by Melissa Good
Alastair frowned. "I'm in a really bad mood too. Should I say mean things?"
"If you want to." Kerry exhaled, blinking into the cool air. "I don't think she meant to be mean. It's been a long couple of days and she doesn't feel well."
Alastair grumbled under his breath, but kept his comments to himself and stuck his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants instead.
"C'mon then." Andrew pointed to the curb. "Dardar said you all's got some folks down at the flattop giving you a hassle?" he asked Kerry, as they steered between the buses and headed for the road. "What's that all about?"
Dar hailed a cab and they got into what was fortunately one of the minivan versions. "I need to go to the Air Space Museum, please," she said, crisply.
"S'closed, lady," the man said.
"I know. I need to go there anyway," Dar told him. "It's business. We don't want a tour."
The driver took off without another word, pulling into the traffic stream with a typically supreme lack of regard for anything including other cars and his own safety.
"What's that all about?" Andrew asked. Kerry sighed. "Well, see, they decided to put the new emergency response center down at the pier, Pier 92 I think Dar said."
"All right." Andrew's brows knit a little. "Seems like a funny place to put something like that, ain't it?"
"Well," Kerry's lips twitched, "I have to say if I was thinking of doing an emergency center in Miami, that port we were in is the last place I'd pick, but I'm sure they have their reasons. Anyway, they need things to connect and the only place we have something close enough that's got a good link to our systems is at the Intrepid."
Dar let her head rest against the window, wishing fervently she was several thousand miles away in a quiet, dark room, with a cup of hot chocolate and nothing more to do than read a magazine. She didn't really feel like making the effort to get out of the cab and get involved in all the chaos she knew she would have to and, for once, didn't mind the traffic making it take longer to get somewhere.
She let Kerry's quiet voice go past her, not really hearing the words or the answers to them, aware only of the warmth of Kerry's fingers curled around her hand, her thumb idly rubbing against Dar's knuckle in absent caress.
Kerry probably didn't even realize she was doing it. Dar remembered when they first started dating, when Kerry was so very self conscious about touching Dar in public--though she'd never been in private.
Now, it was second nature to her, and to be honest, second nature to Dar as well. She liked the warmth of the touch and the affection in the gentle squeezing. It soothed her ragged temper a little, and allowed her to put aside her discomfort in favor of this tiny bit of physical pleasure.
Outside the window, the city moved past. Though traffic was heavy, she noticed the frenetic pace of the cars seemed subdued, and the people on the streets were as well. Men and women were gathered around storefronts, talking. There were few trucks on the road.
They passed a crossroad, and she watched two men simply standing, looking at each other in front of a subway entrance, seemingly frozen in place. A woman was sitting in front of them on the edge of the road, her feet resting on the tar surface itself, her arms wrapped around her knees.
In her hand, she clutched a sheaf of papers. Dar could see something square on them that looked like a picture, but she was struck by the expression on the woman's face, dull, and lost and so full of grief it was hard to look at her.
It brought back to her, suddenly, what had happened a few days prior, and she felt small thinking about how she'd been bitching to herself only a minute ago and wanting to be somewhere else.
"Dar?"
"Hm?" Dar turned her head and regarded Kerry's face. "Sorry. I was thinking of something else."
"I got a message from my contact at AT&T. They've got credentials for us. He's dropping them by the office." Kerry glanced behind her, as Dar did the same. They looked at each other then Kerry shrugged a little. "For what it's worth."
"We'll use them." Dar settled back as they started moving faster, heading across town toward the Hudson River. "Okay. Did we get a handle on what the roadblock is at the Intrepid? Are we running into labor issues already, or is it something security related?"
Kerry's eyes looked apologetic. "Sorry, don't know. All they said was it wasn't working."
"All right." Dar rested her elbow on her knee. "Then we'll get it working."
"One way or t'other." Andrew remarked, from his seat behind them. "Let's get this here show on the road. I've bout had enough of people fussing."
"You got that right," Alastair agreed. "It's time to get things rolling."
Dar and Kerry exchanged glances, and Kerry leaned closer, lowering her voice. "We're the only ones who are actually going to do anything aren't we?"
Dar chuckled dryly, and shook her head. "Guess we'll find out."
Chapter Three
SECURITY AROUND THE Intrepid was heavy. Kerry edged to one side as they got out of the taxi, seeing a line of National Guard in front of the entrance to the Museum. There were also large orange traffic barrels blocking any vehicle access. To the right hand side she could see the ramp that led up to the pier entrances sealed by yet more guard vehicles. "Wow."
Dar settled her backpack onto her back and cinched the straps a little tighter. She paused to study the front of the structure, spotting a cluster of vehicles and a barrier that was surrounded by people. "Over there." She started for the spot, quickly joined by Kerry as her father and Alastair trailed a little behind them.
Scuzzy was there, and spotted them as they approached. "Oh, hey,"she called out. "Now we're talking."
Dar kept walking toward her and the guardsmen who were gathered around turned to watch them approach. She had about ten steps to decide on her approach, and with the cramps and her exhaustion, she decided on mellow just as she reached Scuzzy's side. "Good afternoon, gentlemen," she greeted the guards courteously. "Sorry we're causing a commotion."
The guard nearest her, apparently in charge, had opened his mouth to respond, his body tense and shoulders squared off, but blinked and paused at her words.
Dar smiled at him, cocking her head slightly as she stuck her thumbs in the straps holding her backpack on and shifted her own posture. "I know you've got a big load on your shoulders here. I don't want to add to it. What can we do so I can provide what you need to let me do what I have to do?"
Kerry merely stood there, her hand on the strap of her briefcase looped over her shoulder, as she watched her partner use one of her rarest strategies, her innate charm. She often wondered why Dar didn't use it more often, since it was compelling and irresistible, and she wasn't just saying that because they were lovers.
She could see the man wavering, in fact. He'd been all set to respond to anger, to aggression, to a yelling civilian out to make his life miserable, and faced with that gentle smile and those pretty blue eyes he had no idea how to get the adrenaline out of the way of his testosterone fast enough to respond.
She understood. In the few times they argued, more often than not it was that charm that made her anger evaporate no matter which one of them won or lost the fight. Even now, Kerry felt herself responding to it, her body relaxing and a smile edging her lips as she watched Dar's face.
"Well," the man said, "this is a secure area."
Dar nodded. "I'm sure it is. That flattop's a big target, and there's a lot of history both inside and on her decks. No one wants anything to happen to it." She went on, "I don't want anything to happen to it. "
"Okay." The man leaned back against the truck blocking the entrance. The other guardsmen also relaxed, moving their guns down and turning aside a little as it became apparent these civilians were not about to physically storm the barrier. "So what is it exactly you people need to do? This lady here was explaining it but it didn't make any sense to me."
Scuzzy frowned. Kerry winked at her, and gave the waiting, grubby looking techs a smile. "Why don't you guys go relax fo
r a few minutes over there. I think they have sodas over at that hot dog stand on the corner."
"Thanks, ma'am. Great idea," the taller one said. "It's like a nightmare under those piers running this stuff." He turned and pointed at the big spool of rubber coated wire, the strand a full two inches wide. It trailed back behind them, snaking across the ground and underneath the ramp way toward the depths of the inner pier structure. "I live here,but man I saw rats bigger than my brother under that thing."
"I'm up for lunch too," Scuzzy said. "C'mon you guys. I'll buy." She tilted her head in Dar and Kerry's direction. "You want something?"
"We're fine for now, thanks," Kerry answered for both of them. "But the next round we're having after this I'm buying."
Scuzzy grinned. "You got it. " She jerked her head at the two techs.
They set their gloves on the top of the spool and trotted quickly to the nearby crossing light, waiting for it to change before they headed across toward the pushcart vendor.
"Well, it's like this." Dar half turned and pointed over toward the pier. "The mayor decided to put his new emergency management office in that building over there."
The soldier nodded. "Yeah, we know. They've been coming back and forth and going crazy over there since yesterday. Trucks full of stuff," he said. "What's that got to do with you and this thing?" He thrust his thumb behind him, toward the Intrepid.
"It's the closest place I can connect the mayor's new office to so they can have computers and phones," Dar explained. "I have a connection in there because we run all the IT for the gift shop, and the museum."
The guard thought about that. "Oh," he said. "So you want to run that cable in there for the mayor?" He turned and looked up the ramp, where the entire top was filled with official looking cars. "How come no one said so? For Pete's sake."
"Well, you know it's pretty crazy for them up there," Dar regained his attention, "just like it is for you and for us too. It's hard to keep track of everything that's going on, but we want to get them connected so they can work. We have identification."
Kerry glanced at her partner, wondering if she was forgetting that she, in fact, did not.
The guard nodded. "Okay, I need to get my lieutenant here to sign off on it, let me radio him and have him come up. Sorry to have caused you some heartache, ma'am, but I know you understand what's going on here."
"I do." Dar kept eye contact, and injected a good dose of sincerity into her tone. "We'll move over here and wait, and you let us know when you're ready." She held her hand out. "Thanks."
The man took her hand and they exchanged clasps. "Can I get your name?" he asked. "Lieutenant's going to ask. They probably need to run a check."
"Sure." Dar motioned Kerry forward. "I'm Dar Roberts, and this is Kerry Stuart. We're with ILS."
The man scribbled down the names. "And those guys?" He indicated the bemusedly watching Andrew and Alastair.
"We're just footmen," Alastair spoke up, in a mild tone. "We came to help move that big round thing."
Andrew chuckled, and handed the man a bit of pasteboard card. "Thar," he said. "Ya'll don't half understand me when I talk up here anyhow."
Thus prompted, Alastair handed over his own business card. The guard took it and tucked it into his clipboard then moved over to the truck and stuck his head inside, picking up a radio mic and talking into it.
They walked over to the spool and sat down on it, the techs having laid it flat on the ground to keep it from rolling anywhere. "Dar," Alastair peered over at her, "how come you never talk nice to me like that?"
"You don't have a gun," Dar responded, deadpan. "Besides, with how I feel right now it was either be nice, or pick up that pipe and end up getting arrested. I figured nice was more productive." She rested her hands on the edge of the wooden spool and sighed.
Alastair was facing the pier, watching all the activity. "So," he said."We roll this big thing inside the aircraft carrier, then what?"
"Then we hope the fiber tech coming here by train gets his ass here in time to terminate it to a patch panel I have no idea if we have inside,with connectors I don't know if he has with him and we can't get at your average hardware store or Radio Shack, and then connect that patch panel to another patch panel with cables that don't exist yet."
"Ah."
"Sounds like a Navy kinda plan," Andrew commented, with a faint chuckle under his breath. "Good to be out of that damn office though."
"Amen," Alastair said. "Is there anything we can do to fix any of those variables, Dar? Someplace we can get those things while you're charming the fatigues off all the boys?"
Dar turned her head and looked at Kerry. "Did we source those yet?"
Kerry checked her PDA, scrolling through messages with a flicker of the LCD. "Ah." She tapped on one and read it. "Yes, we did. We found a place that can make the patch cables, and has the bits and pieces for the patch panel." She tilted the device so Andrew could see it, as he pulled a half pencil from his shirt pocket and wrote down the address on the back of one of his cards.
Alastair craned his neck to watch. "Where is that? Long Island?"
"Yes," Kerry agreed. "It's nowhere close. I'd better send one of our guys for it so--"
"Ah, Ah, Ah." Alastair stood up. "Good grief. I'm the CEO of the biggest tech company on the planet. Don't you think I can find Long Island?" He motioned Andrew to stand up. "C'mon, Daddy Roberts. Let's go find us some bits and parts."
"All right," Andrew agreed. "Dar, you be all right here? I think these fellers are going to be okay."
"We'll be fine," Dar assured him. "Thanks for taking care of that for us. Sooner it gets here, sooner we can get this connected." She watched her father and boss walk off, heading for the corner to hail a cab. "Why do I feel nervous all of a sudden?"
Kerry leaned her head against Dar's shoulder. "Honey, I'm sure they can handle this." She exhaled. "Besides, we really need the stuff. I sent a list to the vendor, and he said he had it, but he didn't deliver and wasn't about to start."
"Nice."
"Can't really blame him." Kerry kicked her feet out a little. "We're not really local here. He didn't know me from Adam."
"With your voice, if he didn't know you from Adam I'm scared to be buying fiber from him," Dar remarked dryly. "Okay, here comes our boy. Let's see where this gets us." She got up as the two men approached.
The lieutenant was an older man, with grizzled gray hair and stocky body. He looked tired and harassed, which put him in league with everyone else in the city, she reckoned. "Lieutenant. Thank you for coming to talk with us."
The man nodded briefly. "Ms. Roberts, I've had a call from the mayor's office. We'll give you the access and anything else you might need. Sorry to hold you up. Everything's crazy here." He glanced at the pier."I don't know what the hell's going on."
The other guard looked somber and apologetic.
"Please. Don't apologize, we know how stressed everyone must be." Kerry picked up the conversational ball. "We appreciate that you took the time to get everything sorted out. Is it okay for us to proceed now? I'll get my guys back from the hot dog stand."
"Sure," the lieutenant said. "John, give these folks an escort back to where they need to be, and a few hands to help move whatever this is." He gestured to the spool. "Ladies, have a good day." He turned and walked off. After an awkward moment, the other guard hurried after him, leaving Dar and Kerry alone with their spool again.
"Well," Kerry exhaled, "that was easier than I thought it would be. Want me to go get the gang?"
"Sure," Dar said. "I'll sit here and wish I was under a bus."
Kerry stroked her arm. Dar's face was a little pale, and she could see her biting the inside of her lip. "Honey, why don't you go to the hotel? I can handle this," she urged. "C'mon. You look like hell. It makes no sense for you to sit here and suffer. Go relax and get a heating pad or something."
Dar paused then looked mournfully at her. "I can't." She tilted her head and indicated the return
ing techs. "My macha won't let me. C'mon." She got up as the techs approached. "All right, folks. Let's get this rig rolling. They're letting us in."
"Your macha can kiss my ass," Kerry growled, earning her a raised eyebrow look from her partner. "I should have made your Dad take you back to the hotel."
"Hey, good deal," Scuzzy said. "You knew how to talk to those guys for sure, Dar from Miami."
The techs put their shoulders to the spool and got it upright, then pulled their gloves back on. They started rolling the spool carefully, laying out the fiber wire behind them as they maneuvered down the slight incline to the entrance of the museum.
The guardsmen drew the barricades aside and two of them came over. "Can we help?" the first one asked, a tall blond with a scar across his mouth. "Where you going?"
The techs looked at Dar. "That way." She indicated a tight path around one edge. "Down that ramp, between those two posts, and then stop by that second hatch panel." She stood back as the guard and the techs wrestled the spool of wire forward. "What was that about my macha?" she asked Kerry.
Kerry stuck her tongue out.
They followed the techs down the ramp and through the truck barricades, past the visitor entrance down to the walkway alongside where the big carrier was anchored. It was quieter here, since the museum was closed, and the sound of the Hudson lapping against the old pier was much louder.
It smelled rank. Kerry's nose wrinkled, as she glanced past the pier toward the shores of New Jersey. Above that, she could also smell the scent of iron, and grease and sun warmed metal, and they stopped just before a big metal housing from which extended thick black cables that ran into a hatch onboard the ship.
Dar studied it. "We need to figure how much we're going to need in slack, and cut it," she said. "That spool can't fit in the hatch."
The techs straightened up, and peered at the ship uncertainly."Wow," the younger one sighed. "Didn't bring my measuring tape."
Dar ducked to one side and looked, trying to measure with her eyes. She shook her head. "Need to extend inside too." She headed for the lower gangway, which was chained off and led to an open shell door in the ship's side. "Let's see for how long."
