As Kim ran down the garbage-strewn path between two shacks Leng followed. His goal was to escape rather than inflict casualties on the Biotic Underground. Because now that he knew what was going on Leng had to warn the Illusive Man.

  But it wouldn’t be easy. A shotgun blast narrowly missed Leng as he splashed through a rivulet of sewage and passed by an open window. It seemed that at least one local resident was unhappy about the battle taking place outside his home. Maybe he would shoot at the biotics too. Leng hoped so.

  At that point Leng spotted a street up ahead and felt a surge of hope. If they could cross it, and plunge even deeper into the maze of shacks, perhaps it would be possible to shake their pursuers. It seemed that Kim was thinking the same thing as she ran into the pothole-cratered byway.

  Leng was limping by then, his speed was half what it had been previously, and every time his foot landed it sent a jolt of pain up his leg. So Kim was already on the far side, waiting for him, when the roar of a powerful engine was heard.

  Leng looked right, saw that a gyrocycle was coming straight toward him, and felt an invisible fist hammer his chest as the two-wheeled vehicle flashed past. There were two riders—a driver and a passenger. The latter having launched the attack.

  Leng hit the ground hard, and laying on his back struggling to breathe when Kim arrived to help him up. Meanwhile, half a block away, the gyrocycle was halfway through a U-turn. Leng put paid to that plan by firing a long burst from the submachine gun.

  The range was long, but luck went his way for a change, and a slug smashed the driver’s visor. He toppled onto the ground, which left the passenger to scoot forward and take the controls. But being unable to steer and attack she sped away.

  That was good, but far from the victory they needed as a second engine was heard, signaling another attack. “We’ve got to find some cover,” Kim said. “Or better yet, a place to hide. You won’t get far with that leg.”

  Leng knew Kim was right as she helped him hobble into the space between two dilapidated shacks. A baby was crying somewhere nearby, a dog was barking, and the engine noise was louder. A local armed with a shotgun appeared up ahead and Kim shot him three times. With no armor to protect him he went down as if poleaxed.

  But no sooner had that threat been neutralized than another materialized. Leng heard the screech of brakes, followed by the sound of an over-revved engine, and turned to see another gyrocycle coming straight at him. He was bringing the submachine gun to bear when Kim pushed past him and sent a shockwave surging through the narrow passageway. The tightly focused ball of energy struck the driver, who lost control and crashed into a wall. Even the built-in gyro stabilizer couldn’t keep the vehicle upright and it fell over, trapping both riders under its weight.

  Leng turned back in the direction they had been going and attempted to run. But there was no place to go. Three biotics were standing shoulder to shoulder blocking the passageway. The one in the center was Mythra Zon, and judging from her expression, she was pissed. Her hands were raised and Leng knew she could kill him. “There is no point in further violence,” Zon said. “Give up. You won’t be harmed.”

  Leng knew that Zon was right. He couldn’t escape. What he could do was borrow Kim’s pistol and shoot himself in the head. That would end the plot to suck the Illusive Man into a trap. Or would it? No, the biotics would simply pretend that he was alive, thereby making his act of self-sacrifice meaningless.

  But there was someone else to consider. “What about Kim? What will happen to her?”

  “She will be taken alive. But we have to maintain discipline. I imagine it’s the same inside Cerberus.”

  Leng remembered McCann and the hard-fought battle in the men’s room. He looked at Kim. Her face was expressionless, but he could see the fear in her eyes. He turned back toward Von. “So what does ‘discipline’ mean in this case?”

  “There will be a trial,” Zon replied. “Kim’s peers will decide her fate.”

  That wasn’t much, but it was something. At least the biotics weren’t going to execute Kim on the spot. Maybe something good would happen before the trial took place. “Okay,” Leng said wearily, and placed the submachine gun on the ground. He turned to Kim. “I’m sorry, hon. Whatever you do, don’t tell them you work for Cerberus.”

  She shrugged. “My mother told me not to date soldiers. I should have listened.” Kim thumbed the safety on and let the pistol fall.

  “Good,” Zon said. “Very good.” The slam came without warning. One moment Leng was standing there. The next he was in the air. Then came the impact. Pain lanced up his leg, arrived in his brain, and exploded. That was followed by a long fall into nothingness. And a cessation of pain. The escape attempt was over.

  FIFTEEN

  ON OMEGA

  It was dark and well into the evening when Aria T’Loak and her entourage arrived at the Afterlife club. Her bodyguards got out of the heavily armored limo first, and having consulted with the security guards stationed in front of the building, returned to open the door.

  T’Loak got out, ignored the usual handful of onlookers who’d been waiting to get a look at her, and swept in through the front door. A red carpet led straight to the cage located at the center of the lobby. Sy Tactus was there waiting for her. And he was a sight to see. His expression could best be described as a snarl, and he was standing with both hands on the vertical bars. “Good evening … Bitch.”

  T’Loak smiled serenely. “Nice try, Tactus, but I’m not ready to kill you just yet. Still, it is something to look forward to, isn’t it?” And with that she walked away.

  Tactus produced a mournful howl loud enough to be heard on the dance floor. But T’Loak didn’t look back as she made her way up to her second-floor office. As always there was a lot of work waiting to be done. Everything from the need to hire a new exotic dancer to how to bribe a government official on Camala and get away with it. But T’Loak enjoyed such challenges and took pride in her ability to come up with solutions. So she was happily lost in her work when Immo entered the enclosure. “You have a call.”

  T’Loak looked up from her terminal. “Who is it?”

  “The Illusive Man.”

  “Really? Well, that’s interesting. Activate the privacy barrier. I’ll take it.”

  The privacy barrier was a semiopaque electronically generated curtain that “dropped” into place on command—thereby sealing T’Loak and her guests off from the rest of the nightclub. But in this case she chose to take the call alone.

  The lights dimmed slightly, the air seemed to boil as the image took shape, and the Illusive Man appeared. T’Loak had interacted with him on numerous occasions in the past and with one exception he looked the same. During past calls the Illusive Man had always been seated in front of an eye-catching backdrop. A sun perhaps, or a planetscape, but not this time. The background had a gray neutral appearance, as if he was in transit on a spaceship, or located in a place that he didn’t want to reveal. He nodded politely. “Aria T’Loak. It’s always a pleasure. You don’t look a day over two hundred.”

  T’Loak smiled. “I’ll bet you say that to all the girls.”

  “Only to members of your race. To do otherwise would be dangerous.”

  T’Loak chuckled. “So, what can I do for you?”

  “I lost something and I want it back.”

  “I see. What sort of item are we talking about?”

  “A man. One of my operatives. He was abducted.”

  T’Loak felt her pulse start to quicken. The conversation was getting interesting. Very interesting. “And he’s on Omega?”

  “Yes. That’s why I called you.”

  “Of course,” T’Loak said. As if that was the most natural thing in the world—which it was. “What can you tell me about him?”

  “His name is Kai Leng,” the Illusive Man said, as his lighter flared. “This is what he looks like. An organization called the Biotic Underground has him.”

  A three-dimensional image appeared in place of the Illusive Man and began to rotate slowly. And T’Loak felt something cold trickle into her bloodstream. The man with slightly Asiatic features was a perfect match for the human that Shella had described to her. Which was to say the man who murdered Liselle in cold blood.

  Not only that, but if the Illusive Man was correct, Leng was being held by the Biotic Underground! One of the two organizations responsible for robbing her bank, and the one she hadn’t been able to get a lead on until the day before, when Kahlee Sanders and David Anderson had stopped by. They knew where the biotics were hiding and hoped to rescue a couple of Sanders’s ex-students. A silly impulse really, since both teenagers were on Omega by choice, but a blessing nevertheless.

  But it was critical to keep that fact to herself, because while the Illusive Man wanted to rescue Kai Leng, she was determined to kill him. “Capture and store,” T’Loak said, knowing the image of Leng would go into her files.

  The Illusive Man reappeared. He was smoking and the ember on his cigarette glowed like a malevolent red eye as he took a deep drag. “I know where he is but I’m shorthanded and could use some help breaking him out. Can you help me?”

  “Yes, I will. But it will cost you.”

  The Illusive Man smiled thinly. “Of course it will. How much?”

  T’Loak took a moment to consider. It was important to set the fee high enough to make the Illusive Man wince, but not so high as to chase him away. She was looking forward to killing the Illusive Man’s operative and making some money at the same time. “Two million.”

  The Illusive Man exhaled and the plume of smoke eddied as a current of air hit it. “Leng is valuable to me … But not that valuable. One million.”

  “One five.”

  “Okay, one five. If you move quickly. I’m stalling but the biotics are pushing hard, and I’m running out of time.”

  “Why don’t you simply pay the ransom?”

  The Illusive Man tapped some ash off the end of his cigarette. “Do you trust the Biotic Underground?”

  “No.”

  “Neither do I.”

  T’Loak nodded. “I will launch a rescue attempt within the next two cycles.”

  “Aren’t you going to ask where he is?”

  T’Loak smiled. “I already know.”

  * * *

  Things had gone terribly wrong—and Gillian had no idea how to put them right. One moment she’d been standing next to the inner gate, consulting her omni-tool, and the next she’d been flying through the air. No bones had been broken during the collision with the cavern wall, but Gillian had been knocked unconscious, and left behind when Zon and the rest of them took off to recapture Kim and Leng.

  The whole episode had been humiliating, and to the extent that it lessened Gillian’s status within the group, it could have repercussions as well. What if the group decided to kill Leng? Thereby eliminating the bait intended to draw the Illusive Man in? She would be a failure … And the possibility of that filled Gillian with angst.

  Such were the teenager’s thoughts and emotions as all of the biotics not required for guard duty assembled under the dome on the cavern’s main floor. They sat on mismatched throw rugs arranged in a U-shaped formation all looking in to where Leng and Kim sat strapped to a pair of sturdy chairs. Both were doing their best to look expressionless but Leng was slightly better at it. Mythra Zon made the opening statement.

  “This is a sad day. We are biotics. That means we are inherently superior to other beings regardless of race. But we have free will. So we can make bad choices. And that is what Cory Kim did when she made the decision to place her personal desires before the needs of our organization.”

  Kim looked defiant. “Let’s get something straight … It’s true that I had feelings for Kai at one time. But that isn’t why I helped him escape.”

  Von looked surprised. “No? Why then?”

  “Because I work for Cerberus too. We’re everywhere, freak … Keep that in mind.”

  Leng groaned. “Are you out of your mind? Why did you …”

  Leng wasn’t allowed to finish. His body jerked convulsively as Sallus applied a shock baton to the back of his neck. His unconscious body slumped against the straps that held him in place. Kim kept her eyes up but bit her lower lip. Little dots of perspiration were visible on her forehead. Zon frowned. “That was a good question. Why would you tell us that?”

  “Because I’m proud of it,” Kim answered stiffly. “And you’re going to kill me anyway.”

  Zon nodded. “You’re a spy, and unlike Leng, we don’t need you.”

  Leng had recovered consciousness by then. He opened his mouth as if about to speak and closed it again as Sallus held the shock baton up for him to look at. There was nothing the Cerberus operative could do.

  Zon’s eyes roamed the crowd and came to rest on Gillian. “The decision has been made. What we need is an executioner. And because Cory Kim attacked Gillian Grayson that privilege falls to her. Come forward, Gillian, and take your revenge.”

  Gillian felt sick to her stomach. She didn’t want to serve as executioner and knew that, in spite of what Zon said, she was being punished for the moment of inattention that allowed Leng to escape. So as Gillian stood, and made her way forward, a battle was raging inside of her. What if she refused to kill Kim? Then they will imprison you, or kill you, the voice inside her head replied. And you won’t get the chance to avenge your father’s murder.

  So the price for revenge is revenge, Gillian responded.

  Yes, the voice answered. In this case it is. Think about your father. Think about what the Illusive Man did to him. And will do to others if he is allowed to live. It’s too bad about Kim. But she chose her fate. Just as you must choose yours.

  There was approval in Zon’s eyes as Gillian arrived in front of her and accepted a large pistol. “Shoot her in the head,” Zon instructed. “And take her place on the council.”

  Gillian felt a sense of satisfaction knowing that once on the council she would be in the ideal position to make sure that the plan to kill the Illusive Man was carried out. But as Gillian raised the heavy pistol, and the rest of the biotics looked on, Kim launched a last-ditch effort to save herself. But she was strapped in and unable to focus her biotic powers properly. The result was a weak and ineffectual “reave” that did little more than give Gillian a reason to pull the trigger.

  There was a loud BOOM as Kim’s head disintegrated. Bits of flesh and bone peppered the biotics seated in the front row. The resulting blood mist spread out to envelope Leng in a pink halo as the sound of the gunshot echoed back and forth between the cavern walls, and the chair to which Kim was strapped hit the floor. Justice had been served.

  Leng closed his eyes and fought to control his emotions. He had orders to kill Gillian. But now it was personal, and what had been a duty was going to give him pleasure. The only question was when and how.

  Mott was nervous, and for good reason. This was going to be her second one-on-one conversation with the Illusive Man. And she didn’t want to make any mistakes. So as the video swirled and locked up she was very conscious of how she was seated, the way her hands were positioned, and the fact that a nervous twitch had taken control of her right foot.

  The Illusive Man nodded. “It’s good to see you again. We have a great deal to discuss.”

  The head of Cerberus had a magnetic quality that was still palpable even though he was light-years away. His glacier-blue eyes locked with hers. “I’ve been in contact with Aria T’Loak,” he said. “She’s going to provide us with some additional manpower.”

  Mott’s eyebrows rose incrementally. “So she’s willing to help? To participate in a raid?”

  “If I pay her a large sum of money … Yes.”

  “That’s very interesting,” Mott replied. “But you might want to reconsider the deal with T’Loak.”

  The Illusive Man produced a cigarette but didn’t light it. “Go on. I’m all ears.”

  “As you know the Grim Skulls teamed up with the Biotic Underground to rob T’Loak’s private bank. Subsequent to the robbery she took her revenge by killing all of the Grim Skulls with the exception of their leader and a woman named Shella-Shella. I was able to speak with her and she has a very interesting story to tell. According to Shella she worked for a Cerberus operative at one time.”

  “So?”

  “So, Shella told me that she reported to an operative named Manning who, according to the description she gave, is a dead ringer for Leng.”

  “That’s interesting,” the Illusive Man allowed, “but so what? Leng has assumed dozens of identities over the last ten years—and worked with hundreds of different people.”

  Other individuals might have wilted under the Illusive Man’s unblinking gaze, but not Mott. She was on solid ground and knew it. “Yes, sir. Shella claims that Leng was on Omega, tracking a man named Paul Grayson, who was employed by T’Loak at the time. In an attempt to capture his target Leng and his team broke into Grayson’s apartment. An asari was there as well. They put a tranq dart into her and she went down. Then, after taking a look around, Leng slit her throat. Her name was Liselle … And she was T’Loak’s daughter.”

  The Illusive Man was silent for a moment. “You’re sure of this?”

  “As certain as I can be without access to Leng’s personnel file.”

  The Illusive Man touched a button. “Jana, please send Leng’s P-one file to my terminal.”

  The reply was nearly instantaneous. “Yes, sir.”

  The Illusive Man’s lighter flared, and by the time the file appeared on his terminal, the head of Cerberus was taking smoke deep into his lungs. Mott was too far away to read the text on the screen but could tell that the Illusive Man was scrolling down through what appeared to be a long document. The better part of a minute passed before he said, “Ah, here it is … Leng’s report regarding the night in question. Bear with me while I skim it.”