Storm Surge - Part 2

by Melissa Good

  "Yeah." Dar let her eyes drift shut, glad of the thick glass windows that blocked most of the city noise. "I wish the worst thing I had to worry about was playing in that damned softball league and hitting myself in the head."

  "Y'know though," Kerry mused, "before this all happened, that visit was turning out better than I expected. I think my mother caught a clue."

  Dar gave her a squeeze. "I think your mother values family," she said, "and she wants you to be a part of that." She kissed Kerry on the top of her head. "I don't blame her a bit."

  Kerry smiled. "I love you."

  Dar's eyes opened again. "Back atcha, but what brought that on?"

  Kerry snuggled a little closer. "Because I'm sitting here at three in the morning bitching and you're not telling me to shut up and go to sleep." She could feel Dar's body shudder with silent laughter. "You're so sweet to me."

  Dar hugged her a little tighter, still chuckling.

  "When we were down at the park today, I was looking out the front window at all those rescue workers sitting there, and it kind of brought home to me just how many blessings I have in my life." Kerry said, after a pause, "the primary one being you, of course."

  "Likewise." Dar exhaled. "I'm one of the luckiest people on earth."

  "We're both soppy mushballs."

  "Guilty."

  Finally, Kerry found herself smiling and letting it go, unable to resist the love she could feel wrapped all around her. She closed her eyes and listened to Dar's breathing for a few minutes until the dim shadows faded out and she drifted off to sleep.

  Dar stayed awake a few minutes more, enjoying the sensation of Kerry's breath warming her shoulder. They would try and accomplish the task they'd started on, she decided, and then, once that was either finished or failed, they would go home.

  They were too close to the center of this. Dar could envision an unraveling ball of requests if they kept going, the pressure to succeed growing greater and greater, as the shadow threat of what might happen if they didn't hung over them.

  Too much risk for too little return. Tomorrow she'd corner Alastair, call Maria, make arrangements for them to get transport out and, by the end of the day Monday, she decided, she'd be sitting on her patio playing ball with Chino and listening to Kerry rustling up coffee in the kitchen.

  She closed her eyes, and exhaled, nodding her head in confirmation.

  Chapter Nine

  KERRY BREATHED IN the scent of fresh coffee as she entered the hotel café, pausing in the doorway and lifting a hand to wave hello to Hamilton who was already seated inside.

  "Good morning, Ms. Stuart." Hamilton waved back, then waved her over. "Come on over and sit your self down here so I don't have to be talking to the maple syrup will you please?"

  Having very little choice, unless she wanted to start the day off profoundly rude, Kerry crossed the parquet floor and joined their corporate lawyer at his table. "Careful what you ask for." She sat down and accepted the menu from young male server as she opened her napkin and put it on her lap at the same time. "Dar's on her way down."

  "Honey, even that thought can't stir my grits this morning," Hamilton told her. "You all do know what grits are, right?"

  "I know what grits are." Kerry assured him. "I can even cook them."

  "Shocked. I'm shocked," Hamilton said. "A Midwesterner cooking grits. What is the world coming to?" He picked up a piece of rye toast and methodically buttered it. "I had the honor of attending a shindig at the governor's place with Al last night."

  "He had a party?" Kerry's voice dropped.

  "He called it a strategy and planning meeting," Ham told her. "But I will say that was the first planning and strategy meeting I ever have been to that had salmon canapés and whisky highballs." He took a sip of his coffee. "Ah am guessing all those federal people in town needed some catering to."

  "Well, we went out ourselves last night." Kerry half shrugged. "I guess salmon and whiskey are about equal to beer and cheesburgers and a good game of darts."

  Hamilton looked up at her over cup. "Now doesn't that sound down home."

  "Home would have included my motorcycle and my dog." Kerry glanced up as the server reappeared, hovering politely at her elbow. "Can I have two orders of eggs over easy with crisp bacon, white toast,and one side of blueberry pancakes, please?"

  The waiter blinked, then he scribbled it down.

  "And coffee." Kerry handed him the menu. "My father used to have meetings like those. The only bright part of them for me were the chocolate mousse cups they always left close enough to the door for me to steal."

  Hamilton sipped his coffee again. "Somehow I can easily picture that," he remarked dryly. "We apparently got our selves onto the good boy list in all that hullaballo yesterday. Given my preference, I'd have rather stayed bad."

  "Did you get an idea last night of what their motives were? What they really want?" Kerry asked. "Some of the things they were saying and doing were really very intimidating."

  "What do they want." The lawyer sighed, and leaned back in his chair. "That's a damn fine question. I do think first of all those men are scared half to death."

  "I thought they were acting as though they were embarrassed," Kerry responded. "That this happened. That it was allowed to happen."

  Hamilton regarded her. "There is that there piece too," he acknowledged. "I heard a lot about getting back to normal, putting on a tough face, that sorta thing, but you know, honey, there ain't no getting back to normal in a thing like this. It changes people."

  "It changes everything," Kerry said.

  'Yes, it does." Hamilton nodded. "It will change a lot of things for us. No matter what the outcome is in this thing we're doing, people now understand what we do in a very different aspect. That could end up good, and it can end up bad."

  Kerry took a swallow of water from the glass in front of her. "You know, my father was very unhappy about our government contracts. He felt we had too much control."

  "I do remember that." Hamilton nodded. "No offense to those passed, but your father was a right pain in my ass."

  "Mine too," she answered steadily. "But was he right?"

  Her table companion thought about that in silence for a few minutes, then shrugged. "I honestly don't know the answer to that question right now. Not through any fault of ours, understand. We did what we do. But you know, I just don't know."

  "Hm." Kerry picked up her fork and studied it. "I'm not sure I do either."

  "Good morning, Hamilton." Dar appeared from thin air, even making Kerry start a little as she took the chair to her partner's left. "I hear you and Alastair had a good time last night."

  "Well, good morning to you too, Maestro. I was just telling your charming colleague here about it. You seem to have won the approval of the powers that be, unlikely as that may seem to all and sundry."

  "Peh." Dar fastened her gaze on the waiter, and reeled him over."Coffee, please." She glanced back at Hamilton. "I didn't do a god-damned thing. That bastard threatened his way into a solution."

  "Only too true," Hamilton agreed. He paused as the waiter returned, carrying a tray full of plates. "So what did you ladies do last night?" He changed the subject, as the waiter put down his breakfast, then tried to figure out what to do with all of Kerry's.

  "I took the team out to dinner." Dar reached over and took one of the plates from the waiter, putting it down in front of her. "That goes there, the other plate put between us. Thanks." She took a gulp of her coffee."Then we found a sports bar that had something other than CNN on and chilled out for a few hours."

  "Ah would have traded my salmon canapé for a beer and a pretzel in a heartbeat," Hamilton said.

  "Ah, there you all are." Alastair arrived, taking the fourth chair at the table. "Ham, I've already had two calls from the FBI this morning. I don't think I can stall them on the employee lists much further."

  "Well, Al, then I'm going to have to file a damn injunction against them in Federal court and that ain
't happening till Monday. "

  "I don't know--" Alastair shook his head. "This guy is not giving up."

  "Tell them we locked the database and no one can get access to it until we've had a chance to file in Federal Court." Dar bit into a strip of bacon.

  "Can we do that?"

  "Yes." Dar and Kerry answered at the same time.

  "And even if we couldn't," Kerry wiped her lips with her napkin, "they have no way of knowing that. It's in a data center in the middle of the Houston campus in a building among hundreds that only four people have access to. What are they doing to do, go room by room tapping on the outside of the servers?"

  "Well," Alastair gave her a wry look, "they could arrest me."

  "We'll never let them take you alive, Alastair," Dar said.

  Alastair sighed. "You all seem to think this is funny."

  "I don't think it's funny, I think it's idiotic. What the hell do they want our employment records for?" Dar asked. "Is this all about the damn taps or something again?"

  "Just coffee for me, thanks." Alastair told the waiter. "And a glass of grapefruit juice, if you've got it."

  "Of course sir."

  "Dar, it ain't nothing about taps." Hamilton lowered his voice. "They need a list of all our people who are in government facilities. That part makes horse sense. It's the rest of the records they want that's giving my Louisiana ass a hive."

  Dar chewed a mouthful of her breakfast as she studied her table companions. "A list of our people," she said, after swallowing, "in their facilities?"

  "Yes." Alastair nodded. "It's a security issue."

  Dar folded her hands on the table and leaned forward a little. "Why don't they just run a report in their own damned database?" She asked. "Why the hell do they need our records for??"

  "Their database?" Hamilton removed a pad from his pocket and pushed his plate aside. "Dar, have I ever told you just how much I do truly love you more than my luggage?"

  Kerry eyed him. "Hey."

  "Yes, their database." Dar went back to stabbing her eggs, making them yolk all over the plate. "How in the hell did they think all those people got credentials to work in those facilities? Pulled them out off their asses? They all have security clearances. Issued by the damned GOVERNMENT."

  Alastair and Hamilton exchanged glances. "Did you write that database too?" Alastair inquired. "Maybe you could go run the report for them, if you can spare a minute."

  Hamilton waved his pen at him. "Al, hush. This'll help I think. Just tell those folks to call me if they call you again." He smiled at Dar. "Always lovely to spend time with you ladies. I'll be off to fence with the Federals now. Wish me luck." He got up and lifted his jacket off the back of his chair. "Al, I'll let you know what I find out."

  "Sure." Alastair waved at him as he left. "Well."

  "Want a pancake?" Kerry nudged the plate toward him. "It's probably going to be a really long day."

  Their CEO gazed at her for a moment, then he reached over and took the top pancake on the stack, rolling it up and dunking the end in the cup of maple syrup. He took a bite. "Can someone tell me why we're doing all the right things, but everything is going to hell anyway?"

  "Welcome to our world." Dar crunched noisily on her bacon. "Just wait. It'll start raining any minute."

  KERRY PULLED UP the zipper on her jumpsuit, then she went over to the plastic shopping bag on the desk and removed some power bars from it, stuffing them in a couple of the pockets. She then clipped her cell phone, and a new accoutrement--a radio--to her belt.

  The masks she gratefully left behind, settling a company logo baseball cap on her head instead. "Okay," she addressed her reflection, "let's see what we can go find in the bowels of the city."

  The subway. Kerry shook her head. Dar was already on the lower floor of the hotel talking to the maintenance people. Kerry figured by the time she got down there either they would be ready to move ahead or Dar would be veering off on another path altogether.

  She hoped it was a different path. She knew they were far from the disaster site, but she had no desire to be anywhere underground. With a last patting of her pockets she tucked her room key away and headed out the door.

  The elevator opened, and she entered, to find Alastair already inside. "Hello, again," she greeted him. "Going to join us in the tunnels?"

  Alastair had his hands in his pockets. He had a pair of khakis on, and, surprisingly, a rugby shirt. "I think I'd rather do that than meet with the press. That's where I'm off to."

  "Ah. Ugh." Kerry sympathized. "Are we in trouble again?"

  "Not this time, apparently. Seems like word got around about our hospitality buses, and our folks taking care of some of the workers down there. One of the local stations wanted me to chat about it."

  "Oh. Well, that's great," Kerry said, as the elevator arrived at the lobby and opened. "Isn't it?"

  "Any press is generally good press." Alastair followed her out into the lobby. "But, we've been high profile here, and I've got a gut feeling that might not be the best thing in the long run."

  "Not after what happened to that guy yesterday." Kerry shook her head. "I'd rather be under the radar myself."

  "Exactly," Alastair agreed. "But I suppose giving out cookies and pop can't be too controversial."

  They walked across the lobby, and Kerry wasn't surprised to find Dar standing by the coffee stand. She reached for her radio then paused as Dar looked around the lobby, spotting her in a few seconds.

  A faint grin appeared. Dar indicated the stand with her thumb,then turned as Kerry nodded emphatically. "Well, good luck," she told Alastair. "We'll try to hold up our end of this."

  Alastair chuckled. "Not worried about that at all. I never had any doubts before over what Operations could do, but now I've got a whole new respect for you and Dar. Been a real eye opener."

  Kerry wondered what that meant. "Well, we try." She veered off to where Dar was waiting with two big cups of coffee in her hands. "See you later."

  Alastair continued toward the front door, and Kerry ambled to a halt next to her partner and her heavenly burden. "I feel like swimming in that coffee." She accepted her cup. "Find anything?"

  "Labyrinthine basements." Dar informed her. "Soon as Mark and the boys get back from grabbing flashlights and water, we'll head down there. No one knows where the hell some of the corridors go."

  "Great." Kerry sighed.

  "Hon, you can stay up here and work on issues if you want." Dar rested her hand on Kerry's shoulder. "You don't need to come spelunking with me." She tweaked a bit of Kerry's pale hair. "There's plenty to do topside."

  "I know. But I want to go." Kerry took a sip of her coffee. "And it can't be as bad as yesterday. I thought I was going to have nightmares from that."

  "You didn't."

  "I didn't. I didn't dream at all, that I remember. I think I was too tired." She spotted Mark and his crew coming out of an elevator. "Or maybe I just dreamed about you the whole time. I felt like I did when I woke up."

  Dar turned her head and gave her partner a puzzled look. "Huh?"

  "Never mind. Tell you later." Kerry raised her cup toward Mark. "Hey. You guys ready for some exploration?"

  Mark looked tired, but he nodded. Shaun was with him, along with Scuzzy and Nan, and Joshua, a tech from the office. "Ready as we'll ever be," he said. "Hope we find something though. I'm whacked from last night."

  "Me too." Shaun agreed, stifling a yawn. "What were those drinks we were having?"

  "Yo, you're some kinda lightweight," Scuzzy said. "We weren't out there late!"

  "Yes, we were." Nan disagreed. "I've still got karaoke ringing in my ears." She covered one. "I've never been in a club that loud before."

  "Hey it's the city," Scuzzy said. "People need to blow off steam around here, you know? Been rough this week."

  "Hey, I had fun. I'm just tired," Nan said. "You guys had the right idea, heading back." She gave Dar and Kerry a wry look. "I think I had an hour sleep."

>   Dar took the flashlight Mark was holding out and slipped it into the long pocket along one seam of her coveralls. "Okay, let's go." She pointed to the front doors. "We'll walk down to the office, then find a subway entrance. The concierge said there's one right near by."

  They exited the hotel and started down the block, crossing two streets before they neared the rear entrance to their offices. "Can we get to the subway from inside?" Dar asked.

  "Sure." Scuzzy led the way into the complex. "They got lots of underground stuff here. You know? Great for when it's snowing. You don't want to freeze your ass off getting coffee in the morning."

  "Smart idea." Kerry agreed. "But it makes me realize why all those people from New York moved to Florida. You never freeze your ass off doing anything there."

  They walked through the concourse and down a set of stairs passing from the light into the underground part of Rockefeller Center. "Is that where we're going?" Dar pointed to a sign that simply said, 'Subway'.

  "Yeah, that's the Sixth Ave, you know? Independent line," Scuzzy said, as they started for the stairs. "You guys are gonna have a big problem getting from there to the IRT, you know?"

  "The what?" Kerry asked.

  "Don't the tunnels all connect?" Dar asked.

  "Well, sure." Scuzzy led the way down the steps. "Like, eventually." She continued, "but not here on Sixth, maybe near the shuttle, like where we met, you know? This subway was built like after the other one. The IRT, that was the first."

  "I see." Dar grunted.

  "I don't." Kerry chimed in. 'There's more than one subway?"

  "Well, not now. Now they're all one system." Scuzzy explained. "But back in the day they were all fighting with each other putting tracks down everywhere."

  "Uh huh." Dar looked around the lower mezzanine. "So where do we go from here?"

  "Camera, let me show ya." Scuzzy led them over to big map on the wall sealed behind scratched plastic. "See, we're here." She pointed at an orange line. "This subway, it goes over here, and then over toward Roosevelt, see?"