He had made it a point to watch every crew member enter. The humans were vastly suspicious, some more so than others and he noted those faces in his memory for potential mutiny. Only two humans present interested him specifically and he would speak to them privately in time.
The quarian child was nervous, likely concerned that the individual who brought her onto an alien ship had gone mad and left her without support. Such concerns were unfounded however as he observed the Chief Engineer hover by her protectively in the crowd. Adams' report had mentioned his having several daughters, the youngest of whom was the same age as Tali'Zorah.
The krogan by contrast was more at ease than any other in the CIC as he well should be. Saren had thought there was something familiar in the scarred red hulk and a check had confirmed why; Urdnot Wrex had been in his employ in the past and they had always been amicable. The mercenary knew exactly what they was getting into with himself in command, and it was to his taste.
Last of all entered seven armored and heavily armed turians. Immediately a murmur ran through in the crowd. Many of the humans looked concerned, though a few of the younger staff craned their necks back with open curiosity on their faces
"You know why you are here." Saren announced, and the sound in the room died. "And there is little to explain. The Normandy goes to Eden Prime to hunt the killer of one of your own. If he is not there, it will move on until Shepard is apprehended. Your jobs remain unchanged."
He paused for a few moments and the silence remained. Good. "The loss of three soldiers would cripple a small vessel so I have taken steps to remedy that." and gestured to the cluster of turians gathered back in the bow. "Vakarian, if you would."
From the front of the group a the leader stepped forward and pulled off their helmet with a flourish to display a dark set of Cipritine blue tattoos and a broad grin. "Solana Vakarian of Obstinatus Unit at your service, Normandy. My comrades and I will be traveling with you for the duration of this mission. If you want to find us, we'll be bunking down in the garage." The others removed their helmets as well, three men and three women bearing the proud markings of Palaven cities to the last. The youngest of the men was nearly identical to the head of the team with one distinct difference; he stared with barely contained awe at the Spectre standing beside the galaxy map. Solana elbowed him in the side discreetly and he snapped his gaze away to look over the humans in the crowd.
Everything that needed to be said had been, and he closed the meeting with a gesture. "Return to your stations." As when they entered he watched them go, scanning every alien face. When they were gone he slipped out of the room. There were individuals he needed to speak with before the day was done.
Some time later once the crew was settled and the Normandy was on her way to the relay Saren entered the medbay. The doctor glanced up from her patient, and while she seemed intrigued by his presence she was neither suspicious nor frightened. "What can I do for you Commander?"
"Nihlus Kryik sends his regards doctor, and his thanks."
Her eyes crinkled in a way that he knew for a human smile. "I'm glad he's well enough to do so. I was worried that my work may not have been enough, I've stitched up a lot of soldiers in my years but I've never had a turian patient before."
"Basic care information for the relevant species had been added to your systems to assist you to that end. If you wish to inquire further the soldiers on the lower deck have all had medical training for our kind." Nihlus had asked him to be cordial to the woman and thank her. The latter was dealt with, the former ongoing. "I need to speak privately to your patient on the matter that occurred in the Exodus Cluster."
"The Lieutenant should be well enough to speak to you." The doctor removed her gloves and when she turned away towards her charge her tone changed from cordial to chastising. "Remember your medication in twenty minutes Kaidan, you'll regret it if you forget again."
"Yes ma'am."
Saren stood with his arms folded behind him as Doctor Chakwas let herself out. The human seated on the cot didn't flinch under his gaze, soft face locked in a carefully maintained neutrality. Kaidan Alenko had been more difficult to research than most of the rest of the crew. There was evidence of official cover-up in his past that spoke of rather more to the midlevel sentinel than his official record would lead the casual observer to believe. "You were on the ground team with Shepard for the incident yet you were not at the Council briefing."
"My implant didn't allow it, sir." Alenko gestured faintly to the back of his neck. "I'm better off than most L2s but it was in rare form that day, gave me the worst migraines of my life. Anderson was suppose to wheel me in to speak but I wouldn't have been very useful in that state..." A grimace distorted most of his face in a rather unpleasant way. "The Council were the ones who made the decision not to reschedule."
There was a pause; he could tell that Alenko was weighing something in his head before saying it. There was a definite suspicion there, but it seemed to focus more on the Spectre's current rank on the ship than his species. As Saren was there to learn the measure of the man he offered no input to sway him one way or another. "There's something I don't understand... if I'm not fit for duty why am I aboard the Normandy?"
"You were the only witness to the entirety of the events that occurred. I want you on the ground on Eden Prime."
It took Alenko by surprise to say the least. His brows knitted and he looked down to his heavily braced leg without intending to. "I can't walk again yet."
"The Normandy is equipped with a ground vehicle." The patience needed with these humans was astronomical, the simplest concepts were utterly foreign to them... but as with the doctor his distaste was tempered not only by necessity but the role the man had played in saving his protege's life. So Saren did his best to be patient for the following hour while questioning the Lieutenant. Though he learned little more than before. Some better descriptions, some insight into Shepard's personality before the incident, but the fundamentals were not changed. Since Saren had already spent some time speaking to the turian Ops unit when they first arrived at the Citadel he retreated to his cabin as soon as he left the medbay.
The solitude was a welcomed change of pace. He cared little for working in substantial groups, even of species he respected, so the ability to survey the Normandy's systems from the room's private terminal had been one of the first changed he'd had installed. Furnishings had been infinitely lower on the list so the chair from which he observed things was not wildly comfortable, but it did not matter. Only after Saren reviewed the information to be certain that all systems were nominal did he retreat from it to the bed to check his private messages.
.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.
Bedridden: So how's the Commander thing going?
Bedridden: I'm sure you can pull it off, if you remember how to talk to people.
Bedridden: Nothing's changed here. Still sitting on my ass
Bedridden: Well laying anyway, they won't let me sit up.
Bedridden: Bored out of my mind. Almost wish I played Galaxy of Fantasy.
(five minutes)
Bedridden: Horny too.
Bedridden: Really starting to regret turning down your offer last night.
Bedridden: If the heart monitor had actually spiked and brought someone in we could have just told them that you were interrogating my dick.
Bedridden: Or I could anyway, you wouldn't be doing a lot of talking.
(seventy minutes)
Bedridden: I miss you.
(thirty minutes)
Bedridden: I'm sick of this pass-by-every-four-months thing.
Bedridden: Spectres work together sometimes, has there ever been a permanent team?
(five minutes)
Bedridden: Of course I'd probably drive you nuts and you'd throw me out the airlock for forgetting to wipe my boots.
(fifteen minutes)
Bedridden: The doctors warned me the painkillers might make me loopy.
Bedridden: Or maudlin. This feels more like maudlin to me.
Bedridden: It's like getting drunk without the fun part.
(six minutes)
Bedridden: I should let you get back to work.
(ten minutes)
Bedridden: Take care of yourself.
.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.
Saren powered down his tool and stared out across his dimly lit quarters. ETA two hours to Eden Prime. He had a great deal of silence to fill until then.
It was a chill wind that blew through the empty settlement and fluttered the sashes of the quarian child examining blast scars in the side of a prefab structure. Little else moved in the area save her and the half of the turian team that was with them; three of the soldiers had set off in another direction after the Normandy had landed. The Lieutenant confirmed this was where they had found the human soldier, though nothing had been left alive and the dead were suspiciously absent. Solana spoke up first. "The locals haven't made it easy have they?"
"I asked for the sites to be left undisturbed, yet it seems that the Alliance has no interest in the will of the Council."
"If he was on the ground we'll find him. We can't track ghosts but if it's alive and walks we're good." Any particular opinions she held on humanity she kept to herself like a good soldier. Further ahead, Tali'Zorah ceased her examination and came back to them.
"The damage was all caused by weapons the geth use but that's all I can tell, the rest is gone." Frustration was clear in her modulated voice and posture, something he shared with her. Saren took one final look at the destroyed settlement before turning away.
"Then we shall proceed to the beacon site."
It took all of Saren's self control not to shout at the holograms of the Councilors, talons gripping the rail in the com room as he spoke through gritted teeth. It was barely past morning but the foul taste of the day was already building up in his throat: the lack of leads, the idiocy of the Alliance, the appalling nature of packing twice as many bodies in the ground craft as was advised combined with the suicidal maneuvering of the driver-
"Not only the bodies but the humans removed the fragments of the beacon. I have experts on the ground tracking Shepard , but I have no confidence that the Alliance has not simply chosen to remove him as well when they swept through before the Council's agents could arrive."
Over the link he could practically hear the veins popping in Ambassador Udina's eyes somewhere off-screen. "Such egregious accusations cannot be let stand! The Alliance wants Shepard captured as much as the Council does, it was a human marine that he killed and the human name he stained!"
There were numerous choice remarks about stains on the human name that he could have made but he held his tongue. This was not the place, and the facts were infinitely more damning than insults. "And the wisest course of action your leaders could decide on was to remove all evidence from the scene?"
All three council members were staring at the human now. Sparatus broke the silence, venom in his subvocals. "When exactly was the Alliance planning on informing the Council that they had spirited away an artifact of galactic importance, Ambassador?"
Saren's omni pinged and he ignored it. Then it pinged again in a more insistent pattern- it was the Obstinatus commander. Vakarian knew he was in a meeting, and for her to contact him...
"You'll have to excuse me Councilors. I believe you all have questions you would wish to ask the Ambassador and I have a lunatic to catch." He shut off the link unceremoniously and answered the call. "Arterius, Report."
"Spectre, we managed to track the end of Shepard's path and you're going to want to take a look at this." The soldier sounded off-ease and that was enough to put him on alert.
"Send the Mako to meet me at the Normandy's location."
"She's already on her way Spectre, ETA six minutes."
While he did not relish another trip in the vehicle he wasted no time hauling himself through the open door when it pulled up with a hellish screech of wheels. The ride the driver provided was by no means smooth but her maneuvering of the vehicle was impressive, covering the ground between the Normandy's dock and the site the call had come from in half the time it should have taken.
As for what he was here to see...
On the ground a short distance ahead was an impression in the grass. Carefully placed turian and quarian footprints ringed it, and a tech drone hovering overhead collecting data while its creator crouched in rushed conversation with one of his fellows. Everyone else just stared.
It was the impression of a ship, and when he had traced it out with his own feet twice to be certain, it was over a mile long.