As is always the case with computer paper, it was nearly empty.

Dar inverted it and slid it down over her black box. Then she sat down comfortably on top of it and exhaled. “Okay. Whatever happens, keep your heads down and don’t move.”

In the darkness, she felt Kerry nestle closer to her, pressing their bodies together and sliding a hand to curl around Dar’s thigh.

“You’ve got one chance to come out,” the voice boomed.

Dar heard a slithering sound nearby, and something that sounded like dead fish being slapped on a dock. “Dad?”

“Hush.” Andrew’s voice echoed softly. “Just you stay down.”

“We are,” Kerry whispered back. “What are you doing?”

“Never you mind, kumquat. Just stay put, and keep yer head low.”

“I’m warning you!” their terrorist called. “You do anything, I start 254 Melissa Good shooting in here, and I won’t care what I hit!” A few whispered orders followed, and the shuffling, very faint, of booted feet. “We got gas masks, so don’t bother trying anything, not unless you want these hostages gassed!”

“Didn’t know they were selecting them for intelligence this year,”

Ceci muttered under her breath. “Nice.”

“Mom.” Dar bit back a smile, invisible as it was.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, they only pick SEALs who are smart enough to save the teams’ asses.”

“Don’t none of you be standing ’fore that door there,” Andrew rumbled softly.

The SEAL team leader stepped a pace closer. “You sure this isn’t just reg stuff, sir? They’re going right by the plan so far.”

“Ah don’t know,” Andrew replied. “But I am not taking chances with mah wife and my kids in here. Them folks had best hope they come in with them little paint balls and a lot of hollerin’, and not with anything worse, or it’s gonna get messy.”

A loud thump was heard. Then there was silence. Everyone waited, sweating in the motionless air.

Then everything happened at once. The top windows blew in, and hard, round things entered, bouncing off surfaces with wild abandon.

That was followed by a very strange noise, like an overshaken soda can being popped.

An acrid smell began to fill the room, then stopped as an indescribable noise started and the stink was replaced with a second overwhelming scent, this one chemical.

Dar wrapped her good arm around Kerry and ducked her head as popping noises started and a crash came from the front door. She could sense things happening around her, but the sounds didn’t evoke any logic, and the smell of smoke and sweat and chemical made her queasy.

Now men were yelling. The attacking SEALs poured in the door, and the explosive sound of guns firing filled the room. Tiny red tracers raced everywhere, dotting the walls and floor; then the yells turned to hollering as the odd noise returned, along with a loud whoop Dar recognized as her father.

“What in the hell is he doing?” Dar hissed to Ceci.

“You’re asking me?” her mother hissed back. “You’re the one who checked out the entire Jane’s weapons series from the library, remember?”

“Son of a bitch!” A yell rose up. “What the fuck!”

Now the noise sounded more like cattle being herded into a pen, one filled with Jell-O. Dar could hear bodies colliding, and the chemical smell became almost overwhelming. Then she heard something behind them.

Boots. Shuffling. The cocking of a shotgun.

Instinctively, Dar grabbed hold of Ceci and Kerry and pulled them Red Sky At Morning 255

all down to the floor, ignoring the pain in her arm as the world exploded behind her. She felt the shudder in the equipment they were leaning against, then heard a grunt, another cocking, and pressed her body against the floor.

Another shot. Pieces of plastic showered over them. The shouting continued on the other side of the room.

A red tracer danced lazily through the blackness.

Dar watched in stunned disbelief as it traveled over her chest and stopped. For a second, all she could hear was her own heartbeat turned into a thunder as her mind realized what was happening.

The shotgun cocked.

“Dad!” Dar let out a yell, knowing if she moved, she’d expose Kerry and her mother.

She closed her eyes.

Then there was a thud, and a curse, and the sound of something ripping.

Metal hitting flesh. Flesh hitting flesh.

An animal growl.

“All right.” A commanding voice rose over the chaos. “Hold it!

Everybody stand down!”

And then the lights came on.

“WHAT IN HELL is going on in here?” A tall, burly man strode into the room and put his hands on his hips. “I thought I—Andy?”

Andrew dropped the arm he was holding and straightened from a crouch, turning to face the newcomer. “’Lo, Steve.” His eyes anxiously checked the sprawl of bodies between the ruined computer consoles.

“You all okay?”

Ceci squirmed out from under Dar’s outstretched leg. “Fine.”

Kerry didn’t move an inch, preferring to remain where she was with both arms wrapped around her lover. “Yeah.”

Dar grimaced, shifting her weight off her bad arm as she met her father’s eyes. “Thanks.”

Andrew nodded, then returned his attention to the newcomers. The SEALs, both protectors and attackers, were sprawled everywhere, fatigues in jungle pattern and black smeared with paint and a thick, glutinous coating that also covered the floor and was spattered on walls, consoles, equipment, and every other surface within the room.

Andrew let the end of the fire hose he’d been wielding drop off his shoulder, then he glanced down at his feet with a sense of tired disappointment. He reached out a sneakered foot, rolled over the slumped form dressed in similar black fatigues, and gently booted the rifle he’d taken from the attacker far out of range. “Damn.”

“Holy shit.” Steve Drake had picked his way over to where Andrew was standing. “What the hell’s the CO doing here? Did you hit him?


256 Melissa Good Why? What the hell are you doing here? Who— Hey, ain’t that your little girl and the missus?”

“Steve,” Andrew exhaled.

“What happened to these damn machines?” The SEAL commander turned and glared at the slowly disentangling team members. “I thought I told you people not to touch any of this—” Steve stopped talking as a large hand fit itself over his mouth.

“Hush,” Andrew exhaled. “We got a lot to talk through. Get some medics in here first.”

“But—”

Andrew’s voice took on a crisp, stern quality. “Just do it.”

Dar managed to push herself upright, hampered by both her arm and Kerry’s tenacious hold on her. She let her head rest against the wreckage of the console and blinked. “Doug?”

“Just fine, ma’am.” Doug and his companion crawled out from between the computer and the nearby wall. They were both covered in dust, but unharmed. “That other lady officer took off in the dark, though. I don’t know what happened to her.”

Several possibilities occurred to Dar and caused her to smile unpleasantly. She hurt too much to enjoy them, however. “Take the box and get outside. Mark’s waiting for you. Get it into my car, and just get off base.” She kept her voice low. “Move it.”

Doug hesitated, then his freckled face scrunched into a grimace, and he nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Be careful.” He and the other tech carefully uncovered the disk assembly and lifted it between them, then started to make their way quietly toward the door, dodging the cursing, slipping SEALs.

Kerry’s eyes were on the still form at Andrew’s feet. “You were wrong,” she murmured.

“Yeah,” Dar agreed sadly. “I guess I was. I was hoping I wasn’t.”

She closed her eyes. “He was trying to use the exercise to cover wiping his tracks, I guess.”

Kerry shook her head. “I don’t get any of this. What about that petty person? Was she part of it, too? Is everyone in this place messed up, Dar?”

“I don’t know,” Dar answered. “I don’t want to think about it right now.” She let her eyes open and examine the hole in the console just opposite her. “I hate this.”

“Well, hon, I don’t think anyone would like being in a half-shot-up room full of fire retardant foam and cursing sailors,” Kerry joked weakly. “I know I don’t.”

It was more like a bad dream. Dar felt a hurt beyond the physical as she considered the consequences of the day. Never had to nail a friend, have you? She accepted the self-acknowledgment with a bitter taste in her mouth. It was sure easy enough for you to do this to some damn strangers, wasn’t it, Dar? You used to laugh about it, remember? It was true, she Red Sky At Morning 257

knew. She remembered exchanging bets with Duks on how many people she could nail at companies they consolidated. What was her record? Fifteen, wasn’t it?

Her eyes went to the ceiling. Well, she had a job to do; after this, chips were going to fall where they fell, that’s all. After all, there had been that laser scope on her chest, and now Dar had to face the possibility that given another few seconds, her family’s “old friend”

might have chosen to pull that trigger.

That close, with a shotgun. There was no doubt she would have died. It would have been a “mistake” during an exercise; that was all.

Friendly fire. And civilians who had no authority to be where they’d been, anyway.

Dar’s lips twitched. Damn, life just really sucks sometimes. She inhaled, then rolled her head to one side to meet Kerry’s eyes. Had Kerry seen the scope? Did she know what almost happened? “You okay?”

“Me?” Kerry almost spluttered. “I’m perfectly fine, Dar. Can you stand up? I’d like to get the hell out of this room. The smell of that foam is making me sick.”

No, Dar realized. She didn’t know. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided to save the news for later, when they were alone. “Sure. That’s a good idea.” She got her feet under her and slowly stood up. Kerry held onto her, for which she was glad, as a wave of dizziness nearly sent her right back down to the ground again. “Whoa.”

“Easy.” Kerry wrapped an arm firmly around her. “I got you.”

Dar waited a moment for the buzzing to fade, then laid her arm across Kerry’s shoulders and took a look around the room for the first time. “Holy shit,” she blurted, shocked at the compound disaster the area had become.

“Leave it to your father.” Ceci had come up on the other side. “He could do that to a perfectly clean carport, too.” She looked up at Dar.

“You doing all right?” There was a faint hesitance in her voice. “Or is the smell in here killing you as much as it is me?”

Dar felt sick to her stomach, and the pain in both her shoulder and head seemed to be getting worse. Or maybe it was just a combination of things. “It’s pretty bad,” she agreed. “We’re going to get out of here.”

“Good idea,” Ceci remarked, noting but not commenting on the stark paleness of her daughter’s face. “I’ll walk out with you.” She exchanged glances with Andrew, who nodded, a sober, very serious look on his face.

After a moment’s pause, she drew in a breath, then settled a hand firmly on Dar’s back as they made their way slowly to the door.

Dar glanced to one side, then to the other, a dozen words of protest rising to her lips about this overly solicitous behavior. Then her stomach almost rebelled, making her glad of Kerry’s grip, and she decided to make an exception.

Just this once.


258 Melissa Good ANDREW WATCHED HIS family leave, then turned back to his old friend, Steve Drake.

“So what’s the deal, Big A?” Steve asked, folding his arms across his chest. “Better come up with something good ’fore Ainsbright wakes up and throws you in the brig.” He glanced down. “Gonna be some pissed.”

“Can’t,” Andrew replied. “I mustered out.” His eyes fell on the still-unconscious form of the base commander. “You got medics coming? Ah think I might have busted something in there.”

“Yep. On the way,” Steve agreed. “You really retired? No shit?”

Andrew nodded. “Got me a nice, peaceful job watching out for mah damn kid.” He shook his head. “This ain’t a good day, Steve. We got some bad stuff going on here.”

The big SEAL snorted. “Here? Nah. Nothin’ ever goes on here, Andy. You know that better than most. It’s so quiet, they picked this place to let us do our urban playpen weekend here.”

Andrew shook his head, remembering those weekends.

“So, what are you gonna tell the heat when they get here? You gonna explain why a retired frogman’s holed up inside an official Navy action area, spraying some poor kids with foam and whacking the hell out of the base commander?”