MASS EFFECT ANDROMEDA SERIES II

CHAPTER 2

Determined, Garrus made a beeline straight from the Council Tower to his desk at C-Sec Headquarters. He didn't care what the Executor said...the hell with him. He was onto something and he needed to figure out what was going on Eden Prime and why it cost the life of a fellow Turian. If it was Saren, what would make him shoot his mentee? Something just wasn't adding up. Saren was against humanity not his own species. He turned on his terminal and quickly typed Saren back into the database, a large tone indicated that he was blocked from any data on the subject matter. "Damnit!" He pounded the desk with his hand hard. The noise caused a couple of desk clerks to look up from their work in his direction. He didn't care if he was bothering them. Someone locked him out completely…was it the Executor? No, there was no way he was able to get back to his office that fast…after all he went up to meet with the Council after their conversation. For now, he would have to keep track with what information he had left and follow up on those leads. However, one was dead and the other two besides Saren himself were high up in the Alliance military command. If it wasn't official C-Sec business then he would have no say in the matter. He needed answers and he needed them fast.

"Hey, Garrus…I need you to do me a favor this evening," Detective Chellick said as he walked up to him, obviously in a hurry.

"I'm kind of busy right now…" Garrus grumbled, still annoyed at the block.

"Look. I just need you to go to Chora's Den and check on my contact there. Don't interact with her; just make sure nothing suspicious is going on. I have a sting operation that I am running to. Can you do that for me?"

"I'm sure, Jenna, is fine. This is why we don't need civilians doing our work for us, Chellick." Garrus argued. He was not too fond of the mouthy red-head. He knew she was only doing this for the creds and had no disregard in what kind of danger she was putting herself into by being a plant at Chora's Den to gather intel on Fist.

"Damnit, Garrus. You're one of the few officers I can trust and if anything happens to her, then it will be my head. The media would have a field day with it." Chellick barked.

"Fine. I'll go. I need a stiff drink anyway," With that, Vakarian turned and headed towards the Wards access elevator that would take him down to the lower levels of the Wards and Chora's Den. The gentleman club that housed a mixture of various races with predominantly Asari dancers. All he had to do was go in, get a shot of something strong, make sure no one was looming near their informant and then head out. Simple enough.

The loud beat of Chora's Den echoed among the halls that led from the Wards elevator to the club's entrance. The closer Garrus approached, the more he could make out the sounds of drunken laughter, flirtatious lures made by patrons to the paid strippers and an occasional glass breakage of someone dropping their drink. A bright yellow skinned Krogan bouncer sized Garrus up as he stopped him at the door. "What can I do for you?" The Krogan grunted. Krogan's skin color depended on their age. The younger they were, the brighter their skin was..the older they were, the duller the skin toned went. No matter how old they were, they were very large and thick skinned. It took a few good blows to the head to kill one.

"A drink would help." Garrus answered calmly. There was no more point in him having a disguise, he made his rounds around the Wards so he was well known in this area.

The Krogan hesitated as he if he didn't buy the answer then grunted again with a nod of his head. "Go in..just don't be bothering the patrons with any questions. Fist doesn't like too much attention here by C-Sec." The Krogan's lip curled some revealing his sharp teeth.

"A drink and then I'm gone," Garrus said reassuringly as he went around the Krogan and eyed a free table. As he moved through the tables, he took a quick glance over at the bar counter to see Jenna and another young woman conversing amongst one another while they were preparing drinks. Jenna met his eyes and he could make out the curse words coming out of her mouth. Her eyes narrowed and her mood changed to highly annoyed. Ignoring her silent protest, he sat down at the table he picked out. Moments later, the other woman that he saw at the bar came over. She was dressed in the same provocative clothing as the dancers and waitresses were wearing. Her hair was a dark brown and her eyes were a deep blue shade. He figured she was coming over to get his drink order, but instead the young woman paused and looked at him with a sincerely caring expression.

"Excuse me.." She began. "Is something wrong?"

Caught off guard, Garrus looked over at her. After the day he had, why someone such as a human that still would resent Turians to be interested in what was going on in his mind. "Why would a human bother to ask what is wrong with a Turian?" His voice was cold and he could feel it in the words as they came from his lips. The woman fumbled to apologize and then asked for his drink order. Garrus decided to lighten up a little bit since this woman before him didn't do anything wrong. After all, he didn't know her. He introduced himself to her, but what came after that, struck a chord in the day's earlier events.

With a smile, the woman replied back, "Andromeda…Andromeda Kryik."

Garrus' expression hardened as he watched her return to the counter. What did she just say her name was? Was his mind playing tricks on him? Maybe he was so determined in finding out Saren's secret that everything was coming out related to it…no. There was no way that a human would have a Turian's family name…especially the same name as the Turian Spectre that was recently killed. It was too much of a coincidence. His eyes watched her intently. Was she one of Saren's agents? If she was, she wasn't very smart. You should never give yourself the same name as a victim. Maybe she was a plant of Saren's to throw the investigation off? No…there was no way he would know to put someone in Chora's Den…the idea of the investigation coming here was not fathomable…but then again here he was in Chora's Den….

His train of thought was put to an end when a drunken patron yelled out to Andromeda, wanting her attention. The drunk human annoyed him greatly and he needed her back over here to get more questions…"Excuse me..I believe she was going to fill my drink order."