Chapter 7: Confusion and Confirmation
"The skycar we take out to Saefos is on autopilot. That's an expensive cab system to maintain, though with the number of shady business deals going down on Illium, they probably figure it's worth it for their customers to have their privacy. I'm sure glad for it, and I think Thane is, too. Not that he's any more talkative than ever. He just sits there, lost in thought, turning that coin over and over in his hand.
"Eventually, I can't take the silence anymore. 'So why aren't we going straight on to Pragia?' I ask him. 'What do you think we'll find in Saefos Valley?'
"'Information,' he says simply, and I can tell he's distracted.
"I'm a little confused. 'Whaddaya mean, information?' I demand. 'We know where they went. And the longer we hang around on Illium, the bigger their lead gets.'
"He doesn't answer right away, and I realize he's not looking at me anymore. His eyes are unfocused and glassy, and his jaw is clenched so hard I wonder if he's gonna break teeth. I've seen that look on drell's faces before, when they're trying not to get lost in unpleasant memories. 'It's not enough just to eliminate them,' he says with difficulty. 'I need to know why they targeted her. They didn't… it was…'
"And just like that, he loses the fight. 'Blood splattered on the walls, the floor,' he half whispers, and there's nothing I can do but listen. 'I squeeze my eyes shut; I can't look, but I must. Gritting my teeth, I force myself to look. To see Irikah, my wife, my angel, my siha, her broken body flung twisted in a heap like a discarded doll. Sunset-colored eyes at once empty and accusing. I fall to my knees and cover my face, but the image is forever burned into my mind.
"'This was no random act of violence; it was a targeted hit. She was tortured, brutalized, violated in ways I cannot force myself to comprehend. Deliberately kept alive long enough to—' His voice breaks, and he drags himself back to reality. When he meets my eyes again, there's tears on his face and he's shaking.
"'Oh, shit,' is all I can say.
"You guys gotta realize what's going on at this point. Thane wasn't always great at hiding what he was feeling, especially when it came to his family, but he always put up an effort. And I could respect that. Touchy-feely stuff ain't exactly my forte. He kept his distance, and that was fine by me.
"But what I hadn't ever realized was just how much of an effort that took on his part. I mean, yeah, I'd seen him in some kinda vulnerable moments before, but he'd never let his defenses down completely like this. It was my first look at how much of a wreck the poor kid really was. And seriously, can you blame him?
"'My apologies,' he says hoarsely, and the coin disappears into his pocket as he tries to pull himself together. 'Such memories can come unbidden, and are often… difficult to control.'
"'You don't gotta explain yourself to me, kid,' I say.
"Finally, the skycar drops us off at the address Deena pointed us to, and I have to admit I'm glad to have an excuse to end that conversation. The place is an apartment complex, one of those vacation places—you know, the ones you rent by the week? And they'd left a couple days early, so it hadn't been cleaned yet. Lucky for us.
"Hacking the door lock was as easy as getting a pyjak to piss. Which reminds me, Ryder: the next time Gizzard—"
"Gizmo!"
"Whatever. The next time I catch that little beast of yours in my galley, he'll be on the menu, we clear?
"Anyway. We get in, and it's obvious they left in a hurry. Either that, or they're just the kind of assholes that figure the cleaning staff'll take care of all their shit. Place is a mess. Furniture's all askew, trash everywhere, takeout containers all over the table—and it's batarian food, of course, so it stinks—and there's even a hole in the wall like somebody punched it. Little bit of blood there, too. Heh-heh, four-eyed bastard hurt himself hittin' a wall.
"Thane spots a computer terminal and tries to access it. After a few seconds, he makes a frustrated noise and turns to me. 'How good a hacker are you, Drack?' he asks.
"I shrug. 'Nothing special, but I know some back doors. Why?'
"'They left an email program open, but they've locked out the terminal,' he says. 'I need you to recover whatever correspondence they sent or received. Can you do that?'
"'Heh-heh. Kid stuff,' I reply. 'Lemme see.'
"Thane steps back from the terminal to let me work. 'Child's play it may seem to you, but the intricacies of computer code have always eluded me.' He pauses, then says quietly, 'I'm glad you're here, Drack,' and I'm pretty sure he's talking about more than my tech skills.
"I just laugh, 'cause I don't really know what else to do. 'It's what you're payin' me for, kid,' I tell him. But I'm still thinkin' about what Deena said, and about that flashback he had on the way here. And… it kinda makes me glad I'm here, too, for his sake. Hadn't felt that way about anyone but Kesh in a long, long time—protective, y'know?
"In a few minutes, I'm in the system and I've recovered a bunch of deleted emails. 'Got it!' I say. 'Take a look at this, Thane. Might be the evidence you're lookin' for.' I step aside to let him see.
"He leans over the terminal, and I read the email over his shoulder. 'Shorek—We got a problem, The guy you're looking for is Thane fucking Krios. We go after him and we're all dead. Had to get the intel from the Shadow Broker himself, so we're out a shitload of credits, too.'
"My first thought? That's damn near hilarious. 'Heh-heh-heh. "We go after him and we're all dead." They're scared of you, kid. Good job.'
"But he's not amused by that at all. I don't even think that part registered. 'The Shadow Broker… They got my name from the Shadow Broker?' He looks up at me, eyes wide and confused. 'That… that shouldn't be possible. How…?'
"No way am I gonna tell him how the Broker was able to ID him. Not right now, anyway. So I swallow the guilt and try to play it casual. 'The Shadow Broker probably knows a lot of things people think he shouldn't,' I say.
"Thane just glares at me. 'I know that,' he growls. 'That's why I take precautions. Why the Primacy took precautions when they hired me for that job. The only person who knew it was me was my old handler, and Orander would never have sold me out. Ever.'
"Yep, Orander. The hanar who'd leaked the intel to me in the first place. 'Maybe it didn't,' I venture before I can stop myself. 'Maybe it just got too trusting with someone it shouldn't.' Which was way too close to the truth—well, it was the truth—but there was nothin' I could do about it now.
"There's a long silence while Thane studies me with narrowed eyes. Like he's tryin' to decide if I know more than I'm saying—or maybe that's just my guilty conscience, I dunno. I do my best to look innocent, but my hearts are pounding. Finally, he looks down and says, soft and sad, 'Perhaps.'
"He turns back to the terminal, and we read the rest of the message.
"'Did find out he's got a family, though,' it says. 'Wife and kid—leaves them alone on Kahje for weeks on end. Hit them while he's gone. That'll teach him to fuck with us.'
"Thane looks vaguely sick. 'I feared as much,' he says, his voice shaky. 'They killed her to get to me.' He looks up at me again, and his face is so full of anger and pain it's hard not to turn away. 'I tried so hard to keep them safe. To keep my identity a secret, to leave no witnesses. No way for anyone to link them to my work. I didn't even tell them where I was going when I was away from home. And yet… I failed to protect them.'
"And that, guys—that's when the full weight of my fuck-up hit me. Remember, the Broker wouldn't have found his name at all without the information I'd given him. His wife had gotten horribly murdered 'cause of me. And it killed me a little to see him shouldering the blame himself.
"'It wasn't your fault, Thane,' I tell him. 'The kind of sick bastards who would go after innocent—'
"'Drack,' he interrupts, wearily ad so soft I almost don't hear him, 'stop. Please.' He takes a deep breath and lets it out slow, then puts a hand on his chest and clears his throat. 'Let's see what else is here.'
"There's another email, but the sender's extranet address is encrypted and I can't unlock it. The text is plan as day, though. 'Shorek—Credits. Now. You still owe me half for the Kahje job, and I'm raising the price ten percent. You said the bitch was a scientist, you didn't say she could fight. She cut my fucking face. —SK.'
"And the reply: 'The contract was for her and the kid. Half the job, half the money. And assassins don't get hazard pay. —HS.'
"So there's another player in this game. I look over at Thane to check if he's okay. Well, I know he's not, but… eh, you know what I mean. Anyway, he's got his eyes closed and his head bowed, like it's taking everything he's got to not just go completely to pieces. I want to cheer him up some, but the best I can offer is, 'Sounds like your boy got lucky.' It's lame, and I know it, but it's all I've got.
"Without moving, Thane chuckles darkly. 'Irikah saved him,' he says, his voice rough. 'She hid him in a closet and told him to stay there no matter what he heard. But when it was over, he… he tried to wake her. That's what I found when I came home: my wife dead on the floor, and my son covered in her blood, reciting memories of her screams.' He glares up at me. 'No, Drack, he wasn't lucky.'
"Now it's my turn to feel sick. 'I'm sorry, kid, I—'
"'Drack,' he snarls. 'Shut. Up.'
"Yeah, Cora, I think I was as surprised by that as you are. It was out of character for him, definitely. But it sure had the desired effect, heh-heh-heh. I'm shocked into silence, and that gives him a minute to get a grip.
"Finally, he straightens, and his face is like stone. 'There's another piece to the puzzle now, he says. 'We need to find out who this assassin is. That information will likely have to come from Shorek himself, or one of his associates.' He looks me square in the eyes, and there's a dark kind of fire in his. 'I may require your assistance with the… interrogation.'
"I bare my teeth. 'I've seen you in action, kid. Doubt you'll really need me. But you want me to scare the shit outta some batarians, I'm in.'
"'I plan to do far more than scare them, Drack,' he growls. 'They will pay for everything they did to her. And when I find this assassin…'
"He doesn't finish that sentence. He doesn't need to. 'I'm with you to the end of this, Thane,' I say. 'Whatever you gotta do, I'm with you.' Deena's words echo in my mind: He may need to hear it. So I add, 'We'll get you home to your boy.'
"The look he gives me is strange—and uncomfortable."
