The Starheld Compendium - Down to the Thieves Below
Chapter 3
Fayneer T'Lees – 2179
Nos Astra, Illium
"Ah, Illium," T'Lees said with a smile. "Never a place have I both loved and hated so passionately."
"Annoys the shit out of me," Seelyn remarked. "Too much power in the hands of the wealthy. Keeps the little guy from making something of herself."
"Unless you make something of yourself by working for the wealthy," Ram noted with a grin.
Ram, Seelyn, Longus, Callon and T'Lees strode out of the spaceport and into the ever-busy streets of Illium. Their gear would be arriving on a cargo vessel in a few hours as the group had agreed that shipping their equipment separately would help to diffuse any suspicion security might show. Until then, T'Lees was still waiting on the final bit of information she needed from Edsonn. The human had not changed any of his contact information since their days working for Narenthus Antarian, and had eagerly responded to her message asking if he was doing well.
"Quite well," he had replied. "Miss seeing your pretty little face, that's for damn sure."
"We shall see if you feel the same way now that it has one less eye than you might recall," she had answered. "How has business been treating you?"
It took only a few back and forth messages before she had convinced him that they might be able to collaborate on a business venture. He had almost too eagerly suggested that they meet on Illium to bounce ideas off one another. The next day, T'Lees and the rest of the merc team were on a civilian transport bound for Nos Astra.
"So we still don't know where we're meeting this guy?" Lognus asked.
"That is correct," T'Lees said as she scanned the pavilion for a taxi terminal. "Come, we should find our motel while we wait for our equipment to arrive."
She spotted the taxi landing zone and beckoned the others to follow as she made her way to the kiosk.
"And a nice bar afterward," Ram declared.
"If you want to pay out your ass for a drink, sure," Lognus scowled.
"Oh, hush," T'Lees interjected. "A round for everyone on my chit. I owe it to you all for accompanying me all the way out here to Illium."
"As long as it pays off," Callon said.
T'Lees looked over the drell out of the corner of her eye. He had been unusually quiet for the past day or so, to the point where she was beginning to suspect something may be awry in his mind. She made a note to investigate further as a taxi zoomed out of the sky to land before them.
"I am certain it will," T'Lees assured him after a short pause.
Together they climbed into the skycar and were whisked away into the vibrant Illium night.
It took only a few minutes for the five of them to check into their accommodations. The merc team, four in all, were staying in a single room where they would have to scour for as many surfaces as possible to sleep on, while T'Lees had elected to pay for her own room. She even offered her second bed to one or more of the others, but they flatly declined. Perhaps she was not as friendly with them as she had thought. After sorting out their temporary living arrangements the group hailed a taxi and were back off into the flurry of skycars darting through the city.
"So where are we going?" Ram asked from the passenger's side seat.
T'Lees lounged comfortably in the driver's side with a cool smile on her face. "A marvelous club that I go out of my way to visit at least once each time I visit Illium," she replied. "I hope you all do not mind exotic dancing."
"Are you taking us to a… gentleman's club?" Seelyn asked.
T'Lees chuckled. "Oh, Goddess, no. It is just an ordinary dance club." She gave them a grin. "But it is difficult to tame the beast of dance once it begins to run amok, and something about the music and atmosphere in this place unleashes an intoxicating urge to dance as though one's life depended on it."
"Maybe it is an intoxicating urge," Ram jested. "How strong are their drinks?"
"Hmm." T'Lees looked to the side. "Now that you mention it…"
Seelyn laughed. "Alright, alright. I'm sold. As long as they have some good turian brews."
"The finest," T'Lees promised. "Or not, depending on your taste."
The taxi made a small jump as its course changed to lead it out of the sky lane and toward the rooftop of a nearby skyscraper. They could see clearly on their approach that both the roof and top floor of the building was a singular venue, both lit by blue and teal phasing lights throughout. The skycar came to a stop over the wide balcony hanging off the side of the top floor that served as the arrival zone for vehicles. It lowered to the ground where the hatch opened to a well-dressed turian valet holding out a hand in offering. T'Lees took the hand and nodded graciously as she stepped out of the vehicle. The others brushed the valet off and scrambled out to follow the asari toward the main doors.
"This isn't a… fancy dress kind of place, is it?" Ram asked as he caught up. "A penthouse club seems like a fancy dress kind of place."
T'Lees smiled. "Penthouse clubs are sand on the beach here in Nos Astra. And this one is not picky about the dress of their patrons."
Ram, Seelyn, Lognus and Callon looked up to the glowing sign above the door.
Impuse
"Has there ever been a club or bar with multiple words in the name?" Seelyn asked.
"Of course!" Ram answered heartily. "Old Europe is full of them."
"And where is that, exactly?" Seelyn said with a roll of her eyes.
Ram looked over to the turian and grinned. "Earth. I'll take you there sometime. In fact, I'll take everyone! You all need to experience a night of drinking in my old home."
"If there are drinks, then fine," Lognus accepted.
T'Lees came to a stop in front of the bouncer and held out her omnitool. The turian guard held out his holopad for a moment before nodding her along and waving up the next in line. The merc team cleared without incident and met T'Lees as she stood in front of the large set of double-doors that served as the entrance.
"Stick close," she advised. "I am heading straight to the bar and it will be packed, I assure you."
She pushed open the vintage-style manual doors to unleash an avalanche of music and shouts from the exuberant crowd. A short hallway led from the doors into the main room of the club where the music blared across the dance floor that spread throughout the center of the room. The club was dark and lit only by the blue lights they had seen on their flight in, but the truly spectacular feature was the floor-to-ceiling windows that covered the outer walls of the room. Light from the Nos Astra skyline poured over the patrons as their music blasted back out in response. T'Lees quickly skirted around the mass of people on the central dance floor and led the group to one of the bars tucked into the corners of the room. She paused and waved for them to follow as she passed the bar.
The group darted and parted their way through the crowd until T'Lees reached a mechanical door on the far side of the room that slid open to reveal another room about half the size of the main chamber. This area was clearly the lounge of the club, as the music was significantly quieter and the floor was covered with dozens of stylish tables and chairs for those in need of a break from dancing or who simply wanted to enjoy the city view in relative peace. Two asari bartenders worked behind a bar that lined the wall of one side of the room as they prepared drinks for the dozen or so waiting patrons. T'Lees led the group to a table near the corner of the room that was flanked on two sides by tall windows and beautiful view of the skyline.
"Have a seat," she said as she stood to the side. "Drinks?"
"A dark lager," Ram said as he dropped down into one of the chairs.
"Whiskey, neat," Seelyn requested. "A nice Shurantia, if they've got it."
Lognus nodded toward Ram. "Whatever he's getting."
T'Lees turned her eye toward Callon as the drell sank into his seat. "Callon?"
He held up his hand. "Water. I don't drink."
She nodded once and made her way to the bar as the others attempted to make themselves comfortable and take in their surroundings.
"Seems like a nice place," Ram said with his voice raised just enough to break through the music.
"I don't know what she was talking about when she said this place isn't fancy," Lognus grumbled. "Fancier than any damn bar on Omega."
"Maybe just the ones that you've been to," Callon corrected him. "There are plenty of… 'upscale' venues on Omega."
The batarian grunted. "Still don't like it."
"Well look at the bright side," Seelyn said with her eyes narrowed coolly. "You're probably less likely to be stabbed or shot in here than our usual places on Omega."
They looked up as T'Lees approached with a full tray of drinks. She plucked each one deftly and placed it before its respective owner before taking the final glass, her springwine, and placing it by the empty seat at the table. She set the tray to the side and slid into her seat with a warm smile.
"Nice balancing," Ram complimented.
T'Lees chuckled. "I spent a handful years tending bar during my time as a university student. It seems my balancing skills remain intact."
"Where was that?" Seelyn asked.
"University of Tesalaes," she replied. "In the Armali Province on Thessia."
Lognus chuckled. "Armali? Must've made good money there."
"I certainly did," she replied. "Though I did not need it. I simply adored spending time with the people."
"A bunch of drunk university students? Sounds like a good time to me," Seelyn laughed.
T'Lees smiled and took a sip of her wine. She looked around the table to see most of the others had already indulged in their respective drinks. Callon, however, was staring out the window with a rather lost expression on his face.
"Damn, this is good whiskey," Seelyn said. "Nice choice, Blue."
The asari blinked and turned her attention to the turian. "I am glad you approve. The bar has quite a selection, if you care to sample a few more."
"I might just do that," she said before taking another sip.
Ram let out a happy sigh as he took another gulp of his beer. "Ahh, wonderful. Earth import?"
T'Lees nodded once. "You have quite the knowledgeable tongue."
"No one does a dark lager like Earth, no matter what some of the colonies tell themselves," he laughed. "Log, how you like it?"
The batarian nodded. He seemed both satisfied and happy for the first time since T'Lees had met him.
"Quite good," he expressed earnestly.
"Consider this a thanks for your hard work thus far," T'Lees said as she looked around the table. "I feel that I was extremely lucky in finding you all for this mission." She raised her glass. "Here is to a successful heist and good luck in the coming days."
The others lifted their glasses and replied with a chorus of here heres. Callon even noticed the commotion in time to turn his attention back to the group and lift his glass of water.
"Keep up the free drinks and I'll be there whenever you need a gun," Seelyn said.
"What about the abnormally large paycheck?" Ram asked.
The turian leaned back in her chair. "Well... that is definitely doesn't hurt."
T'Lees chuckled and looked over to Callon as the drell downed a few sips from his glass. "Are you feeling well, Callon? You seem… distant."
The others turned their attention to the drell. He narrowed his brow defensively and looked around the table as he set down his glass.
"I'm fine. Just tired."
"Eh, let him brood," Lognus decided.
Ram cleared his throat. "So when are you expecting the information from Edsonn?"
T'Lees took a sip from her glass and sighed. "I was expecting it an hour ago. Though he always had a tendency for tardiness."
"Whatever, more time to drink," Seelyn mused.
"Let's not get too crazy," Ram said firmly. "We have to accommodate Edsonn's meeting demands, remember? And I'd rather not head into this mission drunk or hungover."
"Then maybe you should learn to hold your liquor," Lognus said through a grin of needle-like teeth.
Ram gave the batarian a stern look. "I mean it, Log."
"We're just fuckin' with you, Ram," Seelyn laughed.
T'Lees smiled to herself and glanced back to Callon. The drell had taken to his omnitool and was tapping away in search of something. She tilted her head curiously and leaned toward the drell with a wandering eye.
"What are you up to, hm?"
"Nothing important. Just doing a bit of security research," he answered. "The tech on Illium changes faster than anywhere else in the galaxy as far as I've seen."
"I would agree with that," T'Lees replied.
She watched him as he focused on his omnitool and typed away. T'Lees narrowed her eye curiously and lowered her voice as Seelyn, Ram and Lognus continued to talk among themselves.
"Callon."
He turned his eyes toward her. "What?"
"You do not seem tired in the slightest," she said softly. "What is troubling you?"
The drell shook his head. "I'd rather not talk… here." He motioned toward the others.
T'Lees stood from her seat, wine glass in hand. "Callon and I going to head up to the roof for a moment for some air," she declared.
Ram raised a brow. "Some 'air,' huh?"
"That is correct," she replied. "Callon?"
The drell hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh and standing with her. "Yeah, we'll be right back down," he assured them.
Seelyn snorted and took a sip of her drink. "Go on, sneak off and do what you gotta do. We won't tell anybody."
Lognus looked between Callon and T'Lees in utter confusion. "You know something I don't, Claws?"
"Hah! Na, I'm just fuckin' with them," the turian replied.
T'Lees rolled her eye and motioned for Callon to follow as she gracefully stepped through the maze of chairs and tables to lead them toward a door on the far side of the room. She glanced back once or twice to be sure that Callon was following her before reaching the door and stepping through into a small stairwell. A spiral staircase led them up one floor to the exit door and onto the roof where the same loud music that was blaring below filled the air. She took a deep breath of the night air that flowed through the rooftop level and walked toward the nearest railing. T'Lees leaned against it casually and took another sip of her wine as Callon arrived and crossed his arms to lean his lower back against the metal bar at the top of the railing.
"Bit louder up here," he commented.
"It is one of the dance floors," she reminded him in a raised voice. "Now, what is it you did not want to say downstairs?"
The drell turned his head to meet her eye. "T'Lees, I think we're walking head-first into a trap. Think about it, this guy you worked with? Edsonn? You've already told us that you didn't particularly like each other, and that he had no reason to trust you, only that you somehow knew he would agree to a meeting. And we're supposed to be waiting to hear from him when and where we're going to meet?" He shook his head. "This doesn't feel right a damn bit."
T'Lees looked down to her glass and swirled the liquid around gently. "Callon…" She shook her head. "You are probably right. This has been at the forefront of my mind as well the past few days."
"So you're fine just walking into this potentially dangerous situation?" Callon asked with a rather accusatory tone. "Better yet, walking us in there with you?"
"Please, Callon, do not insult me by insinuating that I have no regard for your lives," T'Lees snapped. "I have already spoken to Ram about my concerns. He agrees that if we act with caution and object to any truly absurd requests from Edsonn then we will be fine. He and I have full and utter confidence in the capabilities of our team."
"'Our team,'" Callon repeated with a smirk. "Didn't realize you were one of us."
She frowned. "I meant the team that consists of me and your band combined. I… I did not mean to-"
"Relax," he interrupted. "Quite frankly, you'd fit better than most if you ran with us. Your sniping was on point, and those biotics you busted out when you were sparring with Claws on the transport were pretty fierce. But if this mission turns out the way you expect it to, I doubt you'll need to be doing this shit for the scraps we get by on."
T'Lees smiled softly. "Those biotics I used on Seelyn were a shadow of their full potential. Either way, your words are kind, Callon." She took a small sip of her drink. "Shall we return to the others? And will you at least join in the conversation this time? I hope that your brooding and troubled worrying has been put to bed."
"Yeah, yeah," he remarked with a smirk.
Before they could step away from the railing a chime rang out from the omnitool bracelet that T'Lees wore on her wrist. Callon heard the noise and turned around to see her activate the tool and read through a newly received message. After about ten seconds she looked up to the drell and took a deep breath.
"It is the message from Edsonn," she informed him.
Callon took a step closer toward her. "And?"
"Thirteen hours and thirty-four minutes from now," T'Lees said. "The Myria Hotel in Illium's Northern Ward."
"A hotel?" He asked.
She nodded and looked back down to the omnitool. "Yes, he says the hotel bar should be quiet and safe enough for us to talk, and that the hotel is quite nice in case we need to retire to a stateroom." She rolled her eye and let out a disgusted noise. "He says nothing more."
"Seems… reasonable," Callon said. "Surprisingly so. What do you think?"
T'Lees closed the omnitool and downed the last few sips of her wine in one big gulp before responding.
"I believe this means we are set to move forward," she replied. "Let us return to the others and relay the message, we will need to leave and prepare ourselves. After, perhaps, one more round."
T'Lees stared through the forward viewport of her skycar in a trance-like fixation. Since receiving the message from Edsonn giving them a time and place for their meeting she and the rest of the team had spent almost the entirety of their waking hours preparing. They had scouted out the hotel and even found some blueprints on the public record, all of which would lend itself useful in the case of an escape.
The others were already at The Myria Hotel, hopefully ready and in their carefully selected positions throughout the hotel bar and lobby. No one had given the signal to abort, so she could safely assume that the hotel was not covered floor to ceiling in Edsonn's men. They were fully equipped in their combat gear and weaponry, which not unusual for most parts of Illium, but they made sure to arrive only a few minutes before her in hopes that they would not look suspicious while lingering in the area. T'Lees, however, would be wearing no armor and carrying only a pistol tucked away in her jacket. Had she not been a very capable biotic who had honed her barrier skills finely over the centuries, she would have been far more reluctant to walk into the situation so exposed.
The car's navigation alert pinged.
"Arriving at Myria Hotel."
She blinked and refocused her eye. The skycar was diving down toward a building no more than fifteen stories tall. Short by Illium's standards. She straightened her pants and jacket and reached in to grasp her pistol once more just to reassure herself that it was still there as the taxi settled down. She reached to the release handle and opened the overhead entry hatch before rising from her seat and stepping out in front of the hotel's wide double doors. The Myria Hotel was a very traditional but upscale place that catered toward the visitors that came to Nos Astra and did not wish for the fact to be known. It was discrete, out of the way, and terribly lavish. Exactly what Edsonn would have chosen, she thought to herself.
T'Lees strode through the entrance and nodded a polite greeting to a pair of asari employees that stood on either side of the door. The lobby she found herself in was three stories in height with balconies lining the outer walls on the second and third floor. The ceiling was covered from end to end in a gorgeous mosaic that resembled the style from one of the early Thessian classical ages. Her eye did not linger on the sight, however, but made a quick sweep to see the familiar shape of Seelyn and Lognus standing by the concierge, waiting behind a few other guests. A warm comfort helped to settle her nervous stomach as she continued onward and took a left into the hotel lobby's bar and lounge. It was raised only a few steps off the ground floor with a clear and open view across the foyer, giving Seelyn and Lognus a clear line of sight no matter where she chose to sit. Another familiar face flashed by her eye: Ram sitting at the bar talking casually with a salarian patron, also dressed in combat gear. She had not seen Callon, though that was to be expected for now.
"Fayneer T'Lees," a voice spoke from her side.
She snapped her head to the right to see a male human, light in complexion with brownish-gold hair, standing beside a table with a grin from ear to ear. He wore a fine suit, as he always had, and reached up to slick his already immaculate hair into place just in the off chance an errant strand had broken from the mould. She was not always perfect in guessing human ages, but knowing William Hume had been twenty-seven years of age led her to believe Edsonn was in his mid to late forties.
"Richard Edsonn," she said smoothly in return.
She turned and strode up to join him beside the table.
"I am so glad you were willing to meet with me," T'Lees said with her long-practiced diplomatic smile.
He grasped her hand and nodded. "Of course. my dear."
She concealed her disgust as he leaned down and planted a kiss on the top of her hand.
"My God, Fayneer," Edsonn said with a frown. "What happened to your beautiful face?"
"It was quite beautiful, was it not?" She replied, humoring him.
He held up a hand in defense. "Don't get me wrong," he said quickly. "You are still as gorgeous as the last time I saw you, truly. But the eyepatch and scars are… deliciously exotic."
T'Lees gave him a fake chuckle and nodded toward the table. "Shall we sit?"
"After you," he nodded.
She slid into one of the chairs and sat up comfortably and straight as he came to sit across from her.
"A grenade, happened," she finally answered truthfully before embellishing. "When the commandos came for me after Antarian's network collapsed."
"Damn, they always pretend to be civilized right up until there's a gun to the side of your head," he said with a shake of his head. "But you do own it well. Quite well."
T'Lees nodded. "Thank you. But you know that is not why I asked you here."
"Hah, of course, of course. Would you like a drink?"
The asari brought her hands up to rest on the table and laced her fingers. "No, Edsonn. I would actually like to cut straight to business. Let us talk."
