Garrus came over and looked at Fist lying in the blood with an indifferent look. The long muzzle of the sniper rifle was pointing straight at the man's forehead. And now this jerk realized that the jokes were over: he recognized Garrus right away. And he began to speak, choking on the words:

"She's not here! She said she would only talk to the Grey Intermediary! PERSONALLY!"

"It's impossible. The Gray Intermediary only works through agents." Garrus snapped, and I was amazed at how cold and raspy his voice had become.

Fist wrapped his arms around his injured leg, trying to stop the bleeding. I dropped the panacelin syringe in front of him. Let him be happy at last. He grabbed the package, tore it open, and stuck it right into the bullet hole in the armor.

"No one meets with a Gray Intermediary. Never! Even I do not know who he is! But the Quarian didn't know that. I said I would arrange a meeting."

What a brute! I exchanged glances with Garrus. His blue eyes were dark with anger and blazed with rage.

"Farther."

"They'll be waiting for her there."

"Where?"

Fist stumbled. I waited for exactly one second, after which I kicked the wounded limb heartily. The man howled.

"The place! Where?"

"Here! In residential sectors!" Fist croaked. "The alley behind the markets!"

"When?"

"Now!" Fist grinned. "If you hurry, you might make it."

I raised the rifle.

"I promised Michelle that you would never bother her."

"What...? NO!"

The rifle roared hollowly, hitting me in the shoulder with the recoil. The bullets shattered his head, instantly turning his fear-stricken face into a bloody mess.

Lowering the rifle, I turned to Garrus. The Turian looked calmly, with a degree of academic interest, looking from the dead body to me and back again.

"Don't you approve?" I raised an eyebrow.

The rifle in his hands folded up and went into a non-combat position.

"It was... the best solution to the Fist problem."

"Sometimes only death can bring you to reason." I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Come on, Garrus, or we'll be late for the meeting between the Quarian and Fist's mercenaries."

The mention of mercenaries had a miraculous effect! Vakarian roused himself, nodded, and walked forward. To my lazy objections, the Turian quite rightly pointed out that he was the only one wearing armor. I didn't argue.

As I was leaving the bar, I noticed the Krogan bouncer. A burly mercenary was treating his nerves with some kind of brown mutter at the bar, and inexcusably negligently turned his back on me. I couldn't miss such an invitation!

His wrinkled and slightly singed face fell sharply when the Krogan, who was gawking, heard a sacramental message in his ear:

"Handsome!" and the quiet squeak of a grenade being cocked. "You undressed so fast that I don't even know..." My fingers caressed the neck of the numb Krogan. "Is ten seconds enough for you this time?"

The Krogan choked on his drink, and the cold disk slipped out of my fingers and down his neck. I watched with a smile as the terrified, burly Krogan frantically pulled off his combat jacket. The grenade slipped out of his sleeve and fell to the floor. Inactive.

"A keepsake! Don't forget me, handsome!"

Blowing a kiss to the stupefied bouncer, I grabbed the numb Garrus by the elbow and dragged him out of the bar.

Chapter 8 Dubious Evidence

"Garrus!"

I shook the still-astral Turian by the shoulder. The blue eyes blinked.

"Don't take some of my actions so personally."

"It was... cruelly."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"It was cruel the first time. But there was plenty of time on the grenade, so he would have had time to undress. Well, the second one... maybe this case will teach him not to click his beak."

There was a look... strange. I don't know what he's up to, but I hope he doesn't give up on the idea of becoming a member of my team. And by the way...

"Garrus, I don't know anything about the Citadel."

The Turian nodded understandingly and ran down the corridor. I'll follow him.

How he found his way through these absolutely identical corridors is a mystery shrouded in darkness! Ten minutes of fast running, and now we flew into a corridor flooded with reddish light, around the corner of which we heard the vibrant voice of a Turian:

"Did you bring it?"

Garrus slid towards the turn, activating his sniper rifle. A moment later, I did too, dropping to one knee. Peeking around the corner, we saw a rather interesting picture: a Quarian and a tall Turian, a little to the side — four, judging by the characteristic shape of the helmet — Batarians.

"Where is the Gray Intermediary?" The Quarian's soft voice sounded a little muffled because of the helmet. "Where's Fist?"

We exchanged glances. Garrus took the rifle more comfortably, and I took the assault rifle. The fact that I was squatting at the Turian's feet didn't bother me or him at all. There were no shelters in the corridor. Even the most cluttered crate!

"They'll be here soon." The Turian reached out and patted the tense Quarian patronizingly on the head, for which he received a slap on the wrist. "Where's the proof?"

"No!" The girl took a step back. The deal is off!

And with the girl's next step, Garrus raised his rifle and stepped around the corner, crouching at gunpoint. The Batarians drew their weapons, and the Quarian staggered back against the wall.

Our shots rang out almost simultaneously: booming snipers and dry coughing rifles. A Turian in black armor collapsed to the floor with a bullet through his head, and my shots cut down one batar. A booming shot, the second — fell to the floor and twitched in agony. Garrus decided to change his habit and shot the idiot in the spine. He's kind! I cut off the two remaining batars in one burst.

The girl huddled behind a support and looked at us with wide-open eyes, perfectly visible through the tinted glass of her helmet, gushing with panic. Garrus put away his rifle, took out his pistol and went to his unfinished victim, and I crouched down next to the frightened Quarian woman and said softly:

"I am Commander Shepard, Alliance Air Force. Garrus Vakarian, C-SEC officer."

As the girl comprehended my words, the fear disappeared, and she relaxed a little.

"Thank you!"

"Thank Dr. Michelle." I smiled reassuringly, shifting slightly to block her view of Garrus, who was quickly interrogating the still-alive Batar. And the good guy's methods are draconian! "She told me you were in danger."

"I..." the girl's voice trailed off as a muffled, confused whisper came from behind me. "Fist set me up! He..."

"Don't worry about him. Fist got what he deserved." A gurgling scream was interrupted by a dry pistol shot.

The girl shuddered, nervously shrugged her shoulders.

"Apparently, I need to thank you twice."

Garrus came over and held out his hand, helping the girl to her feet.

"But why did you come to the doctor?"

"We are conducting an investigation into the activities of the Saren Spectrum." Garrus said.

"In that case, I can repay you for saving my life. I have something that can help you."

Garrus and I exchanged glances. Well, wow!

"We need to get out of here. It's not safe here." A vibrating voice echoed my thoughts, putting them into words.

"What about Ambassador Udina's office?" I suggested. "It's safe there. And he's DEFINITELY going to want to see it."

The girl did not object. Garrus caught my expressive gaze, grinned and walked forward, waving his hand inviting me to follow him. A couple of minutes of winding through the same type of corridors, and here it is happiness — a taxi terminal. We called the flyer and sat down on a bench. Garrus was looking at me with some kind of incomprehensible expression on his face, trying, however, not to stare openly, Tali was nervous. And I was sprawled out on a bench, watching the future members of my crew from under half-closed eyelids. Tali is a kind and open-minded girl, rather guileless and trusting. The result of growing up in a closed environment. Garrus, on the other hand, does not suffer from excessive trust, but still has not lost his youthful faith in justice and a miracle. It's amazing how a shy, sincerely believing in justice, kind, idealistic guy and an Archangel, a ruthless, frankly cruel, cold-blooded and calculating sniper, were so harmoniously combined in one reasonable man.

An automatic taxi landed silently near the terminal, gurgling a greeting. Garrus perked up, and Tali stopped weaving her six fingers into strange shapes.

"Let's go and make the ambassador happy." I stretched luxuriously and yawned widely.

As soon as I settled into an easy chair, I almost instantly slipped into sleep, and I safely overslept all the way to the Presidium.

Vivid pictures of someone else's death flashed before his mind's eye, forming into clearly structured military chronicles, a harsh voice in a strange but understandable language told about the death of a great empire and called for revenge. An unknown Prothean was warning about the Enemy, he was trying to communicate everything that his relatives had learned over the long hundred years of the brutal war of annihilation that they had lost. The coordinates and visions of the planets were imprinted in the memory, on which Archives and peculiar arks were created, in which the chosen of the great people slept in stasis capsules. It was the voice of the dead, calling for Revenge, warning of a great threat and an Enemy waiting in the wings. It's just a pity that this voice would have remained unheard and misunderstood. The human mind is not capable of accepting information structured in this way. The maximum is to catch incoherent pictures and ragged visions. I will fully realize all the information put into my head only when the gift of the mentalist is revealed.

"Commander Shepard?"

The Turian's quiet voice, tinged with genuine concern, jerked me out of sleep. The flyer began to slow down and descend, taxiing towards the embassies. Yawning, I rubbed my eyes and blinked.

"Have we arrived?"

"Almost. You look tired." he said carefully, peering intently into my face.

"Communication with the Protean beacon is having an effect. Information overload." I answered honestly. "The chronicle of the annihilation of a great empire is not the most pleasant thing to see in dreams."

A Quarian gasped softly next to me, and for the first time I saw the Turian's jaw drop. It's a pretty sight!

The taxi landed and raised the canopy of the cab, politely inviting us to get out and giving me the opportunity to avoid further questions. But Tali's attentive gaze and Garrus' thoughtful gaze made it clear that these two would not forget my words and would eventually demand answers. We walked to the ambassador's office in silence. I was in an elated and even dreamy mood, and my companions were still trying to chew on the news. It must have been hard to chew, because when we stumbled into Udine, Garrus and Tali were silent, staring at my back.

In addition to the irritated Udina, Captain Anderson was in the office. The native authorities raised an eyebrow questioningly, shooting a glance of penetrating gray eyes at the aliens, and I nodded in agreement and smiled broadly, contentedly.

"Commander Shepard," Udina guessed quite correctly who had come to him. "You're making my life difficult." The ambassador's voice sounded irritated and angry. "A shootout in residential areas, the murder of the owner of the Kora Lair!" The ambassador slowly turned around. "Do you have any idea..." The ambassador finally noticed our interesting company and stopped. "Who's that?"

Tali and Garrus exchanged glances. Apparently, this was not the reception they had expected.

"A Quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?!"

Against the background of the evil ambassador, Anderson, who was happy with his life, looked indecently happy. The captain immediately realized that I had brought a Turian he already knew and an unknown Quarian for a reason.

"The Quarian can help us with the evidence." I said sarcastically, watching Garrus's long face out of the corner of my eye, unaccustomed to such insubordination. If you had let me insert a single word into your monologue, I would have told you about it.

Well, just the very courtesy! Anderson seems to be starting to get "haha", Garrus is in a stupor, Tali is puzzled.

Udina sighed wearily.

"I'm sorry, Commander. This story has worn out all my nerves."

For a moment, I even felt sorry for him, literally! For a VERY small moment! It's okay, I'll get the status of a Spectrum and I'll be able to send it sometimes through the distant forest with a clear conscience!

"Maybe you could start over, miss..." Udina looked pointedly at Tali.

The girl nodded graciously and introduced herself:

"My name is Tali*Zora nar Raya." Quarians don't come here very often. Udina quite reasonably remarked. "Why did you leave the Fleet?"

"I went on a Pilgrimage." The girl just said.

No one needs to explain what it is. Almost all sentients living in Citadel space were well aware of this lovely tradition of immigrants from the Migrating Fleet and, sometimes, enjoyed using the services of Quarian youngsters.

"Tell me what you found, Tali." I asked softly.

The girl nodded, clasping her fingers together.

"While scanning one of the uninhabited planets, we found something strange. It was the Geth! Since our people were driven out, they have never crossed the borders of the Veil." Tali paced nervously, unconsciously stroking her palm with her fingers. "I became interested and was able to follow one of the Geth patrols."

Oh, how! And the girl is an adventurer!

I waited until one of the Geth had fallen behind his group and turned him off. I managed to remove the memory block.

Pretty cutie! She caught Geth and twisted his head, pulling out his brains. The beauty! Of course, I wouldn't have killed all my friends at the same time, it would be generally good.

"I thought that at the moment of Geth's death, his module burns down." Anderson pointed out quite reasonably.

Tali lowered her nose and hesitated.

"This is true. Most of the data was destroyed." The nose rose again. "But I was able to pull out some soundtracks."

With these words, this little miracle rattled on its fancy omny-tool and played us a short recording in which the perfectly recognizable voice of the unforgettable Saren was broadcasting to someone:

"We won a big victory at Eden Prime! The lighthouse has brought us one step closer to the Canal!"