Red Angel (7 page)

"Hi,
Adrian. Yes, twenty-four hours. I was four when he adopted me. I guess if I had
been older, I too would have thought it awkward. But children adapt quickly to
most any condition: loss of a limb, or sight, or hearing."

"Hi. I'm
Wilber Weiss. Call me Wilber. I notice you refer to the krait as he and have
given him a name …" He was another full lieutenant, which definitely made
me the junior in the group in every way.

"Hi,
Wilber. It turns out he is a male krait, but to answer your question, he
doesn't talk or communicate with me in any manner I can recognize. But after
thirteen years, he feels like a companion. And yes, I talk to him, even though
he refuses to answer," I said, eliciting laughs from everyone.

"Good,
you've taken care of the introductions. As most of you are aware, Anna has
worked with us before and been instrumental in catching bad guys. Red has never
been a problem. That I'm aware, Red has only bitten anyone on two occasions.
Both times, the individuals were attacking Anna and attempting to steal the
krait. She was in the hospital for ten days last time. Consequently, Magistrate
Bellona, Anna's mother, insists she carry a laser. Anna, most of us have weapons.
We usually lock them in our desks while we are in the office. There, I think
I've covered all the important issues. Any questions?" He paused to look
at each of us. When no one said anything, he continued. "I'll leave it to
you to get Anna a permanent badge and get her settled in as a member of the
team, because I want results, and you haven't produced any as of yet." He
tried to look serious, but a twitch of his lip spoiled it. To me, he felt
amused.

"Come,
Anna, we still have some getting settled to do ourselves. We arrived just a
couple of days ago and only reported in yesterday." Wilber nodded toward
the door.

By the end of
the day, we had obtained our permanent identification badges, were provided
desks, and assigned our own private conference room. We were just getting ready
to leave when Stauffer appeared with four folders, each at least eight
centimeters thick.

"Your
homework, since you haven't gotten any work done today," he said, dropping
them on our conference table, hardly able to restrain a grin. "One for
each of you."

*
* *

"How was
your first day?" Alexa asked when I sat down at the dinner table that
evening.

"Exciting
and scary at the same time. Scary flying the skimmer on my own into the city,
exciting meeting the people I'll be working with, scary they are all full
lieutenants and much older than me, exciting ... I talked through the entire
meal and for hours afterward, describing every detail of my day. Alexa felt
content as she quietly listened, a small smile on her lips. Finally, I jumped
up. "I forgot; I've got homework. Sorry," I kissed her on the cheek
and was getting ready to run off when she stopped me.

"You can
use my office. We'll have to convert one of the spare bedrooms into an office
for you. This won't be the last time you bring work home, and a comfortable
environment will make it easier to concentrate. Now off with you." She
waved me away. I made my way down the hall to her office and entered. Sitting
in her chair, I couldn't help giggling.
My
own office.
I spent a few minutes looking around and thinking about how I
would like my office to look and feel. Sometime later, I sighed and opened the
folder Stauffer had left.

Inside were
reports from many different agencies on ten of the thirty planets in the United
Alliance of Stars, UAS, covering a period of seven years. Kristyn, Adrian, and
Wilber had each worked on at least one incident involving the smugglers.
Kristyn was from the Intelligence agency at Eastar, Adrian from Sutan, and
Wilber from Safe Harbor. It was early in the morning before I finished. I think
even Red was tired at that point.

When I
arrived in the morning, Adrian was already at his desk leafing through our
homework, although I had arrived fifteen minutes early. He waved but didn't
smile.

"Am I
late? I thought—" I stopped when he laughed.

"Normal
hours are from eight to five, but we have no hours or place of work. Over the
next couple of weeks we will get to know each other. Some of us are morning
people while some like working through the night. We shouldn't force people to
conform to some artificial workday. If someone works best at night, that's when
they are the most productive and the best time for them to work. Results are
what count. How about you, Anna? When do you like to work?"

I laughed.
"This is my first real job."

"Okay,
when do you like to study?"

"At
night ... but that may be because I'm in school during the day." I
shrugged.

"Well,
don't feel you have to be a day or night person. Here come the others. Let's go
to the conference room and have our first team meeting." He got up and
waved for the others to follow. I was shocked when they didn't. Kris headed for
the ladies latrine, Wilber for the small canteen. Adrian grinned. "See
what I mean? We need to get to know each other before we can work well
together. Come, they will join us eventually." He sat and began reading
from his folder. I took the hint and went to my desk and locked up my laser,
fetched a glass of water, and then went to the conference room. Several minutes
later, Kris and Wilber joined us.

"Good
morning, has anyone read our homework?" Kris asked sitting down with a
coffee mug in hand.

"Stauffer
didn't say when it was due," Wilber said to nods and snorts.

"We’re
going to be together for years. These smugglers have been in business for ten
or more years and are well-established. We aren't going to destroy their
organization in a week, or a month, or a year. If we're lucky, maybe before
Kris's children are five or six," Adrian said with a grin.

"I'm not
even married yet," Kris objected, then smiled. "You're right. We need
to bond as a team. We each have strengths and weaknesses and the team needs to
understand that and shore up the weaknesses and capitalize on the
strengths."

I sat there
in shock. I don't know what I had expected but it wasn't this. More like sit at
my desk all day ... thinking. I laughed mentally.

"Well
did anyone look at the contents of these folders?" Adrian asked. I raised
my hand and everyone laughed, to my embarrassment. "Good for you, Anna.
What did you see? I mean, your first impression." He and the others sat
back, their eyes on me. I sat stunned and reflexively reached for Red, as he
seemed to help me relax. I felt no strong emotions from Adrian. Kris felt
curious, and Wilber amused.

"I saw
that each of you have worked on one or more cases involving the smugglers and
that each of you came from a major NIA office. The smugglers appear to have
well-established contacts in the UAS, in as many as ten systems. The smugglers
might have originated in the Free Peoples Union, FPU, or the Peoples Republic
of Stars, PRS, but the UAS has a well-established organization."

"Why do
you think that?" Adrian asked.

"Because
the smuggling appears to go both ways."

"She's
right," Kris said. "Some of the drugs being smuggled are unique to
the UAS. And then there was the attempt to smuggle those red-headed kraits from
Oxax. That was good work, Anna. Yes, I peaked at your case folder. The
powers-that-be selected each of us for a specific reason. This is a very high
priority case, so I was interested and impressed. I suggest," she said
looking around the room, "no rank among us; we are all equal team
members."

"Agreed,"
Adrian and Wilbur said together. I nodded, although I knew that was mostly for
my benefit. We spent the rest of the morning going over our homework folders,
coming up to speed on what had been discovered over the years.

"I'm
hungry," Wilber said as he stood and stretched.

"Me too,
and I'd like to look at the Wheeler, which I understand the navy
impounded," Kris said and then tapped on her tablet. "We'll need a
government car, or better yet a skimmer assigned to us. The navy impound
platform is across town."

"I have
a skimmer," I said tentatively. Adrian looked to the others and received
nods.

"All
right, we still need another, since there are four of us and we won't always be
going to the same place. And we need to get you authorized, so you get
reimbursed for the miles you log. That's a good deal for the navy as it's
cheaper than taxis or rentals," Adrian said, rising and heading for
Stauffer's office. I concluded I had lots to learn.

"It
looks like we have our unofficial team leader," Wilber said, smiling.
"That's good, because it's a lot of extra work." He laughed. Kris
nodded agreement.

"He'll
made admiral someday and maybe drag us up to commodore." Kris grinned.

When Adrian
returned, he was smiling. "All settled. Anna, you are to keep track of the
mileage you log going anywhere on team business and submit a report to Stauffer
each month. He has agreed to one cred per mile." He grinned and I felt his
satisfaction.

"Thank
you, Adrian." I suspected that was a very generous rate.

"You’re
part of the team, and it's one for all and all for one." He looked around
the room and received nods of agreement. We made our way to the skimmer parking
area, where I unlocked the door and everyone found seats as I typed in the
address of the navy impound platform and activated the GPS system.

"Nice
skimmer," Wilber said as he and Adrian settled into the back and Kris
joined me in the front.

"It was
my graduation present," I said, feeling a sense of pride.

"Do you
think your mother would adopt me?" Wilber said to general laughter as I
lifted off the pad and steered into the traffic lane that would get us to the
naval shuttle port. I was still nervous flying the skimmer and wasn't going to
be pulled into a side conversation. Traffic was light, but I was new and hadn't
flown there before. When I landed, Adrian was first to speak.

"Good
flying, Anna. I was a little concerned—new skimmer and new driver. But
you are not reckless or easily diverted from what you're doing. You can be my
taxi anytime," he said as we exited. We ate at one of the restaurants on
the base. When the bill came, they all took out their credit chips.

"I'm
sorry ... I don't have a credit chip," I said, blushing with shame.

"How do
you pay for things?" Kris asked.

"I
haven't had to. The meals at the academy were free, I lived at home, and mother
paid for any clothes or books I needed."

"Don't
worry about it. I'll pay for your meal. Sit next to me on the shuttle and we
can discuss what you need to do. You are going to need a credit chip ..." Kris
explained I would need a bank account in my name where my check and expense
reimbursements would go and how my credit chip would be used to pay for things.

"I
appreciate the help, Kris."

"Remember
what Adrian said,
one for all and all for
one
? Well right now you need help, so I'll help. Your turn will come some
day. Unless I'm mistaken, you and this team will grow old together. And if we
are successful, we'll retire together." She laughed.

After getting
clearance from the station commander, we boarded the Wheeler. It felt strange.
I had graduated the naval academy but had never set foot on a spacecraft.

"What
are we looking for?" I asked no one in particular.

"Don't
know until we find it. We are trying to determine whether this ship was used
for smuggling or just paid to transport the kraits. According to the team that seized
the Wheeler, the crew claim they didn't know the consignment was kraits. They
were paid to transport the container to Eastar. Customs searched the ship but
didn't find anything, so they may be telling the truth, or at least not be part
of the smuggling organization. Anyway, Kris wants to look, so here we
are," Adrian said with a slight shrug.

I was
beginning to understand. We would be working together for years, and it was
important we understood each other's strengths and weaknesses if the team were
to be successful. Kris wanted to see the ship, so we would visit the ship; I
needed help with money matters, so Kris would make sure I got squared away;
they needed a ride, so I volunteered; and Adrian liked taking charge, so they
let him—o
ne for all and all for
one.

I began at
the Bridge, feeling that was what I would know the most about. The controls on
a merchant ship were different than on a warship but similar enough that I
could understand them. This ship had a small weapons panel, I assumed for
protection against pirates. It looked like small missiles and a bank of twenty-centimeter
lasers. I turned on the panel, after switching it from active to simulator
mode. As I did, Red appeared, twisting around my neck and into my hair where he
laid his head on mine, watching while I worked my way through the functions. As
I finished the last step in the sequence, the active light came on, which it
shouldn't have done in simulator mode. Confused, I strolled down the hallway
looking for the weapons-loading area. I passed someone who said something, but
I was too engrossed to tell who it was or what they said. When I reached the
room, I entered and stood surveying the delivery mechanism. It looked like a
standard small missile system; however, there shouldn't have been a missile in
the loaded position, because I had been in simulation mode. I had a strong feeling
of wrongness. As I sat there going over what I had done on the weapons panel,
Adrian entered.