15: The Local Authorities

Kanen had dozed off at some point during the evening without realising it, and so it was with some surprise that he found himself coming to in the small, spartan room that he had been granted in the SOTIG headquarters. There was little in here other than a bed, a wardrobe and a desk, hardly the makings of a luxury hotel but it was enough for him to settle in and make himself comfortable.

He came to slumped across the bed in his environment suit, sitting up upon the sound of someone knocking loudly upon the door. The only light in here came from the blue-tinged computer display at the desk, and it was with a croaky voice he attempted to activate the rest:

'Lights.' He coughed then, feeling the heat hit as he sat up. The fever was raging now, and he supposed it served him right. Damn that woman, but it had been worth it. The lights, much to his chagrin, did not switch on. He spoke again, just as the knock on the door sounded once more: 'Lights!'

Finally, the lights in the ceiling switched on. He squinted; the glare was strangely intense through the faceplate of his helmet. Everything seemed amplified about him, every sound and every source of light, and he found himself waiting an extended moment for his eyes to adjust before the knock, ever so persistent, sounded off again.

'Come in,' he called, his voice sounding alarmingly hoarse. He coughed, spattering some of it across the inside of his faceplate. The in-built cleaning systems activated immediately, wiping away the spittle along with any regular condensation that was present.

The door, reacting to his voice command, unlocked. It slid open, and the familiar and only somewhat welcome sight of Natasha appeared in the doorway. She was in fresh clothes, specifically a navy-blue tunic that looked vaguely military but carried not emblems. SOTIG-issue, no doubt, an unmarked uniform for an off-the-books organization.

'Hey,' she said, as she stepped inside. She offered him a smile, and the door slid closed behind her. Kanen, sitting on the edge of the bed, took a deep breath as he tried to get past the stifling heat he could feel inside his suit. Already, the automated cooling systems were kicking in, trying to provide some relief. This also coincided with a fresh injection of antibiotics, and he winced slightly at the pinprick of it occurring at his upper left arm.

'You all right?' Natasha moved towards him, worry evident on her face. Kanen watched her, gave the question some thought, and then shook his head.

'I've felt better.' He met her eyes then, frowning. She could see the glow of his eyes through his helmet's faceplate, and as such the expression was not lost on her. 'You have a lot of explaining to do, Agent Vasiya.'

'What did Booker tell you?'

'Enough. That you're some kind of rogue agent and he's been looking for you. Also, that you've got a grudge against Cerberus.' Kanen allowed his frown to ease, finding that despite everything, he simply could not be angry with this woman. 'You could have told me the truth.'

'The less you knew, the better off you'd be.' She sat down next to him then, the mattress dipping some more under their combined weight. 'Besides, you might have changed your attitude if you'd found out I was with the Alliance.'

'Maybe.' Kanen would not rule it out. Cerberus was an enemy for sure, but the Alliance could not be trusted much either. Kanen had gotten by since his exile by trusting only a few individuals, with Natasha the latest to be added to that very short list. After today, however, he was inclined to strike that name from the list altogether. Again, he found that the longer he pondered this, the less likely he was to do it.

'So, are you under arrest?' Kanen asked her. 'Because they want to keep me here a while. Chances are it's safer than being out there.'

'I can't leave the premises, same as you. But I suspect they'll want us on board as "advisors" regarding what's happened.'

'And what has happened, exactly?' Kanen turned to her, and her smile fell away then.

'I stole something from a Cerberus facility,' she told him. 'A facility that was destroyed by a turian strike team. And that strike team was wiped out by batarian insurgents. At the same time, someone has put a price on my head, and likely yours as well.' She shrugged her shoulders, as if this was all just some small misunderstanding. 'Your price isn't anywhere as high as mine.'

'How disappointing,' Kanen remarked. In reality, the smaller the bounty the better off he would be. There followed a pause between them then, and in the moment came to mind the one question that had been bugging him most: 'Natasha, I need to ask you about last night…'

'About us?'

'It wasn't just some transaction, was it?' Kanen had been thinking about it a lot since he had been brought here.

Natasha shook her head slowly.

'No, no it wasn't.'

'I thought so.' Kanen looked into her eyes for an extended moment, the blue of them reminding him of the blue skies of this world he had called home for so long. As he watched her, he felt her place a hand to his own. He intertwined his fingers amongst hers.

'What happens now?' He asked.

'Now we wait some more,' Natasha said. 'They'll probably send me back to Alliance space once things here are sorted. I'll likely be put on trial. They'll keep it quiet, of course. They wouldn't want a scandal, especially after all I've done. A rogue Alliance Intelligence agent running around the Terminus Systems, causing all kinds of trouble?' She shook her head again. 'I've done things that could have started wars, Kanen.'

'They'll put you in prison?' Kanen felt something fall away within him, that sudden realisation that this beautiful thing he had gained in his life was going to be taken from him so soon after getting it.

'It's a possibility,' Natasha said. 'It'll be some nice minimum-security prison, but it'll be prison nonetheless.'

'They can't put you in prison for doing the things they were too afraid to do.'

'They can, Kanen, and they will.' She sighed. 'But I have no regrets. Cerberus needs to be stopped and I was working on doing just that.'

Kanen remained quiet then, finding himself at a loss for words. He supposed it was typical that those willing to get their hands dirty would eventually have to face the consequences. For the first time in years he found himself mulling over in detail what had led to him coming out here, his own unfortunate brush with the bureaucracy that infested the Migrant Fleet.

'The Alliance should be thanking you for what you've done,' he said, finally. Natasha quirked a brow, curious to hear more. 'You know, I haven't told anyone else this, but a long time ago I was like you. I was a marine in the Migrant Fleet, but I wasn't the kind of soldier who simply did as he was told and nothing more. I did what I felt was right, to the point that I made a lot of enemies. I also made some friends, but in the end those I thought were friends hung me out to dry when I needed them most.' He sighed, only to cough again. Natasha's face adopted a worried grimace, but he waved her off.

'It's all right,' he said. 'Just a little cold. Nothing I won't get over in a few days.'

'It's my fault, isn't it?' She sounded disappointed. 'I'm sorry, Kanen, I should—'

'Should what? Apologise for taking me to bed?' Kanen laughed, the first time he had done so in what felt like a long time. 'Come on Natasha, you're way too good looking to apologise to me for that.'

She smiled then, and her grip about his hand tightened.

'What happened, Kanen?' Her voice was low, gentle. Like a warm wave caressing his very soul. 'Did someone betray you?'

'Let's just say I made friends with a powerful Admiral who admired my work ethic,' Kanen explained. 'And then, when I got caught doing something he had instructed me to do, something that was very illegal but could have benefited my people, he neglected to come to my aid.' He would have spoken further, even named names to this young Alliance operative with her warm, inviting smile. Instead, the computer terminal nearby started beeping. An incoming call, and when Kanen went to rise from the bed and head for it, Natasha instead put a hand to his shoulder and coaxed him to stay put.

'I'll take it,' she said. 'You just relax.'

Kanen watched her step over to the holographic terminal. Pushing the key on the display to accept the call, the visage of an unfamiliar woman's face appeared on the screen. She frowned when she saw Natasha.

'I was just looking for you,' the woman said.

'I'm flattered. What is it?'

'Something's come up that the boss wanted relayed to you,' the woman stated. Kanen remembered now; this woman was the apparent second-in-command here in the SOTIG operations centre. Her name escaped Kanen for the moment, only for half of it to return to him: Rogers.

'Go on…'

'The strike team has Salak Vok in custody,' Rogers stated. 'But there's been a hold up. I need you in the operations centre now. And bring your friend along.' She nodded in Kanen's direction. 'If he's up to it, that is.'

Natasha glanced at him, their eyes meeting for a moment. She appeared as uncertain about the whole thing as he was. Nonetheless, she returned her attention to the woman on the screen and gave her a nod.

'Sure thing. We'll be down there in a minute.' With that, she ended the call. She looked back to Kanen again, biting her lower lip in what he took to be a look of worry.

'Something's gone wrong,' she said, and it was clear to the quarian that her assumption was correct.

For a short while after the Anhur Rebellions, law enforcement within the "civilised" areas of Anhur had been conducted mainly by the Eclipse mercenary group. They had served as the world's de facto police, and had been paid not only through taxes, but by certain powerful corporate officials who had wormed their way into government following the war. Now, however, an official colony-borne police force had taken charge, with the Eclipse mercenaries departing for greener pastures. Of course, some of those mercenaries had stuck around, and a small percentage had even gone on to become part of this new law enforcement organization. Overall, the Colonial Enforcement Division had become a firmly entrenched part of life here on Anhur and were remarkably well supplied. Most of their equipment was left over from the Rebellions, so the sight of what had clearly been an Eclipse gunship did not come as much of a surprise to Booker.

The yellow paintwork had been scraped off in places, and the Eclipse emblem had been covered over with the shield emblem of the CED, yet the vehicle's past as a former mercenary-driven killing machine was plain to see. However, what Booker did not approve of was the way this gunship, along with another airborne transport, had swooped in ahead of the shuttle. The voice of the pilot came through the shuttle's comms, carrying with it a certain level of authority that Booker did not feel it deserved. The corruption amongst the CED and the government was well known, to the point that when it came to actual policing, people tended to try and sort out their own problems rather than call the actual cops.

'Unidentified shuttle, this is CED gunship one-one-A. Under colonial law, you are to land at the provided coordinates and submit to CED authority.'

Within the confines of the shuttle's passenger section, Booker was seated amongst his strike team. He sensed the irritation and outright disdain from the others upon hearing this message, and he shared much the same feelings. His gaze flitted over to Salak Vok, who was at the back end of the passenger compartment, hands cuffed in front of him and manacles about his ankles. He had one of the strike team members keeping a close eye on him at all times, yet the batarian appeared remarkably relaxed given his situation. Booker supposed he should have known there was a reason why the batarian seemed not at all worried about his predicament, and he figured that reason was in the form of the CED.

'This is your first and only warning. Submit to CED authority and land at the designated coordinates.' The pilot's voice had taken on a firmer edge. The SOTIG pilot seated at the shuttle's controls looked back towards Booker and the others, some worry creasing his brow.

'Sir, they've sent us coordinates. They're on the city limits.'

'How could they know we're anything more than a civilian transport?' Booker wondered aloud. He looked to Salak Vok again, and he felt a surge of anger. The damn batarian had likely set off some kind of distress beacon as soon as the attack on his compound had begun.

'I don't know, sir.' The pilot looked to his controls again, and his brow furrowed deeper, less wary and more of a scowl. 'Looks like that gunship's moving behind us.'

'Bastards are going to shoot us down,' Booker stated. He stood up then, steadying himself with one of the handholds in the ceiling above. He moved for Salak Vok, who remained seated calmly with his eyes cast downwards. As Booker approached, the batarian looked up at him, black eyes alight with something confident. The smirk he provided then only compounded the image.

'You got friends in high places, Vok?' Booker asked him, standing over the handcuffed batarian. Vok gave a light shrug of his shoulders.

'It pays to have powerful friends.'

'Yeah, I'll bet.' Booker leaned in closer, fixing his glare firmly upon Vok's four eyes. 'How far will they go, Vok?'

'As far as they need to.'

The pilot down the front called out again, causing Booker to turn his way.

'They're locking their guns onto us, sir. I think they mean business.'

'Start for their designated coordinates.' Booker shook his head slowly, unable to quite believe that things were going this way. They finally catch a break in finding Vok, and now it seemed they were to be very thoroughly waylaid. He looked over the team, the commandos who had put their lives on the line to destroy those insurgents and bring Vok in. Even with the helmets on, he could see that they were all thinking that giving the batarian criminal up to any other organization would be a mistake.

'I'm just as wanted by the local authorities as I am by the Alliance,' Vok stated.

'Except the local authorities are corrupt,' Booker countered. 'And a man like you can probably pay them off.' He felt a shift in the shuttle's speed, the craft slowing slightly as it started for the coordinates as offered by the CED pilot. Outside, it was the dead of the night, and through the canopy one could make out the city skyline of New Thebes against the darkness. They were headed somewhat more easterly of that city now, no doubt plunging into one of the more outlying neighbourhoods that was well out of the way of any prying eyes.

'The CED is the recognized enforcement organization here,' Vok said. 'Your people, on the other hand, are here illegally. Your raid on my camp was an illegal raid. You have no—'

Booker did not let the batarian finish. Instead, he struck him with a closed fist hard and fast, slamming it into his nose. The batarian's head snapped back, and he let out a pained grunt at the sudden attack. Booker took a step back, watching the batarian with some small measure of satisfaction. Vok steadied himself, blood trickling from his nostrils, and he offered Booker a mean, four-eyed scowl.

'You'll pay for that,' he said.

'Hey, you want me Vok, you're going to have to get in line.'

'Sir, we're coming upon the landing zone.' The pilot glanced Booker's way again. The agent, turning away from Vok, moved for the cockpit and steadied himself with one hand against the head of the pilot's chair. Through the canopy, he could make out a motley collection of small, mostly prefab structures ahead, flanked by woodland. They were well onto the outskirts of New Thebes, where the suburbs petered out and the forest gradually took hold.

Booker watched with a frown as a number of portable lights switched on, all around a large, gravel clearing. They were being signalled, an indication that this interception was far from impromptu and that in itself suggested that Vok had warned the CED as soon as the attack had started. That was likely why he had been so willing to let himself be captured, for he knew that eventually the CED would come for him. Did he really have friends in that organization, or even in the local government? Or had he simply tipped them off, knowing that they would jump on the chance to take in a notorious war criminal in order to claim the credit and the fame? No one in the CED knew of the SOTIG presence on Anhur, save for perhaps the one or two informants they had within its ranks. It was necessary to keep the Alliance Intelligence presence on Anhur secret, so the fact that they were about to have a run-in with the CED was a truly worrisome one. If their cover was blown, then there would be serious repercussions for the entire Alliance.

'Take us down, Lieutenant.' Booker sighed. They were going to have to play this one safe. He turned to the rest of the team, trying to ignore the smirk he could see at Vok's mouth. Even with the blood spilling out of his nose and down his chin, Vok still managed to be so infuriatingly smug. Booker was tempted to simply put a bullet in him and end him right then and there, but Vok was one individual who likely had a wealth of information to share. That is, he would share it given the right kind of encouragement. Handing him over to the local authorities was a risk, and Booker knew that there was a good chance that Salak Vok would be walking away a free man in a matter of days.

The shuttle slowed, coming to hover over the designated landing zone. Slowly, it began to descend, and through the canopy Booker could make out the shapes of several armed individuals silhouetted against the surrounding lights. Most wore the blue and black of the CED, the armour suits a mishmash of different makes and models but all marked by the emblem of that organization. As the shuttle touched down, some of those armed CED officers started forwards. A few had their weapons raised, but otherwise it appeared most were not expecting trouble.

'Everyone stay here and keep quiet.' Booker turned to the team, injecting his voice with just the right amount of hardness to make it apparent that this was more of an order, rather than a request. He started towards the shuttle's rear doors. With a tap of the control panel, the doors slid open, allowing Booker to emerge into the vacant gravel lot the craft had landed within.

Portable lights shone from every direction, all about the perimeter of the lot. To his left was a rundown brick building and the road, with a wire fence serving to separate the lot and the structure from the neighbouring properties. Judging from the sign over the gate that opened onto the road, this had been a scrapyard before the Rebellions had seen it shut down. Another economic casualty of the conflict, like so many others.

Booker found himself faced by half a dozen CED troopers with assault rifles. They were all human, aside from one in the centre of that group who wore a similar uniform, albeit without a helmet or visor. This one was batarian, and upon seeing him Booker could only scowl. Was this one of Vok's associates, now embedded within the CED?

'Whoever you are, you're not supposed to be here.' The batarian's expression was firm, his voice laced with contempt.

'You wanted us to land here—'

'I meant on this planet, wise ass.' The batarian gave a derisive huff. 'Let me guess, you're Alliance? Or maybe you're a bunch of mercenaries employed by the Alliance?'

'How about we cut to the chase?' Booker suggested. 'You wanted us here, we're here. Now what is it you want?'

The batarian looked past him then, no doubt trying to get a look into the shuttle. Given the size of the door and the angle he was at, it was unlikely he could really see much of anything inside there.

'We know you have Salak Vok. Bring him out. Hand him over and you leave unharmed.' The batarian spoke with a confidence that grated on Booker. Here was another four-eyed alien he would have just loved to put a bullet into. Of course, one did not come as far as he did in the intelligence service without exercising restraint when required.

'What if I said I don't know who you're talking about?' Booker inquired. It was worth a shot, and the mean glare he received from the batarian Sergeant in response made it clear that it was one shot that was not going to work.

'I would call you a terrible liar, but I would also begrudgingly admire your nerve,' the batarian replied.

'Who might you be, if you don't mind my asking?'

'Sergeant Vakarn Kern, CED. And who are you?'

'Someone with an awful lot of nerve.' Booker offered the batarian an overly friendly smile. Sergeant Kern huffed in annoyance, before he motioned for the officers with him.

'I will have my men search the shuttle, if you do not bring out Vok now.'

'What will you do with him?' This was one question Booker did not expect to get an honest answer to.

'He will be charged and tried, as any criminal should be.'

'In an Anhur court?' Booker scoffed. 'Don't think I've ever seen an honest one of those.'

'That doesn't concern you, human,' Kern growled. 'Bring out Vok or we'll have problems.'

Booker gave the batarian Sergeant a nod, before he turned around and started for the shuttle's doors. He leaned his head in, motioning to the commando guarding Vok to bring him out. The batarian war criminal was practically beaming now, all smug self-assurance in the face of what Booker took to be his rescue.

'Old friends in CED, Vok?' Booker asked him as he was brought out of the shuttle. Vok looked to him with a smirk.

'Think higher than that, human,' he replied. Above, Booker sighted the gunship, circling the property. He could hear the whine of its engines, its searchlights cutting through the night in brilliant shafts. Without their own air cover, the shuttle was a sitting duck. The thought unnerved him, and the possibility of this meeting ending explosively for his team came to mind then and there.

'What guarantee do we have that you won't just kill us as soon as Vok is in your custody?' Booker stepped towards the batarian Sergeant, whose eyes had flitted to Vok with some visible recognition. The question caused Sergeant Kern to return a less amiable gaze towards the human.

'I have my orders,' the batarian replied. 'Your people are not to be harmed if you cooperate. Believe it or not, but the individual who sent me out here to collect Vok does not wish to cause any further trouble, with you or anyone else.'

'That's hardly reassuring, Sergeant.'

The Sergeant grunted, offering Booker a shrug. The commando keeping a grip on Vok offered Booker an uneasy glance, no doubt waiting for instructions.

'Let him go,' Booker ordered. The commando released Salak Vok then, allowing the overly smug war criminal to cross the several metres worth of space between the CED team and Booker. The latter watched this transpire with mounting anger, but he clamped down on it nonetheless. They would get another chance with Vok, this much he would make damn sure of. And when they got that chance, they would not stop for anyone.

The other CED troops with the Sergeant moved forwards, surrounding Vok. He disappeared behind them, with at least two of them turning to follow him. They directed him towards a waiting armoured car parked by the gate, and as the trio approached the vehicle's headlights switched on and its engine started up.

Booker looked up, catching sight of the gunship. Surprisingly, it had ended its holding pattern over the property, and had instead turned around and started on its way back for the city proper. It appeared that the Sergeant spoke the truth, then: that whoever had organized this interception did not wish to harm those who had captured Vok.

'It's good for both of us that you cooperated,' Sergeant Kern said. Booker looked his way again, keeping a straight face despite the anger he felt. 'I didn't come out here to kill anyone, if you can believe that.'

'This won't be the last you see of me, Sergeant.'

'You know, human, I can actually believe that coming from you.' Kern gave him a small nod, as if in approval of the conviction he had detected within Booker's voice. Booker simply glared at him in turn, and the look appeared to make the batarian a little uneasy, judging from the awkward way in which he turned his head, doing what he could to avoid Booker's withering gaze.

Kern turned around and started to head for the nearby vehicles with his team in tow, although a few of his soldiers kept their attention lingering upon Booker and his compatriot for a few moments more, ensuring that neither of them were going to pull any sudden moves. Booker remained stalwart, simply watching these local soldiers depart with his quarry in their custody.

The commando by his side leaned in then, his voice low, edged with that slight muffled quality that speaking through his helmet created:

'We're just going to let them take him away?' Understandably, the commando did not sound at all pleased. Booker kept his eyes locked upon the departing group of local cops, taking a moment to reply. When he did, his voice was firm, laced with a confidence that the others in his team likely did not feel:

'We'll find him again, Lieutenant,' Booker declared. He had taken certain measures since they had grabbed Salak Vok, and this had included planting more than one tracker upon him. The first was an obvious one, slipped into a pocket on his clothes, and despite its diminutive size, there was a good chance his associates would find it and dispose of it. This was simply a decoy, the kind of device that the local constabulary would be looking for. The second tracker was of a more sophisticated variety, little more than a tiny pill that Booker had dropped into the water bottle he had offered Vok shortly after capturing him. The man had been understandably thirsty after his ordeal, so Booker had been more than happy to oblige the man with some water. That device was not likely to be detected, no matter how sophisticated the scanners these cops had at their disposal.

'Once they're gone, we'll leave,' Booker told the commando. He pondered what Sergeant Kern had said, about how the one who had sent him out here had not wished to inflict any unnecessary harm against those who had captured Vok. That at least suggested they were dealing with someone in some sort of official role, perhaps a local politician. They likely did not want to invite retaliation from what they saw as an organized force, one they had surmised had some form of backing from the likes of the Alliance or similar group. From the look of things here, it appeared that the CED did not intend to go back on their word and eliminate the SOTIG team. They were simply climbing into the waiting cars and heading off, one after the other, disappearing into the night.

Booker reached into a pouch on his vest and retrieved a small rectangular data pad. He switched on the display, and it immediately brought up a satellite-provided map of the city. And there, blinking in yellow, was the signal from the tracking devices planted on Vok.

'We'll get him back,' Booker stated, offering his subordinate a reassuring smile. 'Don't you worry about that, Lieutenant. I'm not about to let that murderous batarian bastard slip away from us.' They would sit back and see where he was taken. Then, they would plan accordingly. Booker had been in this game far too long to allow some corrupt backwater cops get the better of him, and it would be a cold day in hell before any batarians got the better of him for that matter.