Noveria came into view one relay jump, and two days, after the Normandy had departed from the Citadel. It was a shimmering blue and white mass, revealing what kind of frozen wasteland awaited them when they landed at the port.

Garrus was shivering already as he stared down at the planet, growing larger as they moved closer and closer to entering its atmosphere. Turians were not built for the cold. They had evolved under the harsh Palaven sun, with bodies made to expel heat quickly: a recipe for hypothermia on a planet like Noveria. He had expressed his concerns to anyone who would listen, though Shepard and Wrex bore the brunt of his complaints. He had met with Shepard the night before on the observation deck, a late-night chat when neither of them could sleep. He must have mentioned at least twenty times how concerned about the cold he was. Shepard had assured them they would be fine.

Liara had joined them after nearly an hour of talking up on the deck. She was also having trouble sleeping, and difficulty adjusting to life on an Alliance vessel. One of the crew members had made a pass at her and she had thrown him against the wall with her biotics. She confessed this to Shepard, worried she might be reprimanded by the commander, but Shepard only laughed and commended her for defending herself. After that, Liara opened up a little more. By the end of the night, the three of them were swapping jokes and laughing like old friends.

They hadn't found a lot of information in the Citadel museum, it turned out, but Liara had found a copy of an old Prothean text. She was reaching out to people over the extranet to try and help interpret it, hoping for some clue as to what the conduit was.

As Garrus stood watching their approach to Noveria, thinking about the previous night, Shepard's voice came over the intercom.

"Ground squad, be ready by the airlock in ten. Coming in for landing at Port Hanshan." she cut out for a minute and then he heard her voice coming from his comm link. "Garrus, stop by my cabin before you head to the bridge."

"Uh, Shepard?"

"Just come by. It'll only take a minute."

He climbed the ladder down to the medical bay, curious as to why Shepard wanted him to come to her cabin. It seemed like an intensely private place. Nobody ever went in there besides the commander. It felt almost like a violation of privacy.

Crossing the crew quarters, he knocked on her door and waited.

"Come in, it's unlocked," her voice called from inside.

He walked in to find her pulling her armor on over a thick woolen sweater. Some black clothing was laid out on the small bed. Her cabin wasn't very large, and sparsely decorated. It looked like it belonged to an Alliance officer.

"Hey," she greeted him, crossing the room to her bed and picking up the black clothing. "Dr. Chakwas has an automatic knitting loom, so I asked her if she could make you a sweater for Noveria," she held out the thickly knit item.

Garrus took it and examined it. It was perfectly designed for his proportions. It even had a small space at the top to cover his cowl. "Shepard…"

"You can wear it under your armor," she suggested. "Go on, try it on."

He pulled the sweater over his head, worried he would snag it on his fringe and rip it. Carefully, he managed to get it over his head and onto his body. It fit comfortably, and the effect it had on trapping his body heat was immediately noticeable.

"You didn't have to do this for me," he insisted.

"Well, you made it seem like I did. You wouldn't shut up about how cold it was going to be. Now you'll be warm. Or at least a little warmer than if you didn't have it. Go get your armor on and meet us by the bridge."

"Thank you, Shepard."

"Yeah, yeah," she waved her hand dismissively and took off for the stairs.

He moved down to the cargo bay to find everyone had already left for the bridge. He pulled his armor on and grabbed his guns and hurried up to meet the rest of the crew.

"You should start charging people money to see this freak show, Shepard," Garrus heard Wrex saying as he approached the squad near the airlock.

"I'd have to give them money to look at your ugly mug," Shepard shot back.

"Some krogan would tear your head off for saying something like that."

"You'd be damn stupid to try."

"Heh," Wrex laughed. "You carried me by yourself through a dark cave during an earthquake. I wouldn't take you on single handed if you paid me. But you didn't hear me say that."

"Of course not."

"Garrus," Liara greeted the turian. "I see you've been adequately prepared for Noveria's cool climate."

"Cool is a bit of a lax term for frozen hellscape," Garrus replied.

"Uh, commander," Joker interrupted their conversation. "Traffic controller almost didn't let me dock. I had to pull Spectre authority on them. But you might want to be careful disembarking. They don't sound too excited to have us here."

"Thanks for the heads up, Joker."

The Normandy pulled into port and shook as the dock anchors clamped down. The group of them stepped into the airlock and, after a moment, the door flew open to reveal the brutal concrete architecture of the port.

Shepard led the way down the empty dock, her mismatched ground squad following along close behind. Even within the enclosed docks, Garrus could feel the cold penetrating his armor and clothing. He couldn't imagine why anyone would want to set up a colony here.

They came around the corner to the end of the docks to find their way blocked by two humans and a turian. They had guns drawn.

"Stay where you are," one of the humans said. She had a fair complexion, with dark hair further highlighting the pale tone of her skin.

"What's the meaning of this?" Shepard demanded. "I'm here on official business from the Council. I have Spectre authority."

"She's lying ma'am," the other human spoke, a stocky blonde. "There are no human Spectres."

"Might want to check the extranet on that one," Shepard replied coolly.

"Regardless of your status, there are no weapons allowed at Port Hanshan. You'll have to surrender them if you want to proceed."

"That's not going to happen," Wrex drew his gun.

Garrus swore under his breath. Stupid impulsive krogan.

The officers barring their way also drew their weapons, which then led the rest of the squad to draw theirs. They remained there, stuck in a standoff, no one firing, but plenty of fingers itching to pull the trigger. Garrus thought the turian guard might fire, eyeing his hold on his gun through his visor, but a voice came over the intercom before anyone could fire.

"Captain Matsuo! Stand down!" A woman's voice sounded. "We have confirmed Spectre authority. Spectres are authorized to carry weapons here. Let commander Shepard and her crew pass."

The humans looked put out by the news. Captain Matsuo, the woman with the fair skin and dark hair, folded her arms across her chest. "You can head inside. Gianna Parasini will meet you at the front desk. I hope the rest of your stay here will be less…confrontational."

The turian spoke up, "There's way too many of them. This is a high security port. We can't have half the galaxy tramping around. Pick two or three of them to come with you and send the rest back to your ship."

Garrus silently hoped Shepard would send him back. Part of him wanted to stay and be part of the action, see what the geth interference was about, but he was already feeling so cold that he thought he would just as well rather go back to the Normandy.

Unfortunately, Shepard had other plans.

"Fine, I can agree to that. Garrus, Liara, Tali, you're with me. I need your skill-sets. The rest of you head back to the Normandy and keep me updated if status changes."

Ash and Kaidan saluted. "Commander."

"Fine," Wrex grumbled. "I didn't want to hear Garrus complain about the cold the whole time anyway."

The three of them headed back to the ship while the four remaining squad members proceeded through the gates into the port facility. Inside, they were greeted to more brutalist architecture, which made the whole 'frozen planet' affair all the more depressing to Garrus. He would have thought they might build the facility out of something with a bit more heat-retaining capability than solid blocks of concrete.

Up a set of stairs, they were greeted at the front desk by the sound of alarms going off. A woman with a tight bun and a tighter red dress stepped out from behind the desk and shut the alarm off.

"Sorry about that," she said. "Weapons detectors. You must be commander Shepard. I've heard a lot about you, what with being the first human Spectre and all."

Shepard pursed her lips and said nothing. Typical Shepard-level compliment deflection. The woman behind the desk shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, I'm Gianna Parasini. I'm the assistant to the port chief, Administrator Anoleis. Let me know if you have any questions during your stay on Port Hanshan. Most areas are accessible to all guests, but I'm afraid you'll have to get permission from the administrator to leave the port."

"Have there been any…unexpected or unusual visitors?" Shepard asked. It was a good way to gauge geth presence without causing alarm. Asking if any geth had been there point blank would probably not be well-received. And if anyone was working with Saren, it would set off a lot of alarms (or more than Shepard already had simply by showing up).

Gianna tried to parse out Shepard's meaning. She eyed Liara unsurely as she spoke, "We did have an asari matriarch come through. She left for the Peak 15 research complex a few days ago however. She had quite an entourage of asari with her."

Liara bristled visibly besides Garrus. "What was her name?" she asked.

"Benezia, I believe."

Running into Matriarch Benezia was wholly unexpected, but a good sign as far as Garrus was concerned. If Benezia was here, they might be able to get information on Saren's whereabouts from her. At the same time, an asari matriarch with an entourage of commandos was no easy fight.

"We'll need to speak with the matriarch," Shepard said quickly.

"As I said, you'll have to get permission from Administrator Anoleis to leave the port. I can meet you at his office if you're interested in talking to him. It's just upstairs," Gianna said.

"Great, we'll meet you there, thank you," Shepard nodded.

Gianna took off through a door behind the desk. Shepard turned to Liara.

"Are you all right?" She asked, eyebrows furrowing with concern.

Liara looked taken aback. "You aren't going to question me about her presence here?"

"What? No. I trust you, Liara. You may not have been part of the crew for very long, but you proved yourself in battle on Therum and I think after our time on the Citadel and our conversation last night, you've earned my trust. I was just concerned about how you might feel knowing your mother's here."

Liara looked like she might cry, whether out of happiness or sadness, Garrus couldn't really tell.

"I…I am fine, thank you, Shepard. Your trust in me means a great deal."

Shepard clapped a hand on the asari's shoulder. "You're part of the team now, Liara. But I want you to know, if it comes down to it, we may have to face your mother in battle. Is that something you can handle?"

Liara nodded, though she seemed unsure of herself. "Yes, I am prepared to do what I must."

"All right, then let's head up and see about getting out to the research complex."

They followed Shepard, into an elevator and up to the next floor. The elevator opened onto an enormous room, with high ceilings and several alcoves where people sat chatting or turian guards stood at the ready. Garrus was surprised to see the place stocked with turians. Were they all as cold as he was?

On the far side of the massive room, there was another elevator, and a few hallways leading to unseen places. A line of thick glass windows along the far wall allowed a view of the torrential blizzard outside. Shepard examined a directory on her omni-tool and headed to the left, where the administrator's office was located.

Inside, Gianna was already seated behind a great stone desk with a wall behind it and openings on either side leading to the office behind. She looked up at their arrival. "Administrator Anoleis will see you, but only you, commander. Your companions will have to wait out here in reception."

"I don't like that, Shepard," Garrus said.

"It's fine. I got along okay without you guys before, I think I can handle a few minutes in an office with a port chief," she laughed and headed around the desk to Anoleis' office.

Tali and Liara took a seat on uncomfortable looking stone benches next to the desk. Garrus paced, partially out of concern for Shepard, and partially because he was so damn cold.

"Quarians are from an arid planet. You're not cold, Tali?" He asked.

"Our enviro-suits have self-regulating thermostats," she replied. "I'm quite comfortable, actually."

"I am not cold either," Liara said before Garrus could ask. "I purchased clothing on the Citadel for a variety of climates. I bought a thermo-suit on the Presidium. You should have seen if they had suits in a turian build."

'Should have,' Garrus thought bitterly. He'd been too preoccupied with getting laid to think about preparing for the stupid frozen wasteland planet they were headed to. He rarely made such idiotic mistakes. Thermo-suits were fairly new technology, in his defense, but it was probably how the other turians were staying warm.

"I don't suppose you sell thermo-suits here?" Garrus asked Gianna.

The woman frowned. "No. The hotel gift shop may have scarves and hats for sale, though."

A scarf would not take the chill out of Garrus' body. He continued to pace unhappily. The sooner they got to this research facility and found Matriarch Benezia, the sooner they could leave this planet for good.

Shepard emerged from the office a few moments later with a look that could kill.

"It went well, I see," Garrus said.

"That bastard dodged half my questions, berated me for wasting his time, and said even if he could give us access to Peak 15, which he can't because it's a private research facility, he wouldn't because all of the shuttles are grounded due to the blizzard. But he confirmed Benezia's presence. And told me that she's here acting as Saren's executor for an investment account he has as a shareholder in Binary Helix."

"Interesting," Tali said. "Binary Helix develops weapons, among other things. Perhaps Saren is having them develop new weapons for him."

Gianna cleared her throat and they all turned to look at her.

"The administrator isn't the only one with a garage pass out of the port," She said meaningfully.

The squad stepped closer to the desk. "I'm listening," Shepard said.

Gianna lowered her voice, "All I can say is, talk to Lorik Qui'in. He'll likely be at the hotel bar. I can't say more than that within earshot of the administrator."

Shepard thanked her, and they quickly headed back out into the main chamber, following the directory across the room to the elevator, which led up to the hotel bar.

"I'm surprised I haven't heard you complain about the cold yet, Garrus," Shepard said as they stood waiting for the elevator to reach its destination.

"He complained while you were gone," Tali ratted him out.

"Trying to seem brave for the commander, very noble," Liara laughed.

"None of you have physiology built for expelling heat!" Garrus complained.

Shepard grinned and patted his shoulder. "It's all right, Garrus. You're being so brave," she put on a voice humans often reserved for speaking to children.

"Thank you for patronizing me, Shepard."

She punched his shoulder playfully and turned to exit the elevator as it reached its stop.

The hotel bar might as well have been a night club on the Citadel. A few scattered tables and chairs had been placed around the large, open room, but most of it was occupied by a dance floor where businessmen and women were dancing along to the thumping music blaring from the speakers.

"We're a bit…conspicuous," Garrus noted.

The four of them standing at the entrance to the bar in full armor with guns strapped to their backs was hard to pass off as subtle.

"Yeah, so much for a cover," Tali muttered.

Shepard ignored them and headed for the bar. They trailed behind, taking in the crowd and looking for any potential threats. Shepard spoke to the bartender while they waited.

"See anyone suspicious?" Garrus asked.

"You mean apart from the four aliens with guns and heavy armor?" Tali snorted.

"Yes, apart from us," Garrus replied dryly.

He had spotted three potential suspicious candidates already. A businessman in a suit stood shifting nervously by a table near the bar, an asari near the entrance seemed to be on the lookout for someone, and an old turian near the far wall had been eyeing them since they walked in, though, in his defense, there were others who had done a double-take on their entry.

Shepard finished her conversation with the bartender and turned back to her squad. "The bartender says the old turian over there is Lorik Qui'in. Let's go have a chat with him."

They moved back across the room, still getting wary looks as they passed. Lorik Qui'in sat sipping a drink, and didn't flinch on their approach. He was older, probably in his fifties or sixties, with white clan markings all around his face and up the center of his fringe. Shepard helped herself to a chair at his table, as did Garrus. Tali and Liara stood with their backs to them, keeping an eye on the crowd and listening intently.

The old turian stared at Shepard and Garrus for a moment before he spoke. "You must be the fancy human Spectre that just came into port. What could an old turian like me possibly do for you?"

"Word gets around fast here, doesn't it?" Shepard asked.

"Sure. The guns and armor don't help you blend in either. Interesting group you've got tagging along with you. You could start an inter-species commune."

"Let's cut the shit," Shepard said. "I need a pass to get out of this port and Parasini says you can help me with that."

"Maybe I can," the turian said, sipping his drink slowly. "But it'll come at a price. I'm the manager of the local Synthetic Insights office…for now. Mr. Anoleis closed my office claiming to be investigating reports of my corruption. Anoleis is…an interesting man. He's become quite wealthy since he took direct control of rents."

"Get to the point," Garrus said.

"Ah, your pet can speak for himself," the turian smiled at Shepard. "The point is that Anoleis is demanding rent kickbacks from the companies on Noveria. I acquired evidence of this. Anoleis' hired goons are ransacking my office, probably as we speak, looking for the evidence."

"You want me to get to the evidence before Anoleis does," Shepard filled in the rest.

"If you can return the evidence to me, I will give you my garage pass, as well as a sum of credits. Some of the security officers are working for Anoleis under the table, so you may encounter them. Captain Matsuo is unaware of their outside employment, but they may need to be dealt with."

Shepard and Garrus exchanged a look. "If it will get us a garage pass, we'll help you," she told Qui'in.

"Excellent," he pulled a key card and an OSD from his pocket. "This key will get you into my offices. The OSD has a special encryption to access the evidence on my computer. Bring it back to me as soon as you have it. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty."

Shepard laughed. "I'm a Spectre, I'm never afraid to get my hands dirty."