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“James, do you have a moment?”
In an effort to hide his surprise, James drained the last of his champagne and set the empty glass on a passing tray before turning around. Liara was the only member of the crew who could sneak up on him. Didn’t seem to matter where they were. He didn’t even think she did it on purpose. At least he hadn’t spilled his drink all over himself. This time. “Sure, Doc, what’s up?”
Liara shot him a grateful smile and then glanced around the room full of diplomats. Her lips pursed in thought and she said, “Not here. Can we step out onto that balcony to speak?”
“Hell yes,” James said, tugging at his collar. If he had to spend another moment with all of these stuffed shirts, biting his tongue while they talked about everything but the Reapers, he was going to start punching things. He found the commander across the room. She was standing with the new human councilor and a handful of mid-level Alliance brass. She didn’t look happy, but she was holding her own for the moment. Still, he paused, cocking his head at Liara. “It’s not gonna take long is it? I don’t think Lola will forgive us if we abandon her.”
Liara shot a fond smile in the commander’s direction and let out a small laugh. “You know I would never do such a thing.” She winked, then gestured for him to follow. “We will be quick, I promise.”
Outside, James let himself take a few slow breaths of fresh air. It wasn’t anything like being planetside, of course, but it was better than inside the party. He watched Liara shut the door behind them and take in their surroundings. She opened up her omni-tool and tapped in a command, nodding to herself after a moment.
“What’s this about, Doc?”
“Just one more moment.” She tapped in another command and a faint humming noise grew louder. A drone appeared over the edge of the balcony. “Glyph, I’ve done a quick sweep and I’m not picking up any listening devices. I’d like you to patrol the immediate area and make sure we aren’t disturbed or overheard for the next few minutes.”
“Of course, Doctor T’Soni,” the little drone replied, rising up into the air and flying around their heads.
James raised an eyebrow and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms, his curiosity piqued.
Liara drew a deep breath and turned to face him, a serious smile on her face. “I’ve just received word from one of my fellow archaeologists. Her team has discovered an artifact that she believes to be Prothean. Preliminary findings suggest it might have originally been intended as part of a larger machine, and there were records found with it that seem to involve the Reapers.”
“You think it has something to do with your Crucible project?”
She nodded. “I do. My friend doesn’t know about the Crucible, of course, but she does know I am serving on Shepard’s crew and working against the Reapers. She wanted to offer me the chance to look at it, see if it would be useful to us.”
“That’s great, Doc. So why tell me? Shouldn’t Lola be the one you take this to?”
“I will,” Liara promised. “But she is doing important work here,” the corners of her lips quirked up, “whether she believes it or not. I did not wish to interrupt her. As soon as the party has ended, I will inform her of the find. But I would like to be ready to leave as soon as I have told her about it. Time is something of the essence. That is why I wished to speak to you.”
“Okay…”
“Will you accompany me to retrieve the artifact?”
James blinked, then stood up straight. “Why not just send one of your people to get it?”
“My friend does not know about my current occupation,” Liara explained. “She will expect me to come in person. In fact, I would prefer to do so. My people are not trained in archaeology or Prothean tech. I want to verify this object with my own eyes. But her dig is in an area that has seen a high level of recent Cerberus activity. I do not think it would be wise to go alone.”
James nodded, thinking it over. “And your people are spread out all over the place. If there’s a timer on this, you need someone who’s already here.”
“And also someone I can trust to have my back,” she added.
“Right.” James cleared his throat, surprised at how touched he was by her trust in him. “Well, if Lola’s cool with it, then I’m your guy.”
“Excellent, thank you. Now, why don’t you get back to the party? I will begin making the arrangements for our trip.”
---
“Where did Liara get off to?”
“She had some business come up, needed to get it taken care of.”
“Oh?” The commander looked up sharply, eyebrow cocked in question. “She didn’t say anything to me.”
“She didn’t want to interrupt your schmoozing,” James said with a grin. “She said she would explain after the party though.”
The commander sighed. “I wish she had interrupted. That was hell. But I’m pretty sure this new guy hates Cerberus as much as we do. So there’s that.”
“That definitely works in his favor,” James agreed. “Ah, there’s Doc now.”
They entered the commander’s fancy apartment—still showing signs here and there of the epic party she’d thrown—and Liara emerged from the direction of the master bedroom. “Shepard, there you are.” She joined them and gave the commander a kiss on the cheek, asking with a teasing smile, “Did you enjoy your party?”
The commander scowled at her. “You know I didn’t. Now, what have you been up to?”
Liara turned serious. “I’ve gotten a lead on a potential piece of the Crucible.”
“That’s fantastic!” The commander grinned, then paused, tilting her head and giving Liara a close look. “Ah, and you want to go get it yourself?”
“I believe this one requires my personal attention, yes. The contact is one of my personal friends, not an associate of the Shadow Broker, and there is an archaeological element to it as well.”
The commander nodded. “All right. We’ll be here a few more days while the Normandy’s repairs and resupply are underway. As long as you’re not gone too long.” Her face softened for a moment. “I need you with us.” Serious again, she added, “What do you need to make it happen?”
“James,” Liara said, “if you’re willing to part with him for a bit.” She glanced at him with an approving smile. “I believe he will be just the right amount of backup. I’ve already made transportation arrangements. So with your approval we’ll leave tonight, as soon as he’s ready.”
The commander looked thoughtful, then nodded again. She turned to James. “You up for this?”
“I’m up for anything, Lola.” He shrugged, grinned. “I never mind helping Doc out, and this is for a good cause.”
“I agree.” She turned to Liara. “Can I tell the others if they ask where you’ve gone?”
Liara looked thoughtful. “I think it is best not to say too much, in case it turns out to be a false lead. If they ask, just say that I’ve taken James on a supply run. It’s not entirely inaccurate.”
The commander smirked. “True. All right.” She turned to James. “Go get your gear.” He was halfway to the door when she added, “Keep her safe, Lieutenant.”
“Always, Lola,” he shot back over his shoulder.
James made his way back to the Normandy, taking the most direct route he knew. His omni-tool pinged while he was in the elevator. Checking it, he found a short message from Liara advising him on what to bring. He grinned at the final line, which suggested, “A few grenades might not hurt. Just in case, with Cerberus potentially in the mix.”
He laughed and grinned to himself. That was why he liked Liara. Always prepared for a fight, no matter how calm she might seem on the outside.
It didn’t take him long to gear up, and within an hour he was standing at the dock Liara’s message had designated as their meeting point. “Ready to go?” she asked, striding up behind him.
“Ready, Doc.” He eyed the small ship before boarding. A personal cruiser, meant for recreation, just big enough for three or four people to comfortably travel in. But like a lot of things when it came to Liara, first glances could be deceiving. Closer inspection showed that it had several upgrades to lend it speed and maneuverability that a personal civilian vehicle didn’t necessarily require. He spied some small gun mountings and nodded in approval. They wouldn’t be unprotected if they ran into Cerberus. “I guess this artifact isn’t very big,” he observed as he joined Liara in the bridge after stashing his gear.
“Not very, no,” Liara agreed. “It’s not tiny, but you should have no trouble carrying it.”
James grinned. “I see how it is. You just want me along for my muscles,” he teased.
“Of course.” Liara winked at him as she started up the flight routine. “But not just that. Your skill with weapons and your quick N7-worthy thinking in a tight situation are also a plus.”
“Huh. Lola told you?” He hadn’t mentioned his N7 invitation to anyone but the commander. He’d only finally just convinced himself to go for it, if they ever got out of this mess with the Reapers.
Liara laughed. “She didn’t need to, James. Shadow Broker, remember?”
---
“Huh,” James remarked as their destination came into view. “Doesn’t look like an archaeological treasure trove.”
“Until yesterday, I would have agreed with you. Zesmini’s always been a mining colony and little else. We’ve never had evidence that the Protheans paid it any attention during their time. But with everything that’s been going on these last few years, the Matriarchs have stepped up production of military supplies, which has meant seeking out new veins.”
James tilted his head, thinking it over. “They started mining a new location and found something?”
“Indeed.” Liara agreed. “Airashi, that is to say, my friend, Doctor T’Vari, was called in with her team to see what it might be. She’s one of the leading archaeologists in asari studies.” Liara smirked. “Imagine her surprise when what they dug up turned out to be a crashed Prothean vessel.”
James’ brow wrinkled. “You think they were trying to get a part of the Crucible shipped to wherever they were building it and they got caught by the Reapers?”
“That does seem to be the most likely scenario, yes. But let us go speak to Airashi and see.”
They put down at a large complex and were ushered into an administrative building. James, playing the part of bodyguard-slash-hired muscle, waited outside of Doctor T’Vari’s office when Liara was called inside. She came back out a few minutes later, a puzzled expression on her face. “We’ve been given clearance to fly our ship to the dig site. Airashi’s assistant will meet us at the ship and show us where to go.”
“Something wrong, Doc?” James asked as he followed her back outside.
“No,” she said, drawing the word out. She frowned and glanced around, then lowered her voice. “Nothing’s wrong, exactly, but it’s strange that Airashi isn’t here to meet me in person. I can’t put my finger on it, but something feels off.”
“So, staying alert then?”
“Yes, please.”
James nodded in the affirmative. The flight to the dig site took about an hour, and Doctor T’Vari’s assistant, Rilri, spent most of it talking. Not about the artifact, although she gave a brief recount of the initial discovery and their findings so far. But most of what she had to say seemed centered around plain old gossip. News about the various people on Zesmini, rumors about other members of the archaeological community, even an off-handed joke about the Citadel Council. She didn’t ask any questions, though. No wheedling for information about how the efforts against the Reapers went, no concerns about people she might have known on the Citadel. Nothing James would have expected for a civilian cut off from news during wartime.
It all felt too damn familiar to James. Just like those pendejo politicians at the party. Everyone skirting around the real issue, trying to pretend like everything was fine even though the fucking galaxy was on fire. He wasn’t the only one to notice Rilri’s dissembling, he was relieved to see. After talk shifted from the dig, Liara’s eyes narrowed just a fraction, and she was making that face that James privately liked to think of as her Shadow Broker mask. Calm and open, inviting others to talk while she listened, taking in every piece of information and sorting through it for hidden significance or saving it to be analyzed or used later.
Good.
He was starting to get that itch between his shoulder blades that told him trouble was coming. If they were both already expecting it when it when it dropped, that improved their chances of getting out of it in once piece.
They put down by a cluster of buildings near a series of rolling, rocky hills. As they approached the buildings, James saw that they were arranged around an opening in the rock face of one of the hills. “Must be where they were opening up the mine,” he murmured.
Liara nodded. “Which means that is also where our dig site is.”
Rilri, who had been glancing nervously at the buildings, brightened and clapped her hands as if she’d just had a wonderful idea. “Would you like to see the site, Doctor T’Soni? I can show you to it now.”
“Thank you, but I’d prefer to speak to Airashi first.” Liara glanced around, frowning. “You did let her know I’m here, didn’t you?”
“Of course, of course,” Rilri assured them, her face falling. “But she is very busy, you know. Finding a Prothean ship, of all things, it adds to the bureaucracy.”
“Yes,” Liara said, allowing a small smile. “I remember.”
Rilri cleared her throat. “Of course. Well. I will go see if I can find her. In the meantime, won’t you get started in your examination of the site? I can have one of our workers show you--.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Liara said, frowning again. “We can find it.” She beckoned for James to follow her and turned toward the mouth of the would-be-mine.
“Wait! You need protective gear!”
James saw Liara visibly smooth her expression before turning back around. “That won’t be necessary,” she said, her voice clipped. She gestured to James, “My associate’s armor will keep him from harm.”
“What about you, Doctor T’Soni?” Rilri protested. James narrowed his eyes. Something in her tone triggering his suspicion.
“I will be fine,” Liara said. She made a small gesture with her hands. James felt the tingle he always got when biotics were used nearby, and a barrier sprung to life around Liara, moving with her as she stepped toward the mine. “Now, if you would, please, go let Airashi know we are here, and that I would like to speak to her as soon as possible. Thank you.”
With that, she turned her back on Rilri in a clear dismissal and walked toward the mine with purposeful strides. James couldn’t help throwing a small smirk in the assistant’s direction before hastening to follow. The tunnel was decently lit, and with the extra luminescence of Liara’s biotics, they had no problems making their way inside. Once they turned a bend and were out of sight and earshot of the assistant, James murmured. “She was stalling us, Doc. Something’s going on here.”
“I agree.” She sighed. “I wish I had brought Glyph with me. He would be quite useful right about now. I’d love to get a closer look at the camp buildings, but something tells me we won’t get very far if we start poking around.”
“What are you thinking? Trap, maybe?”
“I’m not sure. Someone could have reached out to me in hopes of drawing Shepard here, I suppose. When I didn’t bring her with me, it may have thrown off their plans. Ah, here we are. Well, at least we know there really is a Prothean ship.”
They had reached the dig site. Liara opened her omni-tool and began running scans. “Your initial guess seems correct, James. This is a small transport vessel, as far as I can tell, and it was definitely shot down. So it would seem there is an artifact.” Another sigh. “Maybe I’m just being paranoid. I spoke with Airashi, so I know she is involved somehow. I can’t see her agreeing to anything duplicitous. Once we speak to her, I’ll have a better idea of what we do next.”
“Nothing wrong with a healthy dose of paranoia, Doc,” James grunted. “Especially these days.”
Liara gave him an approving smile. “Perhaps. At the very least, we should keep our wits about us. Now, let’s go back to the camp. We may not be able to poke around freely, but I was called in to look at the artifact. They cannot deny me if I request to be taken to it.”
Though, as it turned out, she was wrong about that. “I’m sorry, Doctor T’Soni,” Rilri said, wringing her hands, “but no one sees the artifact without Doctor T’Vari’s presence.” She had come running out of one of the buildings as soon as Liara and James emerged from the tunnel.
Liara’s brow lowered. “Airashi brought me here specifically to see the artifact,” she reminded Rilri.
“Yes, but you must still wait until she can show it to you.”
“And when’s that gonna be?” James asked, taking a step forward.
Rilri flinched. “Well…I’m not sure. You see, the thing is, Doctor T’Vari isn’t actually, well, here at the moment.”
“What?!”
Rilri took a step back, as if seeking the protection of the building behind her. She cleared her throat, eyes darting between Liara and James. “Doctor T’Vari was called away on urgent business. She’s not here.”
“That makes no sense.” Liara stepped closer. Rilri took another step back. Liara clenched a fist at her side. “She knew I was on my way. Why would she leave without even telling me? This isn’t like her at all.”
“She left in something of a hurry,” Rilri squeaked.
James tilted his head, his instincts telling him they weren’t getting even close to the whole picture. “Did she say when she’d be back?”
“No.” She was actually cowering against the wall of the building now.
James exchanged a glance with Liara. She nodded, indicating he should proceed. “Where did she go?” he demanded.
“I don’t—I’m not at liberty to divulge that information.”
“Oh, fuck this,” James growled. “What the hell is going on here?”
“I think you should leave,” Rilri tried. She swallowed and took a breath. “Once Doctor T’Vari returns, I am sure she will contact you, and--.”
“Stop. Talking.” Liara surged forward, hand raised in a clear threat as she flared blue. “Where is she?”
Rilri shuddered. Hell, the menace in Liara’s voice was enough to make James flinch.
“I don’t know! They took her! The artifact too!”
Fuck. James met Liara’s eyes. This was worse than either one of them had been starting to suspect.
Liara turned back to the other asari. “Who took her?”
She shook her head, pulling as far back from Liara’s raised fist as she could get. “I don’t know. They were humans, that’s all I could see. They never took off their armor.”
“Were there any markings on the armor?” James asked.
“Yes! It was—here, let me show you. Please?” She gestured toward the ground. Liara frowned but nodded and let her go, stepping back, her biotics subsiding. Rilri bent down and smoothed the dirt with her hand, drawing a quick sketch in the newly blank surface.
James swore. Liara’s face tightened. “Cerberus,” she muttered.
Rilri looked up, newly stricken. “Cerberus? Aren’t they that group that hates non-humans? I thought this was just a kidnapping for ransom, or that someone had heard about the artifact and wanted it. I assumed they took Doctor T’Vari to help them figure it out. What would Cerberus want with a Prothean artifact and an asari archaeologist?” Her eyes went even rounder, “By the goddess, you don’t think they’ll hurt her, do you?”
James snorted and shook his head. There was no telling with those pendejos. Still, he hoped Doctor T’Vari was all right. He could guess what Cerberus might want with the artifact, and none of his guesses meant anything good. “Why didn’t you just tell us this when we got here?”
Rilri dropped her gaze. “I didn’t know if you were involved. I thought if I could stall you long enough you’d go away or make your demands so we could get her back.”
“We are not a part of this,” Liara said, disgust in her voice even as she assured the other asari. The look she shot James suspected she was worried they might be the cause of it, though.
She walked a few paces away, gesturing for James to follow. “What now, Doc?”
“We need to find Airashi, and hopefully recover the artifact as well. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Cerberus swooped in to steal something I was coming to examine.”
“They’re trying to stop you from getting your hands on it,” James agreed. “Or more likely, Lola. The Illusive Man doesn’t want her getting an edge on him.” He stared up at the sky, considering. “Where do we start, though? You said there’s been Cerberus activity in this system, but they could be anywhere.”
“First, we need to determine whether they’re still here on Zesmini.” Glancing around James, she raised her voice and called, “How long has she been gone?”
“They showed up about six hours after she contacted you.”
Liara’s face darkened. “Which means someone’s managed to tap into either Airashi’s communications or mine.” She touched her omni-tool. “Glyph? Have you been monitoring the situation?”
“I have, Doctor T’Soni. A tap of your communications is highly improbable, but I am already running scans to rule it out.”
“Good. Run traces on the call from Airashi as well. If we can see everything it came through, maybe we can determine where it was intercepted.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “James, let’s get back to the ship. It has its own scanning capabilities. If there’s a Cerberus foothold on the planet, we may be able to find it.”
Rilri cleared her throat. “If I may, Doctor T’Soni?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t believe Doctor T’Vari is still on Zesmini.”
“Why?”
“There’s a lot of interference from the minerals in this area, especially underground. She has us using comms with a very substantial signal strength to ensure we don’t lose contact with anyone at the site. I’ve been scanning for her personal comm frequency since she was taken, and I’ve gotten nothing. If she was still here, even on the other side of the planet, I should be getting a faint signal.”
Liara nodded. “All right. May I have that frequency? It wouldn’t hurt to run a second set of scans, and even if she’s not here, it may help us find her wherever she has been taken, once we narrow down our search field.”
“Of course, Doctor T’Soni.” She brought up her omni-tool and tapped on it. “Sent.” Looking up, her eyes were full of tears. “I am sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I just didn’t know what to do. You’re really going to find her?”
“We really are,” Liara promised. “James, with me. We have work to do.”
---
James busied himself with going over his weapons and armor while Liara worked her magic to find her friend. She’d taken their ship into a low orbit to better assist planetary scans, and consulted with Glyph and her Shadow Broker contacts to try to narrow down T’Vari’s possible location. He listened just enough to have an idea of what they might be getting into, but he mostly felt like he was useless until there was a target to point him at. Still, he intended to be ready when he was given that target.
Liara shot him an amused smile when he asked for her pistol to check it over, but she handed it to him without any comment. She might not need to rely on a sidearm, biotic badass that she was, but he would feel better knowing the gun was ready if needed. He was glad she seemed to understand that. It was a sweet weapon, and given how little she did use it, he was impressed with the punch it packed. He gave her an approving nod as he passed it back to her, mouthing, “Good to go.”
“Thank you, James. Just in time, too. I believe I’ve determined our heading.”
“Yeah?” He dropped down into the co-pilot’s seat with interest.
Liara nodded and pulled up a map of the system. “I’ve got reports of what could be a Cerberus monitoring station here.” She tapped the display. “Airashi’s initial message would have had to pass through its range, as would my return call.”
“I thought the Normandy’s communications were pretty heavily encrypted,” James said with a frown. “If Cerberus has broken our encryption…”
“I doubt they have. But I also doubt Airashi takes anything like the same precautions. If they were able to pick up her initial message, it would have been enough to have them on the alert for my reply. They couldn’t listen in on our conversation, but any calls Airashi made after that to prepare for my arrival would have been easy enough for them to pick up.”
“So they would have known that she found something Prothean, and that it was interesting enough that you wanted to see it,” James said, thinking it through.
“Exactly. More than enough for them to act preemptively.”
“Okay,” James said, leaning back in his seat. “So we know how they knew about the device. How does that tell us where to go next? Do you think they took her to the monitoring station?”
“No.” Liara shook her head. “But our time frame does. Six hours from her initial contact until they turned up. Another hour until I’d responded and she would have begun making arrangements.”
“So they’re within a five hour jump. Less, really, because they would have had to make their own preparations.”
“But let’s say five hours just to be safe.” She tapped on the console and the display changed, several red dots appearing throughout the system. “These are known or suspected Cerberus posts within the system. These,” she tapped the console again, “are the ones close enough to fit our timeframe.” Most of the dots disappeared, leaving only three.
“Three’s still too many, Doc. There aren’t enough of us to split up, and once we hit one station, if she’s not there, the rest of them will be on alert. They could move her before we get to her.”
“True.” Liara’s smile turned smug. “But Cerberus isn’t the only one with monitoring posts in this system. I’ve had mine running over the data for these three posts from the past day. This one,” she tapped a moon at the very edge of their range, “has seen a significant amount of activity since Airashi called me.”
“It’s not a guarantee.”
“No. I’ve taken the precaution of ordering active monitoring of the other two posts. If we have made the wrong choice, we’ll know what’s going on at the other two. That gives us a solid chance of making sure we don’t lose her.”
James let out a low whistle and shot her a sideways look. “Have I mentioned how glad I am that you’re on our side, Doc?”
Liara laughed. “Are you ready?”
“Just say the word.”
“All right. Here we go.”
---
While their ship might be capable of putting up a fight, it wasn’t exactly equipped for stealth. There was no way they wouldn’t be detected by Cerberus the moment they got close enough to get scanned. So Liara’s plan was hit them fast and hard. Go in with guns blazing and do as much damage as they could before Cerberus had a chance to react to their arrival.
James approved.
She’d already had her people send her a schematic of the station. By the time they were on their approach, they knew where every gun turret on the facility’s exterior was placed. “That’s what I’m talking about!” James whooped as they took out each turret in rapid succession.
“Now we get to the hard part,” Liara said, sounding determined as she set the ship down.
She didn’t bother with the landing pad, instead placing the ship right in front of the facility’s doors. The few Cerberus goons who had started to gather in front of them scattered when they heard the ship’s guns cycle up.
Blast doors or not, they didn’t stand a chance.
James was already on the ramp, opening it before the smoke cleared. Liara did something on the console and then joined him before the bottom hit the ground. They were inside the facility by the time the ramp closed back up again. “Aren’t you worried they’ll disable the ship?” James asked, sparing one glance over his shoulder before focusing on what was in front of him.
Liara’s grin was downright wicked. “They’re welcome to try. Its shields are, shall we say, robust. I’ve also set a pretty nasty surprise for anyone who so much as touches it without transmitting the proper clearance first.”
“Don’t touch the ship without your say so,” James murmured, nodding to himself as he lobbed a grenade at the incoming group of goons. He pulled Liara behind a stack of crates before it blew, and couldn’t help the grin he shot at her. “Again, so glad you’re on our side.”
Liara grinned back. She glanced down at her omni-tool and then peeked around the crates. “We’re clear, come on.”
“Do we have any idea where we’re going?”
“The layout of this place is pretty standard. Airashi should be this way,” she told him, already charging forward. “Once we have her, we can look for the artifact.”
It was clear Cerberus hadn’t been expecting the attack. James was almost bored with how easy they all were to take down as they scrambled to defend their base. Not that he was complaining. A dozen less Ceberus goons was a dozen less opportunities for Cerberus to fuck with the commander, and by extension, the galaxy. There were more mechs around than people, and James had no qualms blowing those fuckers to smithereens. Still, by the time they found the holding area, he was certain they’d managed to take out all of the mechs on the base. It wasn’t a large facility. He didn’t think it could hold much more than had come at them. “Might be a few goons hiding out who try to ambush us, but I think we’re clear,” he told Liara as she examined the lock on the holding room door.
“Good. Stay alert, but if they know what’s good for them, they’ll stay in hiding until we’re gone. The lack of interference will give us the opportunity to search if need be.”
“Any chance they sent for reinforcements?”
“I’m certain they did. We won’t be here long enough for them to arrive.”
“Gotcha, Doc.”
She typed something into her omni-tool and then held it beside the lock. A few moments later, the lock clicked and the door slid open to reveal a rumpled and defeated-looking asari slouched on a bench. She straightened at their entrance. “Liara!”
“Airashi! Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.” Her spirits markedly improved as she stood and gave herself a little shake. Tilting her head, she asked, “How in the goddess’ name did you find me?”
“I have my ways,” Liara said with an enigmatic smile.
T’Vari shook her head. She gave James a cursory look and then turned her attention back to Liara. “They wanted the artifact,” she said. “What have you gotten me into?”
Liara arched a brow. “I haven’t gotten you into anything. You’re the one who involved me. Unfortunately, that, along with the presence of a ‘Prothean artifact’ was enough to catch Cerberus’ interest.”
T’Vari shuddered in disgust. “Cerberus. I should have known.”
“I don’t suppose you have any idea where they put the artifact, do you? James and I have handled most of the base’s staff, but the sooner we’re out of here, the better.”
“It’s not here.”
“What? Are you sure?”
T’Vari nodded. “I heard them talking after my first interrogation. When they realized I didn’t know how to make it work, or anything about Prothean tech, their leader decided to send it to their own scientists.”
“Well, shit.” James spat. He glanced at Liara. “What now?”
“I think I know where they took it,” T’Vari offered. James and Liara turned to her in surprise. She shrugged. “They weren’t very careful about what they said in front of me. I got the impression they were just waiting for orders to get rid of me before doing so.”
“Pendejos,” James muttered.
“I don’t know what that means.” T’Vari threw a confused glance at Liara.
Liara ignored the comment, her face full of determination as she asked, “What did you hear?”
“Illium.”
James swore. “That’s right in the middle of Reaper space!”
“They’ve been holding their own, though,” Liara said, looking thoughtful. “There are a few ways to get in and out, if you’re careful. I’d imagine law enforcement has been rather distracted there lately, too, which provides an ideal location for conducting business you’d rather not have discovered. Assuming it is worth the risk to you, of course.”
James let out a huge sigh. “So. We’re going to Illium then?”
“Yes, James. I’m afraid we’re going to Illium. Airashi, I will need you to come with us as well.”
She looked pale but nodded. “Of course.” They made their way back out of the facility. T’Vari glanced around at the carnage in clear surprise. “I had heard working with the human spectre changed you, Liara,” she commented. “I suppose I should be grateful it did.” She tilted her head, giving Liara a close look. “Tell me though, is it true she killed your mother?”
Liara drew in a sharp breath. James stared. This was sure as hell news to him.
“There wasn’t much choice,” Liara answered, her voice soft and pained. “She was too far gone with indoctrination. She couldn’t be saved, and she had to be stopped. If Shepard hadn’t made the call, I believe I would have. At least she let me try to talk her down, first.”
“Ah, yes, that whole nasty mess with Saren.” T’Vari shook her head in disgust. “I would never have thought it of her.”
“That’s what indoctrination does to people,” Liara said.
James winced, understanding hitting him as he put it together. “I didn’t realize Benezia was your mom, Doc,” he murmured.
“I am sure you can imagine why I do not like to speak of it.”
“Yeah. Guess, I can.”
Liara cleared her throat. “Time is of the essence,” she said, reaching the ship and keying in the code to lower the ramp. “Best be on our way.”
---
“Fuck,” James said in a low breath as they entered Illium’s orbit. At least one Reaper floated dead in space above the planet, with what had to be the debris of dozens of smaller Reaper vessels scattered around it. A blockade of Milky Way ships—mostly asari and turian make from what James could see—formed a defensive grid in between the debris and Illium. On its surface, he could see the telltale flickering of firefight, but none of it was anywhere near the city centers. The Reapers were still trying to take Illium, but they sure as shit weren’t gaining any ground. James shook his head as Liara approached the blockade. “Lola should be trying to get these guys to join up.”
“They wouldn’t agree,” Liara told him. “All of their interests are here, so Illium is the only place they’ll bother to protect.” She answered a hail from the blockade and transmitted a clearance code, then directed the ship toward the provided landing coordinates.
“How are we going to find the artifact?” T’Vari moaned. “What if they aren’t even in the city?”
“Oh they’ll be in the city,” Liara said in a determined voice. “They’d attract attention anywhere else.” A satisfied smile spread across her face. “But if they were trying to hide from me, Illium is the last place they should have come.” She let out a sharp laugh. “Not that they know that, thank the goddess.”
T’Vari shot her a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
“Doc used to work on Illium,” James offered as Liara concentrated on bringing them in for a landing. “She’s still got lots of contacts here.” He’d gathered, from hearing her conversations with the commander, that a lot of her information collecting operatives were centered out of Illium. He suspected that Doctor T’Vari didn’t need to know that though. Liara gave him an approving nod for the explanation.
They were subjected to a rather thorough inspection after landing. The security reps who met them weren’t too keen on James’ weapons. They made him leave the grenades and his guns on the ship. He noticed they didn’t give Liara any flak about her pistol. “There’s trouble enough out there,” the rep said, gesturing beyond the city. “We don’t need to be bringing any more in here.”
“Trouble enough in the city, too, from what I hear,” James muttered to himself once they were allowed to be on their way. He gave Liara a dark look. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to a firefight. If you’re right and Cerberus snuck in somehow, then they sure as shit didn’t check their weapons at the door.”
Liara smiled at him. “As soon as we have a lead on where they are, James, I will see that you’re properly resupplied.”
“What, your contacts keep armories here, Liara?” T’Vari asked, narrowing her eyes. “You really have changed.”
“Oh Airashi,” Liara sighed, “you have no idea. Just be glad I’m in a position to get the artifact back. I am sorry I had to drag you along with us, but I’ll need you to help identify it and confirm that it’s still intact.”
“You don’t really think it will come down to a firefight, do you?” T’Vari asked, sounding concerned.
“Don’t worry,” James shot her a reassuring grin. “Doc and I will keep you safe.”
“If you say so.”
Their first stop was the office Liara had held when she’d worked on Illium. She’d kept it staffed after becoming the Shadow Broker, just to have a base of operations planetside. She asked James and T’Vari to wait in the lobby while she disappeared into her office to confer with her employees.
“So….” James said, glancing at T’Vari, who was twisting a ring on her thumb and staring at the closed office door. “You’re an archeologist, huh?”
She blinked and turned her focus to him. “Yes.”
“You ever find any dinosaurs while you’re digging around out there?” He grinned to himself as he imagined Liara’s snort of frustration and eye-roll if she had heard the question. He knew full well the difference between an archaeologist and a paleontologist, he just liked to tease. T’Vari seemed stressed to no end, and was definitely out of her league in this whole situation. He figured the joke might help lighten the mood. Besides, it wasn’t a completely silly question. T’Vari’s find was proof enough that archaeologists sometimes found the unexpected when they went digging. Who’s to say they couldn’t turn up a dinosaur?
But the joke fell flat. T’Vari frowned in confusion and asked, “What’s a dinosaur?”
“Oh, um.” James cleared his throat. “Big lizards,” he gestured with his hands, trying to encapsulate the size. “Been extinct for a long time. At least, all the ones on Earth have.”
“Archaeology is the study of civilizations, not animals.” Her frown deepened. “My specific field of study is asari culture. I’m not aware of any…dinosaurs in our historical record.”
“Well, yeah,” James spluttered, feeling his face go red. “I just meant, sometimes you turn up a surprise. Was wondering if you’d ever found anything cool, is all.”
“Cool is human slang for interesting or fascinating, is it not?” Her brow furrowed. “All of my finds have been quite fascinating.”
“Right, yeah, of course. Sorry.” James rubbed the back of his neck and wished for Liara to hurry up. This friend of hers could not take a joke.
“Truly,” T’Vari went on, as if feeling the urge to defend her field, “I have found many fascinating things in my time. Why, on the dig before this one, I unearthed the remains of an entire colony that had been destroyed by a mudslide. Although destroyed isn’t really the right word,” she added, picking up steam and enthusiasm. “More like encapsulated. Everything was perfectly preserved! Even many of the bodies were largely intact. You could see the expressions on their faces as they suffocated! We had to take great care to excavate them without exposing them to the elements and hastening their decomposition. The colony’s downfall predated even the earliest recording living memory of our people by several generations. We were able to learn quite a lot about our pre-spacefaring culture. It was an unprecedented find!”
James stared at her in horror. Bodies still intact? After all that time? Their dying expressions? That sounded fucking gruesome. He’d thought Liara’s dark streak was just a her thing, but maybe it was all archaeologists. He tried to come up with some sort of reply, but was saved by the whoosh of Liara’s door opening. “Doc!” He sprang to his feet, eager to change the subject. “What did you find?”
“There are many establishments in the city that cater to humans,” she told them, “but I’ve found one that is known for being rather exclusive in that regard.”
“That sounds like Cerberus,” James said.
Liara nodded. “Indeed. A search of its ownership revealed quite a few shell companies and misdirection, but I was able to trace it to a known Cerberus front. I cannot say with certainty that the artifact is there, but there will certainly be members of Cerberus there. One of them will know which scientists would be tasked with examining a Prothean artifact.”
“Hell, if we’re lucky, it’ll be one of those scientists getting a drink,” James said. He flexed his hands. “Not that I mind going old school and roughing them up by hand, but I might be more convincing if I had some heat to back me up. Will at least be helpful when things go south.” And things would go south. It was Cerberus after all. Nothing was ever easy with those pendejos.
“Agreed,” Liara said with a knowing smile. “We’ll get you sorted and then go pay them a visit.”
“But if it’s a human-only establishment, how are you and I supposed to get in?” T’Vari asked.
Liara’s smile widened. “I think they are just going to have to forgo that particular rule for today, Airashi.”
T’Vari shook her head. “I don’t see how you’re going to convince them to let us through the door.”
“Oh, I don’t plan on giving them any choice in the matter.” James felt the familiar tingle of biotics and a blue glow surrounded Liara. “I can be very persuasive when I need to be.”
---
The human “neighborhood” reminded James of the part of San Diego where he’d grown up, but more like its creepy doppelganger. Seedy would have been a generous term. Where back home had been run down but full of people doing the best to get along with what they had (and trying to push back against the folks always there to take advantage of them), here the disrepair could be attributed to an obvious disinterest. No one was here to make a life or a home for themselves. They were here because it was somewhere they could get away with whatever they wanted. Like if all those fucking red sand dealers and users had taken over their own couple of blocks and left everyone else out of it.
“There is no way anyone here is up to anything good,” he muttered, taking a firmer grip on his rifle and trying to see everywhere at once. T’Vari got over her fear of their weapons real quick when they turned the street into the human sector. She hovered in James’ shadow, hoping to avoid notice. He didn’t blame her.
Liara looked around with clear distaste. “Let’s not stay here any longer than we have to.”
“A-fucking-men.”
Their destination was a bar in the middle of the main street, and though it was early in the day, the place was hopping. The bouncer straightened up when they approached and shot a scowl at the asari. “Humans only.” He moved to block the door, then paused when Liara flared blue. “We’ve got biotics too, lady,” he tried, though much of the confidence had left his voice.
“Call them if you wish,” Liara said, tone cool. “I would welcome a challenge.”
Behind his back, James heard T’Vari murmur, “You missed your calling, Liara. I think you should have gone into the commando program.”
Liara smiled, replying in a low voice, “Nonsense. I enjoy digging things up far too much. Fighting is only useful when necessary.” Then, turning her attention back to the bouncer and raising her voice again, “Well?”
The bouncer glanced between Liara and James, unsure. James decided to pretend he was the reasonable one in the group. “Come on, man. We’re just looking for some people. There doesn’t need to be any trouble.”
“They go inside and there will be trouble,” the bouncer snorted. His eyes narrowed. “What people you looking for?”
James shot Liara a questioning glance and she nodded in approval. “Scientists,” he said. “Engineers, specifically. The kind that might know what to make of old alien tech.”
“There’s a few like that inside,” he said, looking as if he was weighing his options. “Look, my shift’s almost over and I really don’t want to get stuck staying late on cleanup detail. What if I went and brought them out here? That way I didn’t let in any ali—unapproved guests,” he said, modifying his choice of words when Liara arched a brow, “and any fighting that happens doesn’t happen on the premises, so it’s not my problem.”
“Yeah, okay,” James said, not bothering to wait for Liara’s approval on this one. They could always come back if the guys inside weren’t the ones they were looking for. As soon as the bouncer disappeared inside, he asked Liara, “Did your contacts happen to give you a layout of the place?”
“They did.”
“There a back way out?”
“There is. Perhaps I will go take a quick stroll, just in case our bouncer friend’s intentions are less than pure.”
“Liara, you can’t go by yourself!”
“Don’t worry about me, Airashi. I know how to blend in.” She tapped on her omni-tool and then faded from view as her stealth tech activated. “Contact me if he hasn’t returned in ten minutes, otherwise I’ll meet you at these coordinates once we’ve retrieved our scientists.”
James’ omi-tool pinged. “Gotcha, Doc. Be safe.”
“Of course, and you as well.”
T’Vari stared after her disembodied voice for a few moments and then shook her head. “A commando. She should have been a commando.”
“Nah,” James said, grinning. “She’s doing exactly what she’s supposed to be doing.”
T’Vari gave him a disbelieving look, then jumped at a loud sound from down the street. She took a step closer to James. “I hope that bouncer hurries.”
James snorted. “Depends on what he tells those scientists. They might not be so keen to come see who’s asking for ‘em. Still,” he cocked his head, thinking it over, “place like this, everyone’s mainly looking out for themselves. Like he said, us making trouble causes problems for him. He might just say whatever he needs to say to get them to go. Here, take this.” He held out the pistol Liara had given him.
T’Vari stared at it in disgust. “I don’t know how to use that thing!”
“Don’t need to,” James told her. “You just need to be able to point it and look like you’re willing to use it, okay?”
“I…” she sighed and reached out, taking it with a frown. “Oh, all right. If it helps us get out of here. Please tell me there’s a safety on this so I don’t accidentally fire it.”
“Right here,” James showed her. “If you want to up your threat level, just flick this to turn it off. Once you do that, just keep your finger away from the trigger.” He showed her how to hold it. She swallowed and nodded, repeating his demonstration. “Yeah. Just like that. I give you the nod, you point it at our targets and just follow my lead, okay?”
She nodded again and turned the safety back on. “Now, what?”
“Now we wait.”
His read of the bouncer seemed to be spot on. Five minutes later, he reappeared escorting a surly pair of humans. They wore uniform jackets like those James had seen in Cerberus labs the crew had raided. Even better, the tell-tale logo was present on the shoulder of each. If these weren’t the scientists, they were a step in the right direction.
“I’m telling you, that chit should have plenty of credits on it!” the woman protested as the bouncer shoved her outside. The other scientist followed, looking like someone had taken a piss in his beer.
“Sorry lady, we’ve got a strict policy. You can’t pay, you don’t drink.”
“But why didn’t the bartender say something to us instead of calling you over?” the man demanded. “He should have talked to us first.”
“People get mad when he tells them he can’t serve ‘em. Policy is to just escort them out where they can sort it out themselves. So, that’s what I’m doing. Come back when you can pay.” With that, the bouncer gave them both a final nudge out of the door and stepped back inside, letting it slide shut in front of him.
James grinned to himself. Yup. He’d been right. The bouncer was just looking after himself. Even made up a story that got him off the hook for whatever James wanted with the scientists. They hadn’t even noticed him yet, they were too busy glaring at the bar door and bickering with each other over their supposed empty credit chit. James stepped up between them and placed an arm around each of their shoulders.
“Looks like you guys are having a shitty day, huh? Hate to break it to you, but I’m afraid it’s about to get a lot worse.” The scientists both jumped. The man started to pull away, but James tightened his hold, turning them both to face T’Vari. “Ah, ah, ah.” He tutted. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. My friend’s trigger finger might get itchy.” He nodded to T’Vari and she held up the gun as instructed, a look of determination on her face.
The scientists paled. “What do you want?” the man asked. He glanced around as if hoping to find some sort of help, but no one on the street was paying them any attention. Everyone out for themselves.
“Yeah,” the woman said, scowling. “Apparently, we don’t have any money.”
“Good thing that’s not what I’m after. Right now I just want to have a little chat. So you two come with us and play nice, and no one has to get hurt, huh?”
They looked at each other and then nodded in agreement. Reluctance obvious, they let James lead them out of the neighborhood, T’Vari following close behind.
“I see you were successful in your hunt,” Liara said, appearing beside them as they turned the corner.
The woman gave a little scream of surprise and the man stared, asking, “The fuck did you come from?”
“Nowhere you need to concern yourselves with, I assure you.” She tilted her head toward an approaching intersection. “This way. I have a place we can use to question them.”
“What’s this about?” The woman demanded, starting to grow a backbone. “Whatever it is, we won’t talk. Not to aliens!”
“This is an alien world,” James snorted. “Your fucked up xenophobia doesn’t really have a place here.” Or anywhere, really, but he was trying to stay on topic.
The woman scowled. “Sometimes you have to play in the dirt to get things done.”
“Yes,” Liara said, shooting her a cool look. “I know the feeling well. I, for one, would prefer to never cross paths with Cerberus at all. Unfortunately, you involved yourselves in my business, so now I must involve myself in yours.” She led them into an old storefront. The front half was dusty and to all appearances abandoned, but the area beyond that was clean, with a desk and several chairs. There was even a mini-fridge in the corner. “Have a seat,” Liara told the scientists as she locked the door behind them. “There’s no reason we have to be uncivilized about this.”
“We won’t talk to you,” the man said, echoing his colleague’s earlier sentiment. “If you know who we work for, you know what our boss is capable of doing to us.” He puffed himself up. “You may as well just kill us now and get it over with.”
“Oh my God, Greg, shut up!” the woman hissed, grabbing his sleeve and dragging him down into the chair beside her. “What the fuck is wrong with you! At least hear what they want, first. They don’t pay us enough for that kind of loyalty, and I don’t want to die over this shit!”
“Yes, Greg,” Liara said, a satisfied smile quirking up the corners of her mouth. “You should listen to your friend. A little information request is hardly worth dying over.”
“What sort of information?” the woman asked, turning a scrutinizing look on Liara. James thought she was weighing her options. They might be able to reach a deal with her.
“Laura, shut it! Don’t tell these aliens anything!”
James rolled his eyes and reached over to take the gun from T’Vari. While Greg was focused on Laura, James changed a setting, flicked off the safety, and fired at Greg. There was a flash of light and a buzzing sound, and Greg slumped over in his chair. “Don’t worry,” James said, noting that both Laura and T’Vari’s eyes had gone very round. “He’s just stunned. We weren’t getting anything done with him interrupting.”
“Thank you,” Liara said, turning back to Laura. “Now, perhaps we can talk?”
Laura gave Greg’s unconscious form a long, considering look, then she nodded to herself. “I won’t give you anything that can be traced back to me, and I won’t tell you how to cripple Cerberus.” She barked out a sharp laugh. “Not that I could. I only know who’s in my cell and contact points for two others. No names for them though, just a number.”
“I believe we can work with that,” Liara said. “I am fully aware of the Illusive Man’s capabilities, but let me assure you,” she leaned forward with a wicked smile, “I can be worse. Lie to me, and you’ll find out just how much. Am I understood?”
Laura cleared her throat and leaned back in her chair. “Perfectly. What do you want to know?”
“A Prothean artifact was stolen from an asari dig site and sent to Cerberus scientists for study. I believe it was sent here. Was it brought to your cell?”
“That piece of junk?” Laura scoffed. She held out her hands to indicate something about the size of a helmet. “About this big? All glowy? More ports than surface?”
“It’s not junk!” T’Vari protested, taking a step forward in indignation. “It’s a valuable piece of information about a lost civilization! Perhaps the most important civilization to the development of our galaxy!”
“Does she know about Buggy?” James asked, leaning in to whisper the question to Liara.
Liara shook her head and whispered back, “Shepard does not wish to make his presence public knowledge just yet. She’s hoping to minimize the attention he attracts.”
Oblivious to their aside, Laura snorted and rolled her eyes at T’Vari. “Its energy source is negligible, and it doesn’t do anything. Even the data we’ve been able to pry out of it is nonsense, just random strings of partial codes.” She wrinkled up her nose. “It’s useless,” she repeated.
“Then you won’t mind at all if we reclaim it,” Liara said, stepping forward and placing a consoling hand on T’Vari’s shoulder.
Laura’s face shuttered up real quick at that suggestion. “How are you planning on doing that? I’m not going to just walk in and take it for you. I told you I won’t implicate myself.” She shivered. “Greg wasn’t kidding about what the bosses will do to us if they think we turned traitor.”
“Just tell us where it is,” James said.
“Yes,” Liara agreed. “Tell us where it is and what defenses we should expect from the facility. All information that could easily be gathered from anyone who worked there. No way to know it was you.”
She thought that over, turning to stare down at Greg. “Unless he tells someone a couple of aliens were asking questions.” She frowned, then looked up at James with a shrewd look. “How much does that thing hurt?” She pointed at his gun.
James raised an eyebrow. “It does more than tickle, lady.”
She straightened her shoulders and nodded to herself. “Can’t be worse than what the boss will do. Okay. I’ll tell you. But afterwards, knock me out, too, take our ‘tools and everything in our pockets, make it look like we were mugged. Leave us somewhere that makes sense, but not somewhere we’ll be in danger, please.”
Liara tilted her head, thinking. “I believe I can do that.” She glanced at Greg. “What if he refutes your story?”
Laura grinned. “When you go through his pockets, you’ll find his access card for the lab. He’s not supposed to carry it on him outside of the facility, but he’s too lazy to leave it with security when we check out. Use that to get inside. It’ll be enough to get him to go along with claiming we were mugged. He’ll be in deep enough shit for having it out here, but it will be worse if there’s any chance they think he colluded with you.”
“Works for me,” James grunted.
“We have a deal,” Liara agreed.
“Okay,” Laura took a deep breath. “Here’s what you need to do.”
---
“Well, as far as I can see, she told us the truth about the place clearing out for lunch,” James said, ducking back down behind a crate in the alley across the street from the Cerberus facility. “There’s a couple of mechs roaming the perimeter, but they aren’t looking at the roof.”
“Excellent. Greg’s main access card should allow us inside without triggering any alarms. I’ve mapped the quickest path to the lab from the roof access,” Liara said. “I believe our best chance will be to head there with haste, grab the artifact, and then make our way out through the main entrance. It will be easier to leave that way.”
“Cool.”
“Are you ready?”
“Locked and loaded, Doc,” he said, brandishing his assault rifle and belt full of grenades. “Now we just gotta figure out how we’re getting onto the roof without being seen.”
“Oh, I’ve already thought of that,” Liara said with an innocent smile.
The next thing James knew, he was surrounded in a blue glow and floating over the street. He drew in a sharp breath and glanced down at the people walking below him. Don’t look up don’t look up don’t look up. Then he was set down on the roof with a gentle thud. By the time he got to his feet and looked back where he had been, Liara was landing beside him with catlike grace. “How did you--?” He cut himself off and shook his head. “Are you sure you don’t have a little commando in you, Doc? That was some commando shit, right there.”
“I have been training in infiltration techniques,” she said, as if it was no big deal. Catching his look of surprise, she added, “I expect no more from my operatives than I do from myself.”
“Ah,” James said, nodding. “Right. Well. We’re here. Let’s do this.”
Greg’s access card let them in without any trouble, and using Laura’s description of the security measures and building layout, they managed to get to the lab without any problems. “Airashi,” Liara said, calling up her friend. “Is this it?” She scanned the object laid out on the table. All glowy, just like Laura had said.
“Yes,” came T’Vari’s reply. Then, “I hope it’s worth all of this trouble, Liara, I really do.”
“There is only one way to know for certain,” Liara said, lifting up the artifact. “How are our Cerberus friends?”
“Still sleeping,” T’Vari said, sounding amused. “I’ve been keeping an eye on them from the café across the street, but no one has bothered them. I think the false security camera you had me put up over them is working.”
“Good. We’re leaving now. Get back to the ship. We are going to want to make a hasty exit.”
“Understood.”
James stepped up to Liara and held out his hands. “Want me to carry it?”
“No, thank you, James. I came prepared.” She pulled a piece of cloth from one of her pockets and shook it out to reveal a bag. She tucked the artifact into the bag and hung it over her shoulder. “I’d like us to both have our hands free,” she told him. “Just in case.”
“Gotcha. Well, let’s get out of here.”
“Not too fast. I would really prefer if Cerberus wasn’t able to maintain this facility any longer.”
He cocked his head. “Whatcha thinking?”
“How many grenades did you bring?”
He glanced down at his belt. “Got about half a dozen, why?”
“Can they be remotely detonated?”
“Sure.”
“Do me a favor and hit that fire alarm over there on the wall.”
James shot her a puzzled look but did as she said, wincing as the siren started blaring. “What now?” he shouted over the din.
“We wait long enough for the remaining people in the building to clear, then we move. Get the grenades out.”
They waited for five minutes and then Liara took one of the grenades from him, setting it in the middle of the lab and priming it for remote detonation. “Let’s go!” They darted back through the facility, Liara scanning rooms and directing James on where to place grenades. He had to admit, it felt pretty nice to be taking a stand against Cerberus, even if it might only slow them down a little. Liara stopped short just outside the entrance, checking her omni-tool one last time. “The only life signs I’m reading inside are the two of us. Good.”
“If everybody’s standing around outside, Doc, they’re gonna notice an asari come out the front door.”
“That’s why when we get outside, we start running and we don’t stop until I say. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Okay, go!” They burst through the doors together, and as predicted, drew the immediate attention of the small crowd gathered outside. But they were moving fast, and by the time the crowd had really registered them, they were already through and down the street. “Light it up, James!” Liara called once the crowd started to trail after them.
“Bombs away,” he said, pressing the detonate button with a grin. A loud boom from behind rocked the ground. The shouts of confusion turned to screams of fear and glancing over his shoulder, he saw most of the crowd turn back to the building. “Be a good time to duck out of sight, Doc.”
“I agree. This way.”
They ran for a few more blocks, taking alleys and small streets until they got to one of the city’s main thoroughfares. By unspoken agreement they slowed down and moved with the crowd, making their way back to their dock without hurrying but still moving as fast as they dared. A few people they passed had stopped to murmur and point. James glanced back and saw smoke drifting upward in a lazy spiral from where they’d been. It was pretty faint over here though. No one looking at it seemed too alarmed.
“I think we pulled it off, Doc,” he said, turning to grin at Liara.
“It would appear so,” she said, offering him a tight smile. “Now, let’s get back to the ship. I think I’m ready to be off of this planet.”
“Amen, Doc.”
---
“So, despite a few setbacks, we’ve managed to retrieve the artifact. It is certainly a part of a larger whole. Now that Airashi is safely back on Zesmini, I want to get it to the Crucible project. Once it’s turned over, we’ll head back to the Citadel. I apologize that it’s taken longer than anticipated, but we should be seeing you by tomorrow at the latest.”
“Good, that’s good,” the commander said, sounding relieved. She sounded distracted, too, James thought, and he sat forward, frowning.
Liara heard it as well. “Shepard, what is it? Is something wrong?”
Silence for a long moment on the other end, and then, “You should get back to the ship as soon as you can. I just got done talking to the asari councilor.” Another pause, and then, voice grim. “As soon as the resupply is done, we’re going to Thessia.”