A Second Chance

Chapter 21

Tuchanka

The shuttle piloted by Cortez barely managed to dodge the projectiles fired by the Reaper forces on its descent to the ground of Tuchanka. The sky looked dark orange and the air through her helmet smelled of hot oil mixed with acid. Shepard advanced alongside Garrus and Tali against a horde of Marauders, Ravagers and Cannibals. Some of the local krogan were charging at the enemies with all their might, while others were firing left and right to keep them at bay. She took cover to catch her breath and reload her weapons, and ordered Garrus and Tali to do the same.

"Shepard!" a loud hoarse voice called out from her left.

She saw Grunt running towards her as he fired his shotgun at some Razors. The last time she had seen him had been in the operation on Utukku. She had almost lost him as she had ordered him to hold off an entire army of Razors to give the Rachni queen time to escape. He came to her side and took cover beside her.

"Take me to Wrex, Grunt, it's urgent!" Shepard tried to say over the chaos of battle.

"Whatever you want, Battlemaster, but first we must exterminate this scum from my land."

***

Shepard ordered Garrus and Tali to stay behind to assist Grunt in holding the line of defense of the building where the Urdnot clan had taken up residence. She ordered Cortez to land as close to their position as possible. Within minutes she heard the shuttle approaching and from it, Doctors Cozot, Juht and Chakwas descended, carrying a chrome container. They entered the building as Shepard spotted her old friend.

"You promised me the Reapers wouldn't get to Urdnot," Shepard said as she strode over to Wrex and took off her helmet.

"Shepard," Wrex greeted.

They shook hands firmly. The building where he resided somewhat muffled the deafening noise of shells and the guttural war cries of the krogan. They walked together to the lower levels. As they went downstairs, Shepard noticed how quiet Wrex was. Normally the krogan would have answered her with some banter, but instead his current taciturn mood worried her. Wrex wasn't one to be defeated or daunted by the mere presence of the enemy at his door. He was a Krogan Battlemaster over seven centuries old; hardly anything surprised him anymore. Perhaps the Reaper attack on Tuchanka was becoming persistent and constant enough to begin to worry the clan leader.

Wrex entered a key and the massive gate let out a metallic groan until it gave in. Immediately the figure of Bakara appeared in her field of vision, and greeted both her and the doctors behind her back. They exchanged no words; the shaman just looked at her with her large eyes. She stepped to the side and revealed the panorama.

Dr. Vepni was manning a monitor, Dr. Garr was typing something on his terminal and examining through his microscope. Kolyat was praying. Thane ...

IV tubes injected in both arms, an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth. Eyes closed. Shepard rushed to his side. She took his hand. Icy. Complete silence except for the muffled war cries coming from the surface. She felt out of breath, tears blurred her vision, and the lump in her throat choked her like a noose around her neck.

Shepard took a deep breath, as much as her chest would allow, as tight as it was at that moment, and turned to face the salarian doctors. She saw the group of four salarian scientists working together as Dr. Chakwas pulled her instruments from the container they had brought from the Normandy. She looked around. Bakara was watching her in silence. Kolyat was muttering his prayers to himself with his head bowed. Wrex had returned to the surface. She clenched her jaw and ordered herself to keep her composure. She was an Alliance Commander and they were at war. She had to reign in her emotions and think with her head.

"What happened to him?" She managed to get her voice out, turning to the two salarians in charge of Thane.

"He lost consciousness this morning," Dr. Garr said.

Shepard plucked up the courage to look at Thane. Seeing him in that state was hurting her too much. They were so close! The Crucible was almost ready, it was just a matter of attacking Cerberus' Cronos Station and snatching the information about the Catalyst from them. She ventured a hand to his face and stroked it, barely grazing his scaled skin. Instead of his usual greenish shade, his skin looked dull and almost ochre. His once-red frills looked pale, as if they were fading very slowly. He seemed to be in a deep sleep.

Dr. Chakwas tried to get Kolyat's attention by lightly touching his shoulder. The boy opened his eyes and only then seemed to notice the presence of everyone in the room. The doctor told him about the discovery they had made and the dose they had managed to synthesize. She made it clear to him that this was an unprecedented experimental cure. It was up to him as Thane's only direct family to approve its administration. He made eye contact with Shepard and approached.

"Commander?" His voice was barely audible, as if he hadn't spoken for hours or days. "What is your opinion?"

Shepard shuddered. "Are you asking me?"

Kolyat simply nodded and pursed his lips as if holding back tears by force of will.

Shepard exchanged glances with Dr. Chakwas.

"We're wasting time, aren't we, Karin?"

The doctor nodded silently and smiled with empathy bathed in pity.

"Do it," Shepard ordered.

She looked at Kolyat. The boy looked relieved that he didn't have to decide.

Dr. Cozot prepared the dose and walked over to the bottle of fluid hanging on the side of the stretcher. He inserted the syringe into the catheter that connected to the IV.

"Shepard, urgent message from Admiral Hackett," EDI's voice echoed from her omni-tool, making her wince.

Slowly the fluid began to enter the catheter, traveling into Thane's arm.

"Shepard?" EDI called.

"Connect me to the Admiral, EDI," she ordered, activating her omni-tool to establish video communication.

"Shepard, we can't wait any longer. The Citadel has appeared in Earth's orbit. The arms are closed. We don't know how it happened."

She exchanged glances with Kolyat. If they hadn't gone to Tuchanka ...

"You must go to Cronos immediately. Get us the damned Prothean VI and set a course for Earth. That's an order, Commander."

Doctor Cozot turned and faced her. Thane had already received the dose. He was still the same. She looked at Dr. Chakwas.

"We'll stay with Mr. Krios, Commander," Dr. Juht said suddenly. He seemed to speak for his salarian colleagues as well.

Shepard approached the stretcher. She took Thane's hand. She wanted to kiss his lips, but refused to do so as long as he was unconscious. She placed a kiss on his forehead, on that moss green pentagon which adorned his scales like a third eye.

"Kalahira," Shepard whispered, her voice cracking against his skin, "if the time has come to call him to the sea, let it be without pain. Give his pain to me. Arashu, if he is to live, take care of him for me."

Her tears landed on his immovable face and rolled down as if they were his own.