help, and he’d been oblivious.
“Remember, during debrief, you said you had a bad feeling about the marshal?”
“The marshal…” He closed his eyes at Kaine’s words, guilt at his failure to push the issue at the time flooding him. His regret grew with every detail the councilmember dropped. Axis was to blame for the situation they were in now. “Of course.”
“We received intel that he took three brides in payment from the Verge, but we had no confirmation until we’d had a chance to inventory the females rescued by the Djaromir warlords. Even now, a few of the elders do not fully trust them to be true to their word, so I’ve been limited in my power. The most the council would approve was to have you keep an eye on things during your leave. It is one of the reasons why I kept your mission orders so vague. The council didn’t want any rumor of missing humans without evidence,” Kaine relayed. “I knew that with your instinct that you would find a way to uncover the truth.”
“I should have questioned the marshal when I first suspected—”
“Stop,” Kaine ordered sternly. “It is done. Believe me, I think of the many things we could have done differently. All we’ll do is drive ourselves crazy if we think that way. I waited too long to give the order to bring the marshal in. His resistance on Euphoria surprised us all, but I believe, by that point, he knew things were over. I do not know if he’d planned it that way or not, but with the effects of the gas from the scatter bomb detonated just prior to his capture, we had to delay his interrogation—”
“And then he was found dead before I could question him on Phaeton One,” Axis added. “Did you ever determine how he was terminated? Did he take his own life?”
“We are still investigating,” Kaine answered with a frustrated sigh. “Poison appears the likely culprit, but he was stripped and scanned before being placed in a detention cell. He couldn’t have brought anything into his cell that could have injured himself or others, and no records indicate his cell door was opened following his initial intake. A standard prisoner food tray and beverage was found inside the cell, but we don’t know where they came from. The doctors suspected that was how the poison was delivered, but both the food and glass tested clean when the docs checked it over.”
“No wounds?” Axis clarified, trying to think of what could have killed the marshal while in solitary confinement if tests came back negative.
“None. Tamin and Rodin examined his remains at the scene before performing a full-body scan. They found no injection sights, new cuts or bruises, or breakages. As far as they can tell, he wasn’t attacked.”
“I doubt he would have consumed poison willingly.” Axis rubbed his chin, the rasp of his beard filling the quiet cockpit of his shuttle. “No, definitely not. He was a coward.”
“Agreed, which means that someone onboard needed to keep the marshal quiet. The missing females are now the key to finding the mole.”
“I’m on it,” he vowed, already having promised himself that he’d find and help the little female he’d scared earlier. He simply needed to come up with a plan. “Can you spare me any assistance?”
“Paine and Rowe are en route. Your backup will arrive before the day is out.”
“Good.” Axis checked his weapons. “While I’m waiting for them to land, I’m going to hunt down the jammer the marshal had operating. I want communications at full strength for the mission ahead.”
“Understood. Report back if anything changes.”
“Yes, sir.” Tapping the end button on the console, he went about securing the ship. If he happened to find the women the marshal had imprisoned on this planet, he wanted to make sure his ship was prepped and ready to leave immediately. Kaine was sending two warriors who were better fighters than even he was, but he wasn’t about to take risks with the safety of the females.
Jogging down the ramp, he cataloged the other shuttles and derelicts scattered across the landing field. The rust-tinged field was full of ships unloading various goods. Although he saw no obvious threat, Axis could never be certain if one or more may be hidden amongst the bustling field. The council monitored who and what came and left Euphoria, but he couldn’t trust their reports, considering how much the marshal had managed to sneak past the Phaetons at this point.