Kerry clamped her jaw shut so her teeth wouldn’t chatter. She felt Andrew’s body shift behind her and sensed the tension that came into the arms he had wrapped loosely about her.
The barrel moved forward, further away from the door than she’d first thought, and now the hands and body of its wielder came into view. It was a young man of medium height, dressed in fatigues, his eyes flicking nervously up and down the hallway.
Surely, Kerry’s mind screamed, surely he’d look right at her.
But he didn’t. He kept going, and before she could relax, another man edged into view, moving with careful silence. This man was taller and thinner and had a scruffy beard. Then more of them moved past—
six or seven in all, Kerry had lost count—before the last one, a huge bear of a man, crept past. They were wearing backpacks, and their clothes had a well-used air about them. Kerry’s nose twitched as the scent of gun oil came to her.
Andrew waited almost an entire minute before he eased past Kerry and very slowly edged his head around the doorway. Then he relaxed and scowled. “What in hell’s that all about?”
“I don’t know, but it was seriously creepy,” Kerry told him, peering down the now empty hallway. “Hey, maybe they’re Cuban terrorists!”
Andrew allowed a tiny snort of laughter to emerge. “Not hardly,”
he said. “C’mon, kumquat, let’s get us back to that there closet. I figger we’ll find out what’s up soon enough.”
Ain’t that the truth. Kerry shook her head, and they started down the hallway. She’d taken maybe ten paces before she stopped dead, a fist clenching her heart. “Oh.” A sense of panic filled her and she turned, evading Andrew’s outstretched hand as she launched into a headlong run.
THERE WAS A moment’s frozen silence. Then the lead terrorist pulled the wool mask off his face. “Shit,” he panted hoarsely. “It’s a civ!”
Ceci, frozen in shock for several long heartbeats, now surged into motion. She ducked between two of the men and shoved a third out of 248 Melissa Good the way. “You stupid pigheaded son of a bitch clueless useless excuse for jarhead buttholes.” She dropped to her knees beside Dar’s very still, slumped figure. “I should pull your damn privates off.” Anxiously, she touched her daughter’s face, which was pale and relaxed.
“Shit,” the lead terrorist said. “What do we do, Sarge?”
The second man who had come in fingered his rifle. “Just stay where you are. We’ve got our orders.”
“What?” the man who’d taken his mask off objected. “Are you crazy? This ain’t part of the orders. This is a fucking civ!”
“You don’t know that,” the sergeant snapped back. “What if they are? They could be part of the gig, you know that. They said there’d be something unexpected. This is it. So shut up and just go over there.” He turned and looked at the rest of the room. “You all just sit your asses still and keep your mouths shut.”
“Dar?” Ceci patted Dar’s cheek gently. “Hey, Dardar?” The pet name felt strange on her lips, but she ignored that. “C’mon, kid, open your eyes, hmm?”
For a far too long instant there was no response. Ceci patted Dar’s cheek again, and this time her daughter’s eyelids fluttered in reaction, sliding half-open to expose dazed, pale blue orbs. Much to her consternation, Ceci found herself babbling in near panic. “Hey, munchkin, c’mon...you okay?” The eyes tracked to her and fastened on her face, then blinked and opened a little further. “Dar?”
“Urmf.” It felt like a building had fallen in on top of her. She just wanted to let her eyes close and go back to sleep. It was quieter there, and it hurt a hell of a lot less. But someone was shaking her, and she had a sneaking suspicion it was her mother, who would just keep on shaking.
Always had.
“Okay.” Dar fended off the prodding. “Okay...okay...I’m awake...Jesus...” She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them fully, blinking until her mother came fuzzily into focus. Her face was suddenly cupped between Ceci’s hands, and she could feel the tremor in them. A faint, but distinct feeling of surprise filtered through her admittedly half-conscious mind.
“Here, see if you can sit up,” Ceci urged. “I think the brainless wood chip back there just clipped you.”
The terrorists were nervously deploying around the room and had herded the two console operators over in the corner where Dar and Ceci were. They hadn’t yet seen Dar’s two techs, who were prudently hiding behind the large twin drive arrays from which Dar had been transferring data.
Okay. Dar managed to get upright and took stock of herself and the situation. Her head hurt like hell. Her arm hurt worse. Her dignity was screaming in mortal agony. Her mother, for God’s sake, was petting her like a kitten.
Red Sky At Morning 249
Jesus! What the hell could happen next?
A wild yell punctured the room, and the door was flung open. The terrorists whirled and brought their guns up, screaming warnings as a disheveled blonde figure stumbled into the room, looking around frantically. The man closest to the door leaped at her only to be intercepted by a tall, menacing shadow that grabbed him, disarmed him, and tossed him against the wall in one long, sweeping motion.
“Awright,” Andrew’s voice boomed out. “Y’all stay still, or figure yourself Swiss cheese.” With a solid, scary sound, he cocked the big black shotgun the man had been carrying, then lifted it and aimed it at the biggest guy there, a man half again his weight but about the same height as he was.
“Dar!” Kerry bolted for her.
Oh. Dar’s tired mind sighed. That’s what could happen next. Do yourself a favor, Dar. Don’t imagine anything else.
“TELL ME AGAIN what this all is?” Andrew stood, with his hands on his hips, glaring at the hapless leader of the “terrorists.” “Them people out there sent you all in here?”
“Look, sir.” The bear-like soldier had both hands empty and held out in abject defense. “It’s the training exercise. They told us to come in here and take hostages.” He looked around. “We came in here and took hostages. They weren’t supposed to fight back.”
Andrew’s eyes narrowed. His voice lowered in pitch. “You saying it was my kid’s fault she got hurt?”
“N...no, sir.” The soldier shook his head. “I’m saying we got surprised, and Niles over there got kicked in a place that really needs ice, if you know what I mean.”
Andrew threw a glance at the tallest soldier, who grimaced and crossed his legs gingerly. “What comes next?” he asked, though he had a pretty good idea. “Them youngsters outside come git you?”
The man nodded. “We’re assigned to hold them off. I’ve got explosives and extra ammo in those packs. We’re supposed to blockade the room and maintain a defensive perimeter.” He hesitated. “Sir, they told us they were going to throw in some unexpected things. I thought...” He glanced over to where the rest of the “hostages” were seated. “I thought they were part of it.”
“Uh-huh.” Andrew gave him a very disapproving glare. “Well, I’m fixing to end this here exercise right quick. Don’t you go nowhere.” He shouldered the shotgun and turned toward the door, only pausing when he heard Dar’s cell phone ring. “Now what?”
“I’ll get that.” Kerry slid the phone out of the holder clipped at Dar’s waist and opened it. “Yes?”
I can answer my own phone. Dar protested, but the words never emerged, and she was content merely to listen. It was easier to think 250 Melissa Good that way.