Chapter 15

Kaidan rested in the skycar's seat next to Shepard. She shifted to look at him.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Kaidan glanced up from the glowing screen on his Omni-Tool. "Expense report."

Shepard's lips slanted, and she lifted an eyebrow. "Seriously, Kaidan?"

"Seriously, Shepard."

She clicked her tongue. "Three thirty in the morning, and you're reviewing Spectre expense reports? You work too much."

Kaidan sputtered a laugh. "I work too much? You're the one working Terra Firma leads at three A.M. I was sleep, remember?"

"Are you trying to get back to sleeping by reading that?"

"I wouldn't dare sleep. Wake up with a Scarpie mustache and my Omni-Tool translator set to Mandarin or something."

"Uh, well, I didn't bring a sharpie, and if changing your Omni-Tool to Mandarin is the worst I can do, I think you'll come out all right."

"It's the worst I can think of, doesn't mean it's the worst you can think of. That's what really matters."

Shepard rolled her eyes. "If I wanted to Sharpie facial hair on you, Kaidan, I've had plenty of opportunity."

"I suppose." He turned back to his Omni-Tool.

Shepard sighed. "Back to the expense report. Kaidan, the shortage of husks and Cerberus troopers has really dropped your standard of fun."

"And, aside from heckling me, are you having fun?"

"Sure. It's three o'clock in the morning, we're on our way to find the secret lair of the terrorist underground. Beats expense reports every time."

"I'm on my way there too, if you noticed. I'm just multitasking, which you reproved me of earlier."

Shepard rested the side of her face against the headrest and eyed him. "That what you went to the Spectre offices for? Download expense reports? Lost us ten minutes."

"I never said they were Spectre expense reports. Here." He punched some keys on his screen and turned to her. He looked pointedly at her Omni-Tool. "Check it out."

Shepard flicked up her Omni-Tool. "What am I looking at?" Then added quickly," Other than 'expense reports.' You were going to say that, weren't you?"

"Crossed my mind."

She scrolled through the invoice on her screen. Kaidan craned his neck to look out the window at the lights below. They'd chosen a bar with a skycar stop point on the outskirts of the restored part of the city. The theater was close enough to walk from there. No armor, low profile.

"Okay." Shepard turned to him. "Construction material. Eezo related. I'm assuming the purchasers are significant? Terra Firma?"

"Right."

Shepard looked back at the report and fingered through it. "These reports go over months. They're building something. What?"

"Something with eezo. Something with blue quartz and marble. So, something expensive."

"Something for the Summit?"

"It would make sense."

Shepard nodded and seemed to consider it. The skycar slowed and lowered onto a landing pad outside the bar, a glitzy high traffic location. The doors opened, and they hopped out. A greased haired man in a velvet dinner jacket hunched over a waste can. He wiped his mouth and wobbled as he straightened up right. His droopy eyes widened on Shepard. He stumbled forward pointing. Some patrons by the bar door looked over at them.

"You're, uh … you're, uh …"

Shepard dodged around him. He lurched after her. The man's boozy breath struck Kaidan in the face as he snagged the man's arm. Kaidan twisted the man around and gave him a good shove the other direction. He caught up with Shepard. They turned short of the bar's entrance and cut into the dark streetways. A few cars were out but not in this section. Shepard brought a map up on her Omni-Tool and dimmed the light. Shadows of cave-in apartment buildings and broken storefronts loomed over them as they moved toward the theater.

"You're quite the celebrity," Kaidan murmured to her.

Shepard gave a long sigh. "Yeah, I know." She paused and looked down an intersection. She motioned her head to the left. They turned down the street. "Think I should change my hair or something?"

"Don't change anything."

They slipped along the shattered windows and dilapidated walls. This theater was further than it looked on the map. They weren't meeting anyone though. The streets rolled out around them empty and silent.

"What're you hoping to find, Shepard?" Kaidan whispered as they turned around another street corner.

"Not sure." They paused at another intersection, listened, then slunk around the corner. "Think there'll be a welcome sign and table of nametags?"

"If what you overhead is right, it's still three days away."

"So, no pre-conference workshops?"

"Couldn't say," Kaidan said looping along beside her. "I didn't make their mailing list."

"Me neither. Probably just lost in the mail."

"Shepard, you're getting packages you don't even remembering ordering. Your knowing what you should be coming in the mail seems iffy."

"So, you're saying they didn't even send one to me?"

Kaidan grinned at her. "So, entitled now you're a celebrity."

"Excluding people is just asking for someone to crash your party."

The theater's shadow rose overhead. A few lights flickered in the distance around it. Generator lights maybe. They slowed and shuffled along hugging the wall.

"You hear voices?" Shepard asked as they neared the theater.

Kaidan listened then nodded. They sneaked up to the corner. Shepard peeked around it. Kaidan pressed up against the wall next to her. A weak, yellow light crossed her before she pulled her head back.

"I think there really are pre-conference workshops," she whispered.

"How many people?"

Shepard peeked around again, then turned back to him. "Maybe a dozen outside. Not sure how many overall. They're going in and out the front entrance."

"You think they're meeting now?"

"No." Shepard shook her head. "Just early arrivals, I think. Too disorganized. Just milling around. Barrell fire. Some electric lights. They're in some of the surrounding building around too."

"Electrical is being restored in this section," Kaidan said. A prickle crept across his skin and then fell away. Kaidan frowned and looked around until his eyes stopped on something. "The underground tram station over there," Kaidan pointed with his head, "I think the rail's live."

Shepard followed his gaze and squinted. "No reason for it to be functioning in this part of the city. What makes you think it's live?"

"I feel something. Don't you?"

Shepard concentrated for a moment staring at the ground. The mass field was faint, but Kaidan could still feel it. He'd probably feel it stronger if a train actually passed. The field under the train mixing with the rail's field always made his skin tingle when he stood over a passing train. Green energy, sure, but mass fields for the subway? Kaidan still thought it was insane. Too dangerous. One misstep by the rails, let alone the train going by, and poof. Wouldn't even need to clean up the body. Didn't have any rats in the tunnels anymore though.

"Maybe," Shepard said vaguely. "Why use the train system?"

"Transport people, equipment, who knows."

"That big tower over there," Shepard said. "That was the main office hub, or was, for the transportation department. Rail system runs through the underground level. Saw it on the map. It's all lit. Those top floors."

"They're using this whole area," Kaidan breathed. "The theater, that train station, the tower, maybe these other buildings too."

"Let's check out this theater," Shepard said. "If this is the meeting location, we need to get a sense of it."

Kaidan nodded shifting against the wall. He looked past Shepard to the opposite side of the street and waited. Thin light slid across Shepard's forehead and eyes as she peeked around the corner and watched.

"Okay … go." She waved at him.

He shot across the gap to the other side of the street. He skid to a stop and pulled back up against the wall. A brief glimpse of barrel fire and huddled forms burned in his mind. Shepard watched for another moment, then darted across. Kaidan stumbled back as she tumbled up against him. She looked around the edge of the building. No hollering or running footsteps.

They scurried along the building fronts keeping a street back. They worked their way around the theater looming overhead. The theater seemed in fair condition in contrast to the skeletal, half-burned convenience stores along the street.

The street came out into the theater's parking garage. A level overhead probably had landing pads. It made the bottom story of the parking garage almost completely dark. Kaidan and Shepard slunk through the broken cement blocks and gravel. Kaidan stepped lightly listening. No people or bond fires on this side of the theater.

"Maybe not such a big party after all," Shepard murmured.

"Not yet," Kaidan said. "We don't know how many are inside."

"Just a few groups here I think. For now. Let's look for a way in."

They stayed low to the ground crossing the garage. Shepard reached the theater first. Asphalt scrapped under Kaidan's boots, almost there, when he heard it. Shepard's head whipped to the side.

"Dogs," Shepard said.

"Damnit."

Scrambling feet and shrill barking echoed down the theater's wall. In the distance, the dim light from the theater entrance around the corner moved with shadows. Small lights bobbed around the corner following the dogs. Kaidan clutched his pistol. Shepard grabbed his arm.

"Don't. It'll give us away," she said and pulled him with her.

The sprinted into the parking garage. Barking and harsh voices boomed behind them. Shepard cut sideways deeper into the parking garage. Kaidan stared at the clear path to the crumbling store fronts then turned and dashed after her. A cement wall stood in the far corner of the garage. The open doorway bobbed in his vision with each footfall. It was a stairwell. They tumbled through the doorway. A flight of broken stairs circled up the wall. Stairs hung overhead with jagged edge of crumbling cement. The stairs on their level had been destroyed – mounds of rubble at the base of the wall. Barking pitched higher, nearing.

They scrambled to the far wall. A blue ripple rose off Kaidan's skin. They should be deep enough in the stairwell to not have the glow give them away. At least, he hoped. He squinted at the cragged end of the staircase. A blue corona glowed across Shepard's skin as he turned to her. He jerked his head up at the edge of the broken stairs and laced his hands together. Shepard didn't hesitate. She surged forward spraying cement chips and vaulted off his palms. Blue flared over them boosting her up. She snagged the edge of the stairs with a grunt, then pulled herself up. Bits of concrete crumbled down on him. The glowing veil faded away in the darkness between them.

He backed up. Shepard rolled onto her belly and strained over the edge reaching for him. Dogs burst through the doorway. Kaidan threw out a hand. A blue shield knocked them backward. He sprinted forward and leapt. Biotics flared as their fingers touched. She curled her digits into his, and energy burned around them – binding, pulling, lifting. She grabbed his wrist in the rother hand and heaved backward with gritted teeth. Dogs snapped at his feet as he snared the ledge. Their light flickered out. Voices yelled distinct sentences now.

Dogs howled, leaping up and gnashing at them. Flashlights brightened the stairwell as footsteps pounded closer. Kaidan pulled himself the rest of the way up. He stumbled to his feet as the room filled with white light and voices. Shepard put an arm out across his chest and edged them further back as light turned looking up the stairwell.

"What the hell is going on?" It sounded like someone just coming into the stairwell.

"It's not a racoon this time," a voice said. "I saw lights."

Voices overlapped. It sounded like maybe six people. The dogs whined and barked. There was a walloping sound and one shrieked. A man cursed at the dog.

"Pretty worked up. They really think something's up there. Better check it out."

"Get the shuttle. Bringing some of the dogs. Hurry up!"

Shepard pushed them back further from the edge. A large landing pad spread across the top story of the parking garage. The pad connected to the theater where wide recessed doors had probably been a main entrance at one time. Opposite the theater, broken building a few stories high stood just beyond the landing pad. If they could leap that far, they'd need to lower themselves back to the ground level and then over. Shepard's hand gripped his arm, and she tilted her head at the theater entrance. He frowned and shook his head, but she pushed off his arm and sprinted away. Kaidan clenched his jaw and rushed after her. She slid to her knees in the recessed doorway and pulled apart a panel by the doors. Metal welding beaded the crack between the theater doors.

"Shepard." He whispered and touched her shoulder. "Let's go."

She frowned up at him and leaned further into the panel with her Omni-Tool light on. Kaidan hunched over her to block the light from the landing pad.

"The doors are welded. Shepard …"

"Kaidan." She shot him a hard look and put a finger to her lips.

She twisted back to the electrical control panel and reached deep inside. Her skin lit blue, and Kaidan scrambled to block the light. He huddled over her and held up a weak light on his Omni-Tool. She was pulling out wires. No rhyme or reason that he could tell. He cast a look over his shoulder at the landing pad and listened. His brow pinched.

"A shuttle's coming," he whispered.

Shepard scooted back and stomped her boot deep into the panel. Kaidan's eyes widened, and he dropping to his knees to look in the panel. It sparked with torn wiring as her glowing foot smashed into the back panel. The thin metal dented in the middle as she pulled back and slammed into it again. It broke through.

A shuttle hummed louder. Dogs barked. The blue energy winked out as Shepard twisted around and pulled her boot out. Kaidan tore out his pistol and snapped his attention to the landing pad. The shuttle buzzed softly as it lowered onto the pad. He started to his feet, but Shepard snagged his arm.

"Get in."

"What?"

Shepard's eyes moved from his to the open panel. He dropped back to his knees and peered through the panel. It sparked with torn wires. It was barely wider than his shoulders.

"You can make it." Shepard leaned down to his face.

He gaped at her. "Are you kidding? Those wires are still live, Shepard."

"Just put up your barrier. I'll block the light."

The shuttle exhausted and settled onto the landing pad. Kaidan folded his pistol back up and jammed it in his belt.

"Go." Shepard gave him a small push and moved around to block the panel from the landing pad.

Kaidan slipped to the floor on his back. A barrier flared over his skin. Wires sparked in front of his face. Hell. He reached in gingerly.

"Come on, Kaidan," Shepard hissed looking over her shoulder.

The shuttle thudded onto the cement and quieted. Kaidan gritted his teeth and reached through the wires, buzzing and sparking against him. He hooked onto either side of the where the inner panel had been pushed out. He pulled up pushing with his feet. The barrier flared, smoothing and insulated against the popping wires and tight friction. The shuttle door activated.

He pulled his head through the opening into a tight, dark metal space. He clawed out still kicking to angel his shoulders through. Cobwebs layered his face as he strained, barrier flaring and slipping like silk between his skin and the metal. He twisted to the side and pulled the rest of his body through.

Shepard's hands, fingers splayed, reached in behind his boots. He grabbed them letting his barrier run down her arm. He extended it as far down her body as he dared before it lit up the whole doorway on the other side. She shimmied out, catching for a moment with a gasp before pulling her feet through. Dogs lunged against the metal opening, clawing and spraying spittle through the passage. Shepard flared blue and reached out. A dog yelped against a metallic snap. Blue light flashed through the muted passageway. Kaidan squeezed in to look through the panel. Blue faded off the outer panel fitted back onto the outer wall. Shepard must have pulled it back biotically. It had been fast. Hopefully, the dogs had shielded the flare.

Still glowing blue, Shepard twisted wires back together, moving and rearranging them. There wasn't much room, but Kaidan reached in and realigned the wires. A wire snapped making his teeth clench, but it was a weak shock. The theater probably ran on generators. The dogs beat against the outer panel. It budged in the middle but stayed in place.

"Good enough."

Shepard drew back and fumbled for the panel she'd kicked in. She pulled it out from her knee and fit it against the metal wall. Kaidan held the corners and she smashed a fist into the center and then tapped it a few more time to keep it in place. She pulled back, and he cautiously let go. Shepard punched at it, but it stayed. The howling and muffled voices were almost inaudible.