Hijackers Page 14

  "In a way I was lucky—"

  "Lucky?" she choked out. "How can being tortured be lucky?"

  "What do you think of Regen?" I asked, and received a blank stare.

  "A medical miracle. It has saved tens of thousands of lives."

  "Imagine being tortured to the brink of death—"

  "Oh! Then Regen…" Her eyes became misty and she hugged me, forgetting about Red, who was somewhere in my clothing. I laughed when she jumped back and scanned me.

  "Where is he…he didn't bite me."

  "Red appears to know the difference between me being attacked or hugged…or he's just lazy," I said. Hadley laughed after several seconds of silence.

  "So you were lucky…lucky they couldn't cure the Coaca Virus…and couldn't keep you alive indefinitely," she said, watching me. I nodded. "That's a concept I'm going to have trouble forgetting."

  * * *

  Over the next week the results began coming in—several thousand entries. Everyone looked tired and dejected when we met for Lulltrel's staff meeting.

  "It's overwhelming,” Byrnes said, shaking his head. "I don't know where to start. Just looking up the IPs is going to takes months."

  "We have to make some assumptions so we can pare the list to something reasonable," Leyva said and looked to me.

  "Why are you smiling, Paulus?" Hadley said, giving me a curious once over.

  I tapped on my tablet and waited as their tablets began ringing with notification of a message from Paulus. "Those are the IPs from the Graeae on their latest stop. That is the only cruiser who twice matched with robbery-murders and therefore the best candidate. I think we can ignore the rest for now."

  "All right, that's your homework," Lulltrel said, looking amused.

  * * *

  "Looks like old times," Alexa said as I began tapping on my tablet when we got comfortable on the couch. I nodded.

  "A puzzle. Find the website the HoBos are using to get contracts."

  "HoBos?"

  "It's a bit hazy, but I think I heard my kidnappers use that word, or maybe it was Santo. Anyway, I think that may be their organization's name."

  "So, you're looking for IPs that are on the dark web."

  I smiled. "Sounds right, criminals and dark web. I'll wager my fellow chiefs will be looking for sites which were only referenced once or twice or have an unknown, therefore, dark web IP." I paused for Alexa to think it over.

  "But that would stand out," she said, frowning. "Better a popular site."

  "That's what I think. Login to a popular site but have a way of activating a hidden link."

  "But if someone stumbled on the link?" Alexa asked.

  "I think all they would see is garbage or rather what would look like garbage." When Alexa nodded, I began by making a table listing each unique IP I found, then kept a running count each time it was accessed. The top three were:

  Website

  Input

  UAS Graeae

  Times accessed

  Westar attractions

  None

  98

  Westar restaurants

  Reservations

  109

  Westar nightclubs

  Search

  132

  It was late when I’d finished, so I decided to leave it for tomorrow. For a minute I felt guilty as I slid into bed beside Alexa. However, once there I fell asleep quickly while thinking how lucky I was to have a mother who tolerated and loved a daughter who was still living at home and needed to share her bed to keep away the ghosts.

  * * *

  "I understand we don't have enough data points to come to a reasonable conjecture, but I'm curious as to what you may have discovered," Lulltrel said at the start of our next staff meeting.

  "I've been at it for seven days and came to the conclusion we have too much data. Even after Paulus narrowed the search to one cruiser," Byrnes said, shaking his head. "It might help if we had the downloaded data."

  "There is a lot of data, so I eliminated the high-traffic sites and looked for unknown sites or ones which were accessed only a couple of times. I found no unknown sites but I did find two that were accessed less than three times. We will have to wait to see if they show up when we get the data from the other ships Paulus identified as possible candidates," Leyva said and shrugged.

  "I thought it might be the high-traffic sites and found two sessions where they were the only ones to click on one link. But as Leyva said, it would be nice to have the download," Hadley said and turned to me. "All right, prodigy, what did you and Red come up with?"

  "I initially thought like Leyva, either a site no one else would click on or one on the dark web. But that would be a red flag and these people are too smart for that. Therefore, the best sites would be the ones used the most. The three most consistently accessed were Eastar Attractions, Eastar Restaurants, and Eastar Nightclubs—"

  "But someone would be bound to click on the link and they would see the data," Lulltrel said, frowning in thought.

  "Absolutely right, so that eliminated Eastar Attractions since it had no place to input data. Eastar Restaurants had a box to input data but it was only for reservations, so I thought that too complex. Consequently, I liked Eastar Nightclubs which, was also the site accessed the most--one hundred thirty-two times." I paused, awaiting comments. Everyone appeared to be searching their memories for what the site looked like. Hadley's head shot up.

  "Search!" she shouted. "Sorry, but how does that help?"

  "Capital 'h', lowercase 'o', capital 'b', lowercase 'o,'" I said and smiled.

  "HoBo?" Lulltrel said and everyone was busy on their tablets. After a long silence, Leyva spoke.

  "How did you find that?"

  "It's unique, like a password, because of the two capital letters, a very unlikely search word, and I think may be the organization's name. But like Leyva said, we need more data points to verify that's the site and code word."

  "If you're right, we could identify every cruiser with…HoBos aboard," Lulltrel said with an evil grin lurking on her lips."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  "What do you want to do next?" Lulltrel asked, looking directly at me.

  "I'd like to go to Stone Ring and Westar. I think enough time has passed to have a good chance of verifying if I'm right. And to try to identify the owner or maybe the people maintaining the site," I said.

  "Why can't we tell the NIA offices on each system and let them check?" Lulltrel again.

  "Ma'am. The HoBos scare me. They are very efficient." I looked back to Pannell, who nodded. "The more people who know, the more chance there is of the HoBos finding out…" I left the probable consequences hanging. Lulltrel looked back at Pannell.

  "Colonel?"

  "Commander Paulus is right on both accounts. She was kidnapped with military precision, and they knew exactly where she would be. And if they knew she’d captured a FPU cruiser and was looking into their organization, she would be number one on their hit list."

  "Paulus, what about your mother?" Lulltrel asked, knowing it was a double-edged question—losing her daughter and sleeping at night.

  "Mother was a UAS Cruiser captain and knows duty. And I'll get Dr. Renata to prescribe extra strong sleeping pills." Watching the people around the table and feeling the confusion was almost funny. But slowly the confusion turned to sympathy. Only Hadley had a glimpse into what happened on the Shark and the others could guess it wasn't pleasant."

  "If Paulus doesn't mind, I'd like to go along. I understand she gets VIP treatment and the run of the cruiser. It will be good experience and maybe I can help," Hadley said. Lulltrel looked to me. I had mixed emotions—I'd like the company but it would put her in danger.

  "Only on one condition," I said, realizing she was an adult and knew the risk.

  "What?" Hadley frowned.

  "That you carry a weapon at all times, you can prove to Colonel Pannell you know how to use it, and can hit what you are aiming at," I said and smiled. Hadley stared back wi
th her mouth open, and Pannell choked out a laugh.

  "All right. Paulus, you can go and you can take Hadley if she meets your preconditions." She stood, ending the meeting. Hadley came running over to me. That's three conditions," she said, grinning.

  "Commander Hadley, Paulus is right. The fact that Commander Sinclair and she knew how to shoot saved their lives more than once." He gave a snort. "The whole Raider Project Team used to practice regularly."

  * * *

  "It's embarrassing," Hadley said at Lulltrel's next staff meeting. "Colonel Pannell had to show me how to activate my laser, then explain its various functions and, judging by the results of my first week's target practice, I would have been more dangerous to Paulus and our security than the HoBos." She laughed. "I swear Paulus can hit the target in the kill zone while carrying on a conversation."

  "I doubt most of us could find where we stored our lasers," Lulltrel said. "Paulus was fortunate. Her mother had a master chief instruct her in the use of the standard weapons and to qualify each year while at the academy."

  I laughed, thinking about Master Chief Ransom. "The master chief wouldn't let me shoot a weapon until I knew all its functions and could take it apart and put it back together again. I owe my life to that training."

  "I'm afraid I thought learning to shoot unnecessary since we have security and will be on a UAS cruiser," Hadley said, giving me a wry smile. "But after hearing Colonel Pannell describe the encounters you and Sinclair had, I agree it's necessary, and we aren't leaving until the colonel says I'm ready."

  "Good. I'm happy with my current staff and don't want to break in a new one." Lulltrel gave each of us a stern look. "I've informed Admiral Webb of our findings and that the two of you will be off to verify them."

  * * *

  "I'm glad Hadley is going with you," Alexa said that night at dinner. I think you can handle yourself and don't need help, but it doesn't hurt to have support."

  "Except I hate that she could be in danger, I'm glad she's going. I like Teresa. She and I have talked a lot over the months." I reached over and touched Alexa's arm. "I'm sorry, Mother, I could stay on Eastar and let the NIA offices do the work."

  Alexa put her hand over mine. “My perfect daughter. Yes, I'll worry until you're safe in the nest again, but I've adopted your philosophy—get the most out of each day. And today you are home and it's wonderful. And tomorrow you'll be running evil men to ground, which will make the UAS a safer place for us all. I trust Red to keep you safe." She reached up and stroked Red's head. In response his tongue flicked out and touched her fingers.

  * * *

  "Do you ride like this all the time?" Hadley asked in the Marine shuttle transporting us to the space station.

  "Pretty much. I have a skimmer, but Paul prefers to have me on a Marine shuttle. I'm afraid I've given him a bad case of paranoia." I smiled at Pannell.

  "Paranoia refers to an imaginary threat. In…Anna's case it's a real threat. She's been attacked on cruisers, in the NIA headquarters building, and in public. I'd like to dress her in Marine combat gear." He shook his head in despair. "Commander Hadley—"

  "Teresa, please."

  "Teresa, you need to wear that weapon at all times when you aren't in your room," Pannell said as the light over the shuttle door turned green, signaling it was safe to depart.

  As we exited, a lieutenant checked each of our IDs. "Commander Paulus, Captain Choi asked if you and Commander Hadley would like to join him for dinner tonight at nineteen hundred hours."

  "We'd be delighted," I said after Teresa gave an enthusiastic head bob.

  "Senior Chief Grady will show you to your quarters," the lieutenant said, giving us a departing salute.

  "Ma'am, place your hand on the plate and you will be registered," Grady said as he stopped next to a door. Hadley gave a smile as the door slid open and her eyes grew big when she looked inside. "Ma'am, the next room is yours. Do you need anything else?"

  "No, thank you, Senior Chief. We'll be fine," I said and joined Teresa in her room.

  "I'm going to travel with you more often. Private room, dine with the captain, and access to the Bridge."

  "The bill is coming." I smiled to take the seriousness out of the remark. It was a stupid thing to say and uncalled for. "Sorry."

  "Don't be. It's good to remind me what we are doing is dangerous. But until the bill comes, I'm going to enjoy every minute."

  "Good. I love living the life of crew-by-proxy and I'll drag you to every unit." I laughed and she joined in.

  * * *

  "Well, Paulus, what are you chasing this time?" Choi asked after a social dinner where the talk was more about our lives.

  "The same people. We're trying to locate their contacts, since their contacts are the ones who are sending the Hijackers information."

  "What about my ship?" he asked. "If it doesn't break any rules."

  "Your ship is not one being considered. I think I have all the ships identified," I said and Choi gave an almost imperceptible sigh of relief.

  "I hope this time you will choose to return to Eastar on the Scylla," Choi said, raising his glass of wine to me.

  "Me too, Captain. I doubt Commander Hadley would enjoy a FPU cruiser. The service was atrocious."

  Teresa stared at me while Choi gave a small laugh. "Someday I'd like to hear that story. I imagine it rivals the time you sent out an emergency message to all UAS cruisers to party with the Raiders."

  * * *

  When we reached the Stone Ring NIA headquarters, our IDs were verified and we were escorted to the NIA area on the third floor. Kris met us at the elevator and gave me a tight hug.

  "You had me terrified." She stood, looking me over. "Where am I going to find another bridesmaid? And you've got to fill out…otherwise your dress will need straps to stay on. You look like a skeleton." She hugged me again, this time tighter. "Shit!" she exclaimed. "What stupid thing did you do to earn that?" She pointed to the Medal of Honor ribbon. Then she blushed, looking around the group.

  "This talented woman is Commander Sinclair, the Stone Ring NIA Station Chief. Commander Sinclair, I'd like you to meet Commander Hadley, NIA WavCom Chief. You already know Colonel Pannell."

  "Sorry, Commander Hadley, it's nice to meet you. I'm afraid I've been worried sick over my adopted sister. Come, the conference room has drinks being setup and you can tell me what you need.

  I waited until we had retrieved our drinks and sat to begin. "You know I'm chasing a gang who I believe are assigned to several UAS cruisers. We recently installed software that will help us identify the cruisers. You have the results in your computer storage."

  "I do?"

  "Log me on and I'll show you," I said and watched as Kris did.

  I did a search and found the Ceto had visited a week ago. I selected their IP searches and sent them to Kris and Teresa. "We need to look up the IPs to get the domain name for the website, then determine which site they are using to get job information," I said and Kris smiled.

  "You do love puzzles and so do I. Of course, you already know the answer." She laughed. Between the three of us we had IP translated into domain names some three hours later. I pulled up the keystrokes for the website Stone Ring Nightclubs, and sent them to Teresa. Then I did a search for HoBo. I found it only once, which surprised me. When I looked up, Teresa was smiling.

  "You two look like you won the lottery. Care to share?" Kris asked.

  "For the right price," I quipped, trying to look serious. Kris closed her eyes for several minutes.

  "I'm assuming it's one of the more popular sites…and has a password,"

  "Correct. Stone Ring Nightclubs and the password is HoBo using a capital 'H' and 'B'."

  "She's good," Teresa said, nodding toward Kris.

  "Very," I said. "I need help determining who owns the website and who maintains it if the owner doesn't."

  "Because you think they are sending messages to the Hijackers," Kris said, eyes downcast in thought. "What about t
he gang on the Ceto?"

  "They have to be taken last or it will break the link to the Hijackers. Besides, if they even suspect I'm looking for them, Red will be an orphan."

  "And I guess you would want me to look after him," Kris joked and looked a little pale.

  * * *

  Kris offered to put us up at her place. She had a three-bedroom condo, but the third she used as an office. As we got ready for bed, Kris pulled me into her bedroom.

  "Care to share?" she asked. I didn't want to but Kris was my best friend, more like a sister, and I knew she would be hurt if I didn't.

  "I would imagine Adrian told you they gassed the elevator," I said and Kris nodded. "I woke in a body bag…" It was an emotional two hours between crying, hugs, and questions.

  "If I can help—"

  "No. Stay away from them, Kris." I couldn't help crying. "They are evil. Find the father of your future children, get married, and enjoy life."

  Kris had tears in her eyes as she crawled into bed. As I rose, she patted the side of the bed. "No sleeping alone tonight, little sister. We'll fight the nightmares together."

  * * *

  Over the next few days we were able to determine that a company called Night Action owned the site, but the search engine for the site was provided by Quest Solutions. Kris agreed to find out who controlled Quest Solutions. She assured me she knew these people were dangerous and she would be very discrete. She felt it would be safer for her than me since I was known to them, whereas she wasn't. Her inquires could be made in the pursuit of other cases.

  We left on the Scylla the next day for Westar, a six day trip. During the day I dragged Teresa to every section, including the dispensary where Dr. Cahill gave us a tour in exchange for information about Red and the Coaca Virus.

  "You do have the run of the ship," Teresa said in the shuttle on the way to Westar.

  "I know Captain Choi from our days chasing the Raiders. Those captains loved us because we were helping him find Raider cruisers." I smiled. "Captains are drawn to enemy cruisers like moths to fire."

  "And you would love cruiser duty," Hadley said, smiling.

  "I guess I'm a moth," I quipped.