by Melissa Good
The chief stopped chewing and stared at her. "In that little room?"
Kerry nodded wryly. "We also need AC."
"Son of a bitch!"
"Can we do it, chief?" the CO broke in. "Who the hell cares how much it is? It's not like we have a budget for it. What does it mean a bigger cable? C'mon now, you know what's at stake here. We're blind without that equipment."
"You don't even have equipment for me to plug in there," the chief turned around and said to him. "I know it ain't here because I heard those IT people talking about it."
The CO looked over at Kerry. "What's the story with that?"
Kerry leaned against the counter. "Dar's working on it," she said. "It'll be here. Our racking vendor is already preparing a truck heading here with the framework."
The chief looked around at her. "We can do it," he said, surprisingly. "I'll have power pulled in there by tonight. That do it for you?"
"Thank you." Kerry smiled warmly at him. "Yes, that takes a big weight off my shoulders. I wouldn't want to call in the markers I'm calling in just to get everything here and not be able to use it."
There was a little silence. The military men subsided into pensive thought, and Kerry took a sip of her ice tea. She took a breath, and from one moment to the next, seeing those tired faces, they changed from a problem she had to solve to human beings she just wanted to help.
She'd never felt a kinship to the military. She'd always regarded that world with a wary respect, not understanding it or the people who chose to be a part of it. Getting a closer look had never really been in her plans, right up until her partnership with Dar.
Dar had been her window into that world, however unexpected that had been. She still wasn't sure she understood most of it, but having talked with Ceci, and knowing and loving both her and Andrew, she'd gained, at least, sympathy for those people who chose to serve.
"What else can we do?" Kerry asked, gazing at them. "Can we get something or do something for the people here? Do people need help? Access to their systems for emergencies? We're bringing up an internet hotspot here and if you send your financial people to see me, I can get them into workstations here on the bus, or in our Herndon center."
The chief leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Can you take back yesterday?"
Kerry put her tea down and went over to where he was sitting, taking a seat on the couch next to him. "I wish I could," she said. "I think every single person I know would."
The chief looked at her. "Have you ever wanted to hit someone but you ain't got a target, young lady? I just want to find the people who thought this was a great and noble thing to do and keep hitting them until their guts come out on the floor."
"We all feel that way," the CO put a hand on the chief's shoulder. Billy remained silent, eyes wide, just watching behind them. "We all lost friends. We all have people in the hospital, and families hurting." He looked at Kerry. "But we have a job to do. We have jobs that only we can do, so we can turn this around."
Kerry nodded. "We'll get you back in operation," she stated. "We'll get everything fixed. We have the resources and the will to make it happen."
The bus attendants came back in, with chocolate cupcakes and hot coffee. The scents filled the interior, and the men all looked up, visibly brightening as the women came over.
"I know you're not part of the military," the CO addressed Kerry.
"No, I'm not. But my father in law is retired Navy, and my partner grew up on a Navy base down in south Florida," Kerry replied. "I won't pretend to understand your world, but I dearly love people who are a part of it."
The CO nodded after a pause. "Good enough," he said. "We'll get you what you need, Kerry. You get us what we need."
"Hey, boss?" Mark entered, then stopped, and sniffed. "Ooo--chocolate." He looked hopefully at the trays. "Got extra?"
Kerry patted the chief's knee and stood. "What's up?"
"ETA six hours for the sat trucks," Mark said, succinctly.
"Six hours? For the trucks that came from Houston?" Kerry asked, in disbelief. "What the hell did they do, put afterburners on the pickup trucks?"
"Didn't ask," Mark said, through a mouthful of cupcake. "Dar taught me sometimes it's better not to ask stuff like that."
The CO's eyes swung from one to the other. "What does that get us?"
Mark licked his fingers. "Couple of long ass cables and it gets your critical systems back online in slow motion," he said. "But it'll work. I've got enough gear in the back of my truck to get rudimentary routing moving as long as we can bring Newark back up."
"In six hours?" The CO's eyes lit up. "You're serious?"
"Sure." Mark nodded. "They said the power generator trucks would be there by then, didn't they?"
"They did," Kerry said. "They sure did."
"Great. We'll start cabling up the gear and running the lines in," Mark said. "I'm gonna need juice though. I can't run those enterprise switches and routers off my truck battery."
The chief stood up and latched on to his arm. "C'mon boy," he said. "I got your power for you. Come with me."
The CO and Billy got up and started after them. "Let's see what we can do to help," the CO said. "Billy round up some of those carts of yours."
"Sure thing." Billy turned and waved at Kerry. "Thanks, ma'am. For everything."
"Bwf--" Mark grabbed another cupcake as he was hauled bodily out of the bus. "Later boss!"
"Later." Kerry went back to the counter and picked up her tea, her eyes flicking to the PDA waiting on the shiny surface. She sat down on the stool nearby and took a cupcake from the tray, unwrapping it as she went back to her message.
She had a lot to do. There were things to arrange, and the conference call to get back to, her mother to call, the government to worry about--but she blocked out a space of time to sit, and have her cupcake, and recover her equilibrium.
Time for a Dar break.
DAR LED THE way toward the front doors to the office, better for a handful of croquettes and a large Styrofoam cup of café con leche inside her. "Know what?" she asked suddenly. "I forgot to tell them you were with me."
Alastair chuckled deep in his throat. "As though the world isn't topsy turvy enough, I show up you mean." He glanced up at the tall building. "Weren't you going to move out of this place?"
"I still might." Dar waved at the guard as the doors slid open, releasing a blast of cold air at them. "Afternoon, gentlemen."
"Ms. Roberts!" The guard nearest the door came around the desk and approached her. "Boy are we glad to see you," he said. "They said you were overseas! We had the building management here five times already today asking for plans, and emergency authorizations."
"I bet." Dar paused and clipped her badge to her T-shirt. "Give me a half hour to get into my office upstairs then send them up to me." She spotted a few familiar faces crossing the floor, and with an effort, wrenched her brain back into place to deal with being back at the office. "C'mon."
"Right behind you." Alastair had regained his cheerful good nature. "You know, that was some damn good coffee, Dar. You were right."
Mariana had just exited the elevator. Dar put two fingers between her teeth and let out a loud whistle, making Mariana stop in her tracks and look quickly around, scanning over them twice before she stopped and stared, then let out a yelp. "AH!"
Heads turned. Dar caught the looks of recognition and then the double takes as Alastair was spotted at her side. She waited for Mariana to reach them, and was surprised almost beyond speech when the woman threw her arms around her and gave her a hug. "Uh."
"Thank god you're safe." Mariana released her. "Alastair, you too," she added hastily. "Great to see you!"
Alastair burst into laughter. "Oh hell." He chuckled. "Nice to see you to, Mari." He patted her on the shoulder. "It ain't home, but it's damn nice to be on home soil again."
"Why didn't you tell me you were back?" Mariana turned on Dar. "Does Kerry know? Of course she knows you're here
."
"She knows I'm in Miami, sure," Dar said. "But she didn't know until I landed because we didn't know until we landed. We were supposed to still be in the air heading to Mexico right now." She looked up as a group of people surrounded them. "Hey o..."
Later on, she had time to reflect on the fact that her relationship with Kerry had slowly, but surely, gotten her used to physical contact and how lucky that was for her co workers.
Jose grabbed her arm, and got a hand around her back. "Shit! You're here! Jesus, thank you." He wrung her neck a little then grabbed Alastair's hand. "Boss, good to see you."
Eleanor gave her a quick hug. "No bull, Dar," she said in a quieter tone. "Glad you're safe."
More hands. More voices.
"Jefa!"
Dar turned and found herself enveloped by Maria. This at least she welcomed. "Hey Maria." She returned her admin's hug. "Glad to be back."
Maria released her. "But not for so long, no?" she asked. "I think you will go find Kerrisita and help her. She is doing so much."
"I think you're right." Dar smiled.
"Hey Dar!" Duks elbowed in and got an arm around her shoulders. "Now things are looking up," he announced, giving Alastair a pat on the shoulder. "Sir. Welcome to our banana republic."
"Thanks." Alastair patted him on the side. "Good to see you Louis." He glanced at the crowd. "I think we should move this upstairs, folks. We're blocking the lobby."
"Hey, Ms. Roberts. Welcome home." One of the ops techs timidly clasped her hand. "Boy, we're glad you're here."
Dar felt a little overwhelmed.
"All right everyone, to what our friends in England call the lifts." Alastair took charge. He handed off his bag to a willing Jose. "Someone want to get Dar's roller here? Let's go, march people. We've got work to do." He put his hand on Dar's elbow and started herding people simply by the act of moving and presenting them with the choice of moving with him or being bowled over.
Mariana fell in next to Dar. "Did you get any rest at all since yesterday? Doesn't look like it."
"Not a lot." Dar collected herself. "Cat naps. I was covering for Kerry while she was traveling."
"We know." Mari gave her a sympathetic look. "And Mark was covering for you both while he was traveling. You know, we recorded the entire global meeting place, Dar. One day, a long time from now you should sit down and listen to it."
"That was something, wasn't it?" Alastair had been listening with one ear, apparently, carrying on two other conversations with the other.
"I think it was the finest moment this company ever had," Mari said, simply.
"Well." Dar reached the elevator and got in, going to the back corner and turning to face those following her in. "Maybe we can look at it sometime. Right now, it's a drop in the bucket." She clasped her briefcase in both hands as the elevator filled, and they started up.
"Alastair, I'll have an office set up for you," Mari said. "Just give me a few minutes when we get upstairs."
"Oh please," Alastair said. "What in blazes do you think I'm going to do here? Just give me a damn phone and a chair so I can let people bitch at me." He glanced sideways at Dar. "Keep them off the back of the people who do the real stuff."
"Well..."
"Shut up, Alastair. You do plenty," Dar said, in a loud enough voice to cut through the chatter in the elevator. "Cut the BS."
Her boss looked over at her, both gray eyebrows hiking.
Dar mirrored his expression right back at him.
The doors slid open, and everyone escaped out of the car into the hallway, pouring into the gray and maroon space as they cleared the way for Dar and Alastair to exit. Dar turned and headed toward her office, and after a second, her boss followed her.
Maria also followed her. "Jefa, do you want something from the café?"
"More coffee," Dar said, "and some of the cheese pastalitos. They make them better here than at Versailles." She glanced back at Alastair. "Want coffee?"
"Sure," Alastair agreed. "I'm just going to borrow your outside office to make a call until they finish setting up whatever poobah area they've come up with for me."
Dar snorted. "You can go work in Kerry's office if you want. She's got a boxing dummy in there if you get bored." She led the way into her office, pushing the door open and feeling a sense of relief as her eyes took in the familiar surroundings.
It was all a little too much, coming back like this. It had been too long a day, too long a flight, too many strange happenings to end with this clamor of familiarity rubbing her nerves so raw.
She opened the door to her inner office and went through, slowing down a little as she took in the plate glass walls, and the view of the ocean. Her desk was clean, as always, only the fighting fish and her monitor disturbing the sleek wooden surface.
"Well, you do have a couch in here. What do ya know." Alastair poked his head in.
"Yes, I do." Dar put her briefcase down and settled into her comfortable leather chair, its cool surface chilling her back a little through her thin T-shirt. She reached under her desk to boot her computer, giving the trackball a spin as it started up. "Okay."
"Okay." Alastair came inside. "I'll take you up on that office offer. Just tell me where it is and I'll get out of your hair.'
Dar gave him a wry look, and pointed at the back door. "Go down that hall, door at the other end is Ker's."
Alastair looked at the door, then at her. "You've got to be kidding me."
Dar lifted both hands up in sheepish acknowledgement. "You can go out in the hall, turn left, find the kitchen, and go in the front way if you want to. Don't scare her admin though."
"The two of you, I swear." Alastair chuckled, making his way to the door and passing through it.
At last it was quiet. Dar sat back then turned her chair around to face the water. The surface was ruffled with white waves, a cavalcade of boats heading up into the bay and reminding her of yet another potential issue. "First things first."
She turned back around and tapped her speaker phone, dialing Gerry's phone number. Her desktop came up, and she typed her password in, watching as her backdrop came up, along with the global meeting place login box. She logged in, and changed her status.
Login: Roberts, Dar
Location: Miami Operations Center
Role: Miami operations executive.
Status: Missing my wife.
She backspaced over the last, and typed in good instead, and sent the box on its way.
The phone range twice, then was answered. "General Easton's office. Can I help you?" a woman's voice answered, sounding harried and a touch out of breath.
"I'd like to speak to the General please," Dar said. "It's Dar Roberts. He's expecting my call."
"One moment."
Dar scanned the screen as the status boards popped up, and there was a soft crackle that warned her the conference bridge was starting. She lowered the volume, as the phone came off hold.
"Hello, Ms. Roberts?" The woman's voice came back. "Hold on a moment, the General is getting to his desk."
"Sure. Tell him to take his time. I bet he's as tired as I am," Dar remarked.
"You know it," the woman said, her tone warming. "Hang on, I'm transferring."
A click, and then Gerry's voice boomed over the line. "Dar? That you?"
"It's me," Dar acknowledged. "How's it going there, Gerry? I'm in Miami."
"Miami! What the hell? I thought you were heading for Houston!"
"Me too. Long story."
There was a rustling noise and the sound of a door closing, then Gerry cleared his throat. "Well, I'm damn glad to hear you're back and on the ground safe," he said. "Things are a little better today. Had everyone on my backside this morning until I got a call from the fellas trying to make sense out of this place and found out your people are already moving on everything. Wonderful!"
Dar smiled. "I sent the best I have there, Gerry," she said. "Mark Polenti, my chief tech head, and Kerry's there, too."
"Y'know, that's what my fella said," Easton agreed. "Said your people are the best. Bringing in cupcakes and fixing everything. I really appreciate that, Dar."
"Anytime," Dar said. "So does that mean you don't need my ass up there? I'm sure Ker's got it under control."
"Ah," Gerry sighed. "Well, no."
Dar knew a moment of perfectly balanced conflict, as her desire to be where Kerry was battled against her knowledge that whatever Gerry was going to ask of her was, by definition, worse than what she was dealing with there already. "What's up?"
"You someplace quiet?"
"I'm in my office," Dar said. "The only thing listening is my fish."
"Right," Gerry said. "Listen, Dar I don't usually get involved in the civilian side of things, I've got more than enough on my plate right now, you see?"
"Sure."
"Just had the head of the White House financial office in here kicking me in the kiester," Gerry said. "Thing is, they lost a lot of facility there in New York."
"I know," Dar said. "We have a lot of customers down."
"Well, you'd know more about that than I would.
Anyway, you know they shut down the Stock exchanges, right?" Gerry asked. "All the financial stuff down in the south tip of Manhattan?" He paused. "You knew about that right?"
"I didn't--well, I probably heard that in all the clamor yesterday but didn't pay that much attention," Dar admitted. "There was so much going on."
"Well, don't you know? Here too," Gerry said. "Feller from the White House seemed to say I'd been derelict in my duty because I didn't know a bull from a bear." He sighed aggrievedly. "So this guy comes over here and tells me it's a national emergency about those stock houses. Have to get them back working. Government is counting on it. World stability is at stake."
Dar's brows contracted. "Granted," she said. "Having the markets down sucks but didn't they say yesterday they shut them down on purpose to stop a run on them? I thought I heard that in a sound bite."
"Pish tosh," Easton said. "I got an earful about keeping consumer confidence up and all that, but the fact is all the blinking things and doodads in there can't work because of all the damage. They don't want to admit it, trying to make everything seem like it wasn't that much. You see?"