by Joan Jett
His psychological profile spoke clearly: Shepard was remarkably free of post-traumatic stress. He grieved for all the friends and loved ones he had lost, but he was able to process the emotion without harm to himself. He did not blame himself for surviving when so many others had not. He placed the fault for his losses squarely where it belonged, on the slavers and pirates who attacked Mindoir.
If anything the experience tempered and forged his mind, creating the driven ambition that later took him into the Alliance military and made him such an extraordinary soldier.
I understood. Yet it worried me that I could find no other evidence of true passion in his records.
I sighed, rolled my neck and shoulders to ease tension, and stared out into the darkness of my little compartment. Clearly simple research would not get me the answers I sought. I was going to have to do some field work as well.
"VI, please locate Commander Shepard."
"Commander Shepard is in the armory."
I emerged into the medical bay. Alexei was awake and talking cheerfully to Dr. Chakwas, so I paused for a few moments to say hello. The Marine seemed happy to see me, and joked about comparing combat wounds. Apparently bullets in vital organs ranked higher than "fish-dog scratches" in some poorly defined hierarchy. I found myself unable to disagree.
I took the lift down to the staging deck.
It was very late in the ship's day, most of the Marines resting after the exertions of the mission. The staging bay itself was dark and very quiet. I walked across the deck, my footsteps ringing softly on the metal floor.
Voices, from the armory. I stopped.
From where I stood, I could see through the doorway into the well-lit armory. Shepard sat on a crate, at ease, his back against the bulkhead, his hands gesturing with animation as he spoke. He smiled, his face relaxed. Ashley stood before him, her arms folded, leaning hip-shot against a workbench. She laughed at something Shepard had said.
I read their body language. Especially her body language: oriented toward him, making frequent eye contact, occasionally mirroring his movements. It was plain to see.
All right, I had identified one of Shepard's passions. It made sense. She was young, aesthetically appealing, in excellent physical condition, a skilled professional colleague.
She is a woman . . . and I am not. Not really. The thought came unbidden.
I turned away and headed for the lift, to go back to my compartment and find some other task to keep myself occupied.
* * *
13 March 2183, Port Hanshan/Noveria
Normandy arrived at Noveria on the third day after the battle at Terra Nova. Shepard issued orders prohibiting shore leave, placing the Marine detachment on alert for the duration of our visit. Apparently the Port Hanshan authorities were not at all pleased to have an Alliance warship in dock, and would have refused us landing had Shepard not claimed Spectre status.
Instead, Shepard called on Tali and me to accompany him into Port Hanshan.
Noveria is not a very hospitable world. Its atmosphere is breathable but it is in the midst of a deep glacial age, with ice covering the entire surface. Port Hanshan clung to the side of a mountain just above the ice, a warren of massive habitats extending deep into the mountain-face. Very little of the port showed from the outside, but I knew about a quarter of a million people lived there.
The three of us emerged from the ship into the damp cold of Normandy’s docking berth. At the bottom of the long ramp we were met by four heavily armed guards, blocking our path into the port. Their leader was a petite human female, dark of hair and eyes, wearing light combat armor. "That's far enough. This is an unscheduled arrival, so I need your credentials."
Shepard folded his arms and looked stubborn. "You first."
"Captain Maeko Matsuo, Elanus Risk Control Services. I'm in charge of security for Port Hanshan."
"All right. My name is Shepard. Citadel Special Tactics and Reconnaissance."
One of the other guards spoke up, another human female, larger and with an impressive mane of yellow-white hair. "A Spectre? Load of horseshit, ma'am. There are no human Spectres."
"I find that to be a common misconception," said Shepard dryly.
Captain Matsuo looked uncertain. "We will need to confirm that, Mr. Shepard. I must also advise you that private firearms are not permitted on Noveria. I'll have to ask you to check your weapons here for return upon your departure."
Shepard drew his sidearm. Within seconds, everyone in the docking bay had weapons drawn except me. I called up a blue aura of biotic energy to make it clear I was also prepared for violence.
"Not going to happen, Captain."
No one moved for a long moment. Then a new voice sounded from an overhead speaker. "Captain Matsuo, stand down!"
Matsuo raised a hand to restrain her subordinates. The yellow-haired human rolled her eyes in exasperation, but she and the other guards lowered their weapons. We followed suit.
"We've confirmed their identity, Captain," the voice continued. "Commander Shepard is a Spectre, and the asari and quarian are his associates. They're permitted to carry firearms under the extraterritoriality agreement with the Citadel Council."
"Very well," said Captain Matsuo. "You're free to enter the port, Spectre. I apologize for the inconvenience."
Shepard nodded. "I understand, Captain. You were just doing your job."
"Thank you. Parasini-san will meet you inside."
"Not the friendliest reception," observed Tali as we passed into the port. "I wonder what they're trying to hide."
"It's a corporate research colony," explained Shepard. "Big corporations set up labs here to carry out research that's too dangerous to do anywhere close to a major world. Even if they're not doing anything illegal, that makes them skittish about outside legal authority. Of course, some of them probably are carrying out research that the Alliance or the Council would consider illegal."
"Not to mention that the corporate tenants here are often competitors," I pointed out.
"Yeah. This place is probably hip-deep in corporate spies and covert agents, watching each other and getting in a little sabotage on the side. Watch yourselves."
Gianna Parasini turned out to be a tall, elegant human female, with flawless light-brown skin and jade-green eyes. She wore a long forest-green gown that wouldn't have looked out of place at a gathering of Thessian aristocracy. Even I found her quite beautiful. She approached and took Shepard's hand, her manners smooth and polished. "Commander Shepard. I apologize for the incident in the docking bay. Welcome to Port Hanshan."
Shepard smiled and bowed slightly over Parasini's hand. "Thank you. What’s your position here?"
"I'm executive assistant for Administrator Anoleis, the Chief Operating Officer for Port Hanshan."
"Good. I'm here on Spectre business, pursuing an investigation. I'm looking for an asari Matriarch."
"Lady Benezia?"
I felt a chill, hearing my mother's name from this stranger's lips.
"The same. Is she here?"
"Lady Benezia left several days ago for the Binary Helix research complex at Peak 15. To the best of my knowledge, she is still there."
"How do I get to Peak 15, then?"
Parasini hesitated. "Commander, travel from Port Hanshan to the research labs is strictly regulated, to protect the security and privacy of our client corporations. You will need travel clearance from Administrator Anoleis, and I can tell you at once that he is unlikely to grant you a pass."
"Even for Spectre business?"
She smiled. "Perhaps especially for Spectre business. As a Spectre you could arrest or kill Anoleis, but you have no way to force him to cooperate with you. His fiduciary responsibility to the Executive Board is paramount."
"I understand. Take me to the Administrator, then."
"Certainly. If you'll come with me?"
Shepard went into the Administrator's office alone, leaving Tali and me outside to await the outcome. I spent the time w
atching Parasini as she busied herself behind her desk. She appears to be useful as well as decorative, I thought uncharitably.
Shepard appeared. I caught his eye, and he simply shook his head in frustration.
"Please feel free to contact me if there is anything else we can do for you," said Parasini warmly.
"Come on," said Shepard.
We followed Shepard out into the main plaza of Port Hanshan. He looked around, saw a brightly lit sign across the way, and set out for it.
I was confused. "Is this really the time to be visiting a bar, Commander?"
For answer, Shepard held a hand up over his shoulder where I could see it from my place behind him. In his fingers was a small sheet of paper, unfolded so I could see the message written on it in a neat hand. Solyanka Lounge. "I need a drink. How about you?"
I experienced enlightenment. Parasini had come to meet us, and offered her hand to Shepard. Easy enough to conceal a small message and pass it along to him. "I suppose you're right."
Inside the lounge it was dark and rather loud, with some kind of rhythmic noise – I would not call it music – playing over the sound system. We took a table in the back corner, where we could keep watch on the entrance. Shepard murmured something to Tali and then leaned back, smiling, as a human waiter approached our table. He ordered something called Scotch whiskey, I ordered a Thessian red wine, and Tali ordered distilled water with a long straw.
Once the waiter was gone, Tali's omni-tool glowed orange for a few moments. "All clear, Shepard."
"Listening devices?" I inquired.
"Several," said the quarian, "but I'm feeding them all white noise. We should be able to talk in private."
"Good." Shepard sipped at his whiskey with evident relish. "Administrator Anoleis is a no-go. Wouldn't tell me anything about what Benezia is doing here, absolutely refused to give us clearance to leave the port. So we need an alternative."
"Couldn't the Normandy take us directly to this Peak 15 facility?" I asked.
"I don't think we can risk it. This may be a small-population planet but there is a lot of money here, enough to buy the very best planetary defenses. There are battle-stations in orbit that could turn the Normandy into fine dust in one shot."
"They would fire on an Alliance ship carrying a Council Spectre?"
"You bet. They threatened to do just that as we were on final approach." Shepard shook his head in frustration. "Noveria is effectively an independent planet with some very powerful allies. If they think we're about to step on their prerogatives, they'll shoot first and hope to buy off anyone who gets angry."
"You can be sure of that, Spectre," said Parasini.
How she had reached our table without crossing the floor, I couldn't guess. She looked different, dressed in casual clothes instead of her high-couture working gown, not quite as cultivated and polished. She seated herself at the table and smiled brightly at all of us.
"Glad to see you understood my message," she said. "Allow me to reintroduce myself. I'm Gianna Parasini. Noveria Internal Affairs."
"You're a cop?"
"That's right. I report directly to the Executive Board. I've been undercover as Anoleis's administrative assistant for the last six months."
"The Board is after Anoleis," Shepard stated, taking another sip of his drink and watching Parasini attentively.
"The little lizard is so crooked not even the Board can tolerate him anymore. We know he's been shading contracts and shaking down our client corporations for protection money. The problem is acquiring proof. Even as close to him as I've gotten, he's too careful to let anything slip."
"I don't see what this has to do with my mission."
Parasini shrugged. "All the senior corporate executives here in Port Hanshan have surface access, and could grant you clearance if Anoleis wasn't around to overrule them. I'm working with one of them, a turian who runs the local Synthetic Insights office. He's come into evidence of Anoleis's corruption, enough to convince the Executive Board. Problem is, Anoleis knows something is up. He's ordered the ERCS guards to close off the Synthetic Insights facility, and some of them are going to be in there this evening to ransack the place and destroy the evidence."
"That can't be legal," I objected.
"It's not. Anoleis has half the ERCS force on the take. Captain Matsuo is honest enough, but she can't prevent her people from taking bribes and working on the side as his thugs."
A slow smile spread across Shepard's face. "And so here we are, the only armed force in Port Hanshan that doesn't work for Anoleis."
"Think you're up for it, Commander?"
"That depends. I need you to come clean with me. What do you know about Matriarch Benezia? Why is she here?"
"I don't know." Parasini leaned closer, as if afraid someone would hear. "It has something to do with an accident at Peak 15. She arrived after we received a Code Omega signal from there."
"Code Omega?"
"The corporations that do research here are playing with fire, Commander. Nanotechnology, genetic engineering, weird life-forms discovered on the frontier, maybe even artificial intelligence, who knows? They pay Noveria well for isolation, privacy, and security. One of the conditions of their contract with us is the Code Omega system. If anything gets out of hand at the remote labs, anything they can't handle themselves, then they issue a Code Omega alert. It's automatic in the case of a containment breach."
"So what happens when you receive a Code Omega?"
"The client has a certain amount of time to send in a clean-up team and sound the all-clear. If there isn't an all-clear, then the Executive Board votes whether or not to destroy the facility. One antimatter warhead from the orbiting battle-stations would probably be enough."
I nodded in understanding. "Then Benezia was leading a clean-up team?"
"That's my best guess. She took the last shuttle up to Peak 15 before this weather system closed in, along with a whole crew of asari commandos and a bunch of heavy crates."
"No idea what was in the crates?" asked Shepard.
"They were sealed and passed weapons inspection. Captain Matsuo had no authority to open them."
"Perhaps Benezia is only here on Binary Helix business," I speculated hopefully. "Commander, it may have nothing to do with Saren at all."
"Maybe. I still want to talk to her." Shepard leaned back, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. "All right, Ms. Parasini, I'll trust you. I don't like the idea of fighting police, but if they're dirty cops they had better stay out of the way. I'll need maps, a layout of the facility, and security codes to get into the facility without tripping any alarms."
"Not a problem." Parasini extended her hand across the table. "Good luck, Spectre, and remember – get that evidence. I get Anoleis, you get to finish your mission, everyone's happy."
Shepard shook her hand firmly. "Come on, Tali, Liara. We have work to do."
Chapter 10 : Code Omega
13 March 2183, Port Hanshan/Noveria
The Synthetic Insights facility perched high on the mountain's face, looking down on most of Port Hanshan and beyond it to the endless ice. Officially a secured elevator up from the central plaza was the only way to reach it.
We didn't use official means.
It helped that Internal Affairs had the cooperation of the company's local manager. The turian revealed a bolt-hole, a quick and well-hidden way to exit the facility in case of some disaster. That provided us with a way in: through a freight elevator to a little-used maintenance bay just below the Synthetic Insights sector, up the external walls of the port to a code-locked hatch, and finally through an unsecured ventilation duct leading to a storeroom five doors down from the manager's office.
“Easier said than done,” was Shepard’s comment.
He was right. Scaling the port's external walls, a kilometer above the ice in darkness and freezing wind, was an ecstasy of vertigo and terror.
Fortunately Shepard had military-grade climbing gear aboard the Normandy, and h
is military training had granted him considerable skill as a climber. Even I had scaled rock-faces and cliffs for pleasure as a young maiden. Unfortunately poor Tali lacked our skill, and she was a little acrophobic. We all managed the climb safely, Tali with plenty of help from Shepard and at least one subtle biotic assist from me, but the quarian chanted "don't look down, don't look down, don't look down" for most of the way.
Soon enough we emerged into the storeroom and concealed ourselves behind a stack of crates. We could hear the ERCS guards moving around in the corridor outside, searching the manager's offices and every other likely space for the evidence.
Tali went to work.
I am reasonably competent with computers. I grew up using asari computer technology, the most advanced in the galaxy. I understand the hardware, I can write new software as needed, I am very good at extranet research, and my cyberwarfare skills are adequate.
Watching Tali made me feel like a rank novice. Within five minutes she tapped into the ERCS secure communications network, sent a "worm" program to infect all of the renegades' hardsuit computers, and harvested all of their private-key authentication codes. In a few moments more she took over the Synthetic Insights security grid as well. I could barely follow what she was doing.
"Ready, Shepard," she said when she was done.
"Go," he ordered.
Tali touched a control on her omni-tool.
Every ERCS guard in the Synthetic Insights facility heard a deafeningly loud tone in his helmet radio. I could hear muffled curses from outside our storeroom.
Shepard turned on his hardsuit radio, turning it to a channel he and Tali had set up in advance. I followed suit so I could listen.
"This is William Shepard, Citadel Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. You are in violation of three sections of the Noveria colonial charter, as well as five sections of your employment agreement with Elanus Risk Control Services. You are also interfering with a Spectre investigation. You have five minutes to vacate these premises."
