Chapter 2

Damien looked up when another entered the mess hall. It was one of the marines who'd been with the Captain when he met them, but the name took a moment to connect in his mind. "Lieutenant... Morgan, right?"

"Yeah," She replied. "We're almost to Therum. Need you to get ready to disembark."

"Oh, alright." Damien answered reluctantly, quickly working to encrypt and save his progress on his personal OSD. After it finished, he quickly pocketed the OSD and followed Morgan to the equipment hanger. Once there, she began throwing him a few items, most notably a vest of armor.

"Try this on, see if it fits."

The second size he tried on fit him well, but he was unaccustomed to the weight of it. "Why is this thing so heavy? Is this another shielded suit?"

"Yes it is." Came Morgan's reply. "Standard operating procedure amongst marines, and I highly recommend it for anyone who values their life during a mission."

"Come on, you can't be serious." Damien replied, incredulous. "The Captain said we'd be digging for Prothean artifacts, not fighting a war."

"It takes exactly one bullet to end your life." Alyssa replied. "Now, you can gamble that one bullet won't greet you today. But if you do meet it, it'll take medi-gel and a miracle to survive. Or, you can wear protection, and once it deflects that one bullet, you'll be glad you had it with you."

"Ok, point taken." Damien replied, continuing to strap himself in. "How do you turn it on?"

Alyssa walked up, reaching around to point out a small interface. "Right there. There's on, off, and combat mode. If you just have it on, it's going to take as little charge as possible to create a kinetic shield around your body. It'll be strong enough for the first bullet, and that's it, generally speaking. But in combat mode, it takes a full 100 percent charge that's actually adequate protection if you've got someone with an assault rifle or other deadly weapon on them. Leave it on normal until shooting starts, obviously, or you'll run it out of power quickly. Once a hit is registered, it'll automatically engage combat mode, but it takes a moment to work, so soon as you can you better take some cover and wait for it."

"Got it, Lieutenant." Damien replied. "Thanks."

"No problem." She replied, leading the way out of the equipment room and to the hanger door near the mako. Her team was already assembled, the woman carrying a large backpack. He greeted them all with a nod, noticing Ravi standing aside, looking on. He walked over to her.

"Stay out of trouble while I'm gone, eh?"

Ravi smiled. "I doubt I'll be clubbed over the head by any random people on this ship, but sure. I'll do my best."

"Good. See you when I get back." He shook her hand, then turned and walked up to the others. The Captain appeared on deck, causing the marines to stiffen to attention. Respectfully, Damien did the same. She nodded, stating, "at ease," and walked over to the panel controlling the hanger door, opening it. The rush of air moving past the ship quickly became a powerful roar, but everyone could still hear her command.

"Stay safe, Lieutenant. Bring them all back no worse for wear. I appreciate your volunteering to take this mission. Now, when you get down there, report to Doctor T'Soni. She'll get you situated. Just follow her lead."

"Aye, aye, Ma'am." The Lieutenant called out over the wind.

"Off with you," replied the captain. She stood by watching as each of them attached a carabiner to the roof hooks near the open hatch.

Looking rather puzzled, Damien looked for another rope with a carabiner at the end for himself. Not seeing one, he wondered how he would get to the ground intact, when Morgan interrupted him. "Newbie, over here. First timers piggyback until they get the hang of it."

Damien's embarrassment grew as he stood directly behind Lieutenant Morgan and had a crewman attach them together. Now he was lashed to her back, basically, and together they backed up, facing away from the open air. He called out, "Just say when—" but felt her push off only a moment later, sending them both over the edge and falling down. With one hand, Morgan adjusted their descent to a slow, manageable pace, eventually depositing them last on the ground of the four. She unclipped the rope, calling into her radio, "All clear, Ma'am. Good luck out there."

"You as well," came the captain's reply before the Bunker Hill suddenly arched away, hatch still wide open, and started to accelerate away into the clouds. With a few minutes of fumbling, some semblance of personal space was once again established between Damien and Alyssa.

"Couldn't have warned me?" Damien asked, exacerbated.

"Better if I don't." She replied matter-of-factually. "Everybody worries they're going to die, best to get it over with, and show them there's nothing to worry about. It gets easier the more you practice and especially the more you actually do it."

"Right." He replied, still somewhat in shock. "Ok so where's this base?"

"Hundred yards to your right." Elizabeth Yates replied. "Not much of a base, though. Just a couple of trailer prefabs and then the ruins behind them."

Damien turned and looked, spying the small buildings in the distance. "Cool." He answered. "Was worried there was a couple klick's worth of military marching just to make sure I know how far out of my element I really am."

Victor Stall laughed at that. "We're not evil, Civvy."

"Well, all except our esteemed Lieutenant, of course." Yates batted back.

Alyssa Morgan played it effortlessly. "Of course. Someone's gotta crack the whip around here. Just call me 'The Man'."

Damien and the others shared a moment of laughter before starting for the camp. They arrived at 1310 local time, joining the researchers for lunch and meeting Doctor T'Soni, the asari archaeologist in charge of this endeavor.

After they ate, T'Soni lead Damien to the ruins, while the marines worked to set up their camp and establish their perimeter. Alone, he asked her, "So, why are we here? The Captain wasn't very clear what was needed, I mean, I assume normal labor from Nova Yekaterinburg could handle any additional manpower needs you might normally need."

"Of course," Liara replied. "What I really need is another biotic or two to work with me in the ruins. Some things are just plain easier if you don't have to move it the old fashioned way. Well, easier and better for the delicate ruins beneath. There are no biotics in the capital right now. I was distressed to hear Captain Reed was unable to find a biotic in your armed forces to help me. Of course, extra manpower is still a good thing. Just not quite as good."

"You're in luck," Damien replied. "Because after the captain sent that message to you, she found me. I'm a biotic."

"Really?" Liara asked, impressed. "Where did you train?"

"Uh, mostly informal training. I'm not in the Systems Alliance military."

"Hmm. Alright. Can you handle biotics carefully enough without some serious training, though?"

"See for yourself." Damien offered.

Liara pointed out a large boulder she'd obviously removed from blocking a tunnel entrance almost a meter in diameter. "Lift that boulder and carefully bring it over here, and set it down."

Damien took a deep breath, calling on his inner reserves. Biotic energy flared around him, glowing purple and adding a faint taint to the moderate lighting in the ruin. The energy shot out, enveloping the boulder, making it light and then using new gravimetric forces he created above it to pull it into the air, where it hovered. Damien took another deep breath, trying to remain in complete control, and changed the gravimetric forces again, now causing the boulder to translate horizontally, keeping it at the same general height it floated at before. Soon as he reached the area of open space Liara had indicated, he slowly let go, reducing the biotic forces, allowing it to settle neatly on the ground, causing a minimum of dirt and dust to rise into the air. The biotics dimmed and disappeared and Liara smiled. "Well this is exciting. With the two of us, we should be able to reach the antechamber before you leave!"

"Antechamber?"

"Yes, just before the room that is this excavation's ultimate goal there is an antechamber. Sonic imaging confirms it. Once we unearth the antechamber there's very little obstruction to get into the larger room in which I'm interested."

"Nice. Well, let's get started then," Damien offered. "Sounds exciting."

She smiled. "Let's get the rest of the team over here before we start this on our own."

"Ahh, right!" Damien replied. "Yeah, better do that too."

The rest were gathered in short order and work began. They worked solid for several hours, stopping just as the sun set and temperatures began to fall. Liara explained, "Therum has a 28 hour day. Takes a little getting used to when you come from a planet or ship with shorter days. Trust me, by this time tomorrow, you'll understand what I mean."

"Alright." Damien replied, wiping sweat from his brow, careful to avoid getting the dirt and sand on his forehead by using the back of his hand and arm. "This armor isn't helping. I think I'll take it off tomorrow."

"I noticed that," Liara replied. "I was a bit worried you'd turn out to be another marine—more at home on a battlefield than at a dig site."

Damien nodded. "Yeah, well, no worries there. I'm just a civilian. I agreed to join the Bunker Hill due to—extenuating circumstances. This armor was a marine's bright idea, though."

Liara was already not listening. "There's signs of a power source in the large room we're attempting to reach," Liara noted, studying her omni-tool. "We may be lucky enough to come across some working Prothean technology."

"Oh? Neat." Damien replied, a little miffed at her lack of social graces. He didn't let it get to him, instead walking back to camp with the rest of the team, looking for the marines he'd recognize from the ship. They seemed to be out of sight.

About ten minutes after sitting down at the campsite, all three marines appeared from different directions, closing on the camp from a far-off distance. They met up at Damien's table, each taking a seat and a large swig of water. "Hot planet." Elizabeth noted.

"I noticed," Victor added ruefully.

For the first time, Damien realized how badly he'd been sweating today. He took and filled a fresh canteen with water, and returned to his seat, drinking it down thirstily. "Ease up," Alyssa interrupted, "Or you'll drink yourself sick."

Puzzled, Damien slowed his efforts down and capped the canteen, setting it on the table. "Water makes you sick? I must have lost liters today, I figure I'm just replenishing that."

"Well, that is the ultimate goal." Alyssa explained. "But you can't just drink it all at once. Human bodies don't work like that. Temperance is key, a little here, and little there."

"Got it." Damien answered. He was still thirsty, but decided to wait on rectifying that. "So what did you guys do all day?"

"Oh man, don't ask." Victor replied. "Finding good sniper nests—"

Elizabeth cut in, "setting up a perimeter around the camp."

"Watching for unusual comm chatter." Alyssa concluded. "Pretty routine, not good small talk material. How was your day, Mr. Archaeologist?"

Damien smiled. "Hard work. I'm hungry. Biotics makes you burn calories pretty fast when you use it for a long time, I've noticed. Before, it's always been a spurt here and there. To be asked to do it for hours on end is, well, quite draining."

"No doubt." Elizabeth chimed in. "Just don't get yourself sick. You know how these alien worlds can be."

"Eh? Not really." Damien replied. "I've lived on Elysium all my life, didn't move between worlds very often or for very long. Mostly just trips my job sent me on to learn to be a better agent."

Alyssa came back into the conversation. "Take it from someone who's been on a lot of worlds: the microbes on this world are guaranteed to be different from anything your immune system knows about. So if you overwork yourself, you'll develop a nasty bug really fast. You still might, but hopefully not."

"Heh I didn't even think of that. Probably why Liara was always telling me to take it easy today. You know it's been years since I've been sick on Elysium."

"Lucky." Victor replied. "Plus staying in one place really helps in that department. Generally speaking illness is more common among anyone who travels between worlds routinely. Even I've caught an alien bug or two in my time."

"What makes it 'alien'?" Damien asked.

Victor pondered this. "I suppose I was the alien, really."

"Exactly." Damien commended him. Victor smiled and took another chug of water. Feeling the burn in his own throat, Damien uncapped his and did likewise. Dinner passed quickly and without event, and as the last rays of the sun disappeared, the generators brought up the camp's lights and Liara showed the four what bunks were available. Elizabeth, having brought two tents, volunteered to use one of them, along with Victor. This left Damien and Alyssa together in one of the prefabs, bunking with a few others.

Lights went out once things were completely settled. That night, Damien awoke to the strange noises of natural wildlife on Therum. It was disconcerting at first, but he eventually became calm and shut out the sounds long enough to fall back asleep. The next day, the camp woke up before the sun had risen over the horizon and prepared for another hard day of work, including a very healthy and very big breakfast.

Alyssa Morgan took guard duty first shift, and struck off for a sniper's nest not far from camp but located high enough to have a commanding view of the area. The other marines were to join in working on the ruins since the likelihood of enemies arriving was extremely small.

As the heat of the day set in, work petered down and a long break was taken around high noon while the area was at its hottest, well over a hundred and thirty degrees. Thanks to the wonders of science, thermal suits were available, beckoning them back to work despite the heat. Once Damien tried on a thermal suit, however, he was quite surprised how comfortable it made the temperatures. He noticed how difficult it was to work in the suit with his hands, and began to depend more heavily on biotics alone to work, as he saw Liara T'Soni doing. It became clear to him then, why she'd wanted another biotic to help her so badly. It was obvious the suits made progress more difficult for all the normal, non-biotic humans at the site. Not impossible by any means, but noticeably longer than either Liara or Damien. The two separated to work on different areas of the dig site for most of the day, and he only met together with Victor, Elizabeth, Alyssa, and Liara at the evening meal. Most of the conversation revolved around the dig site's progress that day, and the very impressive heat outside of the thermal suits.

As temperatures once again cooled this evening, the suits were taken off and hung back up in closets in the prefab trailers. Damien's suit of armor had been unworn the entire day and he had no desire to resume using it while working in the ruins. After a while, Liara excused herself to talk with other scientists at other tables, and the four steered the conversation towards more lighthearted subjects.

The next two, nearly two and a half days were spent much the same. Finally, as the Bunker Hill reported its ETA within four hours, the antechamber was unearthed, Liara and Damien the first in. They had a much easier time once in the antechamber getting to the larger room behind it. As the two walked in, a Prothean beacon sat near one side of the room, with a conference table and chairs on the other, and long-dead consoles that used to relay some kind of information. "This looks an awful lot like the Beacon Hill." Damien put forth.

Liara frowned. "How so?"

"All these consoles, for the people at the table, and the oval shape of the table. It's a lot like the CIC on the Bunker Hill."

"Ahh. Good point. I would agree that this room was meant for some kind of strategic planning sessions, and the beacon's proximity means they probably made decisions here and sent them out via the beacons. Perhaps this is a war room."

"Yeah, could be," Damien replied. "Looks like the beacon's the only thing working." He approached it when suddenly a biotic stasis enveloped him, holding him completely still.

It wore off quickly, and Liara explained, "beacons are activated by proximity. I doubt you want to get a Prothean message shoved into your mind. There's a chance it could cause brain damage in humans since it is not meant for your physiology."

"Right." Damien carefully backed away from the beacon. "Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem," Liara replied. "I must admit, the temptation to use the beacon myself is very strong. I've received the Cipher which should allow me to translate it easily. However, my experience is second-hand, I've never directly exposed myself to a beacon."

Damien didn't really have anything else to say, so he merely walked up to the conference table and took a seat to relax. More people shuffled in slowly, blocking the only way out with their influx. Liara kept everyone away from the beacon while using her omni-tool, probably gathering information on the beacon's condition. Intrigued by the interface, Damien pressed a few buttons on the dead console built into the table in front of his chair. Nothing seemed to happen. Sitting back, he briefly wondered what other assignments would be like on the Bunker Hill. Surely some would be more exciting than others, but overall his single greatest fear was the captain's intentions—she very well might wish to turn him into a living weapon, a soldier.

He was fairly certain he wouldn't abide by that. If push came to shove—she did leave him a way out. The trick was, would this way out remain available if and when he decided to take it. She might double-cross, but that was sub-optimal, since it would place such animosity between them he doubted he'd ever listen to another word she said. And Reed didn't need an uncooperative biotic. Surely, the missions to come would help define his job parameters more clearly. Hopefully, everything would work out. For having never lived primarily aboard a ship, he was quickly becoming used to it, and the differences were still new and interesting compared to the normalcy of his existence on Elysium.

A clicking sound came from in front of Damien, from inside the table. It ripped him from his musings back into the present. The table console began to glow—weakly, but there. He gasped. Others noticed and gathered around. Liara had to push her way to the front to see what was going on. When she spied the words on the screen, she instantly recognized the Prothean written word. "You got it working!" She elated, unable to control her scientific excitement.

Damien smiled. "Sure looks like it's working. Wonder what it says."

Liara worked for several minutes, glancing between her omni-tool and the console. She translated the few words displayed into standard. "It says, 'Enter clearance.' It must be security encrypted!"

"Huh." Damien replied. He stood up, forcing his way through the crowd. "You guys have fun with that then." He returned to the dig site proper through the antechamber and then, after waiting a few minutes, decided he might as well return to the camp. He struck off, but froze mid-step when he felt the ground shudder. It passed quickly, returning to solid ground so quickly he almost wondered if he imagined it. Then another shudder... larger. "Crap." Damien took off at a run back the way he'd come to help evacuate everyone from the ruins in case they destabilized from the earthquake. As he arrived, the tremors returned, the fullest force yet, shaking everything and making it noticeably more difficult to stand. Scientists were running past and Damien grabbed the nearest one, helping her along towards the exit of the cavern. As the last ones left, Damien stuck his head in to check for anyone left behind. To his utter surprise, he saw Liara T'Soni standing ramrod-straight with a meter in the air under her feet. "The hell?"

Another tremor, and Liara fell to the ground, unconscious. Damien ran up to her, pulling her up to her knees, but she was utterly unresponsive. A piece of rock ceiling gave away, falling to the ground in a loud clatter, and renewing a sense of urgency to escaping from the ruins. If a rock falls and hits me in the head or neck, we're both dead. There's no one to save us but us. With this in mind, Damien decided to use a fireman's carry, first spending a little biotic energy to lighten Liara. This allowed him to move her quickly into position, and soon as she was situated over his shoulders and he was moving through the antechamber, he allowed her weight to return to normal to conserve strength.

The difficult part over, Damien trudged up the beaten path as quickly as he could, careful to avoid uneven rocks and terrain to avoid spraining an ankle. What seemed like an eternity passed by, the sound of rocks falling constantly unnerving him. He saw the light ahead that marked escape and burst out as a full-out run. He caught up to the rest of the scientists from the dig site.

Victor, Elizabeth, and Alyssa coordinated the frightened group, commanding them back to the campsite and taking a head count at the same time. When Alyssa spied Damien at the end of the line, carrying Liara, she ran up, concerned.

"What happened?" she asked. She noticed immediately both were covered in a great deal of dust.

Damien took a deep gulp of air, winded from his uphill climb and the subsequent running full tilt to escape the ruins. Finally, he answered, "I have no idea. She was floating—and then just fell—the place was coming down—around me, so I picked her up and ran like hell."

"Let's get her down and take her vitals," Alyssa answered, helping Damien gently dismount her. Once she was on the ground, Alyssa held her head and upper body as still as possible while Damien motioned Elizabeth over. "Help me get her vitals." Alyssa ordered.

Elizabeth wasted no time, getting down on her knees with Alyssa and looking for a pulse. Damien stood by, transfixed as he watched them care over the asari. Elizabeth nodded and Alyssa looked relieved, but it came a moment too late for Damien. He'd unconsciously been holding his breath as he feared for Liara's safety, and passed out, falling to the ground with a sickening thud he could feel just before giving in fully to unconsciousness.

A moment later, Elizabeth was slapping his cheeks, forcing him to breathe and return to the world of the living. Damien shook it off, and other than a very poignant headache, he seemed undamaged. He breathlessly thanked Elizabeth for helping him, and sat up, taking in his surroundings once again. The ground, thankfully, seemed solid enough at present. However, the illusion was shattered only moments later as aftershocks continued.

Liara came to then, and Damien quickly worked his way over to her by crawling a few steps. "You ok?"

"Doc's coming around,"

"Are you alright?"

Everyone spoke over each other, crowding her. She quite visibly recoiled as she opened her eyes and Alyssa ordered the other two back to give her some air. She continued to hold Liara still. "I said, are you alright, Doctor T'Soni?"

"Y-yes, I'm fine." She stammered, blinking in the bright light of the surface. "What—happened?"

Damien cut in then, "You were in the chamber with the beacon, and you passed out during an earthquake, I think. I carried you out of the ruins. We're about halfway to camp."

"I—I remember. I was worried we would lose the ruins—the beacon—"

"Ruins are fine, Doctor." Alyssa shot Damien a telling look that commanded him to agree to perpetuate her assumption. "Just take it easy, don't move."

"Why are you holding me in your lap?" Liara asked, confused.

"We were worried you might have injured your back, neck. Movement could exacerbate that. We just want to make sure you're ok before we go moving around any more than necessary."

"I feel fine—" Liara complained, but secretly knew that she felt horrible, especially her head.

Damien nodded, trying to placate her with a smile. "Take it easy, Doctor. You'll be ok."

"Thanks—for—carrying me, Damien."

He smiled wider. "No problem."

Elizabeth let her omni-tool shut down. "You've got a concussion Liara. It's mild, by human standards anyway. We got to be careful because I have no freaking idea what a hit to the head does to an asari."

"We should get her to a doctor!" Damien stated emphatically.

"Hey, cut that out. I'm in charge here." Alyssa warned him with an edginess in her voice she didn't use often. "Ok, Liara, let's try to sit you up straight. Nice and slow." Together, they managed to get her sitting upright, and Elizabeth and Alyssa both got under one of her shoulders, slowly standing up, carefully watching Liara to make sure she didn't pass out. She seemed fine, but obviously pained. Then they began walking together, Damien leading the way to the camp, getting out the medical supplies.

Another half-hour passed when Alyssa's radio crackled to life. She quickly acknowledged the signal. "Lieutenant Morgan here, Bunker Hill is that you?"

"Lieutenant Morgan, this is Bunker Hill actual," a female voice responded. "We've just reached orbit and we'll be descending to a landing site two klicks the campsite south by south-west."

"Captain, you better come here first. Get the wire gurney ready. Doctor T'Soni's been injured and we need to get her checked out by a doctor ASAP."

Over the radio, they heard Reed say something below her breath. Then, she barked out, "Mr. Wells, change our vector to take us directly above the campsite. Get Doctor Roberts down to the mako bay and prepare the wire gurney. I want us hovering over that campsite five minutes ago!" Then, she returned her attention back to the ground team. "Lieutenant, what happened?"

"Earthquake, Ma'am. It appears T'Soni took something to the head. Only light lacerations on her head, but Yates reports she's got a mild concussion. I want to make sure her head injury will heal up ok on it's own."

"How long ago?"

"Twenty minutes. She's alert and responsive, but she's talking a little slow in my experience."

"We'll be there in no time," Reed assured her. "How's the rest of the team?"

"We're all fine. Damien fainted, that's it."

At that, Damien's face grew visibly red even through his suit's visor. "Hey, I saved her life." He jabbed back, trying to save face.

"The scientists?"

"Hold, Captain." Alyssa switched her radio to contact Victor Stall. "What's the head count, marine?"

"All present and accounted for. No serious injuries."

She switched back to the Bunker Hill. "All present and accounted for, no other serious injuries, Captain."

"We're thirty ticks away, hang tight. Get ready to load the Doctor onto the gurney."

"Yes, Captain." She replied. Together with Elizabeth, they got Liara to her feet, who seemed more sickly now than twenty minutes ago. She puked, and the two marines quickly worked her back down to a more favorable altitude for her. The Bunker Hill came upon them then, the noise of her arrival barely beating her physical arrival. She came to hover over the camp with a deafening roar of powerful atmospheric thrusters, which beat down on the ground and stirred up an instant sandstorm. The mako gate was open, just like when Damien and the marines had left the ship, but a gurney connected to a swivel arm was swung out and lowered instead of just a rope like last time. Soon as the gurney was low enough, Stall grabbed it, holding it steady, while the two women carefully situated Liara. They strapped her in with quick-remove snaps to keep her from falling over the side and then gave a hand wave, all three backing away from the gurney simultaneously. Damien watched helplessly as the gurney retreated back into the sky and Liara disappeared into the hold. The massive door started to close and the engines screeched louder yet as Bunker Hill set course south by south-west, heading for the landing site they'd told Alyssa about earlier. Alyssa ordered her marines to pack it in and in no time even the tents were packed up and loaded. Damien and the marines stuck off for their ship, leaving the scientists behind to deal with the fallout.