She had almost forgotten how sunlight felt. It was summer here, and the sun beat down on her. Sanctuary itself loomed in the distance, but for now she was out here with the rest of the mass of people looking for safety from the war. Hundreds of people from every race stood in the courtyard. Most of them wore clothing as shabbily made as the disguises she had procured. A turian woman bounced a toddler on her knee while a sick-looking asari wrapped herself in tattered blankets.

A woman in the blue and white Sanctuary uniform worked her way through the crowd. "Unauthorized supplies are not permitted within Sanctuary. For your own safety, please use only our blankets, tents, and other devices."

"How much for blankets?"

"Five credits for a blanket. Two hundred for a tent."

It was Matthews' turned to look sick. "These people already have next to nothing, and now he's leaving them dry? What kind of sicko is your father?"

Miranda jabbed him in the ribs. "Quiet!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am," the Sanctuary rep told her. "I'm afraid you can't use that cane in here, though you're welcome to purchase one of ours."

Oh, you are a bastard, aren't you, Father? "It's specifically tailored to accommodate my disability." She flashed a credit chit. "How much to make an exception in my case? And perhaps to queue-jump? My brother and I have come such a long way."

The rep's gaze darted around. "Priority passes are one thousand credits each. That just gets you into the facility. It doesn't cover maintenance fees or any necessities."

Miranda paid the money with a smile.

The other refugees glared at her as she hobbled inside. Sanctuary was all white and blue on the inside, with native flora everywhere in the lobby. She submitted to the scans without protest. As if she was fool enough to carry a weapon on her person. Her omni-tool was a cheap civilian model without the ability to so much as tap into the comm buoys, little more than a walkie-talkie.

Another rep handed her a piece of paper. "Fee schedule."

Matthews scanned the paper. "Five hundred credits a night for a bed? Fifty for meals?" He paled. "What happens when people run out of money?"

The rep shrugged. "They go back out there. Eventually, they're evicted. We have to keep this facility running somehow."

A vein popped out in Matthews' cheek, and Miranda laid a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Easy, brother. We did worse to make our fortune." She smiled sweetly at the rep. "We want the best quarters you can muster."

The best quarters they could muster turned out to be two single beds and a toilet in a dormitory with paint chipping off the walls. Miranda sat on the edge of the bed. Slow, deep breaths. She couldn't afford to let her emotions get away with her now. Oleg wasn't here to save Oriana if things got troublesome. She would find her little sister and get out of here.

"This monster is bleeding people dry." Matthews paced the length of the room. "Are we going to let him get away with it?"

Miranda opened her mouth to tell him that they had come here to extract Oriana, but Oleg's voice echoed in her head. It is the duty of a Cerberus officer to help as many humans as he can in whatever circumstance he finds them. "We'll do what we can. If he's fool enough to be here, then I plan on making him pay for everything he's done. If Oriana is alone, then we'll see what we can do about forcing a few credit transfers back to the refugees."

She flicked on the omni-tool. "Patel, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear. I've got your guns, amp, and omni-tool waiting. Our friends are, er, relaxing in their stasis pod as we speak."

"Good. Wait for my signal. We move at nightfall."

Nightfall came. "Wake them up." Miranda took a deep breath. This was either going to go off without a hitch or it was going to be a bloodbath. She spoke slowly and carefully. "Please attack the people with guns and blue-and-white uniforms. Please do not hurt the people who don't have guns. Please protect them. Please help us clear a path."

The sound of gunfire and screams followed three minutes later. The front door of the facility buckled. There was a groan of metal as one of the adjutants punched a hole in the gate. Miranda dashed into the foyer as quickly as she was able. Battle raged around her. An adjutant seized a guard by the scruff of the neck and threw him against the wall. The guard crumpled like paper as his bones crunched against steel. Refugees ran screaming in all directions. The adjutants ignored them. Well, at least that was one thing going right.

She found herself standing next to Patel. "I think this is the first time we caused a Reaper attack. Where are we going anyway?"

Miranda shrugged as she took the Paladin and amp. "Where else do you keep your most valuable possessions? The highest room in the tallest tower."

A new voice cut in over the loudspeakers. "Lock down the facility. The Reapers are attacking. All available units to Tower One."

Miranda stiffened. So Father was here after all. It didn't matter. She wasn't a little girl anymore. But as the adjutants chewed their way through his forces, memories came flooding back.

Father glared down at her. Miranda looked at the chess board. She had learned the hard way that it was better not to look at him when he was like this. "Are you a fool, Miranda? I counted at least seven elementary mistakes. You will practice until you get it right."

She used her biotics to create a barrier. "I don't care what you think. If a species of brutes like the krogan can create their own biotics, then so can we. This is what Miranda's healing factor is for. Prepare for surgery in a month's time. I'll oversee it myself."

She hacked the tower elevator. The screen flickered in the darkness. Eve. Alexandra. Mary. None of them were over two years old. Her father always told her she was an only child, but now she understood. She wasn't the first he made, just the first he kept.

At last she stood outside the penthouse door. The carpet was stained with red and black blood. Bodies were strewn on the floor. Miranda took a deep breath and motioned for Matthews and Patel to follow her. Onward to the mouth of hell. Beyond the door, there was a muffled scream. Miranda's blood pounded in her ears. Oriana. She opened the door.

Henry had changed since she saw him last. His hair was grey not black, and wrinkles crossed his smooth skin. The eyes were the same blue as hers, but they lacked the piercing intensity she remembered. He trained a Paladin on her head, but his hand shook as he did. But it was his human shield that transfixed Miranda.

It was as if her teenaged self had been brought forward in time. Oh, the hair was a little shorter. But everything else? Her front teeth were slightly oversized. The lines of her jaw were strong. Eyebrows curved in a graceful arc. Her baby sister stared back at her at last.

"Who are you?" Oriana's voice quavered.

"Stay back, Miranda," Henry said quietly. "You wouldn't want your sister hurt."

"My sister?" Oriana frowned. "I've seen you before, that day in Nos Astra."

"Yes, a charming little family reunion. But Miranda is nothing but poison, Ori. She stole you away from me when you are just a baby. I would have made you worthy of your bloodline. She stuck you with a pair of commoners and didn't even let you grow up among your own kind." He returned his attention to Miranda. "Leave before I have to do something I regret. I can make her great, just like I made you great."

"Great? Just like you ruined my life, you mean?" Her mind whirred. It was a standard hostage situation. Normal rules of engagement dictated neutralizing the hostage as quickly as possible. Bu there was more than one way to neutralize. Mordin had taught her that much. She put her free hand behind her back and removed a small vial from her belt.

"Ungrateful child. Do you think for one moment that you would have been able to raise the dead or do what you did with the adjutants if it wasn't for the gifts I gave you?" He sneered. "Yes, I know what those monstrosities running amok in the hall are. Leng contracted me to make more implants. Part of the deal for getting my daughter back. I gave you my intellect, but as usual, you failed to use it to its fullest potential."

"Fleecing refugees and stealing my designs?" Her voice was ice. "Yes, you gave me my gifts. You even gave me your mind. But I chose how to use them." For the first time, she didn't choke on the words when she said them. "And I'm going to use them to stop you."

She stepped back and threw the vial at him. Henry dropped the gun and fell to his knees. Matthews rushed forward to catch Oriana as she fell and carried her to the couch. Miranda gestured at Henry with her gun. "Make sure he doesn't go anywhere."

She hobbled to the couch. Oriana moaned, but her color was good. "I have a headache."

"Trace amounts of nerve toxin. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you." Her hands hovered over Oriana's face. The urge to hug her was overpowering. But she wasn't sure she had the right. They were related by blood, and Miranda had watched her grow up, but it had always been from a distance. Even now, she was a stranger to Oriana.

"I'll be fine, I think." Oriana's eyes widened, as she hauled herself into a sitting position. "Do you know what happened to my parents? I was on my way home from work when these men came up behind me and forced me into a car. They said they would kill my Mum and Dad if I didn't cooperate."

"The people you call your parents are fine, child. You cooperated. I'm not a monster."

Miranda turned back to her father. Patel had dragged him to the nearest chair. "You have a strange definition of monsters."

"Says the—I suppose it wouldn't be wise to complete that sentence under the circumstances. What happens now?"

"Now? Now I make sure you can never hurt anyone again."

Panic flashed across his face. "Is that really necessary? I'm sure we can come to an understanding. Everyone has a price, Miranda. Name yours."

Miranda put her finger on the trigger. It would be so easy to blow his head off. Safer, too. As long as he lived, he was a threat to Oriana.

"Don't!" Oriana said. "I mean, he is still our father isn't he?"

Oleg's voice rang in her ears again. You must only ever kill out of necessity, in self-defense or to complete an objective. Show no mercy and no one will show mercy to you. Damn him. Damn both of them. "Yeah, he is."

She walked forward until she was looming over her father. He looked small and weak. Just another old man after all. One who had squandered his fortune almost from the day he built it. "I want Lawson Biomedical. And Blackstone."

"You want a lot."

"I could always leave you with the adjutants."

"Touché. You know how to draw up the paperwork." He nodded at her cane. "Even with that, you still managed to beat me. Perhaps you aren't quite as much of a disappointment as I believed."

Miranda glared at him. Once she would have been hungry for even that much acknowledgment, but now she just felt tired. "Get him out of here. And scrounge up some of those fee schedules. I'm sure Westerlund News would be very interested in the price gouging going on here."

Father's eyes popped. "Are you trying to make me a pauper? I gave you the company!"

Miranda laughed. "I promised to let you go, and I will. I didn't promise there would be no consequences. Goodbye, Father. I don't think we'll be meeting again."

Patel and Matthews hustled him out the door, and she was alone with Oriana. She had tried not to fantasize about this moment. It was never good to fantasize about things you couldn't have. But the dreams had slipped in anyway. They would hug and laugh and babble as if they had never been apart. There had never been this awkward silence that stretched on moment after moment.

"So, we're sisters," Oriana said at last. "You look like me."

"We're twins. Genetically. How we were born, well, it's a bit complicated." Wonderful opening line. You've known each other for two minutes, and you're already babbling about your bloody genes.

Oriana frowned. "Henry ranted about it. I don't really understand it all, but we've got some kind of special engineering that makes us smarter and stronger than other people. Have I got that right?" Miranda nodded, and Oriana managed a small smile. "Well, that explains a lot."

"What?"

"I skipped three grades. I got a perfect score on my college entrance exam. Nobody's ever done that. I had to do it twice before the board was convinced I wasn't cheating. It really freaked my parents out. What else can I do?"

Miranda startled. Oriana sounded so…impressed with the whole business. "It doesn't bother you at all?"

Oriana shrugged. "It's not like I could go down to the gene store and pick it out for myself anyway."

Miranda laughed, loud, long, hysterical laughter. Was it really that simple? Just treat it as if you were created normally and move on with your life? "I wish I'd been raised like you."

"I guess Henry wasn't exactly Father of the Year, huh?" She put a hand on Miranda's shoulder as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Miranda relaxed into it, but Oriana still kept her hand there. "So, tell me about yourself."

"Me? I'm afraid I'm really rather boring." The parts I can tell you anyway.

She punched Miranda on the arm. "You sneak in here with a squad of commandos, start a riot, and hit me with a nerve toxin, and I'm supposed to believe you're boring?"

"Fine. What would you like to know?"

Oriana thought. "How did you get me from Henry to my parents? They always told me that I was adopted, but it doesn't sound like he just gave me up."

"He didn't. I had to break into his mansion and spirit you away."

"Alone?"

"No. I had help from a mercenary captain named Oleg Petrovsky. He helped me get away from Father's men once." She closed her eyes at the memory. "And he nearly died helping me get you out."

"Died? You must have paid him a lot."

"No, we were friends by then. We still are. The oldest friend I have, as a matter of fact." Or maybe we're more than friends. Damn the Illusive Man and his reassignments.

"Tell me about him."

Miranda smiled. "Well he can be very pompous when it suits him, but he's one the best officers I've ever known. I remember one time…"

They had set up shop in one of the disused mining tunnels out of necessity. The ground was caked with eezo residue. North adjusted his helmet's breathing filter. Damn Petrovsky's antiquated sense of honor. He was performing these experiments for Omega. He ought to be able to do them openly where he could breathe clean air. The sacrifices he made for humanity.

He walked the length of the holding area. His men had made a fine catch in the Kima District: a dozen or so turians of various ages. All were poor, even by Omega's standards, with families that were either unable or unwilling to search for them. He pointed to two. "Perform primary transformation on the man. Hold the woman in reserve for secondary transformation."

The force field dropped and his men waded into the mass of flesh to drag the two turians, both wearing the same blue markings, into the lab proper. The lights were dimmer, but it was set up largely as Lawson had done. Three of his men pulled the male into the transformation chamber. The subject screamed curses at them, but the soldiers were armed and he wasn't. North watched as they locked him in the execution chamber. Be grateful, turian. You'll do more for humanity like this than you ever have in your miserable life.

The creature that emerged from the chamber was beautiful in its way. The power that had killed so many of his men was now his to command. "Adjutant, step forward." The adjutant stepped forward, and North smiled. Lawson wasn't the only one who could command them now. "Mk II implants working as desired."

"Excellent," said Walker from somewhere above him. "We're ready to test secondary transformation on your order."

"Adjutant, follow me." He led the new weapon into the adjacent room, which had once been a closet to store mining tools. The female turian had been stripped naked, and was bound at the wrists and ankles. She looked up at him with terrified eyes. "What did you do to Terius. Where is my husband?"

"Husband?" He rounded and glared at the camera tracking his every move. "Why didn't you tell me they were married? This could affect the subject's docility."

"Relax, North. If Lawson could make Grizz work on our cars, you shouldn't have any problems. There's nothing left of the original host."

"It's your head if you're wrong." He stepped aside. "Adjutant, transform her."

As Walker had promised, there was no hesitation. She screamed of course and called Terius' name, but the adjutant simply picked her up and sank its claws into her spine. Her eyes began to glow with the same blue light as she sank to the floor. Excellent. The new adjutant scrambled to its feet and gave him a confused look. "Adjutant, leave the room."

The creature that had been Terius dutifully left, but the new adjutant simply stared at him. Maybe it was confused. He repeated the order, but it still stayed where it was. "I thought you said the control ability would transfer?"

"I said it probably would. This is the bleeding edge of neurology."

"Well, figure something out. If the adjutants don't become loyal when transformed by others, we're stuck using the chamber indefinitely. I don't—"

One of the soldiers ran in. "Spy drone spotted at the perimeter, sir. Probably Talon."

Kandros, shit. The woman was determined to destroy everything he did. And they didn't have the manpower to withstand an assault. They would have to move. Kandros would come down on them with all the fury of Hell when she realized her precious civilians were being used as test subjects. "Pack—"

No, wait. It's better if you don't leave. The voice whispered inside his head. This was the most wonderful, most terrible part of integration. His mind worked faster, and sometimes it was as if knowledge not his own had been placed into his head. He looked at the Cerberus emblem on his gauntlet. If Kandros saw what they were doing, she would blame Cerberus as a whole. Her fury would be vented at every soldier on this station. Petrovsky would have no choice but to push back.

And maybe North would finally be able to convince him to do what it took to end this war.

I, Henry Lawson, being of sound mind, hereby deed my shares of Lawson Biomedical and the Artemis Group to my daughter Miranda to dispose of as she pleases…

Miranda read the datapad. The bastard had actually kept his word. Lawson Biomedical and Blackstone were hers to do with as she pleased. She could finally start researching how to re-create Lazarus. And she could send Oleg the men he needed so desperately. Omega would finally have its police force. She would help his dream succeed, even if she wouldn't be there to see it.

"The board is going to go ballistic when they hear about this," said the woman at her side. She remembered Miriam Cartwright as if she were a figment from a dream: scuttling around Henry like a wisp of smoke, making sure no one asked too many questions about what the CEO was doing in his off hours.

"That's your job, isn't it? Making sure they don't go ballistic? We'll need to nominate a new CEO. Find me some idiot with no mind of his own. Father certainly had enough following him around."

Cartwright didn't even raise an eyebrow. "Yes ma'am."

Miranda settled in her chair. The Sanctuary penthouse was a mess. Henry had always been meticulous about record-keeping, but this was ridiculous. He had records of every toothbrush the refugees had purchased. She had attempted to make good on her promise to Matthews, refunding what money she could, but it was slow work. And there were other things to worry about.

Oriana was surrounded by datapads. They might have been genetic twins, but there was a carelessness in Oriana's movements that Miranda had never possessed. Even now, Miranda had to resist the urge to tell her to sit up straight. "So, what do you actually do for a living? I'm guessing this is your first time as a bigshot executive type."

"You could say that. I've worn many hats. At the moment, I do genetic research for a small company out in the Terminus. Genocorp."

Oriana raised an eyebrow, and Miranda forgot to breathe. Her posture was so different, but then there were moments like this one where she saw her younger self so clearly that it was like stepping back in time. A her that was unaccustomed secrets, that saw no reason why family shouldn't share everything. "Right. A genetic researcher with the skills of a commando."

"Like I said, many hats." She touched Oriana's arm. "I'm sorry. That must sound silly to you. I tell you more if I could but it's complicated."

"Complicated?" Recognition dawned in her eyes. "I get it. You're some kind of secret agent aren't you? Going on undercover missions, doing secret research, that kind of thing?"

Miranda froze. What did she say to the almost-truth? If it was anyone else, she would have given them an icy stare and told them they were delusional. Oriana was different. She had told herself for twenty years that Oriana would despise her if she ever knew what she was. But this sunny, open girl seemed to like her against all odds, wanted them to be sisters. She closed her eyes and thought of Oleg and Michael. Anything to avoid that utter contempt.

Oriana broke into a crooked grin. "I'm right, aren't I? You scrunch up your nose just like I do when I'm trying to hide something."

I scrunch up my nose? "If you want to call me a secret agent, that's as good as anything."

"So, do you like to fight crime or something? Maybe land on uncharted worlds to destroy Cerberus bases?"

"Cerberus?" Miranda said, fighting to keep her voice even. It was bound to come up sooner or later. News had filtered through the comm buoys: Cerberus had seized Grissom Academy and subverted Councilor Udina in an attempted coup of the Citadel. No doubt the Illusive Man would have numerous justifications for why that was necessary to the war effort, but Miranda wasn't sure she wanted to hear them.

"Yeah. I figure someone has to. I mean the Reapers are scary as hell, but you can't exactly infiltrate them. Cerberus is still evil, but more… personal, I guess you'd say. I can't wrap my head around giant metal ships that want to wipe out all life in the galaxy. I get kidnapping kids or trying to take over the Citadel." Her brows knitted together. "But I guess that makes it worse. They're traitors to humanity. We should all be working together, and here they are trying to kill the people saving our lives. You seem like the type that would want to stop them."

"Oh, Oriana." She had tried to tell the Illusive Man the same. Someday they would have to stop fighting each other and come together. Maybe the Alliance would stop believing in magic or maybe the magic would prove to be real after all. She rubbed her leg.

Oriana blushed. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I guess you don't do much breaking into Cerberus bases. Does it hurt, if you don't mind me asking?"

Anything to avoid talking about Cerberus. "When I'm tired or stressed or cold."

"Is there anything they can do?"

"Nothing feasible," Miranda said, thinking of the Crucible.

She saw the wheels turning in Oriana's head. "Then we…we should do something. I mean, you own a biomedical company. Isn't that what it's for?"

"It's to help other people, maybe even mass produce prototypes I discovered." Her selfish concerns—the scars, the crippled leg—could wait until the war was over.

Oriana rose, walked to the window, and threw open the curtains. "Tell me what you see."

Miranda hobbled forward. The chaotic mass teeming outside Sanctuary looked different from here. They were a great swirl of color, like the crowd for a rock concert or a papal audience. It was impossible to tell the humans from the asari or the salarians from the turians. "I see a lot of desperate people. And I still don't know how we're going to house them all."

Oriana rolled her eyes. She swiped a button on the window sill. The glass shifted and changed. Now she saw a few dozen people standing together liked packed sardines. They were thin, dirty, and miserable looking. One was missing a hand. A few had their heads heavily bandaged. And one, a blonde human female who couldn't be much older than Oriana, leaned heavily on her cane. It was a cheap metal thing, the sort of thing government insurance might have purchased after a particularly pernicious round of budget cuts. Or what Henry would have stocked to sell to these desperate souls.

"They call it the Soldier's Corner," Oriana said softly. "Mercs injured in the line of duty. The companies won't pay for healthcare, so a lot of them end up here. Help them, help yourself."

Miranda's gaze was fixed on the female soldier. Her trousers were too bulky to tell if she was wearing a brace, but the way she leaned heavily on her cane was all-too-familiar. Funny. She had gotten used to thinking of her injury as something that singled her out, a permanent sign of what she'd done it the Collector Base. But here was someone suffering the same injury. And thousands or millions more like her. All no less deserving of her scientific genius than Peter had been. "Henry mentioned doing work for someone called Leng. I bet that means that there's a lab around here somewhere."

There was. It was a beautiful thing. Spotless chrome, clean and orderly. Technicians bustled from place to place. She scanned the equipment. Here was the incubator she had used when cloning organs for Lazarus. There was the DNA sequencer Binary Helix wouldn't officially reveal for another three months. And there… there was the device she had used to clone blood for Peter. A physician's dream. And here there would be no need to hide her work or worry about the Alliance destroying it. The dream she had described to Oleg was at last within her grasp.

Oleg. Moisture pricked her eyes. She had her sister. She was at last free of Henry's machinations. The power to help humanity as never before stood within her grasp. He would have been so proud of her. But he was on Omega, fighting Talons and preparing for the day Aria would come to reclaim what she saw as hers. It wasn't fair. He should be at her side, celebrating. They should be preparing for lovemaking right now. They should…

But when had her life ever been about should? She touched her comm. "Cartwright, I want three Blackstone companies deployed to Omega. I've negotiated a private security contract to handle customs and patrol and policing for minor offenses. I'll handle transport and fee negotiation."

"Yes ma'am. Cerberus always did pay well."

"You know about Cerberus?"

"I know everything, ma'am. And there's an incoming call for you. Encryption 792-4. I believe you know that is."

She did. It was inevitable that the Illusive Man would want to check on her progress. His image was blurred around the edges, but his smile was unmistakable. "I understand congratulations are in order."

Miranda shifted uncomfortably. Once, she would have taken his tone for an almost fatherly pride, but now it seemed too ingratiating to be entirely sincere. If he was pleased Henry had been dealt with, it was because it had removed all possible distractions from her being a diligent Cerberus officer. "Oriana is safe, yes."

He rolled his cigarette between his fingers. "Yes, and Henry's disgraced. He won't be trouble for you or us any longer. More importantly, you have significant control over his resources. That presents us—humanity—with a huge opportunity. Some of the finest laboratories and manufacturing facilities in the galaxy."

"Yes, I have ideas on that score myself." He listened with interest for the first time in months as she described her plans for cloning blood and possibly restoring the limbs of those injured in this war. "My next assignment permitting, of course."

"As a matter of fact, your next assignment will permit. Because this is your next assignment. I had hoped you would manage to dethrone Henry, and I see I was right. Our reputation is tainted right now because of some of the unfortunate actions we've been forced to take."

"Like attacking Grissom?"

"Like attacking Grissom," he repeated. "Some of the students came to believe that the Alliance wasn't doing all it could against the Reapers, and were unable to leave the station due to the sensitive nature of the devices they were prototyping. We sent in an extraction team, but they encountered more resistance than expected and had to call for backup."

She wondered how much of that story was true.

"But that's neither here nor there. We need a public face. You could pass on some of our biomedical advances to the wider galaxy. Siphon off a percentage of the funds you receive to us. You'd be doing a great service for humanity, and it's not as if you need the funds. In fact, there's one particular discovery that might be of interest to you."

He stood, and the lights of his eyes seemed to grow a little brighter. Every muscle in his body tensed as power—subtler than Oleg's but still power—swirled around him. "We captured a Shadow Broker operative. Among his belongings was an OSD containing schematics from the Lazarus Project, specifically the processes used to repair Commander Shepard's skeleton and nervous system. I believe we can develop non-Reaper-based implants to restore your mobility."

Miranda's knees buckled, and not from pain. Oriana had spoken of developing something for her, but a prototype developed from scratch was years away even without the stresses of the war. Having the Lazarus data shortened the time to mere months. She saw John in her mind's eye. Not her ill-advised lover, but Commander Shepard who vaulted over walls, dashed across the battlefield, and drove out of enemy fire with an easy grace. She had done more than restore him to stock; she had made him better. And now that grace could be hers.

"Thank you, sir," she managed.

"Don't thank me just yet. I do require some form of repayment. As I said, we need a public face. Due to the efforts of Commander Shepard and the Alliance, public opinion has turned against us. As marvelous as the implants are, we do still require outside contacts. You've just become one of the most powerful women in the galaxy. Every door will be opened to you. We'd like you to recruit for us."

"You want me to mingle?" Hang around with wealthy and powerful fools who were no match for Oleg or even Jacob. But for the chance to walk again… "Do you have anyone in mind?"

The drydock was a ruin of twisted metal, and the Moscow didn't look much better. He had thought he had seen the destructive limits of the resistance after Grizz had been apprehended. This time there had been no casualties, but the impact on military readiness was far greater. One of Cerberus' precious cruisers simply gone. The drydock out of commission for months, if the Illusive Man would even deign to give them the resources to repair it.

"Security footage caught a couple of aliens in Talon uniforms breaking in around midnight," Hadley said. "Looks like a quick job."

Kandros. Of course. No one else would have dared to hit such a prominent military target away from the civilian areas. And it was the fourth such attack in as many days. Checkpoints and supply depots had been seized or simply destroyed. Casualties had been minimal, but the loss in supplies and ability to effectively control the districts had been devastating.

"Send a message to Cerberus Command that we're unable to perform repairs and this time. Offer double rations to anyone who enlists. We need more guards on our other installations. Some who will actually stay awake," he muttered darkly.

"What we need is to put the fear of God into the Talons." North had returned from Noveria ten days earlier with dozens of small scars crisscrossing his face and hands courtesy of the Alliance and it had put him in an even more sour mood than usual. "We know that their strongholds are in turian controlled areas. I say we give everyone in the district a choice: deportation or work in the mines, supervised and housed by us in temporary shelters."

"That's monstrous!" Hadley said.

North shrugged. "It worked for Pakistan."

Hadley looked at him blankly, and Oleg came to his subordinate's rescue. "In the early twenty-first century, the village of Spinkai was suspected of harboring Taliban militants. The Pakistani army captured the village after days of heavy fighting and found bombs, suicide jackets, and schools for would-be bombers. In response, the army destroyed the village bazaar, shops, and even the hospital. The villagers were forbidden from returning to their homes. It was a gross violation of the human rights law in force at the time. And it would be an even more severe violation of the laws of war now."

"But the Taliban lost their base for good. Besides, it wasn't like you weren't prepared to do even worse to the station once upon a time." North's lips pulled back into a smile. "You were ready to demolish the station level by level if Aria didn't give up."

"Yes, I did." The decision had weighed on him. It had not been exactly in accordance with the laws of war, but Aria had forced his hand. And she had backed down in the end, thank God. But now? He was the governor of this station, however much some quarters resented his authority. He was responsible for their welfare. "I will only authorize the minimum necessary to put down these new incursions."

"Seems to me that you're doing a lot less that the minimum. Maybe if you weren't so busy moping because your girlfriend left, you'd be able to see that."

Oleg rounded on him. "I am in command here, and you will show me the respect that I'm due. If you have any suggestions for a graduated response, I'm willing to listen. But until then, get a cleanup team in here."

North gave him a stiff, barely correct salute and left. Hadley remained behind. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Ah, the herald of every drubbing ever given by a junior officer to his superior. "Permission granted."

"We're losing, sir. Maybe we should get the implants like the Illusive Man wanted. I mean, Operative Lawson stuffed God-knows-what into Shepard and he came out a superhero. None of us were supposed to make it back, but we all did because of him. If we had a few thousand people who were just as strong and skilled as he was, I bet we could turn the whole war around like that." He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

Oleg stared at him. North had agitated for implants, but the former Lazarus Cell members had always struck him as just as cautious as their former leader. "You would be willing to risk that, Hadley?"

"I risk death every day, sir." He shifted uncomfortably. "I already lost my brother to the Collectors. Only family I have left is his husband, and last I heard he was doing some cargo retrofits for the Alliance. I'd risk a lot to make sure he got out alive. To do the impossible like Shepard did. A lot of the others feel the same way. "

Like I would do for Michael and Jake. Was that the true blessing and curse of Cerberus? To sacrifice so that those you loved would live instead of die? And now their sacrifices were counting for precious little. Another few weeks of Talon reprisals, and North's draconian measures would look reasonable. The civilians would incur a horrible cost—unless Cerberus bore the cost in their place.

He sighed. "Permission granted. Any other man who wishes to can do likewise. Make sure they know that there will be no discrimination in promotions, compensation, or work duty. This is a strictly volunteer procedure."

And may God have mercy on them all.