Red Angel: Book II: Raiders (Red Angel Series 2) (11 page)

"Red and I would be dead," she finished, nodding.

We spent the next two hours inserting the various clips and trying different settings. "That was interesting, but I think I would be better off with a laser—less dangerous for those around me." She choked out a laugh. "Besides, by the time I figured out what clip and made the adjustment, I would either be dead or the danger would be over."

"It takes time for it to be automatic. Chief Ransom gave me private lessons several times a week every semester for my four years at the Naval Academy."

"I think I'll stick to my laser. For now, that's enough of a challenge."

"Finished," Kris said later that night and sat back with a sigh. "I found nine that look like they need further review; however, the only one that matched any of the Eastar ones was the message to Master Puzzles, Incorporated. But it was sent to Fire Rock, not Holy Cross."

"I singled out eight, but only the puzzle message matched any of those from Eastar, which makes it our prime candidate. But I suggest we set aside all those we identified from Eastar and Stone Ring in case the puzzle message turns out to be a dead end."

"I agree. I don't know about you, Anna, but I'm beat. I think I'll wait until tomorrow to have a go at the puzzle message."

"I won't be long," I said, feeling Red's interest ... or rather his presence on my forehead. As I watched Kris leave the conference room followed by a marine, I notice Pannell sitting off in the corner of the room. "How are you doing, Paul?"

"All right. I only caught a few shards in my side and arm, which my jacket degraded somewhat. Mostly I'm just a bit sore now that they've been removed." He smiled then turned serious. "How did you know the two at the counter were about to shoot us? If you hadn't fired and distracted them, they would have killed one or more of us. We had our attention on the man shouting."

"Luck."
Named Red
, flashed through my mind as I tried to dismiss the incident.

"And the woman? In retrospect, she would have been the last one we engaged—a male reflex—but she wasn't the last to draw her weapon."

"Probably my angle of sight," I said, weakly.

"And the stairs." He shook his head slowly in denial. "You're an interesting person to be around, Anna, and I can understand why the raiders fear you. You did more to protect us than we did to protect you. Thank you."

"Have you looked at the puzzle the Controller sent?" Kris asked as we made our way to the mess hall for breakfast the next morning.

"I looked at it, trying to decide if any part looked different from another, indicating two separate puzzles, but nothing jumped out at me. Well, we've two more days before we reach Oxax and nothing to do. Maybe Red will help. It'd be nice to know if these puzzles actually get published. If so, then they're probably two puzzles in one." I wished we're in Oxax, where I could find answers to that and other questions, like what Master Puzzles, Incorporated was.

"That seems very dangerous ... what if someone accidentally stumbled on the real message? Unless of course it's a very obscure message that would be meaningless to anyone except the intended contact."

We went through the food line and found an empty table. Our two guards stayed at the entrance to the officer's area while we ate.

"Guards seem unnecessary on the ship ... well, they weren’t last time, but this time we’re dealing with foreign raiders," Kris said, glancing in the direction of our guards.

"Pannell isn't taking any chances, and he's even more paranoid after the incident at NTI. And he's made sure his people know it, although that isn't necessary after two almost died."

Kris nodded then surprised me. "Doesn't Red ever get interested in what you’re eating?"

"No. He has never shown any interest in any food or liquid except my blood ... not even someone else's blood, not at Mercy Hospital when they first found me, nor since." My voice was barely above a whisper. Even I found that strange.

"He's definitely attached himself to you. The question is why?"

"I would love to find the answer to that question, but he isn't talking, and who am I to insist?" I laughed and began eating. It didn't matter. He kept me alive and I believed he was largely responsible for my success in life. Like the other day at NTI. Why hadn’t I been distracted by the man shouting? And how had I sensed the stairway door opening? Red, or the poison he injected in me, or something else? Maybe someday I would know, but not today. In the end, it didn't really matter.

We spent the rest of the day trying to break the puzzle code or to separate it into two sections. Red had shown some interest in the morning but disappeared into my shirt in the afternoon. I was having trouble concentrating, wondering whether McCure had been responsible for the attack and worrying whether Adrian and Rich had also been attacked. The raiders didn't just want Kris and me dead. They wanted the whole team killed.

"Found it!" Kris shouted, which snapped me out of my musing and even caused the guards to straighten. Kris pushed her tablet to me. It read:
The Stallion named Mercury was a midnight black.
And she had shaded in yellow the area where she found it.

"Clever. They have the contestant's message imbedded in the real message," I said, examining the position of the message Kris had decoded. It occupied about one-sixth of the page and was about a fifth of the way down from the first line.

"How do we know that isn't the message to the contact?" Kris asked. "It could contain key words the contact needs."

"We don't, and it could contain key words that would let the contact know what action to take, but I would wager there’s another more detailed message. I think this code is a lot more sophisticated than the one the smugglers used."

We docked at the Oxax Space Station early in the morning and before we had exited the Lapis, I had a message from Stauffer to report to the office.

"He didn't waste any time wanting an update," Kris said as we boarded the shuttle to the planet.

"Maybe there’s a new development," I said, and we both went silent. She must have had the same concern as me after the incident at Stone Ring. We were quiet on the ride down and in my skimmer to the office. When we entered the office, Adrian stood and Kris made a mad dash to him, grabbing him in a tight bear hug.

"Thanks, but what was that for?" he asked, smiling. I had also rushed over but was still cautious. I didn't think Red would bite him, but why take the chance? "Oh! Because of the attack you suffered on Stone Ring, you were worried that Rich and I might have had trouble on Holy Star. We didn't. Hi, Anna. I'll consider myself hugged." He grinned. "Ms. Simons was cooperative, and we collected the messages for forty-eight hours after the time she had the meeting with the Controller and were back in Oxax the next day."

"Hi, Kris, Anna," Gannon said hesitantly. He was still an outsider and rightly concerned about calling commanders by their first names. "I checked out Master Puzzles for you. The office in Truth Star did publish the puzzle you sent us and the solution was,
The stallion named Mercury was a midnight black
. Does that help?"

"Thanks, Rich. I'm not sure."

Kris shrugged and looked to me. "It certainly would have been better if it had gone to an individual or merchant."

"We did some more checking when we discovered that a similar message from Holy Star went to Master Puzzles on Fire Rock," Adrian said. "They have three offices: one on Fire Rock, one on Sutan, and one on Truth Star. Each office covers a district of five planets. They publish a monthly magazine with fifty puzzles. The Checky Fools have been instrumental in their success. They started submitting monthly puzzles several years ago and pay a hundred credits each to the first five people who submit the correct answer on each planet. That has boosted Master Puzzles’ sales by several hundred percent."

"That would be expensive, since I imagine they have to submit a puzzle every month whether it has content or not. That's more than seven thousand credits a month." Kris gave a short whistle.

"Also makes it hard to decode, since you never know which has content and which doesn’t. So the people buying the magazine are conditioned to look only for the short message they know is embedded on the page. That would also permit them to communicate regularly if ..." I mused, admiring the genius behind the system. "I wonder if they send each other separate puzzle messages."

"That would be clever and look like business men exchanging ideas—or fellow puzzle enthusiasts." Adrian's voice rose with excitement. "If they did and we could find those messages, we would have a major breakthrough."

"First we need to break the code." Kris laughed.

Just then Stauffer appeared.

"Welcome back. You two had us worried. Judging by the reports I've received, it's a miracle you weren't wounded or killed." He was silent as he looked Kris and I over as if to verify we weren't injured. "Admiral Rawls wants to see us in her conference room—now." His eyebrows rose and he grinned.

When we arrived, Rawls was already seated and drinking a cup of coffee.

"Help yourself to something to drink and a snack if you want. We may be here a while. Lieutenant Gannon, you might want to reconsider spending time with this team. They have a tendency to upset some very dangerous people, which explains their impressive collection of Purple Hearts." She shook her head slightly and I could feel her frustration. "You've been out of touch for five days and everyone wants an update, so update me." She relaxed back in her chair with her cup.

Adrian nodded to Kris.

"On Eastar we ..." Kris went on between interruptions to explain Atwood’s confession, what we found, McCure's arrest, the attack, and what Gannon had found about Master Puzzles. "Anna thinks the Controllers may be communicating among themselves via puzzles."

"I can understand why the raiders want you retired. You people are scary. I'm going to get you each assigned personal security and UAS authorization to carry a weapon anywhere. What next?"

"We haven't had time to discuss our findings among ourselves yet, but I think we’re going to want to check the message traffic between planets where we know Controllers were operating. We think there are three." Adrian looked to Kris and me.

We each nodded.

"Which might mean there are three enemy cruisers in UAS space. Oh, Admiral Webb is going to be furious—when he calms down." Rawls snorted. "I'll hold the Vulcan, Lapis, and Cabiri for whenever you’re ready. Stay seated." She rose and left the room.

"I'll let you determine your own work schedule, but try and get some rest and relaxation. The space gods know you deserve it." Stauffer turned to Pannell, who was sitting off to the side. "Major Pannell?"

"I've talked with Admiral Rawls. She's going to get me a permanent squad of marines to provide twenty-four-seven security for each member of the team."

Kris laughed, which drew attention to her and her cheeks blushed. "That's not going to help my search for a husband ... on the other hand, it'll keep me alive, along with the hope that I'll eventually find one."

We left the room smiling. Back in our area, we went directly to our conference room.

Adrian was first to speak. "If it's possible to be too good, I think we have, for better or worse, achieved that distinction. The admiralty's expecting us to catch them and their cruisers forthwith, and the raiders have us on their most wanted list. And that could make us attractive to some of our less honorable get-rich-quick cruiser mates." Adrian looked around the table, settling on Gannon. I noticed Pannell nod almost imperceptibly. "Rich, I agree with Admiral Rawls. You may want to reconsider your assignment with us."

"I chose the NIA to catch bad guys. I admit I didn't expect to be on anyone's hit list, but I like what you’re doing and think it's worth the risk, so I'll stay as long as you want me."

"Good. I suggest we meet every other day at ten hundred hours for a quick update. Rich, I'll help you get acquainted with our equipment if you aren't already and get you settled."

"I suggest we meet at some firing range instead of the conference room," Kris said, surprising me. "I love having marines shadowing me, but Anna has convinced me we should be ready to help if necessary."

Pannell nodded. "Normally, I discourage navy personnel from trying to help us, only because you’re not trained and could hinder more than you would help. But if you’re willing to practice regularly with the marines, I welcome the backup."

"Kris wants to meet at a firing range, so we will." Adrian tried to look serious but had to laugh when we did.

"One for all ... " I began, and everyone finished with, "and all for one."

"I'll arrange for something and let you know where," Adrian said as we began to leave.

Pannell joined me with two marines tailing. "Where are we off to?" he asked.

"My skimmer. I've room for you three, if you want. I'm going home."

"If you don't mind, I would like to accompany you, as I believe you're the one at the most risk, because of Red. I'll have to arrange for transportation and prepare schedules for my team, but I can do that from your house."

"I don't mind, and I know Mother won't either. In fact, I'll wager she would like to meet you." The conversation on the way home was mostly about my skimmer and living accommodations.

Alexa was not only home, but met us at the door. "Welcome home, my daughter." She gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry Major, a mother needs the reassurance a hug gives that her daughter is alive—especially after hearing there was another attempt on her life."

"Mother, this is Major Pannell. He's providing the team's security for the foreseeable future. Major Pannell, my mother Magistrate Bellona, who is a retired naval captain." I used her captain rank rather than her retired commodore rank, as I knew she was more proud of having captained a cruiser.

"Alexa, please. Come in, Major. I'm sure you've lots of questions." She looked to the two marines, but Pannell shook his head.

"Take a walk around and acquaint yourself with the grounds, Corporal." He turned back to Alexa. "Paul, please. Not so many questions as rules for your daughter." He smiled at my open mouthed stare.

Alexa showed Pannell our panic room and gave him a tour of the house. The rules came down to ensuring I understood I was to go nowhere without two guards in tow and to keep them informed of any travel plans.

"Paul, you’ve made this mother feel a lot better. Anna is not only at greater risk because of Red, but she takes too many chances. As a mother, I would like to lock her away safe, but as an ex-captain, I know that would destroy her. Knowing she's added security is a tremendous relief."

"You're right, Anna is an exciting person to be around." To my embarrassment, he went on to explain the attack at NTI.

"I like him," Alexa said when he had left to see to organizing his new team. "He's not afraid to give credit to others even when it doesn't reflect well on him. That's a man I can trust. And after Stone Ring he has as many Purple Hearts as you do." She laughed, linked arms with me, and marched me upstairs to get ready for dinner.

After dinner I didn't feel like being alone, so I curled up at one end of the couch while Alexa sat at the other. I didn't want to talk, just have Alexa in sight—for her sake as much as mine. I felt like I had caused her a lot of strain lately. I knew I was right when I felt her contentment.

After opening my tablet, I checked for messages and found none, so one by one I clicked on the various puzzle messages from Stone Ring, Holy Star, and Eastar. For the next two hours I tried to determine how they were the same or different, and I concluded they were different yet similar—each a double spaced page full of what looked like random words, letters, and numbers. Even Red lost interest after about an hour.

When I put down my tablet in frustration, Alexa spoke.

"Red seems bored." She shook her head. "Now you have me convinced his actions aren't arbitrary. Why would he lay on your head when you're reading and why does he leave that spot when you're frustrated?"

"Or when he's frustrated because I can't figure out something he already has." We both started laughing.

"I'm glad you're home," she whispered.

"So am I. There's no place I would rather be."

The next several weeks were glorious—or horribly frustrating, depending on the time of day.

Dinner with Alexa and the hours afterward were wonderful. During meals we caught up on the day’s activities, and in the evening Alexa talked about her early days on various cruisers. I got a rare insight into my mother's early life from junior lieutenant to captain and got to hear firsthand about the life of a combat officer on a war cruiser. I felt warm and safe.

But in my home office, each day trying to break the raiders’ code was maddening. By the time the team met at the firing range for our first conference meeting, we had each deciphered the prize winning messages:

From Eastar: The stallion named Mercury was midnight black.

From Stone Ring: The rain in the hills caused mudslides.

From Holy Star: Jack had a dog who barked at everyone.

That had been our only success. By our fourth meeting, we were all frustrated.

"Well, if you’re right, Anna, then I understand why the raiders aren't worried about someone stumbling on their larger message. The four of us haven't managed to find even one random word in that mess of characters," Adrian said after no one had anything to report.

"I would like something to compare the puzzles that we—I—suspect contain a second message to the ones that are unlikely to contain a message. If we had a couple of back issues of the past several months’ puzzle magazines, it might help," I said, as frustrated as everyone else but positive the puzzle messages had a second and maybe third message embedded in the seemingly random characters.

"Anna, I know you're sure the puzzles are the keys, and I don't doubt you, but what if we split up and some of us look at the messages we marked as potentially suspicious? Just in case the puzzles don’t contain hidden messages or there’s other communication going on that contains the key to the puzzle messages?" Adrian looked around the table at each of us.

"I think that’s a reasonable strategy," Kris said, nodding.

I couldn't help a flash of betrayal and felt like screaming,
I'm right
, and it took a minute to dampen the anger, the hurt. "I would like to continue on the puzzle messages," I said, almost in tears.

"Anna, Adrian's right. We need to explore every possible lead. You and I will stay on the puzzle messages while the men check out the others," Kris said.

I almost cried with relief. "Sorry." I felt like a little girl who had been sulking. Adrian was right. I could be wrong and wasting the team's time.

"Anna, it doesn't matter whether you're right or wrong. You want to continue on the puzzle messages, so the team will continue working the puzzle messages. But we can't ignore other possible leads," Adrian said. "I'll request the last six months’ back issues of Master Puzzles publications. I'm confident that if another coded message exists in the puzzle, you and Kris will find it. Just don't gloat too much when you do."