by Melissa Good
Kerry eyed him. "They were?"
Carlos nodded. "Yeah. They got a bar downstairs," he explained. "That's where they all went last night." He picked up one of the POS systems, then appeared at a loss as to how to juggle its associated printer and assorted cables.
Kerry resolved the problem for him by picking them up. "C'mon," she said. "There are sixty of these things. If we go in pairs, it's only four trips for each team and we're done." She started toward the steps, glancing at the chart on the way. "And see? You'll get to see the crew's bar anyway. That's where we're going."
Carlos trotted after her, carrying his armful of POS station. They went to the stairs and started down, going past the last passenger floor and entering the crew spaces. It was still quiet, and their footsteps sounded very loud on the linoleum. Carlos' sneakers even squeaked a little whereas Kerry's hiking boots merely scuffed.
On either side of the wall, aged bulletin boards carried notices and announcements, and lining the inside of one long space was a map of the ship marked off into cryptic zones. To either side, they passed doors labeled with chipped and peeling name plates.
They continued on down the hall toward the front of the ship going down another half staircase and then down a narrower corridor. Ahead of them was a steel, gray door without a nameplate that had a very worn handle and a chipped and scarred surface that had been painted over many, many times. "That it?" Kerry asked.
Carlos nodded. "They showed me last night," he explained. "So I could find it again. They seemed pretty nice about it," he added. "We got to talking about computers and stuff."
Of course. Kerry tucked the printer under her arm and reached out to grasp the door handle turning it and pulling the door open. She stood back to let Carlos enter, then realized the room was occupied. She followed him inside and looked around, spotting perhaps twenty crewmen in various states of repose around the room, all of them turning to look at them. "Hi."
Two men were at the pool table. They straightened and turned, looking her over brazenly. One of the men sitting on a threadbare couch near the wall whistled.
Oh boy. Kerry continued across the room toward the small bar. Her shoulder blades itched, feeling the eyes on her, and she was glad she'd put on a relatively staid blue t-shirt instead of anything more revealing.
Carlos put the POS system down and went behind the bar, oblivious to the men around them as he searched for a place to plug it in while Kerry concentrated on connecting the receipt printer. She removed a small screwdriver from her back pocket and connected the cables, aware of some motion around her and the fact that several people were coming closer.
Carlos looked up. "Oh, hey," he remarked casually. "So how are you guys? Did you have a good party last night?"
One of the men slipped onto the barstool next to where Kerry was standing. "You shoulda come," he answered, "and brung your lady friend here. Hey honey, what's your name?"
Kerry didn't even look up. "Eleanor Roosevelt." She finished tightening the screws on the cable.
"So' kay if I call you El?" The man didn't miss a beat.
"Hey, chill out man. That's my boss," Carlos protested. "Don't talk like that."
"You work for a woman?" The man laughed and his friends joined in.
"Sure," Carlos responded, cheerfully unruffled.
The man leaned on the counter and tried to get Kerry's attention. "Hey, can I buy you a drink? C'mon, look up beautiful." He tapped on the surface right next to Kerry's arm.
Kerry obliged straightening up. The man sitting next to her was around her age with short, cropped dark hair and honey colored eyes. He wasn't unattractive, and there was a brazen sensuality about him that she suspected some women might find attractive. "Thanks." She tried the polite route first. "But I really don't drink anything but orange juice before dinner."
The two pool players came closer leaning on their sticks. None of them seemed threatening but they were definitely interested in her. Kerry accepted the flattery of the notion, but she didn't much care for the assumption that she'd welcome it.
Belatedly, Carlos seemed to realize things were sliding into the uncool zone. He stepped around the bar and came to Kerry's side, a little unsure of what to do next.
"We've got some orange juice," the man said. "We'll just add a little something to it. How about it? We can get the music going here and start the party early."
"Sounds good to me," one of the pool players said.
"Well, not to us." Kerry added a touch of firmness to her tone. "We've got work to do. So have fun with your party, gentlemen." She pocketed her screwdriver and started to move away from the bar. "C'mon, Carlos." She was suddenly aware that the room had no windows and only the one door visible and the walls seemed to close in on her as more bodies started to move her way.
"Yes, ma'am." Carlos stepped back out of her way and turned to follow Kerry.
"Pussy." The man at the bar laughed.
"Hey, c'mon. What's the rush?" The brazen pool player moved to get in Kerry's way. "We've got time before we hit port, and I like my ladies a little on the spicy side."
"Really?" Kerry didn't even stop to think. She planted her left leg and half turned whipping her right up in a roundhouse kick that took the pool cue out of his hands and sent it clattering to the ground.
"Hey!" the man yelped, and lifted his now empty fingers. "What the hell!"
The man came off the barstool. Kerry lifted her hands up into a defensive posture, curling her fingers into fists.
"Dudes, you should like back off." Carlos advised them. "She's like a black belt kick boxer."
Kerry's brows jerked up.
The men looked at Carlos who looked back at them with devastating earnestness. "No shit," he added. "She's got like a hundred trophies."
Kerry almost laughed biting the inside of her lip as the men backed off a little, watching her warily. She relaxed her pose and started toward the door again, this time unimpeded. "Gentlemen. Have a nice day." She called back over her shoulder as she opened the door and saw the blessed light of the empty corridor ahead of her.
Carlos followed her out and pushed the door shut behind them. "Was that okay?" he asked. "I didn't know those guys were such ass-- er--."
Kerry stopped and turned putting her hands on her hips and regarding him with mildly twinkling green eyes. 'Trophies?"
He shrugged sheepishly.
"C'mon." Kerry turned and headed for the stairs up. "Dar has trophies y'know." She made a mental note to find something nice to do for the unexpectedly resourceful Carlos.
"Yeah?"
"And she really is a black belt. I'm just a blue."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Kerry got to the top of the steps and continued up the hallway. Her knees were shaking, and she made a mental note to warn the other female techs to watch out for trouble. The ship chose that moment to roll to one side, and she was caught off balance, her shoulder smacking into the wall as the floor pitched under her.
Carlos hit the paneling next to her, and they hung on, waiting for the ship to steady and right itself. Kerry became suddenly aware of the fact they were below the waterline, and just as suddenly, she wondered where Dar was.
A low rumble sounded along with the hooting of horns.
She could see a flashing light down the corridor. The ship was still listing. "Carlos?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Run."
"Ma'am?"
Kerry grabbed his arm and started for the stairs.
"WHAT'S--UH--GOING on?" Carlos yelped, as they slid to one side on the steps and nearly toppled over them. "This isn't normal, right?"
"Right." Kerry grabbed the railing and hauled herself upward with fierce determination. "C'mon, just keep going up." She grabbed a door handle at the top of the steps and pulled. She was sent sprawling as it opened abruptly and swung inward. "Yah!"
"Hey!" Carlos grabbed at her. "Hey!"
Kerry scrambled to her feet and got her balance just as the ship decided t
o assist her and rolled back in the other direction. She and Carlos went catapulting through the door and across the hallway, slamming together into the wall as the door behind them slammed with a huge bang. "Son of a..."
"Hey!" Carlos grabbed for a handhold as the ship continued on its roll and went in the other direction. "Whhoooaa!!!
Kerry started up the tilting corridor gripping the railing along the wall tightly. "C'mon." She halted suddenly as a luggage cart broke free of its bindings and careened across the hall nearly crashing into them. "Jesus." She fended it off with some difficulty, then continued to the next doorway that led into the main stairwell.
The tilt made the lunge across the hall almost impossible, but she got hold of the doorframe with her finger tips and pulled herself inside. "Hurry up!" She called back to Carlos. "We've got to get out of here!"
"Yahhh!" Carlos had leaped after her, but missed the hold on the door and was now sliding back toward the opposite wall. "Go on...I'll catch up!"
Kerry didn't even think twice. She turned and headed back, hanging on to the frame and extending her arm out across the slanting floor. "Here!"
Carlos gathered himself and shoved off from the wall, only to have the ship tilt suddenly back to center. He was unable to stop his momentum, and he plowed right into Kerry, taking them both to the ground near the bottom step. "Oh!"
Kerry landed on her back, her hands reaching out to grab hold of anything she could in preparation for the next motion of the vessel. Carlos ended up sprawled over her, his head thumping against the riser as he pinned her to the ground. "Oof!"
"Ow." Carlos winced.
Kerry glanced at the curve of his ear inches from her nose. She cleared her throat gently. "No offense, Carlos, but this is definitely not my idea of fun."
"I am so sorry, ma'am." Carlos rolled off her quickly, his face a brick red.
Kerry sat up cautiously but the ship remained steady. Far above them, she thought she could hear laughter, and the sound of tinkling glass, and she wondered how many things had broken during the bizarre tilting. "Okay." She got up, grimacing as she felt her shoulder pop back into place, an uneasy sensation she'd been prone to since she'd dislocated it in the hospital.
It wasn't exactly painful, but there was motion in the joint she didn't have in her other arm, and remembering how that felt when it came all the way out always made her inwardly cringe.
"Are you okay?" Carlos asked hesitantly. "I didn't hurt you or anything did I?"
"No. I'm fine." Kerry started up the stairs. "Let's go find out what the hell's going on." She took the steps two at a time, rounding the landing and looking up ahead of her as she started to hear voices, along with the sound of rhythmic footsteps heading in their direction.
Could have been anyone really, but there was something about the pace and the weight of them that struck a chord of instant recognition with her. She turned the corner on the stairs and had to stop short as Dar flew toward them without regard for her own safety. "Hey!" Kerry got her hands out in front of her, ready to jump aside if Dar couldn't stop in time.
You really didn't want Dar plowing into you. She was solid as a rock and with any momentum you could easily end up on your butt with no effort at all. "Whoa!"
Dar bounced to a halt, taking in both of them with quick, darting looks. "You all right?" she asked crisply. "Mark said you went down to the bottom deck."
"We're fine--just a little shook up." Kerry nodded. "You?"
Dar waggled a foot. "Banged my damned toes on a door," she admitted. "Bastards."
"Your toes?" Kerry took her arm and they started up the steps once again.
"Damn crew...thought it was funny."
Uh oh. Kerry could sense the prickling of her partner's pride, never a wise thing to ruffle, at least in public at any rate. She sometimes realized she was treading a fine line, even in private, with Dar on that issue. She certainly could be silly at times, and she had a great sense of humor, but she really didn't like being made fun of.
Even by Kerry. "Bastards." She agreed with Dar's sentiment. "It's not funny. Someone might have gotten hurt. We had guys all over the ship carrying heavy stuff."
"Yeah." Carlos spoke up somewhat timidly. "I'm sure glad we got that machine installed before that happened."
"Me too." Kerry gave him a smile.
"Hey, maybe those jerks ended up against the wall in there, huh?" Carlos went on. "They sure deserved it."
Dar stopped walking and turned to look at Kerry, one eyebrow lifting. "Jerks?"
"Later." Kerry urged her forward. "Let's see if we lost anything."
Visibly reluctant, Dar peered down the steps before she grudgingly followed Kerry back up. She suspected there was more to it than just a tossed off 'later', but Kerry appeared completely undamaged so whatever it was couldn't have been too bad.
Could it? Dar exhaled, and kept climbing. Her foot was well on its way to healing, but now was throbbing painfully again, and her temper was heading toward the ragged side. She kept that in mind and bit her tongue as she caught up to Kerry, suppressing her desire to find out what the 'later' was right now.
No sense in taking it out on Kerry, was there? She put her hand on her partner's back as they walked up the last set of steps into the atrium, and relaxed a trifle as she felt Kerry lean back into the touch.
Several of the techs were standing in a group, and Mark was just coming down from the next floor up. All of them looked shaken, and they turned in relief as they heard her approach. "Everyone all right?" Dar asked.
"So far." Mark was sucking on the side of his thumb. "Got my hand caught in a freaking door, that's the worst I heard so far." He surveyed the chaos in front of them. "Crap."
The gear that had been so nicely lined up was now tumbled everywhere, some leaning against the glass wall to the outside, some upside down near the stairs, and the parts that went with them were strewn about haphazardly.
"What the hell happened?" Mark asked.
Kerry walked over and knelt by one of the machines, tipping it back over and checking the screen for damage. "Yeah, me too." She called back over her shoulder. "Those must have been some waves."
Dar put her hands on her hips and frowned, glancing aside as some of the crew appeared behind the reception desk, obviously amused. "Something funny?" she inquired of them.
They didn't answer, but they didn't leave either.
Dar's eyes narrowed. The door from one of the offices opened and the staff captain appeared, smirking as he watched the techs clean up the mess in the atrium.
A thought occurred to her. "Son of a bitch."
Kerry glanced up. "What?" She got up and walked over. "Not that I thought you were addressing me, hon, but you've got the most bizarre expression on your face."
Dar waited for the staff captain to stroll over. "Morning."
"Good morning, Ms. Roberts." The man smiled charmingly at her. "Are you having a good day so far today? I see you have some disarray here. So sad."
Kerry just barely held herself back from stomping on the man's foot with her hiking boot. The sudden desire for violence surprised her, but somehow the reaction didn't seem overly wrong. "The ship nearly turned over. What did you expect would happen? I'm sure you have things in a mess in places too."
The crew behind the desk laughed.
"Not at all, Ms. Stuart," the staff captain replied. "You should really be more careful with all your machines, yes?" He walked past them and laughed, as the techs struggled to right the gear. "Perhaps we will hit more high seas."
The techs looked around apprehensively, some of them grabbing hold of railings as though expecting the ship to tilt again. This amused the crew, more of whom had appeared behind the desk, and the laughter rang across the atrium.
Kerry put her hands on her hips. "You know something, Paladar?" She turned to her partner. "There's something not right about this whole thing."
Dar gave her a wry look, but was spared from answering as Andrew appeared and crossed
the atrium to where they were standing. "Hi, Dad."
The big ex-SEAL was chuckling. "You all right, Dardar? See everything got knocked puss over keester up here."
"Look out, here she goes again!" The staff captain suddenly yelled.
The techs all scrambled around, trying to hold on to something and their gear at the same time, while they looked around frantically to see which way the ship was going to tilt next.
Now the crew was clustered in the hall and they all broke up laughing.
Kerry let out a breath. "Dar..."
Dar turned to Andrew. "Stability test?"
Andrew was also chuckling. "Yeap. It surely was that." He glanced at his daughter. "Figgered they'd play a little seaman's joke on ya'll."
Dar's expression didn't change. "It wasn't funny." She looked her father in the eye, her voice quiet. "Especially if you knew about it and didn't tell me."
"A joke?" Kerry repeated. "My god. People could have been seriously hurt!"
Andrew blinked at them. "Wasn't really that bad." He started to protest.
"That bad?" Dar's voice rose now taking on an edge. She pointed at the gear. "Those weigh sixty pounds. If Kerry had been carrying one when they pulled this stupid little prank she could have broken her neck!"
The rage was very evident, and Andrew was caught completely flat footed by it.
"Jesus Christ. What the hell is wrong with you people?" Dar was talking directly to him. "You think this is some kind of game?" Now she turned and pinned the staff captain with a hard stare. "Mister, you better have a nice bank account, because every piece of broken plastic's going to be taken out of it." She headed right for him. "You think it's funny? You all think it's funny?" She let her eyes sweep the crew who had stopped laughing.
The techs stayed very still, even Mark merely kept his head down and waited.
Just then, footsteps sounded on the steps above, and they all looked up to see two of the techs easing slowly down the stairs supporting a third. "Oh man...glad we made it down here," one of them said in obvious relief. "I think Darcy's leg's broken."