* * * Chapter 63 * * *
Presrop, Grenade
As the team were led through the main pressure vessel, Shepard thought it felt like every one of the station's occupants was staring at him. Was it something Kaidan said or did? He noticed tables and benches near several free-standing food printers of various makes. The equipment that his ARO was tagging and identifying suggested the collection had been scrounged or refurbished. This lot would make the quarians proud, he smiled to himself. Either way, I suppose I'd feel threatened if someone in a CEVA suit marched a whole strike team through my lunch room.
Tali's VI cluster was using her suit sensors to actively ping the area for weapons, and logging them for future reference. With a single command, she could effectively disarm the whole place, even wreaking havoc with the biotic amps by using a network-vectored attack. Her enthusiastic VI opened its own tile on her HUD and began to offer suggestions about known vulnerabilities with Elkoss Combine's off-the-shelf habitat (such as how to cut the lighting and the emergency lighting systems at once, or activate the AFEWS fire suppression system.)
"Everyone looks at us like we're freaks just because we have biotics." The accusation had come from Shepard's left; his ARO tagged the woman who had made it.
"I don't." Shepard put on an expression that was as reassuring as he could manage, tried to make eye contact with as many of the gawking biotics as he could. The inset display of Kaidan's POV still showed Kyle in the same room, but looking distracted or confused; it was hard to tell because he couldn't stay focused on the man's image.
Just before they reached the far door, one of them said, "Father Kyle says other humans are scared of us because they know we're better than them."
Shepard suppressed any visual reaction to this claim as he stepped through the pressure door, down a short passage, through another pressure door (already open,) and then to the right; Kaidan was immediately visible. Shepard banished the inset view of Kaidan's camera with a subvocalized command.
Kyle looked up immediately, spoke while Shepard was still in the accessway, "I know you: The Butcher of Torfan. Why have you come here?"
"'Butcher of Torfan?' That's a new one." Shepard looked pained. "You and I…we barely got out of there alive, Major." Shepard stepped past Kaidan and clasped his hands in front of himself cordially. "It's good to see you again; I hope retirement is treating you well. It looks like you've managed to establish a civilian station with some potential. Congratulations."
Kyle frowned as he looked down, then up again. "Shepard. We have no quarrel with you. Why can't you just leave us alone?"
Shepard paused to take a breath, read some of the MDP from his ARO. "Admiral Hackett asked me to follow up on a previous visit. What happened to those other Alliance officials? Dorvan and Hollister?" Kyle looked down and away, trying to find the right words, or even a memory of the event that suited. Shepard added, "The ones who came before me?"
Kyle didn't even try to lie, though he looked as though he had a mouthful of lemon juice, "They wanted to take me away from here! They wanted me to abandon this place. Turn my back on my family. They spoke…blasphemy!"
"'Blasphemy?' Major, have you been trying to claim Terminus jurisdiction so you can use that kind of quasi-legal cover? It hasn't existed for a century, even on Earth."
Kyle wasn't looking at him; he was shaking his head as he seemed to search the floor for an answer. "I am Major Kyle. Or I was. I did what I could to make their end quick and painless. I had no other choice. It was necessary to protect my children. Only I can keep them safe."
Hearing what sounded like dissociative disorder, Shepard considered that Kyle might be having a nervous breakdown; could he connect using Kyle's mode of thinking? "Children grow up, sir; you can't always protect them. Why don't you come with me for a while, let them try out their wings? Maybe you can check on them later."
Kyle frowned deeply, looking like he was about to cry.
The Haliat grenade fabber, as carried by trained soldiers, was barely larger than the grenades themselves, and designed to fit on a belt, on the user's favoured side. Once a grenade had completed fabrication, the soldier-user would snap a protective cover aside, exposing the trigger for the grenade on its "down" edge. The design allowed the grenade to be activated as it was lifted straight up and out of the fabber/dispenser so it could be deployed immediately, held in hand until needed, or even – with the user's finger still holding it – disarmed by simply squeezing the grenade again. (The cover would have snapped back into place by itself, and the next grenade would begin fabrication.)
But grenades were rarely fabricated, pulled from the fabber and left unused; Kyle had recovered his from its already-dead user, not noticing that the turian in question was not wearing a fabber at all because the grenade was specialised, task-specific ordnance. Worse, turians are less prone to the anxious manipulation that Kyle was currently exhibiting: In response to the tension and unexpected events, Kyle had been nervously fidgeting with the grenade.
The sharp hearing of Wrex and Garrus noticed the distinctive "chwirk."
Garrus barked, "Grenade armed!"
Wrex had already produced his shotgun and directed it at Kyle, then shook his head and laughed sourly as he put it away again. "Silly human. That's a turian grenade. It might tickle me, but it'll turn you into varren meat."
Garrus knew that sound better; knew it wasn't just a standard turian grenade, it was an E-61, with a yield around 10 kilos of trinitrotoluene; it would devastate most of the underground structure. Even if they'd had their helmets on, the team was about be killed or seriously wounded, including the krogan.
Shepard's ARO tagged Kyle's pocket and displayed these facts.
Vakarian, Garrus (Detective, CSEC, off-duty): That's a Big Two grenade, it could kill us all. At a minimum, we need to clear the civvies out of here.
In fact, Kyle was and remained unaware of this particular grenade's capabilities. Thinking it a conventional fabricated grenade, he had planned to suicide-charge Shepard. With the button depressed, the grenade was now enabled; releasing it would start the five-second timer. (Normally, the button was held until the grenade was thrown.)
But with the grenade snugly in Kyle's b-suit pocket, it would be challenging for him to dig into the pocket to get it out, locate the trigger, and disarm it within five seconds; he would have to count on being able press the edge-flush button again with his hand outside the pocket. If it even slipped out of his grip, the countdown would start, and there would be no notifier sound it had done so.
Even if it had been a conventional grenade, this was a serious problem. He looked down at the grenade and began to realise – in his hurry and carelessness – exactly what he had done.
Kaidan considered that he might have time to put Shepard in Stasis, but probably could not also generate a barrier for himself. But Shepard was almost within arm's reach of Kyle, whose hand was still on his pocket, holding the trigger in place.
Shepard stood his ground. "Major, can't you see this has gotten out of hand? Don't you understand you're endangering your followers?"
Kyle looked from Shepard to Kaidan to the hulking mass of Wrex, took a sudden breath, seemed to reconsider; he couldn't afford to move very much or very far without possibly losing his grip on the grenade trigger through the slick b-suit material. "I respect that you have come under a banner of peace. But I cannot do as you ask. If you take away their father, my children will be helpless." Kyle's voice was pitching up; it sounded like he was losing control.
"Major, if you can't release those two officials to me, the Alliance has sent me to bring you in. They want justice for those two lives, just like you would if one of your people was hurt or killed. If you ordered your followers to kill thos–"
Kyle leaned forward as he interrupted, "I did not; I told you. I ended them as quickly as possible. My children are innocent of any wrongdoing. Innocent!"
Shepard realised he had a powder keg here; if he didn't de-escalate, people were going to get hurt. He kept his eyes on Kyle as he ordered, "Okay, I want all civilians out of this room. Ash, Garrus, get them to the main pressure and secure the doors as you go."
One of the biotics was impulsive and adamant; he took three steps and stopped behind Kyle, glaring at Shepard over Kyle's right shoulder, "I'm not leaving Father Kyle! He helped us, and now we're going to help him!"
Another biotic joined the first, adding, "We're with you, Father Kyle!" She linked arms with the first. The other three biotic humans looked at each other and then also moved closer, two more standing behind the others, and one keeping some distance, her eyes never leaving Shepard.
"Major, please instruct your people to exit the room," Shepard pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "At least until we disarm the grenade."
Kyle looked almost beyond his limits. "Uh…"
"He wants us to stay!" Behind Kyle, the second biotic clapped a hand onto Kyle's shoulder, her barrier flaring to life. "It is you who should go!"
Shepard understood these people were looking to Kyle for leadership; his voice grew louder and grimmer with urgency: "Major, these people are in danger, you need to protect them. Please tell them they need to get to safety."
With biotics at his back, Kyle grew briefly more confident, challenged Shepard, "Why would I tell them to go? You wouldn't dare kill innocents…not with witnesses!"
Shepard loosed his hands and clasped them again behind his back. "Major, if that grenade goes off, you will have killed more innocents, the very 'children' you are trying to protect."
Kyle looked down at his pants pocket, at the trigger he was still holding, then back up at Shepard, "What do you mean more innocents? You killed – you butchered – a hundred prisoners of war at Torfan!"
"Major, you just confessed to killing two Alliance officers. I destroyed a heavy cruiser and her crew by sabotaging its drive core…"
"Those were combatants; you had accepted the surrender of base personnel and then locked them in cages before murdering each of them! Deny that!"
Shepard felt the rage he had for batarians starting to boil; he shook his head to clear it, to stay focused on the present. "Major, by operating from that base, those batarians had been attacking human colonies for years. Every batarian on that base was a soldier guilty of perpetrating or supporting unprovoked mass attacks against human colonies and citizens, even if they didn't have a weapon in hand at the time I was there.
"Those they didn't kill, they took as slaves. Those people – hundreds, possibly thousands of them – may live in slavery even today, and we have no way to help them short of starting an all-out interstellar war that will kill millions, or even billions, on both sides. The only thing we can do, the only thing we could do, is stop them doing it again."
"That was no reason to kill surrendered prisoners! There IS no reason to kill surrendered prisoners!"
"Those batarians, the very ones on that base, were splitting up families, treating them as cattle, mutilating them, violating the Council's Volition Accords, and almost every Alliance law on the subject. Is there a reason to kill or enslave human colonists? Civilians, every one of them; the very people you and I are charged with defending."
Kyle made a sideways-slashing movement with his hand, "Not important; not even relevant! You broke the law! You broke Alliance regs and Council laws! You're a war criminal given a free pass!"
"The batarians were going to keep killing and kidnapping as long as they could get away with it. In order to be protected by our laws, they have to respect…our laws and the people of the Systems Alliance. Nobody gets to pick and choose which laws apply."
"You did! And you will again, now that you're a Spectre!"
Shepard gave an exhausted sigh. "Major, 'whataboutism' is not a valid argument. Anything I did eight years ago has no bearing on what you did in the past week. Admiral Hackett has asked me to prevent it from happening again."
"Blasphemers...!"
Shepard ignored Kyle's attempt at a rebuttal. "I am here at the Admiral's request, but I'm acting on my authority as a Council Spectre. Do you know what that means?"
Kyle looked at Shepard with a mix of anger and hysteria, "You bring death!"
"Wait." Shepard held his right hand up, palm toward Kyle. "Now don't be afraid. I'm going to draw my weapon." He slowly lowered his hand toward the HMWP-VII Spectre pistol, which decompacted as he did, so that it was ready before he had it in hand. With a tiny, metallic "chlik," the hardpoint released the weapon to his hand. Holding it by its LINAC body, he lifted it so everyone before him could see it. "The safety is still on. True, I carry death; so do you."
He nodded toward the biotics, "And so do they. If all I had to do was blast this station to keep you from hurting someone else, I could have done that at a megameter's range. But we didn't. That's restraint, and we've all been showing it, and nobody's been hurt."
He replaced the pistol on its hardpoint, slowly held his hands out in a gesture of offering. He spoke in as calming a manner as he could, "When we arrived, we landed far enough away you could see us coming. We stopped in front of your main structure and sat there to let you get a look at us. We told you we wanted to come in, and we didn't force entry. If things go well, when we leave, everyone here will just go back to whatever they were doing. There's been no gunfire, no biotic power-plays, we're all…just…talking."
"You're trying to hypnotise Father Kyle, take away his free will! And I won't let you!" One of the biotics – Sath – raised his hand in an attempt to Lift Ash, but her advanced armour was largely fortified against this. Still, it unbalanced her enough that she stumbled forward, a purple-while glow fading quickly.
Shepard raised his right hand as a fist, signalling Stop. "Team, hold!"
The groups regarded each other for a few seconds before Shepard continued, "Major, you cannot pretend you did not do something to those two officials, or you would be able to release them to…"
Sath didn't understand why Father Kyle didn't ask for help; everyone there would give their lives for him. When he saw Shepard stop his team from retaliating and Father Kyle said nothing, Sath felt encouraged to try again.
Because the human female soldier had been close, and her combat suit was intimidating, Sath had lashed out at her without much preparation. He realised he might need to get leverage on a less protected target. Though the entire team appeared to be well-armoured, the quarian was smallest, and probably least protected against a Lift.
More focused this time, he raised his hand again, "We will stop you!"
Tali's arms whipped out to either side as she rose off the deck. "Aie!" As she rose, she began to tumble back and to one side, still flailing for something to hold.
Garrus stepped closer cautiously, not wanting to enter the field, extended a claw toward the quarian. Tali grasped it with one hand of her own, knowing that when the effect ended, she would be able to control her landing.
Wrex reached behind his back and took the shotgun's grip in hand, but did not pull the weapon. The rest of the team – to their credit – continued to hold their positions.
"My children have done you no injury, you won't attack them!" Kyle realised he was limited in his ability to act because he had to stay focused on holding the grenade trigger in place, and worse, Sath had put the lie to any claim of innocence.
Tali, still holding Garrus' left claw in her right hand as she floated on the Lift field, "Who do you think you're kidding?"
"Major, I have at my command the resources to glass any square kilometre of this place with a word. Do you imagine that I have to wait until I'm attacked before I can act?"
Kyle frowned, "No! You cannot! You will not!"
Shepard inhaled slowly, "Then let me put it in terms you might more readily grasp. I dare not kill you." He carefully drew his pistol and pulled it to his shoulder, aimed upward. "Because then you won't be holding the grenade trigger, and we'll all be blown to bits." Kyle and Shepard stared each other down; Kyle bared his teeth, preparing to take the bullet for his "children."
Shepard continued, "But maybe I could convince you to stand down with a bit of magic. I once saw an illusionist boil an egg and turn it into a bonsai panda." Shepard's frown was subtle as he shifted his aim slightly up and to the right; this was a bluff he could not afford to have called. "Want to see me turn a biotic into a vegetable?"
As the weapon's supercapacitor whine ascended past 20kHz and out of hearing, the girl's eyes grew wide; even to her, it looked like the weapon was trained on a very specific part of her brain. Inhaling loudly, she looked to Kyle by only moving her eyes. "Father Kyle?"
Shepard knew the safety was still on, and his finger in "soft safe." He was actually aiming just over and to the right of the Asian girl's head, but Kyle's perspective would make these nuances invisible to him.
Shepard then consciously blinked, encouraging Kyle to do so both physically and metaphorically. "The only thing you have to do…to make me go away…to protect your children…is leave with me now."
Kyle knew Shepard was a psychopath, who had somehow convinced these aliens to help him. He had no way to end him, and no way to negotiate; if he tried, someone else – his children! – would pay the price.
Shepard turned his head, looked at the cluster of biotics, then back at Kyle. "Do you really want your children to pay for your sins, too?" He blinked again.
From anyone else, Kyle would have been more inclined to dismiss this as a bluff. But from Shepard, it had now been made much more real and personal. Seeing Shepard's pistol aimed at one of his children had made it clear that the stakes were too high.
"Wait…no!" Kyle, incapable of more, simply took the gamble; he released the grenade's trigger, then squeezed it again, holding it through the plasticky material of his b-suit until it chirped. "You win!"
Shepard's pistol was instantly at his shoulder, directed upward.
"Grenade safe," Garrus said.
"Clear the room," Shepard barked.
"Get them out," Kyle turned quickly to Mo and the other biotics that had gathered around him. "Mo, get them out, quickly! I must do this alone."
I must do this alone. All the biotics knew Father Kyle had said it before, and had achieved the seemingly impossible. Looking tensely at each other and their leader, they allowed themselves to he herded out.
The two biotics who had stood directly behind Kyle hesitated; Mo took a step toward the door, then turned, waved his hand toward himself. "Sath, Nguyen; c'mon, we're getting out of here."
Ash breathed a sigh of relief, looking quickly at the civilians as they passed, and then briefly at Liara and Tali. They were aliens, but she was still relieved that no one had been hurt.
"You heard him; let's go." Mo hustled the four civilians toward the door with a repeated circular wave of his hand, "Father Kyle will make it right, and we have to trust him. Let's go, come on." He cast a furtive glance through the door just before it closed.
"You're doing the right thing, Major." With his weapon secured, Shepard relaxed, nodded approvingly. "Your 'children' will be better off for it. Now if you'll come along…"
"No! If my children see you taking me away, they won't understand. They will attack and you'll be forced to kill them all."
Wrex shifted from one foot to the other. "'Bout time."
"You've seen how they behave," Kyle continued. "You have shown me the error of my ways, Commander. Now you must give me time to explain it to them. It is the only way they will understand."
Shepard waited silently; it was one of his favourite negotiating tactics.
"If they see me leave with you, they'll think it was forced, and they will try to stop you. But if you leave, and I can reassure them, they will have time to settle down, then I can leave and everyone will be safe."
Shepard continued to wait, as though considering the request.
Kyle sounded strained, "Please, give me some time. Just…just one hour. After that, I will meet the Alliance authorities at the door to Shrine One and surrender without violence." He stopped, took a quick breath as though deciding something, "I give you my word."
Shepard looked at the spot where the biotics had been standing just a few seconds earlier. "Major, I'm going to trust you. If you betray that trust, you and your 'children' will suffer."
"I will not betray you, Commander. Thank you for this. Thank you…on behalf of my children."
# # #
As Shepard led the way back to the airlock foyer, the outpost members who had not been in Kyle's office/quarters during the exchange looked at the Normandy team curiously, but said nothing.
The small cluster of biotics had not broken up yet; some followed them through the main pressure toward the foyer, but kept their distance.
Mouth open, Mo shook his head in bafflement toward Kaidan, "That's it? You're just…leaving?"
"We can't stay," Kaidan shrugged. He grabbed a holotoken from his omnitool and stuck it on the side of a planter that was shaped like a cube. "But here's my CallMe; we still have a lot to talk about, right?"
"That's my plant!" One of the biotics pointed from across the room, "He put it on my plant!"
"Will do." Mo walked toward the planter, gave Kaidan a thumbs-up.
Shepard turned to address the biotic civilians collectively, "It was as simple as that: We spoke with Maj…uh…Father Kyle, and got what we needed from him. So we're leaving now. I apologise for any disruption we may have caused. Thank you for your time."
Without waiting for a reply, he turned and strode toward the passage leading to the airlock foyer, "All right...great work, team. On exit, I want Wrex, Ash, Garrus with me. Kaidan, Tali, Liara: Use the inner airlock and depress in parallel, you should be able to follow us out as soon as the outer airlock clears." Tapping the control on his forearm that deployed and sealed his helmet, he followed Wrex and Ash through the inner airlock.
Kaidan waved one last time at Mo.
Garrus was pulling the hatch closed behind them as Shepard brushed the side of his helmet with two fingers. "Normandy, Shepard. Two items: One, objective obtained, RTB. Notify and coordinate Flight and Air Boss.
"Item Two, contact Admiral Hackett's Office, Priority Three." He waited for a couple of seconds as the inner door sealed with a pneumatic hiss. "Message as follows: I need an official with armed escort at these coordinates to pick up Major Kyle inside of an hour. Inform me immediately of receipt and reply. Over."
Gladstone's voice answered, "Normandy here; Roger. Wilco. Stand by."
If Hackett can't make that happen, we'll have to wait here and handle this ourselves. But do I come back down myself, or land the ship and send out a team…maybe Pressly and Jenkins?
Shepard was oblivious to anyone else in the cramped airlock until LOSI interrupted with Ash quietly musing to herself, "Huh. Nobody died."
Wrex looked meaningfully toward Garrus, and then back at Ash. "I could shoot someone if it would make you feel better."
"Mmm…" Putting a hand to the "chin" of her helmet, Ashley appeared to consider this. "Naah, I'm good."
"Okay." Wrex seemed disappointed. He turned his head so his right eye could focus on Garrus again. "But if you change your mind…"
Ash lifted a hand in a Stop gesture, "I'll let you know."
* * * Glossary * * *
ARO: Augmented Reality Overlay
Big Two grenade: successor to the Big One - a specialised variant of turian grenade – with twice the output in the same physical size. The Big One had an output yield equivalent to just over five kilos of trinitrotoluene (TNT); its exotic components have limited it to being manufactured rather than field fabricated, but the varieties of turian grenade are easily confused by humans, who cannot see into the ultraviolet and read the turian markings without augmentation or assistance. Humans call the Big One "E-51," and the Big Two "E-61" grenades.
depress: depressurise, when said of airlocks
doff: remove; from "do off," or "doffen;" opposite of "don" (do on;) some readers may be familiar with the lyrics to the Christmas carol "Deck the Halls:" "Don we now our gay apparel, Fa la la la la…"
HUD: Heads-Up Display
ICU: Intensive Care Unit; at a hospital, where the most dire or tenuous cases are treated
IRL: In Real Life
MDP: Mission Data Packet
POV: Point of View
PVR: Polyphase Virtual Reality; a total-immersion VR technology with between two and five channels of data that stimulates multiple regions of the brain, allowing for a nearly complete reproduction of environments or experiences. Because it is a demanding, high-bandwidth technology, it became a measure of network capability, particularly among users who depend upon it. PVR games can be very addictive, particularly to the young.
RTB: Return to base
VRS: Virtual Reality Simulation; simulation of a process or device in VR for analytical purposes as a way of examining equipment without disassembling it.
Wilco: telecomm shorthand for "will comply"
A/N: A thousand pardons! I had finished this chapter weeks ago, and then was swept up in GPTs (how to run them from a command line, train them with external documents, what the limitations of such post-facto training were, how to train my own GPT using a 3090 GPU [it only takes a day or so!] and what the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various current models are.) Lots of really mind-blowing stuff, and I'm sure it's only going to get crazier. I hope we make it!
But because of that, I forgot to post this chapter. I had been working on the next two in parallel, so I'm thinking to post one per week to make up for my protracted silence.
