Chapter 49
Shepard stepped away from Aria's body and threw the pistol aside.
"Check the warhead for damage." Shepard motioned to Tali.
Miranda lay flat on her back staring up at the ceiling. Shepard sank down beside her. Blood oozed between her fingers as she clutched a soppy bandage against her side.
"Anyone have medigel?" Shepard twisted to Tali and Garrus.
"No one has medigel," Garrrus said.
"Someone must." Shepard jumped up.
The Normandy's cargo bay doors groaned and stared to open.
"Status," Shepard twisted to Tali and motioned at the warhead.
Tali's Omni-light reflected over the core's glass casing. She looked up. "Still checking."
The Normandy's cargo ramp thumped as it hit the docking bay floor. Kaidan jogged down the ramp.
"Kaidan, you have medigel?" Shepard rushed to him in a limping run.
"No." His eyes dropped to her leg, and he bent reaching toward it.
"Not me." Shepard pulled back.
Kaidan's eyes moved past her to the warhead and widened on Miranda. He sprinted around Shepard and dropped to her knees beside her. She grimaced as he pulled her hand away from her side. Blood saturated the gauze, and Kaidan lifted it up and bent in closer. Rolls of gauze fell out of his pocket as he pulled out a new bandage and gestured Garrus over. He pressed Garrus's taloned hand over the bandage and held it tight looking him in the eye for a moment. Garrus nodded, and Kaidan got to his feet. The dark look on his face made Shepard's throat tightened.
"I'll check the ship for medigel," Kaidan said in a rush and dashed back to the Normandy.
Shepard squatted next to Garrus. He looked back at her with a fallen droop to his eyes and shook his head. Shepard's eyes dropped to Miranda. Miranda's pale throat moved in a swallow.
"Shepard," Miranda whispered.
"Save your strength," Shepard hushed her.
"Shepard …"
"You're not dying," Shepard said sharply.
Fingernails dug into her palms. Her eyes darted around the cargo bay searching for something that might help. Miranda's cool fingertips touched Shepard's hand, and Shepard snapped her eyes back to Miranda.
"You'll be fine," Shepard said firmly and stood.
"Shepard," Garrus murmured. "Stay with her."
Shepard moved around him and surveyed the bodies across the cargo bay. Her eyes fell on Aria's empty eyes and the gory remains of her forehead. Shepard launched herself at the body and grabbed Aria's Omni-Tool hand. That beating she'd taken, they'd both taken, Aria had to have medigel. Whether she had any left was another matter. Shepard checked Omni-Tool's medigel level. Her breath caught in her throat, and she wrenched the Omni-Tool off Aria's hand. Shepard threw herself down by Miranda and grabbed her limp hand. Shepard tore off Miranda's Omni-Tool and activated Aria's as she jammed it on her hand.
"See, Miran…"
Shepard's eyes froze on Miranda's face. Her head hung to the side, eyes closed, and face stiff and still. Shepard's heart dropped. She grabbed Miranda's shoulder and shook her.
"Miranda! Damnit."
Garrus released the pressure on Miranda's wound and caught Shepard's arm.
"Shepard, you did all—"
Miranda gasped. Her eyes opened wide.
"Miranda." Shepard pulled her arm away from Garrus and leaned over her.
Garrus released a slow breath and fumbled to put pressure back on the gauze. Miranda stared past Shepard's face up at the ceiling. Her hand lifted from the floor and prodded at the gauze under Garrus's hand.
"Let me see," Shepard said and pushed Miranda's hand down. She peeked under the bandage. "It's sealing."
Miranda took a shuddery breath. "I have scrapnel inside. It will keep-"
"Don't move. Rest." Shepard stood up. "Garrus, it's sealed. Liara and Joker are inside the Normandy. Go for help."
Jack's vacant eyes stared at her in her mind's eye. Shepard steadied her breathing. She couldn't think about that right now. Shepard stood over Tali.
"I'm going as fast as I can." Tali glanced up at her. "It's very complicated."
"I know. The fighting being kept away. We have time. I'm just keeping watch."
Shepard twisted on her heels. Aria's lips were still turned up at the corners as if smiling. Shepard's eyes narrowed on the warhead. It stood in Aria's direct sight before she'd looked up at Shepard with that grin. She sank down next to the warhead and peered at it.
"Shepard." Kaidan raced out of the Normandy.
Shepard stood. His brows furrowed and he shook his head.
"Nothing," he said.
His eyes fell on Miranda. She lay still with her eyes shut. Kaidan's mouth stiffened, and he rushed over to her.
"Kaidan." Shepard took a step after him.
He sank down covering his mouth with one hand and studied her face. He touched her hand. Miranda's eyes flew open. Kaidan tumbled backward and caught himself with a hand.
"What the hell?" he said.
"Kaidan." Shepard stood over him. "Aria had medigel in her Omni-Tool."
Kaidan pushed himself back onto his heels. "It didn't work?"
"There's shrapnel."
Kaidan checked the sealed wound and turned to Miranda's face. She looked back at him with dull eyes and didn't say anything. She probably felt like hell. Kaidan hesitated then touched her hand again. She gave a weak smile and rolled her eyes. Kaidan lips curved into a slow smile, and he stood up.
Gunfire and grenade explosions echoed from the hallway door across the docking bay. The metal beam blocking the doorway had finally been removed. Kaidan's eyes lingered on the hallway, and he turned to Shepard.
"I should—"
"Commander Shepard. Major Alenko." Commander Bailey charged through the hall doorway.
"Bailey?" Shepard's eyebrows rose.
He raced across the bay and stopped out of breath. "The Councilors. They're pinned down. Mason's there too. Hurt bad. If we don't—"
"I'll go," Kaidan said and darted around Bailey.
"Kaidan," Shepard called.
"No, Shepard." Kaidan twisted on his heels and trotted backward toward the door. "You're injured. Guard the warhead."
Shepard followed his gaze to her leg. With all the adrenaline, she'd hardly felt it.
"Be safe," she said.
Kaidan nodded, turned, and rushed out the door behind Bailey.
XXX
Garrus barreled in from the hallway with Grunt and two unknown Alliance officers in tow. Adams came out from behind Garrus as the group neared.
"Adams?"
"Heard you were down here," Adams said and looked at Tali. "Need help?"
Tali shook her head. "I'm close."
"Listen," Shepard said. "Miranda needs a med transport. We need a board to slide under her. Don't move her. Joker and Liara are in up the CIC. Got a commando cuffed up there. And, Jack's … her body's up there. Grunt, here, take this." She held Traynor's toothbrush out to him. "For Joker and Liara's biotic cuffs. Don't ask." She turned back to Miranda. "You have some more of that antidote?"
Miranda gave a limp nod and her fingers moved to her belt. She groped numbly at the zipper. Shepard moved her hand aside and pulled out a vial.
"This it?"
She held it in front of Miranda's eyes. Miranda squinted. Shepard pulled it back a bit.
"Yes," Miranda whispered, barely audible.
Shepard squeezed her fist around the vial and touched Miranda's shoulder.
"Just hold on."
"The Normandy's elevator is out," Shepard said.
She pressed the vial into Grunt's hand. Grunt and Adams rushed to the Normandy. Shepard sent the other two officers off for find something to use as a backboard. Garrus held his sniper rifle close to his chest and wandered over to the hallway door. Shepard paced. Her eyes strayed to the warhead's glass core again. She bent down beside Tali and put her face down close. Her eyes roamed over the core's clear casing and stopped dead. Her heart pounded. She pointed with a finger, careful not to touch the surface.
"What's that?" she said.
"What are you …" Tali bent down to look. Her breath hissed out. "Keelah."
"Then it is a crack. You can still disarm it, right?"
"That must have been from Aria's biotics," Tali murmured. "She wasn't trying to get to me. She was trying to—"
"Tali," Shepard snapped. "Can you still disarm it?"
The nick in the glass widened even as Shepard was watching it. The cracked lines around it grew like a slowly spun spider's web.
"What's happening?" Shepard said.
Tali stared at her Omni-Tool. "The coolant's oxidizing."
"Meaning what?"
A light glowed in the opening fissure.
Tali's mask turned to Shepard. "It's going to explode."
Shepard scrambled to her feet. "Time frame?"
"I don't know. But …"
"Soon?"
"I think so. I'm so sorry, Shepard."
"You can't disarm it?"
"Even if I disarmed it. The reaction's already started."
"The reaction had started, and you couldn't tell?" Shepard hissed.
"I was focused on trying the codes. It didn't start immediately after Aria hit it. I checked then. I didn't—"
"It doesn't matter. I'm sorry." Shepard growled. "It's not your fault."
Grunt and Adams rushed down the Normandy's cargo bay ramp. Joker flopped in Grunt's arms. He was starting to move his fingers and roll his head. Liara, though, still looked completely limp as Adams carried her out. Shepard waved Garrus over. Gathering everyone, she pointed to the crack. Tali's voice lowered to nearly a whisper as she explained.
"Can we take this out in the Normandy's shuttle?" Shepard asked.
"Lifting off on the shuttle could break that glass further, detonate it," Adams said.
"If it was in a ship then?" Shepard said. "Hitting FTL would ignite it, but what about just getting through the atmosphere to a safe FTL jumping point. Would that break the glass?"
"Shouldn't," Adams said. "Spaceship's a lot smoother a ride than a shuttle lifting off."
"Load it up," Shepard said.
"The Normandy's power looked unstable when I was in there," Adams said.
"Kaidan did something in engineering. See if you can fix it. Go now."
Adams lay Liara gently onto the floor and raced back to the Normandy.
Tali hunched closer to the warhead. "It's still cracking. Faster I think.
"We need to be careful about this," Garrus said. "After we get it aboard, Shepard and I—"
"No, Garrus," Shepard said. "You're not coming. Or you, Tali. You need to evacuate everyone. At least, the building but out of the city, if possible."
"Shepard," Garrus said stepping closer to her.
"No, no one else needs to go. Only me and …"
"Me," Joker said.
Everyone's heads turned to Joker, and he sat up higher in Grunt's arms.
"Joker," Shepard came over to him. "You know what this means?"
"I know what's happening," he said. "Need a smooth ride, a fast one to reach space? I'm the Alliance's best damned pilot for a reason."
Shepard gave him a weak smile and nodded.
"It's started the combustion phase," Tali hissed and jumped to her feet.
"Start the evacuation." Shepard pointed at her. "Go!"
"Shepard," Garrus said again.
"Let's get it loaded. We need to put the core back in the warhead's outer shell to move it."
Shepard took Joker from Grunt's arms. Garrus's mandibles flared with a short growl, but he turned away from her. He and Grunt rushed to the warhead. Tali sprinted to the hall.
"Always thought it might end like this – you, me, and the Normandy," Joker said with a heavy look in his eyes, despite the light words.
Shepard smiled wanly. "I suppose—"
"Shepard!" Adams puffed rushing down the ramp. Shepard turned to him. "It's a damned mess. Kaidan must've meant it to be. No fixing it anytime soon. She won't fly."
"Another ship?" Shepard said adjusting Joker's weight in her arms.
"The docked ships are on the other side of the building. Normandy's the only flight-worthy one in the dry docks."
"Damnit." Shepard set Joker on the floor.
"What? No," Joker said. "There's got to be something."
"We're not dragging the warhead all the way across HQ under gunfire," Shepard snapped.
Grunt and Garrus settled the core in the warhead's metal shell. The core's glass casing cracked with a sharp pop. They stumbled back. Steam hissed through a fissure in the core. A rosey glow bloomed under the glass. Shepard walked up to it. Her breath tightened under her ribs, and she rested a hand on top of the warhead feeling it against her palm. She drew in a sharp breath and spun around.
"I have an idea."
XXX
"Put it in the center," Shepard said. "Grunt, move that statue off further."
Grunt and Adams put their shoulders against Oriana's statue, tipped on its side, and edged it aside. Garrus positioned the warhead in the center of the Summit's stage floor. His eyes sharpened on Shepard as she limped to him. A static tickle rose in the air as she neared the stage's center, and her biotics buzzed deep in her bones.
The auditorium echoed with their voices. Wires sparked in the ceiling from the torn lights. Glass, broken cameras, and bodies lay between the rows of empty chairs.
Shepard pressed her palm to the warhead. Energy roared through her, and a blue veil shimmered out from her palm. It enveloped the warhead. The power buzzed in her teeth. Every nerve ending hummed as the amplified energy ragged in her chest. Her palm, waist high on warhead, burned against the metal.
"Get everyone out," Shepard looked at them. "At the very least, this building's coming down, but probably a good part of the city too."
Grunt frowned and pointed at her. "But …"
"I'll absorb as much as I can, but it won't be enough. Evacuate everyone. Go now."
Adams and Grunt rushed backstage. Garrus trudged behind them but stopped at the stage entrance. His eyes lingered on her. Shepard inclined her head.
"Bye, Garrus."
"Been an honor, Shepard."
The curtain swirled behind him, and he disappeared around the corner. Shepard faced the auditorium and pressed her palm tighter to the warhead in front of her. Something cracked deep inside, and Shepard's heart raced. She spread her fingers against the burning heat. Inside the metal shell, glass snapped and shatter. A rushing roar grew louder with each pop. It filled her ears rising louder and louder. Her heart hammered. Metal scorched into her palm.
A hand slid over hers. Glowing fingertips slipped between her knuckles and pressed onto the warhead. Her barrier deepened to a cobalt, and threads of dark energy wove through her barrier, stretching and tightening. Shepard whipped her head around as Kaidan stumbled against her drawing in ragged breaths. He met her eyes and gave a weak smile. Their biotics pulsed at the same beat under her palm. She held out her other hand, and he clasped it. Their hands squeezed together, and Shepard smiled broadly into his face. The world exploded in a concussion of fire, color, and agony. It combusted out her chest, tore her apart in a roar of blindness and heat. Every breath, every nerve, every sense burned away. Then there was only infinity.