Mass Effect: The Complete Novels 4-Book Bundle (18 page)

“Then for now that is how we shall proceed. Negotiators from both sides will meet tomorrow. This meeting of the Council is adjourned.”

Goyle gave a demure nod of her head, keeping her expression carefully neutral. She’d won a major victory; there was no benefit in gloating over it. But as she made her way back down the stairs of the Petitioner’s Stage and headed toward the elevator that would take her back to the Presidium, a sly, self-satisfied smile crept across her lips.

SIXTEEN

The voice of the woman on the news vid never wavered or changed in tone as she reported the details of their latest lead story.

“In addition to the fine, the Alliance has agreed to voluntarily accept numerous trade sanctions as punishment for violation of the Citadel Conventions. The majority of these sanctions are in the fields of drive-core manufacturing and production of element zero. One economist warned energy prices back on Earth could jump by as much as twenty percent in the next—”

Anderson flicked the vid off with the remote.

“I thought it would be worse,” Kahlee said.

“Goyle’s a tough negotiator,” Anderson explained. “But I still think we got lucky.”

The two of them were sitting on the edge of a bed in a Hatre hotel room. Anderson was the one who had actually rented the room, charging it to the Alliance as part of his investigation. However, sharing a single room was nothing more than a necessity of their situation: he still hadn’t mentioned Kahlee to anyone back at Alliance HQ, and it would have raised suspicions if he’d requested another suite … or even a double bed.

“So what happens now?” Kahlee asked. “Where do we go from here?”

Anderson shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. Officially this has become Spectre business, but there’s still too many loose ends for the Alliance to just walk away.”

“Loose ends?”

“You, for one. We still don’t have any real proof that you aren’t a traitor. We need something to clear your name. And we still don’t know who the real traitor was, or where they’ve taken Dr. Qian.”

“Taken Dr. Qian? What do you mean?”

“The ambassador’s convinced Dr. Qian is still alive and being held prisoner somewhere,” Anderson explained. “She thinks he’s the whole reason the base was attacked. According to her, somebody wanted his knowledge and expertise, and they were willing to kill to get it.”

“That’s crazy,” Kahlee insisted. “What about the alien technology he found? That’s the real reason for the attack!”

“Nobody else knows about that yet,” Anderson reminded her. “Just me and you.”

“I figured you would have passed that on,” she said, dropping her eyes.

“I wouldn’t do something like that without telling you first,” Anderson assured her. “If I gave them that kind of information, they’d want to know where I found it. I’d have to tell them about you. I don’t think we want to do that yet.”

“You really are looking out for me,” she whispered.

There was something strange about her subdued reaction, as if she was embarrassed or ashamed. “Kahlee? What’s going on?”

The young woman got up off the bed and walked to the other side of the room. She paused, took a deep breath, then turned back to face him. “I have to tell you something,” she said, her tone grim. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Ever since you told me about running into Saren back at Dah’tan.”

He didn’t say anything, but merely nodded at her to continue.

“When I first saw you at my father’s place I didn’t trust you. Even after you fought off that krogan I couldn’t be sure if it was because you really believed me, or if you were just trying to win me over so I’d tell you how much I knew about Sidon.”

Anderson almost opened his mouth to say she could trust him, then changed his mind. Better to let her work through this on her own.

“And then we went to Dah’tan and you ran into Saren and … I know what happened out there, David. Even what you didn’t tell me.”

“What are you talking about?” he protested. “I told you everything that happened!”

She shook her head. “Not everything. You said Saren thought about killing you, then changed his mind because he was afraid there might be witnesses. But you never bothered to tell him you came with someone else, did you?”

“I didn’t have to. He figured it out on his own.”

“But if he
hadn’t
figured it out, he would’ve killed you! You put your own life in danger rather than tell that Spectre I was nearby.”

“You’re reading too much into this,” Anderson said, shifting uncomfortably. “I just never thought to say anything until after he was gone.”

“You’re a terrible liar, Lieutenant,” she said with a faint smile. “Probably because you’re a good person.”

“And so are you,” he assured her.

“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “Not really. I’m not a good person. Which must be why I’m such a good liar.”

“You’ve been lying to me?” In his head Anderson could hear the warning Saren had given him during their confrontation outside the ruins of Dah’tan.
She’s lying to you. She knows much more about this than she’s told you.

“I know who the traitor at Sidon was. I have proof. And I know how we can find out who he’s working with.”

Anderson felt as if he’d been slapped across the face. He didn’t know what hurt more: the fact that Kahlee had deceived him, or the fact that it was obvious to Saren long before he even had a clue.

“Please,” she said, reading his pained expression. “You have to understand.”

“I understand,” he said softly. “You were just being smart. Careful.”
And I was too blind and stupid to see what was really going on.

The divorce must have hit him harder than he’d realized. He’d been so desperate and lonely that he’d imagined some special connection between him and Sanders, when all they really had in common was a connection to an attack on an Alliance base. Sacrificing everything to be a better soldier had cost him his marriage. Now that his divorce was final, he’d let his personal feelings interfere with a military assignment. Cynthia would have laughed at the irony.

“I was going to tell you,” Kahlee insisted. “That first night. After you saved us from the krogan. Grissom warned me not to.”

“But you told him.”

“He’s my father!”

A man you barely even know,
Anderson thought, though he didn’t say anything out loud. Logically he understood why she’d done it, but that didn’t make it sting any less. She’d used him. She’d been playing him through the whole investigation, giving him little bits of information to keep him distracted so he wouldn’t realize the truth: she had the answers he was looking for all along.

Anderson took a long, slow breath and brought his emotions under control. There was no point in dwelling on this; it was over. Done. Thinking about how Kahlee had manipulated him wouldn’t get them any closer to completing the mission; it wouldn’t help avenge those who lost their lives at Sidon.

“So who’s the traitor?” he asked, his voice carefully neutral.

“Dr. Qian. Isn’t it obvious?”

Anderson couldn’t believe it. “You’re saying one of the most respected and influential scientists in the Alliance betrayed and helped murder his own handpicked team? Why?”

“I already told you! He was afraid they’d shut the project down. He must have known I was going to report him. The only way he could keep studying that alien technology he discovered was to destroy Sidon and pin the blame on me!”

“You really think he’d be willing to kill over this?” Anderson asked, still skeptical. “Over research?”

“I told you he was obsessed, remember? It had some hold on him. It changed him. He … he’s not in his right mind.”

She came over and dropped to one knee in front of him, her hands reaching out and clasping his.

“I know it’s hard for you to believe me after everything I kept from you. But Qian was unstable. That’s why I decided to report him,” she explained.

“I knew I was taking a risk,” she continued, “but I didn’t realize how serious things were until I heard the base had been destroyed. That’s when I saw how dangerous Dr. Qian had become, how far he’d go. I was terrified!”

Her actions were completely justifiable, but Anderson didn’t want to hear it. Not right now. He stood up, pulling his hand from her grasp as he walked away to the far side of the room. He wanted to believe her, but the situation just seemed too implausible. Could a respected man of science and learning suddenly turn into the kind of monster that would slaughter his friends and coworkers over some piece of alien technology?

“You said you had proof?” he asked, turning back to face her.

She pulled out a small OSD and held it up. “I made backups of his personal files. In case I needed something to bargain with.” She tossed the disk to him; he caught it gingerly, afraid of damaging it. “Turn that over to the Alliance. It’ll prove I’m telling the truth.”

“Why didn’t you just give me this before?”

“I didn’t know if Qian was acting alone. He has so much power and influence in the Alliance: admirals, generals, ambassadors, politicians; he knows them all. If I gave you that disk and you turned it over to someone working with him …” She didn’t finish the thought. “That’s why I didn’t tell you, David. I had to be sure.”

“Why now? What’s changed?”

“You have people you trust in the Alliance. And I’ve finally decided I can trust you.”

He slipped the disk into the breast pocket of his shirt and came back over to sit down beside her on the bed.

“You also said you knew a way to figure out who Qian was working with.”

“All his personal files from Sidon are on that disk,” she replied. “A lot of it is extra research notes. Stuff he kept to himself. I didn’t have a chance to hack into everything before I ran. But I made sure I grabbed all the financial records. Decrypt it and trace all the transactions back to the source and they’ll eventually lead to whoever funded this whole operation.”

Anderson nodded appreciatively. “Just follow the money.”

“Exactly.”

They sat for a while in silence beside each other on the edge of the bed, neither one speaking, neither one pulling away. Anderson was the first to make a move … he stood up and went to grab his jacket.

“We need to get this data to Ambassador Goyle,” he told her. “It’ll clear your name and tell us who Qian’s working with.”

“Then what?” she asked, jumping up eagerly to grab her coat as well. “What do we do next?”

“Then I’m going after whoever attacked Sidon. But you won’t be coming with me.”

Kahlee stopped, one arm in the sleeve of her jacket. “What are you talking about?”

He was still hurt that she hadn’t trusted him, but that wasn’t why he was doing this. His wounded feelings were his problem, not hers. She had just done whatever was necessary to survive this whole mess, and he couldn’t honestly blame her for any of it. It wasn’t her fault that he’d let himself become emotionally involved. But now it was his responsibility to make sure it didn’t happen again.

“That krogan is still looking for you. We have to make arrangements to get you off this planet. Get you somewhere you’ll be safe.”

“Wait a minute!” she protested angrily. “You can’t just leave me behind! Those were my friends who died in that attack! I have a right to see this through to the end!”

“Things are going to get rough,” he told her. “You’re part of the Alliance, but we both know you’re no soldier. If you tag along, all you’ll do is slow me down or get in the way.”

She glared at him, but clearly couldn’t think of anything to say to refute his argument.

“You did your part,” he added, patting the pocket with the OSD. “Your job’s over now. But mine’s just beginning.”

“This is unacceptable!” Dr. Shu Qian shouted.

“These things take time,” Edan Had’dah replied, hoping to placate him. He’d been dreading this meeting all morning.

“Time? Time for what? We aren’t doing anything!”

“There’s a Spectre here on Camala! We have to wait until he gives up and leaves.”

“What if he doesn’t give up?” Qian demanded, his voice rising in pitch.

“He will. With Dah’tan and Sidon both destroyed, there’s nothing left to connect my name to this. Be patient and he will leave.”

“You promised me a chance to continue my research!” Qian barked, realizing the topic of the Spectre wasn’t going to give him enough opportunity to complain. “You never said I’d be stuck wasting my time in the bowels of some grimy refinery!”

The batarian rubbed the spot just above his inner eyes with a free hand, trying to hold the mounting headache at bay. Humans in general were trying: as a species he found them excessively loud, crude, and impolite. But dealing with Dr. Qian had become its own special brand of torment.

“Constructing the kind of facility you need is a difficult task,” he reminded the scowling doctor. “It took you months to adapt the equipment on Sidon. This time we’re starting from scratch.”

“It wouldn’t be such a problem if you hadn’t destroyed my lab and wiped out our supplier!” Qian accused him.

Actually, it had been Qian’s idea to destroy the Alliance base. As soon as he’d discovered Kahlee Sanders was gone, he’d contacted Edan and demanded his batarian partner take action. He’d even provided the blueprints and access codes for the base.

“We couldn’t let that Spectre get his hands on Dah’tan’s records,” Edan explained for at least the tenth time. “Besides, there are other suppliers. Even now my people are working on building you a new lab. One far beyond the borders of Citadel Space, safe from the prying eyes of the Council. But we can’t just acquire everything we need with one enormous purchase. Not without drawing unwanted attention.”