Ashley, Zaeed and the shuttle were already waiting for Shepard when he got to the main entrance. Corporal Provic was also there. After reassuring everyone that he was fine despite the bruises on his face, Shepard thanked Provic for his assistance and walked with Ashley and Zaeed to the shuttle. Once on board, Shepard proceeded to fill Ashley in on everything that he and Zaeed learned about the Dalatrass and Blue Suns plan while overhearing the meeting. As Shepard went through the details, Ashley became more and more distraught.

"Man," she finally said, "I know you said that the Dalatrass was hard to negotiate with but is she crazy enough to do this?"

"Unfortunately she thinks what she's doing is for the good of the galaxy," Shepard replied, "if someone believes that hard enough they are capable of doing anything. The Illusive Man was willing to do things worse than this all because he thought he was helping humanity."

"So what do we do now Shepard?" Zaeed asked.

"Traynor," Shepard said speaking to the intercom, "patch a call to Tuchanka. I want to be able to talk to Urdnot Wrex when I'm back on the Normandy."

"Right away Captain," said Traynor's voice over the speaker.

Shepard turned his attention back to Ashley and Zaeed, "I need to warn Wrex the visiting dignitary shuttle is not what it claims to be and stress that it is absolutely vital that he doesn't try to shoot it down."

"Why the hell not?" Zaeed interrupted. "One shot and both of our problems would be taken care of. Vido will be dead and the toxin will be destroyed. It's killing two birds with one stone."

"We can't shoot that shuttle down because the Dalatrass is going to be on board. She may not be popular with the salarians right now but if we kill their Dalatrass than the war that we're trying to avoid might start anyway. The best solution is to have that shuttle land. Wrex will make sure that the shuttle doesn't leave and around that time we will be on Tuchanka and make the arrest."

"What about the toxin skipper?" Ashley asked. "I remember you mentioning that you dealt with Thoros-B on Noveria but the Dalatrass made it sound like the toxin may have been modified since then."

"I know I caught that too. There's one person who might be able to tell us what she was talking about. We just have to hope that he still feels like he owes me after what I did for him back on Noveria."

Inside the captain's cabin of a freighter heading for Tuchanka, Vido Santiago was nervously pacing back and forth. Dalatrass Linron was in the cabin as well sitting at a desk. She had been watching Vido pace for several minutes now and the silence was killing her.

"Would you just calm down," she said, "I talked with the base security before we left and they said they have Shepard and his squad in custody. Even with his Spectre status Shepard can't bully his way out of jail and he's too weak willed to shoot his way out. So relax because there's nothing he can do to interfere with our plans."

Vido growled, "I would be willing to believe you Dalatrass if it wasn't for the fact that one of Shepard's squadmates is Zaeed Massani. Shepard may not be willing to shoot his way out of a jam but Zaeed wouldn't hesitate to do it if it meant getting a chance at taking me out. Zaeed was with Shepard when he tried to kill me last time. They didn't succeed but one of their bullets killed the guy sitting next to me on our escape ship. That was a little too close for comfort. Now they tried to take me out again and were only stopped because they were caught by security. We have an old human saying Dalatrass that says 'third time is the charm.' I just know that if Shepard and Zaeed get the chance to take me out again they will succeed."

"Don't worry. Even if they do escape, we'll be in and out before they have the chance to get to Tuchanka."

Before Vido could respond, there was a knock at the door. The door opened and a turian stepped into the room and saluted Vido.

"Sir," said the turian, "the Hammerhead is loaded for our mission and we are now on course for Tuchanka. We should be there in a few hours."

"Very good," Vido replied, "that will be all."

The turian saluted and exited the cabin. Once he was certain that he was out of earshot of Vido and the Dalatrass, he pulled up his omni-tool and put through a call. He waited a few seconds for the call to be answered while constantly scanning his surroundings to be sure no one could hear him. Finally the person he was calling answered.

"It's me," the turian replied, "We had a close call back at the base….Yes it was Shepard….it's okay everything is back on track….(gulp) boss I am well aware of the consequences if this fails and I can assure you that it won't. …no I promise that Shepard won't be able to stop us this time….yes boss….over and out."

The turian let out a nervous sigh as he hung up the call. Every phone call he made to his boss always made him feel like he was inches away from death. Fortunately he survived this call. If he wanted to continue to stay alive all he had to do was ensure the mission was successful. With this thought, he headed back to his post. It was going to be a long flight to Tuchanka.

"Captain, are you awake?"

After returning to the Normandy and finishing his call to Wrex, Shepard retired to his cabin to get some sleep before arriving at Tuchanka. His sleep was interrupted however when Traynor paged him over the intercom.

"I am now," Shepard said with a yawn, "did you manage to put a call through to Dr. Cohen on Noveria?"

"He's on the line waiting to speak with you now."

"Thanks Traynor. I'll take the call in here."

The call Shepard wanted Traynor to make was to Dr. Zev Cohen, an employee of the Binary Helix corporation's base on Noveria. Dr. Cohen was the person in charge of the Thoros-B project. While Shepard was on Noveria, Dr. Cohen was trying to treat some Binary Helix personnel who were accidentally exposed to the toxin. Despite some hesitation to trust Shepard due to his confidentiality agreements with the company, Dr. Cohen gave Shepard the info he needed to make a cure and save all the victims. Now Shepard had to see if Dr. Cohen would be willing to return the favor.

Shepard pushed a few buttons on a terminal and was soon greeted by a video image of Dr. Cohen. For the most part, he hadn't changed physically during the few years since Shepard last saw him. The same was true of Shepard so when Dr. Cohen saw Shepard's face he instantly recognized him.

"You?!" he said surprised, "when I heard I had a call from a Captain Shepard I didn't think you and he were the same person."

"I've been promoted since the last time I saw you Doctor," Shepard replied.

"So to what do I owe this surprise call?"

"Thoros-B."

The mere mention of the bio-toxin caused Dr. Cohen to become nervous. His eyes began to shift back and forth and he was uncomfortably shifting in his chair.

"Thoros-B?" he said, "that project was terminated years ago after the accident that would have killed my colleagues had it not been for your help."

Shepard sighed, "Doctor I really wish you wouldn't lie to me. Binary Helix wouldn't let a powerful and potentially profitable bio-toxin like Thoros-B go to waste regardless of how many people nearly die in the process. I know that your company is still working on the project and that you've created a new and improved version of the toxin. I also know that you've already sold a sample to a client. What I don't know is what makes this version better than the old one."

Dr. Cohen didn't respond and continued shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

"Please Doctor," Shepard pleaded, "you owe me. If it hadn't been for me, your co-workers would have died because of this toxin."

Finally Dr. Cohen spoke, "I'm sorry Captain but I can't tell you anything about Thoros-B. My confidentiality agreement with the company prohibits me from discussing any projects with outsiders."

Shepard leaned back in his chair and started drumming his fingers on his desk. He was doing it loudly enough to ensure that Dr. Cohen could hear it on his comm. It seemed that pleading and calling in the favor were not working and Shepard was starting to get impatient. There was only one card left for Shepard to play: guilt. It was how he got him to cooperate last time so it had to work now.

"Doctor the client that you sold the toxin to is planning on releasing it on Tuchanka and provoking the krogan into starting another Krogan Rebellion. It hasn't even been a year since the Reaper War ended and the last thing this galaxy needs is for another war to start."

"What?" Dr. Cohen said surprised. "I can't believe they would do something like that."

"Believe it Doctor. Now I'll ask you one more time. What is so special about this new strand of Thoros-B?"

Dr. Cohen sighed, "after you saved my co-workers, the company felt that it showed that Thoros-B was no good as bio-toxin. The victims had been exposed to the bio-toxin for days but you were still able to save them. The company wanted something that would kill its target instantaneously. This new version does just that. The second someone is exposed to it, they're dead."

Shepard banged his fist on the desk, "Dammit! That means even if we came up with an antidote we would be dead before we could administer it. That practically makes stopping that toxin a suicide mission. We either stop it or we'll be dead as well as the krogan."

"That's not entirely true Captain. Binary Helix may not have wanted an antidote to be able to work but I was not about to create an unstoppable killing machine. I developed a vaccine that, if administered, will protect the user from the effects of this new strand. It works just as instantaneously as the toxin so you can inject it seconds before exposure and you will still be protected. I'll send you the formula for it right now."

This news gave Shepard a small glimmer of hope. It would be impossible to distribute the vaccine to all the krogan before the Blue Suns released the toxin but at least it was not going to be a suicide mission for him and his squad anymore.

"Just be careful Captain," Dr. Cohen continued, "if you know who our client is, you should know how powerful they are. You don't take someone like that lightly."

"Thanks for the advice Doctor and for the info. It will help us out a lot. Before I go I would suggest that you start looking for another employer."

"Excuse me Captain?"

"After I deal with this current crisis, I'm taking down Binary Helix. Noveria may be willing to let illegal experiments be conducted but Noveria is in the Attican Traverse, which is under Council jurisdiction. As a Council Spectre I have every authority to deal with Binary Helix as I see fit. If Binary Helix is going to insist on making illegal weapons and selling them without any regard for the safety of civilians, than it doesn't deserve to exist. Understood?"

"Understood Captain, and I will certainly take it under consideration. I wish you the best, Cohen out."

The comm. shut down and the image of Dr. Cohen was gone. With the call ended, Shepard activated the ship's intercom to page Dr. Karin Chakwas, the Normandy's chief medical officer.

"Dr. Chakwas," he said, "I'm sending you a formula for a vaccine I received from Dr. Cohen. I need you to make as much of it as you can before we reach Tuchanka."

"Yes Captain," Dr. Chakwas replied, "I'm looking at the formula now. It looks simple enough. I'll get right on it."

After Dr. Chakwas signed off, Shepard got up from his chair and walked over to lie back down on his bed. He was slightly tired when Traynor first woke him up to take the call from Dr. Cohen. After using all his negotiation skills to get the information he needed, he was exhausted. With the Normandy getting closer to Tuchanka, the best time for Shepard to get some sleep was now. As Shepard thought about how once again he found himself with the fate of the krogan people in his hands, he slowly drifted off to sleep.