Shepard strode through the open door to engineering, frowning at the pair of Narn technicians climbing up the stairs from the sub-deck. "EDI, how's the new pieces working?"

It took a few seconds before the AI responded, an unusual delay. "I have just switched on the device. According to its specifications, it allows travel and communication through a dimension that physics in our universe cannot conclusively prove to exist."

Pausing with one foot on the top stair, Shepard glanced around before remembering there was no hologram display in the stairwell. "I hope that doesn't mean we're going to cease to exist or anything when we follow them through the gate."

"Unless we are actually the punchline to a cosmic joke, no," EDI said. "It is more likely that with the knowledge of mass relay transit, few outside the realm of academic physicists ever considered the issue, and were unable to gain funding for their research."

Considering this, she continued down the stairs, coming up behind Tali as the distracted engineer pored over the device. Cables lay everywhere, hung up in crude conduits by zip-ties or held down with tape. "Shepard, this thing is practically alien technology, even though it was constructed on Mars. Well, this Mars, which shouldn't be all that different from your Mars. It runs on principles I've never even heard of before!"

"Tali, unless they somehow use different electronics, you've got this. Just tell me we can use it to follow Sheridan out to his ambush." One hand briefly clasped the suited shoulder as a gesture of support.

Squaring up, Tali nodded. "It will work. It will hardly even take us any fuel, either. But we still need eezo if we're going to replace our drive core, let alone our armor. What they have on the White Star is good, honestly better against any non-Thanix weapon we've got. But there's no way we could modify them to work with our stealth field." Pacing back and forth, her hands started wringing compulsively. "If we could get enough eezo, I could build a crude manufacturing plant. The armor plates I could turn out wouldn't be as good - I couldn't get them more than a quarter as dense - but it'd be better than the gaping holes we've got right now. And that's not mentioning the failed anti-grav plating all over the ship, though I've mostly swapped around parts to limit it to down here and the AI core."

"Tali! Breathe! You're starting to do an eerie impression of Mordin at his worst." Shepard paused to consider that. "Well, his worst when he's not pointing a gun at someone."

The pacing stopped as the quarian woman rested her faceplate against one wall. "Thanks, I think. Mordin might not have been an engineer, but I wish he was here too."

A knocking sound interrupted their conversation. "I did not wish to intrude, but your computer told me you were down here, Commander," Lennier said. "Our communication frequencies and protocols have been adjusted. I will be aboard, rather than risk any automated translation errors." He hesitated, glancing around the sub-deck. "No offense intended."

"None taken, Lennier," EDI replied.

"Alright, I suppose we're ready then," Shepard said. "I'll meet you up in CIC in a few minutes." She waited for the minbari to bow and depart before turning back to Tali. "Remember, you've got this."

"Yeah, I've got this." With one final glance at the hyperspace transponder, she turned away and nodded. "I've got your back, Shepard. I just need to remind Donnelly not to tinker with it." Chuckling, they climbed the stairs together.

One step short of the elevator, Shepard cursed mentally. "Commander! A moment, please?" Diana Allers called, jogging the few steps to catch up. "Commander, we're in an human-built alien station, supposedly in a different universe according to scuttlebutt from the crew. Exactly when were you planning to tell me?"

Damnit, Westmoreland, Shepard growled in her head. "In case your years of military reporting hadn't alerted you, Allers, I've been rather busy trying to ensure I can do things like repair the significant battle damage we took over Earth. Which right now is looking pretty bleak. And since yes, we do appear to be in another universe, it's not like I can just call up Hackett and requisition some spares."

"Look, Commander, I get that. But still, when we get home again, this will quite literally be the scoop of the post-war century!" Leaning forward, her hands waved compulsively as she expounded. "A whole other universe, filled with at least not-openly-hostile aliens! Diverse worlds and scientific methods of thought that never caught on in ours! Possibilities for trade, cultural exchanges!"

Turning away, Shepard smacked the stop button on the elevator. "Listen, Allers. Right now, the Normandy is completely alone in the universe. Do you get that? We have absolutely nothing beyond what is on this ship right now. No money. No supplies. We were only able to keep the crew fed because I still had several crates worth of refined iridium on board." One hand waved towards the doors. "I don't even know if we can get home. The one alien species that knows anything about interdimensional travel wants us gone, and for whatever reason, they can't send us back right now!"

"Fine. So let me get out there and help! I'm a reporter, being nosy and coming up with information is what I do. Point me at this alien and I will find out why." One fist slammed into the barely padded wall. "Seriously, is it so much to just get to talk to one of them?"

"At this particular moment? Yes." Hitting the open button again, Shepard slipped out and let EDI close the doors again before the reporter could follow. "Joker, follow the White Star."

"Roger that. Heading down the rabbit hole," he replied. Ignoring the automated systems, he slipped out of the docking bay, passing underneath a drazi transport with meters to spare, and out into open space. Five minutes later, the Normandy and White Star, along with three smaller Minbari cruisers, slipped through a jump point, chasing Shadows.

Kicking his feet up on his desk, the frown stretched across Garibaldi's face grew. The lab reports were in, and they weren't good. The PPG blast had happened a week earlier, and the lower-oxygen atmosphere unfortunately only did so much to preserve evidence. They had turned up evidence of a bacteria that had somehow gotten through sterilization procedures, probably thanks to smuggling, but it couldn't be fatal to more than three dozen aliens, tops.

"Unless it mutates," he muttered to himself. "Better let Franklin's replacement, what's-her-name, know." He flipped to the second screen of the report before tossing the pad on the table in disgust. "I am not going to read that thing for the eleventh time."

Standing up, he took a moment to stretch and get the blood flowing again. What he needed wasn't in the report, anyway. No, he was going about this all wrong. Weapon sensors on the station were pretty accurate, and all the ones outside Kosh's chamber were working flawlessly when the technicians checked them.

Which meant there were only a handful of ways someone could have fired a weapon undetected. One, they took the sensors offline and restored them afterwards - a short enough blip and neither security nor maintenance would have come to check on them. Two, the scorch mark wasn't from a PPG - possible, but unlikely, and not ruled out by the lab report. Three, someone on board had built or smuggled in a weapon capable of defeating the scanners - which meant it was low-powered, only good from short range and with the bonus of surprise.

If it was the first, that could be checked. Obviously there was a small chance that whoever he sent to check it out was the person who disabled it, but that was unlikely. "Garibaldi to Zack."

"Zack here, what's up?"

"I've got a technical project for you. Pick a couple of maintenance guys you think are trustworthy and come to my office." He grinned, feeling the thrill of the hunt in his blood.

"Alright chief, be there in twenty."

While he waited, Garibaldi opened up his personal files, specifically his personal list of smugglers. Some of them, like the ones bringing in drugs or illegal weaponry, he did his best to bust as often as possible. Sometimes, he could even prove enough to get them deported. Then there were the ones like N'Grath, who cooperated just often enough to help him bust the worst ones. The insectoid wouldn't be his first stop - it wouldn't do to have the scumbag think he was indispensable to station security, after all - but he was definitely on the list.

"Oh, officer Allen! If I could have a moment of your time?" Vir Cotto smiled in that charmingly naive way he had, giving Zack just enough time to wish he'd walked rather than wait for the transport shuttle.

"Look, Vir, like I told your Ambassador the last two times, the Narn security forces are here to stay. He can either get used to it, or go home, and I don't really care which." He stared out the windows down the length of the station, cursing as it still sat at the next station down the line.

"Well, that's disappointing to Londo, I'm sure, but that's actually not what I wanted to ask you about." He stepped closer, leaning in and cupping a hand over his mouth. "There's all kinds of rumors flying around the station about a second Vorlon who's come on board when someone tried to assassinate Kosh." Zack tried not to wince as the centauri's whisper was nearly louder than his speaking voice. "I mean, surely such a thing is ridiculous to even contemplate, right? There must be some other reason for the tripled amount of security patrols through the alien sector."

"Even if there was any truth to those rumors, you know I couldn't confirm them." And oh boy do I not want to confirm them! "But no, I haven't heard anything about anyone trying to kill a Vorlon, but if I do, I'll take a moment to feel very, very sorry for them before they die. Anything else, Vir?" As the shuttle approached, he shuffled closer to the doors to try and beat the rush, and hopefully getting out of range.

"But if the rumors are wrong, why have you increased patrols in the alien sector?"

Zack sighed, hearing the doors open behind him. "There's some kind of maintenance issue. Garibaldi probably just wants people in the area in case we have an emergency. You know how it is, trying to get everyone into masks at the same time." He stepped back, letting the doors cut off the next question.

The car was halfway to the next station before it occurred to him that he hadn't asked where those rumors were coming from.

Miranda frowned as the door to her quarters opened. Just because she knew the guy didn't mean she appreciated the interruption. "What is it now?"

"She wants a status update," Moklan said.

Fighting the urge to throw something at him, she nodded, shuffling through the dozen of data pads and sample trays on the desk. "Fine, I'll write one up and send it to her," she said.

"In person. Now." He tapped the pistol at his hip, grinning as she gently shoved him out of the door with her biotics.

"In five minutes. I have samples being prepared that can't wait." Without waiting for him to reply, she closed the door. He probably could override it, she wasn't that good of a hacker, but it would give her a few minutes. "Ori! I need samples twenty-two through twenty-five prepped and on slides by the time I get back from this."

The younger Lawson sister poked her head out from the other room. "Miri, I was not a biology major. Or any kind of science major, actually."

"Then it's a good thing you're as smart as I am, isn't it?" She pointed at the fridge. "I'm not kidding. I should be back in an hour, tops."

"I know, I know. Go keep the crazy crime boss happy with our work. I'll be here, doing science to things. If I had any idea what they were," Oriana complained, even as she slipped on gloves and reached for the handle of the biological sample storage unit that had been brought in.

In the hallway, the annoyed batarian had been joined by two humans and a turian, all of them glaring at Miranda. So she promptly ignored them all and swept on her way, leaving them to scramble and generally give the appearance of a quartet of lackeys. Which they were, just not her lackeys, the only part she really missed about not being in Cerberus anymore.

The street outside the former nightclub was filled with armed guards, who reluctantly let her past the barricades. No one on the station was dumb enough to try to pretend they were her. The last bitch who tried had the remnants of her body fed to vorcha. Inside, the place was hardly recognizable as a club - the bar was gone, of course, courtesy of Petrovsky's brief reign, but now it was a bivouac for mercenaries. The only thing that hadn't changed was the balcony - and its resident.

Climbing the ramp, Miranda met the icy gaze of Omega's ruler for a good dozen seconds before being gestured to a seat. "Well?" Aria demanded.

"Whatever it was, it's definitely not Leviathan. With no frame of reference, I can't tell you how close it is to the original species the Reapers harvested." Miranda held up a hand as Aria drew in breath. "But you know that. What I can tell you was that it was amphibious, closer to hanar than salarian. They saw much further into the UV range than either of our species, but they were practically deaf."

"What about the outside shell?" Aria asked. "I need to know how to kill organic Reapers, not get a biohistory lesson on some extinct species nobody fucking heard of."

"The outside shell shares the same DNA," Miranda said. "Whatever that energy wave was, it turned Reapers into organics. But unless you can get me another sample to compare it with, I can't tell you. I could come up with some biological warfare agents, but given their size you're better off throwing fusion warheads at them."

The asari smiled thinly. "Actually, you should have new samples in two or three days. There was a Reaper spotted near Alchera - you remember that planet, don't you? Every ship still capable of FTL and combat headed there. Given their record pre-energy wave, they should have taken it out and be on their way back by now."

"Assuming I can get anything useful after the battle damage, I'll make it my first priority," Miranda promised.

"There was something else I wanted to know about," Aria said, just as the human started to rise. "I never got a chance to ask Shepard. How bad were the Leviathans?"

An imperceptible shiver raised hair underneath the white catsuit. "I never met them, but they were bad. I helped plant info on them for Cerberus to find, and they naturally gave it to the Reapers. The Reapers were based on them, though larger, of course. Certain energy field settings could block their indoctrination completely, unlike just attenuating Reaper indoctrination, but they could fully control someone without having to implant them with tech. Overall, be glad they're dead."

"I'm not so sure about that. I think you've got samples of one in your lab." Aria fell silent, gaze staring out past meters of rock and metal towards the interstellar void. "Do you know the field settings?"

"I think I still have a copy on file," Miranda hedged.

"Find it. Give it to Moklan, and any special equipment we'd need to set up shields like that all over the station. Go."

This time, she rose and left the couch without any further interruptions, and her walk back to her rooms were lackey-free. Even the vorcha left her alone today. Shooting a dozen of them made a good deterrent for a few days.

The moment the door opened, finely-tuned instincts were screaming at her. Oriana's body language was all wrong, not to mention the subtle way that the sample trays had been set up. Her right hand had her pistol just clear of her hip when she heard the distinctive whine of omni-tool capacitors next to her ear. "It's good to see you haven't lost any of your edge."

Miranda blinked in surprise, slowly turning her head to stare at the intruder before lowering the gun and her biotics. "Kasumi?" The thief smiled grimly a moment before finally losing consciousness and collapsing. "Shit! Ori, bandages now, and synthesize up some replacement blood!" Tearing open the thief's shirt, she stared at the multitude of old injuries. "As much medigel as we have, too! Why did you have to lose consciousness before telling me how long you had this tourniquet on?" Being unresponsive, Kasumi naturally did not respond, as Miranda frantically worked to save her life.