Chapter Ten
The last one, the last obstacle before completing his mission, which had become the longest of his life. If Curtis was hard to capture, then Krul was near impossible. Mason might not have sai
d it to Jade, but hiding in plain sight had its advantages. Curtis brazenly stomped around his space station relying on brawn to survive. Krul had a different approach—secretive, solitary, and merging into the background, literally. How to catch a chameleon?
With no news of where to find him, Mason cruised between space stations and friendly planets, listening to news on the communication networks, the ones where people chatted oblivious to spies and eavesdroppers.
Nothing.
In the meantime, as the days trickled by, he and Jade furthered their relationship. She was no longer his prisoner and he’d gradually eroded some of the records on the Titan referencing her as such, especially the ones he’d recorded of capture and cavity search. Instead he created new ones. He substituted her name with a variant—Jada—and amended the records to show her as a casual crew member, employed at his discretion to fix things. Not exactly far from the truth. However, for the diligent Mason it wasn’t easy breaking so many rules, but for Jade it was worth the risk. He’d learned that for her.
He couldn’t access all the data, especially the Federal database where her criminal record was held. That was way beyond his jurisdiction. Since she was relatively unimportant compared to most fugitives, and given that her capture was opportunistic, he hoped she could disappear under the radar. But when to let her go? And where?
They’d grown stronger together by living as a couple. However, if he managed to capture Krul, hand in the other fugitives, and claim his outstanding pay and bonuses, then resign, where would they live? The end of his career as a marshal was imminent. Would she respect him if he had no status?
Those kinds of things shouldn’t bother him, but they did. He belonged to a Stratum, a class of people, and status was important on Ixzar. Jade would brush his concerns aside and reiterate that all she wanted was him and his willingness to explore her fantasies re-enforced that devotion.
Not every day, it would be a challenge to go there so often, but whenever they had the need, he helped her experiment, learn about herself and him, too. Most times when she submitted so deeply, she came away pleased with herself. As for her obedience, for the most part it was there, ticking away in the background. The days it broke down, he leapt in and dealt with it swiftly, and she accepted those punishments without complaint.
Days and days of cruising. He yawned and leaned back in the commander’s chair, staring into the abyss of space.
The communication panel flashed up a notification. He’d a call arriving from another marshal.
“Mason, where the devil are you?” Bara was not from Ixzar. Wherever he came from, formality wasn’t important.
“Right in the middle of nowhere,” Mason replied, leaning over the panel to speak. He gave his coordinates.
There was a long pause. “Good, that’s to your advantage.” The delay between sending and receiving voice messages was irritating, but unavoidable.
“Why?” Get to the point, Bara!
“Krul. There’s news.”
Mason’s heartbeats quickened. “Go on, tell me.”
“Voice traffic between two bounty hunters. Both after him. They’re teaming up to split the loot. They put Krul on Kathamu.”
Mason’s eyes widened. Kathamu was a jungle planet, its native population timid and tribal, and still in a primitive state of existence. The Federation left such planets alone, unless they were rich in resources.
“When?” he asked.
“Recently. He’s been there for years according to the gossip.”
It wasn’t surprising; a man like Krul would stand apart and be easily spotted. “How did they find out?”
“I would guess somebody questioned the natives and their findings made it out into the network.”
That was possible—academic researchers liked to explore rudimentary planets and harken back to earlier times. Happier times, perhaps.
The line crackled as Mason noted down more details—the coordinates given by the bounty hunters and the timings of their conversation. It was a recent one, which meant they were on their way there and probably had a head start.
Mason asked one last question. “Are you interested?” Teaming up would be useful, even if the bonus was split between marshals.
“Nah,” replied Bara. “Too fucking dangerous going after him. I’ll stick to other lowlifes. The idiot ones. Krul is smart. Watch yourself, Mason.”
The conversation ended.
Mason brought up a star chart and located Kathamu. The planet was closer than he anticipated. At maximum speed, it was days away. Immediately plans were forming in his head. He couldn’t land Titan on a planet, he would have to use his shuttlecraft, which was basic but capable of landing and taking off, and it had a confinement cell for holding captives. He’d not used it for a while, though.