"So after we cleaned up the debris I told the Corporal: 'If you ever bring that cat within 50 metres of me again, I'll have both of you up on charges.' "
Tali chuckled at Shepard's tale. "It seems we're missing out by not having any animals on the Flotilla, let alone pets," she said. "Companion VIs just don't appear to be as unpredictable."
She and the Commander were walking through the Normandy, which had just docked at the Citadel again. Shepard had quite a schedule of meetings ahead of him, as he had told her. Numerous times in fact, complaining about his utter apathy towards that sort of work, especially the prospect of having to face Ambassador Udina again. She had tolerated that with friendly humour and dry remarks. She knew his complaints had been exaggerated for simple humorous effect.
She herself had the opposite problem. Shepard had drawn up a watch schedule that allowed shore leave to a maximum of crew members, and that included her. If the visit proved to be short enough, she would have no work duties during the entire stay. Not a bad thing normally, but she did not quite know how to use that time. She and some other crew members from Engineering had agreed to go out to one of the bars eventually, if the stay would be long enough. The implicit acceptance of her, and the chance at further socialisation with her co-workers had made her happy. However, even if that meeting should take place, which was not yet secure at all, she still had quite a time to fill until then.
"Maybe some pet created instability would be useful right now," she continued.
Shepard let out a short laugh. He knew what she was talking about; she had probably complained enough about her problem, too. "We are on the Citadel!" he said, "Surely you will find something to do."
"Between all the cafés where I wouldn't be served and the shops outright saying they won't let quarians enter?" Tali asked mockingly, but not actually bitter. "Yes, I'm sure I could spend much time walking between them."
Shepard sighed. "I guess you have a point, though in a city of thirteen million floating in space there must be some places where they welcome your kind," he said.
"Of course," Tali admitted. "I may have exaggerated that problem. I wonder where I got that from?"
The Commander laughed. "Okay, okay, touché," he conceded.
They had reached the CIC, where Lieutenant Alenko waited. Upon seeing him, Shepard's good humour died down. From what Tali had gathered during the recent days, there still was a lot of awkwardness between him and Alenko due to their last conversation. None really disliked the other, but in matters beyond the official neither seemed to know just what to say to break the ice that had built up.
Shepard had told her that Alenko would be present at most of his meetings, in his function as leader of the marine detachment and generally as ship officer, since the Commander had decided not to bring Pressly along. He preferred to always have the CO or the XO to be aboard, and besides somebody had to oversee resupplying the ship.
"Commander," Alenko greeted.
"Lieutenant," Shepard responded, "are you ready for our various meetings?"
"Yes, sir," Alenko answered, stiffly. An awkward pause ensued.
"Well then," Shepard said after a while, "we should best go. No use in wasting time." However, he paused before he could move, and looked at Tali. "We'll first go to talk to Admiral Kahoku. Maybe I should bring somebody along who was with me down on Edolus. Now I won't cut down your free time per order, it's not a strict necessity after all, but, ah, care to come along, Tali?"
This was a surprising request. Or maybe a surprising offer. It would nicely solve her time problem. And come to think of it, that might have been his intent. That, and easing any tension between him and Alenko by having somebody else come along. He was right, Admiral Kahoku did not strictly need to see somebody else who had been on Edolus. However, even so it were two good reasons for her to join them.
"It might be a good idea," she agreed, "So, sure, why not? I'm ready as well."
Alenko's face remained strictly neutral; it was difficult or even impossible to read what he thought about it. Tali knew he held no ill will towards her, but it was probably as difficult a situation for him as it was for Shepard.
An uncomfortable silence accompanied the three as they made their way through the Citadel, towards the Presidium. The only thing that was said was Shepard explaining to Tali that Admiral Kahoku had told them to meet him at the same location as last time, the stairs to the Citadel Tower. Apparently the Admiral thought that to be the easiest way to arrange a meeting point.
When their public transport shuttle reached the Presidium, Tali was struck by the thought of how ever unchanging and timeless it appeared. She had seen pictures of it on the extranet from over a millennium ago, and it had not looked greatly different to what she was seeing now. Last time she had been here, when Shepard and his team had just rescued her from Saren, the humans had been visibly awestruck by it. Now though they seemed less impressed, probably more accustomed to it and more absorbed by their own problems. Tali, too, was becoming increasingly immunised to the view. She still considered the architecture to be gaudy, wasteful and exaggerated, but accepted it as a fact of life: Quarians lived on ships, asari were everywhere, and the Council had no sense of taste or efficiency.
By its very nature, the Presidium was markedly different from the Wards which surrounded it. The Wards were the cultural centre of the galaxy, where ideas and concepts from half a dozen races and thousands of world came together to form the galactic trend and fashion. They were overpopulated but also pulsating with life. On the other hand, in the Presidium people where few and dispersed, but all were styled up and displaying an aura of gravitas and upper class. Quite a few gave Tali unfriendly glances in passing, and she assumed some of the whispered talks she could see were about here. Quarians were a really uncommon sight here, and really looked down upon by the galactic upper class, too.
The area around the Citadel Tower was worst. Everybody here was a high-ranking diplomat, politician or military. Nobody else would have any reason to be here. Making the Citadel Tower stairs a meeting point had hence been rather suboptimal, but it did allow Shepard to find Admiral Kahoku with ease. As he had told Tali during one of their conversations, he had first met him here, just before he had met the quarian. The Admiral had tried to get an audience with the Council, but had been blocked. Now he was standing at the same spot again, awaiting the Commander.
He and Kahoku exchanged salutes. The Admiral gave Tali a surprised look. Like everybody else in the area probably he had probably not expected a quarian here. However, he quickly concentrated on Shepard again and said: "Commander Shepard, I got your message, though I have no idea what you were referring to. What exactly do you want to report to me in detail?" He sounded rather disinterested.
"Uh..." Shepard began. Clearly this was not how he had thought the conversation would begin. "Didn't you get word from Arcturus Station, Admiral?"
"Only the standard communiques," Kahoku replied rather gruffly. "Should I've gotten more?"
"Uh, yes, sir," Shepard answered and then hesitated. "I... don't understand, sir" he went on, "I sent a full report to them; on what has happened to your marines."
"My recon team?" Kahoku asked, now finally showing true interest, "You found them?"
"I... yes, sir" Shepard confirmed. "It's... I'm sorry. I was under the impression you already had all the facts. That makes this difficult..." He breathed out. "I'm sorry to have to inform you that your men are dead. All of them. I'm sorry."
Kahoku's stature straightened and his head bolted upwards. "What happened to them?" he demanded to know, "What did you find?"
"They were lured to a Thresher Maw nest by a fake emergency signal," Shepard explained.
"Fake, you say?" Kahoku inquired. "So you think it has been done deliberately? Best give me a full report!"
"Yes, sir," Shepard confirmed, "My team and I were checking out the same signal when the creature beset us, but we were able to take it out. This allowed us to retrieve the distress beacon used and the bodies of the soldiers." He turned to Tali and gestured her to go on.
It made sense, as it had been her who had done the investigation of the distress beacon after the mission, so she knew all the technical details, probably even better than the Commander. Still, she had not actually expected to to testify in front of the Admiral. However, she was very sure of her findings, allowing her to speak up after some surprise in a clear voice:
"In investigating the beacon, I found four things: Going by its records it already had sent the emergency signal before your unit arrived. Second, Commander Shepard allowed me to go through the official equipment list of them, as stored in the records. The beacon is a different type from the one your unit possessed. This means it definitely had not been them establishing it upon being attacked; rather they had reacted to it. Third, the device has no serial number, as if made to be untraceable. And fourth, as impact marks on it show it was definitely dropped from some height above - somebody knew there were Thresher Maws below and hence wanted to remain in a secure distance. The conclusion can only be that somebody set up a trap."
Admiral Kahoku looked at her like - Like one of those 'cats' just spoke up. Probably surprised of such an analysis by a quarian. Not that she had any way to know that for sure, but after her pilgrimage experiences outside the Normandy she tended to err on the side of assuming malice in such matters.
"I... I don't quite know what to make out of this," the Admiral began, but then shouted angrily: "Damn it! I had a bad feeling about this ever since my team disappeared." His words came out pressed: "An alliance beacon used as bait, my unit wiped out... and everybody has been trying to block my inquiries! Did you find any leads as to who did this, Commander?"
"No, sir," Shepard replied, "unfortunately not. However, if my report has been withheld from you..."
"Yes," Kahoku agreed. "And this would also explain why I have constantly been cut from any information. Whoever did this has powerful protectors. Or it may even have been an inside job from the beginning."
Shepard nodded gravely. "What are you going to do now, if I may ask, sir?"
"It's clear the official channels of investigation and communication have become quite useless for me," Kahoku answered. "I need to turn to... less official channels. Let's best leave it at that."
"I'm scheduled to meet with Admiral Hackett," Shepard said, "he came all the way from Arcturus for that. He seems to be levelheaded, maybe I can bring the issue up."
"Be careful, Commander," Kahoku warned. "Whoever did that was willing to have an entire unit wiped out. If they suspect you know too much about it – I doubt they'd have any bad feelings about killing you, either."
"With all due respect, sir," Shepard answered, "many are trying at the moment. Whoever did that can take a place in the line."
"Hrm. Don't get too cocky," Kahoku advised gruffly. "However, yes, Hackett is a fine man from all I know about him, and getting the word out might not be a bad idea. It might also be the only thing you can do about it right now, though I will contact you once I have found out more. Thank you, Commander. I appreciate what you did. Maybe the marines will get some justice in the end."
He shook Shepard's hand and walked off.
"Is the next point on the schedule the meeting with Admiral Hackett, sir?" Alenko asked Shepard.
"Not immediately, no," Shepard answered. He grinned slightly. "Before, there is another meeting. In a certainly much more relaxed environment." He lazily threw a small object in the air using his right hand and caught it again. It was most likely an optical disk, as far as Tali could make it out.
She and Alenko followed Shepard, as he made his way through the Presidium. He seemed to have a clear destination in mind. Unfortunately for Tali, who only had been in the Presidium once before, she could not say what it was, not even when she had reached it.
Alenko, though, seemed to recognise the place: "You have scheduled a meeting with the Asari Consort, Commander?" he asked in surprise.
"You'll see," Shepard answered distant-mindedly. He waved another human over. It was a woman with black hair, wearing very revealing dress and a small handbag
The Commander had told Tali about how he had solved an issue the Asari Consort, Sha'ira, had had with one of her former clients. He had not gone into detail on it, saying that the Consort would probably prefer confidentiality. Sha'ira had thanked him in rather cryptic ways, with a 'Gift of Words' and an old prothean trinket. Tali wondered what brought Shepard back to here. The Asari Consort was a very famous, well, consort. Part of the quarian feared it might have to do with this. It was an unsettling thought. Tali tried to cast it off; jealousy was unbecoming of her and she was in no position to justify it. Besides, Shepard was on the Citadel for strictly official business, and what with his schedule was unlikely to have time for frivolities.
The human woman approached the group. "Commander Shepard," she began, "it's good to see you again."
"Miss Wong," Shepard greeted.
"Emily, please, Commander," the woman said. "You said you wanted to talk with me? I must say, this is a rather uncommon meeting point, in front of the Consort's residence.. Do you have an audience with her?"
Emily Wong, the reporter. Tali vaguely remembered her. In all the haste and hurry after Shepard had rescued her, and when he had been named a Spectre, he still had found time to give the journalist an OSD containing Fist's files. She wondered what Shepard was up to.
"Deja vu," Shepard muttered while grinning, then replied: "No. Sha'ira has graciously allowed me to use one of her rooms for our meeting. Which is good, because I wouldn't like anybody else getting to know what we'll talk about."
"The Consort is in the business for centuries, so she knows how to keep her residence bug-free," Emily agreed and grinned. "However, it's always closely monitored just who enters it. Two male marines, a female reporter and a quarian woman... those will make for some pretty wild stories."
Heat shot into Tali's face, fortunately obscured by her visor. She was kind of amused at the reporter's comment, but at the back of her mind there also was a series of certain thoughts and images. Things that had popped up in her mind now and then the past days and which she always had immediately dismissed. And now images arose in her mind which totally blended Alenko and Emily out, and focused more on her and Shepard. And images which also blended her enviro-suit out... again she tried stop those thoughts as best as she could.
Shepard, however, laughed heartily. "Oh, I see what you mean," he said while catching breath again. "However, also pretty implausible stories, I think."
"Ah, you shouldn't underestimate my ever so esteemed colleagues at the tabloid news," Emily disagreed humorously, "They'll have a field day. Mind, of course they'll see relationships anywhere anyway. It might be a good idea not to stand too close to the Lieutenant or the quarian lady, or whomever else you bring to the Citadel."
This was not exactly helpful for Tali. Shepard was not moving, but now she became insecure whether she was in fact standing too close to the Commander, or whether she should hold more distance, or whether that would draw even more attention to it. Probably the third. I should try not to make a public spectacle out of me.
"Well, I wouldn't want to leave them jobless," Shepard joked, "so let's give them some work to do and go inside."
Entering the building, Tali realised just what might have been the inspiration for Emily Wong's dress; the asari working here all had dresses in very similar styles. Quite much blue skin was shown.
They were greeted by the receptionist, who spoke in a very elegant and graceful manner: "Ah, Commander Shepard, it's so good to see you back on the Citadel. I see that the Consort has granted you use of one of our rooms here. A most rare occasion; you seem to be a very fortunate man. Please, let me show you the room."
Following her Tali and the three humans entered a luxuriously spaced entrance lounge. Behind it were several separées and rooms, plus a way leading to the Consort herself. The room the receptionist led them to was at the back of the building, comfortably far away from all the coming and going in the entrance area. At the middle of it was a round table, surrounded by a comfortable couch. The three humans and Tali seated themselves there, with Shepard and Emily facing each other at the ends of the couch.
"I hope you find what you have come to seek," the receptionist said smiling, "even without the aid of the Consort." With that she withdrew from the room.
"I've heard half of the Consort's success is due to how she and her assistants can talk mythically," Emily commented. "It might just be true."
"That's the impression I got, too," Shepard answered and chuckled. "But I won't complain if that room is really as secure as she promised it would be. So, Emily, I have a proposal for you. How would you like an exclusive interview?"
The reporter's eyes widened. "An exclusive interview? With the first human spectre? About his missions and background and everything? That would be fantastic!" Then she grinned and toned her enthusiastic voice down. "So, where's the catch?"
"Well, in return for it, I'd give you all this material that will let you cover a great scandal that will certainly interest the people," Shepard said, and laid a optical disk on the desk.
That's his plan! Tali understood now the purpose of this meeting. It was about ExoGeni. From all the information she had gathered about human megacorporations, they were in many regards practically above the law. Simply starting juridical measures would hence be insufficient. More had to be done – like alerting the public. Alenko's eyes widened, he apparently had understood, too. Both however kept quiet. This was Shepard's show.
Emily raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Normally people would demand that in return I give something to them, like money. So can I assume that this disk actually contains very hot information? So hot that it might burn my fingers?"
Shepard became completely somber and serious. His stature straightened, his face became hard, his voice became lower and quieter. "That is an understatement," he said. "This information needs to get out, and I don't have any contacts in the media branch except you."
"And if I take care of that you will give me an exclusive interview?" Emily asked. Shepard nodded, and the reporter continued: "What is on the disk? Why do you need me for making it public?"
"It directly targets ExoGeni," Shepard answered. "With luck, it's even a deadly shot at that target. But ExoGeni is a megacorp, and you know what that means."
Emily's eyes narrowed. "Yes. ExoGeni has no media assets as far as I know, but if the news would really threaten them... the megacorps all battle each other, often even with illegal means, but they close ranks in a matter of seconds once one of them is threatened from outside."
"And practically all noteworthy media is in some way or other owned by one megacorporation or other," Shepard continued. "So that's why I need you. Could you get this information out, on the extranet channels of the reputable news organisations?"
"I have... contacts," Emily answered after a moment of pause. "Most employees at news companies these days are, well, sycophants to put it bluntly. However, that makes those of us who still are interested in airing real news bond together all the closer. And all of us would like to publish news really shaking up one of the megas. I think I could maybe organise a coup, have the news uploaded to our channels under the nose of our bosses. It's not a secure bet, of course, but it's the best I can offer."
"And that means it's probably the best I can get," Shepard commented. "So that's the deal: You take care of that information hitting the public, and I'll have an interview with you and with nobody else."
"That's most agreeable!" Emily said. "Now, what is on that disk?"
Shepard began to explain. About Feros, the Thorian and ExoGeni. How the company let the alien creature enslave Zhu's Hope, and how it then planned to "purge" the colony, killing everybody, to hush matters up. How the Thorian conditioned people with utter pain, and how ExoGeni tried to find ways to get own mind control capabilities out of it, even if it meant sacrificing the colonists. How he had arrested Jeong and Ross, but feared that simply turning them over to the courts would not be enough.
"That's terrible!" Emily exclaimed. "You were absolutely right, Commander, the galaxy must know about ExoGeni's crimes."
"I understand, Commander," Alenko spoke up, "If you just handed over Jeong and Ross and they are tried, then ExoGeni would find ways to hush its own involvement up. The verdict would then surely be that they had acted on their own, or other such lies. Thus, you need to make sure the courts cannot just ignore the company's involvement."
Tali thought it was very much unlike the Lieutenant to speak up in a conversation between others like that. Especially considering the difficult situation between him and Shepard. There was something about this that seemed to really agitate him, that was plain in his voice and mimic, too.
"That's the gist of it," Shepard agreed and nodded. "That's the problem with megacorps, they can wind themselves out of anything. And the Alliance would be very supportive of their manoeuvres. However, if the case gets enough public attention, then there can't be any hushing up done. Ideally, there'll even be public pressure. In any case, ExoGeni would be too exposed to have their involvement ignored."
"That makes sense," Emily commented. "It was a good to try to use the media. What else have you planned?"
Shepard shrugged. "Well, ideally... I had an idea in my mind, that I would so to say parade the prisoners around. Make a stop here at the Citadel, then at some colony in the Exodus Cluster on our way to Earth, and then hand them over there."
"Earth!" Alenko exclaimed. "So that is our surprise destination after our stay here... sir."
"Indeed," Shepard confirmed, smiling slightly.
"It's not a bad idea," Emily said, "but it seems you didn't quite think of the details. Nobody here except Alliance officials even knows you have those prisoners on board."
Shepard sighed. "I know, I know. It's always so much easier in theory. Truth be told, I've no idea how exactly to go on about it. I mean, I'm no PR expert or something like that!"
"Of course, Commander," Emily replied. "Your strengths are elsewhere. However, I'm sure I can get the word out in a matter of hours. Minutes even, probably! Let me take care of it. And I can do the same on Earth and Eden Prime – given your hero status there that is probably your stop of choice in the Exodus Cluster. And just before you arrive at Earth, my report will be finished and uploaded, for maximum effect."
The reporter's enthusiasm made Tali smile. "It seems you've found another expert," she commented, "and this time it isn't even an alien for your collection."
Shepard laughed, and again when he saw Emily's confused face. "Never mind," he said to the reporter, "She's right, though, in that I do seem to have fortunately stumbled about an expert in PR matters."
"I wouldn't flatter myself by saying I'm an expert," Emily disagreed smiling, "but I may have more experience in the field than you do. So no worries, I'll help your plan come to success. ExoGeni direly needs some bad PR." Her smile turned to a grin. "Of course, I need to think of myself, too. So, about the interview..."
"Yes, yes, you'll get it," Shepard reassured her. "However, I've no idea when exactly I'll be next on the Citadel. I'll immediately give you a call, I promise, but I can't say when that'll be."
"That's understandable," Emily commented. "You are after all on the forefront of the struggle against the geth attacks on our Traverse colonies. Giving an interview is a pretty minor priority compared to that. Too bad for me, though."
She put on a rather exaggerated pout, or so Tali judged it. Shepard grinned lopsidedly and answered: "Yes, poor you. How about that then? You'll get a full interview next time I'm here, whenever that'll be, but I already answer some questions right now."
"Right now?" Emily asked somewhat surprised. "Uh... sure. That sounds like a good compromise. And a good reporter is always prepared." She opened her handbag, took out a small drone and started it. It began to hover right next to her head, serving as mobile camera and illuminating Shepard's face.
"Well then, Commander," the reporter began. "You are the first human Spectre. How do you feel about that?"
"I think it was an achievement," Shepard replied, "I'm proud they chose me for it; that's quite a confidence boost. However, it came about as the result of diplomatic haggling. The Council wasn't willing to actually lend us any military help against the geth; so they threw us a bone and named me a Spectre."
Despite the fact that maybe she should have known better, Tali was surprised. Direct to the point as always. He's right, of course, but the Council won't like this. However, she liked his directness. The thought of the Council fuming about this interview was entertaining, at the very least.
Emily seemed to be surprised, too. "This is an interesting evaluation, Commander. You don't seem to mince words. So your mission is to investigate those geth attacks?"
"My mission is to catch Saren Arterius, a rogue turian Spectre, and to pre-empt any further actions of his," Shepard corrected her. "It was him who led the geth into the attack on Eden Prime. He's responsible for thousands of human deaths. Of course, in trying to find him I do investigate various points of geth presence in the Traverse."
"That's... surprising, Commander" Emily said. "The official line regarding that attack doesn't mention this 'Saren' at all."
"The Council doesn't want it to be widely circulated," Shepard answered, "but it's no secret. Saren has officially been stripped of his Spectre rank, you can look that up. Still, the Council doesn't want people to actually know that. It would shed a bad light on them. For years and decades Saren has been extraordinarily brutal on his missions, and yet the Council has always covered him. And now he has gone rogue. Of course, this also casts a bad light on the entire system of Spectres, something the Council seeks to prevent, too."
"But you are a Spectre now, Commander," Emily stated, "and yet you don't agree with the system?"
"Spectres stand above the law," Shepard explains. "That makes the entire system too open to abuse, especially if the Council also tries actively hush any misdeeds up. It's..." He sighed, struggling with the right words. Emily waited patiently, but her lacking reaction seemed to only make matters worse.
Instead of immediately continuing, Shepard drew his pistol and held it vaguely in the of the reporter, who paled but else kept her calm. Tali could see the Commander took great care never to actually directly aim at Emily, but for a laywoman it was probably less obvious.
"I could kill you now with no repercussions for me whatsoever," Shepard went on. "Hell, if I were Saren, even when he still had his Spectre status, maybe I even would, and the Council would do its best to hush up the story. I could kill anybody here without legal consequences, any Spectre could. Doesn't matter at all if the people are innocent or not, we're above the law." He sheathed his gun again. "That's not protecting people, that's a predation on innocents. Of course the entire system is rotten! Since it's the only thing the Council gave to aid us humans, I'll make use of my status. But ideally, there shouldn't be any Spectres at all."
Such bold directness shocked even Tali. To her, this seemed like openly inviting trouble. Then again, Shepard knows how to deal with trouble.
"You made that point very clear, Commander," Emily said, never having lost her outwards composure, "Won't such candid comments get you into trouble with the Council?"
Shepard just shrugged. "We'll see."
"Then I'll hope for the best," Emily commented. "There have been some stories and rumours about your ship. Some sources even call it the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy, or even the most advanced ship in Citadel space. Is there any truth to those boasts?"
"I'm no technology expert," Shepard replied. "However, as a Commanding Officer I know the Normandy does indeed have quite many capabilities most other ships do not have. It includes quite many innovations that show the human capacity to think outside the box, as we already have with our carriers." He paused and grinned slightly. "Admittedly, as part of a cooperation project there also was some turian input in constructing the ship, but I couldn't tell you how far this goes. In any case, any details on the Normandy's capabilities are of course classified."
"Of course, Commander," Emily said. "There have been some concerns, though. If the Normandy really is humanity's most advanced ship, then many might see it as inappropriate to have handed her over to the Citadel."
Shepard did a double take. "Handed her over?" he asked. "Who's telling that?" He shook his head. "No, the Normandy is still a part of the System Alliance Navy. She's currently more or less permanently assigned to me, personally, so that I can fulfill my mission – and given the geth attacks on human colonies the Alliance obviously has an interest in that as well. Captain Anderson, her former CO, stepped down so I could take command of her, and with the top brass' blessing I'm free to take her where ever I need her. The Citadel has nothing to do with it. I got that arrangement because I was made a Spectre, yes, but legally my role as a Spectre and as CO of the Normandy are two completely different things."
"Ah, it's good you clear that up, Commander," Emily commented. "My last question for now, I promise: There has also been much rumour-mongering on the Extranet about the Normandy having non-human crew members. Would you like to comment on that?"
"Actually, they aren't legally crew members," Shepard explained, "as they aren't part of the Alliance Navy. Purely legally I hired them in my function as a Spectre, using funds supplied by the Alliance. However, yes, in reality that makes little difference. I realise many people may disagree with a non-human presence aboard the Normandy, but Saren and his geth threaten every race, not just us humans. And I need competent experts to bring him down. If those experts happen to be alien, then that shouldn't be a reason not to use their expertise."
"A pragmatical attitude, Commander, though many people might not be convinced, "Emily said. "What fields do you need experts for? For example, what is your area of expertise?"
The camera drone swung around and now faced Tali. The quarian could muster just enough discipline not to cover her face; that would not have looked very dignified. Nonetheless, she was surprised to now literally be in the spotlight. She did not like the thought of it, but prepared herself for having to answer questions, too. However, that proved to not be necessary.
"Miss Wong," Shepard interrupted the reporter. He sounded suddenly very grave and serious, icy even. "I have agreed to have an interview with you. Those two," he gestured to Tali and Alenko, "did not. So could you please respect their rights of privacy and personality?" His face was grim.
The camera immediately swung back to the Commander. "Ah, I'm sorry," Emily apologised. "I... you're right. You and only you agreed to an interview."
"So you'll cut the entire scene out, right?" Shepard asked. Or commanded, rather.
"...Of course, Commander," Emily agreed after some surprised hesitation. "Such a cut will be noticeable, but there's nothing that can be done about that, I guess. Well, I promised you anyway that this would be the last question, so – thanks for the interview, Commander."
"Commander?" Alenko spoke up. "It' a good thing the interview is over, because the meeting with Admiral Hackett is soon. Even so, we really should hurry now."
"Ah, right," Shepard answered, and looked at his omni-tool's watch. "Oh, damn. Right. Ah, the Admiral would probably not be pleased if I bring non-navy personal to the meeting, so I'll meet you here again, Tali? Shouldn't take all that long, and the Consort has said we can use the room for as long as we need it."
"Sure," Tali replied. It was not like she had anything else to do at the moment.
"Good," Shepard commented and rushed out, followed by Alenko.
Tali sighed and let herself slump into the couch. After a while, unable to think of anything else to do, she activated her omni-tool, to go through the long term maintenance plans for the Normandy's Tantalus Core. Maybe she could find some technical detail there to improve, and keep herself occupied that way. Since she had already gone over it several times as part of her regular work schedule, though, it was unlikely she would in fact find anything..
To her surprise, Emily was not leaving, either. She had activated her own omni-tool, and was typing furiously on it.
"That should do it," the reporter said after a while.
"Do what?" Tali asked, already becoming frustrated by finding no new way to improve the maintenance plans.
"I've 'leaked' the information about Commander Shepard's prisoners to various agencies on the Citadel," she explained and winked at the word 'leaked'. "The first reports and rumours should start... well, immediately." She smiled.
"That's good," Tali commented, unsure about what more she could say.
"You're the quarian who already accompanied him when he handed over Fist's files to me, aren't you?" Emily asked. "According to what I've heard about the Normandy, you are Tali'Zorah vas Rayya, is that correct?"
"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, actually," Tali answered. "I will only become 'vas' after I've finished my pilgrimage."
"So, since you're one of his alien 'experts', you must work pretty closely with Commander Shepard," Emily commented. "How is he?"
"Still trying to get an interview with me as well?" Tali asked dryly. Emily's question annoyed her, but did not throw her off-balance, despite its suddenness.
Emily laughed in response. "I don't think that would be wise. I have a very good agreement with Commander Shepard, and I would hate to lose it. Besides, even though he dislikes the Spectre system, he is one, and I wouldn't want to draw the ire of a Spectre. No, just... trying to get a good picture of him. For when I'll do my report about him."
Tali realised that Emily might pose this question to quite many people, and not all would have a high opinion of Shepard. Maybe she could hence contribute to a more positive image of him. Thus, she decided to answer, though it took some time for her to find the right words.
"I would say he's a rare combination of very competent and caring," she said after some pondering.
"Caring?" Emily just asked, a friendly smile lightening up her face.
...How did I bring myself into this? How could she possibly explain what she had meant with that?
"He... ah..." the quarian began "empathises with people. He can get really angry about injustices done to people. Despite... well." Despite how he grew up. But that's not for me to tell. "And he really... cares about his crew," she hastily added.
"Sounds like a good commanding officer to have," Emily commented.
"He is," Tali agreed. Despite the fact that she should know better, she began to tell: "It was amazing to watch him on Feros. Not only the battlefield competence he showed, but how much he cared about not harming the colonists. Freeing them even, and giving them justice, even if it meant going against ExoGeni. He rarely seems to care who he goes against, I think he just ideally wants the best for everybody. And he's a very good conversation partner, both an engaging speaker and a good listener... Ah, I mean, he takes care to hold good contacts with most of his crew." Did I just swoon about Shepard? Oh, keelah.
Emily smiled in response. "I see. He certainly seems to have made quite an impression of you."
Tali nervously shuffled her feet. She was not going to tell her just how much of an impression.
"But then, he is an outstanding person indeed," Emily continued, "What with being the first human Spectre and all his other achievements. No wonder he impresses the people around him!"
Trying to wrap the conversation up as quickly as possible, Tali commented: "I hope that helped you get a better picture of him."
"It certainly did," Emily said and laughed gently. "I must admit, I'm tempted to stay here and wait for his return, in the hope to get to know at least a bit of what he talked about with Admiral Hackett, but unfortunately, I don't have the time for that." She rose. "So thanks for the talk, Miss nar Rayya, I hope I'll see you again next time the Normandy docks at the Citadel. Good bye!"