Red Angel

by C. R. Daems

  "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.

  "Thank you, but how about older sister rather than adult. Makes me feel old and ready for retirement ... I'm glad you're with me. We make a good team." She gave me a quick hug—very brave considering there was no guarantee Red wouldn't bite anyone that close to me. He seemed to understand friend from foe, but that was an assumption, since he didn’t talk or give signals.

  "What do you think the captain will do next?"

  "She doesn't have a lot of choices. She has an assigned area which doesn't appear to have any activity for close to one hundred days. Probably hoping we'll stumble on something like Fire Rock or that we get information on Dealmaker, Dreamer, or Star Trader, and it's in our area."

  "It's going to be equally boring for us unless you would like to learn something about the Comm officer's duties," I said, thinking that would keep us busy and make the time go faster.

  "No thanks. Someone might get the idea I'd like cruiser duty. I want off this space submarine as fast as possible. Oh, don’t forget to wear your laser. The danger might appear to have passed, but let's not take any chances. Red may need some support if there is a next time."

  * * *

  Although we entered Truth Star during second shift, I accompanied Kris and watched as she stripped the WavCom and sent the messages meeting her search criteria to our tablets. I noticed the captain also joined us.

  "Anything?" she asked, and I could feel her growing excitement.

  "We won't know until we review the messages. That will take several hours. We'll let you know immediately if we find anything important," I said as Kris turned off the equipment. Feeling Sharat's disappointment, I felt sorry for her. She wanted to be chasing smugglers, and it was unlikely she was going to get any action. I suspected the smugglers would curtail their operations soon and wait for the Alliance’s investigation to conclude so they would know the extent of the damage.

  "Good luck," she said and wandered off, probably with her fingers crossed. Back in Kris's room we settled down with drinks, divided the messages between us, and began looking. About two hours later, Kris broke the silence.

  "To quote Wilber, this is too easy."

  "What?" I asked, and immediately a message appeared in my incoming box. I opened it and agreed. The message was similar to the one Dotson had written—simple with the key in the message. Decoded, it read:

  To: Dreamer, crewmember Chatman.

  Pickup on Shadows Rest in seven days coordinates: "5.115 degrees, 5 hours, 14 minutes, 0 seconds, 4.4 astronomical units.

  "The captain must have a lucky charm. This is a real gift," Kris said with a snort. I wasn’t so sure. It was too easy. My natural paranoia reared its head and screamed. Even Red seemed agitated, but of course, he might have been that way because I was—or it could have been my active imagination.

  "Don’t tell her yet," I said almost to myself as I sought some way of deciding whether this was a gift or a trap.

  "She won't like it if she finds out we delayed her departure to Shadows Rest." Kris frowned at me, and I could feel her concern.

  "Blame me," I said, still debating my options.

  "Doesn't work that way, Anna. We're a team. If you say hold it, we will withhold the information. I'd like to know the reason, but we'll withhold the information whether you have a good reason or not. And if the captain is unhappy, she is unhappy with both of us." I stood and gave her a hug.

  "Thank you, sister. It's just too easy. The message is practically written in the clear; the notice to the Dreamer is too short; Shadows Rest is too much of a coincidence; and it feels wrong. I would like some way to verify it before the captain gets it."

  "She is going to order the Tityus directly to Shadows Rest when she hears what the message says. And although I agree with you, we can't pretend we didn't see it or not tell her indefinitely."

  "I know. Stall her until I verify the Dreamer's current location"

  "How are you going to do that?"

  "I meant until I can send off an urgent message to verify where the Dreamer is or is going. Hopefully, by the time we get to Shadows Rest we'll know."

  "Deal," Kris said, looking relieved. I prepared the message I planned to send when I reported for first shift duty. It was at least a five-day trip to Shadows Rest, which should be plenty of time to find the Dreamer’s location and get the information back to me before we arrived. And if the Dreamer couldn't make it to the rendezvous, then maybe I could convince the captain it was a trap. I worked on the message as th
e hours dragged by.

  A few minutes before I was to leave for the Bridge, I knocked on Kris's door. As I suspected, she was dressed and getting ready to join me.

  "Can you be late by fifteen minutes or so? Then when you enter you can give the captain the good news. That will give me time to get the message off."

  "All right, what's fifteen minutes more? We've already delayed the results by six hours."

  When I reported to the Bridge, Sharat was already sitting in the captain's chair.

  "Anything, Paulus?"

  "I left Lieutenant Sinclair with the messages late last night, since I had duty this morning," I said, trying to set the stage for Kris.

  "That's funny. You look like you haven't slept." Sharat frowned as her eyes searched me.

  "I didn't sleep well," I turned back to the Comm panel. I connected my tablet and sent the message:

  To: Scylla for Lieutenant Weiss, Romulus for Lieutenant Shrader, All NIA offices. Urgent.

  Need latest location of the merchant ship Dreamer and its schedule for the next week.

  Signed: Agent Paulus, address to Tityus

  I hit send just as Kris entered the Bridge and Sharat turned toward her.

  "Nice to see you, Lieutenant Sinclair. Did you manage to find anything after Lieutenant Paulus left for her beauty sleep?" Sharat wasn't looking in a good mood. I suspected she knew something wasn't right but couldn't figure what it was. Kris smiled.

  "Yes, I think you'll be pleased." She handed her tablet to her. I looked at mine and saw she had linked the display to mine. It had the original message and below that the decoded message.

  "Yes, very pleased. How long have you had this?" If she intended to intimidate Kris, I think she was in for a surprise—me yes, Kris no. It helped that Kris wasn't in Sharat's chain of command.

  "Since we accessed the WavCom."

  "You know what I mean—the decoded version."

  "Finding coded messages and decoding them is far more art than science. We had a lot of messages to sort through. It might take weeks or hours to decode a message after you find it. Because you or I may want it done quickly doesn't change the process or the result. I guess you will have to assume I got it to you as quickly as I could." She gave an imperceptible shrug. Sharat shook her head.