Chapter Twenty-five – Deal with the Devil
For a moment, Liara and Kyla simply stared at each other. They were several feet apart, arms folded like an argument was about to break out between them. Then Liara frowned softly and turned away.
"We have work to do."
It was a moment before Kyla reacted and Liara briefly hoped she wasn't going to. That she would just accept that now was not the time to discuss it and carry on as if nothing had happened. She should have known better really.
"Wait. That's all you have to say?" she heard footsteps jogging to her catch up and then Kyla was in front of her, barring her way. The anger had faded from her eyes and instead she just looked confused, hurt even. Liara refused to feel guilty for that.
She sighed, "What do you want me to say?"
"I don't know!" Kyla exclaimed, "But I thought you'd at least acknowledge what I've just told you!"
"I have. You're Aethyta's daughter. I understand. But now isn't the time."
"So when will be?" she demanded.
"Perhaps when we're not in the middle of a gang war," Liara suggested sharply, "and Shepard isn't being held by a crime lord, and we aren't trying to rescue an ardat-yakshi!" she flinched as the words left her mouth. As much as she was trying to stay calm, Kyla's revelation had rattled her and on top of that her meld with the boy was still nagging at the back of her mind, making it hard to focus.
She saw her words reflected in Kyla's eyes and the asari's face dropped. She looked around as though to check if anyone was listening and then took a step closer, "Are you fucking kidding me? The girl we're looking for is an ardat-yakshi?"
Liara briefly closed her eyes, "Don't tell the others. I don't want them prejudging her."
"You don't want them to prejudge a mind-destroying serial killer?" Kyla hissed incredulously, "Don't you think it might be a good thing that she's locked up?"
"Falere isn't a killer," Liara shot back, "she lived in a monastery all of her adult life before the war, she's never murdered anyone."
"Know that for certain do you?" Kyla challenged, "I'm guessing you haven't seen her since the war, how do you know she hasn't changed!" in truth Liara had been wondering the same thing but she wasn't going to admit it.
"Because then Jules wouldn't be asking us to help her."
"You put a lot of faith in that human of yours!"
Liara felt her eyes narrow, "Yes," was all she said.
Kyla seemed to have no response to that though her stance didn't soften any as she continued to stare Liara down, her brow hardened into a glare.
It was at that moment – almost as though she had been listening in – that Liara's comm bleeped and Jules' voice interrupted them.
"Liara. Are you there?"
Liara frowned, momentarily confused. Then Kyla sighed sullenly and explained: "I gave her a spare communicator, so that she could contact you."
Liara held her gaze but didn't comment as she responded, "Yes, Jules. I'm here."
"How's it going up there? Did Kyla get back to you?"
Liara swallowed, "Yes," she desperately wanted to say more, to tell her everything that was going on right now. But it wouldn't have done any good. What she really wanted was for Jules to be here, standing between her and Kyla and saying something rational that would make things clearer. Throwing her a cocky grin and a wink that let her know all of this wasn't as big a deal as it seemed right now.
But she wasn't here. She was being held captive by a criminal and until they got her back, there were bigger things for Liara to think about than her own dramas. So she focussed on the matter at hand.
"I saw the fight, Jules. What's Samara doing here?"
There was a heavy sigh and Liara sensed that Jules was as conflicted about this as Liara was about Kyla, "It's… complicated. She can't leave until Falere's safe and I'm not going anywhere without her."
Liara frowned softly and made sure she kept her voice neutral as she asked, "Are you sure we can trust her?"
"I know how you feel about her," Jules said, "but she's my friend."
"I know." Liara stated. She didn't say any more, determined not to give too much away in front of Kyla, "Is this Cadeyrn really planning on using Falere's…" she searched for the right word but none seemed to fit, "skills?"
"Samara seems to think so. I don't know how he'd get her to do it, you remember how tough she was."
What Liara mostly remembered was how unexpectedly normal Falere had seemed, and how hard it was for her brain to connect that with the monster she was. Perhaps 'monster' was too harsh a word, but it was the only one she could think of.
"I wish you had let Kyla get you out of there," she said, unashamed to let the honesty slip into her voice.
"I can do more from in here," Jules replied. She must have picked up on Liara's tone though as she added, "has something happened?"
Liara caught Kyla's eye. The other asari was staring right at her, arms folded and eyes wary, "It can wait," Liara decided, "I'll be in touch as soon as I have anything."
The call ended and the uncomfortable silence resumed. Liara was usually happier when people were quiet but right now Kyla's usual chatter had been replaced with a cold and accusing stare.
"You're really just going to ignore this, aren't you?" she asked quietly, "Pretend I never said anything?"
Liara frowned, dismissing a twinge of guilt, "I don't see how your parentage has any bearing on the current situation."
For a moment Kyla seemed to doubt her and looked tempted to press further, then she just snorted grimly and shook her head, "Fine. Let's just find this girl – and hope she doesn't suck our minds out."
…
Samara stalked through the back streets as silently as the shadows that concealed her. There had been no time to talk to Shepard before she left on Cadeyrn's mission, and to do so would likely have aroused suspicion anyway. It was for the best that Cadeyrn didn't believe Shepard's identity, he would only view her as another museum piece for his collection.
According to Cadeyrn's information, Eisheth was using one of the smaller domes off from the main city as her base. There was only one entrance through a single, adjoining tunnel which would make sneaking in near impossible. Luckily, Samara had no intention of sneaking.
Eisheth's reappearance troubled her. She had picked up on increasing unease amongst Cadeyrn's lieutenants recently and now she knew why. Eisheth's gang had been the most powerful once. Back then her name had struck fear into all who called Piares their home, never spoken above a whisper for fear that alone might summon her.
It wasn't her power or her influence that people had feared, it was her methods. She was a sadist, a psychopath, and worse. Letting her get away was one of Samara's greatest regrets, she had always known she would come back eventually and now she seemed to be re-establishing her power.
As she moved through the maze of streets, she came across evidence of fighting. Some of Cadeyrn's people had fallen while in conflict with a mostly asari gang who were clad in blue. Samara knelt to examine some of the bodies and found Eisheth's old symbol painted on their breastplates – confirming just how bad the problem was.
Cadeyrn was hardly a just leader but since he had gained power the streets had been safer, mostly because none of the other gangs had been strong enough to oppose him. That seemed to be changing now. If Eisheth managed to overthrow him, she would turn the city into her personal playground and no one would be safe here. She wondered if Cadeyrn understood how serious the situation was or if all he cared about was his ancient artefact.
She approached the tunnel entrance without warning or fanfare, giving the guards barely time to register her presence before she dispatched them cleanly. She shot out the surveillance cameras and snatched a keycard from one of the corpses. She wouldn't remain undetected for long but for the first room or two, she would have the advantage of surprise.
With the keycard in hand, she entered the base.
…
Liara pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to quell the sharp pain that was forming behind her eyes. It had been a long day and it was far from over. Her body was trying to remind her that she hadn't slept since escaping from the HTA prison and she was attempting to ignore its pleas for rest. She'd gone longer without sleep before and been in far worse situations.
"You okay?" Kyla asked from beside her. The pair of them were lurking on a street corner, watching a small group of Cadeyrn's people as they loitered outside a bar. They looked shifty, their hands twitching by their weapons like they expected trouble. After witnessing the fight in the alley, Liara wasn't surprised. They seemed to be being systematically hunted down and picked off by the asari gang. Liara had been in enough warzones to know when conflict was brewing, the air tingled with it like the approach of a storm.
When she didn't answer Kyla's question, the other asari pressed further, "That meld must have been rough, you can admit if it's bothering you."
Liara closed her eyes. She didn't want to talk about the meld any more than she wanted an in depth discussion about her feelings. Staying quiet didn't seem to give Kyla the hint though, so she tried changing the subject instead.
"You said you met my mother," she blurted out, surprising herself slightly. Why had she said that? Of all the times and places to discuss it, this was not one of them.
Kyla cast her a sideways glance, "I thought we weren't talking about it," Liara really should have left it at that, but her curiosity had always been her biggest weakness and so she pressed Kyla with a stare until the asari relented, "Aethyta wanted me to meet her when they were getting married."
Liara waited, "And?"
Kyla shrugged, "And she didn't like me. Didn't think I was good enough to be part of her family."
Liara frowned as she watched her, she really believed it, "You're wrong. My mother wasn't like that. She didn't look down on people."
"You think I'm lying?"
"No. But sometimes, when you think someone will dislike you, that's how you interpret their actions, regardless of what they really think. You did the same with me, didn't you?"
"So you're a fucking psychologist now? Great. You think I was just being paranoid? You don't know me."
"And you don't know me. From the sounds of it, you didn't know my mother either."
The look Kyla gave her was venomous but her previous anger seemed to have faded, instead she just looked miserable. Liara had no idea what she'd been hoping for out of all of this, but she was getting the distinct impression that she was a disappointment.
"You didn't seem too surprised when you found out who I am," Kyla muttered sullenly, "did Aethyta mention me to you?"
"She said she'd had daughters with a hanar," Liara replied. There was a pause until Kyla seemed to realise that was all Liara had for her.
"That's it? That's all she said? Fuck's sake! She told you more about my fucking father than she did about me!"
Liara hesitated, aware she had unintentionally hit a nerve, "I… know what it's like to have a difficult relationship with your mother."
"We didn't have a difficult relationship!" Kyla snapped, "At least… I didn't think we did. Can't believe she didn't even tell you my name."
She said the last bit quietly, almost like an afterthought she hadn't meant to say out loud. She looked upset, hurt. Liara phrased her next question carefully.
"She did say daughters," she ventured cautiously, "plural. Do you have other sisters?"
Kyla grimaced and threw her a cold glare, "I thought we had work to do."
…
Eisheth's people fell before Samara like children facing their first true opponent. She had no interest in being subtle or clever as she tore through each room without pausing, her pistol remaining holstered at her side as she dispatched her foes with biotic waves that sent them flying before they could even register her presence.
After taking care of the initial guards, she moved swiftly through the base with little interruption until she found a door that was marked 'security'. Her keycard didn't open it so she charged a biotic fist and punched it until the metal warped and buckled and the door crumpled inwards.
There were four asari inside, Samara biotically snatched the weapons from their hands before they could react and then caught them in a biotic field, throwing them as high as the ceiling would allow before smashing them back down to the floor.
Two of their necks broke on impact while a third was knocked unconscious. The fourth had enough resolve to stagger to her feet where Samara neatly smashed her back into the wall and she finally fell still. Samara crossed to the security console and brought up the base's main logs.
She found the records of the attack on the freighter. Eisheth's people had jumped it halfway through its return journey, stealing several tonnes of eezo along with the artefact. She would need the eezo if she was planning on taking over the city again and Cadeyrn was the only one whose ships could sneak past Thessia's defence grid. No one knew how he did it, not even his pilots.
According to the records, the eezo had been taken down to a lower storage area but the artefact was being guarded in a main room on this level. There was no information about what it actually was but she was sure it wouldn't be difficult to spot. She brought up a map of the base and studied the route, then she stood and swiftly left.
By now the whole base was aware of her presence and squads of guards were being dispatched to greet her around every corner. Few of them proved much of an obstacle for her but it was still gratifying to be using her skills against real foes again, not prisoners forced to fight her in the arena.
When she reached the room she needed she found the corridor deserted and the door unguarded. She could feel the trap waiting for her inside like insects on her skin and she readied her barrier. The door opened for her as she approached and revealed a sizable, rectangular room on the other side.
There was little in it, save for several display cabinets arranged symmetrically on either side, mostly displaying weapons and armour. The ceiling was high and a balcony overlooked the whole room, the perfect vantage point for the asari guards who were standing there, their weapons raised in her direction.
They were a secondary thought, however, as Samara's immediate attention was drawn to the two automatic turrets waiting at either side of the door. She raised both fists as she heard them charge and directed two burst of biotic energy. The turrets exploded into debris and Samara prepared for a fight.
The guards opened up on her and a torrent of bullets shimmered off her barrier. She ignored them, using her biotics to propel her into a somersault up onto the balcony. She landed in front of one of the asari guards, snatched the rifle out of her hands and smashed it into the startled girl's jaw before tossing it carelessly aside.
Bullets were still ricocheting off her harmlessly as she turned to the others. She picked up the nearest one in a biotic hold and threw her back into a line of the others. Across the other side she caught sight of a rocket launcher being loaded and she neatly jerked it out if its owner's hands, sending the asari tumbling head-first over the railing.
She was grabbed from behind by the first guard she had disarmed and she reacted swiftly, ducking out of the hold. She spun to face the girl, punching her first in the gut and then in the jaw. As she hit the floor, Samara pinned her, charging her hand with biotics as she gripped the girl's throat and prepared to finish the job.
She was stopped abruptly by the callous sound of laughter ringing out across the room. The sound of gunfire died as the guards stood down and Samara heard a new set of footsteps entering the room below.
"Oh c'mon Sammy, you big spoil-sport!" a voice taunted her, "If you're going to do a job, you might as well make the most of it. Hit her again! It's not a proper kill if you don't make them squeal!" a fit of childish giggles followed the statement and Samara listened intently, determining the newcomer's position by the sound of her movements.
"What you waiting for justicar?" the voice sang sweetly from below. Samara looked down at the girl. She had her head turned away but her eyes wide open, her whole body was trembling in Samara's grasp as she struggled to cling to her resolve in the face of her inevitable death.
Samara hesitated and then released her. She dragged the girl back to her feet, earning her a glare of both mistrust and resentment from the younger asari.
"Go," Samara advised her calmly.
She frowned for a moment, glancing uncertainly down towards the newcomer. Then she met Samara's eye; whatever she saw there, it was enough for her to turn and stagger hurriedly towards the nearest door. It was a shame none of her comrades had the sense to follow her.
"Yeah, go on, run!" the voice called playfully, "Don't worry Samara, I'll kill her later for you."
Samara turned slowly and gazed down on her foe. Eisheth was crouched on a square table in the middle of the room, clutching a large book to her chest. Her keen eyes were dancing feverishly as she grinned up at her, her head cocked in a manner some would find disturbing.
"Looking for this?" she tapped the book with a finger. It looked old enough to be the artefact and from here its cover seemed to be carved from blueish-green metal. Samara stepped up onto the balcony railing and let herself fall forwards, her biotics slowing her decent until she landed neatly on the floor.
Eisheth shrank back a little, her expression turning gleeful as she looked Samara up and down and giggled softly, "I always hoped we'd see each other again," she said, genuine excitement creeping into her voice as she tossed the book down and jumped off the table to stand before her. She was shorter than Samara was but she didn't seem to let that intimidate her.
She looked and acted no different from how Samara remembered her – soft and youthful and deceptively innocent. She was older than she seemed, however, and it was a fiendishness that gleamed in her eyes, disguised as childlike enthusiasm.
"I've seen every one of your fights in the arena," she added, like she was nothing more than an eager fan, "if I'd known that you were going to become a famous celebrity the last time we met, I'd have asked you to sign my arm," she pulled back her leather sleeve to reveal the skin of her arm and held it up in offering. But instead of producing a pen or something similar, she unsheathed a combat knife from her belt, offering it to Samara hilt first.
Her eyes glimmered with mischief as Samara gazed at the knife impassively. She had little interest in games and no intention of engaging in this one. After a moment, Eisheth sighed and slipped the knife back into its sheath.
"Still not chatty, then?" she took a step forward, coming closer than most people would have considered to be polite. She gazed up and down Samara's length and raised her hands as though about to touch her shoulders, then she seemed to think better of it and stepped back again with a delighted laugh, "I was sooo excited when I saw you on the security feeds! I knew he'd send you after me one day, if I made a big enough noise."
Samara raised her brow, "Am I supposed to believe all of this was for my benefit?"
Eisheth hummed playfully, "Don't flatter yourself, sweetness," she moved slowly around Samara's back, circling her like a predator. By most species' standards she wouldn't have been considered restless, but for an asari she was as jittery as a drug addict. Samara suspected there was an obvious reason for that.
"I want my city back," she said as she came back into view, "getting to meet you again is just the icing on the cake. I enjoyed our last encounter, you nearly killed me," she stopped and stared Samara dead in the eye, her mouth twitching into a smile, "have you come to try again?"
"No," Samara answered, "unless you get in my way," her gaze fell to the book discarded on the table, "which you seem to have done."
She chuckled and spun on the spot, darting around the other side of the table and leaning forwards over it. She tapped the cover of the book and smiled, "Does he want his tome back? Do you even know what it is?"
"I do not need to."
"Urgh!" she rolled her eyes like a spoiled child and hopped back onto the table, kneeling in front of the book, "Aren't you even curious? Come and have a look."
Samara didn't move as Eisheth flicked open the cover but from where she was she could still see the writing that filled the pages. She didn't recognise the markings, they certainly didn't look like any of the ancient asari languages she knew of.
"It's prothean," Eisheth whispered as though to add some gravity to the revelation.
"That seems unlikely," Samara told her, "a prothean artefact like this would have disintegrated into dust by now."
"So you are interested," Eisheth said, seemingly pleased with herself, "it was written – or rather, transcribed – by an asari. One of the first ever historians to study the protheans. She copied down every single piece of prothean writing she found throughout the entire Athena Nebula. Physically wrote it down," she gestured to the pages again to emphasise, "all other prothean research was stored digitally, wiped clean when the Crucible hit. All that ancient knowledge lost."
Samara frowned, she shouldn't have been engaging in this conversation at all but she couldn't deny her curiosity, "Why are you interested in it?"
"Oh c'mon!" she snapped, like Samara's ignorance suddenly annoyed her, "Think of all the knowledge that could be stored in here! Secrets. Schematics. Prothean tech. If only we could find someone who could read it," her demeanour shifted again and she tiptoed her fingers down the pages, "they say Commander Shepard could read prothean," she commented idly, "some kind of cypher in her head," she paused as though waiting for Samara to respond. She didn't.
"On a totally unrelated note," she added, "I saw your fight earlier. Very interesting opponent. You almost lost to her," she smiled in a way that would have been pleasant on most people but was disturbing on her. Samara had had enough of being goaded.
"Give me the book," she stated, as she stepped forward Eisheth snatched the book away, placing it childishly behind her back.
"Why should I? Cadeyrn has no right to it. Do you know where he got it from? His people blew a hole in the side of a vacuum-sealed vault on Thessia. A vault that survived the war and is full of treasures like this, stored there for millennia," for a moment she almost looked sincere, as though such a violation of historical artefacts actually offended her.
Samara frowned suspiciously, "How do you know this?"
She shrugged, "When my people attacked his freighter, they brought one of the crew back with them," a sinister gleam crept into her eye, "I took all of her memories. She'd had a miserable life, poor thing. I almost think I did her a service by killing her."
Samara saw a ripple of unease move through the asari still on the balcony. Eisheth's preferred method of killing had always been to delve into her victims' minds through a meld before mentally torturing them to death. Even some of the cruelest asari who had ever lived would have found the idea repulsive.
To kill someone through such an intimate meld meant that you felt the pain you were inflicting on them for yourself. Only a particularly dark and twisted mind could manage to find pleasure in it. It wasn't quite the same as how an ardat-yakshi killed, some would argue it was worse.
Samara didn't give her the satisfaction of looking shocked or disgusted, instead keeping her expression neutral as Eisheth continued.
"He is stealing our heritage from our home world just to put it on display in that garish base of his and you are helping him," she pointed an accusing finger at her before her expression melted into a soft smile and she shifted onto her hands and knees, crawling forward across the table towards her.
"Poor Samara. He has you on a very tight lead, doesn't he? Like a puppy who won't get fed if she doesn't behave. If only we could break his hold on you," she straightened up so that they were eye-to-eye, their faces so close they may as well have been touching, "I always liked Falere," she continued casually, "sweet girl – not like you. As pretty as she is deadly… or, potentially deadly at least. In fact, I liked her so much, I decided to keep an eye on her," she rested her arms on Samara's shoulders and leaned in closer, like a lover seeking affection, or a hunter springing a trap, "Cadeyrn's moved her about a lot to keep you from finding her. But I always know where he's holding her, the poor lamb."
Samara had heard enough, in a sudden and swift movement she raised her hand and grasped Eisheth's throat, pushing her face back from her own and tightening her grip just enough to cause considerable discomfort. She heard the click of weapons as the guards on the balcony reacted and every rifle pointed at her. She paid it little heed.
Eisheth chuckled as though she was enjoying herself, "Hit a nerve have I? I know where she is."
Samara increased her grip and pushed her back further, "Do not lie to me!"
"I'm not!" she held up both hands innocently. She was far from incapable of fighting back but still she made no move to free herself. She glanced up awkwardly at her guards and smiled, "They'll kill you if you hurt me."
"Your faith in their skills is optimistic to say the least," Samara stated, "you realise they're more scared of you than they are of me? Your death would only free them."
"Is that right, girls?" Eisheth challenged, raising her voice towards the guards, "Are you all hoping she'll kill me?"
A few people shifted uncomfortably but no one spoke. That was telling enough on its own.
"You treat your people the same way you treat your enemies. Like playthings. How many have you tortured and violated for your own amusement?"
She hummed softly as though considering, "Almost as many as you've killed in Cadeyrn's arena, probably," Samara tightened her grip again until Eisheth choked, though it still didn't stop her from laughing, "I know where she is, Samara. Get her back and you won't have to obey Cadeyrn anymore."
Samara felt her eyes narrow, her nails were digging in to Eisheth's neck, creating beads of violet blood against her skin, "Where?" she asked coldly.
"So you believe me now?"
"WHERE?" she repeated more loudly.
"Why bother asking?" Eisheth challenged, "You could just…" she tapped her own temple, "take it. It's more fun than you might think."
"I will not stoop to your methods, child. Tell me where Falere is!"
"Child?" she barked a laugh, "Oh I like that," she held Samara's gaze for a long while before she spoke again, "If I tell you, you'll let me live?"
It was an odd thing for a woman in the heart of her own base, surrounded by her own guards to feel she had to bargain for her own life. Samara knew it was another one of her games but right now Falere was more important.
"I will."
"Ha!" Eisheth chuckled in victory, "She's on Myriad, Cadeyrn's biggest base in orbit around the planet. He has a private museum up there. Falere's one of the exhibits."
Samara released her and she coughed slightly, wiping the blood from her neck and examining it almost curiously, "If you have lied to me, I will kill you," Samara warned.
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't," Eisheth smiled, "now all you have to do is get out of my base alive, find a ship and get to Falere before Cadeyrn kills her because you've disobeyed his orders. Tell you what, I'll give you a three second head start. One..."
Samara looked up to where the guards all had her in their sights, awaiting Eisheth's order.
"Two…"
She took particular note of the loaded rocket launcher that had been retrieved by one of them and was pointed right at her.
"Three!"
Samara ran.