MASS EFFECT ANDROMEDA: HOLLOW WORLDS

CHAPTER 24

"How's the face?" Torvi casually leaned up against the doorway that led into the biology lab where Jaal took up residence.

The purple angaran dropped the sample he was studying, but managed to catch it with a slight fumble. "Ryder?" He cleared his throat. Edginess plagued his tone. "I'm doing well. A scar will take the place. A mark that I will wear proudly." She made a note to check up on him following their departure from Havarl. She received an urgent message from Sloane Kelly when she arrived back on the Tempest. The details were sketchy and all that Sloane mentioned was that she needed to talk to her and it was important. Figuring that the basis of the conversation would be on the leader's terms on how she wanted the Initiative to run things since now fresh water was flowing in, Ryder purposefully placed the request on hold. She would make Kelly sweat it out a bit and instead, she would tend to the needs of one of her own team members. Jaal received disturbing news that his mothers were upset. Several of his siblings joined Akksul's cause. The self-imposed ruler of the Roekaar was dividing up families on Havarl as his anti-alien propaganda surged like a wildfire. Despite the vault's restart, the planet was still dying. Angaran were killing one another. Sympathizers and those against. Evfra was redeploying his troops from Voeld to Havarl to contain the situation and now the Resistance was losing its footing against the kett on the snowy world. Kett was picking up momentum and territory. Slaves were being captured once again. A vicious process that would not go away until there was harmony among the angaran.

"It was reckless to stand before Akksul like that," Torvi crossed her arms as she shook her head, recounting the vivid scene of Jaal standing with a gun drawn at him, doing absolutely nothing.

"I am glad that I did," Jaal argued. "If you shot him, his followers would have risen against you."

"I know he wanted me to martyr him to make me look like the bad guy. What's the difference between him taking a bullet and you?" Ryder's voice rose in disbelief. For a sheer second, she thought one of her teammates was just going to stand there and let him be killed. She wanted to pull the trigger.

"I would gladly die for the Resistance, Ryder." Jaal said proudly. "I am not afraid. My soul will be reincarnated into another."

Sighing hard, Torvi unfolded her arms and stood back up. "We need you, Jaal. You are a valuable fighter and you know more about kett tactics. The Archon is becoming dangerous."

The angaran remained quiet as he took in every word she was saying. His lightly colored blue eyes blinked at her. "Hmm, then I apologize, Ryder."

"It's okay," Torvi smiled warmly. "I'm just glad you are alright and don't have the need for any facial reconstructive surgery."

"The ion beds on Aya would suffice," Jaal pointed out. "I would go there until I was fully healed…if the need arises."

Torvi rolled her eyes playfully and giggled. "You need to be less serious sometimes, Jaal."

The angaran looked at her strangely. "It is difficult to be 'less serious' when your people have faced a war with the kett for many years and are still losing."

Torvi grimaced. "Wow, way to be a Debbie downer, Jaal."

He scratched his head. "Sorry. A what?"

Ryder lightly chuckled. "A human saying. Just ignore it." She really didn't want to get into a long conversation about human sayings and meanings. She left that part of the education with Liam since he was so gung-ho about cultural exchanges and growth.

"Very well." Jaal remained serious. "Kallo says we are going back to Kadara port. Perhaps, Sloane is wiling to help out and be more generous to the angaran that are still there?"

Ryder shrugged. "Maybe. I wouldn't get my hopes up. Everything to her is with an angle."

"I don't trust her," Jaal's words low in volume.

"I don't either," Torvi admitted. "My only choice is choosing the Charlatan and I don't know who they are and what their true motivations are."

"They seem to be helping the angaran. A few recruiters for the Collective were of my kind." He pointed out.

"Yeah, and some of Sloane's men are angaran." Torvi played devil's advocate. "I don't want someone worse than Sloane and maybe now with her summoning me, then she's ready to help out. "

"Just be cautious, Ryder," His brow furrowed with worry.

"I always am," She gave a sloppy grin.

The angaran was not moved by her confidence and he groaned. "You were trapped before remember? On the Archon's ship?"

"Don't remind me."

Cora could see the look of horror and fear on Torvi's face as the blue hair braided woman came barging through the crowd at the docks, desperately trying to make her way to the elevator that led down to the slums. "Ryder, are you okay?" The blonde called to her, but Torvi ignored her and continued to go into the elevator car; desperately pushing the button relentlessly until the lift obliged.

"Go, go! Damn you!" Torvi jumped on the flooring in hopes that it would increase the rate of descent. She needed to get to Tartarus. She wanted to get insight from Reyes about what happened while she was gone. The meeting with Sloane Kelly was nothing like she expected. When she arrived at the 'throne room', the only person inside was Sloane herself. The woman was shaken to her core. The news was grim. The lack of Kaetus' presence was the heart of it. A group of exiles discovered the turian and thought it was another corpse to loot. When they realized who he was and that he was still holding on by a string to life, they took him back to the port knowing that bountiful creds would be tossed their way. Kaetus was in bad shape and Sloane was even shocked that he was still alive. She wouldn't go into the details of his injuries and refused to let Torvi see him to assess him even though Ryder pressed that she could get Dr. T'Perro off the Tempest to render medical aid. Sloane didn't trust Torvi. She claimed that she tracked Kaetus' messages. He received a note from her to meet her shortly before the attack. Kaetus told Sloane that her own men and the Charlatan's men got to him. She arranged a meeting to settle the matter and avenge what happened to the turian. Sloane kept reminding Torvi that she didn't want her there and didn't trust her, but she didn't have a choice. She wanted the Pathfinder to provide protection for her, in exchange they would discuss the terms of the outpost following the meeting. Reluctantly to help Kaetus and to get the outpost, Torvi quickly agreed.

A few of the dancers inside their cages at Tartarus paused briefly in their provocative routines as they noticed Torvi walking back in. To them, she was becoming more of a local versus an outsider. Everyone knew she would have private meetings upstairs with Reyes Vidal. He supplied random round of drinks from time to time so they always welcomed him there and any friend of his. Dashing up the stairs, causing a ruckus among the locals, Ryder busted into the private lounge to see it empty for once. "Reyes?" She called still and then she moved out of the room to lean over the bannister. Hoping to find him down at the bar ordering a few more drinks or mingling with someone. Her blue eyes dashed frantically around and instead picked up a lot of confused glances her way. "Fuck!" She hit the railing hard with her right fist and moved swiftly back into the room, closing the door. "Where are you, Reyes?!" She growled through her teeth, scanning the room, before setting on skimming the terminal. The console was password protected. "SAM?"

"One moment," The AI spoke up. Seconds later, the terminal was unlocked. "Done."

The terminal displayed no messages. It was cleaned off. "Damnit! What the hell is going on?" Seeing that the room was rendered useless to pick up clues on Reyes' whereabouts, she stormed down the steps to where the bartender was behind his protective glass.

"Yes?" He stared at her with hint of alarm seeing the angry look on her face.

"Reyes. Where is he?"

"He hasn't been around here in a day. He does that sometimes. I guess he had a job outside of here." The man supplied.

"Any idea where he is? Where he goes?"

He shrugged. "No idea. He doesn't tell anyone. I can leave a message for him."

She looked at him incredulously then moved back to leave the club. There was no point in sending a message. If the terminal was scrubbed, then he wasn't coming back. What was going on? Kaetus was attacked and Reyes was gone. The Charlatan was making a power move. Maybe, Reyes got wind of it and left?

Feeling left in the dark, Torvi moved to leave the slums towards the badlands where Sloane was going to meet her. She would have to talk to Reyes another time…after she found him. For now, she needed to face this mysterious Charlatan and take him down. Using her to bait Kaetus was inexcusable. She felt betrayed. Just how much dirt did they have on her? Who all was keeping tabs on her whereabouts?

Peebee and Jaal were standing by the Nomad when she used her jump jet to leap over the fence that blocked unwanted persons from getting back into the port. She didn't have time to chat it up with the warden that day. The blue asari picked up on Ryder's clenched jaw and determined look. "I guess you have a plan."

Torvi didn't even look at her friend as she got into the rover. "Yeah. We take out the Charlatan."

The angaran and asari exchanged silent looks before they move to take their own seats. "Well, at least we have a plan," Peebee jeered lightly, but the tone was forced. An eerie calm was inside the moving vehicle. Ryder was tense. Very tense. Almost scary. Just how far would she go to avenge him?

Pumping her legs faster, Torvi ran after Reyes as he fled the cave. The man was still holding his wounded hand. She could hear Sloane's shrills "Kill him! Kill the bastard" Gunfire erupted in the cave as Kelly dealt with the sniper planted for her demise. Everything was happening so fast. Reyes unveiled that he in fact was the Charlatan. The smug look on his face showed that he was very clever in his cover-up and duped Sloane and even her. He tried to act like he was such an honorable man to her. Yet he deceived her to assist in his dirty-work to undermine Sloane's regime and then planted a sniper to take Sloane out when the proposed duel was just between he and Kelly. He was unmoved that Ryder accompanied his enemy in the cave. In fact, she could tell by the look in his eyes that he considered her presence to be an "added bonus."

Despite not liking Sloane, Ryder could not just standby and allow her to be sniped during a "fair match." She pushed Sloane out of the way just as a killing round struck the ground in the original spot. The move was unpredicted and caught Reyes off-guard. He wasn't ready for Sloane's counter shot, not at the sniper, but at him. The round struck his hand, causing him to release his weapon. He grabbed his bloody hand and clenched his teeth. He stared at Ryder in astonishment before ordering his man to keep Sloane busy as he fled.

The cave finally opened up to the outside and a shuttle was hovering near the ledge to where Reyes was running to. Ryder had a clear shot to his back. Aiming her pistol, she held her finger on the trigger as hot tears filled her eyes. He lied to her. He lied to her over and over. With her arm shaking, she lowered her pistol, "Reyes!" Her voice strained as she yelled as loud as she could over the shuttle's engines.

The man leaped on board with an awaiting salarian and woman. He turned to look at her and gave a frail attempt at a wave and a wink before the door closed. The shuttle veered sharply to the right and took off. Yelling, Ryder threw her pistol on the ground. "You bastard!" She collapsed to her knees and the tears poured down her face as her heart finally was allowed to shatter.

Foot steps approached. "What the hell is this shit?" Sloane spat in disgust as the saved woman looked on to Ryder's present state. "You didn't even fucking fire."

Wiping her eyes in frustration, Ryder sniffed and made herself stand up to retrieve her weapon. "I saved your life, didn't I? That should count for something."

Sloane glared hard at her. "Didn't answer my question. I seem to think you took his side."

Spinning around on her boot heel, Torvi met her stare. "Don't piss me off right now, Sloane. I came here for you. I saved you. I could have let the sniper shoot you. Is that what you wanted?"

Sloane holstered her weapon. "I put enough bullets in his man to make sure he was put down like a mad dog." Her remark a glimmer of satisfaction of the events. "If you think I owe you a thank you for saving me…."

"I didn't do this for you," Torvi cut her off icily. "I did it for Kaetus. He didn't deserve what he got."

Sloane was moved and the remark seemed to make her lost for words. She studied Torvi with her blue eye and brown eye. "I need to get back. We can meet there to discuss the terms of the Initiative's outpost. I will only address it with you and not Tann. Not anyone else. Is that clear?"

"After I see Kaetus." Torvi moved down the hill that would lead her back around to the other side of the cave to her vehicle. The response was unexpected and it seemed to shock the both of them. Ryder was furious in knowing that Reyes ordered the attack on Kaetus, brutal at that. She knew that he discovered her hidden relationship with him. Jealousy had to be a factor. The man she thought she knew was dark and was not who she thought he was.

"I will put Reyes' head on a spike!" Sloane called to her. "He has no more power here."

Torvi's stomach lurched at the exclamation. She wanted to get back at him, but the horrid image of his severed bloody head on a spike like the kett was not something she wished upon him. Sloane's unchecked fury could make the port more dangerous and to the outpost. She had to keep the woman in line. But how? She needed to find Reyes first, but she had no clue where he was hiding. Word would get around. Sloane's creds would fuel a line of hitmen. She had to watch her back as well. Regret filled Ryder's mind as her feet moved dirt around as she slid down the hill to where Jaal and Peebee waited. What did she do?