by Cole Price
By the time Normandy dropped out of FTL near the Citadel, she seemed ready to face her enemies.
* * *
18 May 2186, Task Force Aurora Facility/Citadel
“The place feels so empty now,” Ann said.
“I hope you can find something here,” said Shepard. “I’m afraid you may be our last chance to find Leviathan.”
She nodded decisively. “Let me dig and see what I can turn up. Come on.”
“Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“Yes.” She turned to give Shepard a determined stare. “You know, when Leviathan took control of me, back on Namakli, I remember being somewhere cold and dark. My father taught me never to be afraid of the dark.”
We moved into the facility, pausing by the fragment of Sovereign.
“I’m still amazed your dad got his hands on a chunk of a Reaper,” said James, looking up at the relic.
“It’s strange,” said Ann. “My father was actually excited when he learned of Commander Shepard’s claims about the Reapers. He had suspected for a long time that something like them must exist. He went to Admiral Hackett immediately after the Battle of the Citadel and asked for the opportunity to examine the remains of Sovereign.”
“What precautions did you take to avoid indoctrination?” I asked.
“We had access to your reports from Virmire, and that gave us a few ideas as to how to defend ourselves. We kept it completely shielded the whole time, and all of us had regular psychological evaluations. No one reported any of the symptoms of indoctrination, at least not before I left for Namakli.” She sighed, staring up at the relic. “Of course, now I’m indoctrinated after all, thanks to the artifact we found there.”
“Not necessarily,” said Shepard. “Whatever Leviathan does, it doesn’t seem to be the same as Reaper indoctrination.”
“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just like a rachni drone, awaiting orders from the queen.”
“You’ve studied the rachni?” Shepard asked.
“Yes. I wrote my dissertation on them. Dad once claimed that was a waste of my time, that the rachni had nothing to do with our work, but now I’m not so sure. Maybe the rachni can help us understand Leviathan.”
“How so?”
“Well, we think of the rachni as telepathic, but there’s really no such thing.”
I frowned. “We asari might beg to disagree.”
“That’s not quite what I mean. Yes, asari can share their consciousness and memories with others, but that’s not some spooky immaterial phenomenon. There’s a solidly physical mechanism for it, something that can be detected and studied.”
“True.”
“In any case, the asari joining is something that can only be done at very short range, often requiring physical contact. Leviathan can exert control over thousands of light-years. So can the Reapers, and so can the rachni.”
“How?” Shepard demanded.
“Well, at short range, the queen uses pheromones to communicate and deliver orders. At long range, she uses a natural quantum-entanglement system.”
“Like the QEC aboard a modern starship.”
“Exactly. Whatever Leviathan does must be similar, setting up entanglement with particles in the victim’s nervous system, stimulating neural activity as it pleases.”
“I don’t see how that could work,” I objected. “I’m not an expert in quantum physics, but as I understand it the particles to be entangled have to be in close contact while the relationship is set up.”
“That’s right,” said Dr. Bryson, still looking confident. “When a QEC is constructed, the matrices for the qubits in both transmitter and receiver are built together. A rachni drone grows up in close proximity to its mother, the queen. With Leviathan . . .”
“The artifacts!” James burst out.
She nodded. “It must use an artifact to make the connection with its victim’s brain, and that does require close physical proximity.”
All of us walked back into the main planning office, where the galaxy map and the artifact waited for us.
“We never detected any energy emissions from this,” said Shepard, watching the dark crystal sphere as it waited behind its shimmering blue shield.
“However it produces the effect, it must be beyond our ability to detect for now,” said Ann.
“Still, at both Mahavid and Namakli, the Reapers tried to use the artifacts to trace Leviathan somehow.”
“My guess is most of the time, the artifact acts only as a receiver.” Ann turned and walked over to the storage bay, staring up at the artifact with clear distaste. “It monitors its environment, but aside from that it just sits and waits for contact. When Leviathan doesn’t need anything, it doesn’t bother to communicate. We might only be able to trace Leviathan while the artifact is actively being used to control someone.”
“Can we trace it even then?” Shepard asked. “A QEC is untraceable.”
“This isn’t just a QEC. Leviathan has to send a pulse through the artifact to take control of your mind and activate the entanglement effect. That pulse, we might be able to trace.”
“Like at the dig site on Namakli,” I suggested.
“Yes. The Reaper creatures activated the artifact, opened their defenses just a bit so Leviathan could try to take control of one of them. Then the others worked to trace the signal.” She sighed, apparently losing the thread of logic for a moment. “My father wanted to be there, but he was getting too old for the long digs. He had to stay here and coordinate our work. He hated being stuck in the lab. God, he must have hated dying here.”
Shepard moved close to her, touched her shoulder gently. “Ann, I know this is hard, but if there’s anything more you can tell us . . .”
“I don’t think there’s anything more I can tell you,” said Dr. Bryson, “but maybe there’s something I can show you.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“I’m suggesting that we let Leviathan take control of my mind again. Long enough for Dr. T’Soni to trace the signal back to its origin.”
“That’s damn dangerous,” James said. “The last person who was taken over in this lab killed your dad and then died himself.”
“That’s my call, not yours.” Her jaw set in determination. “Commander, you said I’m your last chance to find this thing.”
“We have no idea what will happen,” Shepard said gently.
“We know one thing. If we wait and take the time to study all the possibilities, then the Reapers will get to Leviathan first.” Ann crossed over to the artifact once more, this time glaring at it with open hatred. “You’re looking for some way to fight the Reapers. I’m looking for the monster that murdered my father. This is personal, Commander. This is my risk to take.”
Slowly, Shepard nodded.
We made what preparations we could. Shepard placed a lab bench in front of the storage bay, close to the artifact and within easy reach of the controls for its shielding. I worked with the galaxy map and the lab’s sensors, getting ready to trace the energy pulse we expected to see the moment Leviathan locked onto Ann’s mind. Ann sat down, obviously fighting for composure, and James went to stand behind her.
“I’ll be right here,” he said, resting his hands gently on her shoulders.
She smiled up at him and patted one of his hands for a moment.
“Ready,” I reported at last.
“You sure about this?” asked Shepard one last time.
“Yes,” she said, looking down at the floor as if preparing her courage. “I’m sure.”
“Okay. James, drop the containment.”
James punched the master control with one meaty fist. “Done.”
The shielding vanished. Within seconds, a shimmer of blue-green light appeared deep inside the artifact.
I saw some of my instruments flicker and rise above the zero point.
“The artifact is online,” I reported.
“Anything?” asked Shepard.
“Nothing yet.”
The instruments jittered, began to rise steadily.
James hovered over Ann, watching her closely.
“Wait,” she said, fear in her voice. “There’s something.”
I glanced across at her, saw her raise her eyes to look at the rest of us.
“I feel a chill,” she whispered.
“Liara, anything?”
I shook my head, staring at my instruments. “Nothing yet.”
A low hum sounded, an almost mechanical sound. I glanced to the side just in time to see the artifact light up, the blue-green glow surging to something that could have illuminated the entire space.
Ann tried to leap to her feet.
James clamped down on her shoulders, holding her in place, trying to steady her as she struggled. “Holy hell!”
My instrument panel lit up. At once, I rushed to deal with a sudden flood of data, collating it as quickly as I could and sending the results to the galaxy map. “Signal is tracking. Maintain the connection!”
“Turn back,” said Ann, but it didn’t sound like her voice. “The darkness must not be breached.”
“Dios!” shouted James. I could hear the sounds of a scuffle, but I didn’t dare look away from my controls even for an instant.
If James can’t keep control over a woman half his size . . .
“Maintain the connection!” I shouted, half in a panic.
“Listen to me!” Shepard commanded, addressing Dr. Bryson. Or whatever had taken control of her. “We’ve found you, and the Reapers are right behind us.”
“You have brought them. You are a threat.”
“So are you. I’ve seen what you can do. The war needs you.”
“There is no war. There is only the harvest.”
“Liara, do we have enough?”
“I have a partial lock,” I answered, breathless. “A cluster. I can’t narrow it down to a single system yet.”
James growled, “That’s gotta be enough, Loco. I’m hitting the shield.”
“Do it!”
Thump.
Everything on my panel fell to zero at once. I looked over, saw the artifact inert once more behind its shield, Dr. Bryson slumped over in the burly Marine’s arms.
“Man,” James muttered, bending close to see if she was well.
She shook her head, brought a hand to her face, and looked up at the rest of us. “I’m all right, I think. Did we get anything useful?”
Shepard glanced at me.
“Sigurd’s Cradle cluster,” I reported. “Most likely to rimward and trailing.”
“How many systems in that area?”
“Dozens . . .” I stopped, thinking hard. “Or perhaps not. My network is active in that cluster, and I know the region reasonably well. You remember, Shepard, where we met before you launched your assault on the Collector base?”
“The Taranis colony, in the Mil system. I remember.”
“There’s a volume of space a few light-years to trailing of there, barely charted and not at all explored. That region has a bad reputation among the merchant captains who work the cluster. It sees very little traffic, but even so a disproportionate number of ships have disappeared there over the years. I understand humans call it the Delta Triangle.”
“I’ve heard of it,” said James. “Ghost stories.”
“Or not, if Leviathan hides somewhere in there and is defending itself.”
“How many systems in this Delta Triangle?” asked Shepard.
I checked the galaxy map. “No more than a dozen. We may be able to narrow that down if we look at the data for each system in detail. It’s close to the locus of highest probability for the origin of the Leviathan signal.”
“It’s a start.”
“Commander, I sensed something else.” Ann stood and came over to look at the galaxy map with us. “Anger. I think it knows you’re getting close.”
Shepard smiled grimly. “Good.”
“Be careful, Commander. I think it wants to kill you.”
“It’s not the first. Come on. Let’s get you some help.”
Chapter 29 : Wreck
22 May 2186, Despoina Approach
Our shuttle dropped into the outer atmosphere of an uncharted planet, bouncing slightly in the high reaches of a storm.
“I’m tracking the probe now, Commander. It’s picking up a strong match for the Leviathan signal.” Cortez frowned, glancing over his shoulder at Shepard. “Kind of spooky, how Ann helped us locate it.”
“Strange, to find Leviathan on a planet like this,” I observed.
“What can you tell us about it?” asked Shepard.
“It’s a pelagic world. No significant land surface. Plenty of sea life, including photosynthetic plants. The atmosphere is breathable, but hostile.”
James grunted. “How so?”
“Storms,” said Ashley. “I saw a planet like this once, back in Alliance space. With no continents to tear them down, hurricanes just keep pulling energy out of the ocean and growing. They can last for years, circle around the whole planet dozens of times before they wander into the polar regions, or collide with another storm and collapse.”
Shepard nodded. “Those deep oceans might provide Leviathan with a good place to hide.”
“You think a Reaper could hide out at the bottom of an ocean?” James shook his head. “They always seemed more like living starships, you know? At home in deep space, not under pressure like that.”
“I imagine with their technology, they can go almost anywhere they want,” said Shepard.
“If it doesn’t want to be found, this is a good place,” said Garrus.
“It doesn’t have any choice in the matter. We’re here, and we’re not leaving until we talk to it.”
“Yes, but then what?” asked Javik quietly. “If it is a Reaper? They are monsters. Never to be trusted.”
“Nobody said we have to make friends with it. If it has the other Reapers worried, then we need its help.”
“Commander, we’re approaching the origin of the signal,” Cortez reported. “It’s what we were afraid of.”
“Talk to me, Cortez.”
“There’s nothing but ocean.” The pilot peered at his instruments. “I’m reading a cluster of structures floating on the surface, but the probe and the Leviathan signal read below that. Way below.”
Shepard folded his arms, scowling. “Can we reach it?”
“Probably. The Kodiak is designed for nearly a thousand atmospheres of pressure, although I’ve never actually tested that.”
“I guess we’re going to find out . . .”
WHAM!
The shuttle lurched, hard, almost standing on its nose before Cortez could stabilize us. All of us in the passenger compartment went flying. Ashley grunted as she landed badly, then again as I fell on top of her. I muttered apologies and started to disentangle myself.
The shuttle didn’t feel right at all. The engines had gone silent.
“Status!” Shepard snapped.
“Some kind of pulse hit us,” said the pilot, his voice completely flat. “Systems are shutting down. Brace for impact!”
Ashley and I lurched to our feet, supporting each other, and then frantically grabbed for safety straps.
The shuttle fell, barely maintaining attitude with maneuvering thrusters alone. A sudden lurch threw James and Garrus off their feet once more.
“I’ve changed my mind about this ride,” the turian muttered. “Any chance I can get the money for my ticket back?”
Then the shuttle struck some solid object, with a crash loud enough to wake the dead. We skidded across a surface, metal by the sound of it, and everyone fought to hang on. Another collision, not so violent this time, a few more moments of skidding, and then we stopped with a final lurch.
“Everyone okay?” groaned Shepard, the only one of us still on his feet.
Javik grunted. “I’ve survived far worse, Commander.”
The rest of us agreed, less verbally.
&
nbsp; Shepard staggered over to the hatch, checked the sensor panel next to it, and then opened it. Warm, humid air rolled into the cabin, along with some rain. He jumped down, Garrus and Javik right behind him.
I regained my balance and followed, looking around.
Cortez had managed to bring us down on the back of a large starship, clearly a bulk freighter of some kind. Someone had brought cargo containers and tarpaulins out onto the ship’s hull, tying them down to create crude supply dumps and shelters. I didn’t see any sign of the ship’s crew. Nothing moved but the high winds, the rain slashing across the deck, and the wreck’s vast bulk rocking on the world-ocean.
“Cortez, how’s the shuttle?”
“Checking systems now, Commander. I’ll see if I can get power restored.”
“Copy that. We’ll look around.”
Shepard signaled with his hands, allocating missions, and we fanned out across the wreck. Ashley and James moved off to our left, Javik to the right, while Garrus climbed up on one of the supply dumps for a sniper’s view. Shepard and I stepped down from the platform where the shuttle had come to rest, and headed for one of the closest shelters.
“Commander, check it out.”
We looked across the hull and saw Ashley in the middle distance, pointing out to sea. Barely visible a few kilometers away, we could see another wreck even larger than our own, also floating on the surface of the ocean.
“I see it. Whatever that pulse was, we’re not the first ones to get hit.”
“Think this explains those ghost stories about the Delta Triangle?”
“Some of them at least. Could be Leviathan’s last line of defense.”
“This is a place of death,” said Javik. “These ships appear to have been drifting for a very long time.”
“This star system was only charted five years ago,” I objected.
“How was it done?”
“By remote probe. The probe never approached this planet more closely than a few million kilometers,” I realized.
