Red Sky at Morning

Chapter

Fifteen

KERRY WAS AWARE of every creak of wood and every scuff of her boots against the tiled floor as she walked down the hallway. The atmosphere was getting creepier and creepier every second, and she had to keep herself from looking around nervously as she walked.

C’mon, Kerry, she finally told herself in irritation. Stop acting like a terrorist is going to jump out of every doorway.

As she passed the next one, a shadow shifted and suddenly engulfed her. Kerry reacted by letting out a yell, which was half muffled as a hand clapped itself over her mouth and strong hands grabbed her.

“Hey...hey...kumquat...relax.” Andrew’s voice almost made her go completely limp. “Stop that hollerin’, willya?” Cautiously, the ex-SEAL

released his hold and looked anxiously at her. “You ain’t hurt, are you?”

“No.” Kerry leaned against him in relief. “Sorry, this place is just making me nuts. Where’ve you been?”

Andrew awkwardly patted her back. “Just checking things.

Somethin’ ain’t right here. Saturday’s quiet, but not like this is.”

“So I’m not just imagining things?” Kerry said. “Okay, let me go tell Mark what Dar said to do, then we can come back here and see if we don’t want to just cut this all short.” Kerry started down the hall with Andrew ambling along beside her with his loose, powerful stride.

“What do you think is going on?”

“Ah do not know.” Andrew’s head was swiveling back and forth, watching everything. “Haven’t found anybody t’ask.” He glanced at her. “Dardar all right?”

Kerry looked behind her. “I think so,” she answered. “She seems okay. Tired, though. I think her arm’s hurting.”

“Aw.” Andrew patted her shoulder. “She’s a tough kid. Don’t you worry.”

“That’s true.” Kerry sighed. “I just wish this was over— Hey!” She found herself suddenly grabbed and yanked back into a doorway, with a large, warm hand covering her mouth.

“Hush,” Andrew barely whispered. “Don’t you move none.”

Kerry nodded in understanding and stayed perfectly still. The doorway in which they were standing was dark, and she could almost Red Sky At Morning 247

feel the shadows reaching around her, but she couldn’t hear anything, and she wondered what, exactly, they were hiding from.

Then she saw the soft, gray, almost indistinguishable reflection on the tile floor, inching toward the gap where the door met the hallway.

She strained her ears, but she still couldn’t hear anything, though she could see that tiny shadow moving closer and closer. Puzzled, she looked up at Andrew’s face, able to see only the utter stillness there, save for the faint flaring of his nostrils.

The shadow slipped closer and closer, and Kerry felt her breathing increase. She glued her eyes to the edge of the doorway and almost jumped when the edge of a rifle barrel cut the straight line. Oh, my God.

Kerry clamped her jaw shut so her teeth wouldn’t chatter. She felt Andrew’s body shift behind her and sensed the tension that came into the arms he had wrapped loosely about her.

The barrel moved forward, further away from the door than she’d first thought, and now the hands and body of its wielder came into view. It was a young man of medium height, dressed in fatigues, his eyes flicking nervously up and down the hallway.

Surely, Kerry’s mind screamed, surely he’d look right at her.

But he didn’t. He kept going, and before she could relax, another man edged into view, moving with careful silence. This man was taller and thinner and had a scruffy beard. Then more of them moved past—

six or seven in all, Kerry had lost count—before the last one, a huge bear of a man, crept past. They were wearing backpacks, and their clothes had a well-used air about them. Kerry’s nose twitched as the scent of gun oil came to her.

Andrew waited almost an entire minute before he eased past Kerry and very slowly edged his head around the doorway. Then he relaxed and scowled. “What in hell’s that all about?”

“I don’t know, but it was seriously creepy,” Kerry told him, peering down the now empty hallway. “Hey, maybe they’re Cuban terrorists!”

Andrew allowed a tiny snort of laughter to emerge. “Not hardly,”

he said. “C’mon, kumquat, let’s get us back to that there closet. I figger we’ll find out what’s up soon enough.”

Ain’t that the truth. Kerry shook her head, and they started down the hallway. She’d taken maybe ten paces before she stopped dead, a fist clenching her heart. “Oh.” A sense of panic filled her and she turned, evading Andrew’s outstretched hand as she launched into a headlong run.

THERE WAS A moment’s frozen silence. Then the lead terrorist pulled the wool mask off his face. “Shit,” he panted hoarsely. “It’s a civ!”

Ceci, frozen in shock for several long heartbeats, now surged into motion. She ducked between two of the men and shoved a third out of 248 Melissa Good the way. “You stupid pigheaded son of a bitch clueless useless excuse for jarhead buttholes.” She dropped to her knees beside Dar’s very still, slumped figure. “I should pull your damn privates off.” Anxiously, she touched her daughter’s face, which was pale and relaxed.

“Shit,” the lead terrorist said. “What do we do, Sarge?”

The second man who had come in fingered his rifle. “Just stay where you are. We’ve got our orders.”

“What?” the man who’d taken his mask off objected. “Are you crazy? This ain’t part of the orders. This is a fucking civ!”

“You don’t know that,” the sergeant snapped back. “What if they are? They could be part of the gig, you know that. They said there’d be something unexpected. This is it. So shut up and just go over there.” He turned and looked at the rest of the room. “You all just sit your asses still and keep your mouths shut.”

“Dar?” Ceci patted Dar’s cheek gently. “Hey, Dardar?” The pet name felt strange on her lips, but she ignored that. “C’mon, kid, open your eyes, hmm?”

For a far too long instant there was no response. Ceci patted Dar’s cheek again, and this time her daughter’s eyelids fluttered in reaction, sliding half-open to expose dazed, pale blue orbs. Much to her consternation, Ceci found herself babbling in near panic. “Hey, munchkin, c’mon...you okay?” The eyes tracked to her and fastened on her face, then blinked and opened a little further. “Dar?”

“Urmf.” It felt like a building had fallen in on top of her. She just wanted to let her eyes close and go back to sleep. It was quieter there, and it hurt a hell of a lot less. But someone was shaking her, and she had a sneaking suspicion it was her mother, who would just keep on shaking.

Always had.

“Okay.” Dar fended off the prodding. “Okay...okay...I’m awake...Jesus...” She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them fully, blinking until her mother came fuzzily into focus. Her face was suddenly cupped between Ceci’s hands, and she could feel the tremor in them. A faint, but distinct feeling of surprise filtered through her admittedly half-conscious mind.

“Here, see if you can sit up,” Ceci urged. “I think the brainless wood chip back there just clipped you.”

The terrorists were nervously deploying around the room and had herded the two console operators over in the corner where Dar and Ceci were. They hadn’t yet seen Dar’s two techs, who were prudently hiding behind the large twin drive arrays from which Dar had been transferring data.

Okay. Dar managed to get upright and took stock of herself and the situation. Her head hurt like hell. Her arm hurt worse. Her dignity was screaming in mortal agony. Her mother, for God’s sake, was petting her like a kitten.

Red Sky At Morning 249

Jesus! What the hell could happen next?

A wild yell punctured the room, and the door was flung open. The terrorists whirled and brought their guns up, screaming warnings as a disheveled blonde figure stumbled into the room, looking around frantically. The man closest to the door leaped at her only to be intercepted by a tall, menacing shadow that grabbed him, disarmed him, and tossed him against the wall in one long, sweeping motion.

“Awright,” Andrew’s voice boomed out. “Y’all stay still, or figure yourself Swiss cheese.” With a solid, scary sound, he cocked the big black shotgun the man had been carrying, then lifted it and aimed it at the biggest guy there, a man half again his weight but about the same height as he was.

“Dar!” Kerry bolted for her.

Oh. Dar’s tired mind sighed. That’s what could happen next. Do yourself a favor, Dar. Don’t imagine anything else.

“TELL ME AGAIN what this all is?” Andrew stood, with his hands on his hips, glaring at the hapless leader of the “terrorists.” “Them people out there sent you all in here?”

“Look, sir.” The bear-like soldier had both hands empty and held out in abject defense. “It’s the training exercise. They told us to come in here and take hostages.” He looked around. “We came in here and took hostages. They weren’t supposed to fight back.”

Andrew’s eyes narrowed. His voice lowered in pitch. “You saying it was my kid’s fault she got hurt?”

“N...no, sir.” The soldier shook his head. “I’m saying we got surprised, and Niles over there got kicked in a place that really needs ice, if you know what I mean.”

Andrew threw a glance at the tallest soldier, who grimaced and crossed his legs gingerly. “What comes next?” he asked, though he had a pretty good idea. “Them youngsters outside come git you?”

The man nodded. “We’re assigned to hold them off. I’ve got explosives and extra ammo in those packs. We’re supposed to blockade the room and maintain a defensive perimeter.” He hesitated. “Sir, they told us they were going to throw in some unexpected things. I thought...” He glanced over to where the rest of the “hostages” were seated. “I thought they were part of it.”

“Uh-huh.” Andrew gave him a very disapproving glare. “Well, I’m fixing to end this here exercise right quick. Don’t you go nowhere.” He shouldered the shotgun and turned toward the door, only pausing when he heard Dar’s cell phone ring. “Now what?”

“I’ll get that.” Kerry slid the phone out of the holder clipped at Dar’s waist and opened it. “Yes?”

I can answer my own phone. Dar protested, but the words never emerged, and she was content merely to listen. It was easier to think 250 Melissa Good that way.

“Mark...Mark...wait...slow down.” Kerry’s voice sharpened and took on urgency. “Hold on...ho— What?”

“Give me that.” Dar took the phone from her and listened to the chaotic sounds from the other side. She let out a yell. “MARK!” The chaos continued, then subsided.

“Boss...boss...this place is going nuts. We gotta get outta here,”

Mark yammered. “Some half-ass wackos came into that com center and trashed it! We hid in the punch down closet.” His voice went muffled.

“Get down, Brent. You fucking jerk, get your fucking head down before I kick it off!”

Ah. Dar took a breath. He’s learning my management style. “Mark, calm down. Were these military guys? They’ve got some war game crap going on in here.”

“I don’t know what the fuck they were.” Mark sounded unusually panicked. “They had guns, Dar. They fucking shot the Ethernet hub.”

Dar frowned and glanced up at Andrew, who had crossed over to kneel at her side. “Are they supposed to be firing live rounds?”

“Hell, no.” Andrew removed a shotgun shell from the gun he was carrying and showed it to her. “Dummies.”

“Can dummies blow holes in electronic equipment?”

“No way.” The terrorist leader had also come over. “We’re not supposed to break anything—in fact, my CO told me if I dented any of these machines, he’d take ’em out of my paycheck for the next twenty years.”

What the hell was going on? “Mark, stay right where you are,” Dar ordered into the phone. “Don’t take any chances. If those idiots are shooting real bullets, you three stay put until we figure out what the deal is.”

Andrew nodded. “Good idea.”

“Yeah.” The terrorist scratched his jaw and agreed.

There was a scuffle, then the sound of a slamming door, and it got more or less quiet. “Okay,” Mark panted. “We’re in here, but let me tell you, boss, I’m bucking for a bonus after this.”

Dar let her breath out with a soft grunt. “You’ll get it.” She folded the phone and let it drop onto her thigh as her eyes lifted to Andrew’s.

“Dad, what the hell is this?”

“Maybe it’s a mistake,” the terrorist leader offered. “I don’t think they really shot anything up, ma’am.”

Kerry shook her head. “No. The man on the other end of that phone isn’t someone who makes things up or panics for no reason,” she disagreed, putting a hand on Dar’s forearm. “If he says they were shooting, they were.”

Ceci cleared her throat. “Does that mean they’re coming here next?”

Everyone exchanged glances. “Well...” The burly terrorist Red Sky At Morning 251

hesitated. “We’re their target, so yeah, I guess.”

“If they’re shooting real bullets, that could be a problem.”

Andrew scrubbed a hand across his face. “Lord,” he sighed. “Ain’t this a mess. I think we’d better all just get on out of here, Dardar. Pick up your gear, and let’s move.” He touched Dar’s lower leg. “Need to get you back to where Dr. Steve can take a peek at that skull.”

Dar had to admit that was probably a good idea. The spot where she’d been hit felt hot and swollen, and it ached. Kerry had found a large bruise spreading down her neck, and with everything else that had happened, even Dar couldn’t argue with being on the safe side.

“Okay.” She glanced at her redheaded tech. “Is that download done?”

Doug, his name was, if she recalled.

“Almost,” Doug replied.

“Dar, forget it,” Kerry urged gently. “Let’s just get out of here. It’s not worth risking you.” She could see the unevenly dilating pupils in Dar’s eyes and guessed she had a concussion. It was all too much, and she found their jobs counting for less and less as each minute went on.

“C’mon.”

For a moment, she thought Dar was going to refuse. The blue eyes studied her face quietly, searching it intently before Kerry saw the surrender, then the faint nod of agreement. Dar handed her the cell phone. “I’ll tell Mark to sneak out and meet us in the parking lot.”

Ceci stood up and let Andrew get around next to Dar, gently helping her up. She had put the sling back on her daughter’s arm with surprisingly little resistance, and now Dar accepted Andrew’s assistance with the same silent gratitude.

Frankly, that scared the poo out of Ceci. The only time she’d ever seen Dar meekly submitting to this kind of babying was when she’d been really, really hurt. That broken leg, she recalled, was the last time, when the sixteen year-old Dar had huddled in Andrew’s arms, trying very hard not to cry as he carried her into the hospital.

Leaving, she decided, was a very good idea. “All right, let’s go.”

She started to lead the way toward the door when it was abruptly thrust inward and Chief Daniel entered, slamming it behind her. “Ah.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you.” Daniel pointed at Dar, so angry she was almost spitting. “Went right to your buddy and told him, didn’t you?”

Dar stared at her. “No. We didn’t tell anyone here.” She glanced over to where the JAG officer had been crouched, then realized he was gone. “Wh—”

“Someone did,” the chief spat. “’Cause they’re coming through this place and wrecking everything they can get their hands on.” She turned and looked at the terrorists. “You better get your asses out of here, because they’re on the way. Unless you want to end up looking like hamburger, get lost.”

They heard a crunching sound, from not far away.

252 Melissa Good

“Too late fer that,” Andrew stated quietly. “Looks like we got us a problem.”

CECI WATCHED THE men in fatigues move cabinets in front of the door. “Should we call the cops? Andy, this is getting out of hand.” She was standing behind Dar, who was seated again at the console, laboriously pecking at the keyboard with a single index finger.

“Don’t got time,” her husband replied as he hopped up onto a desk and peered out through the glass panels that topped the wall separating them from the hallway. “Cops gotta come down from Largo, anyhow.

They get a lick of traffic, might as well ferget it.”

“So what are we doing?” Ceci knew she sounded nervous, but the loud noises of destruction were coming closer, and she had a lot of things to worry about in the room. Andrew, for one, who tended to believe in his own indestructibility.

“’Specting us to hold em off, so that’s what we’re gonna do,”

Andrew replied. “Give ’em ’nough trouble to make ’em run off somewheres else.”

Chief Daniel snorted. “This is where they want to be.” She pointed at the mainframes. “They won’t leave those standing.”

The leader of the terrorist SEALs glanced between Andrew and the chief, obviously confused. “Ma’am, just what the hell’s going on here?”

“You don’t want to know,” the chief told him point blank. “Because if you did, you’d have to spend the next ten years in some admin’s office doing paperwork on it, got me?” She looked around the room and shook her head. “We can’t hold this place.”

“Sure we can,” Andrew disagreed. “Just need us some unconventional ammo, that’s all.” He looked over to see Kerry crouched next to Dar, ostensibly watching the screen, but with her attention obviously focused on her injured friend. “What you got in them guns, paint?”

The lead terrorist nodded, then jumped as they heard the distinct sound of bodies thumping against the wall in the hallway. “Here they come.”

“All right.” Andrew pointed. “Ceci, get down behind that there cabinet. Take the kids with you.”

Dar and Kerry exchanged glances, then looked at Ceci. “Kids?”

Kerry objected, but got up to move anyway. “Come on, Dar.”

“In a minute,” Dar replied absently, typing in a final command.

“This is almost done.”

“Dar.” Kerry heard the crackle of a megaphone outside. “Now, please?” She tugged very gently on her lover’s uninjured arm.

“You there inside,” a voice boomed out. “We know you’ve got hostages. If you know what’s good for you, let them go.”

Dar reluctantly got up and joined Kerry and her mother behind the Red Sky At Morning 253

big computer consoles, where Doug and his co-worker were also crouched. She took out her cell phone and opened it, redialing Mark’s number.

“You stay where you are, or these guys get it,” the terrorist leader recited dutifully. “I got women in here, and I’ll waste ’em.”

Andrew gave him a look.

“That’s what they told us to say, sir,” the man rumbled apologetically. He deployed his men to either side of the doorway and told them to keep down. “They’re going by the plan, too. You sure this isn’t just part of the exercise?”

At that instant, the lights went off. A thick, dark silence fell over the room as the air conditioning stopped and the computers shut down in a sad, dying whirr of fans.

“Note to self.” Dar’s voice cut through the gloom. “Recommend independent UPS systems.”

“Jesus,” Kerry whispered.

“Doug, disconnect the box, and pull it over toward me,” Dar said quietly.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Andrew blinked, then blinked again to see if that would help him see anything in the darkened room. No such luck. His mind ran through the possibilities and didn’t much like any of them. “Figure they’re gonna toss something through them there winders next,” he muttered.

“Gas? Yeah,” the terrorist leader agreed softly. “We got masks.”

“Not enough of ’em.” Andrew let his eyes close as he stood up.

“Stay here. You hear something, get down.”

“Yes, sir.”

Doug crept across the tile floor dragging the big box. “Okay, here it is, ma’am.”

Dar felt the equipment, making sure the cover was tightly on and the back ports were secured. She thought a minute, then felt around her until her hand touched a box of fanfold paper intended for the big line printer nearby.

As is always the case with computer paper, it was nearly empty.

Dar inverted it and slid it down over her black box. Then she sat down comfortably on top of it and exhaled. “Okay. Whatever happens, keep your heads down and don’t move.”

In the darkness, she felt Kerry nestle closer to her, pressing their bodies together and sliding a hand to curl around Dar’s thigh.

“You’ve got one chance to come out,” the voice boomed.

Dar heard a slithering sound nearby, and something that sounded like dead fish being slapped on a dock. “Dad?”

“Hush.” Andrew’s voice echoed softly. “Just you stay down.”

“We are,” Kerry whispered back. “What are you doing?”

“Never you mind, kumquat. Just stay put, and keep yer head low.”

“I’m warning you!” their terrorist called. “You do anything, I start 254 Melissa Good shooting in here, and I won’t care what I hit!” A few whispered orders followed, and the shuffling, very faint, of booted feet. “We got gas masks, so don’t bother trying anything, not unless you want these hostages gassed!”

“Didn’t know they were selecting them for intelligence this year,”

Ceci muttered under her breath. “Nice.”

“Mom.” Dar bit back a smile, invisible as it was.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, they only pick SEALs who are smart enough to save the teams’ asses.”

“Don’t none of you be standing ’fore that door there,” Andrew rumbled softly.

The SEAL team leader stepped a pace closer. “You sure this isn’t just reg stuff, sir? They’re going right by the plan so far.”

“Ah don’t know,” Andrew replied. “But I am not taking chances with mah wife and my kids in here. Them folks had best hope they come in with them little paint balls and a lot of hollerin’, and not with anything worse, or it’s gonna get messy.”

A loud thump was heard. Then there was silence. Everyone waited, sweating in the motionless air.

Then everything happened at once. The top windows blew in, and hard, round things entered, bouncing off surfaces with wild abandon.

That was followed by a very strange noise, like an overshaken soda can being popped.

An acrid smell began to fill the room, then stopped as an indescribable noise started and the stink was replaced with a second overwhelming scent, this one chemical.

Dar wrapped her good arm around Kerry and ducked her head as popping noises started and a crash came from the front door. She could sense things happening around her, but the sounds didn’t evoke any logic, and the smell of smoke and sweat and chemical made her queasy.

Now men were yelling. The attacking SEALs poured in the door, and the explosive sound of guns firing filled the room. Tiny red tracers raced everywhere, dotting the walls and floor; then the yells turned to hollering as the odd noise returned, along with a loud whoop Dar recognized as her father.

“What in the hell is he doing?” Dar hissed to Ceci.

“You’re asking me?” her mother hissed back. “You’re the one who checked out the entire Jane’s weapons series from the library, remember?”

“Son of a bitch!” A yell rose up. “What the fuck!”

Now the noise sounded more like cattle being herded into a pen, one filled with Jell-O. Dar could hear bodies colliding, and the chemical smell became almost overwhelming. Then she heard something behind them.

Boots. Shuffling. The cocking of a shotgun.

Instinctively, Dar grabbed hold of Ceci and Kerry and pulled them Red Sky At Morning 255

all down to the floor, ignoring the pain in her arm as the world exploded behind her. She felt the shudder in the equipment they were leaning against, then heard a grunt, another cocking, and pressed her body against the floor.

Another shot. Pieces of plastic showered over them. The shouting continued on the other side of the room.

A red tracer danced lazily through the blackness.

Dar watched in stunned disbelief as it traveled over her chest and stopped. For a second, all she could hear was her own heartbeat turned into a thunder as her mind realized what was happening.

The shotgun cocked.

“Dad!” Dar let out a yell, knowing if she moved, she’d expose Kerry and her mother.

She closed her eyes.

Then there was a thud, and a curse, and the sound of something ripping.

Metal hitting flesh. Flesh hitting flesh.

An animal growl.

“All right.” A commanding voice rose over the chaos. “Hold it!

Everybody stand down!”

And then the lights came on.

“WHAT IN HELL is going on in here?” A tall, burly man strode into the room and put his hands on his hips. “I thought I—Andy?”

Andrew dropped the arm he was holding and straightened from a crouch, turning to face the newcomer. “’Lo, Steve.” His eyes anxiously checked the sprawl of bodies between the ruined computer consoles.

“You all okay?”

Ceci squirmed out from under Dar’s outstretched leg. “Fine.”

Kerry didn’t move an inch, preferring to remain where she was with both arms wrapped around her lover. “Yeah.”

Dar grimaced, shifting her weight off her bad arm as she met her father’s eyes. “Thanks.”

Andrew nodded, then returned his attention to the newcomers. The SEALs, both protectors and attackers, were sprawled everywhere, fatigues in jungle pattern and black smeared with paint and a thick, glutinous coating that also covered the floor and was spattered on walls, consoles, equipment, and every other surface within the room.

Andrew let the end of the fire hose he’d been wielding drop off his shoulder, then he glanced down at his feet with a sense of tired disappointment. He reached out a sneakered foot, rolled over the slumped form dressed in similar black fatigues, and gently booted the rifle he’d taken from the attacker far out of range. “Damn.”

“Holy shit.” Steve Drake had picked his way over to where Andrew was standing. “What the hell’s the CO doing here? Did you hit him?

256 Melissa Good Why? What the hell are you doing here? Who— Hey, ain’t that your little girl and the missus?”

“Steve,” Andrew exhaled.

“What happened to these damn machines?” The SEAL commander turned and glared at the slowly disentangling team members. “I thought I told you people not to touch any of this—” Steve stopped talking as a large hand fit itself over his mouth.

“Hush,” Andrew exhaled. “We got a lot to talk through. Get some medics in here first.”

“But—”

Andrew’s voice took on a crisp, stern quality. “Just do it.”

Dar managed to push herself upright, hampered by both her arm and Kerry’s tenacious hold on her. She let her head rest against the wreckage of the console and blinked. “Doug?”

“Just fine, ma’am.” Doug and his companion crawled out from between the computer and the nearby wall. They were both covered in dust, but unharmed. “That other lady officer took off in the dark, though. I don’t know what happened to her.”

Several possibilities occurred to Dar and caused her to smile unpleasantly. She hurt too much to enjoy them, however. “Take the box and get outside. Mark’s waiting for you. Get it into my car, and just get off base.” She kept her voice low. “Move it.”

Doug hesitated, then his freckled face scrunched into a grimace, and he nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Be careful.” He and the other tech carefully uncovered the disk assembly and lifted it between them, then started to make their way quietly toward the door, dodging the cursing, slipping SEALs.

Kerry’s eyes were on the still form at Andrew’s feet. “You were wrong,” she murmured.

“Yeah,” Dar agreed sadly. “I guess I was. I was hoping I wasn’t.”

She closed her eyes. “He was trying to use the exercise to cover wiping his tracks, I guess.”

Kerry shook her head. “I don’t get any of this. What about that petty person? Was she part of it, too? Is everyone in this place messed up, Dar?”

“I don’t know,” Dar answered. “I don’t want to think about it right now.” She let her eyes open and examine the hole in the console just opposite her. “I hate this.”

“Well, hon, I don’t think anyone would like being in a half-shot-up room full of fire retardant foam and cursing sailors,” Kerry joked weakly. “I know I don’t.”

It was more like a bad dream. Dar felt a hurt beyond the physical as she considered the consequences of the day. Never had to nail a friend, have you? She accepted the self-acknowledgment with a bitter taste in her mouth. It was sure easy enough for you to do this to some damn strangers, wasn’t it, Dar? You used to laugh about it, remember? It was true, she Red Sky At Morning 257

knew. She remembered exchanging bets with Duks on how many people she could nail at companies they consolidated. What was her record? Fifteen, wasn’t it?

Her eyes went to the ceiling. Well, she had a job to do; after this, chips were going to fall where they fell, that’s all. After all, there had been that laser scope on her chest, and now Dar had to face the possibility that given another few seconds, her family’s “old friend”

might have chosen to pull that trigger.

That close, with a shotgun. There was no doubt she would have died. It would have been a “mistake” during an exercise; that was all.

Friendly fire. And civilians who had no authority to be where they’d been, anyway.

Dar’s lips twitched. Damn, life just really sucks sometimes. She inhaled, then rolled her head to one side to meet Kerry’s eyes. Had Kerry seen the scope? Did she know what almost happened? “You okay?”

“Me?” Kerry almost spluttered. “I’m perfectly fine, Dar. Can you stand up? I’d like to get the hell out of this room. The smell of that foam is making me sick.”

No, Dar realized. She didn’t know. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided to save the news for later, when they were alone. “Sure. That’s a good idea.” She got her feet under her and slowly stood up. Kerry held onto her, for which she was glad, as a wave of dizziness nearly sent her right back down to the ground again. “Whoa.”

“Easy.” Kerry wrapped an arm firmly around her. “I got you.”

Dar waited a moment for the buzzing to fade, then laid her arm across Kerry’s shoulders and took a look around the room for the first time. “Holy shit,” she blurted, shocked at the compound disaster the area had become.

“Leave it to your father.” Ceci had come up on the other side. “He could do that to a perfectly clean carport, too.” She looked up at Dar.

“You doing all right?” There was a faint hesitance in her voice. “Or is the smell in here killing you as much as it is me?”

Dar felt sick to her stomach, and the pain in both her shoulder and head seemed to be getting worse. Or maybe it was just a combination of things. “It’s pretty bad,” she agreed. “We’re going to get out of here.”

“Good idea,” Ceci remarked, noting but not commenting on the stark paleness of her daughter’s face. “I’ll walk out with you.” She exchanged glances with Andrew, who nodded, a sober, very serious look on his face.

After a moment’s pause, she drew in a breath, then settled a hand firmly on Dar’s back as they made their way slowly to the door.

Dar glanced to one side, then to the other, a dozen words of protest rising to her lips about this overly solicitous behavior. Then her stomach almost rebelled, making her glad of Kerry’s grip, and she decided to make an exception.

Just this once.

258 Melissa Good ANDREW WATCHED HIS family leave, then turned back to his old friend, Steve Drake.

“So what’s the deal, Big A?” Steve asked, folding his arms across his chest. “Better come up with something good ’fore Ainsbright wakes up and throws you in the brig.” He glanced down. “Gonna be some pissed.”

“Can’t,” Andrew replied. “I mustered out.” His eyes fell on the still-unconscious form of the base commander. “You got medics coming? Ah think I might have busted something in there.”

“Yep. On the way,” Steve agreed. “You really retired? No shit?”

Andrew nodded. “Got me a nice, peaceful job watching out for mah damn kid.” He shook his head. “This ain’t a good day, Steve. We got some bad stuff going on here.”

The big SEAL snorted. “Here? Nah. Nothin’ ever goes on here, Andy. You know that better than most. It’s so quiet, they picked this place to let us do our urban playpen weekend here.”

Andrew shook his head, remembering those weekends.

“So, what are you gonna tell the heat when they get here? You gonna explain why a retired frogman’s holed up inside an official Navy action area, spraying some poor kids with foam and whacking the hell out of the base commander?”

“No,” Andrew replied. “Ah am not going to explain it.”

Steve cocked his head in a puzzled fashion.

There was a rifle lying near the wall. Andrew walked over and crouched next to it, examining the weapon with knowledgeable eyes.

“C’mere.” He waited for Steve to come over and kneel down. “This what you’re arming with?”

A blink. “Hell, no,” the SEAL commander said. “You know better.”

Andrew nodded. “Yep.” The rifle was a standard issue, old style M16 rifle, with a night scope attached. “Trouble is, what made them holes in them there pieces of machinery sure wasn’t this here rifle.” He turned and looked. “12 gauge Remington, I’m thinking.”

Steve walked over and examined the holes. “Damn.” He straightened. “None of my people were carrying those.” He came back over. “Andrew, what is going on here?”

Andrew looked from the holes, to his old friend—now starting to groan—then to the rifle he’d taken from Jeff’s hands and slammed against the wall. “Ah wish to hell I knew.”

KERRY ADJUSTED THE passenger’s seat back a little, watching Dar’s eyes blink slowly in the midday sun. “You okay here, honey?

Would the back seat be better?”

“No, this is fine,” Dar murmured. “Feels better to be half sitting. I think if I laid flat, I’d end up chucking my guts all over your pretty new car.”

Red Sky At Morning 259

“It’s leather. It cleans.” Kerry let her hand rest on Dar’s thigh as she glanced around. Ceci had gone to get some water, and Mark had already left in Dar’s car with the drive array box. It was sunny now, and peaceful out here in the parking lot, with a nice breeze blowing. Kerry felt a lot better, and she hoped that Dar did as well. “How are you doing?”

Dar tilted her head to one side and regarded her wryly. “I must be doing horrible.”

Anxiously, Kerry clasped her fingers in her own. “Why? Does it hurt that bad?”

“No.” The blue eyes twinkled, just a little. “It’s the seventh time you’ve asked me in ten minutes,” Dar said. “Am I turning green or something?”

“Psshst.” Kerry had to laugh. “Sorry.” She lifted Dar’s hand and kissed it. “This was just a little too much, I think. My mind’s going in a thousand different directions.”

“Yeah.” Dar pulled her closer into a hug and laid her cheek against Kerry’s soft hair. She could feel warm breath through the fabric of her shirt as the smaller woman sighed. “You know what?”

“What?”

“I love you.” Dar was mildly surprised at how easily that came to her lips now. She felt Kerry smile, and one of her arms snaked around Dar’s waist, giving her a hug.

“I love you, too,” Kerry murmured.

They stayed that way, even though Dar could see her mother’s approach through the windshield. “Sorry I was such a raging bitch today,” she said. “This didn’t really go like I planned it.”

“Oh.” Kerry didn’t budge. “You mean you didn’t expect someone to suspect what we were up to and use a SEAL exercise to cover the destruction of all the evidence?”

“No.”

“Tch. Bad Dar. No biscuit.” Kerry squirmed a little closer. “You must be slipping.” She felt the motion under her as Dar chuckled just a bit. “Your tummy’s rumbling.”

“Not from hunger,” Dar sighed, as her mother rounded the door and paused, watching them bemusedly. “Hi.”

“Is it ticking?” Ceci hazarded. “Here, drink some of this. I think it’s safe. There’s enough chlorine in it to kill anything nasty.” She handed Dar a bottle she’d filled from the tap.

“Thanks.” Dar accepted it and took a sip, licking her lips thoughtfully. “Mm. Tastes like home.” She rolled a mouthful around and swallowed it, perversely enjoying the sharp tang of the minerals and chemicals infusing the tap water. “Nothing else tastes like it.”

Kerry lifted her head and straightened, pulling the bottle over curiously and taking a sip.

She blinked, then spat it out immediately. “Yahh!”

260 Melissa Good Ceci and Dar both chuckled.

“Boy, is that ever an acquired taste.” Kerry looked like she desperately needed something. Like a drink of water. “Good grief, Dar!

How on earth could you drink that?”

Dar winced as a wave of nausea hit her. “I’m wondering that myself at the moment,” she said. “Better step back, in case I lose what I just swallowed.”

Kerry didn’t move an inch. She took the bottle from Dar’s hands and gently rubbed her forearm, caressing the warm, bare skin as she watched Dar close her eyes and lean back. “I think we’d better get going,” she told Ceci. “Go on and get in. I’ll drive over there, then run in and get Dad.”

Ceci nodded. “Good idea.” She opened the back door and climbed inside. “But you drive, I’ll go fetch him.” She watched Kerry carefully close the passenger side door, then jog around the front of the Lexus.

Awkwardly, she patted Dar’s arm very lightly. “Hang in there, kiddo.”

Hang in there. Dar swallowed, uncomfortably aware of the pain in her head and shoulder getting worse. “Do my best.” Even the sound of Kerry’s closing the door hurt. “Did Mark get that box?”

“He got it, honey.” Kerry backed the car, then put it in gear and headed for the building. “Don’t worry about that.”

Okay. Dar closed her eyes and concentrated on taking shallow breaths. She didn’t want to throw up. That would hurt. That would make her head hurt a lot worse than it did. It would also, the more ingenious part of her argued, ruin the new-car smell of Kerry’s little blue buggy.

That would be bad.

She wouldn’t get a biscuit.

Dar winced. Right now, the last thing on earth she wanted was a biscuit.