Tropical Storm

Chapter Nine

IT WAS A long week, a very hectic week, in which Kerry tied up loose ends she didn’t even realize were there, and eased Ray into her position. The first day was a shock, when she’d had good news, and bad news, and important news, all combined, to tell everyone. Letting fifty people go was hard, but when she’d told them about the severance package…

So that turned out okay. The support groups were still reeling over the new contracts, and both support managers spent the week brushing up on every piece of TCP/IP literature they could get their hands on. They were determined to make a good impression, and not let her down.

All of them were. It was so odd. The week before, they’d been cursing the corporation’s name, and now…now, they were finding ways to change, and adjust—most of them simply glad to still be employed.

The reaction to her new position was total chaos. It had ranged from,

“You are absolutely crazy” to “Jesus, you impressed her that much?” and a lot in between. Many people were sorry to see her go, but encouraged because she was going to be “up there” and maybe could influence “her” if things got to be trouble.

Friday, the last day of her employment at Associated, Ray called her in and sat her down. His face was serious, and he asked her straight out if she knew what she was doing with this “shark in a dress suit.”

Kerry just kept smiling and telling everyone she viewed this as a great learning experience, no matter what happened. She traded e-mail with Dar most of the week, keeping her updated on the transition progress. As the week went on, the executive’s writing style had relaxed a little, not much, but just a little, and Kerry found herself looking forward to seeing Dar again.

SO NOW IT was a week later, and it was Monday morning. It was time for her to start this great new learning experience. Kerry glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror for the sixth time, then took a deep breath and turned off the engine. “Okay, I’m ready,” she told her reflection, then shouldered her briefcase and slipped out of the Mustang, careful to pull her skirt straight, odd after not having to wear one for quite some time. She locked the door and squared her shoulders, then headed for the building’s main entrance.

She gave her name at the security desk and waited while the agent there looked on a list, then smiled at her. “Ms. Stuart, can you please come with me?

90 Melissa Good We need to badge you.”

“Okay,” Kerry said amiably as she followed the short, husky man around the corner and into a small suite of rooms. There were banks of monitors along one wall, with a slim, blonde-haired girl watching them. The girl turned as they entered and gave Kerry a polite smile, which she returned.

She got her picture and fingerprints taken, then stood while the agent assembled a security badge much like she’d seen Dar carry the night they’d come back here. The man attached an electronic scan card to the badge, then handed it over to her. “Thank you.” She examined the surface. “Wow, you even take nice pictures.” She gave him a grin.

He grinned right back. “Depends entirely on the subject, ma’am.”

Kerry blushed. “Thanks, may I go up now?”

“It’s the fourteenth floor, Ms. Stuart—up that first bank of elevators, then when you get off, turn left, and it’s the second door on your right.”

Remembering from her previous visit, Kerry nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

She slipped out of the security offices and headed towards the elevator, glancing up through the atrium and smiling. It was even more impressive in the daylight, with the sun pouring down through it and catching on the various crystal sculptures which lined the steep walls. It was also busier now, of course, and she dodged several hurrying people as she got into the elevator and punched the button for the fourteenth floor.

That got a side glance from two of the other occupants, and Kerry noticed them looking over, trying to inconspicuously read her name badge. She stuck out her hand instead. “Hi. I’m Kerry Stuart. Nice to meet you.”

The first woman shook her hand, then the second. “Enid Perspects,” the taller of the two said, hesitantly. “I work in Purchasing.”

“Sally Cruz,” the second, a shorter, darker woman, added. “In Marketing.

Are you Dar Roberts’ new assistant?”

“That’s me,” Kerry replied with a grin.

They looked at her as though she had two heads. “Well, good luck,” Enid mumbled, as the door opened, and she and her friend escaped. “You’re gonna need it.”

That was under her breath, but Kerry heard it anyway. The door slid shut, leaving her with a stocky, dark-haired man of middling height, about her own age. He studied her for a moment, then held out his hand. “So, you’re the infamous Kerry Stuart.”

Kerry sighed and shook his hand. “Infamous? I hope not. I just got here.”

She gave him a wary look. “And you are?”

He laughed. “Relax. I’m Mark Polenti, head of MIS and security.” He paused. “I’m a friend of Dar’s.”

Kerry gave him a friendlier look. “Really? To hear people talk, she doesn’t have any of those.”

“Nah, she does. Not many, that’s true, but the right ones, in the right places, if you know what I mean.” The stocky man smiled. “As long as you know your shit, you’re all right with Dar. If you don’t, you’re toast.” His eyes met hers. “You must know yours.”

“Guess we’ll find out.” Kerry relaxed a little, then turned as the doors opened onto the floor she’d requested. She and Mark exited, then both headed Tropical Storm 91

down the same corridor. Kerry could hear raised voices as she reached the double doors which lead into Dar’s office, and she glanced sideways at Mark.

“Sounds like a fight.”

“Sounds like a Monday.” He sighed, and held the door for her. “C’mon, might as well get used to it.”

The inside of Dar’s outer office was very different in the daytime. Several people were waiting, facing a desk behind which sat a short, round, gray-haired woman, who was pressing the phone against her ear with one hand and covering her other ear with the second. Two of the people waiting were arguing, one waving a set of printouts.

“There is no way we can complete that account, Larry. It’s not going to work, so go find another way to do it!” the shorter of the two men shouted.

“We’ve got no choice, Scott. The account team promised a full support center, and now they’re holding us to it!” the other man replied, throwing up his hands. “I hope to hell Dar can figure out how to pull us out of this mess.

I’m going to beat the crap out of Sue Kingston on the account team for pulling this crap again!”

Two other women, carrying reams of paper, were trying to get the secretary’s attention. She was on the phone with two lines blinking and talking on a third. Barely audible, a buzzer sounded. The secretary put her caller on hold and punched it. “Yes, Dar.”

“I’ve got half the goddamn domestic network down, three mainframes whose loads were screwed by mids last night, and ILIPC won’t answer their phones. Get me someone in Illinois who doesn’t have their heads up their asses, right now!”

“Ay, I’m trying, believe me,” the harried secretary replied.

“I can’t have trying, Maria, I need those people!”

Dar’s voice was rough with frustration, and Kerry moved towards it compulsively, easing around and between the throng and ignoring the startled looks. She found herself at the secretary’s desk, and gave her a wry smile as the woman looked up. “Hi,” she said softly. “Looks like a busy morning, huh?”

The older woman interrupted her boss’s further ranting. “Dar?”

“What?” the executive growled.

“Ms. Stuart is here.” Maria gazed at the slim blonde appraisingly.

Silence for a moment. “Oh, good. Send her in.” Dar’s voice had dropped an octave and sounded almost cheerful. “Hello, Kerry. Welcome to Hell.”

For a moment, everyone fell silent, watching her. The only sound was the buzzing of Maria’s phone. “Thanks,” Kerry managed to get out weakly. “I think.”

Dar chuckled. Kerry gave the rest of the people in the room a brief smile as she backed away from the desk. “Hello, excuse me.” She darted for the door and slipped through it, aware of the avidly watching eyes following her.

“C’mon in.”

The door closed behind her, and Kerry was surprised at the silence inside. “Whew.” The noise from outside was gone, and she let out a breath as she moved across the carpeted floor towards Dar’s desk. The executive was sitting on top of it with her phone, with its blinking lights near the edge, and 92 Melissa Good her arms crossed over her chest. She was wearing a gray silk skirt and jacket, with a forest green shirt and looked casually elegant.

Of course. The look was somewhat offset by the random disorder of her hair, which looked like she’d been running her hands through it. Kerry mentally paused, wondering what that would feel like. She rubbed her fingertips together and dismissed the thought as she continued forward.

“Busy morning?”

“They all are,” her new boss acknowledged. “Glad you’re here.”

“Me too.” Kerry could see the frustration in the lines of her body, but Dar managed a smile for her. “So, this is Hell, huh?” Kerry made a show of looking around. “Nice décor.”

Dar sighed and lifted a hand to rub one temple. “It’s been quite a morning.” She ran her fingers through her hair, confirming Kerry’s guess, and then let her arm drop. “Not sure where I start explaining.”

“So I see,” Kerry replied, feeling a little awkward. “Is there…um, stupid question, but is there something I can do to help?”

Dar visibly tried to relax a little. “Lots of things. But first, I think I need to get you settled in a place to sit and all that.” She stood. “So, c’mon.” She got up off the desk and paused to strip off her jacket, laying it over the back of her chair. “Gonna be one of those days.”

Kerry caught the scent of silk and spice as Dar moved past her, rolling up her sleeves as she walked. “Are there a lot of those days?”

Dar snorted, laughing and shaking her head as she motioned Kerry to follow her. “C’mon.”

Curious, Kerry followed her toward a small, nondescript door she hadn’t even noticed the other night and watched as Dar opened it, then gestured her to go forward. “Go on—believe me, it’s faster this way. If I go out in that hallway, it’ll take me eight hours to get from this office to the one I picked out for you.”

Picked out for me? Kerry entered, finding herself in a narrow, bare hallway with unmarked doors on one side and blank walls on the other. She moved down it uncertainly, until she felt a warm hand on her back. Dar guided her forward about fifty feet, until she came to another unmarked door, which the executive motioned her to open. She pushed the handle down and emerged into a second office.

It was roughly square, with a worktable surrounded by chairs on one side and a wide, woodgrain desk on the other. The carpet and wall coverings were in burgundy, and behind the desk, was a floor to ceiling window sporting the same view as Dar’s.

Wow. Kerry took a moment to drink in the seascape, the light winds outside blowing the waves with frosting-like whitecaps. Reluctantly, she turned to view the rest of the room.

On the desk was a computer, a phone, and nothing else, and the office was bare of adornment, so much so that it was apparent that it had never been used. “It’s, um…”

Dar leaned back against the door and gave Kerry an apologetic look.

“Kinda empty, I know, but it’s got the essentials.”

Kerry blinked at the desk and at the furniture. “It’s great.” She turned Tropical Storm 93

and looked at the window. “With this view, you could have given me a cardboard box and a tin can on a string, and I’d be happy.” She put her briefcase down on the desk. “Look, I know you’re up to your neck in problems in there. I’ll get settled and logged in, and see if I can find my way around, okay?”

Dar smiled and glanced down at her watch. “Actually, give me about an hour to clear this all up, then I’ll be back to show you around, and we can talk.” She cleared her throat. “If I’m not back in an hour, assume the rest of the network blew up and c’mon over and find me.”

Kerry faced her and smiled. “You bet I will.”

The dark-haired woman smiled back, then ducked back down the hallway, closing the door behind her and leaving Kerry in her new workplace home.

“Whoo.” Kerry sat down in the very comfortable leather desk chair and looked around. “She apologizes. I can’t believe this. I could hold an aerobics class in here, and she apologizes because it’s a little empty. Good grief.” She examined the desk, which was well made, and opened the drawers. Inside were pens and paper, clips and a stapler, the usual. The large drawer held hanging files, which were, of course, empty.

She flipped on the computer, impressed with the large screen which matched the one Dar used. Kerry wondered if it was standard, but was glad, because her eyes tended to hurt after a full day of staring at a smaller screen.

The computer booted to a network login, and she entered her ID and password, a little startled when her usual menu didn’t appear, replaced by one with approximately four times as many options. “Uh oh.” She made a face at it.” What is all this stuff?” ILIPC, PLIPC, NCS…it was an alphabet soup of choices along with the more familiar ones which gave her access to the payroll and personnel sections, and the customer database. Experimentally she chose one. “ILIPC, that was what Dar was having problems with. Let’s see what that is.”

It connected and she peered at the results. “Oh, Netview. Okay, I know what this is.” She logged into the IBM mainframe application and tried a display all command. “Uh oh. Good grief, how huge. Wow, that’s really huge.”

The internal network was displayed, with lots of items marked as inactive. “Bet that’s what Dar’s fighting with, huh?” she commented, flicking the screen with a fingertip. “Well, back at home in Michigan, at the university, we used to do an ACT ALL.” She typed it in, then hesitated. “Ah…probably not a good idea. Oh, what the heck, it can’t hurt.” She hit Enter.

“That’ll take forever, so…” She minimized the application and clicked on mail, startled when it opened and she had a mailbox full. “I guess that’ll keep me busy for while. Good grief, what are all these things?” A lot of forwarding from Dar, stuff she was involved in apparently that she wanted Kerry to review. “Okay, let’s see what we’ve got here.” She started reading. “Jesus, designing Olympic racing bicycles and doing financial transfers for the Bank of New Zealand. Do you think this company can get any more diversified?”

There were all kinds of problems. All kinds of operational issues, like which processors could be assigned to which projects, and whose project took 94 Melissa Good precedence. Kerry found herself becoming fascinated by the patchwork of interrelationships; she suspected she certainly wasn’t going to be bored.

She got up and pulled out her few personal items from her briefcase, arranging her desk the way she liked it and prowling around the office to discover all the nooks and crannies. She opened the front door and peeked out, letting a tiny grin edge her lips when she spotted a neat kitchen just down the hall. “I bet there’s coffee there,” she decided, retrieving a cobalt-blue mug from her briefcase and ambling over.

She glanced around the kitchen and bit off a chuckle. “Wow, This is better equipped than the one in my apartment.” There was a refrigerator, of course, with a sign on it. “Don’t leave food for more than a week unlabeled or it will be glorped.” Kerry shook her head. “I’m not gonna ask.” The countertop held not only a regular coffee machine, but an espresso machine as well, and there were containers with various types of milk and cream, and real and fake sugar. As she selected artificial sweetener and poured a cup of coffee, a young girl entered behind her and said a cheerful hello.

“Hi.” Kerry turned and leaned against the counter, stirring her coffee.

The girl removed a small packet from the freezer and popped it in one of the three large, commercial microwaves in the rack near the door. “Breakfast?”

The girl turned and smiled. “Snackies.” She chuckled. “I work for Eduard Castillo. He gets grumpy around this time if I don’t feed him.” She held out a hand. “Mary Evers.”

Kerry took it. “Kerry Stuart.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “Omigosh. You’re Dar Roberts’ new assistant!”

The blonde woman forced a laugh. “Okay, are you going to tell me I’m brave, or stupid?”

A smile snuck onto the girl’s face, and she leaned closer. “I was going to say lucky.” She winked at Kerry, then removed the gently steaming packet from the microwave and set it on a small plate she’d brought with her. “Not everyone thinks Dar’s a bad thing, you know.”

Kerry was pleasantly surprised. “That’s nice to hear, because I happen to like her.” She relaxed into a grin. “And it’s been murder having everyone look at me like I was out of my mind.”

“You do, huh?” Mary bit her lower lip and chuckled softly. “That’s interesting. I thought you came from Associated. They were almost axed, you know.”

Sea green eyes studied her. “Oh yeah, I know,” Kerry replied quietly. “I talked her out of it.”

The woman stopped in mid motion and stared at her. “You did?”

Kerry took a sip of her coffee, which she found to be common, garden-variety office bland. “Well, we debated the issue, and Dar found enough merit in my arguments to find a way around it, let’s put it that way.”

Mary blinked at her several times. “Holy shit,” she blurted.

Kerry shrugged and smiled. “I’m really looking forward to working with her more. It’s been a great experience so far.”

“Uh, yeah. I can see that.” Mary tucked a napkin under the plate hastily and started to back away. “That’s, uh…good to hear. Nice to meet you, Kerry.

I’ve got to get this tamale back to the boss before he breaks all his pencils.”

Tropical Storm 95

Kerry regarded the packet, which was wrapped in what looked like cornhusks. “Nice to meet you too. See you later.” She paused. “Oh, what does your boss do?”

Mary turned as she was leaving. “Marketing for the Caribbean. Be seeing you.”

She disappeared down the hall, and Kerry regarded the wall thoughtfully before she took her coffee back into her office. Her office. She grinned, as she just stood with her back against the wall and looked out the window. “Ah well. Back to work.” She set down her cup and resumed her reading. She was so absorbed in it, she didn’t hear the back door open or someone approach until a hand touched her arm, and she jumped. “Whoa!”

Dar seated herself on the edge of the desk and gazed at her with an enigmatic expression. “Hi.”

“Oh, hi. Sorry, I didn’t hear you coming. I was…” A little flustered, Kerry gestured at the screen. “Trying to catch up on all this stuff you forwarded to me. I kind of sorted them into info and action…” She noticed Dar was smiling at her. “What? That wasn’t the right thing to do?”

“You know, Kerry, they say it’s your first impression that sticks with you in this company.” Dar said. “Mine? Well, I told Alastair McLean he could kiss my ass, and that’s kind of followed me up all these years.”

“Really?” Kerry was intrigued. “Why did you do that?”

“Why did you tell me to go to hell?” Dar asked in a wry voice. “I remember enjoying it at the time. But anyway…”

“Sorry. You were saying…first impressions?” Kerry knew she was blushing, and hoped Dar didn’t notice.

“Mmm-hmm. So, do you know what your first impression’s going to be here?” Dar inquired, her blue eyes pinning Kerry down into her seat.

“Uh…no,” Kerry replied nervously. “But you’re going to tell me, right?”

“Oh, yeah. You’re going to be known as the new kid who walked in on her first day, sat down, logged in, and brought an entire crashed network up.”

Kerry froze and stared at her. “Uh…I didn’t do that.”

Dar pursed her lips and nodded soberly. “You are KSTUART01, aren’t you?”

“Um, yes,” she replied hesitantly. “Oh, Christ! That Netview command?

Oh, Dar, don’t tell me no one else thought of that,” Kerry protested. “It’s ridiculous. That’s basic!”

A gentle sparkle entered Dar’s very blue eyes. “Uh huh. Problem with us nerds is, sometimes when things go wrong, we forget to look for the simple things first. We go for the complex, involved crap instead.” She grinned at Kerry. “They did a master load last night, and forgot that puts the system in console mode. It inactivates all the logical units so the new programs can get into place without being used.”

“You’re not a nerd,” Kerry objected, aware that she was really blushing badly now. “Are you?”

“Sure I am, and so are you,” Dar cheerfully informed her. “Good work, Kerry, you single-handedly validated my choice of assistants, started your own little legend in the making, and I didn’t even have to do a thing.”

Kerry basked in the warm approval, soaking it in with a shy pleasure.

96 Melissa Good

“Thanks, but I didn’t mean to.” Her face scrunched up in a wry grin. “What a way to start off, huh?”

Dar rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled. “There are worse ways.

Listen, it’s almost noon. Let’s go down and get some lunch, then I’ll give you the tour.” She peered at Kerry’s cup. “I see you found the kitchen all right.”

Kerry nodded. “Yeah, nice setup. I like the microwaves because I usually bring in little frozen tray things for lunch.”

A dark brow rose. “We have a cafeteria,” Dar remarked dryly. “But if you prefer cardboard food, sure, go right ahead. They do ask that you don’t overcook fish sticks, though, it takes us weeks to get the smell out of here.”

“Do… Is the cafeteria your eating place of choice?” Kerry inquired. “I mean, god, that sounded funny, what I mean is, it is any good? A lot of them aren’t.” She grimaced. “When I think of cafeterias, I think of the one in college.

Ugh.”

“Mine too.” Dar admitted. “I ended up eating mostly ice cream and cheeseburgers for four years.”

Kerry chuckled ruefully as she stood up. “Pizza and sub sandwiches. I still smell textbooks whenever I get delivery pizza.” She followed Dar out of the office and over to the elevator. “Guess that’s different now, huh?” she commented as the doors slid open and they entered, having the elevator to themselves.

“Nope,” Dar confessed a touch sheepishly. “Cheeseburger, fries, and a milkshake is still one of my regular favorites.”

Kerry eyed her trim figure and blinked. “You sure don’t look it. You must work out like crazy.”

Exhaling softly, Dar said, “Takes up a good bit of my spare time, yes. It’s a way to work off the frustration, too.” She waited for the doors to open, stepped through them onto the second floor, then led Kerry to an open set of double doors from which enticing smells emanated.

Dar attracted attention, Kerry noticed immediately. The minute her new boss cleared the door and entered the line, eyes shifted to her and nudges started. Puzzled, she looked at the taller woman, trying to figure out if there was something odd to cause the stir, but aside from Dar having her jacket off and her sleeves still rolled up, exposing tanned arms, she looked… Well, not like everyone else. Kerry picked up a tray and joined the line behind her, setting the puzzle aside for the moment. “Whoa, lot of choices,” she commented in some surprise.

“I don’t put up with mystery meat,” Dar said, reviewing the selection.

“And I pick the café vendor.”

“Ah.” Kerry watched in bemusement as her new boss quietly requested the meatloaf and mashed potatoes, then added a large glass of milk to her tray, along with a piece of cake. She sighed and selected a chef’s salad and a glass of grapefruit juice, and followed Dar over to a corner table. “I feel like everyone’s watching me,” she murmured, as they unwrapped silverware.

“They are,” Dar replied blithely. “You’re the new kid. Something this exciting hasn’t happened here since a Lufthansa 747 flying over dropped a wheel-bay door on top of us and it crashed through the atrium.”

“Tch…Dar!” Kerry protested, as she nibbled a bit of ham. “I’m serious.”

Tropical Storm 97

Blue eyes glanced up at her over a forkful of potatoes. “So am I,” she replied honestly. “I’m high profile, everyone knows who I am, so when I take on an assistant, which has never successfully happened before, it’s big news.”

She looked at her assistant. “I did warn you about that, right?”

Kerry sighed. “Yes, you did.” She glanced around furtively, catching more than one set of eyes watching them. “But this is like having lunch in the San Diego Zoo if you’re the panda.”

Dar chuckled wryly. “Hate to say get used to it, but…” She straightened, deliberately swinging her head around and staring at each table. The attention shifted away and the sound around them rose conspicuously. Satisfied, Dar turned her attention back to her table companion. “So.” She forked a bit of meatloaf. “What’s new in eucalyptus futures?”

Kerry bit her lip to keep from laughing aloud. “Good Lord, you’d think they’d never seen you eat lunch before.”

Dar bit down on her fork, thinking. “Well.” She glanced up at Kerry. “I don’t often. Maria usually brings something up for me.”

“Oh.” Kerry gave Dar an apologetic look. “Sorry, didn’t mean to take your time up.”

“Don’t be.” Dar took a sip of her milk. “I usually don’t have anyone to sit with. Anyway, how are you settling in? I see you got to some of the mail. I have a short list of projects I want you to take over.”

“Short list?” Kerry sat back and sipped at her grapefruit juice. “That was two pages of mail!”

Dar tipped her glass of milk towards her. “This isn’t a research think tank. I think I did tell you.”

Kerry reached over and touched her hand. “You warned me.” She sat back again. “The diversity of the accounts here is amazing. What I got from the mails was how much you need to juggle resources to cover everything.”

“Exactly.” Dar nodded. “Ten pounds of gimmes in a three-pound inventory.” She met Kerry’s gaze squarely. “And I don’t have time to babysit you. You find something that needs a decision? Make it.”

For a moment, Kerry felt a little overwhelmed, and she slowly chewed a mouthful of her salad to gain some space to think in. At Associated, she’d made her share of decisions, but this was an entirely different animal.

“Scared?” Dar asked, one brow edging up. “Second thoughts?”

Kerry washed her mouthful down with a sip of juice. “No.” She lifted her head and returned Dar’s gaze. “I like a challenge.”

“Fair enough.” Her boss seemed pleased. “So do I, matter of fact.” She wiped her lips. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out fast enough. Everyone’ll figure out you’re a lot nicer than I am and come running to you first anyway.” She leaned back in her seat and rested an elbow on the table, casually glancing around as Kerry finished up her juice. She noticed the way Kerry sat while she ate, upright and with exquisite manners. One hand rested in her lap as the other manipulated her fork, and she quietly chewed small bits of her salad and swallowed without speaking. “That any good?”

Kerry looked up with a slightly startled expression. “What?” She glanced down. “This?”

Dar nodded.

98 Melissa Good Kerry reviewed the remnants of her lunch. “Yeah, it was fine. Why?”

“Just curious.” Dar nibbled on her cake, content to relax as Kerry finished up. The crowd had thinned out a little, and the noise had died down, but she knew they were still the center of attention. She lifted a hand and waved as Duks entered, and the Finance VP swerved and moved in their direction. “Afternoon.”

“That it is.” Duks nodded, cocking his head towards Kerry. “Is this your new acquisition, my friend?”

Kerry’s eyebrows hiked.

“Kerry, this is Lou Draefus,” Dar said. “Everyone’s an acquisition or a depreciation to him.”

Kerry extended her hand out. “Nice to meet you, sir.” She found her fingers grasped by a strong hold and released. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“And the same here,” he responded. “I would like to wish you good luck, Ms. Stuart. Don’t let this creature scare you off too quickly, eh?”

Dar rolled her eyes.

“I’ll try not to,” Kerry replied politely, as he raised his hand and retreated back to the food line, where he was joined by Mariana from Personnel. “He’s funny.”

Dar drained her milk. “More than he realizes sometimes.” Her expression was enigmatic. “If you’re done, let’s get your projects sorted out and throw you into the deep end.”

“That could get kind of scary,” Kerry murmured as they picked up their trays and deposited them in the washing area. “Better brush up on my dog-paddling, I guess.”

A tall man half turned and watched them as they passed, and Kerry couldn’t help but notice the animosity in his eyes when he looked at Dar. She waited for the elevator doors to close before she asked, though. “Who was that tall, kind of balding guy?”

“Peter Weyhousen.” Dar replied. “He’s the government contracts account manager.”

“I don’t think he likes you,” Kerry observed with regret.

“Actually, he hates me,” Dar corrected her. “Those two contracts I gave to Associated came from his area.”

“I hate to think it’s my fault if he got in trouble,” Kerry muttered.

Dar surprised her by laughing. “Don’t worry about that. Those two contracts were a gift to me, personally, from General Easton. He wouldn’t have had them anyway.”

She has a nice laugh, Kerry decided. It was low, and more a kind of chuckle deep in her chest than anything else, but it pushed a tiny wicked look into her eyes, and that was interesting to see.

Dar gave her the promised tour, introducing her to various department managers, all of whom produced that nice, sickly sweet, “Hello, it’s lovely to meet you” kind of smile that you knew would disappear as soon as you turned your back. That was all right, because Dar provided cutting commentary on each of them after they moved on.

A more thorough tour of the fourteenth floor followed. It was a roughly square floor, with large offices like Dar’s on each corner. Dar’s office was on Tropical Storm 99

the northeast corner, and the other three were parceled out to executives of the same level. On the southeast corner was Lou Draefus’s office, the VP of Finance Kerry had met at lunch, whom Dar called Duks, then on the southwest corner sat John Dierhdohl, who was the Vice President for new accounts. The northwest corner held the showy space of Eleanor Anastasia, who was head of Marketing and Business Solutions.

Since Dar was in charge of operations, her little wing included the MIS

group, where Mark Polenti made a home, the security group, the network support and analysis division, and the small army of infrastructure personnel who worked on providing resources both inside and outside the company.

Dar was in charge of everything ranging from setting up new circuits for the building, to the maintenance of the facilities (including the air conditioning, it seemed), to overseeing the huge private intranetwork which provided all their customers with connectivity and computing power. If new sales sold an account and promised them seventeen T1 lines with instant fallback, Dar’s group handled the purchasing and designing of the circuits and the installation and maintenance of them. If the contract also provided a half dozen AS400 computers, Dar’s group purchased, programmed, installed, and maintained those as well.

It was, Kerry realized very quickly, the heart of the company, and now she had a good idea why Dar sat in the privileged position she did. Nobody wanted to piss her off, because everyone depended on her to get their job done. She told Dar that as they ended up back in the executive’s office, and got a wry smile of acknowledgment in return.

“I knew I made the right decision,” Dar said quietly. “There are people who’ve been working here for years and haven’t yet figured that out.”

Kerry felt rather proud of herself, on her first day. She thought Dar was pleased with her also, if the smile she’d given Kerry was any indication, and from a shaky beginning, she was feeling pretty good about her new job. She realized something else. What Dar’s title was and what she did were two different things. She was in charge of Operations, yes, but what she really functioned as was the company’s top troubleshooter. If there was a fire, Dar got sent, because on the bottom line, she simply knew what to do, and just did it, without regards to anyone’s feelings, or protocol, or anything else.

No wonder everyone hated her. If you had Dar Roberts descend into your territory, it meant you had really screwed up, and she was there to bail you out. Not a nice feeling, Kerry realized, as she sat at her desk, reviewing the rest of her new projects. It also meant Dar was impossibly overworked, and Kerry suspected that was part of the cause of her reputation too—she simply didn’t have time to be nice. She had to get in, make a decision, and get out so she could move on to the next crisis.

Dar had said she’d given Kerry about ten percent of the current projects she, herself, was working on. There were twenty-two projects on Kerry’s work list now. Ten percent. How in the hell does that woman even have time to sleep? I guess I’ll find out.

DAR WATCHED THE stars come out over the ocean through her 100 Melissa Good window and leaned back, glad of a few moments peace at the end of a very long and very aggravating day. Which would have been longer and more aggravating if Kerry hadn’t worked her magic that morning and resolved Dar’s biggest problem, rendering everything else just bad and not disastrous.

Her purse slung over her shoulder, Maria came in to bid her good night.

“You’re late, Maria,” Dar said quietly.

“Ay, and what should I say for you?” the secretary answered, walking over and standing on the other side of her boss’s desk. “The secretaritas at your doctor’s office had only one slot open, that’s Thursday at two PM. I made that time, okay?”

Dar ignored the pounding in her head and smiled. “That’s fine. I think I have a meeting in the morning on Thursday, then a lunch with John D. and his team, so that leaves the afternoon free.” She could see the fatigue in Maria’s face. “Pretty bad day, huh?”

Maria perched on a corner of the desk. “That poor little new chiquita. She seems very nice, Dar.” Her face looked troubled. “I worry these people will eat her up.”

“Nah.” The dark-haired woman behind the desk shook her head. “She’s tough. Did you see Jack’s face when he barged in here and said the network mysteriously came back up? I had to check the logs to see what happened.

Telling him my brand-new, wet-behind-the-ears, inexperienced assistant solved the problem his techs had been working on for twelve hours…god.”

Dar laughed. “That made my day.”

Maria gazed at her, the lined face creasing into a faint, puzzled smile.

“You like her, this little chiquita?”

“I think she’s got a lot of talent and potential, yes,” Dar answered.

“Sure.”

“Ah ah ah.” Maria wagged a finger. “No, no…you like her.”

A moment of silence fell as the light outside faded and left Dar mostly in shadows. The executive seemed to be asking herself that very question. “On a personal level…” She hesitated. “Yes, yes, I do like her. Why?”

The older woman sighed. “I been working for you five years, and I’ve never seen anyone else who makes you smile so much.” She added, “Is good.”

Dar was mildly stunned by the observation, more so when she realized it was true. “I…I guess it’s just nice to have someone who’s bright enough to figure things out. Not like the last bunch I tried in that position.”

“Ay, right,” Maria agreed quietly, still watching her. “Is good. I hope she works out.” She waved. “Good night, Dar.”

The executive nodded absently. “Good night, Maria. I’ll see you in the morning.” She waited for the click as the door shut, then she turned around in her chair and leaned back, steepling her fingers and regarding the rising moon. It was huge and hung over the horizon like a summer lantern, sending a rippling river of light across the almost calm ocean. “I hope so, too, Maria…I really do.”