*** Council Hearing ***
They started across the short distance to Fezziwig's, but as the C-Sec storefront door closed behind them, Ash huffed, "What the hell was the point of that?"
Shepard shook his head. "Sorry. Turian things tend to be highly procedural, and without knowing what the procedure is, we can't do much."
"So they really are stick puppets? Why did we even bother?"
"Because I forgot that aliens are…alien." He shook his head ruefully. "My mistake."
From the bar's entrance, they could see Richard at the kiosk, talking with the attendant, a short-haired man with a goatee. As they approached, they could see him waving across the lake to his right as he spoke to the young soldier.
"…and across the bridge, you'll find the bank, the emporium, and Sha'ira's. If you haven't heard of her, you soon will. If you need supplies, the nearest markets are one level below. For nearby entertainment, I'd try Flux, or Chora's Den."
Jenkins noticed that Shepard and Williams had just arrived, and smiled self-consciously. "Okay, I'll bite. What is Sha'ira's?"
"The Consort? Uh, she entertains clients who can afford her services. Most of the diplomats and ambassadors have visited her at one time or another. She's a very powerful asari, but also very respected." He made brief eye contact with the other two soldiers, noting their arrival. "As far as I can tell, there's more talking than…" he gestured vaguely, "Well, you know."
Richard frowned thoughtfully. "Sounds kinda out of my league," he said, "What is there that a soldier might like to do?"
"Well, Flux has gambling and dancing…certainly more lively than this place. Chora's Den, on the other hand…weeell, let's just say it's livelier and deadlier all at the same time." He looked at Ash again, then seemed to at last notice the armor they were all wearing. "Though you look like you're no stranger to that. That's full combat gear, isn't it?"
"Sure is," Ash said with a nod. "It's a jungle out there."
He shook his head sadly. "No kidding. Jeez, did ya hear about Eden Prime?"
She nodded grimly. "Just left there."
The attendant looked stunned. "You…" he paused, glancing from one soldier to the next, and then suddenly decided something. "You…the four of you…get drinks." He reached behind the counter and produced a collection of glasses, set them on the counter together. "On the house. What'll it be?"
"Can it be a rain check?" Shepard asked. He touched his thumb to ring finger, illuminating the omnitool gauntlet, "We're due at the Council Chamber in the next half hour. Need to be sharp."
The man nodded. "I suppose it might get awkward if you were drunk enough to tell them what to go do with themselves."
Ash tapped the countertop with an index finger. "I will have a shot of slivovitsa…and I will have it again when I get back."
The man nodded once, snatched a shot glass out of the collection, turned to the equipment behind him and, seemingly without stopping, spun all the way around with the glass now filled. "Slivovitsa."
Ash picked it up, turned to face Shepard. "I do want to be drunk enough to tell them what to do with themselves." She threw the contents of the glass down in a single gulp, gasped and winced as if in pain. "Yeow! What's that? 180 proof?"
The man beamed at her. "Why yes, it is."
She smacked her lips, looked up and away. "But this was made with real plums."
Richard tilted his head. "What? You can taste that?"
Ash was still looking at the server. "Oh, yes I can." She nodded and smiled. "That's nice. Thank you, I needed that." She winced again. "Damn, that's good stuff. Where'd you get it?"
He winked, shook his head, and turned to Richard expectantly.
The younger man looked quickly at the glasses. "Uh…thank you. I'm not thirsty. And I don't drink."
Ash reacted. "Seriously?" She shook her head. "What a waste of a liver." She turned to Kaidan. "How about it, LT?"
Kaidan shrugged. "Ah…I'd like to toast at our victory dinner, but…uh…I probably shouldn't show up in front of the Council carrying a frothy mug."
Ash klinked the glass down on the counter noisily. "Fine. I just drank all three of you under the table."
"By default," Shepard said. "I'm sure Lieutenant Alenko here could give you a run for your money. He's from Canada; they drink like fish."
"Lagers," Kaidan held up a hand as if to clarify, "Just lagers."
Shepard's ARO flashed the time at him. "And we now have about 20 minutes to get to a place we don't know where it is." He turned to the attendant. "Can you tell me how we get to the Council Chamber?"
The man lit his omnitool, spun the hand controls, and pinched an icon, holding it out to Shepard. "Sure thing; there ya go. Twenty minutes? Better get going; there's a long elevator ride."
Shepard held out his omnitool, and accepted the glowing token. The holo winked out as the data displayed on his ARO. "Come on, team; this could be close." He turned and jogged out of the lounge immediately.
He continued down the hall, past the C-Sec storefront, made a right, and went through the door. A digit flick displayed a translucent rear view on part of his ARO; the three other soldiers were right behind him. Down the stairs, out of the lobby, turning right again, and heading along a broad walkway, open on the left. As they jogged along, Shepard found himself glancing toward the pervasive water features; it looked like they ran all the way around the Presidium ring.
A green-clad salarian saw them coming and stepped out of the way.
Jenkins stopped in front of the alien, extended a hand. "Hi, how are you? I'm Richard Jenkins, Systems Alliance. You looked a little nervous there, and I wanted to let you know everything's okay."
"Keep up, Corporal!" Shepard barked over his shoulder. "We don't want to be late!"
The salarian had taken Richard's hand and shaken it as his VI prompter had suggested, but he just stood there looking after them as Richard turned and trotted off.
Richard waved over his shoulder, "Have a great day!"
"Thank you!" came the faint reply.
Ash teased, "Makin' nice with the bug-eyes monsters, Corporal?"
Kaidan was still looking around as they jogged along. "I don't know, Chief...I think we're the bug-eyed monsters here."
Shepard, still following the navigational instructions on his ARO, turned right with the walkway, then left across a landing and down a gently-curving bridge. A holographic arrow over the handrail indicated the Citadel tower was the tall structure on their left. "Looks like he was right about that elevator ride," he said, "I hope it isn't that long."
Kaidan noticed the fountain on their right was amazingly quiet, almost surreal. The trees looked well-manicured and the lighting was even and pleasant. "I hope we'll get to spend some more time here, I've never seen anything like this outside of trideo vids."
Jenkins had double-timed his way up alongside Shepard. "Yeah," he agreed, "It looks just like what you see in Updater."
Kaidan continued to look around as they jogged past a parked taxi and down a short set of stairs. "They don't shoot it here; it's all CGE."
Richard shrugged."Well, they do a fine job of it. Or else they clean the place up quickly."
"They'd better…have you seen the kind of fights she gets into?"
"Right; they wouldn't let them do that sort of stuff here."
In front of the entrance to the Citadel Tower was a squat green alien with four legs and four arms. Glancing up at them and then looking away, it appeared to be operating or otherwise using a wall-mounted holographic interface.
Ash reacted first, "Look at that bug thing over there. What's it doing?"
Jenkins veered off to their left and stopped by it, looking first at the interface it was using, then at the insect-like thing itself.
In response, it ignored him effortlessly.
As Richard leaned his head up for a closer look, the Avina terminal standing next to it said, "Please do not disturb the Keepers." His helmet HUD popped up an opaque message directly in front of him. Warning: Citadel policy does not allow disruption of Keeper activities. Violation may result in removal from the station. CCC 5731.143.20
Shepard continued without stopping, "We'll find out later," he said. "Here's the elevator. Come on, Jenkins."
Citadel Tower Entrance, read his ARO. There was a short, very white-walled hallway that led to the elevator. Scanners overhead flicked across the four soldiers as they passed; the door to the elevator lowered as they approached. As Richard slowed to a stop inside, the door rose back into place, and the elevator accelerated upward.
Shepard's ARO blinked yellow. "We should be okay now."
Ash could feel a sense of warmth settling into the pit of her stomach, and realized it might be a bad idea for her to talk to authority figures. "The Council aren't going to ask me any questions, are they?"
"We've made our reports," Kaidan answered, "Now we just have to trust Ambassador Udina."
Ash shook her head. "Noooo, we don't, sir."
Richard snorted a laugh.
Kaidan cast a sidelong glance at Ash. "Did you get bit by a politician when you were just a kid?"
Ash folded her arms across her chest. "Everybody does. Some of us remember."
Suddenly there was space outside the glass-doored elevator. The view of the Widow Nebula was practically unobstructed; brilliantly-glowing gases surrounding a binary neutron star. While the stars were so heavily obscured as to be invisible, they suffused the nebula with enough light that it was easy to imagine one was looking at the entrance to Paradise.
His mouth open, Richard took a step toward it, put a hand against the glass. "Look at that," he said breathlessly, "…it's beautiful."
Shepard looked up and found himself liberated of his introspection. He nodded agreement. "Sure is. I wonder why the Protheans built the Citadel here."
They rode in silence for a few seconds before Richard asked, "What? 'Protheans'? I thought the asari built it."
"The asari found it. They were the only ones here for most of a century until the salarians popped out of the relay." Shepard waved a thumb over his shoulder.
"You ever met a salarian, sir?"
"Spent a day's leave on Sur'Kesh. Took a skytour of Talat; that's the capital." Shepard wasn't feeling very talkative.
Richard, looking out the window again, nibbled silently on a fingernail for a few seconds. Eventually, he asked, "Does this thing have an in-flight meal or anything?"
Kaidan stage-whispered to Shepard, "Maybe we should have docked someplace closer."
Shepard, who hated being late, grunted a noncommittial, "Hm."
Kaidan lit his omnitool and held it to the wall, then to one of the glass doors, then the ceiling. "Well, they're scanning us like crazy. Looks like about…four sensors...per red blood cell."
"I suppose they have to be careful," Richard looked around at the walls suspiciously, "You don't want someone releasing a bioweapon or something."
The elevator finally slowed and stopped; the door lowered into the floor.
"About time," Ash grumbled.
The Council chamber was not just a room; had they not been exposed to the vast spectacle of the nebula, it probably would have seemed like stepping outside. From the elevator doorway, Shepard's ARO told him the windows in the distance were 400 meters away. Trees and planters were visible everywhere in the low light; the short walkway ended in a flight of stairs up to a small courtyard with a water display at its center.
As they started up the stairs, they could see two C-Sec personnel talking. The turian on the left was saying, "Saren's hiding something!" He held up his omnitool as if to show the other turian something. "Myvas has two leads right here on the Citadel, active right now; give me more time…just ten minutes. Stall them!"
Shepard's ARO put callouts on them as they stepped closer. Citadel Security Officer Garrus Vakarian on the left, Executor [Private Mode] Pallin on the right.
The Executor shook his head. "Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous. Your investigation is over, Vakarian. Get back to HQ and generate a report on this non-event." The Executor turned and walked away.
The four humans arrived at the top of the stairs; the turian turned and spoke to the human that his holographic monocle indicated had the highest rank.
"Commander Shepard? I'm Garrus Vakarian, C-Sec. I'm handling the investigation…uh…I was the officer in charge of the investigation into Saren Arterius."
As his own ARO prompted him, Shepard performed a turian greeting; he bowed his head slightly, and made a fist with his right hand, arm at a 90-degree angle. ("Imagine you're holding a spear at Salute, and it makes more sense," a turian had once explained to him.) "Why is C-Sec handling this? Don't the Spectres have an Internal Affairs department?"
Garrus put his right hand to his belt; Shepard's ARO informed him this was a normal response.
"No, actually." Garrus shook his head. "If there was a complaint of some kind brought against them, it would almost certainly be dismissed. Spectres are…ah…" the turian checked himself, shook his head again. "Basically the only way to bring a Spectre agent to account is if they kill a Council member. Or another Spectre." He glanced to his left, toward the Council forum.
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Which he almost certainly did…"
Garrus turned to Shepard, indicating where the other turian had gone. "And that was Executor Pallin, my boss. He'll be presenting my findings on Saren to the Council. I have two solid leads on him, and my partner is working them right now; they're current and critical to the case. The Executor is shutting me down because he thinks there's nothing to be found, but I know Saren's dirty. The Executor's going to go in there and tell them nothing!"
Turians don't act like this, Shepard thought, He's almost frantic. His ARO agreed, indicating that this C-Sec officer was highly agitated, and suggested de-escalation.
"Sounds like you really want to bring him down."
"I don't trust him." The turian seemed to be trying to read his monocle. "Something about him…uh…rubs me the wrong way." He gestured to his VI, dismissing the idiom finder. "But he's a Spectre; everything he touches is classified. I can't find any hard evidence yet."
Kaidan took a step toward the windows in the distance. "I think the Council's ready for us, Commander."
The turian glanced over his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to delay you. Good luck, Commander. Maybe they'll listen to you."
"I hope so," Shepard said, "Thank you, Officer Vakarian." He turned and jogged away quickly with the rest of the team.
They made their way around the fountain to the right, where a human in an up-to-the-minute red-and-white business gown leaned against the rail. Another flight of stairs led to a landing. The lighting was hued in magentas and purples, trees and plants illuminated in salmon. The effect was somber and quietly disheartening. Everywhere was a faint scent of…something distantly familiar. Vanilla? Shepard looked around for its source. Later, he chided himself.
Kaidan noticed, "You sure have to climb a lot of stairs to get to the Council. You suppose that's supposed to be symbolic of their importance?"
"I bet they're not just for show," Ash replied, "They make for good defensive positions if this place is attacked."
Another set of stairs divided by a planter took them up to a small oval park. Benches surrounded a decorative rock formation; a man in a mostly white business suit sat nearby. They jogged past him on the right.
Two aliens were talking outside a breakout room; a salarian was saying, "…don't be ridiculous. The volus won't be joining the Council for years."
The turian answered, "I'm not so sure. The humans are making a strong push and you can bet the volus will be right on their coattails if they succeed." Shepard slowed his pace slightly, and his VI noticed his attention shift to the conversation. It activated and tuned directional mics on the back of his suit.
The salarian replied, "Allowing the humans to join is a sound strategic move. But the volus? No. The hanar are likely to be next, then the elcor."
The path before them widened as they went deeper into the room; two smaller circles of greenery were on either side of another set of stairs, this time four parallel sets of them. Shepard's suit continued to eavesdrop on the conversation behind them.
"You may be right," said the turian, "But the hanar need to lighten up a bit first."
"You just don't like them because you have trouble understanding them…"
As they reached the top of the stairs, his suit gave up trying to isolate and enhance the conversation; it also happened that they found Captain Anderson. He looked annoyed, and waved up the stairs, "Saren called in early; he has a lot of pull with the Council, so the hearing's already started. Come on." Shepard's ARO timekeeper agreed: They had a minute to spare.
Better not screw up, Shepard thought. He gestured for 2x cognitive acceleration; the world seemed to slow around him. He was glad of the extra time to inspect the audience chamber as he stepped up to its highest level.
At the end of the room stood the Council, each with fully-immersive augmented reality control pedestals before them. Shepard's ARO identified them as Sparatus, Tevos, and Valern; turian, asari, and salarian, respectively. Higher, and to their right, was an oversized monochrome holograph of Saren Arterius. As the five humans walked to the end of the cantilevered platform, Shepard noticed the small park underneath, and the five meters of separation the Council had placed between themselves and anyone else.
It felt like he was standing on the end of a diving board. He subvocalised to his VI, Why the gap?
His ARO displayed a translucent pop-up: In 00700CE, krogan warlord Kreddik attacked the Council. The Audience Chamber was modified to deter future attacks.
"…the geth attack is a matter of some concern," Tevos was saying, "But there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way. Mass relay transit records indicate he was on Noveria at the time of the geth attack on Eden Prime, and is still there now. The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason."
Udina growled, "An eyewitness saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood."
Valern shook his head, "We've read the Eden Prime reports, Ambassador. The testimony of one traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof."
"Exactly, Councillor," Shepard stepped up alongside Udina, "That's exactly the reason we need access to Agent Kyrick's blackbox data. And Agent Arterius'. When will these records be available for inspection by this Council, and presumably made part of this investigation?"
The hologram of Saren folded its arms, "Spectres do not use blackbox recorders. We're not feral hairless monkeys of Earth; we are professionals, entrusted with galactic peace." The hologram turned its head and addressed the Council. "I resent these accusations. Nihlus was a fellow Spectre. And a friend."
Anderson stepped forward, a hand raised, finger pointing at Saren's image. "That just let you catch him off guard!"
Saren regarded the human for a moment, almost as if not recognizing him. "Captain...Anderson. You always seem to be involved when humanity brings false charges against me. And this must be your protégé, Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed."
Shepard recoiled. "Have you actually bothered to read the report? Nobody touched the beacon, it self-activated. How could we possibly have known it would do what it did? If you knew, why have you not made this part of the Prothean Artifact Discovery Protocol?"
"Shift the blame to cover your own failures? Just like Captain Anderson. He's taught you well. But what can you expect…from a human?"
"Insults instead of evidence or a relevant reply?" He pointed at Saren, addressed the Council, "Is this what the Council should expect from a turian Spectre?"
Saren hissed, "Your species needs to learn its place, human. You're not ready to join the Council; you're not even ready to join the Spectres!"
Udina was incendiary, "He has no right to say that! That's not his decision!"
The asari Councillor looked toward Saren, "Shepard's admission to the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting–"
"This meeting has no purpose," Saren interrupted, "The humans are wasting your time, Councillor. And mine."
Shepard realized Saren might have a way to either insert false data…or that the Council was stonewalling because the turian was doing what they had asked but had to officially deny…or the turian was lying to them about what he had actually done. "Agent Arterius, you are hiding behind your position as a Spectre. This Council needs to know what happened to Agent Kyrick. Even my field forensics software showed that he was assassinated–"
"What this Council needs is evidence," Valern snapped, "So far, you've offered us none."
"I offered the ground team blackbox data to the C-Sec Executor an hour ago and was refused. We need the evidence of what happened to Agent Kyrick. You're telling me that no cameras, no recorders, nothing can explain what happened to him?"
Saren answered quickly, "That's right, human. To be a Spectre is to be trusted by this Council."
Shepard looked up at the hologram, back at the salarian, and then to the hologram again. "The evidence I'm asking for would exonerate you. Nearly everyone in the galaxy uses–"
Saren interrupted, "Human, what part of 'No' are you incapable of understanding?"
Captain Anderson held up a silencing hand. "All right, so there's no record of what happened. There is still one outstanding issue: Commander Shepard's vision. It may have been triggered by the beacon. Or even directly induced by it."
Shepard's eyes widened as Anderson spoke. He thought, You aren't actually going to tell the Council about that, are you?
Though Saren's cybernetics made it difficult to tell even for other turians, the hologram of the Spectre all but sneered. "Are we allowing dreams into evidence now? How can I defend myself against this kind of testimony?"
"I agree," the turian Councillor sounded doubtful. "Our judgment must be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and reckless speculation."
Shepard raised his open hands as if shrugging, "I can't believe that the Spectres, accountable only to the Council, are not even accountable to the Council. You really trust Spectres so profoundly that you really do not use blackboxes?"
His cognitive overclock allowed Shepard to see the salarian Councillor's quick glance toward the others, and their glance back at him, and then his VI popped a relevant fact on his ARO: 82% of credible online sources consider the Council oversight of Spectres to include blackbox data, but this is not officially acknowledged by the Council.
Valern clasped his hands behind his back. "Then let us stick to the facts. Do you have anything else to add, Captain Anderson? Commander Shepard?"
Shepard frowned. "Not if you won't allow blackbox data from Nihlus or subpoena it from him. When I offered our blackbox data to the head of C-Sec, he turned me down flat." He jabbed a finger at Saren. "If he's innocent, he has nothing to hide. If he's not, he's using you."
With their neurotronic interfaces, the Council was able to exchange messages almost as fast as they could be thought. Tevos messaged, He is correct; Saren may be hiding something from us.
Sparatus messaged back, Agent Saren has never put his personal interest before those of this Council. He's even paid dearly for it.
Valern added, And yet today he seems demanding…almost belligerent, though. I am concerned.
Then I move we adjourn and discuss, Tevos messaged. Do we have grounds to disbar Saren?
Sparatus shook his head negatively. No. But I second the motion to adjourn.
Tevos nodded, and turned to face the humans. "The Council has found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the geth. Ambassador, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectres is denied."
Saren regarded the humans. "I'm glad to see justice was served."
"Served?" Ash snorted. "I think the term you're looking for is 'serviced.'" She turned immediately and walked away.
"This meeting is adjourned." The Councillors moved quickly out of sight.
Kaidan and Richard followed Ash; Shepard and Anderson glanced at each other and turned away after a pause. Udina remained at the end of the platform for a moment, as if he could make it all not happen by sheer force of will. A glance over his shoulder confirmed that he was all alone. At last, he turned away reluctantly.
The humans grouped themselves to one side of the platform's entrance.
"It was a mistake bringing you into that hearing, Captain," Udina scowled. "You and Saren have too much history. It made the Council question our motives."
Anderson shook his head. "I know Saren. He's working with the geth for one reason: to exterminate the entire human race. Every Colony we have is at risk. Every world we've colonized is in danger. Even Earth isn't safe."
Ash said, "Maybe we need to deal with Saren ourselves?"
Udina's frown grew even deeper. "As a Spectre, he's practically untouchable. We need to find some way to expose him."
"What about that C-Sec investigator?" Kaidan worked his omnitool quickly, "uh…Vakarian. Garrus Vakarian. We saw him arguing with the Executor."
"That's right," Ash agreed, "He was asking for more time to get some solid evidence. He acted like he was close to finding something on Saren; he only wanted the hearing stalled…"
Shepard asked, "Any idea where we could find him?"
Udina nodded, looking self-important. "For obvious security reasons, C-Sec won't provide location info on its people. But I have a contact in C-Sec who could help us track this Garrus down. His name is Harkin."
"Harkin? Victor Harkin?" Anderson seemed surprised, then annoyed. "Forget it. They suspended Harkin last month. Drinking on the job...and a list of other stuff. I won't waste my time on that loser."
"You won't have to." Udina folded his arms. "I don't want the Council using your past history with Saren as an excuse to ignore anything we turn up. Shepard will handle this."
Shepard glanced at his CO, then at Udina. "You can't just cut Captain Anderson out of the investigation. His ship, his crew was involved directly."
The Captain sighed. "No, the Ambassador's right, I need to step aside."
Udina turned to Shepard. "I need to take care of some business. Captain, meet me in my office later." He turned and walked off without another word.
"Who pissed in his corn flakes?" Ash folded her arms.
Anderson sighed. "Go easy on him. It's been hell at the embassy since word hit the extranet that Eden Prime was attacked. I saw a little of it, but we really should leave him alone for now."
"Seems like he doesn't get along with the Council, either." Kaidan looked over his shoulder for the ambassador.
"He's just frustrated. The Council's always preaching that we should be part of the galactic community. But for them, it's a one-way street. They want us to expand and settle unstable regions like the Skyllian Verge, and the Attican Traverse. But when we have trouble, they don't want to help us out. Everyone knows it's just a matter of time until we get a seat on the Council. He just thinks it should happen sooner rather than later. And I agree."
He turned to Shepard. "Harkin's probably getting drunk at Chora's Den. It's a dingy little club down in the lower section of the Presidium near the Wards."
Shepard glanced at a picture of Victor Harkin that his VI displayed on his ARO. "I thought you said he was a drunken loser."
"Couldn't hurt to go talk to him. Just be careful. I wouldn't call him reliable. He joined C-Sec about the same time I was working with Saren." Anderson looked away, almost lost in thought. "We used to hang out together. He was a top cop with alien experience, and a sterling record. But after he got into C-Sec, he started roughing up suspects in custody. There were bribery accusations, reports of drug use and even AI and bioweapon sales…" He shook his head. "I had to walk away."
Shepard's ARO had continued to display his VI analysis of Harkin. "Sounds like a scumbag," he mused, "Like he should have been cut loose long before now."
The Captain nodded. "The embassy used to step in when he got in trouble, because they didn't want their best-and-brightest being called a dirty cop. If the embassy hadn't been protecting him, he'd have been fired fifteen years ago. But it looks like his time's run out; we have enough humans in C-Sec now to stop protecting him." He shook his head, "C-Sec is better off without him."
"Is there any other way to get evidence against Saren?"
Anderson paused, looking up and left for a moment, then nodding to himself. "You should talk to Barla Von. Over in the financial district. Rumor has it he's an agent for the Shadow Broker."
"Shadow Broker?" Ash squinted. "What's that?"
"An information dealer. Buys and sells secrets to the highest bidder. Barla Von might have access to dirt on Saren…but his information won't come cheap."
Ash shook her head. "The hell it won't. We have the extranet. Who needs this guy?"
"He's a necessary evil, like the various intelligence groups. Buying and selling info is a part of the game, and the Shadow Broker just happens to be the best independent in the field. Doesn't get involved, or pick sides; only seems to be in it for the money. Not really a threat to anyone, at least not directly. He's just a resource we can use."
Shepard paused to think before looking up at Ash and Kaidan. "All right, then. Time is short. We should go."
Anderson nodded, "Good luck, Shepard. I'll be over in the Ambassador's Office if you need anything else." He turned and headed to the distant elevator.
"Thank you, sir. I'll keep you advised of our progress." Shepard continued to read the information his VI had gathered and analysed from the extranet about Victor Harkin.
"So, this is where the Council passes judgement on us lesser species," Ash said as she looked around.
Richard, eyes still following the Captain, tried to be positive. "I like the fountain."
"It's very soothing," Kaidan agreed; he turned to Shepard. "But what do we do next?"
Shepard held up two fingers. "We've got two leads. Williams, I suspect you'll have more appeal to a human than either of us, but that Chora's Den place sounds like trouble. Alenko, Jenkins, go with her; watch each other's backs. I'll go talk to this Barla Von guy. Whoever can locate this C-Sec officer first…Vakarian…call with the location, and we'll converge where he is." He turned and started toward the elevator.
"At least we get to go down a bunch of stairs now," Richard said to himself.
Ash nodded absently. "Hey, look at that. That guy is up to something."
Richard looked around. "What guy?"
Ash pointed. "The salarian...the one over by the Keeper. With his back to us."
Shepard's suit VI refocused the enhanced audio pickups in front of him. The salarian, kneeling next to a keeper, was waving his omnitool under it. He seemed to be speaking to someone by 'comm, "Maybe; not enough data. Need more scans to know for sure." He paused, as if listening. "Want to know why it won't move on. Just standing here. Could be important."
Shepard's quieted soles made hardly a sound as he walked up to the kneeling salarian. "I wonder if it knows what you're doing?"
The spindly alien leapt to his feet. "What? Oh no, I wasn't…uh…never mind." The salarian's omnitool, which had gone dark, illuminated; he worked on it intently before looking up again. "Um…yes. Is there something you want?"
"I thought you might be a Citadel technician. I was going to ask you about that…" Shepard gestured at the buglike alien casually; his ARO highlighted it and displayed the word Keeper on a callout. "Keeper. I don't recognize the species, and when I saw you there, I thought you might know something about them. Why are you so interested in the keepers?"
The salarian glanced quickly around the area. "Keepers? I have no interest in the –"
"Don't get coy," Ash interrupted, "I know what I saw."
The salarian looked around at the planters and walls. "I…fft. I'm not sure I should be talking to you about this."
Shepard looked around casually. "We're just talking. Is there something wrong with that?"
"No…I'm using a small scanner to try to take readings on them. So far, I've had mixed results. I find it difficult to get near the creatures with the station VIs being so protective of them."
Shepard nodded, "Yeah, we ran into that on the way up here. But why the interest?"
"Well, technically we're not supposed to disturb them. I don't really think scanning is a disturbance, but authorities might disagree. I'd like to do it more openly, but not worth getting arrested over."
"They arrest people for that?"
Shepard's ARO finally presented the Social Intro data gathered by the VI:
Vallane Chorban
Majority owner, BMI 3LS SymBion CMIT [Commerce Managed Independent Trimalask]
Off duty
Private mode
Shepard asked, "What are you doing with the data once you've scanned it?"
"Trying to learn whatever I can about the keepers. We see them everywhere, and yet we know so little about them. I'm a scientist. I want to know what makes them tick."
Kaidan asked, "You mean they're not a Council species?"
"No," answered Chorban, "In fact for a long time, there was even question about whether they were organic, or just very complex biotech."
"They were here when the asari arrived?"
Chorban nodded. "Yes. We don't even know where they come from…somewhere deep inside the station arms, perhaps. They just seem to die and melt away to gelatinous goo when confronted or handled forcefully."
Shepard regarded the green keeper with suspicion. "That does sound like a WYDKTCHY problem." He turned to the salarian. "Is there some way I could help?"
Chorban took a step back. "Help?" He glanced at the other soldiers. "Are you serious? You will have to be careful. I don't want any of you getting in trouble and then blaming me. I don't even know who you are."
"I'm Commander Stephen Shepard of the Alliance, Executive Officer of SSV Normandy." He glanced at his omnitool. "I thought DisplaiD would tell you that."
Chorban glanced at his omnitool, cocked his head slightly. "As you say, WYDKTCHY. Fft…hmm. I didn't realize humans would understand the concept, let alone have a single word for it." He looked at the other soldiers again. "Will you all be scanning?"
Shepard shook his head. "I'm not speaking for them. I'm just offering for myself."
The salarian relaxed visibly. "Hm…I suppose I could use the help." He worked his omnitool, pinched an icon on it, and held it toward Shepard. "Here; you'll need this; it's my scanner applet. When you find a keeper, activate the app; it will tell you where and how to scan, and then upload the scan to my database."
Shepard reached out for the glowing icon, held it to his own omnitool.
Chorban continued, "This will help much; I thank you. I can spend more time compiling the data and figuring out what it means if you are scanning." He brightened suddenly. "As a way to encourage you, and even help direct your search, I will send a few credits your way with each unique scan."
Applet offered by Vallane Chorban; ACCEPT/DECLINE/MESSAGE?
Shepard accepted, the omnitool flashed green. "I should get going then."
The salarian seemed excited to be off, "Yes…I have much work myself." He hesitated for almost a full second (an unusually long time for a salarian) before waving quickly to the group, "So long. And good luck with the scanning." They watched him walk quickly away.
"You really going to do that, sir?" Richard raised his own omnitool. "Or are you just setting him up?"
Shepard regarded the younger man. "It could be really big news if humans help discover something about the Citadel that the older races haven't. Or if it's something they're deliberately hiding." He activated the app and knelt next to the keeper.
"Sounds like conspiracy theory crap to me, sir," Ash said.
"I'll help dig up data if it pays," Richard parried.
"Looks like he hadn't finished scanning this one," Shepard pointed to his omnitool as it popped up a Payment Notification. "Ha. And he pays real money. I just got…" He goggled at the display. "Nine thousand credits?! That can't be for real…" He tapped the display, sent a VI off to check the amount, verify the fund source and legitimacy. It came back green almost instantly.
Kaidan leaned up close to Shepard's omnitool display. "Nine thousand? I wonder if he needs any more help?"
"Damn, for that kind of money, I'd skirt Citadel policy."
"Make sure you follow the Eleventh Commandment," Shepard warned.
Ash narrowed her eyes at him. "Huh?"
"Thou Shalt Not Get Caught." He waved an index finger at the display. "He's probably scanning up here because there are no Avina terminals, and thus, no monitoring by C-Sec. This might be trickier down in the Presidium."
"Still…are there any more up here?" Richard glanced around the Council Chambers. "If this is for real, let's get at it while we have time."
"Wait." Shepard held up a hand to shoulder height. "We don't have time, at least not a lot. Let's be efficient." He gestured as he directed, "Williams, Alenko, check those corners ahead. Jenkins, over there. I'll take the other side." He waved an index finger to his right ear. "Stay in touch. Meet back here if you don't find something. You've got thirty seconds. Go."
They scattered; with only thirty seconds, there wasn't a lot of time. Shepard didn't want to get distracted from their primary objective: Getting Saren recognized as a threat.
He walked briskly to his left, eyes roving the area as quickly as he could be thorough. "Found one," Kaidan said over the LOSI.
There was a pause as Shepard continued his walk to the shadowed foyer leading to smaller antechambers. "I got one over here," he said.
"Nothing here," Ash said, "Just a sitting area with a coin fountain."
There was a longer pause as Shepard approached the keeper slowly, looking around for cameras as he did. His ARO showed nothing.
Richard's voice interrupted his worrying. "Shucks. Nothing here…sir."
He lit the gauntlet, scrolled and selected the app. The scan finished almost instantly.
Payment Notification: 9000 credits
He shook his head again in disbelief. "Nine thousand."
Ash replied, "What the hell? This guy has way more money than sense."
Shepard looked long and hard at the keeper next to him, noting that it was wearing a small white pack with an external antenna. "Or we don't know what we're dealing with. He may simply have more money and sense than we do." He turned off his gauntlet and walked across the expansive landing to the opposite corner where Kaidan was standing on the side of the waiting area opposite the keeper.
Kaidan looked up as Shepard came into view. "Still, did you read his Social Intro? He's Third Level support in Brain-Machine Interfaces at that company. He might just be a well-paid genius with a pet project. We're doing the grunt work, but that frees him up to do the…" Kaidan shrugged, "You know…"
"Skull sweat?"
Kaidan smiled and nodded once. "Yeah. Like that."
Shepard approached and re-lit his gauntlet. True to Chorban's description, the interface gave some direction about where to hold and move the scanner, but it was neither difficult to do, nor time-consuming.
Payment Notification: 9000 credits
Shepard looked up from his omnitool at Kaidan, glanced at the keeper, and then at the omnitool again. He selected a payment option, spun an icon into place, and held it out to Kaidan. "Nice work; thanks for your help. Does this seem fair?"
Payment Notification: 4000 credits
"Are you serious?"
"As serious as Chorban. You helped; we were just in the right place at the right time." Shepard put two fingers to his ear, "Okay, team, we're out of here. Meet at the elevator."
As he and Kaidan walked to the Council Chambers entrance, they were joined by Ash and Richard.
Shepard turned first to his left…
Payment Notification: 4000 credits
Richard seemed baffled at the offering. "Sir?"
"You helped. I appreciate the efficiency you made possible, and I'm sharing what cost me practically nothing."
And then to his right.
"Damn," Ash agreed, "We should do this some more."
"We will," Shepard said as the elevator door closed, "But later. For now, we have to find a way to shut this Saren down, which means finding that turian C-Sec officer." His ARO prompted him with the name. "Vakarian. Garrus Vakarian."
As it began its descent, the elevator popped out from behind its protective wall and showed them the Widow nebula again. Richard stepped up to the transparent material and seemed to lose himself in the view. "Gosh. I just love this."
"'Gosh!' 'Darn!' 'Heck!'" Ash teased, "Keep a civil tongue in your damned head, will ya?"
*** Glossary ***
blackbox: recording system used by police, public transportation, soldiers, and others to record their interactions. Similar to a flight recorder, which which it shares a popularized name.
CCC: Citadel Community Code
CGE: Computer-generated environment; a Virtual Reality environment for video production in which cameras can be placed, moved, and manipulated for shots that would otherwise be impossible, and also for production speeds of "faster than realtime" (if the promotional material is to be believed)
LOSI: Line-Of-Sight Intersuit. A telecom protocol used by the Alliance to allow fireteams to communicate with each other over short distances without having to worry about interception. Primary mode of data exchange is optical, but the fallback radio component is also scrambled
WYDKTCHY: What You Don't Know That Can Hurt You
