Drew Karpyshyn - Ascension

"She's still weak from her ordeal," Hendel countered, his voice rising. "Biotics require an extremely high caloric intake to—"

"I've got food on my ship."

"She needs a specially balanced diet because of her condition," Hendel stressed.

"I'd rather have her miss out on a few optimally nutritious meals than leave her here with you people!" Grayson shouted, his anger boiling over. "The last time she was in this hospital somebody tried to kill her!"

Kahlee held her hand up to cut off Hendel before he responded. "We'll make sure there's a guard posted outside her room at all times," she assured Grayson.

"What if the guard is working for this Cerberus group?" he shot back. "What about the nurses who check on the monitors? Or the people who fix the meals? Don't tell me she'll be safe here!"

"She won't be safe anywhere!" Hendel shot back. "Do you have any idea who you're dealing with? Cerberus probably has agents on every Alliance world and colony. They've got operatives in every level of the government and the military! If you take her away from here, they'll find you!"

"Damn it, Hendel!" Kahlee shouted, smacking him hard on the shoulder to shut him up. He looked over at her angrily, but kept quiet when he saw the expression on her face.

"Why don't you go tell Gillian you're leaving," she suggested to Grayson. "We'll find someone to unhook the machines."

"Thank you," Grayson replied, with a small nod of acknowledgment. Then he turned and made his way back toward Gillian's room.

Kahlee waited until he disappeared inside the door before wheeling on Hendel.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded. "Did you really think you could scare him into letting Gillian stay?"

"He should be scared," the security chief replied. "Cerberus is dangerous. You can't let them leave."

"We don't have any other choice," she told him. "Gillian's not a prisoner here. If her father wants to take her, we can't stop him."

"Then stall him," he insisted. "At least until we learn more from Jiro."

"And how long is that going to take?" she asked, incredulous. "An hour? A day?"

"That little punk wasn't calling the shots," Hendel told her. "We've got to keep Grayson around until we find out who was giving Jiro his orders."

"You can't possibly think he's involved?" Kahlee asked in disbelief.

"I get a bad vibe from him," the security chief told her. "There's something off about that guy. And even if he isn't working for Cerberus, he's still a drug addict! I'm not turning Gillian over to him without a fight.-

She knew Hendel well enough to realize he wasn't going to back down. She also knew Grayson was scared for his daughter's life, and he wasn't going to let Hendel bully him. If she didn't come up with a solution, something bad was going to happen. Her mind was racing, shuffling through ideas, trying to sort out some way to resolve the situation.

As if on cue, she saw Grayson and Gillian, still wearing her hospital gown, exiting the room. Hendel saw them, too, and headed straight for them.

And that's when a wild plan hatched in Kahlee's frantic brain.

Grayson's heart was pounding as he waited in the hospital room for a nurse to come and disconnect the machines monitoring Gillian's status. He had played his part well enough so far, but he knew it was only a matter of time before the Alliance interrogators got Jiro to cough up the name of his contact. He needed to be well away from the station before that happened.

He began to pace anxiously in the room, back and forth at the foot of Gillian's bed.

The nurse isn't coming. The security chief is on to you. He's stalling. You're out of time.

He made a quick turn, breaking off his pacing, and stepped quickly over to the bed so he could lean in close to Gillian's ear. "Come on, Gigi. Wake up, honey. It's time to go."

She stirred and sat up, her eyes bleary and still half-asleep.

"Where are we going?"

He didn't answer, but instead turned his attention to the machines. Everything looked straightforward enough.

"We have to hurry, Gigi," he said, turning back to his daughter. "I need to unhook the machines, okay?"

She looked concerned, the anxiety on her face mirroring his own, but she nodded. It only took him a minute to disconnect her: he just had to remove a few simple electrodes taped to her head, a monitor strapped to her wrist, and another strapped to her abdomen. She flinched each time his fingers touched her bare skin, her face twisting into a grimace of discomfort. The moment when she had reached out and voluntarily touched his hand now seemed long, long ago.

"All done," he said when he was finished.

He cast around the room frantically until he lo-cated a pair of sandals in the corner. Picking them up, he brought them over to the side of the bed and set them on the floor.

"Put your shoes on. Quickly, now."

Gillian did as she was told, and a few seconds later the two of them were out in the hallway. They didn't get more than ten feet before Grayson felt a heavy hand come down on his shoulder, hard enough to make him wince.

He spun around, not at all surprised to see it was Hendel who had stopped him. Kahlee was standing just behind the big security chief, looking confused and uncertain.

"You were supposed to wait for the nurse," Hendel said in an angry voice.

Grayson shrugged his hand off. "Every second we stay here Gillian could be in danger. I'm done wait-ing."

"Where are you going to go?" Hendel challenged. "Where do you think you can take her that Cerberus won't find you?"

"I know people in the Terminus Systems," he answered quickly, knowing he had to tell them something. "People I trust."

"Who's that? Your dust dealer?"

Grayson didn't answer, but simply turned away. Hendel grabbed him again and spun him around, grabbing his shirt and slamming him up against the wall. Pinned there, he saw Gillian watching the confrontation with a look of pure terror.

"Wait!" Kahlee said, stepping in to separate them. "What if we came with you?"

Both men just looked at her like she was crazy.

"You want to get Gillian out of here," she said to Grayson, speaking quickly. "What if we come with you? I can monitor Gillian's implants, and Hendel has basic medical training."

Neither man replied, though Hendel did let go of Grayson's shirt and took a step back.

"If you're really hiding from a terrorist group then you'll need all the help you can get," Kahlee added.

"How do I know I can trust you two?" Grayson asked in a guarded tone.

"Hendel already saved Gillian's life once," Kahlee reminded him. "As for me, you'll just have to go with your instincts."

Grayson nodded, this unexpected scenario already playing out in his head. It wasn't the ideal situation, but every second he was still on the station brought him closer to being exposed. All he needed to do was get clear of the Academy, then he could deal with these two on his own terms.

But first he had to sell it. "You understand what this means, right? You'll probably both lose your jobs."

Kahlee exchanged glances with Hendel. She turned back to Grayson and nodded solemnly.

"Fine. You two can come," he said. "But we have to leave right now, and we don't tell anyone where we're going. If there are other Cerberus agents here at the Academy, I don't want to give them a chance to follow us."

"Fair enough," Kahlee agreed, then turned to Hendel. "Are you in?"

He hesitated before responding. "If I'm going to keep an eye on Gillian — and you — then it looks like I don't have a choice." He met Grayson's glare. "I'm in."

Grayson turned back to Gillian, crouching down slightly so that their eyes were level. She still looked terrified.

"It's okay, Gigi," he said softly. "Nobody's mad anymore. Now we're all going to go on a trip together, okay?"