Chapter 17
Illium Entertainment News Update - Today on Behind the Scenes Insights we profile 6th Dimension Vids' lead cinematographer Savara Korek. The turian uses VI-programmed mechs outfitted with cameras to move in and around actors and stunt performers during action scenes. This allows her to capture moments that would be too hazardous to record otherwise and gives her vids a uniquely visceral quality. She told our correspondent, "Good cinematography is capturing the sights & sounds of an explosion. Great cinematography is capturing what it feels like to be blasted into a wall a hundred meters away at the speed of sound."
Minutes after Special Tasks Group agents Major Kirrahe and Solik Vass joined asari vid star Adria S'Voz for breakfast at the major's downtown Nos Astra hotel, Vass noticed that they were being watched. The junior STG agent was already in a wary mood. The actress had requested the secret meeting just the night before, providing only a cryptic "I need a favor" as an explanation. That actress was now seated next to both agents and seemingly unaware that just a few tables away a dark-haired, stern-faced human woman innocuously dressed as a tourist was watching her every move.
Vass nudged Kirrahe, and nodded in the direction of the human. "Yes, I see her," the senior agent whispered. S'Voz was pouring herself a cup of tea while scanning the day's news headlines on a datapad.
The salarians watched as the human woman took a deep breath, got up and and began walking over to their table. As the human walked, she kept an item tightly pressed against her chest, her arms making it impossible to tell what the item was. Vass saw the major quietly pull out his Carnifex pistol, taking care to keep it under the table and out of public view.
The human reached the table and addressed the asari. "Ms. S'Voz? It is Adria S'Voz, right?" she asked. Vass caught the barely audible sound of Kirrahe clicking off his pistol's safety. The major said nothing and his face was expressionless.
The actress casually looked at up her visitor. "Yes, that is me," the asari replied.
The human woman began breathing faster. "Oh! Umm, that's great," she stammered, her manner suddenly nervous and bashful. She presented the item clutched against her chest, which turned out to be a box containing a vid. "I-I was wondering if perhaps I could get you to autograph this copy of Vaenia... ?"
At the mention of the word "Vaenia," S'Voz got noticeably tenser. She nevertheless forced a smile and produced a marker. "Of course," she replied. "What is your name, miss...?"
"Oh, I love the vid but it's not for me. Not really," the human gushed. "It's for a friend. She's a huge fan too... If you could just sign it, 'To Jacana, I believe there's somebody on the Citadel who wants to watch this with you again.'"
S'Voz contemplated the human, then slightly arched a brow. Her forced smile subtly transformed into a more genuine one. She said nothing and filed out the autograph as requested. "Here," she replied upon finishing. "I hope your friend enjoys the vid. Again."
The human grabbed the case back, clutched it to her chest, muttered, "Thank you," then quickly scurried back to her table. Kirrahe and Vass both quietly sighed with relief.
"I suppose I should be more grateful," S'Voz remarked. "At least I have starred in something that people all across the galaxy seem to love. It's just that I want to be known for more than that one thing. That's why I fought to get the Commander Shepard part in Blasto: The Hunt for Saren. That role is my best chance to break out of the typecasting I've fallen into thanks to Vaenia."
Solik chimed in, partly to distract the actress from Kirrahe's efforts to surreptitiously re-conceal his pistol. "I'm afraid I haven't seen Vaenia. Why does that one have so much cross-species appeal, if I may ask?"
The actress shrugged. "It's a very simple love story. The script wasn't much. The production was relatively low-budget. But it was accessible. No matter what your species, everyone understands the appeal of going somewhere new and getting swept away by a mysterious alien stranger," S'Voz said, then took a sip of her tea. "I only did Vaenia because the actress who had been cast before me quit for some reason. This happened at the same time that another, much larger-budgeted vid that I had been preparing for months to do was suddenly delayed when one of the financial backers pulled out. Well, I'm the restless type that doesn't like to sit around, so I impulsively accepted the offer to replace the other actress in the small-budget romance while everything was being sorted out in the big-budget vid. I arrived on the set of Vaenia, discovered that my co-star was cuter than I had been previously lead to believe and I *may* have used our scenes together to work off some of the tension I had been feeling due to the other vid being delayed. The whole shoot for Vaenia was just three weeks. A working vacation, really. I then returned to the other production, the one I had been focused on. It was a long, grueling shoot and the vid flopped with audiences anyway. The low-budget romance, on the other hand, turned out to be biggest hit I've ever had. Years later, people like that human still come up to me and gush over Vaenia."
S'Voz added another spoonful of sweetener to her tea. "The moral here is you can never tell how these things will turn out."
Kirrahe, having stowed his gun and therefore able to once again us his arms freely, rested his chin on his hand. "Not to be rude, Ms. S'Voz, but I trust discussing your biggest box office hit was not the reason why you asked to see me this morning."
The asari savored a sip of her tea. "Fair enough. I'll get to the point: I want you to find Blasto's drug dealer and stop him from supplying our hanar superstar," she replied, adding air quotes to the word 'superstar' and rolling her eyes for good measure. "I'm not asking for a hit, mind you. In fact, just to be clear, I *don't* want that. Just 'persuade' whoever the dealer is to leave Illium for a while, at least until this vid shoot is finished."
The major mulled this over. "What is your interest in this? And why ask me to do it?"
The asari reclined in her chair. "Fine, I'll give you the longer version too. This Blasto vid is going to either be brilliant or crash & burn. As ramshackle as 6th Dimension Vids is at times - I trust you heard about the set collapsing in the middle of shooting the other day - it does have some brilliant people working for it, especially that turian cinematographer. Some of the footage of the action scenes she has shot is astounding. Meanwhile, I'm working the blue off my ass as the Commander Shepard character, Tyruss Aklaysius is giving his most inspired performance in years as Saren Arterius, and even the krogan you manipulated the studio into hiring is putting in solid work. This vid could really take off."
Kirrahe rubbed his chin. "Yet it could also 'crash and burn' because of..."
"Blasto," the asari answered. "The supposed star of the vid - The hanar that is meant to be playing you - is stumbling through the production. If this keeps up, his performance could end up so bad that Blasto: The Hunt for Saren will flop and flop hard. All of the work the rest of us have put in won't matter. The only thing anyone will think is 'The vid so bad it ended Blasto's career.' It's got to be the drugs that idiot has been abusing. So, cutting off his supply ought force him to sober up, at least long enough to get the vid done. After the vid is finished Blasto can fry however many brain cells he has left, for all I care. But not until then."
"You're absolutely sure it is the drugs causing the problem?" Kirrahe asked.
S'Voz scoffed. "What else could it be? Granted, Blasto never had a good reputation for professionalism in the industry to start with but he has gotten steadily worse as the shooting on this vid has progressed. Yesterday, he couldn't even walk through a door on the set properly. After he failed on his third try, he began to berate the doorway for its anti-hanar racism and demanded the producer have the door fired. Attempting to point out that the doorway was a non-sentient inanimate object just made Blasto's temper tantrum even worse. Does that sound like a sober, rational mind to you? If it weren't for special effects director Mara T'Rue offering to strap some explosives to the doorway and blow it up, thereby satisfying Blasto's demand that it be 'fired,' we never would have finished the scene."
The actress took another sip of her tea. "As for why you, well, you're an STG agent who has already proven that you're effective at this type of stuff by 'fixing' the script and getting Dreed hired. And, for whatever reason, you have an interest in the vid actually turning out good. Maybe it's because it is your story. In truth, I don't particularly care what your interest is, just that it is aligned with my interest: getting this vid done and done right. To give you some extra motivation, I'll owe you a favor after this. Just find the scumbag who is currently supplying Blasto and scare him off for the time being. How you do that is up to you."
"You're not afraid of this getting out?" Kirrahe inquired. "The STG never discloses its activities, of course, but the dealer might eventually tell Blasto, who might then blab it to the press. It could become a scandal for you."
"That's why I *don't* want the dealer killed," the actress replied. "Yes, the headline 'Adria S'Voz Ordered a Hit!' is a scandal. However, 'Concerned Adria S'Voz Secretly Intervened To Keep Co-Star Blasto Off Drugs' I can deal with."
Kirrahe drummed his three fingers on the table and thought for a few seconds, then eventually replied, "No promises, Ms. S'Voz, but I'll see what I can do."
The asari thanked the major, provided what rumors and second-hand information she had on Blasto's dealer, then finished her tea and left. Kirrahe watched as she walked out of the restaurant and quietly mulled over her offer for a while afterwards. "Tell me, Agent Vass," he eventually asked. "What do you think?"
"Do you want my honest opinion?" the young agent replied. "Or is this meant to evaluate my skills at reading a situation?"
"Your answer should be the same either way," the major responded.
Vass winced at Kirrahe's words. The major was right, of course, and the young agent felt foolish for asking. Vass quickly shrugged it off and just got to the question. "I think there is a good chance that it was a sincere request. S'Voz has made it abundantly clear before that it is important to her that Blasto: The Hunt for Saren be a hit and that she'll do what she thinks is necessary to make that happen," he replied, then added, "Of course, she is also an actress. Making a scenario seem convincing is what she does. Following through on her request would have you looking into specific areas related to how 6th Dimension Vids is connected to the drug trade. If the Eclipse mercenary group knows about S'Voz's request or is somehow behind it, that means they could anticipate what you'll be doing in your investigation and maybe plan a surprise."
Kirrahe smiled. "Spoken like a veteran Special Tasks Group operative. You have a knack for analysis, Agent Vass. I think that what we need to do now is work on your other skills. When was the last time you were at a shooting range, if ever?"
Shooting at 6th Dimension Vids was closed for the day, the studio having given everyone a two-day break in the schedule. Major Kirrahe took Vass to the Armax Arsenal Arena in downtown Nos Astra. Vass spent the rest of the morning and afternoon being run through combat drills by the major, who was an exacting tutor. They finished hours later. It left Vass' entire body considerably sore. Kirrahe, by contrast, seemed reinvigorated.
"Not bad given that this was your first effort," the major told the rookie agent as they exited the arena. "Next time though, try to remember to hit the batarian pirates in *their* face with *your* fist, not vice-versa. Now then, Agent Vass, we've earned ourselves some relaxation time. There's a place I have been meaning to visit. It's a bar called Eternity."
The bar was located in Nos Astra's financial district. It straddled the line between 'upscale spot for business professionals' and 'shady locale complete with a stripper stage, table dancing and private rooms.' Vass was grateful that the bar at least appeared to get cleaned on a regular basis.
"Didn't, umm, think this was your kind of place," Vass told the major as the hostess led them to a booth.
"Actually, I've never been here before," the major casually remarked. "I should probably explain that we're here on official business. This establishment is frequented by some members of the Eclipse mercenary group and various other individuals engaged in various illicit activities. The bar is in a nice enough section of Illium that even Eclipse is highly unlikely to try anything inside it. It's generally understood in Illium's underworld that Eternity is neutral turf."
The major's comment jogged Vass' memory and he suddenly realized why the bar's name had rung a distant bell. "This is the same spot where, a few nights ago, Blasto got ejected by a krogan bouncer for trying to join the dancers on stage, isn't it?" he asked.
Kirrahe took a look at the cocktail menu. "The very same place. According to the news item you showed me on the incident, Blasto had been here for several hours prior to getting ejected. What does that tell you?"
Vass thought for a second. "That whatever he was on that caused him to think he could join the dancers on the stage he must have taken while he was here at the bar? Because if he had taken it before arriving then the drug probably would have worn off before then?"
"Quite possibly," Kirrahe responded. "Though I don't know exactly how long certain drugs affect the hanar. Still, this seemed like a good starting point to do that favor for Adria S'Voz. The news story had indicated that this was a favorite haunt of Blasto's. Maybe it is for his dealer as well."
The young agent began to get a bit anxious. "Didn't you also say that Eclipse mercenaries frequent this bar too? If they are behind S'Voz's request, they could assume that we are actively looking for Blasto's dealer."
Kirrahe nodded. "And they would be correct, Agent Vass. This is an opportunity to find out if S'Voz is working with Eclipse. Remember, that group runs the drug trade on Illium. They would therefore probably know who is supplying for VIPs like Blasto. So if Blasto's dealer is a regular here and Eclipse thought I was looking for that dealer, they'd probably have people here keeping an eye out for me. So if any mercenaries make a move on us tonight, most likely by following us out of the club and trying to jump us in an alleyway, then we'll know that S'Voz is likely working with them. If Eclipse doesn't make a move, then they probably weren't expecting us and S'Voz therefore isn't connected to them."
Vass began perspiring. "So, we're possibly stepping into trap by being here? Why didn't you tell me?!"
The major looked up from the drink menu, honestly puzzled. "I just told you just now. Do pay attention, Agent Vass. You're smart but you have a habit of daydreaming." The major began looking at the cocktail list again, speaking as he scanned down it. "Yes, we are taking a risk by being here. But we are Special Tasks Group agents. We are one step ahead at all times. We know they may be laying a trap for us and you've just had a whole afternoon's worth of combat training in case they do. Also, I'm told this place has the best daiquiris in Nos Astra. I've never tried the earth fruit 'strawberry.' Yes, I believe it's past time I've had one of those. What would you like?"
Vass opted to get a non-alcoholic soft drink. After their drinks arrived, a fresh question popped into his head. "How do we find Blasto's dealer, assuming he is even here?"
Kirrahe sipped his daiquiri and smiled as he got his very first taste of strawberry. "That's a very good question! I suppose we could just randomly ask people. Ordinarily, you're not supposed to draw attention to yourself like that in an undercover investigation, but in this particular case we are trying to catch the mercs' attention, so we *do* want to do that. I suggest that when you finish your drink you head over to the bartender and ask her if she knows who sells drugs to Blasto. If that doesn't alert the mercs to our presence then nothing will," he explained, then offered the young agent a drink straw. "Would you like a sip of my cocktail? This fruit has the most delightful texture."
Suddenly wishing he had ordered an alcoholic beverage, Vass took a sip. It was quite good. He then finished his own drink and headed to the bar.
"So, what'll it be kid?" asked the bartender in voice that was unusually raspy for an asari. "Sorry, no sex. I think I spotted a city health inspector earlier. We're having a special on Thursday though, if you want to come back then..."
Vass cleared his throat. "That's fine. I'll just have an, umm ... earth gin & tonic."
"Ah, into the fancy, imported cocktails, I see," the bartender chortled. "Well, high-roller, you're in luck. There was a human in here the other week and she insisted I try one of those. Really refreshing. I special-ordered some earth gin after that. Let that be a lesson to ya. Even after a 1,000 years, you can still find new things to delight you in this galaxy."
The asari reached under the bar and produced a bottle with earth labeling on it, fixed Vass a drink and then poured herself one. "Here's to new experiences," she rasped.
They clinked glasses. "1,000 years? Are you a matriarch then?" the young agent asked.
The bartender shrugged. "Among other things. Survive a millennium and you can be described a 1,000 different ways. All of them would have been true at one time or another."
Vass took a deep swig of his gin & tonic and worked up his courage. "This place was in the news recently, wasn't it? That movie star Blasto caused a scene?"
The bartender sneered at the mention of the hanar. "Yeah, he was here. Another lesson: just because your people don't have assholes doesn't mean that you can't be one yourself. He's lucky our krogan doorman was the one who threw him to the curb. I wouldn't have been as gentle. That extranet clip of it is hilarious though."
"Do you know what he was on that caused him to think he could go onstage with the dancers?" Vass asked, taking another drink.
The matriarch grunted and took a swig of her gin & tonic, "Who cares? He ain't coming back. That's the bottomline."
"Oh, well..." Vass began to stammer. "I-I figured if you had barred Blasto then maybe you had a rule against people taking whatever he used that night, maybe threw out others who had that stuff too..."
The bartender took another drink, then narrowed her eyes and began staring at Vass. "What are you playing at, kid? You a reporter for one of the scandal journals? An investigator for some lawyer suing Blasto? Special Tasks Group? What is it?"
"I-I just read about the incident and was curious..." the STG agent attempted to claim even though he knew the bartender wasn't buying it. "Since you were apparently there that night, I thought..."
"Ha!" the bartender snorted. She wiped the countertop and placed a fresh bowl of dextro-amino acid snacks in front of a turian customer. "Tell whoever you work for that I don't know because I make it my business not to know those kind of things, ok?... Still, decent try. You pushed it too far, but until that point I was buying the whole dumb teenager routine. Tell you what, another drink on the house."
The matriarch fixed them both a second gin & tonic. Vass took a sip, then suddenly realized that by doing so, he couldn't walk back to Kirrahe's table without looking rude. The asari had a captive audience for the next few minutes at least.
"Yeah, you salarians are smart and all but you want to know the real reason why you're good at this sneaky, cloak & dagger stuff?" the bartender asked. "It's because you salarians guard secrets so well. The reason your people can do that is because you have no sex drive, so you can't be seduced. That's the weak spot for all other species. It's what gives asari spooks their edge too. My people just have to act sweet or give a look to pry information out of people. I'm a little different though. I talk dirty."
"I was just being nosey about something that had been in the news recently..." Vass insisted.
The asari matriarch gave no heed to Vass' claim and kept on talking. "Let me give you an example - You want to know the real reason why the asari prefer to mate with other species? All that stuff we say about furthering our evolution and spreading our culture throughout the galaxy? That's just what we say to make it sound respectable. The real reason is that the sex is always hotter with an alien. *Way* hotter," the bartender grabbed the gin bottle and poured more into her gin & tonic. "See, when two asari mate, there's the pleasure you get from the melding of minds - which is awesome, by the way - but that's it. When an asari melds with another species, however, it's that plus whatever the other species brings to the table. Our minds are connected, so we can feel everything that they feel, including how they get off. And we can share memories too. In the past thousand years I've had plenty of time to learn what gets turians, humans, krogan, hanar, quarians, volus, elcor, and drell off, plus a whole bunch of other species you may not have even heard of," the asari explained.
She nodded at the thought, then leaned back, took a sip of her gin & tonic and reminisced for a few moments. Her gaze slowly turned back to Vass. "Come to think of it, the only one I don't know is salarian. Hmmm..." She slowly winked at him.
Vass froze and gulped.
The matriarch proceeded to cackle with laughter. "It's alright, kid. I was just messing with you. It's been a slow day and I needed a laugh," she chuckled, then threw back the remainder of her drink. She put the glass away and stopped laughing. "Really, though, with pretty much any other species that line would have worked. Within five minutes I could have had all-access to your brain."
The young agent quietly finished his drink, thanked the bartender and headed back to the Kirrahe's table. "Well done, Agent Vass!" the major exclaimed. "You had quite a number of people staring at you and the bartender by the end. That should be sufficient to attract Eclipse's attention if they are indeed looking for us. I'll pay our tab and we'll head back to the skycar. Remind me to give you my spare pistol once we get outside."
Kirrahe and Vass took a slow, leisurely walk back to the garage containing their rented skycar. Nothing happened along the way.
"Hmmm, I guess S'Voz was being straight with us after all," Kirrahe said as they drove off. "She just wants us to find a way to keep Blasto off of drugs for the time being."
Vass sighed. "So the trip to Eternity was a waste then?"
"Not at all," the major replied. "We can at least eliminate S'Voz as the connection. And your conversation was noticed by enough people that it will probably get back to Eclipse sooner or later. They'll know we're looking into who Blasto's dealer is, so they may yet make another move. We just have to be vigilant."
[Author's note: Special thanks to Magpie Corvidae for permission to use her 'Jacana' character from her story "Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani, Westerlund News."]
