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.”
“You’ve already drawn their attention!” the human snapped, circling back to the topic of the Spectre yet again.
Qian had been extremely agitated ever since the raid on Sidon, and with each passing day he seemed to grow more irritable, confrontational, and paranoid. At first Edan thought it might be guilt over betraying his fellow humans that was driving Qian’s rapid mental deterioration. It didn’t take him long to realize the true cause was something quite different.
Qian was obsessed with the alien artifact. It was all he cared about, all he thought about day and night. It seemed to cause the doctor actual physical pain whenever he wasn’t working on unlocking its secrets.
“That Spectre’s looking for us right now,” the doctor warned him, his voice dropping down to a harsh whisper. “He’s looking for it!”
There was no need to clarify what it was. However, there was almost no chance anyone would stumble across the artifact by accident. It was still out where one of Edan’s deep-space exploration teams had discovered it, orbiting an uncharted world in a remote system near the Perseus Veil. The only people who knew its location were the two of them and the small team of surveyors and scientists that had first stumbled across it, and Edan had been careful to keep them on the surface of the uncharted world, completely isolated from all other contact.
Had he known how irrational the doctor would become, Edan might have done things differently.
irrationally. Before all this Edan had made a point of never dealing directly with humans. And for all the illegal activities he’d used to build his fortune and empire, he’d never done anything that would fall under the jurisdiction of the Spectres.
Yet almost from the moment he first traveled out to inspect the incredible discovery of his survey team, he’d made decisions that many who knew him would have considered wildly out of character. But that was only because they were unaware of the sheer magnitude of what he’d stumbled across.
“It’s not safe out there,” Qian continued, his voice becoming a pleading whine. “We should move it. Somewhere closer.”
“Don’t be stupid!” Edan snapped. “Something that size just can’t be moved to another system! Not unless we bring in tow ships and crews. That close to the Veil we’d be sure to attract the notice of the geth! Can you imagine what would happen if it fell into their hands?”
Qian didn’t have an answer for that, but it didn’t shut him up. “So it stays out there,” he said, his tone cynical and sarcastic. “While your so-called experts down on the planet fumble around trying to grasp what they have found and I’m stuck here doing nothing!”
There had been several scientists on the exploration team that had discovered the artifact; the whole purpose of the trip had been to seek out unclaimed Prothean technology in the hopes Edan’s corporate empire could somehow profit from it. But none of them were specialists in the field of artificial intelligence, and Qian was right when he said it was beyond their abilities.
Edan had searched long and hard for someone with the knowledge and expertise to help him unlock the potential of what he had found. And after millions of credits spent on extensive — and very discreet — investigations, he’d been forced to accept the inescapable conclusion that the only suitable candidate was a human.
Swallowing his pride, he’d had his representatives carefully approach Qian. Slowly they’d drawn the doctor in deeper and deeper, appealing to his professional pride and scientific curiosity by revealing only the smallest, most tantalizing details of their find. The bizarre courtship had lasted over a year, culminating in Qian’s visit to the system to see the artifact himself.
The effect had been exactly as Edan knew it would be. Qian understood what they had discovered. He realized this went beyond mere human or batarian interests. He recognized that this had the potential to fundamentally change the galaxy, and he’d thrown himself completely into his efforts to unleash that potential.
But on days like today, Edan still had to wonder if he’d made a mistake.
“Your people are idiots,” Qian stated matter-of-factly. “You know they can’t make any progress without me. They can barely even get basic readings and simple observational data off it without accidentally skewing the results.”
The batarian sighed. “This is only temporary. Just until the Spectre backs off. Then you’ll have everything you want: unlimited access to the artifact; a lab right on the surface of the world; all the resources and assistants you need.”
Qian snorted. “Hmph! A lot of good that’ll do. I need experts in the field. People smart enough to understand what we’re doing. Like my team at Sidon.”
“That team is dead!” Edan shouted, finally losing his temper. “You helped kill them, remember? We turned them into ashes and vapor!”
“Not all of them,” Qian said with a smile. “Not Kahlee Sanders.” Edan was stunned into momentary silence.
“I know what she can do,” Qian insisted. “I need her on the project. Without her, we’ll be set back months. Maybe years.”
“Should we send her a message right now?” Edan asked sarcastically. “I’m sure she’d be thrilled to join us if we just ask her.”
“I didn’t say we should ask her,” Qian replied. “Just take her. We’ll find some way to convince her to help us. I’m sure you have people who can be very persuasive. Just be sure they don’t do anything to damage her cognitive abilities.”
Edan nodded. Maybe the doctor wasn’t as irrational as he thought. There was only one problem, though. “And just how are we supposed to find her?”
“I don’t know,” Qian shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Maybe send that krogan after her again.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
For the second time in as many weeks, Ambassador Goyle was making her way across the lush fields of the Presidium to meet with the Citadel Council. Last time she embarked upon this journey she had been summoned by the Council so they could chastise her for humanity’s violations of the Citadel Code. This time, however, she was the one who had requested the audience.
As before, she passed the sparkling lake that was the centerpiece of the pastoral scene. Once again she passed the replica of the mass relay. But this time as she rode the elevator to the top of the Citadel Tower, she actually allowed herself to enjoy the view.
She had won a victory on her last visit here by defying the Council. But in her long career as a diplomat she
