Kerry wrinkled her nose at the scent of carpet dust mites clawing through the air. “Yum. Remind me to talk to the cleaners about using HEPA filters in those damn machines, will you?” As though in retaliation, her body expressed its displeasure in a sudden sneeze.

“Yeesh. Listen, go on over to your place. I’ll make up the hot chocolate and bring it over, okay?”

“Okay,” Dar agreed quietly, turning to her left and heading toward her office while Kerry turned to the right. She swiped her keycard in the outside lock and pushed the door open, then continued on through her outer office and into her inner one.

It was very quiet inside. Her PC was turned off and just the wall rim lighting was on, leaving the office mostly in starlight. Dar stood inside the door, then glanced to her right and decided the couch looked pretty good. She dropped onto it, then swung her legs up and lay down, stretching her body out fully with a sense of weary relief.

It was a good choice. The cool leather warmed to skin quickly, and she let out a soft groan now that she was alone and didn’t have to put on a good front for the troops. It wasn’t as comfortable as her couch at home, but it was a damn sight better than that office chair, and the cool quiet of her surroundings soothed the ragged edges of her temper.

After three days of lazing around at home, you’d think I’d have more Red Sky At Morning 327

energy than this. Dar scowled up at the ceiling. She hadn’t slept so much since the last time she’d broken her leg and they’d given her Percodan for the pain. All right, so it was two in the morning and they’d been here since seven, but so what? Used to be she could do thirty-six or forty-eight hours running and not feel this worn out.

Yeah. Dar had to laugh at herself. Back in the days when you used to live on Jolt and Hershey bars and you never went home because there was nothing there to go home to. She gazed out the window at the stars.

Isn’t it nicer now that you’re a grownup with a life?

And someone to share it with?

She never even heard Kerry come in. The touch on her arm startled her, and her eyes popped open to see her lover crouched next to her, holding a steaming cup in one hand. “Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Kerry put the cup down on the end table and smiled. “I almost didn’t wake you up.”

Dar gave her a puzzled look. “I wasn’t sleeping,” she protested.

“Was I?” She rolled up onto one elbow and captured the mug, taking a sip of the sweet chocolate. “Mm.”

Kerry patted her arm. “Well, you were giving a pretty good impression that you were. Maybe you were just resting your eyes, hmm?” Her lips quirked.

Dar’s quirked back. “No, I was sleeping,” she admitted. “My head’s killing me. I should just pack it in and go home, but I really want to see what we’ve got in this thing.” She took another sip, then set the mug down, licking her lips appreciatively.

“I know,” Kerry said. “Tell you what, why not just sack out here while Mark does his thing? A nap couldn’t hurt you, could it?” she suggested.

Dar studied her as a slow smile edged its way across her face. “You know something, Stuart?”

Kerry blinked at the address. “Uh...what?”

“You’re a pretty damn good Ops VP.”

Confusion colored Kerry’s expression. “Um, thanks,” she replied hesitantly. “What got me that compliment?”

“Your engineering of a very slick maneuver that ended up with my ass on this couch.”

Kerry pointed a finger at her own chest. “Me?” Her green eyes widened innocently.

Dar smiled. “Don’t give me that sweet Midwesterner routine, short stuff.” She extended a hand lazily and gave her lover a poke in the belly. “Yes, you.”

Kerry’s smile went from innocent to seductively triumphant.

“Yeah, that was pretty slick, huh?” she chortled softly. “But I wasn’t lying. There’s the chocolate to prove it,” she pointed. “I just know you.”

“Mm.” Dar wriggled into a more comfortable position and sighed.

“Yes, you do.” She closed her eyes. “Don’t try to lengthen this by 328 Melissa Good running a redundant loopback test on those ports, okay? Just wake me up when we’re ready.”

Kerry’s eyes twinkled gently. “You got it, boss.” She got up and took a seat in the chair next to the couch, cradling her own mug in her hands. Mark would take, she knew, about an hour to get things ready, regardless of how long it actually took to connect the systems together.

By then, maybe the nap would help, and Dar would be able to take a few more aspirin. Kerry sighed. She didn’t like it. She wished they were home, but she knew how important this was to Dar, and pushing her to slack off wouldn’t be either appreciated or heeded at this point.

She just hoped the results were worth it.

“IS THAT IT?” Kerry watched the monitor. “It’s all ready?”

Mark pulled his head out from under the console and grunted.

“Yeah,” he agreed tiredly. “You know what, Ker? I think I’m the one who’s getting too old for this crap. I used to be able to do all-nighters.

Not anymore.”

The blonde woman chuckled wryly. “Yeah, me too.” She leaned against the machine. “I hope this is worth it, or it’s going to be one very long day tomorrow.”

He nodded. “Yeah, but you know we won’t really know for a few hours, right? The first run will just tell us if Dar managed to pull something out of that mess intact. It’ll take the program about five, six hours to parse through everything and spit out a report.”

Kerry stared at the screen. “What do you think?”

Mark fiddled with his pen, then shrugged. “Hard to say. If anyone could, it’d be Dar, but I think she was fighting this one.” He glanced at Kerry. “That knock on the head still bugging her?”

“A little,” Kerry admitted. “I think it’s a little of everything. She’s stuck between everything hurting and not wanting to take the pills for it because they knock her out,” she said. “Just being in pain exhausts you.”

“Well, the first stage’ll just take a little while,” Mark said. “Ten minutes, maybe.”

“Ah.” Kerry hadn’t known that. “Good,” she nodded. “Then we can all go home after we start the run, right?” Nap or no nap, Dar needed to go home and rest. Hell, Kerry rubbed the back of her neck, I need to go home and rest. I’m bushed.

Mark sat down on the desk. “Well, theoretically, yeah,” he agreed.

“But I dunno, Ker. This whole project’s got my heebie-jeebie meter spiking to max. I don’t want to leave this thing running by itself. I’ll stay here and watch it.” He glanced around. “I keep expecting some dude dressed in black camo to come out of the walls and zap me.”

The darkened building was a little spooky, Kerry had to agree.

What if the people whom they suspected figured out they might have Red Sky At Morning 329

kept some information? Would they try to get at them? All sorts of wild scenarios started to play out in Kerry’s mind. What if they really were smugglers? What if they were connected with someone really bad, like the Colombians?

“Kerry?” Mark leaned forward and waved his hand in front of her eyes. “Yoo-hoo.”

“Huh?” She blinked. “No, I was just thinking. What if you’re right?

What if these people do try something? It’s not like we’re set up for airtight security around here.”

“You think they will?” Mark asked nervously. “For real?”

“They were shooting for real back there,” Kerry stated. “I don’t know.” They stared at each other uneasily.

The floor creaked outside, making them both jump. “Shit,” Mark squeaked. “Shut the door!”

Kerry felt her heart rate double and she turned, realizing that the door opened outward and she’d have to go out into the corridor to pull it shut. “I think we’re letting our imaginations get out of hand,” she stated, “but maybe that’s not a bad idea.” She edged toward the door, peering out into the darkened area beyond. “No one could get in the com center, right?”

“Uh...” Mark’s nostrils flared. “Not like your average Joe Delivery Boy, no, but I’m sure the military has all kinds of crap to get around our security.”

Kerry paused in the doorway, looking out. It was silent, desks and chairs crouching dumbly in the gloom. Nothing moved. Kerry suddenly became aware of a dark, looming object near the ops center door she didn’t remember being there earlier. She stared at it.

Was that breathing she heard, or was it just the AC? She took a step out, and her eyes seemed to detect a motion from the still object.

“Mark,” Kerry tried hard to keep her voice steady, “come here.” She reached for the doorknob and heard a creak. A hand touched her back and she yelped, then scrambled for the door.

Suddenly, the entire ops center came alive in a shocking blast of fluorescent light. Kerry slammed herself backward, knocking Mark flat on his ass behind her, and swung the door shut with startling violence.

She threw the deadbolt on the door and got back away from it, not trusting even the reinforced steel. “Shit.”

Mark had crawled out of her way and ducked behind the desk.

“You know, they never mentioned this in MIS 101,” he muttered. “Let’s call the cops.”

“Good idea.” Kerry joined him behind the desk and pulled out her cell phone.

They heard a sound on the other side of the door and froze, staring in horror at the lock.

It started to turn, a low rasping sound that ended in a distinct, harsh click as the bolt retracted.


330 Melissa Good The door opened. They ducked behind the desk. A voice split the silence.

“What in the hell are you two doing?”

Kerry lifted her head and peeked over the desk, her body almost dissolving in relief as she recognized the powerful tones. “Oh.” She managed a wan smile at her lover. “Hi, Dar.”

Mark started laughing in nervous relief. “Shit.”

Dar entered the room and pushed the door open, crossing over to them and taking a seat on the desk. “Do I want to know what just happened?”

Kerry got up and dusted herself off. “Overactive imaginations,” she admitted with a sheepish grin. “We started wondering if...well, anyway, there was a noise outside, and I looked, and I saw something I didn’t recognize...” She walked to the doorway and peeked out cautiously.

“Ah.” Her eyes found her threatening intruder, now masquerading as an innocent, if covered overhead projector nestled in the corner. “Sorry.

I was about to come wake you up.”

“Mm.” Dar was amused. She watched Mark stand up and brush himself off. “If we’re done playing Miami Vice, can we run the test now?” She’d woken a short time earlier and had spent a few moments splashing water on her face in the bathroom, resulting in a state of reasonable alertness.

Mark blushed, then started up the interface. “All yours, boss.” He rubbed his butt cautiously. “Damn, you’ve got a hearty forward block on you there, Kerry. Ever think of trying rugby?”

Kerry just laughed. “Sorry. I just wanted to get the door closed.”

Dar stepped around the desk and sat down, flexing her hands a little before she accessed the program files and started the analysis running. She reviewed her command line, then hit enter and folded her hands together calmly, watching the screen.

Not much was going on. A little asterisk in the corner spun. Lights on the black box indicated it was being accessed by the mainframe.

“How long should this take?” Kerry asked quietly.

“Depends,” Dar said. “It’s a fairly complicated structure.” She watched the screen tensely. “A lot of things could have gone wrong.

One glitch in the line during transfer and the entire matrix can get thrown off. Without every key in place, the whole thing—” Dar stopped and stared at the console, which was now blinking a result at her.

“Damn.”

Structure Valid.

Mark let out a whoop. “Hot damn is right.” He slapped the desk, making both of them jump a little. “Boss, you rock!”

Dar was frankly very surprised. She cocked her head at the screen as though not quite believing what it said. Given the complexity and her own state of scattered concentration, she’d had her doubts as to whether she’d gotten all the sequencing right. It had seemed more and more Red Sky At Morning 331

likely, as the night wore on and she’d had to redo her actions more frequently, that she’d made a mistake and would have to start all over again. In fact, she’d been pretty damn sure of it.