Red Sky at Morning

Chapter

Fourteen

CECI CAREFULLY PUT her hands precisely behind her back and clasped them. So, this is where Dar and Kerry work. Her eyes traveled up and up and up to see the top of the atrium skylight, then back down across the marble and steel walls to the pretentious fountain in the very center of the space.

Somehow, she resisted the urge to yodel. The temptation to hear the echoes was almost overwhelming.

A security guard ambled over and handed her a piece of plastic.

“There you go, ma’am. That’s your badge.”

Ceci accepted it and clipped the item to her shirt. “Outstanding,”

she complimented the guard. “Does it check for radiation hazards as well?”

The guard cocked his head in puzzlement. “Ma’am?”

“Let’s go.” Dar had come up next to her. “Thanks, Devon.”

“Any time, Ms. Roberts.” The guard ducked his head politely at Dar. “Haven’t seen you here on the weekend in a long time.” He managed not to look too curiously at her beslinged arm. “Have a good day.”

“Thanks.” Dar led the way across the huge lobby toward the elevator, Kerry a pace behind her and followed by her parents. She felt a little unfocused from the drugs, but still fairly alert. “Did we tell Devon to be on the lookout for the JAG rep?”

“Yes,” Kerry replied. “Twice.” She swiped her keycard into the elevator receptacle and held the doors when they opened. “All aboard.”

“Tell me, Dar,” Ceci commented as they rode up. “Do you rent out mausoleum space in this place to South Miami Cemetery?”

Dar was leaning against the mirrored wall, staring at her reflection.

An extremely grumpy-looking, slightly scruffy figure with a scowl was looking back at her. With an effort, she wrestled a little of her normal work attitude into place. “No.” She eyed her mother. “We charge too much,” she replied. “The American Cryogenic Society has the top floor, though.”

Kerry chuckled. “That explains why it’s so cold upstairs all the time,” she remarked. “I had to wear a parka the first few months I worked here.”

Red Sky At Morning 231

The doors slid open and they left the elevator, moving along the very quiet hallway, past closed or darkened doorways. No one on fourteen worked on the weekends, save the operations group on occasion, and it was pleasantly unchaotic for a change. “Wish it was like this all the time,” Kerry muttered. “It’s usually Circus City at this time of day.” She swiped her card at the front door to Dar’s outer office and heard the lock click.

Andrew reached around her and worked the handle, pushing the door open and allowing them into the darkened interior. “Cec, this ain’t half nothing. That there place in Houston’s got this beat hands down.”

Ceci strolled in and looked around curiously. It was a good-sized space, with seating on one side and a neatly appointed desk on the other. Across from the main entry was a set of inner doors, and one had a plaque on it. She looked at it as Andrew flipped the lights on.

Dar’s name and title.

With a sense of surreality, she followed as Dar opened the door to her office and went inside. It was light, Ceci noticed, and as she cleared the door she saw why.

Good Goddess. She stopped and stared. The place was huge: floor-to-ceiling teak paneling framed two walls; the other two were floor-to-ceiling plate glass, giving a breathtaking view of the sea all the way to the horizon. The room was filled with light from outside, which fell on the fine wood furnishings and the curved expanse of Dar’s desk.

Against one wall was a comfortable-looking leather couch, and against the other, a credenza with a neatly put up silver tray holding a now empty pitcher and glasses.

Ceci noted a few other things. That the desk was absolutely spotless and contained exactly zero clutter, something she’d noticed about Dar’s study in the condo. Remembering what a wreck her daughter habitually kept her adolescent room in, this seemed almost funny. The only things on the desk were the computer screen and keyboard, Dar’s trackball, her in and out box, and a...Ceci walked closer and squinted...and a pair of Siamese fighting fish in a small, interlocked Lucite tank.

Interesting choice. Ceci eyed her husband, who was rocking slightly on his heels, his brow tensed in thought.

“I’m going to start pulling up their network schematics and printing them off,” Kerry said as she headed toward the small door in the rear of the office. “Hope someone left the plotter up and linked.”

“I’ll check it.” Dar went to her desk and sat down. “G’wan and take a seat,” she told her parents as she kick-started her PC. The phone rang, and she hit the speakerphone button. “Yes?”

“Hey, boss.” Mark’s voice echoed slightly. “Saw your IP come active.”

“Don’t you have anything better to do than watch Snoopy?” Dar asked, testily. “Is the plotter active?”

232 Melissa Good

“Hang on.” The sound of a keyboard cut clearly through the connection. “It is now. Let me boot the print server if you’re gonna be sending anything big to it.”

“Diagrams. Kerry’s sending,” Dar replied. “You get some people to come in?”

“Yeah.” Mark sounded preoccupied. “I had to rig a lottery though.”

Dar braced a knee up against the edge of her desk. “What?” Her brow contracted. “Mark, damn it, I told you I wanted volunteers. What part of that didn’t you understand?”

There was a momentary silence. “Um...you said you only wanted six people, boss. I had to do a lottery to get it down to that,” Mark replied carefully. “I had twenty-five of those suckers show up here.” He paused. “Did I do something to piss you off today?”

Dar regarded her hiking boot in mild embarrassment. Get your head out of your ass, Dar. “No, sorry, Mark,” she replied. “I just want to get this started. Give Kerry twenty minutes to get those diagrams done, then c’mon up here.”

“Will do,” Mark replied, then hung up.

“Ahm going to get me some coffee,” Andrew said. “You want some, Dardar?”

“No.” Dar shook her head. “Dr. Steve said to stay away from that for a couple of days.” Awareness of her injury nibbled uncomfortably at her. “Thanks for the offer.”

Her father left, and Dar became aware of her mother’s pale eyes glancing her way curiously. She lifted a hand and indicated the room with wry irony. “What do you think?”

Thus invited, Ceci obligingly got up and toured the room, ending up next to Dar’s desk. “It’s...um...”

“Pretentious?” Dar dryly supplied.

“No, actually it has very pleasant proportions,” Ceci disagreed gravely. “Nice view, lot of open space, clean...” Her eyes and Dar’s met, and she hesitated, a teasing remark on her tongue she wasn’t sure she should utter.

Dar’s cool gaze gentled slightly. “What am I doing in here, right?”

A hint of a smile warmed her features.

Ceci returned the smile. “Nah. I think you fit right in here,” she disagreed. “I especially like the blue jeans; they go well with the teak paneling.”

That got an actual chuckle out of Dar, who plucked at the denim fabric covering her knee. “It’s not how I usually dress here,” she admitted. “Wish it was. Those damn business suits drive me nuts.”

Her mother studied the faded jeans and untucked cotton shirt Dar was wearing, the easiest things she could manage with her arm in a sling. “That strap’s twisted,” she gestured. “Want it fixed?”

For a moment, there was a flash of wary uncertainty in Dar’s eyes.

Ceci merely waited, wishing for the thousandth time she’d made some Red Sky At Morning 233

different choices years back. She was almost sure Dar would politely decline the offer, when her daughter shifted and leaned forward slightly.

“Sure,” Dar said. “Felt a little weird.”

Ceci unbuckled the strap and straightened it, tucking the cotton fabric under Dar’s collar and refastening the buckle. She had to move a bit of thick, dark hair out of the way to do so. “I always wondered what Andy would have looked like with long hair.”

Dar slowly turned her head and both eyebrows arched almost to her hairline. “Dad?”

“Mm.” Ceci nodded, giving Dar’s shoulder a light pat. “There you go.”

“I don’t think he’s ever had it even covering his ears, much less his neck.” Dar relaxed a little, settling back in her chair as Ceci stepped away.

“Nope, he sure hasn’t.” Ceci shook her head. “But when he was your current age, his hair was just like yours, same texture and everything. I remember he let it grow...oh, all of two inches over one summer before he had it buzzed again.” She studied Dar’s angular face and smiled. “I can almost imagine it, now.” It was nice, a wistful thought intruded, to be able to see her husband so clearly in their child, and have it not hurt.

She wondered if Dar realized that. They’d both changed so much, it was hard to say what went on behind those very familiar eyes anymore.

Ah well. “How’s your shoulder doing?” Ceci changed the subject.

“Lousy,” Dar answered, with surprising honesty. “Sorry I didn’t mention it the other day.”

“I’m not,” Ceci replied, with equal honesty, seeing the quickly shuttered wariness in Dar’s eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, Dar. What happens to you matters to me, and I’m sorry you got hurt by that a—”

She paused. “By Chuck, but we both know it was better for him and Andy for your father not to know.”

“Mm.” The door opened and Andrew reentered the room, carrying two cups. Dar and her mother exchanged glances, then Dar smiled.

“Thanks, Mom. Glad I made the right choice.”

Well. Ceci accepted the cup of coffee, feeling pleased, if a touch bemused, by the reaction. I think that was almost a Kodak moment.

She liked it. Ceci moved off toward the window and studied the view, half listening to her husband and Dar in the background talking about the base.

DAR HAD MOVED the strategy meeting into the big conference room down the hall from her office. Kerry had gotten in ahead of her and clipped the network diagrams to the big presentation board, and now she watched as the operations team filed in and took seats.

234 Melissa Good Mark, of course, was in the lead, carrying the backpack Kerry knew held the big network analyzer and its cables. He set it down on the floor and took a seat as the rest of the group settled around him. Kerry’s eyebrows rose as she recognized Brent among the group, but she refrained from commenting as Dar entered from the back door.

The JAG officer and Andrew were with her, and they took chairs near the other end of the conference table as Dar circled it and headed toward the podium. Ceci had seated herself near the window and was watching quietly, her eyes flicking between the charts and her daughter, and occasionally crossing gazes with Kerry herself.

“All right.” Dar’s low, vibrant voice cut through the quiet. She put a sheaf of papers on the podium and drew in a breath, letting her eyes run over her audience. Kerry could almost see the subtle shift as her lover assumed her professional demeanor, and she sharpened her own attention as she listened.

Even in casual clothing, and with her arm in its white cotton sling, Dar still managed to capture the room, the normal intensity of her attitude only slightly blunted by all the medication she was on. Kerry could tell it was an effort, though. There was a persistent crease in Dar’s forehead, she was blinking more than usual, and there was an uncharacteristic slump to her posture that was easily visible to her watching partner.

“We’ve gotten an unusual request from the government.” Dar started her speech. “As most of you know, we were contracted to perform detailed structure and performance analysis on a number of military bases.”

The techs were glued to her every word. They nodded almost in concert, which almost made Dar laugh. “As part of that investigation, information was obtained detailing irregularities in their data, which could extend from minor theft to felonious activities.”

Mark shook his head and let out a sigh. “I was thinking that, boss.

That stuff you sent down stank to hell.”

Dar nodded. “With good reason.” She turned to the whiteboard.

“Normally, I’d have just turned this over to the government at this point.” She spared a glance for the JAG man. “In fact, that’s what was originally intended. However, due to logistics, they can’t get a security team here for at least twenty-four hours, and we have reason to think data destruction would occur before that time.

“Mark, we’re going to need to put the scope in here.” Dar ran a hand over the diagram. “The three critical mainframes are here, here, and here, and we’ll need to pull the drive arrays from all three.”

Mark was scribbling . “We just going to walk in there, DR?”

This was the tricky part. “No.” Dar folded her hands on the podium. “Kerry and I are going in first.” All heads jerked her way. “The guards are used to seeing me, and they won’t react.” At least, I hope they won’t. “Two of you are going to ride with us and duck down in the back Red Sky At Morning 235

seat as we go through the gates.”

“Check.” Mark made a note. “How ’bout the rest of them?”

Dar felt a smile twitching at her lips at Mark’s claiming of his spot.

“A volunteer who’s familiar with the base is going to pay a visit.

Everyone else will go with him.”

“Them,” Ceci muttered, just loud enough for Dar to hear her.

The techs all looked around and finally spotted the two guests at the end of the table. Mark waved at Andrew. “Oh, hey.”

“’Lo,” Andrew drawled.

Kerry watched Brent’s face as he focused on the tall ex-SEAL, then returned his gaze straight ahead. She wondered what he was thinking.

“This is Captain Taylor from the military justice department and my father, Andrew Roberts,” Dar introduced them succinctly. “My father’s the volunteer who’ll get the rest of you into the camp. He’s very familiar with it.” She let her eyes rove over the watching faces. “If either of them instruct any of you to do something, do it.” She paused.

“Understand?”

“Gotcha, DR,” Mark replied. “You guys all clear on that?”

The techs nodded.

“Good.” Dar paused, then nodded. “Get moving. Don’t do anything stupid when you’re out there. I don’t want to be spending half the week doing paperwork on anyone. Got me?”

Another round of nodding.

“All right. That’s all.” Dar stepped back from the podium.

Everyone stood and a low murmur of discussion started. Dar exhaled and ran her fingers through her hair as Kerry crossed the room and came to her side. “Ready?”

“I’ve got all the equipment downstairs, ready to go,” Kerry told her. “I brought the portable hundred-gig array along, in case we need to transfer something we can’t just take.” She leaned forward. “And I picked up the black box, so you can run your code on it if you need to.”

Dar considered that. “Good work,” she said. “Thanks, Ker.”

They followed the crowd out of the room and toward the elevator.

Dar found herself between her father and Kerry as they entered the open car, and she leaned back against the mirrored wall, aware of the warmth as they joined her. Slowly, she turned her head and regarded Kerry, who had folded her arms and was gazing ahead of her. Then she turned and glanced at her father, who had adopted the same pose. The rest of the occupants of the elevator were studying the tiled floor with great interest.

Dar’s brow creased. They were all acting a little weird, she thought, then realized it was probably due to the very odd circumstances. With a sigh, she let her head rest against the cool surface and waited for the drop to end. The JAG captain had been quiet and reserved and pretty much unhelpful, even after Dar had given him the cocaine brick.

He needed concrete proof, he’d said seriously. That brick could 236 Melissa Good have come from anywhere, and the chief could have just been looking to get someone in trouble. Which was true, Dar acknowledged, and the exact reason she was dragging her butt down to the Upper Keys on a Saturday afternoon when she felt like crawling into bed and passing out.

A hand on her elbow almost made her jump, and she glanced up to see the doors open, and everyone else exiting. “Whoops...sorry.” She gave Kerry a smile. “I was just thinking.”

Kerry glanced up at her and returned the smile. “I could tell.” She linked her arm inside Dar’s, and they continued across the lobby toward the front door. “How are you feeling?”

A little annoyed to be asked again, Dar almost retorted. “I’m fine,”

she replied. “Damn drugs are making me a little light-headed, that’s all.” Deliberately putting more energy into her steps, she pulled free of Kerry’s grip and stalked toward the entrance.

Kerry sighed. “Shit.”

Andrew glanced at her. “Stubborn cuss, ain’t she,” he commiserated wryly.

Kerry looked at him. “Wonder where she gets it from,” she answered with equal wryness.

“Ah have no idea,” Andrew said. “You better git moving ’fore she decides on driving.”

Kerry sighed and broke into a jog, ducking past the straggling techs as she tried to catch up with her partner.

KERRY WAITED UNTIL they were almost at the base before she slowed the pace of the Lexus and glanced into the rearview mirror. She spotted Andrew a bit back, in Dar’s car, and also caught the half-asleep faces of Mark and Brent in the back seat.

It was very quiet in the car. She’d deliberately turned the stereo down to allow her passengers to relax and doze off if they wanted to. In fact, she encouraged them to do just that, knowing Dar would remain awake and alert if everyone else was, just out of sheer cussedness.

But Mark had taken her hint and loudly announced his intention to nap, poking Brent in the leg until the slightly slow-on-the-uptake tech realized what he wanted and huddled down in his seat with a glum expression.

Then, of course, and only then had Dar allowed herself to relax and slump against the doorframe, using a folded sweatshirt of Kerry’s as an impromptu pillow as she closed her eyes and surrendered to a light doze.

Now Kerry wished the trip was longer, but she reached over and gently touched Dar’s thigh, squeezing it twice before she got a reaction.

Dar’s eyelids fluttered open and she blinked, turning her head to peer at Kerry in confusion for a moment before her expression cleared and she Red Sky At Morning 237

straightened in her seat.

“Okay, duck down, guys,” Kerry said. “Just pull those comforters over you while I go through the gates.” She turned into the base and eased slowly down the approach road, pulling up next to the guard shack and leaning back a little so Dar could see the guard.

“Afternoon,” Dar greeted the man. “Looks quiet.”

The man came closer, then smiled. “Ms. Roberts...hey.” He glanced around. “Didn’t expect you here on the weekend.”

Dar smiled back. “Got some little things to clear up,” she said.

“And my parents are coming down, just for old time’s sake, to look around in the daytime.”

The Marine’s eyes lit up. “Big Andy’s coming in today? All right.

Man, wait ’til the guys hear. You know they got a big old UD get-together going on today, right?”

“No, I didn’t,” Dar replied. “That’ll be a damn nice surprise for him, though. Thanks for the word.” She waved casually. “Gotta get to work.”

The guard raised the gate and waved back. “Take it easy, Ms.

Roberts.”

Kerry drove into the parking lot. “Will that be a problem?” she asked. “That meeting or whatever?”

Dar was rubbing her eyes, and now she looked up. “Problem?” Her lips quirked. “I doubt it. This place’ll be crawling with SEALs. This could be easier than we thought.”

“Crawling with SEALs.” Kerry parked and set the brake.

“Interesting visual, Dar, but how does it help us?”

Dar opened the door and got out, stretching out her body as Mark joined her on the passenger side and Kerry, with Brent, walked around the front of the Lexus. “It means we have friends here, Kerry.” She felt better already. “The kind of friends you like to have when you’re in a potentially dangerous situation.”

Kerry considered that, as Mark removed the analyzer from the back of the car. “Unless some of them are involved,” she commented, looking up to see ice-cold blue eyes looking back at her. “Um. I mean—”

“Never.” Dar said, low and forcefully. “Not these guys.”

Kerry and Mark exchanged glances. “Okay,” Kerry agreed softly.

“You’re the expert.” She patted Dar’s back. “Glad to hear that. If they’re all like Dad, this’ll be a piece of cake.” Her eyes slid past Dar to meet Brent’s, which darted off in another direction. “I feel better already.”

“Brent, gimme a hand with this.” Mark was kneeling next to the analyzer. “I need to fit the wiring harness.”

Brent walked over and they fussed over the equipment, leaving Dar and Kerry standing a little apart as they waited. Dar glanced around, then exhaled and ducked her head a bit. “I know I’m being a bitch.

Sorry.”

“Were you?” Kerry asked mildly. “I hadn’t noticed.”

238 Melissa Good Their eyes met. Dar managed a smile. “Liar.”

Kerry shrugged slightly. “It’s all right.” She forced herself not to think about the churning in her guts. Suddenly, she found her shoulders circled by Dar’s arm, and her senses were barraged by the abrupt closeness and warmth as Dar pulled her close in a hug. A voice whispered into her ear, and it took her long seconds to acknowledge the words.

“If I get too obnoxious, slap me.”

Kerry felt some of the tension seep out of her as she circled Dar’s waist with an arm and squeezed. “All right, I will,” she prom ised, releasing her and swatting her lightly on the butt. “Right there.

Deal?”

“Deal.” Dar let go of her as Mark and Brent came around the side of the car again, carrying the equipment. “Soon as the others get here, we move.”

A FUSILLADE OF gunshots made them all jump. “Holy shit.” Mark backed against the car. “Is that for us?”

“War games.” Dar peered over the hood of the Lexus. “We got lucky again.”

“Lucky?” Kerry winced as she heard an echoing boom. She edged a little closer to Dar and peered behind her to where Andrew was just haphazardly parking her car’s larger cousin. It was still overcast, and the air was thick with moisture. She sniffed at the wind. And thick with what smelled like gunpowder. “Those aren’t real bullets, are they?”

“Sure,” Dar replied. “But don’t worry. Everyone will be participating, or watching, or keeping the hell out of the way. We can get in and get out and not attract attention.” Unanticipated, but Dar wasn’t a person who argued with good luck when it happened to thump down on top of her head. Things had been strained enough lately; a little smooth sailing was definitely called for.

“Ah.” Kerry frowned. “Well, as long as we stay inside. I’m allergic to bullets.” A group chorus of deep, male chanting carried over.

“Mm...way too mucho macho for moi.”

The rest of the group came over and gathered around them. “All right,” Dar spoke. “We’re heading for the administration building, over there. It should be pretty much empty.” She glanced around, seeing that most of the area was, in fact, pretty much empty.

Kerry shouldered one of the portable scopes. “I’ll take Mark to the telecom center,” she offered. “I remember where it is, and I’ve got my badge, still.” She displayed it. “He can hook up there and control the network.”

Mark looked up. “Brent, you and Josh come with us. Bring that cable kit, willya?”

Dar nodded. “Okay, the rest of you come with me to the computer Red Sky At Morning 239

center. Bring that array and the black box,” she said. “Dad, go along with Kerry. She’s headed toward the ops center, and there might be people around.”

Andrew regarded her thoughtfully. “All right,” he drawled after a moment.

“If anyone questions you,” Dar told them seriously, “just tell them you’re doing your job, and refer them to me, understand?” She made eye contact with the techs. “Don’t act like you’re not supposed to be here, got it?”

“Got it,” Mark assured her.

“Captain, you come with me.” Dar squared her shoulders and started to lead them toward the building.

The group sorted themselves out and followed her. Dar took the few moments of peace to run her plan through her mind again, checking the details and making sure she knew what she was going to do once they got to the computer center. After a few strides, she realized she had a diminutive shadow. “Thought you’d go with Dad.”

Ceci rubbed the side of her nose. She and Andrew really hadn’t talked about what they were going to do once they got to the base, but after Dar had told him to go with Kerry, it had seemed only natural that she— What in the hell are you talking about, Cecilia? This isn’t natural for you in any way! “Well,” Ceci glanced around, “I figured that if you ran into any trouble, I’d just tell them that I’m your mother, and I said it was all right.”

Dar’s eyes perceptibly widened and went round. She gave the two techs a startled look, grateful they hadn’t heard.

Or, at least, they were pretending very hard not to have heard. She lowered her voice. “W...what?”

Ceci smothered a grin, and shrugged. “It always worked when you were a kid,” she explained soberly. “Those Marines usually recognized my authority a lot faster than their CO’s.”

Dar felt a blush coming on, and she hoped her employees wouldn’t notice. Having her mother along wasn’t something she’d figured into her battle plans. She sighed. Not that Ceci wasn’t right, she grudgingly admitted, remembering many a time when only her mother’s intervention had saved her from fates worse than death. Like cleaning the recruits’ latrine.

Dar felt her nose wrinkle in remembered disgust. “Good point,” she finally said aloud. “Maybe you better write me up an admin pass while you’re at it.”

They climbed the stairs, and one of the techs scurried forward and opened the door, holding it courteously as the rest of them approached.

Resting a hand on the doorsill, Dar paused and looked around.

No Marine. She wondered about that. Hadn’t there always been a guard at this door? It seemed very quiet, though, and after a moment she shook her head and continued inside the building. It’s been years, 240 Melissa Good Dar. They could have changed a procedure or two.

The door closed behind them, its metal lock clicking home with an exaggerated sound that echoed slightly in the empty hall.

KERRY WALKED NEXT to Andrew, one hand nervously running up and down on the strap of the scope she carried. So far, they hadn’t seen anyone on their walk to the telecom center, and she was trying to decide if that was good or if would be better for them to meet the first potential objector instead of anticipating it.

Not that she was all that worried, not with Andrew strolling beside her, his long and somewhat rolling stride making her lengthen her own steps a little to keep up. She had no doubt her father-in-law could handle whatever uniformed minion got in their path, but still...

She looked around. It was creepy. “Is it usually this quiet?” She finally voiced her worry aloud, seeing from Mark’s quick look he’d been thinking the same thing. “I remember it being a lot busier the last time I was here.”

Andrew regarded the hallway, then turned and walked backward for a few steps, his pale eyes flicking over every inch of the painted wooden walls and the studiously polished tile floors. He reversed himself again and continued forward. “Well,” he paused, “Admin’s usually emptier than a sack of sand with a wet bottom on the weekend.”

“Kinda like our office,” Mark supplied.

“Yep,” the ex-SEAL agreed. “Usually a body or two more ’round hereabouts, though.” He glanced down an offshoot corridor. “Figure everyone’s out watching the pups.”

“Pups?” Mark asked.

Brent, walking beside him, was listening intently but pretending not to. He hadn’t said a word since they’d left the office, and Kerry found herself wondering again why he was there. She glanced at the shorter man’s face, and just then he looked up, and their eyes met. It only lasted an instant, then Brent jerked his head forward.

Kerry had felt the icy coldness behind his eyes, though, and she drew in a faintly unsteady breath.

“Got a couple of new SEAL teams goin’ through some situations,”

Andrew said. “That’s what’s all going on outside.”

The door to the telecom room loomed up, and Kerry tried the latch.

She was surprised to find it open, and she looked over her shoulder at Andrew in question. “That’s pretty careless.”

Andrew grunted and held the door open as the techs passed inside.

“Y’all g’wan in there. I’ll be right back.” He let the door close, then turned and just stood for a moment in the hallway.

Listening.

Red Sky At Morning 241

THEY FOUND THEIR first two Navy personnel inside the computer center. Dar pushed the door open and stuck her head inside, giving the two console operators a nod as they looked up in surprise.

“Afternoon.”

One had been on duty the day she and the chief had tangled, and that one stood up as Dar entered. “Ms. Roberts—”

Dar held a hand up. “We’re just collecting some data.” She waved the woman back to her seat. “Relax.”

“B—” the woman protested.

“You’re not going to ask me for authorization, are you?” Dar swiveled and gave her a patented glare.

“No, ma’am, I’m not, but—”

“Great.” Dar continued toward the console and sat down in front of it, eyeing her arm in irritation.

The console operator opened her mouth, then closed it and gave her companion a little shrug. The male sailor also shrugged and shook his head.

Dar leaned on the console and scanned the screen. “Hook that up to the aux port,” she absently directed the shorter tech, a young man with curly red hair and russet freckles sprinkled over half his face. “I want it direct.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the tech replied quietly. “We do have the net direct card in it.”

“I know.” Dar hunted and pecked, scowling. “I don’t want it addressable,” she answered, cursing silently at the length of time it was taking her to set up the program she wanted. After a moment more, she gave up and unhooked the sling holding her arm close to her body and removed it, laying it over her thigh.

Ow. Whether from lack of use or her injury, it was hard to tell, but her muscles were screaming as she flexed her injured arm. Dar grimaced but kept up the motion, finally laying her forearm down on the console and using both hands to type. Ow, ow ow. Son of a— A glance up at her reflection in the screen showed a tense, drawn face looking back, and she paused, taking a deep breath and releasing it, trying to will the pain away.

Stupid damn arm, her mind muttered in disgust. Stupid damn Chuck and his stupid damn bat and his stupid parochial macho ego. The jolts of pain went down her shoulder and all the way into her fingers, so intense it almost made her sneeze.

It was hard to keep her mind focused with all that. She had to retype the same line twice and then reenter a parameter before she finally had things set up the way she wanted them. It was a simple program, really—just a looping bit of code that would transfer the contents of the base’s main system to her storage box, sector by sector—

at a machine level that would not allow for any interference in the copying from any high level security that might be running. Sort of like 242 Melissa Good copying the encoded digital signal from a CD, rather than recording the sound as it was produced. She hoped that would protect the integrity of the data. Any attempt at a simple copy could trigger God only knew what, if someone really knew what they were doing and had protection in place. Dar was surprised, actually, that her previous intrusions hadn’t been detected and objected to. She’d figured that either meant whoever was doing this wasn’t as good as she was—or the person was a lot better.

Dar sighed and hit enter. She wished she knew which it was, remembering a time when considering anyone to be “better” was an alien thought to her. Another sigh. God, she’d been such a cocky son of a bitch.

She moved slightly, and a shot of pain made her suck in her breath and hold it, her eyes blinking away the sudden tears. Dar realized the painkillers she’d taken before they’d left were wearing off. Shit.

C’mon, Dar. You used to just work past this, remember? For a moment, she just closed her eyes and concentrated, allowing the ache to become something she could handle and put into the background of her conscious mind. It took a little longer than it used to, but after a bit she was able to start breathing normally, and let her eyes open, focusing on the screen and the task before her.

Okay. I can do this. Her mind cleared, and she started typing again.

Logic strings emerged grumpily from long unused memory cells, but it only took two or three tries before she had a relatively working loop going. “Okay.” She glanced at the tech kneeling nearby. “Ready?”

The redhead looked up at her confidently. “Ready, ma’am.”

Dar hit the enter button. For a moment, she thought she’d screwed up the program, then the screen flickered and started scrolling a hexadecimal display with commendable obedience. Whew.

“Wow.” The tech watched, evidently impressed. “You did that on the fly?”

Dar shrugged modestly. She was aware of the Navy console operators watching over her shoulder with interest. One whistled under their breath. Dar rested her chin on her hand and wished herself elsewhere.

“’Scuse me.” Ceci’s voice came closer. “Here.” The older woman put something down on the console, then rested a hesitant hand on Dar’s shoulder. “They were out of Evian.”

Dar eyed the cute container of MacArthur Dairy chocolate milk and found herself smiling. God, her mother had always hated her constant consumption of this stuff. “Guess I didn’t turn into a chocolate cow after all, huh?”

“No,” Ceci said. “All those sleepless nights worrying about you keeling over from scurvy, wasted.”

Dar half turned and glanced up. “Did you? Really worry about that?”

Red Sky At Morning 243

Ceci studied her daughter’s tense face. “Yeah,” she admitted quietly. “I worried about you all the time, for a lot of reasons.” She paused. “I guess I shouldn’t have.”

Dar thought about that, then she shrugged a little. “Maybe it’s a mother thing.”

One pale eyebrow lifted. “It sort of grows on you after a while,”

Ceci said. “Surprises the hell out of me sometimes.”

Dar grinned slightly. “I bet.”

Her mother chuckled with a hint of wry humor. “I’ve got some ibuprofen. Interested?”

Dar nodded in thinly disguised relief. “Thanks.” She accepted the dose of small pills and opened her milk, washing down the painkillers and drinking the cold, sweet liquid with a feeling of pure relief. The program was running, transferring the information to her secured storage at a very good rate, she had ibuprofen, she had chocolate milk—

things were looking up.

The only thing she was missing at the moment was...

“Dar.” Kerry’s voice made her look up and spot her lover coming in the door. “Mark’s having trouble syncing the circuit. He wants to know if you know anything odd about the data rate.”

Ah. Dar leaned on the console and regarded the blonde woman.

Kerry’s brows were creased and her pale hair was messed, apparently from her running her hands through it. Definitely a sign of her lover being a little distraught. “Nothing concrete. He want me to go take a look?”

Kerry came up to her and leaned on the console, peeking at the screen before answering. “He didn’t say that, just wanted to know if you had any hints.”

One of Dar’s eyebrows lifted. “He couldn’t just call and ask?”

“Um.” Kerry fiddled with a button on her shirt, then peeked up from under pale lashes. “He didn’t want to chance the cell?”

“Uh-huh. And he had to send you to ask?”

Kerry’s lips tensed, masking a smile. “I volunteered.”

Ah. Dar felt an absurd contentedness. Kerry had come to check up on her. Mom was bringing her milk. Next thing she knew, she’d be in a rocker with someone putting a shawl over her shoulders. “Tell him to try an extended packet size on TCP/IP—look for an added four-byte segment.”

“Oh.” Kerry got up. “Okay, I’ll go tell him. Thanks, Dar.” She started for the door, but paused as she heard Dar get up to follow her.

They walked together past the consoles and edged out into the hallway.

“Everything else going all right?” Dar asked in a low voice. “We’ve got the transfer going here, Ker. I estimate another twenty minutes, and we’ll be done.”

Kerry looked up and down the hallway. “I don’t know. This place is giving me the creeps today, Dar. Dad went off a little while ago, and 244 Melissa Good he hasn’t come back yet. It’s just too quiet.”

“Yeah.” Dar exhaled. Okay, so maybe she didn’t come to check on me.

“Maybe he’s just scoping the place out. He knows his way around, and he can take care of himself, so there’s no point in worrying about that.”

“Hmm.” Kerry folded her arms. “Any sign of that petty person?”

“No,” Dar stated. “No sign of just about anyone, except for the two console ops in there. Everyone else must be watching the war games.”

“Mm.” Kerry murmured again under her breath. “You okay?” she finally asked. “You took your sling off.”

“Had to type,” Dar explained. “I’m all right. It’s just sore.”

Kerry once again looked up and down the hallway, then she leaned foreword and very gently kissed Dar’s injured shoulder. “Be careful.”

One hand lifted and rubbed Dar’s belly. “I worry about you.”

And then she turned and strode back down the hallway, the twitch of her shoulders indicating her awareness of Dar’s watching eyes.

Which weren’t precisely on her shoulders, despite the situation and the ache in her arm, and the worries that were now running through her mind. Boy. Dar couldn’t help the observation: she’s got a sexy walk. It had a little swagger to it, a gentle roll to her hips and a muscular strength that Dar found very, very attractive. She watched her lover until she turned a corner at the far end of the corridor, then she sighed and returned to the ops center.

“Ms. Roberts?” The console operator stepped into her path. “Are you part of this exercise, ma’am? I was just wondering... We weren’t told to expect you, and Dave and I figured you got stuck in just for a challenge. Are we right?”

Exercise? Dar stopped and eyed her warily. “Are you talking about the war games?”

The Navy tech exchanged glances with her partner. “It’s not a war game, really. It’s a security drill,” she replied. “You mean you didn’t know?”

“Security drill? At the gate they told us it was a SEAL exercise,”

Dar stated. “Graduation for some new teams.”

The sailor named Dave got up and trotted over. “Well, yeah, but they’re graduating from the Urban Warfare School,” he explained eagerly. “They’ve got to counteract a terrorist infiltration of a critical operations center.”

“Crit—” Dar glanced around. “You mean here? This is the target?”

The woman tech nodded. “Yeah, we were expecting the terrorists.

We thought you were them when you came in, but then we fi—”

The door slammed open with a loud bang, and the room suddenly filled with grungy-looking men in green-and-brown fatigues. “Don’t move! Don’t move!” the one in the lead screamed, brandishing an M16.

“Get back against the wall, you pigs!”

Dar felt the situation explode out of control with frightening speed.

Two of them men rushed at her and grabbed her arms, causing her to let Red Sky At Morning 245

out a startled yell of anger and pain. “Cut that out!”

The man on her left slammed her against the wall and leaned against her. “Shut up! Shut up, or we’ll kill you!”

Dar struggled out of pure panicked instinct, wrenching her body around and shoving off from the wall, throwing her surprised attackers back as she twisted, ignoring the pain. One grabbed for her again and she swiveled, lashing out with a kick that caught him in the gut as she tried to move away from the second one.

Something exploded against her head, and she was barely aware of slamming against the wall as her knees buckled and darkness quickly overcame the stars in her vision. She was unconscious before she hit the ground.