Salvation: A Half-Life/Mass Effect Universe Fan Fiction

Disclaimer: This fan-fiction takes place after the events of both Half-Life 1 and 2 and its episodes, and jumps to the events after Mass Effect 1 and 2. If you have not played or beaten these games this fiction may not make much sense to you. Characters property of their respective companies, Half-Life created by Valve and Mass Effect created by Bioware.

Chapter 22: Apprehension (Part I)

"But, how did you manage to survive all that without any sort of special training?" Yeoman Kelly Chambers inquired.

Kelly stood, leaning backwards on her workstation terminal as she conversed with Gordon. He was leaning back on the opposite wall, his hands in his Cerberus uniform pockets.

"Well..." Gordon began, hesitantly. "I'm not really sure, Ms. Chambers. Wasn't easy, I'll say that..." He said with a light chuckle. "But, I'm not a hundred percent sure how I managed. A lot of it still seems like a blur at times."

"I understand." She replied, sympathetically. "I think some people, like you and the Commander, just have a knack for being in the right place, at the right time."

"Yeah, maybe." Gordon replied as he shrugged his shoulders, and nodded. "But, I do look forward to all this being over."

"It'll happen, Dr. Freeman." Kelly assured him, cheerfully. "Besides, it's like I once told you... The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world..."

"What did you just say...?" Gordon beckoned, an urgent sense of panic now present in his voice.

Kelly's expression suddenly changed from one of joyful enthusiasm, to a face completely void of emotion. Her eyes grew cold and empty, as she gazed deeply into Gordon's green eyes.

"No..." Gordon uttered under his breath, shaking his head in a panic. "It can't be..."

He turned to look around. Previously, there had been various members of Shepard's crew, hard at work with their menial tasks, around the Command Deck. And although, there presence persisted – they themselves were now stopped dead in their tracks. Completely frozen in place, as he had seen so many times before. Just then, darkness began to creep in all around him.

"No!" Gordon shouted out loud in a rage. "Not again! It can't be!"  

"Now... now... Doctor  Freeman." A chilling voice resounded from the darkness. A voice that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, as a chill coursed through his body. "You didn't... think that I'd... forgotten about you."

"What do you want from me?!" Gordon tried to yell out, but something was constricting him. Not physically, but somehow he was bound within his own body. His thoughts echoing only in his mind.

"You're not... ssupposed to be here. Dr. Freeman." The eerie voice continued, as the figure of a man with icy pale skin, wearing a blue suit appeared. "It's time... for you to come... with me."

"No... please." Gordon's thoughts beckoned, as he struggled fruitlessly. "Please, not again."

"Come... along now, Dr. Freeman." Gordon suddenly felt himself being dragged, powerless to resist. "It's time for you to... wake up and smell the ashes..."

"No!" Gordon yelled out frantically, as he shot up in his bed, soaked in a cold sweat. He took a frenzied look around, panting heavily as he tried to get his bearings back. He gazed out, through his window at the stars zooming by outside.

"Am I still here?" He asked himself, looking down at his hands, then back up at his surroundings.

Gordon swung his legs off the bed, planting them on the ground, and slouching forward with his elbows resting on his knees.

"Whew..." He breathed a heavy sigh of relief to himself, as he shook his head. "What a night..."

Gordon brought his palms up to his face, rubbing it vigorously, trying to shake off the uneasy sensation that had come over him. He turned, and reached over to his black rimmed glasses, resting on a small table beside his bed – carefully sliding  them onto his face.

He looked up and spotted his modernized HEV Mark VI, propped up on a special stand in the corner of his room, fully assembled. Realizing that the Normandy must be nearing its destination by now, he slowly stood up, and walked over to it. He took a good, long look at it, eying it from top to bottom with a bit of smirk, before reaching out and pulling the left hand gauntlet away from the assembly, and sliding it onto his hand.

"This is Commander Shepard." The Commander's voice echoed throughout the ship, over the intercom system. "We'll be docking on Illium in about fifteen minutes. I know it's been a long trip back to Citadel Space. So as usual; if you want to stop and have a drink, have anything you need to buy, you're free to do so. You'll have about two hours before we pull back out of port. That is all."

"Do you think Liara could have some useful information?" Tali questioned, as Shepard finished addressing the crew.

They stood together at the rear of the Command Deck Galaxy Map, near the ship's elevator. The Commander was decked in his signature gray N7 armor, as per usual, complete with ordnance. Tali seemed to have made a full recovery from her slight ailment, standing with a single hand placed on one hip, besides Shepard.

"I hope so." Shepard responded, a bit of a sigh in his voice. "The Illusive Man hasn't heard a thing, and I don't like not having any leads. If anyone else could have SOME information, it's bound to be Liara."

"True." Tali agreed, nodding her head as the elevator behind them slid open. "And either way, it'll still be nice to see her again."

Shepard nodded in response for a moment, before noticing the orange armored figure stepping out of the elevator.

"Ah, good morning Dr. Freeman." The Commander greeted Gordon as he stepped out, onto the Command Deck.

"Hello, Commander." Gordon politely returned Shepard's greeting.

"And Miss Tali, you're looking well." Gordon assured, as he turned to face her. "I'm happy to see you up and about again."

"Thank you, Dr. Freeman." Tali answered, cheerfully. "It was just a small fever, nothing too serious."

"Well, either way – I'm glad to see you're feeling better." He assured, with a warm smile.

"And how about you, Dr. Freeman?" Shepard asked, his attention turned to a data pad in his hands. "You look like hell. Rough night?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Gordon concurred, as he torqued his head around from left to right, trying to stretch the crick out of his neck.

"That's a shame." Shepard responded, looking up at Gordon for a moment, before returning his attention to the data pad. "I know I've been sleeping a lot easier, knowing the vortigaunts have that machine. I still hope we never have to use it, but it's good to know they have it."

"That's for sure." Gordon agreed, nodding his head.

"Commander Shepard, sir." One of the Commander's crew members called out to him, working at a nearby terminal. "Could I have you take a look at these readings."

"Be right there, Ramirez." Shepard acknowledged, putting down his data pad, and walking over to the crewman.

"So..." Gordon began, turning his attention to Tali, and letting out a deep breath. "This place we'll be landing at... Do we have a mission...? An objective...?"

Tali chuckled a bit to herself, causing Gordon to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "There's no mission, Dr. Freeman." She replied, shaking her head and still chuckling lightly. "We're just here to see an old friend, and to find out if she has any useful information about the Reapers."

"Oh..." Gordon uttered, a look of embarrassment coming over his face. "I see... Well I feel rather foolish."

"I was wondering why you were dressed to kill..." Tali remarked, crossing her arms before her. "Literally."

"I guess I'm just not used to a lot of downtime."

Gordon looked down to floor, placing his hands on his hips, and shaking his head as the two stood there laughing together.

***

"Illium tower control, this is SR-2 Normandy – requesting permission to dock." Joker's voice transmitted over the ship's comm radio. He carefully navigated the vessel closer into the Nos Astra Interstellar Port, as ships of various shapes and sizes zoomed by around him. Some coming, some going.

"Standby for clearance, Normandy." A voice responded through Joker's control terminal.

"Permission granted. You may begin your approach." The air traffic control operator gave Joker the response he had been waiting for. "Proceed to dock 628."

"Roger, Illium control." Joker acknowledged, as he manipulated his controls to prepare to bring the Normandy in to dock. "SR-2 Normandy on approach."

---

"What the hell is this?" A furious turian demanded, in a gruff voice. "I thought we agreed on ten thousand creds, this is only eight."

He was tall, and slender even for a turian. He wore blue and white armor, with an insignia on the chest, resembling an elongated egg with a circle in the top center. He was accompanied by another turian, and a large krogan, both wearing the same armor. And all three armed with pistols and assault rifles.

They were engaged in making some sort of transaction with a greenish-brown skinned batarian, inside a building that had been closed down for renovations. The building overlooked Illium's financial district, with a clear view of the Nos Astra spaceport. They were up, about ten stories, in a dark, empty room. The only lighting was that spilling in from the outside.

"Hey look man..." The batarian replied, trying to negotiate a deal. "My employer wasn't all too pleased with your merchandise on our last transaction. He said this is all you get, take it or leave it."

"I don't give a flying fuck what you or your employer have to say." The enraged turian replied, drawing his pistol and pointing it at his batarian customer. "This is the finest red sand this side of the traverse. Now either you pay the agreed upon ten thousand creds. Or I splatter your head against the wall. It's that simple."

"Hey man!" The batarian yelled out nervously, throwing his hands up in the air. "I... I... I can't just give that to you, I'd have to talk to my..."

The stuttering batarian was interrupted by the clacking sound of the hammer of the turian's pistol being drawn back, as it was cocked and ready to fire.

"Ten thousand creds! Sure... sure..." The panicing batarian agreed, nodding nervously as he began to sweat. He brought his hands down, extending one before him to materialize his omni-tool and punching in various keys with his other. "There... ten thousand credits transferred. Just like we agreed on!"

"Hehehehe..." The turian making the exchange chuckled maliciously as he lowered his pistol, and turned to his krogan associate. "Grox... give this prick his merchandise."

The towering krogan walked over to the cowering batarian, holding a silver steel case in his hand.

"Here!" Grox shoved the case, hard into the batarian's gut, knocking the wind out of him, causing him to fall over coughing. "Enjoy your purchase..." The krogan snickered sarcastically.

"Tha... Thank you... Thank you..." The batarian sniveled as he pulled himself off the ground, picking up his case and leaving as fast as his two legs could take him.

"Asshole..." The turian orchestrating the exchange remarked at the krogan. "It's getting harder and harder to do honest business around here."

"Hey... Hey Vex. Come here a sec." The second turian called out, waving over the apparent ringleader of the operation. Something outside the window had enticed his full attention. "Isn't that you-know-who's ship down there?" He pointed out, down towards the spaceport as the Normandy pulled in, and the locking clamps locked in around it.

Vex rushed over to the window, looking down in the direction his accomplice pointed out. A huge evil grin came over his face, as he began to chuckle snidely.

"Well, well, well... Radio the boss. He'll wanna hear about this." Vex ordered as he stepped closer to the window, gazing out onto the Normandy, as sinister thoughts ran through his mind. "It's time for a little payback..."

---

"Well, Mordin did do a really good job." Tali assured Gordon, as he looked over himself, clad in his new suit, already showing a few small dings and scratches from the skirmish they'd had with the Gonarch.

"Oh, absolutely." Gordon agreed wholeheartedly, as the Normandy's elevator door slid open, behind them. "He also made a few upgrades to my gravity gun. I'm very grateful."

A turian in blue armor stepped out of the elevator. He disregarded Gordon and Tali in front of him, and walked over to Shepard, who was still conversing with one of his crewmen. Gordon stopped and looked over at him for a moment.

"Hey, Shepard. I'm gonna head over to the Eternity lounge." Gordon overheard Garrus tell the Commander. "Care to join me for a drink?"

"Sorry, Garrus." The Commander replied, turning his attention away from Crewman Ramirez. "I have to go see Liara once I'm done here. Maybe later."

"Your loss." Garrus responded, shrugging his shoulders as he turned to make his way toward the bridge. "I'll be at Eternity if you change your mind."

"Remember, you've got about two hours, before we pull out." Shepard shouted out to Garrus who was already walking into the airlock.

"Hmm..." Gordon uttered out loud as he watched Garrus walk away. "I wonder if I should go with him, and buy him a drink. You know, as a peace offering." He stated, as he turned back to Tali, hoping to get her approval.

"I don't know..." She replied, dubiously shaking her head. "Garrus can be a bit of a hothead. That may not be wise."

"Well..." Gordon began again, gripping his chin between his thumb and his index finger as he tried to make an assessment. "I won't let myself get drawn into anything. If he starts to get riled up, I'll simply cut my losses, and come back."

"Well, I still don't think it's a good idea..." Tali informed him, crossing her arms, with a slight sense of disapproval. "But you'd better hurry up if you want to catch him."

"Oh, right!" He exclaimed, as he turned with a jerk to try and catch up to Garrus, before stopping himself in his tracks, and turning back to Tali. "Shoot... I should probably take all this off, shouldn't I?" He queried, as he looked over himself, referring to his armor, and armaments.

"Eh... go as you are." Tali suggested, uncrossing one of her arms, and motioning to Gordon. "After all, you do have full clearance. And you might need it if you're going to be dealing with Garrus."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Gordon replied with a laugh, as he turned to rush towards the Normandy's airlock.

---

"Hmm, I wonder if I can get some grilled zehk'reth around here." Garrus said to himself, as he walked out of the docking area, turning a corner into the Illium financial district.

"Aw, crap..." He uttered under his breath, as he looked out into the crowded trading floor. There was a sea of life, as every conceivable species of the Citadel races partook in buying, selling, and trading everything from stocks, bonds, and shipments, to weapons, pharmaceutical research, and indentured servitude.

Garrus thought about what a hassle it would be to try and weave his way into, and then out of the sea of lifeforms, but only for a moment. He remembered a back hallway he used to use some time ago to get around the fracas on the trading floor. It was usually used by the maintenance staff, but no one ever seemed to mind him using it before. Without giving it a second thought, he turned a corner to his right, and pushed through a couple of double doors.

Garrus walked down a long, plain corridor. The paint on the walls was dull, and unkempt, chipping off in certain spots. He could hear his footsteps echo with each individual step he took. The dull, silent corridor contrasted greatly with the lavish, deafening exuberance of the activity outside. There were no glimmering metallic walls, no neon or holographic signs, no sliding automatic doors. It was a maintenance hallway, plain and simple.

"Whoa..." Gordon uttered to himself, as he turned a corner, finding himself face to face with the same sea of life that had encountered Garrus, moments ago. He looked around at the various stock terminals, and enthusiastic brokers, pirates, and entrepreneurs alike, gaining and losing fortunes before him. He adjusted his glasses as he quickly searched the sea of lifeforms, searching for the familiar turian. Like searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack.

"He couldn't of cut through all this, so quickly." Gordon thought to himself, as he tried to imagine where Garrus could have managed to get to. To this point, the path was fairly linear, as they left the docking area. That's when the double doors to his right caught his attention. He didn't notice any sort of 'employees only' sign, or any other sort of dissuading markings.

"That must be where he went." Gordon said to himself, as he walked over to the double doors, and pushed his way through them.

"Damn, did I remember to calibrate the Normandy's targeting matrix?" Garrus thought to himself, as he reached the end of the long corridor, turning the corner to his left to be greeted by yet another long hallway. "I'll have remember to do that when I get back."

The second hallway, much like the first was dull, and unkempt – as a dirty white paint chipped off the walls. Although, not nearly as long as the first. There were various doors placed intermittently along the hall. Some were unlabeled, while others had signs on them that read things like; "Maintenance" "Utility" "Mens" "Womens" Each written in at least five separate languages.

As Garrus walked, making conversation with his own thoughts, he noticed another turian, wearing normal civilian clothing, come out of one of the rooms up ahead, and begin walking towards him. They casually walked towards each other, nothing seemingly out of the ordinary.

"Hey, buddy!" The stranger walking towards Garrus called out, grabbing his attention. "My omni-tool's busted. You got the time?"

"What?" Garrus questioned, as the two approached each other, meeting at about the halfway point of the long hall.

"The time... the time..." The other turian beckoned Garrus, bringing his arms up, and tapping on his wrist with one finger. "You know, the time?"

"Oh... Yeah sure, just a sec." Garrus replied, happy to cooperate, as he put his arm out before him, materializing his omni-tool. He brought up a large holographic screen, displaying the local Illium time. "It's uh... Four twenty-four p.m. here." Garrus replied.

Before he had a chance to put his omni-tool away, there was a sudden, strange odor in the air, as a light mist seemed to come through at him, from the other side of his omni-tool.

"What the hell?" Garrus asked, as he lowered his arm and dematerialized his omni-tool, to find the stranger before him pointing a small, cylindrical device in his face with one hand, while holding a small protective mask over his nose and mouth with the other.

"Nighty night..." The strange turian remarked  through his mask, with a wicked look in his eyes, as he put the small device away.

"You son of a bi..." Garrus began to say, before he felt himself go limp. He felt his legs give out on him, as he collapsed hard onto the floor, before everything suddenly went black.

"Tyrras, Grox... Get the fuck out here!" The strange turian called out, as he crouched down beside the unconscious Garrus, removing the mask from his face when the lingering mist eventually dissipated.

"Nice job, Vex!" Another turian exclaimed, as he rushed out of a nearby room, accompanied by their Krogan accomplice. Both wearing the same blue and white armor.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." He remarked, as the three turned Garrus over onto his stomach. "Just get his fuckin' weapons."

"Where the heck is he?" Gordon thought to himself, as he walked down the long hallway, not spotting a singular sign of Garrus anywhere. "Something tells me, I went the wrong way."

"I say we do 'em right here." Gordon suddenly heard a deep, rough voice exclaim in the distance, from around the bend. "Finish what we started on Omega."

"What the hell?" Gordon uttered to himself, as he reached the end of the first hallway, not actually turning it. He stopped, and pressed himself against the wall, sticking his head out slightly, being as careful as possible not to get noticed, if there should be some suspicious activity amiss.

Looking out, around the corner, he noticed three figures standing over what appeared to be a body. Squinting his eyes, and trying to focus them as best he could, he looked down at the blue armor clad figure on the floor.

"Not yet, moron!" One of the three standing over the body reprimanded the krogan. "The boss wants to talk to him personally before we kill 'em. Come on, pick him up."

"Shit!" Gordon said to himself, as he pulled his head back in, grabbing his pistol out of its sheathe. "They got Garrus! Who the hell are those guys?"

He stuck his head out once more, as he watched the three pick up, then slowly begin to walk off with an incapacitated Garrus.

"I can't just run in, and start shooting. I might hit Garrus..." Gordon thought to himself, as he quickly tried to make a tactical assessment of the situation. "I should go and tell the Commander what's happened."

Gordon quickly turned, and began to rush back in the direction he came, before he stopped himself cold.

"Damn it!" He exclaimed under his breath, as look of frustration came over his face. "But I have no idea where they're taking him...! I know they're planning to kill him, so if I leave now, by the time we find 'em, it might be too late..."  

"Now I really wish I'd brought that damned helmet communicator thing along..." Gordon thought to himself, recalling the helmet issued to him, when he received the rest of his equipment. He shook his head, realizing the only thing he could do was to try and follow Garrus' captors.

Gordon stuck his head out once more, watching as the three dragged Garrus away, further down the hall. Before reaching the end of the hallway, leading to another pair of double doors, the aggressors turned, and walked through a door on the right.

Gordon rapidly turned, came out from around the corner, and rushed down the hallway – keeping a close eye on the door he saw them exit out of, with his pistol in hand. Reaching it, he slowly opened it a crack, ever so carefully. Being cautious not to give himself away. The door led to the outside, to what appeared to be a back alley. About thirty feet away, he noticed the perpetrators walking into the back door of an adjacent building, still dragging the unconscious turian.

As soon as they were in, Gordon bolted out the door, running through the back alley, nearly knocking over a nearby trash receptacle. He came up to the door, and using the same technique as before, gently cracked it open mere inches, to take a look inside.

"Wish this fuckin' thing would hurry up!" Gordon heard one of the aggressors exclaim. The door led to an area, housing two elevators, with a flight of stairs directly to the right of them. Standing only a few feet away from him were the three men, holding Garrus up by his shoulders, waiting for the elevator door to open.

"Finally..." The civilian dressed turian, orchestrating the abduction said, with a scowl, as the elevator door slid open. "Come on, get him in there." He ordered, as his two partners complied, dragging Garrus into the empty elevator, with the metallic doors sliding shut behind them.

Gordon threw open the door, and ran in, up to the elevator. There was a room nearby with a sign over it that read "Laundry." As far as he could guess, it must some sort of apartment building or hotel. He looked up at the digital display above the elevator indicating the floor, and watched as it change from 1 to 2. He immediately took off, up the stairs to the right to the second floor.

Reaching the top of the first level of stairs he peeked his head around the corner, towards the elevator, being cautious in case it were to open on this floor. He looked up at the display and watched it switch from 2 to 3, giving him license to run up yet another flight of stairs.

As Gordon reached the ninth floor, continuing to intermittently check if the elevator was still ascending, he heard the doors slide open. He looked out, around the corner to spot a lone salarian standing by, waiting for the elevator.

"This ones full... take the next one." He heard a voice demand sternly from within the elevator, as the doors slowly slid closed once again.

"Uh... yes... yes, of course!" The salarian replied nervously, virtually trembling.

As the elevator doors slid close, Gordon emerged from around the corner with the stairs, towards the salarian.

"Hey!" Gordon called out to him, startling the salarian, causing him to jump. "Sorry. Hey listen, you got a phone or something?"

"Uhm... y-yes." The salarian stuttered, in response.

"Good." Gordon acknowledged, breathing a sigh of relief. "I need you to call the police, or security, or whatever you got in this place. Let them know that there's been a kidna..."

"What?!" The salarian exclaimed in shock, interrupting Gordon. "Those were Blue Suns. I'm not getting involved!"

"Blue what?" Gordon questioned, shaking his head and furrowing his brow. "Listen to me! I need your help."

"I'm... Uhm... I'm..." The salarian yammered as he slowly backed away. "I'm sorry. You have a nice day, sir!" He shouted out, as he turned and rushed away.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Gordon shouted out, at the fleeing salarian, as he continued to run off down the hall, without even flinching.

"Damn it!" Gordon uttered to himself, as he looked up at the elevator display, watching it switch from 9 to 10, and then from 10 to 11. Gordon quickly bolted up the stairs once again, to catch up with the lift.

Gordon continued to advance further, and further up. He began to pant under his breath, as the the fatigue slowly began to get to him. But only slightly. He continued up... 16... 17... 18... The floor numbers seemed to fly by, as he ascended alongside the elevator.

For a scientist, he was in miraculous shape, and surprisingly well conditioned. Gordon thought back to his days back in Black Mesa, before the Resonance Cascade, as he huffed up the stairs. He recalled how he used to enjoy running the Black Mesa Hazard Course for fun, in his spare time. All personnel at Black Mesa were required to complete the hazard course at least once, but he must have run it twenty or thirty times for pure sport. That, coupled with the fact that he spent hours on end running around in Black Mesa and in City 17, left him remarkably spry. Not to mention that this new, high-tech, upgraded version of his HEV suit, was much lighter than the previous models.

As he reached the twenty-fourth floor, he noticed the look of the hallways began to change. Up until now, every floor he passed was laid out in the fashion of a normal hotel, or apartment. There were hallways extending in either direction, with doors on either side, each labeled with a number and letter designation.

But now, the decor slowly seemed to be getting more extravagant, and luxurious. There were contemporary chrome tables, with various forms of beautiful plant-life on them. Some of which seemed alien to him. The railing of the stairs turned from a simple, cold steel railing, to an elegant wooden carved hand-rail. And the steps themselves were carpeted now. The silvery, metallic doors gleamed – and instead of a door nob, there was now an odd, holographic symbol on them. Most of which glowed with a dissuading red luminescence. But a sparse few were green. He could only guess this was an indication as to whether or not the door was locked.

25... 26... 27... He reached the final floor, as he escorted the elevator's ascent, panting fairly heavily now. He looked to his left, and noticed that there was no staircase leading further up. He'd reached the top. "Ding!" A bell chimed, as he heard the the elevator doors around the right corner open up. He quickly ducked down, backing away slowly, down a few steps of stairs, and forcibly controlling his breathing. Being careful not to be seen or heard, in case the perpetrators would cross the hall in front of him.

"Come on, let's go." He heard one of them order, as he listened in; hearing footsteps walk off the elevator. "We don't wanna keep the boss waiting."

Once they stepped off the elevator, the carpeting on the floor made it nearly impossible to hear whether they were coming or going. But after a few seconds, he had to assume they had gone down the hallway, away from him. Making a tactical choice, he carefully ascended the last few steps, with his pistol drawn, and slowly took a look around the corner.

At the end of the short hallway, he spotted the three men. The krogan, and the other turian were still clutching the unconscious Garrus, as his feet dragged across the floor. The third one, the one turian dressed in civilian drab, materialized his omni-tool before him, and seemed to scan it before the door's holographic panel, causing it to open, allowing entrance for the four.

When Gordon watched them enter the room, he dashed over toward the door. It was the last room, at the end of the hallway, on the right hand side. Vehicles flew by, outside the window at the end of the corridor, near the door, a testament to how far up he had climbed.

As he came to the door, he slowed his steps, to a gentle walk, not wanting to give himself away by stomping around, even on carpet. He carefully placed his ear to the door, tuning his hearing as best he could to see if he could make anything out. Inside he could hear faint muttering, but nothing clearly audible. The steel door was far too solid.

"So now what?" He asked himself, as he stood at the doorway, scanning the area with a pistol in his hand, contemplating his next move.

"Here he is boss..." One of the turians, helping the krogan carry Garrus declared. They walked him over to a sinister looking batarian, watching eagerly. "Just like you asked!"

"Ah... At last." The batarian replied, clasping his hands together. "Well done, Vex. I knew I could depend on you."

"No problem." Vex replied, as he watched his two cohorts maneuver Garrus into the study of the hotel suite, from the foyer. "The bastard never knew what hit 'em."

"Bring him over here." The sinister batarian ordered, looking up at a short chain, suspended from the ceiling, with a carabiner hook at the end. A fixture likely used for similar occasions. "Cuff him, and string him up."

"Tyrras, Grox... You heard the boss!" Vex turned to his men, and ordered. Pulling out a sturdy pair of handcuffs from his back pocket, and tossing them to the other turian. "Here, string 'em up."

Tyrras nodded, as he brought Garrus' wrists together, locking the handcuffs into place. With his hands locked firmly in place, together; Grox, the Krogan, proceeded to raise Garrus' arms up over his head. Sliding the chain, connecting the two cuffs, into the carabiner hook.

Gordon paced around a bit outside, trying to figure out what to do. "If I just try to blow the door open with an explosive, I could hit Garrus..." He thought to himself. "And if I leave, to try and get some help... It's a long way there and back... I might not have that kind of time."

"Shit!" He uttered to himself angrily, as he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

"Wait..." He said to himself, as a thought crossed his mind. He started looking around the walls for some sort of fire alarm. If he could trigger it, perhaps he could lure them out of the room, and either get the drop on them if they had Garrus with them, or sneak into the room and retrieve him if they didn't. It was a long shot, but still a shot worth taking.

He searched the walls frantically, up and down, and from left to right, not spotting any such device. "Damn it! Don't they have fires in the future?" He uttered to himself, in frustration. He looked up, spotting a sprinkler system, but no alarm trigger. "It must all be automated..."

Just then, as he continued to search for something to use to his advantaged, he spotted an all too familiar form of conveyance for him. To the right of the room door, high up near the ceiling – there was a grate covering a large air duct. A quick grin came over his face, as he spotted it, and rushed over to it, sheathing his pistol.

He reached up, working his fingers into the grating, which was designed for elegance – possessing a variety of abstract, and floral designs. He locked his fingers into place, and gave it one, good, hard tug, expecting his hands to pull the grate clean off. Instead, the grate remained firmly in place. He gave it another hard tug, for good measure, but again the stubborn grate refused to budge.

Gordon shook his head with a scowl, as he reached behind his back, to his weapon's dock – pulling out his famed crowbar. He jammed the long flat tip, under the edge of the grate, and hammered it in firmly with the palm of his hand. Giving it one hard, torquing motion downward; he pried the grate off, with a screech. It wasn't off completely however, he pulled the crowbar out, and jammed it in, on the other end of the grate. Doing the same as before, he torqued it down, pulling the grate completely off.

Placing the heavy grate gently on the floor, and sliding his crowbar back into his weapon's dock, Gordon looked around for a means to climb up into the vent shaft. He spotted a small, steel table nearby, housing a beautiful, lavender colored plant on it, inside a clear glass vase. He grabbed the vase, taking it off the table, and placing it on the floor, as he pulled the table over, placing it directly beneathe the vent opening.

He climbed up, onto the table, switching on his omni-tool flashlight, and shining it into the dark, dusty air duct. Despite all the incredible, advancements and changes he'd seen in this new age, it was comforting for him to see that air vents, at least, seemed fairly unaltered by time. He placed two hands firmly on the edge of the air vent, pulled himself up, and climbed into it.