Chapter 12: Wounds

Nolta swam back to consciousness with a dull throbbing in his skull. His vision was blurry at first, but as it cleared, something sharpened in his sight that sent his heart-rate through the ceiling. A thin, glittering line sat in the glass of his visor, an indication of a possible suit breach. The quarian shifted slightly as he felt his arm being pulled back behind him, drawing his attention away from the mask.

Lae's eyes grew wide as he realized he was being bound. A heavy breathing loomed above him, broken by occasional grunting. How long had he been out? Kala! Was she- He had to stop, had to think. How could he get out of this? To his credit, Nolta regained enough presence of mind to spread his arms ever so slightly against the crude bonds as they were tightened. When his captor had finished at his arms, Nolta relaxed his shoulders and stealthily began to work the ties at his wrists, using the slack he'd created.

The quarian closed his eyes as the other crossed in front of him and began to bind him at the ankles. Lae continued to feign unconsciousness and waited until the man was just about to tie the first knot. In one short second, the young pilgrim drew his legs up to his chest, pulling the other closer to him, then kicked out, catching his foe square in the chest. Blood splattered on Nolta's visor, and the thud that came a moment later confirmed his guess that the kick had sent his target nearly ten feet.

As quickly as he could, Nolta struggled to his feet, hurrying to free his arms the whole time. He saw the man that had restrained Kala on the floor, only a few feet away, clutching his shoulder and chest. He was still at Endeavor. They were still at Endeavor.

Tarret struggled to his feet, a look of pure malice in his eyes. Nolta tried to back up, tripped on something, and went crashing backwards. The mattock! Before he could make a move to grab the weapon, Nolta felt the impact of a pistol slug accompanied by the sharp ping as it ricocheted from his shields. The quarian rolled to one side, narrowly avoiding Tarret's slugs. A spray of dark plastic compound struck him in the arm, stinging despite the fabric of his environment suit.

Nolta rolled forward and pushed with his feet, launching directly into his assailant. His helmet cushioned the blow, but not entirely. Nolta felt a near-crippling pain surge through his spine as he impacted the human's midsection. The man stumbled back as Nolta struggled to his feet. As the pistol came up, Lae looked around himself for anything he could use to defend himself. The mattock lay on the floor, its composite handle shattered by the human's pistol fire.

Tarret's finger tensed on the trigger and he placed a boot on the quarian's throat. "Shadow Broker never said I had to bring you in alive, just in one piece." Nolta's eyes strained at the mattock, desperate for some salvation, willing it to move. Tarret squeezed off a round. The slug shattered against Nolta's remaining shields, draining what little power had been left in the field projector.

The second shot went wide and Tarret gave a bone chilling scream as a sharp metal blade emerged from his chest. Nolta's eyes widened in the realization that the mattock's blade was protruding from his assailant. Pistol rounds started flying everywhere as Tarret stumbled back, clutching at the two inch piece of metal showing through his shirt.

Tarret finally collapsed in a pool of blood. Nolta shakily got his feet underneath him for the umpteenth time, his arms still bound behind his back. Narrow white eyes glowed from behind the young man's dark visor as he stepped over to Tarret and settled a foot on the stump of the mining tool's handle. A savage push buried the blade halfway and the man's spine gave a sickening crack.

Nolta panted, exhausted from the encounter, only to remember Kala. He turned to find her, crumpled in the corner, a limp body in a slowly growing puddle of blood.

Thane stared at Veraidian's corpse for a moment before copying the man's omni-tool files to an OSD. The process only took a few seconds, and then he turned his attention in full to the young woman who'd watched the fight. Thane saw her brandishing a standard civilian sidearm, the barrel trembling uncertainly in her hands. Krios held up his hands to show they were empty.

"I imagine that's the first time you've seen something like that."

A single, curt nod was the only reply.

"I regret that I wasn't fast enough to save your Volus frie-"

"Shut up." Her initial fear had largely subsided now that the alien had spoken to her without making any further hostile actions. Now she felt angry.

"You're the one who… who disabled power to the ship… broke down the firewalls." Rikka's own forwardness startled her, but she had more to say. "You… you could have left well enough alone… neither of them had to die."

The drell eyed her for a moment. "He did." Thane indicated the downed turian. "I did not kill the volus. That was Veraidian's work…" Krios holstered his pistol. "When I boarded this ship I thought him merely a contact of my wife's murderer. His skill revealed otherwise."

Rikka remained silent. So many emotions rushed through her. Fear, the man with whom she was speaking could probably kill her dozens of different ways in the blink of an eye. Anger, she should have seen it coming. Confusion, who was he?

The corridor's air seemed to hang stale and ominous in the protracted silence. Thane finally breached the quiet. "It has been a long time since I have seen one of your people. If I were to guess, you are probably on your pilgrimage."

Rikka's head jerked back as if she had been struck. Thane watched as she gave small, furtive glances to each side, as though searching for a response. Torr knowing about the pilgrimage had been surprising enough, but to meet an individual from a species she knew nothing about who also shared such knowledge…

"H- how do you… how do you know about that? What are you even?"

Thane bowed deeply at the waist. "My apologies. I am a drell. My name is Thane Krios, I am- was- an assassin for the Hanar Illuminated Primacy." The drell couldn't see her face, but he was no stranger to the distrust engendered when he revealed his occupation.

Rikka swallowed hard. In all of her pre-pilgrimage briefings, she'd never heard of a drell, though her first impression was something of a mix between distrust, fear, and awe. It took a moment for her to find words. "So… who hired you to kill him?"

"No one. I chose to pursue him after the murder of my wife." He broke eye contact and looked at her hands.

The quarian realized that her pistol was still trained at the drell. That revelation brought another; the gun pointed at his chest didn't phase him outwardly in the slightest. If he were an assassin like he claimed, he'd probably had guns pointed at him dozens of times.

"There is no need for you to keep your sidearm trained on me. I have no intentions of causing you harm." His words seemed like he'd read her mind, which did nothing to ease her frayed nerves.

Tentatively, Rikka stowed the pistol, keeping her omni-tool ready as a precaution. "I'm Rikka. Rikka'Nall nar Tugara."

Kala's blood was all over his environment suit. It had taken him nearly a full minute to locate the source of the bleeding and half a tube of medigel to stop it. One of the stray bullets fired by Tarret in his death throes has sliced through Kala's hip. The wound in and of itself wasn't life threatening, but the amount of blood she had lost was a source of no small concern to Nolta.

Matak was still alive- barely- his ability to take three shotgun blasts to the abdomen was a testament to the krogan's vitality. Kincaid popped his head into the room just in time to see Nolta bent over Kala's motionless form, silent tears plinking on his mask. The old businessman frowned.

"Is she…"

Nolta took a minute to answer. "Not yet… She… she lost a lot o' blood." Solomon heard the anguish in the young man's voice and somberly made his way over to him. The quarian felt the older man's arm across his shoulder.

"I, I've only known 'er, fer a few months. Et's- she can't… ET'S NOT FAIR!"

Nolta's breath came in ragged pulls. Kincaid couldn't find words. He wasn't usually the kind to offer encouragement or compassion, but in this situation he felt compelled. A shallow gasp caught both of them off guard.

Nolta's breathing quickened as he watched Kala pull in her own shallow drafts of air. The young woman's eyes fluttered open, a look of immense fatigue covering her features. Her gaze drifted up. By this point, the rest of the mining crew had arrived in the room. Roddy was near enough to be the first face she caught sight of. Youri's already paled face turned ashen white, and tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes.

It only took a moment for Nolta to put two and two together and figure out what had further upset her. Roddy felt a rough shove on his shoulder and looked up to see the cold gaze of the quarian staring him down.

"Kala et's alright. The man who attacked you es dead, I kelled 'em, Kala. He won't be a problem anymore." The sound of Nolta's thick brogue brought a semblance of calm to her frayed nerves.

"Then… who…" her already soft voice was weak, enough to worry him.

"That was jest Roddy."

"I'm scared, Nolta. My whole body hurts."

Kincaid rose and hurriedly motioned the rest of the miners out of the room, following behind. Nolta had already done everything that he could for the woman; it was time to allow them some peace.

The quarian waited until the room was empty, then slid his arms under her legs and back, gently lifting her from the dull red floor. Strong though he was, Nolta found himself straining to lift the 90 odd kilos of near dead weight. A minute and a half later, they arrived at the airlock door, waiting for the chamber to cycle open.

Kala eyed Nolta questioningly. A subtle shake of the head was the only reply she received. After the airlock had opened, Nolta took a deep breath and stepped inside. The chamber sealed behind them and began the decontamination sequence. Thin UV beams traveled across the couple as he gently set her down. Nolta waited until the decon process was done and pressed his omni-tool, canceling the door opening cycle.

"I've known I'll hav t' return t' th' fleet sooner or later. I guess, et was selfish o' me t' let y' come along. I'm sorry Kala."

Kala shook her head feebly and caressed his mask with one hand. "No. It's, it's O.K. Tarret would've found me whether I came with you or not. He's hated me ever since I refused him. Ever since the holo-shoot…"

A long silence followed the comment as Nolta processed the revelation. "There's somethen' I've wanted t' do for a while now…" he hesitated, as if unsure. "I want you t' see my face…"

Kala let out a small gasp. "Nolta…"

"I can't bear t' leave y' wethout… er, ef y, don't want te…"

She managed a weak smile. "I'd like to, but, won't you, I mean, you'll get sick, right?"

The quarian offered a noncommittal shrug. "Et's possible." He reached up to the sides of his mask.

Kala's hand found it's way to his forearm. "No Nolta. Don't risk it." Her eyes glittered with extra moisture. "You'll have to leave soon anyways. Don't… don't risk your life for that…"

Author's note:

I'm in a conundrum. I could very well kill off this character, (the injury and blood loss are there should I choose to go that route) but I've gotten truly attached to *spoiler*. Doing so would tie up one loose end, only to create another. Either way, it's gonna suck.