Chapter 4
"…and so the day I turned eighteen I joined the alliance… brave new frontier and all that. Folks didn't like it, but I didn't care. Alliance must have seen something they liked because they had me in and out of officer school in under two years, was leading ground teams in three. Killed my share of slavers and mercs out near the edge of alliance space, got sick of it, decided I'd do something noble. Didn't turn out so well."
The Klausian nodded, but said nothing, his hand absently fingering the hilt of his sword, which he had removed from across his back and laid across his lap. The long cab ride to the presidium was nearing the halfway point. Outside the wards rushed by in a blur, traffic now at full bore.
"So what about you?" She asked, turning to him and cocking an eyebrow. "You've let me go on about myself but we know almost nothing about you."
"By we you mean Cerberus? Or you personally?" The Klausian sighed, his hand leaving the hilt. "Violent men try to keep their pasts from swallowing them up, Miss Valentine. That is if they intend to remain sane."
"I've placed myself under your command, as will no small number of other operatives. How do we know you're not like Saren? He was certainly mysterious and aloof, and of course we know how that ended…"
The Klausian snorted. "I would hardly call Saren mysterious. He was the most public of all the Specters if anything. Most of the galaxy at large knew his name even before he went rogue, and pretty much everyone in the verge knew him on sight. Not exactly a low profile. As for me, no one not living on Klaus III or IV knows my birth name, and they have enough respect for my accomplishments to be satisfied addressing me as Executor or Specter. And if not for my rather distinguishing physical characteristic, I'm fairly confident I wouldn't be known at all."
"How did you lose that eye anyway?" She regretted the question almost immediately, the Klausian tensed as if her words were some sort of attack. After a moment he relaxed again.
"You assume a level of familiarity that you have not earned, Miss Valentine." The rest of the trip was spent in awkward silence.
Jill stood alone in the large docking bay, to her right was the ship entrance, a vast void stretched onward beyond it, small specks of light rushed to and fro in the distance, signifying ships making their way across the expanse. She inspected her watch, the ship was due any minute, and the Klausian and his crew had yet to arrive.
Earlier in the day the Klausian and the Illusive man had had a brief, albeit heated, exchange. Old one eye had wanted to acquire a Klausian ship and crew for the mission, the Illusive man, a Cerberus ship and crew members. Eventually they had settled on a compromise, something Jill considered no small feat considering the two dominant personalities clashing.
Old one eye had set off to speak to the Klausian ambassador aboard the Citadel, his goal to sift through Klausian military records, trying to assemble the best crew from those readily available. Meanwhile she had come to the dock to meet their ship. Before the Normandy II had been constructed on board one of the many Cerberus dry docks, a prototype had been constructed. Originally meant for the omega 4 relay mission, this ship was an exact duplicate of the first Normandy, and as such had been discarded when it had become known the fate of the first vessel, as how could they rely on a ship that had already failed once? Once it was known that Cerberus was recruiting the Klausian, Cerberus engineers had scrambled to incorporate as many upgrades into the prototype as possible, doing everything they could to make it space worthy in a limited amount of time.
As Jill understood it, the prototype could fly, and was at least structurally sound, but it would still rely on them to make finishing modifications, including a proper shake down. It would be a tall order for the crew, especially since old one eye didn't seem to think he could round up more than a dozen crew members with the Klausians that were on the Citadel, and the staff size required for a frigate such as the prototype was more in the neighborhood of thirty.
Jill looked at her watch again, sighing in frustration. The ship would be here any moment, where was he?
"You realize that entire system is still under quarantine? Any ship that enters is automatically seen as infected, and as such most patrols are more likely to blow a ship into dust. And if even one egg or one infected being makes it back to civilized space it could cause an outbreak that could threaten millions if not billions of lives." The Turian councilor stopped to take a breath, his mandibles twitching as if the audacity of the Klausian's request were enough to make them move independently of his will.
"The Salarian councilor took this opportunity to speak up. "And you have yet to give us any insight into your mission, Specter. To make such a request as allow you to enter a sector of space quarantined for nearly a decade most certainly arouses our curiosity."
The Klausian had been silent up until this point, his fingers rubbing his chin absently. "Do not mistake me, councilors. The purpose of my visit today is to seek neither your approval nor your understanding. Merely to inform you of my intent. I am entering the dark void cluster with or without your blessing."
The councilors conferred for a moment, the holographic projector in the Klausian ambassador's office, shimmering for a moment as the four figures whispered.
At last their conference ended, and it was councilor Anderson that spoke. "Your missions are of course your business Specter, and your long tenure most certainly guarantees you the authority to do as you will. We simply wish you would give the council more of a window into your missions and objectives. Though we trust you implicitly the universe can ill afford another Saren."
"I understand the council's concern." Replied the Klausian, meeting the holographic gaze of the human council member. "That is why I arranged this meeting in the first place, to allay any fears the council might have prior to my departure." He clasped his hand behind his back, the long sword shifting as he did so. "I must do what I must do, councilors. This mission is imperative to the survival of our civilization, but I can give you no further details at this juncture."
"Very well then, Executer." It was the Asari council member that spoke now, her habit of speaking his Klausian title indicative of the respect she held for the position. "You have the council's backing in this matter. This means however that it falls on you to ensure that no one who accompanies you returns infected, this of course may mean purging your entire crew, including yourself."
"If required, I will do so, you have my assurance, councilor." The gray eye flashed grimly.
"Then we wish you the best of luck, Specter." Councilor Anderson was the last to speak.
The Salarian ambassador nodded, and the Turian tilted his head in respect as the meeting ended.
The open room was quiet for a moment, then the Klausian turned, facing the room's only other occupant.
"You sure do play your cards close to the vest." The Klausian ambassador smiled, his tone one of good humor. "Cant believe they relented. The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?"
"Indeed, most of it stems from the knowledge that I would continue to do what I needed to regardless of their approval. They could strip me of my position tomorrow and it would not influence my mission in the slightest."
"You've always done things your own way, it makes them nervous."
"As well it should. They realize that even they are not above retribution should they fall from the path of righteousness."
The ambassador sighed, crossing his arms. "You really need to lighten up. Maybe running with a crew and team again after all this time will help."
"Advice? From a former student?" The Klausian gave a half smile. "Sorry Cliff, but I'm far past lightening up, this mission is deadly serious."
"So why all the secrets? I've always known better than to pry, I generally think its better not knowing, but wouldn't it be better to tell someone who's not going with you what's going on?"
"Yes, actually. Here." The Klausian produced an osd from inside his jacket, handing it to the ambassador. "This disk details everything I know so far. Should I fail, please deliver this disk to Executor Koas, she'll know what to do."
The ambassador looked at the disk for a moment. He looked back at his former mentor, pretty sure of what he was going to say next.
"And under no circumstances are you to view its content. So orders the Executor."
"And so I shall obey." Cliff gave the ceremonial response, snapping to attention even though his military days were long over. The ambassador was hardly a worrier, but no small amount of dread was creeping up on him.
After a moment, Cliff spoke. "You think this human science experiment is worth it? Ten years is a long time to be in deep sleep."
"Absolutely. His mental conditioning and gene therapy will make him invaluable. I only hope that he has survived amongst those creatures for the last decade. I have faced them before, and they are as cunning and deadly as they are resilient. The councilor saying that billions of lives could end if we inadvertently bring one back with us is not an understatement."
Cliff glanced over at the monitor on the wall, on its display was a man wearing a c-sec uniform, a strand of long black hair coming down the side of his face. He sighed heavily. "You do this job, you try and do right by the peoples of the universe, you think you are making a difference… and then you hear of something like this. Genetic restructuring, borg implants, brain washing… humans have incredible capacity for cruelty toward their own kind, it sickens me."
The one gray eye fixed him with a hard look, one that Cliff's father and father's father had trained under. "Do not waiver, ambassador. Without resolve…"
"…we are as nothing." Cliff finished the old Klausian axiom quietly.
"I'm off, the crew should be waiting for me. I have no doubt miss Valentine is becoming anxious."