Drew Karpyshyn - Retribution

He pushed his way through the others on the dance floor, drawing irritated looks that quickly changed to envy when Liselle saw him and draped her arms around his neck to pull him in close.

“Aria seemed pleased with your work tonight,” she shouted, leaning in close to his ear to make her words heard above the music.

They were pressed tight against each other, Liselle’s body gyrating to the music while Grayson did his awkward best to try and match the rapidly pulsating rhythm.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he reminded her.

As he leaned in close to her ear, the familiar alluring scent of her perfume rose up and engulfed him.

For some reason, however, it didn’t rouse the normal lust-filled urges.

Liselle was quick to notice his lack of reaction. Grabbing him by the wrist, she quickly dragged him across the dance floor and into a corner where the music was only a dull roar.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

From her expression it was clear she was concerned, rather than upset. As it always did, her concern made Grayson feel guilty and somewhat ashamed.

He preferred to see their relationship as primarily physical. For the most part, Liselle seemed to have a similar perspective. To think it was anything more was ridiculous; even if they stayed together for the rest of Grayson’s life, she would live on for hundreds and hundreds of years after he was gone. Her developing any serious emotional attachment to him wouldn’t just be unlikely … it would be tragic.

“I’m fine,” he said with a shrug.

“Maybe we should go somewhere quiet.”

Normally he would have jumped at her suggestion. Tonight, however, it felt wrong for some reason.

Like he would be taking advantage of her somehow.

“I think I’m just tired,” he said apologetically, looking for a way to let her down easy. “Maybe I should go home and get some rest.”

“You were talking to her again, weren’t you?” Liselle said with a wan smile. “Your mystery woman. You always get like this after you talk to her.”

Grayson had never told Liselle anything about his past. She didn’t know about Kahlee, or Gillian, or his time with Cerberus. But there had been occasions when he’d mentioned the need to make a private call, and obviously Liselle had pieced some things together.

She’s a lot more perceptive than you give her credit for.

Again, it was clear Liselle wasn’t angry. She seemed a little disappointed, but she also seemed to understand and accept his reaction. Which only made Grayson feel even worse.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, not sure what else he could say.

Liselle leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.

“If you change your mind tonight, give me a call.”

And with that she was gone, disappearing back into the crowd of dancers, where she was quickly consumed by a wave of eager admirers.

No longer in the mood for the club, Grayson returned to the entrance on level three. One of the asari at the check counter winked at him. He nodded politely in response, then headed back out into the street, still wondering if turning Liselle down had been self-sacrificing or simply selfish.

Kai Leng waited patiently in the line of patrons waiting to enter Afterlife. Though it was unlikely he’d run into anyone who’d recognize him on Omega — even Grayson had never met him — he’d still taken steps to hide his identity. He’d dyed his black hair blond and darkened the pigmentation of his skin. The signature ouroboros tattoo on the back of his neck — a snake devouring its tail — was covered with a temporary design of a Celtic knot.

Based on the length of the line, it would be several more hours before he reached the door and was allowed to enter Afterlife, and that was fine by him. He was here to wait, watching patiently for Grayson to reemerge.

Since tracking the former Cerberus member down on Omega nearly two weeks ago, Kai Leng had studied his routine from afar. He was learning Grayson’s patterns, familiarizing himself with his routine.

He had been surprised to discover that Grayson was working for Aria T’Loak; he had risen quickly through the ranks until he’d become a valuable minion of Omega’s most powerful crime lord. That complicated the extraction. Cerberus couldn’t just grab him from a public place and make a break for one of the spaceports. Aria’s influence spread too far on the station; someone would report the abduction. They’d end up having to fight their way through the Pirate Queen’s people to try and escape, and Kai Leng didn’t like those odds.

Secrecy was the key. Capture Grayson alone, where nobody would notice him missing. Get him off the station before anyone even knew he was gone. And make sure nobody could trace it back to Cerberus.

This had proved to be much harder than it sounded. Grayson was careful; he rarely went out in public unless he was on a mission for Aria. The club, a busy grocery store, and the apartment of his asari whore were the only places he ever seemed to visit.

Taking him at his own apartment was the preferred option, of course, but he lived in a secure district.

Any attack on Grayson would have to involve some plan to first get past the guards protecting his neighborhood.

It would have been so much easier if the Illusive Man had simply wanted Grayson dead. Kai Leng could have completed that job within hours of locating him: a slow-acting poison slipped into his drink at the club; a sniper shot between the eyes from a hidden vantage point as Grayson walked down the street.

But extraction was always more difficult than simple assassination.

Kai Leng wasn’t acting alone, of course. He had six of his own people — loyal Cerberus operatives — on standby in an apartment in a neighboring, human-controlled district, just waiting for him to give the signal. With a little luck, it could happen in the next few hours.

Everything had been in place a few days ago, when Grayson had suddenly dropped off the radar. At first Kai Leng feared he’d been made, but some careful inquiries revealed that Grayson had gone on a special mission for Aria. He hadn’t been able to learn all the details, but he’d gathered enough secondhand information to know it had something to do with drugs and one of the rival gangs.

Kai Leng had staked out the club, knowing Grayson’s eventual return to his alien master was inevitable. For three nights he had waited for a glimpse of his target in vain. But tonight his perseverance had been rewarded.

Grayson had entered the club less than an hour ago. If he went home alone tonight, instead of accompanied by the young asari he was sleeping with, they’d strike. If he wasn’t alone, they’d wait for another chance. Kai Leng was nothing if not patient.

Still, he was eager to get off the station. There were too many aliens on Omega, and too few of his own kind. He was an outsider here, subject to the whims of strange beings with cultures and values he had no interest in adapting to. The high crime rate, brutal dictatorship of the gangs, and relative powerlessness of humanity were a grim example of the Illusive Man’s vision of an alien-dominated future.

Kai Leng was convinced that anyone who had doubts about Cerberus had only to visit Omega to truly grasp the fundamental necessity of a pro-human organization willing to do whatever was necessary to defend the species.

The VIP door to the club opened and everyone in line craned their necks eagerly to see who was coming out. They hoped to see a large group: six, seven, or eight individuals leaving the club meant the same number waiting in line would be allowed in to take their place. On seeing only a single human exiting, a palpable murmur of disappointment rippled through the crowd.