CHAPTER 19: PLAN B FROM PORT HANSHAN
"Equalizing interior atmosphere with exterior atmosphere," the Normandy's VI said. "Logged: the Commanding Officer is ashore. XO Pressly has the deck."
Like that isn't obvious, Shepard thought dryly. She stepped out of the airlock and walked to the dock office. She had only taken about ten steps when seven armed and armored individuals approached her.
"That's far enough," a scowling blonde woman said to her. The guards had their weapons out, but not aimed.
"I'm not here to cause problems. I came to see Administrator Anoleis about investments," Shepard told her, keeping her hands at her side. "I'm a Spectre. Lieutenant Commander Layla Shepard." She slowly held out her hand and opened her omni-tool. The processing took over a minute to process, far longer than usual.
"You may proceed, Spectre. I hope your visit to Noveria will be productive. Parasini-san will meet you upstairs," responded a second woman. Her tone was more respectful and understanding.
"Behave yourself," the blonde haired woman scowled at her as she let her corona around her arm flare slightly. "I don't need a weapon to rip you to pieces."
Neither do I, Shepard thought. Well, if you want to get in a little catfight to see who's stronger, the cleanup and funeral costs you'll receive are on you. But still, that's…an unusual amount of dislike, Shepard thought, staring at the blonde woman for a moment before ignoring her. She checked her omni-tool again, confirming that it was still recording both audio and video. She walked past their welcoming committee to a reception area, where she was greeted byan attractive woman in a dark pink dress. "I am Gianna Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis. We apologize for the holdup in the docking bay. You understand our security chief was only doing her job," Parasini said contritely in English.
"Not a problem. I would like to speak with Administrator Anoleis regarding investments," Shepard said politely.
"Of course," the woman said. "I'll take you there." The walk passed in silence and took less than twenty seconds. "Mr. Anoleis?" Parasini switched to the trade language when they reached the administrator's office.
"Yes. What? What!" a testy salarian voice shouted back.
"Commander Shepard is asking to see you, sir."
A salarian equivalent of a sigh came from the other room. "Right, fine. Send her in." Shepard entered the office, and while she was a novice at judging other species' expressions, she could tell that the salarian's scowl could have ended the blizzard outside. "You will excuse me if I don't stand up. I have no time to entertain public celebrities," Anoleis snapped at her.
"I won't take up much of your time," Shepard responded quickly and politely.
"This greeting is a courtesy. I will only cooperate as required by the Executive Board. Businesses come here to avoid the second-guessing of galactic law."
And I represent the second-guessing of galactic law… Shepard thought and was very tempted to say.
"I will not allow you to harass out clients," he continued. "I have a responsibility to keep you away from them. You Spectres are not encumbered by a need for due process."
You say you have no time to meet with me, yet you continue to keep running your mouth… She had worked with the Press Corps to refine her speaking skills, and while still far from an expert, most non-humans other than quarians would struggle to discern whether a human was acting. "I came to Noveria since I heard the investment opportunities here cannot be missed, but it seems I am mistaken," Shepard said. The moment she said investments the salarian's eyes lit up. "I'm sure you have more important matters to attend to than new client investments. Have a good afternoon, Mr. Anoleis," she finished, adding a bit of frustration to her tone. Shepard turned, preparing to leave. That will get his attention. Nothing is more important to them than money…
"Hold on. You said you were interested in shares?" Anoleis quickly responded.
"Of course. I confess, I wouldn't have much interest in coming here otherwise," she said with a small smile. Ah, the lies I am telling today. I would have no interest in coming here at all if it wasn't for getting a lead on Saren…
Anoleis spoke quickly. "Yes, yes. I apologize. I did not realize you wanted to invest." The salarian stood and walked over to a rather out-of-place luxury cabinet. He removed two glasses, followed by a bottle of liquor that Shepard recognized as one of the most expensive brands in the galaxy.
"Oh, no thank you sir," she said quickly. No doubt he is well-paid and gets fees for his services, but the cost of all that liquor is more than simple stock sales and commissions, even if booze is all he spends his money on…
"Suit yourself," he said, pouring a glass for himself and returning to his desk.
"To be honest, Mr. Anoleis, I'm not very familiar with Noveria or its clients. I was told you're very familiar with the best companies to invest in. If it's not too much trouble, I would certainly appreciate a few pointers," she said politely. "I have particular interest in biotic research."
"Of course, Commander. I could easily arrange that. I'll set you up with Binary Helix. After all, many Spectres are shareholders of companies with facilities on Noveria," he replied, with his own odd smile.
"I had heard that. Some Spectres have small fortunes, if the news reports are to be believed. Tela Vasir, Saren Arterius," she said with an amused look.
Anoleis gave a quick nod of his head. "Yes, Saren's a major investor in Binary Helix corporation, which is one of Noveria's primary backers."
"Interesting, I did not know that," she lied offhandedly as she let her eyes widen in slightly feigned surprise. "Wonder what specifically he's invested in," Shepard mused. "Maybe I ought to ask him for some advice," she finished with a slight chuckle.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you exactly; what our clients do in their labs is their business. I can say that one of his representatives recently arrived."
"Wait what?" Shepard asked in complete surprise as her eyes shot open. This time the expression was not faked.
"Yes, Matriarch Benezia. She arrived late yesterday."
"Matriarch Benezia's here?" Shepard asked again in shock as her eyes continued to widen to the size of saucers.
"Yes, she came here as Agent Saren's executor. She is here on business for Binary Helix."
"Is she here…at the port?" Layla asked, trying as much as she could to control the worry in her voice. Oh shit…
"No, she, her personal escort, and cargo traveled up to Peak 15…is…something wrong, Commander?" the salarian asked, finally catching on to his human guest's nervousness.
Yes. Very very yes. Shepard hesitated, trying to ponder just what could bring Benezia here and look for an excuse to try to hide her surprise. "No…it's just I've never met a matriarch before," Shepard responded with the best thing she could come up with at the moment, and took another several moments to compose herself and come up with an answer. "It's…I guess I've always wanted to meet one. Discuss biotics, compare amps," she said, limiting the concern in her voice. Could this…is this all a trap?
"Ah, I see," Anoleis responded, with his mouth twitching upward to form a grin.
Anoleis assumed the human woman's nervousness came from the prospect of meeting a matriarch, and he spent several moments regarding her. Despite the reduced sex drive of his species, he found he rather enjoyed using his significant power and influence to indulge in such activities. For him, it wasn't about the pleasure of the sex, but rather the exercise of his considerable power. Human females were close enough to asari to suit him, and he found this particular human female's apparent nervousness at the prospect of meeting a matriarch…somewhat cute. She had been polite to him, more so than most members of her impudent species, and he found his mind drifting to other topics about her, instead of investments and matriarchs. But that would come in time, he knew. First, he would entertain her notions. It always worked out for him in the end.
"Did Matriarch Benezia's entire party head up to Peak 15?"
The administrator nodded. "Yes. She arrived with several commandos, along with many shipping crates."
Shepard's mind raced, analyzing the situation. Benezia and asari commandos were here, and all went to Peak 15, if Anoleis is to be believed and trusted to begin with. And I'm stuck here unarmed, unarmored, and outnumbered. She thought about her potential options. She could quickly return to the Normandy and formulate a plan to deal with this very unexpected development. She could simply depart the planet, and strike Peak 15 from orbit. But that would open an entirely new set of problems. If they all went to Peak 15, that will give me a bit of time…hopefully. Unless this is all just a trap… "When did they head up to Peak 15?"
"Late yesterday, before the storm kicked in. Shuttles are grounded for the moment, so I'm afraid you won't get to meet Matriarch Benezia for some time."
Shepard calmed down now that the possibility of encountering the matriarch and commandos in the port was unlikely, presuming the administrator was telling the truth. Anoleis' question brought her back to the conversation.
"What specific topics would you like to discuss with a matriarch?" Anoleis asked, completely misreading Shepard's expressions. She was nervous about Benezia since she didn't want to have a biotic duel on the wrong side of several to one in the middle of a crowded spaceport, and she had to be polite to Anoleis since she would be probably kicked offworld if she was confrontational.
Shepard paused a moment, continuing along with her prior lame excuse. "Well…there aren't many human biotics around, and I kinda like to talk about amps. There's not many humans that I can talk with about that stuff," she replied, more composed now, but the salarian detected something he couldn't quite place in her voice. "How do your fee structures work for providing investment advice?" she asked, wanting nothing more than to change the topic immediately to hide her concern about Benezia's presence at Peak 15. She knew that she couldn't act any more like anything was amiss, and that if she encountered the matriarch or her commandos, they'd probably have a biotic duel that would destroy a good portion of Port Hanshan and any hapless civilians caught in the crossfire.
"I'd be happy to explain, Commander." He stood from his chair and walked around to her side of the desk. He began to explain the intricacies, and Shepard pretended to be interested to his couple minute overview, as her mind continued to run through possible scenarios if she encountered Benezia at the port.
"Thank you for the information," she nodded, then a thought came into her mind. "Actually, several of my associates on the crew are looking to purchase top-of-the-line mods that aren't easily obtainable in Council space. Would they be able to access the port facilities to make the purchases and swaps?" she asked politely.
"Unfortunately they cannot," Anoleis responded, a hint of testiness in his voice. "The Executive Board was loath to give you access to the port. They will certainly not allow any of your associates access, with our without weapons."
"I'm surprised you don't have that authority as the port administrator," she replied with surprise.
The salarian regarded her for several moments in silence. Despite rarely interacting with salarians, something about Anoleis' gaze gave her a chill. "Possibly. I might need a favor in return."
Shepard nodded. "Of course," she replied, feeling unease with his response but not knowing the reason for it. She wanted backup, especially if this were all a trap, but that would mean exposing her crew to destructive biotic attacks from several powerful asari. The issue appeared to be settled for the moment anyway. Well, she had done solo assignments before, and nothing could be done about it now. She also reminded herself how asari commandos preferred to dispatch their targets. Shepard knew that would give her a tremendous advantage. Hopefully, it would not come to that here. Back to the questions. "I did have some specific questions on several of the companies, if you don't mind."
"It would be my pleasure to answer them," he responded with a smile that, for some reason, wasn't reassuring to her.
"Thank you." She opened her omni-tool and read off a question with some financial numbers. Far more importantly, she began the infiltration routine that would exploit the backdoor in Noveria's financial network.
She wrote down a response on her omni-tool, knowing she'd never look at that information again, waiting for the orange light on her tool to switch locations indicating the hack was complete. She asked another question, and the moment the administrator began to answer, the network had been breached. Excellent. That was…again surprisingly easy. Or…she just wasn't giving Tali enough credit. That quarian certainly knew how to exploit vulnerabilities, and she began to doubt that Alliance firewalls would pose much of a challenge for Tali. Now to see what Benezia is up to…huh? Just what does he mean by that? she thought in confusion. She continued to ask her list of "questions" for another couple minutes.
"Would it be possible to travel to any of the labs while I'm here? I'm a visual person, I like seeing firsthand what I might be investing in," she asked politely.
"I'm afraid that you cannot. All labs are private facilities in the Skadi Mountains. Regardless of your Spectre status, you are currently not a major stockholder with any of our clients, and I cannot allow you access. The Board will not allow Spectres free run of our facilities. Even ones such as yourself." The administrator's voice changed to be slightly more guarded, though the last sentence puzzled her even further.
She paused a moment. "I'm looking forward to meeting with representatives. I won't take up any more of your time, Administrator," she said as she stood. She straightened her skirt and moved to the door.
"The pleasure was all mine, Miss Shepard," he said with a literally crooked-looking smile, putting his hand on her lower back as he escorted her out, making her uneasy and very angry, causing faint swirls of dark energy around her clenched fists. Now a couple of his strange sentences made sense, and she had to suppress the urge to unleash her biotics on the creepy salarian. "I look forward to seeing you again soon," he told her.
I certainly don't. Shepard turned and left the office, feeling disgusted at the salarian's apparent interest in her. I just try to be polite to get information from him and not get kicked off-planet, and now…that's what I get for being nice, she thought sourly. She just wanted a little bit of information on Benezia, and couldn't be rude since she needed information; now she had another creep hitting on her. Next time I'll just fall back to the tried-and-true "throw", "lift", or "biotic punch" method of dealing with creepsters, and PAO will just have to live with it. Furthermore, she rather suspected that the administrator was involved in all sorts of shady backroom deals. A creep in every sense of the word. Her skin crawled at the thought, and she had to suppress a shudder. So much for salarians having a reduced sex drive…
She put her thoughts back on the mission. So, Plan B on Noveria. To start, avoid a biotic fight in the port if at all possible. That would be…bad, in many ways. Second, figure out information about how big Benezia's party is, and get information on those crates. Third, find a way to leave the port to get to Peak 15. Fourth, everything needs to be done quickly, and all the while avoid any traps that might be set up. As easy as it would be to bomb Benezia's location from orbit, it would cause a major diplomatic incident. But more importantly, it would remove a major source of intel on Saren and Benezia. We really don't know what, why, or how Saren intents to accomplish…whatever it is he wants to accomplish, she thought. She knew essentially nothing about the Reapers that Saren wanted to bring back. And Benezia, or the Peak 15 labs, would be an excellent source of information.
That settled it in Shepard's mind. Despite the myriad of risks involved, they had to get to Peak 15. They had to get to Matriarch Benezia.
"I hope your discussion with the administrator was productive," Parasini said politely.
"Not particularly, to be honest," Shepard replied. "I hoped to meet Matriarch Benezia while here, as she is a representative of my colleague Saren Arterius, but it seems that she is at Peak 15, and I am not allowed access."
Parasini nodded, and Shepard watched the assistant's face closely for any hint of dishonesty. "Benezia's party came and left to Peak 15 before pretty much anyone knew they were here. Honestly," she said in a more subdued voice, "I'm glad they left so fast. Things can get back to normal here." Then she let out a quick snort, a small grin appearing on her face. "I suppose as a Spectre you're used to going wherever you want. I take it you've never worked in the corporate world, Commander. You can't bludgeon through bureaucracy," Gianna said as she stood and approached the commander.
My biotics can bludgeon pretty hard, and if your administrator keeps making passes at me, he'll end up on the receiving end of that bludgeoning…"It doesn't appear that way," Shepard replied evenly.
"Talk to Lorik Qui'in," the assistant whispered quickly as she leaned forward, before continuing in a normal tone. "Things just take time on Noveria. I'm positive you will be able to see the matriarch if you'd like to. If you want to relax while waiting, I might suggest the Mezzanine bar. The drinks there are quite reasonably priced."
Shepard got the hint immediately, trying her best not to grin; the corners of her mouth curved upward slightly. "Thank you very much for the suggestion. Did you get the opportunity to meet Matriarch Benezia when she arrived?"
Parasini shook her head. "They were barely here long enough to register. She and her party took off for Peak 15 nearly immediately."
Shepard watched Parasini very closely. If Anoleis' assistant was a liar, she was a damned good one. "I've taken up enough of your time, ma'am."
"Not at all, Commander," she said with a slight bow. "This is my job, after all."
Shepard stepped out of Parasini's office and looked around. She spied a holographic map and slowly walked towards it. The mezzanine was on the other side of the port. She glanced around again, and upon seeing that no one was nearby and she was in a place where she could observe all her surroundings, she opened her omni tool to place a call.
At the helm, several of the crew listened in and watched Shepard as she talked politely with the administrator. Thanks to Tali's hacking, they could watch her on every security camera, even on the ones in Anoleis' office.
"Bah. This is taking too long," Wrex growled with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Talking. Listening. She's a Spectre. Why doesn't she just threaten to biotically flay him? It's not like they confiscated her amp."
Garrus couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't think the…what!?" he immediately exclaimed when he heard that Saren had a representative at the port.
The surprise very quickly changed to concern. "Garrus, Wrex, Williams, Emerson, get suited up for ground action," Alenko ordered immediately. No one had expected the possibility of ground combat at Port Hanshan; this was supposed to have been a simple fact-gathering mission. Certainly no had had expected Benezia to be on Noveria. Shepard was off-ship, and she was probably in danger. Saren wanted her alive, and she was alone in a port potentially filled with hostiles. She still had her biotics, but…
Alenko just wore BDUs, but he still had his biotics, and he took several long steps to the airlock. "Is there any sign of Benezia or the commandos at the port?" He unlocked the small weapons locker with biometrics, withdrawing a sidearm and attaching it to his hip.
Several crew pored over the myriad of video feeds they had access to from Tali's infiltration. "No, sir. Many asari, but none armed or armored that we can see," came the reply several moments later.
Shepard then asked if her crew could purchase and swap out weapon mods. He hadn't even thought of that, it would give them cover to both enter the port and be armed. Unfortunately, and probably unsurprisingly, the administrator said no.
"If you see any sign of commandos, or Benezia, you have authority to call her omni-tool immediately. She'll know what that means," Alenko told the crew monitoring the cameras. He continued to watch Shepard in the administrator's office. "Any armed asari present?" he asked after a moment.
"No sir, just two turians and a salarian with sidearms and no armor. Their uniforms indicate they are port guards," one of the crewman said. Alenko and Joker watched her in the administrator's office; several crew scanned the myriad of cameras for any sign of commandos. Not sure that it is a good idea to have a camera in an office where a bunch of shady dealings occur, he couldn't help but wonder. Anoleis had said all of Benezia's party had gone up to Peak 15…but could they trust the word of Anoleis who essentially seemed to be a thug boss?
"Uhh…what?" Joker said, interrupting his thoughts about the new and rather unexpected situation as he focused on a second, equally unexpected development. "Is the administrator…flirting with her?" he asked incredulously with a disbelieving glance to Alenko.
Kaidan had heard it too, and had reached the same conclusion. He felt a bit of rage swell up within him, and his first instinct was to go smash into the salarian's office and use his biotics to crush that Goddamned overgrown amphibian into –
He stopped himself – that wasn't his place, as tempting as it might be.
Heavy footfalls from behind him indicated an armored krogan approached. Wrex appeared in his peripheral vision, fully set for combat. Garrus, Williams, and Emerson followed perhaps ten seconds later.
"Any problems, L-T?" Williams asked.
"Not yet," Alenko replied, glancing to one of the crewman monitoring the cameras, who shook his head in the negative.
"The hack's completed, I'm in," Tali said quickly. "I'm starting queries on Saren, but it will take time to search their files without drawing attention."
"Excellent. Thank you, Tali," Alenko replied, much more concerned about the commander's well-being than any data that they might extract from the network.
Shepard concluded the discussion and stood, then the crew watched the administrator guide her out by placing a hand on her back. "First that shithead hits on her, then he starts getting handsy," Joker scowled.
They watched her finish a brief conversation with the administrator's secretary, and the tall attractive woman whispered something that the commander's omni-tool didn't pick up, followed by a suggestion to get drinks at a bar. She then walked to a map, and twenty seconds later a call came into the Normandy's comm station.
Alenko knew exactly who the caller was, both from the ID and the fact he could see Shepard calling him on the hacked security cameras. But protocol was still protocol, silly as it could be. "Normandy. Lieutenant Alenko speaking." He felt completely ridiculous with the response. Next time I'll say "Chesty Puller," "Albert Einstein," or "Santa Claus."
"Hi Alenko," came the soft feminine voice over the speaker. "I take it you heard everything?"
"We did," he affirmed. "Do we need to provide support?"
"I'm fine, for now. I tried to get an excuse for you all to enter the port, but no luck," she replied, then sighed. "Looks like AIA dropped the ball again, given Saren's lieutenant is, you know, here," she said dryly. "Well, since you heard everything…" she paused.
"We heard everything that was said, except for a whisper that the administrator's secretary," Alenko clarified.
Her expression immediately changed to one of confusion on the hacked camera. "What secretary are you…oh, right, Parasini," Shepard replied.
"Yeah, the secretary. The one you just talked to, Commander. Not exactly helping with the blonde stereotypes," Joker quipped.
"Yeah. I…don't actually think she's a secretary, at least full time," Shepard responded. "Maybe a…I don't know, but I don't think she's just an assistant."
Tali and Liara had been listening into the conversation, and the latter couldn't help but speak up. "What makes you say that, Commander?"
"Gut instinct," was Shepard's reply.
Liara looked even more confused at the remark. "I'm sorry, Commander, but…how does your stomach's hunger affect the secretary?"
"Huh?" came the immediate response from the commander, followed a split second later by a laugh. "I'm sorry Liara, it's a human expression. Okay…how to explain 'gut instinct.'" She paused for a moment. "Alenko! You're there! You can explain it," she replied.
The lieutenant shook his head – he didn't need a high resolution camera to see the mischievous grin on his CO's face – and said, "It's that little feeling you get when you know something's right but can't prove it. Like…what you said about the protheans. You know you're right, but don't have hard physical evidence to back it up."
"I…see," the asari said, comprehension in her large eyes as she understood.
"To answer what caused my gut instinct, it's the look in someone's eyes," Shepard replied. "Her eyes and expression don't show the typical boredom of a secretary. And why would she point us to Qui'in? If she's an assistant to Anoleis, she wouldn't care at all about helping us leave Port Hanshan." A beep followed through the speakers, followed by an angry sigh. "It's Anoleis. He apparently has already set up a meeting with a company representative. It took him like two minutes. As much as I want to skip any discussions with him and any company reps…it might get us kicked off world. Especially if I'm rude to the administrator. Even though…ugh." All of the crew could hear the disgust in her voice through the speaker.
"Is everything alright, Commander?" Liara asked.
"No. Administrator Anoleis, he's…interested in me. Just…squick. Pure squick," Shepard replied with a scowl. "It makes my skin crawl."
"Yeah, we noticed that in your discussion with him," Alenko replied darkly.
"Oh Goddess, that's…disturbing," the asari responded.
"You're telling me," Shepard replied.
"Just kill him," Wrex said.
"That was Wrex, I presume," she said with a sound of amusement that quickly faded. "Oh trust me, the thought crossed my mind. He put his hand on my lower back on the way out the door. If his hands would have wandered down to my butt, his organs would have become part of the newest paint job on the nearest wall, and Ambassador Udina would just have to deal with the political fallout." She shook her head and sighed as she closed her eyes. "I'll have to meet with the representative; otherwise, Anoleis will get suspicious. After that, we'll start with Plan B."
"Plan B, Commander?" Liara asked in confusion.
Shepard explained another idiom. "Originally, we were just here to get some financial data. Now, we need to get up to Peak 15 to determine what's really going on here. Call me immediately if you see any commandos." Shepard didn't finish the plan in front of Benezia's daughter. Bring Benezia in alive if possible, eliminate the matriarch if not.
Shepard ended the call with her crew, taking a deep breath. "Now to listen to a sales pitch," she muttered. She reluctantly returned to Anoleis' office, and the Binary Helix representative introduced himself. To her muted horror the administrator was there, seemingly intent on being present for the discussion. Fortunately she was able to ask for privacy with the representative, and Anoleis complied, albeit grudgingly. She then had to listen to the rep give his sales pitch, pretending to be interested and asking questions. She ended it after a while, leaving it at, "I do like to do my own independent research, so I'll get back to you soon. But I remain very interested in potentially investing in a couple areas." Lies. All of it lies, she thought as she faux-smiled at the company man. She knew she had to be polite here, but this act was really starting to test her patience.
"Of course, Commander," the man had a smile of his own. While it wasn't literally crooked, Shepard's instincts told her it was definitely figuratively crooked. "I look forward to future correspondence from you."
Which you won't get any of. To her continued horror, the administrator returned as she was leaving. He gently put his arm around her shoulder and said something to the effect of "I would appreciate a few minutes of your time to discuss matters of mutual interest."
Oh I'll bet you would, and the feeling is not, nor will it EVER be, mutual. Squicked out by the administrator, Shepard excused herself quickly as she suppressed the ever-growing urge to biotic punch Anoleis in the jaw, stating she had to leave to check a couple things. It was a rather flimsy excuse, but she had been able to leave before the administrator had been able to object strenuously. Ugh.
She quickly called the crew before heading up to the Mezzanine bar. "I am not talking to that administrator again," she said sourly. "I was really tempted to go medieval on him, but that will just get us thrown off-world, and we'll lose any access to Peak 15." She shook her head.
"What's 'medieval', Commander?" Liara asked.
Shepard chuckled at suddenly having to explain so many human idioms today. "It means I would use…extreme violence against Anoleis."
"Commander, while you were talking with the representative, I was able to extract some information from their networks," Tali told her. "Benezia arrived soon after automated distress message was sent from Peak 15. Apparently the distress message indicates 'breach of containment.'"
"Well, that isn't ominous at all," Shepard said, though her expression darkened. "What are the procedures for dealing with a breach of containment?"
"Apparently they ignore it. Any issues are the responsibility of the owning corporation, who is expected to deal with it and pay for all damages," Alenko stated with a shrug.
"Wait what?" Shepard immediately asked. "You're joking again…right?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, then paused a moment. "Please tell me you're joking, Alenko," she sighed in half-resignation, half disbelief.
"He isn't, Skipper," Ashley chimed in.
"NDC does nothing?" the CO asked incredulously.
"It's a containment breach," he replied matter-of-factly. "Apparently, they deal with it by not dealing with it."
"Wow. Just…wow. Okay," she replied after several moments of silence. "What shining exemplars of corporate citizenship and responsibility."
"Benezia also arrived with over a dozen large, heavy crates that were shipped with her to Peak 15. She was accompanied by a squad of asari commandos," Tali added.
Shepard sighed. "Let me guess: the crates were very large, and weren't opened and inspected by Port Hanshan security," the commander said with a grimace as she closed her eyes.
"Correct, Commander," Alenko confirmed.
"So those crates are going to be chock full of weapons. Or geth, even asari commandos hiding out." She suddenly got the image of dozens of asari commandos piling out of shipping crates as if the containers were clown cars. "Add to that some sort of breach of containment there." She sighed, shaking her head. "Wonderful."
"Well, we can't deal with any of these problems until we find a way to leave the port – or just leave the planet. I'm going to do a bit of digging into the lead Parasini mentioned."
"Be careful of a trap, Commander," Alenko said quietly.
"I'll be alert," she assured him. "If you see any hint of asari commandos, or very suspicious-looking asari, call my omni-tool."
"So we ignore only somewhat suspicious-looking asari, then," Joker quipped. "Got it."
"Joker," she warned, followed by a sound of amusement. "Anything suspicious at all, call me."
"It's Noveria. Everything here is suspicious," the pilot shot back.
"You know what I mean, Joker. I'm off to find this Lorik Qui'in." The call ended, and she couldn't help but mutter "I always pick such lovely places to visit."
Shepard walked to the mezzanine, periodically glancing around the port facilities warily in a way that looked almost casual to an observer, though always keeping her eyes out for any asari or anything else that felt out of place, her biotics on a hair trigger. She noticed that several people stopped to look at her, but for some odd reason all of them stayed well clear of her, a couple even hurrying out of their way to keep their distance from her. Odd…there's something else here that isn't related to Benezia or the commandos.
After the elevator stopped, she entered the bar and glanced around, searching for a turian. Few people were in the bar at this hour, and she only saw three turians. Two were at a table with a pair of asari and a salarian, while the third sat alone at a table in the corner of the bar. The slow sway of the third turian's body told her that he had already consumed several alcoholic beverages in the past couple hours. She presumed that this was Lorik, unless he had already left during the time that she had to meet with Binary Helix.
Shepard approached the turian slowly, waiting to see how he would react. He took another long pull on his drink before he looked up to see a petite human female approach him.
"Ah, good afternoon!" the turian said amiably to Shepard. "Sit down, and have a drink!" he said, gesturing to his half full glass. From his slurred speech, it was clearly not his first.
"Oh, no thank you, sir," she responded quickly, holding up her hands.
"No, please, it is on me." He gestured and a waiter appeared in less than two seconds – it clearly wasn't the staff's first time serving this man this afternoon.
"I'm fine I don't need anything, thank you," Shepard said to the waiter quickly with a shake of her head.
"If you insist. What brings you to this pleasant little corner of palvaka, miss?" the turian asked her genially, taking another long pull of his drink.
She paused a moment, slowly taking a seat across the table from him, taking a position where she could see anyone entering and exiting the bar. "I presume you are Lorik Qui'in?" the commander asked him, slight hesitation in her voice from the turian's rather un-turian reaction to her. So much for turian discipline…
Lorik paused for a moment as his expression narrowed as he regarded her, then his eyes lit up. "Ah! I recognize you! You are the new Spectre that just arrived! Commander Layla Shepard! What could an old turian like me possibly help a Spectre with?" the friendly turian responded.
She blinked; the liquor had made him rather personable, something she wasn't used to with the few turians she had interacted with. More concerning was the fact that he quickly recognized her despite his current level of inebriation. "What makes you think I'm a Spectre?" Shepard asked with a hint of concern in her voice. Apparently word of her arrival traveled fast, yet another downside of her celebrity status.
"Your picture has been sent to every staff member of every company present. They have been warned that speaking to you without authorization is grounds for termination, for multiple reasons, despite the fact the news of your recent arrival has set tongues – and other things – wagging amongst some of the male employees, so to speak," he said with a frown as his amused expression faded.
Shepard sighed, subconsciously looking down for a moment and frowning before looking back up.
The turian leaned back in his seat. "Yes, I am Lorik Qui'in," he said, his grin returning. "For the moment, I am the manager of the local Synthetics Insight office."
Well, she could play this game. "'For the moment?' Are you managing the bar today? Or just taking a three-martini lunch?" Shepard asked deadpan.
The turian paused for a split second before breaking into loud, raucous laughter. "Ha ha ha ha ha! I presume you mean my loitering here. Ah, if only it were mere indolence and indulgence," he grinned with a shake of his head before his look changed to one of…something. Shepard didn't have the best understanding of turian facial expressions, despite the lessons given by PAO.
"I won't judge, as long as you don't try to drive. Especially in this weather," Shepard replied.
"Ha ha! Ah ha ha ha!" It took several moments for his laughter to subside. "No, I will remain here until I am forcibly removed from the premises or I run out of credits. The latter is very unlikely to happen," the turian grinned back at her before his expression faded. "Ah. Mr. Anoleis closed my office. He claims to be investigating reports of my corruption," he said lightheartedly. "The administrator is a very interesting man on this world. He has become quite wealthy since he took direct control of rents."
"Rents meaning bribes and kickbacks, I presume," Shepard said with a raised eyebrow.
"Indeed," the turian replied with a nodding grin. "I acquired evidence of Anoleis' actions. His hired goons have been ransacking my office to find it. I do suspect your ultimate goal lies outside this port. Mr. Anoleis would be…disinclined…to let you wander. If you recover the evidence from my office, I would be more than willing to give you my garage pass to leave this wretched hive."
"That sounds like a fair trade," Shepard nodded. "But…you mentioned 'goons ransacking my office'," she continued slowly.
"Yes, there is a minor issue. There is one – what is that charming human expression? 'Fly in the…lotion?' Violence against Mr. Anoleis' thugs may be necessary. He has been having members of Port Hanshan's security team searching my offices, paying them under the table. Ms. Matsuo is…unaware of their outside employment."
"If I have to fight guards...that will make things very difficult. They're still the law around here. And me getting caught in your office does no good for either of us," she said, concern creeping into her tone.
"I hasten to point out that Ms. Matsuo disapproves of 'outside contracting.'"
"Any idea how many goons search the office at a given time? How frequently are they in there?" Shepard asked.
"If I knew the answers to those questions, Commander, this old turian would have already retrieved his OSD. A few goons should pose no problem to someone such as yourself."
Nothing's ever simple, is it? Just once, just ONCE, could something be simple? "Sure! I'll give you what you need! No dangerous favors necessary!" She sighed, pausing for several moments. "Okay. I'll focus on trying to get your evidence. If I'm lucky…no one will be there," Shepard said after several moments' pause. And if they are…well…
"Excellent!" he said with a large grin. "Here is my pass into our offices. The evidence is on my office computer. This OSD contains an encryption key to access it. Slide it into the drive and it will auto-execute," the turian said, then paused. "Oh, and if certain individuals do end up being in the offices…please keep the blood stains off the carpet, would you? We just had it replaced, imported from Illium."
The crew watched Shepard conclude the conversation with Qui'in before taking the elevator back to the main floor. Once she was in a quiet area away from all potential eavesdroppers, she called back into the Normandy.
"Commander, how do you want to handle retrieving the evidence that Qui'in needs?" Alenko asked over the line.
"I'm breaking in. Now," she replied simply.
"Now!?" he asked in alarm. "In the middle of the workday!?"
"The office is closed. We need to confront Benezia at Peak 15, and the sooner the better. We can't let them return to the port, or spring a trap," Shepard replied.
"How do you know this isn't a trap?" he asked.
"Using a drunken turian, who already mentioned goons might be in the office so I'll be extra alert? Possible, but unlikely. We need to leave this port to investigate Peak 15 and Benezia. And we can't afford a firefight here with commandos and with geth. Given Saren's investments here, and despite Anoleis'…interest in me, I'm not too confident that the guards here will help us out. Either they will stay out of the fight entirely, or they will side against us. Either way, it will be…messy."
She did have a point there, Alenko knew. Fighting dozens of geth and a squad of asari commandos in a crowded port filled with potentially hostile guards and countless noncombatants… "At least let Tali or I sneak into the office," he told her.
"I appreciate your concern, but I've got it covered, Lieutenant. We'd first have to find some way to get you or Tali into Port Hanshan without being noticed. Easier said than done. They would be…unhappy if you left the ship, especially if you were armed and armored. Don't worry, I've done black bag operations before," she said with a grin. "Exactly like this, actually," she said after a moment of pondering.
"So, let me get this straight. You've broken into highly secure corporate offices by yourself, unarmed, unarmored, in broad daylight, dressed like that?" Chief Williams asked with raised eyebrows and a look that conveyed complete disbelief.
"Well, not exactly like this," Shepard admitted. "It actually was in the evening, but the office was very well lit, so close enough. And it was a cocktail dress, not a suit. But basically the same. No biotics could be used, no weapons, no armor, and…nevermind. I've done this before," she said, her voice indicating there was an amused grin on her face. "And they never caught me."
Alenko felt a sudden surge of arousal as he suddenly pictured Shepard in a slinky cocktail dress that No stop it she's your CO and the first human Spectre stop stop STOP
"I…I am sorry," Liara asked. "A black bag operation?"
"Breaking and entering. The black bag refers to a burglar's toolkit to break into places. Tali, are you there?" Shepard asked.
"I'm here, Commander."
"Have you been able to infiltrate any of the Synthetic Insights networks? Get access to their cameras?"
"I can't. Their encryption is far too strong to infiltrate without direct physical access to a terminal with elevated privileges," the quarian replied.
"That's probably a good thing," Shepard said lightly, her tone oozing snark. "Given they, you know, do AI research."
"Are you sure want to do this now?" Alenko asked.
"Yes. I appreciate your concern, Alenko, but I'll be fine."
"Be…be careful, Commander," Kaidan said nervously.
"Trust me," Layla said. Kaidan could even see the sassy grin on her face through a nearby security camera. "I won't get caught."
If the Alliance knew that Benezia was on Noveria, they probably would have taken a few precautions in case the matriarch had set an ambush in the port. But as players of the game, we all know that there won't be a boss battle five minutes after arriving at a new location. So in this story, the crew doesn't find out about Benezia's presence until after the Normandy arrives, and Shepard has to quickly make things up on the fly before news of the Normandy's arrival spreads to Peak 15.