After finding out the ExoGeni folks actually knew what was going, Shepard was livid and positively growled, "God damn it! More fucking lies! That's the real reason why Jeong didn't want to move to Zhu's Hope! He knew they'd be exposed to the damn spores!"

Liara theorized. "I'm sure that's what Saren wanted. It's a plant. He certainly would have collected spores, and for all we know, he may have taken cuttings to grow more of them."

Shepard immediately keyed her radio in an attempt to warn the Normandy, and got nothing but static; the barrier curtain was an electronic, as well as physical, barrier. "Son of a bitch! Alright, we needed to get the barriers down anyway, let's get it done!" The battle to get out of ExoGeni was just as bad as the one getting in. The new twist was that the barriers were actually powered by a Geth dropship, hanging on the side of the building with huge claw-like grappling devices; the only way to cut the barriers and get out of the building was to dislodge the ship. The team hunted high and low, through multiple rooms over several floors of the building before finding the control room. The Geth were dug in and a pitched battle ensued. It was soon obvious the Geth were well coordinated, so even though the team hadn't seen it yet, there was a Prime somewhere in the room guiding their actions.

Shepard and Liara started working in tandem, with singularities and warps, quickly dropping shields and leaving the Geth troopers vulnerable to Wrex and his shotgun, or the occasional second warp. Once the Geth forces were reduced by some measure, the Prime got desperate and came out to play. Once it revealed itself, the battle was over relatively quickly. It was not designed to counter three relatively powerful biotics. Its shields fell quickly, and then the combined conventional firepower easily terminated the engagement. Once in the room, Shepard found and examined the control panel there. The room was actually a small shuttle bay, and the panel controlled the power settings on the external door. After a bit of experimentation, the heavy steel door overloaded and slammed shut, shearing off the grappling device. Without the support, the Geth dropship slowly lost its grip on the side of the building and tumbled, crashing to the planet's surface. The Geth, and the power to the barriers, were gone.

". . . come on, Commander, you've got to be out there. Normandy calling Commander Shepard. Come in please."

"Shepard. Go, Normandy."

"Commander! Damn, am I ever glad to hear your voice. We're under lockdown here. The colonists have gone wild. They're trying to break into the ship."

"What happened? Kaidan there?"

"I'm here, Commander," said Kaidan. "Everyone's fine, we all pulled back as per your orders the moment we saw the colonists starting to behave strangely. By the time they had gone into full attack mode we had already locked the ship down."

"Good job. Exactly when did this happen?"

"Must have been a little under two hours ago. We've been trying to raise you ever since. Are you okay?"

"We're fine for now. Follow your orders. Do not under any circumstances let any of the colonists on board. While you're at it, seal the life support systems and break the umbilical connection."

"Sir? Should we be ready to take off?"

"Not yet. Just make sure you're breathing canned air. Get the crew busy running decontamination drills on anything that's been exposed to the Feros atmosphere. I'll explain later. Right now we're on our way back to you. I'll call if I have any more news."

"Aye-aye, Commander. Normandy out."

Shepard literally stormed back to Lizbeth Baynham's position. She roared, "You knew! And you didn't tell us!"

She looked down, ashamed, "Yes, I knew! I was going to report them, but they threatened to take me to the Thorian! To enthrall me! If that happened, I knew the truth would never get out. I had finally had enough and was getting ready to call in Colonial Affairs, ask them to come and mount an investigation, when the alarms sounded. I stayed behind to send the message, which is why I missed the evacuation. But I was too late. The power went out before I could transmit, and I got stuck here with the Geth for over a week."

When Shepard spit out, "'I'm leaving your ass here! The Mako only holds three. If your mother still wants you after I tell her what you've done, she can come get you herself!"

Liara had to object. "Commander! That's not like you! We can make room in the Mako!" Shepard glared at Liara, whose eyes softened, and she pleaded, beseechingly, "Please, Shepard! We can't' leave her!"

Shepard grumbled. "If you want her in your lap, fine, but if she gets in the way I'll personally throw her ass off the Skyway." Lizbeth almost looked like she'd rather take her chances with the Geth, but she squeezed in the Mako, quiet as a mouse, and they proceeded back to the middle building and the refugees. As the team approached, they heard Jeong, shouting. Shepard signaled everyone into cover, and they watched events unfold.

"Everybody be quiet! Just let me think!"

Juliana Baynham retorted, "You can't get away with this, Jeong. These are human beings you're talking about writing off!"

"Somebody get her out of here!"

A security guard moved forward and took hold of Juliana. At this, Lizbeth leaped out of cover. "Get your hands off her, you sons of bitches!"

Jeong whirled, waving a pistol in the air. "All right, all of you come out where I can see you!"

Shepard walked out into the open, glaring at both Lizbeth and Jeong.

"Shepard. Damn it, I knew it was too much to hope that the Geth would kill all of you. I found some interesting things about you in the ExoGeni database. I know what you did on Elysium, but your heroics aren't needed here."

Shepard continued to glare. "Seriously, Jeong, you want to go down this road with a Council Spectre?"

"You don't understand. It's not that easy." Jeong made a nervous gesture, as if he couldn't decide what to do with his hands. "Communications are back up. I was able to report to ExoGeni corporate. They want this place purged."

"That's not going to happen," Shepard warned. "These are human beings. Your corporation can't just use them, throw them away, and expect to get away with it."

"There's something here far more valuable than a few colonists!" said Jeong.

"Bullshit. The Thorian is not worth the lives of all these innocent people."

"Damn it," swore Jeong. "How much do you know?"

"The whole story, I'm afraid."

"Wait a minute," interjected Juliana. "What's the Thorian?"

"It's a telepathic life-form living under Zhu's Hope," explained Lizbeth. "It took over the minds of the colonists. ExoGeni knew all along, and they've been studying the effects"

"You knew about it?" demanded Juliana.

Lizbeth only hung her head in silent shame.

Juliana turned on Jeong. "You won't get away with this."

"So you keep saying, but nobody is going to miss a few colonists."

"Jeong, you're missing the bigger picture," said Shepard, her tone of voice completely changed as she leveled her shotgun at the center of Jeong's chest. "You may want to rethink your position. I am not letting you kill colonists for some corporate bullshit."

Liara just knew this was not going to end well. Shepard had been on edge since the first time she saw her today, and her mood had continuously deteriorated throughout the day. Liara did the only thing she could think of...she trapped Jeong in a stasis field.

When the flash of blue power ripped by Shepard, she almost pulled the trigger of her shotgun out of reflex. Jeong was very lucky she did not. Liara quickly stepped around, pried Jeong's pistol from his frozen grip, and handed it to Juliana. She then pointedly scowled at the few security guards in the room. "Do any of you have a problem with the change of leadership you just witnessed?" When none protested, she stepped back and stood at Shepard's side. Samantha seemed to shake herself. Hell, I almost just killed that man, just for being a corporate lackey... and she slowly stowed her shotgun in the weapons clips on her back. A look of consternation flashed quickly cross her face before she schooled her expression.

Liara exhaled softly in relief as Shepard stowed her weapon. I think she just found some grounding again... I hope! What is going on?

Shepard interrupted Liara's contemplations. "Ok, let's load up and go find us a Thorian."

Liara questioned, "Shepard, what about the colonists? They aren't going to let us get anywhere close to that thing..."

Juliana and Lizbeth Baynham approached us. "Commander? We might have an idea. From what Lizbeth tells me, the Thorian exerts its control by infiltrating the human nervous system with its spores. Maybe we can counteract the effect temporarily by administering tetraclopine."

Shepard frowned. "What's that?"

Lizbeth broke in to explain. "It's a compound we use in the grow-labs, as part of our standard insecticide. It acts as a neuromuscular degenerator. Against the Thorian-affected humans it should have an anesthetic effect, knocking them out and suspending the effect of the Thorian's spores for a brief period."

Shepard stared. "Are you really suggesting that I release clouds of nerve gas in the colony?"

"Not at all," Juliana protested. "In the concentrations we're suggesting you use, the compound should be completely harmless in the long run. It might help you incapacitate the colonists without using lethal force against them."

"I guess we could adapt our grenades to disperse this tetra-whatever. Like an old-fashioned gas grenade. I'll at least try it. How much of this chemical do you have on hand?"

"Not much," Juliana admitted. "I'll work with you to adapt the grenades."

The team once again found themselves back in the Mako, this time their modified gas grenades they weren't even sure would work. Shepard seemed a bit more herself when she got behind the wheel, back in familiar territory. For once, Liara did not complain about her driving. When they finally rolled up to the garage, the door would not open. The team was force to abandon the Mako and approach on foot. An odd figure sat off to the side, unnoticed until it started to rise. It almost looked like a husk, except it was purely organic, no tubes and cables. As it approached, Liara's scientific curiosity got the better of her and she stood, entranced, as it got closer. "It seems to be made up entirely of plant fibers and tendrils. Perhaps the Thorian is creating its own proxies, simply imitating human shape?"

Shepard took a step forward and started to issue a warning, "Liara..." The thing suddenly lunged toward Liara, opening its mouth and spewing... something... that Shepard could only interpret as the Thorian spores the info terminal spoke of. Liara gagged, and released a shockwave, throwing everything away from herself in a strong blast. The previously stubborn door suddenly slammed open and almost two dozen more of the Thorian creatures poured out of the garage. All three biotics lit up with singularities and warps, slowly backing up and using controlled weapons fire to keep sufficient distance from the creatures while their biotics recharged. That pattern repeated, until there were no more creatures to kill. As the last one fell, Shepard wheeled on Liara, concern for the Asari temporarily overriding any feelings of rejection and confusion from the night before. "Liara! You alright?"

"Honestly, no, I am not. I can smell whatever that was right through the seals of my armor, which must mean they are compromised. Goddess, what a stench! I strongly recommend we don't let any get close enough to do that again!"

"Roger that! Hopefully we won't run into any more, and it won't be an issue. I want to send you back to the Normandy to get the seals replaced, but seeing as they are in lockdown, it's not an option...so, we just need to be quick. Alright... time to see if we can get in."

The minute the team walked through the door, the colonists started shooting, and the team was forced to duck back outside. The inside of the garage was a broad expanse of nothing; no cover to be seen, no way to hide the approach to the colony. Shepard looked pensive for a moment, her earlier frustration returning. "I got this..." Before Wrex or Liara could ask, Shepard activated her tech armor, pulled up a barrier on top of that, stepped into the garage and simply charged the colonists, bobbing and weaving, closing the gap between herself and the colonists as fast as she could.

Her barrier sparked and shimmered, threatening to go down. Wrex yelled "Stasis!" as he tossed. Snapped out of her immobilizing shock at the insanity of Shepard's tactics, Liara quickly followed suit.

Shepard closed the gap, and softly lobbed the grenade into the middle of the colonists. When it went off, all the colonists dropped like rocks. Shepard checked them quickly and stood up. "They're still breathing. We're done here, let's move on."

Wrex started chuckling, and then let out a full up roar of laughter, and shouted..."Oooohhh, I like you Shepard! Give me a grenade! I get to do the next one!" Liara was just aghast. And so, Shepard and Wrex took turns lobbing grenades, while Liara, and whoever's turn it wasn't, tossed out stasis fields just to drop them again as soon as the grenade was lobbed. They ran into more of the Thorian husks, simply falling back to draw them safely away from the colonists before killing them. The separation plan worked well to prevent accidental collateral damage and when they finally made it to the center of the colony, the only colonist left was Fai Dan.

"I tried to fight it," he told us. "It gets in your head. You can't imagine the pain. I was supposed to be their leader. These people trusted me."

Shepard stared at Fai Dan, backing away slowly.

The colonist continued forward, gesturing with his pistol. "It wants me to stop you . . . but I won't."

"Oh, to hell with this," Shepard muttered. She threw her last gas grenade, and just like the rest, Fai Dan gasped and went down

Shepard shook her head. "Nobody gets left for that thing touse." Even an annoying fuck like Fai Dan.

Shepard got on the comm. "Normandy, colonials are down. Dispatch Team 2 to the colony ASAP, full hard suits."

Kaidan's voice responded, "Roger that ma'am, be there in five."

When the second team rolled in, the whole group descended down into the tunnels under Zhu's Hope. The air got warmer and more humid the farther they descended, to the point where it started to feel... oppressive. The level of banter between the crewmates decreased with the elevation. The team finally reached the bottom of the stairwell, and Shepard, of course in the lead, stopped dead in her tracks. "That's...large."

Garrus looked up and coughed, "I think we're going to need bigger guns." The Thorian occupied a central chamber, which rose though the many stories of the stairs the team just descended. It was positively huge.

Kaidan asked, "How the hell are we even supposed to kill that?"

Of course Wrex laughed. "If I can kill a Thresher Maw, we can certainly kill a plant!"

A pod-like section attached to the Thorian started a convulsive, heaving motion, and the team backed away in alarm. Suddenly, the plant...birthed?...a being that was an Asari?

"Shiala?" came Liara's shocked question.

Shepard was immediately following up. "You know her?"

"This looks like Shiala, one of my mother's acolytes, as well as a childhood friend of mine."

"Liara, I don't think that's really an Asari," said Kaidan.

"Of course not. It must be another of the Thorian's proxies. Still, the resemblance to Shiala is quite remarkable."

Then the Shiala-thing decided to speak. "Invaders! Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, fit only to dig or to decompose. I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren. You stand within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe! Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone. The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in the Long Cycle. Trades were made."

"Would you be willing to trade with us as well?" asked Shepard. "I need the same knowledge that Saren took."

"Never. After Saren departed, his Cold Ones came and sought the destruction of the Old Growth. They began killing the flesh meant to tend the next cycle. Flesh fairly given! Falsehood and betrayal!"

Shepard sighed. "Yes, Saren has a habit of doing that."

"The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies! There will be no more trades with flesh! No more will the Old Growth listen to those that scurry and nibble and betray. Your lives may be short, but they have already gone on too long. Your flesh will feed the ground and the new growth!"

With that, the Shiala-thing made a commanding gesture and ignited with blue light. A telekinetic bolt flew out, hurling Shepard backward against a stone column... then more of those organic husk like things flooded onto the portico from both sides. Kaidan and Liara, having become accustomed to working together, instantly teamed up and took on the Shiala-thing. Garrus and Ashley started blasting away with their assault rifles, and Wrex simply charged, stomped, and blew things up with warps and his shotgun. He slapped one of the husk things away from Shepard, and then picked her up by an equipment clip on the back of hard-suit. They all laughed at it later, because it had the look of someone picking up an impudent varren pup by the scruff of its neck. Shepard grunted a "Thanks!" and the battle was on. The Kaidan-Liara team finally took the Shiala thing out of the picture, and without its help, the husks seemed less organized and much easier to kill.

Ashley cried out, "Hey, Shepard! Check this out...it looks like an anchor for one of the support cables on this thing. What do you think?"

Shepard looked at it, looked back at Ashley and flashed her a wicked smile. "Only one way to find out..." They both started firing together. The node exploded, the end of the cable went whipping through the air and the Thorian shuddered and ... shrieked! Shepard looked around at all her teammates. "Guess we know what we've got to do!"

The same sequence of events repeated itself over and over. The Thorian popped out a Shiala-thing, droves of organic husks ran to assist. The Normandy crew killed the Shiala-thing, polished off the organic husks, and finally worked their way to the next wall anchor and destroyed it. Continually working upwards, the crew finally destroyed one last node and the Thorian finally became too heavy to support itself on what cables remained. It sheared from the walls and fell, crashing downward, to the bottom of the well we had ascended over the last hour of constant fighting. Shepard stood on the edge of the chasm, looking down, and slowly shipped her weapon onto one of her suit hard points. "Shit."

She slowly turned and started walking away when Ashley, forever the observer, pointed to a spot along the wall and said, "What the hell is that?"

A series of oblong pods were stuck to the wall, and while most were hanging limply, one was rippling with motion, eventually tearing open and dumping its content onto the floor. It was another Shiala-thing... or not. Liara was the first to comprehend what, or who, actually, was in front of them. She gasped, "Shiala!" and ran to her childhood friend, tearing at the tendrils and remains of the sack that had imprisoned her. Shiala seemed in a daze, slowly taking in what was happening around her, and she finally locked onto the face of the person who was helping her.

"Liara?" Shiala was very confused, and had difficulty standing. Liara wrapped Shiala in her arms and held her tight, until Shiala found her balance and seemed able to stand on her own. As Liara released her, Shiala looked around and said "Thank you, all of you. Thank you for my freedom." She then began her long tale of her service to the Matriarch, ending up allied to Saren, and eventually sacrificed to the Thorian when Saren needed her to communicate with the Thorian. He bartered her life away for access to something he called the Cipher.

Shepard had to ask..."I thought Saren was after the Conduit? What's the Cipher got to do with it?"

Shiala explained, "The beacon on Eden Prime gave you visions . . . but the visions are confusing and unclear."

Shepard nodded. "I'll say. I've had no luck making sense of them."

"Neither did Saren, until he came here. The visions were meant for a Prothean mind. To truly comprehend them, you must be capable of thinking like a Prothean. You must understand their language, their culture, their history, everything that made them distinctive and unique. The Thorian had that knowledge. When the Protheans lived on Feros, it watched and studied them. It made some of them its thralls, just as it made me and the humans above its thralls. When they died, it consumed them. They became a part of it. That knowledge is the Cipher."

"So if he could learn to think like a Prothean, he would be able to understand the vision."

"That is correct," said Shiala. "The Cipher gave him the ability to fathom the vision in its entirety. It was not enough to find the Conduit, but it was an enormous step forward. Saren is very close to attaining his goals."

"Then I need the Cipher too. How do I get it, now that the Thorian is gone?"

Shiala smiled. "There is a way. I retain the knowledge from my own melding with the Thorian. If I were to join my mind with yours . . ."

Shiala had always been very sensitive to the moods of others, and she noticed Liara's reaction to the offer of joining. "Liara, is something wrong?"

Liara glanced at Shepard, and whispered, "No. Nothing at all."

Shiala lowered her voice, so that no one but the three of them would hear. "Liara? Are you involved with this human?"

Shepard glanced at Liara, beginning to understand, but said nothing. Liara had made her position clear. Too damn distracting, right?

Liara sighed, feeling the resentment ebb away, leaving only bitter disappointment at lost opportunity in its wake. "Yes, Shiala. Commander Shepard and I ...are exploring the possibilities. She and I have not joined as yet."

"I understand. Commander, I don't wish to intrude on your relationship with Liara, but I truly see no other way. The Cipher cannot be taught, only experienced."

Shepard was a bit confused, "Can you give us a minute?"

Shiala nodded and moved gracefully away, going to speak to the others.

Shepard made direct eye contact and purposely used the pet name she had adopted. "Blue."

Liara shook her head angrily. "Don't say it. I know what you have to do. I have no right to be angry, or jealous. It is I who insisted on the need to put my personal feelings aside for the sake of the mission."

For the second time, Samantha placed a gentle hand under the Asari's chin, tipping Liara's face up so she could look into her eyes. "Liara, you told me about the many types of melds. I have no intention of bonding with Shiala. This information exchange..." Shepard faltered and started over. "...'We' are not as settled as you made me believe last night. My feelings for you haven't changed. I'll wait. I haven't changed my mind on that. I promise." Shepard leaned forward and placed a familiar kiss gently on her forehead, whispering softly, "Liara. You are wonderful, and I'm pretty sure I'm falling in love with you."

Liara's breath caught and she felt an inappropriate pang in her core. It was the first time Shepard gave any indication as to the true depth of her feelings and Liara's eyes glistened with remorse, realizing she had hurt Samantha with her uncertainty. "Shepard. I know this has to happen. I just . . . I wanted it to be me."

"I know. Have faith...this won't change anything between us. I just have one question, but it's important. You know Shiala. Do. you. trust. her?"

Liara paused, and then whispered, "Yes, Shepard, I do." A single tear escaped down the Asari's cheek. Shepard's thumb wiped the tear away and she released her hold on Liara's chin. Shepard turned to Shiala and resolutely stated, "I'm ready."

Receiving the cipher was almost as taxing as getting hit by the beacon, minus the explosion. The images in Samantha's head were floating in and out of focus and she was having a hard time holding on to any particular train of thought. When she and Shiala separated, Sam discovered she was down on her knees, shaking and sweating like she had been gripped by some malevolent fever. She stood up, weakly, and shook her head. The crew looked on, concern etched in their faces, and Liara gave voice to the question they were all thinking. "Shepard, are you alright?"

"Yeah, my head just needs time to sort all the info now, and translate it into something I can understand. I'll be fine. We just need to get out of here and back to the Normandy. I feel like I could sleep for a week." They all retreated from the Thorian pit, and after brief discussions with the colonists, were soon on their way. Shepard felt her headache growing with every step, and by the time they reached the Normandy she was practically radiating misery.

As soon as the decontamination protocol finished and the airlock opened onto the ship, Shepard barked, "Joker, Citadel, on the double!" Liara had never seen the commander so...agitated. She quickly stowed her gear and hurriedly followed behind. Shepard sensed her following and wheeled around, pointing directly at her, leaving no room for argument. "You, straight to the med bay. Have Doc Chakwas check you over and make sure there's no risk of contamination or complications from those damn spores. Then, make sure all the damaged seals in your suit are replaced so your armor is ready for the next mission." Liara was well aware of Shepard's dark mood and wanted to speak to her about it, but as she hesitated, readying her retort, Shepard cut off any chance of reply. Scowling, the commander simply ordered, "Now, T'Soni," and turned and walked away.