“Notepad.” Dar muttered, suddenly, her eyes shifting off to one side. “What did that remind me of?”
“Well, let me go make some coffee. I'm guessing we're gonna need it.” Kerry got up off the desk and headed for the kitchen, with Chino trotting behind her.
“You know, all of us probably did.” Peter was saying mournfully. “But with all the crazy making, stuff was moving and systems got rebooted, and you know.”
Mark got up. “Let me get my lappie. Maybe I did something illegal and crazy like left some copies on my personal external.”
Dar made a clucking noise with her tongue.
“Hey boss, I know where that code repository came from.” He gave Dar a wry look. “Even if it was all yours.” He ducked out, and that left Dar and Peter alone in the office.
Peter looked profoundly uncomfortable.
Dar leaned forward again and rested her chin on her hand. “Weird, huh?”
He made a face. “Yes ma'am.” He admitted. “Too much strange for me.”
“Yeah, I can imagine.” She responded, though she really couldn't. “Listen, let's start off by you calling me by my name, okay? I never was much for the ma'am stuff.”
Peter smiled, uncertainly. “I sort of feel like I'm stuck between that rock and a hard place.” He said. “I don't want to be a troublemaker, you know? I just want to go in and work and go home and enjoy my family.”
Dar nodded. “I get that.” She said. “You were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
He nodded vigorously.
“You could get nailed here, doing this.” Dar went on. “But you don't have much of a choice. At least not until things start working again.”
Peter relaxed visibly. “You get it.”
Dar smiled at him. “Sorry, Peter.” She said. “One way or another, I'll make this right for you. Promise.” She watched his expression become more open. “I made things there the way I did so it would give the company an advantage. Not to be a jackass.”
Now he smiled. “Yes ma.. I mean, yes. We all knew that. Even Mr. Jose said that, in the big meeting we had yesterday. He said no matter what that guy said or what he thought, you did the right things.”
Ah, Jose. Dar felt a little tickled. “He should know, because no matter how much he and I disagreed he did the right things too, for the company.”
Peter nodded. “The guy said Mr. Jose was stupid, then everyone started yelling, and we all just left.”
That, unfortunately, Dar could easily imagine. She'd been in enough of those meetings. With a sigh she leaned back, and her knee bumped the desk drawer, nudging it open. She reached over to shut it, then paused, when she saw the edge of something inside the drawer and pulled it all the way open.
“Huh.” She took out the old Palm inside, and examined it, then fished around in the drawer for the charger. “Now I wonder.” She plugged it in and waited for it to start up. “Wonder if I left any notes in there from last year.”
Kerry came back in with a thermos and some cups, setting them down on Dar's desk. “Whatcha got there, hon?”
“My old PDA.” Dar said. “I might have saved some of my notes from when I was doing the rig at the Rock.”
Mark came back in with his laptop and a small case hung around his neck. “I think I've got the mesh diagram.” He said, sitting down and opening the laptop. “I was gonna have it printed out and laminated.”
Dar looked up at him and frowned. “What?”
“Keep surfing.” Kerry nudged her.
Peter got up and timidly started fixing himself a cup of coffee “Been a really long day.” He said, by way of explanation. “It's really nice of you all to let us come over here. It's a really pretty place.”
“No problem. Dar would tell you most likely that she prefers our cabin down south” Kerry said, handing over a small ceramic jug of creamer. “And, actually, so do I.”
Dar focused past the conversation and started to root through the PDA as it finished booting up. She took out the stylus and tapped around, looking at the mail, then closing that and calling up a note program she remembered using. There were several folders, randomly named and she clicked on one.
After a moment, she blinked and closed it. She shook her head and opened a second, tilting the screen so she could read the text. She closed that, and clicked on the next. “I keep the weirdest crap.” She muttered. “Ah.” She sat back and regarded the PDA. “I think this might be... yeah. The config for the two big routers in Miami.”
“Cool.” Mark came over and looked over her shoulder. “Yeah, that's them.”
“Mm. I saved a copy before I did the changes to make the reroute at the Rock work.” Dar gave him a droll look. “So at least I can't feel hypocritical about it.”
“Those were a lot of changes.”
“They were.” Dar sent the note to her private email from the PDA and waited for her desktop to pick it up. Then she regarded it, and sent it to the printer. “Okay, let's see what this gets us.”
**
Kerry was laying on the couch, her head resting on the arm and her legs extended out and crossed at the ankles. Mocha was sleeping on her chest, and Chino was curled up just past her feet, and she was listening idly to Dar giving Mark and Peter some last instructions at the door.
Then the door closed. She turned her head and opened one eye, to see her partner heading her way. “Think it'll work?”
“Probably not.” Dar came over and paused, as Kerry sat up and she slid into the empty place on the couch then pulled the blond woman back down on top of her. “If they let him make the changes, there's probably even more changes in there that I haven't seen that'll screw things up.”
“Ugh.”
“I need to just go in there and do it.” Dar acknowledged mournfully.
“You need to concentrate on making that demo for Congress.” Kerry objected. “Dar, I know you want to make this right, but there's only so much you can do.”
“Ugh.” Dar sighed. She put her arms around Kerry and hugged her. “Well, we'll see what happens. Maybe he'll work it out, He's a bright kid.”
Kerry patted her leg. “Then lets go to bed. It's two am. Tomorrow is going to suck.”
Dar remained in place. “You pissed off that I'm doing this?” She asked. “You seem like it.”
Her partner sighed. “I”m not. I mean, I'm not pissed off at you.” She clarified. “I'm just pissed off that ILS can't seem to let go of us. I want out of it. I don't want to worry about them sending lawyers after us, and blaming us for stuff, and.. you know.”
“Mm. Sorry.”
“It frustrates me.” Kerry admitted. “I just want that part of our life to be over, and it seems like all they want to do is suck us back into it.” She looked up at Dar's profile. “But I get it, Dar. I know you spent a good part of your life there, and you can't just let it go so easily.”
Dar smiled at her, with open and sweet affection. “I love you.” She said. “I'm glad you get that because I don't want us to fight with each other over it.”
“I don't want us to fight over anything.” Kerry responded.
“Yeah, that's no fun.”
They untangled themselves and got up, Kerry carefully letting the sleepy eyed Mocha down on the ground. “There you go, little man. You want a piddle stop before we go to bed?”
“Growf.” Chino jumped down and yawned, stretching her paws out. Then she trotted over to the dog door and through it, with Mocha galloping behind her.
Kerry wandered into the kitchen and leaned on the counter, watching the dogs in the garden as the motion sensitive lights came on. She turned her head as Dar entered, coming over to stand next to her, gazing outside with her arms folded over her chest.
Kerry edged over and let her head rest against Dar's shoulder, pausing to give the skin there a kiss. “Can I come with you to Washington?”