"I'm picking up an anomaly, Commander." Joker glanced back at him. "Could be Prothean ruins."

"Take us in closer." He tapped his communicator. "Vakarian, Alenko, suit up and meet me at the mako."

#

"Devlon is .53% more accurate past seventy meters."

"I'm not denying it's a good scanner, but I prefer something that doesn't need to be nursed back to health every time the temperature changes three degrees." Michael shook his head. "I got run over by a mako on an ice planet and the Ariake didn't lose a nanometer of accuracy."

"If you just want to go ahead and pull over, I think I can walk from here."

"Your suit is only rated for ten minutes in these conditions, LT." Michael maneuvered the mako between an icy outcropping and a rather steep drop. "What we really need is the Helix model."

"Good luck." Garrus's mandibles clicked. "I talked to your requisitions officer, and he can't even afford the license. Though if we combine the Devlon with the Volkov barrel..."

"That would be ten minutes of not talking about sniper rifles, right?"

"Then you have to re-seat the scope every time it overheats instead of just waiting for it to cool off. Our enemies usually come at us more than one or two at a time." Michael shrugged. "Though vorcha have a hilarious tendency to line up. Have you tried using the Kassa rail extension with the Elkoss scram rail?"

"Just once. My shot went through the target, and the wall, and the power junction behind it. Knocked out the power to three shops."

"I bet with my barriers I could extend it out to a good fifteen."

"Yeah, it's no good for cities, but out here? I once took down a Hammerhead."

"Did you get a chance to look at the HMWSR line?"

"Really, I could scout ahead, and then you could pick me up when you get the mako across."

"I did, but frankly I'd have to knock over another bank to afford one and I'm pretty sure that falls on the 'don't' list."

"I'd love to combine one of those with the Devlon."

"Your Devlon obsession is a little disturbing."

"How do I turn off the radio in this suit?"

"Properly calibrated, the Devlon mark 10 can hit over 99.93% accuracy at range under low visibility conditions."

"As long as it's not too hot or cold out."

"Wait, what did you mean another bank?"

"I've got something on the scanner, commander." Alenko tapped the display. "Looks like..." He frowned. "A smuggler base."

"Let's go see if they've got anything fun." Michael steered the mako towards the location.

#

"Commander. You have a minute to talk?"

He nodded to Williams. "I keep an open-door policy. If you have any concerns, lay them on me."

"All right." She hesitated only a moment. "I know things are different aboard the Normandy, but- I'm concerned about the aliens. Vakarian and Wrex. With all due respect, Commander, should they have full access to the ship?"

Michael wondered briefly why she hadn't included Tali. Maybe she was right not to trust Vakarian. Anyone who preferred proton rounds to polonium needed their head surgically removed from their ass. "You don't trust their motives because they're not human."

"This is the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy." She shook her head. "I don't think we should give them free reign to poke around the vital systems. Engines. Sensors." She met his eyes. "Weapons."

"I'm not going to lock them in sleeper pods for the whole trip, Williams." Assuming he could even fit Wrex into one.

"I'd be more comfortable if they didn't have access to engineering and the CIC. We -" She shrugged. "Humanity, I mean - have to learn to rely on ourselves."

"How do you get from 'relying on ourselves' to 'mistreating our allies?'"

"I don't mean we should mistreat them, Commander." She spread her hands. "I just think we should be prepared to go it without them. As noble as the Council members seem now, if their backs are against the wall, they'll abandon us."

That wasn't confined to just the Council members. Aside from his fellow soldiers, the same was true of pretty much everyone. "The Council's had a grudge against us since the First Contact War."

"I don't think it's a grudge. I think it's -" She rubbed her shoulder. "Look. If you're fighting a bear, and the only way for you to survive is to sic your dog on it and run, you'll do it. As much as you love your dog, it isn't human." She sighed. "It's not racism. Not really. Members of their species will always be more important to them than humans are."

"And yet I can give you a pretty long list of humans I'd have fed to the bear before King."

She blinked. "King?"

"Saint Bernard." He shook his head. "You sound like one of those Terra Firma Party pamphlets, Chief."

"Terra Firma is a pack of jackals. The founders had ideals. These days they just play off xenophobia and bigotry." She shifted her weight. "I hope my reasons are more rational. My father, grandfather, great-grandmother - they all picked up a rifle and swore the Oath of Service. I guess we just tend to think of Earth's interests as our own."

"All right." Michael nodded. "I can see where your concerns are coming from, Williams. But this is a multilateral mission. You're going to have to work with aliens, like it or not."

"It won't be a problem, Commander. You say 'jump', I say 'how high'. You tell me to kiss a turian, I'll ask which cheek."

"Pretty sure I won't ask you to kiss a turian." He shrugged. "Krogan, on the other hand..."

She almost snorted. "Anything you need, Commander?"

"We'll talk later, Williams."

"Looking forward to it, sir."

#

"Are you sure this time, Joker?" Michael raised an eyebrow. "The last two 'Prothean ruins' you found were a weird asari capsule and a mummified salarian." And the time he'd taken Williams, Wrex, and Tali out to recover some the one artifact they'd found that had been vaguely Prothean they'd nearly ended up getting eaten by a thresher maw. He had a sneaking suspicion Tali had found the whole thing entertaining. Wrex and Williams were bad influences.

"It's an anomalous reading, commander. That means I don't know what it is." Joker sighed. "Could be a dig site. Could be more smugglers. Could be a bar." He glanced down at his screen. "And this is the last system in this cluster, so..."

Michael rolled his eyes. "If it's a bar, it better have decent rum." He tapped his communicator. "Garrus, Kaidan, suit up."

"Bring me back a double."

#

"I've always found the snowblind rounds to be overrated." Michael shook his head. "Sure, they eliminate the heat problem, but they fire so slowly it doesn't make any practical difference."

"I'll give you that one. A good kinetic coil is a far better option." Garrus shrugged.

"What's a six letter word for rift that starts with an 's'?"

"Schism." Michael steered around a lava pit. "If we are going to keep dealing with geth, we should probably requisition some tungsten rounds. Maybe with a high caliber barrel?"

"Think we could get our hands on Armax?" Garrus leaned forward hopefully.

"Commander..." Joker's voice came over the communication unit. "Head's up, you've got incoming."

"Garrus, guns."

"On it."

#

Michael held up his fist, and his companions held their positions. Carefully and slowly, he moved forward. The geth turned just in time to catch Michael's omniblade in what passed for its face. He turned toward Garrus. "See, if it'd been using an Ariake scanner..."

"Just be glad they didn't have a Devlon, or their heavy turrets would have picked us off." Garrus slung his rifle back over his shoulder.

He casually picked the lock on the nearby weapons locker. "Hey, check this out." Michael held up an item.

"Dibs." Garrus immediately responded.

"He who picks the lock gets first choice."

"You're carrying a naginata." Garrus shook his head. "A helix kinetic stabilizer is far better suited to a striker model."

"In what galaxy?"

"Is this going to take long?" Kaidan glanced at them. "Because I left my crossword puzzle in the mako."

#

"That's eleven for me." Garrus lowered his rifle, but didn't sling it.

"I think the floating ones count for Kaidan, not you." Michael shook his head and continued up the path. "And I'm at twelve. Alenko, you good?"

"Just grazed the armor, Commander." Kaidan nodded. "Nothing damaged but paint."

Something moved, and he held up a fist. Whatever it was had vanished into the shadows cast by the structure. "Something is down there. Spread out and check your targets."

He moved in, taking point. They were nearly to the structure when the enemy dropped out of the sky. Literally. Michael dove behind cover just as the geth landed and started opening fire. He saw Garrus take cover behind rocks further back on the path. Kaidan crouched behind part of the structure. He gestured, and saw the answering nod.

Michael dove out of cover, flung a grenade, and rolled behind the next cover as it exploded, taking out a group of the geth. As soon as the geth turned towards his location, Kaidan used his biotics to throw some of them at each other. Garrus directed his fire at the large one, keeping it from being able to bring its more powerful guns to bear.

As the geth started to turn, Michael took advantage of their momentary distraction to put a shot in the colossus. Sparks began to fly, and a moment later, it exploded. Without it to provide cover, cleaning up the rest of the geth was easy enough.

"Alenko, final score?"

"Sorry, Garrus. Had my head down for that last bit."

Michael sighed. "Told you we should have used a VI."

"Oh, like you've never hacked one of those before."

"Hey, I'll have you know I only cheat at dice."

#

Kaidan shook his head and smiled. Shepard and Garrus had the high ground, sniper rifles, and healthy competitive streaks. The geth really didn't stand much of a chance. He held his pistol at the ready, in the off chance anything actually got close enough for him to use it.

As soon as they'd cleared the geth, Shepard gestured for them to start moving in. The metal scaffolding was broken in places due to age, but here and there he saw signs that it had been repaired. "Supplies, Commander." He pointed.

"Between that and the geth, I'd say we are in the right place." Shepard nodded. "Let's find ourselves an asari."

#

"Um..." They all turned to look at each other at the sound of the voice. "Hello? Could somebody help me? Please?"

Michael jumped down to the next level, and saw an asari apparently floating in midair behind a barrier. Her eyes widened when she saw him. "Can you hear me out there? I am trapped. I need help."

"Liara T'Soni?" He raised an eyebrow, then gestured for his companions to start looking for the controls for the barrier.

"Thank the Goddess. I did not think anyone would come looking for me." She managed, with some effort, to turn her head. "This thing I am in is a Prothean security device. I cannot move, so I need you to get me out of it. All right?"

First things first. "Your mother is working with Saren. Whose side are you on?"

"What?" She blinked. "I am not on anybody's side. I may be Benezia's daughter, but I'm nothing like her. I have not spoken to her in years. Please." Her voice trembled just a little. "Just get me out of here."

He scanned the barrier. It would pretty much take the mako's firepower to blast through, if not more. He really should upgrade their grenades. "How did you end up in there."

"I was exploring the ruins when the geth showed up, so I hid in here. Can you believe that?" She moved just slightly as though she were trying to gesture. "Geth. Beyond the Veil."

"As it happens, I can believe it."

"I activated the tower's defenses. I knew the barrier curtains would keep them out." She twitched a little again. "When I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out. Please."

"Any suggestions?"

Liara bit her lower lip. "There is a control in her that should deactivate this thing. You'll have to find some way past the barrier curtain. That's the tricky part. The defenses cannot be shut off from the outside. I don't know how you'll get in here."

"We'll find something. Hang in there." Kaidan promptly winced, and both Garrus and Michael turned to look at him. "Sorry, it was an accident."

"Be careful." She called as they started looking around. "There is a krogan in with the geth. They have been trying different ways to get past the barrier."

"Don't worry. Pretty soon, this will just be one of those things we can look back on and laugh about." Michael nodded to her.

#

"Hmmm..." Michael narrowed his eyes. "Have you ever noticed that a mining laser is pretty much just a really big gun?"

"Now that you mention it." Garrus nodded. "Though it would be rather hard to calibrate in that setting."

It only took him two tries to access the controls. "Find cover. I'm going to use rule six."

Kaidan blinked. "Rule six?"

"When in doubt..." Michael hit the button before diving into cover next to the biotic. "Shoot something."

#

They found an elevator platform on the other side of the tunnel the mining laser had made. A few moments later, they'd found the asari again.

"How..." With effort, she managed to look over her shoulder at them. "How did you get in here? I didn't think there was any way past the barrier."

"We blasted through with the mining laser." He started towards the control unit.

"Of course. Yes. That makes sense." Her voice was doubtful. "Please..." She managed to point. "Get me out of here before more geth arrive. That button over there should shut down this containment field." He hit the button, and she collapsed with a loud "ooff."

Kaidan immediately went towards her, medical kit in hand. "Any idea how we get out of this place?"

She let him check her over, but it appeared she was undamaged. "There is an elevator back in the center of the tower. At least, I think it's an elevator. It should take us out of here. Come on." Liara led them back towards the platform.

#

"I-" Liara took a deep breath. "I still cannot believe all this. Why would the geth come after me? Do you think Benezia's involved?"

"Saren's looking for the conduit." Kaidan replaced his medical kit. As near as he could tell, there was nothing wrong a hot meal and some sleep wouldn't fix. "You're a Prothean expert. He probably wants you to help him find it."

"The Conduit? But I don't know -" She cut off as the whole area suddenly shook.

"What was that?" Garrus looked around.

"These ruins aren't stable. That mining laser must have triggered a seismic event."

"Of course it did." Shepard sighed.

Liara went to the platform controls. "We have to hurry. The whole place is caving in."

"Joker." Shepard hit his communicator. "Get the Normandy airborne and lock in on my signal. On the double, mister."

"Aye, aye, Commander. Secure and aweigh. ETA eight minutes."

"Not much margin for error." Kaidan shook his head.

#

They reached the top just in time to find a krogan. Michael sighed. And he'd gone and left his krogan on the ship. The krogan walked towards them. "Surrender. Or don't. That would be more fun."

He actually had a really good point. "We don't have time to deal with this idiot. Charge."

The krogan hefts his rifle. "I like your attitude."

#

Another of the barrier curtains. Michael was about to yell for them to find another way around when the whole place shook again and the barrier vanished. That was a lovely combination of helpful and not good. "Move. Move. Move."

He saw Liara try to use her biotics, and stumble. Kaidan picked up the slack, adjusting the trajectory of a rock that was heading towards them. Impressive. Michael picked Liara up and got her moving again as they headed up the shaking scaffolding.

They were barely out of the tunnel when it began to wrench and twist. That had cut things a little closer than he'd liked. The scaffolding was still shaking, and the platform swayed back and forth. Joker brought the Normandy in low.

Garrus jumped onto the Normandy's rear hatch door, and turned towards him. Michael threw Liara to him, and the turian caught her, pulling her further into the ship and out of harm's way. Kaidan followed, turning back as soon as he landed. Michael leaped onto the ship beside him as the platform collapsed. Kaidan put a steadying hand on his arm as debris spewed out of collapsing tunnel, and he saw the telltale blue of a biotic barrier shielding them. "Joker, we're clear. Go."

#

"Too close, Commander." Joker's voice came over the communicator as they regrouped in the debriefing room. "Ten more seconds and we would've been swimming in molten sulphur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference."

Liara looked up, her face appalled. "We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes?"

The man was called Joker. "Sometimes Joker's a real ass. Just try to ignore him."

"I see. It must be a human thing." Liara sat down rather heavily in one of the chairs. "I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander."

Tali, bouncing a bit as she entered, sat down in the chair next to Garrus. Wrex sat in the chair next to Liara, giving her a suspicious look. But then, he gave everyone suspicious looks. It was one of the things he liked about Wrex.

Liara continued talking. "But I am grateful to you. You saved my life back there. And not just from the volcano. Those geth would have killed me. Or dragged me off to Saren."

Kaidan leaned forward. "What did Saren want with you? Do you know something about the Conduit?"

She waved her hands as she spoke. "Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."

He knew asari lived longer than humans, but... "How old are you, exactly?"

"I hate to admit it, but I am only a hundred and six."

"Damn." Williams' eyes bugged out of her head a little. "I hope I look that good when I'm your age."

"A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours. But among the asari, I am barely considered more than a child." She set her hands on her knees. "That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans."

"I've got my own theory about why the Protheans disappeared." The images from the beacon were trying to push their way in again.

"With all due respect, Commander, I have heard every theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left remarkably little behind." Liara looked around the room. "It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved. It's like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues." She gestured like a professor lecturing a hall full of students. "But here is the incredible part. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them."

Michael wasn't sure if that made the situation better or worse. "Where'd you come up with this theory? I thought there wasn't any evidence." She started talking about subtle patterns. While she didn't offer any actual evidence, he got the sense that she knew what she was talking about and not just going on a hunch. And that was enough for him at the moment. "Get to the point."

Liara nodded. "The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins survive. The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements - the mass relays and the Citadel - are based on the technology of those who came before them. And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."

Worse. The situation was definitely worse. But hey, at least he could make a blue woman's lifelong dream come true. "They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The Reapers."

"The-" She sputtered a little when she turned towards him. "The Reapers? But I have never heard of -" She blinked. "How do you know this? What evidence do you have?"

"There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. It burned a vision into my brain." The vision tried to crawl back, like it did every time he thought about it. "I'm still trying to sort out what it all means."

"Visions? Yes..." She bit her lip and tilted her head before nodding. "That makes sense. The beacons were designed to transmit information into the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare." She shook her head. "No wonder the geth attacked Eden Prime. The chance to acquire a working beacon - even a badly damaged one - is worth almost any risk. But the beacons were only programmed to interact with Prothean physiology. Whatever information you received would have been confused, unclear." She had a remarkable gift for understatement. "I am amazed you were able to make sense of it at all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process. You must be remarkably strong-willed, Commander."

Normally, it was phrased as 'stubborn pain in the ass'. Williams cut off the lecture. "This isn't helping us find Saren. Or the Conduit."

"Of course. You are right. I am sorry. My scientific curiosity got the better of me. Unfortunately, I do not have any information that could help you find the Conduit. Or Saren."

And yet the geth had been after her for a reason. "I don't know why Saren wanted you out of the picture. But I think we'll be a lot better off if we bring you along."

"Thank you, Commander." She stood. "Saren might come after me again. I cannot think of anywhere safer to be than here on your ship. And my knowledge of the Protheans might be useful later on."

Wrex shrugged. "And her biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts."

Having seen Kaidan in action a few times, he couldn't argue with that. "We've already got other non-human species on the team. Might as well add an asari to the team." He shrugged. "Maybe we'll pick up an elcor on the next planet."

"Long as it's not a salarian." Wrex settled back in his chair.

"Thank you, Commander. I am very gratef-" She swayed, and he caught her before she fell. "Whoa. I am afraid I am feeling a bit light-headed."

Kaidan immediately stood. "When was the last time you ate? Or slept? Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you."

"It is probably mental exhaustion, coupled with the shock of discovering the Protheans' true fate. I need some time to process all this." She nodded. "Still, it could not hurt to be examined by a medical professional. It will give me the chance to think things over. Are we finished here, Commander?"

He passed her to Kaidan and jerked his head towards sick bay. "Go see the doctor. The rest of you..." He looked around the room. "Dismissed."

#

"Mission reports are filed, Commander. You want me to patch you through to the Council?"

"Patch them through, Joker." He turned to face the holodisplay.

"Setting up the link now, Commander."

The asari councilor spoke first. "We've received your report, Commander. I understand Dr. T'Soni is on the Normandy."

The turian's eyes narrowed. "I assume you're taking the necessary security precautions?"

One day, he was really going to have to learn their names. "No, I just let the daughters of all my enemies wander freely through state of the art alliance warships."

"You are free to act as you see fit, Commander." The asari councilor nodded. "Our role is to offer guidance and advice."

"It's up to you if you're smart enough to listen." The turian councilor's mandibles clicked.

"Liara's on our side. The geth were trying to kill her." Which was all in the mission reports.

"Benezia would never allow Saren to kill her daughter." The asari councilor shook her head.

"Maybe she doesn't know." The salarian councilor tapped his... her... shit, he still needed to look that up too.

"Or maybe we don't know her." The turian councilor shook his head. "We never expected she could become a traitor."

"At least the mission was a success." The salarian nodded.

"Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean ruin. Was that really necessary, Shepard?" The turian glared.

"It was crawling with geth."

"Of course, Commander." The salarian nodded. "The mission must always take priority."

"Good luck, Commander." The asari actually smiled. "Remember, we're all counting on you."

Yeah, that was the problem.

#

"Commander, are you coming to check up on me?"

"A bit, yes." Michael nodded to Liara. "You look much better. How are you feeling?"

"Dr. Chakwas assures me I'm going to be fine. I was impressed with her knowledge of asari physiology."

"I haven't known her long, but I'm starting to suspect she knows everything."

Liara twisted her hands together. "I never properly thanked you for saving me from the geth, Commander. If you hadn't shown up..."

Michael considered taking a long step backwards. He was still a little unsure what exactly had happened the last time an asari had tried to 'properly thank him'. "I'm just glad we got there in time."

"So am I." She took a deep breath. "I know you took a chance bringing me aboard this ship. I have seen the way your crew looks at me. They do not trust me." She straightened her spine. "But I am not like Benezia. I will do whatever I can to help you stop Saren. I promise."

"Don't worry, Liara." He nodded to her. "I know you won't let me down."

She smiled brightly. "It means a lot to hear you say that, Commander. Thank you."

"Tell me about yourself, Liara." He leaned on the bulkhead a couple feet from her.

"Me?" She blinked. "I am afraid I am not very interesting, Commander. I spend most of my time on remote digs, unearthing mundane items buried in long-forgotten Prothean ruins."

It occurred to him that as a kid he'd played a fairly interesting video game for a while that had actually used that as the entirety of the plot. Plus pirates. "You must enjoy something about it."

"I love my work. Seeking out history's lost secrets has a special appeal for me." She waved her hands as she spoke. "You were actually touched by working Prothean technology. That is why I find you so fascinating, Commander."

"You sound like you want to dissect me in a lab somewhere."

"What?" Her eyes widened. "No. I did not mean to insinuate." She held up her hands. "Ah, I never meant to offend you, Shepard. I only meant that you would be an interesting specimen for an in-depth study. No-" She frantically shook her head. "That's even worse."

It was actually a bit difficult not to start laughing. "Calm down, Liara. I was only joking."

"Joking?" Apparently, asari blushed purple. "Oh, by the Goddess. How could I be so dense? You must think I am a complete and utter fool." She rubbed her forehead. "Now you know why I prefer to spend my time in the field with data disks and computers. I always seem to say something embarrassing around other people. Please..." She looked up at him. "Just pretend this conversation never happened."

"I can leave and come in again if you want to start over?"

"That would be wond..." She narrowed her eyes. "You're joking again."

"Yeah." He nodded. "I do that." He pointed his thumb at the door. "I should go."

"Goodbye, Shepard."

#

"If you want to nail Saren, you need to send someone who isn't restricted by policies and procedures."

"The only way we are going to manage this is to beat him at his own game. Speaking of which..." He tossed Garrus the stabilizer. "You're going to need all the help you can get."

"See, I should take exception to that, but I think I'd rather take this." He waved the stabilizer as he walked over to the workbench. "Want me to switch out your ammo unit while I'm at it?"

"Nobody touches my gun but me." He saw Williams turn around and immediately held up a hand. "Don't go there, Chief."

"Are you sure, Commander? Cause that's..." She smirked. "A really hard one to let go."

"You kind of set yourself up there, Shepard." Garrus shrugged.

"I can just see the look on Anderson's face if I tried reporting one of my officers for insubordination." Michael sighed.

#

"Tali, everything alright?" It was hard to read expressions with the envirosuit, but she looked to be a few energy levels less than her usual self.

"I don't know." She looked up from where she was fiddling with an omnitool. "Your ship is amazing, and your crew's been really great to me. Especially your chief engineer. But I just feel..." She shook her head. "Out of place. The Normandy runs so smooth it feels like we're not even moving. And the engines are so quiet. How do you sleep at night?"

He blinked. "The silence wakes you up?"

"Back on the flotilla, the last thing you want to hear is silence. It means an engine's died or an air filter's shut down." She looked around, sitting back in her chair. "I guess you don't have to worry about that here, but old habits die hard." She let out a sighing sound. At least he assumed that was what it was, the envirosuit made it a bit hard to tell. "But it's more than just the silence. This ship feels so empty; it's like half the crew is missing. Back home, I couldn't wait to go on my Pilgrimage. I couldn't wait to get away from the crowds. Now that I'm out here, I kind of miss them."

Michael examined the work she was doing to the omnitool. "Sounds like the Pilgrimage isn't just about finding resources for the fleet. Maybe it's about teaching you to appreciate your people and culture."

"You're probably right. We quarians spend our whole lives traveling, but we never really leave home. The Pilgrimage has given me a whole new perspective on our culture." She picked up the microwelder again. "You know, there's always a few who go on their Pilgrimages and never return. I always assumed something bad happened to them, but maybe they just wanted a different life."

"Well, if you need a place to fit in or something to do..." Michael glanced over his shoulder. "Garrus overheated the main gun on the mako." He raised his voice. "Because he can't judge ground speed."

He wasn't overly familiar with turian customs, but he was pretty sure that particular gesture was intended to be rude. Tali giggled.

#

"Do you have some time to talk now, Commander?"

"Sure." Michael gestured for Kaidan to follow him. "Have a seat."

"Off the record?"

"Alenko, when it's just you and me, you can consider it off the record."

He sat down across from Michael. "Did you..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Did you really rob a bank?"

"No."

"Oh." Kaidan let out a relieved sigh.

"Not a bank. Two of them."

"Commander?"

"Well, one and a half. I was just the lookout on the first job." He leaned back in his chair, rather enjoying the various expressions crossing Kaidan's face. "What about you? Ever robbed a bank?"

"No, Commander." Kaidan chuckled. "Haven't stolen any cars either."

"What do they do for fun in Canada?"

"Nothing. It's illegal to have fun in Canada."

"That..." Michael shook his head. "Explains so many things."

Kaidan leaned forward. "We've played it pretty close to the book so far. But we're a long way from backup. We've got some tough calls to make. I'm just saying..." He shook his head. "Try to leave yourself a way out. I've seen what cutting corners can do to someone. And I'd hate to have that happen to you, Shepard." He caught himself. "Commander."

"Something on your mind?"

"I'm not questioning any decision you've made, Shepard. Let me be clear about that." He leaned back again. "It's just my experience that once someone lets something slide, it tends to pick up speed. You get my meaning?"

"Talk to me, Kaidan." He put his hands on the desk. "You've got a little black raincloud sitting over your head."

"I'll try to keep the deck dry." Kaidan took a deep breath. "You know the records about the biotic training out on Jump Zero? They're all classified. Because the Alliance made mistakes. After first contact, Conatix was set up to track element zero exposures and develop implants for humans. Once we had an embassy on the Citadel, Conatix could bring in 'experts' instead of taking it slow."

Michael asked a few questions about the experts. Biotics weren't his area of expertise. It sounded like a big mess. Secrets, so-called experts and important people who knew nothing, with a lot of scared kids caught in the middle. Jump Zero was starting to sound more like one of the 'homes for troubled youth' he'd routinely run away from rather than a school. "Doing what they thought was 'best'?"

"It wasn't best for us. They brought in an ex-military turian named Commander Vyrnnus. To introduce himself, he liked to say..." Kaidan deepened his voice. "I was at the helm of the dreadnought that killed your father." His voice returned to normal. "I told him my dad wasn't in the war. He'd retired to Vancouver. My family had an inland home that matured to new beachfront. Vyrnnus had it in for me after that. He cut corners, pushed hard. I mean, you either came out a superman or a wreck. And a lot of kids snapped. A few died." He shifted slightly. "The point of all this - I guess - is that when you cut corners, it's not always obvious who pays for it."

"So why are you telling me this?" Michael frowned. "Is there something I can do to help you get over it?"

"I'm thirty-two, Shepard. You don't serve as long as I have without coming to terms with yourself." He shrugged. "You also learn that if someone is special to you, you help them. Try to keep them from making mistakes."

"So..." Michael folded his arms. "This is the part where you try to fix me?"

"That's not what I..." Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck. "If I'm out of line, just say the word."

"You're not out of line, Kaidan." He shook his head. "Hell, if anything, you're just reminding me of where the line is, and that's not a bad thing."

"I don't normally make a habit of complicating the chain of command."

"Well, that makes one person in this particular circus." Michael looked up at Kaidan. "That first bank job? I was twelve. Didn't realize how cold it could get in a big city like New York. Couldn't go to a government run shelter, because they checked fingerprints, not just IDs. So I played lookout. Took the credits. Got a place to sleep for a while and food I didn't have to hack the lock on a dumpster to get." He met Kaidan's eyes. "It's a big galaxy, Kaidan. And there is more than one world out there. Sometimes, there's more than one world inside a single city."

"I..." He nodded. "I get you."

"I'll think about what you said. And I do appreciate you saying it."