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"This is gonna suck," Valeria grumbled.

Chula, Dakka, Quint, Lia, and General Kurakova stood behind her and looked out across the restaurant. Dakka turned to Valeria and cocked her head.

"Why's it gonna suck?"

Valeria nodded at a turian seated at a table on the far end of the room. "Councilor Sparatus is the only one who'll talk to me. Looks like he wants to make me beg for my job back in public."

"I've heard about this guy before," Chula said, recalling the reports she'd read of the councilor's interactions with Commander Shepard and his crew. "He's kind of a dick, isn't he?"

"Oh, yeah. You'll see it firsthand if you can hear our conversation from here." She sighed. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find out how much shit he's gonna make me eat in front of everyone."

General Kurakova put her hand on Valeria's shoulder. "You sure you don't want me to go with you?"

"Thanks, but this guy's not a big fan of humanity. I figure the fact that I married one of them will antagonize him enough. It certainly did the last time we talked." She patted Kurakova's hand and strode between the tables until she reached Sparatus.

He looked up before she arrived at his table, and Chula turned up her suit's audio pickups to listen in on their conversation.

"Ah, Terakkis. Or, I suppose I should say, 'Ms. Kostmeyer.'" He uttered the last name as if it had just emerged from someone's ass.

"Councilor." She remained stoic, refusing to let him get a rise out of her. "If you recall our conversation on the comm--"

"Oh, I do." He scowled at her and his mandibles twitched. "Your arrogance is astounding, thinking you can walk on and off your job whenever you want."

"That's not why I'm doing this. I already explained my reasons."

"You think the Council will actually allow you to resume your Spectre status 'just this once,' then go back to being a porn star?" He shook his head. "No. Here's how this is going to work. If we reinstate you, it's permanent. You can't come and go whenever it's convenient for you. If we do this for you, you'll work for us from now on."

Valeria winced.

"Bastard," Kurakova muttered.

"That's the deal," Sparatus continued. "If you don't like it, you can go after Kelham without any authority, and be subject to prosecution for any damage, injuries, or deaths you cause while taking him down."

"What a fucking asshole." Dakka clenched her fists. "I'd love to see him take a few dozen ax handles to the face at about three hundred kilometers per hour."

Kurakova snickered, but managed to regain her composure quickly.

"Irving and I still have a contract with Fornax that we have to fulfill."

"Fine. Finish whatever contractual obligations you have, then report to the Spectre office immediately afterward. Or walk away now. What will it be?"

Valeria turned slowly to meet Kurakova's gaze, held it for a moment, then closed her eyes and slouched ever so slightly. She turned back to Sparatus and mumbled, "Agreed. We have four more vids to do, some photo sessions, and a few live perfor--"

The councilor held his hands up. "I don't need to hear any details about the things you do with that human. Just be ready to put it behind you once the last one is finished."

"Fine." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Kurakova rubbed a hand over her forehead. "Oh, Val...."

"Very well. Consider yourself reinstated, but don't forget our agreement."

She nodded, turned, took two steps back toward the door, then stopped. She turned back to Sparatus and said, "Since you obviously dislike humans so much, take what little comfort this might offer you--thousands of one particular human's potential children die inside me every night. Enjoy the rest of your meal." She turned and strode away, leaving him sitting there with his mouth hanging open in shock.

Dakka had a similar expression as she watched Valeria cross the room. "Holy shit."

"Wow," Lia said.

Kurakova walked over to Valeria and gave her a hug. "You shouldn't have done that. We could've found another way to deal with Kelham."

"This is the only way I can think of to make sure we're all covered legally. This business with Kelham is going to be nasty. If I'm not a Spectre when we go after him, we'll be just another bunch of thugs shooting up the Citadel."

Kurakova sighed, but nodded. "Still, I'm sorry you had to do this."

"Don't be. Kelham's the one who's gonna be sorry."

"Damn right, he will."

Dakka rubbed her hands together. "Okay, what's the first move?"

"Kelham will be hard to get to, so first we track down the goon he sent after me." Kurakova smiled a cold little smile. "He'll be able to answer a few questions for us."

Valeria glanced around, leaned in closer, and lowered her voice. "How lucky we are that your friend Tarsus just happened to tell me who to look for."

Dakka chuckled and thumped her right fist into her left palm. "Let's go lean on him, then."

#

"They always run," Valeria said as they approached the Dark Star nightclub. "Be ready to block his escape, but try not to let things get out of hand. There'll be too many innocent bystanders in the way."

Lia held in a sigh and followed everyone else through the door, suspecting that things would likely get out of hand no matter what. It was simply the way her life seemed to work.

"He'll be the one who tries to sneak out the door as soon as he recognizes General Kurakova," Dakka said with a chuckle.

"Oh--and there he goes." Chula nodded at a table in the corner, where a human in a studded vest had just looked up and frozen with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. He stood, slipped behind a half-dozen people heading for the dance floor, and tried to disappear into the crowd.

Lia hesitated, unsure what to do about it. Everything she could think of came with the distinct possibility of several people being caught in the middle.

Dakka, Quint, and Chula immediately headed to the left and waited at the edge of the dance floor for him to emerge. Valeria and the general continued their approach from the right, herding their target toward the other three.

He appeared in front of Chula and froze for a second.

"Hold on." Chula raised her hands. "We just want to talk to you for a moment."

He tried to shove past her. She braced her hand on his shoulder--and he whipped out a huge knife and lashed at her. She dropped into a crouch and the knife slashed through the air a few centimeters above her hat.

She punched him in the crotch, wrenched the knife from his hand as he fell, and stood. She dropped the knife into a pocket and adjusted the angle of her hat.

Everyone nearby took a few steps back. A turian strode toward Chula, but backed off when Valeria showed her Spectre ID.

"Official business." Valeria grasped the man's arm, hauled him up, and headed for the door. "Let's find a nice, private place to talk." She half-dragged him outside and the team followed, leaving everyone else gaping at the door.

Valeria led them to a hallway nearby, at the end of which was a set of restrooms. Chula leaned over to Lia and said, "These places are great for beating the shit out of someone without breaking the bones in your hands. Lots of hard surfaces."

"Ah. Good to know."

The thug's eyes opened wider and he tried to yank his arm out of Valeria's grasp. She opened the door by shoving him face-first into it. Once inside, she turned and slammed him into the metal wall.

Lia glanced around to see if anyone else was in the room. It appeared to be empty, at least for the moment.

"Now, then." Valeria pinned him to the wall with her left forearm across his throat. "Jared Schofield. We'd like to ask you a few questions."

"I--I--I don't know what you're--"

"Don't even start that. I recognize you from security cameras all over Zakera Ward and I scanned your DNA already, which matches what C-Sec has on file from all your previous arrests."

He winced and stopped resisting. "Okay, fine. What do you want?"

Kurakova stepped forward and glared at him. "Do you really need to ask?"

"Look, lady, it was nothing personal. I was just doing what I was told."

"Yes, but you certainly seemed to be enjoying it." Kurakova drew her hand cannon and jammed it against the side of his head. "We know Kelham gave the order. We want him. You're not getting off the hook, but maybe we'll go easy on you if tell us where he is."

Schofield snorted. "Fuck you, lady."

Valeria head-butted him into the wall. He collapsed with a groan and she hauled him up and threw him across the wash basins. She waited for him to regain his senses and snarled, "No, fuck you."

Dakka laughed and leaned over him. "You gonna tell her what she wants to know, or are you gonna let me have a go at you?"

He stared nervously at her, but pulled himself together and sneered at Kurakova. "The hit on you is still on, you know. The second I get loose--"

"Holy shit, really?" Dakka glanced around at the others and shook her head. "Kelham didn't hire this guy for his brains."

"Alright, you had your chance, Schofield. We'll find Kelham without your help." She jerked him back to his feet, drew her gun, and shoved it under his chin. Her talon tightened on the trigger.

"Wait!" Schofield squeezed his eyes shut and cringed. "Alright, alright! He's got a little setup in one of the most damaged sections of Tayseri Ward. He's been spending a lot of time there lately--I don't know why. All I know is, that's where he's been since he found out someone witnessed his little hit-and-run."

"Well, isn't that interesting? Most of Tayseri Ward has been closed for repairs since the Reaper and geth attack in 2183." Valeria glanced around at the others. "When Sovereign exploded, the wreckage impacted all along the entire Ward. It's been two years, and some parts of it still don't have power restored. Very interesting place for a criminal to hang around."

"He's gone to ground," Lia said. "Waiting for Schofield to take care of his witness."

"And I'm not the only one," Schofield said, still cringing and trembling. "Since I didn't get it done, he'll have others looking for her."

"Any specific people we should keep an eye out for?" Valeria pressed the barrel of her gun a little harder into his chin. He rattled off a list of names and Lia recorded them in her Omni-Tool. Valeria nodded at her and turned back to Schofield. "Where in Tayseri Ward is he holed up?"

He mumbled an address and Lia noted it down.

"And what kind of opposition should we expect there?"

"A couple of his lieutenants and maybe a couple dozen guys."

"Armed with what?"

"Submachine guns and assault rifles, mostly. Hand cannons, too. I think a few of 'em might have grenade or rocket launchers."

"What about mech support?" Dakka said. "LOKI or YMIR units, that sort of thing?"

"Not as far as I know, but he's used them before."

"Okay, then. If you're telling us the truth." Valeria jammed her gun right between his eyes.

"I am! I swear! Jesus!"

"Okay. Just one last thing." Valeria shoved him face-first into the counter between two wash basins, grabbed his right arm, and bent it so his hand was nearly touching his shoulder and his elbow jutted out over the sink.

"Wait--what the hell are you doing?" He sucked in several quick breaths and his eyes looked ready to pop out of his skull.

"This is for hurting my Nana." Valeria placed the business end of her gun against the side of his elbow and pulled the trigger.

Lia almost turned away in time to miss the shot. Oh, hell.

Valeria put her gun back on her hip and walked out the door, leaving Schofield sprawled on the floor, screaming.

Kurakova crouched beside him, pointed at the door, and said, "You mess with me, you mess with my whole family." She stood and followed her granddaughter-in-law back into the corridor, and the others filed out after her.

"Keelah," Lia muttered.

"Nice," Dakka said with a chuckle. "Arresting him after that would just be rubbing salt in the wound."

Kurakova nodded. "I think this is payback enough."

"Okay, then." Chula pushed her hat forward a bit. "Let's go find Kelham."

#

"How are they?" Goresk rose to his feet and Takahashi followed almost immediately. Weyland merely turned his head to watch the doctor as she walked over to them.

"Well, Mr. Culver appears to be in good condition." Dr. Michel smiled at Takahashi. "We're keeping him under observation until morning just to be sure, but his brain shows no signs of having been altered by whatever he found in that cave, and his psych eval was well within normal parameters." She turned to Goresk and said, "I'm sorry to say that your friend is in more serious condition. He's showing symptoms of severe depression, and will need extended care."

"I'm not surprised." Goresk sighed. "He was affected by one of the arti--" He cut himself off, looked around, leaned closer to the doctor, and said in a lower voice, "Actually, Malcolm, here, might prefer to discuss it in private. A lot of the wrong people finding out what his husband found caused some of the problems he and the others had there."

"Quite right. Thanks, Goresk. I hadn't even thought of that."

"It's alright. You've got a lot on your mind."

"Okay." Michel waved her hand at the door. "We can talk in my office."

"Thank you, Doctor." Takahashi glanced at Weyland.

"We will remain here to guard Benny."

"Thank you." Takahashi smiled, followed Michel to the door, then stopped and turned back when Goresk stayed where he was. "You're not coming?"

"Well, given what happened back there, I wasn't sure you'd want me around."

"Nah, I'm okay with it. You might have information that can help, too. Come on."

Goresk nodded and followed them through several more doors and into a private office. Michel closed the door and motioned at a pair of chairs in front of her desk.

"Okay, then." She sat behind her desk. "Can you tell me exactly what happened in that cave?"

"I don't think either of us is certain." Goresk took a deep breath and rubbed his hands over his face. "Benny found a collection of artifacts in the cave, and when my team charged in to steal them, one of the things was triggered. I managed to get out in time, but the rest were all exposed to something that made them kill themselves."

Takahashi leaned forward, bracing his arms on his knees and lacing his fingers together. "Benny found the cave several days earlier. He said that when he got close enough to it, something started affecting his mind, filling him with an increasing feeling of dread, like something was trying to trigger a fight-flight response. The mercs I hired to move the artifacts didn't mention feeling the same thing, and I didn't feel it when I approached the cave. So maybe it only affects certain people, or maybe it turned off once he entered the cave. I don't know."

"And Kolos was exposed to the same thing that turned the rest of the crew suicidal?"

"Yeah." Goresk shivered. "He was trying to blow his own head off when Malcolm's mercs found us. One of them, a quarian, disarmed him and knocked him out before he could do it. He wouldn't stop crying and going on about something that's coming to kill everyone."

"Some of the things Benny found there were vid records about an ancient machine race invading the galaxy and harvesting some of the most advanced races, and simply exterminating the rest. We're thinking whatever affected Kolos was something similar--a record of a galaxy-wide extinction, uploaded directly into his brain, somehow." Takahashi shook his head slowly.

"Huh." Michel leaned forward. "I've heard of something like this before, I think."

"Yeah, Chula--one of the people I hired--mentioned a few people who ran into stuff like this a couple years ago. A quarian who served on the SSV Normandy, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, made official reports to the quarian Admiralty Board and the heads of the Alliance; you can probably find a lot of this stuff in those reports--at least, the parts that haven't been redacted. And another crew member, Dr. Liara T'Soni, has a lot of information on this."

Michel nodded. "I've spoken with them and several other members of the Normandy crew. Now I know why this sounded familiar. A Prothean beacon had been excavated on Eden Prime not long before a group of rogue geth attacked the colony. The beacon transferred memories of the fall of the Prothean civilization directly into Commander Shepard's mind. That sounds very much like what happened to Kolos."

"Yeah, it does." Goresk rubbed at a tense spot between his upper eyes. "I've heard about Shepard. He seemed to recover quickly, since he went right back into action."

"I don't know the details, but it's possible that something about his brain in particular was exactly right for the information transfer to happen without causing permanent damage. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to refer this case to Dr. Karin Chakwas, the chief medical officer on the Normandy. She treated Shepard after his exposure to the beacon, and was on the ship through all the following missions, on up through the battle at the Citadel. She and the other command staff of the Normandy know more about this than anyone else."

"I don't really know Kolos very well, but if this'll help him recover and help you figure out what's going on with those records, then go right ahead."

"Thank you." Michel turned to Takahashi. "When Dr. Chakwas hears about this, she'll probably want to have a look at Mr. Culver. If you're still here the next time the Normandy docks at the Citadel...."

"We can hang around here until we find out when she wants to meet us, then we can either do it here or back on Bekenstein."

"Good. I'll let you know as soon as I get a reply from her."

Takahashi nodded, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "I have a feeling we're gonna be opening a huge can of worms with this."

Goresk shook his head. "If this is what we think it is, then that can of worms was opened a billion years ago, or more."

#

"This is as close as we can get without being noticed." Valeria lowered the rapid transit car to the parking platform and shut the engine down. She, Kurakova, and Dakka got out and stretched.

The second car landed a few meters away. Lia, Chula, and Quint joined the other three and looked around.

"Doesn't look too bad from here," Quint said. "Just looks like any other parking lot. Only, y'know, empty. With a little rubble and a few holes in the floor."

"This is the last partially intact section of Tayseri Ward." Valeria put on her helmet and pointed at the far end of the platform. "Through that door, there's nothing but rubble that hasn't been cleaned up yet. No power, either. The repair crews haven't gotten this far."

Dakka pulled up a floorplan on her Omni-Tool. "There's a little over a kilometer of severe damage between us and a somewhat more intact section that Kelham's using as his hideout. Some of the buildings are mostly intact, others are only half-destroyed, so there'll be enough cover."

General Kurakova put her helmet on, grinned, took the lead, and pulled the Mattock assault rifle from her back. "Let's go say hi."

They passed through the door and began climbing over rubble or making their away around larger chunks. Everyone remained silent, scanning every few minutes for cameras or enemy scouts.

"Nice place," Quint finally muttered as they passed a particularly large slab of what used to be a skyscraper.

"Ecch," Dakka grumbled. "It reminds me of Tuchanka. Fuck that planet."

"That's your home, though." Valeria glanced over her shoulder at Dakka.

"The Sulaco is my home. Tuchanka is just the place where I spent the first ninety years of my existence. My life didn't truly begin until I left and never looked back. Which brings me back to, Fuck that planet."

"Huh. Interesting." Valeria chuckled and continued on silently.

They had almost reached the edge of Kelham's territory when Kurakova abruptly held up a clenched fist. Everyone froze. She pointed off to the right. Dakka turned in that direction and her helmet zoomed in and amplified what little light was available.

Ah-hah. Two humans carrying rifles standing on the balcony of what used to be an apartment building, ten floors above the ground. They leaned against the rail, staring out over the landscape and looking bored as all hell.

Everyone ducked behind a pile of wrecked rapid-transit cars. Chula leaned out long enough to take a look at the terrain ahead of them.

"They'll see us if we go any farther."

"I've got this." Dakka crept off to the right and headed for the building.

"I don't know about this," Kurakova said softly. "Krogan aren't known for being stealthy."

"Dakka's not your typical krogan." Quint had an audible grin in his voice. "Though, to be fair, the last time she tried to sneak up on someone, she startled him at the last second and he blew himself up with his own grenade launcher."

Kurakova tried to hold in a snicker. "Sorry I wasn't there to see it."

"Dakka sure thought it was funny."

Hell yeah, I did. She kept quiet and concentrated on her approach. She reached the building without making a sound, and searched for a way in. There was a ladder attached to the wall that looked promising, either part of the fire escape or for maintenance. She held on to it, put her left foot on the bottom rung, and lifted herself slowly, expecting it to creak or even tear out of the wall.

It remained solid and didn't make a sound.

She grinned and climbed the ladder until she'd reached the tenth floor. A glance to the left showed her that the two mooks were still on the balcony.

"How much longer before we're relieved?" one of them grumbled.

"Five minutes less than the last time you asked." The other guy sighed. "I dunno why we're even here. Nobody knows Kelham's here. Even if C-Sec knows, he's got their boss in his pocket, so there's really nothing to worry about."

"Eh, that's mostly because of Kelham's new associates. Honestly, I'm okay with a boring job like this because it keeps me far away from them."

"Yeah, you've got a point. Those fuckers give me the creeps. I know we're all on the same page and all, but there's just something about them that's a little off."

Dakka stepped off the ladder and onto a ledge under a shattered window. She grasped the sill, shimmied along the ledge to the balcony, and crouched on a large planter built into the wall, carefully positioning her feet between the overturned potted plants. She waited ten seconds, but the mooks hadn't noticed her presence.

In the most conversational tone she could manage, she said, "What's up?"

Both men screamed like little children and spun toward her, flailing their arms around and opening their eyes wide. The one on the right farted and pissed himself.

Dakka laughed at him, looked at the other guy, and waved. "Hi."

He seemed to remember the rifle in his hands, and aimed it at her. She grabbed the potted plant beside her left foot and clocked him upside the head with it.

"Bonk!"

He sprawled on the floor, out cold. Dakka giggled, tossed the shattered pot over her shoulder, and hopped off the planter. The guy raised his gun, almost dropped it, and Dakka yanked it out of his trembling hands before he could aim it. She clamped her hand onto his shoulder.

"Hey, my friends and I would like a word with your boss. Where is he?"

"Your friends?"

"Down there." She turned him to face them and pointed. They stepped out from behind cover. Kurakova holstered her Mattock and pulled her Widow anti-material rifle from the slot beside it. Dakka pointed at her and said, "That's General Kurakova. From what I hear, she's a crack shot with that sniper rifle."

"Kura--" The guy's eyes nearly popped out of his skull again. "Oh, shit."

"Ah, you can guess why we're here, then?"

He nodded.

"Good. Then you'll take us to Kelham, won't you?"

He nodded again.

"Good." She steered him into the apartment and down the stairs. When they reached her team, she said, "This nice gentleman agreed to escort us to his employer."

"We'd really appreciate that." Valeria stepped up to him and grabbed his lapel. "In case you don't know who I am, the woman Kelham's been trying to kill is my grandmother-in-law. And I'm a Spectre." She held her pistol up in front of him, not quite aiming at him, but making sure he was aware of its presence. "Just so we know where we stand."

"I do, I do, I do! Absolutely!"

"Alright, then. Lead the way."

He nodded and walked ahead of them, leading them through the streets to a less-damaged building a few blocks away.

"Ugh," Quint grumbled. "Jesus, Dakka. Did you have to knock out the one who didn't shit himself?"

"No, I had to knock out the one who was trying to shoot me."

"Okay, fair enough."

She chuckled and gave his ass a playful swat.

"We're almost there," the mook said, keeping his quavering voice low. "He's in that hotel. Lots of cushy rooms, plenty of other rooms to use as office space, storage, or whatever. Big kitchen, even several swimming pools and exercise rooms."

Dakka looked the building over. It was hard to miss the lights in some of the windows. "You got power restored here?"

"At first it was just some portable generators, but when Kelham started working with his new associates, they got the building hooked up to the Citadel power grid."

"Without the power reroute being detected?" Chula whistled softly. "Now that's impressive."

The mook pointed. "He usually stays on the top floor--well, the top undamaged floor."

"Good. We'll go straight to--" Valeria stopped suddenly, looking off to the left.

Dakka turned in time to catch a glimpse of a civilian-model Mako parking in front of the hotel.

"Ah," Valeria said, "if that's still here when we drag Kelham out of his little hidey-hole, we'll have a much faster way back to civilization."

Quint snickered.

Dakka's stomachs churned at the thought of riding in one of those goddamned things. Before she could say anything about it, three more of Kelham's men got out of the Mako, two of them dragging a handcuffed man between them.

"What the hell?" Valeria drew in a sharp breath. "That's Irving!"

Dakka zoomed in on them and sure enough, the guy in handcuffs was Irving Kostmeyer. His face was bruised, his nose bleeding, and his expression dazed.

"Oh, no," Kurakova whispered.

"That son of a bitch has my husband!"

Kurakova exchanged the Widow for her Mattock and checked its thermal clip. "We'll soon fix that."

"Goddamned right, we will." Valeria glanced around at the others and marched across the street. "Let's go."