Kaidan watched carefully as Kacey used the ID number to open the door. The atmosphere continued to be tense as he, Kacey and Liara entered the Crew's Quarters. It seemed like much of their earlier optimism was gone as they entered the room. Kacey assumed that Garneau would be hiding in there, but as they entered, the door leading to the actual area was blocked off.
"Damn it." Kaidan could hear Kacey mutter under her breath, "Okay so we're not going that way."
"There was a large terminal in one of the labs." Liara mused, "Maybe that might lead us to Garneau."
"It's worth a shot." Kacey replied, "Lead the way, Liara."
As Liara led Kacey towards the terminal, Kaidan noticed how tired she was. She seemed desperate to find Garneau and looked frustrated when she saw the door was blocked off. He was curious to know what was going on, if she would ever tell him, that is. Kacey was quite the secretive person, to the surprise of many, and he knew it wasn't going to be easy to get her to talk about whatever was bothering her.
"Punch in Garneau's terminal hack." Kacey ordered, "See where it gets us."
Liara did as Kacey asked and was able to get inside the terminal. A video of a shuttle appeared as Kaidan and Kacey looked over Liara's shoulder at the video.
"Looks like a ship dropped him off last week." Liara said, "It appears he also had full access at one point before going into hiding."
The computer beeped several times, alerting the trio. Kaidan leaned in to look at the screen.
"Unknown male was involved in an altercation in the mines." Kaidan said, "He must've headed towards the mines."
"Looks like he was taken to the med bay." Kacey replied.
"YOU ARE IN THE MINERAL LAB." The computer beeped, "A LOW SECUIRTY, ALL-ACCESS AREA."
"It talks?!" Kacey jumped.
"THE MED BAY IS RESRICTED TO AUTHORISED PERSONNEL WITH ACTIVE PAITENT NUMBERS."
"Please tell me you found one." Kacey asked Liara, who was looking at her omni-tool.
"Yes, I did." Liara confirmed.
"Right. Let's get Garneau."
Kaidan followed Kacey with Liara close behind. The miners were still staring at them as they walked past, which started to annoy the biotic.
"THIS IS A RESCRICTED AREA, AN ACTIVE PAITENT FILE NUMBER IS REQUIRED."
"File-7364." Liara said.
"ACCESS GRANTED"
The door opened and Kaidan followed Kacey inside. The med-bay was empty, and unusually brightly cleaned. It was disconcerting to say the least, as the only sound in the area was the sound of their collective breathing and their feet moving through the halls. Windows that led into the rooms were dark, and Kaidan could see the silhouette of a human body through the glass.
'This is messed up.' He thought.
"Is that Garneau?" Liara asked.
"I hope not." Kacey replied.
"If you are looking for Garneau. You have found him." A voice rang out.
The trio turned to see a figure in the other window, his face covered by a veil of darkness. Kaidan could barely make out the silhouette of the man standing there, and the man's was monotone, almost like the rest of the miners.
"I am Doctor Garneau." The voice said.
"I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance." Kacey said calmly, "Are you alright?"
"Yes." He said, "Only—I'm trapped in here."
"What's going on here?" Kacey asked.
"I was doing my research, until the incident." Garneau replied.
"They attacked you." Liara mused.
"It's true. But, aside from my confinement, I'm fine."
"Bryson's research led me to you." Kacey replied.
"Bryson sent you?"
"He's dead, Doctor." Kacey replied, "Killed by his assistant."
"I see."
"I need you to tell me everything you've found on the Leviathan." Kacey said, "Bryson seemed to think it killed a Reaper."
Garneau hesitated before answering Kacey, "It's a myth. A dead end."
"In your message, you said you found an artefact." Liara said.
"I did?" Garneau replied, "No."
"Yes, Doctor, you did." Kacey replied, her hand resting on her sidearm, "But now we've got Reaper forces attacking, so I need to break you out. We'll grab the artefact and go."
Kaidan already had his hand on his pistol, as did Liara. It seemed that Kacey's trust issues were rubbing off on them. They watched as Garneau became more distressed.
"Reapers." He said, "The Darkness Must Not Be Breached."
"The darkness?" Kacey said confused.
The trio jumped as Garneau violently pounded the glass, and Kaidan was startled by the voice that left Garneau's mouth.
"Why Do You Pursue Me?" the dark, haunting, twisted voice spoke.
"Doctor?" Kacey said.
He kept banging the glass, "Leave The Artefact. You Will Not Take What Is Mine."
"That's definitely not Garneau." Kaidan said.
Kacey looked at Kaidan before turning her attention back to the man.
"You." She said, "You killed a Reaper. I need your help."
"You Bring Only Death."
Kaidan hit the ground as the glass smashed and a high-pitched whistling noise rang out. He covered his ears the best he could, and saw the man run off. Once the sound stopped, Kacey stood up and began to pursue the man to the Transit Station.
"Kacey! Wait!" He called as he ran after her.
Once Kacey had entered the other room, the power cut, trapping both Kaidan and Liara in one small room. Liara quickly approached the locked door and began to hack it open.
"I forgot Kacey could run that fast." Liara said.
"Same here." Kaidan replied, "That man must've cut the power to try and stop us."
"Whatever it is, we both know Kacey won't stop until she finds it." Liara said.
"Yeah, I know." Kaidan replied, "Wait. How'd you-?"
"Shadow Broker, remember?"
"Ah. I see."
The door flew open as the pair watched the door on the far end close and lock itself, with Kacey on the other side. Kaidan saw a ladder and began to climb it.
"Come on," he said, "They're probably heading towards the artefact. We need to get there before they do."
"It should be in the mines." Liara replied, "We better hurry if we are to beat them there."
…
The pair ended up on the roof of the building, exactly where Kaidan wanted them to be. Ideally, they would be able to run along the roof and drop down into the mines, but both of them knew it wasn't going to be that simple.
"Garneau's notes gave us a navpoint for the artefact." Kaidan said.
"According to my map," Liara said as Kaidan slid down another ladder, "there's a service door at the next tram station."
"Looks like we aren't the only ones heading that way." Kaidan said, "Husks."
Kaidan shot through the Husks while Liara used Singularity to round them up. The ear-piercing whistle noise from before was giving him a headache, and he didn't want to risk another migraine on the field. Kaidan jumped across the gap and ran across the roof. The dived onto cover as several Marauders landed and began firing at them.
"There they go!" Liara said.
Kaidan could see the man in one of the trams and Kacey in another, speeding across the line.
"Kacey? Are you there?" Kaidan tried his comms, "Commander Shepard, do you read me?"
"Kaidan? —That you?" Kacey's voice rang out, "Pursuing—will be—soon."
"Commander, you're breaking up." Kaidan said, "Signal's bad."
"Something must be messing up the comms." Liara mused.
A loud yet all the familiar ear-shattering scream ripped through the area. Kaidan saw the lumbering body of a Banshee arrive.
"Great." Kaidan said, "Just great."
"Is that what I think it is?" Liara said.
"Yes. That's a Banshee." Kaidan said, "Don't let it get close to you!"
Liara narrowly avoided the Banshee's attack as Kaidan shot at the Banshee. Liara had used Warp to remove the barrier, and Kaidan had to hope that he would be able to kill it without Kacey incendiary bullets or Garrus' good marksman skills. After what felt like forever, the Banshee disintegrated.
"There's the door!" Liara shouted,
"Come on," Kaidan replied, "Let's go before more Banshees show up."
…
Once they had arrived, Kaidan saw Kacey holding the man at gunpoint, as he sat next to the artefact.
"The Darkness Cannot Be Breached." The voice said, "Turn Back."
"Garneau! Don't!" Kacey pleaded.
The next thing Kaidan knew he was sent flying back into a wall. He could hear Liara coughing as he stood up shakily.
"Damn it." Kacey said, "Hey, are you two alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine" Kaidan said.
"I'm okay." Liara replied, "Commander, you need to look at this."
Kaidan saw Liara holding a datapad. A body was lying next to the asari's feet.
"That wasn't Garneau we were chasing." Liara explained, "This is. It looks like he's been dead for a while."
"So, Leviathan can have Bryson killed, can take over this colony and use them as puppets. Huh." Kacey sighed.
"This reminds me of Feros." Kaidan said.
"It pretty much is Feros."
"There is also encrypted data and a personal log with eight missed calls from a Doctor Ann Bryson."
"Ann Bryson?"
"Who are you? What are you doing here?
Kaidan saw a few of the miners appear from behind Kacey.
"I'm Commander Shepard." Kacey said, "Are you alright?"
"I think so." The woman said, "I feel like…I feel strange but…all right."
"Do you recognise this man?" Kacey asked.
"I've never seen him before in my life." The woman replied.
"Someone here killed him."
"Someone here?" The asari said, "How is that possible? I'm so sorry…"
"Can you tell me anything about what happened to you?" Kacey asked.
"Not really." The woman said, "I, uh, remember…it just seemed cold. I remember a feeling. Cold and dark."
"If dark was a feeling, that exactly how I felt." The man added.
"Cortez, what's your situation?" Kacey said, "Can you bring in the shuttle?"
"Affirmative." Cortez replied, "Strangest thing; couple of minutes ago, the Reaper forces broke off and left."
"Reaper…" The man said, "What's a Reaper?"
The trio looked at the miners shocked. Kaidan and Kacey glanced at each other before Kacey spoke up.
"What year do you think this is?" Kacey asked.
"2176." The asari replied.
"2176 was ten years ago." Kacey said.
"What?"
Kacey turned away from the miners, "Let's arrange for these people to be evacuated into temporary quarantine."
"That's a lot of time to lose." Kaidan mused, "These people are in for a shock."
…
"So, how did it go?" Garrus asked.
They were all standing in the War Room. Kaidan was still replaying the event in his head as Kacey tried to explain what had happened.
"So, I was right not to go then." James said, "That thing can indoctrinate people."
"However, it isn't the same as a Reaper." Kaidan said, "It's almost like a Thorian."
"Is there any possibility it could be a Reaper?" Liara mused.
"If it is, I want to know what it's up to." Kacey said, "And what these artefacts are."
"So, I assume we're going back to the Citadel?" James said.
"Yes and no." Kacey replied, "We've got to stop past Eden Prime on our way back."
"Why?" Liara asked.
"Apparently Cerberus have found an prothean artefact that they are very keen on keeping a secret." Kacey explained, "Admiral Hackett wants us to find out what they're up to."
"Sounds simple enough." Garrus said.
"Anyway. You are all dismissed." Kacey said.
…
"I was wondering where you had run off to." Kaidan said as he walked into the Captain's Cabin.
"I was doing my rounds. You know what I'm like." Kacey said, "So, I assume you want hear the next part?"
"Why do I get the feeling that I know where this is going?"
"Because you do." Kacey replied, "You were there."
Kacey sighed as she sat on her bed. Kaidan walked over and sat beside her.
"After Jack was brought aboard, I was told that the Illusive Man wanted to speak with me." Kacey said, "I didn't want to talk; I just wanted answers."
"How did he know I was there?" Kaidan asked.
"No idea." Kacey said, "Like I said, I assumed he said that to mess with me…"
A/N: Merry Christmas!
The next four chapters are going be focused on the Horizon mission, including the direct aftermath of Kaidan and Shepard's reunion.
Hope you are enjoying the story.
Please Review.