Chapter Eleven
The Cipher
"Now there's no fight left within me, but the righting of this wrong.
As nations we're divided, but as people we are one.
Like brothers in blood it seems that we've been too long a soldier..."
Pat Benetar: "Too Long A Soldier"
Gunnery Chief Hastings was at wit's end.
She'd been placed on restricted duty for observation and thus had nothing to do to escape the guilt gnawing at her insides. Every person who asked her how she was doing, or wished her a speedy recovery, or stood at attention as she walked by hit her like a stake in her heart and a knife twisting in her guts when she thought of Tali - who'd not thought twice about the consequences to herself when she'd linked their suit environments - down in sick bay fighting and clawing for her life. She was just a kid, not much younger than she'd been when she'd enlisted. No more than seventeen if she figured quarian ages right.
That was hard enough to deal with, but Captain Beckett had unknowingly added insult to grievous injury when she'd called the entire mess hall to orders an hour before and presented her and the three Marines who'd died with the Purple Heart. She was still carrying the box in her shaking hands. Physically it weighed almost nothing, but it was an emotional weight she simply wasn't sure she could bear.
Ann Hastings wanted to go somewhere and scream, or blow the box out the airlock. It was both an honor to wear proudly upon her chest and a lead albatross around her neck in equal measure. Another link in a chain she was forming that she would have to carry into the afterlife and she wasn't sure she could stand it. She didn't feel worthy of Tali's life and didn't know how she would be able to convey that in a letter she was certain was her responsibility to write to her next of kin.
She hadn't been thinking about where she was going as she wandered the Normandy's three decks, until she found herself standing over Tali's bio bed. She watched the measured rise and fall of the young quarian's chest, her eyes taking in the helmet that shielded her from disease and her face from prying eyes. A suit that was both her protection from infection, but also her prison.
It all seemed so clear now why Tali had been so outgoing when she first came aboard. She had to be to make up for the anonymity of an entire life spent in an exo-suit. Ann looked down at Tali'Zorah nar Rayya and for the first time actually saw her, not just the suit. Her fingers moved almost of their own accord as she opened the box, took out the small purple medal shaped in the profile of George Washington and pinned it to the pillow next to Tali's head.
"Tali, you deserve this more than I do. Thank you for my life," Hastings whispered, before she snapped to full attention and her right hand slowly rose to her eyebrow. "Welcome to the Corps."
Hastings relaxed her posture, dragged a chair next to the bed and sat down to wait out the night, assigning herself as Tali's honor guard.
Dr. Lanie Parrish watched quietly from the darkened observation window of her tiny office, but said nothing, only a ghost of her smile creasing her features before she returned to her medical reports. There were enough Marines tending to the honored dead in the cargo bay. It was good that she was not alone in tending to the living.
"Captain Beckett, your presence is required in the holographic comm room." Normandy's VI stated over the ship's intercom. When she arrived there and logged into the system, she was met with a holographic representation Captain Montgomery.
"Captain Beckett, we've lost contact the colony on Feros," Montgomery began. "There have been numerous unconfirmed sightings of vessels matching geth signatures in the area. Depending upon the veracity of the reports, you may be met with either a frigate or a cruiser. No distress call was sent and with communications still out there is no way to assess the current tactical situation. It could be they lost their transmitter or their transmissions may be jammed from the source."
"Understood, Captain Montgomery," Kate replied, "Normandy out."
Attican Beta Star Cluster
Theseus System
Two Hours Later
The Normandy passed through the relay and entered the Theseus system and immediately engaged the stealth system. There was no indication that their entry into the system hadn't gone unobserved so Captain Beckett ordered their course be set for Feros, the system's second planet. By the time they'd entered standard orbit, there was still no sign of enemy vessels or activity in the area. Though active scans revealed that one of the three towers of the former Prothean archology that supported the Alliance colony was emitting a shield configuration that reflected scans, much like the shield from the ruins on Therum.
"LIDAR is having trouble getting a solid reading through the Prothean architecture, but so far I'm not detecting any sign of enemy vessels or current activity," Castle reported from Hastings' station, "I'm reading heavy damage to the colony, but whatever happened here, I think we missed it."
"Looks like our mission is rescue and recovery then," Kate replied, "Disengage Stealth system and take us in Mr. Ryan, the main spaceport appears largely undamaged. We'll distribute disaster pods and forward their other needs to Colonial Affairs for emergency assistance."
"Aye, Captain," Ryan replied, as they descended from orbit on course for the Zhu's Hope Spaceport. When they reached the landing and docking complex, it was clear that the building was largely deserted, which seemed odd.
"I'm not reading any dockworkers," Castle noted looking down at the sensor board, "but the automated systems have come online in the docking area."
"Understood," Kate replied. "Take us in Mr. Ryan. Mr Pressly, have Chief Engineer Adams go ahead and discharge the capacitors, but maintain combat readiness and be prepared to bug out if the geth come back to finish the job."
"Aye, Captain," Ryan and Pressly replied in chorus.
"Mister Castle go below and get your gear and have Garrus and Wrex suit up as well," Kate ordered, "Something doesn't smell right around here."
As Normandy's airlock popped and slid up out of the way, they were met by the first human they'd seen since they dropped out of orbit.
"I'm David al Talaquani," the man said, "we saw your ship land and I was sent to meet you. Fai Dan wants to speak with you, immediately."
"Who's Fai Dan?" Kate asked tersely, there was a tension in the man's features that set her off.
"He's our... leader." David replied. "There are geth are hiding in the debris and we need your help to repel them. Before I left they seemed about to make another push."
"We didn't detect any..." Castle began, but Kate waved him off.
"Please, follow me," David motioned, "up these stairs past the freighter. Fai Dan will explain everything."
David al Taquani started forward, but before they could follow, a rocket propelled grenade exploded right next to him, killing him in the blast.
"Normandy, seal the airlock!" Kate exclaimed, "We have incoming!"
Castle and Garrus took up defensive positions at the corner to return fire with their rifles and some well placed grenades. There were too many geth in the confined space for his biotic charge to be practical, so Castle boosted their barriers while he and Garrus ripped into the geth with sledgehammer rounds. Wrex followed close behind firing both his shotgun and assault rifle - one in each hand - chucking darkly each time one of his weapons dropped a geth trooper. He was apparently enjoying himself immensely. Were he human and not krogan, Beckett would have had serious misgivings about his sanity and written him up as a category six case. But for a krogan battlemaster, this was apparently perfectly normal behavior.
"Beckett to Normandy," Kate shouted over her headset, "Mister Pressly, get my ship the hell out of here!"
"Negative Captain," Pressly replied, "geth antiaircraft targeting acquisition just came online and painted the spaceport, Adams was able to tweak our barriers to boost the structural integrity of the hangar so we're secure for now, but we'll be sitting ducks for massed fire if we try to launch."
"Understood, Normandy," Kate replied, not enjoying one bit that she'd been led into a trap and fell for it hook, line and sinker. "Have Mister Esposito post guards and set the GUARDIAN batteries to ground defense mode. If it has a flashlight head kill it."
Once they reached the two flights of stairs David al-Taquani had indicated -and cleared the stairwell of geth infiltration units- they cautiously entered the main level of the Zhu's Hope colony in the former Prothean tower complex. They circled around the freighter - which appeared to have been caught in the process of unloading by the crates scattered around - and found what appeared to be the man they were looking for. He was standing next to a woman in light combat armor who looked more like a cop than a soldier, who in many respects reminded Kate of herself back on Elysium just before she'd taken command during the blitz, but quashed those feelings down deep.
"Captain!" The man said, waving her over. "My name is Fai Dan, leader of Zhu's Hope Colony Spaceport, I'm glad the Alliance finally sent somebody to help us."
"You're a bit late," The woman stated icily, "aren't you?"
"Arcelia!" Fai Dan admonished. "Sorry Captain, everybody's been on edge since..."
Fai Dan was cut off by the tell-tale stuttering sound of multiple geth working in concert.
"Watch out!" Arcelia shouted. "We've got geth in the tower!"
"Protect the heart of the colony!" Fai Dan shouted.
Castle took point and led the way to the entryway into the tower, but took cover within sight of the door, put his hand up then brought it down in a clenched fist.
"Enemy contacts!" he stage whispered hoarsely, giving the others barely enough time to find cover just before geth poured out of the stairwell and the shooting started in earnest.
The massed squad of geth was bottle-necked by the doorway and were quickly dispatched by massed fire from the four of them as they fought their way to the door, then up the stairwell into the next level of the tower where the bulk of the geth attack force was massed for an assault into the colony.
Unfortunately for the synthetics they were too tightly packed into the area to defend themselves effectively, which gave Beckett and her squad a highly target rich environment. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. The outer courtyard, however was another story.
They were met in a much more open space held by a Geth Prime and two heavily armed destroyers in the process of being reinforced by a geth drop-ship. Castle, Garrus and Beckett drew the fire of the two destroyers and took them out with a combination of grenades and small arms fire. Wrex pressed forward as usual, practically daring the prime to attack him before he opened up with explosive rounds from his heavy shotgun and destroyed it. The loss of their mobile processing hub scattered the massing geth troopers like bowling pins which Castle, Beckett and Garrus picked off without much difficulty.
With the geth troopers annihilated, the lightly armored drop-ship moved off, under small arms and RPG fire from the colonists below.
"That should make them think twice," Garrus noted. "The geth will be more cautious if they think the colonists have been reinforced. If they're smart they'll pull back to regroup. Once we update Fai Dan we should be able to push toward the main geth encampment and deal with the artillery keeping the Normandy grounded."
"Anything about Fai Dan and his pet rent-a-cop seem weird to you?" Castle asked, but nobody answered.
When they returned to the main level of the Zhu's Hope outpost, they were once again met by Arcelia and Fai Dan.
"The tower is secure now," Fai Dan stated thankfully, "thanks to you, Captain. On behalf of... all of us... at Zhu's Hope, I appreciate your efforts against the geth."
"The geth may have been slowed," Arcelia interjected acerbically, "but they'll be back. They always come back."
"Do you have any idea what they want?" Kate asked.
"If you want answers," Arcelia snapped, "go ask them yourselves."
"We don't know what they're after," Fai Dan interceded, waving Arcelia off, "They landed in force two days ago, took over the ExoGeni tower complex and then attacked us, that's all I know. ExoGeni headquarters appears to be their main base now, so that's as good a place as any to start looking if you want answers.
"The skyway will lead you directly to ExoGeni Headquarters," Arcelia added sarcastically. "You can't miss it, it's the tower with the geth frigate latched onto the side of it."
"What can you tell me about their defenses?" Kate asked.
"I don't have any details," Fai Dan offered, "but I'll wager it's a lot more heavily fortified than the command post they had upstairs."
"Aside from the frigate latched onto the building, they landed several small drop-ships at ExoGeni. There was a bigger ship in orbit yesterday, but we never got a good look at it before the systems went down. I've seen a number of large walking tanks on the skyway, though," Arcelia added, "Expect heavy resistance."
"Is there anything more we can do for you here," Kate asked, "before we push on toward the geth encampment?"
"There are several geth in the lower tunnels," Fai Dan said, his voice oddly subdued, as if that were the last place he wished them to go, "likely guarding the transmitter jamming our comms and giving them a fixed point from which to coordinate their assaults into Zhu's Hope. It isn't a critical threat at the moment, but destroying it would help us better coordinate our defenses and impede their efficiency if they attack us again."
Kate nodded at Fai Dan and the group headed back for the same section of the tower they had just left, this time taking the stairs leading down into the lower reaches of the tower. The stairwell was relatively clear of obstacles, nor were there any geth to speak of, which seemed ominous enough, but it was quiet... almost too quiet for Castle's liking. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. The place felt like a tomb - though to some extent he was sure it had been with the original inhabitants long since dead and gone – the ghostly voices of their dead alien tongue still whispering in his brain. Whispers he tried to ignore, tried to suppress, but they were still there, imprinted upon his psyche by the damned beacon he'd begun to wish had never been dug up.
Suddenly there was movement, the painful groaning and shrieking he would have attributed to a wounded animal had he not seen the man as he wounded the corner. The man turned and looked his right in the eye as they approached him.
"You don't want to go down there," the man said.
"What are you doing down here?" Kate asked, lowering her rifle, but keeping it at the ready.
"Nothing I should be and anything I shouldn't... gaaaaah!" the man replied, nearly doubled over in pain.
"Gah!" he groaned again, righting himself. "That was a good one, very intense!"
"What's the matter with you?" Castle asked.
"Just invoking the master's whip," the man replied, "helps remind me I'm still alive. You're here for the geth, aren't you? You aren't the only one interested in those... things. Don't stay near Zhu's Hope for too long... or you won't care about why you... want to be rid of... the geth anymore."
The man doubled over in pain again as if being jabbed with an unseen cattle prod.
"They are a thorn in the side of the... gaahhh!" he cried out in pain again, "Trying to get to the... aieeeee!"
"This human has clearly lost it," Wrex rumbled, "would be kinder to just kill him."
Garrus nodded in assent if not agreement, but Kate shushed them both.
"Is there anything we can do to help you?" Kate asked, trying to sound sympathetic, even though they all thought the man was clearly insane. "Do you even want help?"
"Help me?" the man asked, having difficulty getting the words out. "No... nobody can... help me now... I'd rather die... fighting."
"Fighting what?" Kate asked. "Maybe I can help you if you told me what the problem is."
"Not... that kind of fight," the man groaned through gritted teeth - clearly in pain - as if something was trying to prevent him from talking to them. "It's like... running through a... thorn bush... the more you struggle... gah! Ask Fai Dan... ask him about the... gaaahhh!"
Before they could ask him any more questions, the man ducked into a side tunnel and disappeared, muttering to himself and groaning in pain as he went.
After their strange encounter with the man in the tunnels they had little trouble finding the geth transmitter... and the small number of geth and krogan guarding it. Wrex roared in outrage, calling the krogan "tank-bred" as he attacked them mercilessly. The fight was not difficult. When it was done, Castle and Garrus cobbled together some explosives and used them to destroy the transmitter, which cleared up local transmissions almost immediately.
After a quick update to the Normandy, to note that the ship's circumstances had not changed, they returned to the defense perimeter of the Zhu's Hope outpost and informed them about the destruction of the transmitter.
"We found a delirious man down in the tunnels," Kate noted, "is he one of yours?"
"That would be Ian," Fai Dan replied, "he isn't well."
"He seems to be more than just sick," Castle interjected.
"He hasn't been the same since the geth attack," Fai Dan replied almost cryptically. "We tried to help him, but he won't listen to us. I can't help my people if they won't listen."
"Don't you have medical supplies?" Kate snapped, suddenly angry at their blasé abandonment of one of their own. "Make at least some effort to help him if he's mentally ill?"
"I wish it was that simple," Fai Dan replied, seemingly with great difficulty. "Ian Newstead was a good man... once. I wish we could have him with us. Please, Captain, I'd... prefer not to talk about that any... more."
"Is it just me," Castle muttered to Garrus, "or is there something... squirrelly about that guy?"
"Yeah," Garrus muttered back, "there's something... off about this whole damn colony and it's not just the geth."
"I'm heading out, Arcelia" Kate stated, pretending she hadn't heard the two of them muttering behind her. "Is there anything else you can tell me about the geth, or what they might be after?"
"I... uh... I can't tell you anything about that," Arcelia replied, her voice taking on much the same reluctance that Fai Dan's had which did little to allay her companions' suspicions. "I... suggest you go to the ExoGeni building for answers to your questions. I'm just a rent-a-cop, I was hired by the company to stop kids from painting graffiti on the headquarters building I wasn't trained for this... I just want it to end... for the pain to stop."
Given the faraway, glossed-over look in both Fai Dan's and Arcelia's eyes, it was clear to Kate that she wasn't going to get anything further out of them, but she wasn't quite ready yet to believe it was anything more than trauma from the geth incursion. She'd been treated for it herself when she'd returned to Earth after the Skyllian Blitz when the Star of Terra was still shiny on her dress uniform.
"Beckett to Normandy," she stated into headset. "Deploy the Mako, I'm sending Chief Castle back to collect it."
A short time later, the Mako pulled up and the hatch slid open.
"Milady's chariot awaits!" Castle offered jauntily as Kate and the others climbed aboard and Castle slid over. Though she hid it well, her heart throbbed at his attention, which she hid behind her eye-roll at his theatrics as she slid behind the controls and strapped in. When everyone was ready, she put the Mako in gear and headed for the cargo elevator to the sky-way.
Once there, Kate took the Mako out onto the former Prothean mass transit skyway. Though they did happen upon geth, they were staggered across the length of the sky-way and were relatively dispatched by the Mako's MAC cannon and chain gun. Garrus' calibrations certainly came in handy.
Halfway between the two towers they began to hear sporadic comm chatter in a woman's voice.
"The geth are deploying along the the walkway in greater strength... where are they going?"
As they engaged the last of the geth on that portion of the sky-way and drew closer to the ExoGeni building, signified by the frigate-sized geth vessel attached to the side of it. It was little wonder the reports had been so varied as all of their ships tended to look the same, only their sizes were different.
"We've got movement... some kind of vehicle... not one of the geth..."
As they rolled into the entry point to a series of ramps leading to the next level of the sky-way, the sensor jamming began to break up, at least locally.
"I'm reading human life signs in the just down the ramp to the left, Captain." Castle pointed out and Kate hit the brakes.
"Shouldn't we be more concerned with the geth?" Garrus asked?"
"They might have intel we can use," Kate replied, "more than Fai Dan was able to give us anyway."
With that Kate shut down the drive and exited the rover.
"Wrex, stay here," she said, "If any geth come calling give us a shout. I need intel not to scare the bejesus out of them."
"All right, Beckett," Wrex rumbled, "It'll probably be a boring conversation anyway."
Beckett, Castle and Garrus formed up with Castle on point and moved carefully down the ramp into the small enclave of humans guarded by ExoGeni security guards behind makeshift barricades. Though they weren't exactly trying to be stealthy but it still came as something of a surprise when a voice rang out from inside the place.
"You! Out there!" the very nervous man practically shrieked at them. "Come out where we can see you!"
"Relax Jeong," a woman's voice admonished as they stepped into the light, Kate recognized her voice as the one from the comms. "They're clearly not geth."
"Get back, Juliana!" Jeong barked, pistol in hand. "who are you? Wh... what do you want?"
Kate cradled her rifle casually in a clear show of dominance as she stepped closer.
"Captain Beckett, SSV Normandy," she stated with casual authority. "I suggest you put that weapon away unless you're prepared to use it."
"Don't worry about him," the woman tentatively identified as Juliana stated, "he only cares about the company."
"And you trust too easily Juliana," Jeong hissed back. It was clear the two despised each other.
"I'm just glad to see a friendly face," Juliana offered, "I thought we were the only humans left on this planet."
"Fai Dan and some of the Zhu's Hope colonists are still alive," Kate replied. "They're holed up in a strong defensive position near the spaceport."
"I thought you said they were all dead!" Juliana barked at Jeong.
"I said they were probably all dead," Jeong replied, "besides, it would have still been suicide to get across the sky-way with all of the geth."
"They're not dead, but the geth have really pounded them." Kate replied.
"We know what that's like," Juliana replied. "Those damned synthetics are relentless."
"How close are we to their base of operations?" Kate asked. "The geth frigate attached to the building has my ship pinned down in the spaceport."
"You're almost there," Juliana said before Jeong could shush her, "they're holed up in the ExoGeni Headquarters one more level up and a little further up the sky-way."
"That part of the tower is private property, Captain," Jeong cautioned, "remove the geth and nothing else."
"Relax, Mr. Jeong, I'm not here to steal your company's secrets." Kate shot back with contempt. "or do you have something to hide?"
Kate's parting shot to him shut him up, but while he sputtered, Juliana made it clear she was not quite done.
"Before you go, Captain," the older woman said, "My daughter Lizbeth... she's missing..."
"They really shouldn't waste time poking around," Jeong interjected, not realizing it was completely the wrong thing to say, "we can do a proper accounting of our casualties after the geth are gone."
"That's my daughter you're talking about!" Juliana shot back angrily. "She's still alive, I know it!"
"Where was the last place you saw her?" Kate asked, ignoring Jeong completely.
"She's a research assistant," Juliana began, "she was working in the ExoGeni building when the geth attacked..."
"Oh yeah," Jeong interjected condescendingly, "there are plenty of places she could hide..."
He stopped short when her saw not only Juliana, but Castle and Beckett as well glaring at him menacingly, then squeaked out, "...for a short time."
"Do you have any idea what they're after?" Kate asked, trying not to imagine her hands around Jeong's neck. The man reminded her far too much of the detective who had "investigated" her mother's case years ago and she did not like it... or him.
"I have no idea," Juliana replied, still glaring at Jeong contemptuously. "We certainly haven't found anything of value. Something ExoGeni's representatives have been keen to remind us of."
"The company just needs to recoup their investment," Jeong muttered, in what was clearly a well used line for him. "It's nothing personal."
"Stay hunkered down here until I find out what the geth are after and shut them down," Kate suggested, "I'll be back."
"Please...," Juliana pleaded, "if you find my daughter..."
Kate turned away, not sure she could handle more of the older woman's suffering. Juliana Beynham reminded her far too much of her own mother, which brought up old feelings and memories of her once happy childhood she'd spent the last decade trying to bury. Castle began to say something, but she waved him off and moved back up the ramp toward Wrex and the Mako.
Once the Mako had cleared the ramps to the next level, they battered through two more clusters of geth armature class heavy units and their attendant smaller platforms, they drew closer to the the outer perimeter of the ExoGeni building. With the geth troopers guarding it cut to pieces they found the quickest way into the building blocked by the heavy barriers that surrounded the rest of the building. Their only remaining option was a one way drop down a collapsed maintenance stairwell to the sub-basement garage below. The four of them jumped down to the shattered remains of what had once been a garage for personal shuttles, though it was clear that nearly all of them had been destroyed in the initial assault.
Suddenly a single pistol shot rang out, cleanly missing everyone in the party, but setting them all on edge.
"Damn it!" a young woman's voice exclaimed when she realized she'd fired blind at the good guys and lowered her gun, raising her right hand and approached very slowly.
"I'm sorry!" she offered. "When I saw the krogan, I thought you were geth... or worse."
"Come out into the light, you're safe now," Kate ordered softly. "Who are you and what are you doing all the way down here?"
"I'm research assistant Elizabeth Baynham, Biomedical Division," she replied. "It's my own damn fault really, everyone else was running for the exits and I stayed behind to back up data. The next thing I know, the power had gone out, all these damn shields went up and I was trapped. By the time I got down here the exits were all blocked."
"We'll get you out of here as soon as we figure out what the geth are after and deal with them." Kate stated.
"The most immediate problem isn't the geth," Lizbeth pointed out, but that damned energy field they put up. They don't want anyone getting access to the..."
Lizbeth trailed off when she realized what she was about to say and opened her mouth to change the subject when Kate pounced.
"I'm here for the geth," Kate stated, her stance and eye contact making it clear duplicity was not an option, "and it's very important I find out what they're here for."
"I don't know for certain," Lizbeth replied shrugging her shoulders with a sigh, "but I'm guessing it has something to do with the Thorian."
"The what now?" Castle choked out, hardly able to control his enthusiasm. In spite of his bad experience with the Prothean beacon, his interest in alien cultures hadn't waned.
"It's an indigenous plant based life form," Lizbeth replied, "ExoGeni was studying it. I really don't know all that much. Only that it's really old, possibly older than the ruins."
Though the circumstances sounded unusual, Kate was happy to have any sort of clue what had precipitated the attack. Though a former Prothean archology world, the place had been so completely picked clean over the past fifty thousand years, there was little she could think of that would draw Saren's attention.
"What else can you tell me?" Kate asked. "Do you know where I can find this... Thorian."
All of a sudden, Lizbeth was beginning to look decidedly uncomfortable, not like the Zhu's Hope colonists, but from a motivation Kate knew well from being a cop. She seemed genuinely afraid of something to do with this alien creature. Kate knew there was little she could get from an uncooperative witness, she was genuinely afraid of something besides the geth, and the most likely subject who inspired it was likely that Jeong character she had met earlier.
"I... might be able to tell you more," Lizbeth hedged, "But not with those geth crawling around all over the place. Maybe after we get out of here."
"Do you know anything about the energy barriers the geth put up, or how we might disable them?" Kate asked.
"No... not exactly," Lizbeth responded more readily, "but I've seen them laying power cables everywhere once the shooting stopped. I think they may have tapped into the original Prothean defense systems and used their ship to power them."
"You stay put," Kate admonished, "find a good place to hide and stay there. I'll see if I can kick open the doors."
"Here, take my ID," Lizbeth offered, removing the lanyard from around her neck with an access chip attached to it, "It should get you past any locked doors... well ours anyway."
Once they were certain that Lizbeth Beynham was in a relatively safe place and wasn't likely to shoot off her own foot, Castle took point and led them toward the door to the stairwell that would lead them up to the next level. Castle peered around the doorway to the next floor, leading with his rifle when he heard the voice of an angry krogan.
"...Stupid machine! Access encrypted files! No I don't want to review protocol!"
"I am unable to comply with your request," The building's human looking VI replied, "Please contact your supervisor."
"Damn it!" the krogan bellowed, "Tell me what I want to know or I'll blast your virtual ass into actual dust!"
"Please contact your supervisor for a level four exemption," The VI replied pleasantly, "or make an appointment with..."
"Stupid Machine!"
"If there is nothing else, please step aside," The VI offered, just as Garrus was lining up a shot with his sniper rifle, "there is a queue forming behind you for the use of this console."
The Krogan turned on them and charged, weapons drawn, biotics flaring only to be hit by simultaneous fire from all four of them at once and his dead body skidded to a stop at Castle's feet. Kate blew out a breath at the same time Castle did and they shared a look that was two seconds from becoming meaningful when they were interrupted by the VI.
"ExoGeni Corporation reminds all staff that the discharging of firearms on company property is strictly prohibited," it said, ruining the moment, "Welcome back research assistant Elizabeth Baynham, what can I do for you?"
"How do you know I'm Lizbeth?" Kate asked.
"Your access card identifies you as research assistant, Dr. Elizabeth Baynham," the VI replied without pause, "Is there something you require, Dr. Baynham?"
"What information was the last user attempting to access?" Kate asked.
"Fetching data," The VI replied. "The previous user was attempting to access details on the study of Species 37, the Thorian. I was unable to provide the previous user with any relevant data. Aside from the the user's lack of proper access credentials, there has been no new data available on Species 37. All sensors monitoring the observation post at Zhu's Hope have been inactive for several cycles."
"What does Zhu's Hope have to do with the Thorian?" Kate asked.
"Species 37 is located within the substructure of the Zhu's Hope outpost."
"Tell me everything currently available about the Thorian." Kate ordered.
The Thorian is a simple plant life-form that exhibits a sentient behavior uncommon with most flora. Through the dispersion and eventual inhalation of spores, it can infect and assume rudimentary control over other organisms, including – but not limited to- humans."
"The Zhu's Hope control group has yielded significant results. Before sensors went off-line approximately eighty-five percent of all inhabitants of the outpost had become infected."
"ExoGeni knew all along what would happen to those people!" Castle exclaimed. "Bastards!"
"It was deemed necessary by the project leads to assess the true potential of Species 37."
"So that's why they were all acting weird." Garrus noted
After several attempts to contact the Normandy – as well as the Mako's VI - they came to the conclusion that the energy field around the building was also jamming both incoming and likely outgoing comms, which led them back to the VI console for more information. Though it desired to be helpful, it's information was limited, due to the power outage – the terminal in question as well as the database it had access to were running on internal batteries – so they were back to the question of the Thorian and the owner of the pass-card they held.
"Please access 'my' personal files." Kate ordered.
"Dr. Elizabeth Baynham, research assistant , Biomedical Division. Security level four exemption. You are currently under probation due to disagreements with ExoGeni Corporation management over established company policy. These sanction may be lifted if your next evaluation is more positive."
What triggered the probation?" Kate asked.
"You were listed as 'combative' in reference to the operation of the Zhu's Hope project. Specifically regarding the handling of the infected colonists. As a result you were demoted to research assistant and tasked with monitoring the safety of the colonists for the duration of the observation period."
"That's enough for now." Kate asserted, terminating her session.
"Going to stand-by mode for power conservation," the VI replied, "logging you out."
After leaving the now-inactive VI interface panel, Castle once again took point. After taking the stairwell up two levels, they finally rounded the corner on the side of the building the geth frigate was attached to. They noticed the landing claws extending into windows, but they had no ordinance at their disposal strong enough to damage or cut them loose from the building. They moved on, hoping to find either a structural weak point, or a means to create one.
They soon made contact with the main bulk of the enemy force, whom they had take by surprise, as they had assumed they had secured the inside of the building prior to powering up the original Prothean defenses. It had been a dangerous assumption to make, and one that Wrex capitalized upon as he bellowed and attacked the geth with assault rifle and shotgun fire. Castle backed him up with quick shock-wave strikes then accurate fire with his assault rifle. The geth both he and Wrex missed, Garrus and Kate finished off. When the last of the geth fell, they searched the place, noting that the geth were still trying to hack into the main database and had been close to cracking the encryption key.
They also noted the sky-car access door that was currently open with a geth claw latched to the floor. The door actuator panel was powered up and still active, the hydraulic pressure was set at standard levels, which were not helpful, but Garrus made some calibrations to the system, tripling the pressure. When Garrus threw the switch, the heavily reinforced door slammed down on the geth landing claw, shearing it off just above where it was connected to the floor.
With that one landing claw destroyed, the delicate, perfectly balanced weight distribution amongst the landing claws to keep the ship connected to the building under gravity's pull was disrupted and the ship groaned, metal screamed and them the other landing claws tore loose from the building before the ship could power up the engines. The frigate dropped from the side of the tower and fell the hundreds of meters to the planet's surface with little fanfare but an explosion as it struck bottom.
With the geth ship no longer powering the field, it dropped altogether, and suddenly comms were back, evidenced by XO Pressly's anxiety ridden attempts at communication:
"... I repeat, Normandy to shore party! Can you read me? Is there anyone there? Shore party please respond!"
"Normandy, this is Captain Beckett," Kate replied, "report."
"We're in lock-down here, Captain," Pressly responded. "Something happened to the colonists. They're freaking out! Banging on the hull, trying to claw their way into the ship, it's like they're possessed!"
All four of them exchanged a look as Kate responded to the news.
"Keep those colonists away from the ship!" She commanded. "You are weapons free, lethal force is authorized under anti-contagion protocol. Under no condition is anyone to go outside without masks and breathers. Myself and the rest of the shore party will require complete decontamination upon return to the ship. The Mako too."
"Understood, Captain," Pressly replied, "we'll fire off a few warning salvos with the GUARDIAN defense battery. That oughta send them running."
"Okay you guys," Kate ordered. "We need to break through whatever geth remain then deal with the Thorian, let's move."
As they descended back down the level where they left the Mako, Lizbeth Baynham had come out of hiding and was waiting for them.
"There you are!" she exclaimed, "until I saw the barriers go down, I was beginning to worry!"
"You told me you didn't know anything about this Thorian," Kate growled angrily, "I really don't like being lied to."
"I... I was afraid," Lizbeth replied, shrinking back chastened, "I tried to stop the tests... but they threatened me. Told me I or my mother would be next. When the geth attacked I stayed behind to send a message to Colonial Affairs with enough of the raw data to back it up. I tried to tell them where the Thorian was, but the geth cut the power before I could send it. I... This isn't what my mother and I signed up for. I never meant for this to happen. It's why I gave you my access card."
"Ill try to help them, but I need to know where the Thorian is." Kate replied. A veteran of multiple interrogations and witness statements, both as an NYPD detective and from CID, Kate was a good enough judge of character to know when somebody was being sincere, and her instincts told her that Lizbeth was being as honest with her as the situation allowed.
"The Thorian is underneath Zhu's Hope, but the colonists covered it with that freighter just before the geth attacked."
"But why are the geth interested enough in the Thorian to attack this colony in the first place?" Kate asked. What could they possibly want with it?"
"Well," Lizbeth replied, feeling much more comfortable providing information as she went, "it does have unique mind control abilities. That's why ExoGeni was studying it."
"I think I need to have another chat with your boss," Kate replied, "Saddle up people, let's move!"
"I'm coming with you," Lizbeth offered, "I want to help... undo the mess I helped create."
With the majority of the geth destroyed, the return trip back across the skyway was much less problematic than the trip out. There were a few geth units to contend with, but with their ship gone, they were disorganized and relatively small in both numbers and processing power and easily swept aside. As they pushed through they heard chatter on the comms.
"...anybody, is anybody picking this up?" in the unmistakable voice of Juliana Beynham.
"Get away from that radio!" came the voice of Mr Jeong.
"What is all that about?" Lizbeth asked, but Kate concentrated on their driving.
"... this is Juliana Beynham of Feros Colony. Please help us..." Juliana began but was interrupted by a burst of static.
"That's my mom!" Lizbeth cried out, "Stop! Stop the rover!"
Kate braked hard next to the ramp down to the ExoGeni enclave and Lizbeth jumped out of the Mako before anyone could stop her. Castle and Beckett gave chase with Garrus and Wrex close behind. They came up behind Lizbeth as a peculiar tableau played out down in the hidden alcove in front of them.
"You can't do this Jeong!" Juliana shouted, confronting the armed man, the other colonists were gathering around her and it looked like a small riot was about to break out, held at bay only by the armed ExoGeni security guards It was clear he was beginning to panic.
"Shut up!" he exclaimed, waving the pistol around. "Everyone just shut up and let me think!"
"What's going on?" Lizbeth whispered to Kate who shrugged her shoulders.
Juliana turned on Jeong, refusing to let him off the hook, or to think pressing the cowardly man back.
"You won't get away with this!"
Jeong pushed Juliana away from him and signaled to the guards who grabbed her and dragged her back, which set off Lizbeth, who raised her pistol and ran down the ramp.
"Get away from her you son of a bitch!" She screamed at him
"Lizbeth!" Juliana shouted, shaking off the grip of the two security guards, relieved -in spite of the current mess that her daughter was still alive as Jeong whipped around and pointed his pistol back at the ramp.
"Damn it!" he practically screeched, panic still setting into his bones that the current predicament was shifting wildly out of his control. "Come out where I can see you! All of you!"
Beckett strode confidently down the ramp, her rifle cradled in her arm, followed immediately by Castle Garrus and them Wrex, who strode behind him as if daring anyone to challenge him, which made the ExoGeni security guards take a step back away from the group of heavily armed, experienced soldiers.
"Captain Beckett," Jeong practically spat, his brain clearly not keeping pace with his mouth, "I should have known it would be too much to hope for that the geth would kill you. I found out some interesting fact about you in the ExoGeni database when the comms came back on. I know what you did in the blitz, but your heroics aren't needed here."
"Don't try to handle me, Jeong," Kate hissed back, "I'm giving you one chance to back down and let the colonists go. After that we start shooting."
"You...you don't understand," Jeong almost whined in response, "it's not that easy. When you took out the geth frigate communications are back up. Colonial Affairs received a data packet about one of our research projects. ExoGeni wants this place purged!"
Kate stiffened and brought her rifle up into the ready position, which prompted the same reaction from her team, and very shortly the ExoGeni guards. Kate would rather not have any unnecessary killing, but if Jeong thought she was going to simply stand by and let him start making people disappear he had another thing coming.
"This is a human colony, Jeong!" Juliana exclaimed. "You can't just re-purpose us!"
"It's not just you!" Jeong spat more at Juliana than Kate. "There's something more valuable to ExoGeni than a few colonists, myself included!"
"Do you want to tell them about the Thorian, Jeong," Kate interrupted harshly, "or shall I?"
"The... what?" Juliana sputtered.
"It's a telepathic life form living under Zhu's Hope," Lizbeth interjected. "It's been infecting the colonists there with spores and taking control of their minds somehow. ExoGeni knew all along!"
"You won't get away with this Jeong!" Juliana spat at him again, but it had no more effect upon him than it had the last half dozen times she'd said it.
"So you keep saying," Jeong asserted, "but trust me nobody's gonna miss a few colonists."
Jeong may have said it casually, but he had no idea it was entirely the wrong thing to say in front of Kate Beckett, kicking her training to serve and protect into overdrive. If Jeong and his guards chose not to see things her way, then they would find out how much better trained Alliance Marines were than low-rent mercenaries.
"You're a bean counter with a handful of poorly trained rent-a-cops, Jeong," Kate barked with angry authority loud enough for all of his hired thugs to hear, "I'm a Spectre leading a squad that just hammer-punched a geth invasion force off this planet. Look at my backup, look at yours and tell me just how good you think your odds are."
Jeong visibly gulped, and his minuscule guard force did a collective internal gut-check as well. None of them felt their odds were particularly good.
"A Spectre?" he scoffed along with a nervous chuckle. "What a load of crap! There are no human Spectres..." Jeong paused for a moment, casting about for anyone... anyone at all to agree with him then continued with a barely squeaked, "...right?"
"Is that really a chance you want to take, Jeong?" Lizbeth pressed. "Nobody will miss a company suit or his hired thugs either."
"ExoGeni will send other assayers..." Jeong choked out, more in a bargaining tone than the authority he now knew was gone, "they will know what happened here."
"Tell them the geth destroyed the Thorian," Castle chimed in, biotics fully charged, his body limned in a blue glow, giving him a more menacing appearance.
"They might buy that," Jeong whined nervously, his pistol having long since drooped casually to his side, "but the infected colonists can't be here when the company men come."
"We can't just kill them," Juliana objected, and from Kate's nod it was apparent that was not an option, "this isn't their fault."
If you kill only the Thorian," Lizbeth posited, from her observations of the colonists since being assigned to monitor their condition as a condition of her probation, "that might just be enough to stop the infection... maybe. No Thorian, no spores."
"It's certainly worth a try," Kate added, but if I go after the Thorian, the colonists will resist. I may not be able to avoid harming them."
"There has to be a way to save them," Lizbeth pleaded, "there has to be."
"Maybe there is," Juliana added after perusing her omni-tool. As the biochemist of the two, this was more in her wheelhouse than her daughter's. "I think you could use a mild nerve agent to safely neutralize the colonists."
"You mean like a gas grenade?" Lizbeth asked.
"The insecticide we use in the grow-labs contains trace amounts of tetraclopine, a neuro-muscular inhibitor," Juliana theorized, "With their nervous systems already compromised it may act as a paralyzing agent."
"It sounds better than the alternative," Kate added. Make your gas grenades and I'll do what I can.
Forty-five minutes later, the Mako pulled away from the the ExoGeni bunker, having relieved Jeong and the guards of their weapons and turned them over to Juliana and Lizbeth for safekeeping. While Juliana had synthesized the nerve agent, Castle and Garrus used their omni-tools to manufacture the components for the gas grenades. With the limited time available, there was only enough nerve agent to supply herself, Garrus and Castle with four gas grenades each, though Garrus calibrated the grenades' dispersal radius to accommodate several colonists at once. It wasn't much, but at least the chance that she wouldn't have to wipe out nearly fifty people made Kate feel a little more confident that she wouldn't be dragged down the dark path her friend John Shepard had at Torfan.
She only hoped that Wrex could keep his more violent tendencies in check when the time came to engage the colonists and save his rage for the Thorian.
Their trip back across the archology sky-way was relatively free of complications, but for a very small number of geth stragglers so few in number they were pushed aside with little effort. When they pulled up to the garage door leading back to the Zhu's Hope tower, it did not automatically open to admit them and a strange looking humanoid shaped biped rose from its haunches.
To Castle it looked almost like a plant version of the husks he had seen on Eden Prime. He suppressed a shudder and blasted it with his shotgun, which splattered it all over the wall.
"I don't know what these things are, but if they are anything like husks, it would appear that the colonists will have backup from the Throrian," Castle commented, kicking at the remains of the thing, thoroughly disgusted.
"Agreed, Castle," Kate replied, nodding at Wrex, "Wrex, we'll use the gas grenades to deal with the colonists, your job will be to keep those things from swarming us while we do it, but no hitting the colonists, understood?"
"Understood," Wrex rumbled. As a krogan, he wasn't terribly familiar with the concept of "limited fire" operations, but he knew how to follow orders. Garrus hacked the modern door and it slid up slowly on the ancient housing, where they were met by twelve of the things, screening the colonists who were firing on them from the gallery above.
Wrex ripped into the plant husks with Garrus covering him while Castle and Beckett took the stairs, instead of firing, Castle lead with very mild biotic pushes which shoved the armed colonists away from the stairwell. When they reached the top, Kate tossed one of her gas grenades, which functioned as Juliana had advertised, laying out the colonists unconscious on the deck.
The battle became more and more one-sided as they went, the "Thorian creepers" as Castle had dubbed them, though fearsome in appearance were easily disposed cannon fodder against armed combatants. Had the colonists been better armed or the fight in closer quarters, their numbers may have tipped the scales, but in this instance they were too easily dropped to be effective.
As they circled around and the last of the colonists had fallen to the gas grenades, the Zhu's hope colony took on an almost eerie, deathly silence. Castle moved to the lift platform, and activated it, lifting one of the transport's cargo containers up out of the way to reveal a stairwell leading down into a section of the tower it was clear they had very carefully kept guarded. "the heart of the colony" as Fai Dan had called it. Out of the silence, they heard a single set of footsteps behind them.
When they whirled around they saw Fai Dan himself. Castle, Beckett and Garrus all reached for a gas grenade as he approached slowly, clearly in immense pain, by his shaky, shambling footsteps, but they were all gone. His weapon was drawn, but pointed at the deck.
"I tried to fight it," Fai Dan grunted with great difficulty, "but it gets in your head... you can't imagine the pain. I was... supposed to be their leader. These people... trusted... me."
His weapon came up, and they all raised their weapons toward him in response.
"It... wants me to... stop you... but... I won't," he groaned, fighting to raise his head, dragged the pistol under his chin and screamed "I WON'T!"
He pulled the trigger and blew out the back of his own head, sending blood and brain matter spattering against the freighter's modular hull before he dropped lifelessly to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. When Castle knelt to close his eyes Fai Dan appeared more serene than he could recall seeing the man.
After nearly a year of enthrallment to the Thorian, he was finally free.
Kate unfolded an emergency blanket from her pack and covered Fai Dan's body with it, treating his remains with as much respect as she could under the circumstances. His family, if they were alive didn't need to see him like that. She motioned for the stairwell and they made ready to move out. Each of them paid their respects as they passed by the man's shrouded body, quietly acknowledging the enormity of his sacrifice.
Even Wrex grunted and nodded as he passed by out of grudging respect for the man who – much like Matriarch Benezia – had fought back against his oppressor the only way he'd been able. It was up to the four of them to make Fai Dan's last act of defiance worth what he'd paid for it.
Castle took point and they moved carefully down the ancient staircase until they reached the one exit that wasn't choked with debris. There were no doors, most likely torn away ages ago given the patina of the rust on the sheared away door frame.
"Okay, we take this by the numbers," Kate began, "we just need to find... to... find..."
Her self assured sense of what to do about this alien slipped away once she walked into the cavernous, vaulted cathedral-like space and actually took in the true scope of the creature that was the Thorian. It's tendrils and nerve clusters spread out through the entire interior space of what had once been a massive cargo elevator shaft down to the surface of Feros, fifteen hundred feet below. The giant, bulbous head of the creature looked dully at them as the filed into the room in absolute shock at the very nature of a thing which had spread it's tendrils upward into the tower over the last fifty thousand years.
"What... is... that?" Castle muttered, not realizing he'd spoken out loud.
"Nothing's ever simple... is it?" Garrus lamented.
"We are gonna need bigger guns," Wrex rumbled. "Bigger fucking guns."
Before the four of them could move any closer, the Thorian's eyes focused upon them for the first time since they'd walk into the place. The creatures head throbbed and pulsed until its tentacle covered mouth began to drip with slime and a bipedal form slid down and out of its maw. Which when it straightened out, appeared to be an asari dressed in body armor, but with green skin instead of their usual blue.
The asari-like creature drew closer and regarded them for a moment as if receiving instructions then focused her eyes upon them, fully.
"Invaders!" she stated without preamble. "Your every step is a transgression. A thousand tendrils appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose. I speak for the old growth, as I once did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands you to be in awe."
"I need what you gave to Saren." Kate replied.
"Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone," the asari creeper replied, "The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in the long cycle. Trades were made. Then cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle, flesh fairly given in tribute. The Thorian is a piece of this world, extending into the land and back through the ages. You can no more kill it, than you can cut the sky. The old growth sees the air you push as lies. It will listen no longer!"
The asari creeper's final statement gave them scant warning before a mass of Thorian creepers attacked, pouring out of adjoining chambers as fast as the doorways would allow. Kate was the first to open fire, tearing the asari creeper to shreds in a hail of incendiary sledgehammer rounds.
With no more restrictions to their use of force in effect, Castle and Wrex charged biotics and split up, each taking a side and unleashing their dark energy attacks. Castle sent a shock-wave that split the current of creepers aside, bathing the walls in their ichor, while Wrex set loose a warp pulse, followed by a singularity which had much the same result.
Kate trailed closely behind Rick, firing wildly with her rifle - as Garrus followed Wrex - the two soldiers keeping their biotic counterparts from being surrounded and overwhelmed. As She and Castle passed into the next chamber to see a large bundle of tendrils and nerve endings buried into the wall, she was filled with sudden inspiration and unleashed a burst of incendiary weapons fire into it, causing it to explode. This triggered a loud, unholy screech from the "head" of the Thorian in the central chamber.
"Garrus," she shouted into the comms, "While Wrex keeps the creepers busy, concentrate your fire into any nerve clusters you see that are secured to the walls or ceiling. I think they might be anchor points for the thing."
"Makes sense," Garrus replied, "Diffused creature or not, cut off it's root system and the thing dies. I'm on it."
The destruction of several anchoring nerve tendrils later, the creature screamed and the tower shook as the last of the anchor points began to tear free from the walls. With too many of it's anchoring tendrils destroyed to support the creature's weight, it pulled loose from the where it hung in the shaft and dropped from sight, screaming its unholy wail all the way to the ground, fifteen hundred feet below where it exploded in a torrent of green and yellow ichor.
While the four of them caught their breath in the now empty central chamber, nobody saw as a slender asari form struggle out of a pod attached to the wall and slip gracelessly to the ground. The echo of her footfalls drew all of them around with weapons drawn.
"I'm free!" the asari exclaimed. "I give you many thinks for releasing me!"
"Who are you and how did you end up in there?" Kate challenged.
"My name is Shiala," she said, "I serve... I served Matriarch Benezia. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I. Benezia had foreseen the the influence Saren would have, so she joined him with the hope of guiding him down a gentler path, but Benezia did not cunt upon how compelling Saren could be and she lost her way."
"Are you saying that Saren can control minds?" Castle and Beckett asked almost in unison.
"Benezia underestimated Saren, as did I," Shiala continued. We came to believe in his cause and his goals with almost fanatical zeal. The power of his influence is... troubling."
"Asari matriarchs are the most intelligent and powerful beings in the known galaxy," Kate asked, "How could one fall so swiftly under Saren's control?"
"Saren has a vessel he calls Sovereign," Shiala replied. "I don't know how, but it can dominate the minds of his followers. They become indoctrinated to his will. It took time - and make no mistake, Benezia was the last of us to fall – but in the end it's subjugation of our minds was absolute."
Kate nodded, she had heard most of this from Benezia herself on Noveria, but she allowed Shiala to tell the story in her own words. Just like in an interrogation room back in New York City, there were some who merely wanted their story to be heard and talked rather freely once confronted with their crimes. Shiala seemed no different.
"I was a willing slave when Saren brought me to this world. With Benezia gone, he needed my biotics to communicate with the Thorian and learn its secrets. Saren offered me in trade to secure an alliance between it and him. Once Saren had what he came for, however, the Thorian became a liability. He knows you also seek the conduit. He sought to destroy the the Thorian so you too could not gain the cipher."
"What's the cipher?," Castle demanded, his curiosity and need to understand the whispers in his head coming to the fore. "Why does Saren need it?"
"So, you were the one who used the beacon," Shiala stated. "The beacon on Eden Prime gave you visions like it did to Saren, but those visions were confused and unclear. They were meant for a Prothean mind. To truly comprehend them, you must think as a Prothean... understand their culture, their history, their very existence. The Thorian was a part of this world long before the Protheans colonized this world. It watched them, even subjugated a few of them. When they were wiped out it consumed them and their essence became part of it."
"How did you give this cipher to Saren?" Kate asked, concern for Castle overriding her duty for the moment.
"I can give you the cipher, Mister Castle," Shiala said, all but ignoring Kate, "transfer the knowledge of the Protheans directly from my mind to yours."
Shiala approached Castle slowly, almost seductively, which set off a pang of jealousy in Kate. If he hadn't needed this knowledge to keep his sanity from slipping away she would have found some excuse to shoot her, almost considered doing it anyway, but she didn't lose her self control.
"Try to relax, Richard," Shiala said softly, gently, her every word a caress as she drew near to him. "Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell. Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us, one to another."
Kate could almost see herself choking the life out of Shiala as she watched the asari draw closer and closer to him, soothing him with every soft quiet word that came out of her mouth.
"Every action sends ripples across the galaxy," Shiala said softly. "Every idea must touch another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit. We are all connected. Every living thing united in a single, glorious existence."
Kate almost didn't see it when the asari commando's biotics flared to life and her eyes turned completely black, but by then it was too late to stop this as Shiala's hands drifted to Castle's temples.
"Open yourself to the universe, Richard Castle... EMBRACE ETERNITY!"
Shiala's mind melded with Castle's in a flash of dark energy. Images flooded his mind much as they had with the beacon... images, sensations, voices, touches of thought. Colors he had no names for, images of worlds he had never seen. The Reapers cloaked the world in their darkness and death followed in their wake. Soon the sensory overload became to much and he screamed.
After a few seconds, which seemed like the eternity Shiala spoke of, she released him. As soon as her hands stopped gripping his shoulders, Castle slumped to his knees and Beckett was at his side without second thought, while Shiala regarded him with something bordering on tenderness.
"I have given you the cipher just as it was given to me, and I to Saren," She offered him softly. "The very essence of everything the Protheans had been is now a part of you."
"Are you okay?" Kate whispered to him, almost ignoring Shiala completely.
"I saw... something," Castle whispered, "it still... doesn't make any sense."
"You have been given a great gift, Richard," Shiala told him. "The life experience of an entire people. It will take time for your mind to process this information."
"You look a little queasy, Castle," Kate whispered to him softly, "we should get you back to the ship so Lanie can take a look at you."
"I am sorry if he has suffered, Captain," Shiala offered, "but there was no other way. He needed the cipher In time it will help him understand the vision from the beacon."
"We can't stay any longer, Shiala," Kate stated flatly. "We have to stop Saren before he can get to the Conduit."
"Then may fortune favor your journey, Captain Kate Beckett," Shiala replied. "As for me, I shall remain here and consider it my penance to do what I can to aid and protect these colonists as long as even one of them remains."
As Kate began to leave, Shiala grasped her arm gently and offered one final thought.
"I was one with his mind," she whispered softly. "He cares about you, Kate Beckett, you may not see it yet, nor may you not want to see it, but he does. He will not falter in his love for you as others may have done."
**Author's note** Official word count is now 59,718 words. (and still counting with two more acts still waiting in the wings)