CHAPTER 32
As Rosemary had predicted, Oliver was ecstatic at meeting everyone. Keeya didn't really care, though. She wandered over to Rosemary and put her arms up. When Rosemary picked her up, Keeya laid her head on her shoulder and almost immediately fell asleep. Rosemary glanced a question at the dark-haired woman in the very tight white armor(?) she recognized as Miranda Lawson, former Cerberus agent.
"Jack gave her a lot of candy – she's just crashing," Miranda offered by way of explanation.
Oliver ran up to Rosemary, blue eyes shining. "Jack and Miranda are so cool!"
The one with the tattoos – Jack – grinned. "Oh, yeah? Who's cooler?"
Almost everyone within hearing distance rolled their eyes – including the Wakey Brews customers that had been tuning into the strange conversation. Rosemary frowned. She should really think about putting in a soundproof room in the place if the Normandy crew planned to meet at the coffee shop on a regular basis.
Oliver stilled and appeared to consider the matter seriously. "... That depends. Do you draw a line at killing minors," he asked, directing the question to Jack.
The powerful biotic grinned. "I like you, kid. And mostly – I don't think I'd kill anyone below the age of twelve."
Samara, the other powerful biotic, narrowed her eyes at Jack. "He is a child, Jack," she berated her. "You shouldn't sound so heartless."
Oliver, however, was completely unintimidated. "You're so badass," he said, his voice full of awe.
Jack sneered at Miranda. "Told you he'd like me better," she gloated.
Miranda rolled her eyes.
Oliver blinked, and shrugged. "Eh. Once I go through puberty, though – I'll probably like Miranda better."
Miranda chuckled. Jack froze for a moment, surprised at that caveat. Then her grin returned. "I'll give you that, kid. I'm told I'm pretty scary in the bedr–"
"JACK," Samara, Liara, Vega, Joker, and Rosemary shouted.
"Everything all right back there," Haka called out from the front of the shop.
"Everything's fine," Rosemary called back. Or, rather, everything would be if Jack minded her language. She glared a warning at the biotic.
"Yeah, yeah..."
Minutes later, Oliver begged an autograph from Liara, who he had never met before. "Can you please sign my book? You're amazing!"
The asari flushed. "Oh, thank you... I was just the resident Prothean expert, though."
Oliver's eyes were glittered with wonder. "What's it like being the Shadow Broker?"
Liara froze mid-penstroke. Everyone stared at Oliver – but Rosemary stared at Liara T'Soni... the Shadow Broker? Rosemary may have been a simple, sheltered Earthbound human – but even she had heard whispers about the infamous Shadow Broker. And the Shadow Broker was Liara?! How had Oliver...
Oliver looked at everyone's shocked expressions. "Oh, was that still a secret?" He winced. "Sorry."
Vega stared. "How did you...?"
It suddenly clicked with Rosemary. "CARD."
The asari's eyes narrowed. "CARD," she hissed menacingly. "That little..."
EDI stared at Liara. "You will not attempt harm on my offspring, Liara T'Soni."
Liara stiffened – detecting an ominous sub-note beneath EDI's seemingly non-threatening tone. "I can't have him babbling, EDI."
Joker, who had remained quiet until now, intervened, "I'll talk to him, Liara. No violence needed."
The asari, the Shadow Broker, was visibly reluctant. "He's... a child, Joker. Will he listen to you?"
Joker nodded. "Yeah. Personality-wise, he's still a kid. Not even close to his rebellious, teenage phase."
EDI had relaxed. She agreed. "CARD listens to his paternal unit – for now. … I am considering skipping the teenage phase of his personality altogether – I do not think I can handle that particular brand of rebellious programming," she confessed.
The tension relaxed and disappeared completely when Haka came up with their orders.
Vega snickered. "God – an android teenager. He'll want to have sex with everything."
Everyone groaned – Rosemary included. She shook her head; Reapers, what a conversation.
XOXOXOXO
Doctor Karin Chakwas arrived after everyone but Vega had left to run personal errands around the Citadel. Vega had just finished his second drink and was settling into a miniature feast of pastries when the esteemed doctor walked into Wakey Brews.
"Good to shee you, doc," Vega greeted her with a mouthful of biscuit.
The graying, but elegant-looking woman sighed as she took a seat at the table. "Really, James – I've been telling you to watch your carbohydrates. You're eating quite a bit of it – not to mention all the sugar..."
"I'm a growing boy," Vega proclaimed, taking a sip of his iced mocha. "And I work it all off, anyway," he added boastfully.
"Not my point, Vega," Chakwas said sternly.
Vega shrugged, but put down the scone he'd been about to bite into. His expression turned serious. "Anyway, doc – the Normandy needs a new doctor. The one we had quit; he never much liked the diversity of our crew. You know as well as everyone else that the Normandy has always been your home."
"It's a home I can never return to," the doctor said sadly. "Ever since Shepard... I can't, Vega. I'm sorry. There's too much pain for me there."
"Sure I can't change your mind?" Vega also looked sad.
Chakwas shook her head. "In most cases, the soldiers I treat are like my children, Vega. I... lost Emma once, then lost her again. That med bay, no... the Normandy holds too many memories for me. Anyway, I thought Kaiden would have told you: I'm here to offer my services to this young lady here."
Rosemary looked up at that. She'd been inching her chair away from the table as discreetly as she could manage; the conversation between Chakwas and Vega had seemed like a personal one. "Sorry?"
"Yes, Ms. Fletcher." The doctor looked to Vega again. "The Normandy will always be my true home, but since I can't go back... I would like to spend the rest of my days active, as near to the Normandy as I can. Bridgeton is the next best thing."
"You sure you don't want to retire, doc," Vega teased.
"The very thought makes me ill," Chakwas said dryly. "Synthesization research has been an invigorating challenge; but the challenge of you, Ms. Fletcher, is irresistible."
Rosemary was starting to get the gist of what the doctor was saying, but to be sure... "Pardon?"
Karin Chakwas faced Rosemary, her fingers linked together as she addressed her seriously, "I've examined your files thoroughly. It simply cannot be any reason to think that you are the only Unique Energy Facilitator in all the galaxy, Ms. Fletcher. No one is that special."
"Thanks?" Chakwas' honesty, still, was reassuring.
"The problem is finding more UEFs... With so many hybrids, Bridgeton simply cannot last much longer without them. I would like to take a post in the Bridgeton Synthesis Research Center to study your condition further."
Rosemary didn't know what to say. Karin Chakwas was renowned in her field; any help she could give would be invaluable. "I..."
"So, if you have no objection..."
"No, no! That would be fine," Rosemary hurried to assure the doctor. "It would be more than fine! Thank you – thank you very much!"
XOXOXOXO
Rosemary was cleaning the second to last table at Wakey Brews – hours after everyone had left – when someone knocked on the doors. "We're closed," she called out, walking over to clean the last table.
The knocks got louder and faster. She did a quick wipe-down of the table and tossed the rag on the counter. "I'm coming, I'm coming..."
She looked through the glass doors to see – Yadai and Alenko. She covered her mouth in horror; even in the low artificial light of the evening, she could see Yadai wearing a bloody bandage over her eye, and several parts of her body burnt and sliced open. She ran, jabbed in the code to disable the alarm, and threw open the doors. "What happened?!"
She helped Alenko bring the wounded asari to the nearest table. She then went back to the door and inputted another code. The glass on the windows tinted, completely obscuring the inner goings-on of Wakey Brews from the street. She went to her kitchen and grabbed the store's first-aid kit from one of the cupboards. She set it on the table and tossed Alenko several packs of medi-gel. Then she typed out a quick, emergency message on her omni-tool.
"I'm sending for Chakwas," she told Alenko. She tried not to let her panic show in her voice and face. She asked the question again, "What happened?"
"I found Saeli," Yadai rasped, her lips pale and cracked. "I got caught."
"Don't speak," Alenko ordered his fellow Spectre firmly. He started to clean one of her more serious-looking wounds: a deep, jagged gash encircling her neck. "T'Garu tortured her personally – took out her eye."
Feeling cold and sick, Rosemary began the careful task of taking off the asari's armor.
"Bitch didn't even get her hands dirty," Yadai sneered. "Scooped out my eye clean with her damn biotics."
"Don't speak," Alenko repeated his order with even more force. He applied medi-gel to her neck wound and nodded when Rosemary managed to pry off Yadai's chest piece, revealing even more grievous wounds. "Is Chakwas coming?"
Rosemary checked her omni-tool and nodded. "She'll be here in five."
Alenko kept working, but continued the tale, "I found Yadai in time; we grabbed some data on the way out. Bau's glanced through most of it."
"And?"
"Yadai found her at one of her safe houses, but Saeli's base is here – on the Citadel."
Rosemary couldn't believe it. "She's been here all along," she whispered.
"I hunted her throughout the damn galaxy – following a fake-ass trail," Yadai hissed, sounding furious with herself.
Rosemary shook her head. That couldn't be right – they would have found her already if she'd been here all along – shouldn't they have? "Where is she?"
The asari Spectre shook her head. "She's in the Silversun Strip. She's under a different name, but she owns the Armax Arsenal Arena."
