3. The Key
"Where is the Thorian?" Saren loomed over the human man, pistol in hand. He growled, sub-harmonics promising pain if the answer was not forthcoming.
The human shivering on the ground before him was trying Saren's patience. The man had come into the tunnels, muttering to himself about a generator on the fritz again. Saren had ambushed him, knocking him unconscious with a blow to the head, and dragged him deeper into Feros's underground. He'd found a place where the other humans from the Zhu's Hope colony wouldn't hear him scream and waited for the human to wake up.
And of course the first thing the human had done on waking was vomit on himself. Saren suspected the human had a rather severe concussion, but that didn't matter. The human wasn't going to live through this. Saren only needed him to find the Thorian.
The stench of vomit, blood and mildew of the underground tunnels irritated Saren's nose. He was tired of waiting. The human's stringy, brown hair was matted with partially-dried blood and one eye was swollen shut, but he was still refusing to talk. Saren was tempted to just kill him and find another human.
Perhaps a female would be more cooperative, Saren thought, casually examining the pistol.
"I already told you," the human whined, wiping vomit from his chin. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
Saren sighed. It would take too long to wait for another human to come by and going into the colony would probably alert the humans to their presence. With just him and the asari, he wasn't ready to risk an outright fight just yet. I guess I'm stuck with this one, then.
He shot the man in the kneecap.
The human screamed.
"If you won't talk," Saren said, voice low and foreboding, "I have other ways of finding out, human."
The human choked, sputtering sobs wracking his body as he held his bleeding knee.
Saren holstered the pistol and advanced slowly toward the man.
"Please," the human howled. "I'm just a maintenance guy!" He crawled away, leaving a red trail on the grimy duracrete. "I don't know anything, I swear!"
Like any wounded prey, he instinctively retreated from the turian until he met the far wall.
Saren grabbed him by the hair. The human threw a weak, disoriented punch, missing his target by a wide margin. Saren swatted his fist away and smashed his head against the wall hard enough to daze him.
He shoved the man face-first into the wall, drawing a whimper. Saren grabbed the human's wrists and braced a knee in his lower back, pulling until he felt the shoulder joints dislocate. Ignoring the human's screams, he hooked his arm behind the human's and lifted him none too gently, one hand twined in the human's greasy hair.
The human flailed his good leg, trying desperately to kick at him. Saren shook him hard, jostling his dislocated shoulders and the human went limp from pain.
Saren turned. "Shiala."
The asari hung back timidly in the shadows, watching from the entrance.
"Find out what he knows."
The asari took a step forward, green eyes downcast.
The human struggled weakly. "No! Please, I- I don't know anything!"
Saren tightened his grip and the human started crying. Pathetic. He jerked the human's head back.
The asari, Shiala, stepped toward him. "If you stop fighting," she told the human, gently cupping his chin so she could look in his good eye, "this will hurt less."
"No, no," the human whispered piteously. His body went rigid as Shiala's eyes blackened, then went slack as she entered his mind.
Saren watched Shiala explore his mind, her lips compressed tightly. The human twitched every so often, but was mostly still. After a moment, Shiala stepped back from him, outside the human's kicking range.
"I felt it." Shiala's irises turned green again. "The Thorian is inside his mind."
Saren looked thoughtful, ignoring the pained gasps of the human as he thrashed. "Can you communicate with it?"
Shiala looked uncertain. "It is ... difficult to explain. I can feel it there, but it is not. If I am to communicate, I cannot use him." Shiala nodded to the human. "The link is one way. I cannot access its mind through his. I must contact it directly."
"Can you find it?"
"Yes," Shiala said. "I was able to extract its location from his mind."
He knew the human had been lying.
Saren snapped the human's fragile neck with a vicious twist. He dropped the body in distaste. How did they manage to survive when such a vital structure was so profoundly weak? He wiped his bloody hands on the human's clothes.
He stepped over the body. "Lead the way," he said calmly. He didn't miss the flicker of regret on the asari's face when she glanced at the dead human, but she turned and led him out of the room quickly enough.
It was nearly dusk on Feros's surface, bathing the colony in an eerie orange glow.
Zhu's Hope was little more than a motley collection of pre-fabs, crammed between the Prothean skyscrapers that dotted the ruins. Most of the humans lived in the nearest tower, so there weren't any hanging around when Shiala led them out of the tunnels.
They headed toward the port.
Saren could hear talking. He put his hand on Shiala's shoulder. She look looked back at him, a question on her lips. Saren gave her a hard look and gestured at her to be silent.
Moving under cover, he peered around the edge of the stairs. On the platform above him were two humans, both female.
"Come on, May," one said. "You know how Daniel is. He's a lazy bastard, not an idiot. He's probably still looking for that intact power core he swears he saw the other day."
"Yeah, but I still don't like it," the other, presumably May, said. "Davin said there's wild varren down there. If he's not back in an hour, I'm going to organize a search party."
She turned and walked off.
The other human huffed. "You're overreacting, you know," she called out. "When he gets back, I'm going to tell him how you freaked out."
"Fine!" The voice echoed as it reached him from below. Saren assumed the other human was far away.
He craned around and saw the other woman's back. He drew his pistol and gestured at Shiala to remain in cover. Wait until you are called.
She nodded in understanding.
Saren made his way silently up the stairs.
"I can't believe it." The woman tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Like the damn generator couldn't wait 'til morning. Why do I always get stuck babysitting?"
Saren clamped a hand over her mouth and pressed the muzzle into her temple.
"If you try to scream, I'll pull the trigger," Saren said in a low voice.
The human went still.
He pressed the gun a little harder into her skin. "Nod if you understand."
The human gave a slight nod.
"Good." He turned his head slightly, over to the stairwell. "Shiala, come here," he called, keeping his voice down but loud enough for the asari to hear.
Shiala climbed the stairs. She stopped at the top, waiting for direction.
"Now," he said to the human, "if you don't want to end up like your friend - Daniel, was it?"
She stiffened.
"If you don't want to end up like Daniel, you will do what I tell you." Saren looked at Shiala.
"The entrance is this way," she said, gesturing.
He nodded and the asari retook the lead. Saren kept his hand over the human's mouth. "Start walking," he said, giving her a little push.
She started walking, keeping pace with him as best she could. I knew a female would be more cooperative.
Shiala led them to a plateau near the spaceport. It was deserted, so Shiala led them quickly to another set of tunnels.
Once inside, Saren let go of the human. "Keep walking," he said, touching the gun to the back of her head.
"Please." She lifted her hands. "Just tell me what you want."
"You can't give me what I want, human," Saren said, growling deep in his chest as he pulled his pistol back. It was an unmistakable warning and she flinched. He doubted she would try to run now, but if she did, he didn't want blood all over his gun.
"Then why?" Her voice increased in pitch, drawing out into a whine. "Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to you?"
"You're here as leverage," Saren growled, not bothering to conceal the disdain his sub-harmonics broadcast. "As for why, human, you can't understand." Saren knew there was a good chance this Thorian might be listening in, though, so he decided to set the stakes. "Here's what you need to know— if I don't get what I want, you die. If I still don't get what I want, your friends die. And if I don't get it then, I'll kill everyone on this planet, one by one, until I do."
The human fell quiet and they walked in silence, spiraling ever downwards in the dark damp of the tunnels.
About the third flight down, Saren grimaced as he started to smell something unpleasant. The smell grew stronger as they descended, a putrid, fetid rot. It grew almost intolerable by the time they reached the bottom, the stench managing to burn Saren's nose.
The human doubled over and turned her head towards him, eyes watering, and started to retch.
"Breathe through your mouth." Saren nudged her with the pistol. He'd seen enough human vomit for one day.
"This way," the asari called from further ahead. "I ... I think I've found it."
"Get moving," he said to the human.
She stumbled back to her feet, feeling along the wall.
The hallway opened into a large, circular room. In the middle was a large thing.
The reports said it was some kind of plant. In Saren's opinion, the thing looked absolutely nothing like a plant. The bulk of it hung suspended from the upper levels. Tentacle-like protrusions hung from its base. They twitched as Saren approached, leading the human.
The female fell to her knees in front of it, shivering.
The asari walked up alongside of him, looking up at the beast-plant. "This is the Thorian? I wonder if it can understand us, if it even knows we are here."
"Of course it does," the human choked out.
"Can you talk to it?" Saren asked the human sharply.
"No." The human huddled down, holding herself. "But I don't have to. It understands you because I understand you."
Saren looked up at the thing. "Good." He lifted his pistol, pointing it at the human's head. "My name is Saren. You have something I want. If you give it to me, I can give you something in return. If you don't give me what I want, this colony will die."
The human shivered, harder than before. "It doesn't like being threatened."
He tipped his head in a show of understanding. "Of course not," Saren said, sub-harmonics vibrating with false reassurance. "But the fact remains that if I don't get what I want, there will be consequences. I have a ship waiting in orbit. If I don't return, my troops have orders to exterminate the colony. Hopefully we can come to an agreement where we both get what we want."
"Why did you kill Daniel?" The human gasped. "It doesn't believe you."
"I killed the human because he refused to cooperate. I had a feeling you weren't letting him talk," he said to the plant. "I had to show you that I was serious, that I will not hesitate to kill all of your thralls if you force my hand. But if you cooperate, I have no reason to care if you keep them. In fact, I have good reason to want you to have more human thralls."
The human rubbed her arms. "It's listening."
Saren calmly holstered his pistol as a show of good faith. Not that I actually need it to kill the human to begin with, Saren thought. It was an empty gesture, but the plant wouldn't know that.
"There was once a species called Protheans on this colony. I know you would have taken some of them as thralls. I need information about them."
He gestured to the asari, who stepped forward.
The creature flicked its tentacles at her.
"Shiala is capable of creating a mental link, able to share memories with you. Allow her to access your memories of the Protheans. In return, I will send you a significant portion of my troops. There are many, as many as you could want. Perhaps they can even transport you to Earth, homeworld of the humans. Is this not a fair exchange?"
The creature twitched. It was silent for a while.
The human stood, head bowed. "The Thorian accepts your offer." She walked to Shiala. "This way."
The human positioned Shiala in front of the creature, then retreated until she reached the wall. She closed her eyes and slid down the wall until she sat on the floor, still holding her arms to her body.
The Thorian laid its tentacles on Shiala.
Saren watched her make the link with the plant. The asari knew nothing of his true plans. The plant would have no reason to suspect anything different.
After a few minutes, the Thorian released Shiala.
She stepped back, shaking.
"Do you have it?" Saren asked her.
Shiala turned around, her eyes still black. "Yes, we hold the Cipher," she replied, though her voice was slightly off. Saren realized she was still in link with the plant. Interesting.
"Good. Let me see it," Saren replied, pretending he didn't understand he was talking to the Thorian as well.
"The Old Growth demands more," Shiala-Thorian said.
"Like what?" Saren feigned surprise, his sub-harmonics giving a low trill. "I thought we had a deal."
"This meat knows your troops are cold ones," Shiala-Thorian replied. "The Old Growth has no use for metal."
"In that case," Saren said, gesturing benevolently, "you might be more interested in the colonists we recovered from Eden Prime."
Shiala-Thorian seemed to process this, checking Shiala's mind for details about the raid on Eden Prime. She would know it was a human colony and that Saren had been there to recover the beacon. The other details of the attack weren't common knowledge.
"The Thorian demands to know more," Shiala-Thorian said in her newly strange voice.
Saren suppressed a smirk.
"Of course." He gave a brisk, business-like nod. "Eden Prime is a human colony. I went there for the Prothean beacon and had my troops collect the colonists. I intended to use them, but I could barter them instead if you prefer."
Again Shiala-Thorian fell silent as they exchanged information. "You do not have your thralls with you. Only cold ones."
"That's true," Saren said slowly. He'd let it think it had caught him in a lie. "If I had known your preference for organics, I would have brought them." Saren sighed as though he were disappointed and tilted his head. "We have reached an impasse, then. Unfortunately, if I do not return to my ship before sundown, my troops will begin the execution order."
"If your cold ones attack," it said, "you will die."
"Perhaps," Saren said, nonchalantly. "But so will you. My troops already know of you. Your organic thralls are no match for them. Once they eliminate your thralls, they will come for you." Saren smiled viciously. "And you cannot control metal, can you? There would be nothing to stop them from destroying you completely."
Shiala-Thorian fell silent.
After a moment, Saren gestured magnanimously. "Of course, there may still be a way."
It tilted its head in mimicry of his earlier action.
"The asari, Shiala. Unlike the colonists, the asari is crucial to my mission. I can find more flesh to experiment on, but I need the asari's skills." Saren gestured at her. "Give me the Cipher. You can keep the asari with you as leverage. I will return to my ship and stay the execution order. Then I will go to my base to collect the colonists, then return here to retrieve her." He nodded. "If I don't comply, you can kill the asari. That would set me back tremendously."
"You have others. You would not return for this one."
Saren shook his head. "I do have other asari, but each has unique abilities. None of the others is as skilled in linking minds. Besides, what do you lose this way?" He dipped his head. "I get my information, and if I don't return, you get to keep the asari."
The Shiala-Thorian combo seemed to think about it. As far as Shiala knew, everything he'd said was true. The seed he'd planted prior to landing was germinating.
It nodded. "Very well."
When Saren returned to the ship, there was a message on his Omni-tool from one of his Citadel contacts: his assassins were dead.
He stabbed the tool's interface, determined to find why they failed.
The extranet was abuzz with news of the first human Spectre. A quick search brought up a low quality Omni-vid someone had leaked of the proceeding. Spectre appointments were classified, but that didn't stop some moron from secretly recording it from the Chambers upper balcony. Apparently they didn't realize everyone who entered the Tower was recorded and very few had access to the upper levels.
Perhaps one of my contacts can bring them in, find out what else they know about this proceeding, he mused as he pulled up it to his Omni-tool.
Saren watched the shaky inauguration vid with a growing rage, growling deep in his chest. His mandibles flared wide, baring his teeth at the damnable woman.
He hissed as a female quarian moved into the frame. What did she find? There wasn't supposed to be any evidence!
The vid hastily cut off near the end. The enterprising videographer was probably belatedly worried about being discovered by Tower Security.
Saren had seen enough.
He sat thoughtfully, shutting down the optic display.
If the Council appointed Shepard, the quarian had found evidence against him somehow and the humans had managed to get another hearing without him there. Putting the how question aside, the Council would have revoked his Spectre status.
Saren felt a flare of rage return. He pushed it down. There will be time for that later.
This vid was an oversight on the Council's part. That someone could make it at all was a clear indication Shepard had forced the Council's hand. They hadn't planned to appoint her. Security had no time to prepare, meaning her inauguration was a quick solution.
Saren had dealt with the Council long enough to know their ineptitude. They were awed by their own power, manipulating the idiotic masses into believing they were wiser than anyone else. They wouldn't advertise his expulsion from the Spectres because it would expose them as fools. They would order Shepard to bring him in quietly, keeping it undisclosed to the public. At least that was one good thing about their arrogance.
Saren stood and paced the bridge slowly. He clenched and unclenched his talons.
He was a well-known Spectre, so most wouldn't dare look too closely at his activities. The Council couldn't seize assets outside their jurisdiction. Even in Council space, he had shell accounts and no shortage of desperate contacts. Most of his resources were intact.
When he found Sovereign from the files he obtained on Camala, Saren knew he couldn't trust the Council with it. If he had told them about the Reapers, they wouldn't have believed it. And even if they did, they'd try to fight. The Council could never grasp such power. They would refuse to bow down to something greater than themselves and the Reapers would crush them all.
No, he couldn't allow that. The Reapers were capable of the complete annihilation of all organics. If they fought, the Reapers would fight back. Saren was sworn to protect the galaxy, even if it meant disobeying the idiots on Council.
Saren had prepared for this day, knowing a time may come when he couldn't operate freely.
Twenty-four years of Spectre service left him with more wealth than one person could ever need, and there wasn't much credits couldn't buy - one way or another. He'd invested his way into many corporations, bought their best and brightest for his own use.
He'd hoped to keep his Spectre status, though. Losing it was a hard blow, and to a human no less! Saren felt the rage gnawing at the edges of his mind. He'd been a Spectre almost as long as this human interloper had been alive.
But like Desolas had taught him, duty was the highest of virtues. Saren had earned his status on his own merits, but he was no stranger to sacrifice. His status had been a valuable resource to furthering the cause, but it was only one of many resources. Ultimately, it too was disposable.
Of course, now that he was outed, he had to move fast.
First he walked to the geth terminal in the bridge. "Destroy the colony and kill every human on the planet. Go to ExoGeni's headquarters and copy all the data. Send it to me when you're done, then delete everything and destroy the building. Leave nothing behind."
He thought for a minute.
"Retrieve the asari if you can. She is in the Thorian's lair under Zhu's Hope. If you can't retrieve her alive, kill the plant and bring her body back to the base."
He plotted the course back to Virmire, then sat back on the bench. If they were sending this human after him, he wasn't going to make it easy for her. He opened his Omni-tool. It was time to make use of all those resources.
A.N.: This was a tough chapter to write and I'm still not sure if I pulled off everything I tried to do. The 'interrogation' scene was rewritten probably four or five times. On the one hand, I don't want to write torture porn. On the other, Saren is more than willing to torture for information. The first version was violent in the extreme, but I figured it might be too over the top. The second version was neutered to the point where it lost believability, at least in my view. Hopefully I managed to get the right balance of violence and plot this time. Advice would be greatly appreciated on this one, since future chapters will definitely include comparable levels of violence.
The Thorian conversation was also hard. I almost didn't write it at all. My first version skipped it completely with just an acknowledgement that Saren had sacrificed Shiala. I told myself it'd be better to leave the specifics to the imagination, but that felt like I was cheating you guys and wimping out. I went back and added the scene, trying to figure out how Saren managed to get what he wanted without the whole colony attacking him.
I feel like a plant, even one as old and intelligent as the Thorian, wouldn't be very good at realizing when it's being manipulated. It's used to taking what it wants and having access to the minds of its thralls. It'd be impossible to manipulate if someone was already under its control. The Thorian also isn't very subtle. Even the densest Shepard realizes the colonists are acting weird, even if they don't know why. I wanted to show how manipulative Saren can be, but I worry it may just come across as I'm making it too easy for Saren as the author, instead of Saren just being that good. :/
As always, comments, critiques and reviews always welcome!
