Storm Surge - Part 2 (32 page)

Mark joined her. "They're gonna freak."

Kerry shook her head. "It's dangerous. That's a big cable. Everyone's going to trip, they're going to have to put a shield over it or shut this floor down."

"Guess they'll have to." Mark agreed. "Let me get hold of that maintenance guy and give him a heads up. I bet we're going to have to go up the chain for it."

"Probably." Kerry agreed. "I'll go talk to the building management. I think I just booked them a couple thousand in rentals so I've got some good points in the bank with them at the moment." She dusted her hands off. "I'll be back."

"You got it boss." Mark dropped his loop of rope and started off toward the back of the hall.

Kerry slid her flashlight into the side pocket of her coveralls and moved in the opposite direction, climbing up the steps and crossing the floor toward the management office for the second time that morning.

It felt like she was being constructive. The morning session on behalf of their customers had been almost pleasant. She was bringing more business, and the complex was glad not to have someone asking for exceptions, or rent deferrals.

She pushed the door to the office open and returned the brief smile of the receptionist. "Hello, me again. Is Tom available for a quick moment?"

"I'll ask, Ms. Stuart." The girl got up and disappeared into the inner maze of office hallways as Kerry went over to the courtesy counter and started fixing herself a cup of tea.

One thing about New York. Kerry selected a fragrant bag from a box of assorted teas and dispensed hot water over it. People liked their comforts here. She stirred the cup and took a sip, turning and leaning against the wall as she waited.

The girl came back. "Right this way, ma'am." She smiled, waiting for Kerry to join her before she led her back into the managing director's office. "Here you go."

"Hello there again." Tom Brooks waved her in. "What can I do for you, Kerry?" He was an older man, with a close-cropped beard and salt and pepper hair.

"Well..." Kerry came in and took a seat across from him. "I wish I could say I've got another dozen tenants we'll guarantee for you, but this time I'm here to make trouble."

"Oh no." The man behind the desk didn't look overly alarmed. "How much trouble can a nice young lady like you cause anyhow?"

"You'd be surprised." Kerry remarked, dryly. "Just ask my boss. Anyway, here's the problem we have." She went on, "as you know, we've got an emergency project going on for the city government."

"I didn't, but it doesn't surprise me. Every little thing these days is an emergency."

Kerry toasted him with her cup of tea. "Point made. In this case, there are a bunch of telecom wiring people running a big piece of fiber cable from the New York Stock Exchange to our demarc down in the dungeon here--lower level."

Tom blinked at her. "Seriously?"

Kerry nodded. "Seriously."

"Jesus." He shook his head. "How in the hell are you going to do that? There's no opening from that area near the steps to the subway."He thought a minute. "You'd have to bring it up through the station and cross the concourse with it."

Kerry nodded.

"You want to do that?" Tom's voice lifted sharply. "You kidding me?"

Kerry shook her head.

He leaned back in his chair and tapped his pen on the desk. "Wow." He mused. "That could be a big problem. There are a lot of people down there," he warned. "I don't know if we can run a cable across the floor. Maybe we can run it along the wall or something."

Kerry grimaced a little. "That's a long way."

"Well, it's coming from a long way. I don't think they'll let us cross the concourse due to safety reasons. Let me take my guy down there, and we'll look at it. What size cable are we talking about?"

"Two inch round," admitted Kerry. "We know it's a hassle, but the project we're working on really is a number one priority for the government."

"Surprised they're not in here telling us what to do then." Tom got up."I'll see what we can arrange for that, Kerry. I know you all have been working down there. My facilities chief has been bitching about having to leave the door open. I'll let you know what I find out."

"Thanks." Kerry got up. "Believe me I know we're asking a lot. We're trying to get this working and there's a lot riding on it." She took his proffered hand. "Thanks, Tom. I really, really appreciate it."

"Save that till I can do something about it." Tom warned. "And you folks be careful of that room in there, okay? There are some dangerous pipes and things in there."

"We know. Dar nearly got knocked on her behind from that electrical panel." She followed him out of the room and down the hall. "Do we really use steam heat here?"

Tom chuckled. "Sure as hell do. Glad we don't have to turn those pipes up with you all in there. I'd have to charge you for a sauna bath." He held the outer door for her. "After we get through this, let's talk about moving your connections someplace else."

"How did we end up in there anyway?" Kerry waited for him to catch up to her and they walked across the floor together. "Dar was wondering about that."

"Long story. We'll get it straightened out." He started angling away from her. "Be in touch with you, Kerry. Let you know."

"Thanks, Tom." Kerry headed for the steps, her cup of tea still clasped in her fingers, feeling another, though minor, sense of accomplishment. She didn't envy Dar, who was floors and floors above her,dealing with the press, the government, and the board.

She'd heard Dar yelling in the conference room, and then a man had stormed out of the office, nearly knocking down people on his way out. Department of Defense, Dar had told her afterward, and probably a lot of trouble headed back their way.

Ugh.

She trotted down the steps and headed back to their little dungeon. Shaun was seated outside with a piece of pizza, and Kannan was sitting cross-legged sipping from a steaming cup. "Hey guys." She greeted them."Mark back yet?"

"Not yet." Shaun shook his head. "Ms. Stuart, we want to go down to the other end and do the setup there, but we're kinda not sure how to do that. I don't think they'd just let us in there, you know?"

Kerry took a seat next to him. "Good point." She took a sip of her tea. "Well, tell you what. Once Mark gets back, I'll go round up Dad and done of the trucks and we'll all go down there together. That work?"

"Sure," agreed Shaun. "Maybe we can even do the whole cross connect, if they got the other end of that cable up in the right spot."

Ah. Kerry turned and looked inside the room. "You mean the connection box, like that?" She indicated the new panel.

"Yes." Kannan spoke up. "It would be good to get the melding down and the connectors polished and ready. Then we have only this side to do when the other end of this cable arrives here."

Kerry felt a little awkward, not entirely sure of whether she should spill the beans now, or wait until they arrived downtown. Part of her wanted to tell the techs the truth, but she also felt that Dar had wanted to keep it under wraps, and she wasn't sure if this was the place or time for her to countermand her lover's wishes.

She didn't mind disagreeing with Dar. They did sometimes. But she was sensitive about doing it in front of people who worked for them because she never wanted to give the impression that she was leveraging their relationship to appear to control her partner when it really wasn't anything like that.

Oh, well. Kerry drank her tea, allowing the silence to continue. Well, she did leverage their relationship, all the time, but not really to control Dar, more to find a consensus when they were on opposite sides of any particular question.

She knew that Dar would listen to what she was saying, even though she didn't agree with it, just because Kerry was who she was,and they were what they were to each other. There was no way around that. Dar often blew other people off and refused to take them seriously. With Kerry, that was never the case.

Dar always took her seriously. She always took Dar seriously. Sometimes they compromised. Sometimes they didn't, and Kerry would accept Dar's opinion. Sometimes Dar would listen to what she had to say, and then change her mind and agree with Kerry's view.

But they would never have gotten that far if there wasn't total trust between them that gave her that edge in dealing with Dar's mercurial,restless nature.

Speaking of. She heard a set of distinctive footsteps approaching and looked up just as Dar came around the corner of the stairwell,trailed by Mark and Andrew. Her partner looked frustrated and she felt the glower just before her eyes met Kerry's and she headed their way. "Here comes trouble."

"Uh oh." Shaun started chewing faster. "Better suck that up fast, Kan. Her nibs looks pissed."

"There you are." Dar addressed Kerry.

"Here I am." Kerry agreed, patting the floor next to her. "Come. Sit. You look mad."

In the act of turning and accepting the offer, settling gracefully next to Kerry, Dar managed to somehow lose most of the frustration in her attitude and ended up merely looking bemused. "What's the scoop here?"

Mark crouched down next to the two techs, and they started talking in low tones. Andrew picked a spot on the wall and leaned against it, crossing his ankles as he waited for everything to shake out.

"Scoop." Kerry offered Dar the remainder of her tea. "Well, I talked to the building about our running cable across the floor. I don't think they'll go for that, but they're looking at alternatives."

"Uhgh." Dar grunted.

"The team wants to head down to the Exchange and make the connections down there. " Kerry kept her voice neutral. "So I thought I'd take Dad and help them get in there and get set up."

"Ah." Dar grunted again with a completely different inflection. "Okay." She took the cup and finished the beverage.

"But I wanted to discuss that with you first," Kerry said. "I know you have some concerns." She put her hand on Dar's thigh. "But if you want, I can handle that end of it for you."

Dar studied her, a faint smile appearing on her face. "Thank you, Kerrison."

"What are friends for?" Kerry smiled back. "You take your share of tough calls, sweetheart. I don't mind shouldering this one for you."

"I know," Dar uttered softly. "One of the many reasons I love you."

Aw. "Any fallout from the DOD?" Kerry leaned closer, lowering her voice. "Do you want me to pander to my genes and call my mother to see if she can help with that?"

"No." Dar set the cup down. "Hamilton advised me to get the hell out of the office and go hide somewhere in case they show up to drag me off. I'll take the team downtown. I know you don't want to go back down there."

"Any word from Lockheed?"

Dar shook her head.

"Let's both go," said Kerry. "Let's go, and we can lay it out for everyone, and just do everything we can do. Okay?"

Dar studied her laced fingers, then looked up and over at Kerry. "All right. You and me, all the way." She reached over and clasped Kerry's hand. "Let's go."

They stood. "Okay, team," Kerry said. "Let's get our gear together and go down to the other end of this situation. Dar and I have some information to give you, and then we can get what we need to get done taken care of. "

The techs were already scrambling to their feet, and Mark had ducked inside the room for his backpack. "Hey." He poked his head out. "We taking the bus? I threw a bunch of the gear in it, and it's got three cases of Red Bull."

"Sounds like a plan," Dar said. "It's going to be a long night."

"Ain't they all?" Mark disappeared inside the room again as they got ready to move out. "But hey, we'll make history, right?"

Dar stuck her hands in her pockets and regarded her father. "I think sometimes making history's overrated."

"Yeap." Andrew agreed. "That is the truth, rugrat. That is surely the truth." He clapped her on the shoulder. "'Specially since history ain't always your friend."

They gathered up their gear and headed off, walking up the steps and out into the afternoon light into a street full of people and sirens and cool, dusty air.

KERRY BRACED HER hands on the sides of the doorway leading from the main part of the bus into the driver's compartment. Ahead of them the road was relatively clear, though the sky was hazy with smoke and the dusting of ash remained on almost every surface.

There was still an air of desolation present. Here and there, she could see where a car had been removed, or boxes were now piled on the sidewalk, and scattered here and there were people walking slowly, looking around as though in disbelief.

"Just opened the east side here to people," said the driver. "Just this side of Broadway."

Now that he'd mentioned it, Kerry started noticing figures moving around in the distance. She could see flashlight beams in windows, and it brought back the memory of the big power outage they'd suffered in Miami not that long ago.

She'd used a similar flashlight to stumble through the darkness of the condo, the stuffy closeness driving her outside and down to the Dixieland Yankee's cabin where the boat's batteries and a solid charging from the engines kept her and Chino comfortable through that very long night.

So many people hadn't been nearly as lucky. She'd heard the stories sat work the next day. Just like so many people here now weren't lucky. People were rooting through dust covered belongings and cleaning out putrid refrigerators while they cruised by in their air conditioned bus.

"What a mess." Dar had come up behind her, and now Kerry could feel the warmth along her back as her partner came into her space. "These people are coming back to Hell." She leaned back into her partner's chest. "What a nightmare."

"Reminds me of Hurricane Andrew." Dar let her hands rest on Kerry's shoulders. "We sent a bunch of people down south to help clean up. Some of our staff lived down there. Total disaster."

"Did you go?"

"Sure," Dar replied. "Ended up puncturing my hand with a rusty nail and getting hauled off to the first aid station. They have picture of me sitting there with two guys hanging on to my paw with a three inch piece of iron sticking out of it."