"Right." Marks shook his head and headed for a small office nearby. "Knew I should have just taken the train up to Niagara this morning. Screw this."
Dar heard the echo, and felt a certain sympathy with it. But she kept walking, down the hall and down the stairs to the street, ignoring the guards and the people walking down the side walk as she focused on the bus door.
It opened as she approached and she waved a hand in the direction of the driver as she climbed inside, glad when it closed behind her and she was sealed inside the quiet peace of the bus.
Very quiet. Dar found herself stepping cautiously as she went through the front part of the bus to the back, spotting Kerry immediately. She circled the chair, finding her partner fast asleep against one arm, her breathing slow and even.
So that was the reason she hadn't come back outside. Dar felt both relieved and a touch embarrassed. She went over to the storage compartment and removed a small lap blanket from it. She opened it up before she returned and settled it around Kerry's sleeping body.
She waited a moment to see if that would wake her. When it didn't, she knelt down and carefully loosened the laces on her partner's hiking boots, and easing them off her feet.
She set the boots down, then straightened up and went to the refrigerator removing a chocolate chug and leaning back against the counter to drink it.
It was very quiet. Even the sounds outside had fallen off, except for the beeping of cranes and the sound of heavy machinery in the distance. She could also hear a fading siren, but around the bus there wasn't much going on.
She felt her PDA go off, bringing a welcome distraction. She put the chug down and pulled the device out of her pocket, opening it and reviewing the messages. "Ah." She muttered softly, taking out the stylus and touching the top one.
Hello Dar. Good news and bad news. Bad news first. They've looked at all the existing optics and nothing we've got can be altered to work over MMF at that distance, even with some classified stuff they have here.
Well, that was bad news. Dar found herself shrugging, having expected the message. She had decided they were going to have to wait until the new cable got here.
So, now the good news. They have an experimental optic here they're putting together for the space station and they think maybe they could see if it could be adapted. My guys are working on building an enclosure for it, so if they hit pay dirt we'll be able to fit it in the chassis you guys have there. It's a pretty slim chance.
Dar blinked at the message. Pretty slim? It was a hell of a lot more of a chance than she'd considered possible.
So anyway, that's the news. We'll be burning the midnight oil--let you know if anything looks promising. Hope it's worth something by the time we're done.
Wow. Dar tapped the screen to respond.
We're burning the midnight oil here too, just in case. Slim chance or not, this is the only hope we have, so whatever you come up with will be better than what we've got now. Whatever the cost turns out to be for this--bill me for them. If you come up with a solution, name your price. DR.
She sent it, then folded the PDA cover down and slid the device back in her pocket. Could they do it? At least they were trying. Dar picked up her chug and drank it slowly, the cold, sweet beverage easing the ache in her throat.
What next? She glanced over to where Kerry was still sleeping soundly. With a sigh, she set her empty chug down in the garbage and retreated to the door of the bus, opening it and emerging outside quickly, shutting the door behind her.
No sense in waking Kerry up, after all. Better she get some rest. Dar was glad of the decision a moment later when her cell phone rang,making her jump a little. She glanced at the caller ID, and then opened it. "Hello, Alastair."
"Dar. Where are you?" Her boss sounded exasperated.
"At the Exchange. Outside," Dar replied. "What now?"
"Well, do me a favor lady, and take all those people you got down there and pile them in that bus and take off," Alastair said. "The governor is on his way down, and I just told him to kiss my ass."
Dar leaned back against the bus, finding a smile somewhere. "You did, huh? What happened?"
Alastair exhaled. "Jackass. Someone got wind of their little game with the test yesterday and says they're going to tell the press. So the bastard told me he was going to cut them off and tell them we screwed something up and now we're trying to fix it."
Dar blinked. "Fuck him."
"Pretty much what I said. So gather the troops, Dar. Put them on the bus and head back up here. We're out of this."
"Just like that?" Dar asked.
"Just like that. I told him he could tell the press whatever he wanted, but then again, so would I," Alastair said. "I've had it up to my eyeballs. I already told the board."
It suddenly occurred to her that she wouldn't want to cross Alastair, not in this mood. "You got it, boss. I'll go get the team and tell the driver to get ready to move. I don't want to be here when that jackass gets here and starts yelling at me."
"Damn right,"Alastair said. "See you back here in a little bit."
Dar closed her phone, and exhaled. "Well." She tossed the phone up and caught it. "So much for that." She headed for the door, then halted, turned, and went back to the bus. She keyed the door open and trotted up inside, heading over to where Kerry was napping.
The blanket was now tucked around her, her fingers clasped lightly in it, and there was the faintest of smiles on her face.
Dar knelt, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Ker?"
The green eyes fluttered open at once, and the faint smile grew into a real one.
"How are you feeling?" Dar asked. "Sorry I was a bastard before."
Kerry drew in a breath, and then grimaced. "Ow." She muttered,sheepishly. "Don't apologize. I should go get this checked out. It's killing me." She extended her hand and clasped Dar's. "Thanks for the blanket." She added, "I figured you were the only one who could have done that and not wake me up."
"Well, we've got time to go do that now. Alastair just pulled us out. I wanted to wake you up before I got the rest of the crew in here rattling around. We're going back uptown."
Kerry blinked. "Really? What happened?"
"Long story. Tell you when I get back." Dar stood. "We could beheading home sooner than I thought." She stroked Kerry's head as she circled the chair. "Hold down the fort, okay?"
"Sure." Kerry eased to a sitting position as the door closed behind Dar. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and tried to find a comfortable position, wiggling her toes as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. "It's over?" She looked over at the television screen that was showing scenes of the Pentagon. "Wow."
She felt a sense of relief. Her head fell back to rest against the leather surface and she imagined herself stepping off a plane into Miami's muggy heat. "Awesome."
DAR RESTED HER elbows on her knees glad she'd sent the bus on ahead to the office. The medical examination was taking longer than she'd expected it to, and she was starting to get nervous flutters in her guts.
Not that it was her guts being examined, but still. She was hoping Kerry's injury was nothing serious, but experience had taught her that the longer they poked, the more they generally found. It was the reason she avoided doctors when she could, and even though her better sense insisted that Kerry's ribs had to be looked at, her animal anxiety wished they'd just kept driving.
"Ms. Roberts?"
Dar lifted her head quickly, turning to find a nurse at her side."Yes?"
"Could you come with me please? Your friend asked to see you."
Friend. Dar took a breath, and then she stood and waited for the nurse to move forward so she could follow her. There were places, she reasoned, where making the point about their relationship wouldn't have gotten a second's hesitation from her.