Moving Target

by Melissa Good

  "Hm." Kerry glanced behind her, satisfied at the progress the team was apparently making in organization. "I ever mention how much I hate the stair stepper?"

  Dar chuckled and kept on climbing.

  DAR'S CELL PHONE rang as they pushed open the door to the room they'd been assigned. She stood aside to let Kerry go in, and opened it. "Yeah?"

  "Ms. Roberts!"

  Ah, the Herald. "Yes?" Dar drawled. "What can I do for you?"

  "You're on the ship." The reporter almost laughed. "Aren't you?"

  "We are," Dar confirmed, entering the cabin and closing the door behind her. "With our team, and our gear, and we're getting a lot done. I'm quite pleased from a business perspective." She smiled. "Anything else?"

  "A lot of people are pretty damn ticked off at you," the reporter said. "They're saying dirty tricks."

  "Dirty tricks?" Dar's brows contracted. "What's dirty about it? I negotiated with the captain of the ship and got what I wanted. Not my fault they didn't."

  "Quest told them they couldn't!"

  Dar chuckled. "I never asked him if I could."

  Another laugh. "Damn it, you should have taken me with you," the reporter replied. "What a story. See you when you get back."

  Dar closed the phone and stood near the door watching Kerry explore their cabin.

  It was definitely old. The place had the air of a patrician, yet far outdated and well worn, quality hotel. The fabrics were faded, the teak floors were water stained and in need of a refinishing. The wall bore gilt paper on it that almost visibly exuded trash into the room.

  Yet, it had a certain rakish charm. There was a reasonable sized bed in it with clean, if threadbare, linens and a tiny sitting area with two chairs and a low table.

  A cramped bathroom was near the door, but near the back was sliding glass panels that led out to what Dar considered to be the saving grace of the thing. A balcony with a view of some wide open spaces, and promised some air movement if nothing else.

  Kerry had discovered this and pushed the doors open, sticking her head out and approving. She ducked back inside and faced Dar. "This isn't nearly as bad as I expected," she admitted. "I thought we might be sleeping on the floor, and I wasn't looking forward to it."

  "Me either." Dar sat down on the bed and patted a space next to her. Kerry came over and they sat quietly for a minute, absorbing the rumble of the ships engines and the motion that was quite different from their boat.

  "The ship moves." Kerry noted.

  "It does." Dar concurred.

  The sea breeze came in the open balcony doors and refreshed the stale air inside the room. Kerry lowered herself down until she was lying flat on the bed and let her hands drop to her sides. It felt good to be sitting still for a bit after the long day, and despite the fact that the night promised to be even longer, she was glad she was here. "We're going to do this thing, Dar."

  Dar lay down next to her and folded her hands over her stomach. "We're going to do this thing." She confirmed. "Come low tides or high seas we're going to."

  "They're going to be telling stories about this in the office for the next twenty years, you do realize that." Kerry crossed her ankles, noting the water stains on the ceiling.

  "Yeah." Dar eyed her. "And speaking of that, have you heard the latest one about me?"

  Kerry's green eyes narrowed, and she turned her head to face Dar. "No. What?" She growled. "So help me, Dar, one of these days I'm going to catch one of these people spreading all this crap and I'm--"

  Dar put her hand over Kerry's mouth. "I saved your life from a cute, blonde woman eating shark."'

  "Murph?" Kerry looked very surprised.

  "Yes." Dar removed her hand. "So, now I'm wondering Kerrison, since I only told Mariana what happened, and I told her the truth, Frisbee and all, exactly how would the office have gotten that idea?" She rolled over and propped her head up on one hand, looking at Kerry inquiringly.

  After a brief nibble on the inside of her lip, Kerry gently traced the outline of Dar's jaw with her fingertip. "I didn't say anything about a shark."

  The blue eyes took on a twinkle that lent a distinct sweetness to Dar's expression. "Punk."

  Kerry grinned impishly. "Hey, who better to spread stories about you than me? At least then I get to like what I hear." She tweaked Dar's nose. "Isn't it good to hear nice things for a change?"

  Dar grinned. "Yeah. Shocked the hell out of me, but yeah, it was nice, even though it was an out and out lie."

  "Weelll." Kerry waggled her hand. "It could have been true." She ran her fingers though Dar's bangs. "Does that bath-roomette over there have a shower in it?"

  "Uh huh."

  "Big enough for both of us?"

  "No."

  "Wanna try it anyway?"

  Dar reached over and pulled Kerry into an embrace, rolling over so they ended up in a pile in the center of the bed. "Love to." She kissed Kerry on the lips, tasting a dusting of sea salt on them. "Know what else we never get to do while we're under way?"

  Kerry chuckled, a deep, rich sound from her gut that fairly drooled sensuality. Then she paused thoughtfully. "How thick are these walls?"

  Dar kissed her again. "I don't care." She ran her hand under Kerry's shirt and cupped her breast. "Least it'll get their minds off sharks."

  Too true. Kerry surrendered to the enticing passion, the wound up tension in her easing as an ache of a different kind took its place. The shabby nature of the room became irrelevant as she focused instead on the warm smoothness of Dar's skin and the gentle touch that was gliding over her body.

  So what if they had to work all night if the night started off like this?

  BY THE TIME they climbed down the forward staircase and approached the dining room, it was well into twilight and the air conditioning had finally started making inroads into cooling the ship down. Dar felt comfortable in her short sleeved shirt and jeans, and after their improbably shared shower she felt refreshed and ready to take on the night.

  Trotting along beside her, Kerry appeared to have recovered her energy as well, and was in a good frame of mind as they crossed the threshold and entered the dining hall. Instead of jeans, she'd chosen a pair of carpenter's pants complete with a hammer loop that Dar found almost too cute for words.

  A buzz of sound made them both look up, and they realized they were joining a larger crowd than anticipated in surroundings that almost upheld the ship's tarnished glamour.

  Dar slowed, and looked around, mildly surprised. The huge room was in better condition than she'd expected, its ceiling reaching up through two decks and the back wall entirely made of glass windows that showed a nice view of the receding Port of Miami.

  The carpet was new, apparently freshly installed, and the tables were covered with linen and neatly set with silverware. Along the back side of the room a large buffet line had been set up, and behind that the caterers were busy setting up to serve the food they'd brought with them.

  The room was filling up with crew, most of them fairly young, and all of them dressed casually. The atmosphere was relaxed and far friendlier than it had been previously. They had been treated with courtesy while they were onboard, but the crew had made it obvious that they were encroaching on their space.

  The ILS staff was in small clusters, mingling warily with the crew and attracting the attention of the women especially. Dar nudged Kerry as Mark was surrounded by a pair of blondes and a brunette. "Think we should rescue him?"

  Kerry chuckled. They started walking toward the small group, but then they were spotted and the ILS team started heading toward them at the same time.

  It was interesting. Kerry watched the eyes of the crew follow the techs, detecting a touch of envy there. In a way, she could almost see a parallel between the two groups--like the ship employees, her techs had their own hierarchy, and like the officers of the ship, they looked to their leadership for direction, protection, and reassurance.

  The big difference, of course, was that the ship
's senior officers were all men. She and Dar were decidedly all women.

  "Everyone get settled all right?" Dar stopped on the last step down into the hall, waiting as all the techs gathered around her.

  "Yeah, pretty much." Mark answered for them. "It's pretty cool. We all got windows." He sounded surprised. "But man, those bathrooms are tiny! If you had your family with you, showers would freaking take all morning."

  Dar looked at him, and cocked an eyebrow. She glanced at Kerry, who studiously gazed off into the distance. "Ahem. Right." She cleared her throat.

  "Anyway, it's all cool." Mark assured her.

  "Good." Dar put her hands on her hips. "Here's the plan," she said. "Everyone get a good dinner, relax, and then we start distribution."

  "We've got everything lined up in the lobby." Mark said.

  "Atrium."

  They turned to see Kerry's old friend Talley standing there. He coughed and blinked self deprecatingly. "It's the atrium. We don't have a lobby," he explained. "We don't have bathrooms, we have heads, and we don't have rooms, they're cabins or quarters."

  Some of the crew had drifted over and were listening.

  "Okay, the atrium." Mark amiably corrected himself, then returned his attention to Dar. "We unboxed everything before we went and changed."

  "Um, excuse me." Talley interrupted again. "Can I ask a question?"

  Dar leveled her gaze at him. "Sure. Shoot," she said. "But if you want to have a jargon contest, I'm willing to bet I can beat you at it, especially since I grew up on a Navy base and know more names for the gear on one of these damn things than you have short hairs."

  Talley blinked at her. "Uh."

  "You had a question?" Dar pressed him, raising both eyebrows meaningfully.

  "Dar." Kerry bumped her gently. "What is it, Talley? Dar's just grumpy because she hasn't been fed." She ignored the outraged look from her partner.

  Encouraged, Talley turned to her instead. "What is all that stuff for?" He asked. "It looks like a computer warehouse in there."

  Kerry laughed softly. "Well, it's for you," she said. "It's new computers for the ship."

  The crew glanced at each other. "For real?" One of the women asked. "Even at reception? We've used manual manifests for twenty years. You're saying we're getting one of those too?"

  Kerry nodded. "That's what they asked for," she said. "A lot of things will change."

  "Wow." Talley murmured.

  A clatter of footsteps behind them made Dar turn and see the ship's officers entering the hall. Unsurprisingly, her father was accompanying them with Ceci strolling along beside him with a very droll expression on her face. "Hi."Dar issued a general greeting as they stopped on the top landing with them.

  The captain paused, regarding her briefly before producing a thin lipped smile. "Ms. Roberts, good evening," he replied. "I see you have kept your end of the bargain."

  Dar glanced at the food line and the bar being set up, and half shrugged. "It's not the Waldorf, but it beats McNuggets" She ignored the glare from the staff captain. "Shall we?"

  The captain gestured toward the buffet graciously. "Please," he said. "You have met my officers I take it? Some of them, anyway?" His eyes fell on the staff captain, "And you also know, I believe, ah," he glanced at Andrew. "Commander..."

  "Oh yeah, we've met." Dar drawled.

  "Heh." Her father snickered. "Yeap. A few times."

  Ceci rolled her eyes. "Obvious who genetically contributed to that sense of humor." She observed. "Can we eat now? I hear coleslaw calling my name."

  They walked down the steps and into the room. The crew quickly separated to let the officers proceed unhindered, but as they approached the food line, several of them shyly joined up again. "Sir, may we take your plates?" One asked the captain respectfully.

  "Certainly." The captain nodded. "We will be using that table, there." He pointed to one with conspicuously finer service on it. "Please have a bottle of red wine, and a bottle of vodka taken there."

  "Sir." The man who had spoken ducked his head, then turned and walked purposefully toward the bar.

  Mark approached Dar. "Uh, boss?"

  "Don't you even think about it." Dar thrust her thumb over her shoulder. "Get in line, all of you."

  The techs scuttled over obediently, muffling grins as they joined the growing string of bodies waiting to hit the chow.

  Kerry craned her neck, then turned to Mark. "Tell you what. I'll grab your roast beef if you find a couple of bottles of Corona." She offered. "Deal?"

  "Deal." Mark headed off toward the bar, with a grin.

  "We brought on a case." Dar eyed her partner.

  "Not taking any chances." Kerry put her hands behind her back and rocked up and down on her heels a little. "I know at least our part of this crowd."

  "Mm." The line started moving as the captain finished perusing his choices, and Dar ran her eyes over the buffet critically. Given the short notice, the caterers had actually done pretty well. Besides the roast beef, they'd gotten hold of a roast pig, several turkey breasts that were being carved, some legs of lamb, what looked like pans of broiled white fish of some kind, pans of lasagna, some miscellaneous parmigiana, and tubs of assorted vegetables.

  There were also mashed potatoes. Dar licked her lips in satisfaction and nodded. She was hungry, and she knew Kerry was also, since neither of them had brought along any protein bars to snack on, and they'd just used up quite a bit of energy with each other.

  "My goddess, is that asparagus?" Ceci remarked. "Honestly I thought I was going to have to troll for seaweed."

  Kerry chuckled. "Mom."

  "Well, I did. I've been visiting on ships where they thought meatballs were a vegetable because they had chopped parsley in them."

  "I see lots of vegetables." Kerry observed. "Look--there's carrots." She looked again. "Or maybe they're sweet potatoes."

  "Long as they aren't barbequed pig livers." Her mother in law sniffed. "So, are you feeling better now?"

  Kerry took a plate and handed one to Ceci, Dar having similarly equipped herself and Andrew. "Huh? Oh." She cleared her throat. "Yeah, I had a chance to relax for a while up in our cabin." She virtuously placed a piece of bright green broccoli on her plate. "Sorry I was so grumpy before."

  "I've got Mark's beef." Dar turned her head to advise Kerry. She had two plates, and was dexterously juggling them while adding items, something Kerry wouldn't have dreamed of trying.

  "Okay. Thanks." Kerry bumped her gently with one shoulder. "Careful."

  Dar chuckled and continued her balancing act.

  Ceci piled her own plate with flora. "Well, to be perfectly honest, Kerry, if I'd found out I'd been lugging hundreds of pounds of gear up a set of metal stairs when there was a perfectly good elevator to ride instead, grumpy would have been the least of what I'd been."

  Mildly vindicated, Kerry merely grunted, as she served herself a little of everything saving space for a few grape tomatoes before she followed Dar toward a nearby table.

  Ceci sat down next to Andrew, eyeing his plateful of meat and potatoes with wry resignation. "Thought they had peas."

  "Ah do believe they did." He allowed. "Did you want some of them?"

  Ceci sliced off a bit of asparagus and bit into it. Of all the differences she had with Andy, this one usually caused the most need for workarounds in their daily lives. In the years he was in the Navy, she really hadn't had to worry about it since he ate in the mess, or was aboard ship, and she pretty much was left to her own vegetarian devices and could cook as she wished.

  Or not.

  So, of course, she'd been chagrined when her daughter, who after all had more experience eating her cooking than the Navy's, turned out to hate vegetables just as much as her father did.

  Genetic? Ceci seriously doubted it, but there were two identically laden plates on the table, and neither her husband nor her child had ever seemed to suffer physically because of it. Kerry, on the other hand, was much more vegetable friendly an
d, in fact, she kept cutting off bits of her flora and depositing it on Dar's plate when Dar wasn't looking.

  Dar, of course, carefully navigated around the intruding bits of color. Ceci could have told Kerry it was a lost cause since she'd tried it along with every other trick she could come up with. However, she noticed Kerry kept at it, and eventually Dar ate one of the chunks just to get it out of her way.

  Hm.

  Maybe she just hadn't tried hard enough. Ah well.

  The boat moved gently under them, and slowly the line cleared the buffet and the low rumble of conversation started up around the room. The bar was getting good action, and everyone seemed happy with the food selection.

  Some of the ILS techs had mixed in with the crew, and Ceci watched the reactions as the two very different groups mingled. Given their ages were pretty close, she figured they'd be able to find something to talk about.

  They were still a little civ. "Hey, Andy?"

  "Yes, ma'am?" Her husband peered at her.

  "We should go on a cruise."

  One grizzled eyebrow rose. "We live on a boat," he said. "Ya'll want to go on a bigger one?"

  "Mm." Ceci nodded. "One of those huge floating monstrosities where they put mints on your pillow and you can play golf on the top deck."

  Andy winced.

  Well, maybe not. Ceci went back to her vegetables. Or maybe she could find one where they'd let you fish off the fantail. Andy would like that.

  Now that everyone was seated, the captain stood up at his place and tapped his knife against his water glass. The room quieted, and all eyes went to him. "I am glad we have this opportunity to enjoy a good meal together," he said. "You all have been working very hard, and it is good that we have seen progress, and that we have an evening free of the sound of jackhammers, yes?"

  The crew clapped immediately, but said nothing.

  "So get a good rest tonight. Our guests will, unfortunately, be working, but I am thinking they do not make as much noise as the metalworkers, is this not true?" The captain looked at Dar.

  Dar was glad she'd just taken a sip of beer to clear her mouth out. She swallowed it quickly. "We can make noise if we have to," she said. "But we generally don't."