Kerry and Shaun exchanged deeply puzzled looks.
Kerry opened her cell phone and dialed it. "Are you sure?"
Kannan spread his arms out and lifted his hands slightly. "That is what the news said. I am sure of that."
The phone crackled, ringing once and then crackling again as it was answered. "Dar?"
"Yeah." Dar's voice sounded slightly muffled. "Hang on, I'm going outside." She paused a moment. "Go ahead. What's up?"
"Kannan just heard on CNN that they successfully tested the Exchange computers to work on Monday. Are we doing this for nothing?" Kerry asked.
"Huh?" Dar said. "Ker, I'm in the Exchange. We're in the technical center. Trust me. Nothing's being tested here. They just lost power to the data center and there's no AC. Nothing's even turned on. And listen, I do appreciate the suggestion before; it's just not my style."
"I know hon," Kerry said. "So if nothing's working, what did they test?"
"The public trust?" Dar asked. "I haven't a clue. Hang on, Alastair?Kerry just said they announced on the news that they tested the Exchange systems and they were all good to go for Monday. You know what's up? What? No? Okay." Her voice got louder. "Ker, we don't know squat here. I'll try to find out."
"Okay sweetie." Kerry sighed. "I'll do the same. Maybe I'll call my mother. Maybe she knows something. It's getting really cruddy here.We moving out anytime soon?"
"Soon as I get back there." Dar promised. "Hang in there, love."
Kerry exhaled. "I'll do my best. But do me a favor huh? Kick thier asses and don't hang around to take names. We should get out of here. "
"Will do," Dar said. "Talk to you shortly."
She hung up the phone. "Dar says they're not testing anything."She told the techs.
"So--the news was a lie?" Kannan asked.
Kerry shrugged a little. "I don't know. I don't really know what that's all about." She indicated the trailer. "Let's go see what else they say about it."
"Weird," Shaun said. "But hey, we've got Oreos and milk in there--if you don't mind paper cups."
"Lead on." Kerry found the thought of the familiarity of Oreos appealing. "Let's see what else they're putting out on the news. Maybe aliens have landed. Who knows?"
Chapter Eight
"LOOK, WHAT YOU'RE asking is nuts." The stocky man threw his hands up and let them drop. "Lady, even you know it's nuts. Run a cable up to midtown? In the subway? Where the hell you think we're going to get the cable? Macy's?"
Dar stared him down. "You're a phone company. You don't have cable? What the hell do you use then, tin cans and strings?"
"Not that much cable!" The man protested. "You know how much that stuff costs?"
'Well, sir--" One of the other Verizon reps cleared his throat. "We got that cable. In Jersey."
The man whirled. "Shut the fuck up. Who asked you?"
"If you have the cable, why shut him up?" A tall man in a rumpled tie and suit spoke up from the back. "Why the stall? This isn't some fucking game, buddy. "
The man from Verizon turned back to him. "Who the fuck are you?"
"Aide to the governor," the man said. "Who maybe wants to know why someone's holding up a critical promise of his."
The man didn't seem fazed. "Yeah? He can kiss my ass. Him and his let's squeeze the union bullshit," he said. "I'm not putting my guys down those holes for you. I don't give a crap what you promised."
Ah. Dar revised her opinion for the third time in less than five minutes. At first she'd suspected Kerry was right, and the man was looking for a payoff. Then she'd decided he was probably really looking for an excuse not to have to bust his ass.
Now she figured he might just be an asshole with a grudge. "Listen." She brought the room's attention back to herself by standing up."Let's can the bullshit. What's at stake here is a lot bigger than any of us. No one wants to be on CNN explaining why they deliberately harmed the nation."
"Aw, c'mon with the crap already." The Verizon man rolled his eyes.
"She's right," the governor's aide said. "Matter of fact, I'm going to call the cops in and have your ass arrested. Maybe you're in it with the terrorists. Sure sounds like it to me."
"Would you shut up," the man said. "You ain't calling no one.And you lady, even if we did have that stuff there's no way we could lay it out in time. It ain't possible."
The governor's aide opened his phone and dialed. "Hello? Yes. Is this Agent Jackson? Yes, this is Michael Corish from the governor's office. Yes, thanks, I am. Listen, it's come to my attention we could have someone here who might be of interest to you. Can you send a few boys over to the Exchange?"
Everyone looked at each other, then back at the aide.
"You will? Great. I'll wait here for them. Thanks." He closed the phone and regarded the man from Verizon. "Hope you like body cavity searches."
The man's jaw dropped a little. "What are you crazy? I'm not a terrorist!"
"Doesn't matter," the man said. "You're in the way, and I'm going to remove you." He turned to the man who'd spilled the beans about the cable. "Now. You want to help us out here, or go with your friend?"
The man swallowed.
"You're bluffing!" The other man exclaimed.
"No," the aide replied. "I just called yours. Here we have a room full of people who all have one goal, which is what our government wants." He gestured, taking in the other telco men, and Dar and her group. "They're working hard to do what we need, and your stupid pigheadedness is blocking that. You're worthless. We don't need you."
"Listen! Who do you think ya are, anyway? My uncle--"
The door opened and a man in dark, paramilitary looking clothing entered"Mr. Corish?"
"Here," the aide said. "It's that fellow over there. You might want to question him on his background."
The agent nodded, and unclipped the strap on his sidearm. "Let's go buddy. Don't make any trouble for me." He advanced around the table, the rest of the crowd parting before him as the man from Verizon backed up against the wall.
"Hey! Wait--I d--didn't do nothing!"
The agent grabbed his arm and swung him around, slamming him against the wall as he pulled a set of handcuffs from a case in the small of his back. "Then you've got nothing to worry about, right?" He snapped the cuffs on and got him in a solid grip around one bicep."Thanks, sir. We'll take it from here."
"Thanks for coming so soon, officer. I, and of course the governor, really appreciate it," Corish said. "Let me get the door for you." He smiled as the man was dragged out, then he slammed the door and looked around at the room. "Where were we?"
"I'll help," the other Verizon man said quickly. "I know where we've got that cable. But I'll need someone to pull some strings for us to get it on a barge over here."
"I think I can help you with that," Corish said. "Let's go outside and make a few calls." He glanced around. "The rest of you better be ready to move once we get this accomplished. I don't want any more excuses."
He left, taking the chastened Verizon man with him, closing the door behind them both.
"Holy shit." Scuzzy whispered.
Hamilton crossed his arms, looking as non plussed as Dar had ever seen him. He turned and looked at her and they both simultaneously shook their heads. "Well," Ham said. "Not to put too fine a point on it,but now ah do understand in full that old Southern saying that goes something like--ah do declare!"
Andrew had been sitting quietly in the corner, and now he snoted audibly"Mah neck of them Southern woods they said "Somebitch!"
"I can't believe that just happened." Charles pushed his chair back from the table.
Dar stood up. "Well, it did." She veered toward the practical. "So that means you all need to get your line folks in here and get ready to hook up to one end of that damn cable. We'll go prepare the other end. "