Red Angel (10 page)

"I for
one will be forever grateful to Red, whatever his reason," she said,
putting an arm around me and walking me upstairs. "I'll help you pack if
you don't mind."

The message on my tablet read,
report to the office at eight hundred hours.
Within a few minutes
of my arrival, Kris and Wilber wandered in. Adrian was already there as usual.
Stauffer appeared only minutes later.

"Good morning. Admiral Rawls considers this
assignment the agency's number one priority and has authorized Priority One
Access, P1A. The Minerva and the Proteus have recalled their crews from shore
leave and are preparing to depart as soon after you arrive as possible."
He handed each of us a plastic card with PRIORITY ONE ACCESS in red across the
top. In the middle were NIA in large bold letters and our picture. At the
bottom were the signatures and printed titles of Secretary of the Navy Admiral
Webb and Director of Naval Intelligence Admiral Lulltrel. "These will get
you the access you need to inspect those ships and any cooperation you might require.
Good hunting," he said, and left. When I looked around, everyone was
staring at his or her card.

"I've heard of Priority One Access but never seen
one. Normally, it's only used for wartime assignments," Adrian said, shaking
his head.

"We could commandeer a warship with this,"
Wilber said, smiling.

"That's the good news," Kris said without
looking up. "The bad news is these people expect results for this card;
otherwise, they look foolish."

Well then, let go find them some results," Adrian
said as he hoisted his duffle bag over his shoulder. "Good hunting Kris,
Anna. See you in a couple of weeks. Keep me informed." He headed for the
door with Wilber following, giving us a
thumbs
up
.

"I think Red is reading your card," Kris said,
looking at my forehead where Red was currently lying.

"He does that. It’s silly, but I used to read the
words out loud to him when I was younger. Since then, he always appears to be
interested in what I'm reading or looking at."

"That is strange. I understand why you've given it
a name and think of it as a person—him, I mean." Kris frowned as she
stood examining him. "But he's never done anything you would consider
communication?"

"No. Maybe he thinks I'm too dumb to understand."
I laughed as I grabbed the handle of my traveling case and prepared to leave.

"Well Agent Paulus, are you and your
high-and-mighty companion ready for the adventure of a lifetime?" She
laughed and grabbed her traveling case.

"Lead on, Senior Agent Sinclair. Fame and glory
await us," I said, mentally crossing my fingers.

* * *

A shuttle was waiting for us when we arrived. It had
apparently been held for us, because all the seats were taken except for two in
the front. Kris was quiet on the ride to the space station. I couldn't blame
her. Things had escalated quickly in the past forty-eight hours and a lot was
riding on this assignment. Since she was active military, she felt the weight
of the Admiral’s expectations more than I. Of course, I also wanted the project
to be successful
—
both
because I enjoyed working with Adrian, Wilber, and especially Kris and to catch
those I thought responsible for hounding me. Before I realized it, the shuttle
was pulling into an open bay.

I rose with Kris and exited the shuttle. A young
second lieutenant stood waiting with two petty officers. He saluted Kris, and
his eyes shifted to me for a brief second.

"Lieutenant Sinclair, I'm Lieutenant Norman. If
you will follow me, I'll take you to the Minerva. The petty officers will
collect your bags. We should be leaving within the hour," he said,
pointing to the exit. We followed him to the rail transport platform, and after
a short ride we were delivered to where the Minerva was docked. A full
lieutenant stood checking IDs. Norman ignored the long line of waiting sailors
and went straight to the front. The lieutenant looked up and then checked his
tablet.

"Lieutenant Sinclair and ... Miss Paulus, if I
could see your IDs," he said. Kris handed her ID to him, which he returned
after scanning it. Then I handed mine to him. He did a double look from the ID
to me and back again. "Norman will take you to your quarters." He
saluted Kris and then nodded to Norman, who motioned toward the entrance. My
heart was racing as we maneuvered our way through the hallways and up some
stairs. I never thought I would ever set foot on a spaceship, much less a navy
war cruiser. I almost ran into Kris when Norman stopped.

"Lieutenant, if you'd put your hand on the door
plate, you'll be registered. Ma'am, if you would do the same for this
door," Norman said nodding to the next door. When I did, the light above
the plate went from red to green and the door slid open. The room was small,
with a single bed, chair, built-in cabinet, and toilet facility.

"Lieutenant Sinclair, Captain Vogel is busy
preparing the Minerva to depart, but he asked me to invite you and Miss Paulus
to dine with him at eighteen hundred hours. I'll come get you when it's
time." With a nod, the petty officers deposited our bags in our rooms and
left.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Norman," Kris said
and turned to me. "Anna, join me." She nodded and entered her room.
Once I was inside, she closed the door. "Wow, I could get used to this.
These are senior officers' quarters, and Lieutenants never dine with the
captain. We should relax and enjoy the experience while it lasts, since it's
probably the last time we get this special treatment."

I couldn't help examining everything. The room was
compact but comfortable, with drawers to store things and places to hang
clothes, a pull-down desk with slots for tablets to connect to the system, and
a full if tight bathroom.

"If this is a dream, don't wake me," I said.

"I can't wait to see the captain's reaction to
you. The Officer of the watch almost suffered whiplash trying to reconcile your
agent ID with you. Can't blame him. You're a bit young to be an NIA
Agent."

* * *

At seventeen fifty-five, Norman knocked on my door.
When I opened it, he and Kris stood in the hallway. She had on her dress blues.
From her ribbons, I could tell she had been in the navy for about seven years
and had earned the Navy Small Arms Marksmanship Commendation and some Achievement
medals. She looked perfect for a navy recruitment poster. I had chosen a navy
blue suit with pants, since I knew Kris would also be wearing slacks. She
nodded her approval, and we followed Norman down the hall toward the Bridge and
the captain's dining room. When we entered the room, Kris braced to attention
and saluted. I also braced to attention out of habit from my years at the academy.

"Welcome aboard the Minerva, Lieutenant Sinclair
... Miss Paulus. My XO, commander Tillman," Captain Vogel said, nodding to
a broad-shouldered man who was staring at me with wide eyes. Tillman was tall
and middle aged but looked like he worked out regularly. His brown hair was cut
short. "We don't often get Priority One guests. Anything you can
share?" Vogel asked. He was shorter and stockier than Tillman and at least
ten years older, judging by his greying hair. His round face had bright
intelligent eyes and a pleasant smile.

"Only with you and your XO, sir. Miss Paulus and
I are members of a special task force formed to counter smuggling in the
Alliance. We've identified four merchant ships that are potentially part of the
smugglers' organization. If we're right and one or more of them is found to
have contraband, we may be able to seriously curtail their activities, and it could
even provide us with insight into their methods of operation."

"How? I would assume customs has inspected each
of those ships," Tillman asked.

"Agent Paulus discovered how they are getting past
the customs inspections. Two of those merchants we want to examine are
presently on Stone Ring. The other one will be in Zaspa, so unless you have
other orders, we would like you to stay around while we inspect the two in
Stone Ring and then give us a lift to Zaspa," Kris said, smiling at the
look the two gave me.

"You have Priority One Access, which means we are
at your service. And if you can help us catch their cruiser
—
which I'm convinced
they have operating in Alliance space
—
we
would forever be in you debt," Vogel said. "Please sit. Miss Paulus,
I was told you have a poisonous snake with you. Where, may I ask?" His
eyes flew open and his smile disappeared when I reached into my blouse and
pulled out Red, who wound around my forearm.

"Here," I said. "It's a red-headed
krait."

"If it's a pet, couldn't you leave it in your
room? It's obviously poisonous and dangerous," Tillman said before Vogel
could decide what to say.

"No, it's not a pet, and although it's very
poisonous, it's not dangerous. It never leaves my person. Not since it saved my
life at age four. And no, I can't leave it in my room. Besides it being worth more
than a hundred thousand credits, its poison keeps my Coaca Virus from
developing. Without it, I'd be contagious within as little as twenty-four
hours," I said as Red worked his way up my arm and around my neck, laying
his head on my shoulder. The captain looked to Kris.

"It takes a bit of getting use to, but everything
she’s said is true. Consequently, it's best we don't advertise it. A hundred
thousand credits is a powerful incentive. Five men attacked Anna and her
adopted mother a few weeks ago for that snake. She and her mother were just
recently released from the hospital."

"How did they get away?" Tilman asked
Sinclair, although he was looking at me.

"They killed the five men. Her mother is retired
Captain Bellona, and Miss Paulus qualified as a marksman with a rifle and in
small arms all four years at the Academy."

"I knew Captain Bellona well. Come sit and let’s
eat, and Miss Paulus can tell us how she came to be Alexa's daughter. Anyone
she would adopt has got to be special."

The dinner went well, and Vogel even told us a couple
stories of when he served under Alexa. And he agreed to let me on the Bridge
under the pretext of showing Kris the panels we would be looking at on the
merchants' ships.

* * *

Walking onto the Minerva's Bridge was a dream come
true. As soon as the door closed, the captain spoke. "Crew, I've told this
young lady she could examine our Bridge equipment. She is a graduate of the Academy
and an NIA agent with Priority One Access," he said to open mouths and
wide-eyed looks. After introductions, I waved Kris to me.

"Kris, this is the weapons panel. You won't see
one as elaborate as this on a merchant's ship, but it will be similar. You're
looking for a switch like that," I said, nodding to the weapons' officer,
who nodded. "Throwing it puts the panel into simulation mode, and the
monitor should respond accordingly." I threw the switch and then pointed
to the monitor, which now showed the panel in simulation mode. "Next you
need to ..." I explained each step as I went through the procedure to load
a missile. "This yellow light should not turn red or green during this
procedure. That would indicate it was active, which it shouldn't be in
simulation mode." I spend a wonderful hour playing with each panel and
talking with the Bridge crew.

"I hope all the cadets graduating the Academy
today are as knowledgeable as you, Miss Paulus. It will save us a lot of time
retraining them," Vogel said as I finished.

"I wouldn't count on it, Captain. She graduated
with Distinction." Kris grinned.

Back in my room, Kris was bubbling with excitement.
"That was fantastic, Anna. The Bridge tends to be sacred ground. Few
officers get to see it, much less during flight
—
and get a demonstration of the equipment."

I had to agree. Vogel had gone out of his way, I
thought largely because I was Alexa's daughter and partly because he was
fascinated with me. The trip took eight days. Fortunately, the captain had
Tillman give us a tour of each section, one each day, and we were invited to
eat with the captain several times. A good thing, since we had no assigned
duties and sitting around in our cabins would have been beyond boring.

After we docked, Kris contacted the port authority.
"They are holding the Windjammer and Dealmaker for us to inspect. They
suggested the Dealmaker first. It's a day late leaving Stone Ring, and the
captain is threatening law suits for not allowing his crew and him on the ship.
As a result, he has had to pay for his crew to be lodged in town."

"It doesn’t matter to me." I shrugged.
Unless we found something with the weapons panel, the inspection should only
take an hour. Vogel had his shuttle drop us at the port authority, where
transportation was provided us to the Dealmaker. There, a Captain Pfeiffer met
us at the ship's entrance. He was a short overweight man with a neatly trimmed
mustache and beard. At present, his face was red and twisted in anger, but he
felt nervous.

"When do I get my ship back? We've no contraband
on board. Customs has already inspected it. And who are you and her?" he
shouted at Kris.

"I'm the person who is going to get the Dealmaker
released."

"I want to go with you to see you don't damage
something."

"Sorry. We know the way." Kris nodded to the
security man who the port authority had posted to ensure no one entered the
ship. He stepped aside, and I followed Kris as she made her way to the Bridge.
When we arrived, she looked to me.

"I'll watch," I said. She stared at the
board for several minutes, then threw the simulation switch and began going
through the motions of loading a missile. About four minutes into the sequence,
the yellow light turned green.

"Stop."

"That was fun." Kris grinned. "But I don't
think I'd like being in a cruiser loading missiles when someone was shooting
back at me. Would you?" she asked, frowning at me.