“Dar?” Ceci patted Dar’s cheek gently. “Hey, Dardar?” The pet name felt strange on her lips, but she ignored that. “C’mon, kid, open your eyes, hmm?”

For a far too long instant there was no response. Ceci patted Dar’s cheek again, and this time her daughter’s eyelids fluttered in reaction, sliding half-open to expose dazed, pale blue orbs. Much to her consternation, Ceci found herself babbling in near panic. “Hey, munchkin, c’mon...you okay?” The eyes tracked to her and fastened on her face, then blinked and opened a little further. “Dar?”

“Urmf.” It felt like a building had fallen in on top of her. She just wanted to let her eyes close and go back to sleep. It was quieter there, and it hurt a hell of a lot less. But someone was shaking her, and she had a sneaking suspicion it was her mother, who would just keep on shaking.

Always had.

“Okay.” Dar fended off the prodding. “Okay...okay...I’m awake...Jesus...” She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them fully, blinking until her mother came fuzzily into focus. Her face was suddenly cupped between Ceci’s hands, and she could feel the tremor in them. A faint, but distinct feeling of surprise filtered through her admittedly half-conscious mind.

“Here, see if you can sit up,” Ceci urged. “I think the brainless wood chip back there just clipped you.”

The terrorists were nervously deploying around the room and had herded the two console operators over in the corner where Dar and Ceci were. They hadn’t yet seen Dar’s two techs, who were prudently hiding behind the large twin drive arrays from which Dar had been transferring data.

Okay. Dar managed to get upright and took stock of herself and the situation. Her head hurt like hell. Her arm hurt worse. Her dignity was screaming in mortal agony. Her mother, for God’s sake, was petting her like a kitten.


Red Sky At Morning 249

Jesus! What the hell could happen next?

A wild yell punctured the room, and the door was flung open. The terrorists whirled and brought their guns up, screaming warnings as a disheveled blonde figure stumbled into the room, looking around frantically. The man closest to the door leaped at her only to be intercepted by a tall, menacing shadow that grabbed him, disarmed him, and tossed him against the wall in one long, sweeping motion.

“Awright,” Andrew’s voice boomed out. “Y’all stay still, or figure yourself Swiss cheese.” With a solid, scary sound, he cocked the big black shotgun the man had been carrying, then lifted it and aimed it at the biggest guy there, a man half again his weight but about the same height as he was.

“Dar!” Kerry bolted for her.

Oh. Dar’s tired mind sighed. That’s what could happen next. Do yourself a favor, Dar. Don’t imagine anything else.

“TELL ME AGAIN what this all is?” Andrew stood, with his hands on his hips, glaring at the hapless leader of the “terrorists.” “Them people out there sent you all in here?”

“Look, sir.” The bear-like soldier had both hands empty and held out in abject defense. “It’s the training exercise. They told us to come in here and take hostages.” He looked around. “We came in here and took hostages. They weren’t supposed to fight back.”

Andrew’s eyes narrowed. His voice lowered in pitch. “You saying it was my kid’s fault she got hurt?”

“N...no, sir.” The soldier shook his head. “I’m saying we got surprised, and Niles over there got kicked in a place that really needs ice, if you know what I mean.”

Andrew threw a glance at the tallest soldier, who grimaced and crossed his legs gingerly. “What comes next?” he asked, though he had a pretty good idea. “Them youngsters outside come git you?”

The man nodded. “We’re assigned to hold them off. I’ve got explosives and extra ammo in those packs. We’re supposed to blockade the room and maintain a defensive perimeter.” He hesitated. “Sir, they told us they were going to throw in some unexpected things. I thought...” He glanced over to where the rest of the “hostages” were seated. “I thought they were part of it.”

“Uh-huh.” Andrew gave him a very disapproving glare. “Well, I’m fixing to end this here exercise right quick. Don’t you go nowhere.” He shouldered the shotgun and turned toward the door, only pausing when he heard Dar’s cell phone ring. “Now what?”

“I’ll get that.” Kerry slid the phone out of the holder clipped at Dar’s waist and opened it. “Yes?”

I can answer my own phone. Dar protested, but the words never emerged, and she was content merely to listen. It was easier to think 250 Melissa Good that way.

“Mark...Mark...wait...slow down.” Kerry’s voice sharpened and took on urgency. “Hold on...ho— What?”

“Give me that.” Dar took the phone from her and listened to the chaotic sounds from the other side. She let out a yell. “MARK!” The chaos continued, then subsided.

“Boss...boss...this place is going nuts. We gotta get outta here,”

Mark yammered. “Some half-ass wackos came into that com center and trashed it! We hid in the punch down closet.” His voice went muffled.

“Get down, Brent. You fucking jerk, get your fucking head down before I kick it off!”

Ah. Dar took a breath. He’s learning my management style. “Mark, calm down. Were these military guys? They’ve got some war game crap going on in here.”

“I don’t know what the fuck they were.” Mark sounded unusually panicked. “They had guns, Dar. They fucking shot the Ethernet hub.”

Dar frowned and glanced up at Andrew, who had crossed over to kneel at her side. “Are they supposed to be firing live rounds?”

“Hell, no.” Andrew removed a shotgun shell from the gun he was carrying and showed it to her. “Dummies.”

“Can dummies blow holes in electronic equipment?”

“No way.” The terrorist leader had also come over. “We’re not supposed to break anything—in fact, my CO told me if I dented any of these machines, he’d take ’em out of my paycheck for the next twenty years.”

What the hell was going on? “Mark, stay right where you are,” Dar ordered into the phone. “Don’t take any chances. If those idiots are shooting real bullets, you three stay put until we figure out what the deal is.”

Andrew nodded. “Good idea.”

“Yeah.” The terrorist scratched his jaw and agreed.

There was a scuffle, then the sound of a slamming door, and it got more or less quiet. “Okay,” Mark panted. “We’re in here, but let me tell you, boss, I’m bucking for a bonus after this.”

Dar let her breath out with a soft grunt. “You’ll get it.” She folded the phone and let it drop onto her thigh as her eyes lifted to Andrew’s.

“Dad, what the hell is this?”

“Maybe it’s a mistake,” the terrorist leader offered. “I don’t think they really shot anything up, ma’am.”

Kerry shook her head. “No. The man on the other end of that phone isn’t someone who makes things up or panics for no reason,” she disagreed, putting a hand on Dar’s forearm. “If he says they were shooting, they were.”

Ceci cleared her throat. “Does that mean they’re coming here next?”

Everyone exchanged glances. “Well...” The burly terrorist Red Sky At Morning 251

hesitated. “We’re their target, so yeah, I guess.”

“If they’re shooting real bullets, that could be a problem.”

Andrew scrubbed a hand across his face. “Lord,” he sighed. “Ain’t this a mess. I think we’d better all just get on out of here, Dardar. Pick up your gear, and let’s move.” He touched Dar’s lower leg. “Need to get you back to where Dr. Steve can take a peek at that skull.”

Dar had to admit that was probably a good idea. The spot where she’d been hit felt hot and swollen, and it ached. Kerry had found a large bruise spreading down her neck, and with everything else that had happened, even Dar couldn’t argue with being on the safe side.

“Okay.” She glanced at her redheaded tech. “Is that download done?”

Doug, his name was, if she recalled.

“Almost,” Doug replied.

“Dar, forget it,” Kerry urged gently. “Let’s just get out of here. It’s not worth risking you.” She could see the unevenly dilating pupils in Dar’s eyes and guessed she had a concussion. It was all too much, and she found their jobs counting for less and less as each minute went on.

“C’mon.”

For a moment, she thought Dar was going to refuse. The blue eyes studied her face quietly, searching it intently before Kerry saw the surrender, then the faint nod of agreement. Dar handed her the cell phone. “I’ll tell Mark to sneak out and meet us in the parking lot.”

Ceci stood up and let Andrew get around next to Dar, gently helping her up. She had put the sling back on her daughter’s arm with surprisingly little resistance, and now Dar accepted Andrew’s assistance with the same silent gratitude.

Frankly, that scared the poo out of Ceci. The only time she’d ever seen Dar meekly submitting to this kind of babying was when she’d been really, really hurt. That broken leg, she recalled, was the last time, when the sixteen year-old Dar had huddled in Andrew’s arms, trying very hard not to cry as he carried her into the hospital.

Leaving, she decided, was a very good idea. “All right, let’s go.”

She started to lead the way toward the door when it was abruptly thrust inward and Chief Daniel entered, slamming it behind her. “Ah.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you.” Daniel pointed at Dar, so angry she was almost spitting. “Went right to your buddy and told him, didn’t you?”

Dar stared at her. “No. We didn’t tell anyone here.” She glanced over to where the JAG officer had been crouched, then realized he was gone. “Wh—”