Thane sat on an uncomfortable stool at his Arasiha's bed side, holding her right hand in both of his. He had his back to the AI core so he could watch the doors and windows. He knew Garrus would come for him, or wait for him to eventually come out of the med-bay. If the turian decided to wait, it would be a long one. Thane had great patience. He was not leaving her side, not in this life or the next. He'd failed to protect her and he had been right by her, not light years away. He could not allow this to happen again. Her wound was no longer life threatening. Dr. Chakwas was amazingly skilled. Fortunately for Shepard, the doctor had lots of experience with gun shot wounds.
Garrus was seething on the command deck. He'd piratically taken over the ship so she could go off and have a grand ol' time with her life partner, and what does she do? She get's caught by Cerberus and shot. She'd probably have gotten killed if Thane hadn't been there, but it wasn't good enough. The drell should have been more aware, should have seen it coming or suggested a more obscure location to go 'honeymooning'. He should have done a better job of protecting her. It was his fault. He wanted to see a damn desert. Garrus was squeezing the rail over looking the galaxy map so hard it left impressions of his talons. On top of that he was preparing a preemptive attack on the Cerberus vessel he was sure was hiding on the other side of the planet, waiting to ambush them. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction.
Garrus was right, of course. There was a Cerberus ship. The Normandy easily snuck up behind it. The plan was to blast it to bits before the Cerberus vessel realized they were there. Miranda suggested an alternative. One he couldn't deny as being a more valuable one.
"We should send in a team to gather any information they may have. The Normandy's shields, speed and fire power out match them. They won't get away and we will have data that could prove useful."
Garrus, Miranda and Jacob took the shuttle over to the Cerberus vessel. Stealth systems were engaged, but anyone looking out a window could see them. The Normandy stayed just out of sight. The Kodiak dropped them off on the roof. There was a access hatch for repairs that Miranda assured him she could hack into. Their magnetic boots made walking even more difficult that the zero g's. They just had to hope that the shuttle didn't get picked up on sensors.
It didn't surprise Garrus that Miranda knew exactly where the hatch was. It took her a little longer to open it than it thought it would.
"Loosing you touch?" He teased her. He still didn't trust her.
"There are additional security systems on outer hatches. I have to by pass the internal pressure systems to include the outer hull area."She replied matter-of-factly.
"Yes, I understand. Let's go." He was already grumpy. She had no sense of humor.
Garrus let Jacob go first. Then himself. Miranda closed the hatch behind her. they turned off the magnets in their boots before continuing. Crawling through the ducts was never fun. He always ended up bumping his head or his fringe. It hurt his knees, his spurs were hazards for catching in vents. He hated crawling through ducts.
"I wish I had drug Thane out of the med-bay and made him do this." Garrus thought bitterly. "He's the expert in this crap."
Plus he had an excellent view of Jacob's ass. He should have made Miranda go first. The thought made him self conscious of the fact that she was probably thinking the same thing about his ass.
"Hey Miri," He said into the com. "How's the view back there?" He teased. He heard her aggravated sigh before answering.
"Let's focus and get out of here, please." She replied.
No sense of humor. Garrus shook his head.
"We should be able to access a vent large enough to crawl out of up ahead. Can you see it, Jacob?" She asked.
"Yeah, I think so. Hold on. I don't see anyone in the room below and my omni-tool's not picking anything up." He replied.
"Scans say this is the fastest way to a intra-linked terminal. Opening the vent." ordered Garrus, checking his own omni-tool.
They didn't bother replacing the vent cover. They were going to be in, out and then blow 'em up. The room was a large office. It appeared to be un-used.
"The terminal is in the next office over. We need to hurry before internal sensors..."
"Intruder alert. Intruder alert." the intercom blared the warning.
"...ors pick us up..." Garrus finished his sentence as he armed his weapon. He headed for the door. No one was in the hall, yet.
"All clear."
He rounded the corner and quickly moved down the hall. Miranda and Jacob were close behind, Jacob guarding the rear. Garrus had to hack into the door.
"Intruder alert. Intruder alert."
"Is anyone going to turn that off?" Garrus complained.
"Why isn't there anyone here yet?" Miranda wondered out loud.
"Let's get the info before we have a chance to find out." Said Garrus.
The door opened. Inside was a smaller office, but it was clearly in use. Was. The officer was still in his bed. He would never wake up. There was a hole in his head where his temples would have been.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Garrus said warily.
"Get the data. We have to get out of here, now!" Miranda warned. "I don't know what's going on, but it isn't good."
Garrus ran over to the console. He typed in a few key words into the search bar to try and find what they were looking for. The results were too numerous for the amount of time they had.
"Miranda, take over. I'll watch. There's too much and you can probably do this faster."
They switched positions. Garrus watched down one side while Jacob looked back the way they'd come. The alarm was still blaring and there was still not a soul in sight.
"Did Thane and Shepard kill the whole crew? Would Cerberus have been so dense as to send the whole crew?" Garrus asked absently.
"Then who shot that guy?" Jacob pointed out nodded to the body.
"Hummm..."
A little way down the hall, one wall opened up with a window looking down at the cargo bay. Garrus moved down far enough to have a look. Nothing seemed out of place. In fact, things looked a little too perfect. Like it was for sale and this was a display model. He backed down the hall to the door again.
"Miranda... any time. This is getting creepy."
"I've got it. Let's move."
Garrus heard the door at the opposite end of the hall hiss open.
"Someone's coming." He gruffly whispered.
They each took cover in a door way. Slow, un-alarmed foot steps made there way down the hall.
"Eddie?" The voice asked. "Eddie?"
Garrus took a peak at the name on the uniformed body. 'Eddie 012'. He wondered what the numbers meant.
"Eddie."
The voice came again, sounding suspicious. Garrus gripped his rifle a little tighter.
"Okay, when he gets close grab him. Let's see if he knows anything." Garrus whispered into the com.
"I'm on it." Jacob came back.
"Eddie!" The voice shouted in surprise.
Garrus and Miranda came out of hiding.
"Who are you? Where is everyone?" Miranda asked him.
Garrus thought the man in Jacobs grip looked a lot like the dead one. He read the name on the uniform. 'Eddie 208'.
"Miranda, did Cerberus ever try cloning whole people, not just parts?"
"Yes, but never successfully. They usually came out with major physical defects as well as mental and died not long after 'birth'."
"Take a look at this guy and look at the dead one. Notice anything odd?"
Miranda saw at once what the turian was referring too.
"If that one is 012 and this one is 208, just how many are there."
"And we still don't know why or who shoot Mr.12." Added Jacob, struggling with 208.
"Eddie, Eddie!"
"Clearly they aren't perfect." Said Miranda. "The repeated name announcement must be a metal glitch."
"We got what we came for, let's get outta here and blow this place to hell." Garrus suggested strongly.
"I agree." Huffed Jacob. "This guy's stronger than he looks."
Garrus ended the struggle with a rifle butt to the face of 208. The clone crumpled to the floor. More voices were coming from both doors now.
"Eddie? Eddie?"
Garrus was done talking. He headed for the room with the open vent as he contacted the Normandy through his com.
"Joker, come in."
"I'm here, Garrus."
"We need pick up. Now!"
"On my way. Why are is it the ground team is always in a hurry?"
"Joker..." Garrus growled the warning.
"Okay, okay. No need to beat me with your shit stick." Joker remarked.
Garrus gave Jacob and Miranda a boost up. He was tall enough he only had to reach up and grab the edge. At least he was going to have a better view on the way back. Not as nice as Shepard's, but...
Jacob popped the lid and they climbed out onto the hull of the ship. The Normandy was there to greet them. Engineer Ken was there to throw them each a life line and pull them to the ship. Once on board, Garrus made his way as fast as possible to the Command Deck, spouting orders into his com.
"Joker, get us outta here. And take that ship out before you go."
"Aye, aye, sir."
Joker brought the ship around, lined up the shot and fired. He waited until the glow of the explosions inside the ship as leaking between the seams of the hull before confirming the drive ignition.
Thane felt the ship lurch forward. As much as he was curious as to what had happened, he was more concerned with Shyra. She should have recovered by now. Maybe she was just sleeping, drowsy from the pain killers. He gave her hand a nervous squeeze. Her brows twitched.
"Siha?" He asked tentatively. "Siha, I am here." He brought the back of her hand to his lips, then held them under his chin against the folds of his neck. "Wake up."
Her brow twitched again. Her eyes squinted, but didn't open. It was like she was trying to wake, but couldn't.
"Siha..."
Thane felt panic speed up his heart rate. He rarely felt panic. It seemed too easily triggered by her struggle. He needed to meditate more. He tried to calm himself, concerned by his lack of control.
Thane cupped her face in his free hand and stood over her, letting the stool roll away and bump into the doctor's desk. He brought his face down to hers and gently kissed her pale lips.
"Arasiha," He spoke low and soft to her. "Wake up, my love."
A smile spread over his face when her eyes fluttered open. It took her a second to focus on him, but when she did she grinned. She took his face in her hands and kissed him back, fervently. She'd never been so happy to see him.
"You saved me." She whispered.
Thane frowned at her.
"I failed you. You were badly wounded. If I had not been quick to get you to the shuttle..."
"But you were! I'm alive, Mëha." She kissed him again.
"Yes, you are." He smiled and gave her hand another squeeze before kissing her once more.
"Okay, Romeo. The doctor needs to check on Juliet now that she's awake." Chakwas interrupted, amused. "Though I doubt I'll get any accurate blood pressure readings or heart rate counts with you constantly wooing her, Mr. Krios." She teased him.
Thane respectfully stepped aside, reluctantly releasing her hand.
"So, Mrs. Krios..." Dr. Chakwas addressed Shepard.
Shyra smiled at the sound of the name.
"How are you feeling?"
obviously some of this was inspired by Fallout 3, so don't get your panties in a twist, Gary. P LOL