Stormy Waters: Book 10 in The Dar & Kerry Series

Chapter Two

KERRY TURNED THE page of the book she was reading, enjoying the cool breeze off the water as she swung idly back and forth in the swing chair. It was just past six and they'd left work early after a long, long week.

Fortunately after the party Quest had left them all alone, and neither she nor Dar had heard anything more about the project all week long which had turned out to be a damn good thing.

Disasters tended to come in spurts. This week she'd had to deal with six of them, one for each day and two on Monday that had almost resulted in her being on an airplane to someplace boring and unpleasant.

But she'd worked it out in the end, and now she was blissfully enjoying the quiet decompression of sitting on the deck watching the sun's light slowly fade.

Behind her, the glass door slid open releasing a puff of chilled, garlic scented air along with Dar's tanned and mostly bare body. "Hey." Kerry lazily rolled her head to one side as Dar joined her on the swing chair, dressed in only a pair of soft cotton shorts and a colorful scarlet sports bra. "What are you up to?"

"About six and a quarter." Dar put her feet up on the stone porch balustrade, flexing her toes against the warm surface. "Busy week."

"Uh huh." Kerry laid her book down and let her head rest against Dar's shoulder. "I'm glad it's over. Between my fubars and your hackers, I wanted to call Florida Power and Light and have them take the power out again." She leaned closer and sniffed Dar's skin curiously. "Why do you smell like bubble gum?"

"I was playing ball with Chino and her new toy." Dar displayed a clump of cream colored hair dusting her shorts. "It's a giggle ball, and it smells weird."

"A giggle ball?"

"Uh huh." Dar said. "Like you." She reached over and tickled her partner who obliged her by giggling and smacking her hand.

"Dar!" Kerry tried to tickle her back, but found her hands caught and gently held. "You punk."

Dar released her, as she chuckled. "Yeah, I've been a punk all week. I'm driving the Ops crew nuts. I think they wish I'd go back to yelling at people in meetings."

"That's not true. They love it," Kerry said. "I heard them in the break room. You were the entire subject of conversation the last six times I went through there." She added, "At least until they spotted me. Then it switched to soccer."

"Soccer?" Dar sounded pleased nonetheless. "Yeah, I've been giving them some pointers as long as I'm taking over the console." She wiggled her toes contentedly. "Been sort of fun."

"They're in awe of you, you know that, right?" Kerry smiled, rocking them both a little. "Hey, I've got an idea--you up for a night dive tonight?"

"Oo." Dar's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

Ah. Kerry felt the stress of the week slip away from her. Warm air, warm water, and the stars. "You'll protect me from cuttlefish, right?"

"With my life." Dar promised.

"I'll grab dinner, you grab the towels. Let's go get deep."

"C'MON, CHINO." Kerry herded their pet onto the back of the boat watching her frisk about, and busy herself smelling every square inch of it. After watching the dog for an indulgent minute, Kerry continued on into the boat's cabin and put down her armful of supplies.

She set the full pot of spaghetti and meatballs on the small stove, putting the locking arm in place to keep the contents from becoming interior decoration when Dar started the boat moving. The wine she put in the small fridge to chill, along with the dessert, a six pack of yogurt, and some baby chocolate milk chugs.

The boat rocked lightly, announcing Dar's presence and a second later she joined her in the cabin. She dropped a mesh bag containing Kerry's gear on the deck and tossed her own nearby. "We're outta here."

"Go go Gadget." Kerry went to stow the diving gear. "I'll get us loose."

Dar ducked outside and headed up to the controls while Kerry dodged the curious Chino and hopped onto the dock to untie the lines. The sun had just gone down, and the breeze had picked up, tossing her hair back as she jumped back on board. "Okay!"

The low rumble of the diesels starting up vibrated the deck beneath her feet. Chino barked in surprise, and backed up as the water churned behind them. Normally, Kerry would go up and join her partner as they motored out, but she knew if she did their pet would stand at the bottom of the ladder and bark, so she parked herself in one of the wood and fabric deck chairs instead. She was barefoot and wearing a sleeveless muscle t-shirt. She completed her outfit by snagging one of Dar's baseball caps and putting it on backwards to keep her hair out of her eyes once the wind came up.

Chino went over to stand near the edge of the deck as they backed into the quiet marina waterway, her tail wagging idly as she watched the other boats go past.

Kerry stretched her legs out and leaned back as the island slowly receded, the lingering bands of sunset still painting the sky to the west.

It was warm, but with the breeze, very comfortable. Kerry allowed herself a few more lazy moments until they reached the buoy and Dar kicked the engines into higher gear. Then she pushed herself to her feet and got to work preparing their gear for the dive.

"Hey, Dar?"

"Yeap?"

"Did you wash these wetsuits?"

"Yeap." Dar answered promptly. "Found some new stuff in the dive shop last time I went. You like the smell?"

Kerry sniffed cautiously. "Smells like tangerines!" She yelled up. "I like it!" She set the neoprene suits down with a grunt of satisfaction. Then she went to the built in lockers and removed their BC's and regulators, laying them out on the counter and going over them with a careful eye.

They were only doing a reef, and a somewhat shallow one at that, but Kerry had never bought into taking chances with their favorite sport.

Satisfied, she opened the bottom cabinet and removed two tanks, lifting them with some effort onto the low bench on the side and bungee tying them in place as the boat shifted in the waves.

Tanks falling on your toes sucked. Kerry had two formerly broken ones to attest to that. She picked up Dar's BC first and untied one tank, slipping the rig over the top and sliding it down by wiggling the straps against the snug fit. She re-looped the bungee while she positioned the rig, tightening the tank clasp with a firm hand.

The boat shifted and rocked, making Chino bark in surprise. The dog scrambled back next to Kerry and pressed against her legs, eyeing the spray coming over the bow with dubious eyes.

"It's okay, Cheebles." Kerry patted her on the head. "Mommy Dar just wants to get us where we're going fast." She reached over and picked up Dar's regulator, then went back to her task.

So far, so good. Kerry secured Dar's instrument console to the D-clip on the right hand side and prepared to repeat the entire process with her own gear.

Once finished, she took their masks and sat down with a tube of no fog, applying it as Chino curled up at her feet on the deck. It was a comforting and familiar task, and the smell of the sweet, salt air and the feel of the spray against her put her heart at ease as they headed into their own private world.

DAR POPPED UP out of the water, reaching for the steps with one hand as she cleared the surface. She removed her regulator and gave Kerry a nod. "Okay, we're tied off," she said, licking her lips. "Nice down there, no current."

Kerry was standing by in her gear, or more to the point, sitting by, since she was on the back deck with her flippers resting on the wooden diving platform next to the ladder. Chino was standing up on the inside of the wall, peering over at Dar as she wagged her tail.

"Cool." Kerry prepared to stand up, readying her balance as she lifted herself plus forty pounds of assorted gear onto her fins. She put her regulator in her mouth and took a breath, then put her hand over her mask and stepped out into the sea.

The water was pleasantly cool, and it quickly penetrated her short wetsuit and reduced some of the heat built up inside it. Kerry got her equilibrium and looked around spotting Dar immediately nearby.

This was her favorite kind of night dive when they descended while it was still a little light out. She could see shadows under her, and the outline of the reef more comforting than going down in total darkness.

Dar pointed downward. Kerry nodded and let the air out of her vest, feeling her body settle deeper in the water as she changed from vertical to horizontal and headed down to the bottom.

Dar had picked one of their favorite reefs with lots of undercuts and coral for critters to hide in. Kerry settled on her knees in the sand just clear of the coral and got her camera gear arranged watching as ghostly schools of fish whisked around her and started to dissipate.

A big sea bass appeared swimming idly through the reef pretending not to notice all the potential dinner candidates heading away from him. He swam closer to Kerry and she simply kept still and waited, her camera raised so she could look through the offset crosshair.

The bass seemed as curious about her as she was about him. He finned closer, tiny bits of iridescence reflecting the last of the light from the surface as he came within her easy reach.

Kerry cautiously closed the shutter button, wincing right along with the fish as the strobe went off and sent a brief silver flash of light everywhere. The bass gave her an insulted look and swam off, flicking his tail at her as he disappeared into the gloom.

Kerry felt pleased with the shot however, and she turned to find something else to take a picture of. As though in total cooperation with her effort, Dar swam into view a little above Kerry's head outlined against the pale surface of the water.

Another flash of silver secured the portrait.

Kerry pushed up off the bottom and finned toward the reef. It was getting darker, and now if she peeked under the coral ledges she could see the beginnings of the eerie phosphorescence the night brings.

It was like a magic world that hid itself from the night. Kerry decided to just experience the change. So she settled carefully down on the bottom again, folding her fins under her and getting herself cross legged somehow.

She focused the lens on the darkness of the overhang aware, from the corners of her eyes, of Dar's nearby floating presence.

In the shadows, several little bioluminescent fish suddenly appeared nibbling at the pale scarlet polyps. Kerry captured it, then nearly lost her mind as the occupant of the dark hole, a green moray eel, came rushing out to confront her with open jaws.

Seated as she was, there was no way for her to get out of the way in time. However, just as she had started to unwind her body, she felt herself lifted up and away by a powerful yank on her gear. The next thing she knew she was twenty feet away over another part of the reef.

In the gloom, she saw the eel retreat, but not without giving her a vicious glare.

She let out her breath in a stream of bubbles and looked over her shoulder into Dar's watching eyes. Kerry wiped the back of her hand over her mask, and nodded as her partner gave her a pat on the butt.

Dar held up two fingers, then indicated her own eyes, then indicated Kerry's. She shook one of the fingers at her in semi-mock remonstrance.

Yeah, she was right. Kerry nodded at her, accepting the scold. I'm in the ocean, not in an aquarium. These are wild animals. She got her composure back, and floated for a moment. She spotted more glowing coral and started toward it, more cautiously this time.

"OOOHGH." Dar finished putting their gear up and dropped down into a deck chair. "Nice dive."

A perfect canopy of stars now covered the sky over them, obscured only in spots by drifting clouds. Kerry continued out from the cabin and put two plates down, taking her seat across from Dar with an equally contented grunt. "Killer."

Dar leaned over and got hold of a strand of spaghetti between her teeth, slurping it in until it broke and left her with a smattering of sauce across her nose. "Whoops."

Kerry lifted a glass of chilled wine and took a sip of it, swirling its tangy sweetness around in her mouth to cleanse it of the last of the saltiness. "Thanks again for saving me from Captain Eel, Dardar. Man, that scared the poop out of me."

Dar chuckled, picking up her plate and propping it against her knees. "Me too." She attacked the pasta with a fork, swirling a big mouthful and consuming it, her body demanding something to replenish the energy she'd just expended.

Kerry took another sip of wine instead, gazing out over the dark waves she'd recently been beneath. Looking at it from above, like this, it seemed almost insane to think about diving into it. It represented, in a way, the totality of the unknown. She now felt a connection to the sea she'd never had before she'd met Dar.

Far off, near the horizon, she spotted a darker shadow against the clouds. She watched it idly, then squinted a little as it seemed to elongate. "Hey, sweetie? What is that?" She pointed.

Dar looked up from biting a meatball in half. "Uh?" Her eyes focused on where her partner was pointing. "Um..." She swallowed hastily and put her plate down, getting up and walking to the back of the boat. "Hah."

"What's funny?"

"What do you suppose the odds are of you and I being out on our boat the very same time as Quest's ships are making the turn for the cut?" Dar asked.

"Is that what they are?" Kerry joined her at the back of the boat, peering out into the darkness. "Really?"

"Four big ships being pulled by eight little ones." Dar confirmed. "I don't think it can be anything else."

Kerry turned and regarded the opening to the cut, which was just to their south. "We're going to get a good look at them, that's for sure."

Dar returned to the table, only just barely saving her spaghetti from a Labrador tongue. "Yep, we sure are." She settled back down and put her feet up. "Front row seats."

The line of ships crept slowly closer, their superstructures only sparsely lit, rolling slightly in the almost calm seas.

DAR KEPT THE Dixie idling just past the turnoff into the port's pier area, getting as close to the last ship as she could without incurring the wrath of the circling pilot boats. There was a customs fast boat cruising around too, but Dar figured she'd be pegged as a bored rich boater with nothing better to do than sightsee, rather than a potential threat or smuggler. "Which one, Ker?"

"I think it's that one." Kerry pointed at the ship aligned on the northeast side of the port. "Yeesh, they're big."

"That they are." Dar studied the vessels. They were all roughly the same size, but all four had different configurations. Two seemed to be tall and squat; the other two were long and lower. Even in the dark, they all bore signs of having better times behind them. She could see patches upon patches of metal on the sides if the light from the streetlamps lining the harbor hit them at a certain angle.

The one on the northeast that Kerry had pegged as "theirs" was one of the longer, lower ones. Dar steered a little closer, keeping a wary eye out for the authorities, her eyes measuring the length and breadth with automatic accuracy. "Damn thing must be a thousand feet long!?"

"Lot of portholes." Kerry noted.

"Oh yeah." Dar agreed softly. The Dixieland Yankee slid a little sideways in the tide, and a strip of moonlight splashed between her and the boat. It hit the water, and Dar leaned forward her eyes catching a ripple on the surface that didn't look quite right. "Hey, Ker?"

"Yeah?"

"Check the bilge real quick, huh? Are we leaking something?"

Kerry scrambled across the deck and hopped over the back wall leaning over and peering at the back of the boat. She held on with one hand and fished her mini flashlight off her belt with the other, keying it on and studying the spot where the engines were churning the water. "Can't tell." She yelled up at Dar. "You're breaking up the water too much."

Dar cut the engines after looking around to make sure they weren't going to drift into anything. "Look quick."

Kerry studied the water, then leaned way over and stuck her hand in, bringing it up and sniffing. Her nose wrinkled. "This stinks, but not of diesel."

"Okay, get up." Dar started the engines again and backed the boat away from the pier, getting to an angle against the moonlight again. She spotted what had worried her--a silvery film on the water they?d just passed through that extended across the surface of the water behind them.

Carefully, Dar turned the boat and followed the oily stripe with her eyes. It went right past them and headed across the cut, fading out from her view as it reached the ship in the northeast dock. "Figures."

"What is it?" Kerry was at the bottom of the ladder peering up.

"Should have thought of that first. It's one of them leaking something." Dar pointed.

Kerry turned and looked, shading her eyes against the streetlamps. Now that Dar had pointed it out to her, she saw the line on the water, and in fact if she went to the side-- "I can smell it." She called up. "Smells like kerosene."

Dar moved their boat sideways out of the stain. One of the customs' boats was now heading their way, apparently noting the odd maneuvers she'd been executing. "Shoulda just stayed out on the reef. Better go grab the registration just in case, Ker."

The other boat pulled alongside and Dar set the Dixie into idle keeping her hands on the controls as the customs officer grabbed hold of the railing. "Hi." She called down.

"You having a problem?" The man called up to her, apparently more concerned for her safety than suspicious.

"No. I saw a slick, and thought I was causing it." Dar pointed. "But it's that tub over there."

The officer shaded his eyes then crouched. "Ah! Yeah." He nodded. "You just out for a ride?"

Kerry emerged, carefully locking Chino inside the cabin. "No, we were diving." She indicated their gear. "We live over there. We saw these big ships coming in, so we were curious."

The customs officer gave her a once over. "Well, don't be too curious. That's our job." He pushed off from the railing. "You folks have a good night."

"Night." Kerry replied politely. "You too."

The customs boat backed away, but placed itself conspicuously between the ship and the Dixieland Yankee. The officers on the rear of the boat watched them as Dar idled for a moment more, then swung the bow around and headed off toward the marina on the far side of the island.

Kerry climbed up onto the flying bridge and joined her partner. "That was weird."

"Of course it was. Do normal things happen to you and me?" Dar asked, as she glanced behind her. "But in fairness, I don't think oil leaks are their department." She took the right fork around the island instead of the left, coming even with another of the ships as she moved slowly through the no wake area.

This was the first ship that had come in, and it was already tied up. There were several figures standing on the deck leaning on the rails, looking at the sights. One waved at them.

Kerry waved back.

The figure stepped forward and exposed himself laughing loudly.

Dar picked up the mic clipped to the console and switched on the Dixie's PA system. "Throw it back, buddy. It's too short."

Kerry snickered, leaning against Dar and hiding her face in her shirt sleeve.

The man's companions laughed as well, slapping the miscreant on the back and shoving him back against the wall. One of them then advanced to the rail, but backed up again as the Dixieland Yankee turned into the marina channel and started to disappear from view. "Hey girlies! C'mon back, yeah? I got me a big one!"

"You know what?" Kerry sniffed reflectively. "I sure hope Shari and Michelle get that one."

Dar chuckled. "I'm sure ours won't be much better. Old salts are old salts."

"Hmm. We could bring our own old salt with us." Kerry mused. "He's still on the payroll, and I bet he'd probably keep those guys off our backs."

"Hmm."

They came around the south side of the island and entered the marina basin, slowing their already slow speed to just above idle. Most of the marina was empty--the owners moving their boats to a more comfortable climate during the summer along with themselves.

Dar angled toward their slip putting the Dixie neatly into place as Kerry scooted down the ladder to jump ashore and tie them off. Her thoughts, however, were on Kerry's last suggestion. Not that she really thought they needed Dad around on their ship.

But wouldn't it be interesting if he were hanging around the others?

Dar shut down the diesels and leaned against the console, weighing the conflict of aiding their business goals at the expense of asking her father to be a part of something not quite...

Would he consider it dishonorable? Or just good strategy?

"Dar? You coming down from there or should I bring coffee up?"

Dar shut down the console and pocketed the keys, then started for the ladder still pondering the question.

KERRY SETTLED INTO her seat glad of the very early morning quiet of the office on a rainy Monday morning. She had a meeting scheduled in an hour with Mark and the technical team for the bid, and she intended on using the time before then to square away the project and tie up a few loose ends.

"Hey, Mayte?" She pressed her intercom. "You there?"

"Yes! I am."

"Did we get the circuit completion on the pier?" Kerry asked. "I don't have anything here on it."

"I will check." Mayte promised. "They were saying on Friday that it would be done."

"Okay, thanks." Kerry set that problem aside. She pulled over a folder with requisitions for the project, and reviewed them. "Yikes! Is this just for the setup team?" She sighed, leafing through the pages. Money to establish an office at the pier and get that up and running, and provisioning for the gear to equip the office. "Damn, IT is expensive." She shook her head and signed the pages, closed the folder and tossed it into her out bin.

"Kerry?" Mayte's voice crackled in.

"Yeesss?" Kerry answered.

Her assistant laughed softly. "You sound so funny when you do that."

"Do I sound like Dar?" Kerry's eyes twinkled.

"A little." Mayte admitted. "Only not so big."

Kerry's eyebrow lifted.

"The circuits have come complete." Mayte went on. "The Bellsouth man says it is terminated in the local office on Brickell. He needs to know from you which to patch here."

"Tell him the Pier 10 one." Kerry replied. "But hold on to the other ones. I might be able to rent them." She hummed softly in satisfaction. "Okay, we're good to go." She typed a message to Mark then took a sip of her morning tea.

The door opened and Mayte slipped inside coming over to her desk with a folder in her hands. "Good morning."

"Morning!" Kerry pointed at her outbox. "Can you make sure that gets down to purchasing? We're gonna need it." She glanced at her assistant. "That's a pretty shirt. I like it."

Mayte blushed visibly. "Mama got it for me this weekend." She fingered the silk shyly. "I think she was trying to make it up to me for getting me in so much trouble when you went to New York." She hesitated. "Kerry, you were talking last week about going diving. Do you like that a lot?"

Kerry leaned back in her chair. "Absolutely," she said. "In fact, Dar and I went on a night dive on Friday night. It was wonderful. I saw a moray eel."

Mayte nodded seriously. "I think I would like to try that. Do you know where I could find out about it?"

"Sure. Matter of fact, you can borrow my study materials to see if you like it. Remind me and I'll bring them in tomorrow." Kerry promised. "It's a great sport...ah, did you tell your parents you wanted to do this?"

"No." Mayte grinned a little. "I did not think they would like it. Mama is always worried the sharks will eat you and La Jefa when you go." She confided. "Have you seen a shark?"

"Sure." Kerry said. "But it was in a tank at Disney World. Does that count?" She grinned at her assistant's look of bewilderment. "Anyway, I'll bring the stuff in and you can read it. Really, it's a lot of fun."

"Thank you. I will tell Mama afterwards. Yes?"

"You learn fast." Kerry winked. "Hey, maybe you can come out diving with us if you decide you like it. I think your mama trusts us to take care of you."

Mayte's eyes lit up. "I think so too!" She blurted. "Thank you!" Her gaze dropped to the folder in her hands. "This came for you." She held it out. "I am sorry I am taking up your time."

Kerry took the folder, and watched in some bemusement as Mayte trotted for the door and escaped into the outer office. "Huh." She put the folder down and opened it. "What got into her, I wonder?"

"You."

Kerry nearly jumped out of her seat before she recognized the voice. "Jesus, Dar." She looked over at the inner door. "You scared the poo out of me." Her brow creased. "What do you mean me?"

Her partner strolled over and took a seat on the edge of Kerry's desk. "You haven't noticed yet she has a crush on you?"

"Oh, she does not." Kerry scoffed. "Get out of here. She's a nice kid, and she loves working here. What, because she's interested in diving, you think she's got a crush on me?"

The corners of Dar's eyes creased as a little grin appeared. "Okay, don't say I didn't warn you. Did those lines come in?"

"Yes." Kerry nodded. "I was going to send Mark and a team there to get the office set up and facilities working. Did you want to go look at the ship?"

Dar got up and went to the window looking out as she pressed her fingertips against the glass. "No." She did a few vertical pushups. "I've got something I'm working on in ops. Maybe I'll go over tonight, after the crowds take off."

"Okay."

"I just talked to Alastair."

Kerry half turned to face her partner. "And?"

"The contracts this contract is tied into will either make or break the quarter, he thinks."

Nothing like a little pressure. "Okay, but the quarter just started."

"New business is down forty percent on the month." Dar kept doing her pushups. "Alastair said people are waiting to see what happens with this one. It's too public."

"What do you mean, too public? Kerry lifted a hand. "You mean the filming people? They aren't done yet!"

"People know," Dar said, "about us and Telegenics. It's all over the tech press."

"So we have to win it." Kerry exhaled. "No options."

"Something like that." Dar nodded. "I've got to go to ops." She pushed away from the window. "Tell Mark I'm sure Telegenics and everyone else is going to be crawling over our people at the pier. Pick the right people to go down there. I don't want a leak inside."

"All right." Kerry watched the door close behind her. "I'll do that." She added softly.

Things were getting serious. She figured it was only going to get uglier as they went along, and at the end? What if they just couldn't put in a competitive bid? Would Dar agree to a money losing contract to secure the more lucrative one behind it?

Kerry picked up her pen and chewed the end of it, thoughtfully.

"OKAY." Kerry removed her sunglasses as she entered the port building, looking around and spotting one of their security people near the back door. "Hey, John."

"Ms. Stuart." The man hurried over. "Glad you're here. There are some people over in the office causing a problem. The pier folks brought them over."

Kerry sighed and stuck her glasses into the pocket of the red camp shirt she'd put on for her visit to the port. "Lead on." She gestured toward the back. The building was a lot noisier than it had been on her previous visit, and she could hear the sounds of various power tools going as the infrastructure staff put together their temporary office.

They walked through the entryway and into the back hall. Kerry spotted Michelle Graver's distinctive figure in the doorway to their office along with her camera people, and she only just prevented herself from audibly growling. "What's going on here?" She asked instead, putting a sharp note into her voice.

Michelle turned, along with the cameraman, and the port agent.

The port agent had the grace to look apologetic, but Michelle certainly didn't.

"We're just documenting the first of many instances of ILS's attempt to sabotage everyone else's efforts." Michelle said bluntly. "In this case, by taking all the spare pairs into the port and preventing us from putting a circuit in." She advanced aggressively on Kerry, pointing her finger at her. "Didn't think we'd find out?"

Kerry waited for Michelle to stop walking then she made the most of her few inch height advantage. "If you can the Joe Friday routine, I'll rent you one of the lines. Otherwise, take yourself out of my administrative space, please. I have work to do." She was very aware of the camera focused on her, and the wide eyed stares coming from her people inside the office, but she kept her even gaze on Michelle's face. "And for the record, my forethought does not equal your sabotage. Now take off."

"Forethought? No one knew what building we'd be in." Michelle shot back.

"That's right. So I had lines dropped in all of them." Kerry replied. "Now, if you're interested in that rental, we'll talk price. If not, goodbye."

"And help you recoup the cost you'll have to charge the client? Over my dead body." Michelle moved around her and motioned for the cameraman to follow her. "We'll find another way." She brushed by Kerry, coming very close to making physical contact before she got past and headed for the door. The port agent hurried after her, but not without giving Kerry a frazzled look.

"Nice way to start the day." Kerry exhaled, turning back to the office. "Brenda, give the other two piers a call. Offer them use of those lines for a pass through cost, with a two percent administrative charge for our carrying them and paying the bills."

"Yes, ma'am." Brenda went to a phone immediately and dialed after consulting a small directory.

"Smooth, boss." Mark commented. "Slick idea to trip them all up."

Kerry sat down on the edge of one of the folding tables. "Wasn't really the plan. I just needed to be sure we'd have a line on startup. I had no idea they were short on pairs." She admitted wryly. "Ah well. How are we doing here?"

Mark came over and sat next to her. "Pretty good. The line's up to the office, and I just got the router in place. This room is crap for security, though."

Kerry looked around and had to agree. The office had light plasterboard walls and a single door with a simple bolt lock. No alarms, no reinforced panels, nothing. They were putting in six computers and the requisite network gear to support them, and aside from the need to protect corporate data, there was also the question of protecting the hardware itself from being taken. "Can we put a monitoring rig in here?"

"Sure," Mark said. "But when it goes off, it'll take us about twenty minutes to get down here before it all walks off. Not to mention, the line comes in to a public Telco punch down."

Ugh. Worse and worse. "Okay, put a full encryption suite on the data." Kerry sighed. "I'll see what we can work up to put security out here. Otherwise we'll have to make these boxes boot to the network, and keep everything at the office."

Mark nodded. "See what I can do." He got up and went back to work. Kerry remained where she was for a few minutes watching the activity, then she got up and left the office to head over to the ship.

The port agent entered from the front just as she was heading up the escalator. She paused at the top waiting for the woman to catch up with her. "Hi."

"Listen, I'm really sorry about that." Agnes apologized. "I had no idea Ms. Graver was going to do that or that she'd bring those men! What's this all about?" The woman seemed very agitated. "The port didn't bargain for anything like this!"

Where to start? Kerry decided no amount of explanation would really be adequate. "It's business." She explained shortly. "Just try to steer clear of it."

The woman eyed her. "Was she right? Did you do that to stop those people from working?"

Kerry blinked. "That's really none of your business," she replied. "I'm telling you--don't get caught up in this. It's just going to be messy for the port if they try to get involved."

The woman's radio spluttered and she listened intently. A man's voice came through sounding rather desperate, asking for her to come mediate another dispute on the next pier. "That might be easier said than done." She told Kerry. "So far it seems like all you people want to bring here is trouble." She turned and headed down the steps two at a time, talking into her radio.

"Yeesh." With a shake of her head, Kerry went to the outside door and pushed it open, emerging into a blast of shimmering sunlight.

She had plenty of time to look at the ship in the daylight as she walked along the endless outdoor passage that eventually led her to the gangway. The bottom was painted a dark blue and the upper part was once apparently white, but now rust covered a good portion of the exterior and it was more a mottled yellowish gold color.

It looked sad and worn, and she wondered again if all the work obviously needed to make it functional would be worth it. She ran a hand along the railing, the chipped paint spots feeling harsh and almost sharp against her fingers. The port showed its many years resting here on the waterfront. Its concrete was pitted from wind and rain, and the walkway she was on had cracks both near the railing, and more ominously, near the wall.

Kerry eyed a large split as she walked past, and reasoned that if it had held legions of cruise ship passengers en mass, it probably was fit to hold her hundred and thirty five pounds, but she scooted past it anyway just to be sure.

There was a guard hanging around the end of the gangway, but he just nodded as Kerry showed him her corporate badge and went on gazing listlessly down the pier, watching men with forklifts move boxes around.

Kerry walked up the gangway and across the metal bridge leading onto the ship. The railing had been folded back, and she found herself on the outside deck about mid way up the vessel.

She looked down and found worn, salt scoured teak that in some places was so discolored it was almost impossible to see a grain. But it was teak nonetheless. She recognized it from her experience with the Dixie, and as she walked toward the inside doors, it oddly comforted her.

Inside the doors her first impression was one of overwhelming mildew. She stopped short and stifled a sneeze, staring around her in disbelief. The interior of the ship was, to put it mildly, a wreck. She was standing in what was apparently the main reception area, and all she could see was broken, dusty furniture, a ceiling in pieces, some of it hanging down almost to the ground, and dozens of rotting wooden boxes.

The stench was disgusting. It got inside her throat and she could taste it on the back of her tongue, leaving a tinge of bad sewage lingering on its edges. "Ugh." Kerry swallowed hard, glad she hadn't stopped for lunch before coming over. After a moment, she got control of her stomach, and proceeded on picking her way carefully through the debris. The interior of the ship seemed to be a total disaster, and it appeared to her that everything would have to be rebuilt to be usable.

This would work for her purposes since she'd have to put cabling in ceilings and walls and that was always easier when they were being constructed. But she had to wonder, yet again, at Quest's purpose in refitting these old vessels. Surely it would take more money than the darn things were capable of recouping.

A man appeared dressed in white overalls. He spotted Kerry and stopped, looking her up and down with frank appraisal. "You want something?" he asked, in an odd accent not quite German.

"IT contractor." Kerry responded briefly, holding up her identification.

The man grunted and turned his back on her, continuing on his way without a further word.

Kerry edged down a partially blocked hallway and almost collided with another white jump-suited body. "Oh, sorry. Hi there. Can I help you?" A slim, good looking man with curly blond hair turned around. "Are you looking for something??"

Kerry stepped back a little. "Not really," she said. "I'm from the IT contracting company. Just looking around to see what we're going to have to do."

The man scratched his nose. "Oh, okay," he said. "It really looks worse than it is." He turned and peered back the way she had come. "The old girl's really got solid bones. It's all cosmetic stuff out there."

Kerry recalled the holes in the hull she'd seen, and reserved judgment. "Are you part of the ship's staff?" She asked politely.

"I am. I'm Tally Johnson, and I'm the captain's personal assistant. And you are...?"

"Kerry Stuart. From ILS. Do you have a few minutes to show me those bones you mentioned?"

The man positively beamed. "I sure do. You're the computer people, right? We heard we were going to get computers." He started leading Kerry further inside the ship. "The captain's not so sure about that, but I heard we're even going to be able to get email. Is that true?"

Well, having a few friends in middling places was a good thing. Kerry decided she liked perky Mr. Johnson. "That's a very good possibility, yes. We're planning on a satellite, and a new charging system, maybe even VOIP telephones."

Tally laughed. "Okay, you just went past me, Ms. Stuart."

"Kerry, please." Kerry gave him a charming smile. "Nah, it's not that bad, just phones that run over the computer network. You don't have anything like that now, right?"

"No way. We've got manual cash registers, and one old PC the purser used to use to make up the pax folios."

Kerry chuckled. "Now you just went past me," she said. "What's a purser, and what's a pax?"

Tally led her into another, smaller hallway with stairs going up and down. The destruction did seem to be less. Tally headed for the stairs holding his hand out to her. "The purser is the fellow who handles all the money, and the pax are the passengers. C'mon, let me show you the old lady from the bottom up."

Kerry followed him, avoiding the railing and its thick coating of dust, and glad of her jeans and sturdy boots in negotiating the torn up carpet and broken steps. As they went down, the sounds of work, hammering, and banging increased and she had the sudden sensation of descending abruptly into another world.

THE FOREMAN CHECKED off names at the gangway, glancing briefly at each worker as they came up to his desk. He eyed the next to last of them, a big guy wearing a sleeveless sweatshirt and very worn jeans. "Next?"

The man ambled up and presented a set of papers.

The foreman scanned them. "General work." He read. "You got a seaman's card?" He looked at the one presented and nodded. "Service?"

"Navy."

"What'd you do?"

"Little a' every damn thing."

The foreman looked closely at the putative worker noting the scars and the air of definitive but understated competence. "All right, Roberts. Just give this to the guy at the ramp, and have at it. Contract's as long as the tubs are here. Understand?"

"Yeap."

The foreman scribbled a note on a card and handed it over. "Here." He fiddled with his pencil as the newcomer walked away and turned to the man sitting next to him. "Can't believe some of the guys they're passing through the security check, can you?"

The other man shook his head. "Want me to double check that one? I can have Alberto rerun him."

"Nah." The foreman made a rude hand gesture. "As long as he works, I don't give a crap. We've had worse on the docks, and at least this guy showers."

"And speaks English." The second man pointed out.

The foreman snorted as he waved forward the last applicant. "Yeah. Probably make him a supervisor just for that."

DAR PROPPED HER laptop up a little more comfortably against her knee, and typed in another command. She was flat on her back underneath one of the racks, a pale blue cable extending from the jungle of equipment to the back of her machine.

The floor was cold against her skin, but she'd found a relatively all right piece of metal to rest her head against and at least for now, the odd position wasn't interfering with her ability to concentrate.

"Ms. Roberts?"

The techs, on the other hand... "Yeees?" Dar rumbled.

"Um, can I run a cable out here for you? That looks really awkward."

Dar wiggled one foot. "What does, my typing style?"

"Well, the floor, ma'am. Can't really be comfortable, huh?"

Dar typed in another command and reviewed its effect. She scowled and reversed it, tapping the enter key with unnecessary force. "Have you ever tried it?" She glanced quickly at him, before returning her attention to her task. "Lying on the floor?"

There was a moment's silence then a squeak as the tech moved in his leather chair. "Uh...well, sure...we have to do that all the time under there. That's why I said we'd...um..." He cleared his throat. "Ma'am, it's uncomfortable."

"Well, I like it." Dar informed him. "It's good for your back."

"It is?"

"Sure." Dar tried to ignore the annoying object between her shoulder blades that she suspected was a screw removed from the rack and never replaced--a pet peeve of hers. "Better than my waterbed as a matter of fact."

The two techs moved around causing more squeaks. The younger of the two, blond crew cut Dave, leaned his elbows on his knees and gazed over at Dar. "You like waterbeds? I tried one once, but it moved too much for me. I got sick."

"I have a semi-waveless." Dar answered, distracted as a readout gave her an answer she hadn?t expected. She switched to another screen and checked a monitor she had running, then frowned again and tried something else. "Damn it."

"Is that one that don't move, ma'am?" Dave said. "At all?"

"Not really." Dar muttered, biting off a grimace as she mistyped a command and had to redo it. "Depends on what you're doing in it."

It took a few seconds for the utter silence to penetrate her concentration. Then Dar turned her head to see two shocked faces looking back at her, jaws hanging. She took a moment to review her words, grinned. "Too much information, huh?"

Both techs nodded. "No offense, Ms. Roberts." Dave managed to get out.

"None taken." Dar replied graciously. "Didn't mean to freak you out."

They left her in peace for a while, shuffling and squeaking just out of her vision behind the racks, and she took advantage of it to continue the slow process she'd started two hours prior.

She set the monitor running again and tried a new command setting a complicated algorithm on one of their outside interfaces. The device accepted it, and then began processing traffic with the instruction, causing her other screen to start spiking wildly. "Hmm."

"Ma'am?"

"Not you." Dar typed a note to herself on yet another screen she had open, and then she went back to the device and removed the command. "Just something I'm doing."

"Uh. It's not like you freaked us out or anything."

Dar stopped typing in mid motion, and turned her head again. "No?"

Dave had scooted his chair over a little toward her. "No, I mean-- you're really cool and all. We figured that out the last week or so."

"Thanks." A low beep interrupted this enlightening conversation. "Excuse me." Dar pulled out her PDA and glanced at the screen. "Ah, heh."

Hey sweetie. Bet you'll never guess where I am!

Dar pulled out her stylus and scribbled a reply. Can you toplying under a router rack being grilled about our waterbedactivities by the ops staff? She hit send, and then waited patiently until she saw the light stutter on.

Uh...no. Not by a long shot. How did that happen?

Dar tapped. Eh, good question. Got myself into it somehow.Anyway, where are you? Thought you were going to the ship?

I'm in the morgue.

Dar stopped, blinked, and put her PDA down, pulling out her cell phone instead. She speed dialed Kerry's number and kicked impatiently at the corner of the rack until the line was answered. "WHAT?"

Her partner delicately cleared her throat before answering. "Hi, honey."

"Where are you?" Dar dispensed with the niceties.

"Not nearly in as much trouble as you are, apparently." Kerry answered with a wry chuckle. "I'm in the ship's morgue. Did you know they had morgues? As well as a whole lot of other places?"

"Uh..." Dar collected her composure. "Well, I guess I did. I mean, they have to. What else are you gonna do if someone croaks on a cruise? Put 'em in the freezer? That'd be gross."

"Sure would," Kerry said. "Now, tell me about our waterbed?" Her voice took on a slight echo, as though she'd cupped her hand around the phone. "You're not really talking to them about um...you know."

Dar glanced at the techs that were pointedly not looking at her. "About what we do in bed? No." She admitted. "They wanted to do me a favor and I'm giving them a hard time. So, how's it look?"

Kerry sighed. "It's a mess." She replied. "Dar, it's going to be such a pain in my butt getting cabling in here. They're going to have to puncture solid steel firewalls."

"Ig."

"And it all has to be shielded twisted pair."

A sigh. "Yeah, I figured that. It is on the Navy ships," Dar said. "Though I think there's less interference running around a cruise ship than on one of those."

"You'd think." Kerry said. "I'm going to have the tech team come in here and start estimating for cable, but Jesus, Dar, they barely have telephones here! They still use handsets they plug into a live line!"

Dar winced. "It's going to be like cabling Grant's tomb," she said. "Okay, tell the guys to do it right. Find out every place they're gonna need anything, and let's just get out the bad news first."

"Will do." Kerry said. "Hey, Dar?"

"Mm?" Dar shifted, crossing her ankles and gazing up at the bottom of the routers. "Did you know you could see the fiber optic LEDs from underneath these things? They look like Christmas trees."'

Silence. "Uh, sweetheart, why didn't you have the guys run a serial line for you?" Kerry asked. "Instead of you lying under the racks?"

"That'd be too easy." Dar muttered, peeking at the techs. They peeked back at her with nervous little grins. "So, what did you want?"

"Eh?"

"You said, 'hey Dar.'"

"Oh." Kerry pondered a minute. "You distracted me, and I realized I wanted the waterbed with you in it. But that wasn't what I was thinking about. Give me a second here."

Dar watched the LEDs flicker over her head, idly daydreaming about the scent of clean linen while she listened to Kerry's faint breaths on the other end of the line. "Glad I wore jeans today, or this could have been really scandalous."

Kerry muffled a snorted giggle. "You're so bad. Okay, I remember now. I've been hearing music from the Hard Rock every time I go out on deck. You want to have dinner over there when you come out later?"

"Sure." Dar replied, watching her monitor now. "But do you really need me to come out there? Sounds like you've got it all worked out. I could just pick you up." She juggled the phone against her ear and typed a command. "How about it?"

Kerry didn't answer for a bit, and when she did, her voice had changed, a touch of uncertainty entering it. "Yeah, I guess," she said. "But don't you want to see the place for yourself?"

"Not really. I trust you."

"Dar, you said this was really important."

Dar released her laptop and took hold of the phone again. "It is, and you're really good at what you do, and I'm perfectly happy to leave it in your hands. Is there a problem with that?" She queried, unsure of what was going on with her partner. "Ker?"

"No, it's not a problem at all. Thank you for the vote of confidence. I know how critical this is, and I'm glad you trust me to take care of it."

Dar waited. Nothing else was forthcoming. "But?" She prompted.

A sigh.

"But you want me to look at it anyway?"

"You have much more maritime experience than I do." Kerry explained, not bothering to confirm her guess directly. "This is a new world for me, and I want to make absolutely sure I size it right the first time. I would appreciate your insights, yes."

Well, that was true enough Dar admitted to herself. Kerry knew enough about boats to get the Dixie out of dock, but there was no way around the fact that Dar had spent her childhood around big ships, and she just knew a lot more about their peculiarities. "Point made." She gave in gracefully. "Meet you there at six?"

"You're on." Kerry sounded much happier now. "I'll meet you out by the front. Oh." She cleared her throat. "By the way, I'm the Demon of the Dock, I'll have you know."

"You are?"

"I deliberately took all the pairs into the pier to keep everyone else out, and am now making a scandalous profit renting them."

"Bwaahahhahaaha..." Dar started laughing, almost banging her head on the bottom of the rack. "If I stop and get you a pair of devil's horns, will you wear them to dinner?"

"Pffft. Just for that, I'm going to stick you with my pitchfork."

"Just for that, I'm going to grab your--" "Dar, aren't you in the ops center?" Kerry interrupted innocently.

"Ahem."

"See you later. I have to go on the rest of my tour with my new friend Tally." Kerry chuckled. "I get to see the crew mess next. They want to put internet in there."

Dar chuckled as well. "Have fun. See you later." A moment after folding the phone closed, she glanced at the console. Both techs had their faces buried so far into their screens she feared they were absorbing the electromagnetic interference right through their skins.

Ah well. Dar went back to her router. So what were a few more scandalous stories, anyway?

IT WAS TWILIGHT before Dar was walking across the concrete toward the pier building Kerry had specified. The heat had lessened a little, and there was a nice breeze coming in off the water.

Dar sucked in a lungful of it, and paused to look at what she could see of the ship. "Hmm." She rocked on her heels once or twice. "Now ain't that a bucket of coasters being held together by paint chips."

The flag clips on the bare nearby poles clanked in agreement as she continued on across the grass and up onto the building's steps. As she got to the glass doors, one was opened, and a uniformed guard studied her suspiciously.

"Hi." Dar produced her identification dutifully. "Can I come in?"

The man studied her badge, then looked at her carefully before he stepped back and opened the door, allowing her to enter. Dar walked past him into the pier building, her nose wrinkling at the scent of incipient mildew overpowering the air conditioning.

The pier building had seen better days, she decided. The walls were covered in a layer of moderately fresh paint, but it was obvious this layer had been put down over many, many others, and the carpet underfoot did not have the luxury of any padding, the better to resist the persistent moisture.

It had a government feel to it. Dar rubbed her nose, stifling a sneeze. She quickly crossed the back room and stuck her head into the alcove where the office was, noting approvingly the locked door and, even more so, the security guard sitting stolidly outside. "Hi, Don."

The guard looked up from his book, surprised. "Oh. Ms. Roberts." He greeted her with a smile. "I didn't think I'd see anyone else here tonight. They closed up the office about an hour ago."

Dar walked over and inspected the door. "Open it?"

The guard got up quickly and did as she asked, unlocking the door and pushing it open. "There you go."

Dar entered and flipped the lights on with a negligent motion of her hand. She prowled around the small space, examining the newly installed gear, and then gave it her grunt of approval before she backed out and waved a hand at the guard. "Feel sorry for whoever has to work in there."

Don wrinkled his nose. "Smells like three week old bread." He agreed. "You just come here to check that out, ma'am? I could'a just told you over the phone." He lifted his cell.

"Wasn't why I came." Dar headed toward the escalator that led up to the ship's boarding gangway. The moving stairs were turned off this late, but she made light work of trotting up them, pushing her way out the back door and getting her first good look at the bulk of the ship. "Jesus."

She stopped in her tracks and leaned against the metal rail. The ragged, paint chipped surface was rough under her fingertips. Growing up on a naval base meant she'd seen her share and far more of old rusting hulks, ranging from fishing boats to destroyers. But the last vessel she'd seen in this condition was heading out to be sunk for an artificial reef.

Dar turned and hurried down the long walkway. Tied up or not, shallow water or not, having Kerry on board the damn thing gave her a hive and the faster she got her partner off the dangerous and, to her eyes, listing vessel the happier she'd be.

As she reached the entrance to the ship, she spotted Kerry heading her way. "What?" She turned as a man blocked her path, glowering at him until she realized he was just looking to see her ID. She held it up, and then brushed past him as Kerry cleared the inner door and came out onto the deck to greet her. "Hey."

"Hey." Kerry gave her a more than cordial grin. "I was just coming out to find you. You're early."

Dar took her arm and backed up until they were both safely on the metal gangway. Then she stopped. "Anyone else of ours on that thing? Hope not."

Kerry turned and looked, then swiveled back to face her partner. "Huh?"

"It's gonna sink."

"Oh, c'mon Dar, no it isn't." Kerry chuckled. "It's not really that bad inside. C'mon, let me show you around." She hooked a finger through Dar's belt loop and tugged.

"I'm not boarding that damn thing." Dar resisted the pull. "Did you see those holes? Look!" She pointed at the side of the ship, which did, indeed, sport several healthy sized gaps in its metal sheathing. "I've seen bathtubs more seaworthy."

Kerry leaned back against the iron rail. "Hon, it made it across the ocean." She reminded her. "I'm sure it's okay sitting here in the Port of Miami and besides, it's only forty feet deep here. Even if it did sink, I could sit on the pool deck up there and get a suntan while it was going down."

"Mmph."

"C'mon." Kerry gave her another tug. "It's really not that bad, Dar. Once you get used to all the chaos inside. I got a really nice tour of the ship, and honestly, it's better than I thought it would be."

"Uh huh." Dar allowed herself to be drawn toward the deck again. "And you have how many ships to judge this against?" She queried, with a wry grin. "How about letting me judge how scary this crate really is?"

"Okay, sailor girl." Kerry tolerantly led the way across the deck to the inner door. "How's the office?"

"Annoying as usual." Dar paused inside to look around. The air of tattered, tired elegance reminded her of some of the old beach hotels she'd occasionally wander into in her youth, with much of the same scent of age and disappointment.

They were in the center of the ship, a large, somewhat open area that extended up several decks now obscured in scaffolding and torn old wallpaper. There were water stains on the walls under the wallpaper, and the exposed girders were thick with rust. "Point one." Dar said. "Rain inside? Bad thing." She indicated the girders.

Kerry peered at them. "Can't that be from the humidity or the sea air?"

"No." Dar patted her on the back. "But that's all right, cause it means they need to rip all that drywall and plaster out, and that means we can get wiring in at a lower cost than if we have to pull it all."

"Hmm, yeah, I talked to the construction chief about that. He said they'd be ready in about a week to strip everything." Kerry agreed as they walked past worktables and through a propped open glass door at the back of the open area.

Dar found another half destructed space that had a few old desks and walls covered in the typical grunge you often found in office buildings. "Back office?"

"Uh huh. Want to see where they suggested we put the computer systems?" Kerry took her hand and led her forward, shoving open a half stuck panel just wide enough to admit Kerry's slim form and then stepping back. "Here."

Dar gave her a suspicious look, and then slowly poked her head in. After a moment, she drew it back out. "And the joke is?" Her voice rose. "Kerry, you couldn't fit our dog in here, much less what we're going to have to run this thing on, and there's no air conditioning."

"Right. It's a linen closet." Kerry agreed. She peered inside at the room, a scant three feet by six feet not including the hot water pipes running along one wall. "I told them we could use this to store spare parts, but only if they stuck a wall mount AC unit with a drip drain on that long part."

"Good answer." Dar shook her head as she watched Kerry shove the door shut again. "They have no clue, do they?"

"Nope." Kerry leaned against the door. "I told them we're going to need this room instead." She pointed at the larger space. "They freaked."

Kerry walked across the floor, looking up as someone called her name from the outside entrance. "Oh, hi Tally." She turned. "This is my boss, Dar Roberts. Dar, this is Tally. He's been showing me around."

She gave her new buddy a grin. "And watching me shock the pooters out of the construction guys."

"Hi." Tally gave Dar a brief smile. "Um, Kerry...listen, you really, really, really got the stripes mad about this room here." He indicated the space. "It's the Purser's office."

Kerry perched on the corner of one sad old desk. "And?"

"Ah." Dar scratched her jaw. "Pursers kind of run everything, Ker."

Tally turned on Dar with a grateful look. "You've been on ships?"

"Not this kind." Dar managed a half grin. "But yeah, enough to know the politics." She got up and put her hands on her hips. "But the problem is Kerry's right. We'll need about this much space for the system your owner wants."

Tally looked just aghast. "But the old system just fit under Drucilla's desk there." He pointed. "Honest!"

"Okay, let me give you some idea here." Kerry stood up. "First, we're going to put in two big switches about like this." She spread her arms out to either side, then raised one and lowered the other. "And like this."

Obviously lost, Tally merely nodded.

"And then, two racks of computer equipment about twice the width of a refrigerator and about that tall." Kerry added. "And that doesn't even include all the space for cables."

Tally sighed and sat on the desk. "I don't know what we're going to do. They won't give up this space; I'll tell you that right now. They've been talking for a month about how it's going to be redone." He looked around in a worried sort of way. "It's the biggest office on the ship."

Kerry paused in mid-step and peered around her. Then she looked at Dar.

"Okay." Dar said. "Then we'll give you the space this stuff's going to need, and your people can tell us where they want us to put it. We can't shrink any of it. It's just the size it is." She walked to the wall, glancing back to see another figure in the doorway. She took a marker from her pocket and drew an X. "The racks are from here." She made another mark. "To here. That's for the servers. Then the network core is here." She drew a large box on the wall. "To here."

"Why do we need all that?" The newcomer asked.

"Oh, hi Drucilla." Tally said.

"Your boss wants it." Dar told her. "Add this for consoles and monitoring stations. And you get this much space." With a flourish, she drew on the rest of the back wall, and then took six big steps into the center of the room. "Out to here."

"That's ridiculous." Drucilla came into the room. "We don't need all that! We work just fine with what we have, that NCR register system and my machine." She pointed at the drawing. "We don't have room for all that! What's it for, anyway?"

"Point of sale. Email. Computers for everyone. Interactive television, IP phones, and internet." Kerry ticked off things on her fingers.

"On here? You surely are joking."

"Nope." Dar went over to Kerry and leaned her arm on the smaller woman's shoulder. "I'm not. We've been asked by your company to put that," she indicated the wall, "in here. Now, if you don't want to give up this space, you need to get together and decide where you want to put our stuff."

"Oh, my god." The woman put her hand on her head. "This is insanity. I have to go." She turned and left.

Kerry and Dar exchanged glances, and then they both looked at Tally.

"Internet?" Tally's eyebrows quirked up. "Really?"

"Now, here's a guy with the right priorities." Kerry chuckled. "C'mon, Dar. Let me show you the rest of it."

Dar stepped carefully over a piece of rotted, rolled up carpet as she followed them out, suspecting the rest of the tour was only going to roll rapidly downhill.

"SO THAT'S IT." Kerry stood on the very back deck of the boat alone with Dar after their tour. It was dark now, and the less than soothing cantaloupe colored lights of the pier lit everything around them and washed the stars almost clean out of the sky. "What do you think?"

Dar cautiously tested the railing before she leaned against it. "I think it's going to be a Mongolian cluster fuck." She replied, crossing her arms. "No matter how we do it there isn't enough space." She ticked off a finger. "Enough cableways..." She ticked another finger. "Or enough patience in my body to deal with all these frustrated sea dogs who make my father look liberal."

"Hmm? Kerry joined her at the rail and looked over. The salt water lapped gently at the rusting metal, making little swirling sucking noises as it curled around a jagged edge. "So. What are you saying that we don't do it?"

Dar exhaled heavily.

"Dar, nothing says everything we do has to be easy." Kerry poked her gently. "It's a challenge. Isn't that what you told me sometime forever ago?"

"Yeah, I know." Dar grimaced wryly. "C'mon. Let's go home."

Kerry followed her as Dar led the way around the back of the ship toward the gangway. It was dark on the exterior with only a few of the windows lit from within here on the upper decks.

A cruise ship moved past in the channel and the ship rocked slightly in its wake. The creaks and groans from the old structure were not in any way comforting, and Kerry wondered in her heart if Dar wasn't really right after all.

Was there a point to all this? Could Quest really be meaning to take these old hulks and put them back in service with modern customers that are used to every sophistication?

Kerry turned her head and regarded the passing modern cruise liner. It was all glass and shiny metal, as far from their poor, rusting hull as could be. Four or five decks taller, and half again the width of the ship she was on, the differences were so striking she had to wonder in truth what the hell they were thinking.

She shook her head a little as they walked off the ship giving the guard a nod as they traded the gentle motion of the ship for the stillness of the concrete walkway. "I don't know." Kerry pointed at the cracks she'd noticed on the way in. "I think that ship's in better shape than this pier."

Dar inspected the cracks, then walked to the railing and jumped up and down several times experimentally.

"Dar!" Kerry squawked.

Dar chuckled, and moved on. "Relax," she said. "There's rebar all in there. It's not going..." Dar paused, and went to the rail again, leaning against it as she watched the pier below. "Ah."

Kerry went to her side and peered past her shoulder. "Oh ho." She recognized Shari's form pacing on the concrete outside their ship. "Should we say something?"

"Nu uh." Dar drew back into the shadows of the walkway and pulled Kerry with her. They stood in silence as their nemesis strolled along the side of the ship examining it.

"Dar?" Kerry whispered.

"Mm?" Dar put an arm around her, resting her cheek against Kerry's head.

"Does the fact I want to shove her in front of Majesty of the Seas over there mean I'm going to hell?" Kerry wondered. "What's she up to, just checking the boat out?"

"Ship," Dar said. "Yeah, not much else she can do from down there. Hatch is closed." She pointed at the hull. "Maybe she's seeing what we got versus what they got?"

As if to confirm it, Shari reached the end of the pier, then she turned and wandered back, apparently losing interest in the vessel. Dar and Kerry turned and walked along even with her unseen in the shadows until Shari passed the end of the ship and they were at the end of the walkway.

Shari stopped and looked back, putting her hands on her hips before shaking her head and continuing on down the pier toward the ship Telegenics had been assigned. By freak chance, it was in the slip right behind theirs, and Dar wondered suddenly if they hadn't been spotted on the aft deck while they were talking.

But why would Shari bother to come out on the docks for that? Dar dismissed the idea, and steered Kerry back through the doors toward the escalator. It still wasn't working so they plodded down it in amiable silence, their footsteps alerting the guard stationed at the office below.

"Hello?" The guard came out into the area at the end of the escalator, one hand on his hip.

"Just us." Dar waved a hand at him. "Roberts and Stuart causing trouble as usual."

The man's hand dropped and he smiled, returning the wave. "Oh, hi ma'am's," he said, obviously relieved. "Sorry, forgot you were up there." He waited for them to get down to his level. "I've had some of the crew out there try to get in, trying to get free phone calls, I guess."

Kerry patted the guard on the shoulder as she walked past. "Hang in there," she said. "We'll get something a little better set up for you guys soon. This is pretty Antarctic."

The man went back to his metal folding chair and sat down picking up his book and opening it. "No problem, ma'am. We'll survive."

Dar and Kerry walked through the outer room toward the front doors the silence of the big building broken only by their footsteps and the air conditioning units cycling on. "This is a pretty grungy place to have people go on a luxurious cruise ship, huh?" Kerry commented.

"Eh. No worse than most of the airport." Dar shrugged, pushing open the outer door and holding it for Kerry to pass through.

It was very dark outside and they both paused as several shadowy figures near the edge of the building stirred and looked their way as they came out. There were trees next to the pier doors, and the area apparently appealed to the homeless who were camped beneath them.

Kerry's heartbeat picked up slightly, but the men merely turned back around and continued their conversation not interested in them at all. She felt a little irritated at herself for the assumption of bad intent and acknowledged she had a way to go to erase her upbringing.

It was odd, those little unconscious biases that poked up from time to time. She liked to think of herself as a fair minded person, but she'd found that sometimes she just hadn't had the right experiences to be able to take away things picked up from so many years of living in the family environment she had.

It bothered her. She'd realized when she'd worked with the girls at the church that their lives were, to a large extent, alien to hers and she wondered just how much in touch with them she'd really been.

"Ker?"

Dar's voice startled her. Kerry looked quickly up to find the scattered moonlight reflecting off Dar's pale eyes. "Yeees?"

"You got quiet."

"Just thinking." Kerry sighed. "Long day."

Dar stuck her hands in her pockets. "Well, I offered not to come down here," she said. "Only made it longer, and I doubt I helped your plan any."

All thoughts of equality and WASP sensibilities flew out of Kerry's head. She took hold of her partner's arm and stopped pulling Dar to a halt as well. "Why do you keep saying stuff like that? Don't you want to be a part of this?"

They were only a few feet from their cars, Dar having parked right next to her in the now empty lot. It didn't seem to be a good place for a discussion, but going anywhere meant they'd have to separate, and Kerry really wanted to hear the answer to her question before they parted. "Dar?"

Dar twitched a half shrug that ended in her lifting her free hand and letting it fall. "Honestly? No."

Kerry exhaled, caught a bit by surprise. She thought a moment on the answer, and then decided maybe she wasn't surprised after all. "Because of how tough the job on the ship is going to be?'

"No." Dar turned and went over to Kerry's car, leaning against it and crossing her legs at the ankles. "I just don't want any part of Telegenics." She studied the tarmac, most of it cracked and weed ridden.

Kerry joined her, leaning on the car right next to her, their shoulders brushing. "Oh." She murmured. "I thought you were kinda past that."

Dar shrugged.

Kerry really couldn't think of much to say after that. She kicked herself a little for not spotting Dar's reluctance before and realized maybe she'd been deliberately ignoring those not so subtle hints.

Finally, she sighed again. "Guess we'd better go home." She pulled her keys out and chirped the door to her car open. "Anyway, thanks for coming out and giving me your insights. They really did help."

Dar remained leaning against Kerry's car, watching under half lowered eyelids as Kerry eased past.

Since the cars were parked next to each other it meant Kerry had to pick her way carefully, placing her feet down between Dar's extended ones. She brushed her lightly and put a hand on her stomach for balance as she scooted by.

Dar reached out and captured the hand holding it. She waited for Kerry to turn and face her, then blinked in surprise when she simply leaned against her, patting her side in silence. "I'm becoming a chickenshit," she murmured. "Sorry, Ker."

"It's all right." Kerry said, listening to the stuttering heartbeat under her ear. "Let's go home, and we can talk about it. I'm tired of the sauna, and my piggies hurt." She gave Dar a quick hug, and pushed back, glad to see a faint grin in all the shadows crossing her partner's face. "Race you?"

"You're on." Dar unlocked her car, and they parted to head out toward home.