"C-captain..."
Tali'Zorah, who had come to my cabin, looked very agitated.
"Tali..."
I gave her a restrained nod, looking at her intently.
"Captain, I..."
She fell silent, seeing me raise my hand.
"Tali, first of all... you've proven yourself well, and I can lift the punishment that was imposed earlier. I've discussed this matter with Jane, and she confirms that even though not much time has passed, you—"
made a big step forward, developing both her physical capabilities and her skills.
"N-no!"
Tali shook her head in panic.
"I need this! I... during these sessions, I realized how little I knew! Please! Don't cancel my training!"
I smirked with satisfaction.
"The right choice. If you had refused the training, I would have been disappointed in you."
Tali exhaled in relief.
"Now, regarding what happened back then... Tali, I am, of course, partly to blame for dragging you along on combat missions, considering you've never served in the army and subordination isn't exactly ingrained in you, but you must understand... You acted extremely irresponsibly. I hope you won't allow yourself to do something like that again."
"I promise!"
I looked at Tali skeptically, and she hurried to avert her gaze.
"Well... I promise to try."
"Good, thank you for the honesty. Do you have any questions?"
"John... I... I understand... that after what happened, you... I... we..."
She shifted uncertainly from foot to foot, her fingers interlacing. I had to stand up from the desk, take a step toward her, and pull her into a hug. At my touch, she flinched and tensed slightly.
"Tali, don't imagine anything strange. I still find you attractive, and I remember our kiss with warmth in my heart. But I couldn't fail to react to your actions on the asteroid... that would have been an act of favoritism."
"I understand..."
She hesitantly hugged me back, trying to press as close as possible.
"That's good then..."
Our conversation ended there; we hugged for a while longer, after which Tali hurried off to another training session, and I returned to working with the documents.
** Some time later. **
"Captain, we are arriving at the Citadel..."
"Yeah..."
I replied to Joker, but irritation could be heard in my voice. It wasn't caused by the talkative pilot, who often didn't know how to restrain himself—no, my irritation was caused by Udina, who had sent me a demand to report to him.
I went down to the CIC and, quickly spotting Pressly, hurried over to him.
"Commander!"
He stood at attention before me.
"At ease. Pressly, is the consumables list ready?"
"Yes..."
He activated his Omni-tool, and the list immediately appeared on mine.
"...it's here, with a thirty percent surplus, just as you said."
"Is that everything?"
"Yes, both ship consumables and landing party supplies, plus the additional materials for Dr. Chakwas. The latter, per your request, has a fifty percent surplus."
"Good. You'll be the senior officer on the ship, or your deputy; I've signed the shore leave rosters. So you know what to do."
"Yes, sir."
Pressly nodded to me, and I headed to the cockpit to Joker, arriving just as the Citadel blocked out the space before us. We could already see the specific dock we were heading for.
"Joker, how much longer?"
"Ten minutes... give or take a couple."
I nodded in satisfaction, accepting the pilot's answer, and continued to watch our ship's mesmerizing approach to the dock and the docking with the magnetic clamps. Only when the engines were completely shut down did I pat Joker on the shoulder.
"Excellent as always. You can take a break... and go get a check-up with Dr. Chakwas. The medications you're taking require constant course adjustments, so..."
"I'll definitely go."
Joker nodded with great enthusiasm. I headed for the exit, but as soon as I left the ship, I was met by a journalist. Fortunately or unfortunately, it wasn't the one I had sent to the brig. This was a representative of the Asari race, dressed, like most of her kind, in a very tight-fitting dress.
"Spectre Shepard, this is Citadel News, may I ask a few questions!"
The girl was very persistent; however, she didn't shove drones in my face, so I stopped and gave a slight huff.
"Alright, go ahead... but make it quick, I need to report to the Council."
"Of course, of course... I'll launch a drone, if you don't mind?"
"Launch it."
The girl nodded, then activated her Omni-tool, and a drone detached from her back, apparently hanging there on a special mount.
"Great... So, this is Citadel News, I'm Arcadia M'Gori, and Spectre Shepard has agreed to answer my questions."
"Good day to all the viewers."
I tried to force a polite smile onto my face.
"Spectre, my first question concerns, perhaps, all journalists. Do you hate the free press?"
"Where did you get such a stupid idea?"
I tilted my head in surprise.
"Well, you accused the last journalist who interviewed you of espionage..."
"As far as I know, she hasn't been released yet. And the Spectre corps takes investigations very seriously. If my suspicions had been groundless, she would have been released by now. It's just..."
I frowned slightly.
"...what was her name again? Regardless, the point is she was clearly sticking her nose where it didn't belong and got into trouble. It's entirely her own fault that she's under investigation."
"I see... not long ago, leaks about Virmire appeared online; can you comment on them?"
"Forgive me..."
I spread my hands in a mock gesture of helplessness.
"...I've only just returned from a mission and haven't had time to familiarize myself with all the gossip and leaks appearing in the press. So I simply don't know exactly what I'm supposed to be commenting on..."
"Well... to summarize, you are being accused of an ecological disaster on the planet Virmire. They say you detonated some extremely dirty bomb there, as a result of which the planet became uninhabitable. And yet, before that, it was considered one of the possible planets for colonization."
I frowned slightly.
"Let's put it this way: I can't give an exhaustive answer, but I will comment on a few things, and a more detailed..."
My Omni-tool chirped.
"One second."
I looked at the message that had arrived and raised my eyebrows slightly.
"Miss M'Gori, you should have warned me that you weren't just asking questions, but that this was being broadcast live. However, I have just received permission to disclose information regarding Virmire. Therefore, I can comment on what happened. The rogue Spectre Saren used a laboratory on that planet to create an army controlled only by him. Initially, STG representatives claimed he was developing a Genophage cure there to win the Krogan over to his side, but that turned out to be not entirely true."
The girl pressed her hands to her mouth, clearly not expecting such details from me.
"In fact, the main focus of this laboratory was cloning, and the clones were deprived of their own will. Later, I believe the Council will publish fragments of combat encounters with Saren's small army, and everyone will be able to see that the Krogan clones perform much worse than the Geth. Furthermore, regarding the explosions—there were explosions, but they weren't dirty bombs; they were bombs provided by STG specialists. In fact, it was the only way to destroy the laboratory, because fighting there could have gone on for a very long time. And considering the opponents could afford to lose as many as they wanted, while our fatigue was accumulating. So something had to be done to prevent Saren from acquiring his own army."
"But how..."
"I'm getting to that."
I raised my hands reassuringly, as if to say there was no need to rush.
"The ecological disaster was caused by the fact that the laboratory was full of all sorts of chemicals. And answering the question I might be asked next, I will say that no, I do not regret detonating those bombs. The choice was between our death—after which Saren would have retaken control of the complex and then had an army—and an ecological disaster. And I chose the latter... after all, there are still many planets in the galaxy, and even Virmire can still be lived on, albeit under domes, but an army for someone like Saren, who has already somehow made a deal with the Geth..."
I shook my head.
"...something like that could have threatened the lives of all inhabitants of Citadel Space."
"Um... that was a very detailed answer."
"For that, we must thank the Council, which sent me permission to disclose this information."
"Yes, thank you."
The Asari smiled at the camera.
"Now, the next question... how much longer do you think you'll be hunting Saren? Is it really so difficult to catch a single Turian who is outside the law?"
"It is indeed difficult. Many might not understand this, but Saren has not only a giant ship of unknown origin, which despite its size can descend into the atmosphere, but also not just the Geth carrying out his orders..."
I paused for a couple of seconds, pretending to be deep in thought.
"...no, that's far from everything. He has a huge number of friends and debtors acquired over his years as a Spectre. Not to mention he must have a lot of various compromising material. So tracking and catching such an individual is truly difficult."
"I see, and what can you say about..."
I was asked five more questions, after which the girl thanked me, and the drone once again took its place on her back.
"Thank you for the wonderful interview."
M'Gori smiled at me.
"It was a pleasure working with you, but now I really must go."
I headed first to the Spectre office, where I began performing minor tasks, such as requisitioning consumables and submitting materials on past missions—essentially fulfilling my duties. And it was at that moment that I received a call.
"Shepard! What the... why haven't you arrived yet?! I sent you a message! Straight to me after you land!"
"Mr. Udina..."
I had to exert some effort to restrain myself and not tell this politician—in the worst sense of the word—exactly what I thought of him.
"...first and foremost, I am a Spectre, and I must report to my immediate superiors. Or do you consider yourself above the Council and the Spectre corps?"
"I..."
The man clearly stalled.
"I will come to you as soon as I have the opportunity, but for now, wait."
I cut the call and then simply continued going about my business. Until Tevos contacted me.
"Shepard..."
"Councilor Tevos."
I nodded politely to the Asari.
"Shepard, please stop by Ambassador Udina's office... as he said you are ignoring him. It's not good..."
She said the last words with a smirk.
"...however, do not forget that, as I have learned, you have already retired from the Systems Alliance military. So he has no authority over you. This is... just a gesture of goodwill on the part of the Council, so if he gets arrogant, you can refer to me."
"Understood, Councilor Tevos."
I nodded, though I think it was clear from my tone that I was very upset by the necessity of going to this politician.
"Now, don't be so upset; I understand the Ambassador isn't a very pleasant person, but you still need to communicate with him."
"As you say."
"That's good, and after you talk to Udina, come to my office. We have things to discuss."
The connection broke, and with a sigh, I was forced to head toward the embassy district. Honestly, I really didn't want to talk to Udina and had planned to ignore his invitation altogether, citing work. However, he turned out to be significantly more stubborn.
"John..."
Answering the call from Pressly, I already had a premonition that the news wouldn't please me.
"...inspectors from the Alliance have arrived here. They're demanding to be allowed onto the ship."
"Access denied. The ship has been transferred to the Spectre corps, so they won't set foot on board without me. If they want to inspect something there, let them coordinate a time. For now, I'm busy."
"Got it."
The connection broke, and I could only shake my head.
***
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