by Melissa Good
After a quick look around Kerry followed her, and after a moment, the rest of them did too. They waited for Dar to unlatch the chain and let it fall, then they all trooped across the gangway, its surface flexing under their weight as they made for the entrance.
Dar didn't hesitate. She stepped over the edge of the shell door and entered the ship, ducking inside the next watertight door and into a larger open space.
Kerry got a flashback, suddenly, to the cruise ship. It had the same smell of age and old oil and she rubbed her nose as she carefully stepped over the door sill and followed Dar into the shadows. She found herself in a narrow hallway and spotted Dar ahead of her, sticking her head into an open doorway. "Dar?"
"In here." Dar squirmed into another compartment, this one admitting some light from outside. Kerry poked her head in, and saw the cables running in the opening. "Oh. That's the hole from outside."
"Uh huh." Dar turned and followed the cables to a pipe on the far wall, and tipped her head up. "Oh crap. I forgot it was two decks up."
Kerry looked up at the pipe, aware of the techs behind her. "Hang on guys, Dar's tracing the cable path."
"Dar's wishing she was curled up in a ball in the bilge, actually," her partner sighed. She went to the pipe and stuck her hand in it, then pulled it out and studied her extended fingers. "Might have space," she muttered."Okay, we need to find either a thin cable, or stiff rope."
"Okay." Kerry backed up so the techs could hear. "Did you get that, guys? We need some cable--I guess Dar wants it for a pull string."
"Got a spool of Ethernet in the truck," the nearer tech offered. "That work?"
"Perfect." Dar's head appeared from around the doorway. "Get it,and I'll show you where the demarc room is. We can run a pull cable down here, and pull the fiber up once we get it across from the pier. Ker, while they do that, let's see if we can find a hank of rope."
"Rope. You got it." Kerry backed up so Dar could exit the space and then followed her as she started a methodical exploration of the pretty much deserted ship. They moved out of the tightly confined hallway and into a bigger space, with a tall ceiling that spanned the interior of the ship. "Wow."
"Hanger deck," Dar interpreted the exclamation. "Watch your step. There might be tie downs on the decking."
"Aye Aye, Captain Dar." Kerry shifted so she was walking in Dar's footsteps and put a hand out, hooking one finger on her partner's belt loop. "Did Dad sail on one of these?"
"He did," Dar answered, as she wandered around the big space, peeking behind boxes. "C'mon, they have to have a damn coil of rope inhere. Who the hell heard of a Navy ship without rope?"
"What about over there?" Kerry pointed to something vaguely circular on the wall. "Is that rope?"
They walked over to the wall and looked up. On the metal surface was a hook, and from the hook a loop of thick rope was coiled, with a float fastened on one end. "Perfect," Dar complimented her, then for good measure, she turned and kissed her on the lips. "Absolutely perfect."
Kerry rested her hands on Dar's hips, gazing up into her eyes. After a long pause, they kissed again. "This has to be one of the last places on earth I'd ever expect to be doing this," she admitted, when they paused for breath. "But you know, it's kinda sexy."
Dar's eyes took on a twinkle in the half light. "Sure is. Making my cramps feel better too."
They rubbed noses, then reluctantly parted, as Dar turned to face the wall and started to take the rope down. "However, business first."
"Pfft."
KERRY'S CELL PHONE rang, sounding loud and jarring against the steel she was surrounded by. With a muffled curse, she pulled it out with her free hand and flipped it open, putting it to her ear as she squirmed around into a marginally better position. "Hello?"
"Kerry? This is your mother."
Kerry blinked at the steel wall inches from her face. "Oh. Hi," she said. "Where are you?"
"I have just returned home. Are you terribly occupied? I was wondering how things were going for you there."
How were things going? Kerry felt the cold surface chilling her back through her shirt. "Well." She grimaced as the edge of the pipe she had her arm extended up into bit into her skin. "We're making some progress."
"Are you? Wonderful. Where are you now?"
Kerry heard a curse echo softly down the interior of the pipe. "Lying on my back on the deck of a decommissioned aircraft carrier with my arm shoved up a pipe covered in axel grease," she responded with complete honesty. "You?"
Absolute silence. Kerry wiggled the tips of her fingers in the vain hope of feeling a bit of cable impacting them. Above her, through the pipe's metal confines she could hear Dar cursing, the soft grunts traveling down with wry accuracy to her ears.
"I don't understand," Cynthia finally said. "What exactly are you doing?"
"Well." Kerry squirmed a little and extended her fingers a bit more. "It's a long story. I'm helping hook up the emergency management office for the City of New York. In a really material way."
"Ah. I see."
"Ker?" Dar called down. "Anything?"
Kerry stretched and wiggled, closing her eyes as she wished the end of a cable probe into her hand. After a moment, she relaxed. "Sorry hon, no," she called back. "Not a damn thing."
"Shit."
Kerry returned her attention to the phone. "How are things there?" she asked. "Since they're sort of crummy here."
Her mother sighed, "I'm very disturbed. That's why I decided to call you. When I got here, one of my aides informed me that we have had several incidents of people being beaten."
"Beaten?"
"For being--.well, I suppose they were thought to be from abroad."
Kerry heard footsteps and turned her head to see Dar's tall body slipping into her torture chamber. "Hey," she said. "Say hello to my mother."
"Hello Kerry's mother." Dar dropped down into a crouch. "Listen. There's something in the middle of that damn pipe that's stopping the probe. I can't get it to go any further."
"Hang on, Mother." Kerry put the phone on her chest. "So what's the plan?" She watched Dar's face, which had liberal streaks of grime on it. "Is there any way to clear whatever the obstruction is? Can you get inside the pipe anywhere?"
"I can," Dar said, "but it means I've got a good chance of ripping up whatever else is in there. I think it's a damn cable tie that's blocking it."
"A cable tie?"
"Yeah." Dar sat down and braced her elbows against her knees, grimacing. "I feel like such crap."
Kerry gazed compassionately at her. "I wish I could give you a hug, hon, but I don't think this axle grease being all over you is going to make you feel any better." She put the phone back to her ear. "Sorry, Mother. Did you say someone was attacked?"
"I can see you're very busy Kerry. I will be glad to fill you in later, if you want. Please go take care of poor Dar. She sounds terrible," her mother said. "I have another call to take, so we can speak later."
"Okay. I'll call you when I'm somewhere more comfortable," Kerry promised. "Goodbye." She closed the phone and clipped it back on her pocket to free her hand, which she then put on Dar's leg. "Cable tie?"
"Yeah," Dar repeated, gazing at her dirt covered hands. "One of the big half inch ones, turned sideways."
Kerry pictured it and made a face. "How in the hell do we get past that? Why the hell would someone put it in there, anyway?"
"Figured nothing else would need to go in the pipe I guess, or it twisted--who the hell knows?" Dar sighed. "Maybe if I can find a rod long enough, I can put some kind of edge on it and cut through it." She blinked a few times. "I tried to find an outside hatch or something--anything to bring the cable through somewhere else, but I couldn't."
Kerry eased her arm out of the pipe, her skin covered in black goo. She sat up and flexed her fingers, looking around with a vague sense of despair. The light was a bare fluorescent fixture, a pale, dim glare that hurt her eyes and made the metal space even more depressing. "Dar,I'm s
orry."
"For what?" Tired blue eyes regarded her.
"Sorry I can't make this better," Kerry admitted. "Sorry we're here. Sorry we can't leave and go rest."
"Me too," Dar agreed. She rested in silence a moment more, then she started hauling herself to her feet. "Jason," she called into the hallway. "You back?"
"Yes, ma'am." One of the techs appeared immediately. "We measured the rope you threw over to the pier, and we've got enough cable,ma'am. You want me to tie the end of the rope to the end of the fiber? John found a hardware store too, so he's going to go get some flexible ducting."
Dar paused, one hand on the metal door sill."He found a hardware store near here?"
Jason nodded his tow colored, curly head. "Little place. Not like a Home Depot or anything, but they got stuff." He glanced over at Kerry who was carefully keeping her greased up forearm away from her clothing. "Wow. That looks gross," he blurted, then looked abashed. "Sorry ma'am."
"It does look gross," Kerry agreed. "I feel like a plumber on a bad day."
"Jason." Dar spoke, suddenly, her eyes a trifle unfocused. "Tell John to get to that hardware store. Get a metal rod, long as he can find, and a stick soldering iron, the narrowest one they have, plus a spool of metal wire."
"Uh." Jason pulled a small pad out of the back pocket of his khakis and started scribbling on it. "A metal rod, ma'am? How big?"
"Half inch. If they don't have rods, get the narrowest conduit they have," Dar said. "Eight or twelve foot length if you can get it."
"Gotcha, ma'am," Jason nodded. "And you want a soldering iron?"
"A soldering iron," Dar confirmed. "And a 16 or 14 gauge extension cord at least twenty five feet long. Got that?" she asked. "And a bar of soap."
"Got it." Jason trotted off. "Not sure what I got, but we'll get it. Be right back."
Dar went to the open hatch and perched on the edge, taking in a breath of diesel tinged brackish water air, letting her hand drop to rest on the coil of rope. She glanced up as Kerry came over to join her. "Ugh."
"Ugh." Kerry sorted through Dar's hair, pulling it out from under her collar and riffling it in the light breeze coming through the hatch. Looking up the river this way, everything looked so normal. She could see the other piers, all old and rusted, and the buzz of activity on the rooftop parking lot of the furthest one down the way that was the emergency center.
A few small boats moved quietly past, police boats with slowly flashing lights. They were too far away to see the two figures in the opening, but they cruised past, obviously watchful. In the distance, the air was hazy and from the right she could hear the muted sounds of the city.
Jason finished tying the rope to the cable, and waved at them. Her stood by the spool, and started unwinding it as Dar sighed and stood up again, taking hold of the rope and starting to haul it in. "Watch it."
Kerry took a step back, holding her grease covered arm out to one side and out of the way. "Want more Advil?"
"Yes." Dar stolidly coiled the rope as it came in, making a neat circle on the deck. "Please."
With a nod, Kerry turned and headed out of the small space, glad to take a break and stretch her legs. She moved down the hallway and into the hangar deck again, aware of the slowly fading light as the sun edged toward the west and left the outside in a haze of blue.
She entered the small office-like room they'd stored their bags and gear in. It had a desk against the wall and filing cabinets on either side. The furniture was functional but plain, and there were banners on the wall celebrating the many functions and trials the Intrepid had gone through.
"Ugh." Kerry paused, as she remembered not to touch her bag with her right hand. She opened the latches with her left, and fished inside the leather sack, finding her bottle of Advil and pulling it out. She removed her bottle of water along with it, and latched the bag shut again, turning to head back out of the room.
Her cell phone rang. She almost reached for it, then stopped again,and cursed. "Son of a--" She went back to the desk and put the bottles down, then grabbed the phone. "Kerry Stuart."
"Hey, Kerry. It's Mark."
Could be good, could be bad. "Hey, Mark. What's up?" Kerry sat down on the edge of the desk. "We're making some progress here in case anyone's asking on the call." She wrinkled her nose at the smell of the axle grease.
"They found our two guys here."
Kerry felt her own breathing stop. The tone of Mark's voice held more explanation than any words could have, and she bit the inside of her lip feeling a deep pang of loss for these unknown to her techs that had, at some level, traced up an org chart to her name. "I see."
"They were in that part that got hit," Mark added, after a moment's silence. "About all they could identify were their badges."
Oh my god. "I'm sorry, Mark. Did you know them well?" Kerry wasn't really sure of what to say, or really of what she was saying. It just sounded like random words.
"I didn't. The guys here did though." Mark sounded somber."Danny's pretty trashed. I sent them off to hang out for a while. My guys are handling the stuff."
Kerry exhaled heavily. "Okay," she said. "Have you told Mariana yet? "
"No. Called you first."
Only right. "Send me their names," Kerry said. "I'll call her. We'll get the process started." She felt profoundly sad. "And contact their families."
"Okay. Will do," Mark said. "Sorry to bring such totally sucky news. Stuff's going pretty good here otherwise. We got a few more circuits in. Those telco guys really helped."
"Good," Kerry murmured. "Glad to hear that, anyway. Let me get hold of Mari so she can get the ball rolling. I know she was sending some people here to talk to the staff. I want to make sure she sends some folks there too."
"Okay boss," Mark said. "Talk to you later."
Kerry closed her phone and simply sat there for a few minutes. The senselessness of it all overwhelmed her and she closed her eyes, sparing a bit of her soul and thinking of the split second of terror and heat and pain the techs must have suffered.
There was no sound, no indication of any one approaching, but Kerry was suddenly aware of Dar's close presence, and she opened her eyes just as her partner's hand touched her cheek and she looked up at her in question.
"Had a feeling you needed me," Dar said bluntly. "What's wrong?"
Kerry leaned against her touch. "Humanity," she answered. "I think the whole fucking species sometimes is just one big screw up."
Dar ignored her grease covered arm and settled against her anyway, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "Present company excluded."
Kerry turned and buried her face against Dar's shoulder, allowing herself that little time out before the nightmare continued to roll on.
ANDREW STUDIED THE small bit of cardboard in his hand as he maneuvered down a steep set of stairs bracketed by old fashioned brass railing. He got to the bottom of the steps and was pleased to find a train waiting, its doors open. "Figure that's the one."
"You're probably right," Alastair agreed. "And with the bridges and tunnels still tied up, this is the fastest way to get where we need to be. Damn nice to have rapid transit that's both, isn't it?"
Andrew made a low grunting sound. He led the way into the train and they found a couple of seats near the front with enough room for Andrew's long legs and got themselves settled. "Hope them kids are getting on all right" he said.
Alastair folded his hands over his stomach. "You know, I don't think of them as kids."
"You ain't their father."
"That's very true," Alastair admitted. "I've got my own handful back home, but I'll tell you what, they're nothing compared to yours."
Andrew chuckled and sat back, tapping his thumbs together in front of him. "How many you got?"
"Three," Alastair responded promptly. "Two girls and a boy. Two of them are married, and I've got three grand kids." He glanced at his traveling companion. "I think Dar said she was an only child?"
One gri
zzled eyebrow twitched, as Andrew peered back at him. "Ah do believe that one was sufficient," he paused, as the doors closed,and the train prepared to leave the station. "Though mah wife and I did think about another, it was tough on her."
"Ah." Alastair nodded. "My daughter had trouble with her first. He was born breech."
"Wall." Andy glanced out the window as the train moved through the underground tunnels that burrowed into Manhattan Island and into Penn station. "Dar came right way round, but wasn't no small baby and mah wife ain't big." He glanced down at his long legs. "I do believe that's likely mah fault."
"Dar does take after you, no doubt," Alastair agreed. "Spitting image, matter of fact. I remember meeting you the first time and being struck by that." His PDA chirped, and he removed it from his pocket,opening it to review. "Excuse me."
Andrew was content to turn his head and watch the windows change from underground darkness to the late afternoon light. He was glad they were off doing something useful, though it was possible they could have done some good back at the flattop.
He pulled the list of things from his pocket and studied them again. They appeared to be something like electrical parts, but he figured Dar certainly knew what she was looking for. He watched the landscape go by for a moment more then removed his cell phone from his pocket and opened it.
There were only a few numbers in the speed dial, and he selected one and keyed it in, putting the phone to his ear and waiting for it to be answered. "Lo there."
"Ah, my husband," Ceci replied. "Where are you?"
"'Nother damn train," Andrew said. "Goin out to get Dar some special cables and some such. What are you up to?"
"Well," Ceci said. "Believe it or not, my family called, either to find out whether we were all right, or if we were part of the insurrection, hard to say. My sister sends her regards."
Andrew made a slightly snorting noise.
"Well, she does," his wife responded mildly. "How are Dar and Kerry doing?"
