Chapter 3: Princess

As they headed down the stairs, Williams pointed out a salarian squatted down next to one of the keepers. The keepers were strange, bug-like green aliens that lived on the Citadel. No one really seemed to know much about them, just that they moved about the Citadel keeping up with repairs and keeping everything in working order. It was against the law on the Citadel to disturb the keepers. Shepard approached the salarian who quickly stood up and tried to play dumb. She finally convinced him to tell her what he was doing and who he was. He said his name was Chorban and he was a scientist, he was scanning the keepers with a device he made in an attempt to understand more about the mysterious creatures. He seemed to be telling the truth, though Shepard wasn't extremely familiar with salarian body language and voice inflection. This Chorban was probably the darkest salarian she'd ever seen, and his eyes were just as dark making it harder for her to pick up on his eye movements. His skin was a very dark, rich brown that reminded her of the henna some humans on Earth used to decorate their skin. The coloration only got darker towards his horns. Salarians were amphibious, just like the frogs from Earth that Shepard thought they resembled. Either way, whatever he was doing, the keepers didn't seem to be 'disturbed' by it so she didn't really see the harm in helping him to gather his data. She was going to be running around all over the Citadel anyway, and with her being in the Alliance Navy she was less likely to catch any guff over the scanning. She had to admit, she was a little curious about the keepers herself, they didn't interact with other species and she didn't think that they even spoke.

Once back out on the Presidium, Shepard headed towards the Wards, assuming Udina had remembered to change her access level. She passed by a C-Sec officer and a hanar, the hanar was preaching about the 'enkindlers' and the officer was telling the hanar that he wasn't allowed to preach on the Presidium. Shepard stopped and asked what the problem was; sure she never understood why exactly the hanar viewed the protheans as gods or why they called them enkindlers. They weren't gods, gods don't go extinct or whatever the hell it was that happened to the protheans. The Reapers. That's what happened to the protheans. They didn't even build the mass relays, even though that's what everyone thinks. But the hanar shouldn't be given flak just for preaching about his religion. He wasn't hurting anyone. The C-Sec officer explained that preaching without an evangelical license was forbidden, but the hanar refused to get a license. Even if the hanar had a license, he would still be expected to only preach in the designated areas where it was allowed according to Council regulations. Shepard didn't really understand the need for a license, and she thought the idea of regulating where the hanar could preach was a bit unnecessary but it was apparently a regulation that all were expected to abide regardless of religious affiliation.

The C-Sec's superiors had asked him to find a solution that didn't upset the hanar; otherwise he would have just arrested him. Shepard took a minute to talk to the hanar, trying to convince him that he was in the wrong and should just get a license. The hanar said he didn't believe he should be made to buy a license to speak the truth of the enkindlers, but he finally admitted that he didn't have the 150 credits to buy one either. Seeing the fastest solution, Shepard purchased the license for him. It would have been cheaper to spend more time trying to convince the hanar but she had more important things to deal with.

Once down in the Wards, Shepard leaned against the railing for a moment to take in the view of the Citadel. Skycars zoomed by in lines, lights on buildings extended as far into the dark night as she could see.

"Big place," Alenko said in awe.

Williams rolled her eyes playfully, "Is that your professional opinion, sir?"

"This isn't a station, it's a city," Shepard said.

"There must be millions here. It can't be possible to track everyone coming and going," Alenko said.

"This makes Jump Zero look like a porta-john, and it's the largest deep space station the Alliance has," Williams pointed out.

"Jump Zero is big, but this is a whole other scale. Look at the ward arms, how do they keep all of that mass from flying apart?" Alenko wondered.

"The Council represents more races than I thought. No wonder they're careful with newcomers," said Shepard.

"They probably just want to keep everything running. It has to be hard keeping all these cultures working together," Alenko mused.

"Or maybe they just don't like humans," Williams suggested.

"Why not, we've got oceans, beautiful women, this emotion called love. According to the old vids, we have everything they want," Shepard said.

"When you put it that way, there's no reason they wouldn't like you," Alenko said before correcting himself. "I mean us, er, humans, ma'am."

"You don't take much shore leave, do you LT?" William's asked Alenko.

"Alright, laugh it up, Chief. I appreciate the thought, Alenko, but we're on duty here," Shepard said.

"Uh, aye, aye, ma'am," Alenko said.

"I'll walk drag, ma'am," William's said.

Alenko was right; this was a very, very big place. Much bigger than she thought, with millions of people living on the Citadel. She pulled up a search on the Citadel using her omni-tool; apparently the population was sitting at 13.2 million, excluding the keepers. A very big city.

Shepard's eyes slid to Alenko, he was starting to get less formal when speaking to Shepard, she had already noticed after the beacon incident back on Eden Prime but she was pretty sure that after that last little slip of the tongue that he was developing a crush, she'd have to nip that in the bud. He was cute, though, and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Still, she wasn't interested in dating anyone in the Alliance, things got too complicated when you fraternized and she would crush that man's heart, she could already tell. He was too good, too kind, and Shepard was just a little too jaded and ill-tempered for someone like him. Oh thank gods.

Shepard pushed away from the railing, chuckling at Williams as she made her way towards Chora's Den. She heard someone call out to her and looked around, spotting a woman standing near one of the support beams waving to get her attention. Shepard stepped over to the human woman and she introduced herself as Emily Wong, said she was an investigative journalist. She was working an angle against someone named Fist and was wondering if Shepard would be willing to pass along any information on the crime boss, or any other news worthy bits she came across during her own investigation. Shepard agreed to help the woman if she came across anything before continuing on her way.

Passing by some merchant stalls, she decided to stop at one run by a volus. He seemed far friendlier than Din Korlack had, asking her if she had just come back from the colonies. Shepard wasn't sure what colonies he was talking about in particular.

"Oh, my mistake, Earth-clan. I assumed… it doesn't matter," he said shaking his head. "Feros, Noveria? Well, if you haven't heard of them yet, I'm sure you will soon. But it doesn't matter where you hail from; my goods are available to all."

"What can you tell me about Noveria?" Shepard asked she wasn't letting this one go.

"The corporate capital of the Attican Traverse. Very cold, very snowy," he explained. "I don't get too many clients from there. They all have their own private suppliers."

"I'd like to know more about Feros," Shepard said.

"It's an old prothean world. Their buildings still litter the surface. The humans aren't the first to colonize it, but they are the most recent," he paused a moment. "Hmm, I just realized I haven't heard from my contact on that planet for some time. Ah, well, I'm sure he's fine."

That really didn't tell her much, but she would take whatever information the volus gave her. She made a note on her omni-tool to remind her to look into Noveria and Feros when she was back on the Normandy. There had to be a more specific reason why the volus thought she had just come from one of those colonies. As she was walking away from the shop and about to head down a flight of stairs, a man standing near the stairs spoke to her.

"Is that really… wow! It's you!" the man said.

Shepard paused and looked around her, wondering if he was talking to someone else. She didn't see anyone else nearby and he seemed to be looking right at her. She raised an eyebrow to Williams and Alenko before stepping closer to the human.

"You're Commander Shepard, the hero of Eden Prime! I am so honored to meet you!" he exuded a giddy excitement.

Shepard held out a hand for the man to shake, "Nice to meet you. And you are…?"

"My name is Conrad. Conrad Verner. They say you killed more than a hundred geth on Eden Prime!" He said making a fist and holding it up in front of his body.

"I spent most of my time trying to stay alive and help the colonists," Shepard said, not at all comfortable with the exaggerated praise.

"Hey, I know you're probably busy, but do you have time for a quick autograph?" Conrad asked.

Shepard thought the request was odd but did as he asked, "Anything for a fan. Here."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it. My wife is going to be so impressed!" Conrad said. "I'll let you get back to work, but next time you're on Earth, I'd love to buy you a drink! Thanks again!"

When Conrad walked away, Shepard turned to face her team, "I don't want to talk about it."

Williams and Alenko both snickered but kept their comments to themselves, mostly. They continued down the steps and rounded a few stalls before going through another door. The door let out in a small, empty space that held a rapid transit station, a doorway leading to a wraparound walkway to Chora's Den, and a staircase leading up to a closed door. Assassins. As soon as Shepard stepped through the doorway that would lead them to Chora's Den, her team was ambushed by two turians. Quickly she ducked down behind the thigh high wall that stretched around the walkway. Alenko and Williams were right behind her, following her lead. The assassins weren't very well armored and went down in seconds.

"Those were Saren's men," Alenko said.

"Probably. I heard one of them say 'that's her' when they saw me. Unless, of course, I've managed to make new enemies on the Citadel already. Come on, let's get in there and find Harkin," Shepard responded.

They entered the bar, dim lights and music made the environment more alluring as scantily clad asari and human women danced on platforms. She moved left, following the flow of the circular room and stopped when she saw two krogan arguing. Krogan were the brutes of the galaxy, tall and stocky with large humps on their backs. They were a violent species, from what she knew, drawn to war and frequently taking up trades that catered to their urge to fight.

"Back off, Wrex. Fist told us to take you down if you showed up," one krogan said to the other leaning in close and pointing in the other man's face.

Shepard instinctively put her hand on her pistol, if this turned into a physical altercation this whole bar would be turned upside down in minutes. One pissed off krogan alone is enough to terrify most people, but having two of them go at it in the middle of a crowded place would definitely cause a panic.

The one called Wrex crossed his arms and calmly asked, "What are you waiting for? I'm standing right here." His voice took on a more threatening tone as he leaned forward slightly and said, "This is Fist's only chance. If he's smart, he'll take it."

"He's not coming out, Wrex. End of story," the first krogan said.

"This story is just beginning," Wrex promised.

Wrex turned and walked past Shepard and her team, "Out of my way, humans. I have no quarrel with you."

"What was that all about?" Alenko asked.

"Who knows, let's just try not to get caught in the middle," Williams answered.

With the krogan out of the way, Shepard spotted Harkin sitting at a table by himself. Fade. As she approached the table, the man started trying to flirt with her, clearly drunk.

"Hey there, sweetheart. You looking for some fun? 'Cause I gotta say that soldier getup looks real good on that bod of yours," Harkin said. "Why don't you sit your sweet little ass down beside old Harkin? Have a drink and we'll see where this goes."

Shepard sucked a breath in between her teeth, her jaw clenched as she slowly let the breath go again. This guy was begging for her to lay him on his ass. She tried to calm herself down enough to respond civilly, but failed. You have got to be fucking kidding me, she thought, who would a line like that even work on?

"I'd rather drink a cup of acid after chewing on a razor blade," Shepard bit out.

"You trying to hurt my feelings? You gotta do better than that. After twenty years with C-Sec, I've been called every name in the book, princess," Harkin said.

"Call me princess again and you'll be picking your teeth up off the floor. Now tell me where Garrus is!" Shepard was seething.

"Okay, okay," Harkin said holding up his palms. "Just relax. Garrus, you say? Heh. You must be one of Anderson's crew. Poor bastard's still trying to bring Saren down, eh? I know where Garrus is. But you gotta tell me something first. Did the captain let you in on his big secret?"

"Is there something I should know about the captain?" Shepard asked; she was really not in the mood for this man's mind games.

"The captain use to be a Spectre. Didn't know that, did you? It was all very hush-hush. The first human ever given that honor. And then he blew it. Screwed up his mission so bad they kicked him out. Of course, he blames Saren. Says the turian set him up."

"He said they covered all this up. How did you hear about it?" Shepard asked.

"I spent twenty years working cases here on the Citadel. People on this station love to talk. Secrets are like herpes. If you got 'em you might as well spread 'em around," Harkin said.

Shepard shook her head in disgust, "You're a pig."

"Just noticed that now, did you?" Harkin jibbed.

"Just tell me where Garrus went," Shepard insisted, trying to get the man back on topic.

"Garrus was sniffing around Dr. Michel's office. She runs the med clinic on the other side of the wards. Last I heard, he was going back there," Harkin finally said.

That was all she needed to hear, she couldn't stand another minute talking to that asshole. She made her way around the bar until she found Septimus nursing a drink.

"Commander? Hmph. What do you want?" Septimus asked when Shepard approached.

"I'm here on Sha'ira's behalf. Your lies are hurting her," Shepard said crossing her arms.

"Good. Her lies have been killing me for days," Septimus replied. "I've seen a lot of horrible things in my days and there's only one woman in this damn galaxy that helps me forget it," he said looking down at the table in front of him.

"So if you feel that way, then why spread lies about her?" Alenko asked.

"'Cause she rejected me. Me! Septimus Oraka, general of the turian fleet!" Septimus said pulling his shoulders back square and puffing his chest out.

"I think I can see why you're upset, but spreading these lies won't make it better," Shepard stated.

"Look, kid, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but don't waste your time," the general said having lost his bluster once more.

"You need to start acting like a general if you want to beat this," Shepard scolded.

"I spent all my life acting like a general and what did it get me? Hmm? No, those days are over. I'll just be what I am: a tired, lonely, worn-out soldier," Septimus said, leaning back in his chair and draping an arm over the back.

"Do you really want to be remembered this way?" Shepard asked, not buying the act.

"No. I'd rather not be remembered at all. But I see your point," he conceded. "So you think it's that easy? Just straighten up and act like a general?"

"I don't think it could hurt," Alenko said.

"Huh. Maybe you're right, Commander. Sha'ira's worth the effort… even if she won't have me back," Septimus said.

"This is no place for someone of your stature, General," Shepard said.

"Alright. I'll go to her… after I've had a cold shower. Or two," he said before changing the topic. "Say, you're a bright kid. Would you be interested in earning a few extra credits?"

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"There's an elcor diplomat out there who believes Sha'ira gave up his secrets," Septimus started to explain.

"Why does he think that?" Alenko asked.

"Because I told him. Look, I just need you to convince him of the truth," Septimus said.

"What makes you think he'll believe me?" asked Shepard.

"You'll bring him proof. Take this datapad. It shows where I got my info. It will exonerate Sha'ira and convince the elcor," Septimus said handing Shepard a datapad.

"Who am I taking it to, and where is he?" Shepard thought she already knew but wanted confirmation.

"His name is Xeltan. He's an elcor diplomat. He's over in the embassies complaining about Sha'ira. Well, here's to soldiers acting like soldiers," Septimus said before knocking back the rest of his drink. "Thanks, Commander. You know, you might make a good general yourself one day."

"Hard to imagine a general like that getting so upset about a woman," Alenko said.

"That's because you don't understand women, Kaidan," Williams replied.

As they left Chora's Den, Williams asked why Anderson wouldn't have told them that he used to be a Spectre. Alenko suggested that Harkin might be lying about it all. Shepard didn't know, but she thought she might bring it up to Anderson sometime. She didn't like him keeping things from her, but everyone was entitled to their secrets. Shepard led the others back upstairs, passed the stairs that the signs said let do C-Sec, and straight to the med clinic. It never occurred to her that she had no reason to just know where the clinic was, or where Chora's Den was, or where anything on the Citadel was for that matter.

When the door opened, Shepard saw Garrus creeping down low around a partition wall, gun ready. Across the partition, she saw a woman in a lab coat being threatened by a group of men.

"I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" the woman said.

"That was smart, Doc," one of the men said.

"Now, if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll…" the man saw Shepard step into the room and draw her pistol, he stopped mid-sentence and grabbed the doctor, spinning her around with an arm wrapped around her throat.

He pointed his gun at Shepard and roared, "Who are you?"

Shepard leveled her pistol at the man, maneuvering herself around the room to draw his attention to her and keep it away from Garrus, "Let her go!"

Garrus nodded once and then when the man was looking at Shepard he took aim and fired, shooting the man right in the head. Blood splattered all over the doctor as the man fell to the floor. Garrus stood up and walked out into the room, pointing his pistol at the other two men who took a step back before steeling their resolve for a gunfight. She saw Garrus take cover near the doctor while she and her team advanced on the thugs. The first two weren't able to get to cover quickly enough; she and Williams took them out first. The other two hid towards the back of the med clinic. Shepard saw a fire containment system on the floor near the man hiding behind a support beam, she shot the fire containment system and it exploded sending shrapnel and a toxic substance out over the man. Alenko used his biotic Throw to knock the storage crate the other man was hiding behind over, effectively pinning the man beneath the crate while Shepard got into position to finish off both men. She then headed back over to where Garrus was now standing, tending to Dr. Michel. The woman was clearly shaken up.

"Perfect timing, Shepard. Gave me a clear shot at that bastard," Garrus said by way of greeting.

"You took him down clean," Shepard said having been impressed by the shot.

"Sometimes you get lucky," Garrus said.

Turning back to the other woman, Garrus asked, "Dr. Michel? Are you hurt?"

Dr. Michel smoothed down her hair, "No. I'm okay. Thanks to you. All of you."

"I know those men threatened you. But if you tell us who they work for, we can protect you," Shepard promised.

"They work for Fist. They wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian," Dr. Michel said.

"What quarian?" Shepard asked confused.

"A few days ago, a quarian came by my office. She'd been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was scared, probably on the run," Dr. Michael said as she started pacing. "She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information in exchange for a safe place to hide."

"Where is she now?" Shepard asked, fearing the worst had already come to pass for this quarian.

"I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker," Dr. Michael said.

"Not any more. Now he works for Saren, and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it," Garrus informed Shepard.

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? That's stupid, even for him. Saren must have made him quite the offer," said Dr. Michel.

Garrus gestured as she spoke, "That quarian must have something Saren wants. Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker."

"She must have something that proves he's a traitor. Did the quarian mention anything about Saren? Or the geth?" Shepard asked.

"She did! The information she was going to trade. She said it had something to do with the geth," Dr. Michel said.

"She must be able to link Saren to the geth. There's no way the Council can ignore this!" Garrus insisted.

"Time we paid Fist a visit," Shepard said.

"This is your show, Shepard. But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you!" Garrus said.

Shepard hesitated, "You're a turian. Why do you want to bring him down?"

Garrus shook his head the irritation apparent in his flanging voice, "I couldn't find the proof I needed in my investigation. But I knew what was really going on. Saren's a traitor to the Council, and a disgrace to my people!"

Obviously she had pushed a button and upset the turian but he had made his case, "Welcome aboard, Garrus."

Calmed by her acceptance, the heat left Garrus' voice, "You know, we aren't the only ones going after Fist. The Shadow Broker hired a krogan bounty hunter named Wrex to take him out."

"Yeah, we saw him in the bar," Williams offered.

"A krogan might come in handy," Shepard said as the voice buried in the recesses of her mind laughed hysterically. You have no idea.

Shepard glanced over her shoulder at Williams wondering what it was that the woman found so funny. Williams was looking at Garrus calmly but glanced at Shepard when she saw her turn her head. Williams twitched an eyebrow inquisitively before Shepard looked back at Garrus.

"Last I heard, he was at the C-Sec Academy," said Garrus.

"What's he doing there?" Alenko asked.

"Fist accused him of making threats. We brought Wrex in for a little talk. If you hurry, you can catch him at the academy before he leaves," explained Garrus.

Shepard asked Alenko to go find Anderson and fill him in on the details of what the found and where they were going. Anderson wouldn't like her plan to confront Fist, making waves on the Citadel wouldn't help their case at all but Udina had convinced Anderson to let her take over the investigation so as Garrus had just pointed out, this was her show. She planned to keep Anderson informed, though and she would always hear his advice even if she chose to do things differently. Alenko agreed and left to the embassies, thinking that Anderson might still be with Udina.