CHAPTER 18: FINANCES
A/N: I originally had a space battle to start this chapter, but I wasn't satisfied with the flow and writing. I'll probably come back to it later and add it in at the start.
Things had gone rather well for the Normandy in the Armstrong Nebula, Shepard reflected. The Normandy had detected a geth presence in the Gagarin System orbiting the planet Rayingri. The stealth frigate had signaled this development to a patrolling Alliance task force of two cruisers and seven frigates, then waited for the task force to jump in-system. The five geth frigates had moved to engage the task force, while the Normandy had waited in ambush for the geth flotilla. While the geth started to engage the nine Alliance ships, the Normandy had struck from the flanks, distracting the geth formation. The stealth frigate had only collected a half-kill from the encounter, but her presence had allowed the task force to rip apart the geth flotilla with no casualties, as three of the enemy frigates had tried to re-target the Normandy. They were unsuccessful due to the IES, the range, and fancy maneuvering. One of the geth ships had managed to rabbit away, but four kills and a damage against zero personnel casualties on the Alliance side was a trade that anyone would make anytime. And maybe the damaged geth ship blew up on the way back to the shipyard, if the geth had shipyards, she mused.
While traveling about the Armstrong Nebula, Shepard, along with Alenko or Pressly – whoever of the latter two was available at the time – had been spending a significant amount of time with Liara, discussing the protheans, reviewing the asari's data on the vanished precursors, picking her brain for any information that might help. Shepard tried to explain what she had seen in the beacon, but it still remained an incoherent series of terrifying fragments.
Shepard suspected that construction would likely soon accelerate on the Normandy's sister ships after seeing the results of that engagement. She reminded herself that while the IES had proven useful, it had only seen two engagements, and the geth or other enemies could always come up with counters that no one in the Alliance had thought of yet. At some point, in both space and on the ground, the geth would come up with counters for their tactics. She knew it was just a matter of time.
A quick bombardment had dealt with the light geth presence with orbital bombardment on the light planet, with a cruiser from the task group deploying a platoon of marines to guard the technicians that rummaged through the ruins of the geth outpost, while the Normandy had taken her leave and returned to Eden Prime for a memorial and for Jenkins' funeral. Shepard couldn't help but get teary eyed at the latter when talking with his parents. That never got easier – how to tell parents that their kid was dead, that the parents would now have to bury their child. His death, the fact that she should have not allowed him on the mission due to the fact that Eden Prime was his home…the decision to keep in on the mission that resulted in his death still weighed heavily on her. She closed her eyes, remembering clearly the shots that had ended the private's life, remembering her own concerns and instincts telling her that he should stay behind…she paused, clenching her fists in frustration that she hadn't simply ordered him to remain behind.
The stealth frigate had recently docked at the Citadel so the commander could meet with the Council after the trip to Therum and follow up with Barla Von on a possible lead regarding Saren's finances. The human Spectre was worried. While the Council seemed to at least recognize the concerning geth attacks, she felt that Councilor Sparatus outright rejected or ignored what she thought were rather important concerns about Saren's ship. Well, she had convinced them to make her a Spectre so everyone could save face. If only she could convince Sparatus of the threat Saren and that ship posed…
Shepard donned her service dress again, and left her quarters to see both Lieutenant Alenko and Chief Williams eating in the mess. They were set to go, already in armor and equipped with sidearms and rifles. The two marines were to function as bodyguards, since the Normandy's arrival to the Citadel was not a secret. Given that Saren had already sent hitmen last time she was on the station, and apparently now wanted her alive for some reason, it was prudent to have extra sets of eyes on the lookout. What would be more prudent was for Shepard to just wear a suit of armor, but the embassy had apparently decided that the Alliance's postergirl walking around the Presidium with guns strapped to her back would generate bad press.
That's all the embassy cares about, the commander thought sourly. Keeping up appearances. At least the embassy assigned a skycar for her use that would take her directly to the secure base of the Presidium tower, past the security checkpoints. Despite C-Sec's apparent lack of security for the rest of the Presidium, areas near the Tower were probably the most secure in the galaxy. I take that back, she thought dryly. Conrad somehow got in. Probably the least secure place in the galaxy, then.
It only took a couple minutes for their Alliance vehicle to travel to the Presidium from the Normandy. The two marines waited outside while Shepard entered the briefing room, and she stood at attention until Tevos acknowledged her. The commander approached and silently regarded the other two Spectres in the ornate yet small room. Everything about the room spoke to the importance of the persons who used it, from the décor to the lighting to the upholstery in the seats. The three Spectres stood until the councilors took their seats at one side of the long ended table. "Let's get started," Sparatus said tersely.
Sparatus immediately began to question her on her decisions on Therum, reminding her how untold discoveries had been destroyed by the commander's recklessness. She knew herself that she had made a mistake, she had heard a bit of it that Mikhailovitch's office allowed to be filtered down, and she heard it now from the councilor. She only half-listened to Sparatus' tirade, answering his periodic questions as she pondered her fellow Spectres in the room with her. Both Tela Vasir and Jondum Bau regarded the proceedings impassively without a hint of expression, giving the commander zero clues as to their thoughts on Saren.
The turian councilor finished his berating, asking why she rushed to use biotics to open a path into the ruins instead of take a more subtle approach. "Councilor, I was unaware of the state of the prothean ruins at the time. My objective was to locate and secure Doctor Liara T'Soni. I presumed that we had a limited window to achieve this objective, and it was only a matter of time before geth reinforcements would arrive," she replied.
"That's easy to say after the ruins were obliterated, and rather presumptive of you to know Saren's intentions."
"An unidentified ship was detected dropping out of FTL at the edge of the Knossos system several hours after the destruction of the geth frigate," the commander replied.
"An unknown vessel that could have been anyone, or anything," Sparatus said.
No one at the table knew how accurate his statement would turn out to be.
"We do not know its identity, but its bearing of deceleration does not correspond to any known system or mass relay. Therum was also not expecting a ship arrival in system for nearly another day." She turned to look around the table. "Councilors, I will admit the intelligence on Saren's motives is thin, but his known movements recently point to a pattern that he is searching for something," Shepard said.
"Ah yes, this Conduit that we know nothing about," Sparatus said.
"We can glean a few things, Councilor. A conduit is, by definition, an object that acts to transmit something," Shepard replied.
"So you are using the dictionary to determine what Saren is doing," Sparatus said with the turian equivalent of a snort.
"Given that the prothean beacon on Eden Prime – " Shepard started.
"A beacon that you destroyed," Sparatus interrupted.
The commander paused a split second before continuing. "And Saren's interest in prothean ruins – "
"Which you, once again, destroyed," Sparatus cut in again.
Tevos turned her head to Sparatus, giving him nothing more than a quick glance, and the turian councilor shifted a moment later to adopt a slightly less confrontational pose at the table. The commander paused, wondering why the other two councilors had been nearly silent during the conversation. They clearly could understand each other's non-verbal cues. Why was Sparatus doing all of the talking and berating, and why had he appeared to calm from just a look from Tevos? She had read the files on each of the councilors, and refreshed her memory.
Tevos, a career diplomat that had nonetheless had innate talent for diffusing crises, had risen to her position by merit. While always preferring the diplomatic approach, she would not hesitate to use force if the situation demanded it.
Sparatus has been a field grade officer in the Hierarchy before becoming a civilian in their government, and by all reports had always preferred an aggressive approach to handing problems while in uniform. He had risen to the Council despite displaying more than turian-usual anti-human sentiment that had raised a few eyebrows at times.
Valern had been in the STG, and despite being the salarian councilor, the Alliance had surprisingly little in his dossier. He was by far the most junior in terms of time served, but given the short salarian lifespan relative to the turians and especially asari, that came as no surprise. Bits of fragmented reports pointed to multiple operations that the Alliance could only guess at. The AIA knew more about Valern's cousins than the councilor himself.
"The commander is well aware of the damage she caused to the ruins; there is no need for continued reminders. The destruction would not have occurred had Eldfell-Ashland simply informed Commander Shepard that they had been using demolition charges on site, and the entire situation would have been avoided entirely had EA been fully forthcoming about their discovery of the prothean site, as required by Citadel law," Tevos said calmly, but the proclamation was clear to all. We're not holding you ultimately responsible, Commander, but be more careful in the future. Shepard had mostly forgotten about Eldfell-Ashland covering up the prothean ruins, other than the company had apparently tried to place the blame squarely on her. She wondered who the Alliance embassy would side with in that dispute: their first human Spectre/postergirl or a multi-billion credit company. She didn't like her odds. While she knew Captain Anderson, and Admiral Hackett, had her back, she couldn't say the same for the ambassador, or the court of public opinion should the news get out. She found dark irony in the fact that she would very likely receive more top cover from Councilor Tevos than from humanity's embassy. While part of Shepard wondered how far the Council would go to sanction the company for hiding the discovery of prothean ruins, the other part didn't want to know.
She returned her thoughts back to the councilors. The diplomat, the soldier, and the spy. Or maybe they're doing the bad cop, good cop, and mediator routine? she thought to herself, wondering just what the Council gained from such theatrics with her. Maybe their unfailing public accord and agreement resulted in simmering disagreements in private? If so, what were those disagreements? Could she or the Alliance possibly exploit their differences to gain influence? Here she was, sitting with the Council as the first human Spectre when just a few weeks ago she had pondered -
She stopped musing – she had to focus. Shepard blinked the random thoughts clear before continuing, wondering again just what the Council's and each of the councilors' angles were. "The prothean beacon on Eden Prime appeared to be a step for Saren to find the Conduit, it would be a reasonable assumption to say that Conduit too is prothean."
"Commander, you concern yourself too much with this Conduit," Sparatus replied, still dismissive but not outright hostile as before.
Right now, Shepard had one chance to try to make her case to Sparatus. The information on Saren's intentions, as well as the Conduit, was indeed thin. Instead of intentions, she would try to approach it from a different perspective: discuss the adversary's capabilities, which were easier to know and could be observed directly.
Shepard took a quick, deep breath before continuing. "What concerns me most, sir, is that ship. You all have access to the videos from Eden Prime. All security sensors were disabled by the cyberattack, but parallax from armor cameras on the armor of several Alliance personnel show that the ship is over two kilometers long, in addition to the Normandy's significant sensor data from when the ship departed. Based on its dimensions and odd shapes, and using several ships as analogs…" Shepard spent several seconds extrapolating mass estimates for the unknown warship. "This mass is several times more than the Destiny Ascension's, and orders of magnitude more than the Normandy, the only other known ship in the galaxy that is capable of taking off from a planet without using thrusters."
Sparatus leaned back in his seat slightly, remaining silent for a moment until Tevos broke it, her eyes not betraying any indication of her thoughts. "Commander Shepard does raise a valid point. This unidentified ship does possess capabilities beyond any of the known species in the galaxy," Tevos said calmly. "If the geth are not capable of building such a ship, we need to determine who is."
"It is being investigated," Valern replied, the tone in those four words settling the matter. He didn't elaborate any further.
"Do you think Dr. T'Soni can be trusted, Commander?" Tevos asked.
"I believe so, Councilor. You all have access to those communication logs. She is…on poor terms with Matriarch Benezia." Shepard paused a moment, remembering the krogan's words that Saren apparently wanted both she and Liara alive. The thought sent a brief chill down her. "The krogan and geth did not act as if they were in league with Liara, and the lead krogan's words indicate that Saren, or Benezia, want Liara alive. I do not see this situation as a viable method to place an agent of an asari matriarch," Shepard answered.
"No," Valern said quietly. "It is not," he said.
Shepard blinked before glancing to Valern, the surprise replaced with a hint of relief that she seemed to possibly have a potential ally on the Council to counterbalance Sparatus' belligerence.
Sparatus turned to Tevos. "Have you met Dr. T'Soni?" he asked his asari counterpart, his voice the opposite of his confrontational tone from just moments earlier.
"Only three times," Tevos replied. "And only briefly. My business was with her mother," she finished, her expression finally taking on a hint of discomfort at the thought. "I did not think Lady Benezia was capable of such betrayal," she said quietly, before turning to Shepard. "But it would be foolish to presume her daughter is not. Take precautions, Commander," she cautioned, her voice cold.
"I will, Councilor," Shepard nodded.
The meeting ended before Shepard learned anything new about the Council's dynamics, or came close to figuring it out, other than she was now more confused than ever at their motivations. The three Spectres stood at attention as the Council stood and departed.
Shepard sighed, looking down at the table for a moment. Vasir had left with the Council. Bau approached his newest colleague a moment later.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Commander," he said.
"Thank you, sir," she replied evenly, inwardly becoming pleased that she had an ally on the Council and possibly amongst the Spectre ranks.
"Councilor Sparatus will come around," Bau said in a slightly dismissive and reassuring tone. "His family is close with Arterius. Sparatus still finds it tough to accept Saren's betrayal, even in the face of the facts, and that you in effect replaced Saren as a Spectre."
Shepard nodded. "I knew that a few feathers would be ruffled when I joined the Spectres."
Bau blinked several times in rapid succession, and Shepard chuckled a moment later when she realized why, as his mind tried to understand the human idiom at a speed that made her jealous. What she wouldn't give to have the salarian speed of thought, which to her was even more important to her than salarian reflexes…
"I apologize, sir, it's a human expression. It means the situation upset a few people," she clarified.
"Ah I see," the salarian nodded quickly, understandingly. "Also, no need for formalities here. Yes, that is unfortunate, but your appointment will pave the way for other skilled humans into the Spectres. Talent should be utilized, regardless of the originating species. The safety of the galaxy is what we swore to uphold, not the political status quo."
She nodded, grateful for the support of at least one of the Spectres. Then her mood soured when she remembered the purpose of the meeting. "I'm not only concerned about that ship. Saren attacked Eden Prime for the beacon, and it was worth the risk to be exposed as a traitor. Yet he didn't bother destroying it or the colony when he was finished."
Bau nodded. "Yes. His behavior has left me puzzled. Just remember: you are not the only one searching for Saren and trying to learn what he is doing, and why he is doing it. I will keep the Council apprised of any developments I find, and if I learn anything of relevance, I will inform you promptly. Though I may be out of contact for a while," the salarian said. Shepard had the good sense not to ask where Bau would be, or what he would be doing.
The two Spectres bid their farewells and Shepard left the room. Scarcely had she left when a voice called out to her. "Commander Shepard." She turned, and Tela Vasir approached, formally introducing herself.
The commander almost had to crane her neck to look up to the asari; Vasir towered a full head taller than her. To Shepard's surprise, Vasir too offered words of encouragement.
"Good luck, Commander." The asari watched the petite human walk off for several moments before returning to her small office in the Citadel tower. At this point, Vasir was to do absolutely nothing, other than her normal job as a Spectre and to gather information for her other employer, one neither that Shepard nor the Council themselves knew about. The Shadow Broker wanted any information about Commander Shepard that he could get. At first thought, that sounded ridiculous. Anyone could obtain a fair of information about Shepard simply by going to GalactaPedia. On second thought, though, the Shadow Broker was both deliberate and had the best access to information gathering resources in the galaxy, possibly even exceeding STG. And if someone were to actually look at her GalactaPedia page, one would see very little content about her life prior to the Skyllian Blitz. The only thing about her childhood years was that she was born and raised on a colony, highly unusual for an adult human.
While investigating her history pre-Blitz had developed into something for some individuals that ranged from a minor hobby to an obsession, amateur and even professional sleuthing had resulted in no answers. Questions to the Alliance's press office about her pre-service history had all been answered with the standard, "Due to privacy we do not comment about servicemembers' personal lives." Vasir knew that wasn't the case here. The Alliance clearly wanted to keep something about her life regarding the Mindoir raid, and especially something before it, quiet. Her other boss, and by extension her, would find out. Nothing stayed secret forever.
Shepard met up with Alenko and Williams as the three Alliance personnel walked through the diplomatic complexes. Neither subordinate said anything for close to fifteen seconds, and it was the chief who finally broke the silence. "What did the Council say?"
Layla let out a long sigh but kept silent for a several moments. "Councilor Sparatus was mostly angry about the destruction of the ruins. And that is my fault," she admitted. "I saw a solution and immediately used my biotics, not stopping to think about the consequences. And as a result, the ruins were destroyed. There's a salvage team that's going to clean things up, but it will take months of working three shifts for them to get back inside. And even then, much of the knowledge inside is irrecoverable."
"Eldfell-Ashland were the ones that were blasting with abandon and destabilized the entire structure to begin with," Kaidan replied.
Shepard let out another sigh, gazing out at the gorgeous expanse of the Presidium. "Councilor Sparatus, along with some others, don't quite see it that way."
"Your objective was to get to Liara before the geth, which was a success," Alenko reminder her.
"But I didn't think about using biotics in a damaged mine," the commander responded quietly.
"There was no way you could have known that the mines had been damaged to that extent," the lieutenant continued. "And they didn't report the ruins to the Council."
"I'm the first human Spectre," she sighed. "I can't make mistakes; I have to be perfect."
Kaidan gave her another glance, starting to fully comprehend the amount of pressure being placed on her by the Alliance – and by herself. She said it herself – she had to be perfect as the first human Spectre, doubly so since she was also a human biotic, all added on top of the Eden Prime attack. The Alliance had to be seen as doing something. Saren had a head start, on whatever his plan was, with a massive ship and an army of geth. Shepard couldn't even be safe on the Presidium. He reflected that at least their ship-to-ship engagements against the geth had gone well, though that massive ship from Eden Prime hadn't reappeared. He doubted it would remain that way.
The three humans boarded an Alliance skycar – as they had a car owned by the embassy, rather than renting one of the many public ones, they could talk a little more openly inside. As before, Shepard sat in back, allowing the larger and armored marines a bit more room.
"The geth attacks are concerning, and a certain turian's behavior is even more so, but…the visions and that ship." She shrugged. "I mean, I understand the visions being dismissed – as terrifying as the visions in the beacon were, the Council didn't see of it. Only I did. But that ship…I was concerned about that ship before, but after fighting and destroying several geth ships…now, I am afraid of it," she said quietly. "Geth ship technology seems to be comparable to ours. But that ship from Eden Prime is so alien in design, so different than anything we have ever seen. To land and take off from a planet with no engines…if I was Councilor Sparatus, I'd be absolutely terrified of that ship."
The two marines shared a quick look. Both had seen the ship as well, and had the same concerns that the commander did. But they had not seen the visions like she had, and every time the beacon had been brought up, Shepard seemed to get a thousand-yard stare when she remembered it. She'd been a little spooked by the Eden Prime beacon, and it hadn't faded in time.
"Well, if we ever run into that squid ship, the Normandy will turn it into sushi," Williams said to lighten the mood. "They'll never be able to track us."
"I think it would technically be calamari, Williams," Alenko added. "Since it'd be fried."
Both heard Shepard laugh at their comments, but the laughter quickly subsided. Alenko heard, or rather thought he heard, the commander say quietly, "Maybe, but I still never want to see that ship again."
Williams saw her omni-tool flash with a new message, and she opened it to read the contents. Alenko was in the "drivers's" seat as the skycar flew itself.
"Anything interesting?" Kaidan asked idly.
"Just from Garrus. His new prototype Rosenkov heat sink mods arrived, and we had planned to figure out how the hell we'd get them installed in his new sniper rifle," Ashley replied.
Surprised, the lieutenant looked at the chief for several moments, who still read her omni-tool intently. He then glanced back to the commander, who looked out the side window with a small, yet satisfied, smile on her face. Her eyes met Kaidan's for a moment, and her smile widened to a grin.
Alenko realized that Shepard must have placed a bug in Garrus' ear about working with Williams to mod weapons. Not a bad way to get over distrust. Find common ground, he thought, then he returned his focus to the task at hand. They had been ambushed and shot at last time they left Barla Von's office. He wasn't going to let them be ambushed again.
The skycar decelerated to a stop in the financial district, and first Alenko, then Williams, sweeping the area with their eyes, both alert and ready to draw their weapons in a flash. Few people were about, and none of them paid any heed to the two armed marines exiting an unmarked skycar. Shepard climbed out of the back, and the three humans walked the thirty meters to Barla Von's office.
"Hello, Commander," the volus said in the trade language.
"Mr. Von," she replied in the same language.
"I have some information for you about Saren's investments." He gestured to his office, and the three humans followed.
Von began to explain, and Shepard listened, all the while struggling to keep up and to comprehend the complex financial details. Her knowledge of finances stopped after making and keeping to a budget, and investing in major index funds.
"So…Saren has significant investments across a wide range of corporations," the commander said slowly.
"Correct, Commander. I will add that from looking on this information, Saren's decision to betray his office was some time ago, and certainly not unplanned. Of note is that he recently purchased a significant stake in Binary Helix."
Her eyes widened for a moment, rapidly blinking twice from the news. "Binary Helix?" Then her eyes narrowed in puzzlement. "What could Saren possibly want with a human genetics company?"
"I am not sure, Commander. This investment is much unlike his prior activities. Before then, he had been cautious and calculating, building up a sizeable fortune over nearly two decades. This purchase was more impulsive; he sold stock in other companies to cover his stake in Binary Helix. He also did not take many of the required steps to cover his tracks when setting up the exchange, so at the very least, you can bring him in for tax evasion," the volus said evenly.
The commander couldn't help but laugh at the thought as that wacky scenario ran through her mind. "Saren the Spectre! You're under arrest!" "For what?" "…Uhh…tax fraud?" she thought as the laughter subsided. "Hey, they've jailed people for that," she shrugged. "The tax fraud charges are the ones the prosecutors can make stick."
"Correct, Commander," Von replied, his tone indicating he found amusement in the situation as well.
"Thank you for the information, Mr. Von," Shepard replied as the three humans stood to leave.
"You are welcome, Commander. Good luck in your hunt for Saren."
Williams could almost feel the apprehension from Shepard and Alenko as they left the office. The chief remained very alert, her hand on her sidearm, remembering the last time they had left Von's office. But nothing happened, and thirty seconds later, the skycar began its flight to the Normandy's dock.
Shepard opened her omni-tool, briefly scanning through the myriad of mostly administratia. She scrolled through the list quickly, but stopped and did a double-take on one in particular. If Alenko or Williams had been in a position to see her face, they would have seen her fair skin go as pale as a ghost, as well as her eyes widen and her jaw drop. She read through the entire brief message, then again to make sure she was reading it right. No…that's not possible it can't be no one
"Layla? Who's Talitha?" A female voice from the front of the skycar pulled her out of her thoughts.
Shepard jolted at the voice that pulled her mind back to reality and away from the terrible memories. "Sorry what was that?" the commander responded quickly. Very quickly, both the chief and lieutenant noticed, and with evident alarm in her voice.
"You muttered something about a Talitha," Williams replied. "You okay? You kinda zoned out there for a bit," she asked with a hint of concern.
"Sorry, something came up," she responded quickly again, her voice unfocused. "Once the skycar arrives at the Normandy, go ahead and board. I have to take care of something."
"All of us can head there to – " Williams began.
"No," she cut off the request quickly. "I appreciate the offer, but it's something I need to take care of by myself," Shepard replied, an edge and more than slight worry in her voice.
The chief glanced to the lieutenant as the skycar arrived at the docking bay, sudden concern in their own wordless communication. Both marines had picked up on the verbal cues, but from the commander's tone, neither wanted to ask her about it. The two of them quickly climbed out, followed by Shepard.
"I may be gone an hour or two. Make sure we got all of our new weapons and armor. Message me if anything urgent arises," the commander said quickly. She jumped into the driver's seat and closed the door before either marine could respond. She looked out the car's window to make sure both marines were clear, then the skycar zoomed off.
Kaidan and Ashley shared a looked and a raised eyebrow. Where had Shepard gone, without telling them or taking them?
Alenko had just finished loading and verifying the contents of their new "toys," as Williams had been referring to them. While he found himself rather pleased with the new weapons and armor, and the fact that only in his wildest dreams had he ever thought he would use them, he found his thoughts drifting back to the commander. What had been so urgent and secretive that she would fly off without telling anyone where she was going? And just who was Talitha?
He grabbed a biotic ration supplement and sat down at the mess table, where several crew finished their meals. He hadn't really been listening to them as he focused instead on his CO. He absentmindedly opened the wrapper for the rations and placed a bite of alleged food in his mouth.
The lieutenant checked his omni-tool, completely forgetting that he had last checked the time five minutes and twenty seven seconds ago. Shepard had now been gone just over two hours, without a single message or update. He started to wonder if something had happened to her. Saren had already sent hitmen after her, and apparently wanted her alive. Maybe he should –
His head jerked towards one of the crew that had just said her name. He paused chewing on the ration that could charitably be called food as the crewman continued. "I thought she had to meet with the Council for the whole day."
"I guess she got done early. I saw her come aboard about, oh, twenty minutes ago, but she hurried to her quarters without a word," another crewman responded.
"I guess catching up on reports is both faster and more comfortable in there, especially with how often she makes rounds to talk to every one of us," a crewwoman replied. "I do know we're scheduled to depart in a couple hours. I haven't heard any new orders, probably to just head back out into the Traverse."
Alenko finished swallowing the bite of "food" that had gone soggy in his mouth while he listened. He felt both relieved that she was back aboard, but puzzled why she hadn't bothered to contact either him or Williams to inform them that she had returned.
He half-listened to the crew's discussion switch over to some vid or documentary that had recently been released. While biotic ration supplements rarely tasted good, they did have a use, and he quickly consumed the chunks of food, washing them down with extra water.
"What do you think of it, sir?" The crewwoman's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Pardon me, Lieutenant?" he replied instinctively. "Also, no need for the formality off-duty. 'Alenko' or 'L-T' is fine, Chase," he said with an amused look on his face, though none of the observers knew the real reason for his amusement. I'm starting to sound just like Shepard now…
"Sorry L-T," Lieutenant Chase replied. "We were talking about that Bermuda Nebula documentary that just came out."
His eyebrows narrowed slightly as he tried to remember that particular documentary. "That name rings a bell, though I don't really know anything about it."
"I figured it was just another one of those conspiracy nuts," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Indulge the turians about the loss of several of their merchant ships at the time of the First Contact War, that the Alliance should pay for those losses even though they vanished nowhere near Shanxi." She shook her head. "But these turian ships, all with crew, vanished without a trace; no debris, no trace of the crew, all in 2157. The vid's director also showed that between 2152 and 2157, nineteen human merchant ships vanished as well, again all with crew. After 2157, nothing. No human crewed merchant ships have vanished without a trace. And no uncrewed ships vanished without an explanation between 2152 and 2157. Just human crewed ones," she finished.
"Normally I would just call it conspiracy theory, but all of the data on dates, ships, and crew names are publicly available. They did their research," one of the crewman agreed.
Alenko normally would dismiss a "Bermuda Nebula" much as most people would: sensationalization and distortion of the facts. However, after seeing that ship on Eden Prime, seeing something that size take off from a planet, and remembering that only about one percent of the galaxy was explored, he began to wonder…just what else could be lurking out beyond known space? A slight chill passed over him at the possible answers.
"Hello Commander," a crewman said, jolting Alenko before he could ponder the question any further. He looked to the side to see Shepard approach the crew mess.
"Hi Tanaka. Chase. Alenko. Draven," she said in reply, though her voice lacked the usual life and energy she showed when interacting with her crew. Only making brief eye contact with Tanaka who had called out to her, she went to the cabinet and removed a biotic ration bar from the bin.
"Did the meeting with the Council go well?" Tanaka asked.
She shrugged as she sat down in an empty seat. "About as I expected. No new leads for us, other than investigating Saren's investments. Those investments with Noverian corporations have been rather profitable for him. The Alliance has been stonewalled, but we can go with Spectre authority and do some digging to see what we find. So when we depart in a couple hours, we'll be heading to Noveria instead."
Now that she sat close to him, Alenko took a moment to gaze into her eyes. On close inspection, he noticed that her irises were slightly reddened and moist…from what?
Her quick sigh shook him from his musings. "Everything OK?" Chase asked after a couple moment's hesitation.
"It's been a long day," Shepard replied evenly, but with something in her tone, something he couldn't quite place. "Meeting with the Council, dealing with some unplanned situations." The commander looked away from the table for a moment. She then turned her attention to the ration bar, peeling back the wrapper and inspecting the contents with a small frown.
Kaidan weighed the wisdom of asking her where she had run off to, and quickly decided that it wasn't a good idea at the moment, so he settled on the first joke that came to mind, thought it wasn't a very good one. "I had to use water to wash my last bar down. Only time will tell whether it worked," Alenko replied with a snort, wondering if he could get at least a slight smile out of her.
She looked up to him momentarily, and while she didn't grin, she did have a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. "As long as it doesn't happen in the mess. We don't need everyone to lose their lunch in response to you losing yours."
He chuckled, glad that he at least got a small joke out of her. "They're biotic ration bars. I promise nothing."
She quickly finished her supplement bar, answering a couple quick questions from the crew in between bites. She then stood and tossed the empty wrapper in the trash receptacle. "Sorry for the quick flyby. I'd like to stay and chat with you all, but I have to take care of a couple things. I'll catch up with you guys later." She turned and departed back to her cabin without another word.
The conversation resumed only after her door closed, the crew quickly commenting on how most CO's wouldn't even stop to chat, how often she would walk around and talk to each and every one of the crew, and they all knew how busy Shepard was. As if remembering that Alenko sat at the end of the table, they quickly moved on to other topics, but Kaidan hadn't noticed. He continued to ponder, without any answers, what could have caused Shepard's sudden change in demeanor, and just who that Talitha was.
She gasped for air after the blow to the stomach, trying to squirm free from underneath the batarian as he started removing his armor. She tried to push him off of her, shoving the armored form's shoulders with her hands, but she only possessed a fraction of the strength needed to do so. The sound of a scream echoed through the room – her own scream –
Shepard awoke with a start, jolting in bed as her eyes shot open and she let out a half-strangled scream. Her biotics flared, just as had happened on that fateful day at that moment, blasting the bedsheets off of her and every object off of the endtable. Her breath came in quick ragged gasps as her head whipped around the room. She quickly realized she was in her cabin on the Normandy, but that did nothing to slow her racing heart.
"S-s-shit," she stuttered, breathing heavily as she tried to calm down after reliving Mindoir. She curled up on herself, pulling up and drawing the covers tight around her, her breaths slowly returning to normal, as she tried to stop the shaking from the dream. Her eyes began to moisten as she remembered that day, how she had survived, but how her parents had died protecting her. "Oh Mom, Dad…I'm so sorry…" she whispered.
After several minutes of laying under the covers, the shaking and the tears had diminished. Seeing Talitha, a fellow colonist from her doomed planet, was apparently more than enough to set off another spate of nightmares from the raid. Combine that with the beacon, plus the thresher maw, and plus her many concerns about Saren and the geth…she probably wouldn't be getting a restful night's sleep for at least a week. At least, Layla reflected, Talitha would be able to get the help she both needed and deserved.
She checked the clock; the Normandy was still almost four hours away from Noveria. She sat up in bed slightly, reaching over to grab her datapad and read. Anything to distract her from the nightmare. She remembered what Bau and Vasir had told her, her spirits buoyed slightly by the fact some other people out there were also hunting for clues. And two of the Councilors seemed to be at least partly on her side, it seemed. She pulled the covers close around her and started reading. She spent over an hour reviewing reports and news dispatches of the current situation on the planet before she took a long shower, as if the water running down her body would somehow wash the memories away. It never did, but at least it made her feel better.
Her first mission as a Spectre was a partial success. They had recovered Dr. T'Soni, but had destroyed the prothean ruins in the process. She hoped that her second "official" assignment as a Spectre would go better. Well, it would be simple enough, she reflected. Just a quick stop to Noveria to get a little information on Saren's investments in Binary Helix.
As much as she wanted to use her Spectre status or biotics to hammer her way through Noveria's corporate structure, she knew that, at best, it would get them thrown offworld or their ship impounded. At worst, it could start a firefight with all of Noveria's security personnel. Besides, they were only here to investigate Saren's significant holdings in Binary Helix. The old saying still rang true when tracking a person of interest: follow the money.
Barla Von had been true to his word, peeling back the layers of complex finance to point to his holdings on Noverian corporations. Getting more info would require direct access to corporate networks on the planet, and with no other leads on Saren or Benezia, Noveria was their best bet. Alliance inquiries had gotten nowhere, since companies came to Noveria explicitly to work outside the rules of governments. However, as a Spectre, Shepard wasn't bound by procedures for governments. She would use a cover of purchasing her own investments as a Spectre to get inside, and then she could perform her own investigations.
She quickly checked her appearance in the mirror, adjusting the blouse and jacket before exiting her quarters. No one currently sat in the mess, so she turned to make a stop at the tiny research lab next to the medbay. As expected, their newest crewmate sat at a desk, hunched over a large number of datapads.
The prothean expert started slightly on hearing the door swish open and Shepard's entrance. "C-commander!" Liara exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the ship's captain.
"Hello Liara. How has your firearm training been going?" Shepard asked pleasantly. She knew that the resident asari was nervous around people, and especially nervous around her. Liara's unease needed to disappear if she was going to be an effective member of the team, biotic competence or not.
"It…has been educational. I have not used firearms much in my travels. Lieutenant Alenko is both a patient and skilled teacher," Liara responded.
Shepard nodded agreement. "He certainly is." Liara wasn't a particularly good shot, but she was a fast learner. The asari had made very good strides under his tutelage.
"While I sometimes encountered scavengers at prothean sites, usually a display of biotics will cause them to flee," Liara replied.
"Undisciplined pirates and scavengers do tend to panic easily when up against biotics," she agreed with an amused chuckle. Ashley would soon teach Liara as well, as Shepard wanted the chief to become more comfortable around non-humans. However, the gunny's teaching style would have to adjust to reflect that she was teaching a shy civilian, not a herd of green E-1s. Regardless, the bugs that Shepard had placed in the ears of Williams and Garrus had seemed to pay off. Both seemed to be bonding over their shared love of modding infantry weapons. She wished she had some way for Wrex to meld better with the crew, but they had only been in one brief ground engagement. Her gut told her there would be many more. "Any new insights into the beacon?" the commander asked, ending her musings.
"Unfortunately, from everything you have told me, these visions from the beacon are…incomplete. I do not think we will be able to determine anything of substance from what you saw."
Shepard nodded, wincing ever so slightly as RUN images returned HELP to her mind.
"In order to learn anything, I believe we will need to examine another beacon. An intact one," Liara continued.
The commander sighed, crossing her arms. They had stumbled onto a beacon by pure chance on Eden Prime. The chance of finding a second, fully operational beacon…the odds of that were so negligible that it could be considered zero. "Do you have any ideas where we could find a beacon, even an inoperable one?"
"I do not, Commander. "
Shepard held up her hand. "Please, there's no need for formalities here. Just call me Layla." She then sighed. "To find a beacon…well, we'll have to keep after Saren, and just maybe we'll catch a break. Though I'd like you to reach out to your researcher contacts. They may know of a clue. You never know," the Spectre shrugged. "Do you have some contacts with the hanar?"
"I do, yes."
"See what you can dig up with them."
"I will." Liara's expression then changed to one of concern. "We…how far is Noveria?"
"We're probably about twenty minutes out. They pinged us when we hit the relay. They know we're coming, since there aren't any other planets of interest in reach. Unfortunately, Spectres don't have any official authority, and since this is an Alliance ship…they'll let us land, but we have to be careful. I'm going to search for any leads on Saren's income and spending. It's not much in terms of finding out what Saren's really up to, about the Conduit, but it's all we have."
"You're going there by yourself?" Liara asked with a bit of concern.
"Don't worry," she said with a shrug. "While Noveria personnel won't be overly friendly to us, they won't be hostile. Attacking a Spectre, or an Alliance warship…well, if they do, things will become rather unpleasant rather quickly for them," the commander finished with a look.
The asari took a deep breath. "Okay. Just…be careful," Liara replied, wondering why she suddenly felt such concern for the human woman in front of her. Sure, the commander had saved her life on Therum, and the human officer had allowed her to seek refuge on this prototype ship, but…Shepa—Layla—had somehow interacted with a prothean beacon…and survived! Liara never would have thought it possible.
"Don't worry, I will," Shepard replied to Liara, breaking the latter out of her thoughts. "Let me know as soon as you hear back from your research contacts."
"Of course," Liara said with a nod as the commander left the room. She found herself pondering the petite human woman once again. She rarely worked with others, and only had encountered a few humans before Therum. The commander had instantly trusted her, even though she was the daughter of Saren's top lieutenant. The fact she had survived a working prothean beacon…the asari found herself wondering just what other fascinating bits of data she could learn about Commander Shepard.
"Hello Alenko. Feeling back to normal?" Shepard asked as she entered the mess, spotting the lieutenant sitting alone.
He nodded. He had gone to several more treatments in the medbay to repair and strengthen the healing tissue and bone, and both he and Shepard were now cleared for combat. "That 'detour' to the Citadel gave my arm time to fully heal," he replied.
"Glad to hear it," she said with a small smile.
Silence settled between them before Alenko spoke up. "Can…can I ask you a question?"
"Of course, Alenko. You don't need to ask permission for that," she replied, the smile returning.
His question had first come to mind after seeing her in action on Eden Prime, but since Therum it had been at the front of his mind more often than he cared to admit. "What…implant do you have?" he asked hesitantly.
The smile vanished. Shepard paused for a surprising length of time, with a strange expression on her face as she looked down at the table. "It's…a long story. Short version, it's the last, most powerful version of the L2; the L3's were far too expensive. This was just after it became public knowledge that I was a biotic. My parents decided it was worth the risk of surgery to protect me. I had received threats on my life, and they decided that if anyone would attack me, they…wanted me to try to fight back using my biotics," she said evenly, still staring down at the table.
"God…what did you think of all of that?"
She didn't make eye contact with him, waiting before responding. "I was fifteen and I was terrified. I didn't want to get beaten to death by an angry mob, so I got the implant," she said quietly. "Honestly, neither my parents nor the doctor knew of the severity of the side effects, since most knowledge of biotics was held by the Alliance, and we were on a small colony. But I was very lucky. For whatever reason, the surgery went very well and the implant interfaced perfectly with the eezo nodes throughout my body." She continued to still stare at the mess table, a strange look in her eyes.
"So you didn't receive training in biotic usage until the academy?" he asked.
"That's right," she replied quickly. She actually had tested her powers at her uncle's farmhouse on various pieces of broken machinery, once she hadn't been stricken with weakness during her youngest years. "That's why I can struggle at times with managing fatigue; I didn't truly work on my biotics until the Academy." She wanted to change away from that particular subject quickly, so she asked another topic at the front of her mind. "What did you find in that distress beacon from Edolus?"
"Nothing of note. It had been running for sixty-seven hours when we found it."
She had indeed changed topics, but not to one she particularly wanted to dwell on. She paused for a moment and sighed. "Any word from Admiral Kahoku?"
"No," he replied simply.
She sighed and hung her head. "I…it's so easy to imagine myself as one of those marines getting ambushed, watching their comrades get pulled under…"
He nodded grimly. "A squad wiped out on Edolus, a whole platoon wiped out on Akuze…"
Shepard nodded and winced. "And I probably wouldn't have made it out of there, without your shooting." For the first time since she talked about her implant, she made eye contact with him.
"But you told us what to do down there," he replied softly.
She was about to respond, but a voice over the comm interrupted her.
Joker's voice came over the comm. "Dropping out of FTL in two minutes."
Shepard sighed and looked again at the lieutenant. "Let's get up to the helm," she told him, her voice now businesslike and matter-of-fact.
"Commander," he said quietly with concern in his voice as they stood. "Are…are you sure that there is no way that you could at least wear armor on Noveria?"
She stopped at the stairs up to CIC, shaking her head in response, apparently not happy with the answer either. "Noveria security was quite clear on that," she said sourly. "No weapons, no armor. Well, I'm using the cover of investing into biotic research, anyway. This is just a quick fact-finding stop to see what kind of investments Saren has. I'm not expecting any problems."
"I guess…I-I don't like the idea of you hacking into Port Hanshan's computer systems with no weapons, armor, or backup," he continued.
"I don't either," she frowned, but then her expression broke into a small smile. "But I appreciate your concern, Alenko. I'll be fine." She suddenly looked away from him for a brief moment. "Tali just created a hacking program that should disable geth. A few primitive defensive cyber VIs won't be a problem for her. And besides, I've done this before," as her expression changed to one of conspiratorial amusement.
"You've intruded into Noveria's investment databases before?" he replied with incredulity and raised eyebrows.
She shook her head with a quick laugh. "No, definitely not Noveria. But I've had to break into systems before, relying on only…well, you know how those stories go," she replied, then her face broke into a smirk. "I suspect you have your share of interesting tales too," she finished with a knowing look.
"Yeah, I have one or two. Can't talk about them, though," he replied, with his own conspiratorial glance.
Her smirk turned into a full grin. "Those stories are the best kind, aren't they?"
He grinned back at her. "They are, at least until things go sideways and you find out you owe credits to the volus mafia."
Shepard's grin vanished as she blinked several times in rapid succession. Her mouth hanging open, she stared at him for a couple moments before breaking into a fit of the giggles at the thought. "Volus…mafia? I'm sorry, but…what?"
"Yes. The volus mafia," he responded evenly, though amusement showed in his eyes.
"I could never take that seriously. They're just…I can't picture it. Just…no. You're pulling my leg," she said as she glared up, crossing her arms.
He raised his eyebrow as he smirked at her. After a couple weeks of working with her, felt more comfortable interacting with his CO, and his snark came out with little thought. "Why, they're too short? You know what they say about people in glass houses, right?"
She nearly doubled over in laughter at the comment, before giving him a quick glare. "Touché. Though I'm not that short," she said as she looked up at him, then down at the floor, then back up at him. "Okay, well…maybe I am," she said with a resigned look on her face.
Silence settled once again between the two officers, with Alenko letting out a quick cough to clear out the sudden dryness that had appeared in his throat along with the surprising tension he suddenly felt. He was just bantering with his CO, that's all. Shepard broke the quiet after several moments. "Let's head up to CIC," she said quickly.
The lieutenant nodded. "So…are you actually making, uh, investments on any Noveria companies?" he asked.
Shepard shook her head in the negative, an amused look on her face. "I'm really in the red from all the armor and weapon purchases. If I now started investing in all sorts of sketchy and dangerous research, I'm pretty sure they'd throw me in the brig. But pretending to be an investor will suddenly make a lot of people there talk. Money talks on Noveria."
Tali waited for Shepard at the entrance to CIC. "I have the updates to the infiltration routines," the young quarian said excitedly.
"Let's see them," Shepard replied, a hint of excitement in her own voice. She held out her omni-tool and Tali did the same as the programs transferred.
"Dropping out of FTL in 5…4…3…2…1…" Joker said from the cockpit.
The Normandy lurched ever so slightly, and no one felt the ship change attitude to "fly" stern first. Several moments later a soft rumble came from the aft of the ship as her engines fired to slow for atmospheric entry as several of the ground crew went to the helm.
The engine sounds stopped, and after few minutes a dull roar replaced the rumble of the engines as the Normandy entered Noveria's atmosphere at high speed. Shepard walked to the helm, watching Joker expertly pilot the ship down the exact trajectory given by Port Hanshan's approach control. The red glow outside the forward windows slowly faded to reveal a curved planetary surface covered in puffy clouds from horizon to horizon. The cloud tops grew in size exponentially until they filled the windows, and visibility instantly dropped from thirty kilometers to thirty centimeters.
"Wish I would have known there was a blizzard. Should have had mom pack me a sweater," Alenko muttered.
Shepard shook her head and grinned up at him before momentarily shifting her gaze elsewhere. The stealth frigate buffeted ever so slightly in the strong winds, with the pilot and VIs making constant fine tune adjustments to the thrusters and mass effect core to steer the ship down a precise invisible trajectory. The clouds suddenly abated, and visibility increased to perhaps two hundred meters as the white vapor was replaced with white streaks from snow.
Twenty seconds later the commander could see the faintest outline of a structure through the blowing snow. The building slowly resolved itself into a docking bay, one of several on this side of a facility built into a steep mountain. Joker expertly glided the stealth frigate into the bay, and moments later the docking clamps extended.
"Well, this looks like a fun place…to get my balls frozen off," Joker muttered as the ship jolted slightly from the docking process.
Shepard shook her head at the pilot, hitting the back of his chair.
"Commander!" Tali shouted from a console. "I should be able to infiltrate the port's security network from here. You won't need that first program." Her hands danced across the displays.
That was fast. "Do it, Tali," Shepard ordered immediately.
"As long as we don't get caught," Alenko muttered. If Noveria's security personnel discovered an intrusion moments after the Normandy landed, the commander would be left holding the bag. She still had biotics, but she'd have no armor and no weapons…
"I'm in," Tali said less than five seconds later.
"That was…surprisingly easy," Shepard replied. Almost too easy…she thought. She knew infiltrating systems often took a while, and frequently required a human to make a mistake, and wasn't a matter of someone typing faster than someone else, but rather exploiting vulnerabilities; it was something the vids always got wrong.
"Please, I've seen restaurants with better security," Tali replied with a quick scoff. She briefly explained the common vulnerability that allowed her access.
Shepard gave an odd look to Tali, then grinned after several moments. "Sorry Tali, but I'm not just letting that one slide."
An observer didn't need to see the quarian's face to see that she was confused. "Slide, Commander?" she asked after several moments. "I mean, with the ice, Noveria might be slippery, but…"
Shepard laughed and shook her head. "It's another human expression. You said you've seen restaurants with better security. What I meant was, you're going to have to explain your comment."
"O-oh," Tali said nervously, wringing her hands. "When I've been, um, on my Pilgrimage…on the Citadel, when I first arrived, I…hacked into a few places while I was there, waiting for a C-Sec appointment. I didn't take or damage anything," she added quickly, defensively. "I…just wanted to see if I could."
The commander couldn't help but chuckle again. "That's okay, Tali. But remember, no hacking into Alliance or Council systems. Understood?" Shepard reminded her sternly.
Tali nodded quickly. "Completely, Commander. I would never do that," the quarian assured the commander.
"What about their corporate networks?"
"There's no way I could break into the corporate research records from here. Those look to be stored on isolated networks. Here," Tali said, and the views from several security cameras snapped into focus. "We will be able to watch everywhere you go in the port itself."
"That will be handy," Shepard commented approvingly with a nod.
"The infiltration routines should be able to exploit a vulnerable backdoor in Noveria's financial records. Very few companies know about it. But it will require access to an account with elevated privileges, and proximity to a terminal on that network," the quarian continued.
Makes sense, Shepard thought. The quarians are the best network infiltrators around, and since no one really talks to them, they've probably "compiled" – a barely perceptible grin appeared on her face at the lame pun – a large collection of methods for infiltrating systems. We probably ought to pay them to help look at our own networks. She mentally shrugged. That wasn't her call to make. Though as a Spectre… "Well, I was going to see the administrator anyway," she said with a shrug. "He'll have a few terminals in his office."
"Just be careful, Commander," Kaidan said quietly to her.
"I will. This will be easy," she reassured him before looking away. The commander activated her omni-tool's recording functionality, and gave a cheeky grin to the pilot. "Don't worry, Joker. We'll be leaving this planet before you know it."