Kerry started to climb over her. "Stay, I'll go."

"Nu uh." Dar rolled out of bed, taking Kerry with her as she rolled a little too far and lost her balance, ending with them both on the floor. "Gah!"

"Oh, Jesus." Helplessly giggling, Kerry could only lay there, stark naked, as Chino licked her face with enthusiasm. "Chino, stop." She saw Dar grab hold of the waterbed frame and pull herself upright. "Bah...bah, honey, stop!"

Dar sat down on the carpet and took hold of the dog's tail, hauling her backwards. "Chino! Stop that!"

"Groowf!" The Labrador turned her attention to her taller owner.

"Your mommy only likes my tongue licking her," Dar instructed the dog solemnly, shaking one long finger at her. "So you keep that big pink thing inside the teeth, hear me? Or else."

Kerry snorted and rolled over, hiding her face in the curve of her arm.

Dar raked her fingers through her hair, surveying the jumble of bare limbs spread out before her. "This is turning into the kind of story other people tell about you when you're drunk," she mourned. "And I haven't even had a sip of anything."

"Hehehehe."

"Laugh it up, Yankee."

Kerry pushed herself up from the floor and got to her feet, brushing bits of carpet lint off her bare skin. "C'mon." She offered Dar a hand up. "At this rate, it'll take both of us an hour to get the soup in the refrigerator and then maybe...maybe...we can get some sleep."

"Or at least go to bed." Dar released the dog and grabbed Kerry's hand. "Lead on, McGruff."

"Maybe I should get you a beer."

"How about a milkshake?"

"Settle for some chocolate syrup?"

"Hmm."

KERRY LEANED ON the kitchen counter, watching the palm tree fronds outside wilt in the stifling heat as she waited for the water in a nearby pot to boil. The air conditioning puffed gently against her still slightly sore shoulder blades through a layer of soft cotton, and she moved a little to one side to avoid the pressure. She had little ambition otherwise to do much else.

It was nearly noon. They'd just woken up a half hour earlier and, having gotten through coffee and a handful of Advil for Dar's obligingly timely cramps, they had settled in to enjoy a peaceful, lazy Saturday. It felt good to be hanging out here in their own space without work or trade shows to intrude on it.

Kerry turned and surveyed the kitchen, taking in the touches she'd added over time to soften its spartan functionality. A set of imported cooking pots hanging over the stove here, a well oiled, interlaced wood chopping block there...she took pride in her ability to produce edible meals for them, and enjoyed having plenty of tools to do it with.

Also, the stainless steel refrigerator doors were now dotted with colorful magnets, brought back by both of them from various airports they'd either passed through or been stuck in, and the tiled backsplash displayed plates likewise acquired from all over. Kerry especially liked the one nearest the stove, a tacky hunting scene that featured a near perfect replica of their often naughty but much beloved pet, Chino. She ran a finger over it with a smile, then turned to dump a package of pasta into the now boiling water.

"Hey, Ker?" Dar's voice drifted in from the living room.

"In the kitchen," Kerry responded.

"Did I leave that damn folder in there?"

Kerry pushed away from the counter and turned in a circle, studying the available surfaces. "No," she called back. "Thought you stuck it in your briefcase." She wandered out of the kitchen and headed for the corner where they'd both thrown their laptop cases the previous night. "I'll get it."

Caught in the act of getting up from the couch, Dar collapsed back into it and curled up again. "Thanks."

With a tug, Kerry retrieved the somewhat battered folder and crossed the living room, setting it down on the coffee table. She took a seat next to her partner's feet, reaching over to tweak a toe under its pristine white cotton sock covering. "How's the belly?"

Dar narrowed her eyes and growled.

"Hmm...well, if it's any consolation to you, I'm getting that kinda achy feeling myself," Kerry admitted. "Which doesn't really surprise me, because we're usually right on time together."

Dar growled again, but flexed her toes against Kerry's thigh. "Least we're both miserable at once," she conceded. "You think that's what made the past few days even more stressful than they were anyway?"

Hm. Kerry considered the question. She wasn't often bothered by PMS either, though she did have a tendency to be a bit more emotional a few days before. Add that to the stress of dealing with Dar's first girlfriend and Michelle Graver challenging them at every step? "Yeeeah, maybe."

The socked feet flexed against her thigh again, and Kerry gave them a pat before she leaned forward and got to her feet. "Let me go get our lunch."

Dar poked her with a toe as she eased past, and smiled at the pink tongue stuck out in her direction. Then she returned her attention to Quest's requirements, wincing slightly as a cramp twisted her guts. With a soft grunt, she tossed aside the initial document which she'd already gone over, and drew out the set of technical specifications, easing down to put her head on the couch arm as she started to leaf through the pages.

She spotted several big problems straight off. The hulks Quest had gotten his hands on were old as the hills--two of them were steamships, for god's sake, and the rest were retired passenger liners he'd dug out of mothballs somewhere.

That meant, she realized, they had zero infrastructure. Most had been built before computers, and the idiot wanted to outfit them with the latest available technology. "Jesus." Dar clucked under her breath and shook her head. "Jackass wants to put laser video in the Merrimac."

"Did you say something, sweetie?" Kerry called from the kitchen.

"Nah," Dar replied, lifting her head a little as she sniffed spicy pasta sauce in the air. "Just going over this stuff." She went back to reading. Quest wanted a computerized hotel system, a point of sale, connection to the damn Internet, and--Dar had to look twice, voice over IP telephony. "Jesus," she repeated.

"No, just me and some noodles." Kerry appeared at her side, bearing two steaming bowls. She set them down on the coffee table and resumed her perch at Dar's feet. "Parmesan?"

"Uh huh." Dar watched as a small snowstorm of freshly ground cheese settled on the surface of her pasta. "Are those little meatballs in there?"

"Yup." Kerry dusted her own bowl with the cheese. "Last time I made sauce, I froze some." She set the grater down and handed Dar a fork. "So what are you cussing about this time?"

Dar stabbed a forkful of pasta and lifted it toward her mouth, pausing as the utensil came into her close line of focus. She pulled it back a little and peered at the sauce covered bits, then she selected the last one on the fork's tines and pulled it off, holding it up to examine it. "Kerrison?"

"Mm?" Kerry grunted around a mouthful.

"Why am I eating a disk drive?"

Kerry swallowed and wiped her mouth with her napkin. "Ah." She reached over and pushed the bit of pasta toward Dar's mouth. "My guys gave me a thank you basket for helping out at the con. It was full of nerd things, including a bag of nerd pasta shapes. I figured you were the perfect person to share it with."

"Ah." Dar ate the disk drive, and studied the forkful of pc's left to consume. "Feels sorta cannibalistic, but all right." She chewed the mouthful and went back to the report. One finger pointed at a paragraph, and she pushed it toward Kerry as she swallowed.

Kerry edged over on the couch and started reading. Her brow creased. "Dar, am I reading this right--he only wants one set of cables run?"

"Uh huh."

"Does he realize what that's going to cost in equipment?"

"He wants it on a shoestring."

Kerry slowly ate a mouthful of her lunch. She swallowed before she answered. "Dar, you couldn't do that on Paul Bunyan's shoestring."

"Telegenics says they can." Dar replied. "They told Quest fitting it into his budget was a no brainer."

A snort answered the statement. "Obviously whoever told him that didn't bother to use a brain. Dar, you know damn well doing this right's going to cost."

Yes, she knew that. Dar worked her way through her lunch bowl, eyeing the familiar shapes all the while. "Well, let's wait till we see the real deal," she said. "Maybe it's not as bad as the description seems to show."

Kerry tapped the edge of her fork against her lip. "All right. Sounds like it's all we can do," she conceded. "Maybe when we lay the plans out, he'll realize what it is he's asking for. After all, it's his job to try and get everything he can for as little as possible."

"Eh." Dar flipped to the next page. "His timeline's impossible, too." She frowned. "How long did he say it would take those ships to be hauled here?"

"Two weeks," Kerry recalled. "Can they do it by then? Wonder why he had to pull out of New Zealand? Damn, I was looking forward to going there."

Dar set her bowl down. "You know, that's a damn good question." She pulled her laptop over and rolled onto her back, putting the machine down on her stomach and typing on the keyboard. "Did he mention where in New Zealand the ships were located?"

"Auckland." Kerry leaned over and watched the screen with interest. "You think he was lying?"

Dar keyed in a request, and waited, scanning the responses as they flicked across the monitor. "I think outfitting six ships means big bucks for somebody. Now why..." She drummed her fingers on the keys. "Why would 'somebody' throw away those kind of big bucks?"