Drew Karpyshyn - Ascension

He intended to wait to the last possible second before leaving, but that didn't mean he couldn't have everything ready beforehand.

The two soldiers rushed out to the airlock, while Grayson and the other man — the pilot who had flown the quarian vessel in — waited in silence.

He heard a loud, heavy thump coming from outside the ship. Curious, he made his way cautiously toward the airlock and saw a small, female figure covered head to toe in an enviro-suit standing in the center of the landing bay.

"Daddy?" the figure said. Though the voice was partially obscured by the mask and breathing apparatus, he recognized it instantly.

"Gigi," he said, dropping to one knee and holding out his hand to her.

She approached him in her familiar, stiff-legged walk until she was close enough for him to touch. Knowing her condition well, he dropped his hand without making contact. And then, to his great surprise, she lurched forward another step and hugged him.

Only when he was clasping his daughter to his chest did he notice the two soldiers he'd sent out only moments before — they were pinned beneath an overturned forklift the quarians would have used to load and unload cargo vessels. It looked as if the six-ton vehicle had somehow been picked up and dropped on them, crushing them like ants and killing them instantly.

Their private reunion was broken an instant later when he heard the copilot speaking behind him.

"S-s-sir," he said in a stuttering, trembling voice, staring at the mangled bodies of the two dead soldiers peeking out from beneath the forklift. "What happened to them?"

"Never mind," Grayson said sharply, releasing his hold on his daughter and standing up. "Just get on board and fire up the engines. It's time to go."

"We can't go yet," Gillian said. Grayson was surprised to hear real emotion in her voice, rather than the flat monotone he was used to. "We have to wait for my friends."

"Your friends?" he asked, humoring her.

"Hendel and Kahlee and Lemm," she answered. "Lemm's a quarian."

"We can't wait for them, honey," he told her gently.

She crossed her arms and stepped away from him — a gesture he'd never seen her use before.

"I'm not going without them," she said defiantly.

Grayson blinked in surprise, then nodded. "Okay, honey, we'll go find them."

As she turned away to head back toward the Idenna ys interior, he stepped up behind her and drew a small stunner from his belt. One quick shot between the shoulder blades and she slouched over into her father's waiting arms.

Feeling guilty over using the weapon on her, but knowing they had precious little time to spare, he scooped her up and carried her aboard the shuttle.

Once inside, he took her to the bedroom, setting her gently down on the bed. He removed the enviro-suit helmet, and for a long moment he just stared at her face, only glancing up when he heard the pilot addressing him again.

"Sir?" he said, standing at the door. "The docking clamps are still attached."

"Go release them," Grayson ordered. "I'm not leaving my daughter's side."

Theman nodded, then turned and left them alone.

"Don't worry, Gigi," he whispered. "I'll make sure they take good care of you from now on."

Kahlee ran through the deserted trading deck, heading for the shuttle Gillian now thought of as her home. She was so focused on finding the girl before something happened to her that she didn't even think to check on Hendel behind the desk.

She slowed down as she moved through the hall separating the trading deck and the landing bays, moving quietly in case any of the Cerberus troops were waiting for her.Her caution proved well founded; there was a single guard just outside the shuttle. He was standing with his back to her, one hand punching at a control panel to disengage the docking clamps on the vessel while his other hung at his side, casually gripping his assault rifle.

Gunfire might alert anyone else nearby, but that didn't mean she couldn't use her assault rifle as a weapon. She knew his armor was equipped with kinetic barriers, but they were programmed to respond specifically to speed. If you sat down or slapped someone on the back they didn't activate; it took a high-velocity round to trigger them. A sharp incoming blow to the head wouldn't be fast enough to set them off.

Moving quickly, Kahlee crept up behind him, wrapping her arms around the end of the barrel and holding the gun like a baseball bat. As soon as she got within range she took three quick running steps to build up momentum, then swung her makeshift club as hard as she could.

The sound of her feet clanging against the metal floor of the landing bay during her quick charge gave the soldier just enough warning to react. He half-turned toward her, bringing one arm up and ducking his head so that the blow landed on his shoulder rather than the side of his helmet. The force of the impact knocked his assault rifle from his grasp, and it clattered to the floor as he was knocked sideways, staggering to keep his balance.

Kahlee swung again, but she was in too close to get the leverage she needed. The blow struck him on the side of his helmet, but not hard enough to knock him out. Dazed, the soldier stumbled away from her, his hands fumbling for the pistol on his hip.

Spinning the assault rifle in her hands, Kahlee repositioned her grip so that she could jab forward with the heavy butt of the gun. She came in low, just beneath the edge of the three-quarter visor, smashing in the front teeth of his lower jaw. His head snapped back and he fell over. Kahlee leaped on top of him, driving the butt of the rifle down on his head with both hands.

Even his helmet couldn't protect him from the savage force of repeated impacts. After six consecutive blows Kahlee was certain he would never get up again. She gave him two more shots just to make sure.

Rising to her feet, she saw the assault rifle had been bent out of alignment by the attack.

Useless piece of volus crap, she thought as she grabbed the pistol from the dead soldier's belt.

With her enemy down, she took a quick glance around the rest of the landing bay. When she saw the bodies of the two Cerberus troopers beneath the fork-lift, she knew the girl had been by.

She crept into the shuttle, moving as quietly as possible. The passenger cabin was empty so she headed up to the cockpit, only to discover it was deserted as well. When she made her way to the sleeping quarters in the back, she was only mildly surprised to find Gillian lying on the bed, her father protectively sitting over her.

Raising the soldier's pistol, she pointed it at Grayson. "Get away from her, you son-of-a-bitch."

He glanced up at the sound of her voice, and his eyes widened in shock. It took him a moment to recognize her behind the enviro-suit and mask.

"Kahlee?" he muttered.

She nodded and gestured with the pistol, and Grayson slowly stood up and backed away from the bed.

Kahlee glanced down at Gillian and realized she was unconscious. "What did you do? Drug her again?" she demanded.

"Stunner," Grayson whispered, and Kahlee thought he actually sounded ashamed of himself. She realized that, despite everything he had done, he truly cared for his daughter. Somehow it made his devotion to Cereberus seem both more terrifying and more pathetic.

Then she felt the hard jab of a pistol digging into the side of her ribs.

"Drop the gun," a voice from behind her said.

For a split second Kahlee considered shooting Grayson. But killing her father wouldn't save Gillian, and it would almost certainly get Kahlee killed. Instead, she let the pistol fall from her hands.

"Lay facedown on the ground, hands behind your head," the voice ordered, jabbing her again with the pistol.