked with a loud click. So did the turian's. "You're under arrest, under C-Sec authority. Drop your weapon, or I will shoot!"
"What?! You're C-Sec?!" Williams began. "Fat lot of good you were!"
Shepard didn't take her eye off of the battlemaster.
The battlemaster did not reload or lower his weapon. "I'd like to see you try."
"You killed your boss." Shepard kept the turian in her peripheral vision. "Why?"
The krogan shrugged. "He wasn't my boss. The Shadow Broker sent me."
"The Shadow Broker?" The alien's accented voice came from behind the column. "Can you take me to him?"
The battlemaster laughed, a deep, rich rumble. "Nobody sees the Shadow Broker."
Shepard interrupted, still regarding the battlemaster intently. "The information you carry needs to get to the Council, not the Shadow Broker. I'm meeting with them this afternoon." She didn't turn to face the alien. "Will you come with me?"
"Are you speaking to me?" The alien asked.
"Yes."
"I don't even know who you are. Why should I believe you?"
Shepard glanced back at the glowing eyes. "I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy, XO of the SSV Normandy. I'm hunting Saren for his war crimes on Eden Prime, and you are holding the proof. The Council needs to realize a war's already begun. Who are you?"
"I'm Tali'Zorah nar Rayya of the QF Honorata," the alien kept her shotgun at the ready. "All we … I've … been trying to do since … my friend and I … salvaged this information is get it to the Council." The alien stepped out from behind the pillar. "The Shadow Broker seemed the only route. We went to C-Sec, but they turned us away."
Shepard's eyes narrowed, and she glanced at the turian. "They did?"
The turian shook his head. "I would have heard. I'm leading the investigation into Saren. Everything on him is classified because he's a Spectre. When one of my informants said Fist was working for him, I 'replaced' one of Fist's regulars for the day. It was my only lead."
"I spoke to an Inspector Chellick…" The quarian insisted.
The turian lowered his weapon. "He's in my unit. That can't be!"
"Governmental conspiracy, bureaucratic bungling, and the galaxy on the edge of disaster," Leyne commented, her omni-tool bright, "say it isn't so." She clearly seemed to have regained much of her aplomb.
"Did you speak to anyone else about the recording?" Shepard asked Tali.
"Uh Commander…" Alenko cleared his throat.
"Yes, the doctor who helped me. There were these people chasing me and they killed my friend." The quarian took a tentative step into the room. "If you're right, that his…," she gestured to Fist's body, "… last call was to Saren, I'll go with you to the Council."
"Check his omni, and then we have to hurry. This doctor may not be safe." Shepard stepped between Fist's body and the last krogan standing, blocking his line of sight as the quarian knelt beside Fist. "Battlemaster, I want to hire you to help me find and kill Saren."
"You can't hire him." The turian took a step toward the battlemaster. "He's in my custody, for murder."
The battlemaster ignored him. "My services aren't cheap."
"The job will probably get you killed. There's few prey more dangerous than Spectres." Shepard walked toward him. "Do we have a deal?"
With a growl, the battlemaster lowered his shotgun. "Yes."
"What do I call you?"
"Wrex."
"He shot an unarmed man in cold blood!" The C-Sec officer pointed at the battlemaster, light glistening off his white face paint.
"I'm tempted to shoot again," the battlemaster showed all his teeth in a big smile as he swung his shotgun up.
"No doing that while you're working for me," Shepard gestured to him to lower his shotgun.
"Commander?" Alenko pulled Leyne away from the door, which had started to shake. "We're about to have company."
Williams put herself between Leyne and the door. Shepard turned to the turian, who was picking up his sniper rifle as the quarian stood. "C-Sec, you with us?"
"The name's Vakkarian, Garrus Vakkarian," the turian said as he raised his sniper rifle.
Shepard raised her pistol and moved toward the door as it started to retract. "Let's rock and roll."
A glint of light blue flashed in the upper-right galley, distracting Shepard for a moment. She scanned the crowd. There it was, in the shadow of a pillar. Two glowing blue points of light, set close together, like eyes, but not the right shape for a quarian. Shepard squinted. A woman leaned forward on the railing, blocking her view, the artificial sun falling on long dark hair and fair skin. Their eyes met briefly.
Sparatus' voice recalled her attention, and she looked at him. "Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."
Shepard hadn't expected him to support her. It must be especially hard for him, Saren's discrediting. She searched his inscrutable face. The advancement of the human race by the turian councilor's approving and appointing a human Spectre was a massive advance in their species' relations, by all appearances. Fatigue dragged at her. It'd been a long day, and one she'd be glad to see over.
Tonight, she promised herself, she'd celebrate with a medigel massage or a long soak in a hot tub with a big bottle of strong drink. Her eyes searched the galley, trying to locate the woman from before. Tomorrow would be soon enough to contemplate her new responsibilities—her new duties to protect Sparatus and the turians, Tevos and the asari, Valern and the salarians, and the whole of Council space, including elcor, volus, quarians … batarians. Protecting batarians wasn't something she was sure she could do.
Weariness descended on her. It'd been awhile since she felt so insignificant and alone. Her head throbbed and her side burned. The medigel was wearing off, and the stitches were too new not to pull.
Seeing Saren holographically made it appear that he still answered to them. Tevos watched him, barely listening to his words. Something terrible had happened between Saren and Benezia, Tevos knew, had known in the depths of her nous before the quarian even played the recording.
The light flashed off Saren's metal mandibles. Why hadn't she been more insistent? Despite her misgivings, she had hardly raised any protest, just let Benezia go with him.
Tevos forced herself to betray no emotion as she spoke, "I recognize the second voice," for the humans she must try to appear as if what she said had little significance. "That's Lady Benezia, a popular spiritual leader. She has many followers."
Had Valern known this too and withheld the information? Tevos pushed the thought of breaking this news to the matriarchs to the back of her mind. The oddly flat tone of Benezia's voice chilled her, but not nearly as much as her words. The Reapers were real. Benezia was telling them the Reapers were real. This news would cause panic, chaos. No one was ready for it. Tevos tried to still the fear growing in her. Benezia had seen no other way to approach this threat. She had gambled, gambled for Thessia's sake and, by all appearances, had failed. Tevos felt numb as she indicated her approval of Shepard's plan and convinced the others to make her a Spectre to hunt down Saren, on her own.
"You are the first human Spectre. This is a great accomplishment for your entire species." She told the human. Her gamble was much smaller than Benezia's: one more Spectre—for more time.
Tevos had never noticed how dark Shepard's eyes were until the woman tilted her face up at the three of them on the dais. "I'm honored Councilors."
A/N: To the faithful, patient readers who've encouraged me in this long-delayed and much-anticipated chapter, thank you, especially you—renegadebabe and jadedragonmtr and wookie. Hopefully I will soon be through my heavy workload and back on track with weekly postings. I miss it and my conversations with other writers and readers!