Red Angel (16 page)

"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."

"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."

"One hour to Wave exit," Burkett announced,
and nodded to me.

"Attention. One hour to Wave exit. Repeat. One
hour to Wave exit." I said, which went out over the ship’s loudspeakers. When
I looked around the room, everyone seemed relaxed, with the exception of Kris,
who felt a bit nervous. I was too excited to be nervous.

"Thirty minutes to exit," Burkett said.

"Comm, Battle Stations," Sharat said.

"Attention. Battle Stations. Repeat, Battle
Stations," I announced, and sent the alert to everyone's CPC, and
activated the sirens and flashing lights throughout the ship.

"Ten, nine, ... two, one, now," Burkett
said, and with a brief shudder, the Tityus entered the Fire Rock system. Kris's
finger flew over the NIA station keyboard.

"All clear Captain," said the radar
operator, Lieutenant Commander Staggs.

"Comm, cancel Battle Stations."

"Attention. Stand down from Battle Stations.
Repeat. Stand down from Battle Stations," I said, and went through the
motions to ensure everyone knew Battle Stations had been canceled.

"Finished, Captain," Kris said several
minutes later.

"Helm, proceed to rendezvous coordinates,"
Sharat said and rose. "XO, you have the watch, I'll be in my office."

"I have the watch, Captain."

"Nothing," Sinclair said as she rose.
"I'm not needed, so I'll see you after your shift."

* * *

The next seven days were as boring as promised. On the
third day, I managed to convince Kris to contact some of the officers who were
interested in showing her around their sections to arrange tours. She agreed,
and for the next three days we got to see the environmental, weapons, shuttle
maintenance, automatic laser defense, and engine departments. I loved it. All
the things I had studied at the academy and seen pictures and mockups, I saw up
close and in action. Kris was less interested but did accept a few offers to go
to the officers’ club for drinks. At the captain's request, I visited the
medical unit, where I negotiated a tour in exchange for talking about Red.

"You gave him a name?" Doctor Guzman asked
after being shown Red. "Although it's a male krait,
he
makes it sound like a pet."

"Red has been with me since I was four years
old—every hour of every day. He might not do anything clever like some
pets, but it's earned him a name and identity." I put him on my shoulder,
where he curled around my neck.

"That is a long time. Doesn't it ... he irritate
you, crawling around your body?" She shuddered.

"Do your tongue or arm or fingers bother
you?"

"Of course not. Oh, I see. He's an integral part
of you, like an arm or fingers." Guzman spent two hours with me discussing
my doctors' findings and conclusions back on Oxax and the incidents when Red
bit people.

"Doctor Kanata gave me this antivenin in case anyone
does get bitten," I said, handing her the vial. "She said 0.5 cc in
the event it's necessary. It'll save the person's life, but they will be sick
for a couple of days."

"Thanks for being so candid, Anna. That was
certainly interesting. I had read about the Coaca Virus but never about
red-headed kraits. You've certainly had a difficult life, not only having to
live with a krait but the threat of others stealing it. Ready for that tour I
promised?"

The cruiser's medical unit wasn't magical like the Bridge,
but the advanced surgical equipment in the trauma section was interesting. I
concluded that an Alliance cruiser was better equipped than most hospitals.

* * *

I had just gotten ready for bed when my CPD buzzed and
I heard the ship’s speakers in the hallway.

"Attention. All personnel report to your duty
stations. Repeat. All personnel report to your duty stations."

I dressed and hurried to the Bridge. A few people
arrived just after me. The captain waited several minutes until Burkett
arrived.

"We have identified another ship entering the
area. Using only passive sensors, it's difficult to tell what kind of a ship,
as it has its identifying beacon turned off. But it appears to be a merchant
ship, and its radar is active. If it's here for a pickup, it's five days early.
We are approximately one quarter light-second—about seventy-five thousand
kilometers
—
away
from the meeting coordinates. I'm hoping that's far enough to not be noticed. I
want all units manned from now on. XO, you will man the backup Bridge with the
second and third shifts. Even an armed merchant shouldn't be much trouble for
us, but we don't know who else may join the party. First shift will use my
conference room to rest. If they bolt suddenly, I want us to be ready. It
shouldn't be able to outrun us, but I don't like surprises. Questions?"
She asked. No one said anything. "Dismissed to your stations."

"I wish I could relieve you," Kris
whispered.

"I doubt the Comm officer will be asked to do
anything exciting, but I wouldn't doubt the captain expects me here. But you're
free to leave—no WavCom nearby, and it's going to be really boring,"
I said. It proved boring, but less so than I thought. On the fourth day another
ship entered the area, its identification beacon sending—The Merchant
Spinner.

"I'm going to wait for the two ships to move
closer and hopefully use shuttles to make the exchange. That should be the
point at which they are the most vulnerable. If they run, I want both ships
disabled, but our prime target is the unidentified ship." She looked to
me. "Agent Paulus, any comments from the NIA?"

"No, Captain. It's your show." I said. It
would be nice to have them both intact, but she had the lives of the crew to
consider over the wants of the NIA. Anyway, I figured she must be aware that
intact would be a bigger prize.

Eight hours later, the two ships were within ten
kilometers of each other and a shuttle left the Spinner toward the unidentified
ship. A few minutes after it docked, the captain smiled.

"Comm, Battle Stations. Engineering, maximum
power. "

"Attention. Battle Stations. Repeat. Battle
Stations." I activated the sirens and lights and sent the message to the
CPCs. I imagined it was a source of relief after days of twelve-hour shifts and
waiting for something to happen. A few minutes later, Kris joined me.

"About time," she whispered. "I can't
imagine being confined to a cruiser for a year or more at a time. What about
you?"

"I think I'd like it, but that’s probably true of
most things I can't have." I shrugged. Kris nodded understanding.

"Weapons active on both ships. The Spinner is a
pussycat; however, that other merchant is a tiger," Staggs shouted.

"Comm, send, This is the UAS Cruiser Tityus. Cut
power and standby to be boarded. Failure to comply will result in your
destruction," Sharat said, her eyes alive and voice steady. I could feel
her rising excitement. Everyone except Kris felt excited to one degree or
another. I sent the message. Several minutes later, Staggs, the radar operator,
spoke.

"The Spinner has cut her engines; the other ship
is accelerating. It looks to have some big engines. She's up to two hundred
gravs already." His eyes were glued to his screen.

"Comm, connect me to Colonel Mclean and commander
Givens."

I activated their channels and put them on the communications
monitor in a split screen.

"Colonel Mclean, prepare to launch a shuttle of
twenty marines. I want you to secure the Spinner. Commander Givens, launch ten
fighters to support Mclean's boarding action. You are authorized to destroy the
Spinner if it takes any aggressive action, although I'd prefer it intact. Your
remaining fighters are in reserve for possible action against the merchant we
are pursuing."

"Yes, Captain," they answered
simultaneously.

"Four incoming missiles," said Commander
Salas, the ECM operator. "Time to impact, fourteen seconds." Time
seemed to stand still, then suddenly the ship vibrated twice. "Missed two.
Their missiles are almost as fast as ours—two seconds slower at this
range—and difficult to stop at this close range."