Finding a Way: Mass Effect 1

Chapter 5

He and Ashley accompanied Shepard and Anderson once the Normandy docked. Since they had been part of the ground crew at Eden Prime, Anderson had felt their testimony might be helpful. They had all donned their Class A's for the meeting, and if he had thought Shepard made the BDUs look sexy he had to clench his jaw to keep it from dropping when he saw her in dress uniform.

The waist length blue jacket fit her form like a glove, and while the slacks fell straight from the hip, they hugged the curves of said hips and her ass perfectly. The N7 designation blazed at her right chest along with her Star of Terra medal. Three gold stripes on the shoulder epaulettes marked her rank. Her hair was pulled back in a lower bun to accommodate the cap with the Systems Alliance emblem emblazoned on it.

They stood at attention in Ambassador Udina's office while he addressed the Council.

"The Council would step in if the Geth had attacked a Turian colony!" he was saying angrily.

"Humanity knew the risks of founding colonies on the borders of the Terminus Systems, Ambassador," the Asari Councilor, Tevos, replied.

"And what of Saren? A rogue Spectre, working with the Geth?! You can't ignore that!"

"Your charges against him are being investigated, Ambassador. We will discuss it further at the hearing."

Udina turned to them as the holographic images of the Council dissipated.

"Ambassador. I brought the ground team from Eden Prime, in case you had further questions," Anderson said as Udina turned to face them.

"I have the mission reports. I assume they're accurate?" he said brusquely.

"They are, sir," Shepard replied.

"Then you've already done more than enough to jeopardize your candidacy with the Spectres, Commander."

She gave Kaidan a sidelong glance with a raised brow that clearly relayed 'told you so' to him. He gave a slight nod in acknowledgement.

"The failure of the mission was Saren's fault, not hers," Anderson came to her defense.

"Then you better hope the C-sec investigation turns up proof of our accusations."

Udina and Anderson left to prep for the hearing, letting them know where and when to meet.

"And that's why I hate politicians," Ashley said once they were gone.

"Actually, it went better than I expected," Shepard confessed.

They killed the hour before the hearing, strolling the presidium and markets, Shepard trying to restrain Williams from buying every weapon she saw at the kiosks.

When they finally made their way up to the top of the Citadel tower, they ran into two arguing Turians. Kaidan couldn't catch the whole of the conversation, but gathered it had something to do with Saren and the hearing.

One of them left, but the other approached them and spoke to the Commander.

"You must be Commander Shepard. Garrus Vakarian, C-Sec," he introduced himself. "I was in charge of the investigation into Saren."

"You turn anything up?" Shepard asked, shaking his extended hand.

"As a Spectre most of his activities are classified. Any file I could get my hands on was heavily redacted. I got nothing definitive, but I know he's up to something."

"Always trust your gut, Vakarian."

"I have two, Commander...which one?" he asked with what Kaidan assumed was the Turian equivalent of a smile. He found it hard to read their facial expressions.

"Do they typically disagree with each other?" she asked with a grin.

Garrus considered and was about to reply when Anderson called to them from the bottom of the stairs across the room.

"Nice meeting you, Garrus," she said with a nod.

"You, too, Shepard. Hopefully, the Council will listen to you."

He watched her take a deep breath to center herself at the base of the stairs. "Relax, Commander, it's not a court martial," he tried to light-heartedly reassure her, and was rewarded by the slight smile she cast in his direction.

"The day is still young, Lieutenant," she said, placing her cap on, squaring her shoulders and marching up the stairs every inch the Marine and a force to be reckoned with.