by Melissa Good
Behind her, Dar could faintly hear Alastair's voice, sounding quiet and sad. "Sherren, tell him we're doing fine here, okay?" she said. "You all just hang in there."
"We will. We will. We're tough people," Sherren said. "I'll tell him. I'll be back."
"Miami exec, this is Combus 2." A low, deep voice took advantage of the break in the chatter. "We're in bound from Albany and I have Combus 3 about two miles behind me."
"Will they let them in?" Kerry whispered.
"From the north, maybe," Dar murmured back. She keyed the mic. "Combus 2, you and 3 try to get as far down toward the Rock as you can."
"Roger that, Ms. Roberts," the deep voice said. "Anything we need to stop and pick up?"
Dar glanced over at the monitor that was showing desperate scenes of men digging in debris, a pall of smoke hanging over the air. "Find a medical supply warehouse," she said. "Get breathing masks, filters, whatever you can. Suits," she added. "Miami exec, Miami Financial, you on?"
"Right here, my friend," Duks answered. "I will have my purchasing people find such a place, and let the good drivers know where it is. We will handle the payment for it."
"Thanks Duks," Dar said. "Combus, see if you can pick up bottled water or Gatorade, too."
"Will do ma'am."
Dar signed into her new laptop and got up, clearing Kerry's chair for her. "Let me get out of your way. I think I can--" She stopped, as Kerry put a hand on her arm. "What?"
"Stay here," Kerry said. "Just bring that chair around to this side. I want you here." She got up off her knees and settled into the chair. "Please?"
Dar studied her for a moment then smiled. "Works for me." She dragged the other chair over and settled back down. "Let's get back to business."
THE RV AND bus had, in fact, become the social center of their piece of the parking lot. Dar was glad enough to stick her hands in the pockets of her jacket and head toward the crowd, shifting her shoulders to settle the weight of a company issued backpack that held her new laptop in it.
It was almost dark. The lot was bright with emergency lights, though, and activity was plentiful and obvious. Kerry walked quietly at her side, speaking in an undertone to Nan, her own briefcase slung over her shoulder.
Dar was tired. It had been a long day, and she hadn't quite caught up to her jet lag, her body grumbling at her and wanting that soft hotel bed they'd left so early that morning. She glanced at the bus, seeing a swarm of activity around it and found herself resenting the need to be in the middle of that.
"Dar?" Kerry put a hand on her elbow.
"Hm?" She turned her head and peered at her partner. She noted the furrow in Kerry's brow, and realized she wasn't the only one tired.
"What's our plan here?"
"That's a damn good question." Dar sighed.
"Have you heard from Justin? I know that's the first question I'll get when we reach the bus."
"Maria said he hadn't called me back when I talked to her before we left the office," Dar said. "Gimme your cell and I'll call him again." She waited for Kerry to fish her phone from its clip on her belt. "He might actually answer the phone if he sees your name."
"Not after what I did during that whole ship thing." Kerry handed the device over. "He hasn't forgiven me for that one yet."
Dar paused to recall the number then dialed it, putting the phone to her ear as they walked between the parked trucks toward their little compound.
The bus was in the back, its extended sections fully extended, and its roof thick with antennas and the satellite dish that provided the transport with television and data. In front of it there was a work area with tables covered with various bits of technology on one side, and tables covered with various bits of daily living on the other.
There were camping chairs scattered around, and the bus's integrated barbeque grill was out and being used.
On the far side of the bus was the RV and Mark's truck with the big satellite trailer parked in a clear spot nearby with its dish fully extended. There were thick, black power cables snaking everywhere, and a large LCD television was fixed to the side of the trailer, showing CNN.
Their techs were busy around the tables, but they were mixed with a plethora of military in several different kinds of uniforms. The combination of high tech and post Apocalyptic camping made Kerry's eyebrows twitch.
"Justin, don't give me that," Dar was saying. "I'm not asking for extra equipment, just what you have scheduled for us. What's the damn problem?"
"Uh oh," Kerry muttered. "That doesn't sound good."
Nan glanced past her at the scowling CIO. "Who's she talking to?" she whispered.
"Our network equipment account manager," Kerry said, as they crossed the last line of cars and entered their space. "Hey guys. How's it going?"
The techs looked up, and their eyes brightened immediately. "Hey, Ms. Stuart. Mark was just asking for you," one said, "Lemme go get him."
"No need--we're heading for the bus ourselves," Kerry demurred. "We'll find him."
"If you don't cut the crap, I'm going to--what? No, you idiot, I'm not going to threaten you with pulling the contract, I'm just going to tell my customer here you're sitting on his goddamned gear for no good reason!" Dar's voice lifted into a familiar bark.
Kerry patted her back comfortingly, and gave the staff a smile. She spotted Andrew crossing between the RV and the bus, and waved to him as he saw them and changed direction. He had on an ILS sweatshirt and dark carpenter pants with tools poking from every pocket, and just seeing him made Kerry feel better. "Hey Dad." She opened her arms and gave him a hug that he returned warmly. "What a day, huh?"
"Justin, stop being a moron. Where in the hell do you think I am? Did you even look at what order I was talking about?" Dar asked. "Don't give me that crap! He did? Then let me talk to him. Put his ass on the phone!"
"lo there kumquat," Andrew greeted her, giving his growling offspring a wary look. "Dar got problems?"
Kerry gave him a wry look. Then she half turned. "Nan, this is Andrew Roberts, Dar's father. Dad, this is Nan. She's from our Virginia office and has been giving us a big hand in getting things done."
"Lo there," Andrew greeted Nan amiably.
"Nice to meet you," Nan said.
"Got some folks inside I think want to talk to you two," Andrew informed Kerry, as Dar stepped to one side and half turned, lowering her voice. "Seems like they got some kinda issue they just come up with. That Mark feller just kept saying Dardar's name over and over again."
"Uh oh," Kerry winced. "Well, let's go see what that's all about while Dar straightens out our gear issues. She touched Dar's arm and pointed to the bus, waiting for her partner to nod before she started off in that direction.
Andrew paused then followed her, evidently figuring his daughter didn't need any help in yelling.
The bus was a beehive of activity, and they had to dodge a flurry of moving bodies in uniform until they finally made it to the steps and up into the courtesy bus. Kerry almost stopped short at the mild chaos inside, but after a brief pause she edged her way in and got into enough of a corner space to turn and look around.
Mark was in one corner with three techs, and four or five military men. Others were spread around the inside of the bus, working on clipboards, standing over the fax machine in the corner, and munching on some of the snacks laid out on platters in the service area.
One whole wall had been taken up by a whiteboard covered in scribbles. Kerry was glad to see so much apparent progress, but slightly overwhelmed at the amount of people stuffed in the bus. "Evening everyone."
Heads turned. "Hey, Kerry. Glad you're here," Mark said. "I hope you brought big D with you, cause we need her like crazy."
Know the feeling. Kerry nodded. "She's outside yelling. What's up?" She edged to one side a little to give Andrew room to stand, as Nan plastered her slim figure against the back wall. "This place is nuts."
"Tell me about it," Mark said wryly. "They got me power in the comms
space. I got a truck with the racks due in like six hours, and what equipment I have I can throw in there since they got me aircon too."
"Good job," Kerry said. "Did you get the demarc installed?"
"If that's them plywood things, I done it," Andrew spoke up. "That's some damn hard concrete in that room I will tell you that."
"Yeah, I can still hear you drilling," Mark said. "But that's the problem, poquito boss. We got the blocks installed and we're ready to punch down."
"Great." Kerry smiled in relief. "So that's a problem?"
"Nu, uh." Mark shook his dark head. "I could tell you, but it's gonna be easier to show you. Can we grab big D and go look?"
"Well--" Kerry turned as the door to the bus opened, and Dar entered, her powerful charisma clearing space for her as she made her way over to where they were standing. She was juggling the cell phone in one hand, but looked moderately triumphant. "How'd it go?"
"What a moron," Dar said. "They put a hold on everyone's damn orders because they're scared to death they're going to get a call from the government asking for all their inventory." She lifted her hands and let them drop. "I had to yell at some executive vice president of something or other and threaten to put Gerry on the phone before they got it through their heads where I was calling from."
Everyone nodded in agreement. "And?" Kerry added, after a pause.
"Truck is leaving Chicago in ten minutes," Dar replied, glancing around and spotting a tray nearby. She reached one long arm over and snagged a brownie. "I told him they better be flooring it all the way here." She bit into the brownie and chewed it. "So how are things going here?"
They all looked over at Mark, who grimaced.
"Uh oh. Maybe I should have some milk first," Dar saw the expressions. "What's wrong?"
"Let's go take a ride," Mark said. "That's what I and the dudes were just talking about before you guys got here. We just found out."
"Found out what?" Dar grabbed another brownie as she followed Mark out the door.
"C'mon. I'd rather you just see it. Maybe you can tell me it's not as bad as I think it is."
Dar snorted. "If you're looking to me for optimism we're seriously in the weeds." She handed Kerry half the brownie. "This could require more than chocolate."
They trooped down the steps to the bus and around the side, where there was a six seater golf cart parked somewhat haphazardly, draped in cables and other bits of nerd paraphernalia. Dar cleared a termination kit out of the way and slid into the front passenger seat, setting her backpack down between her feet. "Let's go."
Mark took the wheel and started off, turning the cart in a tight circle and nearly flinging them out in all directions. "Whoops. Sorry."
"Wow. This has got a hell of a lot more kick than the one at our place." Kerry grabbed hold of the sides of the cart. "Jesus!"
"Gas powered." Mark threaded the cart through the parked cars and headed for the side of the damaged building. "Pretty cool though. I never realized how freaking big this place was until we had to hump all our crap out to that room."
They rode around the side of the building the cool night air making them blink a little as Mark maneuvered through the grounds. There was still smoke smoldering up from the destroyed area, and as they moved erratically along, the air would bring shocking hints of death that made them all go silent.
Save Andrew. "Big ass place," he commented. "Built like a damn brick. Ain't nothing left of what hit it."
There was an awkward silence. "Airplane is just an aluminum shell," Dar eventually commented. "Dangerous part was the aviation fuel. "
"Did you hear what people were saying though?" Nan spoke up from the rear seat. "People were saying that there wasn't any airplane that hit the building. That it was a bomb, or something else and that the government was lying."
Andrew turned around and peered at her. "Gov'mint's always lying," he said. "But that's just foolish talking. People don't know squat yapping on the television. I heard that."
Kerry frowned. "Why in the heck would they lie about that?" she wondered. "I mean yes, I agree with Dad, but sheesh. There's a hole in the side of the building. What difference would it make what made it?"
Dar cleared her throat as Mark aimed for a square of light. "Probably because it's easier to excuse not being able to get out of the way of an airplane than allowing some bunch of jackasses to plant a bomb in the biggest military office building in the continent."
Mark pulled the cart to a halt and put on the parking break. "You think that's what happened, boss?" he asked, hesitantly. "I mean, that's a pretty big hole."
"No." Dar got out. "I think a goddamned plane hit the side of the building. I can see where the tin foil hat brigade pulled that rumor from, that's all." She shouldered her backpack and followed Mark between two huge personnel carriers and over to a door in the side of the building.
It was open, spilling a bright yellow incandescence out across the ground and there was motion and voices just beyond it. Mark walked through without hesitation and turned to the left, moving along a hallway filled with boxes to a brightly lit space that smelled of concrete and plywood. "Here we go."
Dar entered the comms room, pausing to look around before she cleared the doorway and let the rest of them follow her. Inside, the big square space was lit by hanging florescent lamps, and the floor was obviously freshly swept.
Power cables were hanging everywhere from the ceiling, and the entire back wall had been covered in sheets of treated, three quarter inch plywood surmounted by rows and rows of circuit patch down blocks. "Nice," Dar commented.
The floor was already marked out for racks, and half the floor tiles were missing with most of the holes containing a tech and a spool of cabling. The smell of plastic and copper were sharp in the air. "Mark, you made amazing progress," Kerry added. "Great job."
"Thanks. My guys did most of the humping." Mark led them to the corner of the room, which had a large cabinet set in one wall. "And speaking of humps, here's my problem." He opened the double doors to the cabinet and stepped back, clearing the way for the rest of them. "That."
There was a long moment of silence. Then, as if by common accord, everyone looked over at Dar, who was standing closest to it, her hands planted on her hips.
Dar studied the huge mass of cabling, all a uniform size, and dull gray terminating in an absolute hairball of multicolor strands. "I take it none of this is tagged?" she asked, finally.
"Nope." Mark shook his head. "I guess they had a project planned to come in here before the room went live to straighten it all out." He glanced around at the little group. "Sucks, huh?"
Dar rubbed her forehead. "Shit," she said. "There is a thousand pair there at least."
"Wow," Nan murmured.
"Some are phones, some data, some WAN--" Mark agreed. "I had the local Telco guys here, but they say most of it's not theirs so they're not touching it."
Dar turned and looked at him. Mark shrugged.
"Let me see if I can leverage our relationship with the local." Kerry pulled her phone out. "At least they can give us a list of the circuits in here other than ours." She paged through her directory. "It's Verizon, isn't it?"
"And Qwest," Nan murmured.
"Doesn't really help us find our stuff though," Mark commented. "Man, I'd hate to break my ass for two days and get this space up only to have to stay on that freaking sat."
"We can't handle the traffic they're going to ask for over that," Dar said. "How many WAN people do we have here, Mark?" She shrugged her pack off her back and set it on the floor. "We're going to have to do this the hard way."
She looked over at him after he didn't answer. "Well?"
"You mean, besides you and me?" he answered wryly. "Dar, the two WAN techs I had up here are in the missing group."
The room was now conspicuously quiet, as the techs busy wiring in the floor turned to listen. Dar leaned back against the punch down, letting her hands fall to her thighs. She was quiet for a long mome
nt then exhaled. "Going to be a long damn night then, I guess," she said, at last. "Do we have kits?"
"Yeah," Mark responded glumly.
"Break them out. Let's get started." Dar shoved away from the wall and flexed her hands, turning to face the mess with an air of grim determination. "Bring all the punch down kits you have. Might as well do some on the job training while I'm at it."
"You got it boss." Mark turned and trotted out, shaking his head a little.
"Bring some of that damn barbeque with you!" Dar yelled after him. "And all the Jolt you got."
Chapter Twenty-Three
"KERRY, THE GOVERNOR of New York is on the line for you again." A quiet, apologetic voice broke into the chatter. "I told him you were working at the Pentagon, but he wants to talk to you anyway."
Kerry rested her head against her fist, her body curled up in one of the bus's leather chairs, finally vacated by one of the busy military officers. "No problem, give me a minute." She clicked her mic on, resisting the urge to rub her eyes. "Believe me, Newark, we're going to the wall here to pull the Pentagon traffic off your grid and put it back where it belongs."
"We know that, ma'am. I tried to explain that. I just--" The satellite supervisor sounded as exhausted as Kerry felt. "He just doesn't want to take that answer. I think he's as frustrated as we are."
Kerry reviewed the status on her teams. "Maybe he'll let me send the remote sat trucks in then," she mused.
"Would you like some coffee, ma'am?" One of the bus's seemingly tireless attendants stopped by with a tray. "We have some fresh cookies baking too."
"Sure." Kerry checked her watch, wincing a little at the time. "Strong as you got it. Thanks." She rattled at her keyboard and settled her ear buds more firmly. "Okay, go ahead and call my cell, Newark. Patch me into the governor."
"Stand by, ma'am."
Nearly midnight. Kerry leaned against the chair arm, glad it was big enough for her to curl up in, tucking her tired legs up under her in relative comfort. She knew herself to be far luckier than her partner. Dar was half buried in cables in that dry and dusty room faced with an almost never-ending task before her.