Red Angel (21 page)

"War is their occupation, and they go where and
do what they are ordered. But I know what you’re thinking—how many would
disregard logic and its consequences as Sharat did for their own personal glory?"
Kris shrugged. "Would Sharat have been portrayed a hero if you hadn't sent
that message and the Tityus had been destroyed?"

I suspected she would have been hailed a hero and the
crew of the Tityus awarded a place of honor for their bravery. And the crew did
deserve to be honored, because they had fought bravely against overwhelming
odds. But how many unnecessary lives were lost? I shook myself out of my
depressing thoughts as we exited the shuttle and were met by a lieutenant commander.

"Good day, Lieutenants. I'm Commander Jackson.
Captain Thayer has asked me to escort you to the Bridge. She says you're good
snoops," he said while smiling.

"Thank you, Commander Jackson. We try." Kris
smiled back. When we reached the Bridge, Thayer was there and quickly got us
access to the Comm panel. Kris sat and began the search with me watching. I
thought she enjoyed learning the functions of a Comm officer even though she
never intended to serve on a
space
submarine
. She found six messages that fit our criteria: messages sent to
someone on planets the Lapis was visiting. On an impulse, I pulled any messages
to Oasis.

"Captain Thayer, can we have someplace to sit and
review these messages so we won't disrupt Bridge operations?" Kris asked.
Thayer nodded and led us to her office and had drinks brought in.

"What did you find?" she asked. I sat my
tablet on her desk with the six messages. She sat reading them, and then
shrugged. "Look normal."

"That's the idea. A normal message to be ignored,
and most if not all are just normal messages." I took back my tablet, sat,
and began reviewing them. Before too long, Kris sent me three of the six. All
three had been sent by the same individual
—
from different planets. They didn't quite look
like Dotson's, but within the hour Kris and I had found the keys and had
decoded the messages. Basically, they read:
Have
schedules, need supply.
Kris laid her tablet on Thayer's desk and returned
to her seat. In each case, it showed the original message and the decoded
version.

"Interesting, your project team finds and solves
puzzles. What next?"

"That is for you to decide, Captain. We don't
know what this petty officer does with the drugs or other contraband he obtains
or what information he sells. It would be interesting to know but may take
weeks or months to determine."

"You're right. I need to know. This is my puzzle
to solve." She had lunch served and invited the XO in and briefed him. We
departed shortly afterward.

"That was easy, and she took it well."

"And we didn't get pushed down any stairs."

* * *

The next day we visited the Cabiri. Captain Hardgrove
was equally helpful. We pulled seven messages and retreated to his office. An
hour later, Kris handed him four messages from a marine sergeant showing the
before and after results.

"Since you've found three people, one on each of
the three ships you've been on, we can anticipate every ship has someone
selling information. That's depressing. And now it's my responsibility to find
out what he's selling, what he gets in return, and what he does with it. If
he's selling drugs on my ship, I think I'll just space him." He twitched a
smile but seemed serious.

I laid my tablet on his desk. The message read:
Ambush destroyed, NIA involved
.

"Private Cardova sent this?"

"I doubt it. I think we'll find someone with the
ability to manipulate outgoing messages did. They send it from someone else's
account and reverse the charge, so the individual never sees it and therefore
can't question it."

"A Comm officer," he said more as a
statement than a question.

"More than likely, but it will take time to
determine."

"We don't have time. We've received orders back
from command and will be leaving soon. And I believe you have orders awaiting
you on the Vulcan. You can leave it in my hands to resolve. Their actions would
constitute treason in a time of war, and I believe this qualifies."

"Thank you, Captain Hardgrove, for your
support," Kris said. We saluted and left, excited to find out what Admiral
Rawls wanted us to do.

"What do you think?" I asked Kris, since I
didn’t have a clue.

"I just heard from Adrian and Wilber. They say
they’re being released back to their assigned areas, so maybe that's it." She
gave a slight shrug. It would be logical yet illogical. Within days if not
hours, the smugglers were going to know what happened and cease activities
until they could reorganize.

Hoping that the smugglers wouldn't cease sounded
illogical if you believed their communications network was a hodgepodge of
random bits of information and we had to just hope they stopped on their own. I
didn't think it was random. It felt like a very sophisticated network carefully
built over the years. The inclusion of UAS Comm officers screamed that it was comprehensive
and organized.

Kris getting up broke my musing, and I followed her
out of the shuttle. Petty Officer Milborne waited a few meters away.

"Lieutenants, Captain Maclin would like to see
you in his office, if you will follow me."

"Lead on, Petty Officer," Kris said. She was
as eager as I was to find out where we were headed. "You don't suppose
it's Oxax and my passionate pleas to the space gods have been answered?"
she quipped.

"No, you and I have probably been assigned as
permanent crew," I said, maintaining a serious expression. Kris stopped,
and I almost ran into her.

"Don't even say that in jest. This has been an
exciting experience, something to tell my children
—
if I ever get back home alive to find a
husband to have them with," She said with a sharp nod. Milborne had
stopped and stood some ten meters away staring back at us in surprise.
"What about you?"

"I miss home and Alexa. And I think I'm not
suited for cruiser duty."

"Why not?"

"I haven't learned
adult-speak
yet. I just say what I feel, and that doesn't work well
in the military."

"You have a point. Come, our escort is waiting on
us."

As we approached the captain's office, the guard
announced us and had the door open by the time we reached it. Inside, we
saluted.

"At ease, lieutenants, and have a seat. Admiral
Webb has requested an inquiry into Captain Sharat’s actions at Shadows Rest and
has requested I transport Sharat and you to Eastar for the hearing."
Maclin appeared particularly sober and ill at ease. I felt his nervousness and
thought he was waiting for something from us.

"Captain Maclin, I'm not mad at Captain Sharat,
nor do I want her punished for anything. I told her what I thought and hoped to
change her mind, but I never thought it my decision to make."

"But she wanted ... still wants you court martialed."

"I probably was out of line—I'm new at this
military protocol stuff. I accept that my conduct was ... unbecoming of an
officer, that I was wrong, and the consequences of my actions. But as I said at
dinner, I've no regrets and would do it again." I could feel his mood
change.

"Thank you, Agent Paulus. You’re young, and I was
afraid ... I shouldn't have been. I judged you correctly the other night at
dinner."

"She's eighteen going on forty, Captain,"
Kris said, and he laughed good-naturedly.

"So we are returning to Eastar and then I hope
I'll return with you to Sharat's original area of responsibility. You two are
exciting people to be around. Oh, I've ordered Captain Sharat, per Admiral
Webb's instructions, not to talk with either of you prior to the inquiry.
That's standard procedure and applies equally to both of you. And Admiral Rawls
had your special WavCom equipment installed here, so you are welcome on the Bridge
at any time, with access to the Comm panel. I know you still want to review our
message log. Any questions?" he asked. Kris and I shook our heads, stood,
saluted, and left.

"What do you think will happen to Sharat?" I
asked, thinking Kris with her eight years of service would have some idea.

"Not a clue. It will come down to whether the
review board considers her actions overly aggressive or reckless, and that
might hinge on her past record. Could go either way."

"What about me?" I asked, more curious than
worried. Long ago I had concluded worrying about the future was pointless. I
was already living on borrowed time—thanks to Red.

"They probably won't hang you." She looked
serious, but I could feel the amusement.

"I'll blame it all on you. You took advantage of
my innocence."

"Then we'll rot together in the same penal
institution." She put her arm in mine as we marched down the hallway
laughing.

* * *

The next day, I visited the Bridge.

"Good day, Captain Maclin. I thought I'd review
the logs."

"Good day, Agent Paulus. Let me introduce you to
the first shift." He proceeded to go around the room naming each
individual. "Commander Jimenez, let Lieutenant Paulus have the Comm panel.
She has NIA work to do."

"Thank you, Captain." I took the seat
vacated by Jimenez and began searching the logs, for both crew messages to the
planet the ship was headed and for messages to Oasis. It took a while, since I
had to check the ship’s location against each message's date to verify it was
being sent out of system. When I finished and sat back, I realized Kris was
there. She was talking with Maclin.

"Get what you needed?" Maclin asked when I
rose.

"Yes, sir. Lieutenant Sinclair and I need to look
it over."

"How long?"

"If there is something there, it could be an hour
or a week," I said. Even though I thought we would know quickly, I didn't
want to set his expectations too high.

"No rush, the trip to Eastar is ten days. Our
navigator, Commander Dowell, will have things to do, but the rest of us will
sit here like passengers on a bus. So hopefully, it will be an interesting
puzzle that does take a week."

Back in the room, I copied the seven messages to Kris's
tablet. She surveyed them quickly.

"What do you say we go eat? We missed the first
shift meal, and I'm starved," Kris said. I nodded, and we made our way to
the dining area. We had just sat down when Captain Sharat entered.

"Happy, Agent Paulus? I'll bet you are looking
forward to the inquiry," she growled, her face clenched in anger.

"Captain Sharat, we have been informed by Captain
Maclin that we are prohibited from talking to you per Admiral Webb's
instructions. I don't know what will happen at the inquiry, but I know that your
forcing a discussion with Agent Paulus would be a court-martial offense."
Kris stood, positioning herself between Sharat and me.

"Do you blame me for being mad?"

"Yes, I do. You did what you thought was right,
and Paulus did what she thought was right. You may believe her guilty of
insubordination, but you have no right to blame her for your decisions."
Kris's voice was low to avoid being overheard. Sharat stood quietly for a long
time. You’re right, Lieutenant." Sharat turned and sat several tables
away.

"Thank you," I said to Kris.

"You’re welcome. She's looking for a scapegoat,
and you're convenient."

"I think I’m also looking for a scapegoat. I want
to blame her for all those people being killed. Ironically, had she waited for support,
an equal number would probably still have died. The smugglers are to
blame."

We finished our meal with little talk. Back in the
room, Kris was first to speak.

"Let's start wearing our weapons again. I don't
think Sharat would do anything physical, but the smugglers worry me. I'm
beginning to think their organization is bigger than even we thought, to
involve UAS officers and enlisted personnel. I didn't enjoy being pushed down
those stairs."

She picked up her tablet and began reading. It was
almost immediately obvious who the one trading information for something was,
since she had been the only one to send more than one message, but we had to
review the others. So we quit early, agreeing with Maclin. The trip would take
ten long boring days.

The next day, I found the key after about two hours.
She had managed to hide her key better than the others and used different keys
each time, but once I knew what I was looking for and that the message was
coded, it was easy. I didn't tell Kris, as it gave her something interesting to
do. But an hour later, she looked up smiling.

"All right, how long have you known?"

"Only about an hour."

"You cheat. Red gives you the answer." She
laughed.

"I think you may be closer to the truth than you
think. I wouldn't trust anyone else, because they would think I'm crazy, but
I've long thought Red somehow helps me remember more, learn quicker, and think
clearer." I hoped that wouldn't destroy our relationship. "Like why
does he lie on my forehead while I'm reading?"

"It may be your imagination, or just having him a
part of you for so long, but who's to know? Maybe the poison is a stimulus of
some kind, or there’s something about the symbiotic relationship we don't
understand. But you're right: I would be careful who you tell. I don't think
you're crazy, and I do believe you may be right. Red does some very
uncharacteristic things for a krait, like staying with me and not biting. He
needs blood to survive, and I'm loaded with it."

"Thanks, Kris. Oh, did you notice the message to
Oasis?"

"No. Oh, I disregarded that message when I
focused on Petty Officer Reaves. Let me decode it. I need the practice."

"I left it for last. The captain isn't going to
be happy, and I don't blame him." I began working on the message. Knowing
the message was in code simplified the process, and I had the key and the
message decoded in an hour. Kris finished several minutes later. I clapped.