AN: My thanks for all the reviews and favourites that this story as well as my others has received. I really appreciate it.
Chapter 09: Infiltration.
They found the bodies in a pit quite close to the route that would take them to the upper levels of the compound after they had managed to sneak in through a seemingly forgotten doorway.
Jane looked at the heap of dead batarians, some of the corpses already so rotten and decomposed that they were beyond recognition. The macabre dump was made even worse by a family of varren that seemed to have made their home there. They had been attacked by the creatures when they first entered the tunnels. Miranda and Jacob had dealt with most of them through biotics because Jane had wanted to limit weapons fire so as not to attract unwanted attention. The strange thing was that, after the team had killed about three of the varren, the rest of the pack seemed to hang back as if they knew that they would not be able to match the humans. Jane could feel them looking at her but none attacked.
Too damned smart, she thought and turned her attention to the bodies. Most were alien and showed signs of wounds other than the varren bites.
"They probably have the prisoners fight down here," Jacob said. "I've heard that batarians do that."
Jane grimaced but said nothing, thinking about Elysium and the soldiers that had fallen or had gone missing in those terrible months. What did the batarians do to them? One or two had showed up at the end of the skirmish but they had been raving mad and maimed almost beyond repair. Jane found herself wondering how many of them were still alive or who had found solace at the end of the weapon that they had been taught to wield.
Will that happen to me? She thought. When all of this is done, will I end up going mad?
"We should get going," Miranda whispered - the tension in her voice cutting through Jane's thoughts. "We only have a small window of opportunity."
And Jack's already out there, putting herself at risk. Jane looked at her and nodded, motioning her to lead the way. Miranda had a diagram of the facility on her omnitool and as she was still not comfortable with shooting, Jane wanted the biotics in front to deal with any immediate threats. She admired the way Jacob and Miranda flowed together as they worked. They didn't get in each other's way and rarely communicated with more than a glance or two. Jane had her own omnitool set to scan for any monitoring equipment but the corridors didn't seem to have any security what so ever. She suspected that the batarians did not want their entertainment filmed as that kind of barbaric behaviour would most certainly abolish any chance they had to get that seat on the council that they've been so keen on.
The corridor they were moving through became better maintained and soon, the three found themselves in front of a locked doorway. Jane waited as Miranda scanned the door, troubled by the worry she saw on her XO's face.
"We need to get into another complex," Miranda whispered. "I had hoped that we'd find a corridor leading there from this one but it's been sealed off. What's the radio communications like Jacob?"
The dark man grimaced and made a motion with his hand. "Hot," he said. "They're calling up all available ground units in an attempt to try and neutralise this 'unknown' threat. We're going to have to start moving quickly, I don't think we have as much time as we need."
Jane nodded to that as she had already started to feel uncomfortable. "Jacob, I think you should go back to the shuttle," she said. "In the event that our way out isn't clear, I want you to make that we can be picked up. With most of the spare units focused on Jack I don't think we'll encounter a lot of resistance." She glanced at Miranda to see if she'd object but her XO nodded.
"That way you can also make sure that they don't discover the shuttle," Miranda added. "There's no telling where they'll be sending people."
Jane suspected that if she had asked her to go then the woman would've been saying something completely different. But, there had been a reason she had chosen Jacob because he simply nodded without objection and rushed back down the corridor. He had always been a follower and obeyed both her and Miranda's orders without question. Jane wondered what would happen the day they contradicted each other and hoped that it would never come.
She turned back to her XO when Jacob was gone and searched her gaze for any indication that she wasn't ready to move outside but Miranda simply gave her a brief nod and started hacking the door without being prompted.
"Let's get this over with," she said. "The less time we spend on this batarian piss pot the better."
Jane chuckled, watching as Miranda's omnitool cracked the code. "Did they teach you that kind of language at university Ms Lawson?"
The woman gave her a dry smile but her features went back to business when the lock beeped for attention. Looking at Shepard for conformation, she pushed it open and disappeared off into the miserable night. It had been raining ever since they arrived and Jane vaguely wondered what season the planet was in. It didn't matter of course, the rain helped obscure them and made the guards less vigilant - not that they saw any as they made their way through to the building indicated on Miranda's omnitool. Jane had tuned her radio to the batarian frequency to hear whether they suspected a second group of infiltrators. So far, all their attention was focused on Jack's assault and Jane hoped that it would stay that way.
Miranda didn't say anything as she veered off to the left with Jane following her closely. She saw the door through which they intended to go but just as she was about to move past Miranda so that she could open it, it slid open by itself. Two guards rushed out, pausing when they saw them. It took the batarians a few fatal seconds to realise that they weren't part of the guards. Miranda threw them back with a biotic wave and Jane quickly moved forward, knocking one out and shooting the other in the head. She was about to turn back to the one she had hit but Miranda was there before her, coldly raising her gun to the batarian's head and firing a single shot. She didn't flinch when she executed him but simply called on her biotics again and raised both bodies, flinging them into the corridor.
"Let's hope nobody heard that," Miranda said as she pushed some of her dark wet hair out of her face. "Come on, we have to be close."
Jane did not argue, her XO's tone did not permit it but as she followed the woman into the bowels of the batarian prison she could not help but remember the first day she saw her when they were fighting their way off of the Lazarus station. Cold and calculated, she had found herself thinking that she could not trust Miranda Lawson.
But she had been wrong, as she had been about so many other things since her resurrection.
"A few months ago there was another Ardat Yakshi here," the doctor was speaking in a monotonous voice. "She hunted in the lower Afterlife area. I had quite a few bodies to study back then. Mostly club goers, mostly mercenaries with no family. Nobody anybody would miss which was a striking enough similarity between the kills for me to fill in the blank spaces. They had been chosen specifically to disappear."
Listening to the doctor, Asura could not stop herself from feeling a rise in excitement and anticipation as her mind conjured up imagery of what it must've been like to hunt in the lower club. To have that freedom to just be able to select a kill and... She shivered suddenly and hugged herself which immediately brought the doctor's attention to her.
"Does this upset you?"
Asura blinked and tried very hard not to show her discomfort when she felt Phora's gaze also shift towards her.
"I find it disturbing that you speak of bodies," she said. "Plural, not singular. It means she must've hunted here for some time." She paused. "My partner has decided to make her home in Omega. I don't like to hear how easy it is for a killer to..." Hypocrite. "Just disappear here."
Phora raised her brow in curiosity but it was the doctor who snorted dryly. She sat back from her desk and lit a cigarette.
"Don't fool yourself," she said dryly and took a slow drag. "There are a lot of killers here. Coming back to your question," she turned back to the Justicar, "I found the same anatomical anomalies on these bodies that I had on those kills. Brain haemorrhages and nerve damage in selected locations. I know what I saw then and I know what I'm seeing now. Only biotics can cause that type of damage. And only an Ardat Yakshi knows how to kill with such..." her mouth twisted with distaste. "Flare."
Asura expected Phora to argue but the Justicar simply nodded and stood up. "We've acquired everything that we can learn from your clinic," she said. "Asura?" Phora turned to her - clearly expecting her to get up but she couldn't, not immediately.
"Forgive me Doctor," she said. "But did you notice that those victims had been restrained?"
She could almost feel the way the doctor dismissed her as she took another slow drag from her cigarette. "What point are you trying to make?"
Her bluntness irritated Asura and it took a lot of self-control not to try and manipulate the asari into being more compliant. She knew that Phora would pick up on it immediately.
"They were restrained," she said, keeping her voice level. "Both the Justicar and I noticed it. I realise that you say you looked at the nerve damage and haemorrhaging but... didn't that detail give you pause? Ardat Yakshi don't need to restrain their victims... from what I've heard." She knew that she put the latter in too late but there was nothing she could do about it now.
The doctor did not seem amused and finished her cigarette before she burned it completely with a biotic flame. "Compliant or not," she said. "There are a lot of sexual habits I would rather not think of. I brought these bodies under Aria's attention because that is what she asked of me. I don't want to know more. If you want to dig, go right ahead."
Asura wanted to say more, but Phora put a hand under her arm and pulled her up – leaving no space for argument. "I thank you for your help Doctor," she said and inclined her head, a gesture that didn't appear to be as respectful as one would've thought it to be. "When we have more questions, we'll come your way. Also if more bodies show up, let us know."
The doctor did not bother rising with them but simply nodded and dropped her attention to her paperwork. Asura tried to get a feel for her before they left, to try and understand why she was so blunt but she could think of nothing. Her displeasure at the asari's behaviour must've shown on her face for Phora gave her a strange look when they finally exited the clinic.
"It's Omega," the Justicar said without enquiring. "Doctors, healers of any kind, they bear the brunt of it. Very little resources with the power of mind to realise that nothing will ever change. That there will always be more bodies, more diseases that this rock does not have the resources or wish to fight. I'm surprised you're angry."
Angry? Asura thought. Is that what you read this as?
She bit her lip and took a moment to choose her words carefully. "Abby is a doctor," she said. "And, we've had the privilege of working with a Professor Mordin Solus. Neither of them have that..." She motioned back to the clinic. "Attitude."
Phora made a considering sound and seemed to truly think about her statement. "They are children of the days," she said. "Professor Solus if I am not mistaken is a salarian. They hardly live in the blink of an eye. As is your human, they hardly live a tenth of our lifetime. They do not have the longevity to see that everything they try to change will eventually be for nothing. Our dear doctor has just accepted that nothing will ever change, regardless of what she thinks or feels. She does her bit on Omega but it's blunted her." She paused. "You have lived a very sheltered life."
Asura blushed but said nothing, not liking the way Phora was smiling at her again.
"So," the Justicar said happily. "What are your theories? Do we need to investigate this further?"
A part of her desperately wanted to say no, but Asura knew it wasn't going to be that simple. She thought it over for a bit then grimaced when a thought came to mind.
"I don't think it's an Ardat Yakshi," she said though she wasn't entirely sure about that either. "But, I think those kills were meant to look like it. The restraints really bother me. And you... Saying the bodies feel different? Yet, obviously these individuals were submitted to the same kind of power before they died." She paused, thought about how to proceed then frowned. "I think a wrong is being committed here and I think it's somebody who knows an Ardat Yakshi's signature. They might be trying to fake it to hide something else. Whether you think that is worth investigating Justicar is up to you." She sniffed and looked around her miserably, regretting Abby's decision to stay on the mined asteroid. "There's a lot of other wrong doings on Omega."
The Justicar made a murmuring sound as she opened up her omnitool and flipped through some data. "This case has taken my interest," she said. "Did you know of Morinth?"
The name sent chills down Asura's spine and she could not hide the reaction. "Yes," she whispered. "She was... killed here. I gathered that it was her victims that the doctor spoke of. Unless there's another."
Phora smiled and motioned Asura to some low seating close by. "You never know," she said as she settled. "Now, here are some fun facts to process. The good doctor's first autopsy was done to roughly coincide with Morinth's presence in Omega. Now, interestingly enough – the deaths did not stop then but continued at broken intervals. Unfortunately, there's no way of telling whether these kills were like those on the slab now or true Ardat Yakshi kills." Her green eyes met Asura's. "Do you know when this Lenelle was on Omega?"
There was no use in lying. "I can tell you the dates that we were both here," Asura said quietly. "But I can't tell you if she came here in my absence. I'll have to consult my schedule though; I can't give you the dates off the top of my head."
Phora smiled with delight. "Of course not," she said. "But I would appreciate the information. For interest, how long have you been doing work for Aria?"
It took a lot of effort not to keep her features from changing as she shrugged. "A month, no more," she pointed out. "It's not a formal arrangement. I have connections in the mining field and a few..." She sighed. "Other talents as well. You know Aria, she uses what she can."
Phora's look became more intense as she studied her. "And what do you get out of it?"
Asura's answer was immediate and earnest. "Protection for Abby," she said. "She chose to make her home in this... this hell hole. I want to make sure that it's as safe as it can be. If it means helping Aria out with a few things, it's... worth it."
For a moment, Phora seemed truly interested. "Why didn't you just refuse her?" the Justicar queried. "As her partner, you could've told her that you do not want her to come here. You could've refused her."
I could've, Asura thought. I could've made her stay somewhere else but...
"Recently," Asura said quietly. "Abby's had to listen to almost everybody who has ever cared for her tell her what she can and cannot do..." Memories of Abby's family members whom she had never met came and went in her mind. "I do not want to be among those. As you have said yourself, humans' lives are so short and so very precious. If she wants to make a difference here, if she wants to try, who am I to stand in her way?"
She did not like how Phora was silent for several breaths. When the Justicar finally stirred, it was to smile at her in that way that Asura was slowly beginning to hate.
"I would very much like to meet this Dr. Gable," she murmured. "She sounds inspiring."
Asura shifted awkwardly and crossed her arms over her chest. "The humans I have met all are," she said, keeping her gaze down as she thought of Jane Shepard. "Now what do you want to do about this? What do we tell Aria?"
That brought Phora's attention back to where it should be and the asari frowned. "We don't need to tell her anything," she said but her features shifted to amusement again. "Or, I don't. What you tell her is up to you but we don't have any answers yet." She paused for a few moments, clearly thinking.
"Do we both agree that these two bodies at least were not the work of an Ardat Yakshi?"
Asura nodded and risked taking the idea further. "But," she added carefully. "I think it's the work of someone who knows about Ardat Yakshi. Who is perhaps running... tests? Experiments? Perhaps to see how they kill. Or to hide whatever it is they're doing to them when they are restrained. It's a leap but..."
"Not a bad one," Phora said with approval. "My question to that would be: Who knows about Ardat Yakshi apart from other asari? In our culture, it's not a topic to be explored. And, there's enough information about it on Thessia – such experiments does not need to be run."
Her stomach was still turning with nerves but something in this had finally taken Asura's attention. She wanted to know who was doing this because they were putting her in danger. If these deaths had drawn one Justicar here, there was a lot of chance that it might draw another. She did not think that she would be able to fool two of them if ever Aria pointed the other in her direction as well. And there was certainly foul play involved.
Who would know about us?
Her world slipped out of focus for a moment and in her mind she remembered a conversation she never heard between Samara and a Commander Shepard.
I find myself in need of your help Shepard... She is an Ardat Yakshi...
Shepard knew, Asura thought as she looked at Phora. And Abby had seen it all in her previous life... On a screen but...
"What are you thinking about?" Phora's voice was low, almost as if she was frightened of disturbing Asura's thoughts. Her words did not do that but instead did completely the opposite. With a nauseating clarity Asura knew that she would have to bring Phora close to Abby because the vet, with her memories she had brought from another world, might be able to provide some answers she could not give the Justicar.
"I think I know where we should go next," she said softly and could not stop herself from biting her lip. "There are... I think that I know someone who might be able to give us some answers. Or at least point us in a direction that might be worth exploring."
They managed to successfully hide from more guards, but Jane began to realise that the deeper they went the more difficult it was going to be to fight their way out of the compound. They had received no communication from any of their team members and it was difficult to tell if Jack was still attacking the base or whether the biotic had moved back to the shuttle. She hoped so for Jack's sake but dreaded to think what would happen if all the batarians came down there. The compound was a maze of tunnels and they had had to go down several levels before they finally found what they were looking for.
The section that followed was darker again, more like a storage area than a prison. Yet, when they moved through one doorway Jane began to see and smell the evidence that people were kept down there. She and Miranda stuck close to the walls, their weapons trained as they tried to find Amanda Kenson. When they heard voices at the end of the corridor, Miranda and Jane knelt behind a large pile of crates to assess the situation. The voices were tense and talking about the attack outside. Jane also got the impression that they were waiting for someone but it was hard to tell. The voices moved away from them and she was about to get up and go when Miranda briefly touched her arm and motioned to the side. Jane frowned in the direction she was pointing and saw what looked like a dark little room. After a moment or two she realised that it wasn't just a room but a cell. She risked a glance over the crates then moved into the room when she saw that none of the guards were around.
The smell was overwhelming.
Jane's first instinct was to step out of the room again but Miranda was close behind her, forcing her to take a step deeper into the darkness. She gagged before she could stop herself but then took a firm control of her senses and stomach and looked around, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim light. There was a body on the floor and the mass of blond hair that protruded from underneath the blanket pinned it as human.
Damn.
Miranda's seemed to struggle as well for a bit, but her sharp eyes never lost their focus as she motioned to the wall.
"Shepard look."
Jane had been in the process of kneeling next to the body and allowed momentum to take her knees to the floor. When she looked up at what Miranda was pointing though, she pushed herself up again immediately, her stomach as cold as ice. What she had first thought to be shadows on the wall was in fact blood. Unable to stop herself, Jane reached out and traced the edge of the shadow flinching when her eyes brought the shape of the reaper to life.
We are infinite, the pinnacle of evolution... Before us, you are nothing...
She shuddered and pulled away, looking at the rest of the wall that was littered with bloody hand prints. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Miranda kneel down beside the body and remove the blanket that had been pulled over it. The man did not look at peace in death, his mouth slightly open as his dead eyes still stared at the wall. There was a pool of blood around his one exposed wrist and when Miranda picked it up to study she grimaced and looked away.
"He chewed off his own wrists," she said solemnly and then glanced up at the wall. "The Reapers are coming."
Jane shuddered and knelt down beside him as well. She allowed her hand to slide over his face in an attempt to close his eyes but somehow it didn't quite work and man's lifeless orbs kept staring at the wall.
"Indeed," she whispered, feeling nauseous. "Probably one of Kenson's people. Let's get going, I don't want to give her any more chance to be driven to madness."
Miranda nodded tightly and pulled the blanket over the body again.
"I find myself hoping it was their torture that drove him to this," she whispered. "And not something else."
Jane shuddered and wondered how much credit to be put to Hackett's rumour of a reaper artefact. She did not comment but moved to the doorway again, glancing around to see if there were any guards. Two were walking towards them and Jane quickly pushed back into the cell, glancing at Miranda and signalling the number of assailants that were coming their way. Her XO made to move deeper into the cell as if to hide but Jane shook her head, wanting to be done with this mission and this place.
She raised her gun and after a second's pause, Miranda did the same. When the guards walked past, they did not give the guards time to pause or raise the alarm. The two women rushed out, killed the both of them and then ran up the corridor where they heard some alarmed shouting as the others heard the gunshots. They engaged in a brief fire fight with three batarians that came rushing through from the one room. Having lost the element of surprise it took a bit more fire power to dispel them. At their heart, Jane believed that batarians were every bit as ruthless as krogan and had been born for battle and brutality. Still, she and Miranda killed them all. She had only knocked the last one unconscious but Miranda came shortly after and killed him. When their gazes met over the bloody mess, she gave Jane a half hearted shrug and moved into the room from which they had all come.
"No witnesses," she said. "I don't want you implicated."
Jane glanced back at the batarian but nodded. "Thank you," she said simply. "Where would..." She paused, the room presenting her with the answer to the question she had not asked.
There was still one soul alive on this level.
The woman in the chair appeared to be Hackett's age and looked like the pictures that Jane had seen. She was strapped down, her clothes dirty, torn and bloody. Her face showed signs of a severe beating and Jane suspected that was not the worst of her injuries. She glanced at Miranda who took point by the door and approached the raised chair cautiously.
"Dr. Kenson?"
The machinery above the woman was emitting a low hum and for a moment Jane thought of Feron who had been tortured for nearly two years at the hands of the old Shadow Broker. Kenson hardly appeared to be breathing and it took another hail from Jane to get her attention. She had thought that her eyes would show fear and pain when they opened but Jane was startled by the intensity in her gray-green depths when they snapped open.
"Who are you?" she asked in a low voice even as Jane saw a trial of sweat move down her brow. She did not move immediately but tried to assess Kenson's mental state.
"Commander Shepard," she said shortly then realised abruptly that the low hum that she was hearing was also coming from the chair. It appeared to be sending low pulse of electricity through Kenson's body. She went round to the back of the contraption immediately and pulled the plug. Kenson's breath of relief was audible. "Hackett send us. Are you Dr. Kenson?" She had no doubt, but she wanted to hear the woman say it.
"Yes," the woman breathed and this time her voice held more emotion. "I am. Thank goodness you came." She paused and squirmed a bit. With the power of the chair down, Kenson could now break herself out of the restraints. She did so before Jane could reach the front again and stumbled out, pushing herself up against a nearby console. Her gaze danced from Miranda to Shepard, the light in them no less intense.
"Commander Jane Shepard?" She whispered and the way she said her name made Jane shiver. "I had heard you were alive." Her eyes darted to Miranda in question and Jane could tell immediately that she didn't know who she was. Yet, her gaze found the Cerberus emblem on Miranda's uniform and that certainly gave the older woman pause.
"The man who had been captured with you is not," Miranda said sharply. "We found his body, seems he killed himself during the night." She looked as if she wanted to add something about the way he died but then dismissed it. "We have to get moving."
Kenson hardly blinked which Jane found a little odd. She told herself that it was because the woman seemed to have distanced herself from her predicament to avoid the torture and abuse hurting her. If the batarians had been demanding information, Jane had no doubt that they had not extracted it from Kenson yet. The woman appeared as hard as the one she was facing right now.
"You're with Cerberus," Kenson pointed out, not quite accusing Miranda but her tone bordering on it.
"It's our cover," Jane said quickly. "And she's right, we have to get moving. If these guards alerted security before they attacked us our way out might already be blocked."
Kenson frowned then walked over to a guard in the hallway to take his gun from him. Her eyes were cold as she looked at his corpse and none of it left her as she turned back to Shepard.
"Why didn't you bring any more people?"
Traumatised or not, there was something in her voice that put Jane's back up and her reply was a bit harsher than it would've been under normal circumstances.
"We're looking at a major diplomatic incident if the batarians find out that I or the Alliance was involved," she said. "Now we have to get going, every minute we waste here we put more of my other people at risk."
Kenson glanced at her and nodded, checking her gun's thermal clip. As she did this, sudden sirens began to blare overhead and Jane knew, without listening to the radio transmissions that had been going over her head that the gig was up. The batarians knew that there were people inside their compound too.
"Let's go," she snapped and started moving without waiting for the others, knowing that Miranda would move with her and Kenson would if she was half as smart as everybody said. She did and stuck close by them as they ran back the way they came. The only time she faltered was when they passed the open cell of her colleague and it made Jane's heart soften a little because she did not miss the look of horror on Kenson's face. But, as quickly as the older doctor paused she moved again, her face determined even as she tried to shake away the image of what she saw.
Her lips moved in a whisper and Jane recognized the words immediately because she said them to herself so many times.
The Reapers are coming...
To Be Continued...
