Lazarus Project: Mass Effect 2 (Shenko)

Chapter 93

Milky Way/Omega System/Sahrabarik/Omega

Earth year: 2186 CE --- March

Two days following the incident with Grayson, Kaidan received word from Anderson.

"Commander,

Paul Grayson is dead. Our instincts about Kai Leng were right. He's an assassin working for Cerberus. I shot him in both legs, wounded him pretty bad but he managed to escape. Kahlee and the students are fine, but a few scientists and several guards were killed. Once the mess here is cleaned up I'll be heading back to the Citadel. Got a few fires to put out.

In the meantime, I received a tip that Lieutenant Vega was seen somewhere in the Omega Nebula. My guess is he's somewhere on the station. I want you to find him and bring him back to the Citadel, I've got a job fo rhim I think he'll appreciate.

Good luck Commander. See you soon.

Councillor David Anderson, Grissom Academy"

Vega was here? Was this place a stopping point for everyone running from their past? Don't answer that, he scolded himself, remembering the first time he'd set foot on the station three years ago.

Closing down his terminal, he headed out to speak with Tanner and Mason. They were overjoyed to hear they'd be leaving Omega in the foreseeable future and jumped into action, organizing a plan to track down the missing Lieutenant.

Two days later, Kaidan had a lead and headed for the lower level of Eternity Bar, to join a poker game Vega was expected to attend. After questioning the bartender, he pointed at a table filled with vorcha.

After what he'd heard had happened with the plague, he'd thought the vorcha had been driven out. Shaking his head, he joined the game. Vorcha or not, he was tired of Omega and the only way out was through Vega. He just hoped the Lieutenant made an appearance sooner rather than later.

"New player!" One of them screeched. "Yes! New player! Play card game. You lose!"

"Uh, I wasn't planning to lose." Kaidan said, wondering at the vorcha's challenge.

"You human. You lose." He repeated, dealing the cards.

Shaking his head, he picked up his cards and settled in to wait for Vega.

Three hands later, he was up 3,000 credits and the atmosphere at the table had become tense. "You cheat! Human no good!" The vorcha screeched.

"I did not cheat." Kaidan protested, cursing Anderson and Vega. Where the hell was he? If he kept winning like this, he was certain things were going to get violent.

To keep the vorcha placated, he lost the next two rounds on purpose to cool of his opponents' tempers. It had the desired effect, until he won the next round. By that time, some of the vorcha had run out of credits and had begun betting other things.

Kaidan swore. There was still no sign of Vega and he'd just won 5,000 credits and a bottle of whiskey. The tension was now so thick with menace, he doubted he'd be leaving with either.

"Human cheat!" The vorcha who'd spoken earlier repeated. "We no like you! Give back credits now!"

Kaidan opened his mouth to respond, when a human male with a west-coast accent spoke from behind him.

"What's going on here Xav?" The man demanded, stepping up behind Kaidan's chair.

Xav turned out to be the one who'd done all the talking and snarled when he recognized the man standing behind him. "You leave! We no want trouble! This human cheat Xav!"