Lazarus Project: Mass Effect 2 (Shenko)

Chapter 7

Milky Way/Crescent Nebula/Tasale/Illium

Earth year: 2183 CE --- April

Two weeks following Shepard's service, Liara was seated at her desk in her new office on Illium, reading through every report and scrap of intel she'd come across since sending out her request to her contacts. The terminal before her chimed the arrival of a message and she clicked it open, eager to read it.

"Doctor T'Soni,

You don't know me, but I know you. I have some information which might be of great interest to you. Meet me in Eternity Lounge in one hour. Choose a seat furthest from the bar and any patrons, away from prying ears. Order a Full Biotic Kick to let me know you received this message. This is the only time I will contact you.

F."

Liara read it over twice, her brow creasing in confusion. Who the hell was this "F" and what could he possibly have that would interest her?  It must have something to do with Shepard, she reasoned. It wasn't as though she had kept her interest secret.

Prior to leaving the Citadel, she'd sent out a call to every contact she had, then extended  the  same message to anyone who might have had contact with Shepard or Benezia. When that had turned up nothing, she'd added a note indicating she would pay well for any information or assistance she was offered in her search for Shepard.

Considering carefully, she leaned back in her chair. It wasn't a question of should she go, but how. Standing abruptly, she closed and locked her office door and headed to the market down the stairs to purchase a weapon. Everything she had owned had gone down with the Normandy, making her feel blind and vulnerable. She swore she would never again be so unprepared for disaster and had set about creating redundant backups with every scrap of information that passed her desk.

----xxx----

An hour later, she was in the lounge making her way to a lone table near the back, far from prying eyes or eavesdroppers. Drink in hand, she settled at the table, her new Carnifax pistol hidden within the folds of her jacket. After reading the message for a third time, she'd set up a destruct protocol on every terminal in her office that would prevent anyone from accessing it while she was gone.

There had been no one at the bar when she'd arrived, but over the past several minutes as she sat quietly sipping her drink, patrons had begun pouring through the door as though brought by a tide of water. The room filled with the sound of clinking glasses and the tinkle of ice tumbled together, muted conversation setting a background hum to the silence that had previously filled the space.

"Ms. T'Soni?" A man's voice addressed her from her left as the first chords of music began to thrum through the crowded room. "Glad to make your acquaintance." He said at her nod, setting himself in the chair beside her.

She turned, surprised by the handsome drell that was watching her with barely disguised interest.

"Who are you?" She demanded, her voice cold.

"A friend." He answered calmly, blinking in the dim light of the bar.

Liara snorted. "You're no friend of mine. What do you want?"

"I have information for you. It's about Shepard."

Liara felt her heart thud in her chest at the mention of her friend's name. "What about her?"Liara snapped.

"Not here Ms. T'Soni." The drell cautioned, gulping the last of his drink while sliding a note to her across the table. "Meet me here in ten minutes. It's private, somewhere we can talk."