Red Angel (18 page)

"When were you planning to tell me?" Sharat
asked, frowning.

"We didn't decode it until we were on our way to
Fire Rock. We think it’s someone trading information for drugs, but we don't
really have proof. The message in itself looks innocent. We felt we needed to
do more digging before we accused anyone, and we decided it could wait until
after the stakeout. But if you give the crew leave, everyone knows we destroyed
a smuggler's ship and captured the Spinner. The smuggler network will know it
within hours and could shut down their operations temporarily until they work
out a new system."

"Who's the individual?" Tillman asked Kris,
but he was still glaring at me.

"What are you suggesting, Sinclair? You're right
whether that individual is guilty or not, and whether the smugglers have a
network or not. Information like that will spread like a virus."

"Send the wounded to the hospital under guard
with instructions to say it was a fluke accident—engine exploded or
something. You'll know better than me what will sound plausible. Restrict the
rest of the crew. I think the individual will try to send another message. That
should be proof enough. If not, we can use the time to check out the individual
and the recipient of his message." Kris worded her response so as not to
give any clue that could lead the XO to the individual. I probably would have
said something that could have led him to the message writer, and I'm not sure
what he would have done with the information.

"And after that?" Sharat asked.

"Anna?" Kris looked to me. I know she would
have liked to discuss it in private but thought that would unset the captain,
which we didn't need if we wanted her cooperation.

"I'd like to review all the crew’s messages to
planets they visited—"

"Snoop on the crew like we’re criminals!"
Tillman shouted.

"Enough, Frank. She's not suggesting everyone's
mail. Are you Paulus?"

 
"Only
crew messages sent to the planet the ship is planning to visit. Based on
Westar, it should only be a handful at each stop."

"Sounds reasonable. How are you planning on
getting them?"

"That's the problem. I'm not sure the other
agents would know how to search the backup files to obtain the information, and
I’m not sure if we want the Comm officers in on what we are doing. I'd like to
recall the other two ships to whatever system is closest so I can do the
search."

"Don't trust the Comm officers?"

"Commander Tillman, it's not a matter of thinking
them guilty of anything, but the more people that know what we are doing, the
more chance someone will say something to alert the wrong people. We aren't
discussing catching one person selling information. We are potentially talking
about shutting down the entire smuggling operation." Kris said, and
Tillman reluctantly nodded.

"Since you don't have any smugglers for me to
chase immediately …" Sharat smiled and gave a bark of a laugh. "I
like the idea of shutting down the smugglers’ operation. When we reach Westar,
I'll send the seriously wounded under guard to the hospital there, and I'll
contact Admiral Rawls and ask for a meeting with the task force."

* * *

When we reached Westar early the next day, Sharat
arranged for guards to accompany the sick to Westar's main hospital on Egon,
the capital city, and notified the crew there would be no planet leave since we
were only staying long enough to drop off the seriously wounded—next
stops Shadows Rest, Safe Harbor, and Truth Star. Then she held a surprise
meeting in the shuttle to Westar, where she instructed the guards and sick on the
story she had concocted—a test of some classified project had exploded,
causing the injuries, and no one was allowed to talk about it. She also let
everyone know they would spend the rest of their lives in prison if they
mentioned the encounter with the smugglers. Then she sent the following message
to Rawls:

My NIA agents
are requesting a meeting of the Romulus, Scylla, and Tityus. I concur. Urgent.
Suggest Holy Star as meeting system. Signed Captain Sharat, commanding the
Tityus.

"Wow, I'm impressed," Kris said when I
showed her the message after my shift. "She really went out on the limb by
saying she concurred with us, and I like the way she left out the details but put
urgent. Clever. I think she feels her actions on Fire Rock earned her credits
she's using to force the meeting. Another gamble like going to Fire Rock she's
hoping will pay off."

"I have the messages the crew members sent when
they learned there would be no planet leave. Only three." I handed Kris a
copy of each. She grinned.

"I'd be willing to wager this message has the
words Shadow, Safe, and Truth in it."

"You're right. It was easy to decode. The idiot
used the same key as the last one. I'm not sure about the other two. Before I
send them, I'd like us to have a good look at them."

Kris nodded, and we sat in silence for several hours,
took a break for dinner, and returned to my cabin to continue.

"The one to Oasis. I think it says:
giant broke
." I said, and Kris
laughed before sobering.

"We make a good team, Anna. I thought it said:
Witch’s broom
. Very clever, the writer
used two keys, each producing a different result. The message reads:
The
giant
broke the Witch’s broom
or
The Tityus
destroyed the Wind Witch ship
, if you substitute, Tityus for giant,
destroyed for broke, Wind Witch for Witch, and cruiser for broom." She
took a drink of her wine. "Damn, that was fun."

"Let's go to the Bridge. I'd like to verify these
two individuals before we go to the captain."

"I thought you needed a valid account to send a
message, so ..."

"True, however, I'd like to be sure. That was a
very sophisticated encryption. Anyway, the captain makes me nervous, so I’d
rather double check," I said, and Kris joined me as I made my way to the Bridge.
On the Bridge, I nodded to Commander Pugh, the senior officer on duty, and
walked over to the communications station, where Third Shift Comm Officer Second
Lieutenant Fahey was sitting.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant Fahey. I need to use the
Comm panel for a few minutes."

"Why?"

"As part of my duties, unless you have something
urgent you're doing," I said, willing to wait if necessary. He stood but
stayed standing over me. "Lieutenant, I need privacy. If you would move
away, I'd appreciate it."

"Why, so you can poke your nose into people's
private areas?" He sneered, radiating anger and hostility.

"Commander Pugh," I didn't have to get his
attention since he had been looking toward us all along.

"Yes, Lieutenant Paulus."

"Lieutenant Fahey is refusing to grant me access
to the Comm station without looking over my shoulder."

"Any reason he shouldn't?"

"Any reason he should?" Kris asked, freezing
Pugh's amused look.

"... No, Fehey, give the lieutenants room to work."
He wandered off with Fehey following.

I sat and began my search. Petty Officer Dotson worked
in shuttle maintenance, and Rollins, a leading seaman, worked in the
environmental unit. But ... something was nagging at me. I split the screen on
my tablet and stared at the two side-by-side documents. I rose with Kris
following.

"Thank you, Commander Pugh, Lieutenant Fehey,"
I said as we passed by them and exited the Bridge.

"What's up?"

"I don't know." I handed her my tablet when
we entered my room. "What do you see?"

She studied it for a long time before shrugging.
"Looks the same, everything except the message of course."

"I'm going to go see Leader Rollins."

"Why?"

"To see if she actually sent that message. I
can't shake the feeling something is different about the message package: what
identifies and directs the message to the right place."

"I'm coming with you. I know I'm not your
chaperone, but ..."

"Kris, I don't mind you looking after me. I feel
better when you're around. I'm still getting my
sea legs
, so to speak. Anyway, I like your company and we're a
team. You may see something I don't." I still felt like a kid at times. I
liked the security of living at home, and I felt safer with Kris around.
Well I am still a teenager
, I mused. The
ship seemed quiet as I led us down several hallways to the steps to the lower
level, which would bring us out near the shuttle and fighter bays and the
environmental unit.

Kris slammed into me, and we tumbled down the stairs
to the bottom. I lay with my head facing Kris, who wasn't moving or making any
noises. All I could hear was someone coming down the stairs, humming softly.

"Guess I should call the medics. A clumsy NIA
idiot tripped, causing her friend and her to fall and break their necks. What a
tear-jerking shame." I heard a low evil whisper like in some horror video,
and I felt hate so strong it made me shudder. I needed to do something, but I
couldn't think clearly through my fogged mind. I saw a shadowy figure kneel
next to Kris and put a hand on her neck. "Weak but alive, for now,"
he said, grabbing her chin and head.

Red slid out of my blouse and wrapped himself around
my arm. Adrenaline flooded me, and I flung my arm at his, hoping to knock his
hands away.

"Ow, what did you stick me with ..." The
kick to my head snapped it around with an excruciating jolt. I struggled to
move but felt as though I was in a vat of molasses. I tasted coppery blood
running down my scalp.

He grabbed my chin and then the top of my head. He
jerked, but his hands slipped. Then he let go and I heard him scrambling
backward. "Ow, shit! A snake! Where the hell did that come from?"

I could feel Red wrap himself around my neck. The
smell of vomit filled my nose as the man puked on me.

"Bitch!" He kicked me in the ribs and then
the neck, and I felt Red uncoil, and I gagged as Red tightened around my neck.
He must have had his fangs locked into the man's leg. Then the pressure eased
and I could hear Red hissing near my ear.
You've
upset my lazy friend
, I thought and wanted to laugh but pain suddenly surged
through my body. It pulsed as wave after wave slammed into me. Then a tsunami
hit me and I sank into darkness.

* * *

"How do you feel, Lieutenant?" a woman's
voice said, warm and soothing.

I didn't answer while I concentrated, seeking the feel
of Red. As if in answer, I felt his tongue against my ear and sighed in relief.

"Like I crashed my skimmer," I said, the
pain still there but subdued.

"I've given you some pain medicine in your IV.
Your snake has been relatively cooperative in letting me examine you, but I didn't
want to use any machines on you while it was attached to you, so I've been
waiting for you to gain consciousness."

"Thank you. I'd rather he didn't leave me. Tell
me what you want me to do and Red will cooperate." I reached up to hold
Red, hoping he had been lucky. "How is Lieutenant Sinclair?"

"She got a concussion from the fall, but she'll
be fine. All she needs is rest. It's a good thing you gave me that antivenin.
Your snake bit the man who tried to help you after your fall—"

"Arrest him. He pushed us down the stairs and
attempted to break my neck when the fall didn't kill us. Tell the captain."

"Can you identify him?"

"Yes, Red bit him three times, once each in the
hand, arm, and leg. In the hand when he grabbed Lieutenant Sinclair's head,
once when he attempted to break my neck, and once when he kicked me in the
head. And unless I'm wrong, his name is probably Dotson." I mentally
crossed my fingers, hoping I was right and there weren't more than two on this
ship doing business with the smugglers.

"It was Petty Officer Dotson. He had a much
different story. He claimed he found you lying at the bottom of the stairs and
when he tried to help you, your snake bit him."

"Tell the captain, Agent Paulus wants protection
for her and Agent Sinclair until we are well enough to defend ourselves."

"That won't be necessary, Paulus," Sharat
said, looking down at me. "Commander Pugh complained about your
high-handed attitude toward Lieutenant Fehey, so when I heard about your
injuries, I concluded you found something and were on your way to check it out
and therefore it was unlikely an accident. I’ve appointed two marines to watch
you and Sinclair, and I've put Petty Officer Dotson under arrest pending an
inquiry. Satisfied?"

"Thank you, Captain." I felt too tired to
even talk.

"Doctor Guzman, how long before she's fit to
walk? She doesn't look good."

"Maybe three days. She has a concussion, at least
one broken rib, a nasty cut on her head, and probably multiple bruises from
falling down the steps."

"Good thing she's young. Sounds like a week or
more for us folks over thirty." She gave a short laugh. "Paulus, I
received communications from Admiral Rawls. We're heading for Holy Star, with
an estimated arrival time of eighty-six hours. You're excused from duty until
then."

"Captain Sharat, can you have Leading Mate
Rollins visit me?"

"That's who you were on your way to visit?"

"Yes, ma'am. I believe someone sent a message to
Oasis and made it look like it was from her. We were on our way to talk to
her."

"Ma'am," a thin woman in her early twenties
stood at attention by the side of my bed. I had been dozing on and off and
hadn't noticed her come in. "I'm Leading Rate Rollins. The captain said I
should report to you."

"Relax, Rollins. You're not in any trouble. I
just wanted to know if you sent a message to Oasis. We had computer problems,
and I'm trying to straighten the mess out."

"No, ma'am. Don't know anyone there."

"I'm new at this Comm stuff. I wonder if you can
help me. How would you send a message to another planet from the ship?"

She smiled. "I'd need a raise first. It's very
expensive. I'd log on to my account, attach to the post office account, type my
message, and authorize the charge."

"That's it!" I half shouted, and pain shot
through every nerve in my body as a reward for my sudden exertion. Rollins
jumped back in shock. "Sorry. Would you ask the doctor to use her computer?
Tell her I want you to check your account. See if there is a charge there for a
message to Oasis."

"Yes, ma'am," she said as she hurried out of
the room past the two guards at the doorway. Several minutes later, she
appeared again. "No, ma'am. There aren't any charges for any
messages."

"Thank you, Rollins. You've been very helpful. If
anyone asks you what I wanted, tell them the new Comm officer mixed your name
with someone else's."

"Yes, ma'am." She saluted and ran out the
door. Couldn’t blame her. A leading rate asked by the captain to report to
someone—never a good thing.

I jerked awake when I felt someone grab my hand. My
eyes flew open, then I relaxed.

"I came to see how my little sister is doing and
to thank Red for saving my life." She squeezed my hand. "The doctor says
the man worked you over."

"I'm fine now that I know you're all right. You
may want to keep a distance from me. I'm a dangerous person to be around."

"Yes, you are, but you are not to blame for
others’ actions. And what kind of a big sister would I be if I abandoned you
just because you keep bad company. I'm just going to start carrying my laser—and
so are you. Actually, Dotson wanted us both dead. So what happened? I admit I
slept through the main event."

"I guess Dotson pushed you, because the first
thing I felt was you falling on top of me ..." I went on to explain what I
remembered of the incident.

"Wow, I really do owe Red, big time. He really
doesn't like people hurting you ... or your sister." She sat quietly for a
long time. "You think someone else is involved, don't you?"

"Yes. I talked to Rollins. She didn't send that
message to Oasis. That's what was nagging at me. There was no charge for
sending the message. How many people on this ship can send a message from
someone else's account and eliminate the charge?" I asked rhetorically.

"Not more than three or four I would
assume," Kris said, leaning back and staring off into the distance.
"Dotson traded information for drugs, probably to sell. But this other
individual is part of the smugglers' communications network. Could he have
notified Dotson we were onto him?"

"I don't know how else he could have found out or
how he knew we would be going to see Rollins."

"Fehey?"

"A reasonable guess. He could have queried the
system to see what I looked at, found out I would seek out Rollins, and told
Dotson."

"Do you know we are headed for Holy Star?"

"Yes, hopefully we can find the information we
need there.

* * *

We boarded the shuttle with Captain Sharat and several
marines for our trip to the Nemesis, the ship Admiral Rawls had arrived in. Two
junior lieutenants met us when we exited the shuttle. They saluted.

"Captain Sharat, if you will follow Lieutenant
Swafford, he will take you to the conference room where the other captains are
waiting. Admiral Rawls wants to see the NIA Agents before the formal
meeting," the taller and slightly older of the two said. When Sharat and
Swafford walked off, he turned back to us.

"I'm Lieutenant Herrmann. If you will follow me,
I'll take you to the Admiral. She's waiting in her office with the other
agents."

 
Her office
was on the second level but in a different corridor than the captain's quarters
and the Bridge. Kris and I braced to attention and saluted on entering.

"At ease, help yourselves to something to drink
and have a seat," Rawls said and waited as Kris poured a cup of coffee for
her and a half for me, so I could fill it with milk. "It is my
understanding that Captain Sharat requested this meeting at your request,
Paulus. Why?"

"And my request," Kris added. I thought it a
nice gesture she was willing to share the blame.

"Noted," Rawls said.

"Finding out that eight Alliance merchants were
involved with the raiders indicated that the smugglers were organized and not
just independent merchants out of different systems. By accident, I noticed
several messages directed to Westar from crew that look similar to the messages
sent to the Alliance merchants. So Lieutenant Sinclair and I managed to decode
one. It appeared to imply a trade of information about our schedule for drugs.
We didn't take any action because we were headed to Fire Rock. After the
encounter with the smugglers, the captain of the Spinner indicated that the
smugglers have an information network that he suspects keeps track of Alliance
cruisers. That makes sense. It's always been a mystery how individuals on
Alliance planets were getting the information to provide the merchants
locations and times for pickups and drop-offs, and why Alliance cruisers
haven't had contact with the smugglers over the years. Anyway, I thought if I
could examine each of the ships’ logs over the last two years, I could pinpoint
the link. I wasn't sure if Lieutenants Shrader or Weiss knew how to do that,
and I didn't think it wise to involve the communications officers. And even if
they could, they would have to send the result to the Tityus, which would be
very time consuming. Besides being faster, one person might see a connection
that three separate searches wouldn't, and we don't know how long we can keep
it a secret
—
that
we are on to them."

"Why not involve the Comm officers?"

"We suspect the Comm officer on the Tityus is
involved and tried to have us killed," Kris said. "It means we don't
know who we can trust."

Adrian’s mouth dropped open. "Killed? When?"

Then Wilber asked, "How?"

When Rawls didn't object, Kris went on to explain what
had happened.

"Are you sure you want to continue, Paulus?"
Rawls asked, and all eyes turned toward me.

"Yes, I'm part of the team and in no more danger
than them, maybe less. Captain Sharat has provided us twenty-four hour
security, our attacker is in custody, and as soon as we get rid of the
smugglers’ spy on the Tityus it should be perfectly safe."

"All right then, let's go join the
captains," Rawls said as she rose, and we followed her to the conference
room.

"Gentlemen, I'll let Lieutenants Sinclair and
Paulus explain why we are here and the next steps," Rawls said, and sat.
Kris nodded to me, so I again went through the events of the past few weeks and
what I wanted to review on each ship.

"You think we have disloyal sailors on my ship?"
Swartz asked, his voice low and threatening and his glare directed at me.

"We won't know until we review your logs,"
Kris said. She was my savior. I didn't think I was ready to handle captains
like Swartz or even commanders like Pugh.

"No one on my ship—"

"Captain Swartz, you will allow the NIA agents to
examine any logs they wish, and you will instruct your loyal sailors to
cooperate fully with their requests. This is not a witch-hunt. They are
following legitimate leads that constitute a threat to the security of the
Alliance. If you feel cooperating with the NIA is being disloyal, I can have
you relieved of the responsibility," Rawls said in a normal tone, but
there was no doubt she would or could.

"No, ma'am. I'll see that they get what they
need," he said meekly, but I could feel the anger and hate directed at me.

"Good, the Romulus first then the Scylla. I want
to get you back to your areas of responsibility as quickly as possible. Sooner
or later the smugglers are going to figure out we are onto them and shut down
operations, so I’d like to bag as many as we can before then." Rawls stood,
ending the meeting. I followed Captain Swartz—and to my surprise, Adrian
and Wilber followed me, with Kris and our security trailing. On board the
Romulus, we were taken to the Bridge and given access to the Comm station.
Since I had the entire NIA project team, I made it into a learning session and
explained each step in the process. I was sure that didn't endear me to the
captain, as it took an extra hour to do. I dumped everything I collected to
everyone's tablets.

"Thank you, Captain Swartz, for your cooperation.
Good hunting," I said before turning and leaving, not expecting a
response. We then got a shuttle ride to the Scylla, where Captain Choi met us.

"Agent Paulus, Sinclair, would you like to change
ships? Action seems to follow you, or you have a gift for finding it. The
Scylla could use some," he said with a friendly grin.

"Thank you, Captain Choi. Maybe when Captain
Sharat gets tired of the action," I quipped, knowing that wasn't likely.

"This way, ladies. The Bridge awaits you."
He led us to the Bridge, and it was obvious he had talked to his Bridge
personnel. Again I used it as a training exercise to explain why we need four
agents to examine the data. As I passed Choi, I nodded.

"Good hunting, Captain Choi. I think there are
more sharks in the water."

"From your lips to the space gods." He
smiled.

We decided to return to Admiral Rawls’ ship to examine
the data. She assigned her conference room to us and had drinks and food
served. I had loaded the files I pulled onto each of our tablets, so that each
individual could have a go at the puzzle. Five minutes later, Wilber looked up.

"This is too easy; messages from all three ships
go to Oasis, which is conveniently close to Freebees space. It shouldn't be hard
to figure out who is responsible."

"Yes, that was easy, but who sent them? It won't
be the person who appears as the sender," Kris said. "That will be
your challenge when you return to your ship. On the Tityus we believe it's
Lieutenant Fehey, but we need to prove it. Whoever it was, he or she almost
succeed in getting Anna and me killed, so be careful. They have nothing to lose
if you discover who they are."

"I guess that means we don't get to go back to
Oxax yet." He grinned.

"And, you will need to check out some of those
messages I pulled that are addressed to the planet before the ship arrives.
I've just sent you the one I decoded from Petty Officer Dotson—before and
after. You will see his key was in the message."

"Yes, I found one. Not as complicated as the one
to the merchants. Looks like information for drugs, like Dotson's," Adrian
said. "I think we can give the Oasis information to Admiral Rawls and
return to our ships with our homework. I'm sure Captain Choi and the other
captains are eager to get back to the hunt."

* * *

Junior Lieutenant Mejia was waiting for us when we
exited the shuttle. "Lieutenants, the captain would like to see you in her
office."

When we entered, she waved us to chairs. "I've
had Lieutenant Fehey put under arrest pending your review of Rollins's message.
I thought it better I was wrong than let a traitor and potential murderer run
loose on the ship. Besides, I don't want to lose my bloodhounds." She
smiled. "I'd like to have it resolved before we depart, and I'd like to
depart ASAP."

"Fehey is the most likely one, but we should be
sure, otherwise ..."

"Yes, otherwise ..."

"If that charge was cancelled, there has to be a
record of it somewhere. We need access to the system's financial records for
the time that message to Oasis was created. Maybe check Rollins's account. It
could be it was charged against her account but then reversed." Kris said,
looking at Sharat, who immediately picked up her tablet and began typing.
Several minutes later, she smiled and clicked on her CPC.

"XO, get me a connection to Admiral Rawls on the
Nemesis." She sat impatiently tapping her fingers on the arm of her chair.
A few minutes later her CPC buzzed. "Admiral Rawls, I have proof that
Lieutenant Fehey is the one who created the message to Oasis, and I believe his
CPC will confirm his call to Dotson. I wonder if you wouldn't mind transporting
him back to Oxax for trial ... and if you could loan me a Comm officer, since
I'm now short one." She looked amused as she listened. "Thank you,
Admiral Rawls. We will be leaving as soon as the lieutenant arrives." She
nodded, and then clicked on her CPC again. "XO, have Lieutenant Fehey
delivered to the shuttle bay. Then prepare the ship for departure, and plot a
course for Truth Star. We'll be leaving as soon as our new Comm officer
arrives."

* * *

"I stripped the Holy Star WavCom before we
departed—nothing," I said as Kris and I sat eating in the dining
area. We were a little late and the area had few people eating.

"I keep forgetting how young you are, Anna. You
look your age, but you act much older," Kris said while sipping her
coffee.

"Natural selection, I guess. Children my age
always shunned me because of Red and because I did well in my studies. The few
people who liked me were adults, very intelligent and responsible individuals,
and they became my role models and the ones I tried to emulate. But believe me,
Kris, most of the time I feel several years younger. Fortunately, I have
another adult role model to help me survive." I knew that without Kris
along with me, this assignment would have been a nightmare. People like Sharat
would have driven me into isolation and stopped me from doing my job.