Chapter Five
Spectre

"Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin' in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What's done in the dark will be brought to the light"
Johnny Cash: "God's Gonna Cut You Down"

Captain Montgomery swept into the Council Chamber, which seemed more like a combination of an amphitheater and a zen garden that the sort of place where matters of galactic importance were decided by the three oldest and most powerful races in the galaxy. The others trailed close behind him to where Ambassador Bracken was already standing in what appeared to be a cross between the defendant's dock in a courtroom and the plank from an old fashioned sailing ship. Which overlooked a glass enclosed rock garden several meters below.

"Hope Bracken isn't afraid of heights," Castle whispered conspiratorially in her ear before they got within earshot, sending a tingle up and down her spine. Kate was sure it was meant more as a dig against the career politician than a bid to drive her insane, which she appreciated as she was still a bit sore about the dressing down she'd received from the man earlier.

She had to take her lip between her teeth to bite back a smile though, it wouldn't do to draw attention to their whispered remarks. She was sure that Ambassador Bracken would not find them nearly as amusing as she and Castle did.

As the four of them stepped up behind Bracken at the dais before the Council – with a holographic representation of Saren Arterius conspicuously "standing" to their immediate right, Tevos, the Asari Councilor was already speaking.

"...Geth aggression outside the veil is, of course, a matter of great concern, but there is no direct evidence connecting Saren to the attack on Eden Prime."

"The investigation by Citadel Security," Councilor Sparatus interjected, "has turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason."

"What about the eyewitness who saw Saren kill Nihlus in cold blood?" Bracken asked. Though it had been decades since he'd last tried a case in court, it was clear he'd lost none of his flair for courtroom drama, it just seemed to fall on deaf ears under the united front of the Council and their collective self-assured sense of intellectual and cultural superiority.

"We've read the Eden Prime reports you provided from the Normandy ground team, Ambassador," Councilor Valern replied almost patronizingly. "The testimony of one traumatized dockworker, whose word even Commander Beckett was not sure she could take at face value at the time, can hardly be considered compelling evidence."

"I resent these accusations," The hologram of Saren spoke up addressing the Council, who seemed to regard his words with more consideration than any of the four humans standing on the dock, "I trained Nihlus personally, he was not only my protege, but a fellow Spectre and a friend."

"That just let you catch him off guard!" Montgomery shouted from behind Ambassador Bracken, his hatred for Saren clearly radiating off of him in waves. If Kate had held any doubts that the two had a history, those doubts were clearly erased.

"Roy Montgomery..." Saren said with clear contempt. " Why am I not surprised? You always seem to turn up when humanity makes false charges against me and this must be your protege, Commander Beckett, the one who let the beacon be destroyed."

"The mission to Eden Prime was Top Secret," Kate barked at him. "I didn't even find out about it until we cleared the Utopia Cluster Mass Relay. The only way you could know about the beacon was if you were there!"

"With Nihlus gone, his files were passed to me, " Saren replied, "I read your Eden Prime report when these spurious charges were first leveled against me. Nihlus may have thought highly enough of you to put your name forward, but thus far I am unimpressed. Your species needs to learn its place, humanity is no more ready to join the council than you were twenty-six years ago and you are not ready to join the Spectres!"

"Objection!" Bracken interjected, silencing Kate's retort before she could open her mouth. "He has no right to say that! That's not his decision!"

Councilor Tevos seemed to agree with Bracken for once, turning to Saren with a mild glare and a raised eyebrow. "Commander Beckett's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this hearing. Your previous objection to her candidacy has been noted and overruled in that matter."

"This meeting has no purpose," Saren growled. "The humans are wasting your time, Councilor, and mine."

"There is still one outstanding issue," Captain Montgomery added, doing his best to address the council and keep his feelings about Saren out of it, "Chief Castle's vision, which may have been triggered by the beacon."

"Are we allowing dreams into evidence now?" Saren spat harshly, "How am I supposed to defend myself against such spectral testimony?"

"I agree," Councilor Sparatus added, "Our judgment must be based on factual evidence, not on wild speculation and the hallucinations of a human clearly suffering from combat fatigue."

"I know what I saw!" Castle hissed, he'd been bristling ever since Saren's crack about Beckett, but he'd had just about enough. It took considerable effort by both Kate and Esposito to get him to stand down.

"Commander Beckett," Councilor Valern asked, "as the leader of the Eden Prime ground team, do you have anything further to add?"

"It would seem, you've already made your decision," Kate replied defiantly, "I won't waste my breath."

The three members of the Citadel Council conferred in hushed whispers for a few moments, their voices barely audible until they turned back to their respective lecterns and Ambassador Tevos keyed her microphone.

"It is the determination of the Citadel Council that insufficient evidence has been presented to connect Spectre Arterius to the Geth attack on Eden Prime. Ambassador Bracken, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectres and charged with treason is summarily denied."

"I am gratified to see that justice has been served." Saren stated, before his hologram disappeared.

"This meeting of the Citadel Council now stands adjourned," Tevos concluded, but then turned back to Ambassador Bracken, "We are not without compassion for your losses to the Geth on Eden Prime, however. Have your colonial affairs office contact us and we will arrange for aid vessels to be sent to assist with recovery efforts. Good day."

It had been a very quiet private shuttle ride back to Ambassador Bracken's office. Kate hated being right sometimes. Bringing up Castle's visions from the beacon had clearly been a mistake, no matter how badly she wanted to believe, for his sake that they were genuine. She hated having to side with Bracken against her captain, a man she would gladly follow into hell and back.

"It was a mistake bringing you into that meeting, Captain," Bracken began, rounding on Montgomery as soon as the door closed on them, "You and Saren have too much bad blood, it played right into Saren's hands and made them doubt our motives."

"I know Saren, better than any of you," Montgomery countered, "I don't know how or why he's working with the Geth, but it poses a grave danger to the entire human race. Every colony we have is at risk, not even Earth is safe."

"Unless we can prove that to the Council, our hands are tied." Bracken replied, attacking a Council Spectre would be seen as an act of war. The last thing we need is for humanity to become galactic pariahs like the Quarians and the Batarians."

"What are we supposed to do," Kate asked angrily, "sit on our hands and do nothing while he and the Geth are out there doing god knows what?"

"Saren's Spectre status makes him virtually untouchable, legally," Bracken replied, "in order for the Council to take action would be to find verifiable proof to expose him."

"What about that C-Sec officer we met earlier... Garrus?" Castle offered. "The one arguing with Executor Pallin. He was trying to delay the meeting to have more time to finish his report. Sounded like he may have been close to finding something."

"I have a contact in C-Sec who might be able to help us track Officer Garrus down," Bracken offered, "his name is McCallister."

"Forget Gary McCallister ," Montgomery spat, "C-Sec suspended him last month for drinking on the job. I won't waste time on him."

"You won't have to, Captain," Bracken hissed, "I don't want you anywhere near this investigation! We can't take the chance that the Council will use your past history with Saren as an excuse to ignore anything we turn up."

"You can't do that," Kate sputtered, "you can't just cut him out of this."

Montgomery laid a comforting hand on Kate's shoulder and sighed in resignation. "The Ambassador's right, Kate, they will never buy anything I turn up after my display in there, much less take my word over Saren's. I gotta step aside and turn you loose on him."

"I need to meet with colonial affairs to organize the recovery effort for Eden Prime, so if you will excuse me," Bracken began, all but shooing them out the door. "Captain, if you will meet me here later, we have some other things to discuss in private. Commander, I suggest you and the others get busy running down this Officer Vakarian. Come back and see me when you have something."

Before parting company with them for his own place on the Citadel, Montgomery turned back to them.

"If you want to find McCallister, he's probably getting drunk down at Chora's den, a dingy little nightclub down in lower end of Shin Akiba."

"I thought you said he was a drunken loser?" Kate asked.

"It couldn't hurt to go talk to him," Montgomery replied, "just be careful, I wouldn't exactly call him reliable. He joined C-Sec shortly after being encouraged to take early retirement from the NYPD about twenty years ago."

Kate flinched at the mention of him having been with the NYPD while her mother had been alive, even though she would have been around ten at the time, but nodded to Montgomery to continue.

"He's been an embarrassment to our species ever since," Montgomery muttered, a hint of venom creeping into his voice. "Roughing up suspects in custody, accusations of being on the take, alcohol and drug use on the job and that's just the stuff in the official records. The Alliance Embassy used to step in when he got into trouble, but I guess even they gave up on him."

"He sounds like a real scumbag," Esposito offered, Castle and Beckett nodded in agreement, "shoulda been cut loose a long time ago."

"He was the first, and for a long time the only human in C-Sec," Montgomery replied, "so a lot of backroom deals were made to keep him on the force. It would have looked bad if he got kicked out, I guess. We have a lot more humans in C-Sec now who work hard and keep their noses clean, so it's no longer politically expedient to keep protecting him."

"As long as he leads me to Garrus," Beckett replied, "what he did to finally get kicked out is between him and C-Sec."

Castle, Beckett and Esposito took a rapid transit shuttle from the Embassy level of the Presidium to financial district then walked to the wards access elevator and took it down to the market level of Shin Akiba where they walked through the markets, following the advertising signs to the lower market level, then to an unassuming access door, which opened as soon as they approached it, which led to

Upon entry, it was perfectly clear that the place was more gentleman's club than nightclub. Three exotic dancers - two Asari and a young-looking human woman with bright red hair - were pole dancing in various stages of undress on a raised circular platform stage over the bar. Kate made a derisive snort as soon as she took in the atmosphere, noting Esposito's rapt attention on the strippers.

"That's quite the...uh... view," Esposito muttered, not realizing he'd said it out loud.

"A million light years from where humanity began" Kate huffed at Esposito, "and we walk into a bar filled with men drooling over half-naked women shaking their asses on a stage. I don't know if that's funny or sad."

"You mean they don't come here for the food?" Esposito replied, hoping to cover his earlier reaction, but his eyes kept wandering up to the dancers, which wasn't helping his case at all.

"You might want to put your tongue back in your mouth, Espo, before you trip on it." Beckett shot back, leaving Esposito unsure whether she was busting his chops or was actually angry with him. As soon as Beckett moved deeper into the crowd at the periphery of the bar in search of McCallister, Esposito elbowed Castle in the ribs.

"Way to have my back there, MC," he snorted.

"I have a teenage daughter, Lieutenant," Castle shot back angrily, "a redhead, like that one you've been leering at since we walked in the door. She's my entire world and I don't even want to imagine a circumstance under which she'd end up being leered at in a cesspool like this. With all due respect, sir, you're on your own."

With that, Castle turned on his heel and set off after Beckett, leaving a rather sheepish looking Esposito in his wake who hadn't felt this chastened since his first week in boot.

The crowd parted around Commander Beckett, so it was not difficult to track her progress, only to be blocked from the table where their quarry was sitting by a pair of Krogan, looking for all the world like two armored dinosaurs about to attack one another. The larger, more aggressive looking one was heavily scarred from the most obvious being the one that tracked from the top of his bony skull crest down the side of his lizard-like face.

"Back off, Wrex," the smaller, less scarred of the two warned, "Fist told us to take you down if you showed up."

"What are you waiting for?" Wrex's deep, rumbling basso profundo voice challenged, seemingly unimpressed, "I'm standing right here. This is Fist's only chance, if he's smart he'll take it."

"He's not coming out, Wrex," the bodyguard retorted, "end of story."

"This story is just beginning." Wrex rumbled, then turned and brushed Beckett aside, which sent Castle's hand twitching toward his sidearm, but she waved him off.

"Out of my way humans," the seven foot tall reptilian rumbled as he swept past them, "I have no quarrel with you."

"What was that all about?" Esposito asked, having finally caught up to them.

"Who knows?" Beckett replied, nodding toward McCallister who seemed to be well into his cups at this point. "we aren't here to get caught in the middle of a local pissing contest, we have bigger fish to fry."

Without further comment, Beckett turned and stalked toward the table where Gary McCallister was sitting. She took a moment to study the man, before schooling her features as she got close enough to catch his attention.

"Hey there, sweet thing," McCallister drawled, leering at her up and down as if she was a piece of meat, "that soldier getup looks really good on that smokin' bod of yours. Why don't you sit that sweet little ass of yours down beside old Gary here. Have a drink and we'll see where this goes."

Once upon a time, had she been operating under cover for CID, she would have likely accepted such an offer, sat down and endured the man groping her long enough to finesse information out of him no matter how much it would have made her skin crawl – not to mention require a long shower in addition to standard decontamination - but this time she had other priorities and didn't have to pretend to accept the inebriated, skeevy, corrupt little bastard.

"I'd rather drink monkey piss mixed with battery acid after chewing on a rusty razor blade." She snapped back at him. She didn't have time to play nice.

"You trying to hurt my feelings, Princess?" McCallister shot back. "After twenty years in C-Sec, I've been insulted and condescended to in every language in Council space."

"Call me Princess again and you'll be coughing up your teeth for a week,." Beckett replied coldly, getting more aggravated with the corrupt former C-Sec officer with every passing second. "Just tell me where I can find Garrus Vakarian."

"That hothead?" McCallister snorted. "Last I heard, he was sniffing around Dr. Michel's clinic down on the other end of the wards looking for trouble. I think she might be one of his confidential informants, or maybe he's just sweet on her. I've heard that some turians have developed a kink for human women since the war. If he's still got his nose out of joint because of that Spectre, chances are he's headed back there to see if she's heard anything."

"How would you know what's going on in C-Sec anyway," Castle interjected, "I thought they kicked you out a month ago?"

"You writing a book, asshole?" McCallister snorted, "I know people and I hear things, now go annoy that damned Turian hothead you're so eager to find and let me get drunk and enjoy the scenery in peace."

Before Castle can respond - or do something even more stupid considering the stiffness of his posture – Kate grabbed his arm and hauled him away from McCallister's table.

"Come on Castle," she whispers in his ear, "this walking stain isn't worth the brig time. Let's go."

With another gentle tug on his arm, Castle reluctantly followed her away from the man he'd developed a sudden urge to pound into a grease spot toward the door. No sooner had the doors closed behind them in the corridor that he saw two turian down the corridor pointing at them and drawing weapons.

"GUN!" Castle shouted, diving for cover shoving Beckett in front of him. Esposito dove the opposite way just as a burst of semiautomatic fire ripped past them where Castle and Beckett had been.

Beckett and Esposito popped up from cover, pistols in hand sending suppressing fire downrange as Castle charged biotics then launched himself at the lightly armed and armored assassins -crossing the distance in the blink of an eye - slamming into the Turian with the assault rifle to the satisfying sound of crunching bone when he heard him hit the opposite wall. A single sledgehammer round from his katana shotgun center-punched the other, ending the fight almost as quickly as it began.

"Assassins," Castle muttered, noting that their omni-tools were both fried, clearly by a third party, "Saren really doesn't want us to compare notes with Vakarian."

"Saddle up, you two," Beckett replied tersely, "Let's move."

Fifteen minutes later the door to Dr Michel's clinic on the wards slid open to admit them, to find the young doctor being harassed by four armed men brandishing pistols and shotguns, their leader pointing a pistol at the doctor's head.

"... I didn't tell anyone about Fist, I swear!" the pretty, young doctor pleaded, her eyes wide at the pistol in her face.

"That was smart, doc," the man growled. "Now if Vakarian comes around, you stay smart. Keep your your pretty French teeth together or we'll..."

Before he could finish, Castle, Beckett and Esposito burst into the room, blinding Fist's goons to the presence of a Turian wearing a C-Sec uniform behind one of the support struts as their leader grabbed Dr. Michel around the neck and drew her in front of him as a human shield and the others ducked for cover behind a stack of storage crates.

"Who are you?" the man holding the pretty redhead growled.

"Let her go!" Beckett commanded, her weapon pointed at the man, but unable to get a clean shot. Garrus swung out from cover, lined up on him with his drawn pistol and fired a single anti personnel round straight through the side of his head, killing the man instantly, showering the doctor in a spray of blood and brains.

Dr. Michel screamed as the man's grip loosened and he slid down her body to the floor, freaked out but otherwise unharmed. Kate tackled her to the floor while Castle and Esposito turned their assault rifles on the others. Castle gave the shipping containers a biotic push, sending the containers tumbling and the other three hired goons scrambling. They were no match for two well-trained and highly motivated Alliance Marines, however and were quickly dispatched.

"Perfect timing, Commander," Garrus stated enthusiastically, "gave me a clear shot at that bastard."

"You took him down clean," Beckett affirmed as she helped Dr. Michel off the floor.

"Sometimes you just get lucky," Garrus replied, then turned to Dr. Michel with genuine concern. "Chloe? Are you hurt?"

"No," Dr. Michel whispered, "I'm okay, thanks to you... a...all of you."

While Castle and Esposito policed the bodies, checking them for any sort of intel, Beckett and Garrus helped Dr. Michel into her office, and gave her a few minutes to clean up hoping that getting her away from the scene of the fight would help her stay calm.

"Do you know why they were threatening you?" Beckett asked, when the doctor returned from the bathroom from cleaning herself up, wearing a fresh set of scrubs. "Who do they work for?"

"They work for Fist," Dr. Michel replied shakily, her voice little more than a stage whisper, "They wanted to shut me up. Keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian."

"Does this have anything to do with your investigation into Saren?" Kate asked Garrus.

"I think it might," Garrus replied, "Dr Michel contacted me shortly before you saw me with Director Pallin."

"Tell us what happened, Doctor," Kate asked, offering her a chair to sit in.

"A... a few days ago a young quarian staggered into the clinic," Doctor Michel began as she sat in the chair before her knees gave out. "She'd been... shot, but she wouldn't say who did it. She was running a fever... she was scared, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker, said she wanted to trade some information in exchange for a safe place to hide."

"Do you know where she went?" Kate asked gently.

"I put her in touch with Fist," she replied. "He's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"Not anymore," Garrus interrupted, "now he works for Saren and from what I hear, the Broker is none to happy about it."

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker?!" Dr. Michel asked incredulously, "He may not be the sharpest scalpel on the tray, but that's stupid... even for him! Saren must have made him quite the offer."

"That quarian must have found something that Saren doesn't want becoming common knowledge," Garrus pointed out, "Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get."

Beckett could almost feel the wheels turning in Garrus' mind, working the angles to get inside their suspect's head. Sometimes she really missed being a cop. Lt. Commander Stack had recruited her into Alliance CID after they had worked a sensitive case together during her first year as an NYPD detective. He'd been impressed with her dogged persistence on the case – she'd even arrested him for obstruction early on - as well as her high case clearance rate for a rookie detective. She'd been on Elysium just before the blitz because her training officer and former partner, Rachel McCord had disappeared on assignment shortly after arriving there and the rest had been history.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about this quarian?" Beckett asked softly, but urgently. "Anything you can think of at all, no matter how small could help us a lot."

"I... I'm not sure," Dr. Michel whispered, closing her eyes and trying to think back, "like I said, she wanted to trade information for a place to hide... she didn't... wait a minute! Geth! Her information had something to do with the Geth!"

"She must be able to link Saren to the Geth!" Garrus exclaimed. "There's no way the Council can ignore this!"

"I think it's time we paid this Fist a visit." Beckett muttered.

"This is your show, Commander, but I want to bring Saren down as much as you do." Garrus stated, "I'd like to come along."

"You're a Turian," Esposito interjected, stepping into Garrus' personal space "why would you want to bring down a Turian Spectre?"

"I couldn't find the proof I needed for my investigation, but I learned enough to suspect what's really going on." Garrus snapped, towering over the much shorter Esposito, but talking to Beckett, "If Saren is allied with the Geth, then he's a traitor to the council and a disgrace to my people!"

"All right," Beckett agreed, "we could use a little C-Sec backup so the council can't accuse us of bias, welcome aboard Vakarian."

"Call me Garrus, please," Garrus replied. "We aren't the only ones interested in Fist, you know. The Shadow Broker hired a Krogan Bounty hunter named Wrex to take him out."

"I think we may have seen him at Chora's Den," Castle added, more than a little excited, "The one hassling the bouncer when we were looking for McCallister."

"A Krogan might come in handy," Beckett mused, not realizing she'd said it out loud. He could also be a load of trouble, she thought, managing to keep that part to herself, even though Castle seemed to be almost giddy at the idea of meeting his fourth alien species in less than a day.

"Last I heard, he was still at the Shin Akiba precinct," Garrus added, "Fist accused him of making death threats, so we brought him in for questioning. If we hurry, we might catch him before he walks."

"Lead on, Garrus," Beckett said, "move out people."

Garrus knew a shortcut to the precinct from Dr. Michel's clinic that avoided most of the security cameras, not to mention the crowds milling around between the main view ports and the markets that might impede their progress. He only had to flash ceramic twice to get them through and within a short walk they fond themselves in C-Sec's Shin Akiba precinct. It was clear that questioning Wrex had not gone as the precinct Captain had planned. The massive Krogan towered over the human and two Turian officers keeping him "under guard" and didn't seem intimidated by them in the slightest.

"Fist accused you of making threats," the human officer stated, which had none of the desired intimidation factor he'd been going for, given the amused expression on Wrex's face, "I'm warning you to leave him alone."

"You should be warning Fist," Wrex's basso profundo voice rumbled, "I will kill him."

"Do you want me to arrest you?" The human threatened, still not intimidating Wrex in the least as he leaned into the human's personal space to bring his skull crest down to the man's eye level.

"I want you to try," Wrex taunted before he rose to his full height again and stomped toward the elevator to the wards, bringing him close enough to them for Beckett to step into this path to get his attention.

"Do I know you, human?" he rumbled.

"Commander Kate Beckett," Kate offered, nearly putting her hand out, but thought better of it, "Earth Alliance Navy. I'm going after Fist, thought maybe you'd like to come along."

"Commander Beckett?" Wrex rumbled back at her, "I've heard about you. We're both warriors, Beckett, so out of respect I'll give you fair warning. I'm going to kill Fist."

"Fist knows you're coming, Wrex," Garrus interrupted, "We'll each have a better chance of getting what we want if we work together."

Wrex thought about what the Turian said for a moment. He generally worked alone, in fact he preferred it that way - but it never hurt to have allies and there were enough Krogan in Fist's employ to give even a seasoned battlemaster like himself pause. He had been born centuries after the end of the Krogan Rebellions and the Genophage had been inflicted upon his people, so he had very little use for turians in general -or salarians either for that matter - but this Turian at least seemed to be talking sense... for once.

"My people have a saying, Beckett," he rumbled. "'Seek the enemy of your enemy and you will find a friend.' I'm in."

Kate nodded, and Wrex fell into line with them.

"This sounds like the start of a beautiful friendship," Castle quipped as he, Garrus and Wrex boarded the elevator back to the wards, which made Kate roll her eyes at him, grateful that his back was turned to her. As much as she tried to ignore it, she found herself liking the man more with every passing hour.

With the addition of the Krogan, they might have formed a very potent squad to go after Fist, but Kate knew Wrex could easily turn into a fatal liability if she didn't have a backup plan. To that end she turned to Esposito and pressed a hand to his chest to stop him from joining the others on the elevator.

"Espo," she whispered, "I need you to go back to the Normandy."

"Hell no, Beckett," Esposito hissed as if he'd been slapped in the face, "If you think I'm gonna let you go in there with only Castle and these two chuckle-heads to have your back you've got another thing coming!"

"That's a direct order, Lieutenant," Kate snapped back. "Get back to the ship, find LT and whomever else you can get your hands on who's fit to carry a rifle into combat. If this goes south and we need backup you're our ace in the hole. Now move like you've got a purpose Marine!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Esposito replied, snapped a quick salute then reluctantly marched double-time toward the elevator to the Normandy's docking port.

Beckett, Castle, Garrus and Wrex made it to the alleyway just outside of Chora's Den in short order, prepared to confront Fist. Their first indication that something was amiss was the lack of music coming from the establishment. Every other time they had been there, the pulsing beat of the nightclub's sound system could be heard rumbling and vibrating through the deck plates.

"That's odd," Garrus noted, "this place never closes..."

"Fist knows we're coming," Wrex interrupted, a shotgun in one hand and an assault rifle in the other, both looking small in his massive hands, "good, I don't like sneaking around anyway."

They stacked up on either side of the door and Beckett nodded at Castle who tapped the door toggle plate. No sooner had the door begun to slide open than a withering fusillade of small arms fire burst through the doorway. Castle charged biotics and sent a shock-wave pounding through the door into the club at the same time Wrex cut loose a warp pulse which effectively scattered Fist's hired muscle, killing two of them instantly.

Kate and Garrus moved into the doorway, firing their rifles to clear a path into the club, each scoring hits. Garrus' mastery with his Raptor assault rifle was evident as he drilled his first target through the left eye, sending three others scurrying for cover. The two of them kept up their rate of fire as they fanned out, Kate to the right and Garrus to the left as Castle and Wrex moved into the doorway, then parted, with Castle moving to the left to support Beckett.

Wrex charged headlong into the nightclub, elbowing Garrus aside to charge into the nearest Krogan and slammed his head's bony crest plate into the younger, smaller krogan's - a concussive headbutt which likely would have killed a human outright - forcing him to stagger back. Wrex's follow up move was to press the barrel of his rifle to his opponent's chest and hold down the trigger, unleashing a fifteen round burst that reduced his primary, secondary and tertiary hearts to ground meat.

Wrex flung the dying Krogan aside with a snarl and charged into the next set of bodyguards with a bellowing war cry as Garrus – clearly left to fend for himself - upended a table for cover and picked off the bodyguards who'd set up positions on the raised stage above the bar with precise fire from his assault rifle.

Castle and Beckett's room-clearing efforts were a much more coordinated affair. The two of them leapfrogged closer to the hallway leading to the offices – the fluid grace of their movements so synchronized it was like they shared a brain - Castle would break cover and fire a concentrated burst with his Lancer as Beckett moved up, then she would do the same with her Avenger, each without so much as a backward glance. Between the four of them, Fist's bodyguards and club bouncers didn't last long and when the echoes of the gunfire faded, the bar area of the club took on an almost surreal silence.

Beckett hit the button to open the door to the offices and they were met by two humans half hidden on either side of a stack of heavy crates. It was clear to all four of them, given their opponents' oil stained coveralls and semi exposed position that neither of these men were trained for combat.

"Stop!" one of then squawked, clearly unnerved to be facing down a Turian C-Sec agent, two Alliance Marines, and a Krogan Battlemaster with little more than a low caliber civilian model pistol and an aftermarket shotgun between them. "Don't come any closer!"

His weapon was shaking in his hands, - making it obvious to all of them that he'd never pointed a gun at anyone before - unaware that the safety was still on.

"Warehouse workers," Castle whispered to her. "All the real bodyguards must be dead."

Kate nodded, straightening up, her assault rifle aimed squarely at the man's head.

"Weapons down!" Kate shouted, hers never wavering, Castle followed her lead, his weapon trained on the man's partner with the shotgun, as her voice took on a colder timbre. "The four of us just took out fifty trained killers to get in here, you ready to die?"

The two workers looked at each other for a moment then shrugged.

"Screw Fist," one of them muttered as he and his partner dropped their weapons to the floor. "He doesn't pay us enough for this."

After locking the two men in one of the rooms set aside for "private" lap-dances, Castle and Beckett stacked up at the door to the main offices with Garrus and Wrex close behind. Castle counted down from three on the fingers of his left hand, keyed the door and they burst inside. Fist crouched behind the desk and raised a pistol as if to resist, but after Wrex burst into the room behind Garrus he thought better of it and quickly dropped his weapon, kicked it aside and stood up with his hands in the air.

"Wait! Don't let him kill me!" Fist shouted, "I surrender! I surrender!"

"Step into the open and get down on your knees!" Castle commanded. "Do it now! Feet apart! Lace your fingers behind your head!"

Fist complied and Castle slid his rifle away -careful to stay out of Beckett and Garrus' line of fire as they covered him – while he searched the gangster none-to-gently for hidden weapons.

"Wrex here is eager to fulfill his contract with the Shadow Broker, Fist," Kate offered, sliding subtly into "good cop" interrogation mode, "give me a good reason not to let him." She paused for effect as Wrex bristled, stroking the shotgun in his large hands as if it was his firstborn, which seemed to unnerve the man to no end. "Tell me where the quarian is and maybe I won't leave you to his tender mercies."

"She... she's not here!" Fist stammered, his eyes not on Kate, but on the cavernous maw of Wrex's Claymore shotgun. He knew Wrex by reputation, the Krogan had no scruples about executing a prisoner and would most definitely pull the trigger, regardless of what anyone thought about it. "I.. I don't know where she is! I swear!"

"He's no use to you," Wrex rumbled menacingly, clearly playing his part well - though Kate wasn't sure if he was playing or not after seeing him tear at least six people apart with both biotics and his three fingered claws.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Fist stammered, thinking on his feet, "I don't know where the quarian is... but I know where you can find her. She... she said she'd only deal with the Broker himself!"

"Face to face?" Wrex rumbled, ejecting the spent thermal clip from his shotgun and slapping home a new one to keep the pressure on. "Impossible. Even I was hired through an agent."

"Nobody meets the Shadow Broker... ever." Fist stated nervously "I've been trading info for him for years and even I don't know his true identity, but the quarian didn't know that. I told her I'd set up a meeting, but when she shows up... it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."

Kate's demeanor suddenly shifted violently away from "good cop" well past Wrex's "bad cop" and straight into "worse cop" as she stalked menacingly into Fist's personal space, hauled him savagely to his feet and slammed him into the wall. She drew her Carnifax hand canon and pressed the barrel right under his chin. For the first time since the interrogation began his eyes were focused directly into her green flecked hazel ones and he did not like the rage he saw there.

"Tell me where that meeting is," She shouted in his face, "before I blow your lying brains out right here!"

"Here... here on the wards," Fist stammered as best as he could with the barrel of a pistol jammed under his chin. "Back alley by the Markets! She's supposed to meet with them soon, you... you can make it if you hurry!"

Kate slammed Fist into the mirror hard enough to crack the glass then turned toward the door back into the nightclub, Castle and Garrus fast at her heels, when the loud, thunderous report of Wrex's shotgun echoed loudly in the enclosed space. All three of them wheeled back around to see Wrex stranding over Fist's nearly decapitated body crumpled on the floor.

"Put it down, Wrex," Garrus shouted, his pistol out, in full C-Sec agent mode, "I'm taking you in!"

"The Shadow Broker paid me a lot of money to kill him," Wrex rumbled, nodding at the pile of raw meat that used to be Fist as he thumbed the switch that collapsed his shotgun and slid it into place behind his back, "I don't leave jobs half done, it's bad for business."

"Besides," Castle added, "you and I both know the Broker's agents would see to it his paperwork was 'lost in the system' and have him out before breakfast anyway."

Garrus nodded and accepted Castle's logic in the matter. He knew the Shadow Broker's reputation well enough to see the truth in it.

"I'm not shedding any tears over Fist, too many people died because of him," Kate muttered, feeling neither joy nor sorrow at the manner of his death. "We have to hurry if we're gonna save the quarian. Saddle up, people, time's wasting. Move out!"

Tali'Zorah nar Rhyyya slipped cautiously into the alley where Fist had told her the Shadow Broker would be waiting. The last vestiges of the fever - courtesy of graze from the Polonium round she'd been hit with shortly after she'd arrived - was still raging in her system. Dr. Michel had given her an injection of dextro-based antibiotics in her clinic, but they were balanced for turian - not quarian - physiology which left her a little woozy.

That the kind-faced human doctor wasn't biased against her people - unlike most of the races in council space - filled her with gratitude, not to mention generous pang of guilt that she may have brought danger to her door. But what she needed now was a safe house with an antiseptic clean room where she could remove her suit to conduct permanent repairs while the antibiotics worked their way through her system.

Tali had no time for middlemen, she needed to see this Shadow Broker for herself... gauge whether he would keep his word and then leverage the information she'd collected in order to survive to finish her pilgrimage. None of the Council races and most of the associate members would give a lone "suit rat" the time of day here on the Citadel, especially if it besmirched the reputation of a Council Spectre. Of all the crappy options available, this one seemed the most survivable.

Tali's meditations on her current options were interrupted however, when she saw the tall, war-painted Turian enter from the other side of the corridor as if he owned the place, flanked by two salarians - his bodyguards apparently - in combat armor. Something didn't quite feel right, but she wasn't sure if she trusted her own situational awareness given her mild fever. The Turian walked brazenly right up to her without waiting for pleasantries to be exchanged and ran a hand down her arm, which made the feverish skin inside her exo-suit crawl.

"Did you bring it?' he whispered almost seductively, trying - and failing - to disguise his further groping as a pat down to search for recording devices. Despite her love of the vid, "Fleet and Flotilla", she did not find the reality of being groped by a strange turian male romantic in the slightest.

"Where's the Shadow Broker?" she asked. She'd been clear she would only deal with the Broker in person and this clearly wasn't him. "Where's Fist"

"The Shadow Broker doesn't meet with just anyone, you know, I'm here to feel you out, make sure you're legit... they'll be here," he muttered in reply as his wandering hands moved down her back to graze over the flare of her hips. It was obvious he did not grasp the difference between "feeling her out" and "feeling her up", which had her itching to bury her booted foot someplace he would not enjoy at all, "Where's the evidence?"

This had been the wrong thing for the turian to say, as unbeknownst to him, she had never used the word "evidence" to describe the data she had offered to the Shadow Broker. Even in her feverish state, she realized this was a setup.

"No way," she snapped, slapping his hand away from her ass, "the deal's off."

The man backed away and nodded to the two salarians who brought up their shotguns and moved in on her. None of them saw her hand drift behind her back to withdraw the last two of the miniaturized flash-bang grenades that Auntie Rahn had given her before she left on her pilgrimage. She activated them both with a quick slide of her thumb and tossed them to the floor between herself and the two salarians just before she dove for cover behind the archway of the access corridor.

The synchronized detonation of the flash-bangs, one right after the other, gave her the opportunity to charge the shotgun she'd recovered from the Geth along with the files from its audio banks. A compact weapon based upon a very old quarian design that fit into her hands as if built for her.

Uncoordinated and poorly aimed gunfire spattered off the archway as the two partially blinded salarians fired at her - the flash-bangs apparently having done their job - but the fire that came from behind her made her nearly jump out of cover in surprise.

"Get down!" a human female shouted, ramming steel down her spine.

Tali ducked back into cover as the hallway erupted with another volley of assault rifle fire. The human female and a tall human male appeared at either side of the archway, their rifles speaking hyper-velocity death in three round bursts for the mercenaries caught without cover in the corridor. When the echoes faded, the human male knelt beside her to check her for injuries, his large five-fingered hands softer, gentler and much more respectful than the turian's had been moments before.

"You okay? Suit intact?" he asked, his voice soft but strong as he gave her suit a visual once-over for punctures.

Tali nodded at him slowly, noting his kind face, penetrating blue eyes and almost parental interest in her welfare. She knew almost instantly that she could trust him, unlike most of the beings she'd met since leaving the flotilla.

"Fist set me up!" Tali hissed when she could trust herself to speak without her voice shaking, "I knew I couldn't trust him!"

"You sure you're okay?" Kate asked, equally concerned for Tali's health.

She'd done her research on alien species - above and beyond the required study of the "Possible Alien Combatants" manual - during the mandatory classroom portion of the N-7 training program. She was fully aware of how easily a quarian's immune system could be compromised after three hundred years in the sterile environment of the flotilla. The very suit that kept Tali alive was also her prison.

"I can look after myself," Tali replied, "not that I don't appreciate your help. Who are you?"

"Commander Kate Beckett, Alliance Navy," Kate replied, "this is Master Chief Castle, Garrus Vakarian and that's Wrex. I was told that you might have information that proves Saren Arterius is guilty of treason."

"Then I suppose I have a chance to repay you for coming to my rescue, Tali began, "but not here, we need to go someplace safe first."

"How about the Alliance embassy?" Castle asked, then shrugged at Beckett when she rolled her eyes at him. "Ambassador Bracken will want to see this evidence for himself anyway, perhaps he could arrange some sort of asylum for her."

On the way to the embassy, Beckett sent a call to Esposito to let him know everything had worked out, not to send the cavalry and that they would meet him aboard ship later.

Garrus had begged off going anywhere near Executor Pallin's office, stating that he had reports to file back at C-Sec. Wrex decided he'd rather not get enmeshed in human politics and wandered off to get a flagon of Ryncol at the bar after his omni-tool registered that the rest of his payment from the Shadow Broker had come in, which meant the two of them were on their own.

Bracken stood up from his desk the moment Beckett and Castle walked into the Human embassy with Tali following close behind and he was clearly not happy to see them.

"You're not making my life easier, Commander. He barked harshly. Firefights on the wards? An all out assault on Chora's den? Do you know how many..."

Bracken spluttered to a stop when he saw Tali behind them. A quarian was hard to miss.

"Why is this quarian here?" he started again. What are you up to Beckett?"

"She has evidence that can help us nail Saren," Kate began, giving as good as she got. "Which I would have told you, if you hadn't jumped down my throat as soon as I walked in the door."

"My apologies, Commander," Bracken replied, his voice softening. "This whole thing with Saren has me more on edge than I'd like. Maybe we should start again...miss?"

"My name is Tali," she replied, "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

"We don't see many quarians here," Bracken continued. "Why did you leave the flotilla?"

"I was on my pilgrimage," Tali explained, "my rite of passage into adulthood. It's a tradition among my people. When we reach maturity, we leave the ships of our parents and the flotilla behind. Alone we search the stars, only returning to the flotilla once we have discovered something of value to our people. In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adult responsibilities. Through our pilgrimage we prove that we can contribute to the community rather than a burden on our limited resources."

"I see, miss Zorah," Bracken replied, "please tell me about this evidence you found."

"During my travels," Tali explained, "I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the Perseus Veil, not even to chase our ancestors when they fled Rannoch. I was curious about why."

Tali looked sideways to Castle, who winked at her, flashing a warm, paternal smile.

"I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world and waited for one of them to become separated from the others," she continued, "I disabled it and removed its memory core."

"I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died," Montgomery cut in, nobody had seen him come in, nor had they known he'd been listening the whole time, "Some sort of defense mechanism. How did you preserve it?"

"My people created the geth," Tali explained, "if you're quick, careful and lucky, small caches of data can sometimes be saved. Most of the core was wiped clean, but I salvaged something from it's audio banks."

Tali stopped for a moment and activated her omni-tool, paging through the files until she found the audio file she was looking for. She selected it and the file began to play.

"...Eden Prime was a major victory," Saren's voice said on the recording. "The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit."

"That's Saren!" Montgomery exclaimed. "This proves he was involved in the attack!"

"He said the becaon on Eden Prime brought him one step closer to the conduit," Beckett noted, sending a sideways glance at Castle, "any idea what that means?"

Castle shook his head, everything that the beacon had burned into his brain was jumbled, unclear as if he'd been fed a coded message in an alien language without the encryption key.

"The conduit must have something to do with the beacon. Maybe it's some sort of Prothean tech – a weapon or something."

"Wait," Tali offered, "there's more on the recording, Saren isn't working alone."

She played the message again, this time without interruption:

"...Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit."

"...and one step closer to the return of the Reapers." a female voice added before the audio file closed.

"I don't recognize that other voice," Bracken said, "the one talking about reapers."

"Are they some new alien species?" Beckett asked.

"According to what little else I could glean from the memory core when I scrubbed it for data," Tali offered, "the reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that hunted the Protheans to extinction fifty thousand years ago, then vanished. At least that's what this geth seems to believe."

"Sounds pretty far-fetched," Bracken observed.

"It's all starting to make sense now," Castle interjected, his voice dull and almost lifeless like his mind was a million light years away, "the vision the beacon burned into my mind, I think I understand it. The Protheans were being wiped out by the reapers."

"The geth revere the reapers as gods," Tali added, unable to bear the others staring at Castle like he was crazy, "the pinnacle of non-organic life. They would never have followed Saren out of the veil unless they believed he could somehow bring them back."

"The Council is just gonna love this," Bracken muttered sarcastically.

"They would never believe it anyway," Beckett replied, "hell, I'm not sure I believe it. If I didn't trust Castle's word about what he saw, I'm not sure I'd even entertain the possibility."

"We have to get this recording to the Council at the very least," Montgomery added, "they might not believe the rest of it, but this recording proves Saren is a traitor!"

"The captain is right," Bracken agreed, "we need to present this to the Council right away before Saren gets wind that we have it, but what about the quarian?"

"My name is Tali!" Tali objected, then turned to Beckett. "You saw me in the alley, commander, you saw what I can do, not to mention that I'm the closest thing you have to a geth expert. Please, let me come with you."

"What about your pilgrimage?" Castle asked, he saw a lot of Alexis in her, and his father instincts were all kicking in. This mission was dangerous, and she was just a kid who'd been exposed to too much already.

"The pilgrimage exists to let us prove we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good," Tali replied, pleading her case. "What does it say about me if I turn my back about this? Saren and the geth are a danger to the entire galaxy, my pilgrimage can wait."

Castle was impressed, his comparison of Tali with his daughter was not misplaced. Alexis carried the weight of the world on her shoulders too. She was still unsure of what her place in society would be, only that she wanted to contribute. Alexis would have done no less under the circumstances.

"I'll accept any help I can get," Beckett replied.

"Thanks, Commander," Tali replied, moving to stand next to Castle, subtly mimicking his parade rest stance... at least as well as she could given that her legs bent the opposite way at the knee than a human's did, "you won't regret this."

When they arrived at the Council chambers for the impromptu meeting that Bracken had hurriedly arranged under the slightly false pretense of discussing the relief efforts for Eden Prime. The three Councilors stood shocked when Bracken announced that they had discovered more evidence about the attack. They were even more surprised when Bracken played the audio file Tali had provided, loud enough so everyone viewing in the gallery above could hear.

"...Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit."

"...and one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

"You wanted proof," Bracken's voice boomed. "There it is."

Bracken was in fine form, he'd been wanting to stick it to them all day after their patronizing attitude the night before. He always enjoyed holding the winning cards.

It was Sparatus who shook off his shock first.

"This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador," he grumbled, "Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

"I recognize the other voice on the recording," Tevos replied, still slightly in shock at the revelation, "Matriarch Benezia."

"Who is she?" Beckett asked, much the way she would have asked a witness once upon a time.

"Matriarchs are the oldest, most powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives." The Asari Councilor explained. "Revered for their wisdom and life experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic with many followers. She would make a formidable ally for Saren."

"I'm more interested in these so-called reapers," Councilor Valern chimed in. "Do you know anything about them?"

"Only what was extracted from the geth memory core," Montgomery replied, "apparently the reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans and then vanished without a trace."

"The geth revere the reapers as gods," Beckett supplied, hoping to keep Castle from jumping into the conversation, "they follow Saren because they believe that he's the prophet for their return."

"As far as this "conduit" Saren mentioned," Montgomery added, "We think it might be the key to bringing them back. Saren is searching for it, which is probably why he attacked Eden Prime... to access the beacon they found there."

"Saren believes it can bring back these Reapers," Kate added, "isn't that bad enough?"

"Think about what you're saying," Sparatus interjected, "Saren wants to bring back a race of machines that wiped out all organic life in the galaxy? Impossible... it has to be. Where did these reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we have found no trace of their existence? If they were real we would have had to find something!"

"Beckett tried to warn you about Saren and you refused to listen," Castle spoke up, "Don't make the same mistake again."

"This is different," Tevos replied, "You were able to prove that Saren betrayed the Council. We can all agree that he's using the geth to search for this conduit, but what isn't clear is why."

"These reapers are obviously just a myth," Valern added, "a convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is exploiting to bend the geth to his will."

"Saren is an organic," Tali countered, "the geth would have killed him as soon as he crossed the veil. They have no use for organics! None! They don't respond to persuasion like we do."

"Fifty thousand years ago," Castle shouted, "the reapers wiped out all of galactic civilization. Do you really want to risk Saren finding the conduit and making it happen again?"

"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life," Sparatus sputtered. "He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre."

"Spectres are chosen because they are resourceful and self reliant," Beckett shouted, "What makes youthink he doesn't have resources of his own?"

"You know he's hiding out there somewhere in the Traverse," Bracken added, "you could send your fleet into the Traverse to search for him!"

"A fleet cannot track down a single turian..." Valern began.

"A Citadel fleet could secure the region," Bracken interrupted. "Keep the geth from attacking any more of our colonies while you run him to ground."

"Or," Sparatus shot back, "it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems!" We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies!"

"Every time humanity has asked for help, you've ignored us," Bracken shouted, getting more wound up with every word, "I'm getting sick and tired of this council and its anti-human bull...!"

"Ambassador!" Tevos interrupted. "There is another solution. A way to track down Saren that does not require fleets or armies, nor will it spark a galactic incident."

"No!" Sparatus shouted, drawing both of the other councilors to stare at him, "It's too soon! Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities of joining the Spectres!"

"It was a turian Spectre who killed one of his own and betrayed the Council," Montgomery shouted, having been pushed past his breaking point, "and Commander Beckett who exposed him, at great personal risk, I might add. She's ready for this, more ready than I was when I stood in this very spot twenty years ago! She's earned it and the only reason not to do so would be unsubstantiated anti-human bias!"

Councilor Sparatus was quiet under Montgomery and Bracken's combined glares, not to mention the scrutiny of the observers in the upper gallery. He had nothing of substance to refute Captain Montgomery's tirade with. His own words had been poorly chosen, too close to Saren's own condemnation of humanity not long ago and his own deeply ingrained societal belief in upholding the greater good warned him he needed to distance himself from the traitorous Saren Arterius.

He nodded his grudging acceptance and the three of them keyed the recording devices on their lecterns.

"Commander Beckett," Tevos commanded, "step forward."

Kate looked at Captain Montgomery, she nodded and she stepped to the front of the dais and snapped to attention. Every person in the upper gallery pressed forward as far as the rails would permit.

"Katherine Houghton Beckett," Tevos continued, "it is the determination of the Council that you be granted the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen." Councilor Valern continued, "Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle, whose actions have elevated them above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal," Tevos continued. "A symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination and self reliance. They are the right hand of the council, instruments of our will."

"Spectres bear a great burden," Sparatus added. "They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety and security of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander," Tevos said in closing. "This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

"Thank you, Councilors," Kate replied politely as she relaxed to parade rest stance. "What's my first mission?"

"We are sending you out into the Traverse after Saren, Commander," Valern stated, "He's a fugitive from justice and you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him."

Kate nodded. "I'll find him."

"This meeting of the Citadel Council now stands adjourned." Tevos closed.

"Congratulations, Beckett," Captain Montgomery offered, but was brushed aside by Ambassador Bracken before Kate could reply.

"We've got a lot of work to do, Commander," Bracken interjected, sounding almost excited. "You'll need a ship, a crew, supplies... Come with me Captain Montgomery, I'll need your help to set everything up!"

With that, Montgomery and Bracken quick stepped past Beckett, jostling her into Castle in their haste to exit the council chamber. She collided into his chest with an 'oof' escaping her lungs. She looked up to find him staring down at her and before he could stop himself, Castle blurted out the first thought that leaped into his brain.

"You smell like cherries," he whispered, but the spell was suddenly broken when Tali made a low throat clearing noise behind them.

Kate immediately jumped back from him and they both stood still, both blushing pink with sudden embarrassment as Tali regarded them with her arms across her chest.

"I think," Kate said trying her best not to sound absolutely mortified, "we should get back to the ship, Master Chief."

"Sir, yes sir," Castle replied softly, following her out of the suddenly empty chamber.

"You'd think the Ambassador would be a bit more grateful, he didn't even say thank you." Tali said as they descended the stairs from the council chamber on their way back to the elevator to the presidium.

"What do you expect from a politician?" Beckett replied, as they waited for the elevator to open to take them back to the bottom of the Citadel tower. They had a bit to time to kill until they were supposed to meet up with Ambassador Bracken. This was as good a time as any to let off some steam, and Beckett wanted to get to know the new Chief of the Boat.

**Author's note** Here it is the next chapter in the story! I am already halfway into chapter six and hope to have it up soon! I will be online tonight at 5 PM Eastern on the Castle Stream Con in case any of you were curious about putting a face to a name!