Free Mass Effect™: Retribution by Drew Karpyshyn

there.”
    Grayson’s monotone delivery was a sharp contrast to the chaos crashing down on Kahlee. Her head was spinning, her stomach churning. The whole thing seemed surreal, a nightmare from which she couldn’t wake up.
    “The Illusive Man is smart. He’s careful. He onlytells his operatives what they need to know. But I know far more than he suspects.
    “Over the last several years working for Cerberus, I was gathering intel. Maybe some part of me knew even back then that I would turn on the Illusive Man. Or that he’d turn on me. Maybe I was just smart enough to want an insurance policy.
    “Names of agents inside the Alliance. Locations of key facilities and safe houses. Shell companies owned by the Illusive Man. Whatever information I could gather, no matter how small, is there.
    “Some of the information might be out of date—locations move; new operatives are brought in. But in the right hands what I know could do real damage to Cerberus.”
    A spark of hope flickered inside Kahlee. If Grayson was still alive, she might be able to use the files he’d sent her to figure out where Cerberus had taken him.
    “Don’t try to rescue me,” the message continued, as if the recording could read her thoughts. “If you’re seeing this, then I’m as good as dead.”
    Kahlee shook her head in an instinctive, unconscious refusal.
    “You have to protect yourself. Get this information to someone in authority. Someone with the power to go after Cerberus. You have to destroy the Illusive Man; it’s the only way you’ll ever be safe.”
    The message went silent for several seconds, and Grayson’s brow furrowed on the screen. Then he barked out a grim laugh.
    “I don’t know who you can go to,” he admitted. “I wish I did. Cerberus has people at nearly every levelinside the Alliance. Anyone in a position of power could be working for the Illusive Man.
    “But you’re smart. I know you’ll figure something out. Just be careful who you trust.”
    The message ended abruptly, catching Kahlee off guard. There were no last words; no sentimental goodbyes. Grayson had told her what she needed to know, then simply ended the recording.
    For several minutes she just sat in her chair, staring at the frozen image of Grayson’s face on the last frame of the recording as she tried to absorb the horrific news.
    Once she felt more in control, she muttered, “Replay,” and watched the recording a second time to make sure she hadn’t missed anything important during her first emotional viewing.
    When it was done, she loaded an optical scan disk into her terminal and copied the information from the attached file. Then she got up, went to her closet, and began to pack. She wasn’t panicking, but there was a definite sense of urgency in everything she did.
    Despite the emotional shock, she was already thinking about a plan of action. She couldn’t stay at the Academy; it might put the children and other staff at risk.
    There were a number of people she could go to. She was recognized as one of humanity’s most brilliant scientists; over her career she’d come in contact with any number of politicians and military liaisons who would listen to—and believe—her story.
    But could she trust any of them? These weren’t friends; they were acquaintances at best. Any one of them could be working for Cerberus.
    If her father had still been alive she would have gone to him. If Hendel had still been here she would have asked him for help. But they were gone, just like Grayson.
    There was only one person she could turn to. Someone she hadn’t seen since her father’s funeral, and only a handful of times in the decade before that. But Kahlee trusted him absolutely. And she knew she had to get Grayson’s information to him as soon as possible.
    Aria T’Loak stood motionless beside the bed, staring down at Liselle’s naked, blood-soaked body. Two salarian technicians crawled around on the bedroom carpet, collecting samples of blood,