Dar hailed a cab and they got into what was fortunately one of the minivan versions. "I need to go to the Air Space Museum, please," she said, crisply.
"S'closed, lady," the man said.
"I know. I need to go there anyway," Dar told him. "It's business. We don't want a tour."
The driver took off without another word, pulling into the traffic stream with a typically supreme lack of regard for anything including other cars and his own safety.
"What's that all about?" Andrew asked. Kerry sighed. "Well, see, they decided to put the new emergency response center down at the pier, Pier 92 I think Dar said."
"All right." Andrew's brows knit a little. "Seems like a funny place to put something like that, ain't it?"
"Well," Kerry's lips twitched, "I have to say if I was thinking of doing an emergency center in Miami, that port we were in is the last place I'd pick, but I'm sure they have their reasons. Anyway, they need things to connect and the only place we have something close enough that's got a good link to our systems is at the Intrepid."
Dar let her head rest against the window, wishing fervently she was several thousand miles away in a quiet, dark room, with a cup of hot chocolate and nothing more to do than read a magazine. She didn't really feel like making the effort to get out of the cab and get involved in all the chaos she knew she would have to and, for once, didn't mind the traffic making it take longer to get somewhere.
She let Kerry's quiet voice go past her, not really hearing the words or the answers to them, aware only of the warmth of Kerry's fingers curled around her hand, her thumb idly rubbing against Dar's knuckle in absent caress.
Kerry probably didn't even realize she was doing it. Dar remembered when they first started dating, when Kerry was so very self conscious about touching Dar in public--though she'd never been in private.
Now, it was second nature to her, and to be honest, second nature to Dar as well. She liked the warmth of the touch and the affection in the gentle squeezing. It soothed her ragged temper a little, and allowed her to put aside her discomfort in favor of this tiny bit of physical pleasure.
Outside the window, the city moved past. Though traffic was heavy, she noticed the frenetic pace of the cars seemed subdued, and the people on the streets were as well. Men and women were gathered around storefronts, talking. There were few trucks on the road.
They passed a crossroad, and she watched two men simply standing, looking at each other in front of a subway entrance, seemingly frozen in place. A woman was sitting in front of them on the edge of the road, her feet resting on the tar surface itself, her arms wrapped around her knees.
In her hand, she clutched a sheaf of papers. Dar could see something square on them that looked like a picture, but she was struck by the expression on the woman's face, dull, and lost and so full of grief it was hard to look at her.
It brought back to her, suddenly, what had happened a few days prior, and she felt small thinking about how she'd been bitching to herself only a minute ago and wanting to be somewhere else.
"Dar?"
"Hm?" Dar turned her head and regarded Kerry's face. "Sorry. I was thinking of something else."
"I got a message from my contact at AT&T. They've got credentials for us. He's dropping them by the office." Kerry glanced behind her, as Dar did the same. They looked at each other then Kerry shrugged a little. "For what it's worth."
"We'll use them." Dar settled back as they started moving faster, heading across town toward the Hudson River. "Okay. Did we get a handle on what the roadblock is at the Intrepid? Are we running into labor issues already, or is it something security related?"
Kerry's eyes looked apologetic. "Sorry, don't know. All they said was it wasn't working."
"All right." Dar rested her elbow on her knee. "Then we'll get it working."
"One way or t'other." Andrew remarked, from his seat behind them. "Let's get this here show on the road. I've bout had enough of people fussing."
"You got that right," Alastair agreed. "It's time to get things rolling."
Dar and Kerry exchanged glances, and Kerry leaned closer, lowering her voice. "We're the only ones who are actually going to do anything aren't we?"
Dar chuckled dryly, and shook her head. "Guess we'll find out."
Chapter Three
SECURITY AROUND THE Intrepid was heavy. Kerry edged to one side as they got out of the taxi, seeing a line of National Guard in front of the entrance to the Museum. There were also large orange traffic barrels blocking any vehicle access. To the right hand side she could see the ramp that led up to the pier entrances sealed by yet more guard vehicles. "Wow."
Dar settled her backpack onto her back and cinched the straps a little tighter. She paused to study the front of the structure, spotting a cluster of vehicles and a barrier that was surrounded by people. "Over there." She started for the spot, quickly joined by Kerry as her father and Alastair trailed a little behind them.
Scuzzy was there, and spotted them as they approached. "Oh, hey,"she called out. "Now we're talking."
Dar kept walking toward her and the guardsmen who were gathered around turned to watch them approach. She had about ten steps to decide on her approach, and with the cramps and her exhaustion, she decided on mellow just as she reached Scuzzy's side. "Good afternoon, gentlemen," she greeted the guards courteously. "Sorry we're causing a commotion."
The guard nearest her, apparently in charge, had opened his mouth to respond, his body tense and shoulders squared off, but blinked and paused at her words.
Dar smiled at him, cocking her head slightly as she stuck her thumbs in the straps holding her backpack on and shifted her own posture. "I know you've got a big load on your shoulders here. I don't want to add to it. What can we do so I can provide what you need to let me do what I have to do?"
Kerry merely stood there, her hand on the strap of her briefcase looped over her shoulder, as she watched her partner use one of her rarest strategies, her innate charm. She often wondered why Dar didn't use it more often, since it was compelling and irresistible, and she wasn't just saying that because they were lovers.
She could see the man wavering, in fact. He'd been all set to respond to anger, to aggression, to a yelling civilian out to make his life miserable, and faced with that gentle smile and those pretty blue eyes he had no idea how to get the adrenaline out of the way of his testosterone fast enough to respond.
She understood. In the few times they argued, more often than not it was that charm that made her anger evaporate no matter which one of them won or lost the fight. Even now, Kerry felt herself responding to it, her body relaxing and a smile edging her lips as she watched Dar's face.
"Well," the man said, "this is a secure area."
Dar nodded. "I'm sure it is. That flattop's a big target, and there's a lot of history both inside and on her decks. No one wants anything to happen to it." She went on, "I don't want anything to happen to it. "
"Okay." The man leaned back against the truck blocking the entrance. The other guardsmen also relaxed, moving their guns down and turning aside a little as it became apparent these civilians were not about to physically storm the barrier. "So what is it exactly you people need to do? This lady here was explaining it but it didn't make any sense to me."
Scuzzy frowned. Kerry winked at her, and gave the waiting, grubby looking techs a smile. "Why don't you guys go relax for a few minutes over there. I think they have sodas over at that hot dog stand on the corner."
"Thanks, ma'am. Great idea," the taller one said. "It's like a nightmare under those piers running this stuff." He turned and pointed at the big spool of rubber coated wire, the strand a full two inches wide. It trailed back behind them, snaking across the ground and underneath the ramp way toward the depths of the inner pier structure. "I live here,but man I saw rats bigger than my brother under that thing."