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Chapter 10

Static.

"Kasumi, come in." She never answered. Where was she? Did something happen on her end?

I looked up at Hock. "Now what? Looks like you'll have to go ahead and shoot us," I said sarcastically.

"I had trackers installed in these communicators. She probably figured it out and dumped it. I'm beginning to see she's the intelligent one between the two of you." Hock took the walkie from me. "I'm sure she's still waiting for you. She's remained cloaked. Damn illusive," he muttered to himself. He pulled a glass vial from his pocket. "This is my DNA. Go down to the vault and do exactly what I instructed."

I knelt beside Kaidan to check his vitals. A merc grabbed my elbow to stop me, but Hock waived him away. "Let her make sure he's still alive. It'll be motivation for her to follow directions."

Kaidan was still unconscious but breathing steadily. His pulse was rapid, his skin hot to the touch. A large welt had formed where the pistol had made impact. Wet, sticky blood coated his hair. I cupped his face in my hands, caressing his cheeks. At that moment, I had never felt so much hatred toward another living thing than I felt toward Donovan Hock. I tried to control my rage, knowing that any misstep would be putting Kaidan even more at risk. "What are you going to do with him?"

"He needs medical attention, don't you agree?" Hock put a hand inside of his jacket pocket and pulled out a packet of medi-gel. "Get Goto into the vault and I'll give this to him. Call it a gesture of good faith."

"Give it to him now or the deal's off."

"We do this my way, Shepard."

I stood up and grabbed Hock by the collar of his white suit jacket, his face within a hair's breadth of mine. "Listen, you bastard. You pistol-whipped a biotic with unstable L2 implants. He won't last long enough for me to get Kasumi into the vault. Give it to him now."

Hock chuckled nervously. "You've made your point. All right, you win. He gets it now." I snatched the medi-gel from his hand.

I quickly ripped the packet open and applied it to Kaidan's head wound to stop the bleeding and quell any infection. Shaking his shoulders, I tried to wake him up. A minute later, Kaidan moaned and his eyes fluttered open. "Kaidan, can you hear me?" He nodded slightly. He was disoriented, but he would be all right for now. I kissed him in relief. I prayed it wouldn't be the last time. Hock pulled me up roughly by the arm.

"Enough. He'll live. Now it's time to fulfill your end of the deal."

I shoved Hock away. "Don't touch me again. Give me my pistol and I'll go."

All four guards had me in their rifle sights as he reluctantly handed my weapon back to me. "Remember, Shepard, my eyes and ears are everywhere. If you warn Goto or do anything other than what we discussed, I'll know about it."

I jammed my pistol back into its holster. "You've made your damn point. Now get out of my way."

I took one final look at Kaidan, still laying in a daze on the floor. With a pit in my stomach, I turned and left.

All of the guests in the main hall were oblivious to what had just taken place. They continued their debased, superficial conversations, getting drunk on exotic off-world cocktails. The galaxy keeps on spinning. I remembered Kaidan's words the night before Ilos. I couldn't get the last image I had of him out of my mind. I mentally reaffirmed my vow - Hock would die by my hand before I left Bekenstein.

I quickly walked to the stairwell, hiding my bruised and bloody wrists as much as I could. As I approached the vault, I called Kasumi's name. Still no answer.

I sighed. At least Hock kept the statue here. I clicked open the hidden compartment. All of my armor and weaponry was intact. I began suiting up. As I strapped on the last rifle, I saw Kasumi decloak in front of me.

"Shepard, are you okay?"

Finally.

"Kasumi, where have you been?"

She took hold of my wrists, inspecting them closely. "When you didn't answer me on the walkie, I went upstairs just in time to see Hock and four mercs walking into his quarters. You were gone for almost thirty minutes. What happened?"

Only thirty minutes? It seemed like an eternity to me. I was hyper-aware of Hock's cameras. I could picture him watching our every move. How could I somehow communicate the danger to Kasumi? Maybe if I came up with an excuse almost on the edge of absurd, something she could see through but Hock wouldn't question, she might catch on.

"We were ready for them. Kaidan and I took out the mercs and restrained Hock. Kaidan's still in there keeping an eye on him while we break into the vault."

She crossed her arms, a look of doubt on her face. "So Kaidan's helping us now?"

I pleaded with her with my eyes, my voice low. "Kasumi, I'm asking you to trust me. No matter what happens, please trust me."

She held her stance, her voice cool. "You haven't earned it, Shepard. I'm on my side and no one else's. If it came down to me or Kaidan, I don't trust you to choose what's in my best interest."

I closed my eyes, trying to fight off despair. I hated to admit it, but she was absolutely right. I felt I was walking a tightrope between alerting Kasumi and keeping Kaidan safe. My judgment was clouded by overwhelming feelings of guilt for getting into this mess. I had to confess, I also blamed Kasumi. If she hadn't been so insistent on coming here immediately, I could have had more time to analyze the mission. I fought to put it all out of my mind. I had to focus.

"Fair enough." I handed her the glass vial. "Here's Hock's DNA. Let's crack this vault."