Drew Karpyshyn: Ascension

She did as ordered, and then she heard the sound of her unknown assailant walking past her over toward the bed.

"Don't touch her, Golo," Grayson warned, the cold anger in his voice causing the footsteps to stop.

Flat on her belly, Kahlee dared to tilt her head to look up. She was stunned to see he was speaking with a quarian.

The world came back to Hendel in a wave of pain. Every bone and muscle in his body ached from being slammed into the wall, and as consciousness slowly returned, he just lay there, trying to get his bearings. After a few seconds, it all started to come back to him. He was on the trading deck, where the quarians had been battling Cerberus.

He could still hear gunfire, but it was coming from far away.

The fight moved to the deck above.

Ignoring his protesting muscles, he forced himself to stand up. There were a few seconds of vertigo before he steadied himself. Looking around, he located his assault rifle where it had fallen on the floor and picked it up.

Gotta go help Kablee and the others.

Before he could clamber out from behind the desk, however, he heard heavy footsteps running down the stairs. Two Cerberus guards burst into view from the deck above, their attention not focused on Hendel, but rather on the quarians pursuing them.

They're retreating! Hendel realized. We've won!

Biotics were out of the question. His head was still spinning slightly from being thrown, and he suspected he had a mild concussion. But he was feeling well enough to use his assault rifle.

Relying on the weapon's autotargeting systems to overcome any lingering unsteadiness he might be feeling, he lined up the nearest Cerberus soldier and opened fire.

From this range, the bullets made short work of his shields. They lasted just long enough for him to turn toward Hendel, but not long enough for himto bring his weapon up and return fire.

Thesecond soldier wheeled on him as the first fell to the ground, and Hendel had to duck behind the heavy desk for cover. The first burst from his enemy chewed away huge chunks of hardwood, but the cover held together in time for Hendel to dart into the safety of the stockroom.

He poked his head through the door to return fire, only to see that the Cerberus soldier was about to be caught in a crossfire. Hendel opened fire, as did several quarians coming down the stairs from the deck above. With enemies both in front and behind, the soldier didn't last more than three seconds.

"It's me, Hendel!" he shouted out from the stockroom, not wanting to suddenly pop into view and get accidentally shot.

"Hendel!" he heard Lemm shout. "You're alive!"

He walked out from the storeroom and climbed gingerly over the desk. Lemm, Mai, and four other quarians were gathered at the foot of the stairs.

"Is that the last of them?" Hendel asked, nodding toward the dead Cerberus troopers on the ground. He figured the fight was over, as he didn't hear anymore gunfire.

"There might be one or two left," the captain answered, "falling back to the Cyniad"

"They had us on the run, when all of a sudden they broke into a full retreat," Lemm added.

"Why would they—" Hendel began, then stopped short."Where's Kahlee? Where's Gillian?"

Nobody answered.

"Cerberus has her!" Hendel shouted. "That's why they're pulling out!"

As a group, they broke into a run, heading for the landing bays.

"Should I shoot her?" Golo asked.

Grayson looked at Kahlee, still lying facedown on the ground in her enviro-suit. The quarian had his pistol pointed at the back of her head.

"No," Grayson said. "Keep her alive. She's an expert in biotic amp configurations. Cerberus might want her to help with Gillian's new training."

"I'll never help you with your sick experiments," Kahlee spat out from the floor.

"Quiet," Golo warned, kicking her hard in the ribs. Grayson winced.

Kahlee grunted and rolled over onto her back, her hands clutching at her side."Gillian will hate you for this," she gasped, trying to catch her breath. "She'll never forgive you."

The quarian hauled off and kicked her again, causing her to pull her knees up into a fetal position to try and protect herself.

"Enough!" Grayson snapped.

"How can you let them do this to your own daughter?" Kahlee asked through gritted teeth, still balled up from the pain.

"Did you see the forklift out there?" Grayson demanded. "Do you see what Gillian is capable of? That's because of what Cerberus did!"

"They want to make her into a weapon," Kahlee countered, panting behind her mask. Grayson guessed several of her ribs were broken. "They're turning her into some kind of monster."

"They're transforming her into a savior of the human race," he countered.

"We don't have time for this," Golo warned.

"They're destroying her," Kahlee snarled, her words filled with pain and anger. "Those drugs made her condition worse. Without them, she has a chance to be almost normal!"

Unbidden, the memory of Gillian actually hugging him outside the airlock filled Grayson's mind. He remembered her words, and her surprising defiance.

We have to wait for my friends. I'm not leaving without them.

"Gillian was happy here," Kahlee continued. "Have you ever seen that before? She was actually happy!"

"Shut up!" Golo shouted, kicking her again.

This time he didn't stop, but continued to beat on her until Grayson snapped, "No more! That's enough. It's over."

Golo looked over at him, panting slightly from the exertion, and shrugged. On the ground Kahlee was rolling feebly from side to side, moaning and whimpering from behind her mask.

Grayson's eyes flicked away from her and over to Gillian on the bed. She looked so small, vulnerable and helpless.

Salvation comes with a cost, he seemed to hear the Illusive Man saying in his head. His mind flashed back to the mutilated quarian in the cellar of Pel's warehouse.

Judge us not by our methods, but by what we seek to accomplish.

"We're almost out of time," Golo reminded him. "We have to leave now. We can't wait for the others."

Grayson was suddenly struck by the similarities between the quarian and his former partner. Both were sadistic and cruel. Both had no compunction about torturing or killing others for personal gain.

And both were traitors to their own people. It sickened him to think about the kind of individuals he had allied himself with.

We take terrible burdens on ourselves for the greater good. This is the price we must pay for the cause.

"Get the engines fired up and get us out of here," Grayson ordered.

As the quarian turned to leave, Grayson calmly bent over and picked up the pistol Kahlee had let fall to the floor. He stepped up behind the quarian and jammed the barrel against the back of his helmet, too close for the kinetic barriers to save him. And then he shot Golo once through the head, the bullet exiting through the front of his mask and lodging itself in the shuttle's bulkhead.

As the quarian toppled forward, Grayson let the pistol fall from his hand. He turned and looked down at Kahlee, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking behind her mask.

"The ship we arrived on is filled with explosives," he told her. "We have about two minutes before they detonate and rip a hole in the side of the Idenna.I'llneed your help if we want to stop it.

"Can you walk?" he asked, reaching down and offering a hand to help her to her feet.

She hesitated for a split second before grabbing it and hauling herself up with a groan.

"I can damn well try," she answered.

Hendel and the quarians were running at a full sprint as they burst into the loading docks. The Cy-niad was in bay seven, on the far end past all the other ships. The former security chief's long strides had pulled him slightly ahead of the others, but they caught up when he stopped to stare in amazement at the two figures coming out of the airlock in bay three.