"Holy crap!" a voice echoed on the line through Kerry's laptop.

"Didn't I tell everyone not to freak out?" Dar frowned, and tapped the mic. "Hold tight, people. This won't take long." She muted. "I hope." She leaned on the desk and tilted her head, peering over at Kerry. "We're going to have an issue."

Kerry blinked mildly at her. "Another one?" she asked. "Dar, we've got a metric ton of them now, you're sitting there thinking of more?" She perched on the edge of the desk, swirling her milk in its cup.

"Paradox," Dar said, succinctly. "We're going to need to be in lower Manhattan to make things happen."

"Sure."

"There's no damn comms or cell service in lower Manhattan. How do we make things happen if we can't communicate?"

"Ah." Kerry frowned. "We have to bring comms with us then, I guess."

"Miami exec, this is Miami ops, we just got a call from the banking center. They're saying they're seeing degraded response," a voice interrupted them.

"Shoot." Kerry leaned over and hit the mic. "Miami ops, tell them we're aware, and we're working to clear space. Please remind them we have a lot going on."

"Yes'm."

'We've moved big chunks of data before, and not caused that." Kerry looked at her partner. "Is that you, really?"

"Me, really," Dar admitted. "I prioritized the stream. Sixty more seconds and we're done. It would have taken a half hour otherwise." She drummed her fingers on the desk again. "I need those damn programs. I have structure diagrams from New York in one of them that might help us."

"Do we have anyone local we can call--" Kerry let her voice trail off. "Boy, that was stupid. Sorry," she muttered. She got up and went around the desk, coming to kneel next to Dar so she could see the laptop screen a little better. There was a black window open, full of Dar's cryptic typing and she rested her chin on her fist for a minute, releasing a long sigh.

Dar's hand immediately settled on the back of her neck, the strong fingers kneading the skin there with gentle sureness. "God, Dar. There's so much to do."

"I know," Dar responded. "I just feel like taking off and going to the beach when I think about all the crap we've got to get through." She kept rubbing Kerry's neck, feeling the bones move under her fingers. "Not looking forward to it."

"Me either."

Dar reached over and hit a few keys. "Done," she said, keying the mic. "Miami ops, Miami exec. Transfers complete." She draped her arm over Kerry's shoulders then leaned closer and kissed her on the back of her neck, just above her collar. "Let's hope I don't have to do that again."

"Honey, you can do that whenever you want." Kerry was content to remain where she was, one elbow resting on Dar's thigh as she listened to the chatter on the bridge call. To one side, she could hear the laptop rebooting and she struggled to gather her thoughts and go back to work as soon as she knew the machine was ready.

"That's not a bad idea,' Dar said, suddenly.

Kerry paused then cleared her throat gently. "What isn't?"

"Getting someone local," her partner replied. "We need someone really local. Someone who knows people."

They were both quiet. "I think Bob probably really knew people," Kerry said, finally.

"Yeah."

"Hello, hello, Miami?" Sherren's voice broke in. "Are you there?"

Kerry reached over and hit the mic. "We're here. How are things there, Sherren?"

"The phones came back on," the woman said. "We were all sitting in the boardroom just keeping each other company, and all of a sudden the phones started ringing off the hook in here. It's a madhouse now."

"Sorry about that, Sherren," Kerry sighed. "I did ask AT&T to try and work us into their priority schedule."

"No, hey, it's great," Sherren protested. "You don't know we couldn't make calls here or nothing, and now everyone can talk to their families. It's--that's the calls. People trying to talk to us, find out if we're okay."

"Oh."

"It's good. We're okay," Sherren said. "And oh my gosh. Oh, look. Mr. McLean just got here. I didn't know he was coming!"

Dar leaned forward. "He wanted to be with you all there. He thought you could use some support, Sherren. He knows you all have had a terrible time."

There was a long silence. Then Sherren's voice came back on, she was clearly in tears. "Oh," she gasped. "Oh, that's so wonderful. It's so wonderful people care about us." She sniffled. "We're trying to take care of each other."

Behind her, Dar could faintly hear Alastair's voice, sounding quiet and sad. "Sherren, tell him we're doing fine here, okay?" she said. "You all just hang in there."

"We will. We will. We're tough people," Sherren said. "I'll tell him. I'll be back."

"Miami exec, this is Combus 2." A low, deep voice took advantage of the break in the chatter. "We're in bound from Albany and I have Combus 3 about two miles behind me."

"Will they let them in?" Kerry whispered.

"From the north, maybe," Dar murmured back. She keyed the mic. "Combus 2, you and 3 try to get as far down toward the Rock as you can."

"Roger that, Ms. Roberts," the deep voice said. "Anything we need to stop and pick up?"

Dar glanced over at the monitor that was showing desperate scenes of men digging in debris, a pall of smoke hanging over the air. "Find a medical supply warehouse," she said. "Get breathing masks, filters, whatever you can. Suits," she added. "Miami exec, Miami Financial, you on?"

"Right here, my friend," Duks answered. "I will have my purchasing people find such a place, and let the good drivers know where it is. We will handle the payment for it."

"Thanks Duks," Dar said. "Combus, see if you can pick up bottled water or Gatorade, too."

"Will do ma'am."

Dar signed into her new laptop and got up, clearing Kerry's chair for her. "Let me get out of your way. I think I can--" She stopped, as Kerry put a hand on her arm. "What?"

"Stay here," Kerry said. "Just bring that chair around to this side. I want you here." She got up off her knees and settled into the chair. "Please?"

Dar studied her for a moment then smiled. "Works for me." She dragged the other chair over and settled back down. "Let's get back to business."

THE RV AND bus had, in fact, become the social center of their piece of the parking lot. Dar was glad enough to stick her hands in the pockets of her jacket and head toward the crowd, shifting her shoulders to settle the weight of a company issued backpack that held her new laptop in it.

It was almost dark. The lot was bright with emergency lights, though, and activity was plentiful and obvious. Kerry walked quietly at her side, speaking in an undertone to Nan, her own briefcase slung over her shoulder.

Dar was tired. It had been a long day, and she hadn't quite caught up to her jet lag, her body grumbling at her and wanting that soft hotel bed they'd left so early that morning. She glanced at the bus, seeing a swarm of activity around it and found herself resenting the need to be in the middle of that.

"Dar?" Kerry put a hand on her elbow.

"Hm?" She turned her head and peered at her partner. She noted the furrow in Kerry's brow, and realized she wasn't the only one tired.

"What's our plan here?"

"That's a damn good question." Dar sighed.

"Have you heard from Justin? I know that's the first question I'll get when we reach the bus."

"Maria said he hadn't called me back when I talked to her before we left the office," Dar said. "Gimme your cell and I'll call him again." She waited for Kerry to fish her phone from its clip on her belt. "He might actually answer the phone if he sees your name."

"Not after what I did during that whole ship thing." Kerry handed the device over. "He hasn't forgiven me for that one yet."

Dar paused to recall the number then dialed it, putting the phone to her ear as they walked between the parked trucks toward their little compound.

The bus was in the back, its extended sections fully extended, and its roof thick with antennas and the satellite dish that provided the transport with television and data. In front of it there was a work area with tables covered with various bits of technology on one side, and tables covered with various bits of daily living on the other.

There were camping chairs scattered around, and the bus's integrated barbeque grill was out and being used.

On the far side of the bus was the RV and Mark's truck with the big satellite trailer parked in a clear spot nearby with its dish fully extended. There were thick, black power cables snaking everywhere, and a large LCD television was fixed to the side of the trailer, showing CNN.

Their techs were busy around the tables, but they were mixed with a plethora of military in several different kinds of uniforms. The combination of high tech and post Apocalyptic camping made Kerry's eyebrows twitch.

"Justin, don't give me that," Dar was saying. "I'm not asking for extra equipment, just what you have scheduled for us. What's the damn problem?"

"Uh oh," Kerry muttered. "That doesn't sound good."

Nan glanced past her at the scowling CIO. "Who's she talking to?" she whispered.

"Our network equipment account manager," Kerry said, as they crossed the last line of cars and entered their space. "Hey guys. How's it going?"

The techs looked up, and their eyes brightened immediately. "Hey, Ms. Stuart. Mark was just asking for you," one said, "Lemme go get him."

"No need--we're heading for the bus ourselves," Kerry demurred. "We'll find him."

"If you don't cut the crap, I'm going to--what? No, you idiot, I'm not going to threaten you with pulling the contract, I'm just going to tell my customer here you're sitting on his goddamned gear for no good reason!" Dar's voice lifted into a familiar bark.

Kerry patted her back comfortingly, and gave the staff a smile. She spotted Andrew crossing between the RV and the bus, and waved to him as he saw them and changed direction. He had on an ILS sweatshirt and dark carpenter pants with tools poking from every pocket, and just seeing him made Kerry feel better. "Hey Dad." She opened her arms and gave him a hug that he returned warmly. "What a day, huh?"

"Justin, stop being a moron. Where in the hell do you think I am? Did you even look at what order I was talking about?" Dar asked. "Don't give me that crap! He did? Then let me talk to him. Put his ass on the phone!"

"lo there kumquat," Andrew greeted her, giving his growling offspring a wary look. "Dar got problems?"

Kerry gave him a wry look. Then she half turned. "Nan, this is Andrew Roberts, Dar's father. Dad, this is Nan. She's from our Virginia office and has been giving us a big hand in getting things done."

"Lo there," Andrew greeted Nan amiably.

"Nice to meet you," Nan said.

"Got some folks inside I think want to talk to you two," Andrew informed Kerry, as Dar stepped to one side and half turned, lowering her voice. "Seems like they got some kinda issue they just come up with. That Mark feller just kept saying Dardar's name over and over again."

"Uh oh," Kerry winced. "Well, let's go see what that's all about while Dar straightens out our gear issues. She touched Dar's arm and pointed to the bus, waiting for her partner to nod before she started off in that direction.

Andrew paused then followed her, evidently figuring his daughter didn't need any help in yelling.

The bus was a beehive of activity, and they had to dodge a flurry of moving bodies in uniform until they finally made it to the steps and up into the courtesy bus. Kerry almost stopped short at the mild chaos inside, but after a brief pause she edged her way in and got into enough of a corner space to turn and look around.

Mark was in one corner with three techs, and four or five military men. Others were spread around the inside of the bus, working on clipboards, standing over the fax machine in the corner, and munching on some of the snacks laid out on platters in the service area.

One whole wall had been taken up by a whiteboard covered in scribbles. Kerry was glad to see so much apparent progress, but slightly overwhelmed at the amount of people stuffed in the bus. "Evening everyone."

Heads turned. "Hey, Kerry. Glad you're here," Mark said. "I hope you brought big D with you, cause we need her like crazy."

Know the feeling. Kerry nodded. "She's outside yelling. What's up?" She edged to one side a little to give Andrew room to stand, as Nan plastered her slim figure against the back wall. "This place is nuts."