The Reaper War

by Cole Price

  “Why would the Matriarchs seal off so much information about the Protheans?” Dr. Passante wondered.

  “That is a very good question.” I scowled in frustration. “Alene, I have always wondered something. Just why are Prothean studies so little favored among our people?”

  She glanced sharply at me. “You suspect that is not an accident?”

  “I don’t know. So few students venture into the specialty, and most of them lose interest somewhere along the way. I can count on my fingers the number of living asari who have done serious work in the field. Once I rather enjoyed that, knowing I would find it relatively easy to make an original contribution. Now I wonder if there isn’t more to it.”

  “I suppose it’s possible. Matriarchs subtly using their money and influence, pushing people away from a scientific discipline they find useless?”

  “Or that they find dangerous.”

  She sighed. “I believe I will look into this. Carefully.”

  “Do that. In the meantime, if I can’t get the information I need here, I have to figure out where to look next.”

  “If what you suspect is true, you will have to look outside asari space. Somewhere the Matriarchs can’t easily reach.”

  “Hmm.” An idea sprang into my mind. “Cross-references!”

  Dr. Passante smiled. “Yes, I see.”

  I pounced on the console once more. “Consider a document that discusses the Protheans, in the context of some location outside asari space. If that document is filed correctly, it should be referenced both here and in the Galactic Cartography section. Now some Matriarch decides that the information is dangerous, and places it under the Seal. But that would create two copies of the Seal, one in each section of the stacks, with precisely the same timestamp.”

  “Which you can use to associate the sealed Prothean document with a specific place, without having to gain access to the document itself.”

  “Exactly.”

  Five minutes later, we had a list of eight worlds:

  Eden Prime

  Eletania

  Garvug

  Gei Hinnom

  Kahje

  Kopis

  Mars

  Talis Fia

  I sighed. “Well, it’s something.”

  “Do you have any idea where you will go first?”

  “Eden Prime and Mars are Alliance worlds. I can have my human allies investigate there for now. I’ve already visited the Prothean site on Eletania, and I doubt it has anything useful. Garvug, Gei Hinnom, and Kopis are all hostile worlds, so I would need to mount major expeditions there. That leaves Kahje and Talis Fia.”

  “Hanar or volus. Neither sounds like a bargain.”

  “No.” I took a deep breath and made up my mind. “I’m owed a few favors on Talis Fia. I will look there first.”

  “I may be able to get you some help,” she said brightly, as if an idea had leaped into her mind.

  I frowned. I did not want Dr. Passante jumping into my troubles, not if it would put her future status as a Matriarch at risk.

  She must have seen my hesitation. “Don’t worry, Liara, I’m too set in my ways to be jaunting around the galaxy. I have someone else in mind.”

  “All right.” I shut down the console I had been working with, rose and stretched to ease my stiff joints. “I will stay on Thessia for at least two days, so I can produce our Rosetta Stone. It’s best I stay out of sight, though.”

  “You would be welcome to stay with me. I have been living alone for the past few years.”

  I almost asked the obvious question, but then I remembered her last bondmate, a male salarian named Damarr. When I last saw him, he had been more than old enough to have passed on in the years since. Best not to reopen any healed-over grief she might be carrying. Instead I nodded and embraced her warmly. “I would be happy to accept your hospitality.”

  * * *

  27 February 2186, Serrice/Thessia

  ‘A-tha-kse-na po-va-shi to ru-te-na ‘u-kha Te-na-ka ‘A-tha-da . . .

  “Tenak Athad departed the Citadel in great haste,” I murmured to myself, double-checking the sense of the text as it filtered through the Cipher in the back of my mind. Satisfied that I had missed no nuances, I entered a few more words into the growing translation on my datapad.

  I worked in Dr. Passante’s dining room, the only place in her house where I could spread out a vast array of datapads and printed references. A half-eaten sandwich and an empty wineglass stood to one side, forgotten.

  “Liara?”

  I reached the end of a paragraph, finished my translation, marked the place, and set the datapad down. Only then did I notice that the sunlight shining through the window had moved all the way across the room since I last paid it any attention.

  Goddess. How long have I been at this?

  Long enough to produce over ten thousand words of translated text, apparently. I rose from my chair, rather stiffly, and went to meet Dr. Passante.

  She was not alone. Another asari entered the house with her, very young, pretty, with no markings on her face, dressed in a white-with-blue-accents ensemble rather like my own. I smiled warmly and went to greet the two of them. “Alene. Treeya, it’s very good to see you again.”

  Just as I had once been one of Dr. Passante’s students, Treeya Nuwani had once been one of mine. She had not chosen to follow me as an archaeologist, instead earning degrees in xenopsychology and non-asari cultural studies. I had nevertheless served as one of her academic advisors, helping her to earn her doctorate.

  We had last spoken about seven months earlier, while Treeya was on Fehl Prime, just before the Collectors struck that helpless human colony. She and two Alliance soldiers had been the only survivors of the attack. Even so, they won the first true victory against the Collectors, destroying the monsters’ ship and recovering a great deal of vital intelligence. They certainly did much better than I had managed a few days before, on Ferris Fields.

  I held Treeya at arm’s length to examine her closely. Superficially, she appeared much as I remembered her from my classes, a decade before. A closer look told me she had changed. The lines of her body were harder and more refined, as if she had been taking strenuous exercise. Her eyes evaluated the world around her with a certain cold steeliness, not as wide or innocent as they had once been.

  I wonder if this is what people who knew me years ago see, when they look at me?

  “Dr. T’Soni.” Her voice still sounded soft and sweet, but its tone seemed flatter than I remembered.

  “No need for formality between us,” I told her. “Not after what we have both been through.”

  She gave a sharp nod. “Liara. It’s good to see you too. I never thanked you properly.”

  “For what?”

  “For giving us a moment’s warning, back there on Fehl Prime. That might be the only reason any of us got out of that horrible situation with our lives.”

  I gave her a sober nod. “I’m glad. Are you well, Treeya?”

  “Well enough. I don’t think any of us will ever forget what happened.”

  “You stay in touch with the other survivors?”

  “Yes. James and I speak as often as we can.” Her eyes dropped to the floor for a moment, and I saw just a hint of higher color in her cheeks. It told me everything I needed to know.

  “Are you involved with Lieutenant Vega?” I asked gently.

  “Yes. No.” She sighed. “It’s complicated.”

  I laughed and hugged her. She clung to me for a moment, as if for comfort. “Bless you, Treeya. I can attest that any relationship with a male human is going to be complicated. Especially if he is a soldier, at a time like this. I’m glad you’re here. Are you the help that Alene promised me?”

  “I might be,” she said as the three of us moved to sit in the living area. “Dr. Passante told me you’re working on a crash project to investigate the Prothean response to the Reapers.”

  She no longer doubts the Reaper hypothesis. Not surprising,
given what she has seen.

  “Yes. Alene and I have identified a number of sites outside asari space that might be worth a closer examination, but I can’t cover them all myself. Not in the time we have remaining.”

  “Tell me what you want me to do,” she said simply.

  “Hmm.” I thought quickly, weighing options. “How would you like to be the lead scientist on board a starship?”

  Treeya blinked in surprise. “Like you were, on board Normandy with Commander Shepard?”

  “Very much like that. The ship would even resemble the original Normandy. Although I suspect you would not have to live in a cubbyhole behind the medical bay.”

  “How do you have the resources to offer Dr. Nuwani such a position?” asked Dr. Passante.

  “Let’s just say that I have a close relationship with someone who does. I think he will accept my recommendations in this matter.”

  “An Alliance ship?” Treeya inquired.

  “No. A ship belonging to the Shadow Broker. Its commander would be under orders to support your mission.”

  Treeya only nodded in acceptance.

  Dr. Passante was not nearly as calm. “Treeya, are you certain about this? I for one want to know just how Dr. T’Soni can claim that specific alliance.”

  “I thought I had your trust,” I reminded her softly.

  “You do! But this is very difficult to accept. You can make recommendations to the Shadow Broker, and convince him to allocate a multi-billion-credit starship to this mission?”

  “Yes,” I said, holding her gaze and projecting absolute certainty.

  “Goddess. You said you weren’t at risk of your mother’s fate. Are you sure you aren’t on a path leading to a far worse one?”

  “I think we are all at risk of a far worse fate, if we don’t find a way to defend ourselves against the Reapers.” I took a deep breath and decided to reveal just a little of the truth. “Alene, there’s very little I would not do – very little I have not already done – in pursuit of that end.”

  Treeya glanced at me, and then turned to catch the older asari’s eyes, nodding in sober agreement.

  “You have changed, Liara.” Dr. Passante shook her head ruefully. “Goddess watch over us all.”

  Chapter 3 : Ancient Echoes

  1 March 2186, Serrice/Thessia

  Three days buried in Prothean texts. I produced over thirty thousand words of translation. I also found myself starting to think in Prothean at odd moments. Apparently, constant practice pulled the Cipher out of my unconscious mind and into my language centers, where I could apply it consciously.

  Of course, even if I could now read and write Prothean, I still had no idea how to speak it. No one had ever recovered a viable recording of Prothean speech, so we had no way to know how the language was pronounced.

  I wish Vigil had managed to keep some of the scientists on Ilos alive in stasis. Even one would have been enough.

  I shook my head in self-disgust as I began to close my work materials. Rather monstrous to wish for a live Prothean, purely to satisfy my scientific curiosity.

  To be all alone, cut off from one’s entire species, everything one has ever known . . .

  I heard the door open. Dr. Passante hurried back through the house toward my impromptu work area. “Liara!”

  “What is it, Alene?”

  She appeared in the doorway, looking rather frightened. “I thought all this stealth foolish. I was wrong.”

  I crossed the room to rest a hand on her shoulder, examining her face closely. “What’s happened?”

  “Visitors have come to the Archives, inquiring into the Prothean records. Humans.”

  “Alliance?”

  “I don’t think so. They didn’t behave like official representatives. Besides, didn’t you already communicate with your friends in the Alliance about what you found here?”

  “Yes.” I felt a deep chill. “Describe these humans.”

  “Four of them, three males and a female, all in casual clothing. The males were not scientists. They spoke little, deferred to the female, and watched everything. Like combat-trained acolytes guarding their Matriarch.”

  “That fits. What about the female?”

  “Very sharp and cold. She clearly led their investigation.”

  “What did she look like?”

  “Pale skin, although not as pale as some humans I’ve seen. Brown eyes. That covering they have on top of their heads . . .”

  “Hair.”

  “Yes. Her hair was black with reddish highlights, falling to just below her ears. Attractive features, or at least they would be if she ever smiled. A little taller than me. Gorgeous figure, and she wore a form-fitted one-piece suit to show it off. As a maiden I would have killed for a shape like that.”

  Miranda? No, Miranda’s eyes are icy blue.

  “The male humans called her Dr. Eva Coré.”

  I gasped as the knowledge slammed into my mind. “Cerberus.”

  Alene’s eyes went wide. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. That name is associated with the group’s leader, the Illusive Man. Although . . .”

  Alene watched me patiently.

  “This can’t be the real Eva Coré. She was a human mercenary soldier, killed on Palaven almost thirty years ago.”

  “Someone using her name?”

  “Most likely. It’s no mere coincidence. What you describe sounds exactly like a Cerberus infiltration team.”

  “What will you do?”

  I pressed my steepled fingers to my lips for a moment, thinking hard. “I think it’s time for me to leave Thessia. Can you give me a ride to the starport?”

  “Certainly.”

  I opened my omni-tool, checked my encryption, and placed a call. “Treeya?”

  “Dr. T’Soni?”

  “Something has come up. I have to leave for Talis Fia right away. Can you be ready to come?”

  “Yes. I’ll meet you at the starport.”

  “Berth seventeen-gamma,” I told her. “The ship is Themis.”

  “Understood. Twenty minutes.” She cut the connection.

  “I still had a few more texts to translate,” I told Alene, picking up a set of datapads from the table. “I’ll take these with me and send the results back as soon as I have time. Meanwhile, everything I’ve done so far is in that stack over there.”

  “Dr. Orysae and I will get started on a lexicon right away,” she assured me.

  “Alene . . .” I bit my lower lip, not certain whether I should proceed.

  “What is it, Liara?”

  “Be careful. If you see any sign of interference or pressure from the Matriarchs, maybe you should be prepared to move this project off Thessia entirely.”

  “You think it will come to that?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just jumping at shadows, but it disturbs me greatly that so much knowledge about the Protheans has been sequestered.”

  “All right. Where would you suggest we go?”

  “Here.” I used my omni-tool to send her a set of codes. “Use these if you need a way offworld in a hurry. The Shadow Broker will send a ship to pick you up, with all of your research. I would suggest going to the Alliance. Contact Admiral Steven Hackett.”

  “The Shadow Broker again.”

  “Yes.” I stared into her eyes, projecting confidence. “He can be trusted.”

  Alene snorted in mock disgust, but she didn’t reject the advice.

  * * *

  2 March 2186, Interstellar Space

  “We should arrive at Talis Fia within two hours,” I said, as I stepped into the ship’s tiny galley.

  Treeya looked up from the datapad she was studying, and nodded silently.

  I went to the cold storage unit and pulled out a half-full bottle of Serrice ice brandy, poured myself a tumbler. Treeya nodded with acceptance when I made a gesture of invitation, so I poured her a glass as well.

  “When we arrive, there will be a ship waiting for you,” I told her,
sitting down and handing her drink across the table. “Cannae. It is under the command of a turian named Quintus Trevanian. It has other missions aside from yours, but Trevanian has been ordered to give your work priority whenever possible.”

  Treeya sipped her brandy and made a small smile. “Liara, why do you keep up this pretense?”

  I cocked my head and gave her my best wide-eyed innocent stare. “What pretense?”

  “You are not some mere agent for the Shadow Broker.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I’ve been doing some reading,” she said, setting the datapad down on the table in front of me.

  I didn’t look at it, instead continuing to hold her gaze.

  “Even with what I can glean from public records, I can tell you’ve been very busy. First you went off to Illium to start that information brokerage. T’Soni Analytics. You spent two years building it up out of nothing. From there, you took a major role in the early stages of the fight against the Collectors.

  “Then, about seven months ago, you just vanished for a time. Everyone thought you had been killed. By some odd coincidence, that was just after Commander Shepard paid a visit to Illium. Immediately after the defeat of the Collectors, you reappeared with Shepard at your side. At which point you very quickly bonded with him, handed over a controlling interest in T’Soni Analytics to your business partner, and left Illium. Now nobody is quite sure what you’re up to.”

  “What do you think?” I murmured.

  She took a deep breath, obviously gathering courage. “I think you have taken over the Shadow Broker’s network.”

  I considered bluffing, but Treeya had always been very perceptive. Besides, too many people had already reached the same conclusion.

  “That’s a good guess,” I said at last. “I hope you will keep it to yourself while you are aboard Cannae. Quintus knows, but the rest of his crew are not aware of the Shadow Broker’s identity.”

  “Liara, if I can make that deduction, so can many other people.”

  “I’m sure you’re right. The Illusive Man already knows, as do a few key people within the Alliance. I wasn’t as careful or secretive as I might have been.” I leaned back, took a slow sip of my brandy. “I’m still trying to keep the information under control for a little while longer, just to preserve my freedom of movement. Right now I don’t have time to deal with spies and other agents, following me wherever I go. If my calculations are correct, in about six weeks it won’t matter anymore.”