Commander Arian Shepard and Ambassador Donnel Udina had a straightforward relationship based on equal parts mutual contempt and resentment that they were forced to work together. For the most part, they rarely came in contact, which was best for everybody. But now...
Anderson looked up as Shepard entered the Ambassador's office and breathed a sigh of relief. She was in full uniform, face bare, and she'd even slicked her hair back away from her face in an attempt to tame it. The last time Udina had called her here, he'd made the mistake of calling her while she was off duty and demanding she come immediately. It had resulted in Shepard showing up tattoos, scars, and piercings ablaze in an attempt to offend every sensibility the ambassador had. That was the same memorable occasion Udina had called her to task about a few Alliance members catching sight of her out with an asari dancer she'd been seeing at the time, which he didn't think was 'good for morale'. It was one of the rare instances of someone actually provoking Shepard into a retort when she'd smiled sweetly and assured the ambassador that they didn't have a relationship, they just fucked around. While Udina was sputtering, she'd added brutally that who she fucked, male or female, alien or human, was none of his business.
Anderson met Shepard's eyes as she gave him a salute, while Udina ranted to the Council via holograms behind him. He gave her a quiet warning look. Shepard nodded, understanding, and went to join Lt. Alenko and Chief Williams out on the balcony.
Councilor Tevos finally interrupted Udina. "Citadel Security is finishing up their investigations into the charges against Saren." Anderson winced at the asari's tone. "We will discuss the C-sec findings at the hearing. Not before."
Ambassador Udina hissed in frustration as the holograms disappeared and turned around. Anderson moved forward and Shepard pushed away from the rail, turning toward him. Her face was utterly devoid of expression.
Udina glanced at her, then focused on Anderson. The captain spoke before Udina could. "A hearing? They move quickly."
"They weren't happy about it. Saren is their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason." He glared at Shepard. "I have to say, Commander, you've done plenty to jeopardize your candidacy for the Spectres. You get a chance to prove you can get the job done and instead, Nihlus Kryik ends up dead and the beacon is destroyed!"
"That was Saren's fault, not hers!" Anderson bristled a bit.
Shepard just stared at Udina sullenly and he scowled. "We'd better hope C-sec turns something up. They may use it as an excuse to block you from the Spectres." He made a slashing, dismissive gesture with one hand and turned back to Anderson. "Come with me, Captain, I want to go over a few things before the hearing. Shepard, you and the others can meet us at the Citadel Tower. Top level. I'll make sure you have clearance." He turned sharply away, moving for the door.
Anderson sighed, nodded at his XO, who managed a bit of a smile, and followed the ambassador.
"And that's why I hate politicians," Ashley muttered.
Shepard rubbed her hands over her face. "Oh, this isn't going to end well..."
"C-sec and the Ambassador took our statements, I guess they want yours at the hearing itself," Kaidan said, frowning after the Ambassador and their captain. "He doesn't seem to like you much, Commander."
"He hates my guts, which is fine because I don't like him either. Actually, I'm surprised he's so upset. If they ditch me as a Spectre candidate, he can find someone more appropriate."
"Do you even want to be a Spectre, Commander?" Ash looked at her curiously as they walked out of the room.
Shepard gave her a startled look and thought about it. She hadn't given it much thought when Nihlus had first told her. She was the first human offered the honor, it hadn't occurred to her to refuse. Ironically, now that the possibility of it not happening was so real, she found the idea of being able to move through the galaxy, working as she saw fit as she once had long ago very appealing. "Yeah, I guess I do."
"Maybe C-sec found something," Kaidan said reasonably as they emerged from the human embassy.
Shepard made a non committal sound. What she'd found during her searching last night hadn't boded well. Calling Saren Arterius a top agent was an understatement. He was the youngest Spectre ever inducted, he'd completed dozens and dozens of missions for the Council and his brutal efficiency was legendary. She'd also found an article on Nihlus that had stated, to her shock, that Saren had been the one that had brought him into the Spectres. That definitely explained how Nihlus died from such a clean shot, he wouldn't have had any qualms about turning his back on his fucking mentor.
That was definitely a shred of evidence but the fact she was pretty sure the Council was going to stick on was that none of them had seen Saren. The only one who saw him, who was still alive anyway, was the dockworker. They just had small threads of evidence and for Shepard's part, a bone deep certainty that it was him. The trouble was she had nothing to back that up.
Shepard was drawn out of her thoughts as they approached the rapid transit that would take them to the Tower. Kaidan was speaking quietly as he hit in the order to take them to the Citadel Tower. "I just think Udina is too pushy with the Council. It's doing us more harm than good."
"Maybe he just doesn't trust them. Why should he? If all this proves anything it's that we can't trust them to stand beside us," Ashley pointed out.
Shepard listened with half an ear, movement catching her gaze and bringing her attention around to the green creature scurrying past. Like everyone who spent any amount of time on the Citadel, she'd never taken much notice of the Keepers, the insectoid race that took care of the Citadel. They were really good at not being seen, they were just sort of there. Why she had a sudden interest in them, she wasn't sure. She watched one run up to another, then away, heading toward an alley, growing more and more fascinated. The two that she could see suddenly paused, going absolutely still. One of them tapped its legs on the floor and suddenly turned in a little circle, head bobbing as if it was listening to something in the floor. Then they were both off, scurrying so fast they were gone in seconds.
Kinda cute, in a weird way. Shepard gazed thoughtfully at the spot where they'd been, only stirring when Ashley nudged her to say the rapid transit had arrived.
The Presidium where the embassies were formed the circle at the center of the Citadel, the Citadel Tower where the Council convened at its epicenter. Shepard had rarely ventured into the Presidium during the times she'd visited the Citadel to see her family or report to one of the embassies. She'd sketched there a couple times but preferred the more...alive...feeling of the Wards. She'd never been to the Tower itself and as they approached it in the rapid transit, she found herself feeling the same discomfort she felt in the Presidium. Everything was shiny and clean and neat and looked like it had come right out of a vid. Artificial. It always reminded her of a false front propped up on two-by-fours.
Behind her, Ashley echoed her unspoken sentiment. "Give me a run down colony any day."
Shepard had to smile.
She took a deep breath as they mounted the Tower stairs, annoyed with herself that she couldn't hold back a case of nerves.
When she'd happily accepted Anderson's offer, Shepard had been thinking about the kinds of missions a ship like that with a Captain like him would be called on to do. It had been, looking back, rather naive of her not to consider the fact that Ambassador Udina had scores of PR people at his beck and call and made use of them. The rules for public image bewildered her and she'd quickly learned talking to PR people and the press was something she was remarkably bad at.
Therefore, when it came to the public in any way, shape, or form, Shepard had become a firm believer in keeping her goddamn mouth shut.
She'd decided if she was called on to speak at the hearing, the only way she was going to get through it without screwing up was to give it to the Council the exact way she would give it to Anderson or any other Alliance brass.
"Saren's hiding something! Give me more time. Stall them!"
She hadn't paid much heed to the two turians standing on the walkway but the younger turian's voice had her slowing her pace and glancing over even before his words registered. Helloooo, Officer, you're singing my song.
But the other turian was shaking his head, already turning away. "Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous. Your investigation is over, Garrus." He walked toward the Tower without another word or glancing back.
Not...a good sign. Shepard watched him go, her heart sinking, and turned her head to find the first turian was studying her. She'd judged him as the younger of the pair solely on mannerisms: the way he talked, the way he held himself, but she doubted he was a rookie. She had enough of an eye to pick up on the way he moved and it spoke of at least some experience. He was tall, he had a few inches on her, with sharp blue eyes and indigo markings over the silvery plating on his face and head. She didn't pick up any hostility, which was a relief. She was never sure quite what to expect with turians in and around the Citadel. There was a turian bounty hunter out in the Terminus Systems, Lin, with whom she'd actually struck up a friendship with over the years, because she was just a whole lot of damn fun. It was from her Shepard had learned how to pick up on turian body language. Not that was she was an expert but she knew enough she could tell when one was of the mind to put a bullet in her brain. She'd also learned fairly quickly that Lin- strong willed, independent, 'I do it my way and if you don't like it, go fuck yourself' Lin -along with most of the turian mercs and traders she'd come across over the years were exceptions, not the rule. They were considerably looser wound, to say the least...
The officer turned and moved toward her as Kaidan and Ashley moved up to her back automatically. He paused a few feet away and, much to her surprise, addressed her by name. "Commander Shepard?" He continued at her nod. "Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-sec investigation into Saren."
"You don't sound like a fan of his, Officer."
"I don't trust him. Something about him rubs me the wrong way." Vakarian crossed his arms across his chest, looking over where the older turian had disappeared.
"You and me both, and I haven't even met him," Shepard murmured.
"But he's a Spectre, so everything he touches is classified. I can't find any hard evidence." There was a underlying frustration and edgy tension in his voice that surprised Shepard; she was used to turians being more reserved.
Shepard looked at him, troubled, as she absorbed that. "If you don't mind my saying so, that's kind of like asking you to investigate and then tying your hands behind your back." It also gave quite a bit of insight into how seriously the Council was taking the accusations against Saren.
"You're not kidding. Although I might..."
"Commander," Kaidan's voice was urgent. "I think the Council is ready for us."
Garrus shook off whatever he'd been about to say and nodded. "Good luck, Commander, maybe they'll listen to you." He didn't sound very hopeful though. Shepard couldn't blame him, neither was she.
She followed Kaidan, only glancing back once. Garrus was moving down the steps, looking determined rather than defeated. Despite the fact C-sec obviously hadn't found anything, Shepard actually felt a bit better. There was at least one person out there who was as suspicious of Saren as they were.
Saren stood in the line of the projection device sending his image into the Council chambers. He took great enjoyment in watching Udina dig himself deeper and deeper into a hole. Any worries he'd had that they knew something for certain had vanished when the C-sec Executor had come in and reported they'd found no hard evidence against him. He knew the Council well enough to know they'd already convinced themselves of his innocence. They were only hearing the humans out for form.
Of course, it helped that Udina's manner had been rubbing them the wrong way from the very start and to make it even better, he'd brought Anderson along. Udina might not have caught the doubtful glances sent Anderson's way but Saren certainly had. Anderson, you never learn.
But Shepard, now...
"I've given the ground team's statements, including Commander Shepard's. If..."
"Commander Shepard," Councilor Tevos interrupted Udina briskly, "is right behind you, Ambassador. If she has a statement, perhaps she should give it." Saren looked over, not pleased. Of the three, the asari had always been the hardest to read and the hardest to predict, he hadn't been expecting her to hear them out this much.
Udina wasn't pleased either but he stepped aside and motioned to the woman standing next to Anderson. She hadn't spoken a word since he'd brought her in, standing with her hands folded in front of her, her eyes moving between Udina and the Council. He wasn't quite sure what he'd been expecting from Nihlus's files but she wasn't it, and that irritated him. Maybe because, as Nihlus had noted, it was hard to get a proper impression of her from her files alone. They were a mixture of contradictions.
Shepard stepped up onto the platform and looked up at the Council. The asari nodded. "Please give us your version of what happened on Eden Prime, Commander."
"Yes, madame." There was a faint burr of an accent as she spoke the title that Saren couldn't place. Probably one of those hodgepodge patois the colonists ended up having, dragged up from Earth. Like humans weren't hard enough to understand when they could speak properly.
There was none of Udina's impassioned pleading in Shepard. She gave her testimony in a concise, matter of fact manner, like she was giving a report.
Councilor Tevos held up her hand. "Commander, did you actually see Saren with your own eyes at any point on Eden Prime?"
Shepard let out a soft breath. "No, madame."
"We did have an eyewitness, though. He saw Saren kill Nihlus in cold blood!" Udina piped up.
The salarian councilor looked at him. "We've read the reports, Ambassador. The testimony of one traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling evidence."
Saren crossed his arms, taking the impatient tone underlying the salarian's voice as the perfect note to start speaking. "I resent these accusations. Nihlus was a fellow Spectre. And a friend." And a sacrifice that Saren honestly regretted, however necessary it was. But he knew Nihlus, and knew it would have had to happen sooner or later. Nihlus would never have seen what had to be done.
Anderson, who'd been holding himself back up until this point, finally spoke up. "That just let you catch him off guard."
Did he think Saren didn't know what buttons to push with him? "Captain Anderson. You always seem to be involved when humanity makes false accusations against me." His tone was mocking. Out of the corner of his eye, he finally noticed a reaction in Shepard; a slight stiffening of her posture that indicated she didn't like that tone directed at her captain.
He turned his attention to her. "And this must be your protégé. The one who let the beacon get destroyed."
Shepard turned her head and looked straight at him for the first time. She didn't reply, merely looked at him like she was trying to see into his brain. Suddenly, whether the Matriarch was right didn't matter. Even if Shepard hadn't seen anything at all from the beacon, it didn't matter. Pale eyes met glowing blue ones and Saren felt the chill certainty of anyone who'd looked across the battlefield to the opposing side.
You are my enemy.
A simple acknowledgment, honest, hovering in the air between them.
Saren spoke quietly. "Incompetence. Anderson has taught you so well." He glanced at the Council. "But what can you expect from a human?"
"You're not doing much to dismiss the impression you have a fanatical hatred for humans." Shepard's voice was just as quiet, but it carried.
Saren glared down at her. "Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard. You're not ready to join the Council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres."
"He has no right to say that!" Udina sounded outraged. "That's not his decision!"
The asari councilor held up a hand as if to calm everyone down and looked up at him. "Shepard's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting."
"This meeting has no purpose. The humans are wasting your time, Councilor. And mine," Saren sneered.
The salarian councilor made a slight gesture with his hand as if to say 'he's right' without actually saying it. "We have no hard evidence."
Anderson spoke up again. "There is one outstanding issue: Commander Shepard's vision. It might have been triggered by the beacon."
Of course it was and now Saren knew for a fact Shepard had been the one to use it. Thank you, Anderson. "Are we allowing dreams into evidence now? How can I defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?"
The ever dependable turian councilor nodded. "I agree. Our judgment must be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and reckless speculation."
"Do you have anything else to add, Commander Shepard?" The salarian looked at her.
Shepard was silent for a few moments, then she finally said: "Only that Nihlus was killed by a single shot to the head. At point blank range. Which means someone either got the drop on him, which seems highly unlikely, or it was someone he wasn't worried about turning his back on." She shrugged and turned away from all of them, not looking at Saren. She walked past Udina and Anderson, gazing over the rail to the gardens below.
Saren watched Anderson, not needing to look at the Council. The captain was good at hiding his emotions but Saren could see the tension in him as the asari councilor spoke quietly. "The Council has found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the geth. Ambassador, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectres is denied."
Anderson looked up and Saren met his gaze, taking a moment to revel in the fact that he'd defeated him yet again. That they both knew what Saren had done and that Anderson could do nothing about it. He spoke quietly, watching every word hit Anderson like a bullet. "I'm glad to see justice was served."
Saren reached over and turned off the projection.