6 – Friend and Foe
The shuttle had no sooner set down in the docking bay than the door slid open and Jeffrey Blake stepped out into the cavernous expanse of the Helios launching station. He sniffed slightly disdainfully; he disliked visiting Helios, and before today he had only done so twice as president. Under his predecessor, semi-regular visits to the station had been unavoidable, since Jack had based all his operations around Pandora. Because of this, and because of how inextricably linked the station was with Jack himself, Blake had come to secretly despise the station. His presence here was a mark of how dangerous the situation with Elizabeth had become.
"Mr Blake, sir." The security guard at the base of the stairs saluted, and Blake nodded in reply. "Mr Atkinson is waiting for you in the control centre. Half mad with worry. You'd best hurry."
"Thank you," replied Blake, sweeping up the stairs and towards the lift that would take him to the control centre. Clearly, he thought, something had happened while he was en route.
"Mr Blake!" a clearly relieved Jasper Atkinson exclaimed the second the lift doors opened in the command centre. "Thank goodness you're not late."
"I am never late, Jasper, I pride myself on it," said Blake smoothly. "What has happened?"
"She's gone after the Raiders' psycho sooner than we thought. She left over half an hour ago."
"Then time is of the essence. Where is she?"
"The old research facility at the Preserve," replied Jasper, consulting his communicator. "Guards are ready to go as you requested."
"Any particular reason she's left early?" asked Blake.
"The siren, Maya, was out in Three Horns alone, presumably on some job for the Raiders. Elizabeth jumped at the chance to capture her. My understanding of —"
"She planned to attack a siren?"
"Ambush her, I believe, using the tranquiliser bolts. Point is, I think she plans to —"
"Bait the psycho, kill him and probably her as well," inferred Blake expertly. "Presumably she'll set it up to look like they ambushed her. She never did think much of us negotiating with the Raiders. This might turn into a very delicate situation. We need to brief the guards."
"Boss! He's —" The captain's words were cut off with the sound of steel on bone and a sharp gurgle, before the radio cut out.
"Shit," muttered Elizabeth. She reached for another tranquiliser bolt, before realising she had just used her last one on Gaige. "Fuck!"
A line from the Hyperion intelligence report on the rebels flashed through her mind. Sheathing her crossbow, she seized Gaige's unconscious body by the shoulder and pulled her to her feet, turning her to face the door. With her free hand, she drew her knife and held it to Gaige's neck. She waited a few seconds, then spoke to the air, trusting her intuition.
"That's far enough. Drop the refractive shield and the weapon."
There was silence, then Zer0 materialised in the doorway, sword in one hand, pistol in the other.
"Why should I do that? Seems rather self-defeating, wouldn't you agree?"
"Don't patronise me," sneered Elizabeth, hiding her relief — if the assassin thought she could see through his cloaking device, he might not try and get the drop on her. "Your relationship is no secret, much as you'd like to think it is. The girl knows little enough about what's going on. You, the psycho and the siren aren't going to leave here alive, regardless of what happens next. The girl knows little enough. Drop the weapons, she lives… and you and the siren die quickly."
"Or?"
"Or the girl dies. And even if you killed me, do you really think you could live with the fact that you brought about her death? Think on that for a second, assassin."
The assassin did not reply, and a tense silence fell. After several seconds, Elizabeth broke it.
"Well?"
Silence. Elizabeth's brow creased.
"Wait —"
The assassin's decoy vanished from the doorway, and in the same instant his hands seized her wrists from behind. Elizabeth reacted almost instinctively, lashing out with her foot, but Zer0 had anticipated her move and kicked her other leg out from underneath her, forcing her foot back to the ground to steady herself. For several seconds they struggled, but Elizabeth knew full well that she couldn't match his strength for long. She forced down the slowly rising panic in the pit of her stomach; fighting the psycho was one thing, but Zer0 was one of the most highly-trained assassins in the galaxy — a professional killer.
Hoping beyond hope that the same trick would work a second time, she suddenly threw her hands back. Gaige slid down to the ground, and Zer0, caught off-guard by the sudden momentum shift, stumbled slightly. Elizabeth kicked again, this time connecting hard; his grip loosened slightly, and she tore her hands forward again, pulling free of his grasp.
A surge of confidence hit her as his hands slipped from her wrists; she spun around and leapt for his neck, knife at the ready. His recovery, however, was lightning fast, and he moved sideways faster than Elizabeth could blink. Her recovery was not nearly as fast, and before she had even worked out exactly where he was, he had grasped the back of her neck and thrown her forwards into the wall. Her forehead struck the stone, and she fell backwards onto the floor with a cry of pain and her vision swimming. Her knife clattered away across the floor; before she could pull herself together to react, Zer0's boot was on her chest and his sword was inches from her throat.
"Does that answer your question?" he said with the slightest hint of a sneer. Elizabeth took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to clear her still-blurred vision and calm her racing heart. It was almost comically straightforward for him, she realised. He probably didn't even break a sweat.
"I will credit you," continued Zer0. "You put up at least some fight. I do respect that."
"Sure you do," said Elizabeth bitterly, "that's why you're engaging in polite conversation before you kill me, right? How downright civilized of you. Why, I had no idea that 'Assassination Etiquette' was taught in assassin school." She wasn't entirely sure why she was taunting him — perhaps it was her weapon of last resort, making fun of him before he killed her.
"Amusing. For the record, the usual niceties do not apply here, because this is not a paid assassination. Now, explain why you are here. We haven't had any notable trouble with Hyperion since the agreement was signed."
Elizabeth hesitated. On one hand, it was horrifically clichéd to spill her plan when pinned at swordpoint. On the other, the longer he talked, the further from life the psycho drifted, and there would be at least some consolation if she could take one of them with her — hundreds of soldiers and loaders hadn't managed that. And perhaps, if she could convince him that Blake had sent her, she would still be able to damage their agreement.
Before she had made up her mind to reply, brisk footsteps cut through the silence, and a group of five people appeared outside the room. Three Hyperion guards, each carrying an SMG with a different elemental attachment, stood at the empty window frame, their weapons pointed into the room at the two combatants. Just inside the doorway stood Blake, a dark metallic sword in his hand, flanked by Jasper Atkinson, who was clutching a pistol and looking as though he would rather be anywhere else. Zer0 had raised his own pistol, which was currently pointed at Blake, but had not looked away from Elizabeth or lifted his sword from her throat.
"We appear to be just in time, Mr Atkinson," said Blake calmly. Jasper looked like he was going to be physically ill if he spoke.
"Jeff," said Elizabeth, carefully concealing the relief in her stomach. "What a pleasant surprise."
"I wish I could say the same, Elizabeth," replied Blake, "but it's neither a surprise nor very pleasant. Zer0, while I am sure you would have reasonable justification, I cannot allow you to kill my vice president."
"With all due respect, Blake," said Zer0 in a voice that made it quite clear just how little respect was due, "what you will or won't allow is not a relevant factor."
"I should hardly have to point out to you that your three colleagues here are all injured to various extents, and Krieg over there requires immediate medical attention. It is in everyone's best interests to defuse this as soon as possible. I would prefer to keep our agreement intact, but the record will show that if this comes to violence, you fired the first shot."
"I think you will find your lackey here fired the first shot," replied Zer0. Elizabeth hated being called Blake's 'lackey', but considering Zer0's sword was still an inch from her throat, it seemed unwise to retaliate.
"Against the wishes of both myself and the board."
Zer0 paused for a few seconds. "Implausible. But as a show of good faith, I will trust you, against my better judgment." After using his sword to push Elizabeth's knife into the corner of the room, he hauled Elizabeth unceremoniously to her feet, expertly removing her crossbow from her belt in the process.
"Excellent. Now, Elizabeth," said Blake, "Mr Atkinson has explained your planned coup d'etat —" (Elizabeth shot Jasper a look of pure venom, causing him to shrink even further behind Blake) "— and it is clear to me that your attempts to eradicate those affected by slag sickness poses an unacceptable risk of negative press, financial losses and legal actions against Hyperion, and also threatened to spark another war on Pandora. You may consider yourself under arrest and suspended without pay pending a full investigation. Gentlemen," he turned to two of the guards, "would you be so kind as to take Elizabeth back to Helios and detain her there until I work out what the best way to deal with this is?"
The two guards that Blake had addressed nodded mutely, and moved into the room. Elizabeth maintained a dignified silence and a contemptuous expression as Zer0 pushed her over to the guards and she was steered firmly out of the room.
Blake watched them disappear around the corner, then turned back to the one conscious Vault hunter. "Now, we need to see to your colleagues."
"Put the sword away first."
"Hmm? Oh, very well, but put yours away as well." Blake flicked his sword nonchalantly; the blade collapsed in on itself and folded into the hilt, where it was barely visible.
"Unusual sword, for the head of a company known for high-tech weaponry," said Zer0, sheathing his own blade.
"Yes, it belonged to my great-grandfather," replied Blake conversationally. He strode over to Krieg and took his pulse, then pulled open one of his eyelids and examined his pupils. "Not dead, but close. Morgan?"
The remaining guard produced a syringe of deep green liquid from her uniform and handed it to Blake. Zer0 recognised it as a standard antitoxin hypo — the usual med hypos were excellent for flesh wounds, as well as minor burns and nerve damage, but more serious injuries required specialist pharmaceuticals. Antitoxin hypos could counteract most poisons and venoms, skeletal hypos repaired fractures and tendon damage, and so on.
"You'd better call Lilith," said Blake, injecting the hypo into Krieg's upper arm. "We only had two of these on hand, and that isn't going to be enough. It'll keep him stable for the time being, but she'll be able to do more. Jasper, Morgan, could you please rouse Maya and Gaige for me?"
Consciousness began slowly trickling back into Maya's mind, slowly forcing back the fog of confusion that was clouding her brain. The first thing she noticed was an acrid smell under her nose that seemed to be stinging her into awakening. Slowly, she registered that she was lying down, no longer restrained, and the collar was gone from her neck. It was more comfortable than the alternative, but the cold stone floor was still not terribly pleasant.
The smell under her nose was becoming extremely unpleasant; for this reason more than anything else, she forced herself to open her eyes. Her vision was still blurry, but she was able to make out an unfamiliar woman bent over her, holding a small bottle under her nose.
"Finally," muttered the woman, removing the bottle and screwing the cap back onto it. "She's awake, sir."
"About time," said a man's voice that Maya thought she could probably have recognised if she was properly conscious. "I was worried there might be lasting damage."
"Is that likely?" said a third voice that even in her semi-conscious state Maya could not fail to recognise as Zer0.
"After taking two hits, it was a possibility."
Maya swallowed painfully. A bottle of what she assumed was water was pushed into her hand, which she drank from gratefully.
"What's going on?" she said huskily.
"In a minute," said the woman. "Take deep breaths. Let your head clear a little."
Maya closed her eyes and took several long, slow breaths. The pounding in her head slowly started to recede, and the fog began to clear from her mind. After a minute or so, she opened her eyes again, feeling at least a little better.
Her vision had largely cleared by now, and she could make things out properly again. The woman who had roused her was indeed a stranger, but wearing what was recognisably a Hyperion security uniform. Glancing around the room, she saw Zer0 tending to a rather shaken-looking Gaige, and eventually her eyes fell upon the man who had spoken earlier.
"Blake? What did — where is —"
"Elizabeth is in detention on Helios," replied Blake, as he and the woman helped her into a sitting position against the wall. "There will be a full investigation. She has been suspended in the interim."
Maya barely heard Blake's answer; her eyes had just fallen on two other figures on the other side of the room.
"Krieg!" Fear gripped her suddenly, and she struggled to get to her feet. Blake put a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Lilith is doing her best. There is nothing more you can do until you've fully recovered. Morgan, please check Maya's vitals…"
Blake stood up and walked over to Krieg. Lilith, Maya observed, was bent over the psycho's unconscious body, both hands hovering over his torso. Her face was contorted with concentration and exertion, her eyes and tattoos were blazing, and her translucent wings were visible on her back; Maya recognised all the hallmarks of a siren focusing all her energy on a specific task. Maya knew that Blake was right: if she attempted to help, she would probably pass out from the effort.
There was a sharp grunt and a muttered curse from the vicinity of Lilith. Glancing over, Maya saw that she had stumbled backwards, panting, and was currently being half-supported by Blake. After several seconds, Lilith pushed Blake away and leaned against the wall, catching her breath. Blake, completely unconcerned by Lilith's rejection of his assistance, turned to Krieg and began examining his pupils and taking his pulse.
"Lilith," said Zer0. "Are you —"
"Fine," replied Lilith, "but that's all I can manage right now."
"It will do, for now," said Blake, straightening up and turning back to the rest of the room. "He will be laid out for at least a week, and he'll need an antitoxin hypo once daily."
"That long?"
"That wasn't exactly a saline solution Elizabeth hit him with. His unusually hardy constitution coupled with the relatively slow-acting nature of the toxin itself probably kept him alive this long. You had better relocate him to Sanctuary; can you manage him yourself?"
"Yes, thank you," said Lilith curtly; clearly, Maya thought, Lilith was unimpressed by the very thought of receiving any assistance from the president of Hyperion.
"Come and see me as soon as you get back to the city," said Lilith to Maya, Zer0 and Gaige, in the voice she used when she needed to remind everyone who was in charge. Nodding once to Blake, she vanished in a flash of purple.
Blake chuckled. "Delightful young lady. I don't think you were there during the first negotiation… it was lively, to say the least. Now," he shifted his gaze and addressed Maya, "from what Jasper tells me, you have been attempting to locate information about the Delta Team."
Zer0, Gaige and Maya shared a glance before Maya replied.
"Not really; more about one specific researcher."
"I can guess which one," replied Blake. "I can also guess what you want to know. The information is classified, so I can't disclose it to you; however, I was thinking about this on the flight to Helios, and I think we might be able to help each other."
"Fuck off, Blake," interjected Gaige, her voice still a little thick with the after-effects of the tranquiliser. "Why should we help you?"
"Many reasons," replied Blake, tactfully ignoring the first part of Gaige's comment. "Because I think we share a common goal. Because cooperation is always preferable to hostility. Because it would be the good and decent thing to do. Take your pick."
"That's just half the point. Trust does not come easily; why should we trust you?" asked Zer0.
Blake raised one eyebrow very slightly. "Because I've chosen to trust you."
Zer0 did not reply; Maya, who knew his mannerisms fairly well, recognised with surprise that Blake's answer had caught him off guard.
"What exactly is it you want?" said Maya, pushing herself up into a more comfortable sitting position.
"I would like you, and if possible also your colleague Doctor Tannis, to assist us in developing a cure for slag poisoning." Blake's lips tweaked into the ghost of a smile at the surprise betrayed by Maya's face. "I surmised your intentions correctly, I see. Hyperion has, as I'm sure you can imagine, a fairly extensive catalogue of research about the effects of Eridium and slag on humans and animals; what we lack is the specific knowledge required to produce a functional cure. Our understanding is that Dr Tannis has several theories on how a cure could be created, and has presumably been refining these theories using the information you've gleaned from this facility, but lacks both the resources and the more general information to actually test her theories. I am proposing we tackle the problem together; between us, I have little doubt we will eventually find what you are looking for."
Zer0 inclined his head thoughtfully, processing what Blake had said. Gaige, either unconvinced or unwilling to admit that Blake had a point, merely grunted. Maya, however, had begun thinking as rapidly as she could with her brain still recovering from the tranquilisers. Hyperion and Tannis working together would undoubtedly have the knowledge and resources to develop the cure that she'd been searching for this entire time. It would certainly be certainly a risk, agreeing to work with Blake, and they would likely meet with some opposition from within the Crimson Raiders, but there was no two ways about it — this was the first time it truly looked likely that they could find a cure.
"I don't need an answer immediately," Blake was saying. "By all means discuss it with your colleagues. All I'm asking for now is that you consider it. Your end goal here, surely, was to find a cure? Here's your chance. Help us make some good out of Elizabeth's bad."
Blake pulled his communicator from his jacket pocket and glanced at it briefly. "I have work to do, and I've already lost enough time chasing down Elizabeth. I need to get back to HQ and convene another board meeting about this little fiasco. I hope to hear from you soon; you know how to reach me. Good day."
