Red Angel

by C. R. Daems

"I was concerned about the captain, but I think her desire to beat the men to the prize is going to cancel any competitiveness with us," Kris said as she unpacked her suitcase.

  "I agree," I said as I slipped the chip Adrian had given me into my CPC and opened it. "Would you like to split the merchant's messages between us?"

  "No. Take one and I'll take one. When we finish one, we start work on the next one," she said and selected the Dealmakers, so I picked the Wanderer. Kris made some coffee, and I decided to try some, since I would have to go somewhere just to get juice and didn't feel like it. I kept adding milk until I liked the taste.

  "That's a coffee-flavored milk drink," Kris said after watching me make it.

  "Not a bad drink." I smiled, sipping it. We lapsed into silence as we began reviewing the messages. As I did, Red slipped into my hair and settled on my forehead.

  "That's creepy." Kris pointed to my forehead. I nodded agreement.

  The Wanderer code was similar but different. The times, dates, and coordinates were split between two crew members as was the key to them. As a result, it took me a couple of hours to decode them. Kris hadn't finished, so I grabbed the Spinner's messages and began.

  "Done," Kris said and sat back and rubbed her eyes. I had finished a third one a few minutes ago and now she had finished the last two. "Clever, encrypting each one slightly differently. If you were looking through a bunch of messages, they wouldn't appear the same on the surface. One of mine had no numbers and relied on the position of the letter in the alphabet."

  "I had one of those. Let’s merge our list and see if we have anything to give the captain."

  "All right, but let's do it over something to eat. We missed lunch ... and dinner. It's twenty hundred hours. Well, there is always the foogenie, the food replicator. It should be a pretty good one on an Alliance cruiser. And you can choose what you want for dinner." She grinned. I didn't know whether it was my early life or Red, but food wasn't important. I liked the taste of some dishes better than others but wouldn't go out of my way for any of them. "Let's merge the lists and we can review them while we eat."

  I knew where the general dining facility would be located from my studies at the academy, and I managed to lead us there without getting lost. Kris programmed a basic steak, potatoes, and broccoli dinner with a berry pie for dessert along with milk. I chose the same. As we ate, I reviewed our merged list:

  Merchant's Ship / Pickup System / Pickup Date / Drop-off System and pickup time

  Dealmaker / unknown / unknown / Holy Star +110

  Wanderer / Black Water / +35 / New Zheng +80

  Spinner / Fire Rock / +15 / Truth Star +220

  Dreamer / unknown / unknown / Safe Harbor +140

  Star Trader / unknown/ unknown / Fire Rock +10

  "Although our previous analysis indicates they change the pickup system every six months, it appears they don't assign them much in advance. Nothing is happening in the captain's area of responsibility for a while," I said, reviewing the list.

  "I think she is going to be very happy with our findings. Look at Fire Rock," Kris said, grinning.

  "But Fire Rock isn't on her list," I protested.

  "No, but it isn't on anyone's list. You don't think she won't consider that fair game?" Kris said, taking a bite of her pie. I agreed. It was not only not in anyone's assigned area, it was close, and the dates were promising.

  "Should we interrupt her now, or wait?" I asked, not sure what I would have done if Kris weren't along.

  "Now. It will tell us a lot about her. My guess is she’ll be pissed if we wait until tomorrow." Kris spent a few minutes typing, then turned her tablet so I could see it.

  To: Captain Sharat,

  We have decoded current known messages. Possible target of opportunity within the next few days.

  Signed Sinclair

  I nodded, and she touched Send and went back to finishing her pie. She had just put her fork down when our tablets lit with an incoming message.

  To: Sinclair, Paulus.

  My office immediately.

  Signed Sharat.

  "I guess that answers that question. She would have been screaming mad if we had waited." Kris understood people, something I was still learning. Although I could sense people's emotions thanks to Red, that didn't help me understand them. Being a loner had limited my interaction with others, which would have helped me learn.

  We made our way to her office, which was just a few meters from the Bridge. When the security guard saw us coming, he knocked on her door, stuck his head inside, and then held the door open for us. Before the door closed behind us and we could salute, she waved us to the chairs.

  "Sit. What do you have?" Her eyes lit with excitement, and she leaned forward in her chair.

  "We've decoded the most recent messages to and from the five merchants we're monitoring. They appear to assign the pickup systems every six months but leave the actual pickup date until much nearer the expiration date. We found no known pickup dates in your area of responsibility. They assign drop-off systems yearly. The closest one in your area is Safe Harbor, and it's one hundred forty days off." Kris said, and quickly held up her had to stop Sharat interrupting. I smiled mentally as I could feel Sharat losing patience. "But Fire Rock—which is close to Westar and wasn't assigned to anyone—will be expiring in ten days for the merchant ship Star Trader, and the merchant ship Spinner has a pickup date there only five days later."

  "It will take another ... eighteen hours to Westar and ..." Sharat said, reaching for her tablet.

  "Twenty-six, ma'am," I said, having calculated the time to Fire Rock from Westar.

  "Forty-four to Fire Rock, getting us there six days before the drop-off year ends and eleven before the Spinner is due. Excellent. And yes, you guessed right. I want to be informed as soon as you know anything worthwhile, even if there is no urgency." She sat back and smiled. "I assume the other agents will figure out the same thing?"

  "We were all given the latest messages from the five merchants, and we all understand the basic encryption method they are using, although they are not all exact, but how they will treat Fire Rock is unknown. If you were to—" Kris began to explain.

  "Notify Admiral Rawls that based on my NIA Agents' findings, the Tityus is being diverted to Fire Rock," she said as she typed, tapped on her CPC, and sat back smiling. "Message ready for sending when we reach Westar. I wasn't sure I was going to like you two, but I do. You work well as a team and understand me. Lieutenant Paulus, you are the Comm officer on first shift, beginning at six hundred hours. Sinclair, you are authorized on the Bridge anytime, as is Paulus."

  * * *

  I reported for duty at six hundred hours and took the communications officer's seat after exchanging greetings with the others on duty and getting a nod from Sharat. Since we were traveling in the Wave, there wasn't much to do, so I looked through the messages being queued for sending when we reached Westar. It was amusing, since the vast majority were to women on Westar from men letting them know they would be arriving that day. However, two were to relatives, which piqued my interest, since the smugglers tended to send their correspondence to relatives. Of course, navy personnel did have relatives across the Alliance, but I had nothing better to do, so I pulled up the messages to and from the ship in Oxax. The traffic was much the same, to friends and relatives. I dumped everything to my tablet to review later and wondered if spooks were naturally paranoid because of their work or if it were in their nature and whether I was becoming paranoid.

  "XO, notify second shift that first shift personnel will be staying on duty until we enter the Wave to Fire Rock."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  "Agent Paulus, let me know when you have what you need from the WavCom. Commander Burkett, as soon as we exit the Wave, compute us a vector to Fire Rock. We will be leaving the minute the NIA agents say they have what they need."

  "Captain, most of these queued messages to Westar are notifying ... people of their arrival. Should I hold t
hem or return them to the senders?"

  "Return them. Who knows when or if we will return to Westar," She said, somewhat distracted as she stared at the chronometer as if willing it to move faster. Just then, Kris entered the Bridge.

  "Anything interesting happening?"

  "In about fifteen minutes we will be exiting the Wave. After we search the WavCom, the captain will order us on a vector to Fire Star. I think she's in a hurry," I said just above a whisper.

  "Exiting the Wave in one minute," Burkett said, and I repeated it over the loud speakers and sent a message to all CPCs. "Thirty seconds ... ten ... three, two, one, now."

  A tingling sensation rippled through my body, ending in a brief dizzy feeling. I quickly sent the captain's message to Rawls and the few directed to other systems that did not appear predicated on the Tityus arriving on Westar.

  "Captain, vector to Fire Rock on the Helm's board. Estimated time twenty-six hours and five minutes," Burkett said, and the captain glanced in my direction, probably remembering my estimate yesterday, then at Sinclair who was busy searching the WavCom. I watched but said nothing, as she seemed to have everything under control. As she worked, I downloaded the messages intended for the Tityus. When Kris looked up, I nodded.

  "Captain, we have what we need," Sinclair said with a sigh of relief.

  I didn't blame her. I'd wager Kris could have felt Sharat tapping her fingers on the armrest of her chair as she waited.

  "Helm, execute the vector on your board," Sharat said. "Comm, announce entering Wave in ..."

  "Ten minutes," Burkett said, confirming my quick calculation.

  "Attention, the Tityus will be entering the Wave in ten minutes."

  "XO, rearrange the schedules. I want the first shift crew on duty in twenty-four hours. And Lieutenant Sinclair, Lieutenant Paulus, I want you to meet with me twenty-two hours from now."

  I left with Kris when the second shift replaced us.

  "No messages to any of the merchants," Kris said as we walked toward our rooms. "I'll get you for dinner."

  "I'd like to see more of this ship. It's a later model than the Minerva. This will probably be my last chance, and I want to enjoy it," I said as I entered my room.

  Being the Comm officer was magical. And it allows for some good snooping, I mused, thinking about the messages I had opened. Ironically, it was unethical for a Comm officer to snoop on people, but not for an NIA Agent. The same for the WavCom. I giggled as I held Red up to my face. "We've become spooks, my red-headed friend," I said as I undressed for a shower. When I finished, I intended to nap until dinner, but couldn't resist opening my tablet and browsing the messages I had copied. A few looked as tantalizing as the smugglers coded messages, as did one from Westar to the Tityus. The first hour, Red lay on my forehead while I read and then disappeared when I couldn't seem to find the key. Then I realized the merchants had a crew to hide the key whereas this sender didn't—if it was in fact a coded message. When I returned to his message, Red appeared as if to say, finally. An hour later I found the key, see you at eight fifteen at the Peacock. He couldn't possibly know when we would arrive or when he would be released. The decoded message read: Need usual have schedule. I stared at it for a long time. Was that the message, or did I decode a message that wasn't coded? What was the usual, drugs or something else? And what was the schedule? Ship movements, or a family event coming up? But why would you code a message unless ... I had a cruiser-size headache. Just then, my CPC buzzed, reminding me Kris would be coming for me in fifteen minutes. I finished dressing just as she knocked.

  "Hi, I'm ready," I said, joining her in the hallway.

  "You look tired," Kris said, looking into my eyes.

  "Is there such a thing as spook-paranoia?"

  "You mean the irrational compulsion to think everyone is doing something illegal? We spooks call that diligence." She laughed. "Why, do you suspect the captain of doing something illegal?" She sobered. "You don't!"

  "No, do you?" I quipped, but maintained a serious face.

  "What did you and Red find while you were supposed to be resting?"

  "I'm not sure. After dinner, would you look at a couple of messages for me?"

  "Sure, after dinner. Until then we'll assume the captain is innocent." She laughed and hooked her arm in mine, then stopped and stood holding her breath.

  "I think it's already too late, Kris. Red seems to allow people close to me to touch me. If not, I have the antivenin." I smirked at the shocked look on her face.

  Kris was a bit pale by the time we reached the dining area. The officers and enlisted used the same serving line, but the officers had a separate seating area, although it wasn’t mandatory. The area was crowded, but we found an empty table and sat.

  "I agree with you: the Bridge of a cruiser is an exciting place, and I'm glad I've experienced it, but I prefer an office on a planet. This is what I imagine life on a submarine would be like."

  Just then a lieutenant and a lieutenant commander appeared. "Would you mind if we joined you?" the commander asked. The Lieutenant had his eyes on Kris, but the commander's look included us both. His stocky build contrasted with the lieutenant's taller athletic physique. Kris looked at me, and I nodded. I tended to be a loner, but Kris wasn't, and she looked interested.

  "I'm Commander Synder, and this is Lieutenant Emmons ... Mitch and Gene." Mitch's squarest face had a warm smile, whereas Gene looked like a kid in a candy store.

  "Not at all. I'm Lieutenant Sinclair, and my friend is Lieutenant Paulus... Kris and Anna."

  "You're new on the Tityus, and according to the rumors you're the new NIA Agents. We will refrain from asking you any questions concerning your business, but how do you like the Tityus?" Mitch asked.

  "I just told Anna, it feels like I imagine life on an old submarine," Kris said, provoking laughs, including several from two nearby tables. Before long, we had a group of some ten officers, including two women, surrounding the table. We, well Kris, got multiple offers to tour the various sections of the ship, which I accepted—with a nod from her. We managed to break away after a couple of hours with names, CPC numbers, and the best times for tours.

  "That was fun. A couple of real cute guys, but I couldn't imagine marrying anyone with cruiser duty. But they could relieve the boredom when we go on stakeout or whatever they call waiting for an enemy spaceship to appear."

  "I hope you don’t mind me tagging along on the tours. I can't get enough of cruiser life."

  "No, but only on the tours." She chuckled. "Send me those messages, but I can't promise I'll decode them tonight. I hope you haven't caught spook-paranoia. It's an extremely dangerous and difficult virus to get rid of. And it’s contagious; Red could catch it."

  "I think Red gave it to me." I laughed as I entered my room. It had been an interesting and fun day.

  * * *

  "Well agents, which do you think is the best area to patrol?" Sharat asked as Kris, the XO, and I sat with drinks in her conference room.

  "The coordinates for the pickup and the drop-off areas are quite far apart," Kris said as she created a hologram from her CPC. "They are a good day to a day and a half apart. And two merchants are potentially involved—the Spinner and the Star Trader—but we don't know if it involves two smugglers' ships or one." Kris said, worrying her lip.

  "Paulus, where would you wait?' Sharat asked, surprising me.

  "The smugglers could go to the drop-off area before the end of the year, but then they could miss some late deliveries, and the merchandise could be delayed for up to a year. I think it would make more sense to meet the Spinner, then go look for any drop-offs from the Star Trader. Plus, the closeness of the timing might suggest only one ship to make the pickup and drop-off." I had thought about the problem the night before while falling asleep, and that was the most logical scenario. Sharat's eyes went to Kris, who nodded.

  "I suggest we give the crews a few days’ planet-side leave first. It's going to be a long boring wait."

&
nbsp; "I wouldn't," I blurted before I thought.

  "Why not?" Sharat asked, staring at me with eyes narrowed.

  Damn, I cursed. I didn't have any proof, and accusing someone without it would not be a good idea.

  "I ... think they may be tracking Alliance cruisers."

  "How? Who?" Sharat's eyes froze me like a multifunctional gun aimed at my heart. I had no proof, and maybe it was my overactive imagination. After a long pungent silence, Kris saved me.

  "Captain, it's a suspicion we have, but at the moment we have no proof, just a feeling based on some messages we pulled off the WavCom." Kris cleverly diverted attention away from the crew by implying the messages came from the WavCom. I'm not sure what I would have said. The captain might not have been my commander, but she was intimidating, and I was young. Sharat sat silent for a long time.

  "I'm beginning not to like you again. How am I supposed to make a decision based on a feeling without knowing how you got that feeling? Spooks," she said with real venom. "If you were the captain, what would you do, Sinclair?"

  Kris looked to me and smiled. "None of us is omnipotent, but I wouldn't wager against Agent Paulus. She has good instincts. Besides, if she's wrong, you lose nothing; however, if she's right, you could lose the smugglers."

  "Damn you. I've never liked spooks. To you, everything’s a secret and everyone’s guilty of something. And now I'm having to depend upon spooks to make decisions. Damn you." She rose, and everyone followed her to the Bridge.

  "Nav, what will be our approximate position when we exit the Wave?" Sharat asked. Burkett spent several minutes at his panel before answering.

  "Approximately 28.6 degrees, 5 hours, 23 minutes, 40 seconds, 3.2 astronomical units."

  "Agent Paulus, what’s the position of the pickup area for the Spinner?"

  "22.115 degrees, 8 hours, 4 minutes, 12 seconds, 2.4 astronomical units, ma'am. About 30 hours to reach."

  "Nav?" Sharat said sharply. Burkett spent a couple of minutes before answering.

  "29 hours, 25 minutes at 520 gravities," Burkett said, staring at me.

  "All right. We will enter Fire Rock at Battle Stations. If there are no ships in the area, Lieutenant Sinclair will do her thing with the WavCom and then we will proceed to the rendezvous coordinates. Once there, we'll cut our engines, switch to passive systems, and wait."