"I can try to get a look at it," Michelle temporized. "Maybe she'll be willing to brag about it and let me get my eyeballs on it." She exhaled. "Let me see what I can do. At least we don't have to worry about going up against them for Quest's bid. I want that one to be all us."

"I wasn't worried. I wanted them in." Her taller companion stuck her hands in the pockets of her skirt. "I want to keep them off balance," she said seriously. "Dar likes to control what's going on. She doesn't do well when she has to improvise."

Michelle studied the lanky, dark haired form lurking behind Kerry's seated figure. "I don't know about that," she disagreed. "But at any rate, go on back to the booth and let me do my thing. I'm the nerd, and it'll be up to me to find a way to give us enough technology to get a leg up on these guys while you dazzle them with the savings they'll get."

"Mmph. Okay," Shari finally agreed. "I guess I sometimes look at Dar, and I see that grotty kid I actually slept with in the depths of my stupid youth. I can't adjust my focus to believe this is actually a CIO of a major IT services company. I just can't."

Michelle patted her arm again. "Well, I first met her that way, so it's easier for me. And, while you're at it, let's reach out and touch anyone who thinks they can break into ILS's network. Offer a bounty. That's one way to knock the shine off the rep."

"Hm." Shari looked thoughtful. "I'll put the word out to our boys. They like a challenge," she said. "That was a damn stupid thing for her to do."

"That, I agree with you one hundred percent on." Michelle nodded. "G'wan." She gave Shari a push, watching as she reluctantly retreated to their smaller, but snazzy looking booth. She started back toward her target, but stopped when Peter Quest stepped into her path unexpectedly. "Oh, hello."

"Well, Ms. Graver, how are you?" Quest seemed quite pleased with himself. "Ready for a challenge?"

"Absolutely," she assured him. "We're very confident we can put together a package for you that'll knock your socks off."

He chuckled. "You'd better." He turned and indicated the crowd around ILS. "It's going to take a lot of snaz to knock them off. Hope your lean, mean, cost savings machine's up to it." With a grin, he sauntered off, clasping his hands behind his back as he paused to listen to Kerry's smooth, Midwestern voice.

"Shit," Michelle cursed. "I thought he said they'd turned him down. What in hell changed..." She paused to think. "I thought we knocked her back a step yesterday. Damn it."

"Did you say something, ma'am?" A passing usher inquired. "Need directions?"

"I need a tranquilizer. Got any?" she responded. "No, huh?" She watched the usher retreat in confusion. "Damn, damn, damn."

Quest had been so damn sure. Pissed off, in fact, at how he'd been treated and she'd taken quick advantage of that in arranging their position as the prime bidder on his contract.

Gorgeous publicity. Shari had already written the press release on it.

So what had changed? Michelle's eyes narrowed, remembering suddenly Kerry's altered attitude on coming into the hall that morning. In fact, if the blond woman had possessed a ruff she was sure it would have bristled. She drummed her fingers on her thigh.

Something had happened. Michelle didn't mind competition, but she knew this wasn't a stage she wanted to share. "Timing's not right, damn it." She parked herself near the ILS booth and waited for her chance, idly envying Kerry her friendly, open rapport with the crowd.

Kerry was a natural. Personable and good looking, intelligent and engaged, she was the veritable poster child for ILS and since she was also less intimidating than Dar she was the perfect focus for the nearby television cameras.

Damn it.

Kerry finished up her presentation to applause from her audience. Dar lounged behind her like a well-dressed eagle, one hand never far from her partner's back. As though sensing it, Kerry half turned and bumped the taller woman with her shoulder, grinning at her with intimate warmth.

"Dar's having 'Hi, I'm an ILS Hacker' shirts made up," Kerry announced. "I don't think they'll be ready before the show ends though."

"Aww," the Tech TV reporter chuckled. "That was a real hot question yesterday. Did you do that on purpose, Ms. Roberts? You've been accused of being too conservative, you know."

Both of Dar's eyebrows hiked. "Me?" she drawled. "Buddy, I've been called a lot of things by a lot of people...that ain't one of them."

The crowd laughed with her.

"ILS," the reporter restated, with a tolerant smile, "has been accused of being too conservative."

Dar perched on the corner of the desk where Kerry was sitting, letting both powerful hands rest on her knee. "No, I really didn't." Her voice altered, going a touch more serious. "It was something that came out of the discussion we were having. It isn't something I've ever hidden, but on the other hand, it's not something we put in the shareholder's folio every year either. It comes down to having the right skill sets in the right places all the time. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't, but I would never not hire someone with that skill set only because it might be viewed as radical."

Kerry took a breath, having run out while listening to one of the longest single bits of speech she'd ever heard her partner utter at one time.

"I think most of us view hackers as something bad," the reporter conceded.

"Sometimes they are," Dar agreed. "But the really good ones also have a spirit of discovery, and a hunger for gaining knowledge that in my business, sir, is priceless."

Wow. Kerry blinked. I like that. She cocked her head and looked up at Dar's profile. "You know, you're about the best example of that I've ever seen."

Startled, Dar turned and met her eyes, a hesitant grin tugging at her lips. "Thanks."

The room faded out for a single moment as they gazed at each other.

Then the air conditioning cycled on, and buzzers next to them went off, and another question was shouted at them from the crowd. Dar swiveled back around and answered it after a brief hesitation, leaving Kerry to rest her elbows on the counter to simply watch and listen.

Kerry spotted Michelle near the corner where two walls joined, also watching, but there was no longer any sign of Shari. Kerry gave Michelle a point for good sense in getting her out of the room, because she'd seen Dar's face, as she'd come up behind her heckler.

Oo. She'd been pissed. Shari's obnoxious comments hadn't really bothered Kerry that much--she'd seen much worse in both takeover bids and competing boardrooms. But she found Dar's protective instincts charming in the extreme.

However.

Kerry had certainly felt like pounding their rivals yesterday, but in reality, if Dar had lost her temper, she knew someone could have really gotten hurt.

Probably wouldn't have been Dar.

"So that's really all we have to say for the moment," Dar concluded. "You guys better go pay everyone else some attention."

The television lights went out, and the crowd slowly started to disperse, talking among themselves as Dar eased off the desk and dropped into the chair next to Kerry instead. "Ever tell you how much I hate trade shows?" she uttered under her breath.

"Right back atcha." Kerry smiled pleasantly at the passing throngs. "Boy, will I be glad when five o'clock gets here. Can I interest you in dinner and a beer after that, boss?"

"Mmmmmm." Dar rumbled low in her throat. "I have a taste for Mexican. Want to go pavilion hopping with me at Epcot?"

Kerry found the irritation of the morning slipping away. "If we can have dessert in France, sure," she agreed. "And you buy me that beer in Germany."

Dar leaned back and laced her fingers behind her neck. "You're on, Yankee," she agreed. "I'm gonna send our crew back to the hotel once we shut down. Let someone else clean this crap up--I gave the bar manager over there my credit card to get them all plastered."

"Dar." Kerry covered her eyes. "That's so irresponsible of you."

A shrug. "They're not driving," Dar replied unrepentantly. "They deserve it. They worked their asses off." She paused and leaned over, touching Kerry's arm. "Did you talk to any of them yet about their raises?"

Kerry shook her head slightly. "Didn't think this was the place," she said. "I could pull them out one at a time I guess...might make for a lot more entertaining afternoon for me than it would otherwise."

"Do it," Dar said. "I'll cover this joint."

"Let me get my paperwork." Kerry got up and headed for the locked switch cabinet, where she'd stowed her likewise locked briefcase. "Is there a little room...oh, yeah, I see it. Over there near the entrance."

Dar nodded.

Kerry removed a folder from her case and closed the cabinet back up. Then she stood and went to the first of their techs, sitting at one of the smaller consoles. "John? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

The dark haired man glanced up at her, surprised. "Sure...um..."

"C'mon." Kerry took him by the elbow, and led him out of the booth, giving the rest of the techs now very alertly watching her a smile. "You all are next. Don't worry."

Dar watched the guys, after Kerry walked out of earshot, from the corner of her eyes. They were plainly bewildered, but none of them looked particularly worried.

Now, if it'd been her doing it...

"Hi."

Dar turned to find Michelle on the other side of the divider. Since she was alone, Dar rested her hands on the console and cocked her head in question. "Hi."

Michelle took that as an encouraging sign. "So you're teaching routers to think?"

Dar grinned briefly. "Something like that," she conceded. "It's a project I've been working on for a few months."

"Kerry made it sound pretty impressive. Is it?" Michelle asked, trying for a balance between wary friendliness and challenge. She was pretty sure Dar would only despise fawning.

"We'll see," Dar said. "So far I've gotten a three hundred percent efficiency metric, but it's early days yet."

Michelle blinked. "Are you bullshitting me?"

"No." Dar looked amused. "One of the advantages of working for a stodgy old conservative IT firm is that we've got an R and D budget." She glanced around at the crowd and then looked back at Michelle. "So I hear we're going to be competing over a couple of cruise ships."

Michelle's lips twitched. "I heard you weren't interested in the project. Matter of fact, the principal was calling you all sorts of names for blowing him off."

"Changed my mind." Dar was watching her with those sharp, fathomless pale eyes, so vivid with intelligence they were almost hard to look into. "Should be interesting." She stood up. "Sorry to cut this short, but I'm being waved at." She indicated Jose and Eleanor, who were standing with two men in suits, signaling her.

"No problem." Michelle pushed off from the booth. "Any chance you'd show me how your snazzy router routine works later?"

Dar glanced at her, a cross between mischief and mild irritation on her face. "Can you read assembler?"

Michelle sighed. "No."

"Sorry, then. Guess you're out of luck." Dar stepped down out of the booth and headed for her colleagues, leaving her unwelcome guest to stand there and watch.

Michelle sighed. "Sad thing is, she was probably telling me the truth." She stepped away from the booth and headed back to her own. "So we have to find some other way to scalp that chicken."

"ALL RIGHT, ROBERTS."

Dar tilted her head to one side, making eye contact with the aggressive questioner in gray whom she'd thought had moved on to more interesting things. "Ye...s?" She moderated her usual response.

The man stepped up into the booth and flipped a card at her. Dar picked it up and looked at it, noted the Army insignia then flipped it back to him. "Something I can do for you, Captain Mousser?"

The man turned one of the chairs around and sat on it, folding his arms across the back and studying her with bright, alert eyes. "Yeah. Let's talk. You ever play G.I. Joe as a kid?"

Dar blinked. "What?"

The captain grinned at her. "Wanna get to play with more cool toys than your company could afford in twenty years?"

Oh...Dar groaned inwardly. I've got a bad, bad feeling about this... "No," she said. "I'm happy with the toys I have, thanks."

The Army captain got up and perched on the corner of her console desk. "Hear me out. You might end up interested."