into one of her old sweaters and an old pair of her pants they'd found in the back of the ship. She'd obviously grown since she last wore the clothes — the sleeves stopped halfway down her forearm, and the pant cuffs stopped several inches above her ankles. She was still wearing the sandals from the hospital.
She smiled as Grayson approached, and he stepped in beside her, intentionally placing himself between his daughter and the security chief, who scowled.
'Let me do the talking,' Grayson warned him as he activated the airlock.
The door behind them snapped shut, sealing them in. There was a rush of air as the ship's systems equalized the interior and exterior pressure before opening the outer door and extending the covered landing platform that would take them safely through the vacuum of the docks and into the breathable air of the station.
With Grayson and Gillian in the lead and Kahlee and Hendel following, they walked slowly down the ramp until they were standing on the level ground of
Omega's surface, where Pel and five people Grayson didn't recognize were waiting for them: three men and two women, all wearing armor and carrying guns. Despite the military gear, they seemed relaxed and at ease. A few of them were even smiling.
'How's it going, Killer?' the big man said, coming over to greet them.
'Killer?' Grayson heard Hendel mutter, but he ignored the comment as he stepped forward to shake Pel's offered hand.
'This is it?' Pel asked with a toothy grin, his hearty grip nearly crushing Grayson's fingers. 'Everyone's off the ship and ready to go?'
'Just the four of us,' Grayson confirmed, wincing slightly as he pulled his hand free and took a step backward. 'Let me introduce…'
The words died in his mouth as Pel and the others all brought their weapons up simultaneously, pointing them at the new arrivals in an unmistakable gesture of hostility. Their casual attitude had vanished, replaced by one that was hard and dangerous.
Grayson swore silently to himself; he'd told Pel to act with discretion so he didn't upset Gillian. He was about to say something to this effect when he suddenly realized one of the women was pointing a weapon at him, as well.
'What's going on, Pel?'
'Everybody stay calm and nobody gets hurt,' Pel warned. To one of the men on his team he said, 'The big man and the girl. They're biotics. Put them out first.'
The man holstered his weapon and pulled out what looked like an automated, multicartridge hypodermic. He stepped up to Hendel, moving with well-trained precision.
'Hold out your wrist,' Pel ordered.
Hendel simply glared at him.
'Hold out your wrist or I shoot the woman,' Pel clarified, aiming his pistol at Kahlee's face. The security chief reluctantly complied, extending his arm with his palm up.
The man grabbed the tips of his fingers and bent them down slightly, then reached out with the hypodermic and pressed it against the exposed underside of his wrist. There was the sharp sound of a high-tension spring releasing, and Hendel grunted softly as the tip of an unseen needle penetrated his skin, injecting him with some unknown drug. A second later he swooned and collapsed, unconscious.
'Hendel!' Kahlee shouted, leaping to catch him before his head smacked the ground. She staggered under his weight and fell at the feet of the man with the hypodermic, HendePs body sprawled on top of her.
The man reached down and pressed the hypodermic against her neck. There was another sharp recoil from the spring, and a second later Kahlee slumped over unconscious.
'Daddy?' Gillian called out, her voice trembling. Her eyes were wide with fear and incomprehension.
'The girl!' Pel snapped. 'Quickly!'
'Please, don't,' Grayson pleaded, but his former partner wouldn't even turn to look at him. The woman holding the gun on him gave a slight shake of her head, warning him not to move.
The man grabbed Gillian's wrist and roughly extended her arm. Her face twisted in agony at his touch and she let out a long, wailing scream. Oblivious, the man jammed the device against her skin and released another dose of the fast-acting narcotic. Gillian's scream was cut off and her features went slack as she passed out in the man's arms.
He lowered her until she lay on the ground, not gently but carefully. Then he came over to Grayson.
'Did he at least say why?' Grayson asked, standing motionless as the man reached out with the hypodermic and pressed it against the side of his neck.
'We don't take orders from the Illusive Man anymore,' Pel replied.
There was the now familiar sound of the spring's recoil, and the world slipped away before Grayson had time to ask what he meant.
He had no idea how much time had passed before he finally woke up, but it felt like he'd been out for several hours at least. The familiar craving to dust up was there waiting for him, but it was more mental than physical. Red sand was a drug that tended to clear the body's system quickly; the physical symptoms of withdrawal usually faded within twelve to sixteen hours.
That was probably a good thing, considering that he now found himself lying on the floor in what appeared to be a makeshift holding cell. There was a door, presumably locked, on the far wall, and the only illumination came from a high-efficiency LED light overhead. The room was devoid of all furniture and decorations, though there was a small camera up in the corner to keep an eye on him.
Pushing himself into a sitting position, it took a moment for his still groggy mind to register the fact that he wasn't alone. Kahlee was sitting with her back against the wall in the opposite corner.
'Guess your friend is going to hand us over to Cerberus after all,' she said.
He was confused for a moment, until he realized she hadn't heard his final conversation with Pel. She still thought he was a drug dealer, and she had no idea who Grayson was really working for.
'I don't think he's working with Cerberus,' he admitted, figuring that small bit of information could do no harm. 'Do you know what happened to Gillian?'
She shook her head. 'I haven't seen her or Hen-del.'
Grayson chewed his lip, thinking hard. 'Pel knows they're biotics,' he muttered. 'He must be taking extra precautions with them. Probably keep them both unconscious until…' he trailed off, realizing he had no idea what Pel had planned for them.
'You checked the door?' he asked her.
'They disconnected the access panel. It only opens from the outside.' She shifted and crossed her legs, trying to find a more comfortable position on the hard floor. 'Any idea how we can get out of this?'
The only answer he could give her was a shake of his head. There wasn't anything more to say, and so they sat like that for a good ten minutes before the door opened with a loud swoosh, startling them both.
Pel came into the room, accompanied by a pair of armed guards, and set a small wooden chair down in the center of the floor. As he settled into his seat the guards took up positions on either side of the door, which remained open.
'Figured I owed you an explanation after all we've been through,' he said.
'Where's my daughter?' Grayson demanded angrily, not caring to listen to Pel's attempts at justifying his betrayal.
'Don't worry, she's safe. We wouldn't want to hurt her. She's too valuable. Same with your friend,' he added, turning to Kahlee.
'How much is Cerberus paying you?' she asked.
Pel laughed, and Grayson felt his stomach clench. 'Cerberus pays pretty well,' the big man admitted. 'Isn't that right, Killer?'
Kahlee looked over at him, but Grayson couldn't meet her gaze.
'So Hendel was right,' she said, her voice hopeless and defeated rather than angry as the truth dawned on her. 'You and Jiro were working together. How could a father do that to his own child?'
Grayson never even considered defending himself by claiming that he wasn't Gillian's real father. There was no biological link between them, but he had raised her from infancy. For ten years he alone had cared for her,
