Having only been rendered fully speechless once before, Hannah had thought it was unlikely to ever happen again. Then again, she'd never found herself bathed in the amethyst glow of a nebula that enveloped her on all sides, watching the slow turn of a space station more immense than anything she had ever imagined. Arcturus, the Alliance's prized construction, was dwarfed in comparison. For the first time in her life, no words came to Hannah when she called for them—not fear, not joy, not awe—and she was filled with emotion so ancient and expansive it was ineffable. Sirens were creatures of myth, but in the endless moments of their approach to the Citadel, she came to believe in beauty so profound, so exalted by its own enormity it could move you to dash your own ship upon the rocks in pursuit of it.

Sana must have suspected the tenor of Hannah's thoughts as she pressed a hand gently to her shoulder. "Lieutenant Commander," she said softly, calling Hannah back to herself, "it is crucial you follow my instructions precisely. Please pay attention."

She blinked and nodded, gathering herself as the station grew closer.

The turian military might not have the jurisdiction to engage what it deemed a hostile ship this close to the Citadel, but Odessus had assured them they could expect the Citadel fleet to act in full cooperation. For the moment, traffic through the relay was thick enough that they could fade into the background, but the traffic controllers on the Citadel would notice them, and soon. It was only a matter of time before they drew the attention of the fleet.

Sana strapped herself into the jumpseat behind Odessus, and cleared her throat. "You must do exactly as I say, exactly when I say to do it. Do you both understand?"

They nodded, but a weighty dread had begun to pull at the pit of Hannah's stomach. Instructions that required a disclaimer like that were never good.

"When I say," Sana began again, "deactivate all systems."

"All?" Hannah and Odessus asked in unison, turning in their seats.

Sana nodded and answered their silent question, "Including life support. This ship can make no emissions of any kind if we hope to go unnoticed." She brought up her omni-tool and offered the information she held there to Hannah. "Point us in the direction of these coordinates precisely. Our momentum will carry us after we kill the thrusters. Odessus, set the navigation on your omni-tool to alert us when we have reached these coordinates."

Odessus flared out her mandibles in alarm. "Sana, this isn't—"

Whatever she would've said, Sana waved into silence. "No arguments. Do as I say. Cut the power now."

When Hannah hesitated, Odessus obeyed. This was reckless, even by their standards.

Weightlessness gripped her, and she had to measure out her breathing. There's plenty of oxygen, plenty, she repeated to herself. There's enough oxygen, and the residual heat won't bleed away too quickly. This is fine. We'll be fine. Sana knows what she's doing.

Judging by the shiver that Odessus was trying to suppress, Hannah certainly hoped Sana knew what she was doing.

"When you reach these coordinates, ping this address from your omni-tool," she said. "You must send it at precisely those coordinates. It is part of the coded message."

"For the record," Hannah whispered against her better judgment, "this is a bad idea, and I'm going to kill you if we die out here."

Her mandibles trembled, but Odessus appeared more impassive than Hannah thought she must've felt. "What kind of message is this, exactly?" she rumbled almost too lowly for Hannah to hear.

"You need not concern yourself with what kind of message it is or to whom you will send it. This is the only way to board the station without alerting Citadel Security. If we do not follow the procedure exactly, we will not succeed."

Hannah had to laugh, but kept it a short huff. "You're feistier than I gave you credit for, Doc. Who knew you'd know so many secrets?"

Sana smirked, but grudgingly. "I told you before. My first priority is always the health of my patients. Sometimes, my patients find themselves in situations that require discretion. As long as my discretion does not put another individual in the way of direct harm, I am happy to oblige. In exchange, I often learn information I might not otherwise have access to, including, apparently, vulnerabilities in the security of the Citadel."

Odessus shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "You're a fertility specialist, Sana. Is evading security systems a frequent topic of discussion over ultrasounds?"

Sana's smirk disappeared. "It comes up about as frequently as ways to perform emergency surgery on an unknown alien anatomy. I have known you all your life, Odessus, but you have not known me all of mine."

For an hour, they said nothing else. Ships of all kinds, both civilian and military, slid silently above them. Hannah kept her breathing shallow, partly in awe and partly in fear. With the haptic interface for the ship's controls disabled, there was very little for her to do other than stare of the technical marvel before her and focus on not breathing too much air. Every few minutes, she shook out her hands and flexed her fingers, keeping away the fast-encroaching chill and the panic that threatened to well up inside her. Odessus moved very little and kept a close eye on the display of her omni-tool as they crawled toward the single bright light glowing between them.

Just before they reached the appointed coordinates, Sana whispered, "One ping only, Odessus. Do not send more than one ping."

She sent the ping, and no one breathed. After ten seconds—or was it ten hours?—a single ping answered them.

Sana exhaled a breath. "We are clear. Restart all systems, and go to the second set of coordinates."

Hannah could not comply fast enough and let out a string of expletives to punctuate her relief as the ship hummed to life once again.

Odessus looked at the coordinates and her eyes narrowed. "Sana, that's—"

"Yes. Again, it is not your concern."

"What kind of patients have you had?"

Sana straightened and said crisply, "Major Odessus Ravaka. Mind your task."

Odessus shook her head, mandibles fluttering in amusement, and gave a half-salute. "Ma'am, yes, ma'am."

It took another hour, but they were soon docked against what looked like an airlock.

Sana stood and motioned for Hannah and Odessus to follow her down the hall and back to the ship's entrance. "Stay here in the reception area. I must speak with my contact privately."

Hannah started after her. "Wait, Sana, you can't be serious. We have no idea who's waiting out there—"

Sana spun around. "You will do as you are told, Lieutenant Commander. My contact will speak to no one but me. Sit down and be quiet. The last thing we need is for either of you to escalate what should be a simple exchange. Do not do anything until I return."

The forcefulness of her words stunned Hannah, and she didn't say another word as the airlock shut behind the asari's back.

Odessus came up beside her, crossing her arms and chuckling. "She can get pretty cross when she gets a rock in her spurs. Better not to get in her way."

Hannah shook her head. "She doesn't have spurs."

She flared her mandibles in amusement. "Her tentacles then."

Hannah tilted her head toward the door. "Who is she talking to?"

Odessus rolled a shoulder and looked away. "If I had to make a guess, I'd say they're an . . . agent from a very rough asteroid in a system very far from here." She looked over at Hannah and seemed to consider before asking, "You all right?"

Truthfully, Hannah didn't know. She felt herself trembling, but she couldn't tell if that was just the lingering chill or something else. Instead of voicing any of that, she asked, "Have you been to the Citadel?"

Odessus nodded once. "I've never lived here, but I've spent plenty of shore leave here when I couldn't make it back home to Taetrus. It can be an overwhelming place for newcomers. I have a feeling I'll be here a lot more once this is all done."

Hannah looked at her quizzically.

Odessus let out a sigh. "Even if Sana can wield her magic, my career in the military is over." She began to pace. "If I'm very lucky, I'll get approval for an appointment to C-Sec." When she turned again toward Hannah, she huffed. "I'll have you know I was a good soldier before you came along. My file is full of commendations. Not a single incident of assaulting a superior officer or aiding and abetting a fleeing prisoner."

Hannah grinned. "Good soldier my ass." She paused, then asked, "Why come here and not go home?"

Odessus shrugged. "Not enough action. Too much politics. My plates start to itch after a week groundside."

Hannah nodded but couldn't offer more than sympathy. Everything was hanging by a thread, and After was still too far away to really think about clearly.

The airlock hissed open and a loud, angry voice bellowed through it, "—the kind of shit I'm going to be in if the executor finds out about this? Fringe-deep, T'Oriza! Athame-fucking-damn it all."

Another asari strode onto the ship with Sana following quickly behind her and looking somewhat scandalized. The neon orange of the stranger's markings across the ridges of her fringe were striking, but not quite as striking as the unmitigated fury shining in her eyes as she stormed up to Hannah. Odessus stepped closer to her as well, squaring her shoulders. The asari stopped with the tip of her nose nearly meeting Hannah's. "So you're the damn pyjack who's blowing my fucking cover. You must shit concentrated eezo if the boss herself is sending me to be your fucking babysitter, eh?"

Hannah took half a step forward, closing what little distance there was between them and pressing into the asari's space. "That would be me. The eezo-shitting pyjack extraordinaire. Now are you going to do your fucking job or does the boss have to find another babysitter?"

Sana called out Hannah's name—in panic or exasperation, she couldn't tell—and Odessus bristled beside her, shifting into a stance.

It took only a moment for a crooked smile to flash across her face and she took a step back. "I like you, pyjack. If you were asari, I'd say you had some krogan in you. Call me Pyrrha." She nodded at Odessus, giving her a pointed up-and-down look, and her smile grew wider. "You can relax, sweethips. I'm not going to do anything to your girl. I was told to get her somewhere secure, and that's what I'll do. Get your things together, red. No delays. We get this done now before my absence makes me conspicuous."

Both Sana and Odessus visibly relaxed. Hannah, however, took in a sharp breath, realizing fully for the first time that she had nothing left. Not even the clothes on her back belonged to her anymore. She cleared her throat and held out an open palm to have this new asari lead the way. "I'm ready when you are, Pyrrha."

Without another word, the asari turned on her heel and exited the ship. Hannah glanced at Odessus, who looked as baffled as Hannah felt, and asked in a low voice, "Who the hell is the boss?"

Odessus shot a questioning look at Sana, who shook her head once. "Someone no one wants to fuck with, even on the Citadel. We'd better hurry if we want to keep up."