|38|


"I feel like I haven't eaten in years," Braith downed another bun of meat and excused herself in front of the others, "…I honestly can't remember the last time I had anything besides moonshine…" Miranda made a face at this, as if she didn't buy it and the claim was too ludicrous. Passing her former commander another bachstere, Miranda sipped her tea and kept an eye on Kasumi, who was wandering the coniulde with her own stash of bachstere's in her cape…Eyeing the decorations and paintings throughout the hall…

"You wonder if that pio was eating everything while it was inside you, Shepard…"

"Pio?" Kolyat asked, and both women shook their heads simultaneously…

"Don't ask."

"Where is Casnar," Braith tucked her next bite into the corner of her cheek's pocket, sat back with a wondering look, and stood to go check through the windows into the rain, "…You think he went to meet with his parents?"

"Tetonbaum would have brought him here….The others at least would have joined us by now," Kolyat said, now appearing more alert to the fact than before… He stood up too and began walking down the hall separated by great tables made of a polished blue-shining metal, and picked up his stride as he called to one of the burrells waiting at the end of the lane resulting in the coniulde's entrance from outdoors. The orders were passed in quick-patter Rakhïken, followed by an assortment of calls that echoed from other points throughout the vast place, and Kolyat stilled and waited, his head bent forward in concentration as the sentries made their delivery of news…Turning back to Kasumi, Miranda, Braith and Wrex, the bantons oblivious to the matter, he shrugged…

"Well," Braith tossed the half of bachstere she had not finished and caught it again in her hand, "…I thought drells would be all over him…Isn't he kind of the big cat's meow here?" Kolyat stepped lightly back to her and nodded…

"He's a big deal…Perhaps my grandfather has found him first….Or his mother detains him…She can have moments of lucidity…"

"I heard Casnar mention she's sick?"

"She suffers a form of memory loss…Like human dementia…Only she disappears into her mind…It's hard to explain," he rolled his lip into his mouth, and Braith saw a vestige of the father—her deceased husband in that remote gesture, "…Imagine that the world before you exists as a dream—here right now, what is real—now what happens with my mother—the disease takes her memories from the mind and dissolves the present with these….So much so she not only forgets where she is or who we are to her…She believes that the memories are real…Happening…But she doesn't act on them…Tu'Firana—Lost in The Way…The path she has traveled through her life, all her memories, she now walks on in hours worth of these…Trips."

"That sounds more like Alzheimers," but Braith saw him shake his head, "…No…"

"She is fully functional," he went on, "…She can eat, drink, bathe, enjoy us as we are on occasion…But she then slips and becomes catatonic for a spell…You'll see…It bothers both Casnar and my grandfather immensely…Tetonbaum makes light of it—he can since he is not related to her, but he is not trying to be disrespectful…Quite the opposite…He does it for Casnar…It helps me even…My grandfather," Kolyat sighed, "…He is a very demanding drell…My father expected nothing of me, but Mu'kalien…He expects much," he smiled at Braith, "…Keeps me focused on the city and my future here…Not going back to working as a hitman for dirty politicians and their goons." Braith cupped his chin.

"You're doing well for yourself, all things considered, kiddo," she squeezed his jaw gently and let go, looking down in thought, "…Your father would be happy you found your way here….Rather than being stuck on the Citadel—"

"I hear it's destroyed," Kolyat glanced at Miranda, "…And now the central Council convenes in Thessia…We've sent ambassadors there to talk about Rakhana's being invited to join the Council species, but they won't allow it…Not until Rakhana can agree among all its leaders…"

"Is Rakhana so divided?"

He nodded and looked up at the high arches of the coniulde…In between the blue-silver ribs were murals of finer days according to Rakhana's history, "…It has more unity now than before, but a planet that still hasn't harnessed space flight capability—"

"What about here, in Nualavera, there's technology out on the runway and you have the barrier over the city—" but Kolyat shook his head again…

"My grandfather won't permit building outward—outreach, so to speak….He believes that would put the rachni at odds with other elements he wants to protect them from…I shouldn't speak more on the matter—"

"Mu'kalien wants the power for himself," Miranda said, "…He won't share it or let anyone interact with the queen outside of the treasach, their larger 'extended' family," she gestured to the burrells at the doors, "…But he doesn't mind sharing—"

"Please do not disrespect my grandfather in his city," Kolyat said, his voice rising with a grate to it, "…It is his home—"

"I believe the ancestor who established the alliance with the rachni and coined the term blue durriya was a Sousan…And Mu'kalien is not the direct descendant of that lineage…Like you and your uncle are—"

"That may be true, but he has been taking care of this city since my mother wed him and even in her days of the Tu'Firana," Kolyat replied, his demeanor calm if slightly challenged by Miranda there, "…The food you eat, the quarters you sleep in, have all been kept well and furnished because of his efforts…He is teaching me how to deal with the Craig and other aspects of the continent, never mind just what is here above and below ground…" He looked up as a scuffle towards the entrance of the coniulde was heard—Casnar was seen being carried in by a cloaked drell—Tetonbaum by the look of things—and with much haste yet carefully cradling the drell in his arms, he made towards a doorway that Kolyat and Braith were already running over to intercept them, "….Uncle!" The burrells moved from their stations but a silent word of warning from Tetonbaum's tebris caused them to go back—their weapons were out, and more than a few were looking at the bantons lounging by Wrex who had stood from his table in curiosity.

"I am taking him to the boudicea he slept in as a child," Tetonbaum said, "….No one is to speak a word of this to anyone—I will find out who breaks their silence," he warned the burrells, "…And I will drag you to the Isle with me, commea?" Switching from Rakhïken to speak to Braith, "…Please come…He will need someone he cares about to wake up to and see, and Sered," this he said to Kolyat, "…Please send the r'uniao to his room…Tell her it is a poison that has left him without control of his limbs…And he has been abused," Tetonbaum pushed open the door with his foot and went up a staircase, Braith glancing behind her at Miranda who nodded and sat back down with Wrex, Kasumi, and the bantons now roused to the quiet tension in the hall.


"Casnar….Casnar…." He tried to open his eyes through the thickness besetting him…Only milky forms could be made out through the haze of his view. Something touched him and he fought to push it away…Liquid was forced into his mouth—he spit it out and was held down, "….Braith!"

"Don't…" The syrupy medicine made it passed his utterances, "…Stop…"

"Casnar, it's Braith, babe, I'm here," she held the hand moving through the air and grasping for something —anything, "…Drink the medicine…They think it will help you…Rest—you're in your old bed—boudissea or something—Babe?" He licked his lip and pointed to his nose…

"Here," he wiped his nosetip the way Catherine had in the rain, "…Down here," he pointed to where the black powder had been pressed into his scales, "….Not…What I…" Voice ending, he fell backwards into nothing.


"I can't believe the little shit…" Braith threw his wet shirt into a basket and covered her face with a hand, leaning back on the bed beside him as she raised her eyes over her palm, "…What do we do about the bantons—can we interrogate them or will that be pointless at this juncture," she turned towards the others.

"I can have Wrex talk to them…They like him," Miranda said, stepping back into the familiar role as Braith's second from their times together in Cerberus—the old liaison looked from her to Tetonbaum, "…Any idea where they took off to, out on the tarmac?"

"They left tracks heading towards the city, but upper ravine…It will be washed out by morning if the storm continues," he said, "…I will take some people with me and see how far we can track them—"

"I'll go with you," Kasumi said, looking over at him from the grand bedtable at the left of Casnar's bed, "…I can move quicker if there's no one to get in my way…" Tetonbaum raised an eyeridge, "…I disliked Catherine from the moment I met her…Didn't seem likely she would be in those tunnels on Lothiraxl long as she was with those bantons…I'll go, too, because Thane wouldn't have wanted this to happen to Irikah's brother, but I digress…I'll catch the blue-eyed bitch."

"Those bantons," Tetonbaum paused for severity, "…Crushed the bones of four burrells, Miss Goto," he nodded to his own words, "…Miss Catherine has a gang of what—ten of those brutes including the one with the biotics…And he is a riev'r…I could feel his power muffling my own…She is secure so long as she is with him and the others—"

"And lethal," Miranda added, "…She carries a shell with her that contains medicines or samples of specimens she's collected," Miranda hesitated, but asked, "…Why she would take Casnar like she did…She's not some bimbo looking only for an appetite whetter…She's much too smart for that…Is he missing anything else besides—"

"She may have to inform us when we get our hands on her," Tetonbaum said, laying his palm over Casnar's brow scales, "…Whatever she had in mind…It seems too simple to kill four burrells, attack Casnar and drug him…This woman came from Lothiraxl?"

"Assembly…I'll look into it after I've spoken with Wrex and we shake out a few answers," Miranda looked to Kolyat, "…I need a boost for my omnitool."

"And…" Braith looked at Casnar and the drellahna waiting by the windows, holding some bottles she was taking measured pours of into a concoction on the table, "…I'll stay here…" She passed her eyes over everyone, "…Kolyat?"

"I will assist Miss Lawson with the signal she needs," he answered, freeing his hold on Casnar's other hand. "I will also handle my grandfather…And if you need anything, I will see that you receive it," he gave her a meaningful look, stood from his chair by the bed and went out of the boudicea with the rest. Casnar sighed-half-moaned as he turned his head and Braith went back to the drellahna, "…Do you have a second…Can you communicate with me in a language other than Rakhïken?" The drellahna blinked at her and went to her work again…Braith sighed next in frustration and crawled back onto the high bed with Casnar, pulling his arm, shoulder, and head onto her waist and tracing the edge of his patak with her fingers. "I crawled back and forth to that dive…You always watched out for me…I won't let you out of my sight again. I'm sorry, babe…I'm right here…" Casnar's hand moved to her shin, and she laid her head against her shoulder, staring at his brow and trying not to think of the many ways she would kill Catherine Smythe.


The rain poured on…Tetonbaum pulled deeper into his hood and checked in with the comm device attached to the cowl in front of his mouth…

"At the tram-skim…Miss Goto is with me still and we've three others…I won't disclose their names since they are not to be known…We will be taking a covered transport out to the tarmac where the bodies lay, please hold off on all collections and don't mind us as we go hunting for our prey."

"We'll see you soon, hopefully," the reply, and then, "…I want to remind you that Braith will probably want to kill her with her own bare hands…"

"We'll see if we even find her if that's possible—taking her back in a tie of rope or whatever these guys have…" Kasumi answered aside Tetonbaum on the light skim, and she glanced to the rising skims beside their own—there were three collecting soft pats of rain on their bows and sterns until a light went up on the trio and a barrier covered them, "…We're leaving, Miranda…Who else is on this connection?"

"Would you believe it if I said rachni?" Tetonbaum smiled, and Kasumi warmed to the look he was giving her.

"I thought Casnar said you all communed through something called durril," she sat back with the acceleration of the skim, Tetonbaum at the helm, "…You don't telepathize with each other," she smirked from under her hood.

"Casnar's been out of touch for a while," he chuckled, "…The rachni and our tech has since been upgraded. I've sent notice to the rachni near the site of Casnar's assault and the murders…They will leave the bodies untouched rather than clean them up and distribute them back to us…Durril is nothing more than ash of the rachni's work…Energy must go into feeding them and that has more of a substance in meat as well as the food they find and cultivate underground. Maybe I'll show you a tour when we return with our little Catherine and her wayward band…"

"Little Catherine…" Kasumi scoffed, "…She managed to take down Casnar…She's something else…I hope Miranda finds out more about the Assembly for us….It didn't seem to me like they were a nixed topic…I wonder what they really were about if Catherine's behavior and bad decisionmaking is any indication."

"As do I…I can't guarantee you I'll let you have her if we find them and isolate her from the bantons…I intend to interrogate her myself…And believe me," he kept his sapphires focused to the rain and a console with a seismic radar under his palm, "…I am particularly good at it."