Red Angel (5 page)

"Are
your feet always so warm? You feel like you’re burning up."

"The
doctors claim it's the effect of my body fighting the poison Red injects me
with. But I'll tell you that after the Coaca fever, this is nothing. I lay in
the snow in only a light nightshirt and still felt scorching hot—" I
froze as I felt Red working his way down my leg, and his head appeared at my
ankle.

"Alexa,
trust me and don't move, please," I said just above a whisper. Alexa's
eyes flew wide open and her jaw dropped open, but she didn't move. Red's head
slid onto her foot, wound around her ankle, licked her skin, and then retreated
back into my nightdress.

Her voice was
raspy when she spoke. "I just aged ten years. I don't think I was ever
that scared, even in war." She gave a strangled laugh. "But if that
means I can hold your hand and give you a kiss on the cheek good night, it was
worth it."

I nodded. Red
seemed to know friend from foe—at least I hoped so. "I'd like that."
I had missed being touched—very much.

She slowly
reached out and gave my hand soft squeeze. "I meant to bring up … I hope
you don’t mind that I talked to a few friends at the Naval Academy. There's a
chance they might let you attend. You wouldn't graduate as a naval officer at
the end of it. You would be too young. But you would get a good education, and
I'm hoping the military environment would mean less trouble than a normal
college."

She was
thinking about my future, which I tended to avoid. What was I going to do as an
adult? I needed a job, a profession, so that I could support myself. The
thought terrified me; being a kid with a poisonous snake and an incurable
disease was scary enough.

"Thanks.
I don't know what I would do without you," I whispered. She squeezed my
hand again.

"Anna …"
She took a deep breath. "I’d like to adopt you. It would help for getting
you into the academy, but that's not why. If you agree, I would do it
regardless. I want you to be my daughter."

I was too choked
up and happy to even talk, so I kept nodding my head. Family. The Bordans had
made me feel loved and wanted. I needed that, much as I tried to convince
myself I didn't. I forgot and in my excitement hugged her, then froze. Where
was Red? Around my neck and hers. Alexa smiled.

"I guess
I just adopted a red-headed krait too."

*
* *

Alexa had
some very influential connections, because I was admitted to the Oxax Naval
Academy as a student. I would be enrolled in all the normal cadet classes but
wouldn't have to drill, or live in the cadet's quarters, or exercise, or be an
ensign on graduation, or serve in the military—everyone seemed happy. As
Alexa said,
the drilling, exercising, and
other details are strictly to teach the youths discipline. You already have
more than most will ever have.

The first
week of class was comical. I stood one hundred forty-centimeters, where the
average cadet stood around one hundred eighty. I would show up around the time
they had finished their morning chores and exercises—just in time for morning
classes. Alexa's driver, Jason, drove me to the academy each morning and picked
me up each night. I'm not sure whether the cadets envied or despised me,
probably a little of both. By the third week, the novelty had worn off and I
was ignored.

I loved the
classes. The instructors were all naval officers
—
commanders
and above. Their attitude in the beginning varied: a few didn't like my
presence, and a few pretended I wasn't there, but most seemed willing to accept
my presence conditionally.

The few who
didn't like my presence apparently thought to drive me out by embarrassing me
in front of the others. That didn't work well, as I studied hard and was always
prepared. At times, it became a contest between the instructor and me—and
Red. He seemed to be more interested than normal in my studying, whether in the
car or at night. And that seemed to make everything easier to understand and
made me delve deeper into related issues. Consequently, I could hold my own
with the instructor, and we were soon off on tangents. At some point, they
realized it wasn't having the intended result and stopped. Although most
ignored me completely, a few came to accept me and would talk with me before
and after classes.

When the
instructors found I was always prepared, they used me to drive the cadets to
work harder—who wanted to be embarrassed by a
child?
By the end of the first half-year, it was acknowledged I was
there to stay, and life settled into a routine.

"Well,
Anna, I have to admit I thought admitting you to the academy was a bad idea for
several reasons, but you've been a surprise," Commander Pogue said as we
sat watching the cadets in a marching drill while I waited for Jason to arrive.
"You're so young, I thought you would be disruptive in class. It turns out
you not only aren't, but you are making the cadets study harder to avoid being shown
up. And I like the way you go beyond the basic materials in class. I think
you're winning over most of the first-year instructors. And a few of them are
hard nuts to crack. I hope the navy finds a place for you."

At home that
night I told Alexa about my talk with commander Pogue and his comments.

"I've
talked with several of your instructors, and their comments were very positive,
even those that are still against admitting you to the academy. They had
nothing bad to say about you and had to admit you were a good student,"
Alexa said between bites of her raspberry soufflé.

"Thank
you for taking a chance on me. I know you risked a lot getting me enrolled at
the academy."

"You're
welcome, daughter. I never had any doubt you wouldn't succeed. The risk was the
challenge to tradition. People don't like that. Tradition is comfortable. But
we have to be able to adapt, or we will miss our opportunities when they come
along—like you. You have great potential, and we have to help you achieve
it." She patted my hand and smiled.

I had been
too busy surviving to think about the future until now, and now I was afraid to
think too far ahead for fear of losing what I had. One man had destroyed my
life with the Bordans.

"Yes!"
Alexa shouted, causing me to jerk back and spill my glass of water.
"Sorry, Anna. We have to prepare you to defend yourself. You can't always
depend on Red," she said as if she had read my mind. "I'll arrange
for arms training for you."

I sat with my
mouth open. I'd never been a fighter, preferring to ignore or walk away from
trouble. Of course, Alexa was right. It wasn't always possible to walk away.
The boys at Koria Hall and the man at the Bordans proved that. And the man had
threatened Joshua and Carola's lives as well. And now Alexa was risking her
life by adopting me. I would do it for her—not me.

The next day
I was wakened extra early, and Jason had me to the academy and hour and a half before
my first class. A petty officer met me as I exited the car. He was dressed in
working fatigues with a Master Chief insignia on his sleeve. He was average
height with close-cut brown hair receding at the temples. His angular face had
a pleasant smile, but it was a no-nonsense face with penetrating eyes that I'd
wager didn't miss anything.

"Hello,
Anna, I'm Master Chief Ransom. Retired Captain Bellona asked me to teach you
basic arms training. Many of us knew her when she was a captain. She was one of
the really good ones."

"I
agree, Master Chief. I'll try my best for her sake, but ..." I stopped,
not sure what to say.

"That's
all we can expect," He led me into a long narrow building and sat me down
at a long table which looked like it had seen years of use with its many
scratches and stains. "First, you are going to learn how it works, how to
take it apart if necessary, and then how to hit something with it." He
spent the hour explaining the theory of how a basic laser pistol worked.
"Same time and place tomorrow."

For the rest
of the semester, Ransom explained the theory behind lasers, projectiles, and
shard weapons, then introduced me to hand guns, rifles, and multifunctional
weapons. The theory included taking each weapon apart, cleaning it, and putting
it back together again. Finally, during my last two months, he took me to the
range. I noticed he had changed the image of a half-man target to a series of
circles with a small black one in the middle.

"The
object is to hit the small black circle in the middle. Think of it as a tent at
an amusement park. If you can hit it, you win a prize," he said, smiling.

I had never
been to an amusement park, but I knew what he meant and appreciated his attempt
to take my mind off the real intent—killing. I preferred to think about
it as protecting those I loved more than life.

"Thanks.
I'm ready," I said. He then demonstrated the correct stance and posture
and finally shot the laser he was holding. The target was only twenty meters
away, and I could see he hit the bull’s-eye. When he nodded, I steadied myself,
assumed the posture he had shown me, aimed, and pulled the trigger. I hit the corner
of the target, high on the left. We both laughed.

"No
fuzzy doll for that shot." The Master Chief was a good patient instructor,
and by the end of the school year, I could hit within the circles consistently
and the bull’s-eye now and then with the laser. We arranged to continue again
next year. Red didn't seem interested in weapons.

The second
year flew by, a wonderful year I hated to see end. I was no longer a phenomenon.
Only the freshmen turned to look at me as I wandered the campus and attended
courses. I loved each and every class and scored at the top of each. Master Chief
Ransom had patiently managed to qualify me in each of the four weapons he
considered necessary. I had successfully deluded myself into thinking that
learning how to put an object into the center of a target was just another
academic course. Ransom did insist I continue to qualify each year. For Alexa's
sake, I agreed.

The third
year went smoothly as a repeat of my second year. I even made a few friends.
Cadets Linsey Braswell and Bradon Morley both had at one time or another sought
me out and questioned me about a problem he or she was having. They were both
at the top of their classes and either weren't intimidated or felt it more
important to maintain their grades. So, in our third year we began eating lunch
and taking breaks together.

"I can't
imagine having a snake on me," Linsey said with a genuine shudder. Bradon
laughed.

"It sure
wouldn't help to attract the girls." Bradon was a professional flirt
according to Linsey. He was tall with curly dark-brown hair, an athletic build,
and a handsome clean-shaven face. Linsey on the other hand was several
centimeters shorter than average with a plain-looking round face, but her red
hair and shapely figure made her popular with the boys. She was a gentle girl,
and I wondered how she would like the navy.

"I've
had no choice, like being born with six fingers or maybe three eyes. Actually,
that's not a good example. You can have the extra finger or eye
removed—"

"Ack,"
Linsey said, her face screwed up in disgust.

"Red
keeps me alive. Without him, the Coaca Virus would return and I'd die within
days."

"You
could survive. Some people do," Bradon said.

"Less
than one in a hundred. I was in very bad condition when Red magically
arrived." It had been
magical
the way he showed up: winter, snow on the ground, in daylight. And strange that
Red hadn’t stayed with the man who attacked me at the Bordans, since he had the
virus. Strange that he didn’t bite Alexa, who now thought nothing of hugging me
or giving me a kiss on the cheek or holding my hand. Strange that I could feel
people's emotions. Strange the interest he took in my studies. Strange that I'd
want him to stay even if his leaving wouldn't kill me. "I never liked
snakes either, Linsey. But Red has become like an arm or leg. You don't think
about it; it's just there and useful."

"If you
say so." Linsey laughed. "I guess if I caught the virus and someone
offered me a krait to save my life I'd jump at it."

*
* *

One day
midway through the second semester, I was approached by a navy commander as I walked
out of my navigational lecture.

"Miss
Anna Paulus?"

"Yes?"

"I'm commander
Stauffer." He held out his hand, and I shook it briefly. "I've talked
to your computer science instructor, and he is quite impressed with your
pattern recognition ability. Would you mind taking a small test for me? You can
check with Magistrate ... your mother tonight. She knows me." He handed me
a sheet of paper with writing on it. "It's in code. I'd like to see if you
can decode it for me."

I took the
sheet of paper and read it. It appeared to be a message from a man sent to a
relative telling him about his recent fishing trip.

"If
mother says it's all right, then I'll try. How do I get in touch with
you?"

"Let’s
keep this private except from your mother. There’s no time limit. Take all the
time you need. And if you decide you can't or you think you have decoded it or
have questions, tell Alexa. She will know how to get in touch with me." He
smiled, then turned and left.

I stood
frowning at his back. "That's strange, Red." I folded the paper and
put it in my pocket. The rest of the day I was restless, wanting to get home
and show Alexa. Jason had barely stopped the car when I hopped in and waved for
him to go.

"I could
wait while you go to the ladies’."

"No, I'm
in a hurry to talk to Mother."

He laughed. "All
right, maximum velocity, stop for nothing." He saluted good-naturedly and sped
away, pushing me back into the seat.

I laughed. I liked
Jason. He seemed to enjoy life and was always in a good mood, unlike most
people. We arrived home at least ten minutes sooner than normal.

"Thanks,
Jason," I said as I flew out the door and headed for the house. I found
Alexa upstairs in her office. The door was open, but she sat frowning at her
tablet and didn’t notice me. "Mother." I hopped from one foot to the
other in front of her desk. She looked up, put down what she was doing, and
waved to me.

She chuckled.
"Come here and tell me what has you so excited. Even Red looks excited."

I ran around
the desk and hugged her as I took the paper from my pocket. "A man said he
was commander Stauffer and gave this paper to me. He said it was in code and
asked me to decode it. I said I wouldn't unless you said it was all right. He
said you knew him."

"Yes. I
know commander Stauffer. He's a spook. That's navy slang for he works in navy
intelligence. To them, everything is a secret, even when everyone else knows
it. But Carl is all right for a spook. So, if you want, you can play with his
little puzzle. Can you show it to me?"

"He said
I couldn't tell anyone except you ... so I should be able to show you." I
handed the paper to her.

She studied
it for several minutes before handing it back to me. "A test, he said?"

"Yes, he
said my computer science instructor said I was good at pattern
recognition."

"Well,
you like puzzles, and this looks like a good one, but don't neglect your other
studies. Forget I said that. You're probably weeks ahead of the class." She
laughed.

I took the
paper and ran off. After dinner, I cut my studies a little short and picked up
the paper and read it again. Then I looked at each sentence, then each word,
looking for any anomalies. A few words were misspelled, but I saw nothing else
of significance. Although it was not unusual for someone to misspell a word,
electronic messages usually had software that corrected misspellings. It was
late and Alexa had gone to bed hours before when I finally folded the paper and
fell into bed.

*
* *

Over the next
week, I studied the message every free moment and could barely concentrate
during my classes. Finally, I put the paper away and forced myself to study and
give one hundred percent during the lectures. Alexa was right: my education
should be the priority. I ignored the message for an entire week. Afterward, I
resolved to limit my time to only three hours a day.

After dinner
that night, I sat on the couch with Alexa on the opposite end—our
favorite positions for relaxing at night—and unfolded the paper. Red
wound himself into my hair and laid his head on my forehead, ready to read. I giggled,
a snake that read. In a few minutes, I saw the solution. As I had suspected,
the key was the misspelled words. I quickly typed a message to commander
Stauffer:

commander Stauffer, I need to talk to someone
with knowledge of the banking laws. Anna Paulus.

I touched
Send
and sat back with a smile as Red
slid into my blouse.

"You
look like you’re gloating, and I notice that Red has lost interest."

"Me
gloat?" I pretended to be indignant.

"Solved
the problem, did you?"

"Sort
of. I know the gist of it, but I'm going to need to understand the banking laws
to figure out the specifics. I told Stauffer."

"I'm
proud of you. Not for solving the spook's puzzle, but for the way you handled
it when the puzzle became an all-consuming distraction." She returned to
her reading.

I truly loved
that woman.

As I left my
last class the next day, a tall young lieutenant stood waiting.

"Miss
Paulus?" When I nodded hesitantly, he said, "I'm Lieutenant Nollad. Commander
Stauffer sent me to answer your questions about the banking laws. You can call
me Noll, everyone does."

"Hi,
Noll. I get the impression there are banking laws concerning deposits and
withdrawals."

"Yes,
when it comes to reporting to the government ..." Noll spent the next hour
explaining the laws, the reasons behind them, and answering my questions.

"Thanks.
You can tell commander Stauffer I have the message decoded."

"Can you
tell me? I'm interested."

"I don't
think I should. Commander Stauffer was very specific that I shouldn't talk
about it ... to anyone. I wouldn't want to get you or me in trouble. Mother
says the spooks classify everything as secret, even when it's public
information—" I stopped and was sure my face had turned scarlet.

He laughed. "She's
right, Anna. We are all paranoid. I'll tell the commander." He walked away
grinning.

That evening,
Commander Stauffer showed up at the house and settled down on the couch.

"I'm
sorry to interrupt, Alexa, but your daughter says she has decoded the message I
gave her. I admit to being overly curious and thought you might want to be
present."

"Thanks.
I admit to also being curious."

"All right,
Anna. What do you think the real message says?"

"The
sender, who works at a bank, is notifying the recipient of the message to
deposit money into three accounts from his two in random amounts to circumvent
the reporting laws ..." I went on to explain how to identify the accounts
and how the payments were to be staggered. Stauffer clapped his hands for
several seconds.

"Very
good, Anna. You are one hundred percent correct. I know because it is an old
case, so I know all the details. It took us longer to deduce what was going on,
and even then we didn't have the details you just told me."

Alexa
laughed. "Carl, she took a week off because she felt her studies were
suffering."

"If you
have no objections, Alexa, I would like to offer Anna a part-time job."

"Doing
what?" she asked, frowning. I held my breath.

"First,
I'd like to acquaint her with the type of machines we have to assist us in
breaking codes and the various methodologies we employ. Then I’d ask her to do
some part-time work decoding messages." He watched Alexa as he talked.
"Nothing dangerous, and she can do her work at home. Of course, we will
pay her for her time. I can loan her some basic machines and give her access to
others as necessary. She has a real talent. It took the team back then longer,
and they didn't figure out all of the details until afterward."

Alexa looked at
me, worrying her lip as she often did when she had to make a difficult
decision—a magistrate decision.

"Let us
discuss it, and we’ll get back to you when we’ve decided."

"I
understand. It's a great opportunity, but like all decisions, it has
consequences. Take all the time you need." After a cup of coffee and a bit
of reminiscing, he left.

"The
decision is yours, Anna, but I would like to discuss it with you before you
make it," she said later as we settled on the couch. I sat with my feet
touching hers, feeling I wanted the contact. She was my mother and could make
the decision for me, but she was leaving it up to me. She trusted me to think
it through, which made it a tougher decision.

"Your
life is centered on the present, and that's not only normal for a girl your age
but understandable given what has happened to you. And I wish you could do that
forever. I'm an adult and can't help thinking about the future and you. Red
will complicate your life. You can hope for a cure for the Coaca Virus, but you
can't plan your life around that. Graduating from the academy will give you a
good education and that will open doors for you. Your working in naval
intelligence could also lead to something. I know that's not much help, but I'm
here if you want to talk or have questions."

"I won't
make a decision without discussing it with you, because I won't do anything you
would be uncomfortable with. I love and respect you, Mother," I said,
leaning forward and hugging her.

"Thank
you, daughter. You're the love of my life."

*
* *

I spent the
next week wrestling with the problem. I would learn the tools and methods the
spooks ... the intelligence agencies used to decode messages they intercepted,
be involved in decoding plots against the government, and get paid. And it
might lead to a full-time job with them. But it would definitely interfere with
my school studies. I knew from decoding their test case how easy it was to get
caught up in the puzzle. I was sure I wouldn't fail any classes, but my grades
would suffer, as well as my understanding of the material. And the fourth year
curriculum looked really interesting. I'd be learning the functions of flying a
cruiser—but then I'd never be assigned to a cruiser with
Red—animals weren't allowed on cruisers. I fell asleep each night
exhausted and woke tired.