“Give him my regards.” Perkins took her pad and left, closing the office door behind her.

KERRY FOUND HERSELF seated at a comfortable, if Spartan, table in the noisy cafeteria, listening to her partner and the commander catch up on old times. She cut neat squares of meatloaf and nibbled them, surprised at the agreeable taste. A rakish smile spread across Dar’s face as the commander talked, and Kerry smiled too, charmed at the uncharacteristic, almost adolescent expression it gave her lover.

“So, what’s old Gerry’s beef, Dar?” Jeff asked around a mouthful of mashed potatoes. “He got a surplus he needs to spend somewhere?”

“Nah,” Dar replied. “From what he told me, it’s more a matter of the Joint Chiefs getting crap about making sure the military keeps ahead of the private sector in technology.” She took a swallow from her glass of milk. “They told him to make sure it happened, he figured he’d hire me to do it and save himself some time and heartache.”

“And me.” Jeff grinned, poking his fork in her direction. “I was fixing to toss your civilian butt off my base, y’know, ’til I walked in that office and found out who it was that was putting a mine in old Albert’s pants.”

Dar sighed. “I should have just come to see you first.” She gave Kerry a rueful look. “It would have saved both of us some time and half a bottle of aspirin.”

They ate in silence for a few moments, then Jeff leaned forward, fiddling with his knife a bit. “How’s your daddy doing?” he asked in a curiously gentle voice. “I tried to track him down after I heard they’d found him over there, but I never could put a finger on him.”

“He’s fine,” Dar reassured him. “He and Mom are living on a boat nearby my place, if you can believe it.”

“Aw.” Jeff smiled. “He got back with your mamma? Damn, I am so 76 Melissa Good glad to hear that, Dar. It about killed him to leave that last time with her so mad.” He stopped awkwardly and glanced at Kerry. “Pardon me, Dar. I didn’t mean to bring all that up here.”

“It’s okay.” Dar’s blue eyes twinkled gently. “Kerry knows my parents very well.”

“That’s right.” Kerry spoke up for the first time. “We have their phone number if you’d like it. I bet D—Mr. Roberts would love to hear from you.”

“I bet he’d kick your butt for calling him mister.” The commander laughed. “I’d love it. Hey, Dar, listen, Chuckie’s coming in this weekend. Why don’t we all get together and have a night out? I know he’d love to see you, and me and Sue would give up a month’s pay to see Andrew and Cec.”

Ah. Dar’s memory pricked her suddenly as she recalled Charles Ainsbright, Jeff’s son who was her age and growing up was one of her closer friends. Tall, cute Chuckie, with his blond crew cut and snub nose, who had wanted nothing more than to captain a Navy ship. “He finally get his command?”

“You bet your ass.” Jeff beamed. “Wait ’til I tell him you’re here.

He’s gonna float home. He still talks about you.”

Oh boy. “It’ll be good to see him,” Dar allowed. “I’ll see what I can arrange for Friday, how’s that? I think Mom and Dad’ll be glad to come down.”

“Great.” Jeff placed his utensils precisely onto the plate he’d scraped clean. “Tadpole, you let me know if the pinheads down in ops give you any trouble, all right? I’ve got a staff meeting I have to go kick some asses at. You about done here for today?”

“I think so,” Dar nodded. “I was just going to show Kerry around the place.”

“Good deal.” The commander gave Kerry a friendly nod, then walked past and clapped Dar on the shoulder. “See you later, Dar. Drive safe, y’hear?”

“Thanks, Uncle Jeff,” Dar replied, turning her head to watch him make his way through the tables, threading through a forest of salutes and stiffening bodies as he headed out the door. Then she turned her head to see curious green eyes watching her. “Hmm. That was a surprise.”

“Mm, yeah, I gathered.” Kerry cupped her chin in one hand. “He seems nice, though.”

Dar leaned back and exhaled, scratching her neck with one hand.

“He is. And his wife’s a sweetheart. They were pretty good friends of my folks. Dad and Jeff used to fish together at night.”

“Uh-huh...and Chuckie?” Kerry teased, having noted the faint blush that colored Dar’s face at the mention of the name. “Sounds like he liked you.”

Dar’s face scrunched up into a half-amused, half-embarrassed Red Sky At Morning 77

scowl. “Yeeeahh...he um...”

“Another crush?” Kerry laughed.

“Not exactly,” her lover admitted. “My first boyfriend. He was my high school prom date.”

Kerry’s blonde brows shot up in silent amazement.

“I was young and still pretty clueless.” Dar folded her arms and sighed. “But we had a good time together,” she added. “I know my folks’ll be glad to see them.”

Kerry sipped her ice tea thoughtfully. “He’s pretty Republican, isn’t he?”

Dar nodded, her lips twitching.

“Want me to find something else to do that night?” Kerry offered with quiet grace.

Dar gazed sightlessly at the center of the table for a long moment, her brow wrinkled slightly in thought. Then she drew in a breath and met Kerry’s eyes. “No. I really don’t.”

“Fair enough.” Kerry accepted the answer. “C’mon, as long as I’m here, I want to get some souvenirs,” she changed the subject. “Maybe a cap, since I’ve got enough Navy sweatshirts to outfit the entire Florida Marlin baseball team.”

“You got it.” Dar stood, and they put their trays away, then left the cafeteria, aware of the curious eyes that followed them.

“GOOD MORNING, MS. KERRY.” Mayte looked up as Kerry entered her office, giving her boss a bright smile. “Did it go okay Friday?”

“Sort of,” Kerry replied, pausing before Mayte’s desk. “It started off pretty rocky, but it turns out the officer in charge of the base is an old friend of Dar’s, so things smoothed out after lunch.” Remarkably so, in fact. Dar had gotten all the data she needed or asked for, and they’d departed early, heading back up the long, lonely road home while the sun was still a decent angle in the sky.

That meant they’d had time for a nice long workout in the gym, a walk on the beach, and dinner at the club before Dar sat down to digest the information they’d gleaned. Kerry stretched her shoulders out a little, still tight from the climbing wall, and wished briefly she could repeat the day. “What’s going on here this morning?”

“You have marketing sessions at nine and ten and the operations meeting at one,” Mayte answered promptly. “Mrs. Anderson, from the new company where we are buying cable, is to be here at three.”

Kerry exhaled. “Okay.” She spared a moment of envy for Dar, who had ambled out early dressed in jeans and hiking boots, then tucked her laptop case under her arm and headed for her desk. “Can you print me the meeting minutes for this afternoon and remind me what we’re fighting with marketing about this week?”


78 Melissa Good

“Of course.” Mayte’s voice floated after her. “Would you like some cafecita? I was just about to get some.”

“Yes,” Kerry called back. “I’d kill for a large café con leche. Thanks.”

It was quiet then, for a bit, and she settled down in her large leather chair, its cool surface warming against her legs as she nudged her computer on and investigated the inbox on her desk. “What have we here?” she mused, pulling over a folder and flipping it open. “Ah.”

Requisitions for new computers for the accounting department. After a moment’s study, she nodded and picked up her pen, checking the totals carefully and signing off on the papers.

Duks didn’t ask for new hardware often. She’d talked to him last month about the depreciation on the systems they’d last bought for his department, and he showed a studied reluctance to changing what he viewed as perfectly acceptable workplace tools. Kerry had disagreed, considering 386 DX systems that still ran Windows 3.11 to be something along the lines of what she’d use as a door stop.

But Duks had said no.

So, Kerry had reviewed the accounting software they were using and called the vendor, discovering a new, upgraded version with lots of nifty new features and reports they just couldn’t live without. She’d told Duks, and he’d agreed. “Great,” she’d said. “Now you can put in your order for new systems, because this software won’t run on the ones you have.”

“Heh.” Kerry put the folder into her outbox. “Accountants...fastest way to their hearts is through their report writers.” She turned and opened her mail program, watching as the screen filled quickly with black lines of new messages, a good percentage with red exclamation points next to them. She sighed and propped her chin up on her fist, waiting for the download to end.

LIEUTENANT PERKINS TUCKED a folder under one arm and knocked lightly on the door. She paused to listen for a reply, then opened the door and slipped inside. She crossed the wooden floor quickly and put the folder down on her boss’s desk, her eyes meeting his as he sat behind it. “I found her.”

Albert raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“Not good.” The lieutenant shook her head. “Take a look, sir.” She waited for Albert to open the folder. “Her actual name is Paladar Roberts. Her father was in for twenty years; he just retired a few months ago. She was born here, spent fifteen years on and off on the base. Left after she graduated from UM.” She paused. “BS in Computer Science, tops in her class. Been with ILS ever since.”

“Mmph.” Albert studied the contents of the folders, flipping through transcripts and documentation. “Wonder why she never...oh.