Red Angel: Book II: Raiders (Red Angel Series 2) (9 page)

"You can't seem to get rid of us," Kris said, grinning.

"You're exciting people to be around and that's good. Being a marine on a cruiser can be extremely boring, especially in peacetime. And I too would like to see a raider's cruiser."

"I would rather stay home if we find one," Kris said. "I was never supposed to have cruiser duty, and I already have two battle ribbons. I would like to sit the next one out."

Pannell laughed. "Something to tell your grandchildren."

"If I can get off these space submarines long enough to find a husband to have the children that are going to have my grandchildren." She shook her head but had to laugh.

Pannell led us, along with two guards, to our rooms.

"Join me, Anna," Kris said, and I followed her into her room. "This looks like senior-level quarters. I hate cruisers, but I have to admit we're seeing the best of cruiser life: senior level quarters, access to the Bridge, dining with the captain, and the run of the ship. You don't usually get that until you make full Commander and have Bridge duty."

"So you're thinking about signing up?" I quipped.

"It's a good thing you've Red protecting you." She tried to look serious but couldn't help a laugh. "How long to Eastar?"

"Five days."

"So what's the plan?" Thayer asked as we sat having dinner with her and Commander Jackson, her XO.

"We believe the raiders have a person we're calling a Controller on many of our planets," Kris said. "He or she organizes a team and then finds a willing client or coerces someone into being a client, the person who provides the raiders with the inside information. When the Controller has a client and gets the information he needs, he must then communicate with someone who has access to the raiders. To do that, he has to send a message via the WavCom. We're starting in Eastar because Mrs. Atwood has confessed her role and the details, so we know the approximate time the Controller would have sent that message. We plan to search the WavCom looking for it."

"How? You won't know who sent it, it will probably be in code, and you don't know to whom he sent it," Jackson asked in disbelief.

Thayer seemed to agree by the way her lips were pursed and the frown on her face. "So you don’t plan on visiting the planet?"

Kris and I shook our heads.

"And if you find the message?" she asked.

"We move on to Stone Ring whether we find it or not," Kris said. "We need to confront Mr. McCure, since we need an approximate date to narrow our search. That along with whatever Commander Shrader finds will determine our next move."

"Sounds impossible," Thayer said barely above a whisper, and then louder, "Tell me if there’s anything we can do to help."

Kris sat at the Comm panel, shortly after the Lapis had exited the Wave. Her fingers flew over the keys. Sometime later, she sat back and frowned. "Three hundred and twelve messages in that forty-eight hour period, and another eighty-six in the next twelve hours, just in case. We could be here a long time."

"What if we go on to Stone Ring? It’s little more than a day away, and Captain Thayer could give her crew some time planet-side while we review the messages. In fact, it’s less likely we’ll be noticed if we don't leave the ship for several days." I saw no reason to stay in Eastar space. In fact I thought it might attract unneeded attention.

"Captain Thayer, we’re ready to leave for Stone Ring, unless you've a reason for staying," Kris said as she stood and stretched.

"Commander Delgado, set us a course for Stone Ring. Commanders Sinclair and Paulus are bored with Eastar already." She smiled and sat back.

"The Vector is on the monitor, ma'am. Estimated time, thirty-one hours."

"Helm, execute the vector."

How do you want to attack these messages?" Kris asked as we sat in the captain's conference room drinking coffee. I was becoming fond of my moo-coffee drink. Red had woven his way into my hair and had his red-head hanging on my forehead in a position to read—or whatever he did. I personally wouldn't bet he couldn't or didn't. I reached up and used my forefinger to stroke his small head and felt his tongue touch my thumb.

"Since we don't know what we’re looking for, maybe we should both read them and mark any we feel are suspicious. Then we can review those together. We're going to have to rely on luck, since we don’t know the sender or the receiver or the message content—that could be coded or simply a single word to put a prearranged plan in action."

Kris nodded and sat back with her tablet.

What seemed like only moments later, Pannell broke the silence. "Ladies, the mess is open. I think a break is in order. You've been at it for six hours. If not, I can send someone for whatever you would like."

"I imagine you need more of a break than we do. Guarding us must be really boring. We at least have a puzzle to solve," Kris said as Red left my head and coiled around my neck.

"That's it, Kris!" I shouted hurriedly, looking for a message I remembered dismissing.

"What?" Kris asked, staring at me in confusion. "Did you find something, or did you just wake up?" She laughed. "I'm not sure I remember the last several messages I read. Major Pannell is right. We need a break."

"Yes please, Major Pannell, bring us something to eat," I said while my eyes continued to search my tablet for the elusive message.

"What, Commander—"

"Anna, please. And anything."

"Call me Kris, Major. And get me whatever you get my doesn't-care-what-she-eats friend." She snorted.

"Paul," he replied and then spoke quietly to one of the marines, who immediately hustled out.

"There!" I shouted and sent the message to Kris.

"Why do you think this is the message?" she asked after staring at it for several minutes.

"What better way to send a complex message than in a puzzle? The WavCom is expensive and the puzzle could condense a complex message into only a few lines—and who would think they would post it online for everyone to read?" Somehow, I knew that was exactly what they did.

"I agree. I dismissed it immediately ... it would be an extremely clever way to hide the message in plain sight. But before we abandon our search of the other messages, why don't we check to see if they submitted other puzzles—and look at the solutions, if any," Kris said while still scanning the page, which contained seemingly random numbers and letters. A minute later she sent me the following draft message:

To Commander Shrader, UAS Cruiser Cabiri

Adrian, Anna believes the message from the Controller on Eastar is contained in A puzzle submitted to Master Puzzles, Incorporated and signed by Checky Fools. It's attached. Can you find out if it was published, the solution, and whether they get puzzles from Checky Fools often?"

Signed Commander Sinclair, UAS Cruiser Lapis.

"Perfect," I said after reading the message. "That will simplify what we’re looking for."

"You're positive, aren't you?" Kris asked as the marine entered with food for three and placed it on the table. To my surprise, Pannell joined us. I realized that while the marines had changed shifts a time or two, Pannell hadn't.

"I would hate to have you after me," he said as he picked up his knife and fork. "You've been at it nonstop for nine hours."

"Time flies when sniffing for the scent that will identify your opponent," Kris quipped.

"Yes, Red and I think this is the message." I slid my tablet with the puzzle across to Pannell.

"That's a message?" he said. "But if it's posted online ..."

"If I'm right, it's actually two messages ... maybe three. One is easy and meant for the general audience. The second identifies the system, and the third gives the details."

Kris frowned. "That would be very risky. What if someone broke the second code?"

She was right, but I was sure the raiders felt confident it couldn't be broken. "You're right, Kris, it sounds stupid. But I'm willing to wager that's the message we're looking for. Somehow, they feel confident the second code can't be broken."

"Maybe they aren't so confident." Pannell’s face turned serious. "Maybe that’s why they want you eliminated."

Kris's face turned pale and then she gave a wry smile. "Paul, if Anna is right—and I would never wager against her—life is about to get very exciting."

While we waited to leave the Wave to send a message to Adrian, we managed a six-hour nap and then finished reviewing the few remaining messages. Our subsequent comparison identified ten that Kris and I had both marked for further review and another eight that either Kris or I had marked as suspicious. When the Bridge announced we had arrived in Stone Ring space, I made my way to the Bridge.

"What's up, Paulus?" Thayer asked as I entered.

"I need to send a message to Commander Shrader."

"Commander Rodin, let Commander Paulus use the Comm panel." She nodded to me.

Feeling paranoid, I used my Crazy Number software to code the message, transferred it to the Comm panel, and hit send.

"Thank you, Commander Rodin," I said as I rose, but I stopped when Thayer raised her hand.

"We'll be docking at the Stone Ring spaceport in approximately six hours. Why don't you and Commander Sinclair join me in my office."

I nodded and hustled to get Kris. We found the door to Thayer's office open when we arrived at her conference room.

"Have a seat," she said when we entered with Pannell following. "I would like to know your plans, if they aren’t classified."

Kris shook her head no. "Not to you, Captain. We've decided to go see McCure, since we've managed to review all of the messages from Eastar. If we get those from Stone Ring and find any matches to those we've identified from Eastar, it may give us the break we need."

"Somewhat like facial recognition software, searching for markers that match," Thayer said quietly as if talking to herself.

"Very much like that." Kris smiled. "We have ten we suspect and another ten maybes."

"Ladies." Pannell interrupted. "I would like you and your security to leave with those the captain is going to allow on shore leave. That will delay knowledge of your arrival, at least until you reach the
Nano Technology Industries
facility. And that could reduce the risk of an incident."

"You're concerned, Major Pannell?" Thayer asked.

"Yes, ma'am. Watching these two work, I'm convinced the raiders have good reason to be concerned—and based on the incident at Holy Star, they know it."

"All right. Let's do it in stages. I'll release twenty to twenty-five at a time, staggered over an eight-hour period. We'll insert the security team in one of the first groups and the NIA agents in the middle somewhere." Thayer looked to Pannell, who nodded.

Captain Thayer notified the section chiefs that only twenty percent of the crew could be on shore duty and that passes were good for only twenty-four hours. Kris and I were issued petty officer uniforms to avoid notice. By the time we cleared local customs, our security detail had two ground vehicles waiting. Pannell had insisted that Kris and I take separate vehicles to the NTI
facility. On arriving, Kris used her P1A card to get us to Mr. Hubbard's office.

"You've changed ... uniforms since last time," he said after the door closed. "Have you made any progress finding our chips?"

"Some. Can you call Mr. McCure to your office on some pretext or other? We need to speak to him, in private. He might have come in contact with one of the hired help the raiders used to case your facility. We're hoping he can help identify the individual." Kris cleverly avoided casting any suspicion on McCure.

I smiled to myself—adult speak.

Hubbard typed on his tablet, and a few minutes later McCure entered the office and froze.

"You remember Commanders Sinclair and Paulus," Hubbard said, waving toward a chair. "They're hoping you can help them." He nodded to Kris and left, closing the door behind him.

"Mr. McCure, we know you gave the raiders the inside information they used to rob the facility. Don't bother denying it. We've the proof we need to send you to a penal colony for life. If you'll take us through the sequence of events without being forced, it could mediate what happens to you." Kris held eye contact with him as she talked. "Given you cooperate, we won't arrest you until we find the raiders. Just don’t do anything stupid, or …"

More adult speak, I mused—you can have your freedom for now and maybe things won't be so bad if they catch the raiders and get the chips back. Unless you screw this up.

"I didn't have a choice—" he stopped when Kris shook her head. "I saw this ad ..." He went on to explain the events, which sounded exactly like Mrs. Atwood’s story.

"Good, Mr. McCure. Now all we need is the exact date that you delivered the details to your contact, and then you're free to go for now."

"That was a good lesson in adult-speak," I said after McCure had left and we were getting ready to leave.

"You mean playing with the truth or stretching it out of shape?" Kris gave a snort.