Bond of Hatred

Chapter 4- Game of Chance

As Mason Rider walked the halls of the IAWYH he was thinking, how am I going to bear another one of the boss's outbursts again? Sighing, he recalled the four years he'd been serving the association and how quickly he'd rose through the ranks. Mason did not have what one would call a... prodigious talent. Inexperienced like everyone else, the only thing that set him apart was his commitment to the job. His most daring action had been infiltrating an enemy system by personally walking into the main servers disguised as a harmless technician, giving him the chance to hack into their military grade servers while under risk in the mainframe room. This led to one of the biggest busts in the IAWYH's history and Mason was finally given a dream job, as the honorable Assistant Admiral, personally serving the great Admiral Wlamir Krabuct.

Or that's what he thought the dream job for him would be like. The Admiral, although not a bad boss, turned out to be very annoying. He was so flighty that he forgot to take his wife out for the dinner he promised, and when he shamefully apologized the only person he found to get a reservation that would please his "beloved" was his dear assistant Mason. And then there were his temper tantrums.

Mason was lucky to not have been on the receiving end of those arguments. Loud, angry words and insults would roll off his tongue like it was opera night and he was the one supposed to break the wine glasses and burst the eardrums of every patron present. Sitting in front of him when he's shouting made you feel as if you might as well be staring down the barrel of a flame thrower or machine gun.

An old agent in the organization, Ruko Neféloma, was one of the few people Mason could relate to, bad habits included. And as per usual it was Ruko at the receiving end of another lecture, on how he shouldn't have diverted from his patrol path and how it led to a major operation being ruined, regardless that the fugitives had eventually been apprehended. As both a field agent and an Assistant Admiral, Mason understood what both parties had in mind and that there could be no punishment beyond that one lecture.

Life will be easy here they said, you'll never want to retire they said. Wrongly said, Mason mused, as he entered the Admiral's room to find the scene he had been expecting. The Admiral, red in the face, while Ruko calmly listened. Mason preferred to ignore the lecture and when it finally got over, he got the Admiral's attention.

"The preparations for the intervention on planet Ronros are complete. The strike team is ready to depart at your command."

"Ronros? Isn't that the home of the famous drug Ramper?" Ruko asked.

"Yes Ruko, and Mason would you be so kind so as to explain to him what he's going to do?" The Admiral requested him.

"Yes sir." Mason took out the tablet he had kept in his satchel. He entered the password and then accessed the IAWYH archives.

"Ruko, you and your partners will be leading the strike team along with your ship. Before you even ask why we're sending you as lead, I'll tell you, so that you don't leave your post to get into the thick of it and jeopardise the whole operation, again. And one small request sir, just for myself, may I join Ruko for the length of the operation? I haven't been part of any major or minor fieldwork, and paperwork makes we want to get back out there, even if I may die."

Chuckling, the Admiral granted Mason's request, because he himself could relate to that feeling.

"You may leave and prepare your ship now Ruko, Fleet Captain Calibri will brief you. You leave for Ronros in three days."

"Understood Admiral, you won't be disappointed."

"I hope so too, for both your sake and mine."

The Admiral signalled for Ruko to leave, but for a moment he stood still. His eyes vacant as he considered his next words.

"Sir, if you would be so kind, I would like to be present during the captured fugitives' interrogations."

"You have my permission to be there, but nothing beyond that. The interrogations will be conducted by Miss Rosemertim and her alone."

"Understood sir." Ruko affirmed, though his smile as he left seemed to say, We'll see about that.

Once alone in his cabin, the Admiral let out a sigh and poured both Mason and himself a glass of Orange juice.

"As much as I love it, I never understood your liking for Orange juice over beer, Admiral."

"It's a chilling, relaxing, and tasty drink Mason, and I would like to have a clear mind while on the job."

"Very good sir."

"Mason, let me ask you this, why do you want to go with Ruko and not Calibri even though you know that he is more suited for the job?" Krabuct asked with raised brow.

He would, after all, be without a competent assistant for the length of the operation.

"Simple enough, I need to see what the boy is like, how he behaves when he's in the field. I know you have some sort of history with him and that only makes me want to know him more. I hope to god that he can make the right decisions, even the hard ones."

"I hope that as much as you do too Mason. That boy has the capability to succeed the both of us and go way beyond than we can ever imagine. Nobody ever expected a Killoran would join the IAWYH. That too a member of the Neféloma family! Everyone has high expectations from him. Now, you go along and call Marian in, before Ruko fills any more recklessness in his brain cells."

Grinning, Mason went out of the room and towards the lobby, saving considerations for the decision he had made for later. But he would need to weigh all out, because the amount of responsibility he had thought about putting on Ruko's shoulders may as well ruin the entire Intervention and it would be his fault. But as he always said, "At some points, life will just be one big roll of the dice."