In the Hero's Shadow

Foreword:

It may surprise readers to know that preparing compilations of Shepard's personal logs for limited release is a complicated and involved undertaking. From compiling related logs, to coding them into a format that can be read by various programs in multiple languages, to the inevitable research required to provide the origin ofsome obscure minutiae or musical piece that Shepard invariably refers to—this takes a great deal of time. Time that I have less and less of, given the increasing demands and responsibilities I have to bear. Chief amongst those demands is balancing the conflicting priorities of those whowould see greater galactic cooperation between species and those who would prefer a stronger advocacy forhumanity on the galactic stage.

Providence offered an unexpected, but most assuredly welcome, answer to my plight. The series of personal logs pertaining to the next mission I had intended to edit and submit had already been reviewed by Dr. Liara T'Soni of the Asari Republics. After reviewing Dr. T'Soni's work, I could not find it in myself to change any of her additions, whether factual or grammatical. In fact, I believe it offers a more personal and firsthand account than I would be able to provide myself. To those who raise the inevitable criticisms that this constitutes a security risk to the Systems Alliance and a detrimental blow to humanity's interest, I would like to point out that Dr. T'Soni has been granted security clearance equivalent to, if not exceeding, most of the Alliance diplomatic and military community. This clearance has been earned and proven time and time again.

As for those parties who have been clamouring for this move under the auspices of further inter-species diplomacy, I offer an ancient human aphorism: be careful what you wish for.

I trust readers will find the following logs both informative and enlightening.

Sincerely,

David Anderson

Councillor, Citadel Council

Editorial Note:

My name is Dr. Liara T'Soni, and I have the honour and privilege of counting Commander Shepard amongst my closest and most trusted friends.

At the time of this submission, I was in a period of introspection, reviewing the events and decisions that had shaped my life thus far. I found it striking that several of the events that shaped the course of my life included Shepard's presence and participation—whether direct or otherwise. After all, humans, like so many other species, live a mere fraction of an asari's lifespan. But as a student of history, current events and knowledge, perhaps I should not find that surprising. While they may be amongst the youngest races of the galactic community, they have more than compensated for their initial inexperience and physical limitations with an impressive degree of adaptability, an inexhaustible sense of curiosity and wonder, and an unrelenting drive, determination and ambition that is unsurpassed. Shepard, in particular, embodies all of these qualities in the most positive sense, so it is no wonder that he had such an influential impact on my life.

In the course of my introspection, I uncovered an early draft of Shepard's private logs, detailing his personal thoughts, opinions and perspectives on one of the pivotal moments of my life. I must confess to reading it over and over again, each time marvelling at how he saw things. Remembering the events through my own eyes. Examining my decisions and debating whether I would have made different choices with the knowledge and experience I now possess.

It was when I caught myself making annotations that I took a moment to reconsider my actions. Did this constitute an invasion of Shepard's privacy? Was I selfish in using Shepard's personal thoughts as a means of coming to terms with my own life? What right did I have to boldly dig through his history to better understand my own? It was with those questions in mind that I went to Shepard and apprised him of my actions.

Rather than berate or scold me, Shepard was sympathetic to my plight. He admitted that he used these personal logs as a means to 'decompress,' if not figure out 'how [he] got into so many messes and disasters.' He told me that if they had a similar effect on me, then I was welcome to peruse his words and thoughts, and that he trusted me to exercise the appropriate amount of discretion.

I humbly took him up on his generous offer and refined the draft into a more polished final transcript. As he had hoped, I found it a cathartic and enlightening experience. It is with similar gratitude and appreciation that I present these logs to those with sufficient security clearance. I have tried to maintain a balance between objective editorial changes—such as dividing the logs into chapters for easier reading and the inclusion of certain footnotes for factual clarification—and personal, subjective additions. Any failure to do so reflects on me entirely.

Sincerely,

Dr. Liara T'Soni

Chapter 1: How Quickly Things Change

I think I figured out the real reason why Miranda likes to be on top.

It isn't because she's a control freak (though she is. I would never phrase it that way because Mom didn't raise a fool, but she kinda is. Oddly enough, it's one of the things I love about her). It isn't because she wants to put on a show (though I'd be the last one to complain about the view).

No, she likes to be on top because she's smart enough to avoid giving herself carpet burns.

It could be worse, mind you. At least I heal fast, thanks to all the mods I've got. And the view's great. And, most importantly, the sex is fantastic. (1)

By the time I got up, Miranda had already gotten up, put her clothes back on and was busy typing away at her computer. Don't ask me how. Must be something she was taught. Or something women were taught. Or maybe that knowledge was encoded in her genetic memory. Pulling my shirt on, I stumbled over. I peered over her shoulder as I put my pants back on.

Username OriannaL

Username: Mlaws

ML: [LOGIN][ONLINE]

OR: [LOGIN][ONLINE]

13:45 OR: Hey. Umm...is that you?

13:45 ML: Yes. Don't worry, I've made sure everything is secure.

Of course she did. I'd expect nothing less of her.

13:46 OR: Secure. Right. Yeah, good call.

13:46 ML: How are you settling in?

13:46 OR: Good! The house is huge! Seems so big for me.

13:47 ML: How are your studies going?

13:47 OR: Great! I still don't like Genetic Theory, but I want to understand everything y'know? Physics and Math all seem to breeze by.

That makes one of us. If I had a better grasp on physics or math, I could use it to factor in environmental variables and optimize my sniper shots. As it was, I had to use my gut.

13:48 ML: Your mark in Late 20th Century Earth History is below the standard deviation. Did you want me to hire a tutor for you?

It wasn't surprising to hear that Miranda was keeping close tabs on Oriana. She always had, right from the moment she sprung her from her father's clutches. She was just a little more open about it now that she had made contact with her sister. (2)

13:48 OR: History? No, it's OK. Just not interested I guess.

13:49 ML: Ori.

13:50 OR: What? Fiiiine... yes. OK, there's a boy in there. Danner.

I suppose Miranda not believing her sister wasn't a surprise either. Sibling intuition, I guess.

13:51 ML: Danner Gossimah?

13:51 OR: Yes! How did you know that?

13:52 ML: It doesn't matter. His family owns a series of restaurants on the Citadel. Good academic record. Interested in sports. Broke his leg when he was 14.

Miranda's depth of knowledge definitely wasn't a surprise.

13:53 OR: Umm... sure. Yes, he's always asking questions in class. I don't think he even knows I'm alive.

13:54 ML: I see.

13:55 OR: How Do I... y'know, get him to notice?

13:55 ML: Getting him to notice? Yes, I can help with that.

13:55 OR: Pleez

Miranda turned to me. I looked back at her. "Yes?" I asked slowly.

She gestured at the screen.

"Wh-me? Seriously?" I sputtered.

"You'd know more about this then I would," Miranda said.

I looked at her blankly. "I would?"

"I spent my entire childhood being groomed to be perfect and my adulthood performing Cerberus missions," Miranda reminded me. "Anything remotely resembling the objective of acquiring someone's attention was carefully planned out with every variable accounted for. Somehow, I don't think compiling a profile on Danner and calculating the variables is what Ori has in mind. It doesn't seem, well, normal."

"I spent my entire childhood bouncing from starship to space station to starship," I reminded her. "My adulthood was spent stumbling into one disaster after another. Somehow, I don't think sending e-mails or shooting at this guy would help your sister out."

"But at least you got the chance to meet girls you were interested in. Maybe even try to ask them out."

I winced. "Yeah… about that… let's just say the chances of you ever running into an ex-girlfriend of mine are a statistical impossibility."

"Well what am I supposed to do?!" Miranda cried out.

"I don't know!" I replied. "Maybe tell her to make a point of talking to him."

"That's it?"

"Well, what do you want?"

"I don't know. Something more concrete."

I gave a helpless shrug. "Sorry, but I got nothing."

Miranda continued to stare at me.

"Hey, you know me: I usually just wing it and hope for the best."

When it became clear that I wasn't going to be any help, she turned back to the computer and...

...logged on the extranet?

I watched in growing bemusement as her fingers flew over the keyboard. "Are you—?"

"Hush."

"Are you actually—"

"I don't have any personal experience to draw upon. Neither do you, apparently. This is the best option given the current time constraints."

"You know she's not a hermit or a Luddite, right?" (3)

"Quiet."

"I'm just saying: she does have extranet—"

"One more word and you're cut off."

"Shutting up now."

Mouth shut, I silently watched as Miranda concluded her research, interpreted the data and formulated a response (or whatever the heck she'd call it):

13:58 ML: Yes. Boys. You must be sure to always be true to yourself. I know that sounds like silly advice but if he isn't interested in the real you he won't be interested. You have to trust that when things are right he will notice you, and he will appreciate what you are both inside and out. You can't make yourself into something you are not

13:58 OR: because you will never learn if that special someone falls for you or falls for a lie.

13:58 ML: Ori I didn't

13:58 OR: You are pasting advice from the 'Dear Dinah' column dated two weeks ago! We have the extranet here as well sis. God!

I would've kept my mouth shut. The threat of being deprived of sex wasn't a contributing factor. Yes, that's the story I would stick with.

13:59 ML: I didn't mean to make you angry. I only...

13:59 OR: I know sis! I know... I'm sorry. I just hate all this. Being here and you're off doing whatever to save the world or galaxy or whatever. I just hate it!

Miranda buried her head in her hands. Something that sounded like a muffled wail came out. I figured it was about the right time to wrap an arm around her shoulders and give her a hug. "Well, at least you tried," I offered.

"I wish I could have been more helpful," Miranda moaned. "And I hate being separated from Ori like this."

"You could go and visit her, you know," I suggested. "We have saved the galaxy. For now."

"But there's still so much to do," Miranda reminded me. "The hull is still being repaired. We haven't gotten all of our supplies yet. (4) Not to mention that we still haven't cracked the data that the Collector General sent us."

I pulled up some reports on my omni-tool and quickly skimmed through them. "Hull repairs are actually ahead of schedule. They're doing the final integrity checks now and, assuming all goes well, they should be done by tomorrow. The critical supplies were already brought onboard; we're just waiting for a few nonessential items. As for the Collector data, we only started going over it a couple days ago. If it was that easy to crack, the Reapers wouldn't be nearly as grave a threat."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right," I told Miranda, giving her a quick peck on her cheek. "Now why don't you go back to your chat before Oriana starts wondering what happened to you?"

Miranda reached over, grabbed a fistful of my uniform, yanking me close and giving me a sizzling kiss that, well, kinda, um, you know, distracted me. A lot. By the time I recovered, Miranda was back at the keyboard. It looked like Miranda had sent my original suggestion of talking to the guy. Oriana had thanked her and apologized for 'spazzing out' when there were more important things to worry about.

14:03 ML: There isn't a point to saving the galaxy if I can't even talk to my sister. I'm sorry. I am. Now why don't you tell me about this boy?

14:04 OR: Yeah, OK. He's... different.

14:04 ML: I hate him already.

14:04 OR: RANDA!

14:05 ML: I'm your big sister. I'm going to hate all of them. Accept it. Now, his eye color says blue here. Is that ocean blue or a more gun metal blue?

I had some other errands to run. And places to go. And people to annoy. It took a couple hours before I got back to my quarters and fed my fish. And checked up on my miniature space hamster. And looked through my e-mail.

A minute later, I was in Miranda's quarters, showing her the lone e-mail that wasn't another piece of spam:

To: Shepard
From: Cerberus Information Processing

We're aware that your old friend Liara T'Soni has been hunting for the Shadow Broker for several years. We wouldn't mind helping her in that hunt, given the Broker's past work for the Collectors. We recently uncovered some information that might give Liara a lead on where to find the Shadow Broker's base of operations, but unfortunately, she doesn't have much faith in Cerberus intel. If you'd visit Illium and pass it on to her as a gesture of goodwill, we'd appreciate it.

"Interesting," was all Miranda had to offer.

"'Interesting'," I repeated. "You don't think this is a little bit hinky, given the circumstances?"

"'Hinky'?" Miranda repeated.

"Strange. Wrong. Weird."

"I know what 'hinky' means."

"Just checking."

"Granted, it seems suspicious. But it's possible that Cerberus Information Processing wasn't aware of the... less-than-amicable circumstances behind your departure from Cerberus," Miranda suggested. "Or this may be the Illusive Man's version of an olive branch."

I raised an eyebrow. "Left hand doesn't know what the right hand's doing? With the Illusive Man overseeing things? EDI told me that Cerberus doesn't have that many cells because he likes keeping informed of every little thing."

"But it's not a two-way street: the Illusive Man may know what each cell is doing, but those cells aren't privy to his decisions. Not immediately, anyway."

"So, what, Info Processing didn't get the memo?"

"It's possible." Miranda raised her hands before I could make another objection. "I'll admit it's more likely that this is a trick or trap, either to disable the Normandy or to ensnare Dr. T'Soni. Regardless, the only way to know for certain is to download the data and analyze it."

"You don't think that's dangerous?"

"No more risky than going through the Omega 4 relay," Miranda shrugged. "I'll have EDI set up additional firewalls before we download the data, and we'll scan it with every program and algorithm we have before opening the files. Then, of course, we'll have to actually look at the data and determine whether or not it is legitimate."

"How long will it take before we have something?" I wanted to know.

"Hard to say, but I should have a preliminary analysis complete by this evening."

Well if that was the case... "Work date?" I suggested.

"Work date," Miranda agreed.

The rest of the day kinda blurred together. There were a lot of questions floating in the void between my ears. Most of those wound up being variations on the same three questions:

1) Was the e-mail and its contents a trap?

2) Was the e-mail and its contents legit?

3) How would Liara react?

It was that last one that worried me most. I was still pondering that question when I picked up some goodies from the mess hall and brought them over to Miranda's office. As usual, she had plates set out and a datapad of reports and stuff for me to review and sign off on. She raised an eyebrow as I divvied up the tea and snacks.

"Jasmine tea and coconut macaroons?"

"Yep."

"That doesn't really go together." (5)

"Nope."

"I seem to recall saying the same thing with many of your food and drink pairings."

"Yep."

"And that doesn't faze you in the slightest."

"Nope."

"Of course it doesn't," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"Oh nothing," she replied nonchalantly. Then she gave me this smouldering glance and a dazzling smile...

The next thing I knew, Miranda was halfway through her tea, had polished off her macaroons and had this knowing smirk on her face. I think she did that on purpose.

Having recovered from my momentary daze, I sat down, thumbed on the datapad, took a sip of tea and started going through all the reports. Daily maintenance was complete. Garrus's latest calibrations—only ten in the last day. His standards were starting to slip—were finished. Stores were fully stocked.

I popped a macaroon in my mouth and took another sip of tea. "So what's the sitrep on that Cerberus e-mail?" (6)

Miranda put down her tea and leaned forward. "First, there were no viruses, worms or malware embedded in the e-mail or its contents."

"Good to know."

"Second, I can't find any indication that the data was manufactured or falsified in any way. For all intents and purposes, it appears to be legitimate."

"So why is Cerberus sending it to us?" I wanted to know.

"Maybe it's not Cerberus," Miranda suggested. "Not exactly."

"Huh?" I replied.

"Something I thought of after you left this afternoon," Miranda explained. "The Lazarus Cell may not be the only members of Cerberus who have become... disillusioned by the methods and operations sanctioned by the Illusive Man. Perhaps this data came from a disgruntled operative who wanted to make one act of defiance before cutting ties."

"The e-mail contents didn't exactly suggest that," I pointed out.

"What would you have said? "I'm leaving Cerberus and this is my two week's notice?'"

"I'm just saying that we can't eliminate the possibility that this is false intel, given what little we know of the source."

"True," Miranda conceded. "But in the absence of any proof to the contrary, all we can do is follow the leads and exercise extreme caution."

"And those leads are?" I prompted.

"EDI is still decrypting and reconstructing. From what we've managed to determine so far, it appears to be a leaked transmission between some of the Shadow Broker's operatives. Furthermore, one of the operatives appears to be a senior operative. If so, he or she may be in a position of leadership. Possibly overseeing one of the Shadow Broker's operations—"

"—or maybe he or she is working in the Shadow Broker's base of operations," I finished.

"It's still premature to draw any firm conclusions," Miranda cautioned. "We haven't even begun to trace the origins of the transmissions. But the preliminary results are intriguing, to say the least."

"Well we're good to go now," I said, waving the datapad Miranda had given me. "And everyone's back from shore leave. If the data is as promising as you say, maybe we should pay Liara a visit. We can do some more digging en route."

"It would be the most efficient use of our time," Miranda agreed.

"Then it's decided. Tell Joker to set a course for Illium. Meanwhile, I'll have Tali and Legion come up to give you and EDI a hand."

"After we finish our tea, of course."

"After we finish our tea," I confirmed.

We finished our tea, got the necessary clearance from Citadel Traffic Control to depart and set course for Illium. That, at least, was accomplished without any difficulty or trouble.

Unfortunately, we didn't make a lot of progress with the data. All we managed to do was finish the decryption. There weren't a lot of clues for us to work with. Hopefully Liara, with all her resources and knowledge as an information broker, would have better luck. If nothing else, I knew she would find one of the image files we decrypted very interesting.

I sent word for Liara to take care of the docking fees and other administrative crap for us so we wouldn't get bogged down or ripped off by Illium bureaucracy. Once we landed, I let most of the squad wander off. Miranda, Garrus, Tali and I went to see Liara.

We didn't have to see a receptionist this time—I guess she couldn't trust another one after discovering that Nyxeris was secretly working for the Shadow Broker. Or, more to the point, she couldn't bring herself to trust another person. I found that second option rather… disturbing. When I first met her two years ago, she used to be so innocent and trusting. I knew that would be tempered over time, but to go to the other extreme like this? That didn't seem right.

Rather than wait, I activated the door controls and peeked in. Liara was sitting at her desk, reading something on her computer. Another thing that had changed, and not necessarily for the better. Back in the day, the document on her screen would probably be some academic paper or the latest analysis from her scans on the Prothean disks I scrounged up. Now it was probably a report on the assassination of some Shadow Broker operative or an intelligence summary on possible Shadow Broker bases. At least she wasn't threatening to flay anyone with her mind. That memory alone made me think twice about the wisdom of giving this data to the hardened, dark echo of Liara sitting before me. The concern that her need for vengeance would overcome any sense of caution didn't help.

Before I could change my mind, Liara looked up. "Shepard," she said, a small smile on her face. "It's good to see you again. Please, come in. You too, Tali. Garrus. Miranda."

For a moment, I could almost imagine that things hadn't changed.

I walked towards her desk, marveling at the space. It seemed awfully big, considering Liara's current line of work. They had made an awful lot of progress in computer miniaturization over the years. (7)

After exchanging pleasantries, we got down to business. "So, what can I do for you?" Liara asked.

"I know you've been looking for the Shadow Broker," I began. "Cerberus gave me some data that might point you in the right direction. Interested?"

"Absolutely! I had no idea—let me see what you've got!" Liara positively yanked the datapad out of my hands and started poring through the data.

"From what we've been able to determine, it's a leaked transmission between Shadow Broker operatives," I offered. "We confirmed that one of those operatives works on the Shadow Broker's main base of operations, but we haven't been able to figure out where it is. More importantly..."

I broke off as Liara let out a gasp. "It's about—the transmission. It's about Feron. He's still alive."

"Exactly," I nodded. "You said he helped you recover my..." I had to pause for a second. Even after a year, I still had trouble coming to terms with what had happened. (8) "He helped you recover my body from the Shadow Broker," I finished. "Did you ever figure out why he was selling me to the Collectors?"

...

...

...

"Liara?" I prompted.

With a start, Liara came back from, well, wherever she had been. "No, I'm afraid not."

"Are you okay, Liara?" Tali asked worriedly.

"I... I was just thinking about... about the cost of saving Shepard," Liara said softly to Tali before turning to me. "Feron sacrificed himself so I could escape with your body. And then I had to give it over to Cerberus. Because they said they could bring you back. I didn't know how you'd feel when Cerberus resurrected you. If you'd feel betrayed or—"

"Hey," I gently interrupted. "We've been over this before. Like I said before, you did the right thing. I wouldn't have been able to stop the Collectors if it wasn't for you. Yeah, Cerberus helped, but we all know it was really you."

Liara nodded absently, her mind fixed on the datapad once more. "And now Cerberus is helping me again. Giving me a chance to find Feron. After two years, I hadn't even dreamed..."

She broke off again. I waited for a few moments before speaking. "Sounds like you and Feron were close, even though you didn't know each other that long."

"It's funny," Liara said with a sad smile. "He betrayed me more than once. He was double-dealing for Cerberus, for the Shadow Broker... in the end, though, he sacrificed himself for me. I owe him."

"I owe him too," I offered. "Without his sacrifice, you wouldn't have gotten away. But if he's been the Shadow Broker's prisoner for two years, he may not be in good shape."

"I know," Liara admitted. "But yesterday, all I wanted was the chance to avenge his death. Today, he's alive. I'll do whatever I have to do to get him back."

That was exactly what I was afraid of. "Have you considered the possibility that this data might be fake? Or a lure to lead you into a trap?" I asked. "This was sent by Cerberus intelligence after I severed whatever ties I had with them."

"I don't care," Liara burst out, getting to her feet. "All that matters is that I've spent two years plotting revenge. Now I have the chance to make it a rescue."

"Okay," I said soothingly. "Fine. What's the next step?"

Liara brushed a hand over her head frills. "I... I don't know. I need to prepare, to think. I, uh, I'm going home. Use my terminal if you need any local intel."

I reached out and grabbed her before she bolted. "Hey, slow down. Let me help. I'll come by your apartment later?"

"Okay," Liara nodded. "Hopefully I'll have a plan by then. Thank you, Shepard."

She headed for the door. "Uh, Liara?" I called out.

"Yes?"

"Your address?"

"Oh. Right." She activated her omni-tool, sent the address, then left the office.

I let out a breath. "Well, that went well."

"We got as far as we could on our own," Tali said. "Liara can continue from there. Besides, we gave her hope."

"Potentially false hope," Miranda reminded her. "We never managed to verify the accuracy or validity of the data to my liking."

"What worries me is that Liara might not care," Garrus murmured. "I've never seen her so... so fixated. So obsessed. She might be so focused on finding this Feron that she ignores all the warning signs until it's too late." (9)

"I know," I frowned. "I've been worried about the same thing. I guess all we can do is follow her and watch her back."

"And hope this doesn't blow up in our faces," Garrus added.

I looked through the intel available on Liara's terminal, but there wasn't much I could make use of. Yet. And the nearby shopping kiosks didn't have anything I needed. After a couple hours, I gave up, rounded up the squad and headed for Liara's apartment. It was situated in an upscale part of Nos Astra, which meant it was basically the best of the best in terms of location, view, privacy and security. It also meant we had to rent a couple skycars to get there, since the overpriced excuse for public transit didn't cover that area.

I started feeling a tingling sensation on the back of my neck as we approached. That tingling became a sharp twinge as we saw the holographic 'police tape' cordoning off Liara's apartment.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Miranda said.

"Me too," I admitted.

"So do I," Garrus chimed in.

As we got closer, we could hear voices coming from inside Liara's apartment. A lot of voices. "Seal off those trace samples and get them back to the lab," one voice said.

"We got multiple shots fired," another voice reported. "Yeah, techs are going over the place now."

"Central, we got an open carrier on this end," a third voice called out. "Switching to a coded relay."

By that point, we'd crossed the first cordon of holographic police tape and entered the foyer of Liara's apartment. We stopped at the second cordon and looked around. A trio of asari and turians—cops, judging by their demeanour—were looking around the apartment, sweeping the place with their omni-tools, and basically doing everything you might expect at a crime scene.

I caught the attention of one of the cops. "What's going on?"

"This area is sealed off," the cop replied automatically. "Please step back. All of you."

"We'd be happy to do so," I smiled, "once you tell me why this apartment is sealed off."

"Somebody tried to kill your friend, Commander Shepard."

We all looked up at this fourth voice. It came from another asari. Light blue skin with a pattern of lavender marks on her face. Charcoal black hardsuit reinforced with royal blue and gunmetal grey armour plates—custom job. Definitely not a cop. She strolled down a flight of stairs—apparently Liara's home was a two-story apartment—with an air of unassailable confidence.

"Thank you, officer," she said, taking a few steps towards the bank of floor-to-ceiling windows. It was only then that I noticed that one of them was sporting a couple bullet holes, complete with spider web-shaped cracks. Boy, I was really off my game if I missed that. "Your people are dismissed."

I glanced at the cop, shrugged a half-hearted apology, then walked through the tape. "You can't do that," the cop protested as the rest of my squad followed.

"Already done," the asari not-cop said without bothering to turn around.

The other two cops looked at each other, turned off their omni-tools and left Liara's apartment. Garrus gave them an apologetic nod. The last cop paused, practically vibrating with outrage, before throwing up her hands and storming out. Garrus gave her an apologetic nod too. I was more interested in how this asari had the authority to kick them out like that. Very interesting, I thought.

"Now that they're gone, maybe we can get some real work done," the asari not-cop said. "Tela Vasir. Special Tactics and Recon."

That would explain why the cops just up and left like that. "You're a Spectre?"

"Like you," Vasir nodded. "I heard your status was reinstated. Good. You may be one of our newest operatives, but you're also one of our most effective. And famous. Maybe when this is over, I'll get you to sign my chest plate."

Oh this was gonna end well. (10)

"So I assume you had business with your friend this evening, Commander?" Vasir asked.

"Looks like I'm not the only one," I replied.

Vasir raised an eyebrow. "I asked first, as I recall. But fine, we'll play it your way. I'm investigating the theft of confidential galactic economic data from the Council's Ministry of Finance. One of my leads brought me to Illium, but the trail went cold. I was hoping Dr. T'Soni could help me pick up the scent. She wasn't at her office, so I thought I'd try my luck at her home. That didn't go so well, as you can tell. Someone clearly didn't like her much. Your turn."

"Liara was following a lead on the Shadow Broker," I said.

That got her attention. "The Shadow Broker," she repeated. "Dangerous enemy to have. Do you think he had something to do with this?"

"You got here first," I shrugged. "You tell me. What are the facts so far?"

"About 25 minutes ago, someone took a shot at T'Soni. Note the bullet holes." She pointed over her shoulder.

Garrus walked over to the window and gave it a good look. "Glass isn't shattered, which suggests that either the glass was reinforced or the bullets had enough velocity to punch right through and keep on going," he observed. "If it's the latter, then we're looking at a sniper."

"Both, actually," Vasir said. "I managed to recover the round before the cops could get their ham hands on it. Definitely from a sniper rifle, but it wasn't standard issue. The sniper didn't plan on her kinetic barrier, though. Clever girl. Paranoid, but clever."

"So between the kinetic barrier and the glass, the shot was probably deflected," I guessed.

"The kinetic barrier probably did more to deflect the shot than the glass, but you're right," Vasir nodded. She stuck around for almost four minutes before leaving the building. Whatever she was doing was important."

"Did the police find anything when they arrived?" I asked.

"Just the mess and the bullet holes," Vasir sneered. "I gave them a gold star for finding the bullet holes."

Garrus stiffened, ever so slightly. Can't blame him: that comment seemed a little harsh. Though it wouldn't be the first time federal or galactic operatives looked down on local cops for being too limited and narrow-minded in the scope of their thinking. Needless to say, that dim view went the other way. "What did you find? Was there anything on her terminal?"

"I haven't found much," Vasir admitted. "As for her terminal, T'Soni wiped her drive before she left."

"Liara was expecting me," I frowned. "She would've left a message or something—her office wasn't safe."

"I'm not surprised," Vasir laughed. "Illium is just Omega with expensive shoes. If she did leave a message, though, I haven't found it yet. You know T'Soni better than I do. Where would she have hidden her backups?"

"Let me take a look around and get back to you."

"Fine. I'll take another crack at the terminal. Still have one or two tricks that I haven't tried yet."

Vasir went back to the terminal. Miranda glared at her. "I don't trust her," she declared.

"Does that have anything to do with a certain autograph request?" I asked.

Her lips said "Don't be ridiculous." Her eyes, on the other hand, were packing enough heat to vapourize Vasir, if that was physically possible.

"She might have a point," Garrus said quietly. "How do we know she's really a Spectre?"

"Let's find out," I offered. "EDI?"

"Tela Vasir is a current operative with the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Branch of the Citadel Council," EDI replied. "Recent accomplishments include dissolving a slave trading ring in Aegohr, a city on the salarian colony of Nasurn, and an investigation into three simultaneous break-ins at the Citadel Council Ministry of Finance."

The squad looked at me. I gave them an innocent smile. "I may have sent a message to EDI asking her to verify Vasir's Spectre status while we were chatting earlier. Anything else, EDI?"

"There is a curious discrepancy to Vasir's earlier statements."

"Oh?"

"Vasir said that the economic report investigation was ongoing."

"Yeah? It's not?"

"News reports indicate that a hacker group calling itself 'TruthHax' was arrested for illegally uploading economic data from the Citadel Council approximately five months ago. Vasir, when asked by reporters, did not clarify her role in the arrest, but stated that she considered the case resolved." (11)

Interesting. "So either she's lying about the case being resolved…" I started.

"…or she's lying about why she's here," Miranda finished.

"Could be nothing," Jacob frowned.

"Could be something," Kasumi said.

Garrus shook his head. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Me too," Miranda agreed.

"So do I," I added. "But let's just keep this to ourselves for now," I cautioned. "We don't want to tip our hand. Garrus, give everyone a crash course on searching a crime scene. Then we'll spread out and look through Liara's apartment."

That crash course took about five minutes. We started searching a minute later. And no, having thirteen people—fourteen, including Vasir—in Liara's apartment did not make things crowded. Being an information broker must pay really well. Her kitchen—located just off to the right of the entrance—was a third the size of our mess hall. I headed to the bank of windows near the back of the apartment, passing a lot of couches, plants and odd sculptures in glass enclosures along the way. I took a moment to admire the bullet holes—from a sniper's professional perspective, you see—before wandering around. One thing caught my attention immediately. "What is it?" Miranda asked.

"It's part of my old armour," I said.

"Looks like someone didn't like you much, either," Vasir called out. Good ears, that one.

"Hey Shepard," Jack hollered. "I thought Liara was a doctor-doctor. You know, like Chakwas."

"She isn't," I replied.

"That explains the fancy paper on the wall," Jack said.

Vasir looked up from the terminal. "A doctorate from the University of Serrice, back on Thessia," she explained when she saw my confusion.

"Oh."

"She's getting good use out of that education."

I couldn't tell whether Vasir was being sincere or sarcastic with that remark.

Seeing that most of the squad was congregated on the lower floor, I started up the stairs. I stopped halfway and leaned over the rail. "Grunt?"

"Yes, battlemaster?"

"Stop rummaging through her fridge. You ate from one of the food kiosks on the way over, remember?"

"But I'm hungry."

Miranda shook her head. "This must be what raising a child is like."

"Tell me about it." To Grunt, I just said "I highly doubt you'll find evidence in her fridge."

"You never know, Shepard."

"Zaeed, you're not helping."

"But I'm hungry too. And thirsty—asari can make some halfway-decent beer when they put their minds to it. Not as good as their liquors, though."

I closed my eyes. "Miranda?"

"Hmm?"

"You were wrong."

"About raising a child?"

"Yeah."

"You think this is like raising a bunch of them?"

"Better believe it."

"Agreed."

With that settled, we headed up the stairs to the upper floor. A good chunk of it was taken up by several more of those sculptures, all lined up behind glass like some museum exhibit. An aquarium was set into the wall just behind the headboard of Liara's bed. (12) There was a small table next to it with a picture of the Normandy. I picked it up.

A few seconds later, I got everyone's attention. I waited until Vasir and the squad arrived before picking up the picture again.

It didn't take long to make my point. "The picture changed when you touched it," Vasir said. "It must be keyed to your ID or DNA."

"I do not recognize that location," Thane said.

"I do," I replied. "It's a Prothean dig site." (13)

"Nice," Kasumi grinned. "Guess Liara did leave a message for us after all."

"There are a few Prothean-looking objects around the apartment," Vasir pointed out. "We should take a closer look at them."

So that's what they were. "Agreed," I said. "Let's spread out."

I passed Jacob as I headed down the stairs. He was scratching his head over one of the sculptures near Liara's bed. "Not my thing," he offered when he saw me, "but I bet they must be worth a fortune."

"Couple year's salary, at least," I offered before continuing on my way. (14) I bumped into Vasir on the lower level. She was running her hands over the glass case covering one of the sculptures. "She was certainly into ugly," she sniffed.

Tali glanced over at Vasir briefly before returning her attention to a large portrait portraying the ruins of Ilos. Liara must have taken a few pics when we were chasing Saren two years ago. I just kept my mouth shut and started looking at one of the other sculptures.

As soon as I touched the glass, I saw a ripple spread out. A hidden tray slid out. It held a single OSD, with a red light running around the rim. "Hey guys!" I called out. "I've got something here."

"Backup disk," Vasir identified. "Let's try it on her terminal."

Legion was already sitting there by the time we arrived. I handed it over to them to insert into the mainframe. "Searching," they stated. "One recording made within the last hour, Shepard-Commander."

"Play it," I ordered.

A picture of a salarian popped up. "What have you got for me, Sekat?" Liara—off-screen—asked.

"It was tricky, but you paid for the best," Sekat said. "I can narrow it down to a cluster, maybe even a system."

"How soon can you have it?" Liara asked immediately.

"Shouldn't take long. Come to my office. Baria Frontiers, in the Dracon Trade Centre."

"I remember."

Sekat paused for a second. "Gotta say, though, T'Soni—you're making me a little nervous. How big is the trouble that could come out of this?"

"Relax, Sekat," Liara soothed. "I'll see you in a few hours."

That was the end of the recording. "This must be important," I frowned. "The Shadow Broker's people already tried to kill her once."

"I know where the Dracon Trade Centre is," Vasir stated. "My car's outside."

"Ours too," I said. "Let's go."

"I'll drive," Miranda, Jacob and Garrus said in unison.

While Miranda, Jacob and Garrus were debating who should drive, I headed to one of the skycars and jumped behind the wheel. Once the squad realized that, they immediately began discussing who would sit in which skycar. For some reason, I got the feeling that the main focus was to avoid sitting in the skycar I was driving. After a minute, I interrupted them and assigned seating arrangements. Mordin handed out anti-nausea meds to the squadmates riding in my skycar. Never did figure out why.

Given that I was in a bit of a rush, I may have gone over the speed limit. The rest of my squad followed my lead. So we touched down outside the Dracon Trade Centre well before Vasir did. I opened a comm channel to her and apprised her of the situation.

"The Baria Frontiers offices are located on the third floor," she told us.

"We'll head up now," I replied. "You can catch up."

"Understood," she said. "It's funny, though: I don't hear any police chatter. We must have missed the party."

The tingling on the back of my neck suddenly came back. Hard.

A split second later, an explosion burst out above us. Looking up, I tried to trace the source. Looked like it was coming from...

...the third floor. Shit. "Liara's in there!" I yelled. I took a step forward.

The next three explosions sent all of us flying back.

(1): One can be quite fascinated by how differently species regard the subject of sex. Salarians, for instance, have no interest in romantic love, sexual attraction or any pleasure that might be gained from sex. Indeed, they regard sex itself as nothing more than a necessary part of reproduction. Krogan focus solely on the physical aspect unless it results in the female becoming pregnant, in which case it becomes a matter of great pride and significance. Humans, however, tend to range across the entire emotional spectrum.

(2): Readers will recall that this contact was made at Shepard's urging. I did not realize this myself, however, until I began reading these logs.

(3): Originating as a 19th century movement protesting the changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution, it has since become a human term to describe anyone opposing industralization, automation, computerization or new technologies in general.

(4): The Normandy was undergoing repairs and resupply at the Citadel, which was the closest facility with the necessary resources and expertise. It was also the safest location for a traumatized crew to enjoy some much-needed rest and relaxation.

(5): After trying this combination myself, I found that they did not complement each other. The fact that Miranda agrees suggests that this pairing was not a 'human thing'.

(6): Human military shorthand for 'situation report,' which details what is currently going on.

(7): The previous owner had used the space as a luxury entertainment suite. I had entertained the notion of 'sprucing up the place,' as humans would say, but had not found the necessary time.

(8): A completely natural reaction, given what happened to Shepard. I myself had not fully come to terms with losing such a dear and cherished friend. The thought that the only way to bring him back was to cooperate with Cerberus was not a pleasant one.

(9): In hindsight, the concerns they voiced were entirely accurate. I am forever indebted to all of them for making sure that my obsession and need for vengeance did not cost me my life.

(10): Shepard's suspicions would prove prophetic, but not for the reasons he originally thought.

(11): To be fair, records of Spectre operations and missions were heavily classified. Even a request from another Spectre would not uncover the sheer breadth of detail uncovered by EDI's search. However, the fact that certain details were disclosed to official galactic news networks did undermine the credibility of Vasir's cover story.

(12): For the record, I would like to state that I never forgot to feed my fish.

(13): The dig site on Eden Prime where Shepard had his encounter with his first Prothean beacon, to be exact. While I had never been there myself, I thought it would be appropriate.

(14): Closer to a decade, given Alliance wages and art prices at the time.