The Red Admiral

by C. R. Daems

Pannell and two marines exploded through the door, and I barely stopped from shooting them.

  "Hi, Paul," I said, my voice sounding far-off in the distance. My ears were still ringing from the multiple flashbangs. "I'm all right, but I think I'd like to go home. I've got a splitting headache."

  * * *

  Thankfully, Paul didn't try and question me on the way home. He was in constant communication with his crew, who were piecing together what happened. He even intercepted a call from Lulltrel.

  "Admiral, this is Colonel Pannell. I'm taking Admiral Paulus home. She wasn't injured, but I believe she might be in shock and suffering the effects of flashbangs." He listened for a while before speaking. "At first we thought the group of attackers were trying to enter the building. There were five of them. But they were only a clever diversion. When they began shooting, everyone in the lobby panicked and ran through the security checkpoints and into the building. The group had six men dressed in navy uniforms in the crowd who entered with them. Security didn't try to stop anyone, since they were occupied with the shooters. Those six used the stairs. We believe they intended to target NIA personnel, specifically Admiral Paulus." Paul listened again for several minutes. "No, ma'am. I don't know why she stayed in the area." He snorted. "But I suspect she decided to return home so she doesn't have to listen to you, me, and her mother screaming at her for being stupid."

  * * *

  At home I went directly to my bedroom, dropped my clothes on the floor on the way to the bed, and climbed in, pulling the covers over my head. "I had to stay," I mumbled in my defense. "If I hadn't, they would have raced up to the twentieth floor and with flashbangs, only the space gods know the result," I said, holding Red at eye level. Then I kissed his tiny head when his tongue flicked my nose in what I took for agreement.

  When I woke, Dr. Renata and Alexa sat quietly in two armchairs, looking serious.

  "Red made me do it," I said, sitting up in bed only to discover I was naked. I pulled my covers up to my neck, where Red lay, and his head peeked over the edge. Renata rose and came to my bedside, proceeding to give me a quick but thorough examination. "She has no physical damage, Alexa," she said when she finished.

  "How about I take you two to dinner?" I asked. "I'm starved."

  "Just feeling guilty," Renata said and then amended. "Someplace expensive, since I had to make a house call."

  CHAPTER THIRTY- SEVEN

  Star System: Eastar – More Bread Crumbs

  When I entered the building, Senior Master Chief Gomez approached me, looking sheepish, and waved me to the front of the queue.

  "Good morning, Admiral Paulus," he said, bowing his head.

  "You and your men did the right thing, Senior Chief. The attackers had you between a black hole and an exploding star," I said, thinking he had gotten grief over letting some of the attackers into the building. He probably felt guilty because he was a professional and therefore blamed himself, although there was nothing different he could have done to stop them.

  "But..."

  "Just ignore the armchair analysts. They wouldn't know how to get the safety off if they could figure out where they stored their weapon," I said and smiled.

  He smiled back. "Thank you, ma'am." He ushered me to the front of the line and waved the security man to pass me by without the standard check of my ID.

  Everyone stepped aside as the number seven elevator door opened. When I stepped in, Vice Admiral Petersen stepped in behind me. He was a small man with a round face that appeared perpetually tired, probably because of his position as the director of naval personnel. I'd bet he was never bored. He had to be constantly harassed trying to juggle tens of thousands of assignments and hundreds of special requests.

  "Good morning, Paulus," he said. "That was quick thinking yesterday."

  "I thought it better to be laughed at for being paranoid than see people hurt, sir." I gave the short rather than the long answer.

  "Well, for the folks on the eighteenth and twentieth floor, thank you," he said as the elevator opened on the eighteenth floor. I nodded, stepped out, and proceeded to my office. Stamm and Banner stood as I entered and followed me inside.

  Stamm smiled as he closed the door. "Admiral Lulltrel doesn't know whether to give you a letter of reprimand or promote you."

  "Let's hope it's a reprimand then, Carl. In fact, if you get a chance, you could provide some reasons I should be demoted."

  Banner sighed. "You've got to be the only officer in the military who doesn't want to be promoted."

  "That's not true, David. I don't mind being promoted, even out of the zone. But I'd like a little time-in-grade to develop the experience for the next promotion." I sighed. "There are nuances at each level of command one needed time to assimilate."

  "Boss, that seems to be the part Admiral Lulltrel thinks any competent lieutenant commander could handle. I think they promoted you for that other part," Stamm said, looking serious and thoughtful. "She has called for a staff meeting at ten hundred hours, so you can find out then."

  * * *

  "How did you know?" were the first words out of Lulltrel's mouth after she sat and stared at me for several minutes.

  "It just seemed like a clever way to sneak a few people into the building," I said, rather than it was obvious, which it clearly wasn't to anyone but me.

  "All right, but why did you have to stay behind, since it must have been obvious to you that you were the intended target?" Lulltrel asked, eyes narrowed and her tone sounded frustrated.

  "For just that reason, ma'am. If I hadn't, a lot of innocent people would have been caught in the crossfire. Staying behind, I could delay them, giving Colonel Pannell time to get me support," I said. Lulltrel turned to look at Pannell, who just threw up his hands.

  "I should court martial her security for leaving her to join you and the others on the twentieth floor against my explicit orders never to leave her alone. But Anna's a force of nature. My marines think they work for her. There are times I think I work for her." He shook his head in frustration.

  "I guess that means it would be pointless to order her not to do that again," Lulltrel said and then looked back to me, continuing before I could respond. "You think it's the Magic Act group?"

  "Yes, ma'am. Although I couldn't swear to it in court, I believe the man who got away was the same man who attacked me in the hotel on Blackwater." At least this time none of my guards were killed, I mused.

  "What happened with Commissioner Higgins?" Lulltrel asked.

  "I don't know, ma'am. I don't blame him or anyone for thinking me heartless and only concerned with my career… I think he will back down. I haven't given him a lot of wiggle room," I said, knowing he wasn't stupid.

  Lulltrel laughed. "Because you seem so young and inoffensive, I think people think they can intimidate you. That had been my fear bringing you to Eastar." She snorted. "Keep me up to date. Webb is on the hot seat because he's backing your decision not to rescue the individual women we find."

  * * *

  "Ma'am, messages have been coming in for the last forty-eight hours. Your decision is starting to pay off," Damon said as we began my weekly staff meeting.

  "Commander Taber reports that Commissioner Higgins backed down when General Petrakov showed up at police headquarters with twenty marines in combat gear. Not everyone agrees with your decision, but I doubt anyone is going to test you again." She looked at her tablet. "Commander Taber reported that the man accompanying Geneva Poole is going by the name Albert Efrain and he's from Shadows Rest. The two arrived from Oasis on the merchant ship Merry Dee. They left two days later on the same ship to Stone Ring." She paused and checked her tablet again. "Commander Sinclair reports Miss Poole was taken to a Mr. Shifflett's estate, where she is apparently staying. Efrain is currently booked for Oasis on the Merry Dee." Damon smiled, but then her expression changed and she looked down. "Ma'am, I couldn't have made that decision."

  "You're in Eastar because I believe you could under similar ci
rcumstances. You are focused on your responsibilities and not on promotions or what people think. If you had interviewed Lillian Barnes, you would have reached the same conclusion I did—those women will never be truly free until their abductors are destroyed."

  "Ma'am, how does this help?" Banner asked. I knew he, too, thought we should have rescued Miss Poole when we had the chance.

  "Damon, what do you think?" I asked.

  She smiled after a momentary shocked look. "I'd say a working hypothesis might be that Miss Poole was kidnapped from Black Water and taken to Oasis for…indoctrination. Then sent to Fire Rock for a name change before being delivered to her first…client on Stone Ring." She looked to me with a small smile.

  "I agree," I said.

  "Oh, I almost forgot. The medical examiner on Safe Harbor has identified a Jane Doe as Marie Thomas from Oxax. That's three to date and they were all abducted four years ago." Damon paused.

  "Conclusion?" I asked.

  "I would initially have said the women were being drugged to be used as…willing prostitutes. But Sophia Becker appears to contradict that conclusion—well, sort of. The women could resort to drugs when it becomes too much for them…"

  "Those are all reasonable assumptions based on the information we have, but there are far too many missing pieces, like how they are identified, how they're moved off planet, how the indoctrination works, what is the threat that keeps them from wanting to be rescued, etc. Unfortunately, I don't think any of the women are going to talk to us…" There had to be a way of collecting more information, but what? I was at a loss. We could keep an eye on Poole and Becker, but I suspected that would only tell us how the women were being used and who their clients were. The clients weren't likely to talk, since what they were engaging in was an illegal activity. And in some cases, it could affect their image as well as their standing within the community.

  "Banner, send the following message to all stations." I knew I was shifting the NIA stations' workload, but I'd rather let a few thefts go unsolved than leave these women hanging any longer than I had to.

  We have found four Magic Act women dead from drug overdoses. Those deaths appear to be the result of years of drug abuse rather than suicides. I'd like a dedicated effort to find Magic Act women currently addicted. Enlist the police commissioners' help: check registered and illegal brothels, homeless, hospitals, and rehabilitation clinics. I believe they may be our best source of information.

  CHAPTER THIRTY- EIGHT

  Star System: Undisclosed – Frustration

  "The cat that ran from the mouse has returned home," Tashia said as Jamar entered the room. "And what good is a useless cat when you have a rat problem?"

  "You bitch—" Jamar began but was cut off by Tashia.

  "I thought we already had that discussion. Now you're boring in addition to useless," Tashia said, never moving from her lounging posture in her favorite black leather chair. With her black outfit, she seemed like a shadow on the chair.

  Jamar reached into his boot and drew out a thirty-centimeter Ka-Bar knife with a black leather wrapped handle and black oxide coated blade and smiled. "This useless cat is going to skin you and hang it on his wall. And every day when I enter the room, I'll spit on it." He sneered and licked the blade. Tashia rose and silently left by the rear exit. Outside she picked up a dead branch and drew a ten-meter-diameter circle in the sandy soil. She pulled off her leather long-sleeved shirt, leaving her naked from the waist up. In her right hand she held a MV-1 Viper knife with a short eight-centimeter blade. Jamar sneered, licking the blade of his knife.

  "I'm ready to be skinned, Jamar. My Kaliam sisters call this the Circle of Truth. You can leave your shirt on. I wouldn't want to embarrass you."

  Jamar immediately stripped off his shirt. As he did, Tashia removed the rest of her clothing. She looked like a goddess with an hourglass figure, her breasts perky like a younger woman, and a lean body that looked youthful. But on closer examination there were small, almost imperceptible thin, white scars everywhere—stomach, chest, breast, arms, legs…

  "In the Circle of Truth, we dance naked so all can see we enter with nothing to hide," Tashia said, smiling. "But we are women and don't have our brains and bravery dangling exposed."

  Jamar angrily tore off the rest of his clothing, except for his briefs. "There, bitch; satisfied?"

  "Yes. Vito, Lucio, shoot either one of us if we step out of the circle," she said and walked to within a meter of the center of the circle, standing with her hands as her sides. The Viper knife remained loosely in her right hand.

  Jamar approached her cautiously, the Ka-Bar in his right hand extended in front of him, ready to fight. "I've changed my mind. I'm not going to have you skinned. I'm going to have you stuffed so I can start each day with a laugh, stroke your breast, play with your pussy, and curse you, hoping you can hear me in hell." He laughed, his eyes shining in anticipation.

  "That's your problem, Jamar. You're a wannabe—all talk, no substance," Tashia said. Enraged, Jamar lunged with his knife pointing at her face, evil pleasure blazing in his eyes as he visualized the blade ripping into the smile and slicing open her face. His blade found open air and a pain streaked down his knife arm, then his ribs as he twisted away. She stood watching him with no expression. He approached slowly, his arm with the knife swinging back and forth across his body. Suddenly, he lunged with his knife cutting across her stomach, but she bent at the waist and the knife missed by less than a centimeter. He felt pain across his forehead and blood dripped into his eyes. He felt a sharp pain down his shoulder, across his stomach, and down one leg. His staggered backward, wiping the blood from his eyes and forehead. Tashia had disappeared. His legs went from under him as her leg swept across his, and pain ripped through his flaying arm and thigh as he hung suspended before crashing to the ground. She rolled over him, opening a cut from nipple to nipple and one through his bicep as she tucked and rolled to her feet. Dead eyes stared back at him.

  "The Circle is sometimes called 'Death from a Hundred Cuts.' The law of the Circle says your opponent must stop at a hundred cuts. Don't worry; I'm keeping track. You have forty-two, so I'm entitled to another fifty-eight." He stood, dripping blood from his face, arms, body, and legs. If one looked closely, one could see that the cuts were shallow. No cut was gushing blood, just a slow drip.

  Jamar realized he hadn't cut her even once. Blinded with rage and fear, he threw himself at her with his arms wide so she couldn't evade him. He needed to get in close where she could cut him, but it was the only way he could drive his longer knife deep into her and rip through her intestines, liver, spleen, and heart—the killing blow he envisioned with a smile. She folded to the ground and he flew over her. As he flew past, her hand blurred, crisscrossing her knife across his chest, stomach, and legs. He staggered to his feet naked. His briefs were blood-soaked and sliced to shreds.

  "Fifty-six," she announced, sounding bored.

  "You win, Tashia," Jamar said. His voice held the flat sound of a defeated man.

  "Don't you want to kill me, Jamar? What a wonderful dream. Another wannabe dream," Tashia said, taunting in her same bored voice. He charged, his knife moving in an intricate pattern as he closed the distance to her. She appeared to slide to his left and was suddenly behind him as he stumbled past.

  "Sixty-six," she said as he spun with his knife at her eye level. She slipped under his arm and her knife hand blurred as she took two steps away. "Seventy-eight."

  Jamar looked like he had been painted red. Not a spot showed normal pale skin. Like an enraged bull, he charged his matador again and again. And Tashia like a picador, inflicting weakening slices while avoiding the bull's horns.

  "Ninety-eight. Two more and I must stop, Jamar, in which case you might live," Tashia said in that same detached voice. He wiped his arm across his face and stared at Tashia, lowering his knife in defeat. Then he sprung at her with his knife clutched in both hands and aimed at her heart. Tashia turned sideways and Jamar's kni
fe passed only a centimeter by her chest as he stumbled past and dropped to his knees, blood spurting from both sides of his neck.

  "One hundred." She folded the Viper knife closed and left the circle.

  CHAPTER THIRTY- NINE

  Star System: Eastar – Complications

  "They found one…" Damon shouted as she came running into my office past Stamm as he opened the door to announce her. She slid to a stop, flushed from running and from embarrassment.

  "Sorry, ma'am," she said as she straightened to attention and saluted. I held an amused smile that wanted to split my lips. It's what I liked about her: she loved her work and it showed.

  "They found one what?" I asked, as if I couldn't guess.

  "A Magic Act addict. Commander Newman just reported…" she stopped when Banner placed his tablet on my desk with the message.

  To: Commander Damon

  Eastar NIA Station Chief

  Copy: Rear Admiral Paulus

  Director, NIA Stations

  Commissioner Fisher discovered a woman named Debbie Thomas who has been identified as one of the Magic Act women, birth name Tamatha Naqin, who went missing on Safe Harbor five years ago. She is a patient in Zaspa's Mercy Wellness Clinic. They have her under surveillance awaiting your arrival. I suggested you would be the best person to interview her and Commissioner Fisher agreed. We await your decision.

  From: Commander Newman

  Zaspa NIA Station Chief

  Banner sent a return message to Commissioner Fisher and Commander Newman.

  Excellent work, and thank you for waiting for me to interview her. If she is reluctant to talk, I may have information that would help change her mind, and a woman interviewer would be important in this case. I'll be on Zaspa within four days.

  "Banner, notify Captain Martz I'd like to go to Zaspa. I'll be on board within twelve hours. Stress she has the full twenty-four hours to get ready. And you two idiots can come along, but Colonel Pannell had better pronounce you experts with whatever weapon you choose to carry or you can't leave the cruiser. And tell my security in the reception area to alert Colonel Pannell of my plans." I looked to Carl. "Master Chief, notify Admiral Lulltrel's aide of my plans. He'll know if she will want an update before I leave."