My darling please forgive me
I'm feared in every town,
I'm stopless now to save you,
The Bandida's coming round.

(Audra Mae, "Bandida")

Later, after she'd eaten three helpings of breakfast, Shepard went to apologise to Chakwas for running away. She submitted to another medical examination (which revealed the antidote had only just been administered in time, and that the stripe across her face would probably fade thanks to Cerberus' intervention in her immune system). She almost asked about Thane again, but decided not to. It had felt dishonest going behind his back last time.

Down in engineering, Tali embraced her. Donnelly and Daniels drifted tactfully away to the core.

'Tali, I never got chance to thank you for your help on the station. We'd have died horribly in there if you hadn't stopped the sand.'

'Just as I would have died on Haestrom, Shepard. And probably on the Citadel. And probably on Horizon. And probably on the Collector Base. Not to mention my position in the Fleet. And my father... We are still a long way from being even. I owe you far more than I can ever repay.'

'You have no debt to me, Tali'Zorah. Still. Thank you. I trust you managed to get off the station all right?'

'The entire industrial level was on the point of catastrophic system failure, but Thane and I managed to trigger the fail-safe, and the system shut down before it went critical. Jack grabbed you and went blasting off back to the ship. I tried to make Thane come back too, but he insisted on remaining a while to explain to the hanar what had happened and to arrange the removal of the body and a transfer of credits towards repairing the station. I think he was anxious to make things right with them. They were actually really good about it – hanar are always so hard to read, but it was obvious they highly respect him. It was they who forced him to leave in light of his injuries, and they gave him a dry pack... that's what the drell workers wear in the sub levels to avoid the steam,' she clarified, seeing Shepard's eyes narrow in confusion. 'It's treated air that stays warm and dry. But... did he not tell you of this?'

'No. I just woke up last night from the anti-venom meds. We actually haven't spoken much since.' Which was true enough, assuming she meant verbal communication. 'Are you okay? I hope the sand didn't cause you any problems.'

'I'm fine. I was worried, but my seals held. But Shepard... what happens now? I didn't catch all of it, he was exhausted, but Thane said something about "checkmate" when I got him back to the ship. This assassin must have accepted a contract from someone. Are we going after the client?'

'I assume you pulled Natai's omni-tool before you left?'

'Of course. EDI's running it now. What happened in there? When I arrived back in the chamber the side had been torn off and the sirens were going crazy, and I ran down as fast as I could but the assassin was already dead in a pool of blood and Thane was medi-gelling you while Jack held you. You were twitching and blood was coming out of your mouth...'

'Tali, it's okay. I'm fine.' Shepard put her arms on the young quarian's shoulders, seeking her bright eyes through the visor. 'I was... careless. Nerar Natai managed to cut me with a poisoned blade. I don't remember much of what happened afterwards but I survived. I need to see about giving Dr Chakwas a raise. Or at least tracking down some more ice brandy.'

Tali touched the back of a long finger to the tip of the wound on Shepard's face, then twitched away, overcome with embarrassment, and turned. 'Well I'm glad you're okay. I have um, some things that need um... calibrating here. Um. I'll talk to you later commander.'

Shepard blinked, not expecting that excuse from the quarian, then smiled suddenly.

'So, you decided to jump on the scars bandwagon at last.'

Garrus was lounging on the barrier of the main battery. Shepard leaned on the doorframe. 'No such luck – apparently my immune system has been upgraded. Dr Chakwas thinks it won't last. Anyway I had scars before you.'

'True. But I'm an irresistible trendsetter.'

'How was shore leave?'

'Fine, apart from, you know, it being cut off as usual by alarms and explosions.'

'I didn't blow anything up this time.'

'I suppose not. No matter. I'll carry it over for next time. Remember, that's two explosions you owe me.'

'I was wondering, commander. Is it dogs that have been known to turn up at their old home after they've been abandoned and left to die? Or cats?'

'Miranda, stop that right now. I owe Jack my life.'

'You know Shepard, I was thinking of asking you for a rematch when we next set up the duelling ring. I've been thinking a lot about what you said.'

'Sure.'

'Are you okay? You seem kind of distracted.'

'I'm fine, Jacob. I just...'

'We should just drop him off somewhere, Shepard. Jack I can handle, but that assassin just attracts trouble. We don't need his sort on board.'

'Mr Taylor. Kindly remember to whom you are speaking.'

'… Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am.'

'It's thanks to him that you discovered that cache of melee weaponry. Remember that.'

'Shepard, I... … … oh fuck.'

'It's okay. I figure we're about even now. I'm glad you survived.'

'… you are?'

'I swear it.'

Alone at her desk, Shepard laced her hands behind her head and slouched in her chair, staring at the wall. She had just finished reading the relevant files EDI had distilled from Natai's omni-tool, and the report of the comm traffic contained on it. The problem was not that her next course of action wasn't clear. It was that she wasn't sure if she wanted to take it.

The last part of the trail led to the planet Kahje. To the transport hub of one of the dome cities. To the terminal of a hanar.

A hanar had ordered another drell to assassinate Thane Krios. It had come closer to succeeding than Shepard was prepared to admit.

Something was very, very wrong here.

Also unresolved was the question of Liara T'Soni's involvement. It was unthinkable that she hadn't realised she was sending a team of mercs hired by an assassin after them. It was also unthinkable that she should betray them so easily. Yet the mercs had come, and there had been zero contact from the asari. 'What the hell are you doing...?' whispered Shepard, scraping her hands over her hair and pressing them over her eyes. She winced as the stripe protested.

Well. There were two courses of action she might take at this point. Kahje, or Hagalaz. Even as she formed the thought she knew already which one she would choose. The game wasn't over. Having eliminated all the pieces was not enough. Now they needed the king.

'Joker? Prepare for departure. We've got a job to finish.'

Once more, her team assembled in the briefing room. Once more Shepard laid her helmet on the table and looked at each of them in turn. Garrus on her right. Tali next to him. Jacob next to her. On her left, Thane. Jack next to him, her leg trembling. Miranda alone near the back, observing, XO in rank but not in trust. The division between them was getting worse. She'd have to address that soon. Shepard had the uneasy feeling that something was coming to a head, and that afterwards things would change irrevocably for the worse.

'EDI tracked the transmissions down to the terminal. The client is a hanar merchant.'

'A hanar?!'

Tali, Jacob and Jack had spoken at the same time. Garrus had made a rumbling noise in confusion. Miranda unfolded her arms. Thane lowered his head. Belatedly, Shepard wondered if she might have done better to talk to him privately first.

'I know it's hard to believe. So we're going down to Kahje to check it out.'

'Are you gonna kill it?'

'I don't know,' answered Shepard, in the silence that had fallen after Jack's question. 'I guess I'm more interested in why.'

'If you don't take it out, it will strike again,' put in Miranda. 'They're tenacious.'

'That's what worries me,' conceded Shepard. 'But at the same time I'm wary. We've never had trouble with the hanar in the past and I liked it that way. I'm a soldier, I can't just drop into a planet unarmed. But I do not like to use weapons unless absolutely necessary, and here, it's not.

'So here's what we'll do. Myself, Garrus and Thane will go down to the planet in the shuttle. I don't want to make more of a splash than necessary, so the Normandy will remain nearby. Meanwhile, I need the rest of you at your stations and ready to alert me of anything out of the ordinary. I have a bad feeling about all this.'

'Shepard... did you tell them?'

Shepard paused. That was tactless of Jack, but it was probably better to get it out into the open. Maybe. It would have to come out now anyway. The biotic was probably just trying to help.

'I was just about to,' she lied. 'There's something you need to know. When we went onto the MS Ifrit, when we found the files... There was a signature. The mercenaries had received our location from... an information broker.'

Garrus' quick mind got there first. '… Eheh. You're kidding, right?'

'It was from Liara.'

'No!'

'I'm sorry, Tali, it was. But I trust her.'

'What?' protested Jacob. 'Shepard, if she sold your location to the mercenaries, then she stabbed you in the back.'

'She wouldn't do this unless she had good reason,' countered Shepard.

'The commander is right,' added Garrus. 'Liara was part of the team. She wouldn't betray us.'

'I just hope it's a damn good reason,' muttered Jacob.

'Yeah. Me too,' said Shepard tightly.