Now the Reapers were drawing on his knowledge, accessing it directly from his mind. There was nothing he could do to stop them; he’d been reduced to a reference library they could call on whenever they wanted.
Still battling swarms of Aria’s soldiers, they plotted a course through the twisting, turning streets, heading for the closest of Omega’s countless docking bays. None of the ports Aria controlled were heavily guarded—most people knew better than to steal a ship from Omega’s Pirate Queen. This one was no different; only a handful of defenders were there to try to stop him. They quickly met the fate of so many of their comrades, though one managed to set off the alarms before she fell.
Grayson knew the blaring claxon meant that reinforcements would arrive in under two minutes, and even as the thought crossed his mind he realized the Reapers would now know it, too.
They had him race over to a small, single-pilot shuttle stationed in one of the bays. The boarding ramp was up, the hatch locked. The Reapers had Grayson reach out his hand and place it on the security panel. Blue sparks arced out from his fingers as he made contact. A sequence of codes flickered through Grayson’s consciousness as the Reapers interfaced with the security system’s programming, and a second later the hatch opened with a soft click.
The Reapers didn’t even wait for the boarding ramp to descend. Dropping the assault rifles, they had Grayson grab hold of the underside of the hatch and haul himself up and in. Once inside, he resealed the hatch and took a seat in the pilot’s chair.
A batarian squad arrived just as the engines were roaring to life. They opened fire on the shuttle, but their weapons were useless against the vessel’s hull.
The ship rose up from the docking bay, passing smoothly through the shimmering, microns-thin energy barrier that kept the temperature-controlled atmosphere inside the docking bay from leaking out into the frozen vacuum of space.
Unlike the Citadel, Omega had no exterior defenses. There were no patrolling fleets, no GARDIAN turrets or mass accelerator cannons. No longer assailable by patrols and soldiers on the ground, the Reapers were about to complete their escape from Omega.
As the shuttle pulled away from the station, the Reapers once again began to pick through Grayson’s mind and memories. He quickly realized they were digging for anything and everything he knew about the Ascension Project: names, locations, security procedures.
He didn’t even try to fight them anymore; there was no point. The Reapers had broken his will to resist. His only solace was that even with full access to his thoughts, the Reapers would never be able to find Gillian. His daughter was safe … though the same could not be said of her former classmates.
The Reapers didn’t immediately plot a course for the Grissom Academy. First, they opened the ship’s comm channel and connected to the extranet. With access to trillions of terabytes of information from virtually anywhere in the galaxy, it didn’t take them long to find what they were searching for.
Armed with the information they needed, the Reapers began to script lines of code. While with Cerberus, Grayson had been trained in basic computer hacking. He’d seen this type of thing before; it was clear the Reapers were compiling some kind of virus.
Driven by the AI intelligence of his masters, his fingers flew over the ship’s digital interface. Grayson tried to follow what was happening, but the complexity and volume of the data was too much for his organic mind to process.
It took nearly fifteen minutes of effort for them to be satisfied with the program. Then they logged back on to the extranet and transmitted a message to the Grissom Academy. The Academy had firewalls and multiple levels of virus protection in place, but Grayson knew their security protocols would be no match for whatever malicious program the Reapers had created.
As the Reapers plotted a course for the Academy into the shuttle’s nav systems, Grayson could sense they were almost spent. The desperate escape from Omega had pushed their avatar to its limits. They needed to recharge, but Grayson held out no hope he would have any opportunity to try and regain control of his body.
The shuttle accelerated to FTL speeds, heading for the nearest mass relay to begin the series of jumps that would take the Reapers to their destination. As it did so, they shut Grayson down, pushing him into a deep, dreamless sleep.
TWENTY-ONE
Kahlee and Anderson walked a few steps in front of Kai Leng as they made their way from the warehouse district back to one of the residential areas of Omega. He guided them by issuing directions when needed in a firm, businesslike voice.
“Left at the corner. Continue three blocks. Right here. Take another left.”
They weren’t running, but they were walking quickly, propelled by their mutual desire to get off the station as soon as possible. And as they wound their way through the crooked streets, Kahlee’s mind was working in overdrive.
She was thinking about Grayson, and about Kai Leng’s promise that Cerberus could save him. She wanted to believe him, but she knew that someone who worked for the Illusive Man wouldn’t be above lying to coerce her cooperation.
Working solely from memory, she tried to reconstruct everything she had learned about the experiment on Grayson during her short time studying the lab reports. Much of it was theoretical and speculative; even the scientists in charge of the operation hadn’t known exactly what to expect.
Try as she might, there was no way for Kahlee to confirm or deny Kai Leng’s claim. She hadn’t been given enough time with the data; Aria’s people had attacked the facility before she’d had a chance to fully process everything.
She did manage to get a sense of the overall direction of their work, however. Their research had focused primarily on measurable and quantifiable data: physical changes and alterations to brain wave patterns. They hadn’t bothered to do any kind of psychological testing; they hadn’t bothered to try and figure out the purpose behind the horrific transformation. Why had the Reapers developed this technology? Why had the Collectors been abducting humans and repurposing them? What were the Reapers after? What did they really want?
Kahlee knew if she could figure out the answers to those questions, she’d be able to figure out where Grayson was going next. Whether she would actually share that information with Kai Leng remained to be seen.
Anderson could tell that Kahlee was deep in thought as she marched beside him. And he could guess what she was thinking about: she wasn’t ready to give up on Grayson.
He wasn’t ready to give up yet, either. The Cerberus operative had kicked his ass seven ways from Sunday, but he had no intention of simply following the orders of someone who answered to the Illusive Man.
Kai Leng was muscular, but he wasn’t a big man. Anderson outweighed him by at least twenty pounds; if they were in close quarters—like the pilot’s cabin of a shuttle—he might be able to use that to his advantage. Whether it would be enough to offset Kai Leng’s speed and superior training, however, remained to be seen.
“Right at this corner,” Kai Leng told them.
They turned down a long, narrow alley. At the far end was a large door built into the bulkhead, separating the district they were in from the one on the other side. In front of it was a reinforced, waist-high barricade extending out from the bulkhead, across the alley, then back to the bulkhead again to form a small bunker. Behind the barrier were five armed turians.
At first glance they seemed to be almost bored, leaning casually against their protective wall or sitting on top of it, idly passing the time. On seeing the humans, however, they quickly took up defensive positions behind the barricade.
“Who are they?” Kahlee asked.
“Talons,” Kai Leng answered. “They control the district beyond the barricade.”
During his time as a diplomat, Anderson had received regular reports from Alliance intelligence from across the galaxy. The majority of these came from inside Council space, but some were focused on key locations in the Terminus Systems like Omega.
From these reports, Anderson knew
that the Talons were the largest independent gang on Omega. Like most gangs, the Talons were into drug running, weapons smuggling, extortion, killing for hire, and slave trading. For a substantial fee, they also allowed ships and shuttles looking to avoid dealing with Aria’s organization to dock at Talon-controlled ports scattered around the station.
Their business model had proved profitable, and they’d slowly been extending their influence on the station by swallowing up smaller gangs. However, Anderson knew that much of the Talons’ success had come from their willingness to maintain a mostly peaceful coexistence with the Pirate Queen, rather than opposing her directly.
“Aria might have sent our descriptions out to every gang on the station,” Anderson warned. “If she’s offering a reward, the Talons might just decide to turn us over to her to cash in.”
“There’s bad blood between Aria and the Talons right now,” Kai Leng assured them. “Even if they knew she was after us, they wouldn’t want to help.”
The turian guards studied them as they approached. Two raised their weapons while a third climbed over the barricade and stepped forward to confront them. Anderson was surprised to see that in addition to his pistol he also had a short-range stunner clipped to his belt. He’d assumed the Talons were thugs determined to shoot first and ask questions later. Obviously, however, there were times when they preferred to disable an adversary instead of killing him.
In retrospect, it made sense. The clientele who hired out their docking bays weren’t the most upstanding citizens; disputes over payments were inevitable, and shooting customers was bad for business. Blasting them with an electrical current strong enough to render them unconscious wasn’t an ideal solution, but it beat the alternative.
“Halt,” the turian ordered. “State your business.”
“I rented bay 6358,” Kai Leng stated.
“Step up to confirm identity,” the guard replied.
Kai Leng came forward, holding out his palm so the turian could scan it with his omni-tool.
“Identity confirmed,” the guard acknowledged. “Paid in advance until the end of the week.”
“I’m leaving a little early,” Kai Leng said.
“That’s your business,” the turian told him. “But we don’t give refunds.”
To emphasize his point, his hand hovered over the stunner on his belt.
“I’m not looking for one,” Kai Leng assured him, and the guard relaxed and gave a nod to his companions.
Convinced the humans had a legitimate reason to be there and weren’t looking for any trouble, the others lowered their weapons. The guard who’d greeted them climbed back over the barricade and hit a panel on the wall. The door behind them slid open, revealing nothing more dramatic than another long, narrow alleyway.
“You two first,” Kai Leng said with a nod.
Anderson placed one hand on top of the barricade and vaulted over the top. He turned to look back at Kahlee. As his eyes fell on her splinted fingers, a hastily formed plan suddenly took shape.
“She’s going to need some help,” he said, tilting his head to indicate her injured hands.
He looked at Kai Leng, who, wary of some kind of trick, shook his head in response—just the reaction Anderson was hoping for.
“What about you?” Anderson said, turning to the guard with the stunner on his belt.
After a brief moment of hesitation, the guard stepped forward.
“Hurry up,” he grumbled.
Kahlee approached the barricade and raised her knee high enough to set her right foot on top of the wall. With her other leg fully extended and her left foot still on the ground, she didn’t have the leverage to propel herself over. Instead, she leaned forward awkwardly so Anderson and the turian guard could each grab hold of one arm, clasping her firmly by the wrist and elbows.
“On three,” Anderson said. “One … two … three!”
Anderson felt Kahlee flexing her knee and shifting her weight with each count to try and help build enough momentum so they could haul her up and over. But as they pulled her toward them, Anderson twisted his hips and shoulders, throwing Kahlee off balance so she crashed into the turian guard as she came over the barricade. Anderson kept his grip on her arm throughout, letting her weight drag him down so that all three of them fell clumsily to the ground.
Kai Leng reacted almost instantly, springing over the wall without even touching it. The other turian guards responded to the situation just as Anderson had predicted, reaching for their weapons to defend themselves against what appeared to be an aggressive and hostile action.
With Kai Leng forced to engage the guards, Anderson had the few precious seconds he needed. He ripped the stunner from the fallen turian’s belt, rolled onto his back, and fired at his target.
The stunner blast took Kai Leng right between the shoulder blades, causing him to drop to the ground unconscious. Two of the turians were already down, injured but not dead. The other two were still fumbling for their weapons, though whether they intended to use them on Kai Leng or Anderson wasn’t clear.
“It’s okay! It’s okay!” Anderson shouted, tossing the stunner aside and raising his hands in a gesture of surrender.
The turians still standing rushed over and hauled him and Kahlee to their feet as their fallen captain angrily picked himself up. They slammed the humans back against the bulkhead, pinning them there by jamming their assault rifles into their chests.
Anderson didn’t say anything as the nose of the weapon pressed painfully into his sternum. He knew he needed to let everyone calm down before speaking. He saw Kahlee wincing in pain, though he couldn’t tell if it was from being roughly pinned against the wall or from banging her tender fingers during the scuffle.
The captain glared at the humans, then went over to check the two turians on the ground. They were both groaning in pain, but with the captain’s help they managed to clamber to their feet, much to Anderson’s relief. Convincing the guards to let them go would have been much harder if Kai Leng had actually killed anyone.
“I can explain all this,” Anderson said, judging that emotions had cooled enough for him to make his case. “That guy on the ground was holding us prisoner.”
“He paid for the docking bay,” the captain snarled. “He’s our customer. You’re not.”
“You’re still going to get your money,” Anderson reminded them. “Even if you let us go.”
“Maybe we should hold on to you and wait for him to wake up,” the captain countered. “He’ll probably throw in a nice bonus for keeping you from escaping.”
“He’s with Cerberus,” Kahlee said, jumping into the negotiations.
“Is this true?” the captain asked Anderson, stepping forward and leaning in until only a few inches separated their faces.
“It’s true,” Anderson declared, staring right into the turian’s eyes.
The captain took a step back, but didn’t speak right away. The guards cast quick glances in his direction, waiting to see what he would say. Anderson held his breath.
The anti-alien agenda of Cerberus was well known throughout the galaxy, even on Omega. It was only natural that most nonhumans would feel a similar bias against the Illusive Man and his agents. The only question was whether it would be enough to overcome the Talons’ mercenary greed.
“You can go,” the captain said at last. “Take his ship if you want.”
In response, the guards lowered their weapons.
“What about him?” Kahlee asked, nodding in the direction of Kai Leng’s still unconscious body.
“We’ll think of something special,” the captain replied, and the other turians all squawked out evil laughs.
“Things will go worse for Cerberus if you let us take him,” Kahlee insisted. “We’re with an Alliance task force. We’re trying to take the organization down. He has information we can use.”
“You don’t want to get mixed up in a war against the Illusive Man,” Anderson added. “You already got paid. Just take
the money and walk away.”
The captain considered for a moment, then shrugged.
“Sure. Take him. Get the hell out of here. What do we care?”
Anderson didn’t need to be told twice. He bent down and scooped up Kai Leng’s unconscious body. With a grunt he tossed him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
“How far to the docking bay?” he asked.
“Not far. Take a right at the end of the alley. Bays are marked on the side. 6358’s the one you want.”
With Kahlee leading the way, they left the turians behind, Anderson struggling under the weight of his burden.
“I’m sorry I didn’t warn you,” he said once they were beyond earshot of the guards. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “That was quick thinking back there.”
“Why did you want to bring him along?” Anderson asked, indicating the unconscious man draped over his shoulder.
“Figured we’d hand him over to the Alliance for interrogation,” she explained.
Her answer made Anderson feel better; he’d been afraid Kahlee was still clinging to the notion that Kai Leng and Cerberus could somehow reverse Grayson’s transformation.
Kahlee didn’t say anything else, and Anderson decided it was more important to save his breath than continue the conversation. Five minutes later they reached the spaceport. Anderson was relieved to discover that bay 6358 was the second closest one to where they had come in.
“We better hurry,” he warned Kahlee as they reached Kai Leng’s shuttle. “I don’t know how much longer he’s going to be out.”
It took her a few minutes to hack the security system so they could get inside. Anderson hauled Kai Leng into the vessel, then began searching for something to restrain him.
He found a standard emergency supply kit, complete with rations, bottled water, an electric lamp and heater, extra batteries, a small folding tent, fifty feet of nylon rope, and a military-style field knife.
Working quickly, he cut the rope into eight-foot lengths and used them to lash the still unconscious body of Kai Leng to the copilot’s chair.