Red Angel: Book II: Raiders (Red Angel Series 2) (4 page)

"What if it isn't a foreign ship but one registered in the UAS?" Kris asked.

"Then it would have to be only lightly armed to get registered. Probably unlikely for armed raiders, but we can't discount the possibility without some evidence," Adrian said.

I frowned as I considered the detailed planning which seemed to have gone into each raid. "Maybe a rather simple message asking for a meet at some stated time and location. They couldn't possibly include all the details of the heist in the message. The person who gathered the information would have to go over it with the raiders."

We spent the next four days trying to determine how to search for the elusive messages. It could be as few as four among the tens of thousands that were sent during the weeks or possibly months prior to the actual raids. Red appeared to lose interest after the first day, and by the fourth, we all had cruiser-sized headaches. It was a relief when we boarded a shuttle at the Stone Ring space station with Major Pannell and three marines.

"Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander Paulus, on your promotion. Are you anticipating trouble on Stone Ring similar to Oasis?" the major asked. He had been responsible for my safety last time on and off the Vulcan and had been with us when I shot the lieutenant who had been holding Kris.

"No. Captain MacLin is just being cautious. I think the danger will be proportional to our success as our investigation proceeds."

He laughed. "Based on your previous success, I should plan on adding additional guards soon."

The rest of the ride was made in silence. We set down on a landing pad near the Stone Ring NIA office, a small two-story cement building. Inside, we were escorted to the second floor and into a conference room where several men and women waited.

"Good morning, I'm Commander Perry," said a broad shouldered man with a neatly trimmed goatee. "I assembled my team when I heard you were on the way down." He proceeded to introduce the junior lieutenants, two men and one woman, and the two full lieutenants, a man and a woman.

Adrian then introduced Major Pannell and us. The three marines had remained in the hallway.

"I understand, the NIA agents in charge of the robbery investigations on each planet will be joining the raider taskforce." Perry looked excited at the idea. Clearly, being on such a team would put him on the fast track for promotion—and maybe in charge as he would be the ranking Lieutenant Commander on the team.

"Expanding the team is a possibility. For now, however, we'll be reviewing the reports and talking with the facility personnel to determine the best approach," Adrian answered cautiously.

Perry frowned. His voice hardened to an intimidating tone, and his smile disappeared. "There are only three of you. Wouldn't making the people who have already investigated each robbery part of the taskforce expedite the investigation? I've heard Admiral Rawls is in favor of the idea."

Unfortunately for Perry, while Adrian was easygoing, he wasn't easy to intimidate. "Then I'm sure it will happen, but for now, we need to talk with you, with those of your team who were involved with the police in the initial investigation, and with the people at the facility."

"They've already told us everything they know," Perry persisted. I could feel his rising anger.

"Commander, because civilians were involved, at the time neither you nor your team had the authority to take charge of the investigation—"

"You don't, either!" Perry snapped his mouth closed when Adrian held up his P1A card.

"Commander, I would appreciate it if we could begin our review and not speculate on what Admiral Rawls will choose to do when we're finished. For now, we're proceeding with the approach she approved," Adrian said in his easygoing manner.

Perry reluctantly sat, having no other option. However, judging by his raging feelings of revenge, he hadn't given up.

"Lieutenant Rubin, why don't you start?" Perry's voice and face were now under control. His outburst had been a practical demonstration of one of the potential problems that could result when adding new players to the team.

The review took more than three hours. It turned out that the commander had overseen the investigation but had done very little of the actual work. Most of the material in the report had been the result of the local police investigation.

When we finished, Rubin recommended a café on the outskirts of town. The restaurant was small but the local country ambience and music were pleasant, and the three of us could hear each other talk.

"That was interesting," Kris said as we sat waiting for our dinner. "Perry saw this project as a fast track to full Commander, yet he did little except to sign the report."

Adrian shrugged. "Not unusual in the military. Lieutenant Rubin didn't do much either, except organize what the police had found. He didn't have the authority, but he also didn't appear interested in digging deeper. I don’t think I would want either one of them on our taskforce."

Kris bit her lip. "Perry's not a team player. He would be disruptive."

I nodded agreement.

The next morning, we were met by Junior Lieutenant Gannon and taken to the Nano Technology Industries building where the robbery occurred.

There, a police captain awaited us. "I'm Captain Coleman, in charge of the NTI robbery investigation. I understand from Commander Perry that you don't trust our work." He gave each of us a long evaluating look.

Adrian was silent for a moment, probably debating the best approach. "That's not true, Captain Coleman. We're the team assigned to see if this robbery has any connection to a series of other robberies."

"I let Commander Perry review our findings, but that was a courtesy since the navy has no jurisdiction in this case. That includes you." He smiled. At least I thought that was what his lips were trying to imitate. He felt excited and pleased.

Adrian nodded agreement, but I could feel his amusement. "You're right. Commander Perry did not have the authority to investigate the robbery, and the NIA appreciates you allowing him access. However ..." Adrian pulled out his P1A access badge and held it up for Coleman to see. "We do have the authority to review your investigation and to conduct our own. And like Commander Perry, we too would appreciate your cooperation and to hear your conclusions."

Coleman lost his smile, and I could feel his emotional rollercoaster from enjoyment to anger to resignation. "Our conclusion is that it's just a well planned robbery carried out by professionals, who have obviously been planning this for months."

"I think you're right, Captain."

Coleman’s tense stance relaxed a bit.

Adrian went on. "What the three of us need to determine is whether it looks like the same professionals or whether this robbery is unrelated to the others."

Coleman escorted us into the building, where a middle-aged man met us.

He looked like the typical executive: well dressed, somewhat overweight, and brown hair greying at the temples. "Commander Shrader, I'm Frank Hubbard, the CEO of NTI. I'm hoping the fact you've P1A authority means there’s a possibility of getting back the chips the thieves stole."

"That's certainly what we're hoping. Could you talk us through what you believe happened and show us the route the thieves took? Seeing the area will help us put the police report in perspective."

Hubbard nodded. "They hit the building during our security guard changeover. The two new guards arrived at two in the morning. When the inside guard opened the door, the thieves struck, killing all four guards. Using the guards’ access cards, they gained entrance to the elevator to the basement and the cleanroom where the chips are designed, made, and tested."

We followed him into the elevator, which delivered us into a room with racks full of white suits, similar to Hazmat outfits. We changed and then he led us through a series of showers where the suits were cleaned and any contaminants removed. We exited into a large room where the chips were manufactured, primarily by robots. A locked door in the back of the room led to a vault where the finished chips were stored. The room also had a self-contained computer system, which held the classified design drawings and specifications.

Hubbard went on to explain how the thieves had attempted to steal the storage disk with the chip designs, but had failed.

As he talked, Gannon sidled up to me where I was standing off to the side, looking around.

"Ma'am," he whispered. "I think they got the designs. They just made it look like they tried to get the storage disk."

"What makes you think that?"

"Commander Perry and Captain Coleman believe they botched the job because they didn't have the right tools and were in a rush to leave, but the raiders seem too organized for the clumsy attempt they made. I wanted access to the computer, but they said it was a waste of time."

"If you had access, could you determine if they managed to access the computer?" I asked, interested because I agreed with Gannon. The thieves were very organized at each robbery, so
clumsy
didn't fit.

He nodded.

I gestured for him to follow me as I walked over to Hubbard.

"Excuse me, Mister Hubbard. I would like for you to give Lieutenant Gannon access to your computer."

"Why? It has proprietary data on it." He frowned, eyes narrowed.

"Because I asked. You needn't give him the password, just log him on." I looked to Adrian and Kris, who smiled.

Adrian shrugged at Hubbard. "Commander Paulus wants Gannon to look, so he'll look. It may lead to nothing, or it may provide us with useful information which could lead to your stolen chips. We won't know until he looks."

Hubbard didn't look happy, but he sat down at the console and typed. He rose when the system acknowledged a valid password.

Gannon took the seat and began typing.

I moved next to him so I could look over his shoulder. As I did, Red slid out of my jacket and wound into my hair with his head lying on my forehead. I heard gasps behind me but ignored them. I knew Kris or Adrian would take care of any explanations.

"There was a logon during the time of the robbery," Gannon whispered loudly enough for me to hear as he continued examining various logs.

"Lieutenant," I whispered back, "not a word to anyone about what you find. I'll want a report from you with all the details. Send it to Lieutenant ... Commander Anna Paulus on the Vulcan." I turned back to the group who stood watching Gannon and me. "Who has the password for this machine?"

"Me obviously, and the team working on the new Blaster chips," Hubbard said.

"Can you get them here for a small conference?" I asked as Red wound himself around my neck with his head on my shoulder pointing in Hubbard and Coleman's direction.

Both men involuntarily leaned backward under his scrutiny.

Hubbard looked at Adrian, who nodded. "I think they’re all in the building." Hubbard typed something on his tablet and waited. Several minutes later he nodded. "They're assembling in the second floor conference room."

"Thank you, Mister Hubbard. I appreciate your cooperation. What I want shouldn't take long and maybe we can get the individual interviews out of the way and save time?" I looked to Adrian and Kris, who nodded after a few moments of silence. I felt my cheeks flush as I realized I had made a lot of decisions without consulting Adrian or Kris. We might all have the same rank, but I was definitely the junior member on the team.

Kris smiled and stood in front of me, blocking everyone's view. "Red made you do it?" she quipped and my cheeks felt on fire. "That's alright, he's a full member of the team and entitled to a say."

Hubbard led us to the elevator and took us to the second floor, which was exclusively administration: sales, marketing, planning, and data collection. Inside the conference room, two women and two men sat.

I pulled Adrian and Kris aside. "I would like to confiscate their tablets," I whispered.

"All right, but why?" Adrian asked, feeling amused.

"From what Gannon found, it was an inside job. Maybe whoever provided the raiders with the information was dumb enough to leave a message or ..." I didn't know what I was looking for and felt my cheeks heat again and reached up to touch Red, who was still on my shoulder.

"If you think it's worth doing, then we do it. I was just curious as to what you were after," Adrian said and then walked back to the table with Kris and I following.

I noticed Coleman watching Red and me.

"Mister Hubbard, introductions please," Adrian said nodding toward the four sitting at the conference room table.

"Of course. Miss Brewer's the design team leader." He nodded in the direction of a thin, middle-aged woman with a narrow face, who didn't look friendly. "Mister Abreu's the team's senior designer." The man was small with a round face that looked pale, and his hands were fidgeting. "And Misses Hoyle and Mister McCure are the other two designers." Both looked younger than Brewer and Abreu. Emotions were mixed and most negative. "These are the NIA agents from Oxax. They have P1A access and this company's full cooperation," he added before anyone could speak.

"Thank you, Mister Hubbard. Our intent is the same as yours—to catch the robbers and to return your property. We're not interested in investigating the company or you. That being said, we would like to borrow your tablets. Hopefully, what we're looking for won't take long."

"No!" Brewer shouted and rose from her chair as she slammed her hand on the table. "You've no right—"

"Unless I'm wrong, your tablets are company tablets, not yours, and Mister Hubbard has already consented by pledging his full support. Not that it would matter. We've UAS authority to confiscate anything we deem relevant to our investigation. But let me emphasize again, we're looking for information related to this robbery—nothing else."