Rebirth the mass effect book 1.part 9-1

Chapter 9.1 Attention "Cerberus"

The setting sun flooded the dark room with bloody light, playing gold and crimson on the sparse surroundings, picking out two reasonable people from the thick darkness: a tall, heavily built soldier sitting on a chair, and a young black-haired man in light black armor standing by the window blinds.

"Let's get back to the details. And this time..." The brunette bent down to the ear of the prisoner tied to the chair, "I want to hear them all."

The soldier raised his head, blinked painfully from the bright light that cut across his eyes. The rays of the setting sun illuminated a bruised and bloody face, a swollen eye and split lips.

"I've already told you everything..."

A barely audible grunt and a cold reply:

"Respect me."

The soldier lowered his head again and spoke in a trembling voice:

"It was supposed to be a simple search and rescue operation." The voice trailed off for a moment, and the soldier spat out bloody saliva. "They struck so fast! Half of the squad was taken out before we could regroup."

"Go on."

"Williams. She was the leader of our squad. She didn't want to back down so easily. She could have survived, but I do not know. I... I escaped."

"What attacked you?" a harsh question, slightly tinged with contempt.

"As I said, I don't know anything about what attacked us. They looked like robots, but... somehow different." a barely audible sob. "They were just getting closer!"

The black-haired man narrowed his eyes, his well-defined lips curled into a disgusted grimace. The soldier did not notice this and continued to speak:

"I've never seen anything like it! I didn't know what to do!" He hung his head and sobbed a little. "I'm sorry."

The interrogator turned to the window.

"It sounds like you're very lucky to get out of there alive." He said dismissively.

"Listen to me! I've told you everything! What else do you want?!"

The black-haired man turned around and walked to the exit of the modular house, briefly saying:

"You traitor, you don't want to know what I really want." And he went out. The doors closed behind him.

Standing on the edge of a high cliff, the man stared gloomily at the scorched and magma-melted spot spread out in front of him. It was huge, more than half a kilometer in diameter, and it smelled of heavy black smoke from still-burning buildings burned by an unknown force. Whatever had caused such damage had tremendous power! Something else was worse. It wasn't a blow. These are just side effects inflicted in passing.

"Rasa, this is Lang." he said dryly, waiting for the caller's answer. "Nothing new."

"Nothing?" a pleasant female voice asked.

"Well, he's not lying." Kai Lang's lip curled slightly. "He doesn't know anything. No matter what hit this place, it's incredibly powerful. And it's unlike anything we've ever encountered before." Kai Lang's companion, a beautiful, well-built woman with a full head of curly fiery red hair, leaned back in her chair.

"Does the boss think the Spectrum Turian has something to do with it?"

"He didn't say." Kai replied. "But I suppose it is." He won't be very happy if we can't bring him a better lead." He finished with displeasure.

Rasa adjusted her elegant rectangular-rimmed glasses, glanced at the intelligent people leisurely strolling along the paths of the Presidium, raised her eyebrows in surprise and smiled in anticipation.

"Well, maybe I have something worthwhile." The smile turned into a grin. "You said that guy was fighting with Sergeant Williams, right?"

"Yes. But it seems that she died along with the others." Kai grumbled with displeasure.

"You're wrong." Rasa sipped her coffee, watching the two soldiers in Alliance uniforms walking slowly along the suspension road. "I'm just looking at her."

"Nonsense!"

"I'm not going to lie to you." the woman said ironically. "At least not in this one."

Kai growled softly. Rasa chuckled.

"What are you going to do with this "soldier"?"

"I'll make it look like he died in battle with the others." Kai grumbled.

"That's very decent of you, Lang." Rasa chuckled.

"It's just a convenient way to end it." There was an indifferent reply.

"Good luck. And don't screw it up."

"And I'm not going to!" he growled.

The connection was interrupted. The woman threw her head back, gathered her hair into a ponytail. Picking up the datapad from the table, she went to meet the two people.

"Please forgive me!" Rasa raised her hand, drawing attention to herself. "Are you Sergeant Ashley Williams?"

Ashley looked at the smiling woman suspiciously, exchanged glances with her companion, and cautiously replied:

"Yes. Do I know you?"

"Captain Channing." Rasa introduced himself. "I am the psychologist of the Alliance. I've been informed of an incident with your squad on Eden Prime. I don't need to talk to a shrink." Ashley said with displeasure. "Captain Anderson is filing a full report right now."

Rasa smiled brightly.

"True, but there are no details about the time before you were included in the crew of the Normandy." Rasa spread her hands. "And, unfortunately, in a situation like this, caution is necessary. We need to make sure that you are able to continue active service."

"Able to?" Ashley asked irritably.

"It's just a standard procedure." Rasa said softly.

Kayden took a step back:

"I will go. Ashley, I'll see you later." And he quickly left, disappearing into the crowd of strolling sentients. Ashley pursed her lips in displeasure, but did not say anything about such a blatant escape.

"It won't be long." Ashley assured the "psychologist", smiling knowingly. "We can have a conversation right here, if that's okay with you. Let's take a table in a cafe and just talk. What do you say?"

"I'll tell you that you have twenty minutes. And not a minute more!" Ashley grumbled. "What exactly do you want to know?"

Rasa waved her hand invitingly, glancing at the cafe where she had recently communicated with Lang.

"You were on patrol when it happened, right? Let's start from here."

"Good."

"And don't omit the details. The more you tell me now, the less likely it is that we will have to schedule repeat meetings."

Ashley nodded gravely. The women reached the cafe and took a small table at the edge of the terrace, which offered a beautiful view of the Presidium and the lakes below.

"It all started in the center of the colony two days before the attack..."

The small bar was full of people. As the evening approached, people relaxed, sipping low-alcohol drinks allowed on the territory of the garrison, relieving tension with conversations and friendly banter. Men and a few women merrily quarreled and exchanged dubious jokes, the quiet music was drowned out by bursts of cheerful laughter and the voices of resting soldiers.

"Come on, Williams!" The tall blond man, Sergeant Donk, leaned over to the dark-haired woman. "You know what you're going to like."

Ashley grinned, swinging the glass between her fingers.

"Not as much as you do."

The fighters sitting at the next table laughed.

"Forget it, Big Guy!" the fighter said with a laugh. "I've already tried."

"Yes, Donk." Duke chuckled. "You have a better chance with a Penny. Or maybe Penny has a better chance with Williams."

The brown-haired woman sitting next to him leaned back a little, smiled cheerfully and replied:

"I think she'd be courting me if she was that kind of person." The men grinned at Penny's words. "But judging by my last check, she's not one of them."

Ashley chuckled.

"Yeah! But if anyone could change my mind about THIS, it would be you, Penny the Tramp."

The fighters laughed again.

"Oh, damn, that would be delicious!" the fighter drawled.

"Hey, Bates, a call from the twenty-first century... They want to bring back the infantile chauvinists!"

Bates' face fell.

"Infan... whom?"

"GET TO YOUR PLACES!"

The unexpected thunderous voice of the lieutenant suddenly interrupted all conversations. The fighters jumped up from their seats, lined up in two ranks and stood at "attention".

The lieutenant, with his hands behind his back, walked slowly along the line.

"Ladies, I see you meet the high standards of the two hundred and twelfth division. Are you satisfied with yourself?"

"That's right, sir!" the simultaneous response seemed to shake the building to its foundations.

"Freely." The lieutenant walked over to the bar. "I don't care how you have fun in your free time. Unfortunately, you will be joining the service from now on. It is necessary to conduct a reconnaissance of the area. The scientific team has found something like a lighthouse and now wants to protect it."

The lieutenant looked at the soldiers listening attentively with a hard look.

"Sergeant Donk, take command." The fighters exchanged confused glances.

"Sir? I thought our commander was Williams."

"Not this time. Get equipped and be ready to receive the details at the briefing. Disperse."

The fighters did not move. The lieutenant spun around, looming over the somber-looking woman.

"Williams, do you know why I don't trust you?"

"I believe so, sir," Ashley said through her teeth.

"Your friends may not notice it... But not me. There's no escaping the past, Williams."

"Whatever you say, sir," the woman replied dryly, looking ahead.

"I just told you."