How interesting... And the pathos, the pathos! I wonder if he believes what he's saying. Or is excessive pathos just a screen to hide something else? The fact that the legendary Spectre does not want to put on display even to his closest associates.

That's me, the Main Villain of the Entire Galaxy... on a short leash.

There was a moment of silence in the office. Intelligent people of different races silently comprehended what was said. I was silent too. Everything I could do, I did. Now it's up to Udina.

"This is Saren's voice!" The captain whispered.

"Wait! That's not all!" Tali clicked on the virtual buttons. "He wasn't working alone. Listen up."

In the silence of the office, Saren's hoarse, low, vibrating voice sounded again:

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

But this time, he got an answer:

"And he brought the Reapers' return one step closer."

The drawling, deep-throated female voice sounded especially sensual and deep against the background of Saren's hoarse, rough voice. That's just why I thought Lady Benezia sounded tired and hopeless... A reproach? A play on the intonation of a sensual voice? Or is it a trick of my mind?

The recording ended. The golden glow of the active instrumentron disappeared, and the device shut down.

"I do not know whose voice it is." The ambassador's voice broke the heavy silence. "The one who talks about the Reapers."

Tali answered the unanswered question in the air:

"According to data from the Geth memory module, the Reapers are a highly advanced race of machines that existed about fifty thousand years ago. The Reapers completely exterminated the Prothean race, after which they disappeared. That's what the Geth think."

"It sounds like speculation and fairy tales." Udina muttered.

I could feel the fabric of reality tightening! A burning sense of excitement ran through my nerves, as it always does when I step in and break a frozen story, a shock dose of adrenaline hit my bloodstream, my heart began to beat, my mind cleared, becoming crystal clear and pure. Here it is — my drug, which I got hooked on five more lifetimes ago, and I don't think I'll ever cry!

"What if I tell you that it's probably true?" I asked, watching with interest as the faces stretched out.

"Commander?"

"Captain, do you remember that strange ship on Eden Prime? He's so black." I asked. "During the briefing with Nihlus." The captain nodded. "I think it's the Reaper."

Udina choked, Garrus exhaled in amazement, Tali squeaked.

"Are you sure?" Anderson braced himself.

"Do you know what put what you called a lighthouse in my head?" after waiting for a negative swing, I pressed: "The chronicle of death. The demise of the Prothean Empire. A warning. A call for revenge. I've seen such machines descend on populated planets, wreaking death and destruction. However, there were MANY of them. And now the Reaper is alone. I suspect the others are waiting somewhere while this one watches. There is no concept of `long waiting' for cars.

"Do you realize that your words are unprovable?" Udina asked.

"Naturally, I understand." I shrugged my shoulders. "But I'm not going to prove anything to you. I can only warn you and share my knowledge."

I really wasn't going to prove anything: I warned my native race. And how to dispose of the information received is their problem. Moreover, a Ghost has known about Reapers and Collectors for twenty years for sure.

"Is there anything else?" Anderson asked.

"No technical information. Only war footage and a warning. I mentioned it in the report." I spread my hands. You may not believe me or convince yourself that the Reapers are just fairy tales and there is no real threat. Your right. There is no proof. But when they appear, it may already be too late."

"The council won't believe it." Anderson said gloomily.

"No one will believe it." I waved it off.

The captain didn't say anything. He just stood there and stared thoughtfully through me into the distance he alone knew. Tali was silent.

Garrus was thinking hard about something. The ambassador was pacing with his hands behind his back.

"The council won't like it."

Udina's soft, thoughtful voice broke the heavy silence.

"They might not believe it." Anderson added.

"You shouldn't try to get everything at once. We are content with a small victory. Proof of Saren's guilt in the attack on Eden Prime."

"That's right, Commander," Anderson said, crossing his arms over his chest. "These audio files are sufficient evidence. It's not worth trying for more."

"I'll inform the Council." Udina drew a line under our conversation. "I'll give you a couple of hours to rest. Meet me at the Tower."

The authorities left, and after consulting with each other, we decided to wait in the Tower so that we wouldn't have to rush headlong to the Council meeting.

The terrifyingly slow elevator lifted us to the right level, having managed to overwhelm all three of us with a disgusting mournful melody. For relaxation, we chose a long bench located slightly away from the main staircase in a nice little corner. They sat down there.

However, Tali didn't have enough time for long, and the young Quarian jumped to her feet and nervously cut around the fountain, looming in front of her eyes. Garrus and I sprawled out on a bench, relaxing after a busy day.

Slowly, fatigue, silence, and the soothing murmur of the water took their toll, and I drifted off to sleep. As I was falling asleep, I felt my relaxed body slide smoothly to the side, and my head bumped uncomfortably into something hard. Once I was comfortable, I switched off, plunging into the already familiar and somewhat familiar bloody nightmare showing me the demise of the Prothean Empire. Hurrying to an unexpected meeting, Councilor Sparatus noticed a strange company even for a multi-species Citadel: a Quarian woman nervously pacing back and forth and a young Turian man he knew well, sitting on a bench, looking at a human girl sleeping soundly on his lap and not knowing where to put his hands.

Chapter 9.1 Attention `Cerberus'

The setting sun flooded the dark room with bloody light, playing gold and crimson on the sparse surroundings, picking out two reasonable people from the thick darkness: a tall, heavily built soldier sitting on a chair, and a young black-haired man in light black armor standing by the window blinds.

"Let's get back to the details. And this time..." The brunette bent down to the ear of the prisoner tied to the chair, "I want to hear them all."

The soldier raised his head, blinked painfully from the bright light that cut across his eyes. The rays of the setting sun illuminated a bruised and bloody face, a swollen eye and split lips.

"I've already told you everything..."

A barely audible grunt and a cold reply:

"Respect me."

The soldier lowered his head again and spoke in a trembling voice:

"It was supposed to be a simple search and rescue operation." The voice trailed off for a moment, and the soldier spat out bloody saliva. "They struck so fast! Half of the squad was taken out before we could regroup."

"Go on."

"Williams. She was the leader of our squad. She didn't want to back down so easily. She could have survived, but I do not know. I... I escaped."

"What attacked you?" a harsh question, slightly tinged with contempt.

"As I said, I don't know anything about what attacked us. They looked like robots, but... somehow different." a barely audible sob. "They were just getting closer!"

The black-haired man narrowed his eyes, his well-defined lips curled into a disgusted grimace. The soldier did not notice this and continued to speak:

"I've never seen anything like it! I didn't know what to do!" He hung his head and sobbed a little. "I'm sorry."

The interrogator turned to the window.

"It sounds like you're very lucky to get out of there alive." He said dismissively.

"Listen to me! I've told you everything! What else do you want?!"

The black-haired man turned around and walked to the exit of the modular house, briefly saying:

"You traitor, you don't want to know what I really want." And he went out. The doors closed behind him.

Standing on the edge of a high cliff, the man stared gloomily at the scorched and magma-melted spot spread out in front of him. It was huge, more than half a kilometer in diameter, and it smelled of heavy black smoke from still-burning buildings burned by an unknown force. Whatever had caused such damage had tremendous power! Something else was worse. It wasn't a blow. These are just side effects inflicted in passing.

"Rasa, this is Lang." he said dryly, waiting for the caller's answer. "Nothing new."

"Nothing?" a pleasant female voice asked.

"Well, he's not lying." Kai Lang's lip curled slightly. "He doesn't know anything. No matter what hit this place, it's incredibly powerful. And it's unlike anything we've ever encountered before." Kai Lang's companion, a beautiful, well-built woman with a full head of curly fiery red hair, leaned back in her chair.

"Does the boss think the Spectrum Turian has something to do with it?"

"He didn't say." Kai replied. "But I suppose it is." He won't be very happy if we can't bring him a better lead." He finished with displeasure.

Rasa adjusted her elegant rectangular-rimmed glasses, glanced at the intelligent people leisurely strolling along the paths of the Presidium, raised her eyebrows in surprise and smiled in anticipation.

"Well, maybe I have something worthwhile." The smile turned into a grin. "You said that guy was fighting with Sergeant Williams, right?"

"Yes. But it seems that she died along with the others." Kai grumbled with displeasure.

"You're wrong." Rasa sipped her coffee, watching the two soldiers in Alliance uniforms walking slowly along the suspension road. "I'm just looking at her."

"Nonsense!"

"I'm not going to lie to you." the woman said ironically. "At least not in this one."

Kai growled softly. Rasa chuckled.

"What are you going to do with this `soldier'?"

"I'll make it look like he died in battle with the others." Kai grumbled.

"That's very decent of you, Lang." Rasa chuckled.

"It's just a convenient way to end it." There was an indifferent reply.

"Good luck. And don't screw it up."

"And I'm not going to!" he growled.

The connection was interrupted. The woman threw her head back, gathered her hair into a ponytail. Picking up the datapad from the table, she went to meet the two people.

"Please forgive me!" Rasa raised her hand, drawing attention to herself. "Are you Sergeant Ashley Williams?"

Ashley looked at the smiling woman suspiciously, exchanged glances with her companion, and cautiously replied:

"Yes. Do I know you?"

"Captain Channing." Rasa introduced himself. "I am the psychologist of the Alliance. I've been informed of an incident with your squad on Eden Prime. I don't need to talk to a shrink." Ashley said with displeasure. "Captain Anderson is filing a full report right now."

Rasa smiled brightly.

"True, but there are no details about the time before you were included in the crew of the Normandy." Rasa spread her hands. "And, unfortunately, in a situation like this, caution is necessary. We need to make sure that you are able to continue active service."

"Able to?" Ashley asked irritably.

"It's just a standard procedure." Rasa said softly.

Kayden took a step back:

"I will go. Ashley, I'll see you later." And he quickly left, disappearing into the crowd of strolling sentients. Ashley pursed her lips in displeasure, but did not say anything about such a blatant escape.

"It won't be long." Ashley assured the `psychologist', smiling knowingly. "We can have a conversation right here, if that's okay with you. Let's take a table in a cafe and just talk. What do you say?"

"I'll tell you that you have twenty minutes. And not a minute more!" Ashley grumbled. "What exactly do you want to know?"

Rasa waved her hand invitingly, glancing at the cafe where she had recently communicated with Lang.

"You were on patrol when it happened, right? Let's start from here."

"Good."

"And don't omit the details. The more you tell me now, the less likely it is that we will have to schedule repeat meetings."

Ashley nodded gravely. The women reached the cafe and took a small table at the edge of the terrace, which offered a beautiful view of the Presidium and the lakes below.

"It all started in the center of the colony two days before the attack..."

The small bar was full of people. As the evening approached, people relaxed, sipping low-alcohol drinks allowed on the territory of the garrison, relieving tension with conversations and friendly banter. Men and a few women merrily quarreled and exchanged dubious jokes, the quiet music was drowned out by bursts of cheerful laughter and the voices of resting soldiers.

"Come on, Williams!" The tall blond man, Sergeant Donk, leaned over to the dark-haired woman. "You know what you're going to like."

Ashley grinned, swinging the glass between her fingers.

"Not as much as you do."

The fighters sitting at the next table laughed.

"Forget it, Big Guy!" the fighter said with a laugh. "I've already tried."

"Yes, Donk." Duke chuckled. "You have a better chance with a Penny. Or maybe Penny has a better chance with Williams."

The brown-haired woman sitting next to him leaned back a little, smiled cheerfully and replied:

"I think she'd be courting me if she was that kind of person." The men grinned at Penny's words. "But judging by my last check, she's not one of them."

Ashley chuckled.

"Yeah! But if anyone could change my mind about THIS, it would be you, Penny the Tramp."

The fighters laughed again.

"Oh, damn, that would be delicious!" the fighter drawled.

"Hey, Bates, a call from the twenty-first century... They want to bring back the infantile chauvinists!"

Bates' face fell.

"Infan... whom?"

"GET TO YOUR PLACES!"

The unexpected thunderous voice of the lieutenant suddenly interrupted all conversations. The fighters jumped up from their seats, lined up in two ranks and stood at `attention'.

The lieutenant, with his hands behind his back, walked slowly along the line.

"Ladies, I see you meet the high standards of the two hundred and twelfth division. Are you satisfied with yourself?"

"That's right, sir!" the simultaneous response seemed to shake the building to its foundations.

"Freely." The lieutenant walked over to the bar. "I don't care how you have fun in your free time. Unfortunately, you will be joining the service from now on. It is necessary to conduct a reconnaissance of the area. The scientific team has found something like a lighthouse and now wants to protect it."