Mass Effect: The Complete Novels 4-Book Bundle (27 page)

THREE

As the door to Nick’s room closed behind her, Kahlee noticed Hendel coming down the hall, wearing his customary attire of tan pants and a black, snug fitting, long-sleeved shirt. He was a tall man, a few inches over six feet, and thick through the neck, chest, and arms, with a closely cropped beard and mustache that covered his chin and upper lip but left his cheeks bare. His rusty-brown hair and first name were clear evidence of his Scandinavian ancestry. However, the darker tone of his skin and his last name, Mitra, hinted at his mixed heritage, and he had actually been born in the suburbs just outside of New Calcutta, one of Earth’s wealthiest regions.

Kahlee assumed his parents still lived there, though they were no longer a part of his life. Her dysfunctional relationship with Grissom was nothing compared to Hendel and his family. He hadn’t spoken to them in over twenty years; not since they’d abandoned him to the Biotic Acclimation and Training program when he was a teenager. The BAaT program, in contrast to the openness the Ascension Project enjoyed at the Grissom Academy, had taken place in a top-secret military facility before it was shut down as a dismal failure. The minds behind the program had wanted the BAaT instructors to act without interference from the families, so they had made every effort to convince the parents that biotics were dangerous. They tried to make them feel ashamed and even afraid of their own children, hoping to drive a wedge between the students and their families. In Hendel’s case they had done a wonderful job.

He was approaching with both speed and purpose, propelled by his long, quick strides. He ignored the children peering curiously out at him from their rooms as he went by, a frown etched on his face as he stared intently at the floor.

Now there’s someone who walks like a soldier,
she thought.

“Hey!” Kahlee called out in surprise as he blew past her, seemingly oblivious to her presence. “Watch where you’re going!”

“Huh?” he said, pulling up short and glancing back over his shoulder. Only then did he seem to notice her. “Sorry. In a hurry.”

“I’ll walk with you,” she offered.

Hendel resumed his pace, and Kahlee fell into stride beside him. Every few steps she had to break into a quick jog to keep up.

“You were just with Nick?” he asked.

“He’s sulking,” Kahlee replied. “Thinks you’re being unfair.”

“He’s lucky,” Hendel grumbled. “Back in my day he would’ve gotten a smack upside the head hard enough to make his ears bleed. Now all we have are lockdowns and lectures. No wonder half these kids leave here as arrogant, snot-nosed punks.”

“I think that has more to do with being a teenager than being a biotic,” Kahlee noted with a small smile. Hendel talked tough, but she knew he’d never allow any harm to come to the children he worked with.

“Somebody needs to straighten that kid out,” Hendel warned. “Or he’ll end up as one of those guys who goes into a bar, hits on another man’s date … then uses biotics to knock the other guy on his ass when he takes a swing.

“He’ll think it’s all just a big joke … until someone in the bar freaks out and bashes him over the head with a bottle when he’s not looking.”

Kahlee liked Hendel, but this was an example of his pessimistic, often bleak view of life. Of course there was some truth to what he said—there were biotics who acted as if they were indestructible, blessed with super powers. But there were limits to their talents. It took time to generate a mass effect field, as well as intense mental concentration and focus. Fatigue set in quickly. After one or two impressive displays a biotic was drained, leaving them as vulnerable as anyone else.

There were several documented cases of biotics flaunting their power: cheating at dice or roulette in a casino; altering the trajectory of the ball in the middle of a basketball game; even playing practical jokes on people by yanking their chairs out from under them. And the consequences for these actions were often severe. Enraged mobs had been known to assault or even kill biotics in retaliation for such minor offenses; driven to extreme overreaction by their ignorance and fear.

“That’s not going to happen to Nick,” she assured him. “He’ll learn. We’ll get through to him eventually.”

“Maybe one of the teachers needs to hit him with a stunner,” he deadpanned.

“Don’t look at me,” Kahlee objected with a laugh, taking two quick hop-steps to keep from falling behind. “I never carry mine.”

The stunners—small electroshock weapons manufactured by Aldrin Labs and capable of rendering a student unconscious—were standard issue to all personnel on the Ascension Project; a precaution in case any of the students ever unleashed a serious biotic attack against a staff member or classmate. For legal reasons, all nonbiotic personnel were supposed to carry a stunner while on duty, but Kahlee openly defied the rule. She hated the stunners. They seemed to hearken back to the mistrust and fear prevalent during the days of the BAaT program. Besides, in all the years of the Ascension Project, no staff member had ever needed to use one.

God willing no one ever will,
she thought. Out loud she asked, “So where are we headed in such a hurry?”

“To see Gillian.”

“Can it wait?” Kahlee asked. “Jiro’s taking her readings.”

Hendel raised a curious eye. “You’re not supervising?”

“He knows what he’s doing.”

For some reason, Hendel had never warmed to Jiro. It could have been the age difference—Jiro was one of the youngest members on the staff. Or it could have simply been a clash of personalities—Jiro was cheerful, extroverted, and talkative, whereas Hendel was, in a word, stoic.

“I’ve got nothing against Jiro,” he assured her, though she knew that wasn’t completely true. “But Gillian’s not like the other students.”

“You worry about her too much.”

“That’s funny,” he replied, “coming from you.”

Kahlee let the comment slide. She and Hendel both spent a lot of extra time and attention on Gillian. It wasn’t really fair to the other students, but Gillian was special. She needed more help than the others.

“She likes Jiro,” Kahlee explained. “He’ll do fine without you hovering around like an overprotective parent.”

“This has nothing to do with getting her readings,” Hendel grunted. “Grayson wants to come for another visit.”

Kahlee stopped and grabbed her companion by the elbow, knocking the bigger man off stride and spinning him halfway around to face her.

“No,” she said firmly. “I don’t want her hearing that from you.”

“I’m in charge of security for this wing,” Hendel replied defensively. “All visitation requests go through me for approval.”

“You’re not seriously thinking of denying his request?” Kahlee asked, horrified. “He’s her
father
! He has rights!”

“If I think the visit poses a danger to the child I can deny a parent’s request,” Hendel replied coolly.

“Danger? What kind of danger?”

“He’s a drug addict, for Christ’s sakes!”

“You can’t prove that,” Kahlee warned. “And you can’t deny his request based on suspicions. Not without getting fired.”

“He wants to come the day after tomorrow!” Hendel objected. “I just need to see if Gillian’s up to it. It might be better if he waits a few weeks so she can get used to the idea.”

“Yeah, right,” Kahlee replied sarcastically. “It’s all about what’s best for her. Your personal feelings about Grayson have nothing to do with it.”

“Gillian needs routines and consistency,” Hendel insisted. “You know how upset she gets if her schedule’s disrupted. If he wants to be part of her life, he can come see her every month like the other parents, instead of once or twice a year whenever it’s convenient for him. These unexpected visits are too hard on her.”

“She’ll cope,” Kahlee said, eyes narrowing. “I’ll tell Gillian her father’s coming. You just go back to your office and approve Grayson’s request.”

Hendel opened his mouth to say something else, then wisely closed it.

“I’ll get right on that,” he muttered, then walked off in the opposite direction, heading back toward the administrative wing of the building.

Kahlee watched him go, then took a deep breath to try and calm herself. Gillian was surprisingly perceptive; she tended to read and react to other people’s emotions. And the girl looked up to Hendel. If he’d delivered the news of her father’s trip, she almost certainly would have picked up on his disapproval, and had a sympathetic negative reaction. That wasn’t fair to Grayson, or his daughter.

Gillian’s room was at the far end of the dormitory, where there was less noise to disturb her. By the time Kahlee reached the door, she had plastered an expression of cheerful expectation on her face. She raised her fist and rapped lightly. Her knock was answered not by the girl, but by Jiro.

“Come in.”

The door slid open to reveal Gillian sitting at her desk. She was thin and angular, the tallest child in her age group by several inches. She had fine black hair that hung down almost to her waist, and eyes that seemed too wide and too far apart for her long face. Kahlee suspected she took after her mother, as apart from her slender build she didn’t bear any real resemblance to Grayson.

Gillian was twelve, the same age as Nick. In fact, almost half the children in the Ascension Project came from the same approximate age group. Thirteen years ago three major industrial accidents, each at a different human colony, had occurred over a four-month span. The circumstances were suspicious, but investigations had uncovered no connection between the incidents. Of course, this had done little to quell the conspiracy theorists on the Extranet who refused to believe it was all just a tragic string of negligence and coincidence.

The third accident was by far the most devastating; some reports had initially called it the worst toxic disaster in human history. A fully loaded Eldfell-Ashland transport ship had exploded in atmosphere, killing the crew and spewing a deadly cloud of element zero over the entire Yandoa colony, exposing thousands of children in utero.

While the majority suffered no long-lasting harmful effects, several hundred of the unborn children developed significant symptoms ranging from cancer to organ damage, birth defects, and even spontaneous abortion. However, some good did come from the otherwise tragic statistics: thirty-seven of the exposed children had been diagnosed as not only healthy, but also with significant biotic potential of varying degree. All of them were now here at the Grissom Academy.

Gillian was staring with a disturbing intensity at the assignment on her computer screen. Sometimes she would sit like this for hours, motionless. Then, as if some undetectable switch went off in her mind, she would explode into a flurry of action, typing out answers so quickly her fingers were nothing but a blur. Her answers were, without variation, 100 percent correct.

“All done here?” Kahlee asked, directing the question at her assistant gathering up his equipment in the corner of the room.

“Just finished,” Jiro replied with a smile.

He was only twenty-five, handsome, and well put together. His features were a pleasing mix of both his American and Asian ancestry, and he wore his hair, dyed a dark red, in a spiky, tousled style that made it look as if he’d just rolled out of bed. An easy, confident charm and impish smile made Jiro appear even younger than he actually was.

Cradle robber,
a small corner of her conscience chided. She pointedly ignored it.

“Gillian did very well today,” Jiro added, turning his smile toward the girl. “Didn’t you, Gillian?”

“I guess,” the girl muttered softly, though she didn’t turn her head from the screen.

Gillian had good days and bad days, and the fact that she was speaking hinted to Kahlee that this might be one of the good ones.

“I have some exciting news,” she said, coming over to stand beside Jiro.

With any other child Kahlee would have sat on the edge of the desk, or rested a comforting hand on their shoulder. But for Gillian even the softest brush of a fingertip against her skin could sometimes cause her to react as if she’d been touched with a burning ember. Other times she seemed oblivious to all sensation, as if her nerve endings were completely dead. This made it difficult to get the daily readings Kahlee needed for her research. Fortunately, Gillian seemed to react well to Jiro, and he was usually able to get the data without causing her significant discomfort.

“Your father’s coming to visit. He’ll be here in two days.”

She waited for a reaction, and was relieved to see the faint hint of a smile touch the girl’s lips. Jiro picked up on the subtle change in Gillian’s mood and reacted to it quickly.

“I bet he can’t wait to see you again,” he said, his tone overflowing with exuberance.

The girl turned her head to them, her face now sporting a full-blown grin. “I can wear the dress he gave me,” she said, her voice distant and dreamy.

Grayson had given his daughter the dress on his last visit, almost nine months ago. Kahlee doubted it would still fit, but she didn’t want to bring it up and spoil the moment.

“I bet he’d rather see you in your school uniform,” Jiro chimed in without missing a beat. “Let’s show him how hard you’re working on your classes.”

Gillian furrowed her brow and scowled, processing the information. Then her brow relaxed and the smile returned. “He likes to talk about school.”

“That’s because he’s so proud of how smart you are,” Jiro added.

“I need to finish my assignment,” Gillian said abruptly, the mention of her studies bringing the concept of academics to the forefront of her thoughts. Her mind latched on to the idea, fixating on it to the exclusion of everything else. She turned back to the computer screen, staring at it once more with unwavering focus.

Kahlee and Jiro, familiar with her unusual behaviors, didn’t bother to disturb her by saying good-bye as they left.

“What say we get a little alone time?” Jiro whispered as they walked down the hall, sliding his arm around Kahlee’s waist.

“Not where the kids can see,” she chided, elbowing him playfully in the ribs. He flinched, but didn’t let go.