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Back on the Citadel, Shepard went straight to the embassies. The asari councilor had asked to meet in Udina's old office. Given the chaos on Earth—and everywhere—there hadn't been a chance to name a new human councilor, and so the office sat empty, and all of the tasks that had been Udina's lay undone.
There was no time to worry about that now, Shepard reflected. Or to be bitter about how long it had taken the asari to be willing to help in the cause against the Reapers. Even now, they were being secretive about whatever it was they had to offer. The asari councilor had spoken cryptically about information from her government that was too sensitive to discuss over an unsecured channel, and then had sat back and waited for Shepard to return to the Citadel.
Reining in her annoyance with some difficulty, Shepard punched in her Spectre code at the entrance to Udina's office, waiting for the doors to slide open.
The asari councilor was sitting behind Udina's desk, her eyes on the screen of his personal terminal. When Shepard came in, she stood up, nodding gravely. "Commander Shepard. Thank you for coming."
"That seemed to be the only way to find out what was going on." Shepard tried to keep the irritation out of her voice, but it wasn't easy. "Did you find something? Something about the Reapers?" They were so close to finishing the Crucible—if they could only find out what the Catalyst was. If only that was what the councilor had to tell her, then they could finish this thing, once and for all.
"The council has ordered a full review of Donnel Udina's activities. We're still piecing together his coup attempt," the councilor responded, and Shepard's heart sank. Was this what she had sped back to the Citadel for? Udina and Cerberus? Could they really afford such a distraction right now? She breathed a sigh of relief as the councilor continued, "But that isn't why I asked you here."
They walked onto Udina's balcony, looking out over the Presidium, and Shepard waited as patiently as she could for the councilor to get to the point.
"The situation is growing urgent for my people," the councilor said at last.
"Welcome to the war," Shepard snapped. "It's been urgent for my people for months now. And the turians, and the elcor, and the volus, and the batarians …" Not that the asari had ever considered any other race to be as important as they were.
"Yes," the councilor agreed dismissively, and Shepard clenched her jaw to avoid any further sharp responses, letting the councilor continue. "We're aware your Crucible is still missing a key component."
"The Catalyst. Do you know something?" Shepard asked, hoping the urgency in her tone would galvanize the councilor to move this meeting along a bit faster.
"Not exactly."
Shepard closed her eyes in irritation.
"There is … an artifact on our homeworld, known only to the highest levels of our government."
For the first time, Shepard thought she should have sent someone else to this meeting. The idea that the Catalyst might have been sitting on Thessia all this time waiting for the asari to feel personally threatened made her want to throw the councilor off the balcony. With all her will, she managed to keep her voice controlled as she asked, "What is it?"
"With any luck, it's a means to help you locate the Catalyst." The councilor handed her a datapad. "The artifact is located in a temple at these coordinates. I've ordered a scientific team to meet you there."
"If this artifact is so important, why keep it hidden?" And why, Shepard wondered, make her come to the Citadel to get the coordinates when she could have just met the scientific team on Thessia? But she knew better than to ask.
True to her expectations, the councilor answered cagily, "Every species in the galaxy has its secrets, Commander. But this one, in the wrong hands, has the potential to upset the balance of galactic power."
Well. That explained many things—and heightened Shepard's urgency to get to Thessia and get her hands on this artifact considerably. "You know," she said pointedly, "the Reapers are doing their best to upset that balance as we speak."
"Which is why I'm bringing this to you now. The Reapers' progress has changed everything. The Matriarchs are growing desperate. For the first time in our history, Thessia is vulnerable. For all our intellect, we are outmatched by Reaper firepower."
"There's a lot of that going around," Shepard noted. She lifted the datapad. "Thank you for this. I'll head for Thessia immediately."
"Commander." The councilor's voice stopped Shepard in the doorway. "Whether you know it or not, you've become the sole ray of hope in a very dark night. Goddess be with you."
Shepard decided not to point out that the Council could also have been a ray of hope if it had taken the situation seriously and helped her from the start. It was too late for recriminations. "I'll let you know what we find."
"Thank you."
Hurrying down the hall, Shepard hit her comm link. "Joker. Call everyone back to the ship ASAP. We're leaving. More details once I'm on board."
"Got it, Commander. Ready when you are."