“This is our Senior Operations Staff, CPO Daniel, Ms. Roberts.
She’s in charge of implementing and supervising all our overall processes.” He gave the newcomer a brief nod. “Chief, this is Ms.
Roberts. She’s here on orders from Washington to do an evaluation on us and recommend improvements,” the commander said pleasantly.
“Please take her where she wants to go and answer any questions.”
In her spare moments Dar often played a little mental game where she tried to match people up with what breed of dog they would be if they suddenly morphed before her eyes. She’d often amused herself in meetings by imagining Eleanor as an Afghan hound, discussing sales with Jose the sheepdog, for instance. She’d even drawn a sketch of it, which had sent Kerry into a fit of hysterics and made her leave the room.
The bulldog in a naval uniform gave Dar a once-over, then nodded briefly. “Yes, sir, I’ll be glad to do that. Would you like to start now, ma’am? It’s a big base.”
“Absolutely,” Dar responded, recognizing the aggressive stance with an internal sigh. “Let’s start where they come in. After you?” She gestured toward the door. “Thank you, Commander.”
“My pleasure.” Albert gave her a pleasant, albeit vicious smile.
“Let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”
Dar followed the woman out of the office and organized her resources for this new challenge. Given how Albert had phrased her assignment, calculated to offend the petty officer as much as possible without actually coming out and accusing her of not doing her job, she had to wonder which one of them he disliked more.
She eyed the woman plowing along beside her.
“Would ma’am like to stop at Supply and pick up a pad and pencil?” Daniel asked suddenly. “I’m sure you’ll have notes to take.”
“No, thanks,” Dar replied mildly. “I usually work at a macro level.
I leave the micro details to the people who actually implement the designs.” Hmm. What would Kerry do? Dar sorted through her options.
Red Sky At Morning 89
“Look, Chief, I’ve got no intention of spending days wading through your attitude. Let’s go get a cup of coffee and get the fistfight out of the way, then maybe we can get something done.”
The petty officer stopped and turned and studied her with a ferocious intentness. She had a strong presence and an air of fierce competence that almost matched Dar’s own. “I don’t know what your real purpose is here, ma’am, but I’m not one of those data center fluffheads who wander around with printouts tucked up their butts all day. I have a job to do, and I do a damn good one. So, if you want to tell me what your agenda is, maybe I can save us both time and sweat.”
“Problem is, I don’t have one,” Dar replied. “So if you’re doing a good job, you’ve got nothing to worry about, right?”
“What makes you think you can walk in here and judge us?” Daniel moved a step closer. “You think I have an attitude? What did you expect, an outsider coming in here like this, walking into a world you can’t possibly understand?”
“Chief—”
“You think we don’t know what you people out there think of the military? You think it’s easy always getting that attitude from people who couldn’t last through a day of basic training, who think we’re a bunch of mindless idiots?” Daniel stabbed a finger at Dar. “Don’t talk to me about attitude, lady.”
Dar cocked her head. “You like the Navy, Chief?”
That threw the petty officer right off her track. “What?”
“Do you like the Navy? You’re a career in, right?”
Warily, Daniel backed off a pace. “It’s a job,” she answered slowly.
“You take a lot of shit, but it’s like a family. I’ve gotten used to it.
Why?”
Unaccountably, Dar smiled. “You just gave me an answer to a question I’ve been asking myself since I was eighteen. Thanks.” A flock of “what ifs” took off and left her shoulders lighter. “You’re right, Chief. I am an outsider.” Now she met Chief Daniel’s eyes. “You need to choose whether you want me to be a hostile or a friendly one.”
They stared at each other in silence.
THE OCEAN ROLLED in nearby, a rhythmic shush and roar followed by a faint tinkle of shells. Dar and Kerry were sitting braced against a tree with their legs extended out on sand still holding the day’s warmth. Or, to be more precise, Dar was leaning against the tree and Kerry was leaning against Dar, seated between her lover’s legs in a blissfully comfortable sprawl.
“This was a good idea.” Kerry exhaled. “Glad you decided to meet me down here. I was so in the mood for that spicy lobster.”
“Even with the sand?” Dar picked up her bottle of root beer and took a swig of it. “Sure was better than what I’d have gotten at the base 90 Melissa Good if I’d stayed for dinner.”
“I bet.” Kerry picked up her own bottle and sipped from it. “It didn’t look like there’d be much gourmet food there, though that lunch was pretty good.”
“Mess on a whole wasn’t bad,” Dar agreed. “I think that’s why I never bothered learning to cook. It was easier just to go there and grab something, and then when I went to college, they had the cafeteria, so…” She shrugged. “Never got in the habit.”
“Mm.” Kerry studied the silver moonlight. “So, where did you get a taste for stone crabs, then?” She turned and regarded her partner curiously. “I’m pretty sure they didn’t serve them there, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one diving.”
“Ah.” Dar chuckled briefly. “Yeah.”
Kerry waited for her to continue, but the silence lengthened so she peeked back over her shoulder to see Dar looking quietly out at the sea.
“Dar?”
“Mm?” The blue eyes shifted and focused on her. “Sorry. Not much of a story to it. Just something I…once I was getting a decent paycheck I tried a few things.”
Kerry could sense the discomfort, so she gracefully abandoned the question. “Like I did when I got here.” she agreed. “Know what I did when I realized you’d given me a raise when you hired me?”
“Tried stone crab?” Dar hazarded a guess.
“No. Went out a got new nerd toys.”
Dar laughed, relaxing against the tree. “Yeah, I think I did the same thing,” she admitted. “Problem was, after they promoted me they had no idea what to do with me in those senior management meetings in my motorcycle boots.”
Kerry covered her face and stifled a giggle.
“One of the other managers finally dragged me into Macy’s,” Dar said. “Told me I had more brains than South Beach had boob jobs but I wasn’t going to last in the company if I didn’t at least try to look the part.”
“You obviously learned fast.” Kerry turned her head and watched her partner’s profile. “You’ve got an amazing sense of style. I remember that time you took me into Macy…oh, my gosh. You did take me into Macy’s!”
Dar smiled.
“Same Macy’s?”
“Yep.”
“Good grief.” Kerry covered her eyes again. “I was blown away, Dar. You picked stuff that not only looked good, it looked good on me.”
Dar exhaled. “Yeah, well, thank about six months of reading the stupidest most puerile fashion magazines I could find and watching video tapes of the worst nighttime soap operas that made my brain almost dissolve.”
Red Sky At Morning 91
“You’re kidding me?” Kerry asked in a dumbfounded tone.
“No.” Dar shook her head. She took another sip of root beer. “I felt like one of those chimpanzees you see on Discovery, learning to ride a bike.”