Chapter 27
"Is he always like this?" Kirrahee asked Ash as Harry flew by at dangerously high speed on Saren's hoverboard.
"Basically." Ash said, crouching down, searching Saren's unconscious body.
"Damnit Harry get down here!" Shepard shouted from several meters away.
"Find anything on him?" Wrex asked, stomping over.
"Wrex, take a look at this, you ever see augmentations like this?" Ash asked. Wrex stooped over and frowned.
"No. We implant prosthetics all the time when a Krogan loses a limb or too many organs in battle, but I've never seen this level of cybernetics in anyone let alone a fragile Turian." Wrex said.
"I'll show you fragile..." Garrus said with a smirk, adjusting the sights on his rifle.
"Careful Turian I'm starting to like you." Wrex said with a grin.
"We need to get him back to... Actually I think you should probably take him to the Alliance." Kirrahee said.
"Why?" Ash asked. Kirrahee frowned.
"Can I trust your discretion?" Kirrahee asked.
"Of course." Ash said. Kirrahee sighed, and stood to his full height.
"I have reason to doubt the Council... as well as the Union." Kirrahee said.
"Your records showed a history of insubordination." Ash said, not accusingly. Kirrahee nodded.
"A lot of us have been noticing... discrepancies. Money going to secret projects, prominent scientists and leaders disappearing, long-standing projects being abruptly canceled for seemingly no reason. I don't trust the Alliance yet, but I trust the council and my government less at the moment.
"Understood. Any news on your soldiers?" Ash asked.
"All unconscious, your doctor is fitting them with those strange bracelets for when they wake up." Kirrahee said. Ash nodded.
"We had to do the same for an Asari matriarch and her commando squad. Something out there has the capability to control people's minds. They should be fine, the Asari recovered completely." Ash said.
"That's good to know, thank you." Kirrahee said before they both dove to the ground as Harry swooped barely twenty feet over them.
"Get down here now!" Shepard shouted.
"Aww you're no fun!" Harry said, landing in front of her.
"Thank God." Kaidan said, walking over to Ash.
"My turn!" Shepard said, pushing him off the board and stepping onto it, taking to the sky.
"Woooooo!" Shepard cried.
"We're all doomed." Ash said, pinching the bridge of her nose.
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Hours later, Shepard stood in the communications room of the Normandy, her arms crossed, glaring at the holographic representations of the three Citadel councilors. They had boarded the Normandy, securing all of the Salarians that had been indoctrinated, and disposing of the few remaining Geth platforms and were now on their way back to Citadel space.
"So you captured Saren?" Sparatus asked.
"Yes, we did." Shepard said
"And he's alive..." Tevos asked.
"Until he starts running his mouth again." Harry spat.
"You questioned him?" Valern asked, excited.
"Harry did." Shepard said.
"And what did you find out?" Valern demanded.
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to divulge that at this time." Harry said with a shit-eating grin.
"You're there on behalf of the citadel council!" Sparatus barked.
"Shepard is here on behalf of the council, serving as a spectre to capture Saren, which she did. She was not present in the room when I questioned your rogue spectre." Harry said.
"Why not?" Tevos asked.
"I was busy." Shepard said, unhelpfully.
"Stop this foolishness and tell us what you found out right now!" Valern shouted.
"No." Harry said, smirking.
"Listen here you foolish little primate-" Sparatus shouted but was cut off when the communication link severed.
"Aww, shucks. Looks like we hit some interference." Joker said over the PA, laughing.
"Shame, that." Shepard said, laughing.
"What's our next step?" Harry asked.
"We're gonna slap a bracelet on Saren and bring him to Earth for questioning. Guess who's gonna be lead interrogator?" Shepard said.
"Please tell me it's Dave." Harry said
"Right in one!" Shepard said laughing. They turned when the door opened and Tali walked in.
"Commander, this room is hardened against eavesdropping, surveillance and whatnot, right?" Tali asked.
"Yes, it has to be to conform to Alliance regs. We get orders from higher up in here and a lot of the time they're classified." Shepard said. Tali turned and closed the door behind her.
"We may have a problem." Tali said.
"Ah, should I be here then? My clearance was suspended upon retirement." Harry said.
"I suppose I can vouch for you." Shepard said with a grin.
"IF you say so, I'm not what you would call 'trustworthy.'" Harry joked, before waving his hand, securing the room even more.
"There we go, magically sealed too." Harry said.
"Is there a problem with someone in the crew?" Shepard asked.
"No, not at all. I'm more concerned about that dreadnought." Tali said.
"Oh?" Shepard asked. Tali nodded.
"Two things. First off Adams and I have noticed increased activity in the firewall and cyberwarfare suites, something is obviously trying to get into the Normandy's computers." Tali said.
"That's definitely not good." Harry said.
"Secondly... Why didn't they blow us up?" Tali asked.
"Because they want us to lead them to Ilos." Harry suggested.
"Wait what?" Shepard demanded.
"It's what I'd do." Harry said, shrugging.
"Ok, new plan, I want Saren in a Faraday cage and no unnecessary conversation around him." Shepard said.
"Right, I'll just pull one of our spare Faraday cages out of storage..." Harry said. Shepard crossed her arms and stared at him.
"Fine! You're lucky you're hot." Harry said, throwing up his arms and storming out of the room, after canceling his privacy charms.
"Could you please help him, Tali?" Shepard asked.
"Of course, Commander." Tali said, following Harry out the door.
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The next day they arrived and landed on Earth, and transferred Saren to Alliance Intelligence, along with Harry's surprisingly well-built Faraday cage. The Salarians disembarked, to seek medical attention subsequent to their exposure to Reaper technology. Not only did the Salarians need magical medical intervention, but they were also curious to explore the home world of the up and coming Human race.
"Why Pennsylvania of all places?" Ash asked. The crew were gathered in the mess eating Gardner's "we're about to restock" special, basically trying to get rid of the fresh food stock to make room for new stuff. Harry swallowed what he was eating before answering.
"The University of Pennsylvania has the best psychology departments in the world, and there are several mediwizards and mediwitches... we should just call them medimages... .anyway yeah best place on Earth to help the Salarians. My therapist is a graduate." Harry said. Ashley choked on her water and started coughing.
"Ok there?" Harry asked.
"Yeah. Sorry, wasn't expecting you to say that." Ash said, wiping her mouth. Harry nodded.
"You should find someone from here if you're ever in need. Or Shi'era on the Citadel if you can get an appointment." Harry said
"I thought she was a prostitute." Ashley said, Harry nodded
"She is, for those who require that type of attention, to others she's a therapist, or a sounding board, for some she simply holds them while they cry. She's an incredibly perceptive woman with a huge heart and several doctorates in xenopsychology." Harry said.
"I'll keep that in mind..." Ashley said, looking off to the side. Harry reached out and squeezed her hand.
"I learned a long time ago, there are a lot of things in this life we can't make it through without help. Don't be afraid to ask for it." Harry said. Ash nodded but said nothing. The Ship shuddered, and they felt slightly heavier as the artificial gravity deactivated.
"Feels like we landed." Ash said.
"I'll clear this out. Go help get Saren ready to move. Also... thanks." Ash said. Harry nodded and smiled.
Harry arrived in the medbay as they were loading Saren inside his coffin-sized Faraday cage onto a dolly. Harry snickered.
"Should we put him in a straitjacket and a mask?" Harry asked.
"Nobody's going to understand that reference, Harry." Karin said, rolling her eyes.
"You did." Harry said grinning. Karin glared at him. He wheeled the dolly out of the medbay and onto the elevator, making his way down to the cargo bay. From there he wheeled him down the gang plank and helped them load him into an ambulance that was waiting.
"Don't remove the cage until you've got him settled in the chamber. The shit built into his modifications was trying to hack our systems the whole way." Harry explained to the medical technicians.
"Right. Thanks." The lead technician said evenly. Harry had an off feeling, but the techs had all been positively identified and vetted so he wrote it off as simple social awkwardness. He heard a gasp behind him and saw Tali looking around in wonder.
"Keelah!" Tali said. Harry grinned.
"You know what's messed up? Philly's not even close to the biggest city on this continent. You should see Mexico City." Harry said.
"There's so many people, and yet it doesn't feel crowded." Tali said.
"We got some time to kill, want to go explore?" Harry asked.
"Yes! I mean, uh, if it's not too much of a bother..." Tali said. Harry laughed.
"Come on. I hope you ate though, there are some Turians that live here, but dextro food still isn't common here yet." Harry said. He rented a skycar and took her for a quick flight around the city. Then he brought her out around the countryside and landed in a small town outside of Lancaster.
"Harry, why are those people riding in that weird carriage?" Tali asked. Harry looked at where she was pointing and grinned.
"Those folks are Amish. It's kind of a general term to describe groups of people who are very religious and prefer to live simply. Their food and crafts are amazing, Come over and check this out." Harry said, leading Tali over to an ancient looking storefront. They walked inside and Tali jumped when she heard a bell ring when they opened the door.
"Good morning!" A elderly woman said, slowly making her way over to them.
"Good morning! I'm taking my friend here around to check things out while we're planetside." Harry said.
"Oh! I haven't met one of your kind yet dear..." The lady asked.
"I'm Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya, I'm a Quarian." Tali said, offering her hand. The lady shook it and smiled.
"Call me Jennifer, it's nice to meet you. Take a look around, partial proceeds are going towards repairing our church." Jennifer said.
"Oooh, how's that going? How much do you need to repair the building?" Harry asked.
"Sadly, we've got quite a way to go. Our goal is a thousand credits and we've only raised a hundred-twenty, but we just started this week." Jennifer said.
"Couldn't you fix it with magic?" Tali asked.
"Oh dear... How to explain..." Jennifer said.
"Remember I said the Amish are religious, Tali? Magic goes against their beliefs. The Amish are strong believers in hard work." Harry explained.
"Oh! That makes sense." Tali said.
"From what I've read your people are no strangers to hard work." Jennifer said.
"I'm surprised. Most people think we're layabouts and thieves." Tali said. Jennifer scoffed.
"People fear what they don't understand. Do you like that one, dear?" Jennifer asked, as Tali ran her fingers along a shawl with an intricate pattern.
"It's beautiful." Tali said.
"How much for it?" Harry asked.
"Oh Harry don't." Tali said.
"It's twenty credits dear." Jennifer said.
"Oh that won't do at all. How does 880 credits sound?" Harry asked. Jennifer gaped at him.
"Harry!" Tali said. Harry grinned.
"I couldn't possibly..." Jennifer said.
"Too late!" Harry said, waving his omnitool at the pay kiosk beside him.
"Oh my... Thank you so much!" Jennifer said.
"It's my pleasure. Tali would you like to put it on?" Harry asked.
"Please." Tali said. She reached up and unclipped the cloth she was wearing and carefully removed it. Harry pulled the shawl over her head and clipped it in place. Harry carefully folded the old one and handed it to Tali.
"Thanks. This one is lovely, but I can't lose that, it belonged to my mother." Tali said. Harry nodded.
"Want me to hang onto it until we're back at the ship?" Harry asked.
"Please." Tali said.