Mass Effect Andromeda Series II

Chapter 29

Garrus was going stir crazy while he was on the Normandy away from the next mission. Upon arriving at Ilium, the gateway to the Traverse, Shepard took Jacob and Grunt to pick up their next dossier: An Asari justicar named Samara. Garrus was mixed in his emotions about having another Asari. Of course, Liara, was no longer of their crew, but he just felt like this Samara was going to be her replacement. There were too many new faces and it just didn't feel the same. He didn't know where Andromeda was, which kind of bothered him. When he was leaving the Forward Battery to head up to the CIC to chat with Joker while they were docked, he noticed that she was not in the med lab. Now heading back to his post, he got out of the elevator, rounded the corner and stopped in his tracks. There sitting at a table were Kasumi and Andromeda. Andromeda's back was to him. The girls appeared to be in a lively chatter. Their voices were low enough to where he couldn't make out the words. Quickly backtracking to hide his presence, he tried his best to listen in. However, with his distance, it was futile. He inched closer, trying his best to get as close as he could without arousing suspicion. He felt his heart quicken its pace as his blue eyes fell upon Andromeda. What in the spirits was wrong with him? Usually his heart raced when he was in the midst of battle.

"Oh Garrus! There you are!" A familiar bubbly voice called from behind that startled him.

Seeing Kasumi and Andromeda divert their gaze over to his location, he moved quickly back over, nearly knocking Kelly Chambers over who was standing behind him. "Y-yes. What is it?" He straightened up, trying to save face from his complete embarrassment.

The startled red head gaped at him for a moment, trying to figure out why he was so flushed, but then smiled warmly. "You had a message come through while you were on Horizon. I apologize I'm just now giving it to you. I knew I was forgetting about something when I saw you walk by up there," she laughed at her own mistake. "Did you want me to transfer the message to my datapad for your view?"

"Um…no. That won't be necessary. Just transfer it to my terminal at my post. Uh, thank you, Miss Chambers." He rubbed the back of his head and tried to glance back to see if the two women were still nearby.

"It's Kelly," Kelly corrected him with another big smile. "I'll run up to my terminal and get on that. Sorry again." She turned to get back to the elevator leaving the turian standing there debating how to get himself back to his post without drawing any more attention. He simply could not listen in anymore with them knowing he was there.

Taking a breath, he began his walk back and tried to act like he was focused on the task at hand. Though the idea of a private message did spark his interest. He wondered if it was from one of his feelers. He gathered the strength to glance over at Kasumi and Andromeda for a microsecond. Kasumi waived at him. "Oh, Garrus. There you are. We were just talking about you."

"Kasumi!" Andromeda got after her friend. "Hey, Garrus. We were just-uh, talking about the last mission. Horizon must have been scary."

"It was…sad. I wish we got there sooner," Garrus stopped to address them.

"Did you want to sit down and talk with us? I can't wait to finally go on a mission with Shepard. It will be a nice change," Kasumi patted the chair next to her.

"Can it wait? I was in the middle of some…calibrations," He lied; he was becoming eager to read the message. He saw the look of disappointment on Andromeda's face and it pained him. "Later I promise," He reassured the brunette.

Just as he arrived back at his station, he got an alert from the Normandy's comm. "This is Garrus."

"Garrus. This is Shepard," John's voice came through. "Jacob and Grunt are heading back to the ship with Samara to get her settled in. The Drell is here and it looks like we may run out of time to get him. Can you and Tali meet me here?"

"You got it."

Nos Astra was bustling with vendors as Tali and Garrus made their way through the busy streets to Shepard's location. "All these people…. almost reminds me of the Live ships of the Flotilla," The Quarian commented sadly.

"It was good for you to join us again, Tali," Garrus tried to change the subject. "Heard of the mess on Haestrom. It will be like old times." He saw John motioning to them near a flight of steps.

"I need to make a quick stop here first. Thought you may like to come along," Shepard led the way.

"The Administrator's office?" Garrus asked as he looked around. "Wait…am I in trouble?" He asked with a smirk.

"Liara works here. Thought we could use her help to track down Thane's exact location. We can't lose him."

The doors to Liara's office opened and she was on a vid-call with a human; her back was to them. The man seemed to be arguing with her about some type of payment. Liara was not frazzled at all. "Have you faced an Asari Commando before? Few humans have." She threatened coolly.

Her statement threw Garrus off and he tuned out the rest of the conversation. Where did he hear that before? His mouth opened a little when he remembered back to when they were on Noveria facing Matriarch Benezia, Liara's mother. That was the same phrase she asked when the trio approached. A knot formed in his throat, as thought about the past two years since he lost contact with the Asari pureblood. Just what became of her? Then again, Joker told him he changed ever since he was on Omega. The Asari ended the call and turned around to greet her visitors. Her demeanor changed as she approached them with a warm smile. "Shepard! Tali! Garrus! It's good to see you."

"Nice to see you too, Liara," Tali was the first to answer.

"I was told that you could get us information on Thane Krios. Heard he may be here temporarily." Shepard cut to the chase as he sat down in the chair across from her desk.

"The Assassin?"