The planet Tyr flickered on the war room display table. Small shapes and lines crawled across a section of the surface in orange; a representation of known living spaces and tunnels provided by hard-won Alliance Intel.

"Did you know them?" Ashley asked gently.

"Yeah," James grunted, large hands curled in fists to prop his weight on the edge of the table. "You met one of 'em at the graduation party." Her brow crinkled in thought before he filled in the blanks for her. "Was the tall one with white hair. The one that fought with Shepard?"

Ashley's eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, that one."

" That one.." Vega repeated, his own eyes narrowing instead. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing," she said defensively, realizing how it must have sounded. While she'd taken a disliking to the woman's attitude, it wasn't appropriate to disparage her now. "She just kinda...stood out. You know?"

His lips flattened and he sighed, nostrils flaring. "Yeah, I know."

"You think she's still alive?"

He grunted. "Oh yeah, at least as of a week ago. Kravorog had the cojones to contact us, demanding to know why she was there." He looked distinctly uncomfortable. "We had to disavow."

"Right…" Ashley sighed in commiseration. "Any plans to extract?"

"No way to do that without tipping our hand," he shrugged. "She bought us the time to shore things up against any attack, though. Now that Bakara's officially declared a civil dispute we'll start using diplomatic channels. At least, when she lets anyone talk to the guy. They've put ships in orbit to jam any communications on or offworld."

"Know what they're planning?"

Her husband raised and lifted those giant shoulders of his noncommittally. "She says it's their business, not ours. Even tried reaching out to Grunt but he's incognito, which I'm guessing means he's down there trying to hash it out."

"That probably means Jack is down there with him," Ashley added.

"Shit," he said, his face screwing in thought. "Okay. Maybe they mean to take him out?"

"Not sure why else you'd bring her along," she said. "She's not one for negotiation."

"Well here's hoping they solve this little problem for us the easy way," James admitted. "I don't think I've ever seen someone actually talk a Krogan down."

"Yeah," Ashley agreed. "Only Shepard, and that was with guns at her 5 and 8 o'clock." And that had also been Wrex, she remembered, who had more intelligence than the average Shifty Cow.

Her fingers drifted over the display, zooming in on the known populated areas below ground. "The question is...what can we do to help?"

"Officially? Nothing." He said in a low voice. "Unofficially? Nothing either, unless you get some intel from down there. Any kind of violence from our end could blow this thing like a powder keg."

"Well you still have the cameras in place, right?"

"We did, until Bakara brought the curtain down. That footage is 3 days old, now."

"Hmm. Were you at least able to find where your girl is being held?"

Vega smirked and turned to her, his hands going to her waist. "My girl, huh?" He chuckled, then shook his head in the negative.

Ashley grinned crookedly and slid her hands over his shoulders. "Can't remember her name, but it's cute how defensive you get about her."

"Eh...you know how it is, Amor. She's one of us. Anyway, the last thing Kat needs is me to protect her. Who knows, she might even beat Jack to the punch."

Her smile fell and her eyes took a hard glint. "I hope you're right, babe, but you know I can't let this thing get out of hand."

His dark eyes never wavered. "I know. If it comes to that, I'll help you put 'em all down. Till' then, I think they deserve a chance."

He was bending in for a kiss when Sam's voice came from the war room speakers. "Captain? Councilor Esheel is waiting for you on vidcom."

Ashley stiffened in his arms, her eyes sliding closed in irritation. "Just her name…"

"Ice….water," He confirmed, stepping back with a sigh. "Go ahead. I should check in with HQ anyway."

Williams edged around the table and through the pair of sliding doors to the comm room like a woman walking to the gallows. She'd wondered when the Dalatress would get back to her about the report and was surprised it'd taken this long. Standing in front of the holo-tel, she straightened her back and sniffed a quick bracing breath before pressing the button to answer the call.

The Councilor looked every bit as angry as she'd imagined she'd be, but instead of launching into a tirade, the Salarian simply held an image aloft for her to see. It appeared to be a male, nondescript to her eyes. Ashley chose not to say anything, waiting for the shoe to actually drop before framing a defense. Esheel touched the frame of her pad and another image appeared. Again, a male, this one older. Touched it again for a third. They continued.

She was getting the gist of the message and clenched her jaw before lifting a hand for her to stop. "You have my condolences, Councilor. I regret the outcome."

"Yes," she agreed sarcastically, setting the pad down and out of sight. "You seem very distraught. I wonder if the 'outcome' would have differed had it been humans being tortured and killed."

Ashley sucked on her bottom lip before releasing it slowly, along with the response she really wanted to give. "As you saw in my report, they were all deceased before our arrival. It appears they knew we were coming...and accelerated their activities before clearing out."

"17 victims, Captain. You had the perpetrator of 17 murders in your sights and you let them go. Would you care to explain your reasoning?"

"Of course," she muttered. "The assault team was separated from the Normandy when the pursuit began. The Normandy broke off to pick us up and we lost track of the target through the relay to Cartegena station. Details about the ship were provided to you to pursue however you saw fit, but other priorities took precedence at that time."

"Priorities in the Exodus Cluster," came her response, running right over the end of Ashley's sentence.

"Yes, that's right," she continued, only to be cut off again.

"On the opposite side of the galaxy…"

"Yes. That's right," came her answer, brusque and clipped.

"Well," Esheel said, smiling. "Those priorities must have been urgent, indeed. I trust you have a report on those activities."

Ashley's eyes narrowed. "There will be a full report at the conclusion of the mission, Councilor. If you're interested in a copy, I can have one sent when it's complete."

The Dalatress was nodding agreeably, belying her next words. "I'll have it now."

"It's not," she stammered for a moment, blinking, "I haven't…"

"You have no mission in the Exodus Cluster, Captain," Esheel said in a hard tone. "You're either there to engage the Krogan, a task your Alliance is perfectly suited to handle, or you're there to see your husband…"

But she'd found her footing by then and was ready to tongue lash the Councilor about a Spectre's latitude to pursue their own investigations; but before she could let the attack fly…

"Neither of which is an excuse to delay the pursuit of my son's murderer !"

It took a moment to sink in. "Your...son?" she asked finally. "That wasn't in the brief." God, had they been carting around her son's body for the past week? "I...can bring the remains to you right away, if you like," she said tenderly.

The offer seemed to make things worse, Esheel's eyes growing even larger and veins distorting the skin of her throat. "You don't have him, Captain! This isn't the first time groups of our people have been killed! Some of them were high-ranking officials, war heros, our best and brightest. STG has been unable to apprehend the guilty party, so we turned to the Spectre corp to bring them in! We turned to you, and you failed!"

Ashley held up her hands in a calming gesture. "I see why you are upset and I'm truly sorry. If you'll allow, I can use my contacts to follow up.."

"You are useless ," she said between clenched teeth. "I had STG follow up as soon as I received your report. They found the perpetrators...all of them dead. The fact they were killed seems to indicate a larger organization cleaning up after themselves, but we have no one to interrogate and no leads to follow. All because you couldn't be bothered to pursue."

Ashley's chin dropped. There were no platitudes or suggestions she could offer here that would cool the woman's temper, even if they were good ones; and Ashley couldn't really blame her for the hostility. She felt bad about the whole thing now, even if she was technically in the right.

"Councilor," she began tentatively before meeting her gaze, "As I mentioned, it's our belief that these people were warned we were coming. If that's true it might also explain why STG had difficulty finding them. They were given a place to hide in Lystheni space, as well. Do you think it's possible there are Lystheni sympathizers high enough in your organization to have access to classified data?"

Esheel wide orbs narrowed balefully. "Captain, it's clear you have difficulties performing your own duties. Refrain from instructing me on mine. Just know that the Council will remember this. I will remember this." She then disconnected.

Williams sighed, then cursed under her breath before turning away. She headed out of the comm room, then took a left hand turn into medical to see Dr. Chakwas hard at work, peering through lab equipment at something undoubtedly tiny.

The older woman must have caught movement out of the corner of her eye because she paused and straightened to look at her with a smile and customary crinkle around her eyes. "Hello, Captain. What can I do for you?"

"Wanted to see if you'd made any progress with our Salarian 'guests'," she said somewhat guiltily.

"More questions than answers, unfortunately," she replied in her neat clipped accent. "I've been collaborating with specialists but it appears they're as confused as I am. We've sorted out that the modifications in these patient's bodies don't appear to have been performed by any surgeon. They look like they've grown organically and are highly integrated with the surrounding tissue. Initially we thought it might have been some type of cancer, but cancer typically disrupts the duties performed by individual organs, resulting in death."

Her eyes squinched as she continued her way through the thought. "These patients have no indication of such disruption. The affected organs were functioning normally from what we can tell."

When Ashley blinked, then added, "Then why were they trying to have them reversed?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Some of the growths were on the surface of the skin and unsightly," she surmised, "In which case I could understand their concern. Once more were found inside the body, I'm sure the alarm led them to seek treatment."

Ashley nodded and thumbed her lower lip; something the Councilor mentioned was gnawing at her. "If these modifications weren't done on purpose, then why were the Lystheni treating them?"

Karin looked perplexed. "I'm afraid I don't follow."

"The Lystheni Confederation broke off from the Salarians because they embraced the idea that they could transform their bodies through science," Williams explained. "They wanted to maximize their abilities and extend their lifespans so much that they left their people and their homeworlds for the chaos of the Terminus systems. They are pariahs to the Salarian people." She pointed a clarifying finger. "Now, you said that the injections administered were to reverse genetic modifications, right?"

"That's right," she answered.

"Esheel put me on this mission because the bodies that are turning up are rank and file Salarians, not Lystheni. So how and why are these people ending up in the Terminus systems, and why would the Lystheni be trying to reverse anything?"

Chakwas sighed and shook her head. "I'm afraid that's more your department than mine, Captain. We're operating under the assumption they were kidnapped, correct?"

Ashley murmured as much to herself as to the Doctor. "She said they were tortured and killed...but she didn't mention kidnapping." She tilted her head back and forth before adding, "Technically."

The Doctor seemed incredulous. "What, you think these people sought out the Lystheni on their own?"

She shook her head. "I don't know what to think, if I'm honest."

Karin folded her arms and leaned against her worktable. "Alright, let's think out of the box for a moment. If you're a member of a society that's against genetic modification," She paused, eyes glimmering with frustration, "And may I add my personal distaste for that bit of hypocrisy when it came to the Genophage?" She resumed with a normal tone, "And yet members of that society are willingly going to a subset that favors genetic modification…" she blinked a few times as if running calculations, "Then that tells me they may have wanted treatments that weren't offered by their own physicians."

Ashley blinked as well, the idea definitely outside what she was thinking. "Why wouldn't Salarian doctors treat this condition?"

Her eyes widened helplessly and she tilted her head, "It was outside their field? Broke some social more?"

"Hmm.." Ashley said, chewing her lower lip. "Well we did assume that these were artificial modifications to begin with. Do you think maybe the regular docs thought they'd been fooling around with illegal augmentations?"

"It's possible, I suppose," Chakwas admitted. "But I'm not familiar with the legalities of the technology, nor would I be able to differentiate between gene therapy for an illness and an actual augmentation in Salarian physiology."

Ashley sighed in defeat. "Well, looks like we're back at square one unless we can talk to a Lystheni geneticist."

"My contacts within the Salarian Union haven't been very forthcoming with details, for sure, but I haven't delved very deep into the actual changes, either...only the effect on the affected organs."

"Alright, find out what you can," Ashley said with a nod. As she was turning to leave she paused, looking back, "Were there any common threads you found in the bodies? Any...similarities in background?"

Chakwas was already moving back to her previous task, but spoke distractedly. "Mostly mature male adults, though there were a few younger specimens and females. Many of them had war injuries, but not all…"

She turned to leave again when she heard the Doctor say, "Artificial prostheses for those." Williams stopped then and fully turned.

"I bet not a lot of Salarian doctors would have familiarity with Lazarus tech," she pondered suggestively.

Chakwas straightened to look at her dismissively. "Well they should, it's been five years." Her expression softened into cautious curiosity a moment later, though. "Unless they avoided it because of political climate."

"Have there been any reported problems with them? The prostheses?"

"The odd rejection, perhaps, but nothing widespread," she said, but was moving toward her desk.

Ashley followed and Karin sat down and began pulling up information on her monitors that looked like Greek to her, so she waited patiently while the Doctor flipped through pages of text and unintelligible images. She waited while the woman hummed and dove deeper until her feet began to ache, but before that patience could fully wane Chakwas pointed to one of those images with a low, "Interesting."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well, I'd need to spend more time on analysis, but when Shepard was onboard I noticed that the artificial neurons the Lazarus tech used to communicate with her natural biology weren't entirely passive. There's a complex dance involved between excitatory and inhibitory inputs that determines when a neuron fires, and it was apparent that the technology was learning the best method to achieve an ideal response. Without getting overly technical, the nanomechanical units in that technology adapted over time to improve her performance." She looked up at Ashley for a moment, "If you'd been here you'd have noticed just how rapidly her responses, healing and reaction time improved. I was intrigued, but didn't exactly have the time for an in-depth study. The woman would hardly sit still, let alone let me run tests ad-nausem."

Ashley waited for her to continue and when it was obvious she wasn't understanding, Chakwas moved on. "The point is, no one has ever really done any kind of study to see what effects the Lazarus tech would have on people long-term. It's possible that on some level it may be 'training' biological tissue to respond to stimuli in a specific fashion. If that's true, I can't guess what those alterations would look like..but tumors aren't out of the question. If they weren't causing any kind of ailment they might go entirely unnoticed for a time." She returned to the images and began pointing. "Look here."

She looked at the images and could see shapes that didn't look like everything near it, but it still didn't mean much.

"These shapes here are called neoplasms. It's tissue that's either dividing more than it should or not dying as it should. In most situations that's bad…" She looked up at Ashley meaningfully, "But what if it's exactly as it's designed, only not a design we recognize?" Another moment passed, then a modestly alarmed exclamation, "What if their tissue is systematically being altered?"

"By who's design?" Ashley asked.

Karin brought up a hand to grasp her lower face as if in deep thought, but the grip was too deep and her eyes too wide. "I don't know," she said.

Ashley saw uncertainty there, and no little fear. "Oh," Ashley said in sudden understanding. "But you said not everyone had war injuries," she protested. "You said there were young patients, too. They can't have the same thing, can they?"

"I'll begin testing immediately, and let you know what I find."

They looked at one another for a long moment, the idea of an intelligent technology changing their host's biology toward an unknown purpose hanging heavy in the air.

"Keep me posted," Ashley said in a leaden voice.

"Aye, Captain."

She exited the medbay into the CIC and heard Sam report that she had unread messages waiting. She thanked her and opened her terminal to see one from Miranda that she opened eagerly, given current circumstances. She was disappointed to see it wasn't a sibyllic revelation regarding the Lazarus question, but it wasn't wholly useless.

Captain Williams, it began formally. (Overly such, in her estimation.)

I've been made aware of the situation on Tyr and believe that Jack may be embedded within Dulak forces at this location. While I make no judgement on her purpose or the outcome there, I thought it might be useful for you to have knowledge of her location should the situation become confrontational. Attached is a locate beacon address implanted on her person.

This is for her safety, and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't inform her of my surveillance. You know how she can be.

Lawson

She considered replying with the questions she and Dr. Chakwas were pondering, but pulled up her Omni and called instead. The request was declined, as was the next one. Irritated, she typed out a reply, after all.

If you want me to save your girlfriend you're going to need to answer my call. Pick up, Miranda.

But she didn't, and while Ashley may have fumed at the woman's trademark arrogance she realized that even if Miri had picked up she wouldn't have much more than wild insinuations to offer. Karin was on the hunt. If she needed to talk to Miranda maybe she'd have better luck getting her to answer.