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Lia ducked back behind the pool table a split-second before another burst of gunfire tore into it. A hail of projectiles from the two dozen enemy weapons chewed through the metal table in mere seconds, and she leaped out of cover and dive-rolled behind a nearby roulette table. She pressed her back to its base and tried to slow her panicked breathing.

The combined forces of the Cerberus personnel and Kelham's thugs shifted their aim and blasted away at her newfound cover. Molten metal splattered the floor and nearby chairs and tables. Lia scooted to the left and popped up beside the roulette wheel, just long enough to overload their shields with her Omni-Tool and squeeze off a few shots from her stolen rifle. Several hostiles ran for cover as their barriers collapsed, and others could no longer fire because their weapons had seized up, but a few stood their ground and kept up their onslaught. Lia dropped out of sight before her shields could absorb more than a few dozen hits.

The roulette wheel exploded and shrapnel rained down on her. She threw her arms over her head, forced herself to breathe evenly, and hoped her shields would recharge fully before the hostiles began advancing on her position.

Quint's voice came through her comlink. "Sit tight, Lia. I'll give 'em something else to shoot at."

She glanced around and found him halfway across the room, stepping out from behind a bank of Quasar machines. He raised his left arm and his Omni-Tool flared up around it. Something resembling a red lightning bolt leaped from its business end, drilled into the nearest of the Cerberus agents, and arced from him to several others. All of them convulsed and their hands clenched on their rifles, spewing a couple hundred rounds into random spots on the far wall and ceiling, before they sprawled unconscious on the floor.

"Thanks, Quint." Lia sighed, pulled herself together, and checked the blips in her HUD. All of the thugs had remained in the positions they'd taken across the room when the fight started--except one.

A single enemy blip had moved up behind her.

Shit! She spun around to find one of Kelham's goons standing a meter away, aiming his Mattock heavy rifle square at her chest. She let out a panicked screech and snapped her gun up.

Both of them opened fire at the same time, whittling away at each other's barriers. The shield power indicator in Lia's HUD dropped with alarming speed thanks to the human's more powerful weapon. Her own gun didn't pack enough of a punch to bring his shields down before it was too late.

It was already too late even to run.

He's going to kill me! I'm going to--

Her gun ceased fire, its heat sink spent. Lia screamed.

The man's head exploded into gravel-size chunks and blood fountained from his neck stump.

What...the fuck? The body hit the floor before Lia realized a thunderous gunshot had accompanied the popping of his head.

"You okay, kiddo?" General Kurakova said over her comlink.

"Y--yeah." Lia turned toward the back of the room and found Kurakova behind the bar in the corner, ejecting a spent heat sink. Her Widow rifle slotted another in automatically and she smiled and nodded before turning to line up another shot. Lia nodded back and took several rapid breaths. "Thank you, General."

"Any time."

Continuing to breathe deeply, Lia dropped her rifle and picked up the dead guy's Mattock. Hah. Upgrade. She plucked a few spare thermal clips from her belt and shoved them into the rifle, making sure it had a full load. Her hands shook and she almost dropped one of the clips.

She checked her tactical display again and found no one else sneaking up behind her. A quick look around located Quint and Valeria, the former producing a combat drone from his Omni-Tool and the latter darting from one table to another.

Slipping around the left side of the room while Quint and his drone kept the thugs occupied, Lia realized.

Got to do my part, then, and make sure they don't notice her. Lia rolled out from behind what was left of the roulette table, stretched out along the floor with her rifle aiming toward the mixed forces across the room, and squeezed the trigger.

The Mattock discharged with a heavy thump accompanying its muzzle flash, kicking back against her shoulder and rattling her whole torso. Its tiny projectile smashed into a Cerberus man's left shoulder, spun him around, and rolled him across a blackjack table to drop out of sight behind it.

Whoa. Lia adjusted her grip and fired a few more shots to keep the rest of them pinned down.

One of them leaned out of cover and pointed his submachine gun at her. She put a double-tap through his forehead and glanced at Valeria.

Val had made her way along the wall and crept up behind the hostiles. She crouched behind an overturned table, lined up a shot...and hesitated. Her talon quivered on the trigger, as if she were trying to pull it but something in her simply wouldn't let it happen.

She slumped, shook her head, and holstered the rifle on her back. Then she stood and crept up behind the nearest of Kelham's men.

Kurakova slammed another shot from her anti-material rifle into the side of the table the men were hiding behind. It punched through the solid metal base, a guy's chest, and the wall beyond. The force of the impact ripped the table out of the floor and whacked it into the rest of the thugs.

The one in front of Valeria lurched backward just in time to dodge it. Valeria closed the distance between them, tapped him on the shoulder, and waited for him to spin around. When he did, she rammed her fist straight into his nose. His head snapped back and his arms flailed. Valeria snatched the gun from his hand as he fell, ejected all the thermal clips, and tossed it over her shoulder.

The remaining hostiles managed to pick themselves up. Valeria grabbed the next nearest guy, wrenched the pistol away from him, and slammed his head into the table. She popped the clips out as he flopped onto his back and chucked the empty gun at another man. It spun through the air and cracked him in the forehead, and Valeria moved on to the next before he hit the floor.

He swung his SMG toward her, but she swatted it out of his grip with her right hand, landed a roundhouse blow with her left that flipped him over the table, and surged forward to meet another guy head-on. He fumbled and dropped the gun, pulled a knife from his belt, and lashed at her. She snapped to the right and deflected the blade with her left arm. It whistled past her helmet, leaving his side open to attack. A quick jab cracked several of his ribs and sent him to the floor where he curled into a fetal position.

Keelah. Lia stared at Valeria and shook her head slowly. So, that's the porn star I've heard so much about, eh?

Valeria faced the rest of the survivors. "Is Kelham worth dying for?"

Kelham's men dropped their weapons and raised their hands. The Cerberus guys kept their guns on her. The one on the right lined up a shot and sneered.

Lia shifted her aim to the guy's chest--but the deafening boom of Kurakova's Widow jolted her and the man's neck vaporized. The others gaped at the body as it collapsed and the head bounced across the floor.

One of them hunched forward and vomited.

Kurakova ejected the spent thermal clip and smirked as she aimed at another target. "I'd recommend surrender."

Quint stepped out into the open, aiming his Locust submachine gun with his right hand and his Omni-Tool with his left. Lia stood and covered them from another angle.

Two new blips appeared in her HUD, approaching from behind. She turned and aimed into the stairwell doorway.

At the same time, an impact shook the floor, followed by another, and another. Lia glanced over her shoulder just as an YMIR mech appeared in the doorway Chula and Dakka had charged through a few minutes ago.

Oh, shit.

Footsteps thumped up the stairs.

The YMIR deployed its cannon and missile launcher.

"Hey, guys," Chula's voice came through Lia's comm, "we're almost there. Did we miss much?"

"A little." Lia sighed and looked around for cover solid enough to stop whatever the giant mech was about to throw at them. "Not over yet, though."

"Good," Dakka said. "I could always use a little more--" She appeared in the doorway and stopped, staring at the YMIR as it selected a target. "Oh. Fantastic."

It locked its weapons onto Valeria.

"Take cover, everyone." Kurakova swung her rifle around to the mech and blew its head off.

Valeria gasped and rushed over to the spot where her husband had tipped his chair over to get out of the line of fire.

The decapitated YMIR fell to its knees and emitted a series of shrill beeps. Beeps which came faster and faster with each passing second.

Oh, no. That sounds like a self-destruct.

Kelham's people and the Cerberus agents bolted in a blind panic. Valeria didn't even take the time to remove the restraints keeping Irving tied to the chair--she simply dragged him away from the mech, chair and all. Kurakova holstered her rifle and ran over to help her.

The half-dozen LOKI mechs, having also recovered from Chula's hack a few minutes ago, marched through the doorway and looked around, searching for targets.

Dakka ran over to Valeria and the others, hopping over the debris between her and them, and planted herself between them and the YMIR, shielding them with her body.

The rapid beeping became a solid tone and the mech detonated with an earsplitting bang and a shockwave that knocked Lia off her feet. Shrapnel hissed through the air and ripped into the walls and floor and three of the LOKI units.

Lia picked herself up, staggered, and shook her head.

Dakka stood where she'd parked herself, her shields flaring wherever the shrapnel vaporized against them. She turned, found the three surviving LOKIs, plucked her Claymore shotguns from her hips, and finished them off. She turned back to Valeria and Irving. "You guys okay?"

"I'm good," Val said. "Irv?"

"I'm fine."

She unlocked the restraints and helped him get back on his feet. She took off her helmet and leaned forward to nudge her forehead gently against his.

"I wasn't sure you'd recognize me in this armor," she whispered.

"I knew it was you the instant I saw you." He smiled and put his arms around her.

Quint walked over to Dakka, keeping his gun on the thugs sprawled on the floor. Then he stopped suddenly and pointed at blood trickling from a slit in her armor.

"Is that--oh, shit, were you stabbed?"

"Relax, it's only a collapsed lung."

"What?"

"Take it easy. I'm okay. I've got three other lungs. Really, I'm fine. I already applied some medi-gel to stop the bleeding. A few hours in the hospital on the Citadel and I'll be as good as new." Dakka leaned down to give his lips a quick lick, then looked around at the Cerberus agents. She walked over to the one with the cracked ribs and clamped her hand onto his shoulder.

"I see you didn't come back with Kelham," Valeria said to Dakka and Chula.

"They split up. The guy in the armor had a hologram projector, made himself look like Kelham." Chula sighed. "We went after him instead of the real one. He could still be here, or he ran off somewhere and we'll never--"

"Oh, I'll find him." Valeria stroked Irving's cheek and kissed him before heading for the door at the back of the room. "I'll be right back, honey. Just wait here with everyone else."

"Sure. Be careful."

Lia hurried to catch up with Valeria. "Guess the others have everyone covered. I'll help you search."

"Thanks." Valeria scanned their surroundings with her Omni-Tool, glanced at its display, and turned toward a door off to the right.

She can probably do a better job of finding Kelham than I can, but I just need to get away from the carnage for a few minutes.

Valeria opened the door and stepped into a dark hallway. Lia's visor amplified what little light was available and found a corridor that probably led to storage rooms and bathrooms. The floor tiles had been shattered, the walls cracked, several doors blown off by debris impact or a stray shot from one of the ships that had engaged Sovereign two years ago.

Valeria stopped at each door and scanned it thoroughly before moving on to the next. Lia began scanning the doors on the opposite side.

"I'm curious about something," Lia finally said, keeping her tone soft. "During the fight, you were about to shoot those guys, but then you stopped."

Valeria finished scanning the next room and sighed. "It's like I said when we talked on the Sulaco. When I was a Spectre before, I did a lot of things I'm not proud of. Things I wish I hadn't done. I don't like the kind of person the job turned me into, and I don't want to start down that path again. Especially now that I have Irving. I don't want him to wake up one morning and find himself in bed with a stranger who just happens to look exactly like the woman he married." She shook her head and sucked in a quick breath before walking to the next door. "As afraid as I am of losing myself, I'm fucking terrified of Irving losing me that way."

"I never thought about it that way before, but it makes sense." Lia almost shuddered at the memory of the man whose brains she blew out a few minutes ago, as well as the panic that had overwhelmed her when she and that other guy were blasting each other at point blank range. How desperate she was to kill him to save her own life....

Witnessing Chula and Dakka taking lives without appearing to give it a second thought....

"Some people can handle it," Valeria said. "My Nana probably killed more people during the First Contact War than I ever did as a Spectre, but she's still who she always was. Me? I don't know. I'm afraid some places are too dark for me to venture into again."

Not knowing what to say, Lia remained silent for a moment and scanned the next room.

A blip appeared in her HUD and text identifying it appeared beside it. Lia touched Valeria's shoulder. When Val turned to look at her, she pointed at the door. Val nodded and eased it open. Her Omni-Tool projected a beam of light into the room and Lia's visor automatically lowered its light-amp level.

A soft gasp came from one of the stalls on the right.

Restroom. Appropriate, given Kelham's background. Lia followed Valeria inside and pointed at the stall on the far end.

Valeria pushed on the door and the man inside shrieked. Val snapped the lock with a kick and rushed into the stall. The man squealed again as she dragged him out.

"Elias Kelham," Valeria growled, and he cringed. She clamped her left arm around his neck and dragged him back the way she and Lia had come. "I've really been looking forward to meeting you. We're gonna have a nice, long talk."

#

"We have received an update from Spectre Terakkis," the geth unit said, breaking the silence in the lab.

Tarsus Parim nearly jumped out of his armor at the sound of the synthetic's voice. He'd dealt with mechs, VIs, and synthetics more times than he could count, but he'd been on edge ever since he learned that this one was a genuine geth mobile platform. That in itself was bad enough, but a whole fleet of those things attacked the Citadel two years ago--having it and its cohort roaming around freely was one hell of a security risk.

And the fact that this one had apparently been designed to mimic the general figure of female quarians and was wearing a fucking femme-Santa costume only made it all the more unsettling.

Tarsus gave himself another moment to calm down before turning to address the geth. "What's the update?"

"Elias Kelham and his associates have been apprehended. He appears to be working with a Cerberus team."

Cerberus? They're operating on the Citadel_? Now that's ballsy._

"A top-level Cerberus agent named Kai Leng was terminated by Dakka," the unit continued. "Spectre Terakkis reports more casualties among Elias Kelham's forces, but there are many survivors to transport out of Tayseri Ward."

"Coordinates?"

The geth activated its Omni-Tool and projected a map with a blip pinpointing Valeria's location. Tarsus passed the coordinates on to Captain Bailey.

"A C-Sec transport will pick them up."

"Acknowledged."

"What about General Kurakova and the team? Are they alright?"

"Dakka was wounded during the fight with Kai Leng, but the others are unharmed."

Tarsus sighed. "Good. I was really worried about the general. She's getting up there in years. Guess she's still got it, though."

"Spectre Terakkis said the general was in top form during combat."

"Good." Tarsus allowed himself to relax slightly and even managed a brief chuckle. "I guess I should've known she could take care of herself."

"Ah-hah," one of the research team said, and Tarsus turned quickly to look at the group of asari, salarians, and humans on the far side of the lab. He walked over to them. The asari in charge of the team, Raena T'Lura, glanced over her shoulder at him.

"Making progress, Doctor?" He stopped beside her and looked at the monitor everyone had been watching.

"We've identified a few of the artifacts as Prothean. The rest, however, we're...well, we're just not sure." She turned to stare at the big, reinforced window between the lab and the isolation chamber, where the artifacts were being kept to prevent them from affecting anyone adversely. "Our preliminary analysis indicates some of them originated farther back than the extinction of the Protheans fifty thousand years ago. We're talking several hundred thousand years for some, millions of years for others."

Tarsus stared into the isolab as three LOKI mechs probed the artifacts with an array of scanners. "Amazing that they remained intact for so long." His mandibles twitched.

"And then there's this." Dr. T'Lura turned back to the console she and the others had gathered around. She pointed at the screen. "This video record shows a whole fleet of ships resembling the one that led the geth attack on the Citadel two years ago."

"Huh. I figured that was a prototype geth warship."

"A lot of people assumed that, including the Council. It seems they were wrong."

One of the other scientists, a salarian named Solak Renus, pointed at the image on the monitor. "Recognize that planet?"

Tarsus leaned forward for a closer look. "Hmm. Some of the features look familiar, but I can't quite place it." His gaze shifted from the planet to the squid-like ships obliterating the opposing fleet, and he shivered.

"Think of what it would look like with an enormous ravine carved across the southern hemisphere."

Tarsus drew in a quick breath and his jaw dropped. "That's Klendagon?"

"Yes, before the formation of the Great Rift Valley." Dr. Renus rubbed his hands together and his eyelids flicked upward over his enormous, black eyes several times. "We're about to see how it happened."

"The Great Rift's age is estimated at around thirty-seven million years." Tarsus turned to look at the geth unit, which had followed him over to the science team.

"The quarians created the geth only three hundred years ago. The geth couldn't have built Sovereign--or any of these other ships we're looking at, here."

"Maybe they copied the design for--"

"Sorry, but no." Dr. T'Lura shook her head. "We found so few pieces of Sovereign after it blew, there was no way to know it was beyond the geth's technology. However, just recently, researchers were able to determine the age of a few pieces of debris. I don't remember the exact number off the top of my head, but it was followed by the word, million."

"Well, I'll be damned."

Dr. T'Lura turned back to the geth. "Looks like this lets your species off the hook. Seems everyone who blamed you for Sovereign owes you an apology."

"They acted on the information they had at the time. They had no knowledge of the Old Machines, and they did not know the geth who followed Sovereign were a rogue faction."

"Still, it's unfortunate that the politicians in charge of the Citadel were so quick to write it off as a geth dreadnaught. If what I've heard about the Reapers is true, and they really are coming back, we'd have a chance of being ready for them if we hadn't screwed around for the past two years."

"Here it comes," Dr. Renus said, pointing at the screen and grinning.

Everyone stared at the image. On the screen, something flashed across space, leaving a trail of massive explosions in its wake--and each of those explosions was one of the gigantic, squid-like Reapers.

The projectile punched through them as if they were made of tinfoil and struck a glancing blow across Klendagon's surface, gouging a kilometers-long groove in the rocky terrain and launching enough dirt and debris into the air to obscure most of it. The few parts still visible were molten rock.

"Shit," Tarsus whispered. He looked back at the fading explosions and expanding clouds of debris. "Eight. That thing ripped apart eight of them."

"And kept on going." T'Lura rubbed a finger over her bottom lip. "The projectile was fired from a mass accelerator weapon--possibly the biggest one in the history of the entire galaxy. If we really are going to find ourselves up against the Reapers at some point, we really should find that weapon and figure out how to build more."

"Yeah." Tarsus stared at the video and shook his head slowly. "Just...holy shit."

#

Lia walked over to Sidonis and while Dakka stood in line at the admissions counter. Quint rushed up to the counter, but Dakka grabbed his belt before he could open his mouth.

"Take it easy. There's only one guy ahead of us."

Quint gaped at her. "You've got a collapsed lung and you're waiting in line?"

"It's nothing I can't handle." Dakka turned to watch Lia and Sidonis.

Quint shook his head and slapped both hands to his face.

"Have you heard anything about Kenn yet?" Lia glanced over at the doors leading to the operating rooms.

"He's out of surgery." Sidonis heaved himself off the lounge chair and nodded at one of the side doors. "They moved him into a standard-care room just a few minutes ago. They said he'll be okay."

Lia sighed. "That's a huge relief. Things like that can get a little dicey for quarians. The immune-system thing, and all."

"How can I help you?" a human woman asked, and Dakka turned to face her.

"Ah, yeah, I've got a little something I need checked out." She pointed at the hole in her armor. "Dude skewered me with a sword. Punctured my lower-left lung and collapsed it. Figured I'd have someone take a look at it while my friends and I are here."

The color drained from the woman's face and she began tapping buttons frantically. "Dear God," she muttered.

"Ha! If you think that's bad, you should see the guy who did it. His skull looks like a condom stuffed with walnut shells."

"Uh...okay." The woman pointed at a spot on the far end of the room. "If you'll just head over there, a doctor will come out for you in just a moment."

"Thanks." Dakka strode across the floor. When she passed Lia and Sidonis, a soft sobbing made her stop abruptly. She turned as Lia sank onto the lounge chair, leaned forward and raised her hands to her helmet. Dakka walked over to her and said, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's just now hitting me." Lia took a deep breath that turned into another sob. "There was a moment...in the firefight...when one of Kelham's men almost...almost killed me. He would have, too, if General Kurakova hadn't blown his head off with her sniper rifle." She tried to continue, but could only shake her head and burst into tears.

Sidonis reached out, hesitated, lowered his hand and just looked on uncomfortably.

"Hey." Dakka lowered herself carefully onto the chair and put her arm around Lia. "Feel up to telling me what happened?"

"Uh, Dakka..." Quint waved a hand at the surgery room door.

"Yeah, hold on, babe." Dakka held a hand up. "Lia, I don't mean to pry, but if talking about it would help...."

"He was right in front of me. Almost as close as you are now. We were just blasting away at each other at point-blank range. My heat sink depleted, but his didn't. I panicked. Froze. He kept wearing my shields down." Lia sobbed again. "If the general hadn't shot him, he would've blown my suit and my chest wide open. Even if I didn't die immediately, I would've bled out or an infection would've finished me off."

Dakka put her other arm around Lia and rubbed her back. "It's over now. You survived."

"I've just never been that close before. Even when I came aboard the Sulaco, I was terribly sick but there was a chance I'd pull through. But this--I'd never had someone standing right in front of me, determined to kill me."

A man's voice came from the left: "I'm told someone here needs immediate medical attention."

"It's her." Quint pointed at Dakka.

"Okay, if you'll just follow me, please?"

"Can you give us a minute?" Dakka glanced at the doctor and waved a hand at Lia. "We're right in the middle of something."

"Ma'am, you've got a collapsed lung."

"Uh, yeah, I'm aware of it. Give us a minute, okay?" She turned back to Lia, raised her hands to the girl's shoulders, and rubbed gently. "Don't worry, you'll get used to stuff like this."

Lia snorted. "That's a real fucking comfort."

Dakka snickered. Lia shook her head and burst out laughing. Dakka laughed with her and patted her back.

"There. Better?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Lia chuckled. "Sorry about this. I acted like a scared little kid."

"Don't worry about it. I've had my share of close calls, so I know where you're coming from." Dakka stood and patted Lia's shoulder. "When we're done with all this stuff, let's see if we can get you laid. That'll take your mind off what happened."

"Uh, well, I don't know, um...."

"Without taking your suit off, of course. Just make sure your neuro-stim software is up to date. If nothing else, I think you've earned a nice, relaxing massage, at least." Dakka grinned and pointed at the doctor. "Guess I should go have this guy plug my hole."

"That's my job," Quint said with a grin, and Dakka laughed.

"The one running through my lung, ya doof." She leaned over to lick his cheek. "See you soon."

"I'll wait right here."

She turned to follow the doctor. In the corner of her eye, Sidonis leaned over to Quint and muttered, "Uh, you and a krogan?"

"Hell, yeah." Quint grinned.

"How the hell are you still alive?"

Quint looked at Dakka and smiled. "Just lucky, I guess."

Dakka paused long enough to grin at him. "Me, too."

#

"I'm curious about something." Valeria leaned on Captain Bailey's desk and stared into his eyes. Her quiet yet menacing tone made Chula shiver. She glanced around at the four other C-Sec personnel in the front office and hoped things weren't about to go off the rails.

General Kurakova stepped up beside Valeria, crossed her arms over her chest, and arched an eyebrow at Bailey. Irving leaned on a vacant desk nearby and cleaned dried blood off his face with an antiseptic cloth from one of C-Sec's medical kits.

"First we find out that Kelham's been bribing you," Valeria continued, "then we find out he's been working with Cerberus. If you know anything about that, now's the time to come clean." She kept her voice soft, but there was no mistaking the razor's edge just under the surface.

Bailey slumped forward, rubbed a hand over his face, and grumbled, "Aw, shit."

"Potentially very deep." Valeria kept her eyes aimed into his.

He sighed and nodded at the door to Chula's right. "We can talk freely in there."

"The interrogation room," Valeria said.

"I thought it'd be appropriate. And we'll have privacy in there." Bailey opened the door and stepped through. Chula, being the closest, followed him, glancing to either side the instant she entered the room to be sure no one was waiting there to attack her. Finding no one else in the room, she moved aside to let the others in.

Bailey sat in the chair in the center of the room. The chair normally occupied by suspects being questioned, Chula noted.

Kurakova closed the door, crossed her arms again, and leaned against the wall. Chula stood beside her, as did Irving.

"Okay." Valeria walked slowly around Bailey like a predator circling its next meal. "Ready to answer my question?"

"I don't know all of what's going on." Bailey rubbed his forehead and grimaced, as if a headache were growing right behind his eyes. "At first, Kelham bribed me to keep my team away from him. As long as he kept out of anything too severe, I figured there were bigger problems to deal with. It kept the peace."

"And kept a steady flow of extra credits into your account," Chula said.

"Yeah. That, too." Bailey looked up and met Valeria's gaze as she continued circling. "Someone in Cerberus started using Kelham a few months ago, then gradually took over his operation. I don't know what they want, but if I had to guess, I'd say they're worming their way into the Citadel underworld and are planning to branch out from there. Maybe they're just doing it for a new revenue stream, or maybe they're getting ready to attempt a takeover--bribe or blackmail the right politicians and they could eventually take over and no one would even know."

"They've certainly gotten their hooks into Citadel Security." Valeria continued circling without taking her eyes off him.

"The rest of my team knew about the bribes, but they don't know what else is preventing me from saying, 'Fuck it,' and hitting Kelham and Cerberus with everything I have." He took a deep breath and let it out quickly. "They have my son."

Oh, wonderful. Chula shook her head. That explains a few things.

Valeria finally stopped pacing and put a hand on Bailey's shoulder. "Shit. I'm sorry. They tried the same thing with my husband."

Kurakova took a few steps forward. "I don't suppose you know where your son is being held?"

Bailey shook his head. "No idea. And if they find out I talked to you, they'll--"

Valeria nodded.

"They'll really do it, too. The guy in charge of the whole operation, Kai Leng, is a real whack-job."

"Not anymore," Chula said. "Dakka took him out."

"Seriously?" Bailey stared slack-jawed at her. "Just like that?"

"Well, first she slapped him around for a few minutes, then he stabbed her with his sword. That only pissed her off. She punched him twice and it was all over. Now his head looks like a tank ran over it."

Bailey chuckled. "Well, that's the thing with the krogan. If you don't get 'em in both hearts right off the bat, you're fucked." He shook his head. "Wherever my son is, they'll find out what happened here sooner or later."

"We'll question the people we arrested, then." Valeria turned to the door. "If they know where he is, I'll get it out of 'em."

Bailey nodded and stood. "When you get the location, I'm going with you."

She turned back to him, but he shook his head and spoke before she could say anything.

"I completely screwed up raising him. There's no way in hell I'm gonna let those bastards kill him, and no way I'm gonna just sit here on my ass while someone else rescues him. I'm going, and that's final."

Valeria nodded and turned to Chula. "Once I have the location, we could use a lift, if you're interested in an additional gig."

"I am. I'll run it by Weyland and Yutani, but I don't think they'll object."

"Much appreciated." Valeria glanced over her shoulder at Bailey. "I'll start questioning the Cerberus prisoners immediately. Once I'm done, I'll need to collect some equipment and supplies from the Spectre Requisitions office, then I'll meet you and the others in the docking bay."

He nodded. "I'll be ready."

"So will we." Chula opened the door and strode into the C-Sec office. She activated her Omni-Tool and signaled the two geth units.

"Standing by," Weyland said.

"What is up?" Yutani asked at the same time.

Wow. Starting to pick up human phrases. How adorable. She grinned and said, "Looks like we've picked up a search-and-rescue job."