Chapter 24
"You're absolutely sure?" Benezia asked. Shiala nodded.
"I'm confident in Karin's ability to help if I encounter any unexpected side effects my experiences on Feros. Truly, I feel as though I can do more good here." Shiala said, escorting Benezia towards the gang plank of the Normandy.
"You do know that nobody blames you for what Saren made us do." Benezia said. Shiala smiled.
"Commander Shepard said the same thing." Shiala said, before hesitating.
"I'm wary of returning to my old life, Matriarch Benezia. My time trapped with the Thorian, and then my exposure to the wonderful crew of this ship... it's given me a new perspective on things. The more I think about it the more I believe your daughter had the right idea." Shiala said. Benezia frowned.
"I wish I could disagree with that assertion. I sometimes think we live too long for our own good, we learn to settle into a specific way of thinking and then become too convinced of our own wisdom. When my little wing left, I thought it was too soon, she was too young, but now I see that sense of curiosity, that wanderlust... It's something we lost a long time ago. Not only that but if you show a matron or matriarch proof that they are wrong about something, they'll spend the remainder of their lives trying to refute you. When my little wing is challenged, she's excited about it because it represents an opportunity to learn. I envy her." Benezia said.
"I think she and I will benefit from our time amongst the Humans." Shiala said.
"I'm sure this goes without saying..." Benezia started but Shiala interrupted her.
"Of course, Matriarch. I'll keep her safe with my life if I must." Shiala promised with a smile.
"Take care of yourself as well, dear. I'm fond of both of you." Benezia said, grasping Shiala's hands.
"Oh and could you give this to Joker for me?" Benezia asked, with a mischievous grin, handing her a small electronic device.
"Is this..." Shiala asked.
"The key to my apartment in Armali." Benezia said, winking and walking off. Shiala shook her head and laughed. The more things change, the more they stay the same. She hoped her former employer was wise enough not to give Liara another sister.
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"I've never been here before." Jane said, smiling as she stepped out of the transport that had taken them from the spaceport to Armali's commercial district.
"It's better during the summer." Harry said.
"It's gorgeous now!" Shepard said, grinning. She especially enjoyed the smell of the sea in the air, which was almost ubiquitous throughout the planet. The few places that were any appreciable distance from Thessia's oceans were usually pockmarked with smaller lakes and ponds. The Asari had evolved from aquatic creatures, as did many of the planet's native land animals.
"Whoa, seriously?" Shepard said, pointing at a large store on the ground floor of a gigantic skyscraper. Harry looked over and laughed, at the giant neon sign that had the same name written in Asari script and English: "Harrod's".
"After the first contact war when the Asari discovered the range of human fashion as well as our tastes in decoration and furniture, there was a mad rush to bring it to Thessia. There's a Victoria's Secret about five kilometers that way." Harry said pointing off in the distance. Shepard smirked.
"And why is it that you know that?" Shepard asked.
"Ask Karin." Harry said with a grin. Shepard laughed out loud. Harry directed them towards a cafe and held the door open for her.
"After you, m'lady." Harry said, with a dramatic bow. She giggled and walked in. They made their way to an available table and sat, looking at the menu which was on a datapad that automatically translate itself into English. Harry snatched it from Shepard's grasp and switched it back to Asari before giving it back.
"No cheating!" Harry said. Shepard rolled her eyes and started scrolling down the menu. Harry did the same to his own.
"Hi! Welcome to D'nerro's! We don't get a lot of humans! Oh wow you can read Asari! That's neat! Oh yeah, what can I get for you?" An excitable waitress asked. Harry smiled and regarded the Asari. She was relatively small, and young-looking though with Asari you never could tell, the one striking feature is that she seemed to have a dark stripe going across her eyes and the bridge of her nose.
"Goddess, tone it down!" Another Asari, this one taller and very thin, and wearing an apron covered in a grey dust, shouted from just outside the kitchen.
"Sorry! I do that a lot." the waitress said, looking completely unembarrassed.
"Don't worry about it. Can I get a bowl of the tuuven mushroom soup? Also, do you have those awesome squid dumplings?" Harry asked. Shepard theatrically gagged.
"Coming right up! And for you, ma'am?" the waitress asked.
"I'll take the house salad please." Shepard said, pointing at the item on the menu.
"Alrighty! Back in a jiff!" the waitress said, walking disturbingly quickly towards the kitchen.
"I'm so sorry about her. She's very excitable." Another Asari woman who had been reading in the corner said.
"Not at all, it's refreshing to see that kind of energy in someone." Harry said
"She seems to have picked up quite a bit of Earth slang, unless my translator's acting up." Shepard observed.
"A lot of Human culture has been finding it's way to Thessia. It's refreshing to be honest, one can only stand doing the same thing over and over again for so long." The woman said.
"Oh trust me, I feel ya." Harry said grinning. She gave him an odd look at that.
"My name is Nuula D'Nerro, I'm the owner of this little cafe." Nuula said.
"I'm Commander Jane Shepard, and this is Admiral Harry Potter, Retired." Shepard said. Nuula smiled.
Nuula's eyes widened and she shot up, running over to the door, closing and locking it.
"Come with me... please." Nuula said. Shepard shrugged and stood, following Harry into Nuula's office.
"I have to be extremely careful here. I have friends that run freight between Inner Council Space and Alliance space. They've run into some trouble recently and if I reported this to my government, they'd ask too many questions." Nuula said, wringing her hands.
"They're not slavers are they?" Harry said, looking stern. Nuula deflated.
"Not intentionally. They took a job escorting a barge to the Kite's Nest. They thought it was full of industrial salvage, at least until the barge came to a halt and communications went down. They went in to investigate just in time to see a slave revolt in progress. Fucking Batarians." Nuula said.
"What happened next?" Shepard asked.
"My friends reported it immediately, they were in the middle of Alliance space so they reached out to the nearest vessel, in less than an hour a pair of cruisers arrived. I haven't heard from them since. I was afraid they'd been detained by the Alliance, they never intentionally move slaves but some of their cargo tends to be... less than legal." Nuula admitted.
"I can inquire with Admiral Anderson." Shepard offered.
"I don't think they're being detained by your government... I did some digging, this is a picture of one of the Human cruisers that responded." Nuula said, bringing the image up on her omnitool.
"FUCKERS!" Harry shouted. Nuula cringed, and they heard a plate shatter in the kitchen.
"Sorry.." Harry said.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Shepard asked.
"That's the Nereid, I'd recognize her anywhere." Harry said.
"It looks ancient." Shepard said.
"It is ancient. I was the comms officer on her sixty years ago. Shortly after I was transferred, the ship was decommissioned, stripped of armament and spent a few decades in mothball. Remember when I was investigating Udina? The 25000 credits from Harper Cybernetics? Guess who also bought the Nereid." Harry said.
"Cerberus." Shepard said, frowning. Harry nodded.
"I'll pull some strings. I can't abandon my current mission, but I'll have a few friends see what they can do. I won't lie to you, Nuula. If Cerberus has them, your friends may no longer be alive." Harry said, as kindly as he could. Nuula nodded sadly, wiping at her eyes.
"I know..." Nuula said.
"But that doesn't mean you should give up hope. If I can I will find them." Harry said.
"Hey do you guys need any condiments? Oh I have a few human salad dressings available! Got your squid balls too! That sounds funny, squid balls. Squiiiiid baaaaaalllls!" the waitress said, poking her head into the doorway.
"God I wish I could bottle that energy and sell it." Harry said with a grin. Nuula thanked them again and ushered them out into the dining room, unlocking the door and letting in a few disgruntled looking patrons who had been waiting rather impatiently outside. The waitress brought them their food and Shepard was shocked at how good a simple salad could taste. Asari vegetables had unique, but definitely not unpleasant flavors. She was about to take another bite when her omnitool went off.
"You should take that, it could be about the mission." Harry said, juggling three squid dumplings, much to the waitress's delight. Shepard nodded an walked off to a secluded corner, answering the call.
"Shepard... I have some information for you." a male Salarian voice said.
"Jondam?" Shepard asked.
"Yes.. Must be quick.. Have friends in STG who are also pursuing your target." Jondam said.
"Ok..." Shepard said.
"Target has been spotted on Virmire, an STG team was dispatched, but has gone silent." Jondam said, cursing loudly after a loud explosion happened on his end.
"One second, Shepard." Jondam said. Shepard could hear the sound of gun fire, followed by a few thumps and a crunch as well as a loud, high-pitched Vorcha scream.
"Apologies. I'm currently on assignment, the intel just came in and I didn't think it should wait." Jondam said
"No problem. If you don't mind my asking, why are you telling me and not the council?" Shepard asked. Jondam paused, as he was choosing his words carefully.
"The Alliance has a track record of actually bringing people back when they're sent on rescue missions, unlike my fellow spectres. That and your reputation is well known, even amongst STG." Jondam said.
"I'll get right on it." Shepard said.