Inluvis - The second gestational period in turian pregnancy. Between 8 and 16 weeks. Slang: Little one, in the sense of being young and underdeveloped.
Senuxem - Ancient exalted. A term of reverence when referring to one's elders: grandparents, great grandparents. Senux: slang. A derogative. Human equivalent: geezer.
Obluvis - One who is senile or absent-minded.
Maraquil - Sea birds of prey. Large white and blue-green raptors that nest in seaside cliffs on Palaven.
Fragrutis - A cactus native to Palaven that grows short, tough, and spiny but succulent leaves. The leaves are crushed, chopped and used as a spice in turian cooking. Very hot and spicy, adding a tart, savoury flavour.
Teirati paste - the turian answer to sriracha sauce.
Acuta Eus - a chip made from a combination of grains, vegetables, and spices. Turian Doritos.
44 Days ASR
Eyes watched from somewhere in the crowd. The further they ventured through Nos Astra's spaceport, the heavier that stare pressed down on him. Nihlus cast a glance at the drell walking at his side, looking for any sign that the ex-assassin saw the same tell-tale signs he did. Thane nodded without returning the glance.
A slippery sort of dread had oozed between the Spectre's vertebrae to set up residence along his spinal cord about the same time he and Solana had stepped away from Shepard and Garrus at the Cipritine spaceport. As much as expediency required it, the three of them shouldn't split up; as a unit, they stood so much stronger. He'd seen that after they'd pulled Shepard out of that pit-fighting club. Somehow, all three of them had been headed toward each other their entire lives. Yes, sometimes he allowed doubt to whisper its lies in his aural canal, but he knew their connection to be true.
His mandibles gave a tiny flutter as he recalled the way Shepard clung to him when she said goodbye, her kiss open, passionate, and full of joy and promise. It tasted so much better than he'd ever hoped, especially when he'd expected her arrival at his door two nights before to herald the death of all his hopes. He cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders as his plates loosened at the memory of her tongue sliding along his.
"Don't be so damned obvious," Sol grumbled from his other side, her sub-vocals rolling enough that he knew she didn't just mean about looking for their tail. She hitched her kit further up her shoulder. "We're supposed to be professionals." The tarin let out a long breath and looked up, craning her neck a little as she gawked at the city. "So this is Illium, huh?" Meeting Nihlus's eyes, she made a face. "I don't like it. Too uppity and snotty." She paused, sending up a flare to alert him to incoming fire. "Your living here makes so much more sense now."
"I thought you taught espionage," he said, subvocals teasing. She dropped and flicked her mandibles at him. He sighed. "Sometimes it's good to be obvious, inluvis. If they know you're watching them watch you, it can throw them off, make them move too soon. Surely, you know this."
Sol just rumbled in reply—no doubt because her bait had caught a lecture rather than a more entertaining reaction—and cut through the crowd to the cab stand.
Once they soared through the heavy lanes of traffic, Nihlus let the car do the driving and leaned back, his gaze wandering the horizon. Nos Astra lived in perpetual twilight, a gorgeous and disarming backdrop that he couldn't help think had been purposeful. How better to lull the galaxy into a false sense of security than to surround the darkness with beauty.
"So, seriously," Sol asked, cutting a glance across at him, "why did you live here? This place is so … asari in sleek dresses." Her mandibles dropped. "Oh, no, please tell me that's not why."
A sharp laugh cut through his chuff. "Yes, it's my love of asari and sleek dresses. They both make me feel so pretty." A long, growling breath followed. "If you fight evil for a living, where better to live than in the midst of it?" Of course, that wasn't the whole truth. Saren had always maintained a residence on Illium. His love of asari in sleek dresses had been well documented over the cycles. Nihlus leaned back, using the headrest. He'd never known why Saren had been with him. He'd asked several times, but his mentor never answered. Perhaps Saren hadn't known either or perhaps some part of him had been ashamed of the answer.
Everything before Saren tried to shoot him, that entire life, seemed like a faraway dream. Or nightmare. Passion had never been a problem in their relationship, but it grew out of a deep, well-cultivated bed of anger. Despite the unpredictable excitement of those cycles, they'd been tumultuous and painful. He doubted he could even count how often he'd felt used, his adoration manipulated.
Familiar landmarks outside the windows pulled him from his thoughts; they were close, the car dropping past Saren's favourite place to eat, then his. The two bore no similarities. Saren made a great many credits as a Spectre, and enjoyed spending them. Nihlus had never been as comfortable with bribes, gifts, and gratuities, and his income suffered for it. Not that his income level had ever bothered him. He worked all the time, and he made enough to spend his infinitesimal time off comfortably.
"Wow, this is getting weirder and weirder, senux." Sol lifted up in her seat to look out the window. "This is a really upscale part of the city. Look at these places." Another quick, glance seared the side of his head. "Tell the truth: you didn't live here. We're going to be breaking and entering, aren't we?"
He laughed and took over piloting once more. "I moved in with Saren. He liked living the good life. At least, he did once." He brought the car down into a parking space on the roof of the penthouse atop one of the archologies.
"The penthouse?" She jumped a little when Thane ducked out of the car, as if she'd forgotten the drell had accompanied them. The reprieve lasted only a second before her maraquil stare fixed on him once more. "Who the hell are you?"
Nihlus got out, grabbed his kit, then walked past her to the elevator. "The torin who lives in a single room on Omega, same as I was yesterday." He glanced over his shoulder at her and scowled. "This was never me. This was Saren. That's why we're here." He shrugged. "Well … and I left my favourite pillow and Aurin Plavidus here."
As he entered his code into the lock, Nihlus felt the eyes, heavy and scalding on the back of his neck once more. Following a hunch, he called up the access log for the elevator. Once a week, his cleaning service had entered their code. Twice over the months, his landlord … and then, ten days before, someone had entered, but using a slicer code. Damn.
"Spectre Kryik?" the drell said, his voice pitched low. "Is there a problem?"
He tipped his head in a single nod. "Slicer code, ten days ago. It's a private elevator with one destination." The whine-click of all three sidearms played in concert. He called the elevator, and when the doors opened, scanned the interior and mechanisms for traps or explosives. Nothing.
"Clear," he said, the word dropping with little surprise. He hadn't really thought anyone would bother blowing it up or rigging it to fall. Bombs were messy and notoriously imprecise, and a fall of two storeys would hardly prove fatal. Solana pushed past him, entering first, sharp eyes looking everything over before she stepped out of the way. He chuffed a little as he followed. "You're not my bodyguard, Sol."
A sharp bark of sound and breath, her chuff shattered his and rebounded inside the elevator. "I'm whatever I say I am, senux obluvis." Her grin leered at him in reflection from the control panel. "Garrus's new dilan took down a Reaper; I'm not about to find out what happens if I let you get yourself killed."
"Four fleets and … well, I had a little to do with taking that thing down, too." However, Sol had a point in that Shepard would not react well to him getting himself or his tiny squad killed. Time to decide some division of labour. As much as she worked for Grey Division, Sol eschewed covert tactics, preferring a more direct, brutal approach. Sere Krios on the other hand, was known for getting in and out of places without a trace.
"Can you see about locating and identifying our tail?" he asked the drell. "There's no need to interfere; in fact, I'd rather they get a chance to show their intentions. I'd just like to have some intel on who, how many … whatever you can discover."
A single nod answered him, a pleasant relief after Sol's fairly constant chatter. As keen as his filiam's intellect could be, and as much as he adored her, the twenty cycles difference in their ages meant that half the time, he didn't have the slightest clue what she was talking about.
When the elevator stopped, he nodded to Sol. If she wanted to go in first, play bodyguard, it didn't really hurt him to let her go for it. She could shoot the ears off a preteril without a scope, her pari's influence, just as it had been with Garrus. He left his kit in the corner of the elevator and took cover opposite Sol's position. Despite doubting that anyone awaited them, it never hurt to err to the side of caution.
Sol swung out, the muzzle of her sidearm cutting an arc through the open foyer. Nihlus followed on her heels without waiting for her to call clear. The apartment had belonged to Spectres, the furnishings and sightlines designed to provide no cover for ambush and very little for incoming attackers. The stairs to the master bedroom provided the only cover in the central living space.
The three of them moved quickly through the apartment, the assassin reading their body language with such precision that Nihlus didn't have to gesture a single command. He hadn't been certain about Shepard's choice of chaperone, but an hour into working with the drell, he knew she couldn't have chosen better.
"Sol … Thane … " Nihlus gestured to two doors off the sitting room. "... you can decide which room you want. I'll be upstairs." He returned to the elevator for his kit, and ran it upstairs. Setting it next to the bed, he saw that everything remained the way he'd left it when he'd packed up and headed off to meet the Normandy. After Eden Prime, so much changed he hadn't even thought about coming back.
He bent over the nightstand on his side of the bed. Aurin stood watch next to the lamp and a single holo sat in the back corner. He and Saren stood with arms slung around one another's shoulders, looking sharp in formal uniforms. They'd received a commendation for bringing down a terminus slaving ring. A soft, hollow wind blew through the empty space that waited for answers. It had been a great night. Saren and he truly felt like partners and lovers that night.
A soft, polite cough alerted Nihlus to the drell's presence. He straightened, but didn't turn. "You found a room all right?" he asked. "Make yourself comfortable. There's a datapad with a list of markets that deliver next to the fridge. Whatever you need, just put it on my account."
"Thank you. The accommodations are far more luxurious than I've grown accustomed to." Thane crossed to the window and looked out over the city. "More than a single set of eyes watches us. I believe both sets are asari, but only the first concerns me. I believe the second group are Eclipse mercenaries. No doubt they're simply hoping you'll lead them to Shepard or General Vakarian."
A scalding flush crawled up Nihlus's throat. He'd been thinking of far too much other than their security if he'd so completely failed to identify their tail. "The first?" Turning, to face the window and the black silhouette of the assassin, the Spectre narrowed his eyes, honing in on the way Thane's eyes never stopped moving, but not darting from target to target. Instead, his gaze swept slowly over the entire field of view like a scanner.
"Is a hunter. Maybe an assassin, but definitely someone with an instinct for and an intimate knowledge of the hunt." Thane turned from the window enough that the outside light caught the ridges of his facial features. His hands remained locked together behind his back. "She let me catch a glimpse or two, but nothing more than suspicious movement." He closed two, precise steps. "She's locked on you, so if I go out alone, I might be able to get a good look at her."
Nihlus just nodded. "I'm going to go through the camera feeds for the day the elevator was sliced, then reset all the codes."
Bowing his head in a deep, sharp nod, Thane strode to the stairs, but stopped before descending. "I apologize for intruding. I didn't realize that the second floor was your bed chamber." He cleared his throat. "Since I'll be out, would you like me to bring back food?"
Chuckling, Nihlus shrugged. "That'd be great. Sol gets impossible to live with when she's hungry. There's a little place across the 100th floor bridge that has both levo and dextro. If you could grab two number fives and a half dozen bottles of puala nectar, that would do nicely, thank you."
"I'll call in every thirty minutes." The drell appeared to float down the stairs, his steps silent and fluid.
Nihlus turned back to the bed, throwing his kit up on the mattress. Might as well unpack. Unless all the eyes watching them had the same root, it wouldn't be a mystery quickly solved.
He pulled his single suit from the bag and held it up, giving it a firm shake to remove some of the wrinkles. Why did he even bring it? He had ten suits in the closet that would have been kept laundered. The housekeeper liked to err to the side of thorough.
He held it open, then hung it over one arm, the other hand reaching up to brush a few grains of powder fine sand from the lining. He hadn't had a reason to wear it since that night on the beach. Spirits, three lifetimes had passed since he sat beside Jane and bared his most shameful secrets. Luckily, each lifetime had seen him grow in wisdom if not intelligence. Holding the tunic up to his face, he inhaled, hoping for some lingering trace of either the woman or that night.
"So, I've covered pretty much the entire floor, and I wouldn't know, but nothing looks messed with down here," Sol shouted up the stairs. He heard her talons rasping on the railings, and one foot thump down on the bottom step, but that's where she stopped. "I noticed there's a datapad next to the fridge with a list of stores. Anywhere in particular you prefer? Any idea how many days I should plan to stock for?"
Lowering the tunic, smelling nothing but his own scent on the material, he chuckled then strode over to the closet. "Three for now. We'll see what happens. And I don't care where, just get a case of those fragrutis noodles, a couple containers of teirati paste, and two cases of the big bottles of soda: asperi and … um … ritinop flavours."
The harsh ring of her laugh echoed up the stairs. "Junk food? That's all you want?"
"Amarceru, of course … oh and a couple bags of Acuta Eus." He waited for the hiss of disgust, chuckling when she didn't disappoint. "Don't forget the sundries."
"Yeah, whatever. I'll have a construction and clean up team ready for whatever all that spicy crap does to your digestive tract." Her voice faded along with her footsteps. "Thank the sweet spirits we don't have to share a bathroom."
Nihlus finished unpacking, casually checking to see if anything had been stolen. He suspected that the intruder had been interested in only one room in the apartment, so wasn't surprised when everything remained precisely where he'd left it. He took a shower then returned to his closet, deciding to shake things up a little and wear something he hadn't in a couple of cycles.
The first suit that caught his eye was a deep, blood red, piped with black, the center panel, collar, and cuffs gleaming with a simple vine pattern embroidered in black. Saren bought that one for the party after Nihlus's Spectre induction. Spirits … ancient history. Still, it had been his favourite, and he put it on before heading downstairs.
"Wow, shame Shepard isn't here to admire the view," Sol said, cackling softly. "Take that one back to Omega for sure."
He elbowed her and headed toward the back hallway and Saren's office. Nihlus had never used an office, his paperwork and mission detritus spread all over the dining and coffee tables, much to Saren's disgust. Saren, however, not only used an office, he kept it locked, the code scrambled. In hindsight, that probably should have been a major hint that he was up to no good.
Nihlus entered the code, but hesitated before pressing his palm to the control. How many ugly secrets hid within the file boxes and data pads in that room?
"Okay, last call," Sol said, poking her head around the doorway. "Anything else?"
He straightened. "Oh, yeah. Call the third number down, see if they have 500 grams of a soft, emerald green yarn. Something fluffy. I have a feeling we're going to be spending some time surveilling." He scowled, trying to remember what remained in the apartment and where. "Maybe get me a set of yarn hooks as well. I don't remember if I have any here."
She shook her head, "Junk food and yarn hooking supplies. You are so weird."
His attention returned to the door before he heard her talons pivot on the carpet and walk away.
"Come on, Kryik. Standing out here isn't doing you any good." Letting out a long breath, he rolled his shoulders, then his neck, and palmed the control. The door whispered open like any other door, no ghosts flew out at him, tattered cobwebs trailing like flags from their outstretched arms. No bombs went off, his heart continued to beat slow and steady in his chest, no pain lingered to rear its ugly head. What stood before him was just a slightly dusty room and a pile of boxes.
Except … .
Holes in the dust on the tops and at the handles of several boxes pulled him over the threshold. So, their intruder had been after something in Saren's files. Only … . A thick, leather bound book and a small stack of datapads sat on one corner of the desk in a neat pile. What? He hadn't left those there. The desk had been bare when he locked the room.
He stepped up to the desk and lifted the journal, opening it to the first page. Small, neat writing covered the page. He recognized it as Saren's. In their last cycle together, the other Spectre grew increasingly paranoid, convinced that even datapads not connected to another device could be hacked, and began communicating through notes and letters handwritten on paper.
"He has told me that none of my communications are safe from monitoring. They have agents everywhere and means of controlling minds that are older and more sinister than anything I could have dreamed of. Desolas saw the entirety of the universe behind the dark curtain of time and amnesia, but he did not move carefully. I must move with great care or lose myself."
Nihlus closed the journal and picked up the first datapad. A hefty list of financial institutions, addresses, contact information, and account numbers scrolled down the screen. Cocking his head, he glanced back at the journal. How sensitive must the information in the journal be if Saren had his finances on an unsecured piece of equipment? Spirits. He closed his eyes and tilted his head, cracking his neck to relieve the sudden tension.
"Is this well going to have a bottom?" he whispered to the air and dust, suddenly pretty damned sure that he'd been wrong about the room being ghost-free; they just hadn't been visible. "Or am I going to be swallowed up by whatever madness killed you?"
"You spend too much time alone," Sol said from the doorway. She tilted a little, falling loosely into the jamb. "Anything missing?"
Nihlus shrugged, setting his back to her as he picked up the tiny pile of information, hunching around it a little as he held it close to his keel. "I haven't looked in the boxes, but a very selective few were gone through." He jabbed a thumb toward the pile. "And someone took these out of the boxes and piled them here."
Turning to face her at last, he pulled out the datapad with the financials, holding it out to her. "I think this break in was about leaving a trail."
Shoving her shoulder off the doorway, she took the pad, eyeing it as if she expected it to explode. "That means all this stuff could be a trap."
"It could." He pushed past her and out the door. "Go through that pad, contact those institutions, use my Spectre clearances if you need to, but find out if they have any current or relevant information."
"While you do … what?" She followed him out into the sitting room, close enough that her presence felt aggressive, as if she was challenging him.
"I'm going to check the cameras and see who came in and did this work for us." Snatching the computer terminal off the sideboard in the sitting room, he sat on the couch, placing the other datapads and journal on the floor between his feet. "I suspect I already know who it is, but I want to be sure."
It took him less than five minutes to locate the footage from the time in question. Using a slicer code and making it that obvious … the intruder wanted Nihlus to know he'd been there, so he didn't bother to disable the cameras or delete the footage. The Spectre stared at the screen for a couple of seconds before activating his omnitool and routing a call through to Shepard.
Shepard appeared on the screen, her entire upper body dripping in muck and things he didn't even want to look at too closely, her chest heaving with each breath as if she'd been running. Still, the moment she saw him, her face brightened into a beaming smile. "Hey there, handsome." She squinted at her tool as if she couldn't see clearly. "Wow, you are intensely clean. Look at that." She held the omnitool out toward Garrus, his fratrin's equally filthy face appearing. "Garrus, look how clean he is. That's disgusting."
Garrus merely growled a little and pushed her arm away.
Chuckling, she brought Nihlus back around so he was looking at her. "Forgive the general, he's got mud ground into every seam, orifice, and pore. We all do."
In the background Wrex said something about it being an invigorating place to fight, earning himself a growl from Garrus.
"So, what can we do for you, oh disgustingly clean one?" Shepard asked, shifting a little, and then glancing over her shoulder when gunfire erupted somewhere close.
"Are you being shot at?" he asked, preparing to hang up the call. Adrenaline surging through his veins, he searched the picture for any sign of bullets impacting her shields or surroundings.
She shook her head and looked back. "Not currently. We've only been on the ground for about fifteen minutes." She grinned. "Long story, and about … four factions all trying to kill each other. So … to what do I owe the intense pleasure of your face, cikabeknai?"
"I think I already know the answer … " He transferred the security footage to his omnitool and played it for her. "... but is this Subject Alpha?" The turian on the screen hid his face inside a deep hood, but as the cloth moved with his slight limp, mechanical parts gleamed in the light. Nihlus pulled his mandibles in tight, his heart sinking into his gut. Damn it, limp or no limp, he knew. He just knew.
"Yeah, that looks like Al, all right." Her tone lowered, roughening. "Are you okay? There weren't any surprises waiting for you?"
He shut off the vid. "I'm fine. He broke into Saren's office in the apartment, went through the boxes, and set out a few things for me."
Her face turned to stone, her lips pressing together so hard that mud squeezed out between them. "Nihlus, about Al … ." She hesitated, taking a deep breath. "He's—"
The Spectre nodded, his gut wrapping itself into an intricate knot. "Yeah, I think I just figured it out." His shoulders lifted and dropped in a helpless, automatic sort of shrug. "How, Jane? How could it be?"
Gunfire erupted on the other end once more, but that time Shepard ducked down, taking cover. "Same way I'm here, love. Be careful," she called over the roar of returning gunfire. "I don't think he's a danger, but who knows." She kissed at the screen. "Love you, talk later."
"And I love you, haksaya kubenar." The screen went blank, her muddy, beautiful face vanishing back into battle. Damn, he should be there. He knew Garrus had her back, but she was crazy ... the sort of crazy that required a full time platoon of eyes watching her back. The back of his neck warmed, his face relaxing into a tiny smile as her last words replayed inside his head. Calling him love had rolled off her tongue as easily as it did with Garrus.
Pulling his head out of the clouds, as sunny and beautiful as they were, he turned back to the security footage, watching Subject Alpha move through the apartment. The torin stopped here and there, running his talons along the edge of a table or a piece of art. He paused at the bottom of the stairs, both hands on the railings, his hands bare. For a moment, he seemed to think about climbing, but then he let his foot drop and turned toward the office.
"What have you become?" Nihlus whispered at the computer screen. "What do you want?" Without taking his eyes off the computer, he reached down between his feet and picked up the journal, opening it to a page with a particularly worn and folded set of corners.
"He showed me what lies behind the curtain tonight. Afterwards, I wandered the city for hours, trying to walk off the nightmares beating at the inside of my head, but it didn't help.
There have been thousands, even millions before me. Each one finds something, each one becomes intrigued and then obsessed, each one believes that they are in control. They are all wrong. So, he showed me what lies out there, what it is that calls to me … the whispers that scrape at the inside of my skull, talons carving messages in the bone.
He showed me the Vanguard.
He said it needs me, that I have been chosen.
I don't understand why it would choose me. I don't want to help them, I've been trying to find a way to stop this madness before the curtain falls.
I returned to the apartment, showered. I got into bed, wrapped myself in Nihlus's heat, but there is no sleep left to me in this universe. I've got to find a way to stop them, a way to answer the question.
It promises that my mind will remain free. He warns me that it lies, but what else can I do?
Nihlus. The darkness would take him just to use him against me. He warns it may have already happened, but I don't believe it. Not Nihlus. He's the only pure thing in my life.
I need to leave. I've got to go before the darkness decides to use him.
I need to leave."
Nihlus stared at the last few lines, then looked up at the last frame of the security video, the picture frozen on a grey cloak getting out of the elevator on the roof. He didn't doubt that Saren left him for more reasons than anyone could fathom. The voices in his head betrayed the level of indoctrination infecting the Spectre even then. However, one tiny, private part of Saren's mind had walked out the door in order to protect Nihlus.
He shut the book and set it on the table next to the computer. He'd read it all, but not right then. Right then, he needed to give that part of his life the respect and closure it demanded. For all of Saren's flaws and faults, some part of him had loved Nihlus.
Nihlus. The darkness would take him just to use him against me.
The darkness? What did that mean?
The Haestrom shipyard slithered into his guts, a pool of pitch, cold and sluggish, but warming with every beat of his heart. The tar crept up his spine, splashing from vertebrae to vertebrae and pulling itself toward his brain. Once it got there, he knew what came next. The darkness.
Did Saren mean the orbs … the second indoctrination signal? He must have. Hadn't Dr. Chakwas and Lawson just established that the orb signal had fought off and protected Shepard from the Reaper signal? Two factions of Reapers trying to wipe one another out? He needed to read the rest of the journal. Finding out who was behind the orbs had become priority one.
The door rang, yanking Nihlus out of the endless loop of questions and complete lack of answers. He let out a quick, rough sigh when he saw Thane's face on the monitor. Damn, he'd forgotten to set new codes for the doors and send one to the drell. He got up and quickly crossed to the door.
"Thane," he said when it slid open, "apologies, I got distracted. I'll do the door codes now."
The drell shrugged and chuckled. "And I missed my last call in due to a very impressive line at the restaurant." He held up three bags. "My missions did both meet with success, however."
Nihlus caught a whiff of steam off the bags, and his stomach let out an impressive growl. His gut had been tied in too many knots, and his head full of too many warring thoughts to acknowledge something as base as hunger. He tipped his head toward the kitchen table where Sol was working. "Let's eat and we can fill one another in on what we've discovered."
Nihlus used setting the table and laying out the food as an opportunity to order and focus his mind. They sat down and ate in silence for long moments before Thane sat back, took a long drink, wiped his mouth on his napkin, then looked to Nihlus.
"I identified all of the factions following us. There are four. Three are physically surveilling you, the fourth is monitoring your security feed." He nodded when Nihlus glanced up at the cameras. "I discovered a remote intercept on the exterior upstairs window. I scrambled it temporarily. Anyone with talent in electronics will have eyes back inside this apartment within a couple of hours."
"Thank you for not disabling it just yet," Nihlus replied, feeling remarkably calm for having just heard that four groups of people were following him. "I might be able to trace the signal back to its source." He waggled his head a little and ate a couple of fried tubers. "Although, I'm pretty certain I know who those eyes belong to. How about the others?"
Thane ate a few mouthfuls before he answered. "One is the Eclipse, as I thought. I managed to separate one of their rear guards. He said that the organization has a standing order to keep eyes on you whenever you're on Illium. They've been on retainer for several cycles now. Their orders are not to interfere unless you're attacked."
Nihlus nearly choked on his mouthful of burger. He set the food down and thumped on the side of his chest for a moment. "They're protecting me?" When the drell answered by way of a serene nod, the Spectre sighed. "This just gets more and more odd."
"The third party is an asari, but she merely watched the front room windows for a while, then left, heading for a bar in the lower part of the city. She seemed to be in her late maiden or early matron period and was dressed as a civilian. I noted nothing descript about her at all." He shifted in his seat, appearing more discomfited by failing to discover what, if any, threat the asari posed than anything else so far.
"At the bar, she ordered a drink and headed for the dance floor. I watched her for a few more minutes, but she simply danced."
"And the fourth set?" Nihlus's gut rolled into a knot that tightened a little more as the seconds dragged past. Something told him that Thane had saved the worst news for last.
"Is the one that worries me," the drell said, the deepening of his tone and the slight tension in his muscles betraying the truth behind the words. "I believe she is a Justicar, and she fully intends to kill you."
(A-N: So, at last, another chapter. Been too long, and I apologize for that. I'd say, be glad you aren't reading Machinations, but some of you are … so to quote The Doctor … "No … that's more guilt!" Seriously though, I do apologize for my lack of focus.
Oddly enough, a new story trying to beat its way out of my head has given me back my focus. I started a story that is all maqqy96's fault. It is the story of Kat Shepard, who is already a Spectre and married to Nihlus when Eden Prime comes along. It's also an AU, and going to be a very different sort of war.
Anywhoo … off to Korlus to play in the mud next. Am aiming to get back on Monday and Thursdays again. *fingers crossed* Love to all. *hugs* and thanks thanks thanks, as always.)