A Second Chance

Chapter 16

Kahje

There was a strange atmosphere among the crew of the Normandy. Since her return from Tuchanka, Shepard had shown such determination that it was truly intimidating. Her tense face and the imperious tone of her voice meant that no one dared to raise even the slightest objection to her orders. The last one had been to direct the ship to Kahje as soon as possible.

She spent most of her time in her cabin, and only Liara and Garrus seemed to be authorized to discuss the next steps with her. The plan was simple. Upon arrival at Kahje, Garrus would remain in command of the ship and immediately begin plotting low orbits that would allow the planet's surface to be scanned. Meanwhile, Shepard herself would command the unit that would descend to the surface, accompanied by Liara and the rest of her trusted officers.

Feron and Khira were waiting on the platform when the shuttle landed.

"May I introduce Tali'Zorah vas Normandy," Shepard said, pointing to her quarian friend. "She's an expert in just about every kind of technology, and she's come to give you a hand with the omni-tool's decryption."

"A pleasure," Khira replied, offering to accompany her along with the technicians who were working on it.

"And now let's pay a visit to our guest," Shepard ordered.

Korichi was the only one in a position to engage in conversation. The two bodyguard agents were little more than puppets trained to follow orders. Those strange Cerberus implants seemed to have given them great combat enhancements, at the cost of stripping them of all reasoning ability. They were perfect soldiers, fearsome in combat and incapable of disobeying an order.

Korichi's cell was a small subterranean room. In addition to the door, an electromagnetic force field covered the interior and prevented any escape attempt by the prisoner, who was lying on a cot with her eyes closed.

"Relax, she can't get through," Feron remarked as he saw some surprise on Shepard and Liara's faces.

"I am going to introduce myself. I am Commander –"

"Traitor Shepard," Korichi said disdainfully as she stood up and approached the energy barrier. "After all we did for you, and this is how you repay us, working for all these alien scum and turning your back on your race. You bitch!"

The woman spat on the ground.

"You don't seem to be aware of the situation we're in," Shepard replied, keeping her composure.

"More than you are, you poor fools," Korichi smiled. "Too bad about the force field, if it weren't for it I would have settled scores with you by now."

"Let's stop this nonsense!" Shepard demanded. "Where is your base?"

The prisoner just shrugged her shoulders.

"Ask Markus about that. Oh, no, he can't answer you anymore. Too bad!"

Korichi shrugged, turned, and walked a few steps away from the energy field.

Did she just call her boss by his first name? Shepard thought at that moment. It wasn't very appropriate coming from a subordinate, unless there was something else going on between them.

"Do you know why I walked away from Cerberus?" Shepard paused as Korichi turned her head to the side, her attention seemingly caught. "Because of attitudes like yours. Your fanaticism leads you to put the organization ahead of the people. Despite him having been a coward, taking himself out of the picture as soon as he had the chance and leaving you to your own devices, here you are, defending him with all your might."