MASS EFFECT: INTERCEPTOR 2
*Episode Twenty-Four*
Of all the possible ways to begin a new day, Lina would have judged the detonation of a bomb on the Presidium to be0 the very worst. A wave of freshly-rested analysts had only just arrived and started work when the reports came in, and Lina wished she'd taken the opportunity to sleep after meeting with Vasir and Arlen. Even a few hours would've better prepared her for the onslaught of voices and chaos that now consumed the command centre.
From her usual position on the dais, Lina operated the railing terminals with a mechanical efficiency, hiding her inner despondency.
'Commander, we've got first responders on the ground at the asari embassy,' Kim informed her. 'Only one confirmed fatality, the ambassador's assistant. It's a miracle nobody else was hurt.'
Lorica was with her, her face bathed in the amber glow of Kim's terminal as it lifted to face Lina. 'Investigation's not ruling out a mechanical malfunction with the shuttle but, given our activity in that neck of the woods over the past couple of days, I'm not holding out much hope it was just engine trouble.'
She was right, Lina knew. As if it needed to be spelled out. That an explosion killed a staff member of the very embassy they were investigating barely more than a day after they uploaded a virus to their servers, it would've been ludicrous to call it coincidence.
'They cut Ferrata's throat to stop him talking,' she said as she worked, typing and swiping at two terminals at once. 'We know whoever is behind this won't think twice about killing whoever they can to keep us away. Last night, Mike mentioned that he believes the program we uploaded to the embassy is being blocked or sabotaged. Between that and this latest act of murder? We're on to something, it's plain as day.'
Mike spoke up without turning from his desk, 'Here we go, victim is Eris Saverra, aide to Ambassador Siya Novari.'
The relevant picture and profile flashed up on the main screen beyond the dais, which Lina glanced up at momentarily between keystrokes as Mike went on.
'One hundred and fifteen years old, graduate of Armali University with degrees in galactic politics and alien history. Only been on the Citadel for about five months, two of them under Ambassador Novari's direct supervision.'
'Just a girl,' Lorica muttered sadly. 'She had her whole life ahead of her. She didn't deserve this.'
Though her sorrow was understandable, Lina couldn't afford to share in it and her tone was clinical as she asked, 'No ties to suspected militants? Any large financial debts, known sympathies?'
'Nothing, Commander,' Mike confirmed. 'Just a healthy obsession with alien art, music and culture. Seems like a perfectly nice girl. Huh...wait a sec...'
His hesitation was enough to make Lina turn to face him. 'What is it? Tell me you have something.'
'Not much, but it's interesting. We're running audio scans on Enforcement's witness statements in real time. They're coming through to us as we speak. Well, several witnesses are reporting some sort of argument between Miss Saverra and her boss, right before the explosion.'
'Work tensions?' Ket scoffed. 'That's hardly our concern, is it?'
Kim shot him a severe look. 'You should know that we can't discount anything. Maybe Saverra found something on her boss, something Novari would kill her to hide. We need to know.'
'You read my mind,' Lina told her. 'Lorica, get Eddie Lang out of bed and over to that embassy. I want Ambassador Novari brought into custody now, for her own protection if nothing else.'
'Not to question your judgement, dear Commander,' Ket began with no small amount of condescension, 'but Enforcement have half a dozen officers on the scene already. Why not ask them to haul her over here?'
A collective groan passed between the rest of the team but Lina answered him all the same. 'Because I'm not willing to risk her being left alone with anyone I don't trust. She's in public right now, in the hands of paramedics and C-Sec officers, which gives her at least some degree of protection. But all it'll take is for an enemy agent to pack her into a sky car, take her somewhere quiet and put a slug in her head and we've lost yet another lead. I won't rest easy until she's with us and we can get to the bottom of this. Until then, Kim, make sure those officers on the scene are aware that we're sending a man to pick her up. Officer Lang is one of their own, that'll make things easier.'
The irony of equating safety with one of the cells in which Captain Ferrata was assassinated was not lost on Lina, but she didn't have a choice. The asari embassy had been targeted for an attack and they had to know why. All their fears and concerns were irrelevant.
'In the meantime,' Ket said, his bulbous head swivelling in place to gaze down at the dais, 'I believe you may want to know, Commander, that I've had a look over Mister Deveraux's decryption of that OSD. A brave effort, for a human, but I have managed to discern something interesting about a certain file that's nearing completion.'
'And what is that?' Lina asked, loudly and sternly, as she placed her hands on her wide hips.
'This disc is an old one, I believe, one that the erstwhile Captain Ferrata used to store all manner of information over the years. My guess is that when he took delivery of the Destiny Ascension plans, he just chucked it on this disc alongside everything else and encrypted it all together. This file, it's a set of case files on one Zwei Jaeger and his crew, taken straight from Investigation's databases.'
Lina's blood ran cold. 'That's quite a coincidence, but not inexplicable. He was the head of the Interceptors, after all. Still, odd for him to take those files for personal use.'
'That's not the strangest part.' The salarian now had the attention of most of the command centre, and he gestured dramatically as he continued. 'I can't read most of the file yet but on a whim, I compared it to the official records. The file on the OSD is both significantly older and larger than that held within Investigation's archives.'
'Meaning what?' asked Lorica.
'Meaning, my illustrious team leader, that the information C-Sec holds on Zwei Jaeger and his crew is incomplete. The information in our archives was doctored and replaced, most likely by Ferrata himself, though I can't begin to guess why he'd do such a thing.'
'To keep Arlen in the dark about something when Ferrata gave him the job,' Lina deduced. 'Keelah, as if it wasn't enough that the bastard was spying on him.'
Lorica addressed Ket once more, frowning. 'And you're positive that would account for the size discrepancy between the files?'
'Oh, it's far more than the size of the file. Even glancing at the raw data, I can certainly tell the records held by C-Sec don't match up with what's on that disc. It's not a mammoth difference, but it is there, mark my words.'
Lina, and for that matter, most of the team may not have liked Ket much but the salarian was one of the most gifted and competent tech analysts in C-Sec. She'd grown used to taking everything he said as correct on instinct, and she wasn't about to question him on this.
She nodded. 'All right, the next time Arlen reports in, I want him warned. He may not be in contact with Jaeger any longer but he still needs to be made aware, in case he picks up the trail later on down the line.'
Lorica called out to her, 'Lang's ready to go and en route to the asari embassy, Commander. She'll be in our custody within the hour.'
Lina nodded and turned back to the dais consoles to continue her work. The team too went about their business with a nervous excitement, every single one of them aware of the implications of Ket's discovery. A bigger picture was emerging, and the sheer coincidence of Zwei's sudden emergence on the scene was becoming less so the more they uncovered.
Once more, Lina's thoughts turned to Arlen. Ferrata had assigned him to catch Zwei, despite his clear need for professional help in more ways than just his work. Now it seemed clear that Arlen was being sent against a foe about which he did not know everything he needed to, all while being under some kind of surveillance. Whatever the turian military was after, Arlen was a clear part of it all and Lina made a silent promise to continue using her position to aid him however she could.
Even as the Presidium stood in shock at what had happened in the asari embassy, even as the galaxy waited in terrible anticipation for the T-Seven to emerge again, Lina thought only of the young turian to whom she owed everything.
~~~ME-I2~~~
Tela Vasir's ship was an astonishing hybrid of pleasure yacht and heavy interdictor vessel. Arlen would have been the first to admit he didn't know too much about either, but even he had to appreciate the work that had gone into the craft as he wandered throughout. It had all the hallmarks of asari design; sleek, well-engineered and fast, but beneath it all was an impressive array of VI-assisted GARDIAN lasers, electronic warfare suites and even a small payload of disruptor torpedos. It wasn't exactly the firepower of a frigate, but Arlen had no doubt Vasir had given many a nasty surprise to pirate crews looking for an easy score.
It wasn't a long journey from Bekenstein to the Citadel, but traffic at the mass relay had been much heavier than usual, and both Arlen and Vasir had been surprised to see Systems Alliance warships regulating the flow of vessels into the Boltzmann system. Perhaps it was on account of the missing T-Seven, Arlen reasoned, or maybe the precautions were part of the overall rise in security that had come with the geth attack on the Citadel. Either way, he'd taken the opportunity to use the bunk offered to him by Vasir to snatch a few hours' rest.
He rolled his shoulders, now clad in armour once again, as he strolled through the ship. The bulkheads were of pale blue metal, lit well in soft pools of white light at regular intervals. As was typical of the asari, more emphasis had been placed on aesthetics than practicality, and every surface was smooth and without the usual presence of cabling, pipes or maintenance panels to blemish them. Arlen wondered how in the world Vasir would be able to carry out effective damage control in the event of an attack before concluding that with a crew of one, there wasn't much chance of that anyway. This ship relied more on deception and surprise than being able to hold up in a straight fight.
It wasn't a large vessel, and it took only moments for him to reach a large common room which connected directly to the bridge. This was certainly what he'd come to expect from the asari. It was an elegant space, a circle of lush couches surrounding a polished wooden table with a holo-emitter in the centre. Spotlights underlit vibrant green plants in contained display cases around the compartment, giving it all the look of an upmarket hotel suite.
Vasir sat on one of the couches, one leg slung over a knee as she prodded and poked at a datapad without enthusiasm.
'Hey,' she greeted, gesturing for Arlen to take a seat without removing her eyes from the datapad. 'Feeling better?'
'Can't complain,' he replied, rubbing under the plates on the back of his neck as he sat. 'It was good to finally take a hot shower.'
'I'll bet. How long's it been?'
Arlen didn't want to confess the truth, that he hadn't properly washed since he was last on the Citadel. Things had moved so fast since he'd arrested Serica Ronn, with Lina turning up at his home shortly after he'd got back that evening, and then shipping out to Purgatory only a few hours later. Even when he'd been in that stinking pit on Omega, there hadn't been any running water, at least not of a satisfactory quality to shower in. It had smelled even worse than he did at the time.
'It's been a while,' he finally conceded.
'That's being out in the field for ya,' Vasir remarked. She withdrew her attention from the datapad for a moment, cocking a brow at Arlen. 'You didn't use the fancy soap, did you?'
The question was more fierce than the asari had perhaps intended, but she nodded when Arlen gave her a reassuring wave of a hand. 'No, just the plain stuff, don't worry. Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but I didn't want to go around smelling like the inside of a matriarch's purse.'
'Ha!' Vasir barked out as she returned to the datapad. 'I'm gonna have to steal that one too. You know, you've got a knack for metaphors. Don't really see too many turians with a sense of humour in my line of work.'
'Turians like my brother?'
It was an innocent question softly asked, but it still made Vasir frown slightly.
'Yeah, like your brother.' She sighed quietly and, after a moment's consideration, set the datapad on the table before leaning back and draping an arm over the back of the chair. 'There's plenty more you need to know on the subject, but I don't want to lead you on here. Nihlus is dead. I'm guessing that's not too big a revelation, is it?'
It was not. In fact, it was just the news that Arlen had been trying to prepare himself for over the past six months. Still, to hear it finally confirmed took a weight off his soul, making him inhale deeply as he stared blankly ahead.
'No,' he said. 'I've been telling myself the same thing for a while now. I guess there was always a part of me that hoped, though.' He glanced at Vasir, his jade eyes shimmering. 'How did it happen?'
'That's the part I think you should be shown, rather than told. I'll need to fix a few things when we get back to the Citadel, get an authorisation or two granted, but it'll be better than me spelling it out. I'm not so good with the sympathetic speeches.'
Arlen grunted. 'I appreciate it, really, I do. And I think you're better at the sympathy than you think you are.'
Something in the stern, rigid lines of Vasir's face softened and she instinctively looked away, hiding it. Arlen had seen it though, and her reaction was just as telling. It brought a small grin from the turian, but he decided against pointing it out.
Vasir picked up the datapad once more. 'I liked him. Nihlus, I mean. He was a real professional. Had a ruthless streak the size of the Perseus Veil, but he also had genuine vision. He wanted the Spectres to be the absolute best they could be, even advocated for the humans to join us. I heard that he was instrumental in getting Commander Shepard into our ranks, crazy if you think about it.' She smiled. 'Nihlus was a damn good Spectre, and damn good for the Spectres as a whole. A lot of us miss him.'
Arlen's eyes fell to the deck, only dimly aware there was carpet beneath his feet, a circle of the stuff that marked the boundary of the common area. It was another detail lost amidst the sudden tide of emotion that was overtaking him.
'Before, you said he talked about me?' he asked.
'Oh yeah,' Vasir chuckled. 'Every time we met, he'd regale me with how his kid brother was doing in boot camp, how good your test scores were, how you were acing the C-Sec academy. He wanted you to succeed so much. It was pretty sweet of him, looking back.'
'I...didn't know,' Arlen admitted, his voice growing husky with regret. 'I blamed him for...a lot of things that happened when I was young. I ignored Nihlus' attempts to contact me as I got older, and...'
Arlen snapped his gaze up and away from Vasir, well aware that tears were beginning to threaten. It wasn't a difficult thing to read, and after a brief moment's hesitation, Vasir rose to her feet and sat next to him. She placed a hand on Arlen's shoulder.
'I know. He told me.' She winced a little, clearly uncomfortable with consolation but determined to try. 'Look, I don't know exactly what happened between you two, but I don't have to do a joining to read your mind here. All I can say is, Nihlus understood why you didn't want to speak to him, and it never stopped him caring about you. I saw him before he...before his last mission, and you know what?'
Arlen looked Vasir in the eye, needing to do more than hear her next words.
'He told me you guys were starting to patch things up and even though he didn't say it, it was the happiest I'd ever seen him. Nihlus died a hero, but he didn't die thinking his brother hated him. That's got to count for something.'
Arlen sniffed, the only sign of his grief. 'Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is. Thanks.'
Vasir's hand patted his shoulder, signifying an end to her support as she got up once again.
'Don't mention it. I'm glad I could do the guy this one last favour.' She went back to her datapad, seating herself a comfortable distance away. 'We'll be through the mass relay soon. Make sure you've got everything you need. If the Council doesn't like the idea of you coming with me, you won't see the inside of this ship again and I won't have the time to mail you anything you missed.'
'I'm wearing everything I need,' Arlen confirmed.
'Good. Do whatever it is you need to do. Just be ready when we dock.'
Arlen got up and headed to the bridge. It was, again, atypical of a combat vessel with its wide cockpit window and comfortable crew seats. He claimed one, almost gasping in ecstasy as the chair adjusted to fit the particular curves of his turian back, and contented himself with staring out into space.
Various silver dots marked the thinning queue of ships waiting to enter the Boltzmann mass relay. The relay itself lay beyond, the curves of its superstructure distinct and impressive even from a great distance. Its swirling eye of pulsing blue mass effect fields was hypnotic and Arlen felt himself drawn in, happy to lose himself in the sight as thoughts of Nihlus preyed heavily on his mind.
~~~ME-I2~~~
The asari embassy was swamped with C-Sec and medical personnel, a maelstrom of sirens and voices.
Enforcement officers, most of whom had started their morning shift dreading their usually boring and uneventful Presidium patrol, were now frantic as they tried to hold back the press and question the embassy staff, all while trying to co-ordinate a heavy truck as it attempted to dredge the wreck of Eris' shuttle from the lake. It was proving more difficult than anticipated, however. Engineers argued with officers that a whole section of the Presidium's water system had to be shut down lest the drinking water become contaminated; the trouble being, aside from the keepers, no one was entirely sure how to do it.
Novari sat, listless and trembling, huddled under a blanket with a cup of water in her shaking grip. She had been seated on the edge of a planter near the back of the embassy entrance area, well away from the line of reporters who even now ached to squeeze past the barrier of C-Sec officers holding them back. Some of them Novari recognised, such as the human Westerlund News hack Khalisah al-Jilani, who was yelling vague threats at the turian officer in front of her with increasing ferocity.
Beyond them, the recovery vehicle hovered gently above the lake, a gigantic winch protruding from it like a gnarled finger. When it began to pull, Novari looked away. She didn't want to be reminded of what she'd seen. Shock still had complete command over her senses, a brutal and unfeeling mistress. She barely felt the cool water run down her throat as she took another sip, staring ahead at nothing.
It wasn't supposed to have ended this way. Eris had been a burr on her patience and a constant source of disappointment but never in her most twisted fantasies had Novari wished this upon the girl. She went over her last words to her former assistant in her head, retracing those steps that she'd taken while so incensed that her wits had left her completely. Every threat she'd made was now a knife in her own heart, twisting and pushing without mercy.
It was those words that so many of the embassy's staff would relay to C-Sec. Though it was silly to presume Novari had just so happened to blow up Eris' shuttle at the same time as she'd so furiously pledged to end her career, the idea nagged at the ambassador, tearing at her resolve.
Surely they won't think I did it? she tried to assure herself, but more and more, her mind's eye was filled with those last minutes and how they would have appeared to even the most casual observer. Novari knew she wasn't particularly well-loved by her peers and subordinates, but they wouldn't believe her capable of murder...would they?
Novari raised the cup to her lips again, and it took her a long time to realise nothing was coming out, the water long since drained. Her gaze now shifted rapidly amongst the rushing torrent of people, searching for something but without the slightest clue as to what. Her breathing grew rapid and her shaking worse.
C-Sec was questioning everyone else, but not her. Were they planning to arrest her? The question nagged at her, getting louder with every passing moment before others joined it. Were they just allowing her time to recover before taking her statement, or were they preparing to take her to a cell deep in the Wards?
Her omni-tool chimed with a message and she took a wary look about her before opening it. It was a meaningless spam mail begging her to invest in some ridiculous venture, but Novari knew better than to delete it out of hand. The sender was familiar; it was Huntress, the asari government agent with whom she had been dealing with.
As always happened with Huntress' messages, the text began to change before Novari's eyes, each letter and digit scrambling and cycling before settling on its true character. It took only moments for the message to decrypt, and Novari's face paled at what she read.
C-Sec is waiting for counter-terrorist agent to arrive. Get out of there - now.
Novari's first instinct led her to raise her head and scan her surroundings in search of this agent. The message on her omni-tool disappeared a few seconds later, a hidden auto-delete function wiping it from existence. Novari bit her bottom lip softly as she wondered how she was supposed to get away.
It was then that something drew the attention of the C-Sec officers at the barrier. One of the reporters' camera drones began to fizz and spark before letting out a loud pop and falling to the ground. There were screams of panic and a rush of terrified civilians that the officers struggled to calm down, despite their insistences that the thing had just overloaded.
The commotion was great enough that no one noticed another asari slip by beneath their notice, joining the crowd of people scrambling to get away from the scene, terrified that for the second time that morning, death had visited the Presidium. Novari didn't look back. She knew exactly where she was going, and it was the only place in the galaxy she wanted to be.
~~~ME-I2~~~
Night had long fallen on Bekenstein's capital of Milgrom, turning its clear blue sky into a star-soaked black. The city was still reeling from the bloody siege of the First Colonial that morning, but none were as restless as Donovan Hock.
The arms dealer traced a circular route in front of the glass wall of his large bedroom. Outside, Milgrom was a distant pool of gold in the dark, glittering with a brazen arrogance that the stars above couldn't hope to match. His own reflection was clear in the glass, and for a man who prided himself on his appearance, the image was displeasing. Hock noted how his fine beard had grown haggard and indistinct with new growth, and the lines of his dark suit were crumpled and ragged. It was to be expected, after he'd confined himself to his fortress of a mansion since Zwei Jaeger escaped his trap but that was little consolation.
The only balm to his nerves and his famously short temper was the news that Jaeger's assault on the First Colonial bank had ended in the extermination of his little gang. It was just enough to assuage the sting of their trashing of Hock's main account. A successful businessman on Bekenstein did not put all his eggs in the proverbial basket, but had the crew lived beyond the siege, no doubt they would have found other ways to inconvenience him.
Hock sipped from a large glass of wine, quietly considering the day's outcome. An inconvenience was one thing, but an insult was another. For now, that insult had been repaid, despite the fact that Zwei himself had escaped, for the time being at least.
Hock didn't turn around as he heard the bedroom door open. He knew it was his head of security, the Eclipse mercenary known as Chief Roe. The human wore her stony glare like a uniform as she approached, her short bob of brown hair framing her lean, pale features every bit as well as the yellow-tinted armour that protected her body. She was feared and respected amongst the mercenaries, and Hock trusted no other to be in his presence that day.
'News?' he asked curtly.
Roe's voice was a bitter growl. 'Yeah. Jaeger's gone. So is the bomb, but they didn't leave the bank together. Some turian took the bomb, either a Spectre or someone posing as a Spectre.'
'I want that bomb located,' Hock ordered before taking another long sip of wine.
'And Jaeger?'
Hock mulled the question over for a time. He let out a deep breath of frustration. 'He won't be found, not for some time. I don't want Inamorda's attention split. That bomb is worth a fortune and I want it. Tell the krogan that I'll double his reward. He'll need the extra motivation if he's going to take on a Spectre.'
'Yes, Sir.' Chief Roe fumbled with something. 'Chief Carter of the MPD also sent these, with his regards.'
His interest piqued, Hock turned around, his eyebrows rising at the two Locust submachine guns in Roe's hands. He set the wine glass on a nearby table and took the Locusts from Roe, turning each one over in his grip. He didn't smile, but the satisfaction was clear in his voice.
'Excellent. See that Chief Carter receives a token of my appreciation in his next payment. I'm always grateful to those who return my property.'
Roe nodded and made her way from the room as Hock continued to look over the Locusts. One was a replica, and a convincing one at that, but the original had been well maintained in its absence, despite some superficial damage sustained during the bank assault. They would both go back into his collection, placed under the gaze of Lady Liberty where they belonged.
Placing them on the table and plucking up his glass once more, Hock returned to the window and his silent observation of the city outside. He knew that sleep would not come that night, and would be in generally short supply until he finally received word from Inamorda that the bomb for which so many were killing and dying was finally ready to take its own place in his vault.
~~~ME-I2~~~
'What do you mean she's not there?' The buzz in Lina's voice from the suit speakers grew worse as she raised it, both through her own disbelief and against the tide of noise that had washed over the command centre since the embassy bombing.
Eddie Lang's voice was coming through loud and clear over his comms but Lina still had to cover the audio receptors on one side of her helmet to hear him.
'I'm telling you, Commander, she's nowhere to be found! I've searched the whole area and questioned every officer in sight. I'm telling you, Ambassador Novari is gone!'
Lina's hand fell from beneath her hood and became a furious two-fingered fist.
'Find the bosh-tet! She can't have gone far!' She whirled on the spot to address a cluster of orange-lit desks on the lowest tier to her right, speaking to a turian team lead. 'Pavus, I want your team on this. Track Novari, there must be a hundred different cameras in that area. I want her destination and I want it now.' Her attention shifted to a human man in the tier above. 'Sorensen, monitor all other divisions, they'll have to notice she's missing sooner or later, but don't let them know we're interested. I don't want our interest in Novari leaving this room.'
Lorica joined Lina on the dais, her features etched with concern. 'Lina, we can't just cut the other disivions out of this. We have to get onto Commander Actis of Enforcement and explain the situation, he can authorise a station-wide APB on Ambassador Novari. We also can't discount the possibility that she ran simply because she was scared, and that she might have nothing to do with Crimson Fist. We need to consider the political fallout on this one, see what Executor Pallin has to say before we launch a full manhunt.'
Lina wouldn't be dissuaded. She was sick of being beaten to the punch, of always being on the back foot. Her instincts were what she trusted the most in all the galaxy, and those instincts told her that Eris Saverra's murder was connected with their investigation. She lowered her voice, easing it for the sake of her friend, though it was still all too easy to hear the anger simmering beneath.
'Captain Ferrata was dirty. I'm not going to risk anyone outside JSTF learning about our interest in Novari. And even if I'm wrong about her involvement, the risk of letting a potential lead go when we've got so few already is just too great to ignore. But something tells me Novari ran for a reason. Her assistant was just murdered in front of her very eyes. Their personal relationship aside, if the ambassador's half as smart as she's supposed to be, she wouldn't make such an obvious target of herself unless she's got something to hide.'
Lina descended the dais ramp in a couple of brisk bounds and headed left, in the direction of the stairs to her office. Lorica was hot on her heels.
'Eddie and I already checked her out,' the asari protested. 'If she was dirty, we would've found something.'
Lina halted and turned to her. 'Like the worm you planted found something?'
Lorica's brow creased and she shook her head. 'What's that supposed to mean?'
The light warped and stretched across Lina's visor as it tilted questioningly. She put her hands on her hips and a note of accusation entered her reply. 'It means that if Novari's complicit in all this somehow, if she was the one who leaked the Destiny Ascension plans, and she's disappeared right from under C-Sec's nose...'
In spite of the bitterness that filled Lina over yet something else going wrong, a pang of remorse hit her just as hard as she saw Lorica's mouth twist in shame. They were friends, after all, but now it felt like they were back where they were a year ago. It wasn't a place Lina wanted to be, but she seemed physically incapable of holding back her scorn.
She tried to soften her voice. 'I'm not trying to call your competence into question here, but you're one of my best people. I expect better from you. I expect ideas, plans, action, not excuses.'
Lorica's gaze was downcast. 'I'm not giving you excuses,' she said defensively before meeting Lina's eyes again. 'I'm just saying that there are other factors at play here and we're going to need Pallin to weigh in on the arrest of one of the most important politicians in the galaxy. I'm not asking you to do nothing, just consider that-'
Lina stepped close, her words a whisper made harsh and tinny by her helmet speakers, 'I'll consider that we have a missing nuclear weapon, a probable mole in the asari navy and a confirmed rogue element in the turian military! And right now, it looks like the only new lead we've had in days has just waltzed away from the murder of her own bloody assistant without anyone noticing! And it all happened in spite of the fact that you were there only forty-eight hours ago!'
As she saw Lorica's pained expression, Lina felt another surge of pity. Her milky eyes blinked under the glass, the only sign of it, but her body remained stiff with anger and frustration. Perhaps that would have been the moment to apologise, to lower her voice and ask for forgiveness but the truth was Lorica was one of the very precious few people in the galaxy with whom Lina could be honest. Like Arlen, she had seen Lina at her most vulnerable and been with her through the most testing moments of her life.
That history was a visible burden on Lorica as her lips parted and she glanced aside, her eyes glistening as she hesitated. When her reply finally came, it was with quiet rage.
'You know there's nothing else I could have done.'
'Then why the sudden hesitation? Before you left for the embassy, you said yourself that we should suspect everyone,' Lina pointed out. 'Or did that change over the last two days?'
'No, it-' Lorica stopped and took a moment to compose herself before holding Lina's gaze steadily. 'Nothing's changed, all right? I just don't appreciate being accused of not doing my job. Not only that but Eddie risked a whole lot going in there for us, he doesn't deserve to be second-guessed, not after all he's done over the past week.'
This time it was Lina who looked askance, her head dipping a little. 'I know, but I can't just ignore your mistakes. I wouldn't be doing my job if I did.'
'You seemed comfortable enough letting the rules slide when you let Arlen talk you into letting Zwei escape Bekenstein,' Lorica replied icily. She didn't flinch as Lina's eyes snapped back to hers, and said in a quiet but hard tone, 'Or when you tortured Ferrata.'
'That was different!' Lina hissed, bringing a finger up to Lorica's chest for emphasis. 'That bastard was endangering us, endangering the mission.'
'Endangering Arlen.'
Lina was astonished to hear her own breaths roar through her helmet, and she realised she was angrier than she'd ever been in her entire life. She didn't even truly know why as she asked, 'What are you talking about?'
'I already warned you that you're letting your personal feelings cloud your judgement.' The asari gave a shallow shrug. 'If it was just your ass on the line then I'd do my duty as your friend and continue to try and talk you out of making stupid decisions. As it stands you're bringing the entire task force into the firing line to try and protect Arlen. All this would've been over already if you'd just denied his request to let Jaeger go. But no, he's all that seems to matter to you right now. You've been lying to the executor, to the other divisions. You've been lying to me.'
It took a few long moments for Lorica's words to sink in, disbelief slowing Lina's response. 'I-I don't know wh-'
'I know you didn't tell Pallin about Ferrata when you said you would,' Lorica warned. In spite of the sudden air of hostility that had sprung crackling between the two women, she took in a deep breath and placed a conciliatory hand on Lina's arm.
The contact was allowed only because Lina too felt the same thing; that their once-unlikely friendship was one of the only good things to have come out of an ordeal that could have claimed both their lives.
'If the task force is shut down, Kim's career won't be able to recover,' Lorica explained softly. 'Neither will Mike's, or Ket's. Everyone here will suffer, if that's not already going to happen when Pallin finally learns what's been going on. Every time you hide the truth from him, it puts another black mark against all the people who depend on you.'
Though Lina wanted nothing more than to say she was sorry, to embrace her friend and tell her everything would be different from then on, it would have been a lie. The logical part of her brain wouldn't allow it. It forced out a lengthy, impossibly tired sigh.
'I know. I'll think of something. I did mean what I said, that I'll take full responsibility for all that's happened within these walls.'
'Hopefully that'll be enough, but you know how things are. Commander T'Rana in Network? You know how she feels about JSTF. If she had all the former staff who joined us suddenly flood back into her division, she'd make every one of their lives a living hell. After all these people have given you, you can't let that happen. They don't deserve it.'
'Then what?' Lina pleaded, shaking her head in desperation. 'I can come clean with Pallin and risk all that, or continue trying to hide it all and at least have a chance of avoiding the worst case scenario. I'm just exchanging one unknown for another, but at least I can control one of those situations.'
Lorica began to step away, keeping her eyes fixed on the pale ovals glinting beneath Lina's helmet.
'No. You only think you can control it. But Pallin appreciates honesty and, believe it or not, so do I. Make the right choice and I'll be with you every step of the way to back you up. I'll be your friend to the very end. But make the wrong one and that won't happen. It can't. Sooner or later, you're going to have to choose between Arlen and your team. If you don't, then I can't guarantee what's going to happen when Pallin finds out. And he will find out.'
The ultimatum was vague enough to only bring a few nearby disinterested glances up from terminals, and only for a few moments. Lina, however, continued to stare at Lorica as the asari climbed the main ramp and returned to her section, unsure whether or not her best friend had just issued a damning threat.
~~~ME-I2~~~
The familiar klaxon call of Zakera Ward's Level 27 Docks was like a sweet greeting to Arlen as he stepped from the airlock of Vasir's ship. It was by no means a pleasant sound, a harsh snarled warning of another ship coming in to dock but it was enough to make his lips twitch into a smile. He was home again, and in a brief moment of self-examination, he knew it was the first time he'd used that word to describe the Citadel.
The cool, conditioned air, the noise of the crowds; it was a balm to his battered senses. He stepped out into the terminal proper and Vasir slipped past him to speak to the nearby customs agent. Arlen was more than happy to let her take the lead while he drank in the moody blue-tinted surroundings, the light of the Widow Nebula behind him the main source of illumination as tended to be the way in the Wards. Slashes of bright yellow, orange and green come from door panels, vending machines and advertising kiosks to create a vibrant patchwork of colour that Arlen was surprised to find he'd missed a great deal.
It wasn't long before Vasir returned, muttering under her breath, 'Damn customs. Their new DNA scanner's on the fritz, it's not picking up my Spectre status or your C-Sec ID. That's why this place is so crowded, some of these people have been here hours already.'
'Is this going to be a serious problem?'
'Not for me,' she said with a snort. 'I'll happily do the Citadel a favour and gun down every one of these jerks before I let them keep me here. And I'll get away with it, too. You? Not so much.' She exhaled in frustration. 'I can't waste any more time, I need to meet with the Council. You should probably put in a call to JSTF, get them to clear you a way through this mess.'
Arlen's response was distant as he continued to look over the area. 'Yeah, don't worry about me. You've got my frequency, right?'
'Sure have. I'll call once I've got your transfer approved. If the Council authorise it, you'll officially be a Spectre's hanger-on. Excited?'
'No, but I'm sure it's one of those things that'll hit me when the time comes,' he joked wearily and nodded over his shoulder at her ship. 'In case the Council show some common sense and deny that request...thanks again for the shower, and the lift back.'
Vasir smirked. 'Well, I didn't want you stinking out my home away from home, you know.'
Arlen returned the expression with a grunt. 'And thanks for telling me about Nihlus. Even if I don't learn everything about how he died, at least I can move on.'
Vasir's grin receded a little. 'No problem. I still want to make good on my promise one day, but if that doesn't happen, well...he was a good man. You are too, for what it's worth.'
Arlen bobbed his head slowly. There was nothing left to say, and Vasir gave him one last, genuine smile before turning away. Arlen watched her go, unaware that he was unable to take his eyes off her gleaming blue armour until she'd disappeared beyond the customs scanners.
Swallowed once again by the noise of the docks, he let out a ragged breath. He needed food, drink. He needed to debrief Lina on everything while he was there, and his mind turned with ideas on how best to accomplish all those things at once.
He didn't notice the three figures approach him until it was too late.
He glanced to his left to see three turians, two in full grey-camo armour and helmets, each brandishing an Avenger assault rifle. They were led from the front by a turian woman with steely grey plates and skin, almost blue, with rigid, square patterns of white paint on her cheeks and chin.
'Arlen Kryik?' she queried in a dry, nasal voice that resembled some kind of power saw.
'Yes,' Arlen stated guardedly. His eyes did their usual job, feeding information unconsciously to his trained instincts about all three newcomers, waiting for the telltale movement of a weapon rising or an aggressive step forward.
'My name is Captain Tyra Callidus,' the woman said evenly. Her eyes were crystalline blue, almost glowing within their dark sockets. 'My men and I represent Blackwatch. I assume you've heard of us?'
'Of course,' Arlen growled. 'What do turian special forces want with me?'
Lina's warning about the turian military came back to him, a sudden, stiff blow to his nerves.
'On behalf of the Empire, I'm here to place you under arrest.'
The words were not loudly spoken. Callidus clearly didn't want to cause a public scene, but they contained all the force and strength expected of a soldier of her station.
Arlen felt uneasy on his feet, his face a mask of confusion. 'And what exactly are the charges?'
Callidus had already produced a pair of thick handcuffs, almost exactly the same as the ones Arlen wore on the way to Purgatory. He recoiled instinctively at the sight but thought better of resisting. If these people were truly Blackwatch, then they rated amongst the most dangerous soldiers in the galaxy. Any show of violence on Arlen's part would be met with deadly force, of that he was convinced.
Callidus spoke as she turned Arlen around and secured his hands behind his back. 'You are hereby arrested on suspicion of theft and treason.'
Arlen frowned, ignoring the agony it brought. 'What? That's crazy, I'm a C-Sec officer! What the hell am I supposed to have stolen that warrants a Blackwatch team to come all the way out here?'
As she pulled him around again to face her, Arlen saw Callidus' sapphire eyes blaze with unspoken rage.
'Over a week ago, a Titus-Seven covert nuclear weapon was stolen from a secure armoury on the homeworld,' she said, her calm belying the fire in her gaze. 'Our investigation has concluded that a positive DNA scan was used to disable security, allowing the theft. That DNA belonged to one General Renius Kryik, who would've had clearance to gain access to the facility when he was alive. But, he isn't. Neither is his oldest son. That only leaves one suspect.'
Arlen's lips parted, his eyes wide. He stared right through Callidus, right through the men behind her who were poised to fire at the slightest provocation.
'I am to transport you to the Kanderax,' she told him. 'From there, you'll be taken under guard back to Palaven to face trial.'
It didn't make sense, and as Callidus prompted him forward, Arlen staggered as if he'd just taken a hammer to the back of his head. The docks became a washed-out blur, his thoughts reeling as they tried to digest what was happening. That realisation he so desperately needed never came as he was forced out through the docks at gunpoint.
