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"We're under way." Chula crossed the Sulaco's small lounge and sank into the couch at the end of the room. The rest of the crew, minus Yutani, plus five of their passengers, took up the rest of the couch and the chairs placed around the lounge. She pointed at her faceplate and added, "No sign of pursuit yet. I'm linked with the sensor array; it'll alert me if that changes. We should arrive at the Citadel in a few hours."

"Good to know." Valeria tucked her feet under her and leaned on her husband's shoulder. He slipped his left arm around her and put his other hand on hers.

"How's Kolos doing?" Goresk said, sitting on the chair in the corner and staring at nothing in particular. He held a tumbler loosely in his left hand, but appeared to have forgotten it was there.

"Still sedated. Yutani's keeping an eye on him." Chula shivered. "I still can't get over his little freak-out back there, so I can only imagine how long it'll take him to recover."

"Yeah. I'm not handling it too well, myself." Goresk glanced over at Malcolm and Benny, sitting on the other couch. "I wish we hadn't gotten anywhere near that damned cave."

"Sorry about your crew," Benny said.

Goresk nodded but said nothing.

"I know it may not be much comfort," Chula said, "but the recordings and artifacts in that cave might turn out to be vitally important for the whole galaxy. If the things Benny saw in those vids are what I think they are, maybe there's some information in the rest that'll give us a fighting chance if they invade again."

"Well, maybe then it won't be completely senseless." Goresk sighed, appeared to remember the drink in his hand and chugged it. He stood and walked over to the bar on the opposite end of the lounge. He picked up one of the bottles, stared at it, and changed his mind. He placed the bottle and his glass on the bar and returned to his seat. "Before I lose myself in disturbing thoughts again and forget to say this, thank you for taking me and Kolos with you. Those people might've shot us just to get rid of any witnesses."

"Cerberus has been known to do things like that, and worse." Chula smiled and nodded at him. "It was the least we could do. I've been in need of rescue before, so I don't leave anyone behind if there's any way to avoid it."

"We should thank you, too," Irving said. "Who knows how long it would've taken for us to book a flight if we hadn't run into you?"

"Glad it worked out," Dakka said. "You mentioned a family emergency. What kind of emergency, if you don't mind me asking? Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Well, we just need to talk with C-Sec about something."

"Ah. Need someone's skull cracked open? That's one of the things we do for a living."

"Within reason," Chula added with a chuckle. "We're not thugs or assassins, but if someone really has it coming, we're not opposed to giving it to them."

"We'd prefer to take care of it legally." Valeria chuckled. "But for some reason C-Sec is dragging their heels, so if that approach doesn't work out, I can put the skills from my previous job to good use."

"My grandmother would be happy to help out." Irving grinned and looked back to the crew. "She's the emergency, actually. She recently witnessed a hit-and-run by a criminal operating in Zakera Ward, and he's already sent some of his goons after her. So far, she's been pretty patient, but we're worried she'll tear the Citadel apart with her bare hands if the authorities don't get off their asses soon."

Dakka grinned and leaned forward. "That sounds promising."

Valeria laughed again. "Irv's grandmother is General Natalie Kurakova. Well, she's been retired a long time, but she still kicks ass. She fought in the First Contact War."

"Oh." Goresk waved a hand at Irving. "I bet that made things a little awkward with your guy."

Chula nodded slowly, remembering what she'd learned about the First Contact War when she was growing up. Triggered by a turian attack on human explorer ships at Mass Relay 314, it lasted only three months, but there were people on both sides who refused to let go of their grudges even after nearly thirty years.

"Yeah, she wasn't happy when she found out I was dating a turian. Even more so when she found out what we were doing for Fornax." Irving shrugged and grinned. "She eased up when she learned that she and Val see eye-to-eye on the war."

"Irv has people in his family who won't talk to him anymore because he married me, and I have several family members who shun me for the same reason. Several others had already kicked me to the curb when I disagreed with them about my people's actions during the Relay 314 Incident." Valeria sighed. "Granted, reactivating a dormant relay could be extremely dangerous--for all you know, it was deactivated to prevent some sort of vast army from invading and wiping out a less-advanced species. But the turian fleet simply opened fire on the humans instead of contacting them, telling them to stop, and explaining why they wanted 'em to stop. The humans were explorers and were just curious to see where the relay led. They'd never met any aliens before, so they had no way to know that switching on inactive mass relays was illegal under Citadel law."

"Yeah, legally, the turians were within their rights, since to them it was simply a police action. But come on, it wouldn't have killed them to warn the humans instead of just opening fire."

"Exactly!"

Irving patted his wife's hand. "Anyway, Grandma warmed up to Val quite a bit when they started talking about the war. I was nervous about inviting her to our wedding, but she said she'd never have forgiven me if I hadn't."

"She's my 'nana!'" Valeria giggled.

Dakka uttered a soft "squee" sound and Quint glanced at her, raised an eyebrow, and snickered. He put his arm around her and finished off his mug of coffee.

"It's good to see that some people are able to overcome their differences and let go of old grudges." Chula's thoughts returned to the situation with her people and the geth, the possibility of the quarians using a stealth ship for sneak attacks on the geth, and her comment to Lia that both species would likely remain enemies forever unless one or the other came to its senses and put the past where it belonged.

Magnum stood, stretched, and headed for the bar to refill her tumbler.

"So." Dakka rubbed her hands together. "How'd you decide to change careers from Special Tactics and Recon to photo shoots and vids for Fornax?"

"Heh." Valeria shrugged. "Being a Spectre was great at first. They're answerable only to the Council, and there's definitely something to be said for the authority to take action without having to deal with endless bureaucracy. Think of all the horrible things you can prevent and all the lives you can save that would be lost if you had to go through all the red tape. But being above the law also makes Spectres incredibly dangerous. I reached a point where I wasn't comfortable with it anymore."

"Guess I can understand that," Magnum said. "Especially after what happened with Saren Arterius."

"Saren's kind of an extreme case, but yeah. I had a bad feeling about him the moment I met him. Nobody would listen to me, though, possibly because I was new to the Spectres at the time. There were a few others I didn't trust. One in particular named Tela Vasir set off all sorts of red flags in my head when someone introduced me to her, but again, nobody else wanted to hear my opinion. Then Saren led the attack on the Citadel and cleared the way for Sovereign two years ago, and I decided to pull the ripcord. Technically, I'm on an indefinite leave of absence, but I have no intention of going back."

"Huh." Goresk shrugged. "I've had to work with my share of vicious assholes. You just get through it as best you can and move on once you get paid."

"Well, the thing with Saren was simply the last straw. I'd put in my fifteen years of military and civil service just like any other turian." Valeria looked away and sighed. "The last three years of which I spent doing what humans call 'wetwork' operations."

"Hmm. I'm not familiar with the term," Benny said.

Quint glanced at him and said, "It means she killed people. Targets designated by someone above her in the chain of command, people who presumably had it coming, but..."

"Yeah, I got my hands pretty dirty. Most of my targets were genuinely horrible people, but there were a few I just wasn't sure about. And there were several missions I didn't complete because I was sure the targets didn't deserve to be killed. Got in a bit of trouble for that, but it was one of the reasons I was considered Spectre-worthy--I don't just blindly do as I'm told. And like I said, it was great for a while, but...well, things changed."

"So you went straight from that into porn vids?" Dakka chuckled. "Interesting career path."

"Well, not immediately. I looked into various public service jobs, but none of them would get me far enough away from the Spectres. I kind of drifted around for a few months. Did some odd jobs here and there. Then I crossed paths with a talent scout for Fornax. I gave it a try just for the hell of it. Didn't expect it to lead anywhere. But for my first scene, they paired me with Irving, and we just 'clicked.' Started hanging around together outside the job, and now we're married."

"Yeah, that's why you don't do scenes with anyone else." Dakka squeed again. "That's so sweet!"

Chula laughed. "Yeah, it's kind of romantic."

Valeria and Irving grinned and nuzzled each other.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, then Benny stood and stretched.

"I just realized, I should shower before we reach the Citadel. Got a little ripe camping out in that cave for several days."

"Sure," Chula said. "This ship was built for a larger crew than we have, so there are plenty of rooms. I'll make sure your clothes are laundered by the time we dock."

"Thanks." Benny glanced at Malcolm and wiggled his eyebrows. "Care to join me?"

Malcolm grinned and looked around at the others. "If you'll excuse me, we have some catching up to do."

"Wooo!" Dakka fist-pumped as they hurried out the door. She laughed and put her arms back around Quint.

"So," Valeria said, "I've got a question or two, if you don't mind."

"Ask away." Chula crossed her ankles and waited.

"I couldn't help noticing you appear to be working with a geth."

"Working for them, actually." Chula laughed. "There's another platform with another member of our team on the Citadel. The geth own this ship, so they're sort of the captains."

Valeria and Irving stared slack-jawed at her and she laughed again.

"I've recently begun to find a perverse sort of humor in the idea of working for the geth. Or, at least, the looks on people's faces when I tell them."

"Heh. I bet. How'd it happen?"

"Kind of a long story." Chula stood and pointed at the bar. "Anyone want another drink before I start talking?"

Lia settled back in the lounge chair and took slow breaths. She'd used her Omni-Tool to search the Citadel's entertainment network and found a long track of gentle flute music with birdsong and distant wind in the background, and had set her envirosuit to stream it into her helmet. If no one in Huerta Memorial Hospital would tell her how Kenn was doing, there was nothing else she could do except wait.

The tension in her body evaporated slowly until she began to doze off.

Suddenly, she sensed a shadow passing over her, opened her eyes, and found Weyland standing beside her. Her heart pounded suddenly and she lurched upright.

"The Sulaco has arrived. The crew is bringing passengers and cargo acquired on a mission. One injured party is being brought to Huerta Memorial."

"Who was hurt?" Lia stood and took a few deep breaths to slow her heartbeat.

"One of the passengers our crewmates took on. Their client's husband is also coming here to be examined. The crew will reach Citadel Security headquarters soon; they will wait there for us."

"Oh. Well, good." Lia glanced at the door leading to the operating rooms. "I guess it'll be a while longer before they're done working on Kenn, but ...."

Sidonis touched her shoulder and nodded at the admissions desk. "I'll hang around here and see if I can get someone to talk to me. Maybe I can find someone who's more reasonable than the one we spoke with a while ago. I'll let you know if they tell me anything."

"Thank you." Lia patted his hand and turned to follow Weyland. "Okay, lead the way."

"Nana!" Valeria jogged through the door toward a human with long, dark hair streaked with gray standing in front of the C-Sec captain's desk. The woman turned, flashed a huge grin, and held her arms out.

"Val!" The woman--Natalie Kurakova, Chula presumed--hugged her, stepped back, and hugged Irving. "It's good to see you both, though I wish the circumstances were different."

"So do we, Grandma." Irving glanced around at the C-Sec agents. "So, how're you holding up?"

"Well, I'd be doing a lot better if Captain Bailey would stop giving me the runaround." She narrowed her eyes at the guy sitting at the desk. He winced, rubbed a hand over his face, and sighed.

Valeria's good mood vanished as if someone had flipped a switch. She faced the captain, planted her clenched fists on her hips, and leaned toward him. "And why is he doing that, hmm?"

Uh-oh. Chula took a step forward and hoped she could think of a way to defuse the situation.

The older woman rolled her eyes. "Oh, he was cooperative enough before he found out who the guy coming after me is."

Valeria kept her scowl aimed straight into Bailey's eyes. "And who would that be?"

"Elias Kelham."

Yutani stepped up beside Valeria, still wearing her Santa bikini, cloak, and hat from Takahashi's costume party. "The geth platform designated Legion has information on Elias Kelham. Commander Shepard questioned him on one of SSV Normandy's recent visits to the Citadel. He was a small-time criminal until many higher-level criminals were killed during Sovereign's attack on the Citadel two years ago. Soon after Kelham became a 'major player,' he made an arrangement with Captain Bailey."

Valeria's voice turned ice-cold. "Kelham pays him off."

Baily groaned and waved his hands. "It's just to keep things from escalating out of control. He keeps his 'business' to a reasonable level, and we don't lean on him too hard. I can put you in protective custody, but--"

"Funny what you consider 'reasonable.'" Kurakova turned back to Valeria. "I witnessed Kelham run down a turian civilian with his personal rapid-transit car. He plowed right into the poor guy, parked, got out of his car and walked away as if nothing had happened."

Valeria turned to glare at Bailey again. "If I were still a Spectre, I'd relieve you of command and throw your ass into one of your own cells."

"Now, hold on just a minute!"

"Did the turian survive?" Chula said to the woman.

"He's in one of Huerta Memorial's intensive care units. Last I heard, he's got a fifty-fifty chance of pulling through."

"First that, then he goes after my Nana because she saw it happen." Valeria stared at Bailey and her mandibles vibrated with her anger. "And you still just sit on your ass and do nothing about it?"

"Listen, it's not like I don't want to, it's just--"

She turned away from him. "Nana, for you, I'll contact the Council and have them temporarily reactivate my Spectre status. Then I can take care of this legally."

"I'd definitely be grateful," a new voice said. From its slight flanging, Chula could tell it was another turian. She leaned over to see past Dakka and found another C-Sec agent walking over to stand beside Bailey's desk.

"You would?" Valeria crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him.

"My father and I know General Kurakova and have the utmost respect for her." The turian waved a hand at her Nana. "I'm familiar with her military record. It's very impressive. My father's squadron faced her in battle on Shanxi. He was the only one who survived."

Dakka looked at Kurakova and whistled softly. "I bet that's a hell of a story."

"Oh, I was just a soldier doing her job." She smiled at the young turian. "Good to see you again, Tarsus. I didn't know you were stationed here."

"Just transferred here a few days ago, right before this whole mess started." Tarsus turned to Dakka and chuckled. "It's definitely a hell of a story. Dad never gets tired of telling it. It was one of the last ground battles of the First Contact War. His squadron was strafing her position and she knocked out their kinetic barriers with her Omni-Tool on their first pass. While they got into position for a second run, she walked right out into the open and lined up a shot on the squad leader with an anti-material sniper rifle. Punched clean through her canopy, through her forehead, out the back of her skull, and drilled into the back of her seat. Her fighter veered into her wingman and knocked him out of the sky. And as the rest of the squadron zipped straight toward her, she just popped the thermal clip out and lined up another shot."

Wow. Chula turned to stare at Kurakova. In the corner of her eye, Dakka aimed a star-struck gaze at the retired general while Tarsus continued.

"She stood her ground while they opened fire on her, and shot down all of them except my father before their shields could recharge. Without even blinking. Boom, headshot, pop the clip, shift aim, boom, headshot, pop the clip, boom, headshot--again and again, until my father was the only one left. Then her rifle ran out of heat sinks and couldn't fire again." He shook his head slowly. "Dad was almost on top of her at that point. She didn't flinch, didn't hesitate. She dropped the rifle, drew her sidearm, and aimed it right between Dad's eyes. He veered off, landed, got out of his fighter, and surrendered."

Dakka let out another soft squeeing sound. "That's awesome!"

Kurakova looked away and blushed.

"Dad certainly thought so. He said many times that after what he saw her do, she deserved victory." Tarsus chuckled. "I think that's only part of it, though. I'm pretty sure he shat in his armor when she pointed that pistol at him."

Kurakova's blush deepened. "Merely doing what I was sent there to do."

"But you did it so awesomely!" Dakka grinned. "At that moment, you were the baddest motherfucker on the entire planet. There have been krogan warlords throughout history who probably would've had second thoughts about engaging you in battle." She turned to Quint and said, "It's like the day you faced that geth Colossus on Virmire. Are you and the general related, by any chance?"

"No, but I wouldn't mind at all if we were."

"Holy shit," Bailey muttered. He looked up at Kurakova and sighed. "I'm sorry, ma'am. If the situation with Kelham weren't so delicate, I'd..."

"Doesn't matter," Valeria said. "I never wanted to be a Spectre again, but I'll do whatever it takes to bring this man to justice before he takes another shot at Nana."

"Hey, like I said before, if you could use a hand with this, I'm available." Dakka grinned again. "This kind of thing is what we do, after all."

"You're mercs?" Bailey said.

"You could say that."

"Hmm." Baily lowered his voice. "Actually, we have some reserve funds for...special operations. I'd be as happy to finally be rid of Kelham's crew as the next guy, so if you could handle that without tipping him off that C-Sec had anything to do with it, you could have yourselves a bonus."

"Sounds good."

"Count me in." Chula stepped up beside Dakka.

"Me, too." Quint slipped his arm around Dakka's waist.

"One thing," Chula said, looking around at the others. "Some of us should stay behind to help guard our clients and their cargo."

"We have informed Weyland," Yutani said. "They will guard our clients. We will protect the cargo while it is transported from its secured location to the scientists Mr. Takahashi contacted, and guard it after delivery."

Valeria sighed. "I don't want to place anyone else at risk, but Irving will worry himself sick if I turn your offer down."

"I know you can take care of yourself," Irving said, holding his wife's hands. "But it's been a while since you've done any fighting, and we don't know what kind of opposition you'll be facing. I'd feel better if you've got some support out there."

She nodded. "Okay, if it'll keep you from worrying."

"It will." He smiled and traced a fingertip along one of the neon-red stripes tattooed on her face. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She nuzzled him and turned to look at Tarsus. "I don't suppose you know where I could get my hands on some turian armor?"

"I do, actually." He nodded over his shoulder. "This way."

"Looks like we've got ourselves a new gig already." Dakka beamed and rubbed her hands together.

Kurakova cleared her throat. "Bailey, how about a set of human armor?"

Irving stared at her, slack-jawed. "Grandma?"

"Hey, this guy tried to have me whacked. There's no way I'm sitting this one out."

"Come on, how long has it been since you've seen any combat?"

"Not so long that I can't remember how to fight."

Bailey pointed in the direction Tarsus and Valeria had walked. "If you'll follow the Lieutenant, you'll find everything you need."

"Thank you." Kurakova turned and strode away without another word.

Dakka stared at her, giggled, and thumped her right fist into her left palm. "This is gonna be glorious!"