Encounter at Rashomon Valley (A Star to Sail Her B

Kelly opened the door to the ship's lab. Mordin was at his table, peering into a microscope. He passed a hand over his eyes, and for a moment, he just looked like a tired old man, bereft of the fire that usually animated him.

He noticed her and straightened up, back to business. "Yeoman Chambers. Was expecting you." He gestured to a couple of stools near the table.

They settled onto the stools. "I've just come from the med bay. Garrus told me that the commander is stable."

"Yes. Stable. Effects of pulmostuprum nocturnus toxicity violent, rapid, but counterable. Fever usually cause of death; temperature overwhelms systems, brain cooks in skull. If patient kept cold, staves off damage, gives time to administer antidote, saves lungs, patient recovers. Will be hoarse, coughing, for seven to ten days, but no lasting damage." His voice was cold, clinical, as per usual. His eyes closed. "Still, should have known, should have noticed. Three petals, not four."

Kelly cocked her head.

"Best to begin at beginning."

---

Shepard contacted by Samara regarding segment of Sovereign. Obviously, crucial to understanding of Reaper threat, Reaper technology. Had to go investigate. Located at former human colony on Nagori 49-7. Remote location, curious choice for human colony, but Nagori presented unique ecological conditions.

Operative Lawson acquired data regarding purpose of colonization. Cultivation of salviodonum lucubratio. Flowering plant, native to Kurosawa system, pollen used as a carrier salve. Makes medications more effective when administered to humans. Difficult to grow. Nagori soil rich in necessary nutrients, weather patterns ideal, atmosphere ideal, perfect place to farm.

Perfect cover story. Salviodonum nearly identical to pulmostuprum in appearance, size, even scent. Only visible difference: pulmostuprum blossoms have three petals, salviodonum blossoms have four.

Getting ahead of self. Did not know of deception until later. Nagori colony was abandoned. No reason given in files. Should have suspected something then. Lawson suggested expense of maintaining colony in remote location. Nagori excellent for salviodonum, poor for food crops for colonists. Atmosphere low in oxygen, likely would have needed supplemental breathing apparati, residential domes. Seemed sensible enough, didn't theorize further. Don't know why.

His eyes closed again. He was obviously angry at himself. Expression of any emotion from Dr. Solus is very rare. Will have to check in on him.

Shepard selected team for recovery operation. Grunt, Jack, combat operatives. Krios, Vakarian, stealth, scouting. Tali'zorah, technology, security overrides. Myself, science advisor, combat ready. Knew we were heading into laboratory environment, logical decision to include me.

Approached from distance; landed 20 kilometers from target to avoid detection. Full environmental suits to negate ill effects from oxygen-poor environment. Initial approach easy terrain, low plants, rocky, but level ground. Not much cover. 15 kilometers from target, located edge of formerly cultivated fields. Feral plants, tangled, plentiful, no longer in neat rows. Made for slow approach, but excellent cover. Pollen output heavy, visible in air, collected on visors and exchange filters. Grey, ashy. Should have been another clue; salviodonum pollen generally blue when cultivated, though grey not unheard of in feral plants.

Adjusted approach to enter Rashomon Valley complex from south. Clear approach from disused section of residential area. Atmospheric domes, if any ever existed, obliterated long ago. Batarians able to breathe thinner air than humans, so no need to replace them. Fortunate for us. Easier to slip into town.

Several facilities co-opted by batarians to deconstruct, reverse-engineer stolen technology. Hospital most logical facility to handle biological agents, but got lucky in intercepted communication chatter. Batarian guard mentioned 'beast in basement', lack of sufficient scientific personnel to properly study it. Shepard thought it sounded promising. Agreed.

Vakarian delegated to rear guard, surveillance. Chose vantage point to ensure no surprise incursions. Also located working vehicle, should we need speed or carrying capacity in retreat. Can see why Shepard considers him... a valued lieutenant.

I think he smiled just then. Caught himself quickly, though.

Krios and Shepard entered first, neutralized guards at door. Rest of us followed. Krios and Shepard, Jack and myself, Tali'zorah, then Grunt. Encountered 3 pairs of guards, 2 scientists, and 1 trio of janitorial workers. All neutralized quickly and quietly, most by Krios. Jack twitchy, complained of boredom. Shepard silenced complaints. Amazing what one glare can achieve, from the right person.

Large group of guards forced us to divert. Shift change, from looks of it. Entered a laboratory. Found cage containing seven humans. Three female, four male, all in rags, scarred, but clean. Signs of chest surgery; extensive scars, indicative of access to thoracic cavity. Were sensible enough to remain silent until approached, so cognitive functions not impaired.

Looked around as Shepard talked to them. Saw surgical equipment, table, implements, but no test tubes, no biological specimens. Curious. Obviously not having chemical testing performed on them. Tali'zorah joined me, examined other tables, mentioned having seen similar items as remote detonators. Agreed immediately, high probability that subjects likely contained remote-activated explosives. Relayed to Shepard. Subjects confirmed surgeries, implantation of devices. Were unaware of nature of devices. Did not take news well.

Shepard prepared to release subjects. Tali'zorah warned against action, noted detonators likely proximity based. Would need to confirm location of actual detonators and formulate safe method of moving subjects without accidental discharge of devices. Offered to remain behind. Thane offered to remain, protect her. Offered myself instead, in case emergency surgery necessary to extraction. Noted ability to catch up if needed. Shepard agreed.

Tali'zorah displayed remarkable skill. Quickly determined frequency of remote detonation devices for each subject. All within a narrow band, easy to replicate, would be able to transport group provided all remained within 15 meters of portable device. Information relayed to subjects. Decided that subjects would be transported to shuttle, relocated to secondary hospital facility on uninhabited side of planet, disarmed surgically. Would bring them to Normandy, but risk of explosion unacceptable.

Effected release of subjects from cage. Heard combat below, felt tremor. Seismological event unlikely. Felt second tremor, heard collapse of flooring down hallway. Began to usher subjects to rear exit.

Rest of team met us, pursued by batarians. Floor collapsed, batarians eliminated. Got to exit, found Vakarian waiting with vehicle. One subject, female, panicked, ran back into building. Shepard pursued despite warning from Tali'zorah regarding proximity limitations. Subject exploded. Shepard knocked back, lost shields, armor damaged by shrapnel. Devices contained large number of metal shards to maximize effectiveness. Krios ran back, assisted Shepard to door. Grunt and Jack loaded Reaper shard into vehicle. Impressive, roughly 3 meters by 1 meter in size. Remainder of team and subjects followed. Commenced escape.

Pursuit was negligible, easily evaded. Vehicle several years old, in marginal condition, but fast. Filtration systems largely degraded, though. Did not consider this to be problem; still believed fields to contain benign foliage. Subjects began to cough. Tali'zorah checked vehicle filters, noted incursion of pollen. Subjects began to complain of heat. Vehicle temperature within normal parameters. Examined closest subject. Sweating, noticeably hot, flushed, respiratory distress increasing, bloody flecks appearing during coughing fits. Took better look out window, noticed my error.

Pulmostuprum nocturnus. As lethal to humans as salviodonum is beneficial. Nearly identical in size, appearance, scent, growth patterns, environmental needs. Incredibly valuable as bioweapon against humans. Other species unaffected. Also, salviodonum perfect cover story for fields of pulmostuprum. Would only be detected by very alert authorities, or humans not wearing breathing filters. Humans inhaling pulmostuprum would not live to report the deception. Colony likely abandoned when crops began to grow too well, producing too much toxin for life support systems to handle.

Foolish mistake on my part.

An annoyed sigh. Anger palpable. Before I could say anything, he continued.

Subjects dead within ten minutes of exposure. From cough to fever, from fever to vomiting blood, to seizures and, finally, critical neurological damage from fever. Team gravely disturbed. Explained the problem as it was happening. Jack visibly fearful. Noted that toxin was only dangerous if inhaled. Topical contact harmless. Visibly relaxed. Understand her concerns considering her...choice of attire. Shepard remained visibly calm, encouraged expeditious return to shuttle and thorough decontamination before returning to Normandy.

Vehicle ceased to function approximately 1.6 kilometers from shuttle. Disembarked from vehicle. Shepard exited first. Vehicle door deposited large quantity of pollen onto her. Brushed it off, seemed unconcerned, perhaps slightly annoyed. Recovered shard from vehicle, began walking towards shuttle. Left bodies in vehicle, left proximity device with timed power-down. Detonated once we reached safe distance.

Shepard began coughing after explosion. Blamed impact from earlier explosion. Received worried looks from Vakarian. Shared his concern. Had not noticed location of shrapnel damage. Air intake valves compromised.

Fell back to examine her. Was pushed away. Could see concern in her eyes. She knew. Wished to press on. Best course of action. Speed necessary to her survival now. Delay would have been fatal.

0.6 kilometers from shuttle, perspiration visible. Began to lose motor control, mental function impaired. Grunt took shard, Jack and Vakarian carried Shepard, all began to run. Reached shuttle, departed planet immediately.

Began to remove armor, attempt to cool her. She lost consciousness. Shut off shuttle temperature controls to quickly cool air. Froze a few seals on the shuttle, likely damaged shard. Concerns were elsewhere. Notified Dr. Chakwas of problem, relayed antidote information, warned to prepare cooling tank.

Got to Normandy. Had to insist on applying decontamination procedures. Nearly had to restrain Vakarian. Noted that most of crew was human, could die if pollen tracked through ship. He completed procedure, picked up Shepard, ran. Followed. Showed signs of internal damage on elevator, vomited blood. Got her to med bay and into cooling bath, avoided seizures. Serious neurological damage averted, gave us time to deal with toxin's effects on respiratory system.

His eyes closed again. He looked drained, weary.

Could have been averted. Should have been averted. Careless.

I couldn't think of anything to say. Part of the challenge of working with people who value logic over all is the knowledge that emotional appeals don't work, even when they are dealing with emotional issues.

Hope I have been of assistance. Thank you for coming.

---

Kelly bowed her head. "If you...need to talk or anything..."

Mordin nodded stiffly. "Thank you."

He rose and stepped back to his microscope, fiddling with the slide. As the doors closed behind her, he pushed the microscope away and walked to the window, gazing out at the void, lost in his own mind.