A/N Sorry for the delay. Spent the past three weeks in Hawaii, Denver and L.A. Back on task now. Yes, it's the eleventh hour, but it's still the first of the month. So there, thppt.

*** Ambush ***

One tenth of a gram of designer carbon was surgically fractured off the ammoblock and delivered to the low-charge end of the rifle's linac .23 seconds behind two similar fragments of buckminsterfullerene. Nanometer-thick rings of element zero were sequentially charged, accelerating the shards to one-tenth the speed of light by the time it reached the end of the barrel.

During each fragment's 42-meter flight, air friction burned away about 14% percent of its original mass, releasing low-energy photons, giving each round a reddish "tracer" effect.

The last round in the sequence found the intended target, but slowed to a relative crawl by kinetic shielding, it struck only with the force of a sledgehammer.

Blood spurted from Shepard's head; his Alliance-modified neurotronics compensated quickly for the damage. Vestibular imbalance and concussive damage were attenuated by modulating blood flow and stabilizing the specific gravity of the delicate tissues. But with his helmet off, there was blood on the taxi's canopy frame as it popped up a few centimeters.

Neurotronics automatically slowed his time perception to a full 6x; the side door seemed to slow down as it hissed open. It gave Shepard enough time to convert his falling out to the left into a controlled combat roll away from the taxi. He scrambled behind the wall near the transit podium. The taxi might provide acceptable cover, but he waved his omnitool along the wall to be sure it was actually going to provide protection.

Impervium, reported the device. Tapping the key on his forearm that activated his helmet, he slid up the wall, standing carefully…and just a bit unsteadily.

Through the door to the taxi access, he could see entrance to the club. A krogan in medium armor was turning to keep the crowd inside the relative safety of the place, but several arms in an array of clothes and skin were holding up palmcameras and omnitools to get a better view out the door.

He shook his head. Great. I'm a news event.

One of his VIs had located one shooter and an accomplice and displayed their locations on his ARO; both were in cover on the other side of the aircar passage.

External mics amplified the angry whisper of a dimodulated voice. The VI translated: "Then who opened that door?"

"I don't know…maybe the car did when the glass broke!" came the response. Shepard's VI calculated locations for the two voices, and rendered wireframe figures into place on his ARO.

"Then get over there and cut a finger or something so we can get out of here. Now!"

Shepard watched the location avatars on both of them, though they were blurry and indistinct. The one closest slid to the right, staying in cover until it got to the bridge. A turian head peeked around the corner quickly, seemed to look straight at him, and then ducked back behind the half-wall.

The darkness of the taxi access kept him hidden; Shepard stepped back, deeper into the shadows, drawing his pistol. It decompacted and charged the ultracapacitors with a soft whine.

"Weapon!" called the first voice, "He's still alive!"

"Put him in the ground!"

Shepard elevated his pistol to the top of the door, used it as a periscope to sight the far wall and fire over it twice. His ARO provided impact data as the tenth-gram slug ricocheted off the wall, but as he watched the infrared blur jump as if hit hard, gunfire threw sparks and fragments off the side of the door to his left. He withdrew quickly into cover.

"Jarrik! Jarrik!"

Three more shots fired quickly from outside the entrance to Chora's Den, the rounds shattering against the Impervium wall; they were followed immediately by three more shots that came through the door, ricocheting wildly around the room. It took almost a full second for them to fragment and dissipate; Shepard had only enough time to back against the wall before his shields wavered and sparked.

# # #

Ash's Harpoon-V was already in hand as she charged the door. "Out of the way," she bellowed, "get away from the door! Move, move, move!" The patrons in her way parted quickly and she found herself confronting the bouncer they'd walked past earlier. Feet planted squarely, the krogan's green camouflage armor almost filled the doorway.

Ash was having none of it. "Out of the way, buster! Somebody's in trouble!"

The krogan took his left hand away from the wall, and held its palm out toward her. "Don't even—"

# # #

As he ran to the door, Kaidan saw the crowd part before Ash's yell, noticed the krogan squinting and raising a hand to stop her. Seeing the krogan's shotgun was still secured to his armor, Kaidan had just enough time to realize the guard was trying to keep the maniacal human from getting hurt in the crossfire outside.

Reaching both hands toward the green-armored bouncer, he threw a Lift field. The krogan seemed to jump in slow-motion, and then continued to soar into the air. His massive arms and legs waved frantically as he did, reaching for walls, people, anything.

Ash thumped to a halt against the wall, the body of her pistol in her left hand so she could use it as a periscope; her rifle was in her right, but supported by her left forearm. Her HUD showed what the pistol saw; around the corner, a turian with an exotic sniper rifle was aiming across the aircar passage, perpendicular to her line of fire.

Two shots came from somewhere near the smoking aircar with an open but shattered canopy.

The turian shouted something to his left, then fired toward the doorway near the taxi, adjusted his aim, and fired through it.

Ash panned her sniper rifle to the right and her view automatically zoomed in and focused on what the barrel saw. She snapped the trigger; at five meters, she could have been stoned and VI correction would have made sure she hit her target. The round accelerated to relativistic speeds, punched through the near side of the turian's head, and blew off the carapace plate on the other side in a spray of blue.

The turian skidded down the walkway, jerked once, and never moved again.

From the other side of the door, Richard sighted and zoomed in on the two fallen figures. "Ma'am! These are civvies!"

"They're a bunch of damned gangsters! They're shooting at the XO!"

Kaidan glanced at the damaged aircar. "You don't know that's him!" He gestured for RTM. "Commander! Where are you?"

Shepard leaned his pistol out of cover to look toward the door. Placing two fingers by his ear, he said, "Fireteam, I'm okay. Looks like they're down." He looked around. "Any other hostiles?"

"I think we got 'em, Commander," Kaidan replied.

"Then get on first aid," Shepard replied, "We gotta find out what these guys know." Leading with his pistol, he ran across the bridge. The turian he found there was lying in a small pool of blue blood, and looked to be either dead or unconscious. Shepard's ARO showed a pulse; as he waved his omnitool over the alien, ETVI identified a bullet in his lung.

Ash had secured her Harpoon and Stiletto, stood over the inert turian. She looked up at the blood spattered across the graffiti-free wall. "This guy's a loss," she mutterered.

"Turians are real tough," Shepard said, "See if he's got a medical VI that can help you. Jenkins, get over here. This is your first live-fire aid."

Ash unconsciously curled a lip at the turian corpse. "I'm not giving this guy mouth-to-mouth," she said. "There's nothing left but mush in his head."

As Jenkins trotted up to the XO, Shepard pulled his NNP sprayer off his belt and rolled it down the walkway toward Ash. "Then at least use this on him. He could have a family who will care about him. Alenko, show her how to use that."

Jenkins looked down at the fallen turian with a mix of uncertainty and repulsion. "Sir?"

"This turian is seriously injured. Act as if he's a soldier and save his life." He stood. "Pretend it's me. How you gonna save him?"

It seemed to take the young man almost three seconds to process this; he glanced between the injured alien, his own omnitool, and Shepard. "Uh…medical VI?"

"Good. Light 'em up. You can do it."

Jenkins dropped to his knees, waved his omnitool from the turian's head to the injury. "Uh...he's in shock…unconscious…looks like he took a round on the left side…it's…it's in his lung?" He looked up at Shepard imploringly.

The Commander nodded. "Good start. How do you treat him?"

"Medigel?"

"Is that what ETVI says?"

Richard adjusted his omnitool, waved it over the turian again. "Yes, sir."

"Good," Shepard nodded. After a heartbeat's pause, he pointed at the turian again. "Go on."

"He's not Alliance, sir. He tried to kill you...sir. Didn't he?"

"He's clearly wrong about some things, but if we let him die, he'll never be able to do better." He pointed again, "And we'll have killed him by our inaction. Hurry, or he'll bleed out."

Richard pulled a medigel pack out of a leg pocket and looked at it uncertainly as Shepard stepped over the injured turian, and started to roll him over. "Remember not to move an injured person unless they're in immediate danger, or if you can't get to the injury any other way."

The assassin was only wearing lightweight torso armor, a one-piece flexivest that fit over the shoulders and secured with a belt, providing no serious protection against a side impact, and it was covered with blood.

"Multi-tool. Scissors," Shepard instructed tersely.

Jenkins looked up at him again, and then down at his own belt. Dropping the medigel on the ground, he drew a metallic device out of its beltpacket and ran his thumb along its edge; the multi-tool extended a paid of stubby gray scissors. Clicking them open, Jenkins looked down at the injury and balked.

"Cut away the armor at the webbing. There," Shepard pointed. "That belt. Use your left finger to lift the material, and cut out a hand-sized patch, big enough to work in."

The entry wound was clean, but bleeding copiously.

"Get that medigel in there," Shepard knelt and pointed. "Notice that it couldn't have been slowed by armor, so it'll be deep. The entry wound is on the right but the round is in his left lung. You'll want to use the syringe end of the pack. You're doing good, Jenkins; keep it up."

Rich grabbed the medigel packet off the ground, pulled the protective cap off one end and started to squeeze the medigel across the surface.

"Not just the outside," Shepard touched the younger man's shoulder, and the pointed at the injury. "That injury will be deep; wipe it with the material you just cut off him; you'll need to see where the entry wound is."

Aircars had been speeding past the club below the bridge, so when Shepard noticed red and blue lights flashing from below the nearby bridge, he looked up. A C-Sec aircar rose into place next to the right side it, and it looked like another was rising into place on the left.

As the police cruiser came to a stop, yellow beams shot out from it, marking off the area from the cruiser to the club door, enclosing the area from the corner where Shepard was standing, to the taxi stand, to the door of the club, and back to the cruiser. Side-scrolling text appeared on it: – POLICE LINE – DO NOT CROSS – POLICE LINE – DO NOT CROSS –

Looking back down to the medical situation, Shepard watched as Rich wiped the exposed skin gingerly, revealing the entry point for just a second before blood pooled and flowed again. The younger man recoiled.

Shepard pointed. "There it is. Now hurry; drive the syringe in there and shoot him up."

Rich grimaced as he regarded the medigel packet, then the wound.

"Hurry, Corporal. His life is in your hands." Shepard made a fist, and simulated the stabbing motion. "Insert, then inject as you pull it out. Go!"

Rich steeled himself, wiped the wound again, impaled the turian's side, and made a fist. The reddish jelly squished out from between where the pack met flesh.

"Good; now pack the wound with the excess, and apply biotape."

"Sir?"

"Outer calf pocket on your favored side." Shepard drew out his own square of biotape and held it where Rich would be able to reach it. "Here, use mine for now. He's unconscious, but that won't kill him."

Armored feet approached and stopped just to Shepard's right just as Rich took the tape; Shepard began to rise to a standing position, continuing to watch the Corporal's work.

"Normally, I'd ask you to stand up slowly, and keep your hands where I can see them," said a dimodulated voice. "But then, I don't usually see first aid being offered by Alliance humans. You're a combat medic?"

Shepard looked up at the turian C-Sec officer, noticing the glint of reflected blue and magenta lights on the alien's carapace. "It's not my main profession, but I have the SDI…and a conscience," he said dryly. His ARO identified the turian as Vakarian, Garrus - Citadel Security Officer: Detective. Active Duty.

Shepard smiled to himself, and tapped the key on his forearm to raise his visor. "Detective Vakarian…what an incredible bit of luck."

Rich glanced over his shoulder and squinted at the C-Sec officer before returning to repair of the turian.

"Luck?" Speaking to Shepard, Vakarian looked curious. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you just won a gunfight. That means you are quite probably a murder suspect, even if it's in the Third."

Shepard touched and held the ID badge on his chest until it displayed holographic information and updated certifications on the turian's ARA. "The only reason it became a gunfight was because I survived an assassination attempt." He pointed at the damaged aircar, "I had just pulled up in this taxi, and was waiting for my team to join me when someone shot through the window." He paused to note the recommendations of his VI of what to officially say to C-Sec after such an exchange. "My VI is telling me there were multiple shots fired before I had a weapon out. I'll be happy to participate in any investigation you undertake, Detective. However, I'm in the middle of an investigation myself, and I hope C-Sec will be willing to officially accept my onboard recorder data as a full and complete proxy deposition."

The turian studied Shepard's uniform, especially the hologram, with an expert eye. "So humans still use Watson blackboxes? How cute. And convenient." A pair of white-garbed Emergency personnel climbed out of their ambulance and jogged toward the C-Sec officer. Rich got out of their way, watching as they scanned the injured turian and deployed a power gurney next to him.

The ARA monocle over Vakarian's left eye scrolled data that Shepard's ARO wasn't quite keeping up with, but what he could see told him that his credentials had just been thoroughly vetted.

"It seems you are as much Commander Shepard as I could ask for." The Predator pistol compacted as it was returned to its holster, and the turian extended his right arm in what looked like an offer of a handshake. "It's good to see you again, Commander. Did you have any luck with the Council?"

Shepard's ARO winked off its prompt of a turian greeting as he took the turian's hand. "The pleasure is all mine, Detective. And no, the Council told us to go away."

"C-Sec? What the hell? Where were you five minutes ago?" Ash and Kaidan were approaching; Ash was hoping to deflect the potential difficulty of explaining the firefight by putting the C-Sec officer on the defensive. And yet here was the one officer they had seen before; Ash's tirade died unspoken.

The turian pointed down and away from Chora's Den. "On my way to find a shooting victim at a nearby clinic. Dispatch called to tell me there was a shooting here in front of Chora's Den, and told me to investigate." He waved cursorily at the aftermath. "Jarrik Temmer and Falus Eldil, known felons, lie dead at my feet. Your Commanding Officer tells me you were ambushed and defended yourselves successfully. Medics are on scene, and we may have a surviving perpetrator in custody thanks to this soldier's quick thinking." He indicated Richard with a wave of his arm.

Ash looked at the fallen turian. "'Perpetrator'? Don't you mean 'suspect'?"

Officer Vakarian looked meaningfully at her. "If I had meant 'suspect,' I would have said it." He shifted his stance. "In my professional capacity, I can't say that I see any real problem here but waiting for the paperwork to finish." He inclined his head toward her. "Unless there's something you're not telling me, Alliance Gunnery Chief Will-yums?"

Ash made an odd little smile at him, but it was hard to tell if she was laughing at the mispronunciation of her name, or the way she had been assured he wasn't going to make trouble for them after all. "Not at all, officer. It sounds like you have the whole story." She extended an arm toward Shepard, returning his NNP sprayer.

The C-Sec Detective looked toward the entrance to Chora's Den, and then again with more focus. "Hmm…would you excuse me a moment?" He walked over to where the dead turian had fallen; Kaidan followed. Vakarian knelt, careful not to disturb the corpse, and put a single talon to his ARA to make an adjustment. "NNP brain preservative?" He looked up at Kaidan. "That's very thoughtful. Not sure he deserved it. Or that anyone will pay for a download, let alone a mindclone."

"But the option is there." Kaidan looked closely at the omnitool of the turian on the ground, and then again at his own. Its analysis was informative. "These were Saren's men," he said.

Vakarian almost sneered. "You expected otherwise? Your Commander Shepard brings a case against Saren, who evades investigation once again, and then is set upon by known associates of that same Spectre." He bent and picked up the sniper rifle that lay almost a full meter away from the body. "What a surprise."

Meanwhile, one paramedic was finishing loading the gurney into the ambulance, the other had started a stretcher unfolding next to the dead turian. The second medic looked up at Garrus. "Have you finished the site survey, officer…Vakarian?"

The turian read from his ARA as he fitted the rifle to his shoulder, aimed the empty weapon toward the Maw. "Uh…yes. Site Survey is complete."

As Kaidan walked past him toward Ash, Shepard's ARO added a callout to the exotic rifle:

Unregistered prototype: "Incisor"
Source printer: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Print date: .XXXXX

The sound of a linac made Shepard jump; his ARO put a targeting reticle on the turian, who was just lowering the weapon from his shoulder and inspecting it again.

"Now that's interesting," said the C-Sec officer. "Three shots with each pull of the trigger. I wonder where they got this?" He looked at Shepard, then back at the taxi with its shattered canopy. He worked his omnitool, wound back a VR compilation of assorted camera views, watched the two assassins attempt the hit.

There you have it, Garrus thought, The perfect weapon for a situation like this. You've got two shots to get through the glass, and then a shot to the head. And it's an unregistered print to boot. He looked at Shepard again. "Must have saved your life to have that helmet on."

Shepard tapped the side of his head. "No helmet, at least not at the time. The only reason I'm not dead is because of shields. Which reminds me…" He docked his pistol on its leg hardpoint, tapped the key to collapse his helmet. Blood was on the side of his face, slowly oozing from a wound on his head.

"Aak," said the turian, "Are you all right? Do you need medical help?"

Shepard tried to smile reassuringly. "I've been worse." He pulled a medigel pack from his belt, squirted a bit of it on his injury, replaced it, and covered the wound with a short length of biotape. As he worked, he said, "Actually, I know it's injured, but it doesn't hurt."

The turian officer took a step toward him, reading from his ARA as his C-Sec armor continued to analyze the Commander's health. "But that could be…uh…neurological damage…!"

"Not with me. I've had implants since I was a kid...I was hit by a ground car. My parents were told I'd need it to prevent seizures, though it turned out I didn't. But when I joined up, the Alliance showed me how to update and leverage the thing. I can briefly throttle my time perception with it, control pain…a couple of other helpful things. This," he pointed to the bandage, "is just a flesh wound."

# # #

G'haz Drekal, bouncer at Chora's Den, had settled to the ground after about a minute, and had been waiting at the door, trying to catch a glimpse of the Alliance soldier who had Lifted him. He looked around briefly at the patrons of the club, most of whom were obeying the Police Line hologram, and realized that if he was going to do this, he had better do it now.

He turned and yelled out the door. "Hey, Army!" He waved to attract attention, "Over here! I want to talk to you!"

One soldier was staring at the bluish turian blood sprayed across the wall; the other two turned toward the door.

"You!" G'haz pointed at the one in the lightweight armor, "I want to talk to you!"

The two Alliance soldiers looked at each other. "He doesn't look like he wants to cause trouble," one observed. "If he did, he would have just barreled over and started swinging."

G'haz shook his head. Humans always grossly underestimated krogan hearing.

The other Alliance soldier nodded without looking away from G'haz, and started back toward the entrance to Chora's Den. "Guess it couldn't hurt to find out what he wants."

"And if he knocks your block off, I promise I'll try to put it back on straight."

The first human continued toward G'haz, exhaling a soft chuckle. "Nice to know."

G'haz took a step back when he saw both soldiers approaching. "Not both of you, just you," he said more quietly, pointing at the taller one. "You could have hurt me."

The soldier slowed, seemed confused. "Not by just lifting you."

"Right!" the krogan shrugged, "you could have shot me or something, and all you did was lift me up. You could have hurt me, but you didn't. Am I not worth killing?"

They regarded each other momentarily; the human seemed to be thinking. "I'm…uh…I'm not here to hurt you." He pointed to his right, "When I saw you trying to stop Chief Williams here from running out into the crossfire, you didn't draw your weapon. I knew you were trying to keep her out of danger. Why would I hurt you for that?"

Now it was the krogan's turn to look confused. "You humans are strange little things." He shook his head, turned and ambled back into the club.

# # #

Fist, mouth open, watched the camera view of the police cruiser as it pulled up alongside the bridge. Two of Saren's best, foiled by a target wearing shielded armor, and blindsided by armed professionals that just happened to be in the club. Well, I'm still a lot richer, and Saren can't blame me for the hit going bad, he thought.

But at least the Big Deal was still looking good.

He raised two fingers to his right ear. "Zaf, Umi, Delvin. You guys set up yet?"

Delvin's voice answered immediately, "The moron twins are arguing over who gets to use the Death Spirit. However, I am here, and I'm set up. If you wanted them to be a distraction...then they're doing it."

"Have you scanned the place to make sure there aren't any new cameras?"

"I have. I'm ready for this."

"Zaf, Umi, what's the matter with you two?"

One salarian answered, speaking quickly, "We are agreed that the Death Spirit can only be worn by the senior. Zaf believes that his greater age is sufficient claim to this."

Also speaking quickly, the other added, "We agree that my age is greater, but Umi argues that because his dalatrass bought the armor, his rank is higher in that branch of the family, and this gives him the superior claim."

"We agree that my branch in the family is older, and that my rank in it is higher, but Zaf claims that—"

Fist interrupted, "Hey you idiots, we don't have time for this; knock it the hell off! I've seen both of you wear that armor, so both of you wear it now. I can't send the target over until you're ready!"

"But we only have once license, so only one of us can wear it at a time." Zaf made it sound as if that were the end of it. "Therefore Cousin Umi should make the purchase."

The turian interjected, "You see what this is like?" After hearing the salarians argue, he sounded like he was speaking slowly.

"Spend the money on a second license," Fist snapped, "You'll have plenty after this job. We're splitting millions among the whole crew. But we've got to make that hit first. If I have to come over there, I'll brain the both of you! Buy the First Month Demo if you have to, but get set up now!"

# # #

Shepard tapped the helmet key again; as it folded back into place, he made another adjustment, opening the visor as the paramedics carried the turian body past him and the C-Sec officer.

The blue-uniformed turian looked up from his omnitool. "So, Commander…what was the bit of luck you were so pleased about?"

"You said you had two more leads on Saren. I want to follow them up."

"You couldn't touch him either?"

"Not unless the Council will subpoena the blackbox records from either him or Spectre Kyrick. Saren claimed they don't exist." He folded his arms. "I don't believe that."

"Nor should you." The turian glanced at his onitool's display before continuing, "Spectres may not answer to Council law, but they still answer to the Council. How else can they know what's being done if they don't have a way of finding out?" He pointed a talon briefly at Shepard, "You've been lied to."

"But when Saren said they didn't use blackboxes, the Council said nothing!" Ash objected. "Why would they stand there and say nothing?"

Officer Vakarian turned to her. "Just because the Council gets to know what the Spectres are doing doesn't mean we do. It makes for bad press."

"But Saren killed another Spectre!"

Vakarian shrugged. "And if the Council decides that he did the best thing, then that will be all you'll ever know about it. They trust Spectre Arterius. He didn't get to be a legend by being a idiot."

The Normandy team stood there in disbelief until Shepard nodded at the turian. "Unless we follow up your leads."

"Or if that krogan knows something," Kaidan added.

Officer Vakarian turned to face the biotic. "There's another Krogan?"

"I don't know about 'another,' but there's a krogan who was been hired by the Shadow Broker to kill Saren. He's at C-Sec now. If he's been told to kill Saren, maybe he was also told where to find him." Shepard turned and pointed, "Alenko, Jenkins: Get to C-Sec and find that krogan. We can't let him kill any of Saren's agents; they can't tell us nearly as much if they're dead. Keep that krogan there as long as you can. Ask for directions, sell him Girl Scout cookies, offer him life insurance, whatever it takes."

Richard looked askance at the C-Sec officer. "They're probably going to want to see you down there, sir."

"For this?" Shepard waved a hand at the area marked off with holographic police tape. "Already handled. They'll have Official Read Access to my blackbox as soon as they connect. We've already spoken with the investigating officer." He looked toward officer Vakarian. "Victor Indigo, make the fireteam's recent firefight blackbox data available to C-Sec agents and VIs immediately."

Fireteam Shepard, Alenko, Jenkins, Williams: Blackbox data view available to Citadel Security on demand. Ping and download notification enabled. Clean cancel option ends in 0:29 seconds.

Shepard looked toward Kaidan. "Meanwhile, Williams and I are going with officer Vakarian, and see if we can restart this investigation. I want you guys on your way first because I want that krogan kept there as long as possible." He tuned to Richard, "That means while Lieutenant Alenko has the krogan engaged in conversation, you'll be free to RTM me with whatever you're finding out. But keep that krogan there so he can't kill anyone." He tapped the side of his helmet, "Okay, stay in touch. Get going."

"On our way, sir," Kaidan nodded, turned and jogged over to the taxi station. Richard exchanged salutes with Shepard and then turned to trot away after the biotic.

They watched the second taxi drop away into the acceleration zone. Officer Vakarian continued to look in the direction the taxi had gone as the damaged taxi was lowered into the automated garage on the next floor down. "That's good," he said, "but if you want to stop Saren, you'll have to get at something that'll expose him. That's why this shooting victim is the best option."

"I thought the Executioner kicked you off the case," Ash said.

"Executor," Vakarian corrected, "And his words were that the investigation was over. It's too late to get info for the Council hearing. But I can still follow up on my own. And luckily, this Shots Fired call seems to be relevant." He glanced at the humans quickly. "I think I can fit both of you in the cruiser if you're ready to go."

"What's your other lead," Shepard asked.

"Footage of Saren on Eden Prime during the attack."

"What?! How'd you get that?"

"Council Security Search Engine…all I had to do was ask. Think like a detective: The modern world is full of cameras. The video is of him at the Eden Prime spaceport, but it's not DisplayiD, and he's in a full helmet. But he's with someone in black with a facecloaker, and it looks like an asari. It's potentially implicating, but only if it can be corroborated with something else."

"And if relevant people aren't dead…" Shepard mused. He looked briefly toward where the taxi had gone, then at the turian. "All right then, let's get moving."

# # #

Wrex spread his arms and looked around as if seeing the place for the very first time. "Ahh, Citadel Security. I wasn't sure I'd see it again this trip." He turned his head slightly as he walked past the desk. "Officer Do, why doesn't your boss just invite me to stay here?"

The human refocused on the krogan walking past his desk, resigned himself to the krogan's so-called humor. "I wouldn't tempt him if I were you." At least he wasn't as disagreeable as most other krogan they had to bring in.

Sergeant Eason seemed to materialize from a corner, stopping in front of Wrex and the accompanying officers. "Wrex Urdnot, why do you make me waste so much time on you?"

"You're the one who sent his minions to grab me off the street," Wrex said, waving his head toward the armed C-Sec officers on either side.

"You're the one making trouble. Witnesses saw you making threats in Fist's bar. Stay away from him."

"I don't take orders from you." Wrex growled.

Eason poked a finger toward the massive krogan, "It doesn't have to be all informal like this; I'm trying to prevent an interplanetary incident."

"Then the Council shouldn't have taken our embassy away." Wrex leaned toward the Sergeant. "You can't touch me."

Eason leaned in closer, "I can if you set foot in his bar again."

"I'd be doing you a favor. We both know the kind of scum that flows through that place."

"Don't start that vigilante crap with me again. This is your only warning, Wrex."

"You should be warning Fist. I will kill him."

"You're going to express intent to an officer of the law? You want me to arrest you?"

The massive krogan chuckled. "I want you to try."

"Go on, get out of here." Eason waved a backhand, and watched the krogan lumber off. With a scowl, the Reception Sergeant gestured for RTM. He subvocalized, Fist, It's Pat. Your official complaint let us pull that krogan in, but I don't have any way of holding him here. All I could do was slow him down. If I were you, I'd get ready for a brawl. You owe me for this.

There was a brief pause, and then a reply: Fist: No surprise, but thanks for trying.

# # #

Vakarian stepped over to his cruiser; the doors clunked and opened. "It's kind of fortunate that there are only the two of you." The front passenger side of the cruiser's cabin was piled high with clothes, various devices and boxes, and a small collection of locked weapons cases.

"She threw you out?" Ash joked.

Officer Vakarian sighed. "She was killed for this crap." He turned and faced Ash. "Wait, how did you know it was a female?"

"I'm sorry, that was a really dumb thing to say." Ash swallowed, shook her head. "I thought I was making a joke."

With another look at the various chattels, the turian leaned across the console, placed the prototype rifle in the right seat with a sigh. He settled into the pilot's chair; the two Alliance officers climbed into the back as he touched controls. "It was a hit gone bad. Wrong place at the wrong time. I'm taking this stuff back to the shelters for her family." He glanced over his shoulder quickly. "But later. First, we have to see what we can find out about this shooting victim."

Shepard leaned forward. "The Saren case, right?"

"Right. The cameras that saw her get shot show a blood spray, so I know she took a hit; looked like it was in the shoulder. But then she turned up at a clinic that she should have needed a taxi to reach, and there's no record of her on public transit."

Ash kept looking out the window. "Cameras showed blood, you don't know who shot her, and she's moving around the station as if by magic?"

Vakarian manipulated controls; the C-Sec cruiser dropped away from the bridge and yawed left. Lights atop the vehicle continued to flash blue and red as they accelerated. He looked over his shoulder at Ash.

"Look, officially I can't say this, but I know who pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, I can't do or say anything about it until we have a complaint or a corpse. And while cameras are much less expensive than officers, they help solve crimes more than they actually prevent them."

He turned in his seat so he could address the two humans more easily. "And no, it's not magic, it just means she's probably been here long enough to discover the traversable cracks in the infrastructure. Duct rats do it all the time. It's why we have to keep the different evacs and self-cleaning to a moderate level: If Citadel Control actually purged these systems regularly, it would solve lots of other problems. But people sleep and eat, and...you know…live in these places. Sometimes they fall out of the Kiggs field into empty space; most of them fall all the way into the Maw, and only record we have of them is the increase in Maw input."

The cruiser slowed as it turned and slipped into an opening in the wall. Vakarian continued, "That's why I have to find this quarian. Or at worst, her omnitool."

Ash tilted her head. "It's a girl quarian?"

"Right. Or at least that's the way I read her suit. Sometimes you get cross-dressers, but I'm pretty sure that's not what we have here." As he turned to face ahead again, the cruiser settled into the one parking place, the other two having C-Sec cruisers already in them.

"You sure you're not gonna get in trouble for keeping up with this investigation?"

The turian pounded a control, and the door thunk-clacked open. As they climbed out of the aircar, he answered, "Yes, they officially took me off the investigation, but I've got to stop this guy. My co-worker Myvas intercepted a transmission to those thugs you just took down from one of Saren's known associates, a small-timer who calls himself 'Fist.' This Saren – I'd bet a million credits it's Saren Arterius – wants some quarian dead, and to threaten into silence anyone who's had contact with her."

They followed the turian officer as he started across the garage toward a flight of stairs. Standing next to where they had just parked was a human in a C-Sec uniform who appeared to be working on one of the parked cruisers. Various service panels were open or completely removed, and parts were scattered liberally around him on the floor.

"Hey, Garrus," the man said over his shoulder.

"Hey, Eddie," Vakarian answered. He turned to Shepard, "Come on, Doctor Michel's clinic is just over there," he waved a thumb over his left shoulder as they reached the stairs, "Anyway, I think it's the same quarian who was shot. I hope it was, but to know, I've got to find her first...to get her help if she needs it, and get her someplace safe if she's not. Come on." He vaulted up the stairs; the two humans followed quickly.

*** Glossary ***

ARA: Augmented Reality Appliance

ARO: Augmented Reality Overlay

buckminsterfullerene: an arrangement of carbon (c-60) of unusual strength, named for the scientist Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic dome design it resembles.

ETVI: Emergency Treatment VI, or "ET-vee"

Maw: A low-gravity point of attraction at the Nebula end of the Citadel. Its design intent seems to have been to keep the Traffic Control lanes free of debris. Its gravity well is not steep, but - in conjunction with the gravity of the white dwarf at the heart of the Widow Nebula - it does manage to keep the local space clean. Matter that falls into the Maw is directed into a chamber where all test probes have been destroyed. It is speculated that this is a molecular furnace that supplies the Citadel with raw materials for its own ongoing construction and maintenance.

SDI: Special Duty Identifier. A field of certified or professionally certified expertise outside a normal Classification Code. Often used as a stepping stone into a new field of work, or as a way of earning extra points toward advancement in rank.

subvocalize: to articulate speech without exhaling, often done without opening the mouth. Allows for messaging or vocal commands to onboard VIs to be issued privately.