Chapter 10: Search and Destroy
Spirits it was cold.
The longer they walked, the colder it got. Tali and Adams huddled close to him as the three slowly made their way through the white blankets of snow around them. It felt like they had been walking for days even though it had only been a few hours. His armor was working overtime and for the first time he was thankful that it had the recharge solar panel situated along the ridges of its top. It had been a mod that Alenko had suggested just a few months back.
'Just in case.'
He frowned at the memory.
He was trying desperately not to think about anything other than the next footfall. As it was, each step was dangerous. Twice now he had almost fallen into hidden chasms below them. His weight working against him as they made their way over the large abyss of caverns below. Adams had pulled him back and shoved him out the way once, Tali the second time.
After the second time Garrus had started to walk a bit away from them. They were lighter, gentler with their footing and didn't want to be the reason the ground cracked and broke beneath them. He didn't want to see them get hurt.
But as the minutes turned to hours, the threat of falling through ice shifted more worrisome into the threat of freezing to death. He was fairing better than the others. His body steamed the air around him. Turians were naturally hot blooded, in truth they had a body temperature that would kill humans and the Quarian alike. The metals in their skin were perfect for friction and they creating a slow plume of heat as he walked. His two companions had started to gravitate towards him instinctively.
He knew that Tali's suit would hold. The Quarians were prepared to live against a wide range of environments. He worried more about Adams. His suit had been an emergency suit stashed in a compartment. Nothing about it seemed upgraded or modded. "You okay over there, Adams?"
The human didn't answer, but he gave him a thumbs up. His arms crossed against his chest as he did so. The pain in his broken limbs seemed to be numbed out by the blistering cold that scraped deep into bones and muscle. Garrus frowned and looked to Tali, his talons coming out to graze her and she looked to him. He nudged his head towards Adams, and she followed his gaze, slowing her pace to switch spots with the human, bringing him to walk in between the two aliens. If Adams noticed the change in formation, he didn't say anything. Garrus shifted closer, hoping that any heat he was giving off could help. Even a little.
After two hours, they had come upon the first pod.
It sat half buried under a large ice column that had collapsed against the door. Tali took off towards it and scrambled up the rocks and shards of ice, he worried about the sharpness and the damage it could do to her suit, but watching her agile form slip around and up and over the dangerous environment was something beautiful.
She banged on the door and Garrus sped up to meet with her.
Again, she banged on the door, dusting snow off the windows and peering inside.
"I can't see anything!" she told him as he came to stand on the lower ground, "I'm going to open it! How…how do I…." her glowing gaze shifted down to him and then over to Adams.
"The code is on the door, Tali, right…" his entire body shuddered against the cold. "Right under the window…it should be in orange."
"Got it," she nodded and typed in the code.
The door screamed. That was the only way he could describe the sound of frozen metal being forced to scrape against the ice that had collected. It was slow moving, relaxing into its open position lazily and she turned on the flashlight of her omnitool.
"Its empty!" She called back and her voice seemed sad.
"Is there anything inside?" Garrus called up to her.
"Just the same stuff we had in …oh wait!" He watched the Quarian lean into the pod, bracing the bend of her hips against the door's ledge as she reached in and grabbed something. "Its an enviro-suit!" She held it up and the stark Alliance issued suit came to focus. The navy coloring dark against the bright background around them.
No way. His eyes widened.
Tali looked at it and frowned. "Why would they take it off?"
"Is it damaged?"
Tali didn't have the answer to that. "Help Adams inside, I'll fix it if it is."
Good idea, he thought. He helped Adams forward. Damn near lifting the man up the rocks and through the ice that had begun hugging the pod, he waited patiently as he sat on the edge of the door and Garrus almost physically lowered him down into the cabin. When he followed the other two into the escape pod, he closed the door.
The cold was still in their bones, but the shield from the brutal wind was instantly appreciated. He looked to the engineer as he sat down slowly, his body protesting the movement. Garrus moved closer to Tali and sat down beside her, though she was still standing looking over the suit.
"I…" she paused, "No, let me…" she was talking to herself, and he felt himself wanting to sleep. He was so tired. So ready to just….
"There's nothing wrong with it!" She called out and turned to them. "I think someone left it on purpose -I don't know why anyone would do that."
Adams looked up and frowned deep. The only logical reason coming to the other two occupants in the pod. The user had died. Or was dying and didn't want to selfishly claim a piece of life saving equipment. It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that they had been injured on the Normandy and the long journey down to the planet surface and cemented the inevitable. Had it been Garrus, he would have given his suit to someone else who needed it. He frowned and wondered if the person had been in here alone.
So many questions.
No one to answer.
"Come on," he reached out for the suit and motioned for Adams to stand. "We need to get you in this."
Adams recoiled and eyed the suit. He brought horrified eyes up to meet Garrus' gaze and the Turian sighed at the apprehension he found there. He understood. Putting on a dead man's gear was…. he frowned…."Adams," he took a small step to him, reaching out to place a large hand on the man's shoulder. "We need you to put this on, we need to get rally to 5."
Again, the engineer looked to the suit and finally he gave a stiff nod.
The spirits, though not kind, were not cruel today.
It took a bit of coaxing and a lot of painful grunts of the engineer to get him from the temporary suit into the much more sophisticated and developed enviro-suit. When Tali handed him the helmet from her side of the cabin, he helped Adam's put it on his head and click it into place. He could see the relief flood over the man's face followed immediately by guilt. The turian reached out and gave his shoulder a hard hit, jarring the man inside and he said forcibly, "Not now, Adams. Later."
The next pod…
Had not been empty.
They found it burning.
The black smoke was now white it had been burning so long. The metal was melted, and the frame was bending. Garrus didn't want to look at it. The angry number 2 was still intact, screaming its identity against the oranges and blacks and soot. The comm message they had heard earlier coming in like a branding against their minds. "Pod 2 – it's hot – it's too hot!"
The Turian gulped against the strange range of emotions that seemed to be playing tug of war within him. All of them pulling and relenting again and again until he was just standing their plagued by them.
"Come on," Tali softly echoed Garrus' words, reaching out to grab Adam's hand. She didn't let go. And neither did he. The two of them leading the way as Garrus followed.
Forty-five minutes afterwards, they came across a miracle. That's what it had to be. Tali rounded the corner and squeaked a "Keelah," before she looked back to him. He sped up to round the obstruction to see what she was seeing. Garrus looked up and out onto the scene before him and a surge of absolute relief found him. Close to thirty people were standing next to a loud number 5. The escape pod seemed bigger than the others they had found, and he now understood why they would rally to it. It was nearly triple the size, though not in width – in length. Where was this one located? He wondered as his eyes moved to the people. All huddled around a smoking pit that had been what they had started to follow when Tali's omnitool had become frozen. His blue-gray eyes scanned the people. Though they all wore similar emergency suits, a few wore armor.
It was Liara's armor his eyes landed on, "Liara!"
He watched as the asari's chin lifted and her head sprang up, her body standing in tandem as she searched for his voice. When her hooded gaze turned in their direction he laughed outright as he felt his feet move forward, full out running towards her. She was running to him, small arms pumping, little legs a blur against the white around them. Liara's armor banged harshly into his as she hugged his midsection and his arms wrapped around her shoulders.
"Garrus!" He heard her emotional cry through her helmet's filters. "I thought…I kept thinking…"
He stroked her helmet as if it were the top of her head and he laid his forehead sideways against it. He wanted to soothe her, to tell her he was alright, but he couldn't find the words. He released her, grabbing her shoulders in both hands and pushed her forward, finding the brilliant blue of her eyes. "Its good to see you too, Liara."
She chuckled and nodded before she reached out and took Tali's hand. Garrus blinked, he hadn't even noticed her walk up to them and he smiled softly when the two women hugged just as hard. They whispered to each other, words he was not able to hear, but understood all the same.
Garrus looked over towards the group of people moving towards them now with the two women and Adam's in tow. He grabbed Doctor Chakwas outstretched hand and squeezed. Her calm still there. Her bright gray eyes behind the glass of her helmet grateful to be seeing him. There were others, most he recognized from being on the lower levels of the ship. He frowned and looked around, desperate that some of the armored people were someone else.
"Where's Kaidan?" He asked Chakwas.
"I don't know…" she would answer him softly. Liara and Tali settled in around them.
"The last pod landed over there," Liara lifted her arm and pointed. "We've been sending teams out to help the crew, a lot of us…wouldn't have made it without Kaidan coming to get us."
Garrus heard the gratitude in her tone. He nodded.
The last pod.
The last pod.
He knew what that meant.
"I'm going after him," he squared his shoulders.
"Garrus," Tali gasped, "We haven't been able to sit for hours…"
"No," he told her, "Did he go it alone or did he take help?"
"He took two of the recruits we picked up last month," Chakwas answered.
"Alright," he looked around them and down into the fire pit. "Keep close, Adams…"
"Yes?" the man said and stood to his left.
"Make sure that distress beacon is working properly. Make sure these people take turns by the fire and NO ONE eats the rations until we get back with the rest of our people." He told him, a dangerous undertone coming from his subvocals.
"Yes sir," he almost saluted, but didn't. Instead, the engineer immediately limped towards the pod and disappeared inside to start working on the comm links. He looked to Tali and sighed.
"Tali, I need you to help Adams."
"No, Garrus," her thick accent followed the words, "If you go – I go."
"Tali," he reached out to her, "No one can get comms up like you can, you know more than just human comms. We need more than one channel open if we want to get off this planet."
He could see her eyes blink behind the purple glass and she sighed heavily, bringing her hand up to grab at the front of his armor, bringing him roughly forward. A memory of their first encounter on the elevator of the Normandy flashed behind his eyes before he focused back onto her, "You get back here alive, Vakarian, or so help me…"
He let out an airy chuckle that didn't quite feel real, "I know, you'll kick my ass."
She shoved him away, "You better believe it."
And then she turned and disappeared into the pod as well. He looked to Liara. Her entire body seemed to be vibrating. It wasn't the cold. It wasn't fear. Turian's could smell fear. Liara was not afraid. When she took a small step to him, he nodded his acceptance, and she straightened her back slightly as the two of them turned away from the Normandy's crew.
Garrus was thankful that she had wanted to go. He needed someone who knew which way the Lieutenant had gone and having her with him meant he had biotics on his side. They had been lucky thus far. Pft. Lucky. He shook his head as the two followed fading footsteps. They disappeared at times, and he wondered how Kaidan had gotten from one place to another without leaving any traces behind. Perhaps it was just the wind covering his tracks. He didn't know. He was having a hard time putting any reasoning behind his thoughts.
Just one foot in front of the other.
One more step.
Their destination was something terrifying. Neither he nor Liara wanted to talk about what they were walking towards. He had hope sitting against his chest. A shield against the onslaught of 'what ifs'. So many people had been found already. Not enough. Not enough people. The Normandy had a crew of over sixty strong.
"How many pods have reported in?" He would ask her.
"So far out of the ten contructed, we've found seven," she looked his way. "We were going to begin working our way in the direction you came from when Kaidan returned."
Garrus sighed. "It was just us in ours," he would tell her, "We found an empty one and we found…." He swallowed, "Pod 2 didn't make it."
She nodded at that, "We figured as much."
"Were you and Kaidan in the same pod?"
"No," she would tell him. "Kaidan was with a group from the CIC bridge. I was in 5 with Chakwas, it was half of the med bay."
Garrus looked at her, "Half of the med bay?"
"The room I was in," Liara would explain, "And half of the med bay broke off and closed itself. I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen anything like the Doctor either. Garrus," her voice dropped to a whisper, "She fit twelve people in that pod before closing its door. The ship was on fire around us. But she just kept darting out and grabbing people. I…"
He didn't speak.
"I helped buckle them in, so many were unconscious, I don't know how she got them in there."
Garrus thought about Tali then and offered it to Liara, "Tali had Adams on her shoulders and was damn near floating the both of them to the pod down in the Cargo Bay. We were sparring and then we were airborne. Every single person in that room became debris. If she hadn't been down there, no one would have made it out."
And he believed that. He had been so close to being one of the ones they hadn't found yet. He decided not to say that to the asari just yet. It didn't feel right. He frowned.
"By the Goddess," Liara breathed. "I am glad she was there."
He nodded.
He felt her gaze on him and he looked towards her, "Did she win?"
Garrus grinned and felt a mandible click, "She always does."
Her soft laugh fluttered into the cold around them.
They didn't talk much after that. It felt too normal. Too gentle. As if they weren't stranded on an iced planet searching for the people that mattered the most to them. As if the Normandy wasn't bits and pieces of falling stars littering the atmosphere above them. Leaving them to go settle somewhere in this empty world. All alone.
No, it would have been disrespectful to hold any kind of conversation as their legs burned against the continued exertion. His entire body felt each pull of muscle like nails underfoot. It ached in places that had never ached before. Plates hard to move against their instinctual design to close in and cover the more vulnerable parts of him. He felt the exhaustion creep along his spine and up into his mind, hovering at the base of it. It was one foot in front of the other. One shift in snow, one more climbed rock and cornered ben.
It hadn't been more than twelve hours since he and Tali were joking in his room. Not even a full day since he had relaxed in the mess hall eating one of his favorite dextro meals while XO Pressley told him and Liara a story about Anderson being piss out drunk before a mission on some world Garrus couldn't remember. It had been so out of character for the man, he had made a mental note to ask him about it.
Her laughter came first.
It sprang into his mind, and he lifted his chin, eyes wide to look around him.
Again, he heard it and he looked to Liara to see her eyes focusing on each step she took.
Garrus paused midstride as he heard it again and his hand came up to rest on the side of his helmet.
Red hair against pale skin.
He blinked at the vision.
A gentle smile, a pause, before her lips curled around his name, "Garrus."
He felt the world beneath him shift and he spun around, following her voice as it passed him in the wind.
"Garrus," a soft whisper. "Garrus?" He blinked and looked to the left to see Liara looking at him with concern. "Garrus are…are you alright?"
The Turian gulped, looking around him and strained to hear more. Something more. Anything more. "I thought I heard…" he shook his head and turned back towards her. He couldn't say it. She tilted her head and stepped towards him, waiting for him to meet back at her side before angling and continuing to walk in the original direction.
Garrus didn't know what that was. He had heard her. Felt her brush against him. Maybe something was wrong. Maybe he had a concussion. The way this day had gone he was sure he had something somewhere broken or bruised where adrenaline and shock held tight and guarded. He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
"There it is!" Liara said suddenly and he followed her gaze to the far right.
"Hurry," he would say to her and the two of them took off running towards the downed pod. He felt weighted with each stride of long limb. As if something was pushing him back. Telling him not to go any further. He fought against it, almost physically. And then all of a sudden he realized that it truly was a fight.
He snarled against the hum that found him. It didn't hurt, but it was warm and thick and unyielding. "What the…"
Liara stopped struggling before he did. Her blue eyes shifting along the glimmering blue before them. She reached out a hand and it laid flat against the almost see-through barrier. Garrus stopped struggling finally and looked at her hand before reaching up to press his own taloned one against the shimmering wall.
He recognized the energy.
"Kaidan," he whispered against it. He shoved his hand hard. Bringing a fist to the biotic field that kept them out. "Kaidan," he repeated. Desperate. No. No. He already knew. Didn't he. He tasted the pain. He felt it against his hands. It ripped into his chest and tangled with his heart. "KAIDAN!" He called out, snarling the name and Liara's voice joined in.
"Kaidan, please!" so calm, so airy.
The barrier grew thicker, he had to struggle against it as it grew wider around the pod. His shoulder against it as Liara placed both of her hands up. Their feet skidded backwards over the icy ground. He pushed back hard, but there was no use. Nothing to steel himself on.
The barrier shuddered and shimmied and it finally stopped its assault. His gaze lifted, first looking to Liara and then towards the pod. Kaidan stood just outside the entrance now.
His helmet was off and fear gripped Garrus just as worry danced along side of it. A rhythmic pounding of fear and desperation pulled at his cowl and he keened outward, slow and long and painful against the rumbling of his chest. His mandibles flared, his brow plates shifting against the helmet as his eyes widened and he watched the human in front of him.
He just stood there. His body glowing brilliant blue. As if he were from some mystical world. Brown eyes looking at them, mouth curved down. All around him his biotics flickered and reached outward in little webs of lightening.
"Kaidan," he heard himself say and the man looked towards him. His brows pulling together. "Let me in, Kaidan."
The wall separating them shimmered and pulsed as the biotic stepped closer. He didn't look like he was even walking, almost floating. Garrus couldn't look away as he came closer to the two standing there. His gaze dropping to the ground.
"Alenko!" Liara barked at him. Her voice strong and foreign and commanding.
The man's head jerked up. Pupils wide and mouth opening before snapping shut and immediately the barrier fell and he staggered forward. Garrus' arms reached out to catch him.
"Garrus," his voice was strained, dark, painful as he was pulled up into Garrus' grasp and nearly dragged back to the safety of the pod. The cold immediately splaying against the skin of the Luitenent, his lips were turning blue, his eyelashes icing and long icicles came to cling to his cheeks. He looked like a living husk and Garrus' subvocals chattered in an ache he hadn't felt before.
Liara shut the door behind them and helped him settle Kaidan into a seat. She immediately got to work using her own biotics to warm the man.
It was only then that he realized Kaidan had not been alone.
Huddled in a corner, almost as if he had been thrown, was Joker.
"Jeff!" Garrus called out and went to him. "Jeff?"
He reached out and moved him slowly, knowing that he could be badly injured. From the looks of it, he was. His body was slumped in an unnatural twist, one arm was clearly broken. Both hands bloodied and bones splaying through the skin. It made him want to recoil back in disgust at the sight, but he lifted the man and straightened him onto the floor below their feet.
Liara gasped and fell to her knees beside him. "Joker…" she removed her helmet and he could see tears forming behind her eyes.
"He…" Garrus didn't know what to say.
What could he say? The pilot was in trouble. They couldn't move him and waking him with these injuries would be cruel. "What do we do, Liara?"
Silence followed his question.
He looked up to her and she was looking at him. "What do we do?"
Again he asked. Feeling too young and too naïve and too foolheaded to be the one to know anything. Why was he here? Why had he come? Why would he have chosen this life? He missed the simplicity of his office. He missed taking orders from Pallin. He missed chasing leads that went no where and making arrests that were too easy and too boring. Too boring. Too unimportant. This was too much. Too raw and real and…and he didn't know what to do.
"There's medigel in the cabinet behind the kiosk," Kaidan's voice found them. Liara immediately went to retrieve it and both of them started injecting Joker where they saw broken skin, twisted limbs and bruising. "Use another one," the Lueitenent ordered.
Ordered.
When they applied it in as many places as they could, Garrus sat back on his spurs and looked around the room.
He looked at Kaidan.
The man was glaring at the pilot with an anger reserved for an enemy and Garrus shifted protectively along Joker's side. Brown eyes seemed to claw their way up his form to catch his gaze.
"What happened?" Garrus asked.
Kaidan face crumbled, gone was the anger that was quickly replaced by sheer and terrible anguish, "Shes gone, Garrus…"
No.
"Joker," Kaidan choked on the name, "She saved him, but she never made it to the pod…she…God, Garrus she just…"
No.
He shook his head.
No.
The Turian fell back, his legs kicking out in front of him as his back fell unevenly against the row of empty seats behind him. He looked to Kaidan then to Liara then to Joker and back again.
No.
"She got spaced," came the hushed and bitter words from the floor beside him and he turned to see Joker's pained face dissolve into a haunted and deadly destruction.
And just like that…The frozen world around him became a tomb.