Chapter 29

The docking ramp brought him out into the loading bay's terminal. He needed to reset the cameras. He'd started the vid loop from a control panel in a warehouse off the loading bay. This time of night, it was a private enough access point to hack into the local surveillance feeds.

He overrode the warehouse's sliding doors and slipped inside. The energy saving lights cast an eerie greenish tint to looming stacks of shipping crates as Kaidan crossed a wide clearing by the door. He skirted the shadows of overhead cranes loaded with shipping freight. His boots echoed across one of the floor vent panels, and he smiled. If his friends had managed to slink through the vent work to these warehouses, who knows what they would have found. This much tall, open space probably stored station supplies and rations. Pilfering the warehouse would have earned some bad memories once they were found out, and they were always found out. Fortunate, they never found their way through the ductwork here then.

He wove through the stacked shipping containers finding an alleyway to the back. The control panel's cover was still laying on the floor where he'd left it an hour earlier. He dropped to his knees next to the panel and turned on his Omni-Tool.

A light scrapping sound made Kaidan snap his head around. He clicked off the bright screen on his Omni-Tool. Nothing moved in the shadowy gaps between the towering rows of shipping containers. He bent his head and listened - only the distant hum of the station's life support system and the low overhead buzz of electric lights, maybe a vague creaking of weight shifting and settling above in the crane's suspension ropes.

He took his hand off his pistol and clicked his Omni-Tool screen back on. He glanced around once more then stooped his head to see into the panel. The vid's feed needed the wires tied back together first. He reached in. Hair lifted on the back of his neck. The air tingled. He jerked back. A burst of blue energy flashed across the control panel. Kaidan reeled back and kicked to his feet. Another burst of energy caught him halfway up. His skin exploded in a storm of needles and fire. Blinded, he hit the wall, breath slamming out of him.

He gasped raising a shaky hand. Blue light fanned out from his fingers like a bubble. He stumbled away from the wall quivering as a blue glowed across his skin. Sharp bursts slammed into the bubbled shield with burning sparks. Kaidan stumbled back. The booms echoing through the bay.

He dodged to the side at the cover of a metal freight container. The electric shield dropped from his hand as his barrier rippled over his skin. Something sharp ricocheted off barrier on his leg. His ears boomed. He pulled tighter around the corner of the shipping crate. Metal flecks sprayed into the air by his shoulder as he pressed tight against the crate. He tore his pistol from his pelt and stepped closer to the edge. The shots stopped. Kaidan spun around the crate holding the pistol out with both hands. Nothing.

His muscles tightened, chest heaving as he twisted around with his gun keeping his back to the row of crates. There was an armed biotic somewhere. The air rippled in the corner of his vision. He spun and fired. Bullets ricocheted off a ripple in air, and the clear air forming into a glowing blue figure.

Kaidan dodged a flash of light. His Omni-Tool flashed as he lashed out with a snapping hiss of electrical current. The figure staggered as its blue field shivered. Kaidan motioned with his other hand and the figure flashed. The Reave made Kaidan's barrier glowed brighter as he fired his pistol over and over.

The figure sprinted to the edge of a crate, barrier dimming but still present. The pistol's bullets ricocheted off the blue veil. Kaidan tore after the biotic raising his Omni-Tool hand again. The air misted with frost, and the figure stumbled. Its dim barrier iced over turning white before shattering as the biotic burst free. The figure slipped around the corner, Kaidan on the heels. Kaidan snared the edge of the crate and swung himself around the corner. The figure was gone again. Kaidan fired down the dark row of crates and threw an Overload field from his Omni-Tool. They hit nothing.

Kaidan panted. His vision swam with flashes of lights that he knew weren't really there. He staggered against the crate grasping for a handhold to keep himself upright. The start of biotic fatigue. He shouldn't have Reaved. Between that, maintaining his barrier, and the state he was already in - he was pushing it too far.

Light flashed behind him. Kaidan twisted as a glowing sphere slammed into his chest. He clawed at the crate as he stumbled back a step. The sphere seared his vision, sucking and swirling the air into its center unbalancing him. His feet slipped on the floor losing traction. He clenched his teeth, broken jaw shooting with pain, and clamped down on his breath. His barrier flared brighter. Feeling a little give, he scrambled to gain footing and tug back against the singularity's vacuum. Almost free.

The air waivered beside him. Kaidan ducked. Metal flakes and sparks spraying from the crate overhead. Kaidan's Omni-Tool flared. He twisted his wrist up, but his footing slipped. He tumbled back into the gravitational field. An Omni-blade flashed past him. A sharp pain skimmed his forearm as he swept backward into the sphere.

Kaidan's boot lifted, toes dragging across the floor. The blue figure's Omni-blade glowed red as the figure stepping closer. Kaidan clenched his face, lungs burning and he strained his barrier. His barrier flared and burst in an explosion of light. The figure flew backward and slammed onto the floor. The singularity sphere winked out. Kaidan's feet clattered to the floor, and he stumbled forward catching his footing. He raised his pistol and fired. The biotic rolled to the side raising an arm. A blue shield blossomed out from its hand. Bullets deflected across its diming surface as Kaidan moved forward firing his pistol.

The figure lifted a pistol above the shield and fired across the top of it. Kaidan ducked, and the bullet grazed through the hair on his head. His barrier was down. He'd forgotten. He dodged between two crates as bullets sprayed the floor along his path. Covered behind the crate, he held a shaky hand out in front of his face. He wasn't going to be able to shoot straight soon. His frown deepened as he stared at his hand. Blue flickered on his skin, but in a bright burst, went out. He breath caught as an electric shiver made his head swim.

The bullets cut off. Something scuffling across the metal floor. The biotic was getting up. Kaidan twisted to face the face the crate's corner. Movement stir to the side down the corridor of crates. His clip had to be nearly spent. He backed up slowly, eyes fixed on the corridor, and reached for another clip. Gone. He must have dropped his spare clip in the shuffle. A chill settled over him as he grasped the gun with white knuckles. No footsteps approached, but this biotic was quiet. The biotic could be invisibly cloaked again.

Kaidan's vision unfocused head feeling light. He stumbled catching himself against the crate before he fell. He blinked and raised his arm again holding the gun out. He could pass out right here. He'd been to this point before. If his nose wasn't already bleeding from the hit, it would be bleeding again now. His feet stumbled. He couldn't sense the biotic anywhere.

Kaidan spun around. The row of crates behind him lead back to the wall. There were gaps between the crates along the row, but otherwise it was a clear shot. Kaidan glanced back to where he'd left his attacker around the corner in the other corridor. The air didn't ripple or move, even holding his breath, it was still and silent in the bay.

He glanced back down the row of crates at the wall and lowered his gun. He shot forward toward the wall eyeing the gaps on either side as he sprinted ahead. He skid up against the wall and darted to the side behind the cover of a crate. He pressed his back against the wall and looked to each side. If skimmed along the wall to the warehouse's corner it would provide more shelter, but then again, there was a reason no one wanted to be "cornered." It was better here, wall to his back, crate in front, two open sides. One way for escape. He could pick his way along the wall, crate to crate, and get to the door. His would-be killer was probably be waiting by the door anyway. One way in, one way out. Ironic he'd cut off the surveillance footage of his own murder.

He seemed to have some time, he glanced to either side and punched up his Omni-Tool keeping the gun in hand. Dizziness overcame him for a moment as the screen lit up. Breathing fast, he blinked grounding himself against eh wall and pressed up his contact list. His Omni-Tool lit up buzzing. Miranda was calling him. Kaidan frowned and reached for the comm button.

An explosion of blue light flashed in front of him. Kaidan snapped his head up already scrambling to the side. The crate in front of him glowed as it smashed into him. The crate forced him closer to the wall as his palms strained against it. Dark energy flared over his skin as he turned his head, teeth clenched, grunting, and aching as he struggled to push it back. The crate scraped across the floor forcing itself deeper against his palms and tightening against him. He stared out down the wall. He wasn't close enough to the edge to slip out. The crate pressed into his chest. He clenched all the air he could hold, straining forward, light blazing across his skin, holding it, and trembling. His vision blacked out then faded back in with a distorted flicker. His lungs couldn't expand. He gasped for air. If he blacked out even an instant.

"Alenko?" a female voice boomed through the warehouse.

The crate's blue light flashed away. If faded away in a mist. Kaidan grunted, sucking at air, and scraped the crate back enough on one side to spill out arms wheeled, coughing, and shaking. He lurched down a row of crate gripping his gun, stumbling, and unsteady. Each panting breath felt like breathing glass.

"Spectre Alenko?"

The voice was distant but closer. She must hear him. The open space in front of the door was just ahead. Kaidan staggered forward, straining to pick up his feet, desperate to catch his breath. His chest felt caved in. Whoever it was calling for him though was in trouble.

"Who's here?" the voice asked.

Footsteps moved across the metal floor in the open space ahead. Kaidan was almost there. It was a female voice. Kaidan stumbled to a stop at the edge of the crates. It wasn't Liara. Thank God. Or Miranda. The figure spun around to face him and glowered. A turien. Ursul.

"Alenko! It is you."

A gunshot exploded echoing around the bay, and she sprawled forward hitting the floor face first. Blood fanned out in front of her, and Kaidan lunged forward. Ursul lifted her head up, wide eyed, blue blood pouring from her mouth.

The biotic stepped out into the open on the other side of the clearing. The glowing figure put its back to the warehouse doors. The biotic rushed at them. Kaidan raised his pistol. The figure made a swiping motion, and the gun tore out of Kaidan's shaky hand. It skipped across the floor and slid under a crate. Kaidan stood over Ursul. She sputtered trying to push herself upright, but her palms slipped in the blood.

The blue figure leveled a gun as it drew closer. Kaidan squinted at the figure through the thin veil of its barrier. An asari, vaguely familiar, from the Balmoral. It was the surgeon. She squeezed her pistol trigger. Kaidan's batted it away with a flash of light. Metal pinging off the burst of shielding. He swayed straining to focus as his vision floated with bright spots.

He needed to get her barrier down. He couldn't use his biotics or pistol to any real effect unless it dropped. She was getting close enough for tech though. The Omni-Tool heated his skin, muscles tightening, as his hand balled into a fist watching each approaching step. She stopped short. His breath escaped with a frown. She knew not to get too close then. She raised her pistol and fired. He flicked it away with a shield burst. Eventually, he wouldn't time it right. Ursul raised herself on one palm and pawed the pistol she'd dropped. The asari's eyes flashed down to Ursul at his feet.

The distraction was enough, he leaped forward raising his Omni-Tool. The asari stumbling backward and firing, but he batted it away. The charge from his Omni-Tool burst into her barrier making it waver. Gun in one hand, she flung her open hand at him burst of light. He braced as the Throw hit him. He flew back and slammed to the floor dazed. The Throw would have broken his shield anyway. Dodge? Pretty sure she was hoping that with her gun. He sat up. Ursul's blood slipped under him. Ursul wavered on her knees a few meters to his side and raised her gun. She fired.

It pinged off the asari's barrier, and she fired back. Kaidan flashed out a sputtering shield. The bullet pierced through and dug into the floor next to leg. She was too far to manipulate her with the tech on his Omni-Tool. Ursul returned fire. The shots hit the floor at asari's feet as she dodged.

The asari's pistol clicked, and she paused. Her eyes flickered above Ursul, shots flashing off her barrier. Her lips cursed up, and she threw out her hand. Blue energy flashed overhead. Metal shrieked and ripped above.

"Ursul!" he garbled, broken-jawed.

He reached his hand out to her, but her eyes turned up to the crane. A shadow narrowed over her. Her eyes wide and wild met his. Blue burst from his outstretched hand. She flew backward. The freight container smashed into the floor with an explosion of air and dust. The floor lurched under him as his head slammed to the floor. His arm erupted in pain sucking the air out of his lungs with a gasp. The pain splintered up his arm into his chest. It was pinned under the cargo container. The pain was probably the only thing keeping him from passing out. He couldn't see. The world blurred around him with a floaty feeling. Kaidan focused on the pain letting himself feel as his eyes watered.

Footsteps approached. With his Omni-Tool … wait. It was on his right arm crushed and pinned. The asari must be safe to near them. Ursul must not have her gun. Maybe he hadn't flung her far enough away. He hissed through his teeth with the pain. The footsteps stopped. Kaidan rolled his head to see her. She went in and out of focus as she dropped her eyes to him. She raised her pistol. He drew a sharp breath. Click. She'd forgotten to change the clip.

She released a long exhale and with quivering fingers dug around in the belt at her waist. Her shoulder hunched with heavy, shaky breaths. Kaidan's vision lightened and darkened. Focus on the pain. He turned his cheek against the cool metal floor and blinked slowly waiting. Something focused in his vision. He squinted. Ursul's gun lay just above his head but out of reach. He twisted to see the asari again.

The spent clip rattled to the floor at her feet. It was a familiar hollow sound. Kaidan lifted his head. She was standing on a vent panel in the floor. Her barrier flickered dimly, chest billowing, as she turned the pistol over in her hand. Kaidan drew a sharp breath. Focus on the pain, stay awake. The asari snapped a new clip in.

Kaidan reached out his left hand to her. Breath slow. Concentrate. This is where he had learned it. He clenched his breath, sweat and pain blurring his eyes. She raised the gun finger on the trigger. There! A blue flash. Metal squealed and ripped. Her gun tipped upward as she fired with the vent panel caving in under her. The bullet hit the cargo container by his head as he hand extended up. Her arms spread out catching her upper body over the hole. Enough – that brief drop in concentration, exhausted, guard down low. Kaidan fired.

It struck. Blue faded off the gun in his hand as she tumbled back against the edge of the vent standing waist deep. Her barrier flashed over her skin again. Her face raised with a fierce glare drawing her lips back from red teeth. Blood dripped down the corners of her mouth. She stumbled forward resting her arms on the floor and looked down the pistol at him. Kaidan unloaded his gun. The bullets skid off her barrier driving her backward. Kaidan's gun clicked, spent. The asari woozily lifted her pistol again and locked eyes with him. The shot missed. She sank down, clawing weakly at the flooring, try to aim her gun again, but she wasn't getting up again. She sank with a thunk out of sight.

Kaidan thumped his head back on the floor. The room spun around him. He let the pain fade over him and drop away. Blackness at last.