Here is the next chapter. I want to thank everyone for your reviews and your pms about the story. I am glad that everyone is enjoying themselves. I decided to play a little loose with the game's plot and add a few connections for future use. I'm sure that all you ME buffs like me out there will catch them. Anyway, please r&r and enjoy!
Claire sat at her desk as the Normandy headed toward the Yangtze System. She had found a message from Alliance Rear Admiral Kahoku saying that he had located a Cerberus cell that might have been responsible for the death of his men. They had not heard anything from the admiral for several days despite trying to get in touch with him. Thoughts of the worst possible outcomes had slithered into the back of Claire's mind as she finished up the report for the Tuntau mission. Tonn Actus would never harm anyone again.
The spectre sighed and leaned back in her chair stretching her neck and arms. It was almost time to make her rounds and check on everyone. She stood and started for the door, but Luke was right outside the door as soon as it was opened.
"We need to talk." Luke said stepping inside. Claire pursed her lips and watched her brother take a seat on her bed.
"Come right in." Claire answered leaning against the wall.
"I have a bad feeling about this mission. Yangtze is a remote system. The things that Cerberus could do out there and get away with are…well, let's just say that there could be some really bad crap." Claire smirked and sat down on the bed next to Luke.
"There is nothing they can throw at us that we can't handle. We've got the best team in the galaxy." Claire nudged her brother trying to give him some reassuring.
"Yeah, but…this is Cerberus." Luke rubbed his hands. "But there is something else…"
Claire raised an eyebrow. Luke was never this timid about anything. His eye set firmly on his knees and he massaged his fingers together.
"I found the captain of the ship that took me from Mindoir." Claire's eyes widened.
"What!? When? Tell me!" Claire springing to her feet. Luke wet his lips and still refused to look up. How was he going to explain this?
"Tonn Actus still did business with the bastard. His name is Kullack. The son of a bitch said that the guy has been living like a king running some prison in the Bahak system. Actus says that the guy has hundreds of slaves." Luke's looked up at his sister. "I could have been one of them... I… I was one."
Claire placed her hands on her brother's shoulder as tears started to flow. She did not realize Luke was still having trouble. He had not zoned out during a fight in a long time, but he was obviously still a ways off from being okay. "Hey, you escaped. You are safe."
"I don't care about myself. I'm a mess and I know it, but I left our people, the other colonists, on that ship. How many of them died for my disobedience? How many of them died from the abuse and the brutal life of a slave? I abandoned them Claire. Me. One of the few people in the galaxy that took back their freedom from the batarians. How could I do that to them? How could I leave them behind like that?"
"You were 16 Luke. You were a child. Now, you are an operative with a spectre and one of the best cops in the galaxy. Come on let's go kick some Cerberus ass." Claire said patting him on the back.
Luke faked a smile as best he could. He knew that Kullack was out of his reach. A prison commander deep in batarian space surrounded by slaves, soldiers, and mercenaries was beyond the skills of even the Normandy crew. Not to mention it could start a war if they went after him.
"Someday we'll get that bastard, but for now let's focus on Cerberus." Claire said as Luke got up.
"Yeah…I hear you. Just… I don't know… Promise me that you will help me with this after we get Saren." Claire smiled and nodded. "Alright, well…I'll be ready when you need me."
000
Luke stood over the corpses of the feral rachni in the middle of the holding chamber and knelt beside the human in the middle. Claire and Mallory had Ashley with them and they were securing the rest of the facility, while Kaidan and Tali ran a data mine on the Cerberus hard drives. Garrus and Wrex were at the entrance watching for any sign of Cerberus reinforcements. Liara stood next to him as Luke rolled the human corpse's arm so that he could see the flesh on the inside.
"These are needle marks. The rachni did not kill him." Luke said closing the admiral's eyes and folding the man's hands over his chest. "Rest in peace."
"By the goddess, how awful… he did not deserve this fate." Liara said bowing her head.
"He will be avenged." Luke said standing and making his way over to Kaidan and Tali.
"I knew Admiral Kahoku. He was a good man. Anyone that served under him loved the man." Kaidan cleared his throat. "I don't know what his wife and kids are going to do." Luke patted the lieutenant on the shoulder.
"Find the main Cerberus facility in this cluster and we'll be able to tell them that we got the bastards that did this to him." Luke said. Kaidan smirked. He and Luke may not have had too much time to get to know each other, but the former C-Sec officer's skills, humorous demeanor, and his sense of justice made him a rather likable member of the team. Kaidan did not see any point in the future where he and Luke would be friends but they could work together, and do it effectively.
"Got you, you little bosh'tet." Tali exclaimed. Luke knelt beside her and looked through the file that that she had found.
"Great work Tali. You're getting better at this." Luke said placing a hand on her shoulder.
"That snooper program that we wrote does most of the work. I can't take all the credit." Luke stood and copied the data to his own omni-tool.
"Claire, Tali and Kaidan found the main facility. It is in the Columbia System. Joker could have us there in a few hours."
"Signal the Alliance. Have them retrieve the body. Everyone head back to the Normandy. Luke, meet Mallory and I down on the third level. There is something you need to see."
Luke looked over at Liara and Tali then over to Kaidan. "Why does it seem like I'm in trouble?" Luke asked. Liara covered her mouth as a quiet laugh escaped her. Tali shrugged as Kaidan rolled his eyes.
000
Luke stood in the middle of the room silent. He could not quite process what he was seeing. Massive vats of clear blue liquid bubbled all around him with massive bold letters on the glass.
"We weren't sure what this was until we found this." Mallory said pulling up a file. Luke stepped to her side and saw a picture of him when he was 16."Subject Alpha. The first human subject of the Lazarus project. Name classified. Age 16. Discovered-"
"I know the story and my file, Mal. This must be the project detail file on me, meaning that these vats are the J-11 serum." Luke checked the cooling units and found hundreds of small vials of the serum. He quickly closed the doors.
"These notes say that the serum is being used by Cerberus to help commandos that got wounded. The side effects are minor except for biotics. It can quadruple their power because of its sensitivity to eezo." Mallory read. Luke looked around the room.
"If they are using this for their commando's and boosting their biotic abilities, we need to destroy every cash we can find." Luke said pulling his pistol and aiming at one of the vats.
"Luke, wait. This could be a major win for the Alliance. Imagine if our biotics had the serum to use like medigel. They would be able to hold barriers and launch biotic artillery strikes. It would be an incredible advantage for the Alliance military." Claire placed a hand on Mallory's shoulder to silence her. The look on Luke's face told them both exactly what was going through his mind.
"Luke, what would be the harm? If it would give our soldiers a leg up in the battle, why not use it?" Claire asked. Luke turned to look at his sisters and swallowed the lump in his throat.
"You don't know the worst part about all this… There is a reason that I stayed with the study for a while." Luke wrung his hands and eyes the blue bubbling liquid around him.
"Why?" Claire asked taking a cautious step forward.
"J-11 is um… you have never had it in your veins. The way it makes you feel… it just… it is like…" Mallory cocked her head to the side at her brother. What was he trying to say?
"Luke, whatever it is we won't think any less of you." Claire assured him.
Luke cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his hair. "The J-11 serum is addictive. Even more than red sand." Luke's eyes fell to the floor. "They had me to the point where I was begging for another hit of the serum." He could see the concern in his sisters' faces as he told them his reasons. He had to get out of that room. For thirteen years he had been clean of any kind of drugs, but this room was a temptation that nagged at him relentlessly.
"That's why you want it destroyed…you want the temptation gone." Claire said. Mallory crossed her arms.
"I doubt that everyone gets addicted to this stuff." Luke's eyes ripped up from the floor and zeroed in on Mallory like a sniper.
"Why don't you take a shot of it and we'll see how you fair?" Luke snapped.
"How many shots did you take before you were addicted?" Mallory hissed back.
"One." The answer was immediate and so sharp that Claire actually took a step back.
"You are such a drama queen." Mallory snarled. Luke's lip curled as he whipped around and flung open the cooler door pulling one of the vials out and holding it up.
"This one does is enough to make me more powerful bioticly than any human in the galaxy for about three hours, but it is also enough to hook you for life. Do you realized just how tempted I am to shoot up with this right here and now?" Claire was across the room in half a second and holding her brother close.
"Drop the syringe, Luke. Please. For me." She said softly. Luke's lips quivered as he allowed the syringe to fall from his grasp.
"It took two years for me to get over the withdrawals from J-11. I have not touched any kind of drug in 13 years. I'm not about to start now." Luke's entire body was shaking. Everything was pouring back. Mindoir, his escape, the experiments, the drug haze, and his first few years in the tech shop where he rode out the shakes, fever, and night sweats that came with the withdrawals.
"Oh geez, it can't be that bad." Mallory said leaning down to pick up the syringe. Luke suddenly reached back behind his neck and in less than half a second. A biotic field sprung up around the syringe blocking it from Mallory's hand. He fingers jammed into the surface and nearly knocked her off her feet.
"Luke did you just…" Claire asked turning to look at the field. Mallory had regained her balance and was running forward. Luke held out his hand and Mallory started to float surrounded by blue energy.
"Throw out some biotics…yeah." Luke said continuing to hold Mallory in midair.
"I thought all you could do was form a force field around your hand." Mallory squealed trying to reach the ground again.
"Use to…But I got an amp. If I have it on, I can do…well, quite a bit. Off, I'm just normal." Luke said taking a few steps forward and crushing the syringe with his boot.
"Works for me." Claire said smiling up at her sister. "Comfy?"
"Put me down!" Mallory snapped.
"As you wish." Luke replied dropping her. Mallory stumbled as she landed. "I don't care if you want to take a sample to the Alliance to find a way to counter act the effects, but do not suggest its use. Please, I'm begging you to believe me on this one. It would be better if it was all destroyed."
Claire looked over at Mallory who was fuming. There was no way that she was going to make a cool headed decision. Claire would have to do it herself.
"Destroy it all without damaging the facility. Luke, that is your job. Mallory, head back up and collect the rest of the team and head topside. Bag the admiral's body for transport to whatever Alliance team is coming to recover the body."
"But Claire-" Mallory started but Claire silenced her with a look that Luke only saw when Claire was disciplining a member of the crew.
"This is a drug business that needs to be destroyed. Head out Mal. We'll see you topside." Claire spoke with a harshness that Luke had never heard directed toward their sister.
"Yes commander." Mallory turned on her heal and started out of the maintenance entrance. Luke watched Mallory go and sighed. She did not understand. She would never understand.