Read Online Mass Effect™: Retribution by Drew Karpyshyn - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Drew Karpyshyn
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framed for the massacre of her fellow scientists at the Sion research facility. He’d hidden her at his home on Elysium, then later helped her and David Anderson—an Alliance soldier and the only other person who had believed Kahlee was innocent—escape off world.
Nearly two decades later Anderson had helped Commander Shepard expose Saren, the rogue turian Spectre, as a traitor to the Council. Kahlee had become a leading researcher in the field of biotics and the head of the Ascension Project. Her father, on the other hand, had stayed on Elysium. He had lived a lonely, isolated existence, refusing all interviews and doing his best to hide from a legendary reputation he never learned to bear.
She’d kept in regular, if infrequent, contact with her father up until the day he died. He had passed away from natural causes six months ago, at seventy-five: shockingly young by modern standards. But then her father had always been a relic from a bygone era.
There were hundreds of dignitaries at the funeral, all coming to pay their respects to a man they idolized, but never really knew. Kahlee had attended not as Grissom’s daughter, but rather as a member of the Academy faculty: obviously she valued her privacy as much as he had.
The death of her mother when she was a teenager had shattered her world. Grissom’s passing had had a much smaller impact. She never did feel close to her father: the two or three clandestine visits each year to his estate on Elysium had always resulted in uncomfortable conversations filled with long stretches of bitter silence. And yet, now that the surly old bastard was gone, she actually missed him. She still felt a small lump in her throat whenever she passed the memorial plaque in the mess hall that bore his name and likeness.
In an effort to turn her churning thoughts away from the people from her past, she tried to think of a way to smooth things over with Nick. She didn’t want him to feel ashamed or embarrassed about what had happened, but talking to him directly might only make things worse.
If Hendel had still been here, she’d have asked him to handle it. But he was gone. Just like her father. And Grayson. And Anderson.
Why do all the men in my life tend to disappear?
That wasn’t a question she wanted to mull over in the middle of a long, sleepless night. Fortunately, at that moment her terminal chimed to indicate an incoming message, giving her an excuse to jump out of bed and check it out.
She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of apprehension as she flicked on the screen. At night the terminal was set to receive messages silently and store them until morning; it alerted her only when something tagged as
Urgent
came in. Seeing it was from Grayson made her even more anxious.
Unlike his call earlier in the day, this wasn’t a livefeed. She could see from the formatting that it was a prerecorded message and an encrypted data file. Her throat was too dry to swallow as she tapped the screen and watched it play.
The instant Grayson’s image appeared she knew the message had been recorded months or even years ago. His face wasn’t as lean; the bags under his eyes weren’t as pronounced.
“If you’re watching this, that means Cerberus has found me.”
He spoke the words with cool, almost clinical detachment, but that didn’t keep Kahlee’s heart from jumping into her throat.
“I don’t know if they’ll come for you, too. They might not; the Illusive Man is practical enough that he might decide you are inconsequential to his plans. But he can also be vindictive and petty. It’s a chance you can’t afford to take.”
She tried to focus on what Grayson was saying, but her mind was having trouble processing the words. She couldn’t disconnect the recording from the man behind it. Was Grayson dead? Had they taken him prisoner?
“There’s a file attached to this message,” the recording continued in the same calm voice. “Everything I know about Cerberus is in
Nearly two decades later Anderson had helped Commander Shepard expose Saren, the rogue turian Spectre, as a traitor to the Council. Kahlee had become a leading researcher in the field of biotics and the head of the Ascension Project. Her father, on the other hand, had stayed on Elysium. He had lived a lonely, isolated existence, refusing all interviews and doing his best to hide from a legendary reputation he never learned to bear.
She’d kept in regular, if infrequent, contact with her father up until the day he died. He had passed away from natural causes six months ago, at seventy-five: shockingly young by modern standards. But then her father had always been a relic from a bygone era.
There were hundreds of dignitaries at the funeral, all coming to pay their respects to a man they idolized, but never really knew. Kahlee had attended not as Grissom’s daughter, but rather as a member of the Academy faculty: obviously she valued her privacy as much as he had.
The death of her mother when she was a teenager had shattered her world. Grissom’s passing had had a much smaller impact. She never did feel close to her father: the two or three clandestine visits each year to his estate on Elysium had always resulted in uncomfortable conversations filled with long stretches of bitter silence. And yet, now that the surly old bastard was gone, she actually missed him. She still felt a small lump in her throat whenever she passed the memorial plaque in the mess hall that bore his name and likeness.
In an effort to turn her churning thoughts away from the people from her past, she tried to think of a way to smooth things over with Nick. She didn’t want him to feel ashamed or embarrassed about what had happened, but talking to him directly might only make things worse.
If Hendel had still been here, she’d have asked him to handle it. But he was gone. Just like her father. And Grayson. And Anderson.
Why do all the men in my life tend to disappear?
That wasn’t a question she wanted to mull over in the middle of a long, sleepless night. Fortunately, at that moment her terminal chimed to indicate an incoming message, giving her an excuse to jump out of bed and check it out.
She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of apprehension as she flicked on the screen. At night the terminal was set to receive messages silently and store them until morning; it alerted her only when something tagged as
Urgent
came in. Seeing it was from Grayson made her even more anxious.
Unlike his call earlier in the day, this wasn’t a livefeed. She could see from the formatting that it was a prerecorded message and an encrypted data file. Her throat was too dry to swallow as she tapped the screen and watched it play.
The instant Grayson’s image appeared she knew the message had been recorded months or even years ago. His face wasn’t as lean; the bags under his eyes weren’t as pronounced.
“If you’re watching this, that means Cerberus has found me.”
He spoke the words with cool, almost clinical detachment, but that didn’t keep Kahlee’s heart from jumping into her throat.
“I don’t know if they’ll come for you, too. They might not; the Illusive Man is practical enough that he might decide you are inconsequential to his plans. But he can also be vindictive and petty. It’s a chance you can’t afford to take.”
She tried to focus on what Grayson was saying, but her mind was having trouble processing the words. She couldn’t disconnect the recording from the man behind it. Was Grayson dead? Had they taken him prisoner?
“There’s a file attached to this message,” the recording continued in the same calm voice. “Everything I know about Cerberus is in
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