Chapter 22 Chapter 21

Kali and her companions were once again led across the ship by three quarians.But this time their guards were Easley, Rhyme and the captain. The captain and the others took Carly and the others to the lower deck and arrived at the dock.This time they didn't go to Grayson's spaceship, but came to another berth where the spaceship landed.The Restiac and its crew and dignitaries are already here waiting for them. Given the political situation on board, Carly was secretly taken aback to see the captain open the airlock and enter the ship without asking for permission. "I guess it's because the captain has the right to go wherever he wants on his ship," Handel said softly to Carly.He also noticed this strange behavior.

They were taken into a large conference room inside the ship, which looked like it had been arranged for some kind of formal questioning.Or a court martial, Carly thought.There was a long semi-circular table in the room, and behind the table were six chairs, five of which were already occupied by quarians, only the one on the side was empty.Several heavily armed guards stood at the back of the room, behind the seated senior officials. Mal led them into the center of the room, and the officials rose as he introduced them.Carly didn't bother to remember the long list of names of these people.She was watching, though, which three quarians at the meeting were elected representatives of the Commoners' College of Cardinals and which two were officers of the command.

She also noticed that Mal had introduced Rhyme, whom he called "Lym Shar. Vas Aidena"; apparently the young quarian's wanderings had officially ended, and he had been accepted into Mal's crew. When the introductions were over, Mal walked over and took the only unoccupied seat.Yisli also followed him and stood behind him, joining the ranks of several honor guards watching the audience from the back wall.Lime didn't move, and stayed with these humans, who were still standing in front of the table. "Carly Sanders," one of the command representatives asked, formally beginning the process. "Do you know why we brought you here?"

"You think I know something about Saren Atreus and how he controls the geth," Kali replied. "Could you describe your relationship with Saren?" asked another representative of the Civilian College of Cardinals. "It doesn't matter." Carly insisted, "I only met him briefly two or three times. As far as I know, he is a ghost agent assigned to investigate the activities of my mentor, Dr. Qian Shu." "Then what kind of activity is this?" "Dr. Qian found some kind of alien spaceship," she said carefully. "Probably Prothean. Possibly even earlier than Prothean. None of us know."

"He thinks that's the key to creating some kind of new artificial intelligence. But he keeps all the rest of us in the dark, to him we're just monkeys in the lab, collected for his tests and experiments. Data rushes. Dr. Qian is the only one who knows the details of the spacecraft: where, what, and what it is for." "But Dr. Qian disappeared later, and he was never found again, and his documents were lost." "Is it possible that Saren found his papers?" said a Councilman. "Maybe he found the ship and used it to gain control of the geth?" "Possibly," Carly replied reluctantly.She'd flashed the idea before, but she didn't want to think about the fact that she had played even a small part in the scourge the geth had wrought.

"Have you ever heard of a race called gatherers?" asked the first quarian. Carly shook her head. "Words have come from the Citadel that Saren's flagship, the Overlord, is actually an advanced artificial intelligence. This artificial intelligence is alive and just one member of a large sentient spaceship called the Harvest By." "It's just rumor," Handel said. "There's no evidence to support their theory." "But that would explain why the geth followed Saren," the quarians shot back. "A high-level artificial intelligence may have the ability to manipulate the low-level artificial intelligence of the geth."

"I don't know for sure," Kali replied. "I don't know anything about the geth other than what I see on the screen. And I don't know why they follow Saren." "But if the Hegemony is a member of the Reapers," said a command official, "there should be more than one. They may lie dormant in unexplored areas of space, waiting for someone to stumble across and wake them up. " "Maybe." Carly shrugged indifferently. "It's clear to me that this is something we have to avoid at all costs," interjected a member of the College of Cardinals. "One Reaper almost destroyed the Citadel. One more and it's all over. The galaxy was originally condemn us for the geth already. We don't need to give them another reason to hate us."

"Or, maybe we find one of the Reapers," Mal began, firing back, "and we can use him the way Saren did—controlling the geth! We can go back to our homeland and take back It should belong to us!" A long silence ensued, before a command officer asked Kali, "Is Captain Mal right? Do you believe it's possible to find a dormant Reaper and use it to control the geth?" Carly shook her head in bewilderment. "I can't tell. There's so much that's not known or uncertain." "Please," the quarian urged, though his request sounded more like an order. "Predict. You are one of the top AI experts in the galaxy. We'd love to know your opinion."

Carly took a deep breath and thought about it for a long time before answering. "According to my understanding of Dr. Qian's research, if Saren's flagship is the alien spaceship we are studying, it is possible to use it to control the geth. If there are more spaceships similar to the Overlord, that is for sure Yes, it would be quite logical to assume they could control or influence the geth...assuming Saren already did." The quarians' expressions were obscured by their masks, and it was difficult to read the body language behind their desks.But Carly felt angry and frustrated during several of their actions.Mal, though, seemed to be sitting up straighter than before.

"Is there anything else you can tell us, Carly Sanders?" a command officer asked. "Anything about Saren or the geth or Dr. Qian's research?" "I really have nothing to say." Carly said apologetically, "I also hope that I can help you more." "I believe we have everything we need," Mal said, standing up. "Thank you, Carly." They also realized that they couldn't get much more out of the visitor, and the others at the meeting respected Mal's decision and rose from their seats together. "Thank you for taking the time to be here," said one of them. "Captain Mal, we would like to continue discussing this matter with the rest of the College of Cardinals, and we would like you to join us."

Mal nodded. "I'd love to talk to them too." "We should leave as soon as possible," another quarian said. "Perhaps you should ask your security director to send these humans back to the ship?" "Carly and the others are VIPs on the Edenna." Mal said tit for tat. "They don't need security guards. They can go wherever they want." There was an awkward silence.Another member of the headquarters broke the silence, "Understood, Captain." Mal scored a point in the inning, turning to Carly and the others. "As long as you are careful not to interfere with the operation of the spaceship, I allow you to go anywhere on the spaceship. If you need a guide, Rhyme will be honored to show you around." "Thank you, Captain," Carly said.She couldn't wait to get off the Restiac, putting the growing tension behind her. "Maybe we can talk again when I get back from the College of Cardinals," he said. "Of course," she replied, "you are welcome on our ship at any time." Carrie wondered if any more formality was required before the meeting adjourned, and stood until Rhyme nudged her gently. "Come on," Rhyme said, "let's go." Rhyme took Carly and they left, while Mal and Yi Si Li stayed behind.As soon as they were back on board the Edenna through the airlock, Handel turned to Lyme. "What the hell is going on here?" "Politics." Rhyme's answer was very short, which meant that he didn't say anything. "Can you go into more detail?" Carly pressed. "I think the truth will all come out when the captain returns from the College of Cardinals," Rhyme assured her. "Please wait patiently for a few more days." "It seems that we have no other choice," Handel muttered, "but I've been really impatient lately." Grayson doesn't like Glo. The Phantom Man arranged for Grayson and Glo to meet at Omega Space Station to plan an attack on the Wandering Fleet.They met in a small apartment rented from the Claws' estate, less than two blocks from the warehouse where Grayson had killed Pell.There is only one table, two chairs, and two people in the room. "You'd better give up." Glo decided to speak first, "Invading the wandering fleet is impossible." "They took my daughter," Grayson replied, trying to sound calm despite the pain in his throat. "I'm going to get her out. I was told you can help us." Glo may have been an ally of the Cerberus, but he was a traitor to his own race.Grayson would not respect anyone who betrayed his own race for monetary gain, and that was at odds with any of his beliefs. "There are five thousand warships in the Wandering Fleet," Glo reminded him. "Even if they do capture your daughter, how do you know which ship she is on?" "The pilot of the frigate ship said his name was Shiro Ja'a Wass Aidena. I think the Sinai Adana is the frigate of the Aidena, and the people who came to him must be from the same fleet. They are The one who took Gillian." "There's some truth to that," Glo admits.The way he talks makes Grayson feel like he's being played on, as if Glo actually already knows these things. "But it doesn't matter at all, you can't get close to the Aidena anyway. Even if you are inside the Sinaiad, if you don't have the welcome frequency and the correct password, the patrol will shoot you down." "I have the code and the welcome frequency," Grayson assured him. "The pilot gave me both before he died." Glo laughed. "How do you know they're real? What if you get a fake one?" Grayson thinks back to the quarians he found in the basement.Pell has an excellent sixth sense for telling lies about torture victims.Using torture has always been his strong point. "Intel is all right," he said. "It will fool us over the patrol." "Your confidence is inspiring," the quarian replied, and Grayson could tell it was a smirk.Grayson knew that Glo was Pell's contact on the Omega space station and had contributed a lot to the capture of the Sinai Ard.Grayson couldn't help wondering what else the quarian was up to with Pell. "We'll give you ten times the reward for the last mission." Grayson forced his anger to say. He needs Glo.Mere possession of the code is not enough, if the mission is to have any hope of success, there must be someone on board who is familiar with the protocol of the Wandering Fleet so that they do not make mistakes and do not expose themselves.And they needed someone fluent in Quarian to speak out the code to deal with the patrol radios, something automatic translators couldn't handle. "Ten times?" Glo said, considering the offer. "It's so interesting, but is it worth my life?" "It's also a chance for revenge," Grayson reminded him, adding another lump of sugar to Glodo.In Pell's mission report, he had read Glo's file.He knew the quarian had a deep hatred for the society he had exiled from, and he wasn't going to use that hatred unless it helped him get Gillian back. "The Fleet told you to fuck off. They dumped you. This is your chance to hit them back and it will hurt them forever. Help us and you can make them pay." "I'm a person who follows my heart." Glo smiled cruelly.Grayson's stomach almost turned. "Does that mean you're in too?" Grayson asked. "We still have a few issues to consider," Glo said in a positive tone. "The Sinai Ard and the code can help us fool the patrols, but we need to find a way to interfere with the Edenna after landing." communication system so that when our attack begins, they won't send an alarm signal to the rest of the fleet." "We can handle this," Grayson said, knowing that Cerberus had the technology in place. "anything else?" "We need a map of the interior of the ship." "The Edenna turned out to be a decommissioned Batary's Hunsar-class cruiser," Grayson replied, and the Phantom Man's agents had collected the corresponding preparation information for this mission. "We have interior layout plans." "Forget it," Glo replied, "This matter still has a chance in the end, as long as you and your men do what I say." "Of course." Grayson grinned and held out his hand, symbolizing the formalization of the deal. "I'm not going to let this go wrong."