Stormy Waters: Book 10 in The Dar & Kerry Series

Chapter Fourteen

KERRY CROSSED THE baked, white concrete between the terminal and the ship, glad she'd put her sunglasses on as the sun reflected unmercifully off the pale surface. She was dressed in a pair of well broken in jeans, work boots, and a plain red pocketed t-shirt, and she blended in with the thick crowd of workers clustering around the ship entry in a state of controlled panic.

She had left Dar in the terminal, her partner intent on taking control of their office and everything that was processing through it. Unable to put on her own boots because of the swelling of her injured foot, Dar had reluctantly agreed to let Kerry take charge onboard and work with the install team.

Kerry knew, of course, that beach sandals or no, Dar would eventually break the rules and ramble after her, but for now she proceeded on the assumption that everything would be up to her to coordinate. They had a lot to do, and she felt relatively focused and ready for it. "Morning, guys."

Two of her IT techs turned, hearing her voice. "Morning, ma'am!" They both chorused. "Wow, what a mess, huh?"

"You got it." Kerry paused, seeing what appeared to be a logjam at the top of the gangway. "What's going on in there?"

"Oh." The taller of the two, a slim dark haired man named Carlos, grinned. "There's this guy up there who's yelling because we keep getting our stuff before he gets his. I think the man in charge inside likes us."

"The big guy?" Kerry hazarded a guess, holding a hand up over her own head.

"Si." Carlos nodded. "He sent up all the cabling patches to the main floor just now, and this other guy was waiting for some plugs and he had a fit."

"You know who that big guy is, don't you?" Green eyes twinkled.

"No." Carlos shook his head, and his companion did also. They were both fairly new hires, juniors in Mark's expansive department.

"C'mon." Kerry led the way up the gangway, nudging past a few construction workers. At the top she managed to squeeze past a man in a hard hat with a bristling red beard, ignoring his glare as she hopped onto the deck to see what was going on.

Carlos and his friend followed her, standing cautiously behind her as they got clear of the hatch.

"Ah do not care." Andy was standing, with his arms crossed over his broad chest, legs spread in front of a stack of boxes. "These here boxes go in whatever the hell order ah want them to."

Facing him was a lean man in an electrician's union t-shirt with a tool belt and a bad attitude. "Listen buddy, I'm gonna kick your ass if you don't cough up my stuff, unnerstand?"

Andy just looked at him and smiled. "We ain't got no time here for fun."

"You think it's funny?" The man advanced aggressively.

"Ah think you're an ass." Andy pointed at the narrow stairwell with one thumb. "So get your silly ass up them stairs fore I toss it overboard. Your damn stuff went up half an hour ago."

The man glared at him, but headed for the door. "You aint' seen the last of me. That's for sure."

The logjam broke and men started across the deck again, milling around and heading for various boxes and crates. Kerry scooted through them and headed for Andrew instead, cautiously followed by her techs. "Hey! Morning!"

Andy turned at the familiar voice. "Wall! Morning there, kumquat." He produced a grin for her. "You're an early bird."

Without hesitation, and despite all the commotion, Kerry walked up and gave him a big hug. "Boy, I'm glad you're here," she remarked. "Are you causing trouble taking care of us?"

Her father-in-law chuckled, a low, rumbling sound.

Kerry turned to the wide eyed techs. "Guys, this is Andrew Roberts," she explained. "Dar's daddy." she clarified, after a second. "Dad, this is Carlos and Jason, who work for us."

"Howdy." Andrew greeted them amiably.

"Hi," Carlos responded.

"Hello," Jason added, from his safe position behind Kerry. "Nice to meet you."

Kerry couldn't decide if the two were more intimidated by Andrew's size, or the fact that he was Dar's father. She gave them a tolerant grin, and pointed. "Go on upstairs. I'll meet you up there." She waited for them to retreat then turned back to Andy. "Having fun?"

Andy looked around, then back at her. "Little bit," he acknowledged. "My kid here?"

"Yep, in the building." Kerry pointed over her shoulder. "We've got a lot of work to do today."

"You get all that stuff settled up last night?" Andrew asked curiously. "Sounded like a rat in a teakettle all what was going on."

How would a rat get into a teakettle? Kerry wondered. "More or less," she said. "What's going on in here today? Seems like a lot of people are pissed off."

"Wall." Her father in law folded his arms again. "Folks don't like to naturally take turns, see, and in this here little box, ain't no way anything gets done unless folks do." He walked over and kicked a pallet. "Problem was, feller who was in here 'fore I was just let all this stuff show up any the hell way, and it was a big old mess."

Kerry looked around, realizing the cargo space was far more organized than it had been the last time she'd seen it. Pallets were lined up against the walls in orderly rows, each with a label on them, and men with pallet jacks were moving them out in a regular sequence. "Ah!"

"Folks don't like waiting." Andy shrugged.

"Especially when you put all our stuff first?" Kerry elbowed him gently in the side.

Blue eyes blinked innocently at her. "Ain't mah fault all them gizmos of yours come in labeled and regular when the rest of this here gunk we got to rip open to see what it is," he protested mildly. "I just get that there easy stuff out mah way first, that's all."

"Ahh!" Kerry put a hand over her chest. "My anally retentive labeling system. At last, someone appreciates it!" She smiled broadly. "I'm vindicated!"

Andrew chuckled. "Ah do like it," he agreed. "'Bout good enough for the Navy."

Kerry took that as the compliment it obviously was and grinned. "Thanks," she said. "Okay, I'm going to get working. If you need anything, I'll be upstairs and Dar's over there terrorizing everyone in case you hear yelling coming from the shore side area."

Andrew patted her on the back and sent her on her way. He waited for her to disappear up the stairs, before he returned his attention to the loading dock, observing the orderly movement with a judicious eye. "Hey, you all," he called over to two men standing near the far wall. "Watch this here thing. I'll be right back."

He walked across the gangway and down to the dock, ambling across the open space with a deceptive stride. Two forklifts dodged him, and he sped up a little as he made his way up the walk to the back of the terminal.

Ducking inside the door, he looked quickly around. It was almost as full of frenetic, yet purposeful motion as the ship hold, only here the bodies rushing around were covered in polo shirts and pressed chinos and the smell was of copper and new plastic rather than sump oil.

It was cool in here, too. Andrew appreciated that. He'd spent enough time in his life in places where air conditioning was unheard of to appreciate it now that he could pretty much have it at will. After a career spent in the military, he'd discovered that directing his own life and his own comfort was actually a pretty damn nice thing.

Ah. His eyes found what they were looking for. On the far side of the large room there was a large desk like area, raised up a foot or so, giving it a commanding view of the entire space.

Dar had taken it over, and was perched on a stool behind the counter, her laptop on one side of her and a pad of paper in front, her head bent over it as she wrote. Andrew found himself smiling at the sight, gazing at his daughter fondly as the head propped on one fist echoed a much earlier mental image he had of her.

He remembered watching her sit at the counter in their tiny kitchen down south in just such a pose, pouring over a comic book or a new magazine as she waited for them to have dinner. The look of absorption hadn't changed, or the rapid flicking as her eyes scanned across her subject with an intense focus he'd recognized as something he'd seen in himself on occasion.

It had always made him feel good...that echo. Andy knew he wasn't a stupid man, but he knew as well he wasn't no scientist and he'd taken a lot of pride in his daughter's accomplishments specially knowing he'd contributed to a bit of it in his own way.

Mah kid. He smiled, watching Dar shift restlessly as she wrote, recognizing the fidgets as well.

"All right." Dar finished writing and straightened, ripping the top sheet off the pad of paper and handing it to a waiting tech. "Get these units together, and get 'em on a flatbed. We'll start at the top of the ship and work down."

"Not from the bottom first, ma'am?" the tech queried. "Wouldn't it be easier?"

Dar leaned on her arms and pinned him with a cool, blue stare. "You think it's gonna be easier to carry those things up eleven flights of metal stairs now, or this afternoon?"

The tech looked at the list, then at Dar. "Oh." He scratched his jaw sheepishly. "Sorry, yeah. You're right. No elevators in there, huh?"

"No."

"Gotcha, on the way, ma'am." The tech trotted off with his list.

Dar shook her head and went back to her pad, then paused and turned her head, as though sensing her father's eyes on her. "Hey." She put her pencil down as she spotted him.

"Hey there, Dardar." Andrew came over and rested his forearms on the desk. "How are ya?"

Dar drummed her thumbs on the bad faux wood Formica. "Wanting this damn circus to be over. How's it going in there?"

"Not bad," her father said. "Saw Kerry go on up in there. She all right with them guys?" He expressed a little doubt. "Got some roughneck types up in them spaces up a ways."

Dar frowned. "My guys?" she asked incredulously. "Dad, most of them won't even cough hard in her presence."

"Naw, them contractors." Andrew shook his head. "'Lectricans and what all." He glanced around. "Not these here fellers. I figure they ain't most of 'em dangerous as bugs."

No, probably not. Dar glanced at the back door. "Well." She drummed the table again. "There's always a chance, I guess, but she's got some of the techs with her, and I'm not gonna be the one to tell her she can't be in there."

"Heh." Andrew chuckled shortly. "Well, I'll keep an earbug out."

He turned and looked around. "How's your laig?"

"Ick." Dar answered honestly. "Thanks for asking."

Andrew gave her arm a pat. "We'll get this thing done, Dardar. Don't you worry." He turned and headed for the back door, threading his way through the techs that all turned and looked after him.

Dar exhaled. She pulled her PDA out and tapped out a message, then unclipped her cell phone as it rang and checked the caller ID.

Duks.

With a sigh, she answered it.

"OKAY, LET'S START with the number one room." Kerry threaded her way through the hall, dodging rolls of carpet and stacks of steel supports. The two techs followed obediently after her, carrying the first of their heavy pieces of gear between them.

The hallways flickered with intermittent power, and they were full of workers all trying to get their part of the job done at the same time and mostly in the same space. Tempers were hot, the air was hotter, and Kerry already felt sweat making her t-shirt cling to her torso.

Not a nice feeling. Kerry had never enjoyed sweating though she didn't mind it in small doses, as when she was in the gym or if they were outside on the beach. But she liked the opportunity to limit it and have copious amounts of some kind of water at close hand.

At first, she'd thought she was being just too preppy about it, and for a while after they'd moved in together, she hadn't said anything about it one way or another to Dar, until she realized one morning that it was so muggy outside the windows in the town house were completely fogged over...

"Ugh." Kerry pressed her hands against the sliding glass doors, feeling the chill of them against her skin. "I'm sweating already."

Dar walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder at the misty scene. "Ah. Summer."

Well, Kerry told herself, buck up. It's only an hour, and you can't show your northern stripes yet. She straightened up a little and pushed off from the window. "Time's a wasting." She started for the door, only to be brought up short as Dar caught her around the waist with one long arm. "Urf?"

"You want to go running in that?" Dar queried.

Kerry peeked up at her. "Um...there's a choice?"

Dar leaned her arms on Kerry's shoulders and gazed into her eyes. "Sure," she said. "There's no rule that says we have to do anything we don't want to do, Ker."

"I thought you liked running."

"I like fitting into my clothes," Dar replied frankly. "Only idiots like spending the morning in air thick enough to make soup from, running in circles."

"Ah." Kerry felt better. "So you don't like sweating that much?"

"I don't like sweating at all." Dar grinned. "Or didn't the 65 degree constant AC in here tip you off to that?" She indicated the windows. "How about we go swimming instead?"

"Swimming?"

Dar nodded. "The big pool's great for laps."

Cool water and Dar in a bathing suit. Hmm. "You don't think I'm a wuss? Or a pathetic snowbird?"

Dar snickered. "We could start the morning off right and skinny dip."

"C'mon." Kerry turned her back on the fogged window feeling much friendlier to the humidity all of a sudden. "Race you to the pool."

"Ma'am?"

Kerry looked up and wiped the smile off her face, along with a healthy dose of perspiration from her forehead. "Sorry. What?"

"We have to take this upstairs, right?" the man asked. "Like, by walking?"

Kerry gave him a sympathetic look, as they edged past stacks of metal poles. "Unfortunately, yeah," she said. "I'll give you guys a hand going up with it," she offered. "I know it's heavy."

The closest tech released one hand off the switch and waved it at her. "Oh, no, no, that's okay, ma'am. We're fine! Honest."

"Yeah." The other tech grunted. "We can handle this."

Kerry gave them both a dubious look, and kept her comments to herself. She led the way to the wide center stair case and started up turning to keep an eye on the two techs as they trudged upward.

The steps had been stripped of carpet and were a treacherous combination of cracked wood and treading strips. Kerry could feel her boots sticking to them a little, and she kept her eyes on the ground trying to spot dangerous items like upward facing nails.

She was fairly sure her thick soled shoes would stand up to it, but given the accumulated grime in the stairwell, a puncture could possibly be life threatening.

A new frame had been welded in place for a handrail, but the top was still open metal studded with bolts. Kerry was very cautious in taking hold of it, and as she climbed upward, the light started dimming so she retrieved her flashlight from her back pocket and turned it on. "Careful," she warned. "I think they're welding up here."

"Great," one of the techs muttered.

Kerry paused on the landing as her PDA chirped. "Okay, let's break for a rest here a second." She stepped to one side of the landing and flipped the device open, as the techs let the switch rest on the steps. They were sweating, and breathing hard, and Kerry debated as to whether she should call them out on their macho.

Hey. Watch out for the tradesmen in there. Dad says they look like a rough bunch.

Kerry regarded the note quietly. What exactly was Dar saying? That she was in danger, or were they in danger of getting knocked on the head and the switch swiped? She tapped out just that question and waited, keeping one eye on the techs.

He couldn't give a rat's ass about the guys or the switch.

Ah. Kerry looked around, but they were alone in the stairwell, and though she could hear workmen above them, so far everyone she'd seen had completely ignored her. I'll keep my eyes open. She assured her. You're gonna need to send me more little macho boys, though. Mine are giving out already.

She closed the device and put it away. "Ready?" she asked the techs. "Sure you don't want me to grab a corner of that?"

The techs hesitated, then moved over to allow her to join them on one side of the switch. Kerry took hold of a curved bit of metal and they lifted together, then started slowly up the stairs.

"SO, WHAT'S THE story?" Dar pressed the cell phone against one ear, as she reviewed a list of newly uncrated equipment. "John, did we get a case of fiber patch?" she called out. "If we did, find it!"

"Will do." John trotted off in search.

"I have just finished interviewing my four senior auditors," Duks said. "Three of them, I have no doubt about. They were as puzzled as I as to what was going on."

"Uh huh." Dar scanned the list again. "And the fourth?"

"The fourth one has admitted to being the person who started that activity last night," Duks answered calmly. "I have terminated them and begun legal proceedings."

Dar blinked. "You did...they did?" she blurted. "Just like that?"

"Just so," Duks agreed. "It was Adriene Blatklo, and she was unrepentant. Apparently there was some money involved in asking for the information," Duks said. "She has retained a lawyer already, and apparently believes we will not pursue the matter."

"Hell with that."

Duks snorted. "You may say that again, my friend. I got off the phone with Hamilton before I called you. At any rate, apparently that hole is closed. Have you heard anything more from our obnoxious friend from last night?"

"No."

"Excellent," Duks said. "I will say this; Adriene rather arrogantly informed me that I should not be surprised if she was the only one to be approached. Apparently our freeze on salaries is rather well known in the outside at the moment."

"Great." Dar sighed. "Well, I can't worry about that right now, Louis. I've got a project to bring in."

"I will let you get to it then," Duks said. "Have you spoken with Alastair?"

"No." Dar made a note on the page. "You want to call him? I'm busy." She glanced at her PDA, which had started to flash.

There was a significant pause, then Duks cleared his throat. "Of course. It is my department, after all."

"Great. Tell him I say hi," Dar said. "Talk to you later." She hung up, and set the cell phone down, then picked up her PDA and flipped it open. She read Kerry's note and answered it, then reviewed the response. "Uh huh."

Bodies she had plenty of. "Mark!"

Mark swerved and headed across the room to where she was sitting. "Yes, boss?" He leaned his arms on the counter. "Like your cubby here."

"Kerry needs help inside," Dar said. "Get half dozen guys and send them up to the deck eleven closet," she directed. "I don't want to hear she was lugging that damn gear around, got me?"

Mark grinned. "Do I get to tell her that?"

"NO." Dar glared at him.

"Ma'am." John trotted up with a box. "Here's the fiber patches...should I bring them to Ms. Stuart?"

"Yes." Dar pointed to the door, then turned her eyes back on Mark. "Have you sent those guys yet?"

"I'm going." Mark backed off. "Hey you want some coffee or something?"

Dar's eyes narrowed. "You insinuating I need some?"

Mark grinned. "I'm outta here, boss. You sound like the good old days." He turned and headed toward a group of technicians clustered around some boxes, grabbing some by the arm and calling others over.

Dar leaned back on her stool and pondered that, then returned her attention to the list of items. Kerry had done a very good job of ordering, and it looked like nothing had been left off the list. Most of their gear was in, and things were progressing fairly well.

She tapped a pencil on the counter and tried to figure out what to do next.

THE ELEVENTH DECK was mostly dark. As they walked up the last step, Kerry flashed her light around, peering down the hallway toward where their wiring closet was. On one end of the floor--the far end--electricians were working inside a panel, sparks flying as they welded something into place. "Hmm. This is going to be fun."

"It's creepy in here," the shorter tech commented.

"Yeah, it is," Kerry agreed. "Okay, let's get this thing mounted and plugged in." She led the way down the hall with her powerful light bobbing up and down with her steps and outlining the closed cabin doors. The scent had changed up here, from old mildew to new carpeting over old mildew, interspersed with fresh paint.

It was an improvement, but at the back of her tongue Kerry could still taste the age and decay. She suspected it would stay that way until some decent air conditioning could dry the air out a little. At least this high up, most of the diesel stench had dissipated.

As she walked, Kerry tried to imagine sailing on the ship to some place, her world bounded by the walls and the deep blue sea around them. It was hard; even though she'd spent time out on the Dixie, this was something else entirely.

This would be more like cruising in a slightly seedy, somewhat rundown hotel with a new coat of paint on it. Kerry had decided she would be interested in taking a cruise with Dar, but not on something like this. She'd found a sailboat cruise company in a magazine the other day and had already started planning. "Okay, watch it." She carefully stepped over a roll of carpet remnants left in the dark hallway.

"Urf." The tech in front grunted.

"Want to put it down a minute?" Kerry asked.

"No, we're good."

Men. Kerry sighed, though she suspected Dar would have given the same answer. She continued down the hall, becoming more and more aware of the darkness around them as they left the semi-lit stairwell behind. There were creaks all around as well, and a soft groaning somewhere as the ship shifted in its berth.

They reached the cross corridor that held their wiring closet, and she turned into it, the partially opened door moving inward as she pushed.

"Ayah!"

Kerry nearly hit her head on the roof as she jumped, the yell from inside the dark closet scaring her silly. "Yow!" She yelped, backing into the techs who dropped the switch on the deck with a solid thump. Since they and the hundred pound item were behind her, she was trapped near the door and she teetered for balance as she heard a clatter behind it. "Holy--"

The door yanked open and a large figure appeared. Faced with no retreat, Kerry flashed her light at it, her free hand lifting into an automatic defensive posture in front of her. Dar's warning rang in her mind and she felt a moment of panic, before her light illuminated the man's t-shirt and she recognized the name of their own cable vendor. "Oh."

"Jesus, lady!" the man exclaimed. "You scared the crap out of me!" He glared at Kerry. "I coulda been on a ladder in there, y'know!"

"Sorry." Kerry collected herself. "We're just trying to get this equipment in," she explained. "They told us the cabling was ready."

The man snorted. "Yeah, sure." He brushed by them. "Next time, watch it!"

Kerry peered after him, watching his back retreat into the darkness. "Hmm." She shook her head and tapped her flashlight against her palm. "Remind me to talk to his boss."

The techs wiped sweating palms on their jeans and took hold of the switch again. "Sounded like we woke him up," Carlos commented. "Not like we were sneaking down the hall, you know?"

"Exactly." Kerry turned and shoved the door open, entering the wiring closet and standing aside to let the men enter after her. If the hallway was stuffy, the closet was stifling, and held a hint of plastic and copper as well as old sweat and the faint scent of beer.

Not entirely pleasant. "Let's see what we've got here." Kerry motioned for them to block the door open with the switch as she studied the interior. Most of the small space was taken up by two tall racks bolted to the deck and reaching to the ceiling. In one, panels full of network jacks winked in her flashlight beam. The other was empty waiting for their equipment. "This is such fun to do in the dark." Kerry sighed. "Jesus. Okay, let me get over here." She went around the corner of the rack and tried to get into an angle that would allow her to put the light to good use. "Why don't you...ow!"

"Ma'am?" Carlos leaned toward her anxiously.

Kerry flexed her hand that she unwisely had put into the sharp angle of the rack. A sting alerted her, and she turned the flashlight on her palm that was now stained with blood. "Ugh." The slice was shallow, but long, like a two inch paper cut. "Figures. Watch out for this cross support guys, it's sharp."

"Ow." Carlos murmured sympathetically. "Bet that hurts."

It did. "Nah." Kerry stepped up to her macha. "Heck, if I could get a tattoo, what's this little old thing?"

The two techs stopped in the act of moving the switch into place. "You got a tattoo?" Carlos inquired. "Wow. I went with my cousin when he got his, and he screamed like a...um..." He gave Kerry a sheepish look. "Girl."'

"That's okay. So did I." Kerry smiled at them. "What do you think, here?" She indicated a spot in the rack.

"Yeah, that would be good." The techs picked up the switch and started to angle it into the rack. "Damn this thing weighs a ton."

Kerry watched them struggling. "Hang on." She wormed her way into the rack itself and knelt. "Here, set it on my knee, and then you can swivel it." She instructed patting the denim covered surface. "Otherwise you don't have enough space to really...yeah." She grunted a little as the weight of the device came down on her leg.

"Got it. Carlos, push it in further," the other tech urged. "Yeah...no, wait."

Kerry edged back against the back of the rack as the switch nearly pinned her in place. Her elbow knocked against something, and she heard the rattle of glass behind her, accompanied by the scent of stale beer. "Ah." She felt sweat running down her body, and her nose tickled from the dust. "How's it going guys?"

"Gotta get the rack nuts in," Carlos muttered. "One's in...wait...oh, shit. I dropped it."

"I got another one, here." His colleague handed it over. "Hurry up before we smush Ms. Stuart, and get our asses kicked into the bay."

Kerry smiled, as she took hold of the device with both hands and tried to keep it steady. It was a dead weight, and it was making her leg ache. She tried not to think about the ten others they had to install and leaned her head against the cool steel, blinking salty sweat from her eyes.

"Okay, got it...get that into place and I'll screw it in." Carlos said. "You okay, ma'am?"

"Just fine. Thanks," Kerry assured him. She felt the weight come off her knee as the switch was screwed into place. "Now I'm doing much better. You got it?"

"Got it." Carlos assured her. "You can come out of there now, ma'am."

Kerry eased up off her knees, then realized with the switch bolted into place, she was trapped inside the rack. "Oh, Jesus." She sighed. "Hang on...I need to climb up over the top of this thing." Her PDA beeped and she paused in the middle of getting a foothold on the side of the rack to open it.

I sent some help. They there yet?

Kerry looked around the cramped room. No, sweetie, and there's no room in here for them. I'm trapped inside a rackmyself at the moment.

WHAT?

"Uh oh." Kerry put the PDA away and concentrated on escaping from her metal prison. She got a foot up on the support brace that had cut her and eased herself up and over the switch, catching sight of the two techs caught between wanting to help her and not wanting to be insubordinate. "I could use a hand, guys. If I fall on my head on the floor Dar's not gonna like it."

The techs jumped forward, unblocking the door and allowing it to swing shut as they reached for Kerry's hand. Her flashlight slipped from her sweaty fingers and dropped on the floor, turning itself off and putting them all in total darkness.

Everyone froze. "Um...."

Kerry sighed. "Find it." She eased back into the rack and pulled her PDA out, turning it on and using the meager light from the screen to give them as much help as possible. "This would be funny if it wasn't just so ridiculous."

More sweat rolled down her face as she waited for the flashlight to be found. "This is the glamorous part of our jobs, huh?"

Carlos laughed hesitantly. "Yes, ma'am...I think I got it," he said. "Oh, I think it broke."

Of course. Kerry rested her head against the rack. "Please try to fix it. If I have to call for help to get out of here, I'm never going to hear the end of it."

Her cell phone rang at that moment, and she opened it, not even having to glance at the caller ID. "Hi."

"You're stuck in a rack?"

"In the dark, in a closet, with a broken flashlight. But we're fixing it." Kerry informed her partner. "We'll be fine. Really."

"I'm sending my father to get you."

Kerry sighed. "Dar..." She protested. "We got the switch installed. We're fine. Honestly. Right guys?"

"Right." The two chorused obediently. "Hey." Carlos yelped suddenly. "Something just crawled on me!"

Kerry's eyes opened wide. "Uh..."

"Still okay?" Dar's voice sounded wry. "I heard that. Better hope it's only a roach."

"Urk." Kerry instinctively lifted her hand to the neck of her shirt, and twisted it a little, tightening the fabric around her throat in case something fell on her head and thought a journey inside her clothing would be a fun idea. "Don't suppose Dad has a nice big flashlight, huh?"

A loud bang sounded overhead, and the walls shook a little, producing a rattle of some things falling onto the floor.

"What was that?" Dar asked.

"I don't know." Kerry started looking for another way out, feeling around cautiously. "Hon, can I get back to you?"

"Okay. Hang tight," Dar said, briskly. "Bye."

Kerry clipped the phone to her belt. "Any luck?" she asked. "How about getting the door open?"

"Ma'am, I'm trying," the other tech said unhappily. "It's locked from the outside. There's no lock on this knob." He rattled the door, obviously yanking on it. "Do you hear that?"

"What?" Kerry asked.

"That noise."

They all listened, and Kerry now could hear a sound of water burbling. "Water." She concluded. "This is a ship. That can't be good in any sense." She put the thought of bugs aside and started climbing over the switch again, by feel alone. "Watch out!"

"Ma'am! What are you doing?" Carlos asked nervously. "Please be careful, you can...oh! Oh!"

Kerry felt her balance slipping and she made a grab for the railing, the sweat on her hands making her lose her grip. "Yeow!" She swung over the top of the switch and slammed against it, knocking herself sideways and tumbling over the support rail. "Look out!"

"Ma'am! Kerry!" Carlos made a grab for her, but he wasn't even close, and Kerry landed hard on her side knocking him back against the wall. "Oh!"

"Oof." Kerry felt the breath go out of her and she only barely kept her head from smacking the floor. The sound of water got louder, and she could suddenly smell something unpleasant over the scent of carpet and mildew and new electronics. "Uh oh."

"Uh." The sound of scrambling. "I think we better get off the floor."

Kerry sighed. "Can I go back to my ivory tower now?" She shoved herself up off the ground just as the stench of sewage flooded the closet and all they could do was hold their noses and hope for the best.

"Well, ma'am." Carlos sighed. "It can't get worse than this, can it?"

If Kerry could have found his mouth in the dark, she would have covered it. As it was, she just crossed her fingers, and hoped she had a spare pair of boots somewhere in the car.

DAR POPPED THE back door open and headed through it powering past the guard without so much as a glance in his direction. She pushed her sunglasses further up her nose as the glare hit her eyes, feeling the sharp blast of heat as the sun poured over her.

In the shimmering heat, the old ship looked scroungier than ever. Dar saw a crew of men gathering around the hull, armed with five gallon jugs of marine paint, and she suspected the old hull was about to take on new colors.

She strode past the forklifts, hopping onto the gangway and making her way up into the ship, trying not to limp too badly and hoping no one dropped anything significant on her mostly unprotected feet.

It wasn't smart to go into a construction area with beach sandals on, but Kerry needed something, and that made the risk irrelevant.

Looking right and left as she entered the storage hold she headed for the stairs slipping between two moving pallets just in time to keep herself from being smashed flat.

"Hey!" the man moving the pallet yelled. "Watch out, you crazy woman!"

Dar lifted a bare arm and waved at him, as she started up the steps. The heat already was oppressive, and she was glad she'd picked a tank top to wear with her jeans.

Two men coming down squeezed past her on the steps, muttering under their breaths, shaking their heads. "We ain't never gonna get this done. That guy down there fucked us up big time."

"I'm gonna kick his ass," the other man replied. "I don't care how big he is."

Dar paused as she turned the corner landing, and then shrugged and kept on going, figuring if the big guy he was talking about was the one she was related to, he could more than take care of himself. She rounded the turn and continued on up, taking the steps at a rhythmic trot.

Her foot hurt, but she put that in the back of her mind and concentrated on avoiding broken corners on the steps that might send her sprawling. It got darker as she went up until she arrived on the open deck, where the doors were thrown open to get some kind of breeze inside the stifling interior.

Abruptly, Dar felt slightly horrified that she'd sent Kerry in here with the team. What had she been thinking? It was a hell hole in here!

Aggravated, she increased her pace across the deck, moving inside and heading for the double wide stairwell that lead to the upper decks.

People were coming down the stairs, rubbing their eyes and complaining.

Dar became aware of a stench in the air that made her nose wrinkle in reaction. Sewage, but worse, old sewage that smelled like lots of dead things had reconstituted themselves and were now invading the inside of the ship. "Oh, gross."

Stifling the urge to hold her nose, Dar started up the steps, blinking a little as the fumes made her eyes water. She rounded the first landing and kept moving upward, the dimness and the smell getting worse every second.

"Gag," Dar muttered, getting a sympathetic look from two female crew members who were hurrying in the other direction. "What died?" she asked, pausing to call after them.

"Some stupid person put something down one of the toilets." The woman nearest to her stopped and explained. "It blew up the pipes. I tell you, these people who work on this ship are stupider than most of our passengers ever were."

Well acquainted with cranky marine heads, Dar winced. "Great." She turned and started up the steps again, hoping silently it hadn't been one of her people that had done it. None of them were stupid, but sometimes when you were under stress, you did things out of habit.

Dar took another flight and tugged her flashlight from its holder on her belt, turning it on.

Stop up an air pressure pipe, and what resulted was a blow out, usually in the middle of a wall somewhere, where the term 'shit hitting the fan' came to a new, pungent, and, occasionally, dangerous meaning.

"Ah, the romance of the sea." Dar heard voices up a level, and she redoubled her speed again, powering up onto the landing of the eleventh deck in time to hear someone blaspheme his mother in virulent Spanish.

She rounded the corner of the stairwell to find a dark hallway full of machinery, men, and a growing sludge advancing across the new carpet. Some of the men she recognized as hers. "All right folks. What's going on here?"

Half the crowd turned, obviously relieved to see her. "Ms. Roberts!" the closest one said. "They won't let us go any further."

Two of the ship personnel were blocking the passage, shoving the others back impatiently. "Go back," the taller one of the two said. "You cannot go here. Something is broken."

Dar edged through her staff, most of them backing up as much as they could in the crowded space to allow her through. "Some of our people are in that hallway," she told the crewman. "We need to go get them."

"There's a broken pipe." The crewman shook his head. "It is dangerous. They must purge the system first."

"Let's get outta here," one of the other tradesmen said, in a disgusted tone. "It stinks, and I don't give a crap if this stupid job gets finished or not." He turned and pushed his way out, followed by two others.

Dar heard a hammering down the hall. "Okay, look."

"You must leave, now," the crewman told her brusquely.

The hammering got louder. Dar stepped up to the crewman and tipped her head down slightly, glaring at him. "Mister, I am going down that hallway. You can move aside, or I can go through you. Your choice."

The man stared at her. "What?"

Dar took a step even closer. "Move," she barked. "Now!"

"You cannot--"

Dar shoved him without hesitation, keeping her motions short and hard. The man stumbled back and looked at her in shock, then exchanged looks with his companion and got out of the way.

"You are crazy! But if you want to go there and get hurt? Fine! Go! It will be your fault!"

Dar strode past him with the techs in tow. As they moved down the hall, the stench grew, and the sound of hissing, escaping air got louder and louder. "Kerry!"

"Over there, ma'am!" One of the techs pointed. "That's the door."

Two others approached it eagerly. "We'll knock it down, Ms. Roberts. Just give us a minute."

Dar paused. "Ker! Get back!" She pointed to the door with utter authority, and shone her flashlight on it. "You two get over there, and keep an eye on that pipe."

"Dar!" Kerry's voice came through the partition.

"Yeah!" Dar yelled back. "Hang on!"

Footsteps sounded coming toward them down the hall. "All right you people. Back off! This is a closed area," an authoritative voice said. They turned to see a uniformed officer heading their way. "Move it!"

"Kiss my ass." Dar challenged him. "I get my people out of here, we'll leave. Not before then. I don't care how much crap's going to come out of that pipe."

"You listen to me!" The man came up to them. "I'm the staff captain of this vessel!"

"And I'm the chief information officer of this company." Dar growled right back. "I could buy you and this whole piece of crap shrimp boat for petty cash, so take your stripes and your attitude and beat it, pinhead! "She looked at the two techs. "Do it!"

"You cannot--"

"Watch me!" Dar shot back.

"One...two..." The two techs turned their shoulders to the door.

The staff captain clenched his fists and glared.

Dar glared right back at him.

"You..." He started.

"Am in charge here." Dar completed the sentence.

"Paladar Katherine Roberts, you better not be out there in that damned sewage with your foot!" Kerry yelled at the top of her voice, nearly making the door metal rattle.

The techs all looked at Dar as a momentary silence fell.

Dar cleared her throat. "Do it," she instructed the techs. "Before I get my ass in real trouble."

The techs charged the door without any further hesitation slamming into the panel and crashing it inward. They stumbled inside as it opened easier than they expected, and there was a jumble of moving bodies in two flashlight streams.

A low rumble started up to their right, as the techs stumbled out of the closet and into the hallway, Kerry squished among them.

"You must get out of here. Now." The officer's voice was now more urgent than angry. "Please!"

Dar grabbed hold of Kerry's arm, and she ducked from behind a tall, sweating body. "Hey." She checked her over as best she could in the very dim light. "You alright?"

"Hey. Dar, are you crazy!" Kerry started tugging at her. "You gotta get out of here before you get sick!"

"Let's all get out of here." Dar pointed down the hall. "C'mon!"

The rumble grew abruptly into a roar, and out of pure instinct Dar grabbed Kerry and slammed her against the wall just as a blast of hot, fetid air and worse came down the passage, splatting full into the staff captain and knocking him back against the far bulkhead.

Then the hiss disappeared and silence descended.

"Oh, Jesu." One of the techs nearly threw up.

"Oh. Gross." Kerry muttered. "This is about the most disgusting..."

"Yeah." Dar inched toward the light, staying as far away from the sodden staff captain as she could. "It sure is."

"Ug, ug, ug." Kerry stifled a gag. "Dar, I'm gonna lose it."

Jaws clamped shut, Dar merely nodded, and nudged her faster. "Walk." She got out from between clenched teeth. Ahead of them, the hallway was blocked by a lot of bodies, men in jumpsuits yelling in a Nordic language.

A bell started to ring. The crowd of jump suited men shoved past them, ignoring everything in their haste to get down the corridor, carrying tool boxes and thick hoses.

"What happened to you?" One asked the staff captain. "Ah, you got shot, eh? Should be used to it."

"Oooohh," Kerry uttered under her breath. "Get me outta here." She squeezed past the men and got to the stairs, where the air was no cleaner. "Dar, I'm losing it."

"Hang on..." Dar got an arm around her, ignoring her own rebelling stomach. "Over here." She moved to the far end of the stairs, bypassing the men running up past them, all in ship jumpsuits.

"How's your foot? Did you get it in that...um..."

"I have no idea." Dar steered her down another flight of steps. "Let's wait till we get outside...hey." The sharp scent of blood reached her nose. "Did you get hurt?"

Kerry held up a clenched fist. "Cut. Nothing major."

They reached the main deck landing and headed for the doors, getting outside just as all the power inside was cut, and the ship was plunged into darkness behind them.

"Ugh." Kerry went right to the railing and hung over it, willing a breeze to come up from the southwest and not from behind her. Her stomach was twisting in knots, the smell from inside the ship still in her lungs, and clinging to her clothing.

She closed her eyes.

"Let me see." Dar took her hand and gently opened it, studying the slice on her palm. "Ouch."

It wasn't working. "Dar," Kerry whispered. "I'm going to throw up."

"Aim down." Dar circled her wrist with gentle fingers and pressed against the inside of it.

Kerry opened one eye, to see the waters of Government Cut far below her. "Down?"

"Down."

Kerry watched the wavelets ripple past the ship, bumping into the hull. A bird flew lazily past, and then unexpectedly, plunged into the water after a fish.

She took a breath, then a second, filled with clean salty air, and felt the nausea subside. She released a breath, and looked over at Dar. "I think I'm okay." She took another few lungfuls of air, then glanced down at the deck, to study her partner's exposed feet.

The sandals were covered, almost up to the edge of the bottom, with an oily brown guck, but Dar's tanned skin was unmarked. Kerry's shoulders relaxed a little. "You escaped the crap monster."

Dar looked down. "Oh. Yeah," she murmured. "So I did." She turned Kerry around and examined her carefully. "So did you." She noted. "Except...er..." She glanced at a long, dark stain down the side of one leg.

"New rack crud." Kerry sighed. "I had to climb out of it."

Dar frowned.

"In the dark, in a room with roaches flying all around, and poop flowing on the floor. Dar that was not covered in my infrastructure classes." Kerry leaned against the railing, exhausted. "But at least we got the damn thing in."

Dar turned and leaned as well, looking back at the ship. Contractors were pouring out of it and heading for the upper gangway shaking their heads, while inside, bells were still ringing and alarms going off. "One down," she agreed with a sigh. "Seven to go."

It wasn't a very auspicious start.

KERRY LEFT HER boots outside the terminal, and in fact, crossed through it and out the front door heading for the Lexus. She remembered they had spare clothing in the back, and she fully intended on changing into it to get rid of the sewer scent she was convinced still clung to her shirt.

As she crossed to the parking lot, a small pickup swerved toward her and pulled up alongside. "Hi." Ceci waved, tipping her sunglasses down. "How's it going?"

Kerry walked over and leaned against the doorjamb. "You really want to know?"

Her mother in law grimaced. "Andy called me. Said they got thrown out of the boat while some repairs were on. I brought him some lunch," she said. "Tough day?"

"Ugh. Yes." Kerry agreed. "We're so behind schedule now, and we don't know when they're going to let us back on the ship."

Ceci leaned on the seat back. "Kerry, can I ask you a question?"

Hmm. "Sure."

"You and Dar, you're corporate officers."

"Yes." Kerry nodded.

"Maybe it's different here in Miami, but where I come from corporate officers don't do what you're doing." Ceci said bluntly. "They manage."

"I know."

"So?"

Kerry let her hands rest on the window frame, feeling the heat of the metal sting her cut hand. "Usually we do manage," she admitted. "Usually, someone else does this, but this job--Alastair asked Dar to handle it personally."

"Ah."

"There's a lot behind it," Kerry explained. "So here we are."

"We."

Kerry smiled.

Ceci reached over and patted her hand. "Good luck," she said. "How's Dar doing?"

How was Dar doing? Kerry thought back to the last sight she'd had of her partner, pacing back and forth in the terminal unable to do anything constructive. "She's a little freaked out because of the wait."

Ceci chuckled. "That's nothing new." She advised Kerry. "She absolutely positively hates waiting for anything."

Hmm. True and that reminded Kerry. "I know, in fact, maybe lunch is a good idea. I'll get her out of here for an hour or so until they reopen the ship." She tapped the window. "Thanks for the idea!"

Ceci pushed her sunglasses down and waved waiting for Kerry to step back before she continued driving out of the parking lot.

Lunch. Kerry continued over to the Lexus and keyed the lock open. She pulled the back door latch and peered inside, snagging her gym bag and tugging it over. "Let's see what we've got here." She unzipped it and rummaged through its contents.

"Okay, good." A pair of jeans landed on the seat, shortly followed by a shirt. She tended to keep changes of clothing for after work, as did Dar, since neither really wanted to get back into business clothing after working out.

Kerry reviewed her options, and fingered the shirt, which was a sleeveless muscle T. "Hmm. Not quite the image I was looking to project." She peered at the jeans. "And these are reeeally old ones, but at least it's clean." She pushed the jeans and shirt back in the bag, which already held her sneakers. Then she dug in the back of the car to see if she had anything for Dar stowed away anywhere.

"Hmm." She pulled out a few neatly folded bits of cotton. Workout shorts and a sports bra. "Much as I'd personally love her to change into this, I don't think it's going to work." Kerry regretfully put the items back, and shouldered her gym bag. Maybe, she considered, they could grab something at the mall when they went for lunch.

With that cheerful thought, she closed and locked the door and headed back for the terminal. Halfway back, she paused to let traffic go by, appreciating the intense light of the sun and the stiff ocean breeze. Being locked in the dark, with the bugs and the stench in that place had been hellacious, and for a moment she'd gained an understanding of Dar's aversion to closed in places.

It had gotten a little freaky in there, with her techs panicking a little, and the sound of those pipes so close. Hearing Dar's voice had been...

She ran her hands through her hair. She really wasn't the type of person who freaked out easily, Kerry knew. She'd handled some intense situations in the past few years, from being locked up in a damn psycho ward, to being trapped inside a burning hospital, to jumping in the raging ocean.

She was cool with it. But being in a dark room with roaches and crap? Kerry shuddered. That had freaked her out completely, and just when she'd been at the point where she'd started to tear at the door with her fingernails, there had been Dar's voice.

Instant no-freak.

Sweetest sound in the world. Kerry ran her fingers through her hair again, and shifted her shoulders, feeling the sun warm her skin. It had made her nuts to think of Dar standing out there in sewage, and that reminded her to get their shoes rinsed off.

Preferably by a firehose spouting industrial disinfectant.

Kerry proceeded across the road and trotted up the steps to the terminal. She entered the building and headed right to the restrooms, ducking inside the women's room. She was not surprised to find it empty. One thing about being in IT--you generally didn't have to wait on the bathroom if you were female.

Certainly, it was better than it was in the past, but still, she and Dar were in the vast minority in the building.

Kerry entered the handicapped stall and hung her workout bag on the hook, shedding her jeans and shirt and tossing them over the door. Briefly, she wished she could shower as well, but after a cautious sniff at the skin on her arm, decided a change would have to be good enough.

Rooting in the bag, she found fresh underclothes as well, and traded off, stuffing the others into a side pocket. "Okay." She removed the jeans from her bag and pulled them on, leaving the buttons unbuttoned. She then pulled the shirt over her head and tucked it in, fastening the jeans over it.

The waistband was a little loose, which surprised her. She dug in the bag, but she hadn't stuck a belt in there. "Hmm..." She turned and faced the mirror, checking the image with critical eyes. She touched her cheek, deciding her face also looked a little thinner than it had been. Was it the stress? Kerry knew they hadn't been exercising more than usual, so probably it was the tension she'd been under lately.

Oh well. She met her own eyes, seeing a wry twinkle there. "Guess I'll have to have an extra milkshake for lunch then." She stuffed her other clothes into the bag and grabbed her sneakers, unlocking the door to the stall and heading back out.

Emerging into the hall, she spotted Dar back at her podium, pecking at her laptop keyboard with one hand while leaning her head on the other. Dar's head lifted as she approached, and the blue eyes turned her way, looking her up and down as a rakish grin appeared.

Kerry set the bag down and leaned on the counter to put her sneakers on. "Something wrong?"

"With you? No," Dar said. "But we've got a big problem, Ker."

Leaving the laces of the first sneaker untied, Kerry straightened. "What's up?"

"They're not going to let anyone back on board for at least twenty four hours," Dar told her. "They've got the EPA in there now. Needs disinfecting before they'll clear us to go back in."

"But...wait." Kerry leaned on the counter. "I thought it was only that one deck?"

"Bacteria," Dar replied succinctly. "Got in the air system, or so they're afraid of."

Kerry closed her eyes. "Oh god." She stifled a reflex cough. "Can we get our lungs fumigated?"

Dar patted her hand. "I think we're okay," she said. "You feel better now?"

Kerry frowned. "Well, yeah, but what are we going to do, Dar? We didn't have enough time to install and test as it was...we lose a whole day. Jesus."

"I know," Dar acknowledged. "Pulling more people won't help."

"No." Kerry exhaled heavily.

The outer door slammed, and they both turned to see Peter Quest enter, spot them, and head in their direction with angry strides.

"Hmm." Kerry took the opportunity to put her other sneaker on, tying the laces as Quest arrived.

"Roberts, I just got out of a meeting with the inspectors," Quest said. "Can you explain to me why they informed me the blockage that caused this entire mess was some of your equipment?"

Dar and Kerry exchanged glances. "My equipment?" Dar pointed at her own chest. "Quest, look around you. My gear's bigger than a breadbox. How in the hell could it have caused a clog anywhere?"

Quest did, indeed, look around. Then he looked back at Dar. "I don't know, they just said it was IT stuff. There's a meeting outside in ten minutes with the ship's officers. I want you to be there, and explain what the hell's going on."

"Do you...um...have the IT stuff?" Kerry interjected. "Might be hard to explain otherwise."

"We have it," Quest said, grimly. "The EPA will be there to show what it was, and you'd better be too. If it turns out this is your fault, you're gonna pay." He turned and walked off, half turning as he did to point at Dar. "Big time."

Kerry stared at his back, and then turned her attention to Dar. "Now what?" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "Dar, I swear, this whole damn job is cursed."

Dar rubbed her temples, giving her head a tiny shake. "Guess you better call John." She sighed. "Since I know it's not our gear, the only thing left is his."

Kerry blew out a breath in a sputter. "So much for lunch." She pulled out her cell phone. "Damn it."

Dar got up. "Can I treat you to a Jamaican patty and a bottle of guava juice?" she asked. "Roach coach just pulled up outside."

Kerry paused. "Hang on, John." She covered the mic. "Dar, don't say roach and lunch in the same sentence to me for the next month, okay?"

Dar patted her on the shoulder, and limped off toward the door.

Damn it.