Storm Surge - Part 2 (7 page)

"Uh." Jason pulled a small pad out of the back pocket of his khakis and started scribbling on it. "A metal rod, ma'am? How big?"

"Half inch. If they don't have rods, get the narrowest conduit they have," Dar said. "Eight or twelve foot length if you can get it."

"Gotcha, ma'am," Jason nodded. "And you want a soldering iron?"

"A soldering iron," Dar confirmed. "And a 16 or 14 gauge extension cord at least twenty five feet long. Got that?" she asked. "And a bar of soap."

"Got it." Jason trotted off. "Not sure what I got, but we'll get it. Be right back."

Dar went to the open hatch and perched on the edge, taking in a breath of diesel tinged brackish water air, letting her hand drop to rest on the coil of rope. She glanced up as Kerry came over to join her. "Ugh."

"Ugh." Kerry sorted through Dar's hair, pulling it out from under her collar and riffling it in the light breeze coming through the hatch. Looking up the river this way, everything looked so normal. She could see the other piers, all old and rusted, and the buzz of activity on the rooftop parking lot of the furthest one down the way that was the emergency center.

A few small boats moved quietly past, police boats with slowly flashing lights. They were too far away to see the two figures in the opening, but they cruised past, obviously watchful. In the distance, the air was hazy and from the right she could hear the muted sounds of the city.

Jason finished tying the rope to the cable, and waved at them. Her stood by the spool, and started unwinding it as Dar sighed and stood up again, taking hold of the rope and starting to haul it in. "Watch it."

Kerry took a step back, holding her grease covered arm out to one side and out of the way. "Want more Advil?"

"Yes." Dar stolidly coiled the rope as it came in, making a neat circle on the deck. "Please."

With a nod, Kerry turned and headed out of the small space, glad to take a break and stretch her legs. She moved down the hallway and into the hangar deck again, aware of the slowly fading light as the sun edged toward the west and left the outside in a haze of blue.

She entered the small office-like room they'd stored their bags and gear in. It had a desk against the wall and filing cabinets on either side. The furniture was functional but plain, and there were banners on the wall celebrating the many functions and trials the Intrepid had gone through.

"Ugh." Kerry paused, as she remembered not to touch her bag with her right hand. She opened the latches with her left, and fished inside the leather sack, finding her bottle of Advil and pulling it out. She removed her bottle of water along with it, and latched the bag shut again, turning to head back out of the room.

Her cell phone rang. She almost reached for it, then stopped again,and cursed. "Son of a--" She went back to the desk and put the bottles down, then grabbed the phone. "Kerry Stuart."

"Hey, Kerry. It's Mark."

Could be good, could be bad. "Hey, Mark. What's up?" Kerry sat down on the edge of the desk. "We're making some progress here in case anyone's asking on the call." She wrinkled her nose at the smell of the axle grease.

"They found our two guys here."

Kerry felt her own breathing stop. The tone of Mark's voice held more explanation than any words could have, and she bit the inside of her lip feeling a deep pang of loss for these unknown to her techs that had, at some level, traced up an org chart to her name. "I see."

"They were in that part that got hit," Mark added, after a moment's silence. "About all they could identify were their badges."

Oh my god. "I'm sorry, Mark. Did you know them well?" Kerry wasn't really sure of what to say, or really of what she was saying. It just sounded like random words.

"I didn't. The guys here did though." Mark sounded somber."Danny's pretty trashed. I sent them off to hang out for a while. My guys are handling the stuff."

Kerry exhaled heavily. "Okay," she said. "Have you told Mariana yet? "

"No. Called you first."

Only right. "Send me their names," Kerry said. "I'll call her. We'll get the process started." She felt profoundly sad. "And contact their families."

"Okay. Will do," Mark said. "Sorry to bring such totally sucky news. Stuff's going pretty good here otherwise. We got a few more circuits in. Those telco guys really helped."

"Good," Kerry murmured. "Glad to hear that, anyway. Let me get hold of Mari so she can get the ball rolling. I know she was sending some people here to talk to the staff. I want to make sure she sends some folks there too."

"Okay boss," Mark said. "Talk to you later."

Kerry closed her phone and simply sat there for a few minutes. The senselessness of it all overwhelmed her and she closed her eyes, sparing a bit of her soul and thinking of the split second of terror and heat and pain the techs must have suffered.

There was no sound, no indication of any one approaching, but Kerry was suddenly aware of Dar's close presence, and she opened her eyes just as her partner's hand touched her cheek and she looked up at her in question.

"Had a feeling you needed me," Dar said bluntly. "What's wrong?"

Kerry leaned against her touch. "Humanity," she answered. "I think the whole fucking species sometimes is just one big screw up."

Dar ignored her grease covered arm and settled against her anyway, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "Present company excluded."

Kerry turned and buried her face against Dar's shoulder, allowing herself that little time out before the nightmare continued to roll on.

ANDREW STUDIED THE small bit of cardboard in his hand as he maneuvered down a steep set of stairs bracketed by old fashioned brass railing. He got to the bottom of the steps and was pleased to find a train waiting, its doors open. "Figure that's the one."

"You're probably right," Alastair agreed. "And with the bridges and tunnels still tied up, this is the fastest way to get where we need to be. Damn nice to have rapid transit that's both, isn't it?"

Andrew made a low grunting sound. He led the way into the train and they found a couple of seats near the front with enough room for Andrew's long legs and got themselves settled. "Hope them kids are getting on all right" he said.

Alastair folded his hands over his stomach. "You know, I don't think of them as kids."

"You ain't their father."

"That's very true," Alastair admitted. "I've got my own handful back home, but I'll tell you what, they're nothing compared to yours."

Andrew chuckled and sat back, tapping his thumbs together in front of him. "How many you got?"

"Three," Alastair responded promptly. "Two girls and a boy. Two of them are married, and I've got three grand kids." He glanced at his traveling companion. "I think Dar said she was an only child?"

One grizzled eyebrow twitched, as Andrew peered back at him. "Ah do believe that one was sufficient," he paused, as the doors closed,and the train prepared to leave the station. "Though mah wife and I did think about another, it was tough on her."

"Ah." Alastair nodded. "My daughter had trouble with her first. He was born breech."

"Wall." Andy glanced out the window as the train moved through the underground tunnels that burrowed into Manhattan Island and into Penn station. "Dar came right way round, but wasn't no small baby and mah wife ain't big." He glanced down at his long legs. "I do believe that's likely mah fault."

"Dar does take after you, no doubt," Alastair agreed. "Spitting image, matter of fact. I remember meeting you the first time and being struck by that." His PDA chirped, and he removed it from his pocket,opening it to review. "Excuse me."

Andrew was content to turn his head and watch the windows change from underground darkness to the late afternoon light. He was glad they were off doing something useful, though it was possible they could have done some good back at the flattop.

He pulled the list of things from his pocket and studied them again. They appeared to be something like electrical parts, but he figured Dar certainly knew what she was looking for. He watched the landscape go by for a moment more then removed his cell phone from his pocket and opened it.

There were only a few numbers in the speed dial, and he selected one and keyed it in, putting the phone to his ear and waiting for it to be answered. "Lo there."

"Ah, my husband," Ceci replied. "Where are you?"

"'Nother damn train," Andrew said. "Goin out to get Dar some special cables and some such. What are you up to?"

"Well," Ceci said. "Believe it or not, my family called, either to find out whether we were all right, or if we were part of the insurrection, hard to say. My sister sends her regards."

Andrew made a slightly snorting noise.

"Well, she does," his wife responded mildly. "How are Dar and Kerry doing?"

"Them kids are having a time," Andrew said. "Ah don't think Dar's feeling well, and ever'body's chewing a piece of them all over. Makes mah eyeballs itch," he grumbled. "People here are pretty shook up though. Bad stuff."

"I saw on TV," Ceci murmured. "Andy, you stay away from that place, okay? They've still got buildings falling down around everywhere and I don't want you near any of them."

"No problem," Andrew said. "Right now me and th--Dar's boss are on this here train heading for Long Island. Ain't nothing keeling over out there, and Dar's over at that old flattop off the Hudson fussing with them bolts and nuts there."

Ceci chuckled wryly. "No matter what the situation, she ends up with the Navy."

"Eh," her husband smiled briefly. "Got salt water in her even if she didn't end up no swab." There was something of that he was happy with. The sea had been a passion of his since the first time he'd seen it, opening wide in front of him after an eternally long two months in basic training up at Great Lakes.

Huge. Beautiful. Full of deep greens and blues and rich with salt like nothing ever before in his life had been back in Alabama. He'd loved everything about it, even the rough motion in weather, and the agonizingly small amount of space he'd been assigned for someone his size.

Finding his daughter with the same love in her heart had charmed him. Some of the best times when Dar was growing up had centered around the beach, and the sea and the underwater world they all shared.

"She certainly does," Ceci interrupted his musing. "But that's not helping her there now. Anything we can do from here? Can I use my nonexistent family influence and insult someone for her? Browbeat some government official? Offer to paint the president in the nude? Wait. Scratch that one."

Andrew chuckled in reflex. "Y'all do say the damnedest things."

"It's hard being here and just watching," Ceci admitted. "At least you're there on trains getting gizmos. All I can do here is watch CNN and try to imagine what scandal Miami will be involved in next in this whole thing. You know that airport Dar landed in was where all those terrorists trained in."

"Ah heard."

"I feel like they're going to close the border at Orlando."

Andy chuckled again. "You just keep your head down there on Dar's island. We'll fix this joint up best we can and head back soon as we're able," he promised. "Got to go now. Ah think this train's fixing to tunnel again."

"Call me back later, sailor boy."

"Yes' ma'am. G'bye." Andrew shut the phone and leaned back, tapping it against his knee as his brow furrowed into a frown. "Know what?" he addressed Alastair. "This here world surely does suck sometimes."

Alastair looked up from his PDA. "Sure does," he answered after a brief pause. "Wish we could find another one sometimes."

KERRY REMOVED THE contents of the brown paper bag and set them down on the piece of metal wall near where Dar was working. They were up on the second level now, in the space where the cable would have to come up.

There was no opening in the space except the small oval door hatches, and it was close inside, full of the scent of grease and silicon. Against one wall was a large patch cabinet painted with thick coats of paint to match the inside of the ship. The door to it was open exposing a plethora of connections, and there was already a shunt opened in the side to receive the new cable.

Dar was standing near the wall where the pipe emerged, a long piece of thin conduit in her hand and a soldering iron in the other. "Let's see."

Kerry set out the various supplies, glad she'd taken the time to go and get most of the grease off her skin so it wasn't getting all over the place. She could still smell it though, and cast a brief, wistful thought toward a nice long shower with lots of soap to scrub with.

Dar leaned the pipe against the wall and concentrated on the soldering iron, using a tiny screwdriver from the tech's tool kit to unfasten the plastic grip and remove it. She experimentally fit it into the end of the pipe, glancing up as Jason stuck his head in the hatchway. "I think this will work."

Jason eyed her. "Yes ma'am," he responded dubiously, "if you say so. Is there something else we can do in the meantime? Any prep we can do for the fiber guy?"

Dar looked around. "I need some 110 cable in here. Can you rig that while I'm duct taping and twining us into a solution for this pain in the ass problem?"

"Sure." Jason disappeared.

Kerry took the opportunity to sidle closer. "What are you doing with that hon?"

"Trying to resist the urge to bash it against the wall," Dar responded. "It's probably good they're leaving us alone in here. You're the only person I want around me right now."

Responding to the compliment, Kerry pressed her cheek against Dar's shoulder blade, then kissed it.

Dar put the pipe back against the wall and looked at the plug of thesoldering iron holding it up against the opening. It was obviously too big to fit inside. She went over to the makeshift shelf and pawed among the supplies. "I need wire nuts."

"Wire nuts," Kerry repeated. "Is that something I need to send the guys back for?"

"No." Dar removed a pair of cutters from the toolbox. "I'll just tape the damn thing." She cut off the end of the plug, then removed the extension cord from its wrapping and cut off the female end as well.