Eleven, eleven ten, twenty, thirty, but this request was seventeen minutes after the hour.
So Dar examined the entry, and found it coming from one of the administrative servers. Cracking her knuckles, she called up a terminal program and accessed the server, her eyes narrowing slightly as she started her hunt.
Chapter Eleven
ANDY WALKED ACROSS the pier and up the gangway into his new ship. This one was just as threadbare and full of rusty bolts as the other one, but he felt much more affectionate toward it in any case, and gave the side a pat as he walked inside.
The hold was full of boxes, as the last one had been. He noticed one difference, however. On one side of the storage area several pallets were set, neatly laden with boxes of assorted sizes, shrink wrapped, and tagged with invoices. They seemed to be behind a bunch of boxes, though, almost half hidden.
The orderliness of the stack appealed to him. Andrew walked over and scanned the shipping invoices with a knowledgeable eye, catching sight of a familiar company name on the top. "Huh." He studied the paper, noting the 'K. Stuart' referenced on one side. "I do believe I know that little kumquat."
Unlike the deliveries for the women on the other boat, this here pile had an order to it that had Andrew nodding as he reviewed the list of contents. "Ah do not know which of this here is a leg bone, and which is a foot bone, but I figure this here stack probably makes a whole skeleton and don't that make sense?"
"Hey, you there."
Andrew turned to find a scruffy, sweat-shirted man headed his way with a clipboard. He waited for the man to arrive, surprised when the clipboard was held out to him. "What's this here for?'
"You're Roberts, right?" The man asked.
Andrew allowed that he was.
"Great. The man said you'd be in here to take over for that joker. Here's the lading list, and this is the stuff we're expecting in today. Just get it unpacked and moved wherever you can find a place for it, okay?"
Andrew looked down at the clipboard. "Y'all want me to take charge of this here job?"
"Sure, right. Didn't he tell you?" The man seemed impatient. "C'mon, we're behind a day already, and everyone's screaming at me." He pointed to the stacks of boxes in front of Kerry's pallets. "Start with this bunch first and get it out of the way. Guys are in the break room, just go grab 'em when you're ready, which is like now, right?"
"Right."
"Great. Bye."
The man left at an almost run. Andrew regarded his back a moment, then shook his head. "Hell of a crazy damn place this is." He turned and went to the center of the hold, turning in a slow circle, and looking for a suitable place to start.
"Bloody hell."
Andrew turned, but the comment wasn't directed apparently at him. Two men in coveralls were walking from a just opened hatch toward a stairwell. They didn't look happy.
"Now we've got to get that leak fixed, damn." One said. "I thought they'd gotten that covered."
The other shrugged. "Didn't give 'em enough, probably. Always the same. Well, they can say what they want, that hole isn't getting plugged any time soon, not by me."
The two men disappeared into the stairwell, closing the door behind them. Andrew filed the information away for later study, and headed for the break room to find some bodies to shift them boxes like the feller asked.
But of course he'd start with Kerry's first.
"COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING, hmm?" Kerry asked.
"Program put out the TFTP request out of sequence." Dar folded her hands over her stomach. She was lying flat on her back on the padded bench outside on their porch with her head cradled comfortably in Kerry's lap. "Can't find any reason why," she added, "and it's driving me insane."
"Uh huh." Kerry leaned back, one hand idly riffling through Dar's hair. "Could it just be a fluke?"
Dar wiggled her injured foot, which she was putting in the sun for some mysterious and possibly imaginary medical benefit. "I'd rather not think so."
Kerry eyed her, a tiny, knowing grin on her face. "Because it's your program?"
One blue orb appeared, sparkling in the sunlight, and its brow hiked up. "What are you saying? That I'm a snob when it comes to my own work?"
"Mm." Kerry traced the eyebrow with her fingertip, admiring its fine arch. "You're a perfectionist," she remarked, smoothing the thin hairs down lovingly.
For a half second, Dar almost looked like she was going to be insulted, then her face relaxed into a grin. "Well, I picked you, so I guess I am."
A charmed smile appeared on Kerry's face. "I love you too, honey, but I'm not anywhere near perfect." She trailed her fingers over Dar's lips chuckling a little as they were caught and nibbled.
"To me you are." Dar answered simply. "So get over it."
Get over it. Kerry marveled again at just how fortunate she was in life. No matter what troubles they were facing at work, what they had together was, in a word, priceless and she knew it. She'd seen enough of the world to know that the synergy she and Dar shared wasn't common and needed to be cherished, protected, and nurtured.
They needed these moments. Certainly, Kerry savored them, her ego enjoying the gentle burnishing from Dar's regard. "Well, takes one to know one." She sorted Dar's bangs, running her fingers through them and moving them out of her eyes. "Can I interest you in a shrimp salad sub for lunch? I have a conference call scheduled for an hour from now."
"Mm." Dar licked her lips. "It's your shrimp salad, right? Not that mealy mess the store sells?"
"Mine." Kerry smiled. "With real, identifiable shrimp in it, not mushy shrimplets. That all right?"
Dar nodded, closing her eyes and exhaling in contentment.
It only lasted an instant, before her cell phone rang. Dar scrunched her face up in annoyance, but unclipped the phone from her pocket and opened it. "Yes?"
"Roberts, is that you?" Peter Quest sounded harried and upset.
Dar debated on denying it, then sighed. "Yes."
"All right, that's everyone." Quest said, a little more briskly. "I've got you all on the phone, so I only have to say this once."
Dar held the phone so Kerry could hear it, half lifting one hand as Kerry looked at her in question. "All right."
There were soft murmurs in the background, and Dar thought she recognized Michelle's voice in there somewhere.
"Here's the situation." Quest said. "Some asshole called the EPA, who came down and inspected the waterfront. We haven't done anything wrong, but the bleeding heart fish lovers think they see gas leaking, so they're forcing the port's hand."
"Think?" Kerry mouthed. "They've been leaking since they got here."
Dar put a finger over her lips.
"We've got until Friday. The ships have to be finished then."
Kerry's eyes popped wide open and so did Dar's. "No way!" Kerry whispered. "Dar, that's impossible!"
Dar nodded. "Quest, that's insanity."
Two male voices grunted agreement, then Michelle spoke. "It's a lot more possible for those of us who are actually here, thanks."
Kerry grimaced and made a rude gesture at the phone.
"I don't care." Quest dismissed them all. "That's the bottom line. Finish by Friday, and turn in your bids. If you can't do it, fine, but you leave everything in place on board the ships and just walk out."
"Wait a minute!" Mike Eldridge protested. "You can't just ask us to leave all that equipment if we're not going to bid. That's..."
"Then shut up and finish, because that's my deal." Quest cut him off. "And I'll have my security people enforce it. Now, I have to get off this phone and go deal with some whining liberal, so you've got four and a half days. I suggest you get moving, or get leaving. Good bye."