Freelancers, Chapter 24
#26 of Freelancers (Mass Effect fanfiction)
"We're almost there, kiddo." Rhoa's deep yet still feminine voice jolted Trent's attention away from his worries. She settled the car into a space in the parking lot, shut down the engine, and glanced over her shoulder at him. "You still seem spooked."
"Her message said it was an urgent matter, but she wouldn't tell me what it was about. So it's probably not a session." Trent ran a hand through his hair. "Damn, what if she's pregnant? I'm not ready for that."
Rhoa laughed. "I think Councillor Tevos would know better than to initiate a pregnancy while she's still in office. At least, without being in a solid relationship first. Especially with a ... what's your job called, these days? Personal escort?"
"People keep coming up with new euphemisms for it." Trent shrugged as he brushed a few stray hairs back into place and put his hand on the door handle. "Depends on the client, I guess. But you're probably right, she wouldn't subject herself to the kind of scandal she'd face if she got knocked up by a high-end hooker." His age would make it even worse, at least in places like the Citadel and Earth, where the laws didn't have the kind of wiggle room they had on Illium. Tevos was smart enough not to let that happen.
Besides, she'd never done that weird mind-meld thing with him. He couldn't really get his head around how asari sexuality and reproduction worked, but it was mostly mental, and if she'd chosen to become pregnant, he would've been aware of it the instant it happened. Most of their sessions hadn't amounted to much more than quiet conversations, holding hands or cuddling in front of the fireplace, sipping non-alcoholic drinks and watching the artificial sunset - quiet, relaxing things she'd needed to wash days or weeks worth of stress from her mind. The few times they'd actually had sex, it had been purely physical. So his worries of finding out he was about to become a daddy were merely a momentary panicked reaction.
"Exactly." Rhoa winked at him. "Maybe she's just had a really bad morning and needed a quick bang."
"Which I'll be more than happy to provide." He grinned and leaned toward her. She met him halfway and they kissed. They smiled at each other and got out of the car. Rhoa moved her head around to work a kink out of her thick neck and then stretched. She'd taken off her Eclipse armor before picking him up to avoid tipping off any potential witnesses that she was an active merc, and had put on tight cargo shorts and a muscle shirt. She also wore heavy boots in case she needed to deliver an ass-kicking.
Trent paused to watch her for a moment and grinned.
Most asari were slender and elegant, even those who worked for the military or merc corporations, but Rhoa was quite unlike any other he'd ever met. She was tall and broad-shouldered, with a thick waist, biceps nearly as big as his head, and thighs that looked like they could shatter a coconut. She'd always been fairly buff, but had started working extra hard to build up her muscles over the last couple of years. He wondered - not for the first time - if she'd started it after finding out he was attracted to muscular women.
She leaned against the car, gazed at the small park beyond the edge of the parking lot, and took a slow breath. She caught him staring at her and grinned, her teeth brilliant against her dark blue skin. She flexed her muscles and made a kissy face at him.
"Beautiful." He smiled.
"Better not keep your client waiting." Rhoa laughed softly and nodded at the cottage in the middle of the private park. "I'll be here if you need me."
"See you in a bit." Still grinning, he turned and entered the park. He followed the tidy gravel pathway running through a patch of trees to the cottage.
Rhoa had changed in other ways since she became his personal bodyguard. At first, she'd been cold, distant, almost bored even when taking advantage of the free sessions that came as part of the payment for her services. It had taken him a while to begin to understand why. Learning about the kinds of battles she'd been in, the people she'd killed, and having to commit a murder just to join Eclipse in the first place ... it had explained a lot, once he'd gotten her to talk about her past.
But that first murder was four hundred years ago. She'd grown warm, gentle, and even playful in the last two years, making it hard to believe she was the same person back then.
He liked to think he was the main reason for the change, but it was probably spending those two years in a job that didn't require being shot at or killing anyone, and hardly ever put her in a position where she had to physically harm someone at all. It was probably just brought on by the relaxed atmosphere of her new gig.
He hopped up the front steps and onto the shaded porch. He reached out to the small hard-light panel beside the door, tapped the doorbell icon, and shifted mental gears to focus on Tevos. He turned to take a slow look around the flower garden and the surrounding trees, and smiled. I love this place. Even though it was located in a part of the Citadel populated mostly by asari, it was like having a calm, quiet little piece of Earth on the massive space station.
Quite a few asari - and many other aliens on the Citadel, for that matter - seemed to have a disdain for humanity, but while Tevos remained somewhat aloof in public, she'd once admitted to him that she'd acquired a fondness for certain parts of Earth and human cultures. She'd had this cottage and its surrounding park set up as a place for her to get away from politics and unwind. And, once a mutual acquaintance had introduced her to Trent, they'd used it for their occasional hookups.
Hmm. Maybe someone found out what we've been doing here. Maybe that's the urgent matter._He dismissed it a second later. _No, if that had happened, she wouldn't want to meet here again.
The door swung open. Trent knew by now that it was operated from a control panel in the living room so Tevos could stay out of sight, just in case. He stepped through, closed the door, and turned to the right.
"Hey, how're ...?" He stopped and stared into the cozy room. Tevos usually waited on the sofa at the back wall, but this time she stood at the end of the wood coffee table, wearing a simple gold sweater with a flower pattern rather than her typical formal attire, to make herself harder to recognize.
A turian woman sat on the sofa. She wore a simple cloak with the hood concealing most of her face, but it wasn't hard to guess who she was.
Siana.
Councillor Sparatus's wife.
_What the hell?_He never discussed his clients with his other clients, at least not in anything but the most general terms, such as mentioning to Lia'Vael that he had a frequent quarian client. One of them couldn't have found out about another unless they happened to be talking about a recent session and figured it out themselves.
Well, at least that means it's not my fault. He tried to force his startled expression away and replace it with a smile.
"Hello there, ladies. What's going on?"
"Good afternoon, Trent." Tevos glanced at the already tinted windows as if to double-check them, and then walked forward to greet him with a kiss. She motioned at the sofa and added, "You've already met Siana."
"Yes." Siana pulled the hood back and let it flop over her shoulders. "Trent introduced me to the medication that prevents anaphylactic shock when dextro-based species mate with levo-based ones." Siana chuckled. "He introduced me to many other things, as well."
Trent grinned and gave her a theatrical bow. He sat beside her, gave her a kiss, and put his hand on top of hers as he turned to raise an eyebrow at Tevos.
"I apologize for catching you off guard." Tevos sat on his other side, sandwiching him between her and Siana. "There was no way to warn you without bringing up details all three of us want kept quiet."
"I understand. Someone could've overheard you or seen you typing the message. The message could've been intercepted. All sorts of things could've happened."
"Exactly."
"Well, now that my pulse has returned to normal, what brings all three of us together?" He laughed and reached over to lace his fingers between hers.
"This." Tevos tapped a control panel on the coffee table's surface and sat back with a sigh. A holographic image appeared above the table and Trent's heart twitched as he found himself staring at an image of him and Siana having sex, with Sparatus clearly visible in the background.
Someone recorded us._Trent flicked a glance at Siana and Tevos, and tried to keep his breathing steady. _Uh-oh.
"Well, Kenn certainly has quite a story to tell his family when they arrive," Chula said as she, Lia, and Sidonis stepped out of the young quarian's room and into the corridor.
"Heh. I wonder if they'll think a lot of it was a fever-dream or something brought on by the pain medication. They'll probably never believe a geth helped save his life." Lia chuckled. "Well, I just hope he has a speedy recovery and gets his Pilgrimage back on track right away."
"Maybe when he's well enough to leave the hospital," Sidonis said, "he could search for one of the information depositories you mentioned a while ago. Might at least give him a direction to start off in and see what else he discovers along the way."
"Hmm, that's a good idea." Chula stuck her hands into her pockets as the three of them strolled into Huerta Memorial's huge admissions lobby. "He may not be too eager to go back into the Terminus Systems after being stuck there for so long and taking a shotgun blast to the side on the way out, and I wouldn't want to suggest it for the same reason. And in Citadel space, he probably wouldn't be allowed to land and poke around anywhere just because he's a quarian."
"Maybe he could join one of the research teams that are being put together," Lia said. "He could pilot their shuttle or drive a ground vehicle when they land. And handle on-the-spot repairs if an emergency comes up. Maybe even find unconventional ways to get past obstacles like locked doors and whatnot."
"That could work. We can run the idea by Malcolm and Dr. T'Lura and see if it goes anywhere." Chula's Omni-Tool beeped softly as they reached the far end of the room and filed through the door. She checked the first of the messages that had just come through and burst out laughing. "Oh, this is awesome. I just heard from Jondum Bau - the salarian Spectre who was rooting for me during my sparring match with Tela Vasir. He's just learned that I fractured her pelvis when I ended the fight."
Sidonis winced. "That's kind of horrifying. But I've heard of Vasir. She probably had it coming."
"She did." Chula pushed her hat forward slightly. "The bitch picked the fight in the first place, then she sucker-punched me and started stomping me while I was down. Once I got back on my feet, I kicked her in the crotch as hard as I possibly could. Didn't realize I hit her hard enough to break bones, but finding out I did just makes the whole thing that much more satisfying." She smiled and loaded the next message as they reached the elevator. She leaned against the back wall, read it, and pushed herself upright abruptly. "Whoa."
"What is it?" Lia paused with her finger hovering over the control panel. "Has something else gone wrong already?"
"Tali'Zorah wants to see me and Valeria. I talked to her about the derelict ship we found. She said she'd do some checking around, and must've turned something up." She leaned over to select a specific level on the control panel.
"Ah, good. I hope it's resolved quickly." Lia selected another level. "I'll bring our idea to Malcolm and Dr. T'Lura while you're meeting with Tali'Zorah."
Chula nodded. "I'll let you know if she's found anything useful."
The elevator stopped on the floor Chula had selected. She stepped through the door, waved at Lia and Sidonis, and hurried through the corridors to the cafe Tali had directed her toward. She found the Normandy's chief engineer and its captain occupying a table on the balcony at the far end of the cafe, overlooking a park with neatly trimmed bushes, hedges, and trees. The balcony jutted out over the park and the transparent floor offered a spectacular view. Commander Shepard held a cup of coffee in his left hand and held Tali'Zorah's hand in the other, while Tali sipped a sterilized drink from a straw through a protective membrane in her helmet.
Off to the left, Valeria and Irving emerged from the tables on the main floor. They spoke softly to each other, nuzzled each other's cheeks, and Irv headed for the counter. Valeria continued on to the balcony table, and Shepard nodded and motioned at one of the two vacant chairs.
Chula reached the table as Valeria sat.
"Hello again," Tali said. "My contact on the Admiralty Board had some information you two would be interested in."
"I hope it's not as unsettling as I'm expecting it to be." Chula plopped onto the remaining chair, slouched back slightly, and adjusted the angle of her hat.
"Thanks for exploring other avenues, by the way," Val said to Chula. "This'll give my investigation a big head start." Her Omni-Tool beeped and she twitched and silenced the alarm. "Sorry. Time for my medication." She pulled a small vial from her belt pouch, snapped the end off, and chugged the liquid inside. "Don't worry, I'm not sick or anything. It prevents many of the unfortunate reactions that can happen when a human and a turian ... you know."
Tali nodded. "I've just recently discovered it and had Mordin whip up a prescription for me and one for Shepard. I need to keep taking other meds and supplements for my immune system problems, but this stuff works wonders for the dextro-levo issue." She nodded her helmet toward Shepard and one of her glowing eyes winked.
Hmm. I should've thought of that. Chula wasn't exactly a virgin, but she'd never taken off her envirosuit during the few times she'd had sex. The suit's neuro-stim system was awesome, but it was probably no substitute for the real thing. I should run over to Dr. Michel's clinic and see if I can get my own prescription, then look up the consort Lia spent the night with next time we're on Illium.
"So," Val said, getting the conversation back on track, "what have you found?"
"I spoke with Admiral Shala'Raan after Chula brought the attack on the geth ship to my attention. She has no direct evidence, but her primary suspects are Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh and Admiral Han'Gerrol vas Neema. Han's involvement in the attack wouldn't surprise me, but it would very much sadden me. He's a longtime friend of my family and he supported me through a very difficult time recently, but he's also been insistent on taking back our homeworld by force and may be hawkish enough to order an attack to provoke a retaliation and use it as an excuse to launch a full assault on Rannoch."
Chula shivered. "He's_got_ to know how dangerous that is."
"I'd certainly hope so, but if he's overconfident enough ... who knows?" Tali sighed.
Shepard shook his head slowly. "I'd hate to find out he's responsible for this. I don't agree with him on going to war with the geth, but other than that he seemed like a reasonable guy. And he was there for Tali while most of the Admiralty Board wanted to throw her to the wolves for the sake of their own political pissing contest."
Valeria nodded. "I learned the specifics of the case when my Spectre status was reinstated. I'm relieved you got through that mess unscathed, Ms. vas Normandy."
"Thank you. And it's just 'Tali.'"
"Okay. And Admiral Daro'Xen?"
"She never clamored for war like Han'Gerrol, but she wants to figure out a way to take control of the geth and turn them into an army to serve the quarians. Or, more likely, to serve her."
"Admiral Xen sent me a rather disturbing message after that whole mess with the _Alarei_was cleared up," Shepard added. "She hinted that her ambitions are bigger than just retaking Rannoch. I got the impression that she wants to use the geth to conquer other worlds as well."
"It took only two conversations with her to convince me that she's insane." Tali sighed and gave Shepard's hand a squeeze. "She talked about performing surgery on her toys when she was a child. And that wasn't even the most disturbing thing she said."
"Hmm." Valeria glanced at Chula. "She doesn't sound like she'd be interested in a full-scale war with the geth, though it's possible she'd try to provoke them so she'd have an excuse to conduct experiments on the geth to find a way to control them."
"We recently ran into a Cerberus cell who were trying to control the geth," Shepard said. "It worked out about as well as you'd expect. The project lead and his brother were the only survivors."
"Despite how my people feel about the geth - and how I felt until recently - the geth are a sapient species. Controlling them - enslaving_them - would be wrong." Tali finished her drink, stared at the tumbler, and turned the straw slowly. "I didn't learn about this until my conversation with Shala, but Daro'Xen was in on the experiments the crew of the _Alarei were conducting on the geth. She wasn't directly involved, but she was 'in the loop,' as the humans say."
"Well, this certainly gives me a good place to start. Thank you." Valeria cocked her head. "I admit I'm a little surprised that you two aren't looking into this yourselves."
"I'm probably too close to it not to let my emotions get in the way," Tali said with another sigh. "Only a few months ago, the Admiralty put me on trial for treason even though I wasn't involved in the experiments being done on the Alarei. Experiments that got my father killed. I'm not sure I'd be able to conduct a proper investigation."
"And I wouldn't ask Tali to deal with any of this so soon after the ordeal she went through." Shepard patted the back of Tali's hand. "And I admit I'm not exactly neutral toward them, emotionally. I got a little heated the last time I spoke to them during Tali's trial."
"Which I thought was_really_ sexy." Tali laughed softly, and he grinned.
"I'm not sure I'd trust myself not to start a war of my own." Shepard looked up at Valeria. "I've read your personnel file, and I think you'll do an admirable job. You're one of the few Spectres I've met who is interested in doing what's right, using the proper methods."
"Thank you, Commander. I'll do everything I can to prevent this from erupting into a war."
Chula glanced at Valeria and smiled. "Well, it looks like we may have our next gig lined up already."
Trent stared slack-jawed at the vid record. It was his and Siana's first time together, a little over a year ago, but he remembered every moment of it. Being watched by her husband was damned creepy, but the rest of the experience was so incredible that he'd been able to forget Sparatus was there through most of it. Siana had continued seeing him each time he came to the Citadel with his family, but Sparatus hadn't been anywhere near them after that first night.
Judging by how irritated he looked in this video, Trent could guess why. He'd been completely okay with her husband's absence, though - it made the whole thing a little less creepy, even though Sparatus was aware of their meetings. And given the weird shit many politicians had been caught doing over the years, Trent considered himself lucky that this was as kinky as his sessions with Siana had ever gotten.
He pulled his gaze away from the video and raised an eyebrow again. "How did this get recorded?"
"Our apartment is swept for surveillance devices regularly," Siana said, keeping her voice low. "I'm not sure how this one kept getting missed."
"Considering who planted it - or had it planted - I'm not all that surprised." Tevos sighed again and rubbed her free hand over her face. "For all we know, she bugged that apartment five hundred years ago. The device was vastly outdated technology, so I'm thinking that's how the scans kept missing it. We'd never have known it was there if she hadn't finally pulled the trigger on this."
Trent's pulse revved up again. "This is bad. If this gets out, most of my clients could be arrested. And once word about it gets around, I won't be able to land any new ones. I won't be able to keep doing this." Well, maybe on Illium and various other worlds in the Terminus Systems, but pressure from outside could make it risky. And he didn't want to have to start over, anyway. His regular clients were good, kind-hearted women whom he enjoyed spending time with. He didn't want them getting into the kind of trouble this would land them in.
"There's no need to worry about that, at least." Tevos managed a hint of a smile. "The person who contacted us about this isn't trying to expose us. She stated flat out that she doesn't really care. She just wanted to coerce me and Sparatus into ... changing our stance on a recent issue that has come up. This just happened to be the method she used."
"Once I got my dear husband to spill everything to me," Siana added, "I'm almost thankful this happened. You don't want to know what this is about - you'd never sleep well again, believe me. But this could result in a positive change." She flicked a narrow-eyed glance at Tevos. "Now that I know what's going on, I think that 'change in stance' is exactly what's needed at this point."
Tevos winced, sighed, stared at a spot on the floor, and finally nodded.
"This morning, some serious evidence against my position caught me off guard. It's good to be skeptical, but I think I carried it too far. Even after seeing the evidence, my instant reaction was to brush it off. Maybe the problem Sparatus and I have is we simply didn't want to admit we might be wrong, even to ourselves." She shook her head slowly and flicked her hand toward the still-running video. "Having this dropped on us may have been the exact wake-up call we needed."
Huh."Well, if this really does change things for the better, then ... okay. I just hope neither of you catch any more fallout from this."
"As do I." Siana gave his hand a squeeze. "I also hope this doesn't mean we have to stop meeting."
"If we can do it without getting you into any trouble. We'll need to be really careful. But I hope we can." Trent tossed her a lopsided grin. "It's not easy to find women who have the particular taste I service."
Siana chuckled. "I'm really bad at guessing the age of most aliens, so it never even occurred to me at first. I just assumed you were a short human." She glanced away and cleared her throat. "I also don't like to admit it, but it's not easy finding humans who are willing to try it with a turian. I've been with other aliens before, but I wanted to try a human. You were the first one Sparatus and I met who was agreeable to the idea."
"I was?" Trent raised his eyebrow again. "Well, those other guys don't know what they're missing."
"Sweet-talker." She laughed and leaned over to nudge her head gently against his. She started to say something else, but then the video caught her attention. "Oh, that's getting to my favorite part."
The sound had been muted, but the way his and Siana's faces contorted in the video made it very clear what was happening. Trent thrust himself against her one more time, shuddered, and opened his mouth in a silent moan. He and Siana whispered something to each other, he nuzzled and kissed her, and then he continued moving with a wicked grin. Siana's eyes opened wider and her mandibles twitched apart slightly.
Hah. That sure surprised her._Thanks to the "boosters" he'd started taking, he had been able to continue making love to her. It was the same thing Irving Kostmeyer had started using while making vids with his wife, and had in fact been developed with funding from _Fornax, just like the chirality-compatibility medication
After a few more moments, Siana hunched forward, wrapped her arms around him, squeezed her eyes shut, and opened her mouth. She continued convulsing slightly for nearly thirty seconds before finally flopping back on the bed and gasping for breath while Trent leaned over her and stroked her face.
As he watched, Trent grinned at both the vid and the memory. One of my finest moments, if I do say so myself.
Tevos stared at the image, tugged on her collar, picked up a tablet, and fanned herself with it.
Siana laughed again. "My own husband hasn't been able to give me an orgasm in nearly a decade and a half, but this alien I barely knew made me come so hard, I couldn't even breathe."
_Ouch._Trent tried not to wince.
Tevos continued staring. "So I see."
Siana seemed to realize what she'd just said, and rubbed a hand over her face. "I shouldn't have said that about him. I'm just so frustrated with him right now." She shook her head. "He's not the same man I married. I think the job has changed him. He was once so much warmer, kinder, more caring and compassionate."
"I imagine the stress of being one of the leaders of a huge chunk of the galaxy takes a toll." Trent put his hand on her shoulder.
"It seems to have, yes. There's a part of me that sees the man I love somewhere in him, but most of the time it's pretty hard to find. He seems to always be thinking about the 'bigger picture,' and hardly ever about me. But after only a few minutes with you, you made me feel like we'd been in love for a lifetime."
"Aw, thanks." He smiled and clasped her hand.
A soft tone filled the air and both of them glanced at Tevos. She poked at her Omni-Tool, read the notice on its interface, and dismissed it.
"I wish I had time for more, Trent, but I was only able to clear a small space in my schedule today. I wanted to be sure you knew about this so you wouldn't be caught by surprise later, and so you could warn your other clients to take additional precautions. I need to get back to the embassy and set about the business of correcting my and Sparatus's misjudgment of recent events." She gave him a slight smile. "Will you be on the Citadel much longer?"
"My parents are leaving for Illium in the morning, so it'll be a few months before we come back for my uncle's birthday."
"Well, send me the exact date when you can, and I'll be sure to clear a whole afternoon in my schedule, or more if I'm able to. I'm sure I'll be needing your services by then." She glanced at Siana and smiled. "If you both have the time for it, feel free to use this cottage. Just don't forget to lock the door when you leave."
"Well, Siana, if you've already taken the compatibility medication ...?"
"I have, indeed." She nodded at the holo-projection. "I wasn't planning on it due to the circumstances, but seeing that vid has put me into the proper mood."
"Me, too. I've got the time if you've got the time."
"I can spare a few hours."
Tevos patted Trent's shoulder and stood. He held her hands for a moment and then put his arms around her. They held each other for at least a full minute. Finally, Tevos took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and released him.
"I needed that. I think I can face the rest of the day now." She kissed him. "Thank you."
"Any time." He smiled, watched her vanish down the hallway to the hidden exit she always used, and turned back to Siana.
She stood, stroked his cheek, and slipped her cloak off. She removed the rest of her clothes slowly, returned to the sofa, and held a hand out to him.
He joined her and grinned.Damn, I love my job.
Lia stepped into the lab and stopped in her tracks when Malcolm turned around and raised a finger to his lips. He smiled and pointed at a desk across the room, where Dr. T'Lura sat. She was slumped forward, her head resting on her crossed arms, snoring ever so softly. Malcolm walked over to Lia and Sidonis and chuckled.
"She was awake for I don't even know how many hours," he whispered. "She tried to resist, she really did, but when she finally fell asleep, everybody thought it was best to let her get the rest she needs." He nodded over his shoulder at the rest of the research team, seated at a bank of consoles, chatting softly and tapping buttons.
Lia nodded. "Yeah, she wouldn't be of much help if she's dozing off while trying to work. So, how goes it?"
"We're just getting started, but we've already got several business partners interested in finding some of those information depositories. Some are thinking of the potential profits to be made, others are thinking about the technological advances we could make by reverse-engineering whatever tech we might find, and a few just think it'd be awesome to explore dead worlds where no one has walked in thousands of years." He grinned and motioned at Dr. T'Lura. "Raena's contacting her most trusted friends and colleagues and trying to talk them into working with her on this. We're hoping she can get a team together right away and get the funding we need to hire your crew to escort them into one of the locations in the Terminus Systems."
"That's good news. I hope we're available when you're ready."
"Might take a few more days. If you're already on another job, that's not a problem, but we'd like to give you the first crack at it because you helped us get the whole thing started."
"Thanks." Lia grinned and clapped him gently on the shoulder. "We really appreciate that. And if you need an extra hand, there's a quarian in Huerta Memorial who could help you out once he's recovered from his wounds."
"Oh yeah, the kid you guys rescued on Omega. I imagine he's handy with computers and gadgets and whatnot?"
"He is. Most quarians are pretty good with tech stuff. He's on his Pilgrimage, but doesn't have the means to continue his journey. I thought you might be able to help each other out."
"Sounds good." Malcolm smiled and activated his Omni-Tool. "If you'll give me his contact info, I'll send him an email and see if he's interested. It could never hurt to have another tech expert, especially one who's not an academic - different point of view, seeing ancient alien technology from a different perspective, and all that. Could actually make all the difference in the world."
"I'm sure he'll be thrilled to have an opportunity like this lined up when he's discharged." Lia brought up the comm number for Kenn's room on her Omni-Tool and sent it to Malcolm's.
"Thanks. I'll contact him right away." Malcolm beamed. "It's actually surprising how fast things are falling into place, given how resistant I've heard the Council has been. It's the weirdest thing - all of a sudden, they've begun going out of their way to cooperate. They're putting together expeditions to track down the depositories in their own sections of Citadel space, working with Admiral Hackett to make a joint effort here and there, and Councillor Tevos has even arranged a patrol route for the Destiny Ascension that'll take it to several of the locations listed in the records Benny found." He arched an eyebrow and chuckled. "Though that last one probably has more to do with Captain Lidanya forcing the issue than anything else."
Lia laughed. "Yeah, it was hard to miss the chewing-out she gave Tevos during the meeting. That took a lot of nerve. Or maybe just a lot of frustration."
"I bet it was satisfying, though," Sidonis said.
Malcolm nodded emphatically. "It's not every day you get to verbally unload on one of the leaders of the galaxy in front of a room full of people and get away with it."
"Yeah." Lia took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's good to see things working out, for a change."
"It certainly is." Sidonis took a slow look around the lab and sighed. "I wonder how long it'll last."
"Probably not long." Lia chuckled and gave his shoulder a light whap. "But I'll take whatever hope I can get."
"I couldn't agree more." Malcolm smiled and motioned at one of the consoles on his left. "I'll write up a message for Kenn and let you know as soon as we find out anything about the expedition."
"Thanks. We'll see you soon, then." Lia turned to the door and grinned at Sidonis. "Let's meet up with the rest of the crew and see what kind of trouble we can get into next."