by C. R. Daems
I spun around as Red changed position and saw the door to the stairs slowly opening. I raised my gun and fired twice and was rewarded with a shout of pain as the door slammed shut.
Kris looked pale standing with her back against the wall but had her laser out and pointing at the door. She stepped away from the wall and assumed a shooting position like at the practice range with her face tightened in concentration.
I took careful aim at the crack where the door would open.
The door remained closed as I watched, while behind me it sounded like an old Chinese New Year's celebration. Then the door slid open a crack and the barrel of a weapon appeared.
Kris and I fired almost simultaneously.
The person in the doorway was thrown backward and his weapon fired reflexively, ripping through the ceiling above us and raining debris on our heads.
Pannell stepped past us, pulled open the door, flung something inside, slammed it shut, and dove in our direction. As he hit the floor, the door exploded outward, slamming into the opposite wall. He stood slowly and then smiled after scanning us and finding us unhurt.
"I think the party is over and it's time to go home." He gave a weak smile but his eyes looked concerned.
When I turned, two new marines were helping the two who had been escorting us to their feet. They had both been wounded and when I looked at Pannell, who had come up beside us, I noticed that the side of his jacket had a patch of wet blood.
"Come Kris, we need to get our security detail to the ship quickly."
She nodded and we double-timed to the ground vehicle. To my relief, we encountered no trouble on the way to the shuttle terminal. There, eight marines in combat gear and two combat shuttles with medics awaited. The ride to the Lapis was quiet as the medics worked on the injured marines. Kris and I exited the shuttle last, letting the medics and wounded go first.
Captain Thayer was waiting when we finally exited. "I understand you weren't hurt." She ignored our salute as her eyes scanned us from head to toe. "Come, I still want the doctor to look you over, maybe give you a sedative to help you relax. That had to have been a traumatic experience."
"I was scared when the shooting started, but then I got flaming mad and the fear faded. I never have liked guns, but I'm going to learn to hit anything I aim at." Kris sounded like she was taking an oath. "I'm going to live to have grandchildren, and so is Anna."
I doubted that, but I understood her rage. It was the way I felt about Alexa and Kris when people attacked me and they got involved.
"That's a very good idea, but first to the medical unit," Thayer said, smiling.
Doctor Renata was waiting when we arrived. She took me into one room while another doctor took Kris away. I stripped and she gave me a thorough examination.
"You and Red look in good condition, but how do you feel?"
"I'm actually getting used to people shooting at Red and me. Maybe it's not as traumatic for me as for someone who thinks he or she is going to live past a hundred. I've learned to get the most out of each day and not to think about the future." When I saw her eyes mist, I quickly added. "Don't feel sorry for me, Renata, I've a wonderful life, and when my time comes, I'll die happy."
"Snakes in captivity have been known to live thirty plus years, and I'll guarantee you Red gets the best medical treatment available," Renata said. I thought it was more to cheer her than me. I was happy and had long ago accepted that Red's lifespan, and by extension mine, was far shorter than the average person’s.
"You're a good friend who I love, and I appreciate your concern. You and Red have taken good care of me and I feel physically and mentally fit." On an impulse, I gave her a hug.
Slowly, she returned it. "That was ... amazing. How did you know?" she asked.
That Red wouldn't bite me, I finished.
"He's a person to me, Renata, whom I'm beginning to understand ... or, he's just lazy," I added.
Renata laughed long and hard. "Thank you, Anna. That was a hug I'll treasure for life."
I dressed and made my way back to my room, with my marine guard following—a young curly haired corporal. He looked alert as we passed intersections or people on the way.
"Are you expecting trouble, Corporal?" I asked half in jest when we reached my room.
"No, ma'am ... Major Pannell says he’ll space me if you get hurt, and I believe him," he said with such conviction it stifled my laugh.
"We wouldn't want that, Corporal," I said as I entered my room, leaving him in the corridor to guard my door. Suddenly tired, I undressed and fell into bed.
* * *
I woke to the chime of my PCD, indicating a message. With no windows, I didn't know if I had been sleeping ten minutes or ten hours. I rolled out of bed and tapped on the message icon and glanced at the time—nine hours had passed. Then the message appeared.
Meeting in the Captain’s office in one hour. Want to go to the mess for something to eat and an NIA meeting? Kris.
Yes, Give me ten minutes to shower and dress. Anna.
When I opened my door to leave, I had a new guard—an older broad shouldered sergeant. He nodded but said nothing.
Kris stood in the hallway talking to her guard, a young corporal. She waved. "Have a good sleep?" she asked while giving me a hug, which caused both guards’ eyes to go wide. They had obviously been told about Red.
"Yes, I guess the excitement finally caught up with me. You?"
"Off and on. I keep replaying the ... attempted assassination. I've come to two conclusions. One, the raiders don't like us. Two, they really do have a Wanted-Dead notice posted somewhere. I wonder if we’re worth as much dead as Red is alive."
"Kris—" I started to suggest she could ... what?
But she interrupted. "Anna, I'm past being scared. I'm somewhere around flaming mad and determined to see the whole bunch stuffed down an active volcano!" her voice rose with each word, and I heard a couple of restrained laughs behind us.
"Good, Red and I'll help," I said, locking my arm in hers as we marched to the mess hall.
We had a quick breakfast and hurried back to the conference room just as Captain Thayer appeared. She waved us into the room as three men stood: Jackson, Pannell, and Coleman, who was the civilian police captain who had investigated the initial robbery at NTI.
"At ease. I wanted to find out where we stood after yesterday's ... near disaster," she said as she sat.
"Well," said Pannell, "there’s no doubt the raiders want the NIA team stopped. They had six assassins waiting in and around the lobby for the agents to exit. Obviously they're well connected. They only had a couple of hours to prepare, because it's unlikely they knew the NIA agents were on Stone Ring before we reached the NTI offices. If it hadn't been for Commander Paulus, I'm afraid the result would have been far different. She got off the first shot."
Captain Coleman then spoke while looking at his tablet. "Your team killed four and left two critically wounded. The doctors thinks both will recover, so we might get some useful information eventually. Four have a long list of criminal activity and are suspects in other ongoing cases. Two have no record on Stone Ring, but we're checking the other systems because it involves a P1A investigation. Needless to say that will take time."
"Send the results to the NIA office on Oxax, attention Commodore Stauffer. He'll relay the results to us." Kris looked to me, which I took to be a question.
"He would have reason and opportunity," I said to her, referring to Mr. McCure.
"Captain Coleman, arrest Mr. McCure and charge him with treason, per my P1A authority. It's likely he contacted the assassins. And have his Safety Deposit box on Sutan opened and the contents held pending a trial."
"What now, agents?" Thayer asked.
Kris looked to me and I nodded. We had agreed at breakfast that it was probably best to return to Oxax and privately put what we had discovered together with whatever Adrian and Rich had found before deciding on a next move.
"Back to Oxax for now."
The Lapis departed eight hours later. We sent messages to Lultrel, Rawls, Stauffer, and Adrian updating them as to what had happened and informing them we were headed back to Oxax. And we stripped the WavCom of all the outgoing messages for forty-eight hours after and ninety-six hours before McCure stated he had his final meeting, in case he had lied—again.
* * *
"Well Anna, two hundred and thirty-three messages came through in the forty-eight hour window after the meeting date McCure gave us, and we've the three hundred and forty extra we collected to be on the safe side. Are we just really looking for a match to the puzzle message or failing that to the twenty we potentially identified?" Kris said as we sat eating dinner in the mess hall after an hour at the marine's shooting range. Kris had been serious about learning to hit what she was aiming at—the first time.
"Since we've five days before we reach Oxax, I suggest we review all two hundred and thirty-three and identify possible candidates. I wouldn't want to miss something because we assumed we knew the answer." Like Kris, I wanted to rush to verify what we thought we knew, but that might cause us to miss the real key to the solution. Every delay in finding the raiders gave them more time to kill more people. And it could cost one or more of us our lives.
"You're right, and we've nothing much else to do." She sounded resigned.
Several hours later, we heard the announcement that we had entered the Wave. By some silent agreement, we worked late into the night, had an early breakfast, and worked until almost the end of the lunch schedule, which Kris's PCD alert reminded us would end in fifteen minutes.
"Mercifully, I'm within sixty of finishing." Kris rose and stretched.
I looked at my tablet and saw I had finished one hundred and sixty-five.
"Sixty-eight. Red's bored, so it's taking me longer," I quipped. Actually, after finding the puzzle message Red had retired into my shirt.
Kris laughed. "What's funny is that I believe you. Come. Let's eat, and then we can take a break and you can help me master a multifunctional weapon."
* * *
"This gun isn't much heavier than a laser." Kris examined the weapon and held it in one hand to test the weight.
"That's because you haven't inserted a clip." I held up a standard shard clip for her to see.
"Clip?" She frowned.
"A multifunctional weapon, Mfw, can discharge a variety of things based on the clip you've loaded: a laser beam, shards, or pellets. The rifles the marines use already have several clips loaded which can be changed by voice command or by thumbing a switch. Here." I inserted a standard shard clip. "The screen on your gun shows a shard clip is currently loaded and the current spread of the shards at twenty meters. Using your finger, you can change the spread from ten centimeters—tight beam—to seventy-five centimeters—scatter.
"Why not just have one spread?"
"Depends on your needs at the time. Remember when that lieutenant was holding you captive, and I shot his gun hand? I had my gun set to tight beam. If it had been set to scatter—"
"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 g
uards 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."
CHAPTER SEVEN
Oxax: One step closer
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."
