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Authors: Drew Karpyshyn
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personal for either of his weapons to be effective.
“If you leave the district, it’ll cost you to get back in,” the other warned.
He didn’t bother to answer. Five meters. Just a few more steps and it would all be over. He was close enough to read the expressions on their avian features; he recognized the exact moment they realized he was a threat.
Had either of them taken a few quick steps back while he reached for his weapon, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. Fortunately, they both held their ground.
Moving with blinding speed, Kai Leng lunged toward them, his left hand reaching back to grasp the knife in his belt as he closed the gap. He whipped the blade out and drove the tip into the throat of the nearestguard. Twisting his wrist as it penetrated the leathery skin, he severed both the trachea and the turian equivalent of the carotid artery.
The second turian had his gun drawn, but as he extended his arm to shoot, Kai Leng slapped it down with his free hand, causing the weapon to discharge into the floor at their feet. He let go of the knife and went for his own pistol. In a blur of motion he yanked the gun from his belt, brought his hand back in front of his body, jammed the nozzle against the turian’s temple, and squeezed the trigger.
There was a wet pop as the back of the turian’s head exploded, spewing bits of skull and gray matter out the opposite side. Kai Leng was staring into his enemy’s eyes at the moment of death; he saw the pupils dilate as the synapses from what was left of the brain ceased firing and the turian slumped to the floor.
Kai Leng turned his attention back to the first guard. He was down but still twitching, his hands feebly pawing at the knife jutting out from his larynx. Kai Leng stepped forward and finished him off in the same way as he had his partner: one close-range shot through the head.
Looking back, he saw his team was already moving, doing their best to run while carrying Grayson and Darrin. He didn’t see anyone else; if there had been any witnesses, they were smart enough to make themselves scarce.
Moving at a quick jog and switching off the burden of the bodies every few blocks, the six of them made it to the spaceport in under ten minutes. Five minutesafter that, they were aboard the ship and safely off the station.
Only then did Kai Leng allow a satisfied smile to cross his face.
“Call the Illusive Man,” he said to Shella. “Tell him Grayson’s coming home.”
FIVE
Kahlee tossed and turned all night, constantly glancing over at the glowing clock by the bed. Each time she was surprised to see that only a few minutes had passed since she’d last checked; it seemed as if morning would never come.
She never slept well after one of Grayson’s calls. She couldn’t help but think about where he was, and what he was doing. And thinking of Grayson inevitably made her think of Gillian and Hendel.
She cared about each and every one of the students she’d treated, but Gillian had always held a special place in her heart. She knew Hendel was watching over the girl, but it didn’t make her miss Gillian—or Hendel—any less.
The stoic security chief had been one of her closest friends on the station … one of the few close friends she’d had in her life. Despite her outgoing personality, she tended to keep others at a distance, a trait she’d probably inherited from her misanthropic father.
It was strange to think how much influence Jon Grissom had had over her life. She’d taken great pains to conceal the fact that the man the Academy was named after was in fact her biological father.After her parents’ divorce he’d vanished from her life, so she’d taken her mother’s name. As she grew older, she tried her best to keep her relationship to one of Earth’s most honored—and misunderstood—heroes secret.
Despite these efforts, her father had been thrust back into her life some twenty-odd years ago, when she had been on the run after being
“If you leave the district, it’ll cost you to get back in,” the other warned.
He didn’t bother to answer. Five meters. Just a few more steps and it would all be over. He was close enough to read the expressions on their avian features; he recognized the exact moment they realized he was a threat.
Had either of them taken a few quick steps back while he reached for his weapon, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. Fortunately, they both held their ground.
Moving with blinding speed, Kai Leng lunged toward them, his left hand reaching back to grasp the knife in his belt as he closed the gap. He whipped the blade out and drove the tip into the throat of the nearestguard. Twisting his wrist as it penetrated the leathery skin, he severed both the trachea and the turian equivalent of the carotid artery.
The second turian had his gun drawn, but as he extended his arm to shoot, Kai Leng slapped it down with his free hand, causing the weapon to discharge into the floor at their feet. He let go of the knife and went for his own pistol. In a blur of motion he yanked the gun from his belt, brought his hand back in front of his body, jammed the nozzle against the turian’s temple, and squeezed the trigger.
There was a wet pop as the back of the turian’s head exploded, spewing bits of skull and gray matter out the opposite side. Kai Leng was staring into his enemy’s eyes at the moment of death; he saw the pupils dilate as the synapses from what was left of the brain ceased firing and the turian slumped to the floor.
Kai Leng turned his attention back to the first guard. He was down but still twitching, his hands feebly pawing at the knife jutting out from his larynx. Kai Leng stepped forward and finished him off in the same way as he had his partner: one close-range shot through the head.
Looking back, he saw his team was already moving, doing their best to run while carrying Grayson and Darrin. He didn’t see anyone else; if there had been any witnesses, they were smart enough to make themselves scarce.
Moving at a quick jog and switching off the burden of the bodies every few blocks, the six of them made it to the spaceport in under ten minutes. Five minutesafter that, they were aboard the ship and safely off the station.
Only then did Kai Leng allow a satisfied smile to cross his face.
“Call the Illusive Man,” he said to Shella. “Tell him Grayson’s coming home.”
FIVE
Kahlee tossed and turned all night, constantly glancing over at the glowing clock by the bed. Each time she was surprised to see that only a few minutes had passed since she’d last checked; it seemed as if morning would never come.
She never slept well after one of Grayson’s calls. She couldn’t help but think about where he was, and what he was doing. And thinking of Grayson inevitably made her think of Gillian and Hendel.
She cared about each and every one of the students she’d treated, but Gillian had always held a special place in her heart. She knew Hendel was watching over the girl, but it didn’t make her miss Gillian—or Hendel—any less.
The stoic security chief had been one of her closest friends on the station … one of the few close friends she’d had in her life. Despite her outgoing personality, she tended to keep others at a distance, a trait she’d probably inherited from her misanthropic father.
It was strange to think how much influence Jon Grissom had had over her life. She’d taken great pains to conceal the fact that the man the Academy was named after was in fact her biological father.After her parents’ divorce he’d vanished from her life, so she’d taken her mother’s name. As she grew older, she tried her best to keep her relationship to one of Earth’s most honored—and misunderstood—heroes secret.
Despite these efforts, her father had been thrust back into her life some twenty-odd years ago, when she had been on the run after being
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