Storm Surge

Chapter Twenty

"YOU MUST BE exhausted." Kerry nevertheless was content to sprawl half across Dar's lap in the back of the SUV, her head resting on her partner's thigh as Dar's hands worked the kinks out of her neck. "Do you even know what time it is?"

"Do you even think I care?" Dar glanced at the driver's seats, where her father was ensconced at the wheel with Kerry's mother directing him. It gave her a Twilight Zone feeling and she quickly returned her attention to Kerry.

"Probly not."

"You're probly right." Dar was tired, but not sleepy. In truth, given all the travel, she really had no sense of what time her body thought it was, but regardless, she was looking forward to a dark hotel room and a nice soft bed with her partner in it. "Mark made some good progress over there."

"I know," Kerry said. "I really wanted to get out of there because I was more in their way than anything once I'd gotten the brass on the same page as us."

Dar chuckled. "Our technology bus has become the social center onsite. If the PR department were here they'd be pissing in their pants at all the good press they didn't arrange or pay for."

Kerry smiled, her fingertips tracing the seam line of Dar's jeans. Then her smile faded. "It's awful about Bob."

"Yeah," Dar exhaled. "Alastair's pretty shaken up over it. I think he really wanted to be here with us, but his family is old friends of Bob's." She kneaded Kerry's shoulders, feeling the tension in the tight muscles there. "I think the rest of the staff there will be glad to see him though."

"Ungh."

"How's your headache?"

"Better," Kerry murmured. "Just having you here makes me feel better. Why is that? You always do that to me."

Dar gazed quietly down at her. "I don't know," she said, after a pause. "I know I feel better just being here. You think we're nuts?"

"Probably," Kerry acknowledged. "Do you care?"

"Nope."

"Me either."

"I need to call Gerry in the morning," Dar said. "I'm sure he tried to call me tonight but the only place I have his private number is in my cell." She sighed. "I'll have to have Maria get it for me."

"I can't believe you forgot your briefcase," Kerry mumbled. "Jesus, Dar. That has your laptop in it."

"Also had my wallet in it," her partner informed her. "Luckily for me I did remember to bring my father."

"What's that, Dardar?" Andrew asked, from the driver's seat. "You kids all right back there? We're almost to that there hotel of yours."

"I was just telling Kerry about our trip," Dar said. "I hear that hotel has a nice bar."

"With leather chairs," Kerry supplied. "The big cushy ones."

"Ah do believe a beer would be right nice about now," Andrew allowed. "Been one hell of a day after another damn hell of a day."

"It was so nice of you to come along, commander," Cynthia said. "You have always been so supportive," she added. "I believe you need to turn--ah, no left there. Ah. Oh."

"Hold on there." Andrew directed the SUV across several lanes of traffic. "Jest be a minute."

"Keep your eyes closed," Dar advised her partner, who had stirred and started to get up. "Don't look. I just got that knot out of your back."

"Mmph." Kerry grunted and relaxed again. "Company has insurance on this thing, right?" She had her knee braced against the back of the front passenger seat, and with Dar's grip on her, and her hold on Dar's leg, she figured she was pretty safe.

It was getting late, and she was really feeling it. She wished she could ask Andrew to just drop them off.

"Thank you again for bringing all those supplies for our poor guards," Cynthia went on. "They were very happy with what you brought I believe."

"Damn sure shoulda been," Andrew said. "That was some nice roast beef, Dardar. You all sure don't fool around with grub, do ya?"

"Nerds require a lot of protein liberally applied," Dar said. "Keeps the brain cells running." She riffled through Kerry's pale hair, as one eyeball appeared and rotated up to watch her. "So yeah, we don't eat quiche."

Andrew chuckled.

"Have you ever eaten quiche?" Kerry asked, in a low mutter.

"Not knowingly," Dar confided. "Have you?"

Kerry nodded mournfully.

Dar leaned closer. "What is quiche?" she whispered.

"Overcooked egg omelette in a cake pan with a bunch of weird stuff it in and not enough egg."

Dar made a face. "Ew." She leaned back against the seat and peered through the front windshield, spotting their hotel rapidly approaching. She could feel a vague disassociation clouding her senses, a product of the long day's worth of overwhelming input. Though she knew there were lists of things she should be doing right at the moment she also knew she wasn't going to do them.

People made mistakes when they were as tired as she was. Like leaving briefcases full of important documents, machines, and credit cards somewhere. Dar gently kneaded the back of Kerry's neck with one hand as she watched the streetlamps go by in silence.

They pulled into the hotel valet lobby, and reluctantly Dar released her partner and gave her a scratch on the back. "Here we are."

With an audible sigh, Kerry pushed herself up and sat back, running the fingers of one hand through her hair. She waited for the valet to open the door and hopped out blinking a little in the cool air as the sounds of the hotel surrounded her.

It all looked a little different. She glanced around her as they walked up the steps and into the lobby, wondering if she was just not remembering what it had been like or if she was imagining differences. She followed Andrew into the big bar, among only a few other patrons, most gathered at the bar watching the television.

She sat down in one of the comfortable looking chairs, and extended her legs as the rest of them settled around her, a waitress in an impeccably cut suit gliding their way at once.

Bad day for business, she guessed. Or, maybe they recognized her mother. She glanced to one side. Or maybe the tall, scarred Andrew caught their eye.

"Ms. Stuart, welcome back," the waitress addressed her directly. "What is your pleasure?"

"Uh?" Kerry felt her brain wrench off onto a siding. She turned her head and looked at Dar just long enough for her partner to start snickering.

"I think she means to drink, hon," Dar drawled. "I'll take an Irish coffee, thanks," she told the waitress. "And she'd probably like a Mojito if you can manage it."

Kerry got lightheaded, as the blood rushed to her face. "Thank you. Yes. That will be fine," she muttered, rubbing her face. "Sorry, it's been a long day."

"Of course." The waitress didn't even turn a hair. She swiveled and addressed Cynthia. "Ma'am?"

Dar patted Kerry's knee. "Sorry." She leaned on the chair arm. "You okay?"

Kerry slouched back into her chair, and simply took a moment to study the angular face across the chair from her. That's what was different, she realized. Dar was here, and that made everything different.

She felt different, having her partner here. She felt less defensive, less on edge. Her eyes met Dar's and she tried to quantify the change, seeing both exhaustion and happiness reflected back at her. "I'm really glad you're here," she said, watching the smile appear on Dar's lips.

"I'm not glad I'm here," Dar replied. "But I'm really glad we're together."

Ah. Yes. Kerry felt that nailed down her feelings completely. "Yeah." She felt the blush finally fade, and she was able to glance across the low table at her mother and Dar's father. "That's exactly what I meant."

"Kerry," Cynthia said. "I have to say I'm terribly sorry for what happened at my office. I was wrong. I should not have involved you at all," she said. "I thought I was doing a good thing, bringing information to my colleagues. Instead, it seems to have only made them angry."

"Jackasses," Andrew commented. "Gov'mint people got caught with their shorts round their ankles now they're hollering foul."

Cynthia half turned and regarded him. "Are you saying they should have known this was going to occur, Commander?"

"Anybody with an eyeball and half an ear knew that," the ex SEAL responded mildly. "Them folks tried to blow up them buildings before. They ain't got no voice. That's how they talk. Blow things up. Blow up buildings, blow up police stations, blow up their own folks."

Cynthia blinked at him. "Oh. My."

"Ah been there," Andrew added, almost as an afterthought. "Ain't no love there for us. Only thing we got between us is money."

A silence fell, as the waitress returned with a tray full of drinks. She set down Kerry's first then went around the table, her motions quick and efficient. "Ms. Stuart, would you like something sent to your suite? I brought your tea up last night."

Oh. "Um.. I think I'm okay for now, thanks." Kerry finally made the connection as to why she'd been addressed first. Her waking in the palatial suite seemed to be from another time, and had happened to another person. "But do you have a dessert menu from the restaurant?"

"Of course." The waitress smiled at her. "Here you are." She handed Kerry a leather bound folio. "I'll be right back."

Kerry leaned on the chair arm and opened the menu, immediately gaining a dark head resting on her shoulder as Dar peered at it as well. "What do I want?" she mused.

"That." Dar pointed at the brownie sundae. "Get it twice the size and I'll share it with you," she suggested, her shoulder bumping Kerry's. "Either that or this." She pointed next at a peach cobbler with ice cream.

"We're going to be bouncing off the walls all night," Kerry said. She turned her head to see that tiny bit of mischief erupt in her partner's eyes just a moment too late. "Jesus. Don't say it." She sighed. "Not twice in ten minutes."

Dar snickered, but held her silence.

"Well," Cynthia sighed. "I'm not sure really what to do at this point. What I am truly afraid of is that some of my colleagues will use this as an excuse to put in place some ideas that might not have found wide acceptance before."

Kerry put the menu down and sat back, picking up her Mojito and taking a sip of it. The cool minty sweetness almost hid the bite of rum and she licked her lips and put it back down on the table. The waitress came back, and Kerry pointed at both herself and Dar. "Sundae." She glanced at Andrew, who nodded, then at her mother. "Mother?"

Cynthia frowned then shrugged. "Why not?"

"Four." Kerry felt her second wind kicking in. Or perhaps it was her third or fourth by this time. "Dar, can you let us in on what the issue is with Gerry?"

Dar glanced at Kerry's mother, then at Kerry. One brow twitched then she half shrugged. "Sure," she said. "Take this with a grain of salt, since I haven't talked to anyone but Gerry about this, and he was pretty vague."

She paused, and glanced around, but they were quite alone in their corner of the bar, the television providing an irresistible draw to everyone else including the staff. "The problem is they lost all the local feeds into the stock exchanges and the banking centers down on the tip of Manhattan."

Kerry nodded. Cynthia nodded. Andrew grunted. "Okay," Kerry added, after Dar paused. "And?"

"And, they need to get them back online, and not let out how damaging that is to our financial infrastructure," Dar supplied.

Everyone nodded again. "Well, that's understandable," Cynthia ventured. "But I'm not quite sure--I mean, surely everyone knows that, and by now it's being worked on," she paused. "Isn't it?"

Kerry folded her arms across her chest. "Probably not yet," she said. "The place where all those connections were is buried under the debris from the South tower."

"Oh," Kerry's mother murmured. "Well, then--"

"Where do we come in to this?" Kerry looked at Dar. "None of that's ours," she added. "We've got some customers down there, sure, and I'm already working on plans to get them rerouted, but we don't touch the markets. I remember them saying how we were locked out of those contracts."

"Someone told someone we could fix it," Dar said, succinctly. "That's what Gerry wants me to talk to that someone about. "

Cynthia was looking from one of them to the other. "I don't understand. What is this about locked contracts? "

"Politics," Dar and Kerry said together. Then Kerry half turned to face her partner. "They think we can fix it? Dar that makes no sense. We don't have anything down there. No contacts, nothing. You remember what happened the last time we tried to put a bid in?"

"It doesn't make sense," Dar agreed. "That's why we need to talk to them. Find out why they think that. Alastair said I should get in and do whatever I needed to--but Ker, he doesn't get it. He doesn't know what the score is there. I think he's just not thinking straight."

Kerry shook her head. "Well, okay," she said. "On one hand we've got part of the government pissed off because we know everything, and on the other, we've got part of the government thinking we're Thor, god of the Internets. Who knows what's going to happen tomorrow."

"Thor, god of the internet," Dar mused. "I'm going to get a T-shirt that says that."

Andrew chuckled. Cynthia paused, then she laughed as well, and the mood lightened a little.

"Really, it should wait for tomorrow," Kerry's mother said. "It's very late, and I'm sure we're all very tired. I hope the morning will bring some return to normal. I hear airplane flights are resuming." She looked over at Dar. "I am glad you arranged to arrive this evening, however, Dar. I know Kerrison missed you terribly."

"Mother," Kerry sighed.

"Didn't you?" Dar reached over and took Kerry's hand in her own. "I sure as hell missed you."

"Of course I did." Kerry felt a little flustered. "But sheesh--you came for other reasons." She eyed her partner, who had a faint smile on her face. "Didn't you?"

Dar shook her head.

"Dar."

Dar shrugged. "I'm too tired to lie," she said. "It just so happened that Gerry's plan coincided with where I needed to be. If it hadn't, I'd have told him he had to wait." She gazed back at three sets of eyes then looked over at Kerry. "Don't give me that look. You were going to start driving for Houston yesterday."

Kerry scratched her nose, and looked faintly abashed.

"Anyway--" Dar sipped her coffee with her free hand, the fingers of the other tangled with Kerry's. "You and I will go down to the offices of whoever it is Gerry talked to and straighten it all out tomorrow. "

"The other sat trucks are holding outside Newark," Kerry informed her. "Not sure if you got that on the call. They won't let anyone down into lower Manhattan yet."

Dar nodded. "We can compare notes tomorrow morning. See where we want the plan to go from here."

"I know what my intentions are," Cynthia spoke up suddenly. "I have decided to return home, as early as I can. We have many things back in Michigan that I'm worried about," she said. "I realize there is much debate going on here, but there are people there that might be in danger."

Kerry nodded. "I think that's a good decision."

"I already know what will happen here," her mother said, in a quieter tone. "I already know speaking against it will do nothing. One of my colleagues spoke with me earlier today, she's afraid even to ask questions. Everyone is so angry."

"Ah get that," Andrew said. "Ah know what that feels like. Someone done kicked you and all you want to do is get up and kick back." He folded both arms over his broad chest. "That whole turn t'other cheek business never did much take hold in this here country."

Cynthia sighed.

Kerry took a swallow of her Mojito, glad of the warmth of Dar's fingers around hers. From the corner of her eye she could see ice cream heading their way, and she could sense the end of the evening coming as well, when she'd walk with Dar across the lobby and take the elevator to her-no their-suite.

Everything was changing around her. The world, her family, her relationships with people--the one constant being the hand holding hers, the steady confidence in Dar's eyes, the knowledge that she would sleep tonight wrapped in the warm comfort of love.

She had no idea what tomorrow would bring. But for tonight, life was doing the best it could and she was glad enough to take what she could get.

"Want my cherry?"

And then again.

KERRY LAY FLAT on her back on the bed, her arms outstretched and her legs hanging off the edge with her bare feet on the floor. She wasn't doing much of anything except listening to Dar prowl around the suite, the faint snickers and sounds of things moving making her smile.

She'd teased Dar, of course, about the suite. Dar had scoffed at her, accusing her of blowing the place out of proportion until she opened the door and stepped back to let her skeptical partner enter.

Dar had, stopping in the lobby and looking around with an honestly startled expression. "Holy crap."

Kerry had merely smirked and strolled past her, securing a piece of chocolate from the waiting basket before heading for the bedroom and the waiting, already turned down, comfortable looking bed leaving her partner to explore their miniature palace. "Tolja."

"Holy crap."

Kerry smiled benignly at the ceiling. She was totally spaced, and totally exhausted. She studied the tiles for a while, then drifted off for a while, then started as a sound at the doorway made her turn her head and lift it up off the surface to look toward the opening. "Uh?"

Dar was in it, leaning casually against the frame, her body now draped in a clean T-shirt and a glass of milk in her hand. "Okay, you're right," her partner said. "You're going to have to bust your ass to beat this one," she said. "It's got three bathrooms. I had an entire shower and didn't make enough noise to wake you up."

Kerry smiled, and lifted one hand, curling her finger in a come hither gesture. "Glad I did now. C'mere."

Dar obliged, setting the glass down on the bedside table before she launched herself into the bed next to Kerry, making the smaller woman bounce. She rolled onto her side and settled down, taking hold of Kerry's hand and bringing it to her lips for a kiss.

Now that they were alone, and they could say anything to each other, she really didn't feel like saying anything at all. Kerry angled her head and pulled Dar closer, reveling in the tingle in her guts as Dar abandoned her fingers and kissed her lips instead.

She looked up and found Dar looking back at her at close range, her partner's slightly bloodshot eyes expressing gentle affection that seemed to seep right through her. "I shouldn't have had that second Mojito," Kerry murmured mournfully. "I see three of you."

Dar grinned, the skin around her eyes crinkling up and glints of mischief coming into them. She leaned forward and kissed Kerry again, then rolled over and captured her partner's body, tangling her legs with Kerry's and pulling her over until they were in an untidy squash in the middle of the bed.

"Urgh." Kerry reveled in the heat where their bodies were pressed against each other. Dar's skin felt typically warm, and her skin held a hint of the apricot scrub from her shower. It was utterly familiar, and comforting. "You smell good."

"Do I?" Dar bit her ear gently. "I'm just glad to get the smell of airplane off me."

"What kind of plane did you come here on?" Kerry eased up onto her elbows, the air conditioning suddenly cold against the spot on her ear Dar had been suckling. "Did you have lots of Marines with you?"

"Nah. It was a transport." Dar slid her arms around Kerry's waist and studied her face. "Lots of nervous looking guys in suits. I'd have rather had the Marines. The ones in your mom's office were nice guys."

"They were,"Kerry nodded. "I liked them."

"They really liked you." Dar's eyes twinkled. "One of them said he was going to try and get a job with us after his hitch was up, and find you again."

"Oh for Pete's sake." Kerry started laughing. "All I did was get them freaking sandwiches." She let her head drop, and they kissed for a few minutes, ending with heightened breathing as they paused, and Kerry let her forehead rest against Dar's. "Mm."

"Keeerrrry," Dar warbled in her ear. "I mmmiiisssed you."

"Sweetie, I sure as hell missed you too." Kerry nibbled at her partner's neck. "I think more than anything I missed being able to talk to you."

"More than anything?" Dar gently cupped one of Kerry's breasts, rubbing her thumb teasingly over the nipple.

"Heheh," Kerry chortled softly. "Okay, point taken."

"I can do that too." Dar tweaked her. "But yeah, it was frustrating as hell for me to have to listen to you on that call and not be able to just talk back however I wanted to," she admitted, closing her eyes a little as Kerry's hands slid across her hips. "I felt so far away."

Kerry leaned forward and kissed her again, her hand slipping under Dar's shirt. She felt her ribs move as she inhaled and a warm surge of desire flushed her skin as she felt Dar's thigh ease between hers. "You sure don't feel far away now."

Dar cupped her hand behind Kerry's neck and drew her down again. She rolled onto her side and took Kerry with her, as she felt her shirt peeled up and the cool air hit her skin. She felt flushed and the chill felt good, goose bumps raising as Kerry ducked her head down and kissed her breast. "Hope not."

Kerry smiled. She felt the exhaustion lifting as her body reacted to her partner's touch, a burning in her guts igniting as Dar unbuttoned her shirt and slid the bottom of it up, glad she'd already shed her jeans.

Impatiently, she ducked her head as Dar pulled her shirt off She was busy herself with doing the same to her partner. A moment of chill, then Dar pressed against her and all she could feel was a burn that felt like it was washing her clean.

Washing the last two days out. Washing out the tension of dealing with her family. Driving aside the memories of the destruction and the accusations at her mother's office.

Dar's hand slid over her hip and down the outside of her thigh. Kerry abandoned herself to the growing tension in her guts and simply lived in the moment, savoring the ragged edge to her breathing as the light touch became more deliberate and her body arched, wanting the release.

Wanting that deep burn, and the knowing jolt. "God, I love you," she breathed, just as the sensations became too intense for words and her body shuddering in reaction, her arms clamping around Dar's as she let out a yell.

Dar chuckled, breathing hard as Kerry's weight bore down on her, pushing her back over onto her back as she nuzzled the side of her neck. "Love you too." She closed her eyes as Kerry started her attack. "Specially when you do that."

Kerry laughed on an irregular breath, as she felt tears sting her eyes at the same time. "That?"

"Ungh."

"Thought so."

KERRY WAS CONTENT to lay where she was, her body relaxed as she gently traced an imaginary line across Dar's bare skin. It was hard to keep her eyes open, but the steady light stroking on the inside of her thigh was stoking a lazy desire and keeping her from dropping off into sleep.

She didn't mind. It felt good. It wasn't too demanding, just a teasing sensuality that made her very aware of Dar's near presence and focused her on the sound of her partner's breathing and the scent of her skin.

Dar kissed her shoulder.

"Hey Dar?" Kerry returned the kiss, letting her fingers trace her partner's nipple. "Were you really serious?"

Dar's eyes opened. "About what?" her voice rose. "This? Hello? Earth to Kerry?"

Kerry leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. "No." She rested her elbows on either side of Dar's head, and gently rubbed noses with her. "About coming here."

Dar looked up at her for a long moment. "Duh," she said. "Give me a break, willya?"

"I feel so crummy then." Kerry ducked her head for another kiss. "I should have tried harder to go to you."

"I was in England, Ker."

"I can swim."

Dar chuckled, and wrapped her arms around her partner. She felt Kerry's body shift against hers and she savored the moment. "You had a lot to deal with here. I'll cut you some slack," she advised. "Besides, if you had paddled over we'd just have had to fly right back here. "

"I know." Kerry kissed her neck, nipping her collarbone a bit. "It's been crazy," she admitted, resting her head against Dar's shoulder as she felt Dar's hand resume its stroking. "First my family, then yesterday. Just nuts."

"You seem to be getting on okay with your Mom," Dar ventured cautiously. "At least based on tonight anyway."

Kerry was silent for a moment. "Yeah," she said. "Once we got a few things out of the way. It hasn't been that bad, really. I took her for sushi tonight."

"Radical."

"No, she liked it." Kerry smiled, nestling closer. "I had her get the safe stuff, like what you did to me the first time."

Dar chuckled softly. "You ended up eating most of mine that night."

"I told her that," Kerry admitted. "I talked about you a lot." She rubbed the edge of her thumb against Dar's breastbone. "She said she was glad we met."

Dar's eyebrows hiked up. She studied the curve of Kerry's jaw, seeing the muscles move under the skin. "You think she meant it?"

Kerry was silent for a bit then exhaled. "You know, it's so hard for me to tell. I want to think she did, because she said that and some other stuff about how she and my father really weren't aware of stuff Kyle did--but I don't know whether she's saying it because it's true, or because she wants it to be true, and she wants me to stop being so damned pissed off."

Dar started gently massaging her partner's neck again. "Do you want to stop being pissed off?" she asked. "You know when I finally got back together with mine that's what I decided. I'd just blow off the past thirty years of my life, and start fresh. Too much crap to dig through."

"Is that really fair?"

Dar shrugged. "Is life really fair?" she countered. "What makes you feel good inside, to let that all go, or just let it fester?" She felt the warmth as Kerry exhaled, her breath warming the skin over Dar's breast.

"Well, duh," Kerry murmured. "Who'd feel good festering? It just seems so--I don't know, wussy to just say, okay, forget it, let's just move on." She pondered a bit more, feeling her body slowly relaxing again, the room around her retreating a little. "That whole turn the other cheek thing is a really tough sell."

Dar hugged her. "For what it's worth, I think your Mom's legit," she said. "I think she was a chickenshit when your father was alive, but she's got to live with that. Life's short enough."

Kerry remained silent for a few minutes then stifled a yawn, and wrapped herself firmly around her partner. "Save it," she said. "I just want a nice long night of listening to your crazy heartbeat. To heck with everything else."

"Works for me." Dar squirmed backwards, hauling Kerry with her until they hit the pillows. "Let it wait for tomorrow along with all the other problems." She tugged the covers loose, helped more or less by a silently giggling Kerry, and managed to get them wrapped over without rolling them both out of the bed.

That left only the light, and that was a short matter, well within Dar's long reach. She slapped the button and they were in darkness. The sound proofed windows blocked the noise from the street, and only the soft hum from the air conditioning and two simultaneous sighs were heard.

"That hole in the side of the building is pretty terrible, isn't it?" Kerry asked, softly.

'Yeah," Dar whispered back. "Surreal. Seeing the flag draped there made me tear up."

"Me too. They said it happened so fast no one had a chance to get away." Kerry took a little tighter hold. "Must have been horrible."

"Like in the hospital, for us."

"Yeah." The silence lengthened a bit. "We were really lucky that night,weren't we?"

"Very," Dar replied, in a soft voice. "Very, very lucky."

Kerry thought about that for a long moment. Then she pressed her body against Dar's, lifting herself up a trifle and kissing her with simple passion. She rode the surge of energy and felt Dar respond, their bodies tangling again as the covers became irrelevant.

It was a moment to just live life, without regard to what happened next.

AMAZING WHAT A difference a day made. Kerry whistled under her breath as she settled her headset on her ears, her laptop already alive with information. She was seated in front of the window with a view of a breezy fall day outside.

At her side rested a cup of steaming coffee and a croissant neatly piled with eggs and Swiss cheese. She picked up a slice of strawberry and ate it, her eyes scanning the screen as she tried to assess what the status.

Behind her, Dar's low burr was audible as she talked to Maria, and behind her partner the big television was on showing CNN's screen complete with its new ticker scrawl and live footage behind the announcer.

"Good morning, this is Miami Exec currently in Washington," Kerry announced as the conference line connected. "Hope everyone is doing well."

A brief crackle, then a host of voices responded. "Morning, ma'am." "Morning Kerry." "Hello, Miami--welcome back. " "Glad to hear you on, Exec."

"Morning boss," Mark's voice echoed slightly a little afterward, sounding tired. "Now that you're on I'm gonna go catch a few z's. Is the big kahuna there?"

"She is," Kerry smiled as she said it, glancing up to see Dar framed in the entranceway, leaning back against the stately dining table dressed in just her T-shirt. "You sneaky little bugger. I'll get you for that."

"Hey, she told me not to say anything," Mark protested. "You think I'm dumb enough to not listen?"

Kerry chuckled, a warm, rich sound that echoed a little on the call. "So where are we? Give me a status then go get some rest." She picked up her coffee and took a sip, stretching one leg out and flexing her toes against the thick carpet.

Unlike the previous day when she'd woken up tired and tense, defensive in the presence of her mother. Today she felt a resurgence of her usual optimistic nature and a sense of animal well being.

"Well, we got some good stuff to tell and some bad stuff," Mark said. "The good stuff is Newark's up, and they've stopped beating up on the LA Earthstation."

"Miami ops, that's almost true," a voice interrupted. "We just had a request from the governor here to belay a full 24 channels for the National Guard."

Mark sighed. "Hold up a sec, LA," he said. "Anyway, they got the power up here about two hours ago, and I was able to get a link up to Newark, but holy molasses, boss, it's like shoving an elephant through a punch down. We ain't doing crap for traffic."

"Latency?" Kerry asked.

"Not just that, everyone wants to put up on the wire. I can't get a priority list out of anybody cause they all think they're the most important."

"Not like we never heard that before," Kerry said. "Okay, hang tight and tell Newark to hang tight. I'll be over there to beat back the arm wavers shortly."

"Miami exec, this is Newark," the Earthstation spoke up. "We're fully online now. Please tell those folks at APC we're all going to buy stock in them."

"Me too," Kerry agreed, smiling again. "They really came through for us. So now we have to turn that around and come through for everyone else. Just prioritize best you can until I can sort everyone out."

A window popped up, and she glanced at it. Good morning. You sound more chipper today.

"Duh, Mari." Kerry switched to the window. Yeah and I even got some sleep. Did Alastair get off okay?

Jose and Eleanor took him to the airport and said they'd stay with him until his flight at 8. He said he took Dar's advice last night down on South Beach. Dare I ask?

Kerry glanced at her partner. Hopefully she just gave him the name of a good steakhouse. She typed back. Otherwise I don't wanna know.

"Miami exec, this is Lansing."

"Go ahead, Lansing." Kerry got back to business.

"Ma'am, we had six installs due today, but we have them all on standby. FedEx advised us they don't know yet when they are going to be able to come off ground hold and deliver anything."

Ugh. Kerry picked up her croissant and took a bite as she thought. She chewed and swallowed before she answered. "That's a problem," she acknowledged. "Anyone from Logistics in Miami on?"

"It's Dogbert here, ma'am," a voice answered. "They're telling us the same thing. We were expecting a lot of stuff today."

Dogbert. Kerry repressed a smile. "Can you get me a manifest of what we've got held up in FedEx, UPS and DHL?" she asked. "Logistics in Houston?"

"Here," a gruffer voice answered. "My brother's a director in DHL. He told me they're not even allowed to open the warehouses. They've got soldiers crawling all over them with dogs."

Kerry exhaled. "Okay, everyone out there, whoever's in operations for your respective areas, I need a list of activities in jeopardy due to non delivery, please. Let's get a calendar up and running and on the desktop so we can see the impact."

"Miami Exec, this is Herndon." Another voice. "We got word flights will take off this morning, but passenger only, and there's a lot of activity on the wire."

"Miami, this is Lansing again. The two installs we had gear for, the guys are telling us they're being denied access to proceed."

Dar came over and sat down next to her, resting her chin on one hand. "This is gonna be like a slow motion train wreck," she commented. "Our ops schedule is not designed to just stop for a few days."

Kerry knew that was true. The intricate web work of installers and technicians, product deployments and implementation scheduling was designed to be flexible, but only up to a point. She often had to shift resources around if a facility wasn't ready in time, or if a part was on backorder.

This was a completely different scope of interruption. "Okay, once we get a schedule up I need someone to run a match against the equipment we have tied up in transit against our distributed inventory. We may need to start driving."

"Maria says she's getting a lot of calls from clients," Dar said. "She's been in the office since five thirty. I'm waiting on a callback from Gerry now."

"Clients from New York and around here?" Kerry asked, clicking her mic off. "Sheesh--don't they know what's going on?"

Dar shook her head. "From all over. I'm not really sure why they're calling. Maria said it was almost like they just wanted to know everything was all right."

Kerry's brows knit. "Huh?"

Dar shrugged. "She's pulling my address book off the phone and she'll email it to you for me," she said.

"Can't she just--" Kerry let the thought trail off. "No, I guess she can't just FedEx everything to you. Damn. You don't realize how dependent you are on some things until they don't exist."

"She offered to fly with it," Dar said.

Kerry studied her face. "She hates flying."

"I know." Her partner smiled briefly. "I told her I'd wait. You're here. It's not like I'm out wandering the streets sleeping under a bench."

"That's true." Kerry covered Dar's free hand with her own and squeezed her fingers. "I'll definitely take care of you."

"Miami exec, this is Houston logistics," the gruff voice came back. "We just got notified we can't move tapes to storage. Facilities been ordered closed by the Feds."

"Oh god." Kerry covered her eyes. "Thanks, Houston. For how long?"

"No idea."

Dar shook her head. "Everyone's running scared now," she said. "I'll order up some storage containers for them and us. Keep working it." She got up and headed back to the room phone, the early rays of sun splashing over her bare legs.

"Okay, Houston. We got that. We'll see what we can do to help," Kerry said. "Newark, have you had any indication on an ETA for your city power? I have a feeling we're going to need those trucks in Manhattan."

"Wish I could say yes, Miami exec." The Earthstation sounded apologetic. "My boss called this morning, and ConEd had a message on saying to try calling in a couple days."

"Nice." Kerry took another bite of her croissant. "Well, I'm sure they've got a ton of other issues. Doesn't help us much though."

"Miami exec, this is the Air Hub," a woman's voice broke in. "Air traffic control is back online." Her voice held a note of excitement. "We just got a request to host a big share for them for repositioning."

"Go ahead," Kerry said. "Houston ops watch the links and make sure they get space."

"On it," a male voice answered. "We are running a little hot across the board."

Kerry glanced over at Dar, who was on the phone, cupping one hand over her free ear. "I'll get the pipe meister to look at it in a minute. She's on another call."

Kerry?

Kerry looked at the popup then clicked on it. Go

ahead Mar.

I heard from our office in Springfield. They had a big riot up there last night, apparently people protesting against people from the Middle East.

Oh great. Kerry remembered what her mother had said, and exhaled. Knee jerk.

Agreed. Should I send an alert out though? People don't stop to think sometimes.

"Hey Dar?" Kerry turned her head as she heard her partner hang up. "Mari said they had some anti-Arab ugliness in Illinois last night. She's asking if she should send out a bulletin."

Dar came over and sat back down, taking a sip of Kerry's coffee. "To do what? Tell our employees who happen to be Middle Eastern they should hide in the office?" she asked, practically. "I'm sure CNN is covering it, and I'm sure they're watching CNN. "

Kerry studied her face. "What pissed you off?"

Dar put the cup down. "Did I say I was pissed off?" she asked, arching her brow as Kerry continued to look at her. Her lips twitched. "I just got yelled at by Gerry for ten minutes for being the forgetful nitwit I know I was yesterday."

"Well, sweetie--"

"I know." Dar set the cup down. "Yes, she should send out a note. I think people are just starting to be stupid and I don't know where it's going to end."

Kerry turned back to her keyboard. Dar says yes. Everyone should be very aware of what is going on around them.

"We have to go to the White House."

Kerry stopped typing in mid word, going very still, before she turned her head and looked at her partner. "Excuse me?"

"Hope you brought your rainbow nerd T-shirt." Dar got up. "I'm going to take a shower. Let's hope they don't want to see my driver's license before they let us in."

Kerry stared at the retreating figure in somewhat stunned silence for a long moment before she wrenched her attention back to the laptop. "Ah--I'm going to have to go offline for a few minutes," she managed to get out. "Everyone just hang tight."

"Will do." "Sure." "No problem Miami exec."

Kerry got up and headed for the bathroom, hoping Dar hadn't really said what she thought she'd heard her say. She ducked inside the door, already hearing the water running, to find Dar in the middle of taking her shirt off. "The White House?"

"They're sending a car." Dar tossed her shirt on the counter. "C'mon. We don't have a lot of time. Apparently we've pissed a lot of people off and we've got a lot of explaining to do." She opened the shower door, allowing a healthy blast of steam to enter the room. "Dad's already down at the Pentagon helping."

"Helping to do what?" Kerry hurriedly got out of her shirt and joined her partner in the shower. "Dar, what the hell--the White House? What did we do? Who did we piss off?"

"Wish I knew." Dar squirted gel on a scrubby and started indiscriminately washing both herself and Kerry. "But I'm guessing we'll soon find out."

"Ugh."