The techs hesitated, then moved over to allow her to join them on one side of the switch. Kerry took hold of a curved bit of metal and they lifted together, then started slowly up the stairs.
"SO, WHAT'S THE story?" Dar pressed the cell phone against one ear, as she reviewed a list of newly uncrated equipment. "John, did we get a case of fiber patch?" she called out. "If we did, find it!"
"Will do." John trotted off in search.
"I have just finished interviewing my four senior auditors," Duks said. "Three of them, I have no doubt about. They were as puzzled as I as to what was going on."
"Uh huh." Dar scanned the list again. "And the fourth?"
"The fourth one has admitted to being the person who started that activity last night," Duks answered calmly. "I have terminated them and begun legal proceedings."
Dar blinked. "You did...they did?" she blurted. "Just like that?"
"Just so," Duks agreed. "It was Adriene Blatklo, and she was unrepentant. Apparently there was some money involved in asking for the information," Duks said. "She has retained a lawyer already, and apparently believes we will not pursue the matter."
"Hell with that."
Duks snorted. "You may say that again, my friend. I got off the phone with Hamilton before I called you. At any rate, apparently that hole is closed. Have you heard anything more from our obnoxious friend from last night?"
"No."
"Excellent," Duks said. "I will say this; Adriene rather arrogantly informed me that I should not be surprised if she was the only one to be approached. Apparently our freeze on salaries is rather well known in the outside at the moment."
"Great." Dar sighed. "Well, I can't worry about that right now, Louis. I've got a project to bring in."
"I will let you get to it then," Duks said. "Have you spoken with Alastair?"
"No." Dar made a note on the page. "You want to call him? I'm busy." She glanced at her PDA, which had started to flash.
There was a significant pause, then Duks cleared his throat. "Of course. It is my department, after all."
"Great. Tell him I say hi," Dar said. "Talk to you later." She hung up, and set the cell phone down, then picked up her PDA and flipped it open. She read Kerry's note and answered it, then reviewed the response. "Uh huh."
Bodies she had plenty of. "Mark!"
Mark swerved and headed across the room to where she was sitting. "Yes, boss?" He leaned his arms on the counter. "Like your cubby here."
"Kerry needs help inside," Dar said. "Get half dozen guys and send them up to the deck eleven closet," she directed. "I don't want to hear she was lugging that damn gear around, got me?"
Mark grinned. "Do I get to tell her that?"
"NO." Dar glared at him.
"Ma'am." John trotted up with a box. "Here's the fiber patches...should I bring them to Ms. Stuart?"
"Yes." Dar pointed to the door, then turned her eyes back on Mark. "Have you sent those guys yet?"
"I'm going." Mark backed off. "Hey you want some coffee or something?"
Dar's eyes narrowed. "You insinuating I need some?"
Mark grinned. "I'm outta here, boss. You sound like the good old days." He turned and headed toward a group of technicians clustered around some boxes, grabbing some by the arm and calling others over.
Dar leaned back on her stool and pondered that, then returned her attention to the list of items. Kerry had done a very good job of ordering, and it looked like nothing had been left off the list. Most of their gear was in, and things were progressing fairly well.
She tapped a pencil on the counter and tried to figure out what to do next.
THE ELEVENTH DECK was mostly dark. As they walked up the last step, Kerry flashed her light around, peering down the hallway toward where their wiring closet was. On one end of the floor--the far end--electricians were working inside a panel, sparks flying as they welded something into place. "Hmm. This is going to be fun."
"It's creepy in here," the shorter tech commented.
"Yeah, it is," Kerry agreed. "Okay, let's get this thing mounted and plugged in." She led the way down the hall with her powerful light bobbing up and down with her steps and outlining the closed cabin doors. The scent had changed up here, from old mildew to new carpeting over old mildew, interspersed with fresh paint.
It was an improvement, but at the back of her tongue Kerry could still taste the age and decay. She suspected it would stay that way until some decent air conditioning could dry the air out a little. At least this high up, most of the diesel stench had dissipated.
As she walked, Kerry tried to imagine sailing on the ship to some place, her world bounded by the walls and the deep blue sea around them. It was hard; even though she'd spent time out on the Dixie, this was something else entirely.
This would be more like cruising in a slightly seedy, somewhat rundown hotel with a new coat of paint on it. Kerry had decided she would be interested in taking a cruise with Dar, but not on something like this. She'd found a sailboat cruise company in a magazine the other day and had already started planning. "Okay, watch it." She carefully stepped over a roll of carpet remnants left in the dark hallway.
"Urf." The tech in front grunted.
"Want to put it down a minute?" Kerry asked.
"No, we're good."
Men. Kerry sighed, though she suspected Dar would have given the same answer. She continued down the hall, becoming more and more aware of the darkness around them as they left the semi-lit stairwell behind. There were creaks all around as well, and a soft groaning somewhere as the ship shifted in its berth.
They reached the cross corridor that held their wiring closet, and she turned into it, the partially opened door moving inward as she pushed.
"Ayah!"
Kerry nearly hit her head on the roof as she jumped, the yell from inside the dark closet scaring her silly. "Yow!" She yelped, backing into the techs who dropped the switch on the deck with a solid thump. Since they and the hundred pound item were behind her, she was trapped near the door and she teetered for balance as she heard a clatter behind it. "Holy--"
The door yanked open and a large figure appeared. Faced with no retreat, Kerry flashed her light at it, her free hand lifting into an automatic defensive posture in front of her. Dar's warning rang in her mind and she felt a moment of panic, before her light illuminated the man's t-shirt and she recognized the name of their own cable vendor. "Oh."
"Jesus, lady!" the man exclaimed. "You scared the crap out of me!" He glared at Kerry. "I coulda been on a ladder in there, y'know!"
"Sorry." Kerry collected herself. "We're just trying to get this equipment in," she explained. "They told us the cabling was ready."
The man snorted. "Yeah, sure." He brushed by them. "Next time, watch it!"
Kerry peered after him, watching his back retreat into the darkness. "Hmm." She shook her head and tapped her flashlight against her palm. "Remind me to talk to his boss."
The techs wiped sweating palms on their jeans and took hold of the switch again. "Sounded like we woke him up," Carlos commented. "Not like we were sneaking down the hall, you know?"
"Exactly." Kerry turned and shoved the door open, entering the wiring closet and standing aside to let the men enter after her. If the hallway was stuffy, the closet was stifling, and held a hint of plastic and copper as well as old sweat and the faint scent of beer.
Not entirely pleasant. "Let's see what we've got here." Kerry motioned for them to block the door open with the switch as she studied the interior. Most of the small space was taken up by two tall racks bolted to the deck and reaching to the ceiling. In one, panels full of network jacks winked in her flashlight beam. The other was empty waiting for their equipment. "This is such fun to do in the dark." Kerry sighed. "Jesus. Okay, let me get over here." She went around the corner of the rack and tried to get into an angle that would allow her to put the light to good use. "Why don't you...ow!"
"Ma'am?" Carlos leaned toward her anxiously.
"Ow." Carlos murmured sympathetically. "Bet that hurts."
It did. "Nah." Kerry stepped up to her macha. "Heck, if I could get a tattoo, what's this little old thing?"
The two techs stopped in the act of moving the switch into place. "You got a tattoo?" Carlos inquired. "Wow. I went with my cousin when he got his, and he screamed like a...um..." He gave Kerry a sheepish look. "Girl."'
"That's okay. So did I." Kerry smiled at them. "What do you think, here?" She indicated a spot in the rack.
"Yeah, that would be good." The techs picked up the switch and started to angle it into the rack. "Damn this thing weighs a ton."
Kerry watched them struggling. "Hang on." She wormed her way into the rack itself and knelt. "Here, set it on my knee, and then you can swivel it." She instructed patting the denim covered surface. "Otherwise you don't have enough space to really...yeah." She grunted a little as the weight of the device came down on her leg.
"Got it. Carlos, push it in further," the other tech urged. "Yeah...no, wait."
Kerry edged back against the back of the rack as the switch nearly pinned her in place. Her elbow knocked against something, and she heard the rattle of glass behind her, accompanied by the scent of stale beer. "Ah." She felt sweat running down her body, and her nose tickled from the dust. "How's it going guys?"
"Gotta get the rack nuts in," Carlos muttered. "One's in...wait...oh, shit. I dropped it."
"I got another one, here." His colleague handed it over. "Hurry up before we smush Ms. Stuart, and get our asses kicked into the bay."
Kerry smiled, as she took hold of the device with both hands and tried to keep it steady. It was a dead weight, and it was making her leg ache. She tried not to think about the ten others they had to install and leaned her head against the cool steel, blinking salty sweat from her eyes.
"Okay, got it...get that into place and I'll screw it in." Carlos said. "You okay, ma'am?"
"Just fine. Thanks," Kerry assured him. She felt the weight come off her knee as the switch was screwed into place. "Now I'm doing much better. You got it?"
"Got it." Carlos assured her. "You can come out of there now, ma'am."
Kerry eased up off her knees, then realized with the switch bolted into place, she was trapped inside the rack. "Oh, Jesus." She sighed. "Hang on...I need to climb up over the top of this thing." Her PDA beeped and she paused in the middle of getting a foothold on the side of the rack to open it.
I sent some help. They there yet?
Kerry looked around the cramped room. No, sweetie, and there's no room in here for them. I'm trapped inside a rackmyself at the moment.
WHAT?
"Uh oh." Kerry put the PDA away and concentrated on escaping from her metal prison. She got a foot up on the support brace that had cut her and eased herself up and over the switch, catching sight of the two techs caught between wanting to help her and not wanting to be insubordinate. "I could use a hand, guys. If I fall on my head on the floor Dar's not gonna like it."
The techs jumped forward, unblocking the door and allowing it to swing shut as they reached for Kerry's hand. Her flashlight slipped from her sweaty fingers and dropped on the floor, turning itself off and putting them all in total darkness.
Everyone froze. "Um...."
Kerry sighed. "Find it." She eased back into the rack and pulled her PDA out, turning it on and using the meager light from the screen to give them as much help as possible. "This would be funny if it wasn't just so ridiculous."
More sweat rolled down her face as she waited for the flashlight to be found. "This is the glamorous part of our jobs, huh?"
Carlos laughed hesitantly. "Yes, ma'am...I think I got it," he said. "Oh, I think it broke."
Of course. Kerry rested her head against the rack. "Please try to fix it. If I have to call for help to get out of here, I'm never going to hear the end of it."
Her cell phone rang at that moment, and she opened it, not even having to glance at the caller ID. "Hi."
"You're stuck in a rack?"
"In the dark, in a closet, with a broken flashlight. But we're fixing it." Kerry informed her partner. "We'll be fine. Really."
"I'm sending my father to get you."
Kerry sighed. "Dar..." She protested. "We got the switch installed. We're fine. Honestly. Right guys?"
"Right." The two chorused obediently. "Hey." Carlos yelped suddenly. "Something just crawled on me!"
Kerry's eyes opened wide. "Uh..."
"Still okay?" Dar's voice sounded wry. "I heard that. Better hope it's only a roach."
"Urk." Kerry instinctively lifted her hand to the neck of her shirt, and twisted it a little, tightening the fabric around her throat in case something fell on her head and thought a journey inside her clothing would be a fun idea. "Don't suppose Dad has a nice big flashlight, huh?"
A loud bang sounded overhead, and the walls shook a little, producing a rattle of some things falling onto the floor.
"What was that?" Dar asked.
"I don't know." Kerry started looking for another way out, feeling around cautiously. "Hon, can I get back to you?"
"Okay. Hang tight," Dar said, briskly. "Bye."
Kerry clipped the phone to her belt. "Any luck?" she asked. "How about getting the door open?"
"Ma'am, I'm trying," the other tech said unhappily. "It's locked from the outside. There's no lock on this knob." He rattled the door, obviously yanking on it. "Do you hear that?"
"What?" Kerry asked.
"That noise."
They all listened, and Kerry now could hear a sound of water burbling. "Water." She concluded. "This is a ship. That can't be good in any sense." She put the thought of bugs aside and started climbing over the switch again, by feel alone. "Watch out!"
"Ma'am! What are you doing?" Carlos asked nervously. "Please be careful, you can...oh! Oh!"
Kerry felt her balance slipping and she made a grab for the railing, the sweat on her hands making her lose her grip. "Yeow!" She swung over the top of the switch and slammed against it, knocking herself sideways and tumbling over the support rail. "Look out!"
"Ma'am! Kerry!" Carlos made a grab for her, but he wasn't even close, and Kerry landed hard on her side knocking him back against the wall. "Oh!"
"Oof." Kerry felt the breath go out of her and she only barely kept her head from smacking the floor. The sound of water got louder, and she could suddenly smell something unpleasant over the scent of carpet and mildew and new electronics. "Uh oh."
"Uh." The sound of scrambling. "I think we better get off the floor."
Kerry sighed. "Can I go back to my ivory tower now?" She shoved herself up off the ground just as the stench of sewage flooded the closet and all they could do was hold their noses and hope for the best.
"Well, ma'am." Carlos sighed. "It can't get worse than this, can it?"
If Kerry could have found his mouth in the dark, she would have covered it. As it was, she just crossed her fingers, and hoped she had a spare pair of boots somewhere in the car.
DAR POPPED THE back door open and headed through it powering past the guard without so much as a glance in his direction. She pushed her sunglasses further up her nose as the glare hit her eyes, feeling the sharp blast of heat as the sun poured over her.
In the shimmering heat, the old ship looked scroungier than ever. Dar saw a crew of men gathering around the hull, armed with five gallon jugs of marine paint, and she suspected the old hull was about to take on new colors.
She strode past the forklifts, hopping onto the gangway and making her way up into the ship, trying not to limp too badly and hoping no one dropped anything significant on her mostly unprotected feet.
It wasn't smart
to go into a construction area with beach sandals on, but Kerry needed something, and that made the risk irrelevant.
Looking right and left as she entered the storage hold she headed for the stairs slipping between two moving pallets just in time to keep herself from being smashed flat.
"Hey!" the man moving the pallet yelled. "Watch out, you crazy woman!"
Dar lifted a bare arm and waved at him, as she started up the steps. The heat already was oppressive, and she was glad she'd picked a tank top to wear with her jeans.
Two men coming down squeezed past her on the steps, muttering under their breaths, shaking their heads. "We ain't never gonna get this done. That guy down there fucked us up big time."
"I'm gonna kick his ass," the other man replied. "I don't care how big he is."
Dar paused as she turned the corner landing, and then shrugged and kept on going, figuring if the big guy he was talking about was the one she was related to, he could more than take care of himself. She rounded the turn and continued on up, taking the steps at a rhythmic trot.
Her foot hurt, but she put that in the back of her mind and concentrated on avoiding broken corners on the steps that might send her sprawling. It got darker as she went up until she arrived on the open deck, where the doors were thrown open to get some kind of breeze inside the stifling interior.
Abruptly, Dar felt slightly horrified that she'd sent Kerry in here with the team. What had she been thinking? It was a hell hole in here!
Aggravated, she increased her pace across the deck, moving inside and heading for the double wide stairwell that lead to the upper decks.
People were coming down the stairs, rubbing their eyes and complaining.
Dar became aware of a stench in the air that made her nose wrinkle in reaction. Sewage, but worse, old sewage that smelled like lots of dead things had reconstituted themselves and were now invading the inside of the ship. "Oh, gross."
Stifling the urge to hold her nose, Dar started up the steps, blinking a little as the fumes made her eyes water. She rounded the first landing and kept moving upward, the dimness and the smell getting worse every second.
Stormy Waters: Book 10 in The Dar & Kerry Series Page 40
