"I'm up for lunch too," Scuzzy said. "C'mon you guys. I'll buy." She tilted her head in Dar and Kerry's direction. "You want something?"
"We're fine for now, thanks," Kerry answered for both of them. "But the next round we're having after this I'm buying."
Scuzzy grinned. "You got it. " She jerked her head at the two techs.
They set their gloves on the top of the spool and trotted quickly to the nearby crossing light, waiting for it to change before they headed across toward the pushcart vendor.
"Well, it's like this." Dar half turned and pointed over toward the pier. "The mayor decided to put his new emergency management office in that building over there."
The soldier nodded. "Yeah, we know. They've been coming back and forth and going crazy over there since yesterday. Trucks full of stuff," he said. "What's that got to do with you and this thing?" He thrust his thumb behind him, toward the Intrepid.
"It's the closest place I can connect the mayor's new office to so they can have computers and phones," Dar explained. "I have a connection in there because we run all the IT for the gift shop, and the museum."
The guard thought about that. "Oh," he said. "So you want to run that cable in there for the mayor?" He turned and looked up the ramp, where the entire top was filled with official looking cars. "How come no one said so? For Pete's sake."
"Well, you know it's pretty crazy for them up there," Dar regained his attention, "just like it is for you and for us too. It's hard to keep track of everything that's going on, but we want to get them connected so they can work. We have identification."
Kerry glanced at her partner, wondering if she was forgetting that she, in fact, did not.
The guard nodded. "Okay, I need to get my lieutenant here to sign off on it, let me radio him and have him come up. Sorry to have caused you some heartache, ma'am, but I know you understand what's going on here."
"I do." Dar kept eye contact, and injected a good dose of sincerity into her tone. "We'll move over here and wait, and you let us know when you're ready." She held her hand out. "Thanks."
The man took her hand and they exchanged clasps. "Can I get your name?" he asked. "Lieutenant's going to ask. They probably need to run a check."
"Sure." Dar motioned Kerry forward. "I'm Dar Roberts, and this is Kerry Stuart. We're with ILS."
The man scribbled down the names. "And those guys?" He indicated the bemusedly watching Andrew and Alastair.
"We're just footmen," Alastair spoke up, in a mild tone. "We came to help move that big round thing."
Andrew chuckled, and handed the man a bit of pasteboard card. "Thar," he said. "Ya'll don't half understand me when I talk up here anyhow."
Thus prompted, Alastair handed over his own business card. The guard took it and tucked it into his clipboard then moved over to the truck and stuck his head inside, picking up a radio mic and talking into it.
They walked over to the spool and sat down on it, the techs having laid it flat on the ground to keep it from rolling anywhere. "Dar," Alastair peered over at her, "how come you never talk nice to me like that?"
"You don't have a gun," Dar responded, deadpan. "Besides, with how I feel right now it was either be nice, or pick up that pipe and end up getting arrested. I figured nice was more productive." She rested her hands on the edge of the wooden spool and sighed.
Alastair was facing the pier, watching all the activity. "So," he said."We roll this big thing inside the aircraft carrier, then what?"
"Then we hope the fiber tech coming here by train gets his ass here in time to terminate it to a patch panel I have no idea if we have inside,with connectors I don't know if he has with him and we can't get at your average hardware store or Radio Shack, and then connect that patch panel to another patch panel with cables that don't exist yet."
"Ah."
"Sounds like a Navy kinda plan," Andrew commented, with a faint chuckle under his breath. "Good to be out of that damn office though."
"Amen," Alastair said. "Is there anything we can do to fix any of those variables, Dar? Someplace we can get those things while you're charming the fatigues off all the boys?"
Dar turned her head and looked at Kerry. "Did we source those yet?"
Kerry checked her PDA, scrolling through messages with a flicker of the LCD. "Ah." She tapped on one and read it. "Yes, we did. We found a place that can make the patch cables, and has the bits and pieces for the patch panel." She tilted the device so Andrew could see it, as he pulled a half pencil from his shirt pocket and wrote down the address on the back of one of his cards.
Alastair craned his neck to watch. "Where is that? Long Island?"
"Yes," Kerry agreed. "It's nowhere close. I'd better send one of our guys for it so--"
"Ah, Ah, Ah." Alastair stood up. "Good grief. I'm the CEO of the biggest tech company on the planet. Don't you think I can find Long Island?" He motioned Andrew to stand up. "C'mon, Daddy Roberts. Let's go find us some bits and parts."
"All right," Andrew agreed. "Dar, you be all right here? I think these fellers are going to be okay."
"We'll be fine," Dar assured him. "Thanks for taking care of that for us. Sooner it gets here, sooner we can get this connected." She watched her father and boss walk off, heading for the corner to hail a cab. "Why do I feel nervous all of a sudden?"
Kerry leaned her head against Dar's shoulder. "Honey, I'm sure they can handle this." She exhaled. "Besides, we really need the stuff. I sent a list to the vendor, and he said he had it, but he didn't deliver and wasn't about to start."
"Nice."
"Can't really blame him." Kerry kicked her feet out a little. "We're not really local here. He didn't know me from Adam."
"With your voice, if he didn't know you from Adam I'm scared to be buying fiber from him," Dar remarked dryly. "Okay, here comes our boy. Let's see where this gets us." She got up as the two men approached.
The lieutenant was an older man, with grizzled gray hair and stocky body. He looked tired and harassed, which put him in league with everyone else in the city, she reckoned. "Lieutenant. Thank you for coming to talk with us."
The man nodded briefly. "Ms. Roberts, I've had a call from the mayor's office. We'll give you the access and anything else you might need. Sorry to hold you up. Everything's crazy here." He glanced at the pier."I don't know what the hell's going on."
The other guard looked somber and apologetic.
"Please. Don't apologize, we know how stressed everyone must be." Kerry picked up the conversational ball. "We appreciate that you took the time to get everything sorted out. Is it okay for us to proceed now? I'll get my guys back from the hot dog stand."
"Sure," the lieutenant said. "John, give these folks an escort back to where they need to be, and a few hands to help move whatever this is." He gestured to the spool. "Ladies, have a good day." He turned and walked off. After an awkward moment, the other guard hurried after him, leaving Dar and Kerry alone with their spool again.
"Well," Kerry exhaled, "that was easier than I thought it would be. Want me to go get the gang?"
"Sure," Dar said. "I'll sit here and wish I was under a bus."
Kerry stroked her arm. Dar's face was a little pale, and she could see her biting the inside of her lip. "Honey, why don't you go to the hotel? I can handle this," she urged. "C'mon. You look like hell. It makes no sense for you to sit here and suffer. Go relax and get a heating pad or something."
Dar paused then looked mournfully at her. "I can't." She tilted her head and indicated the returning techs. "My macha won't let me. C'mon." She got up as the techs approached. "All right, folks. Let's get this rig rolling. They're letting us in."