Shepard paced through the conference room, waiting for it to fill up. As soon as the Normandy had left the Citadel he had called a meeting of her officers, plus Tali as the resident geth expert. The ship had gotten new orders, concerning primarily the situation in the Armstrong Nebula, and they needed to be discussed.

It was a good feeling to be in space again, to have the Normandy flying towards its next destination, to be on the move again. Not that one could actually get a sense of movement outside the cockpit. Neither could one hear the engines working, to the great dismay of Tali when she had come aboard. However, the pure knowledge that the ship was getting away from the Citadel and everything that happened there at faster-than-light speeds was enough for Shepard.

It had been a productive stay. Shepard had gotten new orders and new supplies; and Hackett had also promised aid in the conspiracy surrounding Admiral Kahoku's dead recon unit. However, it had felt like a disaster to Shepard. He had gotten in a shouting match with Udina, and had then been forced to arrest one of his former fellow gang members, from his time as a Tenth Street Red. Emotionally, the visit had been hard on him.

At least that day had not ended a complete disaster. Shepard still pondered what to think about his and Tali's visit to Chora's Den. It was a positive memory, but it was also confusing. The visit had, quite literally, made Tali appear in a new light for him. It had been a very strange sensation, a magic of the moment. She had been lost entirely in dance, bathed in red and blue light. Even only the visual memories of it still perplexed Shepard. It certainly had been a new experience.

In the two days afterwards, the Normandy had been fully resupplied. Shepard had feared that after all the emotional stress the alien feelings that persisted in the back of his mind since he had gotten the Cipher would come up again, indisposing him, but strangely that had not been so. Maybe the positive experiences had balanced out all the stress. Still, Shepard had taken it slow, relaxed most of the time and basically had prescribed himself free time.

It had been odd meeting with Tali during their shared free time. There was quite a contrast between how he experienced Tali during their conversations, and how he had experienced her at Chora's Den. In his regular interactions with her nothing seemed to have changed, yet at Chora's Den something had definitely been different.

There was a non-formed proto-thought in the back of his mind, about what this episode at Chora's Den had been, but Shepard's subconsciousness did not even dare fully form the thought, let alone actually thinking it. So it remained just a vague nagging in his mind.

Kaidan was the first officer to join Shepard in the Conference Room. They exchanged a nod, but did not say anything. It's well past time we clear up the ice between us. However, that had not yet happened. There's more than enough time for a clearing talk now. Still, the sooner the better. The Normandy would be in space for quite some time, and in its limited space it was difficult avoiding each other.

Earth was the next destination of the Normandy, with a planned stop at Eden Prime. It was largely a propaganda campaign, so to say, aimed at whipping up public attention and preparing the people for Emily Wong's report on ExoGeni's atrocities. That way, Shepard wanted to make sure that the Alliance could not simply hush those crimes up. If everything went right, by the time the ship would reach Earth the extranet would be saturated with the accusations against the megacorporation, and with the evidence behind it, too, forcing the authorities to investigate and possibly try ExoGeni.

Shepard grinned at that thought. Let Udina fume, ExoGeni's going down. Then again, Udina was constantly fuming anyway. In a twisted way that even made him a kindred spirit to Shepard...

The Commander dropped that thought when he saw Adams and Tali entering. He had heard about how she and some other people from Engineering had spent the last night on the Citadel at Flux. Which apparently had given her a further chance to dance. At least crew morale won't be a problem.

XO Pressly was the last person to enter, hastily and with an apologetic smile. Now everybody was present and on their seats.

Shepard took a seat, too, leaned forwards and began: "Right. Good to see everybody could make it." He looked at Pressly with a good-natured grin. "The Normandy's on the move again, and I need to discuss the orders for her with you." He breathed out and continued: "On Feros, we found data about a geth presence in the Armstrong Cluster, outposts they intent to use as base for an invasion of Citadel Space." So much they already knew, it was an introduction. "The Alliance Navy quickly took counter-measures. They assembled a fleet as quickly as they could in those outlying parts of the Traverse, and tried to eradicate the geth presence... however, they failed. Geth ships have beaten back the attack." He paused there, to let these news sink in. The humans all looked shocked, and Tali shuffled uncomfortably.

"Thus, the Navy Command has drawn up a new strategy to deal with the problem, one where we figure in prominently," Shepard continued. "The Alliance is currently drawing ships together for a second assault. However, the objective this time will merely be to keep the geth ships in the region occupied. Meanwhile, the Normandy will make use of her stealth capabilities and slip by, to take out several outposts deemed crucial by commando operations."

Again, Shepard gave his audience a pause to let that sink in. Pressly used that pause to comment: "That sounds risky, sir. Risky, but doable."

Shepard nodded, appreciating his XO's morale. "For the first time in quite a while we're on an exact time schedule. The fleet will be ready in somewhat more than a week. By then we'll have to be at the rally point at Attican Beta, too. However, that week we're still free to spend as we see fit."

Alenko looked around in the room unsurely, and then asked: "Sorry, sir, but I suppose somebody has to say it. Call it being the devil's advocate, but isn't the Normandy still assigned to your person, for the purpose of tracking down Saren?"

Shepard nodded again. He was glad somebody had brought that up, because it was indeed true, and hence needed to be discussed. "Correct, Lieutenant," Shepard agreed, "Admiral Hackett couldn't give orders to me; he had to request my aid. However, I've decided to lend it to him. Saren's a danger to the whole galaxy, even without the Reapers theory... and if the Reapers really exist he's even a terribly deadly danger to the whole galaxy." Shepard was utterly convinced that the Reapers existed, but he had to made allowances for alternate opinions. "However, the geth plan to use the Armstrong bases to invade Citadel Space. Maybe they aren't as omnicidal as the Reapers, but this would still be nearly as catastrophic. It's a second danger that has suddenly arisen, and hence needs to dealt with as long as it's still located in only one cluster."

"The geth are Saren's allies, if I haven't misunderstood our entire mission so far," Adams commented with a hint of humour, "So we wouldn't really deviate from our mission. We're still attacking his allies."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Tali disagreed, speaking in her role as the ship's geth expert, "In a broader sense the geth and Saren are allies, yes. But the geth data about their plans and the outposts contained no mention of Saren at all. This seems to be an entirely independent operation of them." She spoke enthusiastically. Encountering independently operating geth would be a chance for her to find something to use as her pilgrimage gift.

"We need to be honest," Shepard said, "This is taking time and resources away from the main mission. However, it's still something that needs to be done."

Everybody in the room nodded or elsewise signaled agreement. Nobody seemed to be actually disposed against going against the geth; even Alenko had only spoken as advocatus diaboli.

Shepard continued: "So that's plan for the next week: We'll visit Earth, with a short stop at Eden Prime in between. I think the reasons for that are clear to everybody here."

They all grinned back. Officially, Shepard was just making sure that his ExoGeni prisoners would be given to properly staffed and equipped Alliance security facilities. The propaganda aspect was entirely inofficial, and thus Shepard tried to keep the crew out of it as much as possible. This already had proven to be prudent: After Udina had failed to convince Shepard to hand the prisoners over, the Alliance brass had send orders directly to crew members to release the prisoners. However, Shepard had handed over responsibility about that from the crew to his Spectre entourage, and Wrex and Garrus were surely not in the Alliance's chain of command, and not inclined to take orders from anybody else but the Commander.

"What happens afterwards depends on Admiral Hackett," Shepard went on. "He has promised me to look into the matter of Admiral Kahoku's dead recon unit, and he seemed to have had something on his mind. If he can find a lead we'll use the remaining time to investigate it. Otherwise I guess we'll just wait at Attican Beta." He grinned. "I mean, we haven't been to Feros in such a long time."

"That wouldn't be so bad," Adams commented smiling. "We could tell them some good news, after our mission to Earth."

"Heh, true," Shepard replied. "So any more questions, about our stay on Earth, the mission in the Armstrong Cluster or whatever?"

Nobody answered, so Shepard continued. "Well, if you have any later on, just come to me and ask. As for now... before I forget: Tali, you're relieved of your duties in Engineering for the next days Sorry to steal her from you, Adams." The Chief Engineer laughed and Shepard turned to Tali again: "Hackett has given me much raw data the first Alliance counterstrike into the Armstrong Cluster has gathered, so it will be your task to go through that."

"Of course, Commander," Tali confirmed. "No problem."

Of course it wouldn't be for her. It seemed no matter where Shepard employed her, at Engineering, in combat or in data analysis, she would always get the job done. Versatile and competent. And probably "keeping the CO sane" could be added to that list, too. If we ever come out of this alive I'll probably be deeply in debt to her.

"Good," he said. "I think that concludes our meeting then. Dismissed."

Shepard waited a moment to let everybody rise and turn to go, and then addressed Kaidan: "Lieutenant Alenko, please wait."

When the room had cleared, Shepard breathed out, mentally preparing himself to start the conversation with Alenko. However it was the Lieutenant who spoke up first: "I assume this is the clearing talk you said you wanted to have with me, Commander?"

"Ah, yes," Shepard answered. Still fumbling with words he continued: "What I wanted to ask is... well, if I've given offence."

"Offence?" Alenko replied, "Ah, no, Commander. It's just... what you have said... that was kinda strong."

"I suppose it was, yes," Shepard answered. And it had been indeed, he was very much aware of that. "Still... I can't take it back. I mean what I've said."

"I know you do, and I don't take offence at that," Alenko said. "I'm indeed just glad it didn't come to what you've said, that BAaT had already closed down by your time, just as I've said."

That was not at all what Shepard had expected. He had expected to have to justify what he had said, maybe even to apologise in the end, even if he did not want to. However, the conversation appeared to not turn that way, and he did not quite know how to answer to what Alenko had just said.

Instead, the Lieutenant continued: "It's not that I can't understand you, Commander. If you excuse me for saying so, that's just how you work: Justice must be pursued at every price. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Look at the whole ExoGeni mess: Conatix was disbanded after the BAaT fiasco, but that was an extremely lucky occasion. Normally, megacorps get away with anything. And now you make sure ExoGeni doesn't. That's a good thing. ExoGeni behaved just as criminally as Conatix did, and they need to fall just like Conatix did."

That at least made sense to Shepard, and cleared up some matters. "I understand," he replied. "You did seem very enthusiastic about that prospect when we talked with Emily Wong."

"Yeah, I suppose that was kinda obvious," Alenko admitted. "I was lucky Conatix fell, and now I want the colonists of Zhu's Hope to have the same luck. The point is this comes about due to your convictions, sir. So I can't really condemn them. I don't share them, but I'm behind you. You're the commanding officer, and I trust in your judgement. After all, it has brought us quite far already."

Shepard hesitated. This was really not going how he had expected it to go. He tried to put that into words: "Heh. Funny. I thought it would have to be me doing a hell of a lot explaining in this talk, and now it's you. So, either you're pretty observant, Lieutenant, or I'm damn obvious."

"I'd say your shouting match with Udina was indeed quite obvious, sir," Alenko commented with a half-smile.

"Touché, Lieutenant," Shepard said. "If you had figured all this out, why then did the awkwardness between us persist?"

"I didn't figure it all out from the start," Alenko answered. "The meeting and interview with Ms Wong really helped in that regard. However, I think the main problem was the awkwardness itself. I had maybe figured it out, but couldn't be sure, and surely couldn't tell you about it. Unless we'd talk about it."

That made sense. Still, Shepard had a feeling of having gotten off the hook way too easily. He was not sure if this talk would really clear all matters standing between him and the lieutenant. So, after some consideration he pushed on: "So you have no problems with your CO having expressed sympathies with terrorist cells?"

"Those were indeed strong words of course, Commander, just as I've said," Alenko replied. "However, sometimes strong words are just necessary. Besides, you were speaking hypothetically - in the end, you didn't go through BAaT, and you became a marine, not a terrorist. Personally, I don't think what those cells do is productive, to say at least, and I'd never join them. However, I can see where you were coming from, and that's enough. I don't share your opinions, but I can respect them. As said, your moral code has proven to be very productive, after all."

"I think this fine ship and the people I've worked with had something to do with it as well!" Shepard protested.

"Only a bit, sir." Alenko replied with a faint smile. "Besides, with all due respect, Commander: You'd make a lousy terrorist. You'd be far too worried about hitting innocents. Uh, which is a good thing, of course."

"Hah, that might well be" Shepard allowed, and then sighed, still confused by Alenko's explanations. "All in all, what you've said, it's... I dunno. A strange way to see things, if you excuse me for saying so. But then maybe it's just me, and me seeing the galaxy in too black and white terms. Whereas you try to understand every point of view, it seems."

"I do. It's helpful," Alenko said. "I can see why the Alliance let Conatix... do to us what they did to us. It was criminal, but it were Conatix' actions. The Alliance simply looked past them, because at that point they struggled at the galactic scene - brand new, already saddled with a feud with one of the three dominant races, and looking out to win at least some standing for themselves. They felt like they needed biotics for that, same as every other race had, and hence they were willing to cut corners. That's when people become sloppy or willing to accept crimes, when they cut corners."

"Is that what you call it?" Shepard asked almost softly. He would have used stronger language, but it seemed Alenko was not the type to do so. Not even on this issue, no matter what had happened to him.

"I do, because it was," Alenko replied."It was horrible, but the Alliance didn't act out of sheer malice, they had reasons why the acted the way they did. And then they cut corners to reach their goals."

Shepard stayed silent. Cutting corners. Meaning they made him suffer for it. Him and others, and some even died. But he did not say so. That would just have flared up the argument again. He shook his head. "All I can say is that I would not have reacted that way," he said after some time.

"I know" Alenko answered, "But I don't think a more hostile reaction would be useful. The Alliance did this. However, the Alliance also represents humanity in the galaxy, stands up to the Council, helps expand the human race. And the Alliance Navy protects the colonies, drives back raiders, punishes slavers. You said you maybe see things too black and white. Sorry, sir, but you might be right there."

"Yeah, I did say so myself," Shepard admitted. "But all those things you've listed - isn't that what one would simply expect of a state? Why else should we have them?"

"And the Alliance just is the state we have," Alenko argued. "It's legitimate to wish for a better one, but it isn't always productive. I've joined the Navy to contribute to the Alliance doing all those positive things. It may be just those things that are expected of a state, but they need to be done, and I think it's good to contribute to them, no matter what else the Alliance has done."

"I see." Shepards said. He still did not agree at all with Alenko's position, but had not come to argue, and he was beginning to get a grasp on what Alenko meant. "I think I can understand your point of view. I don't agree with it, but I can understand it - and as you've said, that's enough. In a way, your world view could even be considered heroic, sorta. In a, ah, self-sacrificing way. I'd still say it makes it too easy for authorities to get away with stuff, though."

"Of course. That is where we disagree after all, Commander," Alenko admitted. "And even though I don't agree with everything you say or do, I trust you'll do the right thing, and that's why I'll support you all the way. You're our best chance to catch Saren, and you might also just be the best chance to do all kinds of good on the way to it."

"That's, uh..." Shepard said stumbling, "Well, I feel honoured. I hope I can live up to those expectations."

"I'm sure you will, sir," Alenko assured, "I didn't want to put pressure on you, anyway, it was just an observation. I do hope in any case that this talk will improve matters between us, Commander."

"I think it will," Shepard claimed. "And, uh... after we've fought together and got rid of a crisis of relationship, maybe it's time to dispense with some formalities. At least while not talking about official matters." All this sir and Commander and Lieutenant maybe were military necessities, but in a normal talk they kind of got in the way.

"Ah... Yeah, you're right, I guess," Alenko agreed. " Might take a while to get used, too, though, Comm... ah, see?"

"Heh, yeah, no worries," Shepard answered. "At least it'll make sure something tangible has come out of our talk."

"Of course, Shepard," Alenko said, jokingly stressing the Commander's name. "It's good we had it. However, I fear now duty calls."

"Ah, yeah, let's go," Shepard agreed. The two turned towards the Conference Room's door, and Shepard continued: "I don't want to keep you from your work, after all. Since we'll soon be in major operations against the geth, you'll need to make extra sure our equipment is in working order. If there's a problem we can still do something about it on Earth, but afterwards... yeah, not so much. "

"That's true," Alenko confirmed, "I guess I need to be extra attentive now..." The Conference Rooms's door opened, and they walked through it. Alenko stopped on the other side, surprised to see Liara standing there. "Oh, hey, Liara," he greeted the asari.

"Lieutenant Alenko, Commander Shepard," Liara greeted back. "Ah, can we talk, Commander?"

"I... suppose," Shepard answered. He was a bit weary after her last request to talk, which had consisted of her request for a mind-link, something Shepard had flat out rejected. "Well then, Alenko, I hope our next talk will be more relaxed."

"It most likely will be," Kaidan said, and walked on.

Shepard turned towards the asari and asked: "So, Liara, what can I do for you?"

"I have spent the time on the Citadel looking up information, knowledge," Liara explained. "I even managed to visit an esteemed matriarch on visit to the station; my parentage was helpful in that matter. I've tried to learn more about mindmelds, especially with your species, Commander."

Shepard narrowed his eyes, becoming even more suspicious. "Let's go inside," he said, gesturing Liara to go into the Conference Room. Once inside, he asked: "Now, and just why have you learned all this?"

"I appreciate the concerns for your privacy, Commander," Liara continued her explanation. "Most asari would most likely find them curious or even petty, but it is in the end your mind, and hence your concerns. I tried to gain knowledge on how to keep a mind-link as narrow and focused as possible. It's not something we asari usually do, quite the contrary, we usually strife for the opposite. However, it's possible to keep it quite focused, and, well..."

"And so you want to ask me again about establishing such a mind-link between us," Shepard concluded. He did not like the thought.

"Indeed, Commander," Liara admitted. "I should add that there still is no guarantee, that there is always the possibility that I might also catch stray thoughts of yours, but that chance should be very much minimalized now."

At least she's honest. "I'm still uncomfortable with the notion," Shepard answered, "I must admit, the thought of you accidentally catching one of my thoughts kinda horrifies me. I can see your point, how such a mindlink would be useful, but it's an uncomfortable thought."

To his surprise, Liara lightly chuckled at that. "That attitude goes against basically everything in asari society. It's... interesting. As I've said, it's your mind, so you can decide about it. If you are dead-set against a mind-link, then there will be none."

She could not have known it, but that assurance won Liara quite some respect from Shepard. "You've said you're read up about that stuff, even talked to a matriarch about it," he said. "I trust you've done that in your usual, scientifically diligent manner. I understand there's still... a risk so to say. But, well, seems like we need to take some risks to catch Saren."

"So, you agree to a mindlink?" Liara concluded. She sounded entirely too enthusiastic about it for Shepard's liking. He could see the necessity of it, but to him it was nothing to get enthusiastic about at all. "Oh, that would be great." The asari seemed to caught herself, and hastily added: "And, ah, helpful, too. For our mission."

"I do, yes," Shepard confirmed. He did not like the look on Liara's face. It occurred to him that even though such a mindlink was done out of necessity it still would be an act of considerable intimacy. He had nothing against Liara, but that was maybe going a bit too far.

Liara approached him, and Shepard raised his hand to signal her to stop. "But not here," he continued. "This will be done just like Shiala's mindlink, at the sickbay, under medical supervision." Best to keep this as medically clean and de-personalised as possible.

"I... understand," Liara stated. "Even though that medical supervision seems really unnecessary to me."

Deciding to voice what this was really about, Shepard explained. "We'll do this in a manner as professional and distanced as possible"

This seemed to strike Liara like a hit. She recoiled slightly, and made a terribly disappointed face but answered: "I see, Commander. If you want to have it that way, then I'll keep this strictly official and professional."

Seeing Liara like that made Shepard almost regret saying those words. He felt sorry for her; after all in her own words she was by asari standards little more than a kid. However, he was really terribly afraid of 'thought-leaking' so a small part of him actually was satisfied with it; it was clear she had gotten the message. He tried to fight down that part. It was necessary he had spoken plain language with Liara, but that necessity was also regrettable.

They walked to the sickbay in silence, and Shepard explained the matter to Dr Chakwas. This time, she did not seem amused about Shepard requesting medical supervision for the mindlink. Either Shepard's mindlink with Shiala had set a warning example, or she was aware of the reason Shepard wanted this to be done in a clinically-sterile manner. Given how observant she could be at times, Shepard assumed the latter.

The Commander was nervous. His heart beat fast and he breathed in and out several times to calm himself. Liara on her part did not look much better. She glanced around the sickbay, obviously unhappy with that environment for the mindlink.

Finally, after Dr Chakwas had put all observation machinery in place, Liara walked towards Shepard and urged: "Relax, Commander." Then she lowered her head and took a final step. Her head bolted up again and she opened her eyes wide; they now were of a deep black. It was the last thing Shepard saw before Liara said: "Embrace eternity!"

The visions from Eden Prime raced through Shepard's head again. A sequence of images with an underlying meaning he still did not understand, laced in an emotional context that had troubled him for nearly two weeks now.

When the visions faded, and he got sight of the real world again, it seemed to spin. Only slowly did he really arrive in the real world again.

"This was... incredible!" Liara exclaimed. "All this time... All my research... yet I never dreamed – I'm sorry. The images were so vivid. I never imagined the experience would be so... intense."

Just great. An intense experience, eh? Shepard did not like the sound of it. "Did you see anything?" he asked.

"The beacon on Eden Prime must have been badly damaged," Liara explained, "Large parts of the vision are... are missing. The data transferred to your mind is incomplete, Commander."

What? "Really?." Shepard said "You found nothing?" He was disappointed. He had fought down his discomfort about a mindlink, only for it to have ended up unproductive.

"Nothing that would directly help us to discern Saren's plans at least," Liara admitted, "However, it was not totally useless. Our connection gave a new understanding of the protheans to me, due to the Cipher you have received from Shiala. Considering that we are searching for a prothean artifact, this will most likely still be useful. Saren must have the data missing from your mind, so now we just need to retrieve it, too."

"Which would mean another mindlink," Shepard sighed. "Well, I would've hoped for more tangible results, but that's hardly your fault. I know you couldn't have known the vision was incomplete, and you had the best intentions. It's just a bit disappointing to undergo such an uncomfortable procedure, uncomfortable for me at least, and then find out it has - well not been for nothing, but... you know what I mean."

"I do, Commander," Liara said. "I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize, it's not your fault," Shepard answered with a dismissive hand gesture. The damage is done anyway. If there even has been one. He grinned unhumorously. "Just keep any thoughts you might have caught from me to yourself, will you?"

"I.. I would never.. that's..." Liara stuttered.

Shepard laughed. He was still not satisfied, but what could he do? "Well, now we're even," he said. He did not really mean that, he still felt kind of like his mind had been compromised for no good reason, but there was no point in arguing about it. Thus, he simply left the room.

...

Shepard walked through the corridors of the Normandy with a grin on his face. His reception on Eden Prime had been extraordinary, a true hero's welcome, even though that hadn't been planned at all. It had helped to create media awareness, though, for Emily Wong's timely "leaked" information about his prisoners. And even though it wasn't yet clear to the public just what exactly the two prisoners had done, Eden Prime was squarely on Shepard's side in this.

If nothing else it was a big ego-boost to the Commander, a welcome contribution to his morale. Its primary purpose of course had been to create yet more media coverage once the Normandy would reach Earth, but a rise in morale was really something Shepard had needed. There were enough worries he had.

One of them had to do with the mindlink he had established two days ago with Liara. Ever since then, the feeling of having alien emotions in his head had subdued. His mind had begun to rationalize those emotions, to put them in a proper context. He now had knowledge about them, but they had no hold sway over him any more. While this in itself was a good thing, he worried about what it meant. This rational, analysing attitude towards them, towards his visions in general, that all felt very much like Liara.

That was something that really concerned him. He feared that it was in fact a part of Liara's mind that had leaked into his. He had spoken with the asari about it, and she had told him a mindlink or a mindmeld were not like extranet data transfers, it was a real combining of minds. So it was always possible that something could 'stay behind' afterwards. In fact, the asari celebrated that; it was part of their philosophy of personal development through diversity.

However, to Shepard it felt like a compromisation of his mind. He would rather be overwhelmed by prothean emotions again then to have to worry about the integrity of his personality, of his self. Unfortunately, further mindlinks might prove necessary in the future. Shepard did not look forward to that.

In fact the conversation with Liara had been rather terse. While she had not spoken it out openly, Shepard had gotten the impression she thought him to be overly prissy in this. Even Tali, when had spoken with him afterward, had not seemed to fully understand just what he found so terrible about it, even though she of course had sympathy for him.

The visit to Eden Prime had been a welcome interruption to those thoughts. It had filled Shepard with new self-confidence, and with a new vigour. He felt ready to take on ExoGeni afterward, ready to get things moving again. Thus, one of the first things he did after the Normandy had departed again from the colony was a tour of the ship. He was filled with energy and wanted everything to go right.

So far, everything seemed to be in order. The bridge, CIC and Engineering were all in top working conditions. Coming from Engineering, he decided to also take a look at the people working in the cargo bay. He found Chief Williams on her station, listening to mail.

He got to hear the end of one. A young female voice spoke: "Oh before I go: You said you're serving with Commander Shepard now? We saw him on the vids here. He's cuuute. Later, sis."

Shepard was amused. Now, that's a nice additional ego-boost. It was just as the mail had finished that Shepard stood besides Williams, and that she noticed her presence.

"Tell me you didn't hear that," Williams demanded.

"Heh. I'm afraid I did. One of your sisters?" Shepard asked, remembering an earlier talk he had shared with the Chief.

"Until I get home and shoot her," Williams answered in a mock-serious voice, "Or maybe you should just shoot me right now."

"Hah. That's a lot of shooting," Shepard joked. "I see you have a soldier's mind."

"The effects of growing up in a military family," Williams replied. More casually, she continued: "That was Sarah, my youngest sister. Anyway, what's up, sir? You didn't come by to eavesdrop on my family mail."

"Actually, I did," Shepard stated in a dead-pan voice. The look on William's face really made the joke worth it. It was clear she had absolutely no idea how to answer that. Shepard laughed, and continued: "Actually I was just doing a tour of the ship. See that we're in pristine condition once we hit Earth."

"That makes sense," Williams commented. "To be seen is our first objective, after all. Or so I gathered."

"Quite," Shepard confirmed. "Ah, I hope you don't have any problems with that. After all the Alliance tried to prevent this."

"Udina did, you mean," Williams corrected him, even though that was not the entire truth. "And see, that's why I hate politics. Frankly, on Feros I just wanted to put some rounds into Jeong and leave, and now they want to let him go free. You're probably right, though, his superiors need to be punished, too. And if politicians and or the top brass have a problem with that... Yeah, they're our superiors. But I'm here to serve humanity, not them."

"I'm very glad to hear that," Shepard stated, "Means if I'm insane I'm at least not the only one."

"From all what I've heard about your shouting match with Udina, that might have been a tad insane," Williams commented. "Uh, with all due respect, sir."

"A little, maybe," Shepard admitted. Then a thought hit him: "Oh, damn, are rumours about it already spreading?"

"Are you kidding?" Williams asked. "You're a hero to half the crew for shouting at him!"

"Just great. Well, if it serves crew morale..." Shepard said "Anyway, it appears everything is in order here?"

"Yes, sir," Williams confirmed.

"Not surprising," Shepard admitted, "I didn't think I'd find anything to complain about at your station, anyway. So, I don't want to further keep you from your family mail."

He half-turned to go, but Williams just shrugged in response. "That was the last one for now, anyway."

"Your family seems to be important to you," Shepard commented.

"Yeah, we've always been close," Williams agreed, "Me and my sisters especially. With Dad on duty so much, I had to help raise them."

Shepard turned towards her again. He had not actually planned any longer talk with her, but why not? "Really? Wasn't your family stationed near him?"

"Dad always wanted to serve in space," Williams explained, "But he wanted us to have real ground under our feet. He'd say: 'Space is beautiful, but you can't raise a family there.' "

"So you had to help take over his part in raising the family because of that? Eh..." Well, it's better than how I grew up. Or how Alenko partially grew up. Or even better than Tali's childhood, maybe.

"It wasn't so bad," Williams claimed. "It's just... military families. Conditions like that, it's a miracle they even still exist."

Shepard shrugged and conceded the point to her. Not that he was an authority on family life anyway. "And you're trying to continue the military tradition?" he asked.

"Yeah, I am. I was so proud when I got to wear the uniform, even back in bootcamp," Williams said, "I remember that scene; me standing proud... And then my drill instructor kicked me in the butt and I fell face first into the mud. He spent the next five minutes chewing me out for gold-bricking."

That term was a very familiar one to Shepard. "Gold-Bricking? You had Gunnery Chief Alison as drill instructor?" he asked, "Only person I know who uses that word for shirking duty."

"Good Lord!" Williams laughed. "You went to the Macapá boot camp, too? Yeah, he's still reaming out recruits down there..."

Something had been lost in the conversation. Good-natured nostalgia really was not what Shepard connected with him or Macapá. Thus he interrupted Williams and said gruffly: "Bah. He was an arse."

"Really, Commander?" Williams asked. "Sure, recruits think so, but I think eventually you learn he was just doing his job."

"It was too brutal a job." Shepard claimed. Street life had been plenty brutal, too, of course, even way more brutal. However, at least on the street one had every chance to strike back, and did not have to simply stand there and endure everything.

"Why did you sign on then, sir?" Williams inquired.

"To get off the street," Shepard explained. No reason to hide anything. And that was the only reason I did it. "That's why I pushed myself through boot camp, military biotic training, later N7 training – not out of patriotism or anything, simply because I feared falling back on the street. Not as noble a reason, eh?"

Williams shook her head, disagreeing with Shepard's attitude: "No, it's... I've served with many people, Commander. Many good soldiers. And to get out of poverty, or even off the street is a damn common reason to sign on. It's not really an ideal system. Something's rotten if the Alliance profits from problems in its own society that way. But as long as people do their job, what does it matter why they signed on? If nothing else, military service teaches you to get a certain tolerance in dealing with other people."

"I'm glad you're seeing it that way," Shepard said, and he was. It seemed unlikely she would be snobbish, but one could never know. Quite many military families took pride and sense of tradition to snobbish levels. Fortunately, though, Williams seemed to be unlike that. "Though there must've been something grand about signing on for the 'right reasons' like upholding a family tradition."

"Yeah, well. Being in a military family wasn't all bad, but it wasn't all perfect, either," Williams stated. "Sarah, for example. She writes letters to me now, but things actually were pretty tense between her and me for a while. I guess that just happens given our family situation. But then we bonded. "

"Bonded?" Shepard asked.

"Well, she got herself a boyfriend who wanted to go faster than she did, Mike," Williams explained. "I don't think he was a bad kid, just... pushy. Lynn, another sister of ours, would send me those worried vid-mails, and I'd tell her to relax."

"Yeah, I know those kinds of stories," Shepard claimed, and it did seem like a fairly typical one.

"I guess it was a lose-lose situation for him," Williams said. "As it was, he was pushy, but if he didn't ask at all I'd wonder if he thought Sarah was ugly. Damned if you, damned if you don't."

Shepard merely raised an eyebrow at that. There was something not entirely right with what Williams had said. So it's bad too be pushy, but it should also be expected? What?

Williams seemed to understand that he was not entirely content with that explanation, and so went on a bit unsurely: "Uh... Anyway, Mike thought they'd go for a romantic walk in the woods. 'Cause he figured it was past time they did the deed. She levered Mike face-first into a tree and left. Didn't have a scratch on her. Good thing Mom and Dad had us all learn some kind of self-defense. Still, I took emergency leave for some days and walked Sar to school for a few days."

"Ah, that seems to be a bit more than to be just pushy, to say at least!" Shepard exclaimed. "Why didn't she tell the police?"

"She said it wouldn't solve the real problem," Williams explained. "And she and Mike would both become household names. It was a pretty small colony. Everybody knew everybody there, so you also had to live with everybody knowing you. That's why I agreed to do things her way. Mom was pissed about that, though."

"So instead you walked her to school every day?" Shepard asked. "I can't see her having been too fond about that"

"It embarrassed the hell out of her," Ashley confirmed, "But it was worth it in the end. My last day, Mike was waiting on us. Sar had told her friends, so everyone at school knew what he did. He wasn't happy. I wanted to snap him in half. But Sar gave me this look, this 'let me handle it, I need to do this alone' look. She kept her cool - God bless her - as he screamed in her face. She just let him vent. Then he tried to punch her. I swear, she just flowed around him. Next thing I know, he's face-down on the sidewalk, and there's blood everywhere."

"Seems a bit disproportional, but I can see why she did it," Shepard judged, "She must be as good as you are, pulling this off."

"Better," Williams conceded, "I'm more or less a straight-up puncher. When he swung she just... she wasn't there any more. And he fell. She helped him stop the bleeding and had me call an ambulance. She told the paramedics he fell. Before they took him to the hospital, Mike touched Sar's arm. I thought he was going on the ground again. But he hung his head, whispered 'I'm sorry' and started crying. And she hugged him."

"That's uh... what?" Shepard asked confused. That story sounded really weird to him. "Ah, I'm sorry. But first he tried to well, uh... rape her, then he tried to hit her, and then they just made up? What I've learned from the story is that your sister must be a hell of a close combat fighter, but that she's also probably a terrible judge of character. Meaning no offence to you."

"Well, if you put it that way..." Williams admitted, "He behaved afterward, though. We Williams women are a decisive bunch, Commander. We do things when we're ready. Not before, not after."

Shepard was still confused by the story. It made no sense to him. "And yet you expect the other side to be 'pushy'?" he asked.

"Well, that's just how things work, isn't it?" Williams replied.

"No," Shepard replied. "Or well, yes. Maybe." He had certainly seen enough of those stories on the streets of New York. "Doesn't mean it's okay. I really do think Sarah should have called the police, and shouldn't have gotten back together with him any more."

"That would have caused all kinds of trouble," Ashley explained. "You've never lived in a small colony, right? Things are... different there."

"Eh, I dunno if I'd take that as a valid excuse," Shepard replied, "But no, I haven't ever lived in any such colony."

"I've moved six times before graduating high school," Williams explained. She sounded hasty, and Shepard suspected she was eager to change the topic. "It was difficult, I think that's why my sisters and me are so close. However, it also took to me to all kinda different and interesting places." Chuckling, she began to recite in a grave manner: "I cannot rest from travel; I will drink life to the lees. All times I have enjoy'd greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those that loved me and alone. For always roaming with a hungry heart. Much have I seen and known. Cities of men, and manners, climates, governments, councils..."

"Uh... what?" Shepard asked surprised. "I'm sorry, I'm probably showing my lack of class here, or something. Poetry?"

"Ulysses," Williams said, "It was Dad's favourite poem. Every time he shipped out, he recorded me reading it. He had half a dozen versions when he retired."

"Heh, that sounds sweet" Shepard commented, "I wouldn't have figured you to be the poetry type, though."

"Hey, just because I can drill you a hole between the eyes at a hundred meters doesn't mean I can't like sensitive stuff," Williams argued and continued a bit less decisively: "Just don't go spreading it around, okay?"

"Heh, okay, I won't," Shepard agreed. "Does your father still like it?"

"I sure hope so," Williams replied. "I read it to his grave every time I go home. Dad passed on a few years back. He's probably still watching, though."

"Ah... so you believe in, well, an afterlife?" Shepard asked.

"I do," Williams stated. "I believe he's with God now." She hesitated slightly and asked: "That's not a problem with you, is it? That I believe in God?"

"Freedom of Religion is in the Alliance charta," Shepard said. "As long as you don't make a problem out of it, I sure won't."

That did not sit well with Williams "I won't make problems, I'm not a zealot, Commander!" she argued agitated "I just believe in God."

"Okay, okay. Sorry, seems like I've hit a sensitive spot," Shepard apologised, "I didn't mean to offend you or imply you were a fanatic."

"Yeah, it is," Williams confirmed. "Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped, sir. But I've met a few people who were really weirded out by my faith. Because I work in space, I can't believe in God? Geez. Hello? Have you people looked out of the window? How can you look at this galaxy and not believe in something?"

Shepard sighed. He had just talked about how he hoped she would not make a problem out of her believes, and here she was, basically belittling unbelievers. He raised an eyebrow and said: "Ah, Chief, didn't you just say you would not make problems? I mean, can't you see how people not believing in any 'god' would have a problem that?"

"Ah..." Williams answered unsurely. "Sorry, sir. I guess you're right."

"I don't want to make this any official," Shepard stated. "Not for something that minor, and not directly after our talk. Just, you know, keep this in mind, please. As a friendly advise, so to say."

"Will do, sir," Williams confirmed.

Before Shepard could answer, he was interrupted by his communicator. Navigator Presley spoke: "Commander, we've got a call from Earth on the line. Somebody very well informed about our... mission to the planet, so maybe you'd want to speak with her. It's a real-time call with visual information, so you can take it in the Conference room."

"Okay, I'll be there in a second," Shepard responded.

"I, ah, should get back to my duties now, too," Williams said after Shepard had ended Pressly's call, "I think our talk really overextended my break. Rifles don't maintain themselves. Not yet, anyway. Now that we're clear on what not to talk about, maybe we can talk again later, though."

"It's a small ship," Shepard stated. "It's difficult not to run into each other here. So, maybe until later, Chief!"

He had wanted to check up on Wrex and Garrus, too, but would have to delay this to later. Instead, he headed straight towards the conference room, wondering about the mysterious caller. He trusted in Pressly's competence as Executive Officer; he would not have taken the call and told the Commander about it if he did not think it was important.

Pressly had said the caller knew about their mission to Earth. Friend or foe? Shepard wondered as he reached the conference room. He started the holographic projector, and waited for the hologram to appear.

When it did, he saw the image of a woman in an advanced age. Shepard guessed her to be around 100, which given the medical conditions of his day and age was definitely past any potential mid-life crisis, but not yet all too old. He also guessed her to be of rather small stature, but given that he only saw a hologram of her it was difficult to tell.

"Commander Shepard," the woman spoke, "I hope I find you well?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks," Shepard answered. "I hope the same is true for you, too. May I ask with whom I'm speaking?"

"My name is Anita Goyle," the woman answered. She waited, probably for him to recognize the name.

He did. "Anita Goyle? Udina's predecessor on the Citadel?"

"Exactly," Goyle confirmed. "My sources tell me you're on an important, if rather unofficial mission to Earth,"

"Nothing major," Shepard replied, "just handing over two prisoners." He was skeptical of her motives. She once had been the Alliance's ambassador to the Citadel. At the moment he had good reason to be distrustful of any high ranking Alliance officials, even former ones.

"That's the official story," Goyle agreed, "Of course if it were true you could already have done so on the Citadel, or on Eden Prime. And yet on both occasions your presence was accompanied by media 'leaks' about your prisoners. I must congratulate you on a well executed PR campaign, Commander."

Shepard narrowed his eyes. "Out of respect, or out of agreement with it?" he asked.

"Why, both of course," Goyle answered. "If even half of what I've heard ExoGeni did is true, then they deserve a hit, and it seems you're making sure they get it." She hesitated. It appeared she was pondering something and then added: "I can understand that you don't immediately trust me. I could represent a further Alliance ploy to get hold of your prisoners, after all. However, I tell you, I have no interest in that. In fact, I do want to help you."

Shepard decided to risk it. Allies is something I could direly need right now. He shrugged. "I had help with the PR aspects. It's not exactly my strong suit."

"And so you delegated it," Goyle concluded. "Very good. Maybe you should consider a political career once you retire from Navy and Spectres."

Shepard laughed at that, shortly and sharply, but not without humour. "Maybe. But I fear it'll be a long time until then. So, Ms Goyle, how exactly do you want to help me, if I may ask?"

"I hardly need to explain to you that you need to get as much media awareness as possible, Commander Shepard," Goyle explained, "And I think I can help with that, maybe even let you appear as a hero once more. It seems the Alliance Navy has some trouble with one of its training installations on the Moon. Earth's moon, that is, Luna I guess I should properly call it these days."

Shepard crossed his arms, nodded and waited.

"My influence is not what it used to be," Goyle continued, "but I might be able to use it in such a manner that you will be tasked with clearing up the matter. Somehow the facility's VI malfunctioned, and the base has thus de facto turned against its users. The Navy could just bomb the place, but that would be a colossal waste of resources. If you could solve the matter in such a way as to save the base, right before landing on Earth... consider the boost in PR reputation!"

Shepard rubbed his chin and pondered the issue. "I see what you mean," he said. "Yes, this could help matters. Though I must say I'm surprised the former Alliance ambassador to the Citadel is helping me, considering the Alliance's stance on the matter."

"The Alliance is hardly infallible," Goyle responded. "Trust me, Commander Shepard, I've learned in great detail that it isn't. As for my own motives..." She scoffed. "Sorry, but my motives are mine own. However, I am your ally, so surely you can simply accept my help?"

"Nothing is 'simple' about this Ms Goyle," Shepard answered, "However, your proposal is indeed helpful, and I'll gladly accept it."

"You have the right instincts to pull this off, it seems," Goyle commented. "I'll see that it gets arranged. Good luck, Commander Shepard. I'll call you again once you've entered the solar system. In the meanwhile I'll work on making that prisoner transfer as big a spectacle as possible."

"Good bye, Ms Goyle," Shepard said, "And thanks."

The hologram faded, and Shepard remained behind with a vaguely bad feeling about this. Goyle's idea was constructive, so Shepard would do it, but he was still uneasy. She had flat out rejected to tell him her motives. She had not even tried to side-step the issue, she had plainly said that her reasons were hers alone, and that made Shepard suspicious. Furthermore, there was something else he could not quite put his finger on. Something about Goyle's former career. He would have to read up on it; maybe he could figure out what it was that was bugging him.

However, first he had a combat mission to organize.

000000

"Somehow it figures," Tali muttered.

The Normandy had come to Earth, the homeworld of humanity, the cultural and economical centre of the Alliance, the planet Shepard was born on and by all accounts a beautiful world with a recovering ecosystem - and yet Tali could not set foot on it, or not yet, anyway.. It was as if there was a quarian curse that even disallowed single members of the species to land on a homeworld. Instead, she had landed on the sterile, lifeless single moon of that world, Luna, together with Shepard and his squad.

Tali would have liked to see the actual planet first. Maybe there'll be time for that later. Hopefully. Shepard had told her a bit about the world, but he had not actually seen much of it, only the worse off parts of New York and the boot camp at Macapá. Still, he held no negative opinion about his homeworld. He knew and had told her that those places were not typical of Earth. In fact, according to his tales, there was no really 'typical' place on Earth. As humanity had just recently banded together and started getting into space, it was still a very diverse planet, with many different cultures, biotopes, social conditions, etc.

Often that was not a good thing - on Earth itself, the Alliance had few power, the single nation states and political blocs still did, and a few of them were still dictatorial and/or badly-ran and poor. And even in the richer nations, "diversity" often meant gaping social divides between the very rich and the poor. However, not all parts of Earth were down-ran or poor. Shepard had told her of some outstanding places on Earth, even though he had never seen them himself - he had gone from New York to Macapá and then directly into space. However, he had read about them, had in his youth devoured stories about other places. And so he had been able to tell Tali about some spots on Earth she really would like to visit, if only to see rich and intact planetary biosystems, something quarians as a race yearned to have again.

It would be a pity to have the Normandy orbit and later land on Earth and not see those things. It was possible, though - that was how life worked. In any case at the moment Tali was stuck on Luna, fighting drones controlled by a rogue VI. Or at least so Shepard and been told, and so Shepard had told his team. Tali had her doubts about that, though. VI's could malfunction, of course, they could even malfunction in quite deadly ways if they were attached to military equipment, but 'going rogue'? That sounded implausible. She did not know if it was a VI or an AI, but she was determined to kill it just to make sure.

The Alliance Navy training facility the supposed rogue VI had taken over was spread over three bunkers. The VI had decentralised conduits in all three of them, defended by automated drones, and it would take the destruction of every last of those conduits to disable the VI. The squad had already cleared out two bunkers and had faced heavy resistance against doing so. By now, they were not underestimating their synthetic opposition any more, as they had admittedly done in the beginning.

At the moment they were in the entrance area of the last bunker to be cleared, preparing themselves for the final assault. Toxic fumes were in the air, and kinetic barriers blockaded the doors, additional security mechanisms the VI had enacted during combat. Fortunately, since everybody wore sealed suits anyway due to Luna having no atmosphere, the squad was only minimally affected by the gas, and the barriers had proven to be very weak.

Shepard had taken four people with him. He had complained he would have liked to take more, but the Mako's size put a cap on maximal squad size. Since it was an Alliance facility, Lieutenant Alenko and Chief Williams were accompanying him. The Commander had additionally chosen Tali for her technological expertise, and Wrex. He had said he would rather have chosen Garrus instead of the krogan, given the C-Sec agent's own technological aptitude, but that might have been counter-productive: The reason they were doing this was after all getting media attention and if possible a positive media echo. Taking a turian on an Alliance military facility, might have worked against that goal, though.

Tali thought there was something dubious about getting shot at just so they would receive the proper media attention necessary to have ExoGeni be put on trial. It just should not be necessary, and it should especially not require such dangerous combat missions. She hoped Shepard knew what he was doing... but then, she trusted him, trusted that he in fact did. And it was a chance to kill a potential AI; always a plus in her mind.

Shepard had dispatched the barrier protecting the door already, and opened it. The squad took positions in a small corridor, while he opened a second door and brought down a second kinetic barrier. The battlefield lay open.

Tali aimed her shotgun at the door frame, waiting for the enemy to come. Her heart raced faster, but she was collected and focused.

And then the first drone appeared.

It was an easy start to the battle. The single enemy unit was easily dispatched. However, afterwards the drones appeared en masse. Tali worked fervently on her omni-tool to sabotage the enemy weapons, but even so the squad soon was nearly overpowered. Shepard signaled an order to retreat, and Tali rushed to follow suit, while at the same time keeping attention to the enemy. Everybody else did the same, and everyone knew the right motions. It was a professional, orderly retreat to the entrance area, covered, by the massive krogan stature of Wrex. Seeing him between her and the enemy made Tali feel really relieved.

Tali saw several drones following them. Quickly estimating the number she realised that not all drones they had fought now pursued them. The retreat seemed to draw the enemy numbers apart. Still, the drones present were ample threat, and so Tali quickly took cover behind a crate. Soon after, a fierce fight erupted in the entrance area. Rockets and mass-accelerated ammunition began to fill the room, and electronic signals from both sides saturated it.

Parallel to the physical fight a battle of electronic warfare was waged, and Tali tried her best to defend her team's position in that battle. Cowered behind 'her' crate, she hastily worked on her omni-tool. Concentrating while bullets fly around you was not something coming natural to most people; but Tali had been trained in keeping focus. Strict and demanding as her upbringing had been, at least it had made her capable of doing so.

One by one, the squad took out the drones, which now no longer had the advantage of numerical superiority. Without needing a command from Shepard, they then directed their guns to corridor from where the drones had come, and waited for everybody's shields to recharge. Then they charged into said corridor, storming the adjacent room.

In front of all, even in front of Wrex, it was Shepard leading the charge. Tali grinned. The Commander seemed to know no other modus operandi besides 'leading from the front'. And as always, he was a terrific sight in battle, storming into the thick of it. It was almost an aesthetic experience watching him do so. Tali, meanwhile, remained slightly behind the others, calling up and modifying a certain routine in her omni-tool. She was unsure if things would work the way she indented them to work, but was determined to try it. As soon as a concentration of drones came into sight, she began to attempt uploading the routine to one of them.

Battle had already been joined again when suddenly one of the drones turned against its peers, and those in response turned away from the squad and towards the 'traitor'. Tali smiled. Her action had stopped Shepard's charge, which was almost disappointing, but now he and the others could concentrate on pumping as much ammunition into the drones as possible while those were distracted.

As the last drone fell down, riddled with bullets, Shepard turned to the quarian, grinning. "Nice trick," he said. Turning to his other companions he continued: "Nice fight. I don't think we would've made it if you hadn't drawn so much fire on you, Wrex." That was very much like him, trying to motivate everybody. Sometimes, he ruined his own efforts in it; like every time he got too argumentative and had to apologise to somebody again afterward. However, all in all Tali thought him to be quite a good leader.

The way to the last quadruplet of VI conduits was now free. The room where those was located was fully identical to the ones the squad had been in before in the two other bunkers. Those were the last remaining conduits. With them destroyed, the VI would be gone. Their job was about to be finished. The team spread out in the room and opened fire.

Just as the last conduit went down, Tali's omni-tool and the electronics in her enviro-suit were suddenly filled and overwhelmed by white noise. It was a signal pattern in binary:

01001000

01000101

01001100

01010000

Some program in her omni-tool knew the old code, even though it was centuries old, human in origin and transcribing a word of a human language.

Help. It's shouting for help. This was no VI, it was a full-fledged AI.

The signal continued on and on, always the same sequence, until it finally faded away. Tali had half-suspected it was an AI, but seeing it confirmed now was something else. She was glad she had been able to contribute to eliminating it, as AIs were inherently dangerous and hostile to organic life. However, she also felt used. It was next to impossible that nobody had taken notice of the fact that this thing was or had become an AI. And now she, Shepard, the entire squad had been employed, had been dumped into danger to remove that problem. Or at least, there was a high possibility of that.

Shepard, though, did not seem to have noticed. That came as no surprise since his technological skills were lacking. Which of course he more than made up for in other areas. However, he probably had not even understood the meaning of the pattern. "What was that?" he asked confused.

Tali told him. His face became set in stone.

...

There was only little time to get rest on the Normandy. The appointed time for the prisoner transfer was only some hours after the end of the mission on Luna, and there was no way Shepard could be late, as dozens of media representatives would already be waiting. It had even been a deliberate consideration to have the prisoner transfer happen so early after the mission. That way, Shepard would land on Earth right when every news channel would report details of the mission, which would further raise media awareness of him. However, it was a harsh consideration, and it was quite unforgiving on him and his team.

Shepard used the time to get properly dressed for the event. After the tiring mission, where Shepard had been covered in sweat and several small injuries in the end, Tali hardly recognized him any more when she saw him the next time - freshly showered, the injuries gone thanks to medi-gel and in a new and clean Alliance dress uniform. The perfect picture of a military hero, a poster boy for recruitment ads (which in fact he had been for some time after Elysium, or so he had told her). Tali smiled beneath her mask. By quarian standards, humans looked odd. They were aliens, after all, and their entire stature, their way of walking and moving - it was just off, too stiff, and several joints were all wrong and in reverse. To a degree, she had the same impression of Shepard - But right now, he looks very nice.

Tali had realized and even accepted that she had developed certain feelings for the Spectre, despite her initial surprise at this. She knew nothing could come out of it, but she would take what she could get - and if it was only "eye candy", as a human expression she had picked up called it. It was more than that, though. It was also several long conversations and a true friendship. All in all, Tali was content with how things were. She considered herself lucky for experiencing such an extraordinary pilgrimage among a friendly and accepting ship crew and for having formed a bond with such an outstanding person as Shepard. That she could help defeat geth was a further bonus in it.

She herself did not need to change her attire, one of the rare advantages of her enviro-suit. She hence used the time doing nothing, calmed down from the mission and focused on what lay ahead. She had hoped to speak with Shepard, but he appeared distant, inapproachable. His face was still hard, and it was impossible to guess what he was thinking. He paced around in the mess for a while and then retreated again to his cabin.

So instead of talking with him, Tali watched the planetary news. Emily Wong's report had already been uploaded to the news channels, and it had hit the planet like a meteorite impact. It was a very detailed documentation making an airtight case against ExoGeni. Emily had masterfully worked in all the evidence with which Shepard had provided her. It was obvious ExoGeni was guilty, and hence the report became a hit. And because it became popular, other news channels could not pretend it did not exist, as their megacorporate masters might have liked, so they had to report the basics of it, too. And thus, Earth's entire mediasphere had very quickly become dominated by that topic. Shepard's and Emily's plan was working perfectly.

When the Normandy began the landing process, Tali had went on to searching the extranet for details about the city and region they would land at. Frankfurt, European Union was what she found, but of course those were just names for her, names that told her nothing. A further quick search revealed that the Alliance had several offices in the city, so that was probably the reason for that destination.

Shepard still looked grim when she joined him in the CIC. Navigator Pressly and Lieutenant Alenko were standing next to him, while a marines patrol of four people, including Chief Williams, stood a bit apart and held the two prisoners in between them.

Shepard nodded a short greeting to Tali and commented: "Okay, we're set then, and the Normandy will soon touch the ground. Then the ceremonial circus will begin."

"What about Wrex?" she asked, "He was a member of the Luna squad as well."

Shepard looked really uncomfortable at that, and hesitated before answering: "He... has excused himself. He won't be present at the ceremony. It's, well..."

He did not finish. Instead, Lieutenant Alenko intervened, explaining in a soft and understanding voice "It's the media. Getting their approval is our first objective, and Wrex realised he might be harmful to that. None of us is really comfortable with that, though, not at all."

"I wouldn't have ordered him to do so," Shepard continued, "He has every right to be present. But he voluntarily gave up that right out of his own initiative, so... well. I guess it is better for our image, but as Alenko has said, I don't like it at all."

Oh. Tali hesitated and then began: "So, maybe, I should also... that is, it might be prudent if I 'give up my right' to be at the ceremony. Quarians are usually no more liked than krogan."

It was just a statement of fact, but it seemed Shepard and Alenko almost took it as an accusation, looking even more uncomfortable. The Commander sighed and answered: "That... well, yes, I guess it's sadly true. However, I'll need you when talking with Ms Goyle" Speaking firmer he added: "There are still some points to discuss with her, and I might need your expertise. Or not. But it's better to be sure." He attempted a grin, but he only succeeded partially. "Besides, I might need my chaperone."

Alenko grinned at that, while Pressly raised an eyebrow. Tali was spared from having to answer to that by a soft shake going through the ship; the Normandy had landed.

The Normandy officers and Tali stepped outside, onto a large landing field. Several dignitaries awaited them, looking towards the ship, and behind them a group of Alliance marines could be seen. The air was filled with camera drones. Tali suppressed a sudden desire to do to them what they had done to the drones on Luna. Unfortunately she was not carrying any weapon anyway. In some distance she could see the reporters to whom the drones belonged. It were masses of them. Clearly, whatever Shepard, Emily and this Ms Goyle had come up with was working splendidly.

Shepard led the group forwards. He shook hands with the dignitaries and exchanged greetings with them. That way, Tali got to identify Goyle. She was a woman of rather small stature and showed several human signs of aging. Her skin complexion was darker than Shepard's, but lighter than Udina's or Anderson's.

Tali, Pressly and Alenko meanwhile only needed to stand there, look nice and smile. Or not even the last item in Tali's case. She watched how the Normandy's marines left the ship with the prisoners, how the Alliance marines assembled on the landing field came forwards, and how the prisoners were turned over. This happened under a veritable cloud of camera drones all focusing on that event. Shepard stood next to Goyle and watched the transfer. He smiled, but Tali could see that it was a forced smile, probably only there for the sake of the cameras.

After the transfer proper, media attention waned a bit. Shepard used this to wave Tali over. When she arrived, he told her: "It appears the circus isn't yet over. There is to be some small celebration at the other side of the city, and it appears we're supposed to be transported to there now. It... might give us a chance to talk."

Tali nodded, unsure what this 'celebration' would entail. She understood, though, that Shepard wanted to use this chance to have his talk with Goyle, the talk where he wanted Tali to be present. Thus, she accompanied him and the ex-ambassador to one of the shuttles waiting. The three managed to enter it without letting anybody else in.

When the shuttle was in the air, Shepard smiled a predatory smile and began: "Well, Ms Goyle. There are some questions I still have."

"By all means then, go ahead," Goyle answered.

"First things first - did you know the training facility was controlled by what in fact was an AI?"

Goyle shifted uncomfortably in her seat, but other than that retained a calm exterior. "I strongly suspected it, at least. As you surely know it only takes some experience to read between the lines in military reports. I do suspect they deliberately tried to develop an AI there, and then everything went bottoms up."

Shepard rubbed his forehead. "Goddamn idiots," he muttered, "As if the Sidon incident hadn't been enough,".

Tali had heard of that. In 2165, the Citadel had uncovered a secret and by Citadel conventions strictly illegal Alliance program in developing AI on the world of Sidon in the Skyllian Verge. This had resulted in stringent punitive embargoes being levied on the Alliance. In any case, Goyle's blunt admission made any role by her in the conversation probably unnecessary.

"Yes, I remember that," Goyle said, a faint smile playing around her lips, "In any case, what are you going to do with this information now?"

"Normally I'd say the Alliance deserved to have this published," Shepard replied, "For their sheer idiocy alone. However, if we get embargoes again then this will only hurt the common population again, and not those responsible for it. Exposing crimes committed or hushed up by the Alliance to the Alliance population is fine and all, but to the Council... no. I'll keep the relevant data, though. You never know when it might come in handy."

Goyle narrowed her eyes. "Handy, you say? I hope you'll use it... responsibly."

She fears Shepard might use it for blackmail. At first Tali thought something like that highly unlikely, as something the Commander just would never do. However, then she remembered how much Shepard had antagonized both Council and Alliance. It was possible he would have to descend to such strategies in the future.

"Let's say, I just really dislike destroying evidence for crimes committed," Shepard replied, "even if I won't publish it."

Goyle chuckled. It sounded stilted and humourless. "Usually Spectres are seen as special agents. I see you understand your role as being a sort of police man."

"Sometimes I do act as military special agent," Shepard pointed out, "like I did on Luna. And for the record, I do not appreciate being sent into a battle zone without full information. Why didn't you tell me that it was an AI, or most likely an AI?"

"I was unsure how you would react," Goyle answered. "You could have rejected the entire mission. It would have fit to you, you might even have said something about letting the Alliance clean up their own mistakes. However, the boost in public standing gained through that mission was too valuable to risk."

"So you used me," Shepard said. He kept his voice strictly neutral.

"Towards an end and goal that was yours, too," Goyle defended herself. "Not towards any goal of purely my own. You even agreed with the need for additional media awareness."

"Withholding information to get a desired result out of others is still a form of manipulation," Shepard accused her. "But then, I should've known."

"What do you mean?" Goyle asked.

"Something has been bugging me ever since you first contacted me," Shepard explained. "Something about your role as Udina's predecessor. You were the first human ambassador to the Citadel, right?"

"Correct," Goyle confirmed. "Why do you ask?"

Shepard nodded. "Must've been rough, back then. Us as newcomers, already enemies of the turians. It was important that Earth would appear strong."

"You're leading to somewhere," Goyle commented, "So maybe you should just cut the exposition and come to the point."

"Earth should show no weakness," Shepard went on unimpressed. "Thus the Alliance could never possibly ask any government for official aid. Like the asari in biotic matters." His voice became quieter. "So, turian mercenaries were hired."

Unlike Shepard's first question, this did surprise and shock Goyle. "Where do you know?" she asked, almost hissed.

"Does it matter?" Shepard posed a counter-question. "I know it was done because the Alliance tried to maintain a facade vis a vis the Council. And at that time you were the Alliance's contact to the Council. It must've been you recommending that no official help be sought."

BAaT. It's about BAaT again. And the mercenaries were hired in the time where she was ambassador, for reasons that had to do with inter-racial diplomacy. I see what Shepard means.

Goyle slumped together in her seat. "It's true," she said, "It was me. You could say I was responsible for... what happened at BAaT." She straightened again. "So you know. Now what do you want to do with your information?"

"Right now I can't do much," Shepard answered. "It's not like I have any proof. However, you can be sure that if I had; I would publish it. Create the same spectacle as is happening right now."

"Frankly, I don't think you can pull that off again," Goyle commented. "Next time the megacorporations will be more vigilant."

"Maybe," Shepard admitted. "Alternatively, I would simply turn the information over to the Council."

"Do you have any idea what they would do?" Goyle asked appalled, "They'd use that as excuse to take over our own biotic affairs, to take that away from us!"

Shepard scoffed. "After what the Alliance has done, I think 'we' would deserve so. However, unfortunately, I don't have any evidence, so it's a moot point."

Goyle remained silent. Shpard leaned forwards and said: "But I want to know why. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was the ambassador to the Citadel at the time, the first human one, too," Goyle answered. "In a way I was just doing my job. Not that I want to abdicate responsibility. I am responsible for what happened to a large degree. However, that's all the explanation I can come up with: I was doing my job."

Shepard scoffed again and gave Goyle a look laced with contempt.

"We still share the same goals regarding ExoGeni, though," Goyle went on. "And that issue is far from over. In a way, it only has just begun. I'll take care of it from here, so we're still allies in that matter. Or, if you find that to be distasteful, co-belligerents."

Shepard hesitated for a while before answering: "Well, you're not Udina, that's clear. No comment on how I'm too prissy?"

Now it was Goyle's turn to hesitate quite a while. Finally she answered: "No. I could understand it if you find it distasteful. So, co-belligerents it it is."

And that was the last thing spoken in the shuttle until they reached their destination, "Palais Luxembourg", a relatively small building halfway up the way to a castle ruin.

During the celebration, which turned out to be a formal dinner, Tali saw Shepard smile and talk. However, she also caught him being grim and hardfaced when he thought nobody else was looking. She herself felt rather out of place - there was nothing quite as useless as a quarian at a formal dinner, especially when it was a levo-chiral dinner. Not only was she the only quarian at the table, but also the only non-human, and she felt many surprised and disparaging glances on her. Despite the nice looking surroundings outside the Palais, which reminded Tali of the old tales about clan castles on Rannoch, it was not an enjoyable event for either her or him.