by Melissa Good
She smiled back. "Yes, it is"
The door behind them opened and the steward came back in. "Oh." He turned, evidently surprised not to see them sitting in their seats. "The captain says he's filing an amendment to our flight plan, that'll bring us just north of the Grenadines, and along the south coast of Cuba and then across to Mexico. It means adding an hour to the flight, but it will end up being a lot smoother. We were intending on slipping between Cuba and Florida before.
An hour. Dar sighed inwardly. "Damn I wish we could just land in Miami."
The steward looked sympathetic. "Us too," he agreed. "We'll try to make it as comfortable as possible." He gave them a brief smile. "We're about ready to serve, if you want to freshen up." He slipped out again, closing the door behind him.
"Well," Alastair said. "That's a damn shame." He eased past Dar and went back to his seat. "But I think it's better than flying through a storm."
Dar gazed out the small window, feeling more than a little trapped. She hoped things were going well for Kerry, and that the company plan was proceeding.
She hoped there were no more attacks.
"Dar?"
"Hm?" Dar turned and pushed off from the window, walking back down the aisle and stopping by her seat. She sat down on the arm of it, and rested her elbows on her knees. "Guess all we can do is put up with it."
"It'll be fine," he reassured her. "We've got good people running the show, don't we?"
Dar nodded.
"Want a drink?"
Dar slid backwards into her chair, leaving one leg slung over the arm of it. "Not yet."
"How about a tranquilizer? Got a bottle of em."
Dar turned her head and looked at him, her eyebrows lifting.
"If you don't take one, I'm gonna have to," Alastair informed her. "If you're going to pace like a cat for the rest of the flight."
Dar chuckled wryly. "Let me see if they have chocolate milk first." She sighed. "That'll probably be less destructive for both of us."
Chapter Fourteen
"OKAY." KERRY HAD her headset on. She checked her watch as she glanced over the screen of her laptop to see her mother come out from her room. "So what's the status there before we go any further."
Senator Stuart paused as she fastened her earring. She was dressed in a well fitted business suit, and an aide was standing quietly by holding her briefcase. "Are you sure we can't offer you a ride?"
Kerry covered the mic with her hand. "I'm fine. Our office is sending a someone to pick me up,"she said. "I'll rent a car out there." She paused. "But thanks."
Her mother hesitated, then nodded. "Well, take care in that case. Things are very unsettled," she warned her daughter. "Please let my staff know if there is anything you need."
"Hold on." Kerry hit her mute button. "Thanks. I think we have it covered. Take care yourself." She watched her mother follow the aide out, feeling a sense of relief as the door closed behind them. "Okay." She went back to the line. "Listen, I've got about ten minutes before I go mobile. So give it to me fast."
"Boy," the male voice answered her. "That's going to be tough, Ms. Stuart because it's more like, what isn't going on? We've got a ton of stuff hitting now because of deliverables that were missed yesterday."
As she'd expected, the world that had stopped turning the day before had now started up again. "Okay," Kerry said. "Well, obviously we need to put out the message that we're in a holding pattern ourselves for a lot of things."
She sat down and picked up her third cup of coffee, sipping it as she reviewed the laptop screen. On her status map large chunks of the Northeast were blinking red, and to one side, she now had a list of accounts with stoplights by them most of them also red, though with a few yellows sprinkled in here and there.
"Miami exec, this is Houston ops."
Kerry checked her watch again. "Go ahead, Houston."
"Miami, we've got a list of demands from the government groups here," the voice answered. "More circuits, more bandwidth, some extra processors--and they want it all right now."
"Miami exec, this is LA Earthstation," a very tired voice broke in. "We're getting the same kinds of requests too. I've explained transponder space about three hundred times already and it's only 6:00 a.m. here."
Kerry thought a minute. "Okay," she said. "Let's just start gathering up requirements, and getting a list together of our available resources. We can't give everyone everything."
Her cell phone rang. "Hang on," she said, then muted, as she answered the phone. "Kerry Stuart."
"Ms. Stuart? This is Daniel Green. I work for the NSA."
Yikes. Lovely. "What can I do for you?" Kerry asked. "It's a pretty busy morning."
"I can appreciate that," the man said. "As I am sure you can appreciate it's the same for us," he added. "My department has been trying to secure the cooperation of your facility in Virginia since yesterday, and we've had some problems. I was told you could help."
Kerry paused to draw in a steadying breath. "Okay. Hold on one moment, please. I am in the middle of a conference call. I'll be right back to you." She put the call on hold. "Folks, I need to duck out. I have the government on the line here."
"Great," the voice from the Earth Station sighed.
"Okay. Listen up." Kerry stood. "Right now, no one gets anything," she decided. "Just take detailed notes of what is being asked for, and post that to the desktop workspace. Miami ops, are you on?"
"Right here, boss," Mark's voice answered. "We're rolling up the road past you right now."
"Can you please get me an updated resource list and post it on the desktop?" Kerry asked. "I don't want to start pulling circuits until I know what the real priorities are."
"Everyone thinks theirs are, Miami exec," Houston replied. "You know how it is."
"I know," Kerry agreed. "Maybe this guy I've got on the phone can get me to someone who can tell me what the real first in lines are," she said. "Until then, we just listen. Everyone understand?"
"Understood," Houston said.
"Fine by us," LA answered. "We don't have any spare capacity anyway."
"Okay," Kerry said. "I'm signing off until I pick up on mobile. Mark, cover me."
"Covering," Mark replied. "If you need anything, text me boss. We can pull over."
"I'll be back on shortly. I'm off." Kerry hung up the connection and started to close down her laptop, while she took her cell phone call off hold. "Mr. Green?"
"I'm here," the man answered. "Ms. Stuart, I really don't have much time to discuss this with you."
Kerry closed her laptop and maneuvered it into its case one handed. "Well, Mr. Green, let me tell you something," she said. "I have hundreds of customers, including the government, all having all kinds of problems all over the country and halfway across the planet right now."
"I'm sure you do."
"So I don't have much time to talk to you either. I would like to help you," Kerry said. "I would like to understand what it is you need from us. I am on my way to our offices in Virginia right now, would you like to meet there?"
She waited for him to answer, draining her coffee and picking up the last bite of the danish her mother had professed to be horrified by and popping it into her mouth.
"That will be good," Green finally said. "Two of my men are already there, but they aren't being allowed inside the building."
"It's a secure facility." Kerry came perilously close to having to speak with her mouth full, swallowing just in time. "So that sounds right."
Green sighed. "I will meet you there," he said. "I hope we can come to an understanding, Ms. Stuart, without me having to get my upper echelons involved. You won't like dealing with them."
Kerry licked her lips. "Likewise," she said. "See you there." She hung up the phone and clipped it to her belt. She scanned the tray for any remaining edibles, then she lifted her jacket off the back of the chair and slipped into it.
It wasn't really cold enough to need a jacket, but it gave her a place to
clip her identification badge, and she felt it was just slightly more formal than her jeans and polo shirt. Technically, since she was making an official visit to the office, she should be wearing a business suit, but she hadn't brought it, leaving the folded suit bag she'd intended on bringing to Europe with her with Angie instead.
So they had to deal with her in casual clothes. Kerry spared a moment to wonder if it would put her at a serious disadvantage, then she shrugged and decided if it did, there were plenty of stores in the capital where she could remedy the situation.
No time to worry about it now at any rate. She pocketed her room key and shouldered her bag, heading for the door to the room. The conference call would wait until she was in the car, and the few moments silence as she rode the elevator gave her a space of time to think about what Dar was up to.
Besides 35,000 feet, that is. Kerry's eyes flicked around the inside of the elevator, noting the advertisements for the hotel's spa and making a mental note to investigate it after what she was sure would be a long, painful day.
She hoped Dar was getting some rest on her trip across the Atlantic. At least the private flight would be quiet, and she was sure her partner would be well taken care of by the professional crew. Maybe she'd have picked up some new magazines to read on the way.
Her PDA beeped and she jumped, grabbing at it and wondering if her clever partner had found some way to send messages from the sky. Opening it, she was profoundly disappointed to find that was not the case, and in fact, the message was doubly unwelcome since it bore the address of the National Hurricane Center on it. "Oh please."
000
WTNT44 KNHC 131458
TCDAT8
TROPICAL DEPRESSION EIGHT DISCUSSION NUMBER 4
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL042001
0900 AM EDT MON SEP 12 2001
"Just what we need." Kerry read the rest of the advisory as she exited the elevator and crossed the lobby, keeping an eye on the path with her peripheral vision in an odd, disjointed sort of way common to nerds who had to learn to communicate and walk at the same time.
She studied the coordinates, giving the doorman who opened the door for her an absent greeting as she came into the hotel's front entranceway, her brows creasing as she pictured where the storm was forming. "Shit."
"Madame?" The doorman looked at her, his head cocked to one side.
"Sorry." Kerry tucked her PDA away and glanced around, seeing no obviously waiting cars. "Just got some bad news."
The man nodded and stepped away.
Kerry rummaged in her briefcase and pulled out her cellphone earbuds. She set the case down and untangled them, trying not to be impatient as the slim cables knotted stubbornly. It required a more intense concentration than she'd anticipated, and so she was surprised when someone cleared their throat unexpectedly close to her.
"Excuse me, Ms. Stuart?"
Kerry looked up, to find a young, slim, dark haired woman standing at the curb. "Hello." She glanced at the ID clipped to the woman's crisply pressed shirt. "Nan? I don't think we've ever met."
"No, we haven't," the woman replied with a smile. "I thought I recognized you but wasn't sure."
"Well, you guessed right." Kerry held a hand out. "You my ride?"
"Yes, ma'am." The woman smiled, and returned her grip. "Sorry if I startled you. They made me park the car down the slope."
Kerry got her buds sorted out and shouldered her briefcase. "Lead on." She followed the woman down toward where the standard issue company SUV was parked. Nan was a technical supervisor at the Herndon center and Kerry had both spoken to and emailed her on countless occasions.
Laid back and competent. Kerry had formed a favorable opinion of her from their previous interaction and nothing so far had contradicted that. She had a fine boned face and a well shaped profile and a slender build that matched her relatively short stature.
"It's been frantic crazy," Nan said, after a brief silence. "I know the powers that be are really glad you're here though. We're running out of excuses and coffee for the government guys."
"I bet," Kerry said. "Their boss is meeting me out at the office. I'm sure we'll get it straightened out." She opened the passenger side door of the SUV and settled into the seat, putting her case down between her boots.
Leather boots, jeans, leather jacket. There was nothing western about any of them, but Kerry had to smile privately at just how much her taste in clothing had changed, and the look of dubious surprise on her mother's face.
She didn't look bad in it. One glance in a mirror attested to that. Dar had told her in fact that she actually looked really sexy in the clothes and Kerry was fully willing to bow to her opinion in the matter.
It was, however, probably not what her colleagues here expected.
Nan got in the driver's seat and started up the SUV. "Seat goes back if you need," she said. "I adjusted it before I left but you're taller than I expected you to be."
Huh? Kerry stopped in mid motion and turned her head, both eyebrows shooting up. "Well, that's the first time I ever heard THAT comment before," she blurted. "Excuse me?"
Nan chuckled wanly. "Beg your pardon," she said. "I know we've emailed a lot but the only pictures I've seen of you are on the intranet."
"Ahh." Kerry started chuckling. "Where I'm always standing next to Dar. Yeah. I'm surprised most people don't think I'm a circus midget." She extended her denim covered legs and crossed her ankles. "Let me get back on the conference call. Sounds like things are going to hell this morning."
She pulled her earbuds from her pocket and put one in her right ear, then dialed the conference line. "How long have the NSA people been there today?'
Nan glanced quickly at her, then back at the road. "Is that who they are?" she asked. "Wow. They wouldn't tell us. They were there when the admins opened the guest center at seven."
"Nice." Kerry exhaled, shaking her head as she typed in the conference code. "Do you know what it is they're asking for, or are they still being vague?" She heard the call connect, but she left her mic on mute for the time being, electing to listen to Nan instead.
Nan paused at a light, and waited for it to turn. "They were pretty obscure. They have some big black box with them," she said. "And they told us they wanted to put it in the center, and have our core switch hooked up to it."
Kerry eyed her. "You have got to be kidding me," she said. "Do they realize what goes through that center? What do they think they're looking for? Those are internal government systems."
"We told them that," Nan agreed. "They think they can see traffic coming in from the outside to them. They say they're looking for terrorist hackers," she continued. "They seem to be convinced that the whole attack thing isn't over and they'll be making an attempt at our systems next."
Kerry folded her arms over her chest, her brows contracting. "What in the hell do they think connecting something to our core switch is going to do to stop that?" she asked, in a puzzled tone.
Nan shrugged. "It's the government. You know how they are. Someone tells them to do something and whether or not it makes sense goes out the window. I talked to their lead tech guy," she confided. "He told me we have to do it, or else we'll get in really big trouble."
Hm. Kerry pulled out her PDA and glanced at the next to last message, one from Dar.
Sweetheart.
I'm about to get on this damn plane. I talked to Gerry, and something's up but not something he wants to talk about over the phone, and not to anyone but me. Sounds screwy. He doesn't know anything about what's going on where you are, but says not to automatically say no to anything because everyone's flying blind and there's a lot of knee jerking going on.
Nothing goes in our facility. Feel comfortable about saying that to them, because hon, it's locked under my login and though you know it, you've got a perfectly good reason not to. Let them wait for me and Alastair. We're legally responsible for the contracts anyway.
Love you. Wish I could fly right to DC
to be with you. Hang tight.
DD
"Wish you could too," Kerry muttered under her breath. "We can talk to them, and try to find out specifically what they're looking for," she told Nan. "If I can't convince them they're barking up the wrong tree, then we just have to tell them to wait until Dar lands."
Nan nodded. "They said the systems were all locked," she said. "It's making the network guys nervous," she added. "Like I said, they'll all be glad to see you. No one minds making decisions but man, when you've got the dark side of the government camped on the doorstep it's freak city time."
"Yeah." Kerry rested her head against the back of the seat, listening with one ear to the chatter on the call. "Freak city? We're living on Freak Planet right now." She shifted and drew one knee up a little, resting her hand on it as she cupped the other over her ear. "That's for damn sure."
Nan leaned back in her seat, watching Kerry from the corner of her eye.
"What?" Kerry caught the look.
The dark haired woman appeared to be suppressing a smile. "You're really not what I expected," she explained.
"In a good way or a bad way?" Kerry asked, wryly.
"Oh. Good way," Nan said. "Definitely."
Now what, Kerry wondered, did that actually mean? "Well, glad to hear it." She clicked her mic on. "Scuse me a minute--Miami ops, this is Miami exec back on. What was that about a power outage?"
Nan drove on in silence, passing quickly through unusually empty streets, for once the lack of traffic causing no one any cheer.
DAR LEAFED THROUGH her magazine, reading the technical articles then amusing herself by viewing the ads that luridly bracketed them.
"Whatcha reading?" Alastair asked.
Dar held up the front page.
Her boss rolled his eyes. "Jesus, lady." He folded his hands across his stomach. "Don't you ever go off duty?"
"I like technology," Dar protested mildly. "Shit, Alastair, what do you think you pay me for? My typing skills?" She had one leg slung over the arm of the chair and now she leaned on her knee a little. "This stuff changes every damn second. You have to keep up."