Irie glanced up from a plate of half eaten food, jarred from her thoughts as a figure appeared at the door of the helm. Gerty looked at her kindly a moment, then said, "We're only about four hours out from the Citadel. Scope is clear."
"Thank you," she replied, then looked back at her supper. It had long since gone cold, and she'd spent the last half hour or so doing nothing but stirring it around.
The food itself wasn't the problem. Though she'd never had human curry before, it was actually rather delightful, and reminded her a lot of Thessian food- simply with more red meat and less fish. The heat of the spices was comparable to some of the dishes she had grown up with-both her parents rather fond of hot food that tended to set your mouth on fire.
Despite rather liking the food, her appetite over the last couple of days had been little to nonexistent. There was not much to occupy her mind on the tiny merchant ship, leaving her to dwell on her discovery and all that it may mean. Still, it was also not the existence of new Reapers that had put her off this particular meal.
She had not checked her omni-tool since coming aboard. Of all those who could perhaps discover the news of the Reapers and use it to drive the galaxy into a state of panic, she feared Athena's getting hold of it the most. Being the daughter of the former Broker, Irie well knew the capabilities of the Broker's resources even centuries ago- Athena would only have improved upon them. So much as powering on her omni-tool could put its data at risk, or at least give away her position. She could not do so until she was standing in the highly shielded and masked Council chambers.
The Council Chambers were considered the most secure room in the galaxy. Athena might have some surveillance even in places such as Alliance headquarters and Omega's top echelons, but even she could not eavesdrop or steal data from the Council Chambers themselves. Liara, the former Broker, had seen to that, along with a team of the most qualified and vetted quarian technicians in existence.
That meant that she had no idea yet if her assistant had sent her that final 'yes' or 'no', regarding the Reapers…but that was not what was plaguing her.
Without her omni-tool, and in the stress of the situation, she had completely lost track of date and time. Halfway through her meal, she'd suddenly remembered that she had meant to call her mother the same evening that she had run the final test on the megascope…and why.
"Are you ok?"
She blinked out of her thoughts again as she looked at Gerty. He had stepped down into the mess and was leaning on the edge of the tiny table. She hadn't even noticed him move.
"I…no, not really," she said.
"Anything I can do?"
"No, I just…not…" She shook her head, setting her fork down as tears flooded her eyes, her brows wrinkling. "I am just a horrible daughter."
"What? Why would you say that?" Concerned by her emotion, he crouched down beside her, looking at her intently. She shook her head, picking up her napkin and wiping self-consciously at her eyes. It did no good. The dam had broken, and more tears just replaced the ones she mopped away.
"The day that I left the research base was the anniversary of my father's passing," she said, trying to keep her voice even. "Every year since she died, our family has gotten together- in person or at least via a vid-call- to remember her…"
"And you missed it," he said softly. "Because of what you found."
"How could I forget? No matter what was happening, how could I possibly have forgotten something so important? To betray my father's memory, to dismiss my mother's grief-"
"Hey now, hey...that's not what happened. You're only hu-…asari, sorry. You're only asari. Anyone would be rocked by what you found- hell, I'm still trying to get over the shock and think straight, and I didn't even see it, ay? Losing track because of it is understandable, and it doesn't mean you've betrayed your father's memory or dismissed your mother's grief at all."
"I just…I feel horrible. I switched off my omni-tool so it could not be hacked or tracked. The moment I did not join in that call, my family would have been trying to reach me. They will be near to frantic by now."
"They'd have called the research base, right? Surely your assistant would have told them-"
"She would tell them I was not available to talk. Revealing even to them I had left the research base might draw suspicion and the scrutinizing eyes of others who may be monitoring. Over the Alliance's highly encrypted communication protocols the risk is probably minimal, but I told her not to chance it anyway. I did not remember the day and did not consider my family attempting to reach me with fervor. By now, Melara has likely tried to reach my omni-tool at least a dozen times and is probably preparing the Normandy to go to the research base herself to make sure I am well. Mama will have doubled that number and be making arrangements to do so herself despite her condition making it unwise-"
"Your mother is sick?"
"What? Oh, n-no, she is expecting."
"Expect…? Oh."
She wiped at her eyes again, wringing the napkin a bit. "Interstellar travel in her condition is not recommended, not so close to potential labor- but she will do it if she does not reach me soon. Not to mention Lily."
"Lily?"
"My daughter. She is the chief medical officer on the Normandy."
"I would never have guessed you had a grown daughter," he said. His dark eyes searched her face, then he nodded. "Well, we're only a few hours away from the Citadel now. When we dock you can send her and your sister and mother a quick message, let them know that you're all right."
"I cannot, not until I deliver this news to the Council. Even powering my omni-tool would make the data vulnerable to sophisticated hackers-"
"Is there a reason sophisticated hackers would even care about your omni-tool right now?"
"The potential that something has leaked from the research base is always there- even if the intel specifies nothing more than something is going on. That might pique the interest of someone such as the Shadow Broker just enough to go poking around for more. That aside, I am the daughter of the most famous person to have ever lived in this galaxy. That alone will always bring the risk of someone attempting to monitor me and my movements for various reasons. I cannot risk it."
"Then don't," he said. "We'll use my omni-tool. It's got no sensitive data about the Reapers on it, and doesn't have your flag ident to draw attention. If it's tracked, we'll be safe on the Citadel anyway and not floating here open in space. You use it to send your family a quick message and reassure them you'll call them back as soon as you can. At least reassure them long enough to stop them from heading to your base to look for you if they haven't already."
"I…" She paused, then wiped her eyes again and nodded. "I think that will work. Thank you, Gerty. That is very kind of you."
He smiled, then lay a hand gently on her arm. "And you are not a horrible daughter. I think if your father were around, she'd more than understand."
Irie ducked her head a bit, then nodded. "Thank you," she said again, softer than before. He nodded and rose, heading back up to the helm. As soon as he'd gone, she moved her plate aside and covered her face, emotionally and physically exhausted.
Red moved at as fast a trot as she could manage on the uneven ground, considering the stiff wind and limited visibility. Though her helmet infrared was still working, it relied on line of sight, and the landscape made for plenty of obstacles to her sight. She finally climbed onto a flat plateau in view of the low mountain, in whose shadow they had parked the Infinity…and jolted to a halt in shock.
One of the two shots the Lear had taken at them- either by accident or design- had struck the ridge of that mountain. The impact loosened half the hillside, sending millions of tons of rock and dirt in a collapse directly onto the ship. She could see the incredible mound of debris, almost half as tall as the mountain itself had been, and only a few twists of collapsed wreckage to show her ship was completely destroyed, crushed in the cavalcade.
They had completely powered down the vessel to lessen the chances of anyone locating it. No power meant no active shielding or AI computer response. The rock had crushed the hull without anything to stop it.
A nauseous ball of rage and disbelief growing in her gut accompanied her as she crossed the plateau closer to the ruin. Her hands were shaking as she drew near to it, fisted at her sides.
If Shepard doesn't kill Moore…I am going to.
None of her people were there. Another half hour of scans and casting about and she discovered the impact crater of the second weapon shot, half a mile away. The scorched remains of a severed arm here and a foot there showed that this bolt had done its work. At least three of her men were torn apart by it, if the number of body parts could be reckoned. There was no sign of two of the remaining three, and likely they had been completely incinerated in the heart of the beam.
Vilas' body she found another fifty yards on, broken and twisted on the ground, one shattered glide suit wing nearby. His fate was also obvious- like her, he hadn't been directly struck by the weapon, but instead he'd been sent out of control. Unlike her, he had been unable to recover himself in time before he hit the ground.
Her ship, gone. Her team, dead.
No. Death is too good for Moore.
A warning chime suddenly sounded in her ear, and she refocused from the body at her feet to her HUD. It showed no fewer than six figures were only a hundred yards distant and closing at a cautious but steady clip.
She had no doubts as to who they were, and immediately realized the situation she was in. She had two weapons against an armed squad under the command of a Spectre. She had no ship for escape, no supplies, and no living crew. The world was barren and lifeless, with no sources of food or water. Even if she could elude the group coming her way and hide- highly unlikely- once they left she'd be pretty much completely stranded, doomed to die in a matter of days as dehydration took hold.
Were she able to get a signal off world, there was no one she knew who would simply come and rescue her- they would all demand payment. Even if she gave them the artifact she'd found as payment, it would still take the nearest one several days to reach her. She'd be long dead when they arrived.
Even so, they might just take the artifact and kill me or turn me over anyway.
Gritting her teeth, she unshipped her rifle, removing its thermal clip and then tossing both to the ground a few feet away. Doing the same with her pistol, she lowered down to her knees and put her hands on her head. Much as she hated surrendering, at least with the Spectre she knew she'd be turned into authorities instead of murdered. Jail left options for escape, and at any rate was far better than dying of thirst.
A few moments later the armed forms coalesced out of the wind and gloom, their omni-lights and weapons fixed firmly on her. As they approached, the one in the lead kicked her rifle aside and even further away, her own rifle aimed firmly at Red's helmeted forehead.
Though her own face couldn't be seen through the extended jump suit helmet, the others were wearing military issue helmets with full face plates. Red was a bit surprised to see it was a turian female before her and not Shepard.
"Identify," the turian demanded as one of the others covered Vilas, then crouched to examine him.
"Red," she said through gritted teeth.
"Last name? Point of origin?"
"It's just Red," she spat back.
"Well, Red, you are under arrest pending potential charges of abetting kidnapping and slavery."
Though the turian could not see it, the look in Red's eyes was as withering as her tone. "Yes, I figured. That would be why I am on my knees with my hands on my head."
The turian's eyes narrowed just a fraction. "Are you carrying any additional weapons or hazards on your person?"
"You're free to look, aren't you?"
The turian lowered her rifle and shipped it, Red still covered by at least two others. With decidedly ungentle motions, she grabbed Red's wrist and swung it around, gripping the same arm with her other hand and using her leverage to yank the quarian merc up to her feet. In moments, she had her cuffed and had removed the knife she'd found in Red's boot. Suddenly the turian paused, tilting her head a bit, clearly listening to a voice not audible outside her helmet.
"Understood," she said, then looked back at Red. "The captain tells me you are carrying an unknown device that may be dangerous."
"Your captain would have heard that from Moore," she said. "There is a compartment on my waist, left side."
Feeling out the hidden compartment, the turian opened it and carefully drew out the item that Red had earlier displayed to Moore, then held it out for one of the others to scan.
"No energy signatures, no radiation of any kind. It is made of a material that is not registering but it does not appear to be any kind of weapon. Seems benign enough."
The turian balled it up and slid it into her own pouch, fixing Red with another look. "Where is your ship?"
"Under about fifty million tons of rock and debris, over there," she said, tilting her head to indicate direction. "And let me spare you the questions. My crew is all dead, I'm not a slaver, I was there to sell Moore that artifact. I have nothing to do with his slaving racket and I don't give two pisses in a stiff wind for what happens to him. I have nothing else on me and I don't intend to resist. Now can you kindly take me off to a cell and let me get to considering with deep heart-felt reflection on where my life went wrong, finally discover if I was ever really loved as a child and form a conclusion as to whether or not that might explain my naughty, naughty, criminal ways- so I can get on with my life and you can too?"
Her flippancy clearly did not make the turian happy, but it did result in her not saying anything further, which was just fine with Red. The yank on her arm was expectedly rough as she was escorted away from the impact site, doubtlessly toward a shuttle that would take her off this godforsaken rock.
"The shuttle is locked back on board. The Lear is secure and the beacon for pick up is active," Joker said as Melara stopped behind his helm chair.
"Good. Put us on course for the Citadel. Have C-Sec meet us on dock to take custody of our prisoners, and inform the Council I would like to speak with them regarding the situation on Nakira. Now that we know Sihra is going to survive I can add my case to Neska's for uplifting them."
"Yes ma'am. ETA to the Citadel nine hours."
As Melara turned to walk back toward the CIC she spotted Vina coming her way.
"Prisoner secure in the brig?"
"Yes. We confiscated her jump suit and omni-tool. She was correct- her ship was destroyed under a rock slide and the rest of her team were dead. I have Joker doing a background search on her, see if he can find any more outstanding warrants or ties to Moore or his slaving ring."
"And the artifact he said she was carrying?"
Vina opened a pouch at her waist and drew it out. "Here. We scanned it and it does not seem to be any kind of weapon or danger-"
As Melara's eyes affixed to it, she felt every muscle in her body suddenly knot, her eyes widening and her breath catching short as she realized what she was seeing. Reaching out, she took it from her XO.
"On the contrary, Vina…this is extremely dangerous and potentially one of the most catastrophic weapons ever devised."
"Ma'am?"
"This is a Cinch," Melara said. "A type of biotic battery. An identical device detonated by my father is what caused the Anadius black hole. Did she tell you where she got it? Is this the only piece?"
"She did not reveal how she got it, and we found nothing else on her person."
"It does not appear to be charged. My mother said it took on a distinct blue glow along the links of the chain when it was- these ones are dark. It requires a control cube to be activated or discharged. You're sure she had nothing like that on her?"
"I am positive."
"Without a charge the control cube- wherever it is- is useless. Lock this up. I want it secure and guarded. No energy sources, and definitely no biotics, are to be allowed anywhere near it. I'm going to speak to our new prisoner myself. I want to know how a goddamn quarian merc gets her hands on the most cataclysmic weapon ever constructed."