A/N: And so we come to the end of Chapter 6. Whew, it's been quite a journey! Kudos to Ieldra again for the science parts and meticulous beta-reading. For the record again, we literally spent weeks making sure the background science is as realistic and adhering to current scientific knowledge as much as possible. Acknowledgement also goes out to fongiel for his input on the fight scenes. And last but not least, thank you all for the feedback I've been getting. I appreciate them all, whether it's constructive criticism or just your personal thoughts on the story in general. :) Now onwards to the final chapter!
Two things occurred simultaneously to Shepard's mind even as he tackled Jacob in a bid to escape the death-trap that was the annexe building. His haunch about Kai Leng being responsible for the surveillance made for a mental fist-pump, but once he recovered from the daze caused by the rapid change of events, he realised with dismay that he was now effectively out of the tower, and on grounds where the Alliance squad could apprehend him without repercussions.
That realisation was further cemented when his visor earpiece crackled to static life.
"Admiral Shepard?" Khalif's voice carried an uncharacteristic tinge of urgency. "We're temporarily cut off from the entrance. I've sent patrols out to reinforce you, but it will take them awhile to get to your position. I'm going to ask Ms. Eldfell for permission to activate some of the automated defences."
"No, that's a negative. Don't bother Miranda over this." Shepard replied as he rose shakily to his feet. "Besides, the last thing we need is accidental casualties. That'll bring the Alliance hammer down hard on all of us. I can take care of myself until reinforcement arrives. Put the rest of your men on the lookout for suspicious persons and activities."
He shook his head in an attempt to clear his residual daze as he toggled off the link and turned to stare at the giant wreck that used to be the annexe entrance. Large parts of the structure were still on fire and debris continued to rain down from crumbling sections, the groan of tortured steel and shattering masonry playing accompaniment to the roar of flames.
The radio chatter between Eldfell forces had increased several-fold after the crash with preliminary search parties reporting no evidence that there was anyone inside the shuttle. That meant the entire stunt was likely staged via remote control. The trajectory and velocity of that shuttle crash was impeccable, orchestrated for maximum impact. If it was under any other circumstances, he would've been amazed by it, and even now, he had to force his brain to play catch-up on how the whole set up was put together.
"Wha...what the fuck was that? No, let me rephrase: who the fuck did that?"
Jacob groaned as he struggled to his feet. Shepard grimaced and stretched forth a hand in apology. That biotically-enhanced tackle had been necessary to get them out of the way, but it was almost equal to the force he usually used against enemy targets. The Alliance squad milling outside had shaken themselves out of their stupor to come running up to their commander although they stopped short, hovering around in uncertainty as Jacob accepted Shepard's gesture of help.
"It's Kai Leng. He's here somewhere." Shepard said tersely as Jacob regained his footing. The more he thought about it, the more he became certain the gamble to use himself as bait to lure Kai Leng into action had paid off. Few in the galaxy could orchestrate a stunt of that complexity with such panache.
"Kai Leng."
Jacob spat the name out like a mouthful of food gone bad. But almost immediately, suspicion clouded his expression.
"What makes you say that, Shepard?"
It was Shepard's hope that he could bank on that particular memory and persuade Jacob to put aside their differences to deal with Kai Leng. It wasn't rational, but resolving this particular outstanding issue once and for all had become something he had to do. If Kai Leng were to walk off scot-free this last time, he knew he would regret it for the rest of his life. There was no doubt he couldn't sustain the requirements needed to be an active combatant much longer. The muscle relaxants were simply a band-aid to a problem even when cured, would spell the end of any combat soldier's career. But soldiering wasn't the only thing he was good at.
"Tell me, Jacob—why did you accept the assignment to capture me?" Shepard turned to gaze at the other man gravely. "You could've refused if what you said about everything being water under the bridge is true. Considering how long we've known each other, I think I deserve an honest answer."
It was Jacob's turn to hesitate.
"Secure the immediate area," he instructed his squad before gesturing Shepard towards a niche in the nearby walls which gave a better measure of safety than the open area they were in.
"It was a personal favour to Admiral Hackett," Jacob replied quietly when they reached the corner.
Shepard frowned. That was a new development and totally unexpected.
"You're going to have to fill me in."
"There's not much to tell. He called me to his office, said military side got a tip-off on your whereabouts from a source that used a modified decade-old Alliance encryption code to pipe in the details. Wasn't amateur work either. The connection couldn't have been made if not for the fact that the sending location was deliberately made traceable. Hackett suspected some kind of political foul-play or someone who harbours a deep grudge against you."
Jacob's voice dropped to a gruff mutter here. "Either way, there was a good chance they'd be gunning hard for your life. So I promised him I'd do my best to watch your back and return you to the Alliance safely."
The fact that he would get Hackett into trouble by jumping parole had been something constantly at the back of Shepard's mind. And it was humbling to realise that the admiral still continued to look out for him. What arrested Shepard's attention, however, was Hackett's suspicion that the tip-off was the result of someone holding a grudge. It was the perfect opening for what he had to say next.
"Kai Leng never forgot the fact that we put him in jail once all his crimes came to light. Think about it, Jacob. He'd have access to encryption codes dating to that time but not beyond after he got discharged from service the first time. Don't forget too Hackett presided over Kai Leng's trial after we handed him over to the Alliance. Apart from the Normandy's command staff, he knew best how much Kai Leng hated my guts. And that shuttle crash—how many people we know are capable of that?"
Doubt flittered across Jacob's face before being replaced by a thoughtful frown.
"How did Kai Leng get on your trail in the first place?"
Shepard took a deep breath here and mentally rehearsed the key points of the cover story he had in mind—one that left the issue of Cordelia and what secrets the tower might contain conveniently out of the picture.
"I suspect he's been spying on me ever since New Canton, but couldn't make his move with all the constant surveillance around me. Until I broke parole to join Miranda here. He's already tried to ambush me once. We've been playing a cat-and-mouse game for a month since." Fortunately, there was no need to feign his grim laugh. "Guess he's getting impatient, and decided he doesn't care anymore about incurring further Alliance wrath taking you down as collateral damage."
Jacob's expression grew darker by the moment as he carefully laid out each point and inwardly, Shepard couldn't help his sense of satisfaction at the other man's response. Jacob had been one of Kai Leng's most vehement detractors during the latter's brief stint on the SR2. The fight that ended with the ex-commando being handed over to Alliance jurisdiction had resulted in the deaths of many crew, crew that both of them had served with since the ship's commission. The failure in how they'd misjudged Kai Leng was felt deeply by Shepard, but it was also a sentiment shared by the command crew.
"I want him brought to justice. For all who died from his hand, to make sure it'll never happen again, for my peace of mind—I want closure, Jacob." Shepard continued in a quiet voice. "I think that's something we both can agree on. A lot of what happened was beyond our control, but this is one mistake we can amend. Both of us know best how Kai Leng operates. If he gives us the slip, we may never get the chance again to right this particular wrong."
Jacob remained silent for a long time. He had been wrong before; Kai Leng was damning testimony to that, but Shepard was willing to bet Jacob had been entirely truthful with him so far. And he could only hold on to that conviction, until the other man finally threw a frustrated fist against the wall.
"You're right." Jacob growled reluctant admission. "Kai Leng is our priority. So what's the deal?"
Silently, Shepard released his pent-up breath. There was still the question of what next if they happened to be successful in apprehending Kai Leng, and he firmed his resolve not to dwell on what he'd have to do when that time came.
They left the niche to walk towards smothering ruins that used to be the tower entrance. The remains of the cargo shuttle with its Eldfell markings were visible through the gaps. All this time, further intelligence had continued to filter through Shepard's earpiece and he crossed his arms as he carefully sieved out the pertinent information.
"Eldfell guards have confirmed that shuttle came from the parking lot over at the marina to the south. They still haven't found any evidence of a pilot. To remote control it with such precision, Kai Leng must be somewhere between here and the lot. He may have used a camera or two for timing purposes, but I'll bet he's got his eyes on us personally for that final drop."
"That would be his style, alright," Jacob muttered darkly. After a moment's thought, he toggled on his comm link.
"I want everyone in a search pattern starting from this area. Fan out towards the cargo lot south-side. We have a new target—a man of Chinese ancestry, possibly in disguise, armed and highly dangerous. I want him taken alive. Repeat: I want him alive."
It was impossible to hear the responses, but doubt was written across the faces of every Alliance soldier in their vicinity. Their eyes darted uncertainly between Shepard and their commander. It was obvious they knew he was supposed to be the target of their mission here, but one by one, they murmured affirmation before dispersing to carry out Jacob's orders. Shepard breathed mixed relief. It'd come to the point where he didn't care if they got Kai Leng dead or alive. But the only way the arrangement would work was if he deferred to Jacob's wishes. He fired up his own comm-link.
"Mr. Khalif?"
"Yes, Admiral?"
"I've reached an agreement with the Alliance commander. We'll be working together for now to apprehend that ex-commando so tell your men to lay off his squad. Share intelligence and coordinate the search with them. I'd also suggest a public announcement to advise non-combatants to vacate the general area."
"Understood, sir."
The channel went dead with an electronic whisper as Shepard drew his shotgun before jogging off towards a gap where the western side of the annexe rubbed shoulders with a modest-sized shopping complex. Almost immediately, he could hear Jacob's footsteps close behind.
"Don't mind if I tag along," Jacob murmured once the space opened up shortly to accommodate them side by side. Shepard made a wry snort. Of course Jacob wouldn't want him out of sight. A court order was no longer necessary since he'd revealed his whereabouts, but still, Shepard couldn't help his curiosity.
"How's the search warrant coming along?" He asked as they exited the alley into the next area—a commercial square with low-laying rows of shops flanking four sides. It wasn't a likely place for Kai Leng to station himself at; the buildings were too low to provide good vantage. Still, he'd certainly have moved in the ten minutes since the shuttle crash, and the lack of cover here made for a certain degree of risk.
As they scanned the area, Jacob took the opportunity to consult his omni-tool.
"Just came through actually."
Shepard could only shake his head. He'd anticipated the expediency, but nonetheless, the speed still surprised him.
"It once took me a week to requisition office supplies. Just my luck red tape gets abolished the moment I leave, huh?"
"More like it's gone to pave your way to the courtroom. Warrants are now handled by the civil side. You're their meal ticket, Shepard." Jacob supplied almost diffidently as he finalised the settings on his weapon. "There's a high chance the outcome of your trial will determine the number of votes they'll get in the next election."
Shepard laughed darkly.
"I can't complain. Always been a firm believer of waste not, want not."
"I hear ya." Jacob's mouth quirked before raising his brows in enquiry. "You ready to do this?"
"Let's go."
The both of them moved to cover each other smoothly, keeping their eyes peeled for suspicious movement as they took turns leapfrogging from sparse cover to cover across the square. It was almost exhilarating to feel the familiar sense of adrenaline again. Shepard could never stop marvelling at how seemingly irreconcilable differences simply faded away under combat conditions. Regardless of how things would turn out later, he knew he could trust Jacob to watch his back now.
A glance at his own omni-tool said it was slightly past midnight local time. Speakers had begun blaring announcements, advising locals to stay indoors or leave the area. There was no knowing what the residents made of it, but as they moved deeper and deeper into the tower outskirts, the places became more and more deserted until it seemed as if they were the only ones moving about a suddenly abandoned city.
Painstakingly, they inched forward, navigating through the commercial district with its characteristic collection of modest-sized shopping complexes and quaint shop houses, but gradually, the urban landscape changed. The shoreline came into view, dark waters of the Southern Ocean glittering where harbour lights from the marina casted dim illumination.
Lighting was nonexistent right at the edge of solid ground, where gangplanks and raised walkways took over, paving entrances to fifty-meter length luxury yachts. Their wooden masts and rigging made for a bewildering black forest above ghostly white hulls, further contributing to the darkness of the place. It was prime ground for an ambush.
"We're gonna need more bodies to cover this place." Jacob muttered as he took in the surroundings.
"Good call." Shepard agreed and toggled his comm link to bring in reinforcements.
All this time, radio chatter continued but all that was reported were negative sightings. They began fine-combing the marina, even sending aquatic troops to search the undersides of the harbour but found nothing of interest.
Thirty minutes of fruitless searching ended up with Jacob and Shepard, along with twenty Eldfell guards, gathering in frustration outside a small park nearby. As a precaution, Shepard ordered for a guard perimeter to be set up around the area. As he issued directions for the last group, Jacob came up, a troubled expression on his face.
"Got ourselves a lead and a problem, I think. Just called for a status report. Most of my men have nothing new, but a four-man group searching the subway station at the south end of the parking lot hasn't gotten back. I've tried hailing everyone of 'em for the last minute—no response."
"Got a lock on their location transmitters?"
Jacob fired up his omni-tool and called up the function. The holographic projection flared into life, displaying a 3d wire-mesh map of the area. Four red dots, grouped closely together could be seen within the station complex. All the blips were unmoving, and a check of the log revealed it'd been that way for the past two minutes.
Both men exchanged a grim look.
"I'm countermanding my order. You men, follow me!" Shepard barked at the remaining four guards.
As they double-timed the three hundred meters from the marina to the station, commands flew, thick and fast, from both himself and Jacob. For double-measure, Shepard called and ordered Khalif to stop all trains entering and leaving the station. Patrols were re-directed to make their way there to secure the various exits and lend speed to the search. But the search circle had widened to the point where it would take most of them a while to reach there.
What was more ominous were the twinges Shepard began to feel as they ran the distance, a sensation unfortunately made familiar once he knew the symptoms to look out for—a slow stiffening of the major muscles that gradually transformed into a bone-deep ache. The last week's trial with the muscle relaxants identified prolonged exertion as the biggest source of the problem. The only solution available to him right now was to stick strictly to the prescription regime. Consulting the omni-tool told him the next application wasn't until two hours later, and it was with frustration that Shepard wondered if he could risk an early dosage.
He didn't have a choice, he realised. Not unless he wanted a repeat of his last encounter with Kai Leng. He cursed silently as he fumbled for the pill tab in his utility pouch. Finally, he popped the capsule into his mouth and dry-swallowed it. None of this was picked up by anyone, and Shepard could only be thankful for that—gaining Jacob's trust hadn't been easy and the last thing he needed was to add a new complication to that balance.
The main entrance of the train station soon came into view. Cautiously, they made their way in with Jacob taking the lead, consulting his omni-tool every now and then.
"Damn it, this place is a maze," was the other man's complaint and silently, Shepard had to agree. He'd assigned two men to guard the entrance they'd come from but there were at least two more exits according to the map. Those would have to wait until reinforcement arrived, Shepard decided as they finally rounded the corner where Jacob's men would be.
He breathed noisily in dismay as he took in the sight of the four bodies strewn around the pillars of the waiting platform. Most of the men had died within earshot of each other, even if they didn't have line of sight. The whole thing bore the hallmarks of a well-staged ambush—the work of an accomplished operative who managed to dispose of four men, none of them the wiser.
"It's definitely Kai Leng all right..." Jacob hissed as he knelt down beside the body of one of his former men. Surreptitiously, Shepard leaned against one of the pillars to take some weight off his muscles as he studied the station schematic in detail. The announcement that train services for the station had been discontinued echoed continuously through the cavernous space. The place was indubitably big, with six lines branching off to various destinations across the island and it frustrated him to no end that they were back to playing cat-and-mouse with one of the best operatives in the galaxy.
"His suit's system logged him as being the last to die." Jacob observed from his vantage, his tone almost dispassionate again. Frowning, Shepard knelt down to join him. The man's neck had been snapped cleanly. Far more interested was the fact that he'd been standing by a door that lead into a service tunnel. An inspection of the lock revealed that it had been hacked open a few minutes ago.
At first glance, it would seem too good to be true that Kai Leng would've gone that way. The temptation to wait for reinforcements to arrive before testing that theory out almost made sense. Except Shepard knew Kai Leng would only leave evidence like that behind if he was guaranteed a head start.
"Mr. Khalif, I'm about to track our perp through a service tunnel." He said peremptorily into his comm-link. "According to the map, the next station on the line is the destination. I know your men don't have jurisdiction in that area, but I'm trusting you can dispatch a squad discreetly to meet us at the other end."
"I could send a team in via shuttle, yes. Consider it done, Admiral."
"The two of you—stay here and send a squad through once more men arrive." Shepard instructed the remaining pair of Eldfell guards before he took a deep breath and turned to Jacob, "I'll bet my life that's the way Kai Leng went. I'm going after him, Jacob. The trail will be stone-cold by the time our numbers get reinforced."
Saying that, he darted through the door and into the darkened tunnel beyond, knowing full well if Jacob didn't want him out of sight, he'd have to follow.
"Damn it, Shepard!" Jacob's frustrated shout echoed in the space, but true enough, there came the sound of footsteps behind him immediately after. The passage soon became so dark that Shepard had to fire up his night vision function. The space was too narrow to accommodate the both of them abreast, and consciously, he slowed down his pace. It was that or gift-wrapping himself as a target should Kai Leng be waiting ahead, looking to stage another ambush.
After fifteen minutes of wending through the darkness, the tunnel abruptly opened up into an intersection, causing him to curse. Two metal doors were embedded into each opposite wall while the main route continued on into darkness. The door design dated from the last century and the passages were secured with physical locks. Shepard walked over to rattle one of them experimentally. The surface was so encrusted with grime it would've been impossible to open the lock even with the right key.
"This lock is new." Jacob reported from his side. "Any idea where this door leads to?"
Shepard fired up his omni-tool to consult the map.
"It's not on the map," he muttered in disgust. "Looks like these two tunnels are pretty old, sealed up and abandoned ages ago."
He swung his torch further down the main passageway. The tunnel hadn't seen any use lately, and dust-indented footprints littered the floor. But the newest and topmost footprints he could see came in the direction they were heading.
"Bet you one million credits Kai Leng scouted this place before he made his move tonight," Jacob said darkly.
"And I'll up that to five million and say he went through that door." Shepard gestured at the one with the newly installed lock. "Got a cutter with you?"
As Jacob made short work of the metal lock with a miniaturised vibro-saw, Shepard slapped on a glow patch beside the door, marking the route for reinforcements that came behind.
The door opened without a single creak, evidence that someone had oiled it recently. If anything else, the new passage was darker than the tunnel they'd traversed and mildew could be seen covering and discolouring the walls under torchlight. The sound of running water echoed faintly, the acoustics of the place making it difficult to locate the direction of the source, but it was obvious this part of the tunnel was far older than the rest of the railway and long disused by the looks of it.
The condition of the walls continued to deteriorate until their feet began to kick up stone dust every other step. Fresh footprints going their direction confirmed that they were on the right track. Soon after, the passage opened up into a roughly-hewn chamber with a ceiling so high that it was lost in darkness. Metal pilings filled the space haphazardly with oft-broken ladders running their length. In the dimness, scaffolding and stairs could be seen above.
The marina wasn't prime ambush ground, this was. The odds were stacked against them— uncharted ground, two of them against an accomplished assassin who'd planned this—it took all of Shepard's will to remember that their primary task was to track Kai Leng. Any attempt to apprehend him had to wait under such conditions. He threw up a cautionary hand, discouraging Jacob from going further.
The trickle of stone dust from above was their only warning. Both of them fire their weapons simultaneously, the illumination of their projectiles lighting up Kai Leng's face with an unearthly glow. He was standing on some corroded pipes up on the ceiling. As fast as they'd move, he was faster, ducking behind a steel strut. Jacob continued emptying his clip, taking pot shots at Kai Leng's position as he gave Shepard a quick nod.
Returning the gesture, Shepard quickly holstered his shotgun and made a beeline for the nearest ladder. Firing up his biotics, he lowered his mass until he could lightly climb the precarious structure before swinging himself up onto a badly-corroded stairwell with giant gaps. Silently, he cursed as his muscles started aching.
There was nothing to it. He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore it. Despite his reduced weight, he still had to retrace his steps several times when portions of the scaffolding simply crumbled at the slightest touch. Kai Leng, on the other hand, wouldn't have such a problem if he'd scouted this area previously. The sound of Jacob's weapon going off continued below, and Shepard had to trust that his erstwhile friend still had Kai Leng in the sights.
Finally, Shepard reached the lattice of pipes and began a balancing act in the attempt to head towards the sound of gunfire. Something cold and wet splashed on his cheek. Looking up revealed a massive crack on the ceiling and strings of water droplets forming around the fault. That was certainly a complication they didn't need. There was no way to tell when or if a cave in might be a problem. The more immediate problem was how the water made footing even more precarious.
It wasn't even a misstep—simply a slight change in the centre of his balance, and Shepard lost his footing. He flung his arms wide to grip the body of the pipe, and literally felt the surface crumble beneath him, the smell of coppery rust thick in the air.
Quickly, he swung his free hanging legs hard and heaved his lower torso onto another section, hoping to distribute his weight more evenly. The gambit worked, or at the very least, the pipe stopped showing signs of breaking up. With difficulty, he inched past the water-weakened section, his muscles aching harder and harder all the while.
Jacob's gunshots had stopped in the interim. In the ominous silence, Shepard could only move forward in a general direction. Finally, he caught a glimpse of Jacob far below, head darting in all directions as he tried to locate their target. It was Shepard who saw Kai Leng first, hiding behind a cluster of pilings. It was the perfect spot, the outline of his body on the infrared channel almost entirely cloaked. Ironically, it was the faint glint of his rifle that gave him away, the muzzle of which was pointing directly at Jacob.
Without a second thought, Shepard executed a dead run that ended with a biotic charge. For a second, shots went wild—there was no way to know who fired—all of his vision was filled with Kai Leng as he impacted his target hard.
Then came the sickening sensation of falling followed by a bone-jarring landing with himself at the bottom. Pain ricocheted through his muscles and rattled his bones. And for a while, all Shepard could see before him was static. New gunshots almost deafened him, and he could only curl up instinctively and hope for the best.
When he could see again, he was greeted by Jacob's concerned face hovering over him. It was the most visceral combat flashback he'd ever experienced—wild panic gripped Shepard as he scrambled to find traction on the ground in order to push himself up. Pain leapt like fire through his body and he had to force himself to calm down and lie back down. His muscles hadn't entirely locked up yet, but any more exertion, and they would.
"Where's Kai Leng?" His breath came in tremulous gasps as his eyes darted around.
"Ran off that direction. There's another tunnel over there. I think I may have gotten a shot in, I don't know," Jacob inclined his head, reporting grimly before turning back to study him. "You okay? You look like you just seen a ghost."
If Shepard had to admit to himself, this was the complication that he'd feared the most. But with the aid of the relaxant, he might just be able to function again given a few minutes of rest. The kicker was the real danger of Kai Leng giving them the slip altogether. And the only way to pre-empt that was to convince Jacob to go on without him.
"I did see a ghost—my ghost." Shepard said as he rubbed his face shakily, uncaring of the stone dust on his palms. "I told you that Kai Leng managed to ambush me once-he didn't stop there. I flatlined. Miranda had to resuscitate me."
He lifted a hand to brush over the patched-up holes in his armour.
"I found out recently there's a serious problem with my muscles. They lock up with exertion. That was how Kai Leng managed to nail me. I'm on medication for it—but I'll need a few minutes to get back on my feet."
Jacob began shaking his head vehemently.
"Oh no, no, no... For fuck's sake, Shepard, I can't believe you're trying to pull that one on me."
"Why on earth would I want to stall us now that we've finally caught up with Kai Leng?" Shepard demanded desperately. "Jacob, I know the last thing I ought to do is push your trust. But I trusted you when you said you're here to watch my back, so now I'm asking for the same favour."
Jacob bared his teeth in a frustrated rictus.
"God damn it, Shepard! You're not making this easy!"
Shepard tried once more to rise only to feel the familiar pain flare up, albeit slightly abated. Again, he forced himself to relax, counting his breaths for a mental exercise.
You can try and haul my useless ass along and lose Kai Leng's trail entirely." he said tiredly, "Or you can go ahead and trust that I will follow you when I can."
His body language or expression must have finally clicked home for Jacob because the other man finally stood up.
Gripping his weapon, Jacob muttered agonisingly, "I'd better find you coming after me, or else—"
He ended his sentence with a growl of frustration before running off in the direction of the new tunnel.
Silently, Shepard wished him all the luck. Jacob's footsteps soon faded away, leaving him in complete darkness except where his visor light shone on. The distant groaning of stressed metal, the constant shower of stone dust from overhead and the faint trickling of water was oppressive. He had to admit he was deeply shaken—to the point where it would be easy to slip off into another flashback and imagine himself back at the Reaper base all over again.
He couldn't help his deep shudder at the thought and with valiant effort, forced himself to stop. Mental exercises were good and methodically, he kept up his timed breathing, slowly trying to ease the tension from his body. This was fear at its most primal, a sensation he hadn't felt for ages. The combination of the time spent last week, what had happened so far tonight, complications and all—drove home more than anything else how much he had to lose. There would be no consolation prize in this particular debacle.
After five agonising minutes, when he'd gotten himself sufficiently calmed down, Shepard lifted tentative arms to raise himself to a sitting position. The pain had subsided to twinges again, thankfully. He spent another precious minute warming up stiffened limbs before taking a deep breath, and began jogging down the direction that Kai Leng and Jacob went.
Sporadic radio chatter told him that Jacob's men had entered the first train station and were somewhere behind them. The Eldfell squad that Khalif sent had begun their infiltration of the next station on the line. Not that it was any help right now, although a check of his GPS told Shepard he was still going in the direction of the next station.
Apart from that, he still had no idea how far or deep these old tunnels went, the maps he had were necessarily less accurate the further he moved away from the tower. To make matters worse, no one continued to have seen Kai Leng except for himself and Jacob.
The route grew more and more bewildering, with multiple intersections along the way. At every junction, an Alliance glow patch slapped on the wall of the new corridor marked the route that Jacob had taken. At the first two intersections, Shepard took the pain to examine the area, to double-confirm that the other man's choice was the correct one, but he gave up soon after.
It'd been ten minutes since Jacob had left him to stay on Kai Leng's trail. Repeating hailing of the other man's comm channel had raised no responses. As he increased his speed as much as he could, a new fear began to intrude on Shepard's consciousness. What if Jacob tried or was forced to face Kai Leng off alone? Separately, neither of them were a match for the ex-commando. There wasn't even any guarantee that both of them would be able to take him down together. And as far as Shepard knew, he was the next and only person most likely to find the duo.
There was, however, one bright spot. The nature of the tunnels began to change again as he wended his way along, the route he was on reappearing in the map. The direction had been correct; he was on track to hit the next train station. That was amply confirmed when Shepard almost stumbled into a rail tunnel, the rush of cold air clear indication that a train was incoming. Quickly, he squeezed himself into a niche, and gritted his teeth as he waited for all the carriages to rush past.
They were effectively beyond the Eldfell compound as evidenced by trains still in service. The patch that Jacob had slapped on the wall instructed him to run down said tracks towards the next station. He jogged along the narrow space beside the tracks once the train passed, gradually twigging to the fact that his destination had to be nearby when the last carriage remained visible after a while.
The locomotive remained unmoving when Shepard finally reached the station proper. Any more patches Jacob might have put up would be obscured by the carriages. After pausing to give his body rest, he decided to chance one of two flights of stairs leading to platforms located on both sides of the track.
This station was much smaller, although the platform was equally deserted. Shepard's eyes took in all the details as the announcement of the train's departure sounded. Instinctively, his attention was arrested by the motion of the closing doors, and that was when he saw it.
Jacob's comatose form lying sprawled on the ground could be seen through the windows on the other platform. Kai Leng stood directly above him. Slowly, the train began to pull away from the station, presenting the entire tableau in stuttering motion through the frames of windows speeding past. As if spectator of a silent movie, Shepard watched in horror as Kai Leng picked Jacob's weapon up from the floor, hoisted him by the collar, before placing the nozzle against the back of his head and squeezing the trigger.
-~o~-
The main form of contraceptives in the twenty-second century took the shape of hormonal implants. They usually lasted several years and were easy to use to the point there was a tendency to forget about their existence when they were most necessary. During the war, Miranda had let hers lapse. With the diagnosis of her infertility and then the fact that there was simply no time for personal dalliances, she hadn't bothered with one for years.
It was surreal now, sitting in the quiet confines of the database room, calculating which phase her reproductive cycle fell into. Being confronted with something as basic and primal as an unwanted pregnancy was entirely laughable in this age. Firmly, she forced herself to inhale deeply and calm down. She had no means to run tests on herself, and knowing the truth now wasn't going to help with the immediate situation.
So far, the experience of reading these files had involved taking hit after hit, without any chance for relief before the next one landed. The evolution of her feelings towards her father had come a long way over the course of three decades. Bewilderment turned childish resentment as a minor had transformed into disgust and self-righteous anger at what she considered his megalomaniacal tendencies in her adulthood. In recent years, that had changed further until she'd thought herself beyond his influence, but as Miranda was beginning to realise, it was simply short-term relief brought about by the onset of the Reaper war and alleviated by the value of her war-time contributions.
As long as that overwhelming question that coloured every thought she had on the matter—the question of "why?"—remained unanswered, she knew she would never be free of him. It was the same sense of bewilderment from her childhood, unchanged and unadulterated. And it shamed her to admit that the deepest of her insecurities had its roots so far back in her past, back to the time when earning a smile cast in her direction, a word of praise from the man she had obeyed and trusted without a second thought had meant the whole world to her.
Except now she'd finally acquired the key to explain every act and every decision he'd made, only to learn that her darkest fears had been true—that in her father's eyes, she was no more than a test subject with a number designation, that the gruelling tests he'd put her through was to showcase her genetic potential, the only thing he considered as valuable about her. Notions of kinship had no place in this, not when nothing was considered too sacrosanct to be modified, replaced and discarded as long as the gene complex propagated.
And riding hard behind that thought was another misgiving that clutched at Miranda's heart. She couldn't help but wonder if there were other aspects of her behaviour, more subtle parts related to biological reproduction, like her tendency to go for particular types of men that could've been programmed into her. Precise personality traits were considered the hardest things to achieve even with the current level of sophistication in gene manipulation. But again and again, her father had proven that he could circumvent what was generally deemed impossible.
There was no way to deny the insidious entrance of that suspicion—that perhaps she'd been programmed to fall for exactly the kind of man that Shepard was, a man of the rare calibre to affect entire planets, even the galaxy, with his actions. It was like a virus, an aggressive invader once taken hold, was near-impossible to eradicate. She gave a desperate puff of laughter as inevitably, that fateful talk with Shepard the night they'd patched up came to mind—when they'd shared their experiences of falling into a depression so absolute that every judgement was steeped in doubt.
At least that particular scenario wasn't complicated by the existential possibility that the mechanisms of her own consciousness wasn't even her own to begin with. And juxtaposed painfully against that sense of helplessness was the fact that it'd taken her and Shepard this long to arrive at where they were. Only to find themselves facing this...
The possibility of behavioural programming was so anathema that Miranda felt physically sick even thinking about it. All these years spent convincing herself that she was more than just the product of her father's selfish dreams to learn that he might have irrevocably poisoned all those efforts. That no matter what she'd done or intended to do, her past, present and future would always be locked into the cycle he dictated. She couldn't even imagine what to think or how to respond when she meet up with Shepard again. And if against all odds she were to find herself pregnant. Oh god...
Eyes unseeing, she seized the first thing she reached for and threw it with all her might. The box of optical disks shattered loudly as it impacted the wall, the reflective material of the discs rebounding against surfaces to break into smaller pieces until a pile of shards was all that was left.
"Why? God damn you, father, why!"
The deafening silence in the room following her outburst only seemed to mock her lack of answers. Inexpressibly tired, Miranda collapsed back onto the chair, elbows on the table, her face buried in between. Long minutes passed by as the cool surface of the table gradually sapped the heat from her cheeks. From a state of numbed retreat, her mind slowly came online again in grudging fits and starts.
If her father did introduce certain refined behavioural tendencies into her genetic makeup, there ought to be a file on it, she extrapolated slowly. All the damning evidence so far had come with irrefutable documentation; there was no reason to think that this one might be different.
Slowly, she lifted her head to stare at the screen. There was a page's worth of listings left. Her hand moved to take control of the screen cursor and then froze. What if there was a file, she thought dazedly. What would happen then?
She bit her lip so hard that she almost drew blood. Never had the urge to run away from knowledge been so strong. It was a heroic struggle, one that shook Miranda deeply with its unfamiliarity. She'd always hated uncertainty, had always needed to know everything. And for the first time in her life, it took every ounce of strength to hit that NEXT button.
Her finger jerked almost spasmodically and the list scrolled down as though it had a life of its own. A lifelong habit of reading what was before her kicked in, although her mind, playing catch-up, compelled rereads at many points. There was no knowing what to expect; the only certainty was her dread of the worst. It seemed to take forever to reach the end of the page, and there her eyes stayed. As the seconds ticked by, it finally struck her that none of the titles had anything remotely to do with behavioural modifications. Just to make sure, she made herself scan through the list again.
The part of her that'd been reacting through this whole series of events as though it was a bad dream felt a sudden flare of relief. But as a scientist, she knew very well the impossibility of proving beyond a doubt the absence of something. That was one of the biggest conundrums in research methodology. No, it was premature to feel relieved. She had to be absolutely sure and the only way to do that was to study files that looked like they could contain references to any kind of behavioural modifications. With a deep breath, she opened the first, titled "Projected Efficiency of mtDNA Modifications in Subjects carrying the N Gene-complex".
"….predicted an unacceptable number of rejects due to the complexity of the modifications done to the mtDNA of the ova donor. The original modifications were made to increase potential energy output of cells. Subsequent testing has revealed that the additional stress has resulted in premature cellular aging, a correction which would require further refinement of the repair mechanisms."
Miranda shook her head with a tired sigh. Why wasn't that surprising? It should've occurred to her father that changing one process would lead to another needing to be modified. Her academic curiosity piqued, she continued reading, wondering how he'd managed to resolve this particular issue.
"See attached my original predictions if the first successful prototype is used as an ova donor for subsequent clone generations. We had initially hesitated to recommend this course of action since the necessary harvesting of ova would need to be delayed until the prototype has reached puberty. However, Mr. Eldfell has ordered a hiatus on further development which has now made this option viable.
A total of two thousand healthy oocytes has since been harvested from subject DM3F-2150.9723!BT4-Miranda over the course of two years after reproductive functionality has been ascertained. These can be brought to maturation as needed. Given that the assessment of the subject's re-modified template put her in the top 1% of the predicted range over all improved functions including biotics, a mutation in the non-coding mtDNA near complex IV has been judged inconsequential…"
"…no further modifications can be made at this time without the subject expressing non-human characteristics. By order of Mr. Eldfell the next generation of clones will be created using subject "Miranda"'s ova. Research into further enhancements will continue."
The tentative kick-start her mental faculties experienced before she arrived at this point stalled and completely shut down. Her mind simply refused to combine the separate pieces of information into a whole. What little emotional coherency that she had painstakingly assembled over the course of the night's reading shredded and dissipated into thin air. Something like this shouldn't matter so much, but it did. And bit by bit as the conclusion sank in, she finally realised the devastating and irrevocable power of knowledge. With this, her relationship with Oriana, Cordelia and all who came after them would never be the same again...
-~o~-
"And now you know why I say that it's all too late," Cordelia's voice echoed as though coming from the depths of a tomb. "She's in every one of us, meshed so tightly that the only way I can be rid of her is to kill myself." A helpless laugh resounded here. "Maybe that's what I'll do when all this is over."
The rest of what was said was lost to Oriana.
It'd always been Miranda's conceit to address her as an identical twin, a younger sister. The barefaced truth was they were all clones of her. As far as the term 'unique' could be applied in relation to their genetic origins, Miranda was the original.
Aiken Eldfell's role in their conception could never be discounted. But towards the tail end of the project, he was down to shuffling pieces, and in many instances, altering and forcing often-conflicting traits into tandem through retroactive engineering until, akin to a miracle, a flawless transmutation that went far beyond the sum of all the parts took place. It was similar to how an artistic masterpiece had the ability to transcend its status as a creation, to be divorced from its author to exist independently in space and time.
Miranda was the canvas upon which that brutal and highly experimental exercise took place. And in the process, she was the one who gave all that came after her the substance of their being. If Eldfell was their creator, then Miranda would stand beside him as their progenitor, the twin icons of father and mother that formed the roots of the human psyche.
"Get up," Cordelia jostled her back to the land of the living with a grip on her arm. For the first time, Oriana finally understood and tasted for herself the reason for Cordelia's particular brand of nihilism.
"No more. This ends one way or another." Her youngest—no, her only sister continued roughly. "We're going to the tower now."