Red Angel

Anna nearly dies, along with all her family, at age four from the deadly Cacao virus. But she survives, thanks to a poisonous red-headed krait. The medical community is excited since there is no known cure for the virus, but Anna and her snake, Red, have a symbiotic relationship-containment, not cure. If she is ever separated from Red, she will die. Anna struggles through foster homes. As her krait becomes known and valuable throughout the three star empires as one of only a handful of such snakes, she fights off attempts to kill her and snatch Red. She even comes to wonder if her brilliance in school and eventually at deciphering code is somehow connected to her constant companion. When the Naval Intelligence Agency, the NIA, recruits her, her adventures grow beyond fending off thieves and killers to tracking down interstellar smugglers as part of an elite team, but the smuggling cartel are quick to fight back. In the midst of space battles and well-placed assassins, Anna is convinced that Red's presence may make the difference in survival or death, not just for her but her entire NIA team.

Anna and her Naval Intelligence Agency (NIA) teammates have a new high-priority assignment: foreign raiders who are wreaking havoc within the United Alliance of Stars. They hit high value targets, have access to inside information, kill the security guards, and leave no witnesses. The NIA team soon discovers the raiders' system has been well thought out and has no weak links to exploit. The raiders prove arrogant, resourceful, and in no hurry to leave. So when the raiders discover the NIA team assigned to catch them broke the smuggler's organization, their solution's simple-kill them.With a Wanted-Dead-Only reward on their heads, the team finds nowhere is safe, not even on a naval war cruiser, and realize the longer it takes to unravel the raiders' complex system of communications, the more the odds favor the raiders succeeding.But the team has an ally who might just make the difference-a Red Angel.

Anna's nice comfortable world is in turmoil. Because of their success in destroying the foreign Raiders, Anna, Kris, and Adrian were promoted to full commander, and the project team was disbanded. Kris and Adrian were given NIA offices to manage on Stone Ring and Westar, and Anna is being pressured to move to Eastar to manage the NIA station. That would mean she would have to move away from home and Alexa, who Anna considers her refuge. In addition, she would be exposed to new people whose reactions to her are always unpredictable because of Anna's red-headed krait and her young age. Worst of all, she would be responsible for managing a NIA office when she has no management experience. And being the youngest commander in the Navy will inevitably cause resentment.While trying to adjust to her new challenges, Anna discovers two potential perils that threaten the security of the United Alliance of Stars empire. Separately, they are each as dangerous as the Raiders were. Together, they not only threaten the fabric of the empire, but they are exponentially more dangerous to Anna-the bloodhound who discovered the threats and is doggedly pursuing them. If she is to survive, she will require help from her Red Angel.

Anna's success as the Eastar NIA station chief has catapulted her into the position of Director of NIA Stations. Anna is uncomfortable with the promotion and bored. She has a master chief secretary, a lieutenant aide-de-camp, and fifteen commanders and their staff to do the work. But she suspects not all of her commanders are happy with their new, very young admiral or are doing their jobs. But she has no way to observe those commanders as their stations reside on distant systems. A personal request from Admiral Webb to look into a friend's missing daughter solves the bored problem and provides Anna an excuse to tour her NIA stations. While dealing with resentful station chiefs, she discovers women who meet a very specific profile are being kidnapped across the UAS. Anna manages to unravel the mystery, but because of the profile, she finds stopping the criminal organization and freeing the kidnapped women will take years, during which time more women will be kidnapped and fewer will survive to be saved. Unless ... Anna is willing to disregard the laws that safeguard the innocent and that are protecting the criminals and very influential people the criminals' activities support. Actions that will open her to prosecution and life imprisonment if plots to retire her early and permanently don't succeed first.

An insidious cabal has decided to change the direction of the United Alliance of Stars (UAS) with a coup d'etat-but not through a military takeover. They have devised a subtler coup: the manipulation of the Committee, the fifteen-star system that sets policy for the UAS. This group of terrorists, calling itself WEP-for "We the People"-have issued an ultimatum: revise the UAS Constitution, or they will kill those who oppose the change. And good to their word, shortly afterward, Committee delegates are being killed. The UAS Committee enlists their de facto troubleshooter, Anna Paulus, to shut down the cabal, but they insists she leave the NIA and manage UAS Committee Security. For Anna it's a nightmare scenario, leaving her safe and comfortable world for a completely new environment dominated by macho men with years of combat experience. Adding to her concerns, she can imagine herself WEP's prime target. Anna soon realizes that things are not what they seem, and the cabal is quick to recognize her involvement as a potential problem. To make matters worse, the cabal is only months from succeeding-and only Anna and her red-headed krait stand in their way.