She felt a little guilty about lying to Scott as she landed in Prodromos. Still, she wasn't being reckless. Tann had sent her, after all, and promised her an escort. This was as safe as she could be. Bradley introduced her to Aaron Swanson and Corporal Des Patel. They were to be her escort he declared, though he had no idea what Tann had sent her for and watched her with a little suspicion. "He just told me that we're to provide you with an escort and anything else you could need." Bradley had said, "Must be some story you're chasing?"
"Yeah." She said, a little sheepish, "Should hopefully not take too long."
"I don't like risking my people for something I don't know about." Bradley raised an eyebrow at her. "I hope you intend to tell them what they're looking for."
"I won't risk them unnecessarily." Olivia replied, feeling uneasy. "And of course. We're looking for a community of scientists on a Nexus research project. They've gone dark and Tann wants me to check it out."
"An odd task for a journalist." He pointed out. She didn't reply.
Liv had been keen to leave immediately but a storm had rolled in, whipping up the sand and making travel downright dangerous. Bradley insisted that she stay a night or two until it died down. Instead, she sat that evening in front of a terminal doing some digging. She started by accessing her friends' personnel files. Nunok and Lyora she noted had the same employment code, despite their employment records otherwise being sealed. She then ran that same code through the Nexus database that Tann had given her partial access to. It came up with a list of twelve names, who she could reasonably assume were the Project Firefly staff. One of the names, marked deceased, was Pavara D'Rosi.
Out of interest she ran the code again through older records from before the mutiny. A thirteenth file appeared. The name was Kendra Croasdale. She'd worked on virtual intelligence systems in the Milky Way, according to her file. Upon coming to Andromeda in the Nexus team, she'd been assigned to Firefly. It looked as though she'd been exiled, though there was no particular reason given as to why.
A disgraced former team member seemed a likely suspect. If only she had Scott's scanner and SAM access. It wouldn't take her long to track any of this down. As it was, she'd have to keep plodding on alone.
Swanson came to collect her the next morning. The winds had died down enough to make travel safe again. They had a crate of supplies and a truck ready to go. Both men were surly, clearly unhappy with their assignment of escorting a journalist and so said little as they drove out of the outpost.
Eventually Patel, a former Alliance soldier, started chatting. He had come across her sister Nina while in service he said. He told some stories that made her laugh, involving Hanar diplomats and Batarian pirates. Meanwhile their truck cruised north.
"I think we've got a puncture." Swanson cursed from the driver's seat. He pulled up the truck. "This isn't going to be a quick fix." He grumbled, "You may as well eat your lunch."
Olivia and Patel dragged the crate from the truck, sitting down together in the sand to pick at the food. It was peaceful, and Olivia relaxed, looking around. No Kett, no raiders, just the three of them and a new world.
The bang took them all entirely by surprise. It was deafening in the silence. Swanson jerked once and dropped to the ground.
It took a moment for she and Patel to understand as they turned, staring at Swanson's contorted body, blood trickling from the hole in the back of his head, his eyes open, staring into infinity.
"Sniper!" Patel yelled. "Get to the truck!"
There was another crack of a bullet that slammed into the side of the truck, punching into the metal. Olivia shrieked in fear, scrambling up onto her feet as a third bullet whizzed past her. She'd gotten inside as a fourth bang occurred, and Patel let out a cry, toppling forwards into the vehicle. She leaned over dragging him in with a strength she didn't realise she possessed and slammed the door shut.
"Drive!" He groaned at her. She could smell the blood, bitter and coppery.
"But..." Olivia protested.
"Just go or we're both dead." He forced the words out. Despite her lack of experience, she got the vehicle moving, though it shook about on its still punctured tyre. It rattled but she floored the accelerator, crashing her way across the sand, feeling herself bouncing about in the seat as they escaped the sniper.
"Where did you learn to drive?" Patel moaned.
"Shut up." Olivia protested, skidding as the tyre went, the van turning and bumping against the rock face to a halt. "I need to look at your injury." There was blood everywhere, she noticed, feeling sick to the stomach. Corporal Patel was bleeding badly, slumped inside their vehicle, panting, his eyes fluttering. "Stay with me!" She said desperately. She didn't know why. Why do people always say that, when their efforts are futile, and all hope is lost? There was no medi gel to be found; their first aid kit had been lost with the food and other supplies. She soaked up strips of clothing desperately trying to stem the flow but it didn't work.
He lost consciousness and then was gone so quickly.
"I don't want to be alone." She whispered. She was so thirsty, her throat raw. She hadn't had a chance to drink before they'd had to flee. The vehicle was wrecked, one of the wheels hanging off, bullet holes in the metal, the engine smoking when she tried to switch it back on. She couldn't stay. Sitting there with the bloody body, waiting to die, was not an option.
If she backtracked enough, she might find the crate of supplies they had left behind. There had been a radio in there, she thought. It might be her salvation. She took the soldier's pistol, putting it in her jacket pocket.
She was limping a little as the sun beat down on her mercilessly. She had no idea who had fired upon them. Her only thought was that it must be the same assassin who had gone after her friends, who was chasing the project.
She managed to make it as far as Swanson's body, wondering when the sniper would catch her up. She couldn't even bury him, the ground hard and arid. Staring into his eyes made her shiver, despite the heat. She started to rummage through the supplies, looking for the radio. How was she going to explain this to Bradley?
"Freeze!" A cool voice said.
"Bit difficult in this heat." Olivia quipped without thinking.
"Do you want me to shoot you?" The woman behind her snarled, "Keep up the attitude. If you have a weapon, I want to see it on the floor."
"What do you want?" Olivia said, exhausted, traumatised. She had both Swanson's assault rifle in front of her and Patel's pistol in her possession. Slowly she laid the former on the ground. The pistol was inside her jacket, close to hand.
"I want what's inside your head. I want the Firefly project codes. Turn around."
The woman was young, just a little older than herself, wearing basic armour, but no helmet. There was a heavy bruise forming on her cheek. Her short dark hair was scraped back and several scars bisected her face. "You're Kendra. Kendra Croasdale." Olivia said, recognizing the woman from her file. "You were part of the project until the mutiny."
"Did your father tell you that?"
"My father?" Olivia frowned, confused. "No, my father is in a coma. You know who I am?"
"Olivia Taylor. Dr Martin Taylor's wayward daughter. He talked about you a lot." Kendra smirked, a slight frown creasing her forehead. "So our dear friend Dr Gaari must have told you about me then."
"No." Olivia shook her head, "Lyora didn't mention you. She's told me nothing about the project. I don't have the activation codes."
"Bullshit." Kendra folded her arms, the gun hanging loosely. "You're part of the project. You can't tell me that you don't know..." Her jaw dropped and she started to laugh, "Oh my." She giggled, "You really don't know anything."
"What are you talking about?"
"A story that would change your life." She grinned.
"What is Firefly?" Olivia sighed. "I can't help you, you might as well tell me before you kill me. Why attack the others?"
"I sent someone to break into the lab. They failed. I needed to scare them into leaving the Nexus. But of course Gaari burned the lab before she left. Pavara I caught myself but she died rather than tell me."
"Why is it so important?"
"Firefly could shape this galaxy." Kendra's eyes were lit with a fire, "I used to work for an organisation known as Cerberus back in the Milky Way. We were devoted to improving humanity." She paused, "My methods were deemed too extreme, even for them. I joined the Initiative after they let me go. The Firefly could be everything Cerberus aspired to." She sighed, "We've talked long enough."
"Is this where you shoot me?" Olivia said, her voice oddly calm, though her heart was racing.
"No." Kendra was smiling, a hard, glittering kind of smile. "This is where I take you to the Project. You may not know the codes, but you're worth a lot to them. They'll give me what I want for you."