Chapter 10

Nashira grabbed Toby's blood smeared hand. She passed him an encouraging squeeze, trying to lighten up his dark mood. Knowing him on the most intimate level, she knew he was drowning in a pool of guilt and attempting to keep his head above the relentless choppy waters. This simple gesture was like a life vest inflating to save his life. Over the past three years, Rachel has been like another daughter to both of them; Nashira could even say she loved her without even thinking about it. Gia loved Rachel like a sister that she never had too.

Gia.

Rachel's pale face stared lifelessly up at Nashira's, and looked past her at something far beyond anyone's reach. It left a strong grip of angst inside her and she couldn't uncurl its cold fingers. Staring at Rachel was horrible, yet baffling. Rachel was alive minutes ago, but now, she was gone. No one was ever going to be able to talk to this beautiful young girl again. Never hold a conversation with her and find out what kind of person she was.

She was gone.

Never going to see her again.

Never.

The word never was strong. Nashira felt hot tears brimming on her eyelids; she was holding so much terror and sorrow inside it was almost crushing. It was crushing, but this angst held back the tears from within. She wanted to just let it all out right here, right now, but this arbiter inside held back the sobs. It was saving her from being defeated…accepting defeat as she would have, but this force was pushing her foreword with both hands. Attention still focused entirely on Rachel, she packed the terror and sadness to the back of her mind. Seeing a dead body was very uncommon for her, except for today. On two other occasions she has seen a dead body. One time several years ago, a human was stabbed when Toby and her came out of a movie, and she also saw a horrible accident on the flotilla close to a dozen years ago when she was repairing a ship's hull and a several ton piece of ablative plating crushed one of the workers. A dead person always left their mark on Nashira; she could feel an empty void deep in her chest whenever she dwelled on the thought. A life being taken was hard to comprehend. Toby on the other hand, Keelah bless him. He has been through so many agonizing and traumatic experiences which she learned through some of the stories he shared with her when he woke from nightmares or just felt like talking about them. Her husband's face was drained with life before her as he pulled Rachel's milky eyelids closed and placed two hands upon her chest. Although he had attractive dark skin, Nashira noted the dark color was being invaded by a bleak storm front. He was hurting on the inside, maybe even dying. Taking her hand, she ran a finger across his shoulder blades lightly in an attempt to comfort him in some way.

He stood up and slipped the pistol in the back of his pants then slung the strap of the Hunter's compact weapon on his unwounded shoulder, concealing it under the leather jacket he has owned since the first day Nashira met him. Nashira grabbed his two outstretched hands as she was pulled to her feet.

"Nash." Keelah she loved when he said that, the shortened name made her feel special, loved, and wanted. "We have to move." His voice had a meager tremble to it while holding back the vast river of motions. Holding both his hands, she let him pull her away from the dead body of her good friend… one of her family members.

"What about Rachel, Toby?" Heiko stared into her wide glistening eyes. The fact that he stared directly into her eyes while he spoke to her sent a euphoric sensation all over her body. Being a quarian, she was used to be treated like a subspecies, vermin even; she was a being, just like everyone else. Everyone thought she was a space gypsy who fled from her real life aboard the flotilla, escaping the claustrophobic rusting bulkheads in search for a destiny she could never reach. Carefully watching his every move, Tony opened his omni-tool.

"Pira, you there?"

"Is the jamming gone," Brian asked, moving down the backstreet of the university moving towards the city away from the sirens…and Rachel.

"Yeah it's gone," Heiko said with pain prevalent in his meek voice. Still logged into the same communication channel, Nashira heard a voice crackle through then become as smooth as glass.

Toby squeezed Nashira's two hands dearly, protecting her from the Hunter or whatever was going to be thrown at them next. Pira's voice crackled then became smooth responding immediately.

"By the Goddess are you all okay?" Pira's usually hearty voice was hissing through harsh cacophonous whispers.

Are you all okay?

The questions rang in his ears like a bell relentlessly. No, they were not okay, not at all. How could she be so stupid, why would she asked that idiotic question?

"No, we lost Rachel, the girl you were helping navigate through the apartment on the phone," he spat back.

There was an exasperated gasp on the other line. Nashira's grip tightened reassuring him; without his wife, not even Brian's charismatic attitude could hold him together. Feeling like a dry dirt clod disintegrating in the powerful hands on the Hunter, Nashira was like water, rejuvenating him so he could maneuver around the Hunter's threatening hand to slip between his fingers and get another chance to live.

"The person after us is a turian Pira. He is highly trained," Toby fed her.

"Who do you think it is? A mercenary? An assassin? Another Special Response agent after you?" Heiko sighed hoping she had some sort of answer for this.

"We are not sure Pira," Brian answered back.

"Toby, Bosner is coming to help you. I tried to warn you but our channel was jammed. Did he rendezvous with you? I thought you were going to kill him on sight if he caught your eye."

"Bosner," Brian stated solemnly. Toby looked at his friend and nodded.

"He was the one that saved our lives," Toby informed both Brian and Nashira again whose bodies went rigid with yet another onslaught of confusion thinking about it more. Nashira knew who Bosner was from several family outings and picnics CSSR groups would organize, along with their encounter earlier this morning when she tried bludgeoning him to death with her bag. Everyone was silently waiting for Toby to fill them in on more details while slipping past the university's garbage runway and into a back alleyway that ran at least one-hundred meters ending at a busy street.

"I was fighting the Hunter and kept it from coming inside of the room we were in." Toby left out the fact that the turian was stronger, better, and almost possessed with a sheer brutish vitality. "Bosner came out of nowhere and tackled the turian." What Bosner said to Heiko echoed in his brain and bounced around like a hot pinball. "He said, 'You have to protect Nashira, she is the only one'." Toby glanced at Nashira noticing her stance wavered subtly.

"What does that mean Toby," Nashira asked startled.

"I don't know honey."

"Bosner said he held some information that he had to share with you personally Toby, something about getting you off the station. He knew what was up but didn't share any information with me," Pira snapped frustrated. "He was arguing with Komani earlier then came to me."

"Is there anything else you can share with us Pira," Brian asked. "Anything?"

"It feels like they are covering their steps up carefully. All of the high ranking officers seem on edge."

What Pira told him solidified Toby's theory that he was set up. Did Komani have her hand in the cookie jar too? She never had a problem with Heiko or any of the other human's in CSSR, but it appeared they were cleaning house. Cugasi, Bosner, Toby, and Brian were on the run and they were the only four humans in Special Response's small task group. How far up the chain was this going? Brian's brow furrowed with a slightly nervous look on his rugged face trying to figure this out. Was the Hunter a C-Sec agent? The thing was, Heiko is at the top of the food chain with skill. No one except for Vikar and several other turian's were as good as him, but the Hunter was on a totally different level. Suddenly, a seed sprouted in his stomach and hatched a monstrous fetus which tried to bore its way out of his stomach as he finally realized what was going on. He knew what was hunting them. A wave of hot fear coiled around his body like a molten python crushing his mentally stable mind into a panic. His scalp started prickling as his vision blurred finally fitting the pieces of the puzzle together. With two shaky hands, he pulled out the firearm slung over his shoulder. The weapon was black with recessed lights which blazed red, like a demon's eyes in a stagnant, thick shadow. Toby's dark eyes read the laser-engraved text in the ceramic.

HMWC-X

"Oh God."

Toby collapsed to the ground letting the weapon clatter to the floor.

"Toby?"

Both Nashira and Brian crouched to his side but he didn't notice them. His brain was clouded in a syrupy haze of primal fear.

"They sent a Spectre after me."

Even saying those few words, they impacted his life like a bullet shattering a pane of glass. Words have never brought him to his knees; the closest a sentence had other than this one was Nashira's Yes Toby, I love you and I would love to grow old with you when he asked her to marry him. Toby realized he wasn't going to grow old; today was probably going to be his last day with a Spectre gunning for him with an infinite craving for a hunt.

Brian picked up the carbine and read the lettering. HMW meant it was Spectre gear, the C probably meant Carbine and the letter X stood for prototype. Toby has never seen, shot, or held a Spectre weapon in person. Although he has read about them in Popular Mechanics, a magazine Nashira got hooked on while at the doctor's office when shifting through the pile of holopads all waiting rooms have. There were less than one-hundred Spectres in the Council and each one was not trained to kill but was born to kill. They were legendary, almost myths, and with one wanting to take his life was the absolute worst news Toby could bear at the moment.

"Pira?"

The asari on the other line stuttered slightly.

"Y-yes Toby?"

"Is there any way you can hack into the Council's files and retrieve information on this Spectre for us?"

He could hear her blue fingers typing fiercely into the keyboard.

"No, but I will try anyways, Toby."

"Can you get into the monitoring and tracking system to see if Bosner in okay?"

"Nope, they have that on lockdown. I almost got caught half an hour ago, not going to risk it again."

"Okay, thanks. Stay in contact with us, I am going to need your help soon Pira," Toby informed her and gathered the courage to stand up with the help of Brian's fleshy hands. The plan he formed in his head was insane, but they were out of options with their backs against the wall and staring down the barrels of their executers. So far, he has come out of two different encounters with the Hunter alive, although with each incident, it has done sustainable damage. This, however, wouldn't keep his morale from bursting through the roof because he knew on both occasions he would be dead if his friends didn't come and aid against his life threatening struggles. Toby didn't even know if Bosner was still alive although his acute sixth sense told him the Hunter prevailed. But what about the wound he inflicted on the Hunter? After shooting him, the slug didn't even alter its stoic facial expressions; its face should have been twisted and contorted with a mask of pain, but there was nothing. Toby held a hand up to his ear and felt the slippery jagged edges of cartilage prodding his fingertips. The Hunter shot him but missed by an inch, biting a chuck off his ear. It stung but his other wounds prevailed over the minor ones. His back reopened, his face was on fire when getting peppered with shavings of acrylic, his collar bone was hurting, and the muscles on his arm were almost pulled off.

"So do you have a plan, Toby," Brian asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yesterday evening at the Interstellar Shot Glass, do you remember Stitch telling us there was a Spectre on the Citadel?"

Nashira cocked her head curiously with her heart being pushed up by confidence, sensing a plan coming together.

"Yeah I remember."

"I know Stitch, he always has information and it is as good as the Shadow Broker's at times without the expense." Toby knew Brian was one step ahead of him knowing the plan.

"I am guessing we are going to find Stitch," Nashira chimed in, her voice leaking excitement.

"Yeah, but that place is crawling with C-Sec all the time, Toby," Brian added nervously.

"Not necessarily."

Toby grinned formulating his plan.

Kieran stroked his compact computer through the thick fabric of his satchel nervously. Colossal buildings zipped by the window as the taxi soared through the sky towards the C-Sec academy. It has been a while since he's been here and the memories were not all that good. His early days in C-Sec were exhilarating while spending his younger years as a patrol officer after serving two years in the turian military and then going to officer school. He rose through the ranks, quickly being promoted to officer at a young age and got involved in politics. Discovering this was a strength of his, he had the goal of making C-Sec Executor. He assumed that role just five years ago but recently, he was struck with muscle dystrophy which surprisingly enough hasn't had a cure created for it. Turian culture was brutal for Kieran, because they based a lot of their respect off appearance and Kieran's figure was nowhere near impressive.

Over the past couple of years, he has been looked down upon all over the Citadel. Every week there seems to be a comic about him in the news and the artists always draws him as a weak, stupid looking being. The comics bothered him at first, but he added logic into the equation and now he has immunity to their annoying pestilence. In politics, one uses their brain to fight and not their brawn, which made him a formidable opponent. His taxi shuddered, piercing the kinetic barriers of the landing bay that kept the precious gas from spilling into the zero atmosphere outside. His turian driver nodded as Kieran stepped out of the taxi making his way towards the morgue and forensic section of the C-Sec academy while being saluted the whole way. Finally, he ended up in an elevator. Luckily, he was the only one in the cramp glass box that hurdled through the academy. He never enjoyed the attention he received when coming down to the academy, which kept him at bay and locked up in his usual office on the Presidium. The elevator shot past windows that looked over the city, but was blocked every thirty meters by I-beams which forged a strobe like sensation.

As the elevator slowed, his body was pushed forward and the doors hissed open blasting warm air in his face. His beady eyes darted across the expansive atrium searching for the morgue when his eyes caressed a blue holographic sign reading Forensics. This section of the academy was busy with all the commotion from yesterday and today. Turians and asari intermingled with salarians walked about the halls, all clasping data pads and staring intensely at them. Kieran walked to the morgue without anyone taking notice of him. Closing the door behind him, cool air swirling over him like a frigid cape while finally entering his destination. A single salarian stood up from a desk with his mouth open slightly, confused at the sight before him, finally realizing his appointment. Kieran tried having a conversation with this salarian named Wanir something-or-another. He lost focus after the salarian told his whole name which was a sentence worth, so he decided to just call him Wanir. His dark, almost ebony skin was speckled with radiant green along with blazing orange eyes which matched his energetic personality that could power a whole city.

"Executor. Greetings. Are you ready to meet or erm…see the casualties?"

Over the phone, Keiran couldn't make out Wanir's speedy dialect, but in person, it was much easier. The Executor extended his meek hand shaking Wanir's like he was on drugs or overdosed on caffeine. To say the least, it was an awkward exchange. The small room they were in was just large enough to hold ten people at the most. Chairs bordered the wall and Wanir's desk was at the front. It reminded him of a classroom back in the days of his youth.

"Bring me in Wanir, I have to meet up with someone after this. Let's make it fast."

"Indeed." The salarian nodded his head in an erratic motion like he was trying to break his own neck. His shaky hands wrapped around the steel door handle pushing it open and the temperature dropped significantly. White columns of hot air spilled from both their noses, twirling in the frigid air like a dancer performing in a long white robe. The room was large and cold in appearance, its atmosphere depriving Kieran of happiness and life with its stark colors of steel and white tiles. Six metal trays were poised next to each other holding the naked bodies of four turians, an asari, and a salarian. Seeing the dead turians angered the Executor. He clenched his jaw in pure frustration.

This should have never happened Vikar.

"Yes yes. Here is the asari of the group. Yes. She suffered fatal cranial damage."

Kieran stared at the naked body, analyzing her head which was deformed and bloated in appearance. All the blood was wiped away from the face, but there was the outlined tip of a pistol stenciled in her skin. A sour smell seeped from her mouth which was locked open by rigor mortis and oozed the stale undigested scent from the food in her stomach as the bacteria festered like a biblical plague. He could tell her skull was shattered as her head was misshapen. The dark blue skin was now a pale blue from the loss of blood and life, toes curled up, breasts flat, and fingers erect in all sorts of wicked shapes while lying on her back. She was a mess.

"Suspect hit her in face with firearm. Instantaneous death. Went quickly. Salarian here suffered head wound with pistol slug." A small hole was present on the dead salarian's forehead with an exit wound the size of a fist in the back. Dried green blood caked his small nostrils and formed a crust on the corners of his mouth. Kieran noticed the dead salarian didn't even affect Wanir, but left a look of pity on the salarian's face. The next three turians splayed out on the cold slabs of metal suffered gunshot wounds in the face and center of mass, but it was the last turian that bothered Kieran the most.

Vikar's body.

The only part of his head that was present was the lower jaw with his jagged sharp teeth protruding like ivory stalagmites.

"This one. Captain Vikar," the salarain read with no emotion while grabbing the paper tag tied around one of Vikar's toes, "Suffered extensive head trauma from blunt object. Was something metal. Found splinters of stainless-steel in remains of cranium. Would you like to see?" The salarian pointed at a sealed bucket that carried the rest of Vikar's head. Revolted by the idea, Kieran shook his head quickly seeing Wanir grabbing for it. "Also had broken elbow." Kieran stared at Vikar's twisted arm locked in place by rigor mortis.

"Okay, I am satisfied now," Kieran whispered revolted. He stared at the asari's body. "Now please cover them up, thank you." Repulsed, Kieran sped out of the room fighting back the urge to purge his lunch. Making his way into the elevator, he wondered why he felt like that around the dead bodies. Over the many years, he had seen dozens of dead people, but for some elusive reason, those six bodies really bothered him. Was it because a human did this? Maybe. His quaking finger pressed the level for Citadel Security Special Response and the elevator shot off into the distance with a heavy fist of vertigo clutching his stomach. The small screen in the elevator was going over some breaking news about terrorist activities at one of the medical universities. If this was Heiko's or Skave's doing, he was going to have a fit, but he will be able to cover it up with Heiko to blame. He was the perfect scapegoat. Now he had to get to the CSSR's nerve center, he had some things to discuss with Komani, very important things.

Fatigue, stress, and pain were crushing Toby, pushing him to the brink. Walking in a straight line was as hard as balancing oneself on a thread of dental floss. The explosion in the courtyard knocked him to his knees which banged them up really bad. With each step, he could feel his kneecaps grinding against raw bone and his tendons felt brittle, like thinly spun glass. But what was taking more of a toll on him was the ever present thought of where Gia, his daughter, was and if she was okay. His vivid imagination replayed the horrifying image of Gia mask-less, breathing the tainted air with bacteria that embarking a great proliferation to seize control of her precious little lungs, just to crush the life out of her.

God the blood, so much of it.

He could have taken the sheets off her bed and squeezed the lustrous liquid into a glass and get away with serving it as a generous serving of wine. He had to get her back no matter the cost. Toby was willing to risk everything, even his own life to give her a chance to live life to the fullest; just looking into her eyes, he knew she wanted to grow up and explore. A fist clogged his throat thinking about growing old without her. Daddy wanted to see her get go to college, get married, watch her grow big, take her to the park in the Presidium Ring, and most of all, cradle her petite body in his yearning arms one last time. Hold her hand in the palm of his hand and listen to her breathe while falling asleep.

It was painful to think about it.

"Toby, we are almost there," Brian bellowed over the bustling flotilla of people who jammed in the street. He snapped out of his thoughts noticing Nashira's hand was woven with his, her thumb caressing his knuckles. The Ward arms they were at right now were covered with forty-five degree angled glass sheets. They spanned over one-hundred meters and looked out on to the tips of the arms which curved up slightly and hummed with life. The ceiling was a good fifty meters above their heads, this way automobiles couldn't fly in these parts. The sweet smell of water curled under his nose as he could hear a fountain thundering in the distance. Food also raked his senses which stirred his stomach and forced him to clench his hand into a tight fist.

"I am hungry too Toby," Nashira cooed, her helmet picking up on his stomach's muffled murmurs. He grinned, feeling his parched mouth sticking to his slick teeth like an adhesive. They passed round tables that sat outside of restaurants which were flooded with aliens, all chattering over dishes of food that sat on top of water stained glass table tops, each one holding salt, pepper, and napkin containers along with some kind of milky substance turians like to dump on their food. Seeing human condiments mixed with turian ones gave him a sense that humans were beginning to make a scene on the Citadel. Whether it was good or bad, it felt more like home in a sense. Spending twenty-one years in Philadelphia, Toby got used to the human way of living. The famous city was a cultural hub and was one of the first cities to undergo the Human Modernization Project, which cleaned up the streets, made the cities safer, cleaner, and updated the architecture.

Brian barged through the crowds of people, parting them like the Red Sea having the same intimidating effect as a krogan. Heiko was positive C-Sec would have caught him by now. The security on the Citadel was almost impossible to avoid for more than fifteen minutes. They have been on the run for hours now while avoiding C-Sec. But the Hunter was still on their tails, he could feel it. They had to pick up the pace. They had to find Gia. Brian slowed, pulling Nashira towards a clean alleyway that had more shops on it. Toby looked up and saw the unmistakable cobalt blue panoramic windows of the Interstellar Shot Glass overlooking the city several stories up out of the forty-five degree angle glass ceiling. Toby's heart raced, noticing four, no, five C-Sec personnel standing next to the front door smoking and laughing.

"So Toby, what is this plan of yours. Now would be a good time to tell us, well, because we need to get past these guys."

Toby looked at Brian then at Nashira who was curiously peeking around the corner, her eyes nothing but slim ellipses. Toby powered on his omni-tool connecting to Pira's network.

"Pira, you there?"

"Right here Toby, are you guys there yet?"

"Roger that, I need your assistance now."

"Anything."

"There are five C-Sec personnel standing outside the Interstellar Shot Glass and I need them to move. Is there any way that you can pull that same trick we used with Rachel?"

"I don't like using the same gig twice Toby," she whispered with a hint of humor trying to lighten up the mood.

"Let me guess, it is not classy for the almighty Pria," Brian chirped while cracking a grin and going along with it.

"You got it."

Nashira shook her head amused but antsy. Toby found the tactic of lightening up the mood ineffective while still frowning just wanting to get this over with.

"Give me a second to locate these units and send them off on a wild goose chase…if that is how the human saying goes. Please hold," she added lightheartedly. Toby took his hand away from the clear earpiece and stared at the units like trying to move them with raw brain power. The turian of the group touched his ear, said something to the others, and then sprinted down the street.

"Move," Toby ordered coldly. The cut on his back shot a hot jet of pain up his back turning his muscles to jelly. Although the medi-gel was healing his skin at an amazing speed, it was still raw and exposed chafing against the bandages. (Failing to block out the pain, he could feel his teeth move subtly from clenching his jaw tightly. Crossing the street, they walked into the lower lobby of the bar. Suddenly, he realized what an idiotic and irrational plan this really was. Almost half of the occupants in the atrium wore blue C-Sec outfits. It felt like he walked in there naked. He could feel each person's heated gaze boring a hold into his vulnerable form. They were on the first tier of the bar, the lower level which served as the casual dining area and held an elaborate lobby riddled with water walls which were spouting liquid down the five story wall colored by blue LED's. Toby knew going up to the bar gave him a one-hundred percent chance of getting caught and arrested because that is where all the cops liked to crowd around. He had a plan but thinking over it, it only worked in the Vids. It was silly, but there was a good chance of it working like it did in countless films he has seen. Pulling Nashira and Brian to the side, he explained in detail how it was going to work.