In which Thane bites his jacket, Nihlus is allergic to cats, and Irikah gets hysterical. Don't ask, just read.

Chapter 3 – Status

Thane and the turian soldier stared each other down, the turian drawing his gun. "You, hands up, now!" the turian barked.

Thane's hands remained at his sides. "Can't you be a bit more eloquent than that? I speak better Turian than you."

"Look, I don't care if you're fluent in squirrel. You're a spy, and I want your hands in the air."

"I'm unarmed."

"Hands in the air!"

Thane slowly raised his hands. "Now what do I do?"

"You stay put until my backup gets here." The turian reached for his radio, never taking his eyes off of Thane. "This is Major Vincus. I found our 'fire.' I need backup immediately. Data room three." His talon left the radio.

Thane watched him calmly. "And I have what reason to stay until more soldiers come?"

"If you move, I'll shoot."

"I'm very afraid."

"Say something smart again, and my finger might slip." That was a turian scowl. The pinched eye ridges made it obvious, despite the fact that they were accompanied by no frown. After all, mandibles made it fairly hard to use one's mouth in a facial expression.

Nonetheless, Thane had learned to read turians long ago, and Vincus' hostility was too easy to see. "I'm not being smart. I'm being sarcastic. It's a joke. Laugh."

"Yeah, you'll be real funny once Nihlus gets a hold of you."

"Let me guess: Nihlus is in charge of interrogations, isn't he?"

"Smart. I guess you don't get to be a spy without being smart, though."

"That was actually quite obvious, but you're right. It takes intelligence, strength, speed, agility, skill, and a healthy dose of luck to get to where I am."

"Too bad that luck's run out, then."

"Has it?" Thane dropped and lunged forward. The startled turian fired, but the bullet passed right over Thane as his shoulder slammed into Vincus' middle with all of his weight behind it, sending both of them crashing to the floor and out into the hall. He snatched the turian's own gun out of his hands and shot him point-blank.

Thane stood, letting out a long, slow breath as he watched blue blood pool under the turian's body. "Go to the Sea," he whispered respectfully. Footsteps made him look up and right before he ducked back into the room and made for the vent, barely avoiding the barrage of gunfire from the unfortunate Major's backup. He was just pulling himself back into the ducts when a bullet lodged in his leg. He let out a sharp cry, but paused only a moment in climbing back up.

It was a moment too long. Hands wrapped around his injured leg and yanked on it, slamming him into the floor. He pushed himself into a sitting position and felt a gun against his head, then saw another one brought within inches of his face a moment later. "You're a dead man." A note of anger was evident in this turian's flanging voice. It was the one behind him speaking.

"I'm more valuable to you alive." Thane didn't dare move.

"I meant once Nihlus is done with you. Just like the others. It's only a matter of time."

"Vincus was a friend of yours?"

"Damn right, scaly bastard. Now shut up and wait for a stretcher."

Thane decided against speaking again. Instead, he bit the collar of his jacket, feeling a snap between his teeth. It would likely do nothing, but… He could hope.

Razh's head moved in unison with everyone else's when a sharp, keening alarm ripped through the soft electric hum in the monitor room. The noise lasted only a few seconds, but it made a cold stone settle in his gut. It had come from the Solom boy's station, and one of his two agents was currently at Fort Tox, safe as could be. The other…

"Sir," the boy said, turning, "Thane Krios has set off his emergency beacon."

Razh let out a short breath through his teeth. Knew it. Just knew it.

"Orders, sir? Who am I calling in for the rescue?"

"No one." The words came as if rehearsed. "Thane's on his own."

"But sir-!"

Razh turned to the young drell. "Son, I'd like you to take a look at where that signal was sent from."

The boy looked at his screen, then back to Razh. "Sir, it's from Palaven. I knew that." Questions in his silver eyes. Those eyes made him look so much like his father.

Feron… Razh sighed, shaking his head. Feron Solom would be devastated. He might have to chain the poor man down to keep him from rushing into Palaven. "There will be no rescue, Solom. Sending agents after him would be sending them to their graves."

"But sir, Thane's our best agent!"

"I know that!" He took a breath to calm himself. "…That's why he's on his own. That place is a deathtrap at this point. He's the one we sent in because he's the only one with even the slightest chance of making it out. There's nothing we can do for him. Now keep an eye on that beacon and tell me if it's moved when the next signal comes in."

The boy turned back to his post. "…Yes, sir."

Razh looked at him a moment longer before turning to the rest of the monitors. "Pay attention to your own agents, everyone. Go on. Stop gawking." Once they'd all turned back around, Razh closed his eyes and put a hand over his face.

Thane was dead.

They'd given him a few days to heal, which was nice. They'd also transferred him to a fort fifty miles southwest of Oclus, which was not so nice, considering that was fifty more miles to the border when he got out of here.

Currently, "here" consisted of a tiny cinderblock room with two chairs, a table, and a fluorescent light above that gave the whole place a sterile, dead feel. Ah, the trappings of an interrogation room. Complete with his hands behind his back and secured to the chair he was sitting in. Bored now.

He looked up as the door opened, then shut and locked behind the turian who'd entered. They were both locked in here now. How confident these turians were. He spoke first. "Nihlus, I assume?"

The turian looked him over. "Nihlus Kryik, yes. And your name?"

Time to see if this man had a sense of humor – and, if so, what kind. "Velarn Sortarian."

Nihlus cracked up. "Oh, you are a brazen bastard, aren't you? Sneaking into Hierarchy Command made that painfully obvious, though. If I were any other man, I'd hit you. Taking the name of our leader tends not to go over well with patriotic soldiers."

"You mean there are unpatriotic soldiers?"

More laughter. "There are certainly apathetic ones."

"Don't I know it. I always want to hit them."

"I do."

Now it was his turn to laugh. "You haven't gotten in trouble?"

"Oh, plenty of times. Now…" Nihlus placed his hands on the table and leaned forward, nudging the other chair aside. "Why don't you stop stalling, hm?"

He leaned back in his chair, amiable smile melting away. "If I won't tell you my name, what makes you think I'll tell you anything else?"

Nihlus sighed, hanging and slowly shaking his head. "Look, drell. I don't want to watch you slowly break. I respect you, and I like you. Please, just cooperate so your death can be quick and painless."

Thane watched him for a moment. "Aren't you a bit soft to be doing what you do?"

Nihlus looked back up at him. "You're not the first to call me that. Yes, I'm compassionate, perhaps more than I should be, but I know my job, and I get it done. That won't stop me from hating what I'll have to put you through if you don't cooperate."

"Thank you for the thought, Nihlus, but I won't be cooperating."

"I knew you were going to say that." Nihlus pushed off the table and walked to Thane's side. "So… I'm assuming you're SCIU?"

Whoever had spilled that should have been thanking the gods for being dead. "I can't answer that."

"Thought not." He walked away. "But you must be. You're jacket's one clue. Just like the other two." A sigh. "Specialized Combat and Intelligence Unit… You drell just don't stop at average, do you? You don't settle for spies. You want super soldiers."

"I'll pass on the compliment when I get home."

Nihlus looked over his shoulder. "You're leaving here in a body bag, drell."

"We'll see." Thane met his gaze.

Nihlus narrowed his eyes and turned around. "Give me answers, or I'll give you pain."

"You seem far too respectable to stoop to such levels."

"I do my job." He put emphasis on every word.

"And I do mine," Thane casually replied.

"Very well, from what I can see. Now-"

"Nihlus, sir," another turian said from the doorway, "We need to search him. We've detected some kind of signal being sent off periodically."

"So you set off that little device in your jacket… Calling for help. You're less confident than you seem." Nihlus walked back to him and grabbed his jacket's high collar, feeling the broken beacon trigger between two talons. The turian turned back to the other in the doorway. "Take the jacket and destroy it. The signal will stop."

Thane stared at the wall. The countdown had begun.

An alarm sliced the quiet of the monitor room for the second time in four days. It was from the same station. Khash Solom turned in his seat. "Thane Krios' emergency beacon has been destroyed, sir."

Razh stared at the floor, arms crossed. "…Change his status, Solom."

"…"

"Change his status, Solom."

Khash turned back to his station, pressing a single button. Everyone was watching as the light next to Thane's name moved. A yellow glow under "MIA."

"He has thirty days," Razh said quietly. "If we haven't heard from him by then… You know what to do, Solom."

"Yes, sir." Khash was staring at the status directly to the right of the glowing one. Thirty days… Thirty days, and that status would light up red.

Killed in action.

Time had passed. How much, he had no idea, but it felt like a lot. Then again, it could be the pain making hours stretch into days. Nihlus had done his job well. But so had Thane. He'd uttered not a single word in response to Nihlus' questions.

"You've done a good job, drell. I have to admit, I admire you. I can't say I envy you, though." Nihlus stood outside Thane's cell, leaning back on the door.

Thane laughed weakly. "Who would?"

"How do you feel?"

"Like I've been hit by a train. You?"

"Like I'm being made to beat my favorite kitten. Despite the fact that I'm allergic to cats."

Another laugh. "So I'm your favorite kitten now?"

"Sure, let's go with that."

Thane sighed, shaking his head and smiling. Nihlus was "good cop, bad cop" all in one person. Better at good cop, though. Which was good for Thane. That was much easier for him to resist.

"You've gone quiet, drell. You alright?"

"I'm as well as I can be. I'm just thinking."

"Ready to talk yet?"

"Never."

A sigh. "Get him out and follow me." Orders to two other turians, who entered his cell and restrained him, then dragged him to his feet. He favored his injured leg as he was led through the prison. He closed his eyes and thought of home, escaping into his memories.

"Come home safe."

"I will. I promise."

Irikah stared out the window at the empty space left where Thane's car had been. When was he coming home? It had been far too long. More than a month. He'd never been gone this long.

"He's not gonna come home if you stare hard enough, Mom." Kolyat came up behind her.

She watched his reflection in the mirror. "I know that. I'm just worried."

"This is why I get mad, Mom. He drives us nuts waiting for him. Then, he comes home for a few days, makes things worse, and leaves again."

"He doesn't make things worse, Kolyat!" Irikah whirled, scowling. "What makes things worse is you being hostile every time he tries to speak with you. All you do is make it hurt worse!"

Kolyat stared out the window now. "…Someone's pulling up."

Irikah looked. A sleek, black car parked beside the curb, and a man in a gray suit got out, walking up the driveway, then the sidewalk, to their door. Irikah opened it before he could ring the bell. "May I help you?"

The man started, but recovered fairly quickly. "Mrs. Krios?"

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"My name is Razh Larin, ma'am. I'm your husband's commanding officer."

"You don't look very military." She frowned.

"But Thane never kept any normal uniform around, did he?"

"No… But that doesn't matter. Why are you here?"

"I always give these to the families in person." He handed her an unmarked envelope.

Irikah pushed down the whispers of dread those words had coaxed forth, carefully opening the envelope. Razh waited patiently as she read the letter. Once. Twice. Three times. Halfway through the fourth reading, she screamed and dropped to her knees, then clutched the letter and sobbed. "No, no, no, no! This isn't real! This can't be real!"

"Mom!" Kolyat ran to her from within the house, grabbing and holding her as her sobbing shook her. "Mom, what's wrong!"

"Thane was a good man," Razh said, voice level. "He will be missed."

Kolyat seemed to go completely blank for a moment, then glared at Razh. "Get out of here! This is all your fault, you and the military and the government, all of you! Get the hell out of here!"

"I'm sorry." Razh quietly returned to his car and drove away.

Kolyat turned his attention back to his mother, trying his best to comfort her, even as his own tears began to fall. His father was gone. For good. And it had taken this for Kolyat to realize that he'd never wanted that.

Nihlus stalked back and forth, watching the drell as he panted, clearly in pain. "Come on, you stubborn idiot. Spit it out. Then, I can put you out of your misery."

The drell didn't answer, only glared up at his captor. His gaze was slightly unfocused.

Nihlus stopped and crossed his arms. "Talk, drell. Give me my answers."

The drell closed his eyes and let his head fall, chin to chest. Nihlus waited for him to speak after this clear gesture of surrender… but there was only silence.

"Drell," Nihlus barked. No answer. The turian approached him, leaning in to get a better look. He stood straight a moment later, shaking his head.

The drell wasn't breathing.

See? I told you there would be another cliffhanger. Have fun. Ferret out.