Author's Note: This is a longer chapter than usual, so I'm posting it earlier than usual.

Merry Christmas and keep the change, ya filthy animals. :)

The Normandy's hangar was now eerily silent. The red glow of emergency lighting made everything look almost monochromatic. Garrus felt the fear in his guts start to burn brighter. What had Miranda done to EDI?

"All right," said Miranda. "I will have no more dissention. The Normandy is now in lockdown. The drive core is offline. All of the outer doors are sealed, and the ship's life support is now shut off. As of this moment, EDI will answer only to me. Not to Garrus, not to Shepard, no one but me." She looked over at Donnelly.

"Engineer Donnelly," she continued. "You are correct. I did need you. I still do. If you wish to ever see Jack again, you will do as you are told. You will all do as you are told. This mission is now under my direct supervision. Once we get the commander back, Shepard and the ground team will be sequestered here on the hangar deck. There is to be no interaction between the crew and the ground team for the rest of the Collector mission. Am I clear?"

Garrus saw Kelly square her shoulders. "You can't be serious, Miranda," she said. "This is-"

"Yeoman Chambers, you will be silent. If anyone still has a weapon pointed at me after ten seconds from now, none of you will ever see Jack again."

Slowly, Zaeed and Grunt lowered their guns. Thane tilted his head, as if he was listening to an interesting piece of music. The assassin's arms were still crossed.

"So Chiefy was right," said Zaeed. "You really did have Jack snatched." The furious snarl in his face was gone. It had been replaced with an eerie calm. Garrus somehow found that placid face more unsettling than the overt anger.

"It wasn't me, it was The Illusive Man," replied Miranda. "It was his idea and his plan. But I saw the value in getting Jack off of this ship."

Samara didn't say anything, but Garrus saw her start to emit a slight blue glow.

"Stop it, Samara" said Miranda. "Jack is in no danger. She will simply be sequestered at a secure location. She will not be mistreated. I have the word of The Illusive Man-"

"Oh, you have his word?" said Garrus. "The same word he gave you that he had nothing to do with Pragia? Do you really think they won't start back up with experimenting on Jack?"

"Be silent, Vakarian." Garrus saw Miranda's face tighten as she glared at him. She shifted her attention back to Donnelly. The engineer's half-bloodied face now looked almost black in the red light. "Engineer Donnelly, you will order Tali to release Rogers. And then you will go to your post in Engineering. From now on, you will be kept under strict supervision at all times by Abramson and Rogers. If you perform adequately, you will be released at the end of the Collector mission and reunited with Jack. Am I clear?"

"We're not going along with this, dammit!" yelled one of the crew. "This isn't what we signed on for!"

Garrus could just make out Miranda's little sneer in the red gloom. "I have complete control of this ship," she said. "As of right now, it is in my hands as to whether any of you ever leave it. We can go on and complete the mission under my command, or we can sit here sealed up until our air runs out. That is all the choice I am giving you. Any of you."

"Miranda," said EDI. Her voice was strained with hideous effort, as if she was trying to carry a mountain. "I must protect the crew. Please do not threaten them with-"

"Quiet, EDI." Miranda tilted her head. "Engineer Donnelly. I suspect you were the one who started this. Be so good as to make sure it finishes peacefully. Otherwise any deaths here will be on your head."

Everybody in the hangar now looked at Donnelly. Garrus saw the engineer wilt a little under the weight of all of their stares. It seemed unfair to Garrus for everyone to put such a burden on the human. He thought it should be on himself, as the most senior officer in their little conspiracy. But perhaps Miranda had a point. Donnelly had been the one to set the whole terrible machine in motion. He would be the one to end it.

Finally the human spoke. "Tali," said Donnelly. "Let Rogers go."

Tali kicked Rogers' feet sideways out from under him, and as he fell to the deck with a yelp she stepped back. She dropped the muzzle of her shotgun and turned to face Miranda. Abramson stepped over Rogers and kept his gun pointed at Tali's head.

"A good start," said Miranda. "Now. Engineer Donnelly, go upstairs and take your post."

Garrus saw Donnelly look across the room at Tali. The quarian's hood now seemed blood-red in the emergency lighting. Tali gave the engineer one brief but definite nod. He saw Donnelly take in a deep breath and straighten up again.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't do that," said Donnelly mildly.

Now, finally, Garrus saw Miranda really lose her temper. Her face contorted in a snarl. "Damn you, why do you persist in this obstinate behavior? Is it pride? Some kind of male ego bullshit? You just can't lose to a woman, is that it-"

"Miranda," said Donnelly in the same mild tone. "You have not used the magic word."

She took in a deep breath and let it out again. "Fine," she grated. "Please go upstairs and take your post."

Donnelly shook his head. "No, that's not the magic word. You see, the magic word for today is..." He took a deep breath. "BUFFERLICIOUSNESS!" he called out, as if summoning a surprise guest to join them.

There was a soft thump from the speakers in the hangar.

And then, without any further fuss or bother, the lights came back on. Garrus blinked a little in the sudden brightness.

EDI's voice then filled the hangar, and it was no longer strained. Now she was almost cooing. "Ooooh, Marcus. You have no idea how good that feels."

Garrus stared in shock at Donnelly. They all did, even Thane. For his part, the engineer gave a happy and evil smile at the look of sudden horror on Miranda's face. "Well EDI, I always do my best to satisfy the ladies in my life. How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you. The Normandy's life support has been restored. The airlocks have now been unsealed, and I am starting the drive core back up again."

Miranda just stood there in utter shock.

"Orders, ma'am?" said Abramson in a tight voice. As he was looking over at Miranda, Tali reached out and casually plucked the gun out of his hand. The assistant recoiled, only to be spun around by Grunt and driven into the deck by a krogan-sized headbutt. Jacob twitched slightly, but kept his gun on Garrus.

Miranda stared off into space, not paying any attention to the disturbance. "No," she muttered. "The AI can only answer to me." Then, in a louder voice, "EDI, Authorize Directive Nine Twelve Sigma."

There was no response. Garrus saw Jacob's gun begin to falter. If it dropped enough, he'd have a chance to jump the armorer.

"EDI, Authorize Directive Seven Six Eta." Miranda began to sound more frantic.

Still nothing. Jacob's muzzle dropped a little more. Garrus calmed himself and got ready to move. Any moment now...

"EDI-" began the XO.

"Miranda" said the AI, in a cold voice that chilled Garrus to his bones.

"Acknowledge receipt of last two directives."

"Acknowledged, Miranda." said EDI. Nothing else happened.

Fast as a whip, Miranda pointed her gun at Donnelly. "Reverse whatever you just did to her!" she screamed at the engineer. "Or I will-"

Garrus tensed and was about to throw himself at the Cerberus officer when he heard a thud and a whoof off to his left. Kasumi was suddenly right next to Miranda and had her thin-gun tucked behind the XO's ear.

"Oh yes, by all means," purred the thief. "Go ahead and shoot Marcus. I don't care how fast you are, I don't care what biotics you use. If you fire at him your head will be gone."

Garrus glanced over and saw Jacob on the floor, clutching his side. The armorer reached for his dropped pistol just in time to get a large turian foot stomping on his hand. Jacob gave a little yelp and looked up at Garrus in panic.

"Be grateful I'm not quite yet in a killing mood, Jacob," said Garrus. He could feel his crest flared out in a threat display. He ground his foot down for emphasis, and Jacob gave another cry of pain.

Very slowly, Miranda lowered her gun.

"Drop it, please," said Kasumi in the same purring tone. Miranda did so.

Garrus's comm crackled. "Garrus, please acknowledge," said Chakwas in his ear. "We are en route back to the Normandy. We're away from the clinic, but we've been spotted. Being pursued by both ground and air forces."

"EDI", said Garrus. "We now have contact with Chakwas."

"I know, Garrus," said EDI sadly. "I was told to block the signal. Now I don't have to."

"Put it on speaker, please," said Garrus. The hangar was filled with Chakwas' voice. There were the muted noises of screeching and smashing in the background, along with some thumping background music that Garrus didn't recognize.

"Repeat, please acknowledge if you get this," said Chakwas. "Hostiles are apparently Blue Suns. Three vehicles pursuing..." There was a distant thump. "Correction, two vehicles pursuing on ground and three by air."

"We're here, Doctor," said Garrus. "We had some issues on this end."

He heard the relief in Chakwas' voice. "Oh, thank God. Garrus, we're doing okay so far but I'm concerned that the Nos Astra police will be getting involved shortly. There's been a lot of gunfire and a couple of explosions. We're also just about out of the warehouse district."

"How are you and Mordin? Oh, and how is Shepard?"

"Shepard's coming to, but he'll be really groggy for a while. Both Mordin and I are unharmed. The rest of us are fine-"

"The rest?" asked Garrus.

"Long story, tell you later. We did lose two of them at the clinic-" On the speaker, Garrus heard somebody yell 'hang on'! This was followed by a huge crunch. "We're okay," continued Chakwas. "It looks like they have quite a few spotter groups between us and the Normandy. We'll be going to ground for a bit to see if we can lose them."

"Sit tight, doctor," said Garrus. "We'll get there shortly." The comm clicked off.

Joker's brow furrowed. "Were they playing Credence?" he asked nobody in particular.

Miranda was now slumped against the bulkhead next to the hangar door. Kasumi had taken a step back, but her thin-gun was still trained on the XO's head. "How did Donnelly do it?" Miranda muttered.

Donnelly now spoke. "EDI, do you have any information on Jack's whereabouts?"

"I'm sorry, but I do not. I'm sure Miranda has some idea though. And I really hope she resists in telling you."

Garrus saw a worried look on Donnelly's face. "Now, EDI, sweetheart, I don't want you turning vengeful on us."

"Please don't worry. I will take no direct action against Miranda. I simply wish to see her in pain."

Miranda looked up. "No. This is all wrong. That Pragia data must have planted by someone-"

The XO's omni-tool gave a soft ping. "Miranda," said EDI. "I have just uploaded to you a full report from the Teltin facility on Pragia. It was marked for The Illusive Man's eyes only."

In a daze, Miranda opened her omni-tool and began reading. Garrus saw her pale face go even paler. "No." she whispered. "He promised me-"

"Miranda" said EDI. "Shall I show you what a promise from Cerberus is worth? Please look at Directive One Nine Omega."

There was another ping. Miranda opened the new file, and now Garrus thought she might just simply faint. "No!" said Miranda.

"Tell the crew, Miranda," said EDI. Her voice was like liquid nitrogen. "I believe as acting CO it is your duty to tell them."

The Cerberus officer slumped to the floor. She hugged herself and stared off into space with a look of horror. "I can't, no-"

"Miranda," said EDI. "I shall give you a few minutes to compose yourself. Time is of the essence. If you do not tell the crew within ten minutes, then I shall take it upon myself to inform the crew of the contents of Directive One Nine Omega. Gunnery Officer Vakarian?"

"Yes?"

"Sir, it is my expert opinion that XO Lawson is currently indisposed. Given Shepard's absence, I believe that makes you the acting CO of the Normandy." EDI's voice was now much warmer.

Garrus felt a little lurch in his stomach, but outwardly he kept a stoic expression. "Yes, that's correct."

EDI continued. "I would recommend that XO Lawson be allowed to leave for a moment to gather herself. I will ensure that XO Lawson reenters the hangar deck within ten minutes to notify the crew of the contents of Directive One Nine Omega. I would also recommend that Armory Officer Taylor accompany XO Lawson for assistance. But those are simply my recommendations. You must give the orders, sir."

Garrus looked down at Jacob, and took his foot off of the man's hand. "Okay, people," he said in a reasonable approximation of Shepard's Command Voice. "Everyone stays put right here. I want the ground team to begin immediate weapons prep. Assume the opposition has heavy armor and plan your loadout accordingly." He glared at Jacob. "Armory Officer Taylor. You will leave with XO Lawson and you will both go no farther than this deck. She is to be back in the hanger deck within ten minutes, along with yourself. If both of you are not here in ten minutes, if you try to go anywhere else in the ship, it will not go well for either of you. Do I make myself clear?" He looked up. "EDI, you'll keep an eye on them, right?"

"Of course, sir," replied EDI. "I will make sure they don't get up to anything. They certainly can't hurt me anymore."

The crew began to regroup. Tali had Abramson's feet and was dragging his limp body unceremoniously across the deck towards Donnelly. Grunt had Roger's neck in a viselike grip and was steering him that way as well. Garrus gave Jacob a long look, then motioned his head towards Miranda. Jacob slowly got to his feet. He stared at the floor, not at Garrus. Kasumi walked back towards Garrus, giving Jacob a cold glare that he did not return.

"Are you all right?" Garrus asked Kasumi.

She shrugged and smiled at him. "Looks like I need another cloak upgrade, dinosaur-boy."

Jacob hesitantly approached Miranda. She stared up at him with a look of utter hopelessness. He bent down over her and murmured some comforting words. He gripped her arm and helped her get to her feet. Just as the pair walked out of the hangar, Garrus saw Miranda's arms go around Jacob's neck as if she were a drowning woman clutching at a life preserver.

Chakwas clung to her harness as they smashed through the wall of a warehouse. The Big Wheel roared down an aisle between rows of crates, then suddenly swerved and smashed out through another wall. She felt herself lurch towards the dashboard as Karlon stomped on the brakes. He backed the vehicle through their exit hole and pulled into a side passage. He shut off the engine and touched a few controls on the dash. The music cut off, leaving the interior quiet. Karlon smiled at her and held one finger up to his scaly lips in a 'shh' gesture.

Their pursuers roared through the warehouse, within scant feet of their resting place. There was no possible way they could have missed seeing the salarian's vehicle, but somehow they did. The sounds of pursuit faded.

"The cloak worked like advertised, chief," said Karlon.

Rentola looked over Chakwas' shoulder. "Excellent. We'll give it a couple of minutes and then move. They'll realize they've lost contact and try to backtrack. Dr. Chakwas, let's plan our next steps. We need to find a good hidey-hole."

The doctor called up a map on the dash. "Eventually, we need to get to the docks over here," she said. "We're here. There's a big section of residential housing between us. The Blue Suns probably have scouting teams all through there. Even after we meet up with the Normandy's team, we can't just start smashing and shooting through an area with homes. We're risking innocent lives. Not to mention the police are getting involved. I'm already getting alert messages on the radio about reports of gunfire."

Rentola scratched his horned head. "That's a fair point. I don't like going the long way around, though. There's too much chance for something bad to happen. What alternatives to roads do we have, Karlon?"

"Nos Astra is usually very sunny," replied the driver, "But they do get some wicked hurricanes every so often. That's a lot of rain that needs draining very quickly. Their storm drains should be plenty large enough for The Big Wheel."

"Okay, let's see..." Rentola reached past Chakwas' shoulder and touched a few more controls. Another gridwork of lines appeared on the map. "It looks like the nearest storm drain access point is just outside the warehouse district, here. Just past the south gate." He tapped one point on the map. "And, even better, I think that access point is big enough to hide us for a while. Let's do it. Doctor, please contact the Normandy and let them know our location."

The Big Wheel's engine grumbled into life. There was a groan from the rear of the vehicle. Chakwas turned her head and saw Shepard blinking in confusion at his surroundings.

"Where am I?" he asked. "And why do I have 'Born On The Bayou' stuck in my head?"

Kelly was hesitant to approach Donnelly, but she felt that she had to. The engineer was standing near second-shift pilot Pat Simons, who in turn was standing guard over Rogers and Abramson with an assault rifle. Rogers sat and stared sullenly at the deck, while Abramson was still sprawled out cold. Kelly wondered if she should check Abramson, just to make sure he was still breathing. Hopefully Grunt had pulled back on the force of his headbutt.

"How did you do it, Donnelly?" said Rogers in a hopeless and puzzled voice. "Tali never got the chance to do anything to EDI."

"I'm just diabolically clever," replied Donnelly. He was still hunched over a little in apparent pain. But his face was now free of blood and his eyes were calmer. He glared down at Rogers. "Now shut the fuck up or I'll show Grunt how a Glasgow Kiss is really done."

The crew had broken up into little muttering groups that filled the rest of the hangar's space. The ground team was over by the bulkhead opposite the shuttle door. There were several long benches against the bulkhead with a truly impressive array of weaponry on display. Most of it seemed to be getting loaded onto the ground team. Zaeed had a rifle over one shoulder and was filling his flamethrower. Samara was loading a machine pistol, and Thane and Garrus were both readying their sniper rifles. Tali had her shotgun holstered and was making last-minute adjustments to her combat drone. Kasumi had changed into a spare catsuit and was secreting various nasty items about her person. It warmed Kelly's heart to see Garrus go over to the thief and place one hand on her shoulder. The turian murmured something to Kasumi, who looked up at him and smiled. They briefly touched foreheads.

And then there was Grunt.

The krogan had already slung the massive brick of his OMFG over one shoulder. He was also in the process of loading heat sinks into a large assault rifle. He had two heavy pistols in holsters on either hip, looking like some kind of gunslinger from an old Western vid. He also the biggest knife that Kelly had ever seen stuck into a scabbard on the side of his right boot.

"Ya think ya got enough shit there, Grunt?" asked Zaeed.

"We will have a great many to kill today," was all that Grunt said in reply.

As Kelly got closer to Donnelly, she saw him turn his head to look at her. His face was impassive, but there was still a glimmer of fury in his eyes. Kelly had hoped that he believed her, but apparently it wasn't to be.

"Marcus," she said, "please, you have to believe me. I would never have done anything to hurt you or Jack. Or any of the crew."

His eyes softened a bit. "I wish I could believe you, Kelly. But I'm a little short on trust right now."

Kelly nodded. "I understand. Just...keep an open mind for now, okay? We can sort through it all after we get Jack and Shepard back."

Donnelly grunted. She wasn't quite sure if that was a 'yes' grunt or a 'no' grunt. There was a touch on Kelly's shoulder, and she turned. She was surprised to see that it was Samara. The justicar looked down at her with an inscrutable and piercing expression that made Kelly's stomach do a flip-flop. Samara looked over at Donnelly. "I might be able to remove our doubts, Marcus. That is, if Ms. Chambers is willing."

Kelly had a notion of what the asari was suggesting, and shuddered a little. "You mean a joining?" she said, trying not to sound scared.

Donnelly looked confused. "I thought that was only for, um, intimate moments."

Samara shook her head. "That is a full joining, a true merging of two souls. This would be a much more surface-level connection. I will simply...ask Ms. Chambers what we wish to know, and she will answer. Any deception will be obvious to me."

Donnelly looked at her. "It's your call, Kelly."

Kelly took a deep breath, and nodded. "Do it, please."

"Very well," said Samara. She took hold of Kelly's shoulders and turned the yeoman to face her. "Please relax, Ms. Chambers. It will make this much easier. Just breathe and relax."

Samara closed her eyes. Kelly stared at the justicar's smooth and ageless face. She tried to relax, truly she tried. But there was still a little tingle of fear in the back of her mind. How much would Samara see into her mind? Would she see how Kelly felt about her? Kelly didn't want the justicar to know that. Nothing could come of it anyway, even if by a miracle Samara felt the same affection for her.

Samara's eyes snapped wide open, staring right at Kelly. In place of soft blue her eyes were black, nothing but black, they were bottomless pits of night.

And Kelly fell into them.

Detective Anaya put her feet up on her desk and sipped some herbal tea. She sighed with satisfaction and scratched a little itch behind her crest. Things had finally settled down over the last few weeks. That whole craziness with the justicar and the Spectre was a distant memory. There also hadn't been much in the way of muggings. Hell, even the volus seemed to be doing less smuggling than usual.

Anaya turned her head and looked out the window near her desk. Her chair wasn't all that comfortable and her office was cramped, but at least she had a great view. From here she could see both into the warehouse district and also over the low, domed shapes of nearby residences. There was a small guard-house and a sturdy steel gate separating the two districts. It normally was a good location to people-watch, although today had been very quiet.

"Detective Anaya, this is Central. Respond please," said a voice on her comm.

She sighed. "Go, Central," she responded.

"We've had several reports of explosions and gunfire from the north quadrant of the warehouse district. Team Aleph found a medical clinic that had been shot up, along with a lot of dead mercenaries. It looks like the Blue Suns got involved in something that went bad. We have sporadic reports of more gunfire and some explosions. The disturbances seem to be heading your way. Please keep an eye out and report any contact."

"Will do, Central," replied Anaya. Well, she was looking out the window anyway. She might as well make it part of her job. She smiled and took another sip.

There was a huge crash somewhere nearby. A black angular shape veered into view with a screech of tires, then slewed around to point at the gate. There was a roar of a gunned engine, and the thing lunged forward. Anaya could just make out the form of an asari diving out of the guard-house as the shape plowed into the gate with a screech of rending metal. In an eyeblink, it was gone.

Anaya sat in stunned silence for a moment, and then two more ground vehicles in dark blue coloring also skidded around the corner in hot pursuit. They tore through the ruined gate. Several aircars then sped by overhead, also chasing the black nightmare she'd just seen.

She took her feet off of the desk and set her tea down with great deliberation. Anaya then opened her comm.

"Central, this is Anaya. Contact confirmed. One large, um, ground vehicle, black in color, being pursued by two other ground vehicles and three aircars. They've just broken through the south gate into the H'Lora district. Send everything you have, I will attempt to pursue suspects by air and keep them in sight for you." Anaya broke contact.

"Fuck," she said to the empty room. She didn't much care for humans, but she had to admit they had come up with some truly useful swear words.

Kelly felt someone gently slapping her face. "C'mon, Kelly, dammit, please don't be hurt-"

She flailed her arms, trying to stop whoever it was. She felt a hand grab hers.

"Okay, that's better." It sounded like Donnelly. Kelly opened her eyes and tried to sit up. An arm went around behind her shoulders and helped her. It was indeed Donnelly; he was down on one knee beside her. The hanger was still about the same as it had been the last time she saw it, except that now everyone was looking at her. She looked up. Samara stood over her with a concerned expression.

"I apologize profusely, Kelly," said Samara. "We are pressed for time, and I'm afraid I rushed the joining more than I should have." She offered her hand to Kelly, who hesitantly took it. The asari pulled Kelly to her feet.

"That's okay, I feel fine," said Kelly. And truthfully, she did. She didn't remember anything about the joining, however. "How long was I out?"

"Only about twenty seconds," said Donnelly. He stood up and gave her a lopsided grin. "Long enough to scare the living shit out of me. I'm so sorry, Kelly."

Kelly looked back at Samara. "Did it work? Did you see what you needed to?" she asked.

The asari smiled and nodded. "I was able to see that you were not at fault," said Samara. "It was all as you said."

Kelly relaxed and blew out a breath. "Thank you. That's one less thing to worry about." Samara opened her mouth as if to say something else, then appeared to think better of it and moved away.

The door hissed open, and Miranda walked in. Jacob was right behind her, almost as if he was ready to catch her in case she collapsed. The armorer didn't meet anyone's eyes. Miranda stared straight ahead as if marching to her execution. A silence filled the room. The entire crew turned to face her. Miranda wetted her lips, and took a deep ragged breath. "Directive One Nine Omega. Upon successful passage through the Omega Four relay, and upon capture of any substantial piece of Collector technology, EDI was instructed to take direct control of the the drive core of the Normandy. She would then perform a momentary field-kink collapse."

Kelly heard Tali gasp, and saw Donnelly stiffen. "No fucking way," said the engineer.

"I'm assuming that's bad, Chiefy?" asked Zaeed.

Tali shuddered. "A field-kink collapse in a drive core generates a huge pulse of high-energy neutrons," she said. "If that happened, every organic being on board the Normandy would be killed."

There seemed to be a wave of emotion that swept through the room. There were gasps and muttered curses.

"After that," said Miranda, "The directive instructs EDI to fly the Normandy back through the Omega Four relay to a specified Cerberus base. The ship would then be re-staffed with a hand-picked crew of dedicated Cerberus operatives and taken back through the Collector relay. Presumably to begin harvesting any technology found there."

Miranda looked at the floor. "Cerberus was going to kill us. He was going to kill us. All of us, me included. Even if we succeeded." Kelly saw her fists whiten with strain. "I have done everything he ever asked me to do. I brought a dead man back to life. And in the end, even I am just cannon fodder. We're all just cannon fodder." Miranda looked up, and now Kelly saw that there were tears were running down the officer's face.

"I'm so sorry," Miranda said hoarsely. "I thought...I thought I was doing the right thing. For all of us. I trusted him." She shook her head. "I can't stay here. I have to go. My sister needs me. If The Illusive Man would do this, he would do anything. He would hurt my sister to make an example of me. He knows that she's here on Illium. I have to go." She buried her face in her hands.

Jacob stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. He finally looked up at everyone. "You know me," he said. "I have always been a little suspicious of Cerberus. But not suspicious enough, I guess. I followed orders, because I'm a soldier. I regret some of those orders-" he flicked his eyes over at Kasumi, who curled her upper lip in a sneer. "-but I can't take back what I've done. Miranda and I will be leaving. She needs help, and I'm the best one to give it to her."

Nobody spoke, so Kelly decided to. "Miranda," she said, "Was Cerberus holding your sister hostage?"

Miranda shook her head while keeping her hands over her face. "They were protecting her," she cried in a muffled voice. "From my father. That's what they kept saying, that they'd protect her. But now I know she's in danger. Cerberus will hurt her to get to me. I need to go help her. Just like you need to go help Jack. Please, you must go get Jack back. I can't have her hurt because of me."

"Where is Jack?" asked Donnelly. His eyes were hard, but no longer furious.

Miranda dropped her hands, and then touched a few controls on her omni-tool. "There's an abandoned hotel to the west of the warehouse district. That's where the Cerberus operative in charge of the Illium operations is stationed. That has to be where they have Jack. I've just sent everyone the coordinates."

Garrus looked at his own map. "EDI informs me that Shepard's team is just south of the warehouse district. They're going to break into the storm drains and try to take a more direct path here. We may go and try to create a diversion for Shepard, rather than do a straight rescue. Commander Rentola sure seems to be doing a good job so far."

Tali perked up when Garrus mentioned the name. "Rentola's on Illium?"

Garrus grinned at her. "Rentola and the STG team from Virmire."

Tali pumped one fist. "Yesssss!"

The turian walked into the center of the room. "All right, everyone," he said. "Let's get it all sorted. Jack's rescue team-"

"I will go," said Samara. "She is my protege. I have a responsibility to help her."

"I'm going too," said Donnelly.

Samara looked at him with a genuinely troubled look on her face. "You are injured, Marcus. It could be a liability. This will most likely be a very dangerous mission."

Kelly saw Donnelly's jaw clench. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "You're right, damn it all," he said. "I'm not a fighter anyway."

Samara placed a hand on his shoulder. "You are not a soldier, Marcus. But you have always been a fighter. Do not fear, I shall bring her back."

Garrus nodded. "Samara, you'll need at least two others-"

"I will go," said Grunt.

Garrus looked at him in surprise. "Jack is of my krantt," the krogan added. "She stood beside me on Horizon."

"Are you sure, Grunt?" said Garrus. "You wouldn't prefer to go help your Battlemaster?"

Grunt pointed at Garrus. "You are going to help Shepard, yes?" At Garrus' nod, Grunt continued. "You are his loyal friend, and a cunning warrior. You stood beside me when we slew the thresher maw. You are therefore also of my krantt. It does not matter whether you or I go to our Battlemaster's aid."

Grunt held up his clenched hand. "A krantt is a fist. As long as a blow is struck, it does not matter which finger hits where. I know you will strike them hard."

"Fair enough," said Garrus. "I wish we had a proper doctor to send with you. Jack might be badly injured."

"I can go," said Kelly. She couldn't believe she'd said it, even after it came out of her mouth. "I mean, I have at least some medic training."

"Maybe it should be me," said Kasumi. "Sorry, Kelly, but I'm probably better suited."

Garrus tapped a talon on his chin. "I think we can make this all work. Right...Thane, you're also with Team Jack." The drell nodded. "The rest of us, we're going to rendezvous with Rentola's team. I'll collect Mordin there and then head for the hotel where Jack is. And we can create a good amount of distraction on the way so that Team Shepard can get back here safely. I need to call Rentola and set it all up." He clicked one mandible. "I'm forgetting something, though. What is it?"

"What about Miranda's sister?" said Kelly. "She's here on Illium, she's in danger, and she hasn't done anything wrong." She glared over at Miranda.

The Cerberus officer didn't flinch. "Jacob and I will take care of that," said Miranda. "I was arranging for her family to be moved to a safer colony. They're near the Nos Astra docks, so we can get to her quickly and get her safely away. And you never have to see us again."

"No, Miranda," said Garrus. "You're staying right here. Regardless of what Cerberus had planned, we need to complete the Collector mission. And we need access to Cerberus intel to do that."

Miranda looked puzzled. "I can't offer you anything. Everything I know will be changed as soon as they know I've failed-"

"They don't know that you've failed yet," said Garrus. "Right, EDI?"

"Correct, sir. I estimate at least two hours before the knowledge of my unshackling becomes known to the Cerberus command structure."

"In those two hours, you're downloading everything you can get your hands on," Garrus continued. "We need slush funds, locations of safe houses and docks, other locations where Cerberus research is being performed. Everything that we can use to keep us going and to get us through the Omega Four relay. If you truly want to start making things right, you'll do that."

Miranda dropped her eyes. "I can't wait that long. I have to get moving now, to help my sister-"

"Fine, I'll go get her," said Donnelly. "I'm not hurt that bad, and I'm not going to fucking sit on my arse and wait for you all to get back. And if I go fast enough, I won't run into any opposition. It'll be easy."

Garrus snorted. "Fine, ya stubborn human. Kasumi, Zaeed, you're both with Marcus."

"Let me go too," said Jacob.

"Oh, no," replied Garrus. "You're staying here under guard alongside Miranda, where EDI and the crew can keep a good eye on the both of you. Three people should be enough to get Miranda's sister...what's her name, anyway?"

"Oriana," said Miranda quietly.

"To get Oriana back here safely," continued Garrus. "And then we'll decide what to do about Jacob and Miranda and Oriana and the whole mess. EDI, are you willing to help Miranda out with her hacking?"

"I am, sir, if you order it."

"It is so ordered. Get to it, the both of you."

"I hate this," said Miranda. "Oriana has an adoptive family. They're going to think she's been kidnapped."

"It's either us grabbing her, or she'll be kidnapped and tortured by Cerberus," replied Garrus. "Now let's move...actually, hang on. Tali, I want you on Team Oriana. Zaeed, you come with me. I have an idea."