CHAPTER SIX

After what felt like ages, the hospital finally began to evacuate completely. The majority of Earth’s forces were centered around the hospital so it had been one of the only places they had been able to keep safe. Ironically enough, the longer it lasted, the more it got hit. It had only been about a week since the initial attack, no one could really hold count anymore. To them, it felt like...ages. The city was in ruins. And the hospital was no longer safe. There were areas that had been collapsed and other’s that would be following soon. Very soon. It was also easier for the husks to get inside now. They’d crawl in through areas that no one would even expect. Eventually, they had to start evacuating. The strain of fighting had become to much for them all, not to mention, the Reapers seemed to have an unlimited amount of ground forces...something the Alliance didn’t have.

Len listened intently at the information coming in from one of the coms. He had bribed one of the officers with a bag of chips he had found down in one of the vending machines that was near the morgue of the hospital. A lot of them didn’t want to go down there. Len didn’t either. But Zeek...he liked it there. So Len made Zeek look for something that he could use to bribe one of the soldiers with. When Zeek had given him the bag of potato chips, Len almost threw them out the window but Zeek swore that they would do the trick. Surprisingly, they had. 

After he was done listening, he hesitated for a moment and just stared down at the table. He blinked a few times and looked back at the soldier eating his potato chips. “Thanks.” He handed the com back to the man.

“Just don’t tell anyone.”

“I wont.” He had had to bribe the guy to use the com because there were strict orders to keep the larger communication devices on specific frequencies in order to stay informed of what was happening around their vicinity. “By the way, where do we stand on the evacuation?” Len asked before he turned to leave. 

“We’re almost completely moved out. Another day at the most.”

Len nodded and walked out into the hall but before he could get far, Zeek walked out from behind the corner as if he had been waiting for him. “How’s Palaven?”

Len opened his mouth to say something but stopped, a bit surprised that he had known he was checking in on his home world.

“You’re a Turian. I took a wild guess.”

Len took in a deep breath and looked away, quiet for a long while. “Bad.”

Zeek looked down and then back at Len. “I’m sorry.”

Len nodded, “Yeah...” He cleared his throat and shifted around on his feet. “I, uh...checked on Thessia and Surkesh too.”

Zeek clenched his fists slightly. An action he usually did when he started to get nervous.

“Thessia...” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not good...and Surkesh, I wasn’t able to get much on it but it seems like they’re not getting hit very bad.”

Zeek swallowed and nodded. “Thank you.”

Len nodded. “Yeah.” He walked passed Zeek to continue down the hall. “Oh and, thanks for the chips.”

Zeek smirked.

-------

“Hey! You almost missed the party!” Liana couldn’t help but smile when Len walked in to one of the operating rooms they had now dubbed the ‘Meeting Room’. “We were about to cut the cake.”

“I was checking on the evacuation status.” He walked up to Anderson. “So what’s this meeting about Admiral?”

Anderson pointed at the map they were all standing around. “We have received information that Cerberus may have some critical intel. We’re not sure exactly what this intel is or if the source is even accurate.”

“Where did this information come from?” Sarina asked as she paced back and forth.

“Our people received the information from an encrypted message from the Shadow Broker. Normally anything from him would be disregard immediately, but we have also gotten weapons, arms, and some agents sent in to help us.”

“Hmmm…interesting, the Shadow Broker only deals when there is a benefit. Suspicious, but curious. We have to assume there is something in it for him.” Zeek muttered out loud, as if no one could hear him.

“Yes, but that’s why we need a small group that can handle a trap if this is what it turns out to be. We need that intel because if it checks out, it could end up being useful information that we could use. We’re in too desperate of a situation to not jump on this kind of lead. After we have the intel, I’ll have our tech people analyze it carefully.”

Len looked at their small team, then looked back at Anderson. “Well, I think you have your strike team, but first things first, where is the intel?”

“It’s held in a secret research base in Portland, Oregon. Access is gained through a maintenance room on the bridge, here…” the map showed the main bridge leading into the city and the base entrance. “We’ll provide the shuttle. Be careful and make sure you get that intel out safe, we could use everything we could get.”

“You can count on us, sir. We’ll get the job done.” Len saluted and followed Sarina, Zeek, and Liana out of the room. 

Once they reached the lobby, they started to get their gear ready. 

“The possibility of running into a trap set up by the Shadow Broker in order to find useful data is so exciting!” Zeek couldn’t keep his thoughts to himself.

“Take it easy Doc, we don’t want you passing out before we even leave.” Liana shook her head.

“True. I was feeling rather flush from all of this mental stimulation. Oh! Speaking of new tech, I designed these for you Sarina. They should fit your style…quite nicely.” Zeek handed her two small sub-machine guns, smiling at his genius work.

“What’s so spec…” Liana started to say, but was cut short when Sarina pressed a tiny button on each gun, making a blade shoot out from the bottom of the handle grips.

“Thank you Doctor. These should be…useful.” Sarina smiled.

Zeek nodded with a smile. “Yes, I thought since you were so well trained in sword fighting and so graceful at it, I must add. You have such fluid control of your body, it’s quite...enchanting and--”

“She gets it Zeek,” Len nudged him. “Lets just get this started.” He said as they made their way to the shuttles.

------

“Everything is ready.” Zeek gave the shuttle one last glance and then nodded his head as one last reassurance. Anderson had put him in charge of checking over the shuttle’s stealth systems to make sure they were fully functional. Given the circumstances, Admiral Hackett had informed them about prototype stealth systems, loosely based off of the Normandy’s stealth capabilities, being worked on in an Alliance facility in Vancouver. Fortunately, they were able to recover the prototype before the facility had suffered extensive damage. Since it was still in it’s prototype stages, there was always the possibility of the system malfunctioning but, in this case, they had no other choice. 

“Will it work?” Len looked over at him as he loaded his equipment onto the shuttle.

“It should get us to the base before we need to vent.” Zeek nodded.

“Should...or will?” Len stopped what he was doing.

“The probability of a piece of technology ALWAYS doing what it is supposed to do is not as high as you would think. Since this is a prototype the probability diminishes even more...more room for error, malfunction...” Zeek went on, and on.

Len rolled his eyes and waved his hand at him and went back to continue loading their gear.

“In other words, there’s only one way to find out?” Liana took a bite of her new favorite human treat: chocolate. She was convinced it had been the one good thing that had come out of all of this.

“Precisely.” Zeek smiled.

“Alright. Let’s do this.” Len made his way into the shuttle.

Sarina sheathed her new weapons Zeek had kindly given to her and followed everyone else on board. She needed to get used to the balance of the new weapons. Mostly because they were so different from what she had been used to. They felt good in her hands and, most importantly, she could still maneuver quickly with them. She caught Zeek looking over at her and she gave him a slight bow to show her appreciation once again.

Len sat down in the pilot’s seat, getting a good feel of the shuttle. “Everyone, strapped in?” He looked over his shoulder and when he saw everyone nod, he pushed a few buttons and started up the engines. “Captain Tonrik here, do you copy?”

“We hear you loud and clear Captain, good luck out there.” Anderson came through clearly.

“Thanks. All system are go.” Len took in a deep breath. “Open bay doors...activating stealth systems.”

“Stay low Captain, we want to avoid the line of sight of any Reapers in the vicinity.” The concern in Anderson’s voice was evident even through the coms.

“Copy that.”

“So how long is this trip gonna be?” Liana asked as she offered Zeek some chocolate.

Zeek quickly waved it away as if he were afraid of it.

Liana frowned and shrugged.

“ETA: Four hours,” Len replied.

“Perfect, I can work on the way.” Zeek stated as he tinkered with his omni-tool.

Sarina had been meditating since they had boarded, her eyes glowing with biotic energy.

“Right...” Liana sat back, “I’ll catch up on some work as well.” She turned on her omni-tool and played music through her radio.

Len just sighed, this is going to be a long trip.

------

Len drank a bit of water from the bottle Sarina had handed him just a moment ago...had it been a moment? He hadn’t flown a ship in years. It was something you could never forget how to do but it was hard to get used to the feeling again. He looked at the monitor that showed the ETA. It had only been about an hour since they had left the hospital. He sighed and leaned back in his seat and just stared outside of the cockpit window. It was more out of habit than interest because all he had been seeing for miles on end, were ruins. He had to keep reminding himself to stop doing that. One thing was staying in one place and knowing there was destruction else where...but actually seeing it, was a whole different feeling all together. He sighed and removed his visor from his right eye. Lately, he felt his bad eye was bothering him more often than usual. You’re using it more, that’s why. He rubbed it gently with the back of his talon.

“What happened?”

Len turned around to see Zeek standing there, frowning to try to get a better look at his eye.

Len straightened up and put the visor back on. “Nothing.”

“Hmm. I never thought, ‘nothing’, could do so much damage.”

Len flared his mandibles and cleared his throat, “Yeah, well...it did.”

Zeek nodded and looked away. “Looks like shrapnel damage to me.”

Len looked at Zeek, a bit surprised that he had guessed correctly. Well, he was a doctor so maybe it wasn’t that surprising...just nosy. Len looked back out the window.

“You might need a new implant. I might be able to help you with that.” Zeek looked over at him.

“You know, the thought of you just happening to have these kinds of things at your disposal, kind of worries me. But, no...thank you.”

Zeek shrugged, “Just let me know if you change your mind. It could start affecting your performance.”

“My performance is fine.” Len started to feel the muscles in his neck tense up, and he found himself clenching his jaw.

“Yes, but if--”

“I SAID, my performance is fine!” He slammed his fist hard on the deck.

Zeek just stared at him, a bit surprised. 

Len swallowed his anger back when he realized everyone was looking over at him. He stood up and left the cockpit.

As she sat there, concentrating on the mission they were about to go on, Sarina realized she was already starting to develop a protective instinct for her new crew. Len. He understood the way of the warrior. She was surprised that one so young could understand, think, and act on her same level. Zeek. A genuine being...a bit unusual, but still genuine. His intentions were always in the right place, which was refreshing. Then there was, Liana. As undisciplined as she was, Sarina could see much potential in the young woman. She could sense loss in the girl's life, which was most likely the reason why she put up the guard she always did. Looking back on it all, Sarina knew that it probably seemed crazy since they all hadn’t known each other for very long, but, she would fight and die to protect them all.

A slam broke her concentration, the biotic energy faded from her eyes. She saw Len walking out of the cockpit and sitting in a seat furthest away from everyone. He seemed aggravated. Thinking back on how he had reassured her when she was unsure of what was to happen, she thought it best to at least try to see what was bothering him. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and then opened them, reaching out to his mind. She now understood. "Do not feel ashamed with what Zeek told you. He is concerned for you, as am I. If you ever are in need of anything, do not hesitate to ask." With that, Sarina withdrew her mind from Len’s. 

Len had been trying to control the unexpected anger that had been bottled up inside of him when, suddenly, he felt something he had never felt before. He felt as if he had been hit in the head but instead of feeling pain...he felt an unexplainable peace. Everything fell completely silent and out of no where, he began to hear Sarina’s voice. He looked over at her but he didn’t have to notice that her lips weren’t moving to know that she was talking to him with her mind. He could hear her so clearly...in a way his ears could never do. When it was over,  he almost felt sad. He had never felt so at peace. It had been so intimate, but not in any way that he had ever experienced. For a second, all he could do was just stare at her. He was sure his mouth was probably open and had a dumbfounded expression on his face. When he noticed her nod at him with a smile. He finally nodded back his thanks and quickly looked away.