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"Any word on Kenn yet?" Lia said softly, and waited for the human behind the counter to answer.

The woman arched an eyebrow, looked as if she were trying not to roll her eyes, and tapped a few buttons. She read the text on the screen and looked back up at Lia.

"You family?"

"Not genetically, but we're both on Pilgrimage; each of us is the only family the other has, out here."

The woman raised her eyebrow again. "Pilgrimage?"

"It's a rite of passage. Quarians must leave the Migrant Fleet and return with something of value before they're considered fully adult."

"So that's your excuse for slumming around, living on the charity of others, and stealing--"

"What? I haven't stolen anything. Neither has Kenn. Who, by the way, was shot by mercs and could've died."

Sidonis stepped up beside her and leaned on the counter. "If you want to be a racist, do it on your own time. You're here to do a job. At least act like a professional, okay?" He took a breath. "This woman and the crew of her ship saved that kid's life, and mine. All we want to know is whether he's okay or not." His mandibles quivered. "Or should I speak with your supervisor instead?"

"Sorry, I can only release that information to his immediate family."

"His immediate family happens to be on the opposite side of the galaxy at the moment." Lia sighed abruptly and waved a hand. "No, forget it." She turned and walked back to the window overlooking the park.

Sidonis joined her. "Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. I don't really trust myself to speak without saying something that might get me thrown out onto the docking bay floor."

"It's okay. I know the feeling." Lia shook her head. "I could've argued with her, myself, but I've had too many conversations like this before, and I could see where this one was going. It wouldn't have solved anything."

"You've gone through this kind of thing a lot, huh?"

"Most quarians do. Last time I was on the Citadel, in fact, I caught the same kind of crap from a C-Sec officer." She sighed and returned to the lounge chair. "A volus merchant accused me of picking his pocket, and the C-Sec officer took his word for it. He decided I was guilty just because I'm a quarian."

"Did he arrest you?" Sidonis sat on the adjacent chair.

"No. Right then, a human happened to pass by and overheard our conversation. Odd thing--he had another quarian and a geth platform with him. Might even be the same group Kenn encountered on Omega." She leaned back and stared out the window. "Anyway, the human turned out to be a Spectre. He found the merchant's credit chit and told him where it was--and even then, the C-Sec man didn't back off. He threatened to arrest me for vagrancy if I didn't leave. The Spectre told him and the volus off and got them to back down."

"Good thing he happened along, then."

"Right. If he hadn't, I'd probably still be in a cell here." She glanced over her shoulder, at the door at the far end of the room, leading to the operating room. "Well, I guess we'll find out how Kenn's doing eventually."

"Maybe when the surgeons come out, we can ask one of them."

"Sounds like a plan." She looked around and found Weyland still at the kiosk.

"I wonder what it's up to," Sidonis muttered.

"Ordering supplies, I imagine. The ship that was bringing us dextro-based food and medicine...well, that was the derelict ship we told you about. So he's probably arranging for another delivery. Maybe looking into the attack, too. I would, if I were him."

"I'm still trying to wrap my brain around what you told me." Sidonis stared at the platform and shook his head slowly. "After everything I've heard about the geth...."

"I know. I'm still suspicious, but...I don't know, I'd like to believe their claims are true." She shrugged. "Well, whether I believe it or not, our two peoples have been in a state of war for three centuries, even though there hasn't been any actual combat in most of that time--but if the geth find out that we have a stealth ship and it's attacking their ships, it could lead to a shooting war. And I'm pretty sure my people would lose."

"The quarians are really that unprepared for combat?"

"Most of our ships are at least three hundred years old. Many of them are held together with spot-welds, cargo straps, and pieces of tape. And from what I've heard, our ground combat troops have gotten their asses handed to them in every recent battle." She slumped back in her chair and stared out the window without really seeing anything beyond it. "Plus, the geth outnumber us and can build new platforms far faster than any organic being can grow to adulthood, join the military, receive the necessary training, and replace soldiers who have been killed in action. If this turns into an all-out war, my people are going to be in serious trouble."

"Damn." Sidonis stared at the floor and rubbed a talon slowly over his chin.

"Yeah." And if the rumors I've heard about the Admiralty Board trying to pass a resolution to retake our homeworld by force are true... She kept it to herself. Even if Weyland and Yutani really did want peace, letting either platform overhear talk of the Admiralty's plans could throw their good intentions right out the airlock.

She stood again and pointed at one of the kiosks beside Weyland. "Think I'll see if any dextro-based drinks are on the menu. Want something?"

"Not now, but thanks."

She nodded and walked over to the kiosk. I hope Chula and the others are having better luck than I am.

#

"Woooo-hoooooo!" Dakka grinned and tightened her grip on her handhold as the Mako launched off another low cliff. She swung her rotary cannon up, sprayed a burst of incendiary rounds at the four pursuing gunships, and laughed when one of the lead ship's engines exploded.

The gunship began to tumble out of control before the Mako plunged back toward the ground. For a moment, she felt as if both stomachs were about to launch up into her throat.

Takahashi tapped the ventral thrusters to reduce the impact when the Mako's six wheels touched down. It was still quite a jolt, though, and Dakka slammed into the roof and nearly dropped her gun.

"Ow," she muttered. If I wasn't wearing armor, that would've knocked me stupid.

"Gah," their batarian passenger, Goresk, grunted. "I feel like I'm about two centimeters shorter now."

His sedated buddy moaned softly.

A horrendous crash behind Dakka made her snap her head around and raise her gun. She caught a glimpse of the gunship scraping across the ground, flipping over and shedding parts, before it carved a trench through a patch of trees.

Dakka shifted her aim to the next nearest gunship just as it opened fire. A hail of disruptor rounds whittled away at the Mako's kinetic barriers as well as her own.

"We're minutes away from the spaceport," Benny said over the comlink. Suddenly, his tone changed. "Uh, Mal, there's a canyon up ahead. Shouldn't you be, y'know, slowing down?"

The Mako accelerated.

Dakka arched a brow ridge and then shrugged and blasted away at the gunship.

"It'd take too long to go around," Takahashi said. "It's narrow enough, so hold on tight, everyone--I'm gonna jump it."

"Al_right_!" Dakka laughed, holstered her cannon on her back, and clamped both hands onto the roof handholds.

The roaring whoosh of a rocket launching came from above and behind her. Before she could look over her shoulder, the rocket plowed into the ground directly ahead of the Mako.

Benny shrieked as the vehicle spun left and skidded toward the ravine. It tipped up on its three passenger-side tires.

"Shit!" Takahashi bellowed.

Oh, hell. It's gonna roll--right on top of me. Dakka tightened her grip and clenched her teeth.

Takahashi hit the thrusters again and the Mako fired itself across the ravine--sideways. While still rolling. Dakka looked up and saw the ground spinning past her, followed a second later by the sky.

Wonderful. If this thing lands upside-down, I'm fucked.

Goresk screamed like a little girl.

The ground came into view again, the trees at the bottom of the ravine pointing straight at Dakka--and then, in the corner of her eye, the opposite cliff.

I'll be damned.

The Mako crossed over the edge of the cliff and the wheels slammed down on a huge slab of rock. Dakka flopped onto the roof again and lurched sideways.

Takahashi steered to the right to prevent the vehicle from rolling again, and stomped on the accelerator.

Dakka managed to secure her grip on the roof, looked over her shoulder at the ravine, and shook her head slowly.

Well. Fuck me sideways.

"Did...did that really happen?" Chula mumbled.

Dakka burst out laughing. "It sure as hell did!"

"Never do that again," Benny muttered. "Seriously, I think you scared about twenty years off my life."

"Blame that rocket, not me," Takahashi said.

"If you hadn't taken a different route back to town--"

"Again, blame the rockets and gunfire." Takahashi released a nervous laugh. "Cheer up, honey, we're almost there."

Dakka fired another burst at the gunships and looked ahead as the Mako left the forest behind and hit a metal ramp leading to a large gate.

"You okay, Dakka?" Quint said.

"Never better." She laughed again. "That was fuckin' awesome!"

He chuckled. "Still being alive afterward--that's what's awesome."

Dakka grinned and turned back to the gunships.

They'd slowed almost to a complete stop.

"Ha! Not so tough now that you're about to have a few hundred witnesses."

"They're backing off?" Takahashi said.

"More like pausing to consider their options. I figure they'll land and come after us on foot.

"We're heading straight for the spaceport, then." Takahashi sighed. "Let's get the hell out of here."

#

"There it is." Chula pointed at the UT-47 Kodiak drop shuttle they'd arrived in only a few hours ago. She gave the area ahead a quick visual scan and turned to check behind her crewmates, clients, and passengers for signs of pursuit.

And there they were--over a dozen Cerberus troops in their all-too-familiar gray armor, pushing their way through the crowd of people walking toward their own ships.

"Better pick up the pace," Chula said, reaching under her duster but hesitating to actually draw any of her guns with innocent bystanders in the way.

Benny, Takahashi, Quint, Dakka, Magnum, and Yutani increased their speed, but the crates they carried prevented them from going all-out.

"Actually," Goresk muttered as he hauled the sedated batarian over his shoulder, "I hope dropping us off at the Citadel wouldn't be too much to ask. I'd prefer not to stick around with a small army crawling around here."

"I think we can handle that." Chula planted herself between them and the oncoming troops. "The Citadel has better medical facilities for your friend, anyway."

"Hey, guys," a new voice said, and Chula took a quick glance over her shoulder. She found a human and a turian, each carrying a backpack, walking toward them from the left.

"Hey." Dakka grinned. "Great seeing you again. Wish I could see that show you invited me to, but something came up." She nodded at the Cerberus goons charging across the hangar toward them.

Oh, the porn stars we saw at the party. Chula laughed softly. Didn't recognize them without their costumes.

"Don't worry about it," the human--Irving Kostmeyer, Chula remembered--said. "We had to cancel it. Family emergency on the Citadel."

"You wouldn't happen to be heading there, would you?" the turian--Valeria Terakkis--added.

"We are, but--"

"We need to get there as quickly as we can, but there aren't any flights that aren't already booked up."

"I wish we could, but we're kinda on the run from some bad guys. Don't want to put you in any danger."

"Freeze!" one of the Cerberus guys snapped. His team closed in and aimed their assault rifles. "Put the crates down. Now!"

"Cerberus," Valeria snarled.

Chula glanced at her. "Sorry, guys, but you should get out of here before they start shooting." She wrapped her fingers around her hand cannon and continued backing toward the shuttle. "Keep going, guys," she said to her crewmates. "I'll cover you."

"Last chance," the lead Cerberus man said. He stepped past Valeria and Irving, ignoring them and keeping his aim locked onto Chula.

"These guys giving you a hard time?" Irving said with a slight smirk. He and Valeria walked along beside them.

"You could say that. They've been trying to kill us and steal our client's stuff."

"Better keep out of the way," Dakka said as they reached the shuttle.

"Actually, we really do need to get to the Citadel as quickly as possible." Valeria glanced around, taking in the troops, the shuttle, and the nearby rail along the edge of the docking platform.

"Get the fuck out of our way," a nearby goon snapped. He backhanded Valeria--but she blocked it, grasped his arm, twisted and spun, using his own momentum and boosting it with a good, hard shove, sending him flying over the rail.

His scream ended abruptly with a loud crunch.

"Uh-oh," Dakka muttered.

The goons snapped their guns around to aim at Valeria.

Yutani placed her crate gently on the floor, pulled out her plasma shotgun, and turned to face the enemy troops.

Chula whipped out her pistol and a submachine gun from under her duster.

The guy closest to Valeria aimed at her head. His finger tightened on the trigger.

Valeria shoved her hand under her cloak, whipped out her own hand cannon, and drilled the man through his left eye socket. It happened as fast as lightning striking. The guy collapsed and his buddies stared at him as he fell.

Okay...I wasn't expecting that. Chula shook herself out of it and focused on the mooks.

Dakka put her crate down, pulled the rotary cannon from her back, and leveled it at them. She growled and they turned to face her.

"Think it over."

They stared back at her, exchanged glances with one another, and finally lowered their weapons.

"Shit." One of them hung his head and sighed.

One by one, they dropped their guns and raised their hands.

"Go ahead and load your stuff on the shuttle," Valeria said. "I'll keep 'em covered."

"So will I." Chula nodded at the others and kept her guns on the Cerberus men. "Better hurry, guys; that gunshot couldn't have gone unnoticed."

"On it." Dakka picked her crate up and carried it to the shuttle, followed by the rest of the team.

"That was pretty impressive," Chula said. "But you just made yourself a target."

"I've been in worse situations," Valeria said.

"She used to be a Spectre," Irving added.

Chula glanced at him. "A Spectre turned porn star? I bet there's an interesting story behind that."

Valeria shrugged. "Don't know how interesting it might be, but I'd be happy to tell you on the way to the Citadel."

Chula turned to give Yutani a quick look. The geth nodded and Dakka grinned.

"Welcome aboard."