"We can move you to someplace that has it," Jack said.
"Certainly not! I have far too many important things in my office!" The man stated flatly.
Kerry folded her arms over her chest. "Okay." She looked him right in the eye. "I understand."
"Good." The man smiled.
"Just give me your name, so I can go back to Mr. Quest, and tell him why we can't proceed with his project." Kerry smiled back at him. "I'm sure he'll understand, too."
The man blinked in shock, then stiffened. "I didn't say you couldn't proceed!"
"Sure you did. You said you can't be without power. We have to turn the power off to go forward. So if you can't be without power, and you won't move to where power is, then we can't go forward."
The rest of the staff seemed content to watch, their eyes shifting between the man and Kerry as though watching an exciting ping-pong match. They all seemed to be deferring to the argumentative man, whose bearing indicated he was used to obedience and authority.
That was all right. So was Kerry, but in a different way. "So, can I have your name?" She asked gently. "Because Jack and I both have other things we could be doing if we're not going to be able to start up here."
"Right you are, ma'am." Jack stuck his thumbs into his jeans pockets, and rocked on the heels of his work boots. "Plenty of projects lined up.?"
"Unless maybe we could work something out with you--maybe we could have our guys move your stuff when we needed to." Kerry read the man's body language and decided giving him an out was a good idea. "We'd be glad to do that."
Jack scowled.
The man snorted, and lifted a hand. "Fine." He relented. "If you have to, you have to. But you must come to me before you turn off anything, so I can make sure nothing gets disrupted."
"Sure." Kerry said. "Jack, can you assign someone from your office to liaise with--" She looked at the man questioningly.
"Pieter Oshousen." The man supplied. "Staff Captain." He gave them all a nod, then turned and walked off, his back stiff.
"Right." Kerry watched as the rest of the staff dispersed also, their attitudes half amused and half disgruntled. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun." She added, once they were gone. "It's like being in an inhabited construction zone."
"Got that right." Jack sighed, scratching his head. "Where in the hell do we start? Every time I try to put a plan together, I keep running into these roadblocks."
Kerry shook her head. "Yeah, I know. C'mon, I think I found us something we can use for a central core, since my first choice just isn't going to fly." She led the way to the stairwell, and started down. "They don't like this idea either, but it takes space away from passengers not crew, so at least they won't stand in our way, and the overall ship management approved it."
Jack snorted. "Figures." He followed Kerry down the steps, and then though a series of doorways until she stopped in front of one. She pushed it open and stood back pointing inside. With a doubtful look, he stepped past her and entered the space. "Ah."
Kerry entered after them. "Yeah."
Jack turned around. "This is a cabin."
"It is. But it's an inside one and they've actually given me two of them." Kerry agreed. "This one and the one next to it, which is through this connecting door." She shoved the inner door open and looked through.
Both cabins had seen far, far better days. The carpet was an indiscriminate color, perhaps it had once been aqua, and the walls had peeling laminate of an equally grayish hue. There were no beds, but on one wall, a pull down bunk was clamped.
It smelled horrible.
"We'll have to strip both rooms, but I think it's workable, and this wall," Kerry walked over and slapped the inner partition, near the bunk, "backs onto the elevator shaft and all the conduit track ways."
Jack looked measurably happier. "Eh? Do they? Now that's workable." He walked over to inspect the wall, then reached up to push at the ceiling. It gave under his touch, the panel lifting up and showering them both with debris best left undescribed. "Uh...sorry."
Kerry plucked her shirt out, scattering the gunk, and ran her fingers through her hair to send more flying. "No problem." She responded. "Anything up there?"
Her companion flipped a flashlight up and peered into the space. "Lucked out." He grunted. "Not a firewall. This is an easy punch." He turned his head. "Good pick, ma'am. We can work with this."
"Thanks. Now," Kerry put her hands on her hips, "you can start laying cable in, while I get a general contractor in here to make this space livable. I can't even put a rack in here until we put down a substrate and extra AC."
"Yup." The electrical contractor nodded. "I'll get my fiber guy in here, and the cable people. You pick where you want the access closets, or is that a fight too?"
Kerry sighed. "What do you think?"
"Need to know that, 'fore I can have the fiber feller quote the job."
Jack sounded apologetic. "I was going around the decks before you got here. I thought I saw some electrical closets up there you could mount a switch or two in, and they can't use 'em for storage."
"Really? Show me." Kerry followed him out the open door and down the hallway. Could she get that lucky? Electrical closets already had ventilation, and naturally they had power--could she get away with not having to fight the already hostile staff for yet more precious space?
They started up the forward stairs wincing a little as their shoes stuck to the treads. Workmen dressed in ship jumpsuits brushed by them going the other direction without giving them a second glance, but just seeing them made Kerry suddenly wonder about something.
Andrew was in Shari and Michelle's ship. What if they'd put someone in hers? How would she tell? She looked around at the workmen, all of whom looked more or less alike, and most seeming to look right through her in return. Well, she could request all their employment details and have checks run, but?
"Here." Jack led her off one of the stair landings into a side corridor, with cabins on either side. He found one unmarked door and yanked it open, to reveal a small, poorly lit closet with a large breaker box and other electrical piping inside.
It was small and dirty, but Kerry pulled out a tape measure and found a relatively clear spot on one wall of the closet. "We can squeeze a half rack in here," she said. "How many of these are there?"
"Two on each deck."
Kerry snapped the tape measure shut. "Sold." She tucked the tool away. "Put an extra one percent on your estimate, Jack. You solved a huge problem for me. To retrofit space for these things would have cost me a bundle."
A big smile crossed the contractor's face. "Y'know, that's what I love about dealing with you. I never feel like it's always one of us taking, one giving, or turn around." He held a hand out. "Makes my life easier too. I've already got a lot of conduit up there I can use."
Kerry solemnly shook his hand. "Okay. Give me an eight-strand fiber core to each closet, terminating in our snazzy cabin digs, and cable runs to all the places on the blueprints. When can I expect a quote?"
Jack chuckled, as they went back down the hallway. "Tomorrow, maybe. Hey, one thing though, this electrical mostly isn't up to code. Not your gig, but the stuff I have to put in will be. What about the rest?"
Good question. She wondered if that had been part of Quest's plan, since the construction would have to pass local inspection at some point. "I don't know. How about I put you together with their admin people. Maybe they'll let you quote it, if they don't have a contractor already."
"I'd appreciate that." He grinned at her.
Yeah, bet you would. Kerry muffled a smile. She liked Jack but she knew he knew where his best interests lay. However, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have him get more business, and maybe he'd agree to adjust his costs if he could get a bigger volume.