My eyes widened and my heart leapt to my mouth. I thought I would never see her again, but there she was, clear as water. She turned to move out of sight and Aran beckoned to me to follow. I heeded his order with haste as we moved to an unseen area of the market. We stood next to a broken-down cab, in a derelict space behind Harrot's shop. My brother drummed his fingers on the side of the vehicle, in a regular beat. It was deafening, the anticipation was killing me. My brother was unspeaking, his eyes fixed on a set of crates over the alley.
"So, where is she?" I finally said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
"She's getting our Hallex", Aran replied curtly.
"Did you mention the citadel?" I asked.
I heard a click to my left, followed by a familiar voice sounding like an unknown to me, "What about the citadel?"
I strained my eyes to look, and could make out the immaculate asari with a shotgun aimed at my brother and I. Aran reached for the datapad in his pocket, "We-"
"Hey sailor", Lyra interrupted, raising the shotgun. "Hands where I can see them".
Aran's hands shot away from his pocket and above his head.
"We can get you on the citadel", I stated abruptly. "With a code on that datapad".
Lyra stayed silent for a moment, before speaking, "The citadel? So, why shouldn't I just kill you and take the code myself?"
"Because it needs to be approved by C-Sec, and we have a guy", I said quickly, with sweat forming on my brow.
Lyra laughed, "You have a 'guy'?"
"Yeah, we do!" Aran said quickly. "His name is Bellamy"
Lyra was about to speak, but stopped. She recognized the name, and her gun lowered slightly. She took a step back, but raised her gun again.
"How do you know Bellamy?" she asked, more aggressive than before.
I was speechless. Jeet didn't prepare us for this, we didn't know Bellamy and she knew it. I started to panic, sweat now trickling down my nose. I tried turning to Aran, but he was looking at the ground. I was about to answer with a rushed excuse, except Aran beat me to it.
"He said you'd be too scared to go", Aran stated, turning to Lyra.
"How? I, I-", she stuttered, her gun shaking slightly now. "When did you speak to Bellamy?"
Her voice quivered slightly, but still remained commanding. Her face was slightly softer too, from what I could see. Aran's hands dropped slowly, and he turned to Lyra.
"On the citadel", he said. "He said you could get Hallex to the citadel, but you wouldn't because you're scared to go back there".
Lyra's arms dropped to her waist. She replaced the shotgun on her hip, and walked towards us. She scanned us both with her immaculate eyes, her brow furrowing slightly. In one movement, she grabbed my brothers collar and slammed him into a crate behind. her hand was swimming with a biotic glow, as she leered into his eyes. I was rooted to the spot, as Aran squirmed helplessly in her grip. Her face moved closer to his, her gaze fixed on his.
"Do I look scared?", she asked with threat in her voice. Aran stared for a moment before shaking his head.
"Datapad. Now", she demanded. Aran reached down and pulled the datapad from his pocket. She snatched the datapad from his fingers, and released him. She studied it for a moment, befor turning and walking down the alley. Aran opened his mouth to speak but was stopped by Lyra shouting back,
"This way!"
Aran looked at me, disbelieving. I returned the look, before he shrugged and smiled, following Lyra down the vacant alley. I sighed briefly in hesitance. I continued afrter Lyra and Aran, the noise of the market becoming ever more distant. A light at the end of the pathway flickered and buzzed. The two silhouettes getting larger as I approach, the murmur getting louder. I proceed through the doorway into a bright room with walls lined with metallic shelves. Lyra slammed the shutters down behind me and moved over to a table with several brown boxes on it.
"Empty these boxes, into these canisters", she said sternly before pulling a box down from the shelf, which clanked as she dropped it. She started to walk toward a smaller door on the opposite wall. Aran started up as the door slid open,
"Where are you going?"
She didn't break her stride at all in answering, "For a smoke". The door slid shut behind her, with a whooshing sound. Aran immediately looked up at me,
"This is it, bro!"
"Are you sure? I don't like this", I replied, eyeing the door.
"Look, I know it's a big thing", Aran said, assuringly. "But, I would never put you in something that I couldn't handle".
I looked back down, loading pills into the canisters. Aran kept his gaze fixed on me.
"Hey", he said reaching across and squeezing my arm. I looked up at him before he continued, "You're my brother. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you".
He smiled at me, something I very rarely see. I return a weak smile and continue with my task. After we finish the last canister, Lyra returned to the room. She glanced at the cans and nods. She is immaculately beautiful, yet for her soft features and dainty frame, she is powerful and controlling. She gestured to me before ordering,
"You. Load them into the box".
I could now deduce she does not remember me, which seemed right because I'm usually forgotten by acquaintances. I began loading the canisters into the box. She spoke to me again,
"When you're done, bring it outside". She gestured to Aran to follow her through the smaller door. The canisters get surprisingly heavy when theyre full of pills. As I load the last one, I attempt to pick up the box. It is was heavy a bucket of Mercury. I strained to lift it and managed to get it at a suitable height for walking. I moved towards the door, panting and grunting, my fingers gorged with blood. I elbowed the door release and it flew open. Through the door was a small hangar, devoid of any other people. A small cargo runner sat in the bay, with Aran opening some barrels on its deck. I lugged the crate over to the loading ramp, veins popping in my neck. Lyra appears at the top, and stops when she sees me,
"Oh, how masculine", she says, sarcastically.
She raises her hand which releases a blue aura, engulfing the crate. The weight disappeared immediately as it floated effortlessly beside her on the cargo deck. She strode past me as I looked at her, she was perfect. Aran beckoned me over,
"Put the canisters into the barrels, six to a barrel".
I nodded obediently and started to put the canisters into the barrels. The clanging sound I expected did not come, instead came a squelching noise. I peered into the barrel to find a translucent gel, engorging the canisters.
"Medigel. For C-Sec", Aran explained. "When we get it through, we pull them out with a magnet and roll them to to the med-bay"
Lyra appeared at the bottom of the ramp, leaning on the ramp's hydraulics. Her flight jacket hung to each one of her curves, with the zip half-way down. Her trousers wrapped to her legs, making the eyes wander. She studied the datapad a bit more before looking up to my brother and I,
"Ready, girls?"
Aran and I nodded in unison. She strode up the ramp, and closed it with a red button on the wall. She looked to Aran and said, "Make sure these are secure. If they're not, it's your ass". Aran began checking the fastenings on the barrels. She turned to me, her eyes meeting mine.
"Come with me", she said unblinking. "You're riding bitch".
I held her gaze nervously, before she let out a small laugh. She lead the way to the cockpit, and sat in a large chair infornt of some flashing consoles. She attended to a few, causing them to change colour, or disappear completely. I took a seat next to her, in a smaller chair infornt of a navigational map. I studied the route and entered in a course for the citadel.
"Set", I stated, while turning to her. She nodded curtly. She tapped another console and the ship began to whirr. The ship eventually began moving slowly from the hangar, and into Omega's dense asteroid field. The ship tumbled left and right, avoiding the massive rocks in the way. Lyra was in a zone of pure concentration. As we left, the asteroid field, she let out a small sigh of contentment. I remained quiet as we streaked silently through space. The stillness was broken by a small expression of mirth from Lyra.
"Looks like we have very similar dirty secrets", she said, while grinning. She then turned to me, still smiling,
"Isaac."