A Shady Establishment
As they made their way through the downtown sector, Miranda's mind was no longer on the run-down condition of the streets. All she could think about was her sister. She tried to tell herself that there was no way even the Shadow Broker's agents could've gotten their hands on her. In relocating Oriana's family, Miranda had taken every precaution, spared no expense in making sure that her baby sister would live a normal life, safe from their father or whoever else may decide to come after her. But was it enough? She wondered if the Broker had chosen to abduct Oriana because of her connection with Shepard and Cerberus, or if it merely happened that the two of them shared a few common physical features. A twisted, wrenching feeling in Miranda's gut told her that this was more than a random coincidence.
"What do you think we'll find when we get there?" Miranda asked Garrus, keeping her voice low enough that the others couldn't hear. The rest of them were a few meters back, this time with Liara taking up position on their six.
His omni-tool flashed orange as he rechecked the coordinates and tried to think of an answer to her question. After a moment, he put it in standby and said, "I'm not sure. We still don't know why they were taken, or what the Shadow Broker plans to do with them."
"So... you don't think there will be dead bodies? That wouldn't make sense, right?" Garrus glanced over at her, took in her haggard appearance. As much as she wanted to find Shepard, the mission had suddenly become a lot more personal for her. He wondered, for a fleeting moment, if he should order her back to the ship, in case she compromised their objective. But Garrus realized that, if anything, the fact that her sister's life could be in jeopardy would only motivate Miranda, make her more determined. At least, he hoped that was the case. "Because, why would they take a bunch of people who looked like Shepard just to kill them, you know?"
"You're right. It wouldn't make sense."
"Yeah. Okay. Right. We're right."
"Hey," Garrus said, stopping her. Gingerly, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Your sister's going to be okay."
"I... I hope so, Com – Garrus." Her chest still felt heavy, but Garrus's reassurance gave Miranda hope. She told herself that Garrus wasn't going to let anything bad happen to Oriana. And she trusted him. He had proven his competence thus far, and there was no reason to doubt him now.
At the pace they were going, it didn't take them long to reach their destination. Like most buildings in the downtown area, it appeared to be vacant. With five levels built up above ground, and who knew how many below, the building was the largest on the street. Its grimy brick facade obviously hadn't been tended to in years, a thick accumulation of soot and pollutants gathering on its surface.
"Is there a back entrance?" Liara asked. Somehow, she didn't think waltzing in through the front door would end very well. The building didn't appear to be occupied, but in this part of town, Liara knew that tactic was a widely-used ruse to ward off unwanted visitors. Such as themselves.
"It looks like there's a cargo loading bay around the side, down that alley," Garrus replied. If he had to make a guess, he would've thought it was some kind of factory, possibly a textiles or local goods manufacturer. This close to the city, he didn't think there would be any highly hazardous or volatile materials inside, but it was always best to proceed with caution. As they approached the side entrance, Garrus told them, "Don't touch anything you shouldn't."
That was one rule they all agreed on.
"What if we encounter hostiles?" Kaidan asked. None of them really knew what to expect going in, but Kaidan was betting that there would be people inside. Some of which would try to kill them.
"Hold your fire until I give the order. Or if they shoot first," Garrus said. That was also something they agreed to. All the other questions they had could only be answered by venturing inside the dark factory.
"Wait a second," Miranda said. She held her arm out, preventing the others from moving further down the alley and closer to the cargo door. "Look, above the entrance. There's a security camera."
She was right. It was pointed in the opposite direction of their position, towards the main street at the other end of the alley. There was a good chance it hadn't detected them yet, but if there was a camera outside, Garrus was willing to bet there were a lot more inside.
Before he could make a decision about how to deal with it, Liara's fingers were tapping away at her omni-tool. She pressed a finger into her earpiece and said, "Daryn, can you get into the security system for the building at the coordinates you gave us?"
He seemed to have been waiting for her call. "I sure can. Let's see... got it. Want me to feed 'em a loop?"
"Yes, please."
"Done and done. Heads up: I got life signs on the second basement level."
"Are they hostile?"
"Sorry – you gotta find that one out for yourself. It doesn't look like they're moving around too much, but watch your asses down there. There's a lot of them. And I mean, a lot."
"Thanks for the warning."
"No problem, Lili. I just uploaded the blueprints to your omni-tool. Knock 'em dead." Liara closed the link, then transferred the blueprints to Garrus's omni-tool, since he would be the one leading the way.
"Okay," Garrus said, taking a moment to chart the quickest, least conspicuous route to the second basement level. "Let's do this."
The cargo door opened easily, the metal sheeting making almost no noise as it slid up. Inside, there were a few lights on, casting the room in a dim pallor. The hallway before them looked like a long-term storage unit, an entire wall lined with identical, numbered doors. Garrus activated his visor's infrared sensors, giving the hall a cursory sweep. Nothing. He hadn't expected much, given Daryn's report that all signs of life were on the lower levels, but it was still good to check.
"Anything?" Miranda asked, poking her head over Garrus's shoulder to see what he was looking at.
"All clear. Let's get to the elevator," he said, signaling the others to move out.
Kaidan jerked his thumb at the opposite end of the hallway. "Shouldn't we take the stairs?"
"They only go up," Liara said after consulting the blueprints. Wondering what they would find below, the five of them waited for the elevator to arrive.
Given the narrowness of the room they just came through, they were surprised at the size of the elevator. It looked like it could fit half a dozen obese elcor. They entered the elevator, standing awkwardly in the large space, unsure of how to fill it. When the doors slid closed and Garrus hit the "B2" button, he was suddenly hit by a wave of nostalgia. As the elevator crawled along its cables, emmitting a low rumbling sound, he found himself wishing Wrex was with them, so he could say something insulting and simultaneously hilarious. Or maybe Tali, so they could hassle her about her immune system. Those were the good old days.
The flicker of lights halted Garrus's reminiscence. He looked up, wondering if a bulb had gone out. Just as he was about to shrug it off and ignore the flicker, the elevator jolted downward. It shuddered twice, sliding further down the cables each time.
Kaidan banged his shoulder against the wall he'd been leaning on. "What the fu -"
The brakes of the elevator failed, sending the elevator plunging down the shaft. Gravity seemed to cease to exist as the five of them felt their feet leave the ground. Then, as suddenly as they'd gone, the emergency brakes kicked in and jerked the elevator upwards.
They all landed in a tangled heap, except for Samara who had been quick enough to grab onto the railing. Taking a moment to recover, Garrus felt the heel of Miranda's boot stray perilously close to his groin. As he scooted out of range of the stiletto, he found himself practically in Kaidan's lap.
Liara didn't even bother moving away from the others. In favor of avoiding stepping on anyone's fingers, she remained on the ground, jammed a finger into her earpiece and said, "Daryn, what the hell was that?"
"Power surge! The grid's going patchy, my equipment is..." His message was too crackly to decipher.
"Can you get the elevator started?" she demanded. There was another burst of static, then nothing. Liara let out a huff of frustration. Now that the power was out, Daryn would be unable to warn them of any other activity in the building. Not to mention the fact that they were shrouded in darkness and stuck in an awkwardly large elevator.
But Garrus was already working on a solution to the latter. He managed to get to his feet and began groping the ceiling for a panel that would open to the shaft. It took some searching, but eventually his fingers came across a hatch. Hmm. No handle. He slid his assault rifle off his back and used the butt of it to beat the seam of the ceiling panel.
"What are you doing?" Liara half-shrieked, shocked and a little frightened by the sudden noise.
"Getting us out of here," was the reply, punctuated by the pounding of the assault rifle.
"Enough, dull stone. Let me," Liara said, hands searching in the dark for Garrus. He stopped and was about to tell her that she probably wouldn't be able to reach it when the elevator was illuminated with a vivid blue. Liara pumped her fist upward and shot a throw field at the panel Garrus was beneath, causing the screws to pop free. The panel came crashing down, Garrus sidestepping to narrowly avoid being hit by it. He glared at Liara, who didn't notice.
"Okay," Miranda said, "now what?"
"Now we go," Garrus said. Taking two steps to gain some momentum, he jumped up and caught hold of the edges of the opening. Wishing he'd chosen to wear medium armor instead of the heavy stuff, he pulled himself up through the hole, muscles straining and heart pounding. Once through, he rolled onto the top of the elevator and tried to keep his panting to a minimum.
Upon further inspection of the shaft, Garrus discovered that there wasn't much to see. There were a few emergency lights on, but they didn't reveal anything particularly helpful. He saw no way to get the elevator moving again, other than releasing the emergency brake that was clamped on the cable. Somehow, I don't think that would go over well.
"Got anything?" Miranda asked, her face appearing at the opening.
"Hold on," Garrus said. He glanced upwards, reading the markings painted inside the shaft. Floor indicators. "Right now, we're stuck between basement levels three and four. If I can climb up to B-two, I'll be able to get the door open."
Liara wasn't so sure. The shaft had crossbeams at every level, but even with his height, there was no way Garrus could climb from level to level. Besides, his idea of getting the doors open was probably smashing his gun at it.
"I'll do it, Garrus," she said, preparing to hoist herself up through the opening. With her biotics, she'd be able to give herself a significant boost to get to each of the crossbeams.
Garrus gave her a hand in getting through the elevator hatch and pointed her in the right direction, a little miffed that she was stealing his thunder yet again. Still, they needed to get out of the shaft by any means necessary, and if Liara was capable of that, so be it.
She made quick work of getting up to basement level two, flashing bright blue as she used biotics to further her progress. Much in the same way she opened the elevator ceiling panel, she was able to knock open the sliding doors and finally roll out in the hallway. Garrus held his breath. As Daryn had told them, all life signs were on the second basement level. It was possible that they hadn't been detected yet, but whoever was up there might try to attack Liara...
A second later, her head poked over the edge. "Power's out. You'll all have to climb up." Even though her voice was barely above a whisper, the echoes carried her words up and down the shaft. Garrus relayed the message to the others, helping them up one by one. Miranda, Kaidan, and Samara were able to use their biotics to mimic Liara's technique, taking the levels in easy bounds.
Garrus, however, had no such advantage. He inched his way up the cable, hand over hand and scooting his legs upwards for support. It was slow going, and the others finished long before him, but eventually he made it to the top. Getting from the cable to the door was tricky, but he managed to jump and catch the edge of the shaft, straining to pull himself up. Once inside the hallway, he rolled onto his back and, still catching his breath, said, "Let's just chill for a sec."
"No time," Miranda said. With surprising strength, she hauled Garrus to his feet. "We have company."