by Cole Price
“Huh,” my father grunted, teasing him. “Something humans do that almost dates back to before I was born.”
“What’s the subject?” I asked, dropping into an open seat, almost splashing my wine on Vara. My coordination had been suffering for a while.
“I’m not sure,” she answered. “Something called a collective noun. The humans apparently have different words for the same feature in different species.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Well, it’s like, we have different words for a group depending on what it’s a group of,” James floundered.
“It sounds like an exercise in inventing unnecessary words for no good reason,” said Shiala, amused. She shifted slightly, causing her deep-green skin to gleam in the bright light.
James chuckled. “You know, there might be something to that. See, if I remember right, this got started among hunters in a country called England. Back then, everybody got some of their food from hunting, but the aristocrats made entertainment out of it. It got fashionable to make up a bunch of new terms, so only the real fanatics could know what they were talking about.”
“Now that, I understand,” said Samara. “Do you remember, Matriarch, the hypologistēs dialect?”
Aethyta snorted. “Yeah. Fortunately it was already dying out when I was a maiden.” She glanced around the room, saw most of us wearing expressions of polite incomprehension. “This all started, what, about three thousand years ago? Back when we asari first invented computers, data networks, that kind of thing. A whole subculture popped up around the new technology, and they just loved inventing new jargon and slang that nobody else could understand.”
James suddenly sputtered. “You mean you asari had something like leet-speak?”
“Yeah.” My father rolled her eyes in exasperation. “It got so entrenched that it turned into a whole new dialect. Took centuries for it to die off.”
“Very well. So there was specialized vocabulary for hunters,” said Sha’ira, trying to get us back to the point. “How did this become part of the language as a whole?”
“Some of the words got into broad use. Like, for most grazing animals, the group-word for most of them is a herd. For most birds, it’s a flock. For most insects, it’s a swarm.” James shrugged. “Other people just thought the whole idea was funny, I guess. They started inventing new group-words for other things, not just animals.”
“Lieutenant Vega was wondering what the collective noun would be for asari,” Shiala explained, giving me an amused glance.
“That should be easy enough,” I observed. “What is the collective noun for human women?”
James looked uncomfortable. “The one I’ve heard is gaggle.”
“That is an ugly word,” said Sha’ira.
“It’s also a little insulting,” James admitted. “It’s the same word we use for geese. They’re birds. Bad-tempered, aggressive, kind-of-stupid birds.”
Treeya poked James in the ribs. Rather hard.
Aethyta gave him a mock-stern glare. “I bet it was male humans came up with a lot of these words.”
James put both his hands up. “Hey, no argument from me. This was all a long time ago. At least by our standards.”
“Give us some more choices,” Vara suggested.
“Well, crows come in a murder,” said James, looking woebegone.
Aethyta grunted. “That might actually be appropriate,” she said darkly.
Sha’ira patted her wrist lightly. “Nonsense. What are some others, Lieutenant?”
“Eagles are better. That’s another kind of bird, and most people like them better than crows. They come in convocations.”
“I like that,” said Shiala. “It would suggest that we like to talk a lot, and hold formal gatherings.”
“All true,” Sha’ira agreed.
“The other bird one I remember is for larks. They make a pretty song, and a lot of people think of them in connection with daybreak. Larks come in exaltations.”
“Too arrogant,” said Vara. “Makes us sound as if we claim to be superior beings.”
Aethyta snorted. “You mean we don’t?”
* * *
The media room had transformed into a dance floor, all the furniture pushed to the walls, Glyph hovering overhead to manage a light show, music roaring out of concealed speakers with a pounding beat. At the moment I passed through, mostly women and asari occupied the floor: Diana Allers, Jack, Kasumi Goto, Kelly Chambers, Nerylla and Tania from my security detail, all gyrating with great enthusiasm to the sound of the music. Most of them danced as singletons, although if I could judge, Kelly and Tania were about two-thirds of the way through a process of mutual seduction.
“Yo, Blue!”
A warm, sweat-slick hand pulled at mine. Jack’s wicked smile. A drink pressed into my hand, something that made my lips tingle and my pulse hurry when I knocked it down my throat.
“You should let your hair down,” Jack shouted in my face. “Well. You know what I mean!”
I did know what she meant.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had simply danced.
Now I listened to the music, let it pull at my hands and arms, let my hips and feet begin to move, the heat and the scent-laden air like sparkling wine in my lungs. I closed my eyes and let movement take control. Heat ignited in my belly, spread throughout my body, filling me with delicious pleasure.
Forget the war. Forget the Reapers. Forget the dead.
For a moment, just live.
Glimpses . . .
Allers moving like a serpent, interesting shadows falling across her body as she spun in the light.
Nerylla stepping across the floor with an athlete’s trained grace, a wild white smile on her face.
Jack tossing off a drink of her own, then throwing her head back to crow at the ceiling.
Tania throwing her arms around Kelly’s neck, capturing her lips for a deep kiss, neither of them losing the rhythm for a moment.
Kasumi’s eyes glittering from deep within her hood.
He stood at the edge of the room, staring at me, almost devouring me with his eyes.
I turned, began to move with him as my focus, left no doubt in his mind what I intended for him.
He stepped out onto the dance floor.
Immediately a chorus of hoots and applause sprang up, making fun of his infamous lack of grace, but also happy for him as he reached my position. He stopped, more or less standing and shuffling in one place, while I began to trace intricate curves and lines in the air around him.
“Having a good time?” he murmured beside my face.
“Yes.” I pulled back to give him a scorching look. “Although if you wanted to steal me away later, I wouldn’t say no.”
He smiled down at me. “T’Soni, are you drunk?”
“Certainly not.” Then I had to stop and carefully examine my fingertips, because they had begun to tingle slightly. “All right, maybe a little.”
“Sounds as if I had better steal you away now, while you’re still in a position to enjoy it.”
“But our guests . . .”
“They’re fine. There’s plenty of food, plenty of booze, and plenty of places to crash for the ones who don’t feel like going home tonight. Come on.”
* * *
We wasted no time. As soon as he closed the door behind us, I attacked him, yanking at his clothes, kissing his lips and every stretch of skin I could expose. I tasted sweat and the rich savor of his skin, felt the intense heat of his body across expanses of my own.
He seemed as driven as I, peeling me out of my gown in record time, gently pressing me backward until I toppled onto my back in the bed. Then he seized control of the situation, pinning me down, working his way down my body with his hands and mouth until I became completely nonverbal. When he finally rose above me and began our merger, I moaned in sheer gratitude.
Afterward he called for darkness. We lay quietly, still in each other’s arms, his sweat cooling on o
ur skin, our breath and heartbeat slowing to normal. For a long time I felt myself floating, awareness of my own body muted, my mind still superimposed on his. Perhaps I slept for a little while; it was hard to say, my state of consciousness seemed so strange.
“Liara,” he whispered, and I heard it in his mind as well as his voice.
“Mmh,” I groaned, just like that feeling awareness fall back into my body. Not that I minded. My body felt just wonderful at that moment.
“There’s something I want you to promise me,” he murmured.
I drew away from him, just enough to look into his eyes in the dimness. Outside our room, I could still hear some of our friends enjoying their party.
“This sounds serious.”
“It is.” One hand came around to caress my face, rough, but warm and gentle. “Liara, I love you more than I can say. Every day I spend with you is a gift.”
For some reason, that made my eyes well up. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I feel the same, Shepard, you know I do.”
He nodded. “The thing is, Liara, I can’t stop thinking that we’re coming down to the end of things here. No more allies to call into the fold. The Crucible is finished, except for the Catalyst. If what you and the others figured out tonight is true, we may even know where it has to be fired. Soon, maybe just a few days from now, everything comes to a conclusion.”
I nodded in agreement.
“Afterward, I don’t know. With luck we’ll all see a new day. At which point you and I will have the rest of our lives ahead of us. Well, the rest of my life anyway.”
For an insane moment, I remembered a conversation I had once overheard on the Citadel.
Is this the lifespan talk? We’re not having the lifespan talk.
Then I set it aside. Shepard wouldn’t be worrying about what might come after his natural death, however many decades in the future that might be.
Shepard was worrying that he might not survive the next few days.
“I understand,” I murmured, tasting his breath, fully aware of his mass, his warmth in the bed next to me. “You fear that won’t happen.”
“Yes.” He sighed deeply. “Something tells me this is going to be rough. No telling how many of us will get through to the other side.”
“And if you do not?” I asked, my voice suddenly bleak.
“Then I want you to promise me that you will live,” he said. “I’ve seen inside your mind too, Liara. I know it won’t be easy. If I fall, you can’t let that hold you back. If the Reapers are still here, the galaxy is going to need you to lead the fight against them. If the Reapers are gone, then the galaxy will need you to help rebuild. Either way, you might have a very long time before you. Time enough to find happiness. Time enough to find love. I want those things for you, for all the rest of your life, whether I’m here to share them with you or not.”
The tears fell like rain, then, and he held me close.
“I promise,” I whispered at last, my voice hoarse. “I’m asari, after all. I don’t know how other asari do it. I’ve never had a lover other than you, and I can’t imagine how anyone could possibly compare. But I’m sure I’ll find a way to live after you’re gone. Somehow.”
He nodded in acceptance.
“But I will promise something else, Shepard. I will never forget you. Not until the day I pass on to the blessed shores, and hope to find you there. Nor will I let the rest of the galaxy forget you. Not ever.”
He bent close to kiss my forehead. “That’s a nice thought.”
“Now, I want you to promise me the same.”
He drew back, blinking at me.
I gave him a shaky smile. “What, you never considered the possibility that I might be killed while you survive?”
“Not really, no.”
“That terrible, wonderful, male-human drive to protect your mate. You would think of it as an awful failure if you survived me, even if there wasn’t a thing you could have done.”
He took a deep breath, released it in a gusty sigh. “I suppose I would. God, I can’t even think about that happening.”
“Then you listen to me, William Allen Shepard.” I gripped the back of his neck, forced him to look into my eyes. “I want you to live. I want you to lead the galaxy as only you can, in war or in peace. I want you to enjoy happiness and love, all the days of your life, whether I’m there or not. Promise me.”
He clenched his jaw until it creaked, wrestling with some terrible passion. Then he relaxed, I could feel it in all his muscles. His neck bent until his forehead came to rest on my shoulder, and I held him close.
“I promise, Liara.”
Chapter 47 : Thessia Burning
15 June 2186, Armali/Thessia
The moment Normandy dropped through the mass relay, we knew the Reapers had arrived first. While Shepard commanded a micro-jump into the inner system, hoping to reach Thessia as soon as possible, I listened to a flood of desperate transmissions. Asari all over the Parnitha system fought for their lives, and too many had already lost that fight.
It did not appear the Reapers had experienced much difficulty overwhelming our defenses. It seemed strange for the homeworld to fall so quickly. Some asari colony worlds had put up more of a fight, even with a small fraction of the population and resources. I wondered whether indoctrinated agents had infiltrated the planetary defense network.
Probably. Just as likely that we’ll never know for certain.
“Liara, do you have anything more on this artifact?”
I tore my eyes away from the screen, the images of Reapers walking at their leisure through the cities of Thessia.
“I’m afraid not. Although the coordinates Councilor Tevos gave you match the Temple of Athame.”
Shepard’s eyes widened in surprise. “A temple?”
“Yes. It’s very strange. This is the place where I entered the Athame cult, when I was fifty years old and had convinced my mother to permit me initiation. I visited often while I still lived in her household.” I paused, called up data on my omni-tool. “According to some of the data Tevos provided, it also receives classified government funding, and has for centuries.”
“Certainly sounds like we’re on the right trail. Why would a temple get classified funding?”
“I have no idea. Matriarch Thessala didn’t confide in the Councilor. Whatever is going on, it’s very well hidden.” I glanced up at him. “Shepard, I find it very disturbing that Thessala is involved in this. The cabal that she and my mother participated in, they knew at least something about the Reapers. Now she claims this artifact may point the way to the Catalyst.”
“You’re afraid we may find out something terrible,” Shepard said quietly.
“I went digging through my mother’s old files, at least the ones for which I could crack the encryption. Even though she was siari, she appears to have spent a great deal of time at the Temple throughout her life. She had personal records relating to it, going back centuries. She raised no objection when I joined the Athame cult. I have to wonder if she hoped to recruit me for the cabal one day.” I glanced at the viewscreen again. “Goddess, Shepard, what if we’re too late? My people are dying down there.”
“Your empathy is a weakness,” said Javik. “You must numb yourself to loss.”
Shepard sighed. “I know it’s difficult, love, but he’s right. You need to focus. You could spend all day counting casualties.”
“When you should be avenging them,” rumbled the Prothean.
“I’m sorry,” I told them. “These are my people. I can’t easily be that cold.”
“Rrrh.” Javik turned away. “War doesn’t always provide you a choice.”
“Coming in on final approach,” said Cortez from the cockpit. “Damn. That’s as hot a landing zone as I ever care to see.”
If Cortez is afraid, it must be truly terrible.
Shepard nodded. “Then take us in fast, Steve.”
* * *
We landed not far from the Plaza of Explore
rs, where the statue of Vessa T’Selien once stood, her ancient vacc-suit helmet under one arm, her other hand pointing exuberantly toward the sky. Now it was a war zone, surrounded by the rubble of demolished buildings, threatened by walls of flame, the sound of weapons fire and explosions coming from all sides.
I wanted to scream a denial, but my throat locked up. All I could do was jump down from the shuttle and clamber down a ramp of wreckage, my eyes wide with horror, but my biotics and sidearm at the ready.
“Hurry!” shouted Javik. “We are exposed up here!”
“Let’s get down!” Shepard commanded.
We reached the bottom, finding ourselves in a hastily fortified strong-point at one edge of the Plaza. Perhaps a dozen asari soldiers fought from there, holding up barriers, firing weapons at distant Reaper troops, working frantically to repair broken equipment and broken bodies. I saw at least twice that many shrouded corpses, arranged in neat rows off to one side. Already the soldiers here had taken fearful losses.
“You must be Commander Shepard,” called one asari, a violet-skinned tsakoni with red facial markings, in huntress armor with a lieutenant’s insignia. “We heard . . .”
Crash!
A barrage of missiles slammed into the improvised wall, just a few meters away from our position. All of us recoiled in shock. When I could pay attention again, I saw that the enemy had blasted a wide gap in the fortifications, and I could hear the moaning of husks approaching at speed.
“The barrier’s been breached!”
Shepard and Javik immediately ran to the wall, where they began to fight in its defense. Shepard found an unmanned gun turret, while the Prothean lay down fire.
I froze for an instant. Then I ran forward to where a single asari stood in the gap, trying valiantly to put up a barrier globe. I stepped up beside her, thrust out my hands, quickly synchronized with her, and pushed.
Reinforced, the barrier snapped out to fill the gap.
Just in time. A wave of husks slammed into the barrier, with at least two brutes right behind them.
The soldier groaned, her arms trembling, her biotics flickering under the load.
