by Joan Jett
"Sorry, Shepard. I really don't like arachnids. It won't happen again. At least I hope not."
"Arachnids," I repeated. "Merciful Goddess."
"Liara? Do you recognize them after all?"
I opened my omni-tool and began paging frantically through some of the texts in my database. "Archaeologists don't study xenobiology, but we do study galactic history."
"History? How is that relevant?"
"This is how," I said, and called up a hologram. The image looked almost exactly like the dead creature at our feet. It was labeled.
Shepard cursed venomously.
Rachni.
Chapter 11 : The Hot Labs
14 March 2183, Peak 15/Noveria
Twenty miserable hours followed.
We searched the Peak 15 complex thoroughly. We found no trace of any of the Binary Helix scientists or technicians. We also found no sign of Benezia, her acolytes, or her commandos.
We did find a detailed map of the complex, which informed us of the existence of two outlying facilities at something called Rift Station. If she had survived, Benezia had most likely gone there. Unfortunately we could not follow. A passenger tramway provided the only safe transport, and that tramway was completely inactive.
In fact, most of the major systems at Peak 15 were inactive. Eventually we decided to repair and regain control of the whole facility. We could see no other way to proceed.
In better times, Binary Helix would have had dozens of technicians on hand to do the work. We had three people. Of course, that included one genuine technical genius, one scientist with over fifty years of experience in field repairs, and Shepard. Nothing seemed impossible when we started the job.
Unfortunately we also had an apparently unending supply of rachni.
The little scampering workers absolutely infested the computer core, constantly spilling out of access panels and trying to spray acid over us. Half a dozen of the big workers and another swarm of workers guarded the landline communications links up on the roof. Another warrior lurked in the power transfer array, alone but unusually large and cunning. Every time we passed through a corridor between major compartments, we could expect to hear movement in the ventilation ducts, followed by a warrior or half a dozen workers leaping out to the attack.
For variety, the reactor core was full of geth.
We worked for endless hours, always with our weapons close at hand. I spent most of the time with little flares of dark energy dancing around my shoulders and arms, ready to bring my biotics into play at a moment's notice. At first the constant fighting kept us on edge, but one can become accustomed to almost anything in time.
I remember one occasion . . .
At the time we were trying to reconnect a set of cables to carry power to the passenger tramway. Tali lay on her back while she worked, half buried in the nest of cables, applying a welding torch and her omni-tool. I scanned the cables themselves to make sure there were no hidden breaks or twists. Shepard rested for the moment, dozing lightly until the next time we needed his physical strength.
Suddenly a rachni warrior crashed through the ceiling above us. Shepard instantly snapped awake. He rolled to one side, producing his assault rifle and attacking the warrior with concentrated fire. I wrapped a field of biotic energy around it and sent it flying down the corridor away from us. Within moments we had killed it.
Tali never moved, except to extend a hand out to us and demand another tool. Shepard gave it to her, settled back down in his place by the wall, and went instantly back to sleep. It took me a few more moments to recover, but then I too went back to work as if nothing had happened.
The rachni posed a serious threat as individuals, but they didn't fight intelligently or use pack tactics. Given their fearsome reputation, that seemed very strange.
We had no trouble defeating the warriors by ones and twos. We feared the little workers only in very large numbers. Rarely did we face real peril. Even so, stress, fatigue, and hunger wore us down as the day passed. Constant exposure to the acidic rachni venom took its toll. We felt increasingly weary and sick.
About local midnight the passenger tramway finally came online, promising us a rachni-free ride to the Rift Station labs. I nearly wept with relief. We all sat down in comfort in the tramway car. Tali and I caught an hour of blessed sleep while Shepard watched over us.
* * *
15 March 2183, Rift Station/Noveria
I startled awake when the car came to a halt. For a moment I thought I saw Shepard watching me from his seat, a strange intensity in his gaze. I blinked sleep out of my eyes and it was gone, if it had ever been there in the first place. We all emerged from the car into the Rift Station.
"Where now, Shepard?" asked Tali.
We found a map. Binary Helix had built Rift Station into the far side of Peak 15, situated above an immense sheet of glacial ice. Close by we saw the symbol for an active lift, leading to a complex of quarters and small laboratories labeled Main Research. A second lift, currently locked down, led deep into the glacier itself and another facility labeled Hot Labs.
"Let's check out Main Research first," Shepard decided. "Any survivors would probably hole up where they had food and shelter. We might even find Benezia there."
I followed Shepard anxiously, wondering if my mother was only a few moments away.
The lift ride was very short. The doors opened . . .
"Hold your fire!" shouted a human voice.
We emerged into a small but extensively fortified foyer. Several heavily armed guards crouched behind crates and sheets of metal. Their leader, a bald male human in bulky white armor, emerged from behind the makeshift barricade to meet us.
"Captain Jesús Ventralis, Elanus Risk Control Services," he introduced himself. "Sorry about the welcome. We couldn't be sure what was on the tram."
"Can the rachni actually work a train's controls?" Shepard asked.
"Hell if I know. I'd rather not make any assumptions. I have to ask, who are you and what brings you down here?"
"My name is Shepard, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. These are my associates, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya and Dr. Liara T'Soni. We're on Noveria on Citadel business."
At the mention of my name I saw a flicker of surprise in Captain Ventralis's eyes, immediately suppressed. "Well, I won't look a heavily-armed gift horse in the mouth. It's been nothing short of hell here since those bugs got out of the hot labs a week ago. First thing I knew the bastards were already clawing into my command post. I had a lot more staff then."
"You've done a good job, surviving this long. I'll do whatever I can for you."
"I appreciate it. Binary Helix sent an asari to clean up the mess. She went into the hot labs days ago and we haven't seen her since."
"Matriarch Benezia?" I asked.
Ventralis hesitated. "Yeah, I think that was the name."
"Is she still there?"
"She never came back through here. You came from Central Station, so she hasn't left that way. My best guess is that the bugs ate her, but who knows? No way to find out but go down to the hot labs and look, and it's too dangerous for me to send my own men down there."
"We'll go check it out," said Shepard. "Can you unlock the emergency lift?"
Ventralis took a pass-card from his hip pocket. "Here, this will do it for you. I wish you wouldn't go. We could use you up here."
"We'll be back soon enough," Shepard said confidently.
We turned to go back to the tramway station. I waited until we were in the lift once more with the door closed. "Commander, I am reasonably certain Captain Ventralis was lying to us."
"Something did seem a bit off," he agreed. "I thought it might have been just stress and fatigue."
"It was more than that. He recognized my name, though he did his best to conceal the fact. Notice also how quickly he mentioned my mother, and directed us down to the hot labs to find her, even though he pretended to be unconcerned about her presence or her fate."
"Hm
m. Are you willing to take a bet that she isn't down in the hot labs at all?"
I shook my head and smiled slightly. "No, Commander."
"Too bad. I wonder where she is, then. We've just about exhausted the possibilities."
"The process of elimination would suggest that she is behind Captain Ventralis."
He nodded. "That will be our next step if this doesn't pan out."
Tali couldn’t remain still during the fast lift ride down to the hot labs, bouncing on her toes and fidgeting. Shepard was quieter, but even he checked his assault rifle three times on the short journey. Personally I wished that I could just prop myself up on the wall and sleep.
When the lift doors opened, we emerged with weapons already drawn and ready. Silence met us as we advanced into the facility, checking the rooms on either side of the main corridor, at first finding no sign of anyone.
Then Tali turned suddenly to point her shotgun at a locked door. "There's something in there."
We waited, but whatever Tali heard did not repeat itself. Shepard nodded to her and pointed to the code-lock on the door. Tali quickly hacked through the lock. The door opened.
Darkness in the space behind the door. Shepard turned on the flashlight attached to his assault rifle, catching a form huddled on the floor. The shape turned and blinked at us in the sudden light, then rose, leaning heavily on a workbench. I saw a male human in a Binary Helix lab coat, haggard and worn as if he had been deprived of food and sleep for many days. Dried blood painted the right leg of his trousers, and a makeshift dressing covered much of his upper leg. His eyes glittered feverishly in the light.
"Are you here to secure situation?" he asked, his voice thick with an accent I had never heard before.
"Who are you?" demanded Shepard.
"I am Yaroslav Abramovich Tartakovsky. Chief Scientist for Binary Helix project. You must listen. This is Code Omega scenario. If we do not contain our mistake, they will drop bombs from battle-stations. You understand?"
"Wait a minute. Is there an asari Matriarch here?"
Tartakovsky frowned. "Asari? I have not seen one."
"Commander, I believe you would have won your bet," I murmured.
The scientist made a frustrated gesture with his free hand. "This is not important. You must be listening! Binary Helix find derelict ship, thousands of years drifting. This was rachni ship. Inside we find many eggs, in cryogenic suspension. One egg still viable. Very tough, to be so long frozen. Binary Helix plan to clone rachni. Mass produce them. Create army. But when we get here and hatch egg, we find is not common rachni. Is queen. Better for project, can work with natural reproductive cycle, no need to clone strange species. When she lays eggs, we move her to Rift Station. We are thinking that without her nearby, can raise rachni to be obedient to us."
Shepard shook his head in disgust. "Obviously that didn't work."
"Eh. This was exactly wrong thing to do. I am thinking that without queen, rachni are not developing properly. Her mind is shaping theirs, teaching them cooperation. Without her, rachni become feral. Uncontrollable."
"Is she still alive? Could we bring her here to take control of the wild rachni?"
"No! I am sorry, but this will not work. These rachni are beyond saving. Must be destroyed through local Code Omega execution, or Executive Board will be killing us all. Must set off neutron purge."
"How do we do that?"
"Arming controls are nearby. Help me get to them. Then we insert key and I give VI destruct codes. You run, get away before purge. I cannot run, will only slow you down. Leave me to pay for mistakes."
Shepard sighed. "You're sure no one else has come down here to deal with the outbreak?"
"No. Most of my colleagues are dead, eaten by rachni. Only I escape to secure vault. Lock emergency lift and tramway. No one else has come here."
"All right, then let's get the job done and get out of here."
We moved slowly down the corridor, Tartakovsky leaning heavily on me to take the weight off his wounded leg.
The ceiling caved in, and a warrior rachni leaped screeching into our midst.
I screamed and recoiled, throwing my arms up to defend myself from a snarl of sharp edges. Tartakovsky twisted away from me and collapsed onto the floor. That at least left my hands free. I made a panicky gesture and the rachni lifted into the air, spinning helplessly as it skimmed away a few inches above the floor. Shepard and Tali fired, killing the creature.
By some miracle I was uninjured, but I could hear the sound of movement in the walls, in the ventilation ducts, muffled but coming closer. A lot of noise, coming from all sides.
Gasping for breath, I turned to Tartakovsky. He sprawled on the floor, quite dead, a surprised expression on his face. A bloody mess oozed where his chest had been. The rachni must have impaled him on its sharp-edged claws as it leaped to the attack.
"The codes!" shouted Shepard.
I knelt and frantically searched his body, finding nothing.
The sounds of rachni grew louder.
Desperate, I picked up Tartakovsky's left arm and tore the omni-tool bracelet from his wrist, throwing it to Tali.
We ran.
The corridor behind us filled with rachni as we hurried through a double-thick door labeled SECURITY CONTROL. The door closed behind us. Shepard and I covered it with our weapons as Tali moved to the master control panel. I heard a chirp behind us as she opened Tartakovsky's omni-tool and began data-mining it for the destruct codes.
We heard a loud thump from the door, a scraping as of large claws on metal.
"Got it!" shouted Tali. "VI!"
"Connecting," said the VI in its neutral feminine voice. "I have full access to this facility and am at your disposal."
An even louder thump from the door. I thought I saw the metal flex slightly.
"Activate the neutron purge! Code input, eight-seven-five-zero-two-zero-zero-seven-nine, Code Omega local execution."
"Verified," said the VI. "Code Omega execution in 120 seconds."
Shepard and I stared at each other, eyes wide, and I knew we were thinking the same thing.
"Tali, come on. We are leaving!"
Shepard held a fist near the door control and glanced at me.
I called up a biotic surge, my whole body suddenly bright with blue fire, and nodded to him.
He slammed his fist on the control, opening the door.
A shockwave of telekinetic force erupted through the door and down the corridor outside. The rachni warrior trying to force the door was hurled backward, tumbling wildly as it went.
Shepard charged through the door right behind my biotic attack, already firing his assault rifle at anything that moved. He had no lack of targets. The whole corridor teemed with movement.
I broke into a sprint right behind Shepard, Tali only a few steps behind me. As I ran I changed techniques, converting my initial telekinetic surge into a barrier wall, maintaining it just in front of Shepard as he led our escape. The barrier picked up worker rachni and hurled them away, to smash against the ceiling, walls, or floor of the corridor. The massive warriors stood their ground, but Shepard kept up his weapons fire, wounding them, forcing each one to recoil for the moment we needed to press past it. Behind me I could hear Tali firing her shotgun, killing warriors as we passed.
One stream of venom struck Shepard’s armor, then a second. He stumbled for a moment, stopping my heart with terror, but then he recovered and continued his desperate run.
A wounded warrior lashed out with its claws as I passed, laying my cheek open with a razor-sharp edge, barely missing my right eye. I gasped with belated horror and kept moving.
Behind me, Tali shrieked with sudden terror and blasted away at something with her shotgun. When I glanced behind I couldn't see what had frightened her, but she was unhurt and keeping up. I put it out of my mind.
We sprinted into the lift. Shepard whirled and fired on a warrior in mid-air, cutting short a flying leap that would have ended with the monste
r crashing into Tali from behind. I pushed desperately at the controls, the door slammed shut, and the lift began to move.
Seconds ticked away and became a minute, then two minutes. We realized that we were going to live.
Chapter 12 : An End to Suffering
15 March 2183, Rift Station/Noveria
Before we continued on, we took a few moments in the tramway station to rest and tend to minor wounds. Shepard had taken six or seven superficial wounds during his charge through the swarm of rachni in the hot labs. Tali had managed to escape injury, although she desperately needed rest. I had only the one cut on my face, not serious even though it had bled copiously.
Shepard carefully applied medi-gel to the wound on my cheek. He was gentle and dispassionate about it, but the touch of his hands on my face still sent my heart racing. If he saw my color darken, or noticed that I suddenly couldn’t meet his eyes, he was kind enough to say nothing about it.
Goddess. Admit it to yourself, Liara, this human affects you in ways you never considered possible. But now is not the time!
Once again we entered the Main Research area, this time cautiously, all senses alert, our weapons out and ready. Captain Ventralis and his men had abandoned the barricades in the foyer, leaving the space empty.
"I don't like this," said Shepard. "Smells like an ambush."
"Perhaps with the rachni dead in the hot labs, they felt able to withdraw their defenses and rest," I suggested.
"You don't believe that any more than I do, Liara."
"No. I suppose I don't."
We advanced slowly up a corridor behind the barricade, following signs that pointed to the BARRACKS AND MEDICAL BAY. A final door opened, revealing a large open space.
It also revealed an ambush.
Captain Ventralis and several of his ERCS guardsmen crouched in well-fortified positions on the other side of the bay. A hail of gunfire poured down on us, terribly intense, almost enough to kill us outright even though we had been on the alert. Shepard had to move into the bay, against the barrage, before he could throw himself to the floor behind a workbench. My own shields flared and collapsed a split second after I put up a biotic barrier. Even today I do not like to think how close I came to death in that moment. Tali had less difficulty, as her shields were stronger than either of ours. She broke right and found a scrap of cover behind an overturned table.