The next morning Catherine was thrilled to learn that she would be going on the hunt after all. Kaidan was surprised. Given her respect and love for living things, a sentiment that stopped her from so much as squashing a bug, he didn't really expect her to be so eager to go out and kill things.
"This has nothing to do with killing things," she said happily as she practically bounced along beside Kaidan and Adams as they headed for the armory. "We don't exactly get a lot of opportunities to leave the camp. I want to see more of our new home. Get to know the neighbours."
"But you're okay shooting something if you have to," Adams asked.
Catherine shrugged. "Hunting for sport and hunting for food are totally different. If I can help add to our supplies for the winter, I'm ok with that."
Everyone in the Alliance had basic weapons training, so Kaidan wasn't worried about giving her a pistol. As a non-combatant she wasn't as well versed in the wide array of weaponry that had available to them, but she'd be able to bring down birds and small animals with the gun Kaidan planned to equip her with.
Originally, they had kept their weapons in a line of lockers in the hall, but as they house emptied they began to repurposed them and one had become the armory. Kaidan unbolted the door and turned the lights on. The work bench along the back and the strip lighting above the lockers flickered to life.
Adams began gathering up what he needed for the other seven people accompanying them while Kaidan popped open one of the lockers near the back. He pulled out a battered looking pistol which he clipped to his belt.
"Magnum? I've never heard of that one." Catherine tilted her head sideway to read the word on the gun.
"Not its name, just a logo," Kaidan said scanning the locker for another weapon. "It's an M-6 Carnifex. Not exactly Alliance issue, but it packs on hell of a punch and is lethally accurate in the right hands."
He reached for another weapon and handed Catherine a silver pistol with barely a scratch on it.
"Shepard's N7 Eagle," he told her. "She didn't use it very often, but it's probably the best suited to you."
"Why do you say that?" Catherine's asked, turning the light pistol over in her hands, testing the weight and balance.
"It won't do a lot of damage in one shot the way the Carnifex will, but it fires a lot and it fires it fast. If for any reason you find yourself in close quarters with something dangerous, this gun will spray bullets like there's no tomorrow."
Catherine nodded and strapped a utility belt around her waist and clipped the gun at her hip. She stood back and watched as Kaidan pulled another weapon.
"You really going to use the old M-8?" Adams asked from the work bench where he was oiling the barrel of a heavy assault rifle.
"What can I say," Kaidan said as he lifted the weapon and sighted down the barrel. "I like the Avenger. It's tough and reliable. Not like that finicky Mattock." He gestured to the rifle Adams was cleaning.
"The M-96? Finicky?" Adams said, offended. 'You must be thinking of another gun."
"What's so great about the Mattock?" Catherine leaned in close to study the snubbed barrel and massive casing.
"The M-96 is a hybrid," Adams explained, holding out the weapon so she could feel its weight. "It may weigh a ton, but its make up for that in firepower. It can do as much damage with one shot as almost ay sniper rifle around, but its got the low heat production of an assault rifle."
Catherine struggled to lift it to her shoulder. She barely got it there before her arm began to shake and she passed it back to Adams.
"That is one heavy freakin' gun," she said, shaking her arms out. "I cannot believe Shepard carried that thing around with her all the time."
"It takes some serious upper body strength," Kaidan said. "There's no denying that Shepard was strong, but I know all the cybernetics that Cerberus filled her with helped a lot. Only person I know who could carry that hand held tank into battle without flagging was James."
"James could probably carry an actual tank," Catherine snorted.
Kaidan opened another locker and jumped when Catherin's arm shot past him into it and grabbed the barrel of a sniper rifle.
"Holy shit," she said, cradling the weapon almost reverently. "This is an M-92 Mantis. How did I not know this was in here?"
Kaidan and Adams exchanged confused glances as Catherine turned to them with an ear to ear grin.
"I am so taking this with me." She held the rifle up one handed while she adjusted the magnification.
"You know how to use a sniper rifle?" Kaidan asked doubtfully.
"I did some training courses back on Earth," she said. "Mostly just with the old Hammer and Striker lines though. I've wanted to get my hands on a Mantis for years. And this is fully upgraded isn't it?"
She studied the extended barrel and the concentration mod attached to the scope.
"That gun's got a seriously violent kickback," Kaidan said, crossing his arms and hoping Catherine wouldn't insist on taking the rifle. "I don't want to see you with a dislocated shoulder."
She gave him a look that said 'please' and braced the rifle against her hip, looking small next to the massive weapon. "Kaidan, I can shoot this better than anyone other than maybe Garrus. In fact, if I could lift the Black Widow, I could probably give even Garrus a run for his money."
Feeling mildly turned on by her confidence, Kaidan shrugged and said, "If you say so, Kitten, but please don't challenge Garrus to a shooting match. No matter who won, the bragging would be too much to handle."
Catherine laughed and slung the rifle over her shoulder, clutching the strap possessively. Although Kaidan had had training with sniper rifles, he didn't have the smooth motions of a sharpshooter ingrained in him. He was much stronger than Catherine and had still been shocked by the force of the gun. Kaidan hoped she wouldn't have occasion to use it. Despite her bravado, he doubted she would be able to handle the recoil. He'd only fired the Mantis once and it had left a bruise the size of a foot on his shoulder.
They left the armory together, each carrying several weapons as they made their back to the hall where the rest of the team and all their gear waited. The plan was to only been gone over night, two nights if the hunting was poor, but the weather was getting much colder and therefore a lot more gear was needed. Plus, they would have to carry back what they killed and that required extra packs and even a collapsible travois for larger prey.
Kaidan had been on several hunts, but he bowed to Adams' extensive knowledge of the terrain and local game and let him make the decisions. They would be heading south, deeper into the valley. The trek back would with arduous, but they were most likely to find the herds at lower altitude at this time of year. Each person was carrying a pack that weighed a least fourteen kilos and they would all hopefully be carrying game back.
The mood was jubilant as they headed out, winding down the path to the gardens where there was a narrow game trail they could follow to the next plateau. This was the last major trip anyone would have before winter took them into its icy grips. After that, all they had to look forward to were long, dark nights and tedious days of tinkering.
The day had been cloudy and the air biting when they set out, but as they descended it warmed slightly and they began to shed layers. Most of them still wore their gloves and coats at least, but Catherine had stripped down to her t-shirt and stuffed her gloves and headband into her back pockets. They flopped around behind her as she jounced down the path ahead of Kaidan.
Doctor Chakwas had said that she ran hotter than most other people, and Kaidan knew from experience that she preferred to be cool. She'd convinced him one night to leave the window open during their love making. The cold air against his heated skin had been an invigorating contrast, but he couldn't imagine walking bare armed in this weather.
He jogged down the path and kept pace beside her. They were the last in line and they slowed slightly to let the others move ahead.
"How are you not cold?" he said, pulling off a glove to lay his hand on her upper arm. Her skin was cool to the touch. "Cat, you're freezing."
"No, I'm good." She gave him a joyful smile. "As long as my hand, feet and ears are warm, I'm good."
"You know, you should have done some hostile terrain training," Kaidan said. "Your tolerance is unreal."
Catherine groaned. "Ugh, no. I hate humidity. I can take almost any kind of weather the world can dish out, but hot and humid makes me want to die."
"You would have hated Virmire," Kaidan told her. "That place was like a sauna."
She looked up at him, question in her eyes. "You don't talk about the past very much. At least not the last few years. I don't think I have ever heard you talk about Virmire."
"It's a tough memory." Kaidan looked away and stared at the path ahead, watching the heads of the rest of the team bob and dip as they moved downwards.
"Yeah, Tali told me a bit about it," Catherine said quietly. "I get the impression she didn't like Gunnery Chief Williams very much."
"Ash was..." Kaidan paused, searching for the right way to describe his fallen comrade. "She was a hard person for the aliens on our crew to like. Ash worked her way up the ranks, promoted on skill alone. Her scores at the academy were excellent, and she should have been commissioned right after graduation to at least lieutenant."
"Why wasn't she?"
Catherine tripped over a root and Kaidan caught her by the elbow before continuing.
"Her grandfather was the man who surrendered Shanxi to the turians in the First Contact War. She always thought that it was suspicion of her lineage that got her sidelined, but the sad truth of it is that she was pretty xenophobic before she joined the Normandy. Shepard didn't waste any time talking her out of that way of thinking, but it was too late for her to really get to know any of the non-human crew."
"How could any one not like Tali?" Catherine said with surprise. "Tali is the sweetest person I have ever met."
"Tali liked to poke around the ship a lot in those early days," Kaidan said, feeling nostalgic. "She was always studying systems and analyzing dive outputs and Ash was distrustful."
"Did you like Ashley?" Catherine asked.
Kaidan sighed, wishing now that the conversation hadn't come up. Virmire was one of toughest times in his life to look back on. They had come close to loosing Wrex there when he challenged the decision to destroy the cloning facility. He had nearly died when Saren attacked the bomb he'd been arming. Shepard had sacrificed Ashley to rescue him. Survivors guilt still plagued him, even though he knew that setting off that bomb had been the absolute priority. And even though Shepard had told him afterwards that she could never have left him behind, he knew she would have if it had been Ashley arming the bomb and not him.
"Yeah," he answered finally. "I liked Ash just fine. She was a tough nut to crack, but once you got the rough shell off she had a heart of gold."
"A lot of good people died following Shepard," Catherine said with a frown.
"She would have died for anyone of us at any time," Kaidan said feeling the need to defend his former love.
"Oh, I know that, Kaidan," she said quickly. "I didn't mean it like that. I would have done anything for her. I just wonder sometimes why that was, that we all risked our lives for her."
Kaidan didn't get a chance to answer. There was a call from up ahead and he and Catherine broke into a jog to find out what was going on.
Adam and the others were crouched behind a rocky outcrop looking over a steep and rocky slope. The vista was breathtaking, all pinnacles of tawny stone and a wash of autumnal colours. But this wasn't what the hunters were looking at.
Kaidan crouched beside Adams and took the binoculars he proffered. He followed the pointing figures of several people and finally saw what had caught their eyes.
About a kilometer and a half down the valley a large herd of creatures was moving. They had only twice before seen these animals, and never taken one down. Looking like giant ground sloths from Earth's Oligocene epoch, it was one of the only furred creatures they had come across.
Given their immense size, nearly five and a half meters tall when they stood on their hind legs, they should have been easy to find, but they were shy reclusive animals and seemed to keep to the deepest parts of the forest.
Now, a herd of nearly twenty of the great beasts was gathered in an open meadow, basking in the afternoon sun and grazing at the forests edge. They had already started to grow winter coats and their fur was a dark, glossy green that stood out against the yellowing grass of the field.
"If we could take down even one of those," Kaidan said, still watching them through the binoculars. "We'd be set for half the winter."
"How would we get one back?" Someone piped up. "We've been hiking for hours."
Adams pulled up a rough map on his omnitool. "We're ten, maybe fifteen clicks away. We might still be able to raise the camp."
Kaidan picked up on his line of thought. "If we could bring one down, Cortez could easily lift it back with the shuttle."
"Only one problem with that," Adam said. "The other two times we saw them they got our scent and bolted before we were even within a kilometer of them. And even from that distance it would take one hell of a shot."
Kaidan grimaced, lowering the binoculars and looking down the slope to see if there was a way to get closer while still staying far enough away to avoid drawing the creatures' attention.
He noticed Catherine had the Mantis raised to her shoulder, one eye shut as she looked through the scope. Assuming she was just trying to get a better look he continued to survey the hillside.
"I could do it from here."
Everyone turned to stare at Catherine where she crouched on one knee, her elbow raised high in perfect form.
"I think I could get three of them," she continued without taking her eye from the sight. "There is are two older ones lying down near the centre, and one big ass bull off to the left. I'll take the bull first and then pick off the old ones while the rest panic."
"No offence, Catherine," Adams said, reaching out to lower her barrel. "But we've never even seen you hold a gun, let alone shoot one. I think it's better if we leave this to a professional."
Kaidan felt a surge of vexation boiling up, and he was about to jump to his girlfriend's defense, but the look of indignation on Catherine's face said she could handle herself in this situation.
"I find extremely insulting that you think I would make a claim like that when the risk is all of our well being over the winter," Catherine spat at him. "If I say I can do something, I can bloody well do it."
Another fierce look made Adams bite back whatever retort had been on his tongue and Catherine looked to Kaidan then for support.
After that scathing rebuke he was not about to say no to her. He just hoped that she was as good as she claimed. If she was wrong, it would cost them a significant asset.
"Let me make sure we can raise the camp first," Kaidan said. "There's no point in killing even one if we can't get them back."
He retreated a ways up the path and put a hand to his ear to activate the subdural communication implant. There were several low pitched pings as the tech tried to raise the camp. After several tries, EDI's voice crackled into existence.
"Is everything all right, Kaidan?" Worry filled her voice.
"Everything's fine," he said, putting her mind at ease. "Just needed to make sure we could raise you from where we are. We've got the potential here for a really big kill."
"Big enough that you'd need the shuttle to haul it back," EDI guessed correctly.
"Exactly. Keep your ears open. I should be able to let you know in about ten minutes if we're successful."
Acknowledging , EDI signed off and Kaidan walked back to the others, but he didn't say anything. Instead he took Catherine by the arm and lead her a few steps away.
"Are you sure you can do this?" Kaidan whispered.
"Absolutely," she replied with a sober nod. "I promise I won't let you down."
Kaidan stared at her for a long moment. She didn't flinch and kept her eyes fixed on his.
"Okay," he nodded and stepped out of the way to let her back to her perch.
She crouched down again, adjusting her positions until her foot was braced against a rock behind her and the sun was shining directly down on the top of her tilted head.
"No one speak, no one move," she said quietly.
As they watched, she raised the rifle once more and closed her eyes, letting her breathing grow shallow and her heartbeat slow. She was still as a statue when she opened her eyes and peered into the scope.
Kaidan raised his binoculars to look down at the herd. He jumped when the crack of Catherine's first shot rang out through the valley. The massive bull fell to the ground an instant later and the herd scattered away from him, running madly off in all directions.
From the corner of his eye, Kaidan watched Catherine punch out the expired thermal clip and slam another into place in one fluid motion. With barely a seconds delay there was a second shot followed closely by a third.
Another beast fell dead instantly, but the third took the shot to its heavy haunch when a younger animal rammed into it in its own panic stricken attempt to escape.
"Shit," Catheine swore.
Barely moving anything but her hands, Catherine switched out her thermal clip again, and even though the beast was now careening madly about the field she took it down with a clean shot to the head.
There was one creature still loping desperately towards the cover of the forest and she sighted at it, but pulled up the barrel without taking the shot.
"It's a young a one," she commented, lowering the rifle and rolling her shoulders.
Kaidan and the others could only stare at her in disbelief.
"Holy fuck," Kaidan cried, dropping the binoculars onto Adams' pack and leaping up to grab Catherine in a tight hug.
She hissed through her teeth and winced while everyone cheered and slapped her on the back.
"You were right," she said and Kaidan could see she was holding back tears. "This thing can kick like a mule."
Kaidan sat her down on a rock and tried to pull her shirt down over her shoulder to get a look at the damage, but she pushed his hand away.
"Call for the shuttle," she insisted. "We don't want scavengers getting to the bodies before us."
Reluctantly, Kaidan stood and called EDI back. He relayed their position and went back to Catherine's side. The rest of the team was already searching out a way to get down to the meadow, but Adams was sitting beside Catherine looking contrite. As he approached, he could hear Adams talking.
"I owe you an apology, Catherine. You are one hell of a shot. I never should have doubted you."
"No harm done, Adams," Catherine said with a pained smiled. She was cradling her right arm across her chest.
When Adams saw Kaidan he got up and walked away, slinging his pack over his shoulder and joining him team. Kaidan crouched down beside Catherine and once again tried to look at her shoulder. She tried to push his hand away, but he caught her wrist.
"Let me look, Cat," he said firmly.
"It's ok, Kaidan," she said calmly, though the strain on her face told another story. "I just need to walk it off."
"It's cute that you think I'd fall for that."
Kaidan unzipped the front of her uniform and pulled back the material covering her right shoulder. There was a red welt and Kaidan could already see the shadow of a livid bruise forming around it.
Gingerly he felt along the ridge of her collar bone and small cry escaped her lips when his finger found a tender spot. Clenching her teeth and closing her eyes, she turned her face away as he probed the spot as gently as he could.
"Well, I don't think you broke anything, but you've probably got a pretty deep bone bruise," Kaidan said as he pulled a his pack from where it lay and searched through it.
He pulled out compact first aid kid and found a tiny syringe filled with medi-gel and pressed it into her upper arm. The condensed air forced its way under her skin carrying tiny particles of the anesthetic and clotting agent with it. Catherine sighed in relief almost immediately, her shoulders sagging and tension easing from her face.
Kaidan brushed an errant tear from her cheek and kissed her.
"I owe you an apology too, Kitten," he said softly. "I doubted you could do it."
"But you still let me try," Catherine said, looking down at him through the curtain of curls in front of her face. "And you didn't discourage me."
"I get the feeling that you took more than a few courses," Kaidan said. "With skill like that I'm surprised you weren't commissioned to lead a sniper squad."
Catherine zipped her shirt back up and rolled her shoulder experimentally. "I was asked and I considered it, but I figured I would never pass the psych evaluation. I'm way too emotional. I would cry every time I had to shoot anyone."
"And you probably wouldn't be here now." Kaidan pushed to his feet and offered her his hand. He helped her to her feet and had to stop her when she reached for her pack. "No way you're carrying that any further. Not on that shoulder."
She ignored him and swung the pack over her shoulder. "It's cute that you think you can baby me," she teased with a smirk and a wink.
They both looked up as there was a rumbling overhead and the blue and black shape of the shuttle whizzed by. It dropped quickly out of sight and Kaidan peered over the edge to watch it settle on the grass far below.
"We'd better get a move on." He picked up his own pack and snatched the Mantis away from Catherine as she struggled to lift it up and over her shoulder to snap it onto her kit. "I'm carrying this. Don't argue."
She didn't and they set off down the steep, winding path to the field. Moving with gravity on their side they made it to the shuttle in twenty minutes. Steve had brought James with him and they stood with the other admiring the kills.
When the pair reached them, James didn't say anything, just looked at Catherine and then up at the rock ledge that was a speck in the distance and shook his head.
"Wish I'd seen it, Catnip." He gave her a winsome grin and turned to Kaidan. "Lifting these suckers back is going to be a challenge. If we want to get them back before dark we have to figure this out fast."
"I brought some of the heavy slings for lifting cargo," Steve pointed to a pile of straps and high tension wires on the ground besides the shuttle. "Not sure how we're going to them under these beast though."
"I could lift them with my biotics no problem," Kaidan said with a thoughtful hand on his chin. "My worry is having someone stand in the wash under the shuttle to attach the wires."
"Don't worry," Steve said. "There's still a breather mask and goggles in the shuttle. And that's why I brought James. You know how he likes abuse."
"And here I thought you were just trying to get me alone," James said with disappointment.
Cortez gave him an apologetic shrug. James was buddy buddy with everyone but seemed to have a special camaraderie with Steve. Kaidan was always glad to have someone like James as part of this new colony. Somehow, homophobia was still rampant in some places on Earth and Kaidan always worried that there were members of the crew who might have carried that prejudice with them. Having a man like James to set the example went a long way in a military that had only recently broken free of its long standing 'don't ask don't tell' policy.
Kaidan himself had developed a curiosity for the same sex in his younger days, though it hadn't taken him long to establish that while he could appreciate another man's physique, it was women he was interested in. Growing up where he did, Kaidan had never faced the scrutiny and prejudice that James no doubt had, and as a result he naturally treated Cortez just like any other person, while James had overcome some seriously bad examples to become the tolerant man he had.
"Well, let's get started guys," he said to the men, who were still playing at mock flirting to the amusement of Adams.
The three started laying out the slings beside each kill while Kaidan went to check on Catherine. She was sitting cross legged in the grass beside the mammoth head of the bull she'd taken down. Her hand lay on the beasts forehead between its widely spaced eyes, stroking it softly. Kaidan sank to the ground beside her.
"You okay?"
She sniffed and looked up at him, tears streaking her face. Her lips moved wordlessly for a moment before she leaned into Kaidan and gave a great sob.
"Look at it, Kaidan," she said with a sniffle. "Such a beautiful creature. And I killed it."
Wrapping his arms around her, Kaidan smoothed down her curls and kissed her forehead.
"I've always thought that remorse is what truly makes a soldier great. Our job isn't to kill, it's to protect, and it's the capability to feel remorse that tempers our adrenaline and helps us move past the things we have to do."
"But I'm not a soldier," Catherine said with a hiccup that told Kaidan her tears were slowing.
"I know you held the rank of Serviceman," he told her. "And if you'd seen active duty you would have been a great leader. And the skill you showed today will protect all of us. We won't have to make any more large kills again this winter, and the children born in the next few months will have more warm clothes than we know that to do with."
Catherine didn't reply, but the tears had stopped. Kaidan continued. "If you weren't at least a little sad right now, I would be worried. Don't feel too bad. You took this big guy out with a clean head shot. He didn't suffer. As for the one that missed, you recovered faster than I would have and took it down cleanly as well."
"I know I was just doing what I had to, but it still sucks." She sat up and rubbed at her eyes, giving the beast one last pat before standing. "Glad there won't be a need for sharp shooting again in the near future."
Kaidan stood behind her, holding her shoulders and pulling her close to whisper in her ear. "Don't ever lose that compassion, Kitten."
It took them about ten minutes to get each giant beast ready to be hauled away, and another thirty minutes to get it back to camp and return. Without Steve's skilled piloting they may not have been able to get the kills back to camp at all. the shuttle dipped and swayed dangerously as it rose and the winds above the treetops hits the load.
Dusk was falling in the valley as they strapped in the last beast, the huge bull. Before Cortez could lift the shuttle up, Kaidan tried to convince Catherine to go back to the camp.
"Cat, you're injured," he stated. "You should sleep in a real bed tonight and get some rest."
"Not a chance," she said, putting her foot down. "I'll sleep just fine out here. I'm not missing a night in a tent just because I bruised myself."
"I'm just worried about you," Kaidan said with a hint of a pout on his lips.
Catherine cupped his cheek in her hand and smiled sweetly. "I know, love. But I can take care of myself. I promise to let you say I told you so tomorrow if it turns out you were right."
Frowning at her sparkling eyes, Kaidan nodded and waved at Cortez to take the shuttle up. While he used his considerable skill to keep the shuttle steady a few feet off the ground, James clipped the ends of the wires into place under the aircraft and then pulled himself in through the open hatch. With a wave and a salute to Catherine they were off.
Kaidan watched them until they were a back spot in the darkening sky with the last rays of sun glinting off the metal hull.
Their camp had been set up while the shuttle trips took place, tents pitched in a wide circle around a fire that had just started to blaze in earnest. Everyone was already tucking into their rations, exhausted after the long day of hiking.
Several people were still talking about Catherine's incredible shots and Kaidan could tell she was uncomfortable with their praise. He tried a number of times to change the topic, but each attempt failed and finally Catherine got up and excused herself.
Knowing they meant well she was polite and even tried to smile at them, but Kaidan could tell she was upset. He gave it a minute or two and then went after her.
He found her at the edge of the trees, leaning on a pillar of rock and gazing into the blackness beneath the canopy. Moving in behind her he put his arms around her shoulders, careful not to put any weight on her injury, and rested his chin on the top of her head.
"You good?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she leaned back into him with a sigh. "I just needed a minute to myself."
"Want me to go?"
She turned in his arms and kissed him warmly. "You think I'd turn down a chance to be alone with you?"
Running her hands down his back she gripped his buttocks and pulled him closer, pressed her hips into his. Throwing caution to the wind he leaned down and found her lips, return her passion ardently, feeling himself begin to swell with pleasure.
And then she was suddenly pulling back from him and cocking her ear to the forest.
"What is it?" he whispered, but she shushed him and stepped away, walking a few paces into the stout trunks.
"You can't hear that?" she whispered back over her shoulder.
Kaidan strained, blocking out the other sounds of the night, listening for whatever had caught Catherine's attention. There was a sound of the camp, hushed voices and foot steps, and the sounds of the night, wind crinkling the dying leaves and nocturnal birds calling deeper in the trees, but there was nothing that sounded particularly interesting to Kaidan's ears.
"I can't hear anything, Cat. Don't go deeper in the trees," he called as she took several more steps into the darkness.
He had no choice but to follow as she disappeared altogether. She moved almost silently and he only caught up to her when she pushed through a drying shrub that rustled with her passing.
Reaching into the cargo pocket on the left thigh of his pants he pulled out a small but high powered flashlight and shone it around them. Tiny eyes blinked at him and then quickly vanished as he swung the light over them. Still he could hear nothing unusual, but Catherine had her head cocked again, her brow wrinkling as she listened.
"Over here," she said and took off at a trot heading to the east.
He called after her but she didn't slow. Kaidan took off after her and when she stopped abruptly he slammed into her and the ground seemed to fall away beneath them.
Several curse words later he found himself lying relatively unharmed at the bottom of a hill, Catherine hunched on the ground beside him, whimpering. He crawled to her side and shone the flashlight down the length of her, looking for injuries.
"Well, if my shoulder didn't hurt before, it sure does now," she said as she clasped her hand over the offended body part.
Realizing she had escaped further injury, Kaidan sat on his heels and tried to bite back a reprimand. He failed.
"And now we're at the bottom of a hill in a pitch black forest and no one knows where we are."
"I know. I'm sorry, but I did hear something. It sounded like a person crying."
And then Kaidan heard it too. From not far away there was the sound of a child's cries. A wave of goose bumps trekked up his spine like a host of ghostly spiders and his heart pounded in his ears.
He was a solider who had fought the most frightening creatures the galaxy had to offer, from husks and Thorian creepers, to Rachni and Reaper Banshees, and yet the sound of a child crying in this dark and unknown forest had him practically wetting himself. He forced the feeling down and turned his flashlight to shine into the surrounding trees.
The sounds ceased as he cast the light up into the tree tops and he thought he saw something, but a noise from above caused him to jump nearly out of skin.
"You guys okay down there?" Adams' voice called down to them.
"Geez, you scared the shit out of me," Kaidan called back. "We're okay. Well, Cat's shoulder isn't doing her any favours, but other than that we're good."
A light shone down and Kaidan raised his hand to shade his eyes. With the foreground illuminated he could see they were a good ten meters down a steep grassy hill. It looked far to treacherous to climb without the aid of a rope and no one had brought one with them.
"I don't think we're going to be climbing back tonight," Kaidan called up. "We'll have to find a way in the morning."
Adams turned away and Kaidan could hear him giving instructions to someone. The light appeared again.
"We'll bring your tent and gear and slide it down to you. We've got some ultra-sonic pulse emitters you can set up. Should keep the wildlife away."
Ten minutes later Kaidan was catching rucksacks and pistols as they were tossed over the edge. The still erected tent slid easily enough down the slope and came to rest at his feet. He called his thanks to Adams and said they'd see them first thing in the morning.
Wishing they had a fire, Kaidan pegged the tent into the ground with its side against the hill and helped Catherine crawl inside. Shivering with cold and shock she burrowed down into the sleeping bag right away and covered her head.
Kaidan stowed their packs at the foot of the tent and went to work driving the stakes of three USPEs into the ground around the perimeter. Using his omnitool he activated them and once again jumped out of a skin when Catherine shrieked at him.
"What is that noise!"
Kaidan tried to answer, but she yelled at him again.
"Never mind. I don't care what it is, just make it stop."
She moaned in relief when he switched them off.
"How can you even hear that?" he asked, sticking his head inside the tent flaps. "That shouldn't be audible to human ears."
"Well, I could hear it and it was awful," she said, her voice muffled by the sleeping bag over her head. "No more screamy thing tonight."
"I really don't want to sleep without them," Kaidan said, his mind going back to the strange noise they'd heard only minutes earlier.
"I'm sure that anything in the vicinity was scared off by that noise. Come to bed."
Kaidan hesitated at the entrance, debating whether or not to argue with her. In the end he opted for a night of light dozing as opposed to torturing his girlfriend.
Crawling inside and zipping up the flap, Kaidan found his pistol and set it on the rough floor of the tent within arms reach. Tugging off his boots he slithered down into the sleeping bag beside Catherine. It was a tight fit, especially since she was lying on her back to keep her shoulder from cramping, be he lay on his side and bunched his jacket under his head, and tucking one arm under her head and the other around her waist.
Using her foot she pulled his leg across hers and he let his weight ease onto her. She was trembling ever so slightly, her arms pulled up to her chest and balled into fists.
"Need another shot of medi-gel?" he asked quietly.
"No, I'll be fine once I get warm," she replied. "Sorry I got us into this mess."
"I forgive you," he whispered. "You can't help it that you're crazy."
She giggled and nestle in closer, turning her head up to give him a light peck on the lips.
It didn't take them long to warm up and soon Catherine was snoring softly as she always did when she slept on her back. But the noise was actually sort of sweet and it took away Kaidan's ability to make out every single sound in the forest around them.
The noise he'd heard earlier did not happen again and he began to think he'd imagined it. He soon drifted off and managed to sleep for a few hours before another noise disturbed him.
It was Catherine again, taking in her sleep. Only this time it was more like a low humming. Her skin was glowing again, pulsing with her heartbeat and lighting up the tent. With each pulsation of light Kaidan could see her face clearly. She was completely relaxed, evening smiling a little, and seeing the serene look on her face it was hard to believe there was anything sinister behind this strange phenomenon.
Looking down at her, Kaidan studied her lovely features. Her high cheeks bones and delicate little mouth, long lashes and slanting elfin eyes. Completely relaxed like this she looked more like the girl he'd kissed so long ago, free of worry lines and stress.
Her humming had a strange rhythm and cadence to it tonight, as if she was singing. Kaidan focused, trying to make out the tune. He leaned in to listen more closely and froze.
There was something right outside the tent, snuffling around the edge. The material of the tent was designed to mask the smell of its occupants. It was a military tent and often used to house wounded soldiers, but it was meant to be treated at least once a year and this one had not been and fear of detection stole into Kaidan's chest.
A carefully as he could, Kaidan raised his hand up inside the sleeping bag and lowered it down over Catherine's mouth, trying to stop her humming. He would much rather whatever was outside left of its own volition, rather than with bullets chasing it.
Catherine shook her head slightly against his hand, but did not wake. The snuffling outside became more insistent when her humming stopped and Kaidan didn't waste any time lifting his hand from her mouth to reach for his pistol.
Grasping the weapon he rolled silently and aimed at the wall of the tent behind him, readying himself to fire. His finger depressed the trigger and over the snuffling only inches from his head he heard a bullet slide into place. Bracing himself, he pulled his finger all the way down and fired.