Disclaimer: I do no own Mass Effect, I do not claim to own Mass Effect, I am only doing this for fun.
Author Notes: And now for the tangled conclusion of Citadel Noir. Just what went down on Eden Prime? Who is to blame? Questions will be answered, and new ones will be asked!
Episode 7: Citadel Noir [Part II]
The next day, with the Normandy effectively bound to the Citadel until the leak investigation either concluded or they were let off the hook, Shepard extended twelve hour leave rotations for everyone aboard. Jenkins was already using just one crutch and putting some of his weight on his injured ankle. He was freely enjoying his leave with few limitations and boundless energy, which was more than she could say for herself. Shepard spent some time formulating her written tactical assessment of the manpower situation aboard. She had EDI wire that request as soon as she was reasonably happy with it.
After that she dedicated her hours to operational reports and her routine. She spent that whole day working in the OD, going through the paperwork and jotting things as detailed as possible in the ship's logs. Matthews popped in sometimes after lunch with a tray of food, saying he fully expected her not to come down to the mess. That was hours ago and she was still up to her eyeballs in things when a scratch over the internal communication system caused her to lower the pad in her hand.
"Commander, Admiral Hackett wishes to speak with you," EDI announced.
"Thank you, EDI."
"Of course, Commander."
Shepard got to her feet and made her way to the COMCON, adjusting her fatigues as she went. She stepped into the room, and almost immediately after the doors closed there was a hum as the holographic communicator came to life. The admiral appeared over the conference desk, seated, and holding a pad in his hand that Shepard knew must be her request. Instinctively she snapped to attention and saluted. "Admiral Hackett, sir!"
"At ease, Commander," the admiral replied.
Shepard slipped into her parade rest without further ado.
"I read your request for additional manpower," the admiral continued as he leveled his gaze on her the best he could over a holographic projector and the light-years of space. "I am surprised this was not on my desk a week ago."
"A week ago expectations were quite a bit different, sir. My position as a Spectre candidate and then Eden Prime altered the operation parameters. Eden Prime was a situation that even multiple N7s would not find easy. I cannot ask my three marines to execute such jobs time and time again."
"I will not refute any of it," the admiral replied.
Shepard could hear the 'but' coming. This was where he shot her down in flames as gently as possible.
"Unfortunately the nature of your mission for me remains much the same, and your command is still controversial."
"I understand, sir." Shepard replied. She knew it, there had been a 'but' in there, and she knew what 'controversial' meant. At the end of the day, superiors could contemplate a reassignment, but unless it was punishment, the individuals had the right to refuse. The Normandy was hardly the Kilimanjaro. If anything, the Normandy might be the least desired posting in the Fifth Fleet.
The admiral actually sighed, bringing Shepard out of her muse. He must have seen her dawning realization that she would not get any additional Alliance marines assigned, and no volunteers had clamored for the posting at his door either. "There is another option. I am willing to allow you to build a team under contract, with pay from the operational budget."
Shepard blinked, stupefied. The admiral would allow her to build her own team?
"I stress that I want you to be absolutely sure you can trust the people you bring aboard. The Normandy's secrets are still your responsibility."
She should have expected this caveat. It was not rare that Alliance ships hired outsourced specialists to fill specific skill gaps. Half the science officers were not formally Alliance navy and ought not to be called officers, but they were. Sometimes they were hired and dismissed at the discretion of the commanding officer. Yet her position was much more sensitive. The Normandy was a top-secret vessel, rather unpopular as a posting, and with an unclear mission directive. What more, she knew the subtext of that option. If something went wrong; the blame would land on her head.
She watched the admiral type some commands on a terminal that the communicator was not to show. "I will send you the paperwork that any addition to the Normandy's crew has to sign, including a strict confidentiality contract. If they are unwilling to sign, they are not to be allowed on the Normandy."
"Of course, sir. Should I request Spectre Kryik sign as well?"
"If he will. It would make his position on board official. But due to his status do not force the issue."
"Understood, sir." She replied coolly. In other words it was up to her discretion whether to ask Nihlus to sign or not. Shepard did not have high hopes. Such an agreement would effectively put the Spectre under the authority umbrella of the Alliance, but Spectres were supposed to serve only the Council. There was potential for a conflict even before one considered Nihlus' temperament. He did not strike her as the contract-signing type.
"I know your job just got a lot harder." Hackett continued, his tone becoming noticeably less authoritarian. "What happened on Eden Prime was a mess, but you handled it as best as you could, and that was a damn fine job. The Council has their shiny new toy and no one under your command was permanently hurt. You should be proud of every single individual on your team. Don't beat yourself up over the what-ifs and maybes."
Shepard's jaw hung open, "You've talked to my mother, sir."
"Words were said," he replied after a pause.
That was parlance for her mother going beyond rank privilege as only she could get away with.
"Now, if you have any more problems, I want to know. I did not give you this command to punish you."
"Thank you, sir. I'll keep it in mind."
"Good. Hackett out."
The link disconnected and the communicator powered down. Shepard relaxed her stance and sighed. That had gone better than she would have expected, but worse as well. She could not say she expected more marines to round out her team, but disappointment still stung. Nevertheless, now she could collect her own talent pool, even though she did not know where to begin recruiting. It was not like she could take out an ad on the Extranet for it. Then there was the serious issue of command and operational parameters. Her training in ICT emphasized making the most of small numbers. Unfortunately, it was an unequivocal truth that raw skill, dependability, and willingness to work for less were usually mutually exclusive.
She exited the COMCON and made her way back to the OD and the logs she had been working on. Five minutes later she heard her terminal ping from the desk; she knew those must be the contracts. There was always some sort of delay as secured transmissions had to filter through the comm buoy network and then EDI's protocols.
It was another hour before Shepard was done with the paperwork and not a moment too soon as far as she was concerned. As pathetic as it was for a sniper to admit, she had no patience for paperwork. She could lie still in a blind for hours, but give her backlog of petty paperwork, and she wanted no part of it. One glance at her omni-tool's watch told her that it was almost dinner time.
As she gathered her pads into a neat pile and moved them back to the desk, she thought she really ought to go and eat with the crew, at the very least save Matthews the trip up. She exited the OD and moved toward the elevator. The elevator proved to be on the CIC, surprisingly, so the trip down a deck only took a day short of forever. As she rounded the shaft block she was not surprised to see that though Matthews was still busy stirring dinner, the mess hall was not empty.
Kaidan was there with what looked like his appetizer course, a cold-cut sandwich. Well she did promise him a rain check, so why not. She really ought to thank him for taking one for the team and agreeing to play the role of the communications officer too.
"Commander." Kaidan said as she sat down across from him.
"Hey, Kaidan," Shepard replied. "Mind if I join you?"
"Of course not, why would I?" he replied.
Shepard smiled a little. "Thanks. Double thanks for agreeing to play the comm officer."
"No problem. Someone has to step in. It makes sense for it to be me, and I'll do it, even if the idea comes form our resident Spook."
Shepard froze.
Kaidan glanced at the XO cabin door, as if checking that the turian was not within ear shot. "No disrespect meant, ma'am, but it's obvious. If the idea had been yours, you would've requested it in person, not through EDI. And you wouldn't be thanking me for it."
Sometimes Shepard forgot how observant Kaidan was. Because of his introverted nature he flew under people's radars. "Yea… got me there. Just how many people are using 'Spook' for him?" she wondered.
"A good few." Kaidan replied. "Hopefully you set him straight. I only agreed because it protects the ship."
"I explained some things to him." Shepard smiled faintly, but it faded quickly. "I'll be honest, Kaidan, I don't know what to make of him."
"I'm afraid all I can give you are my observations. He keeps to himself in the cabin, even eats in there. If you do see him, he's polite enough, but you won't get more than two words out of him. The crew is getting comfortable around him, but only because he makes it easy to forget he's even aboard."
"He's that much a recluse?" Shepard wondered.
"He's only here because of you, ma'am. You are the only person aboard he talks to. The rest of us are just… peripherals."
Shepard hummed thoughtfully.
"You won't see us weeping tears of sorrow," another voice said behind her back.
"Hey, Joker." Shepard replied. "Eavesdropping long?"
"Nah. Just came around the bend. We are talking about the Council Sourpuss, right?" the pilot asked as he came up to the table and sat down on her left.
Shepard did not give him a reply; he knew full well whom they had been discussing.
"Joker's right, ma'am. None of us are all that bothered." Kaidan agreed.
"Even Jenkins is starting to lose some of the Spectre-struck glee." Joker added.
Shepard sighed, if this was how her training period would go, she had a problem. She could not afford to have a social recluse on board. If Joker and Kaidan were right, then Nihlus was not just a case of an introverted personality. She would call Kaidan an introvert, and he had no problem talking to others. Nihlus followed her orders in a sense, but he seemed to be outright avoiding everyone else. That did not speak well to his ability to work with and on a team. She needed everyone to be on the same page, she needed a team that would intrinsically work together.
"If it helps," Matthews approached, balancing a tray of bowls for the three of them, which he handed out. Today's special seemed to be chili full of chunky-cut vegetables. "I don't have anything bad to say about him. I've never heard a complaint about the food and the dishes are always returned."
"As I said, he's polite enough." Kaidan said.
"No one said he wasn't," Joker affirmed, already testing the food's temperature.
Shepard hummed thoughtfully. If Nihlus did not want to mingle, she could not make him. At the very least he was not making people's lives difficult. So the only thing she could do was hope he would warm up to the crew with time. She picked up her spoon and started eating. That seemed to end the discussion.
After eating, Shepard returned the dishes to Matthews and then went to the elevator. It was there, standing in front of the doors, hand hovering over the call button that she finally realized something; she actually had free time. There were still some outstanding little things, but on the whole those little things could very well wait until tomorrow. Galactic standard put the time on the Citadel just short of dinner hour, the very early evening, but somehow she did not want to go anywhere. Shopping on the citadel was expensive because of duties and markups. She did not want to shop just for shopping sakes; it was against her nature to be spendthrift.
The elevator arrived and opened, revealing Lieutenant Adams and Doctor Chakwas coming to diner.
"Oh, Commander, fancy bumping into you."
"Evening, Doctor, Adams." Shepard replied.
"Good evening, ma'am."
"Have you eaten already, Commander?" The doctor wondered.
"Yes, Doctor. You can ask Kaidan or Joker."
"Well then, carry on." Without further ado the two walked off, resuming their conversation in hushed voices.
Shepard stepped onto the elevator and grinned. The doctor was the only person on the ship who had upper authority over everyone, including her, on medical grounds. She could relieve anyone of their post if she had cause to believe them unfit, but that just meant she tended to mother everyone. Shepard hit deck five and turned to the doors as they closed.
When the doors opened onto the shuttle bay, she moved toward the gun lockers. A quick pass of her hand over the biometric reader and she withdrew the twins and Vincent. Shepard figured running some maintenance was a good a pastime as any when one did not want to go anywhere. She powered up the guns and checked they were not loaded before she laid them out on the work table and fired up her omni-tool to run diagnostics.
Ashley could handle any weapon, but Shepard marked her guns off limits. It had nothing to do with a lack of trust and everything to do with the unique nature of her weapons and her obsession with being personally a hundred percent sure her weapons were ready to go.
"Commander."
Shepard jumped, she was so focused on the task that she completely missed the little tell-tale intercom scratch EDI and Joker were so fond of.
"What is it EDI?"
"Detective Vakarian is outside by the shuttle bay ramp, it is highly probable that he wishes to speak with you, however Flight Lieutenant Moreau is away at the moment and unable to tell the marines to let the detective through."
"Thanks, EDI." Shepard straightened, closed her omni-tool, and made a hasty beeline toward the ramp.
"Of course, Commander. Now I will pretend I do not exist."
This was to say EDI would be listening to every word. Sometimes Shepard wondered if EDI was actually trying to be funny, it really did not work for her, but she was also technically only about a year old, and programmed for everything except humor, so she got a free pass.
Shepard made her way to the ramp and was not surprised to see the marines being quite recalcitrant in blocking the detective's way. They were two of the biggest grunts that she had ever seen get the posting, and still dwarfed by the Turian, but they held their ground.
"Stand down, Corporals." She ordered, causing both of the marines to look at her. "Detective Vakarian has authorization." For the time being, that is, but that went without saying.
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Come on in, Detective." She motioned for the turian to follow her and was not surprised that he managed to catch up despite having to come up the ramp.
"Thank you, Commander."
"Do you mind if we talk while I do some maintenance on my weapons?" Shepard asked as she moved deeper into the shuttle bay. He was in his C-sec armor and she saw the side-arm at his hip, so maybe he would not mind.
"No, I would not want to keep you from your duties."
Shepard smiled and approached the table where her guns lay. Something told her that this was not exactly official business. Had it been, he would have come with his partner. As far as his words went, one could trust a turian never to get in-between someone and their duties if they did not come to fulfill theirs. She brought up her omni-tool to continue the diagnostics that had been interrupted previously.
He hummed seeing her rifle. "You use a Mantis?"
"Yes. Some might argue there are better rifles out there, but… this old boy is a veteran. Call me sentimental, but that matters. Besides, those other rifles don't have the same performance at ranges over a thousand meters." Shepard replied.
"Definitely. The best part is the scope. Stock scopes that adjust to that range are rare. The only downside is that it does not have a thermal mode, but we cannot have everything, can we?"
"Of course not. That'd be cheating." Shepard smiled. She did not miss the fact that his assessment hinted at experience. "Were you a sniper, Detective?"
"I was a reconnaissance scout during part of my service in the military. Is it the rifle you used on Elysium?"
If the Hierarchy's recon scouts were the same as the Alliance recon scout snipers, then he would have impressive direct experience, it was definitely something she could respect. Most people really did not understand the unique skill requirements snipers possessed. She ghosted her fingers over Vincent's barrel, "The very same. It still wears the livery of that night."
"Was it snowing?"
Shepard turned around to face the detective. "For a few hours, yes." She knew where the question came from; he was measuring her skill margin. In a steady snowfall at hundreds of meters, half the time it was aiming at a vague guesstimate of where your target was, based on the position and movements of the light beams cast by weapons or helmets. Other times it was shooting shadows of a person you barely saw, but your HUD insisted was there. Once she zeroed the gun's scope a guesstimate was enough. If it had a weapon but did not have an Alliance RFID in its armor, she fired. Back then she prioritized hitting her targets. A swift merciful death had not been in the cards, and she had not cared if they suffered. "Somehow though, I don't think you've come here for a signed autobiography."
"Oh. Oh! Right." His mandibles flicked in a grin, but somehow the shift of his weight was more sheepish than anything.
"So?" Shepard prompted. She would give him points for wearing a bumbling act proudly. However, that was all it was, an act. She witnessed him almost tear into Nihlus. If he thought she would forget that and buy the awkward cop shtick, he underestimated her intellect.
"Truthfully, Commander, I am not here in any official sense. I understand you are a busy individual, so I felt like you should know."
Ominous build up, but Shepard figured he was here unofficially already.
"We reviewed the logs." He paused to clear his throat, "As of a couple hours ago, the Normandy and her crew were ruled out as the source of the leak." He caught her eyes with that revelation, but she could see that his left eye was more focused on the readings displayed by his visor. "Although we would prefer if the Normandy remained on the Citadel for now."
Suddenly Shepard became acutely aware of what had just transpired. Smooth, detective, very smooth, she thought. Begin by establishing a baseline, and then drop the bombshell. He had been reading her life signs with that visor all along. The talk of Elysium was meant to lull her into a relaxed state, on familiar turf, the build up was meant to set her on edge so that when the bombshell dropped, a liar would have a relief reaction.
She contained her urge to smile. "Got to love bureaucracy, right?"
He actually grinned.
"Let's be truthful here, Detective. I feel like I can give you my opinion now, one soldier to another."
"Of course, as a witness if you saw anything…"
Shepard shook her head, "I did not see anything on Eden Prime. However, I do see something of a problem in the math. I see the Geth wanting the beacon. Prothean tech is a hot commodity. It could contain other technologies. They could also want the beacon's tech itself. They have a motive. The issue I'm having is in the supposition that someone leaked anything to them." She raised her hand to forestall an objection as she took a breath, "Where's the motive there? What would a leaker get out of this? Who stands to benefit? Only someone with direct benefit would leak this sort of information. It's not like the Geth can blackmail, or press someone with the threat of physical force."
The detective hummed, but said nothing. He probably could not say anything as that would breach case integrity, she could understand that. Still, Shepard had a feeling that she had just landed a bull's-eye on something they already considered.
"Commander, there is another possibility."
Shepard shifted her weight from foot to foot; EDI at least knew to use the comm link wired to her omni-tool and ear-piece, and not to speak out loud.
"The Geth are a synthetic intelligence, much like me. If I wished to obtain such information, I would not contact the individual who had it. Doing so would be inefficient. Instead, I would compromise their terminal with viral code without their knowledge."
Shepard blinked. It took a few seconds for it to sink in, but when it did, she realized that EDI might have just pulled out Ockham's razor, and pointed out the obvious thing all of them had been missing.
"Is something wrong, Commander?" the detective wondered.
Shepard shook her head, damn his visor, of course it would pick up the sudden uptick in her pulse. "I just had a thought. What if the leak is not a person?"
"A group?" he asked, stunned.
"No. I mean what if the leak is not a person at all." Shepard explained. "We are dealing with synthetics. There are some problems with just that. Strictly speaking, establishing contact, blackmailing, or what have you, takes time, runs risks, and requires good incentives, whether a promise of reward, or a threat." The risks and costs had to be balanced versus the benefits. "The much faster, safer route would be compromising a terminal with viral code. For synthetics I don't suppose it would be hard."
It was an espionage staple even if one was not a synthetic. A properly coded, tailor-made virus could allow remote access to the files stored on a system. Setting up a baited email was not difficult either; most people had a weakness to exploit, something that would get them to access a bad attachment. Finding it required research, but there was less chance for the whole thing being a bust. If the target did not open the email, or the wrong system was infected, one could always try again. Actual contact was a one-shot deal; a bad recruitment could raise alarms and burn both the operative and the operation.
On the operational side, a synthetic intelligence would also have the time required to research and investigate the target system, so as to code the virus to be undetectable by blunt-hammer anti-viral software and VIs. If the theory proved true, then it actually opened a whole other can of worms in its implications, but now was not the time to run with those. Shepard wanted the leak source found first, the rest could be addressed later.
"That is certainly an interesting possibility." Vakarian said after a good minute of silence.
Shepard knew she showed her hand a little, but it was much too late to take it back, best let him make the idea his own. "I hope you'll find the leak source, whoever, or whatever it ends up being. Eden Prime left thirteen good marines and multiple civilians dead. I'd hate to think that something like that can happen again, and not just on one of our colonies." That would do as an excuse. He had to know that she was a Spectre candidate. He knew about Elysium, so he likely read at least the redacted version of her file. Her N7 designation would be there even after redaction, so he would have an idea of how highly trained she was. Let him think that she had her own investigative skills. Not like that was a lie, it was just a low common denominator.
"With luck, it never will." He paused, eyes locked on her, "I came only to tell you the news, but I walk away with something to consider. Thank you, but I best be on my way. Have a good evening, Commander."
"You too, Detective."
He nodded, turned, and walked off toward the ramp. Shepard watched him go, fingers clenched around the work table. Because they still could not leave the Citadel, the revelation that the Normandy's crew was cleared of suspicion did not mean much. Admiral Hackett would want to know they were in the clear, but he would be unhappy that they were still grounded. The crew would at the very least enjoy their extended leave, and even she could take some time off too.
"EDI, if you were organic, I'd owe you a beer. What can I get you?" Shepard begun just as soon as she was positive the detective would not hear her.
"I am happy to be of assistance, your gratitude is enough." EDI replied. "However if you wish to symbolically consume a beer in my name as a part of social ritual, I will not object."
"Yes, I can do that." Shepard smiled.
"I can also look up establishments that provide quality alcoholic beverages when you wish to conduct said social ritual."
"Wait… EDI are you saying I should get out more?"
"I have observed you schedule leave for the crew, yet never take it yourself." EDI replied.
Shepard laughed; she was getting ribbed for working too hard by an AI. The irony of the whole thing did not escape her. "What about you EDI?"
"Are you asking whether I have what would constitute as free time?"
"I guess," Shepard replied.
"My processing capacity allows me to perform my duties concurrently with personal interests. I have been observing the interactions aboard. I am interested in the evolution of relations between the crew and Spectre Kryik. There is no precedent for mixed-species crews within the Earth Systems Alliance, but interest in the topic exists within academic circles."
Shepard did not want to know how the AI knew about academic circles. "Just as long as you're not writing your dissertation on how dysfunctional we are."
"You do not need to worry. Though synergy between the human crew and Spectre Kryik is yet to develop, I have observed potential for it. If I was to write such a paper, my thesis would argue such a crew can work efficiently."
EDI had been listening to the conversation in the mess hall earlier. This must be her input. She knew more about Nihlus that anyone else aboard, simply because she had an eye in every room, including the XO's cabin. That meant, whatever EDI observed must give her the confidence to say things like that. "I hope you're right, EDI."
By the end of the next day the Normandy was still grounded, but the crew was enjoying every moment of it. Shepard had to notify Admiral Hackett, who was visibly unhappy, but unable to do anything more than wish them all to enjoy their free time.
The ship was quiet now; the crew was no longer hesitant to plan excursions and group outings on the account that they might have to ship out in a rush. They only came back when their leave time was nearly up, so they could sleep, clock their shift hours, and then go off have more fun.
Shepard caught Nihlus on deck three that evening, having just returned aboard. He was free to come and go as he pleased and do whatever with his free time, so when she saw the storm in his eyes and the stiff way he carried himself she knew something was up, he had not been out having fun.
When she asked, he stopped cold, spared her a look, and she saw him tense even further. Then, just as suddenly, his posture relaxed and he gave her the short of it. He was running the gauntlet with his insurance broker, namely one very snobby Volus who suggested he crashed the Defiant on purpose, as surely one mass accelerator round from a mercenary ship was not enough to bring it down.
Shepard merely nodded. All she got was that the insurance company wanted to try every single loophole and tiny print clause to get out of paying up. She wished Nihlus the best of luck and left it at that, but it dissipated some of the storm clouds, so mission accomplished. She did not bother him further as he took his food from Matthews and vanished back in his cabin.
Detective Vakarian had done them all a great favor in letting them know they were off the hook, as that removed a lot of the pins and needles. Nevertheless by the third day of waiting the lack of clearance to depart began to annoy Shepard. It was as if her six month stint of desk duty had come back, and she did not like it. Neither did Joker, as with every passing day he became more agitated, simply because there was little for a pilot to do with his ship clamped down.
Jenkins' support brace came off a day early. She caught him coming back around lunch hour on day three, accompanied by Ashley, beaming like a floodlight. Shepard asked Ashley later, who told her than Jenkins all-but-begged her to help him improve his aim and skills. The gunnery chief decided to take him to a shooting range and put him through rigorous exercises with multiple weapons. Shepard got the impression that Eden Prime rattled the corporal, but he was reacting in the best way possible. Instead of sinking under the stress, he decided to apply himself to getting better. She had done the same in his shoes.
The next day at breakfast the storm finally broke. Nihlus caught her at breakfast to announce that the investigation had concluded the previous night, and that the Council had a meeting set up with the involved parties. Mid-explanation she got a terse, no-details message from the desk of Ambassador Udina, summoning her to be there when the Council released the findings. She suspected that it was merely a courtesy, something throw-away, maybe even automated. By Nihlus' expression, Shepard had a distinct feeling he knew more about what happened than he let on, as normal.
After breakfast and with barely twenty minutes to spare from the time they had to be at the tower, she caught up with Nihlus at the Skycab kiosk, doing up the catches on her uniform jacket right in the car. He was back in his armor, with his side-arm, though without his assault rifle or shotgun.
"I assume you know what happened last night?" Shepard asked.
"C-sec found the leak. That is all I know."
Shepard thought that if that was all he knew, she was the Pope. The rest of the ride passed in silence, she did not press him because doing so would be a tad hypocritical. Nihlus did not know the details of her second talk with Detective Vakarian. He just knew they had been cleared of suspicion a few days back. She made an announcement to the crew, but did not go into the details. Not that Shepard wanted to conceal the solid the detective had done for them, but no one asked.
The silence between them did not break even when the cab landed in front of the Presidium tower elevator. Shepard mutely followed a step behind him, wondering what got him so tense. The cab was apparently up top, so their wait ended up literally twice as long. Shepard made a comment about the elevator, because honestly, how hard was it to make a piece of ancient technology move faster? Sure the Citadel was rumored to be at least fifty thousand years old, a marvel of construction, but she was not asking for a complete reengineering of the mass relays. She was asking someone to upgrade a damn elevator.
As they stepped out into the narthex and moved through it into the nave, Shepard noticed Ambassador Udina and the unmistakable form of Captain Anderson at the base of the stairs leading to the apse. She instinctively tugged down on her uniform jacket as they approached.
"There you are, Commander." Anderson greeted.
"Good day Captain Anderson, Ambassador." Shepard replied. Maybe it was petty of her to make such a greeting, but the brief quirk of eyebrow she caught from Captain Anderson hinted at amusement enough.
"Commander," Udina's reply was colder than ever, he knew full well she snubbed him, and predictably he would rise to the occasion.
As far as Shepard was concerned he would have been wiser to learn to roll with petty slights, but Udina was a known egomaniac. It was half the reason she could not respect him. "This is of course Spectre Kryik, the Normandy's Spectre Liaison," she went on, rolling with the petty snobs.
"Yes, of course. Pleasantries aside, we should proceed. The meeting is about to begin." Udina turned.
They went up the stairs as a group and Shepard was not surprised to see the apse not as empty as it was normally. The balconies on either side had a sizeable crowd of curious onlookers clustered in groups. On her left below the balcony she spotted Detectives Chellik and Vakarian. The councilors were nowhere to be seen as of yet, but Shepard figured they must be in their offices. Shepard caught Detective Vakarian's gaze and was surprised when he flashed her a grin, to which she responded with a polite head nod by way of greeting. Chellik glanced at his partner and said something, which made Vakarian spare him a side look but not reply.
A hum to her side made her look up at Nihlus who had his arms crossed over his chest. "You know Anderson?" he asked quietly.
"Yes. He's a long-time family friend, and wrote my ICT recommendation."
"Your mentor?"
"In a way, yes," Shepard replied.
Nihlus hummed again, but asked no more questions. There was a slight shift in the ambient noise, and Shepard saw the councilors walk in from the right side of the space. They moved toward their podiums slowly, but the crowd on the balcony drew forward, and with a start she realized there was a reporter among them, fast typing at a data pad. The apse was a camera-free zone, but that did not keep the vultures wholly away.
Udina and Captain Anderson moved toward the platform at the center of the space, but Nihlus hung back, and Shepard decided to stay put as well. She slipped into her parade rest simply as a means of having something to do with her hands. She was not there representing military command; only an interested party.
"This ought to be good," Nihlus murmured.
Shepard glanced up, quirking an eyebrow.
A chime sounded, the murmurs from the galleries muted as the meeting came to order.
"Ambassador, Captain Anderson," Tevos began, "we summoned you as humanity's representatives to release the results of the C-sec inquiry into the Eden Prime incident."
The crowd drew closer yet, as close as they could without toppling over the railings. The reporter was typing away as fast as his fingers could go.
"The Geth have not been seen outside the Perseus Veil in nearly three centuries." Valern launched.
"There is no evidence to suggest that Eden Prime was something other than an isolated incident spurred on by the discovery of a Prothean artifact. There was no other reason for them to attack a human colony." Sparatus stepped in.
Murmuring rose in volume all around.
"The Geth knew about the artifact from somewhere!" Udina snapped.
Zero to furious in two seconds flat, and for once Shepard would not blame Udina. She clenched her hands into fists, glad that they were behind her back. Isolated incident? Of all he bullshit excuses!
"Ambassador," Tevos said. "The investigators pursued all the leads they had, and were unable to find anyone guilty of intentionally compromising secrecy in any manner that might constitute a conspiracy with the Geth."
The excuses continued. At least the Council did not hint that the Alliance mishandled something on their end. Shepard could see Udina's anger spike up by the second, but he restrained himself. Captain Anderson looked less than pleased as well, but everyone knew there was a reporter in the room. Snapping now would create a fiasco of a whole other sort. Suddenly it became clear to her that this meeting was a show, meant to get the Alliance off the Council's backs.
Her eyes drifted to the detectives, Chellik had his arms crossed, she got a feeling that something was making him unhappy. Vakarian's eyes turned to her. She held his gaze without blinking, measuring him. What had he had done after their little chat? Had it gone in one aural canal and out the other? His mandibles drew up tighter to his jaw, his fingers twitched. Shepard grinned; she was making him uncomfortable. It was petty, but she wanted him to know she was not happy.
"So that is the official line," Nihlus mused.
Shepard turned her head, catching his gaze as his arms dropped to his sides and he grinned back. "Official line? You're saying there's an unofficial one?"
Nihlus shrugged his shoulders and looked away.
Shepard frowned. He was up to his tricks, hinting things, timing it so that it would check her anger, get her thinking. If that was just the press release, what was the Council hiding? Furthermore, why was Nihlus helping her? This was not the first time he went against Council policy for her benefit. Except now he was compromising them by suggesting they were concealing something. He must know that she would not keep it under her proverbial hat. Sure, she would not run off to Udina, but she would not keep her suspicions from some footnote in her report to Admiral Hackett.
"The Geth ship was destroyed by the Kilimanjaro, and Commander Shepard's unit handled the units on the surface with commendable thoroughness." Sparatus added, haughty as ever.
Shepard turned her head so quick at the mention of her name that she felt something in her neck shift. There was no mistaking the implication in those words. It was officially a good thing her mother was not present. If she had been, she would be eyeballing Sparatus' neck for a noose, reporter be damned.
"As such, we also believe the threat has been contained."
Shepard could not say she was not tempted to do it too, simply because she did not appreciate being made to sound at fault. Shepard looked toward the speaker's platform. Udina was turning a rather bright shade of fuchsia, but he was still restraining his anger. She caught Captain Anderson's gaze as he glanced back and raised her eyebrow.
"That is not to say we do not understand the magnitude of the tragedy. We are aware that twenty human lives were lost. We offer our sincere condolences to their families, relatives, and friends." Tevos added in her matronly voice, as if to placate after Sparatus' rather roundabout way of saying that the Alliance already handled the situation adequately enough not to require Council involvement.
The murmuring in the galleries grew louder again. Shepard glanced up; the reporter was eating everything up, his fingers almost a blur as he typed into his datapad. "I guess I won't be watching the news for a few days," she commented. The Alliance News Network would probably go berserk after this. Just one more thing to stock the flames of dislike merely fanned on a normal day. Sparatus also made sure she would not be walking away without catching a few stray rounds. There were probably one or two pundits, the arm-chair types, who would comment on her thoroughness; at least one would say she had been too thorough, probably intimate some sort of conspiracy. Then again, if the situation had been reversed, they would have said she was not thorough enough. There was no pleasing that miserable bunch.
There was a spike in the volume of conversation around them. When she looked, the councilors had stepped away from their podiums and Udina was watching them go with a look that could kill, if looks could kill. Captain Anderson cleared his throat as a way to snap him out of it and they made their way off the platform. Udina turned that venomous look on Anderson.
"C-sec's finest are not happy," Nihlus said, clearly bemused.
Shepard turned back, and just as Nihlus had said, Chellik and Vakarian were having a rather animate conversation under the gallery balcony. They were too far away for her hearing or translator to pick up, but as Nihlus had said, even she could see the tension there. Chellik said something that made Vakarian respond sharply.
"You can't hear what they're arguing about?" she asked.
"I have a sort of… idea. Chellik is angry with Vakarian about something. It is in the sub-vocals, which are outside your hearing range. I cannot hear the words, too noisy."
Shepard hummed but did not press him.
"Shepard," Captain Anderson's tone very close by killed that conversation.
"Yes, sir?" she replied, turning around.
"We are done here; I want to hear your take on things."
"Of course, sir." That did not surprise her; Captain Anderson never treated her with kid gloves, he would not start now.
"Here is neither the time nor place, though. I was hoping you'd give me a tour of the Normandy."
"Of course, sir." Shepard smiled. "There's much to see, she's a beauty."
"Good. I have to report to Hackett, I will come by in two hours or so, we will talk then."
"Yes, sir." Shepard nodded.
The captain clapped her on the shoulder and walked away. Shepard watched him go for a few seconds and then turned to Nihlus, "Well… all's well that ends well. I suppose. The Normandy should be allowed to leave soon; I got the feeling we are going to be busy. Speaking of which, we ought to discuss how that's going to work, what with you observing me and such."
"Mentoring," Nihlus corrected.
"Sure, whatever term floats your boat." She could not keep the sarcasm out of her tone even if she tried. Nihlus spared her a grin before moving ahead. Shepard shook her head and moved to follow.
"Commander Shepard! Please wait!"
Shepard stopped dead in her tracks, and so did Nihlus. She looked over her shoulder, to see Detective Vakarian in hot pursuit. Chellik was still under the balcony, arms crossed over his chest, looking less amused than ever.
"What can I do for you, Detective?" she asked. Sure he may have not done much for the Alliance, but Shepard was not in the habit of being rude out of pettiness.
"May I have a moment of your time?" he asked.
"Sure, can we walk and talk? I seem to be popular today."
He nodded and Shepard turned to go down the stairs leading to the tower nave, with the detective on her right and Nihlus falling in step on her left. She caught the detective spare the Spectre a look over her head. It was then that she became acutely aware of the fact that he was not comfortable with the Council's agent right there.
"I kindly ask you two hold off arguing. Wait until I'm clear of the crossfire."
Nihlus laughed, "Sure. So what is it, Vakarian?"
"I wish to thank you, Commander. Your input proved vital to the case."
Shepard stopped and looked at him. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and looked around, not a subtle bone in his body as he checked whether they were being watched or overheard.
"I was ordered to say nothing, but I feel like you deserve an explanation," He went on.
"I knew it," Nihlus murmured as he crossed his arms.
"Your suggestion that we look for a compromise in some computer yielded results," the detective said in a lowered voice.
Shepard froze, "you found one?" she whispered.
"Yes."
"Damn. That means… whoever- no." Shepard stopped and cast her gaze about the nave, "Come. Here's not the place for this." There was no one immediately near them, but she would not be surprised if there were microphones in the trees or something. Perhaps being in a hurry to get out of there was even more suspicious, but Shepard wanted out. If this conversation was to go the way she thought it would, there would be a bombshell in there somewhere.
"You should not be going against your orders like this," Nihlus warned as the two of them fell in step with her.
"Damn the orders! I am not going to protect the reputation of politicians at the expense of the truth!" Vakarian all but hissed.
"So you do have teeth." Nihlus replied unbothered.
They reached the elevator in silence, and Shepard pressed the call button just as quietly. They had to wait for the cabin to come up from the bottom of the tower before they could board, and once inside, Shepard still did not feel fine with talking.
Once they were on the Presidium the detective led them across a bridge that spanned the artificial lake, next to a warbling fountain spout where they would see whoever was coming and the multi-frequency sound of the water would muffle a conversation. Shepard was duly impressed; she would have chosen the spot herself.
"Commander, you were right, there was a compromised terminal. Network division neutralized a hidden code that created a backdoor access through the Citadel's security protocols. It allowed the Geth to see everything the terminal handled, including relayed messages between the Council and Spectre Kryik."
Nihlus stiffened, and Vakarian flashed him the sort of grin that Shepard thought a matador must flash to a bull as he waved the red cloth.
"They were reading the mail," she said, more to distract them than to affirm.
"Correct."
"Whose terminal was it?"
Vakarian shifted his weight from foot to foot again and cleared his throat.
"Councilor Sparatus' personal secretary," Nihlus slipped in. "Has to be, as that is where I got my orders from."
"Correct. The virus was traced to an email message that concealed self-executing code amidst pictures, ostensibly sent from the secretary's bondmate."
"Wow, they went for the best of baits." That was the understatement of the year. She was duly impressed with that bait. The Geth clearly understood something of the sensibilities of organics. What disturbed her more was that whatever code they cooked up actually bypassed the Citadel's security protocols, like they knew how said security protocols worked. "What was it that Councilor Tevos said? C-sec was unable to find anyone guilty of intentionally compromising secrecy?" she laughed. "They weren't lying, now were they? Still… typical politicians." They never admit they messed up in public unless there was something pointed at their head, like facts, or a gun.
"Indeed. That is why I though you should know." Vakarian said.
Shepard took a deep breath and let it out of her nose slowly. "This puts me in a bit of a pickle. I mean I can understand how mistakes happen, but this one cost twenty lives." To say nothing of what else could have been stolen, but she did not feel the need to point that out. "Suffice to say they wanted that beacon specifically." They ought to have known it would mean burning their access. Whatever exploit they used in the protocols would probably be patched as well. Still, right now they had an unknown amount of intelligence on their synthetic hands. Eden Prime might not be an isolated incident after all.
"You cannot tell Udina, Shepard," Nihlus warned.
"Oh no, Nihlus. He'd be the last person I tell anything to. I know full well how sensitive this is. I do not blame the Council for trying to cover it up. Still, I hope you can appreciate what position this knowledge puts me in."
"I can, and I hope you are wise with it."
"I will be." Shepard smiled up at him and then turned back to the detective. "Thank you for this. I sincerely hope you do not get in trouble over this. I do owe you."
"Congratulations C-sec, you have a future Spectre in your debt. I suggest you hang on to that favor. You might need it."
"I was doing what had to be done," the detective rebuffed.
Shepard smiled again.
"One last thing, Commander. You should know Sparatus was not pleased when we discovered the compromise; he fired his secretary on the spot. Now I must go, have a good day."
"Likewise, Detective, again, thanks."
Garrus turned and walked away in the direction they came from.
"I hope you understand what this means for Sparatus." Nihlus added as soon as the detective was far enough.
"That it's part his responsibility?"
Nihlus hummed in assent but said no more.
"He has a funny way of showing it, but I guess I understand where he's coming from." Turians had the sort of ethic that made the commanding officer responsible for the screw-ups of those under their command. It counted for those in politics as well, but there it tended to conflict with the dignity of the office. In sacking the secretary Sparatus did as much he could without losing face or making a mountain out of an anthill. He could still act like nothing happened though. "I'm not about to go off tattling. This is one powder keg I don't want to light." She went on.
If this got out there would be a scandal of epic proportions. Shepard knew it was not her job to protect the Council just yet, but she would do it. Udina would call her a traitor, but she also knew there were no long-term benefits to playing this hand of cards. Udina would go for the short-term gain, run away with the narrative, and make himself look more important. She was not about to give him that.
"I would not be surprised if Vakarian is fired. This has to be what he was arguing with Chellik about." Nihlus added.
Shepard hummed, "I hope you're wrong."
"Oddly enough so do I," Nihlus replied with a grin.
When they returned to the Normandy, Shepard barely had time to swap to her fatigues before Captain Anderson arrived. As promised she gave him a leisurely tour of the Normandy along with her opinion on what went down at the meeting. The former was a pleasure, because she loved her ship, the latter was all pain. Easily the most difficult thing she had to do. Admiral Hackett would probably be angry if he found out, but she decided to keep what the detective told her mostly under wraps.
All she told Captain Anderson was that she had a feeling that the Council was covering up something, but she really did not know what. She poked at the wording Tevos used, as that was innocuous enough, but nothing more. It was probably just repeating what Captain Anderson already figured out, but it was for the best. Captain Anderson took her explanation, and if he suspected she knew more than she let on, he did not show it.
From here on, the Alliance would use the channels they had to look into matters. She wanted no part in the potential political scandal. If that made her a traitor, then she was a traitor, but one that acted with the best intentions. In a month this would blow over as one more time the Council left the Alliance high and dry. Some people would grumble, others would fume, rhetoric would fly, but in the end the Alliance would just keep going as they usually did. She did not want to be in the center of any of it.
Two hours after the captain departed a vaguely perturbed EDI called her to announce that Detective Vakarian was down by the shuttle bay. Stunned, Shepard rushed down to deck five. Nihlus was there, still in his armor, looking vaguely smug as he stood at the top of the shuttle bay ramp. Detective Vakarian was at the bottom, with a long case slung over his shoulder that looked like it contained a rifle, a large duffel bag at his feet, and a hard-shell traveling case nearby.
"I did say he would be trouble," Nihlus said as soon as she was anywhere near him.
"I remember you saying he would be in trouble." Shepard replied automatically.
"Is there a difference?"
Shepard rolled her eyes and moved past him.
"Commander," the detective greeted as she came down the ramp. "I am glad I caught you before the Normandy pulled out."
"Detective, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
"Well…" he shifted his weight from foot to foot; a gesture of nervousness that Shepard suspected might be an idiosyncrasy of his. "I suppose I should tell you that… it is just Vakarian now, not Detective. For you, just Garrus … that is, if you prefer."
"Corporals, may we have some private space, please?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, ma'am!"
She watched the marines retreat out of sight at double-time jog, and only turned back to the ex-detective when she was sure they were gone.
"Detective Chellik informed on our earlier conversation, I assume."
"He did what he had to do." Vakarian replied. "I am doing what I have to do."
Shepard did not want to come off snippy, so she stayed quiet. There was no need to ask questions either. There was only one reason why he would show up here and now, packed and ready for travel.
"I had an argument with Executor Pallin. We did not agree on the definition of the right thing to do and… I chose to walk away and leave my badge." He paused and glanced at Nihlus before he turned back to her. "Commander, I read the reports, you have a fighting force of just three other marines. If you're going out there handling situations like Eden Prime, I want to help you. I want to do the right thing. So here I am… offering my skills as a soldier."
Shepard sighed, "You're right. I could use the extra fighting force. However… there would be paperwork involved."
"Paperwork?" Vakarian asked.
"Alliance ships hire specialists, but it involves signing a contract, a strict but basic binding agreement that you are not to talk about anything you see or hear aboard this ship."
"A confidentiality agreement… well, I suppose that is only fair. I have no problems with signing such a contract."
Nihlus snorted, "Yes. That is encouraging, given how you got here."
"This is different!" Vakarian retorted sharply.
"I do not see how. Let me make this clear, Vakarian, if this was up to me, we would not be discussing this. Shepard, your ship, your decision, where is the contract?" he asked.
"Still on my terminal in the OD."
"I will get it." Nihlus stated before he turned around and went back up the ramp.
"Is he your second-in-command?" Vakarian wondered.
"No. I don't have an assigned XO, small crew." She stopped there; did she want to do this? She needed more fighting force, but another turian? The Admiral allowed her to recruit a team, he must have thought about the possibility of those being non-human specialists. Still, was she about to shoot herself in the foot? Nihlus had a point as well. "He can be harsh, but to be fair he wasn't wrong. But I don't agree with him on this. I want to believe you when you say this is different. Do you need help with those?" she motioned to the travel case.
"Ah, no," he slung his duffel bag over his other shoulder and moved back to the case, with a tap of a button the whole thing glowed a tell-tale periwinkle color. He lifted it by the handle with no difficulty and followed her up the ramp.
Nihlus came back ten minutes later with a pad in his hands; Shepard double checked its contents before she handed it over to the ex-detective. She stood by as he read the contract, and ten minutes later she had it back with his signature on all the proverbial pages.
"Welcome to the Normandy, Garrus."
"Thank you, Commander." He replied with a grin. "Can I ask what you intend to do now?"
Shepard looked between the two turians and hummed. "You know, I did give it a bit of thought." She paused to mentally articulate what she wanted to say. "When we talked before, I thought of all the other intelligence the Geth might have stolen. I fear Eden Prime may not be an isolated incident after all. Maybe they won't come after a human colony next time, but that just makes them a galactic problem, within the purview of Spectre involvement."
"Indeed," Nihlus replied, suddenly grinning.
Shepard would bet he already knew where she was going with this. "If they decide to be trouble, knowing what I do, I believe it is now my duty to take the fight to them, whenever, and wherever it might be." There was only one thing that really rubbed Shepard raw about what she knew. She would happily screw any politician by keeping information to herself. But keeping quiet felt like betraying her fellow soldiers, making their deaths meaningless, and that she could not bear as easily. If she took the fight to the enemy, she at least did something useful with what she knew. "This will protect the galaxy from a potential threat, and if not that then- to be blunt, do we really know what they are capable of if they've been hermits for three centuries? At the very least it is high time someone does a fresh threat assessment."
"I agree. When we encounter more geth, you can count on me to lend a shotgun." Nihlus added.
"I have never shot one before. Do headshots work the same?" Garrus wondered.
"Yes," Shepard grinned.
"Good, because I intend to be right there with you, Commander."
"Then we have an accord." Shepard said. Sure she could call it an accord, but right now it felt more like a conspiracy. "Now there's just one last little thing. A little request I have." She glanced at Garrus.
"If it is within my power, Commander, you only need to name it."
"Nothing profound." Shepard smiled, "Just that… I am not a stickler for ranks and pageantry. As you are not Alliance, I won't make you use 'Commander' on me. Shepard is more than fine. I have the same agreement with Nihlus."
Garrus actually froze for a split second, but then grinned. "Understood..."
Shepard nodded, "Well let's get you settled in then." She motioned toward the elevator. Crew introductions would have to be made as well.
Author Notes: Indeed, Citadel Noir was basically an "introduction arc" for Garrus, on top of moving plot forward. Because my series is different, changes were inevitable, but I wanted to keep the core intact. You also get to see a bit more of my Shepard's other side. On the surface she is a paragon, but really, she has her own agenda, and she does not apologize for it.
General Notes:
Geth Hackers – Legion openly said that the Geth monitor organics via the extranet. Then in another moment, they revealed that the Geth are one part social experiment trolls (that incident with making some Salarians believe a certain star formation looks like a goddess). For my canon I kind of expanded on that. They understand organics more than even they realize, and naturally they have crazy computer skills. (And for the record, I'm fond of Legion, that loveable dope).
Chapter Notes:
Ockham's Razor – This is of course a reference to the Lex Parsimoniae, or the "law of parsimony" as coined by William of Ockham (c. 1287 – 1347). It is a rule of thumb for reasoning, of sorts, which states that with many differing theories of what happened, the one that's simplest and makes the least assumptions is usually right.