Haze Gray 15

Taylor woke at dawn, as usual now. She listened for a moment, then got up and went through her routine. After, she wrote her dad a quick note telling him she went for a turn around the bay and to the Dock.

She was pleasantly surprised when she got to the end of Bay View street, crossed the shore and stepped out on the water to see Tess, Amy and Leslie all steaming her direction. She did some maneuvering to check everything then when they caught up she led them off. "Sleep well everyone?" everyone nodded and they chatted as they came up to cruise and made their new normal circuit of the bay. Amy smiled, her mods were spectacular, her economical cruise was now higher than her old top speed. She felt better in the water too. Plus, now she could keep up with Taylor if she pushed it even a little.

Taylor looked around "So how long before the ABB and Empire explode?"

Leslie looked surprised, Amy chuckled darkly and Dragon sighed "Tomorrow when they confirm the police don't have their people certainly."

Amy held up her phone. "PHO odds are on tomorrow. They think the military showing up will make Lung and Kaiser think. I'd call that pure optimism."

Taylor nodded "We will have to ask Lisa what she thinks, maybe talk to the Director. So, power testing?"

Amy answered "It could actually be beneficial. Get us a better idea of our limits."

Taylor nodded "Though those are published?"

Tess agreed, sort of "I don't know that we need to show them everything."

Amy laughed "Aren't you them? Seriously though I'm lighter than my listed tonnage but my displaced tonnage is up. Double the horsepower and pump jets, count em, two! instead of a single screw. Might as well say twice as fast. Plus, little bitty but guns? Pew pew pew, and radar, and full navigation electronics and and and."

Tess smiled and shrugged "Ships first? We can go out and test you if you want, take a couple days."

They all thought about that a while. Leslie asked "Endbringer?"

Tess spoke up "Colin noticed something odd. Simurgh has moved to a position over Bikini atoll."

"And that's not ominous at all." Taylor supplied.

Tess shrugged "Nothing technological and no people, the target ships in the water, some waste gathered up and put under a concrete dome. Hard to say how much as Scion did his radioactive thing when he first showed up. That was weapons residue and he did the weapons, so would he have done it to that? Eighties era monitoring equipment if some tinker hasn't stolen it."

Taylor blinked and looked in her inventory "Huh, well I don't have any."

Leslie had gotten the same kind of distracted look for a minute "I don't either?"

Amy frowned "Reactors still run?"

"Not weapons grade material. Could help make some in some cases but…." Tess shrugged "Not to change the subject but, I got a thing from the work I did with the other tinkers. It should get us fuel and some income. Stop Tattletale from biting her nails."

Leslie nodded "That's terrible. She could have such pretty nails."

Taylor unconsciously looked at her nails and blinked. They were red white and blue like Leslies, only a quarter inch or so long but still? "Leslie?" She held a hand up at the same time Amy and Tess did with arched brows. Amy's were white with red crosses and Tess's had maple leaves on clear, or frenched. Leslie clapped like a little girl. "Yay they got it done! I had then French yours Tess because you know, French Canadians."

The other three giggled, then laughed outright and hugged her. "Tess, can you make me suppressors?"

Tess frowned "Why not, keep the camera idiots down. But the ammunition is still supersonic?"

"Not my Intruder or Sea Hawk loads. Vikings, Greyhounds, well really, only my Tomcats are."

Amy was looking at her phone and laughed "PHO knows the Simurgh moved. They got a page about it. Void Cowboy came up with all kinds of bullshit about why and Winged One said she is sunbathing. I think he had a aneurism. Oh nope. His last comment is 'arglebargle'." She bent double laughing "He got infracted for language!" The others gaped then giggled, then laughed. Tess smirked.

They discussed it as they dodged boats in the inner harbor headed to the caisson of the dry dock.

They climbed the ladder, went in the man door, and down the steps to the water then sat eating breakfast off the work barges that appeared. Taylor blinked as Lisa breast stoked past them. "Exercise?" Lisa smiled and nodded.

Aisha walked up, still mostly asleep, and jumped in. She shrieked then started paddling around. They watched as she got faster and more coordinated and did a few laps across the dock, rather than along it as Lisa was doing. During this Missy came in and went through the same procedure as Aisha. The girls sitting on the water watched as more and more girls in varying states of alertness showed up and followed the apparent protocol, while parents wandered the industrial section of the dock. with Mr Carmichael being a docent?

Taylor finally asked "No boys?"

Leslie giggled and pointed at Eric who had to be sleep flying. Amy rolled her eyes "What in the world has-" Battery dove in. "OK what the actual-" 'Hey!' 'Fruitloops?" The girls froze and then rolled around the surface of the dock laughing.

"Give me a pistol?" Tess asked Leslie and got handed a cleared M9 with the slide locked back. A tug boat pushed a barge up to Tess's ankles as she was in a cross-legged seat and she had the thing apart in seconds measuring it with tools from the barge. "Huh, all perfectly standard. Not a 1911A1 because twelve aircraft in a squadron?"

Leslie nodded, "Plus tankers, electronic countermeasures, maybe a Hawkeye, ASW sometimes. One mag one strike package kind of deal."

"And the broken slide issue?"

"Well-" Leslie shrugged.

Dragon nodded "I got a package I put together for the PRT spec ops people and RCMP that work with the guild. Better slide, Wet and dry suppressors whichever they want, little trigger work, tightened up the specs generally, air gauged barrels, past the A1 standard even. We will have to test it with your ammo, no idea how it will act with a Tomcat flying down the barrel."

Taylor chuckled "Those poor girls are going to think they are making Battlestar Galactica getting shot out of those launcher things."

Lisa swam up and stole a sausage "They'll be fine. Won't transition to airplanes until they are clear."

Amy looked at her "Are you wearing a wet suit? If you want sausage, we can get you a plate?"

A work boat roared up with ham and egg biscuits. Lisa snatched one, then moaned, and hugged the workboat to her chest. Taylor laughed "We were finished, I think that's all you killer."

Tess put the pistol back together and handed it, slide locked back after a functions check, to Leslie who let the slide go forward, put in a loaded magazine, put it on safe and holstered it "So what are we doing today?"

Taylor shrugged "Relaxing, gabbing, being girls until I have to review the video?"

Amy nodded "I want to see that too."

Taylor nodded "Figuring out what the hell is with the dock becoming the Brockton Bay municipal pool? Do we have life guards?"

Tess giggled and pointed "Crash boats."

Taylor shook her head. "Hey those skylights, we could lay out over by the blast furnace."

Vicky showed up towing Dean, or carrying him really, and he did the shriek. They all shook their heads. Then laughed watching Lisa chase the biscuit boat with its madly grinning coxswain. Who had a familiar spray of freckles, blond hair, and vulpine grin? She was over compensating with that hopped up Mark 4 fifty-foot utility boat too, what had they put in that thing for an engine, was that a water jet for propulsion? You could ski behind that thing.

Haze Gray

Emily looked over the reports "Well, who the hell is this? Empire accounted for, Lung being inscrutable in the Ruby Dreams. No Oni's. She opened the video. "Goddamnit. Oh, with laser weapons too. You had to go and do it didn't you idiot? I was going to go swim today, still am Thomas. As soon as I do a little work on a snake trap. What time is it? I have to meet Dwayne for lunch. Karly! Get me intel and ops. I got an hour to line out what I want. Karly? Fuck Sunday. OK, call em myself."

Haze Gray

Thomas finished dividing the money and opened two timelines.

Haze Gray

Sarah looked at the girl she was escorting and chuckled "It will work. Or we can go back to the escalade and you can get dolled up?"

"Haha. How did I let such a witty person talk me into look at the size of that building." Sabah froze.

Sarah laughed "Yeah, a little different from up close. Come on. Wait until you see the store."

Meanwhile Carlos was around the corner being lookout for Lily as she changed having roof run over as he flew. They had come in the Naval Shipyard rather than the Lordsport side. Which hadn't had a gate before? Or an open gate. "So just normal Lily."

Carlos nodded "Its kind of strange, you'll see. Crystal Pelham is probably here, you two will be going to BBU together." Lily nodded.

Haze Gray

Robin led the tall girl into Ops, "And this is ops. Now want to wander to the main attraction?"

Mary Ann nodded "Sure. I got a suit, the net says it will cure what ails you."

Robin nodded "Or turn you into a boat."

Mary Ann, the parahuman Gully, looked at him "I thought that was a power interaction."

"OK, so you do have the clearance and do read the files. It will be a pleasure working with a professional. Assault is great, don't get me wrong, and knows his stuff, but is a much more 'gut feeling' kind of guy."

Haze Gray

Taylor laid out on a towel in a field of girls all laid out in the square of sunlight streaming in the skylight nearest the blast furnace frowned and picked up her tablet and started typing away. Amy arched a brow and rolled into her side a but and then back "Watcha doin?"

"The Scion nuke thing. My intel section got all interested. He didnt take them, holy shit I'm going to jail, how did these little fuckers get this deep in the systems? Anyway, he made them not work, but that's not true either as Dragon just used one to pump a Xray laser. Oh. Extra atmosphere they still work for sure, part of what Dragons test proved, so we can have a nuclear war but only in space? Apparently, the Navy never batted an eye and changed to mostly conventional warheads while they work on the problem? Which they can without the subcritical masses, they are just using inert masses to figure out why either type won't go. Why are parahumans so weird? Wait, how did they know they wouldn't work anymore? Not only that but holy crap we got some explosives that are terrifying."

"Dragon as before she shipped as opposed to our Tess? Why are you working on a Sunday, don't even bother saying that isn't work." Amy asked.

"Pleasure reading like you do on a beach."

"Wow, even all the sailors didn't make that fib happen. Come on, water. I'm hot." Amy carefully didn't grin at the little blush Taylor got when she sat up. She had timed that perfect and Taylor had checked out all the abs.

The two made it to the dock and found Lisa about halfway down it. The got in, or on, and eased out to her. Taylor asked "You still here?"

"Lifeguard."

"We have crash boats for that. How are you using that tablet in here?"

Lisa shrugged "The crew made it up, its potted? Oh they make it, then pour the case full of a fairly elastic plastic so water can't get in. Huh, the Navy already had touch screens that work wet. Commercial off the shelf really. Small navigation electronics control screens. They improved them. Not even tinkertech, normal tablet computer parts and case really, they added this heat sink thing. Hey, we can sell these in the store."

Amy nodded "What's with the store too? Its like packed. We need to put a door in to the outside for it. That marked path is in the way and the workers have to keep closing it to move stuff like a aisle at Home Depot."

Taylor looked and nodded "Maybe move it to that warehouse next door. It's pretty packed."

Lisa shrugged "We'll still be running the pool and the tours. Hey, some schools are asking for field trips for history classes?"

Taylor frowned "The Naval Shipyard?"

"Works on submarines and is classified?" Lisa answered.

Amy smirked "Not to Taylor." Lisa arched a brow. Taylor sighed.

Haze Gray

Sarah smiled as she lost Sabah to the retail workers big and little. Lily finished with the tour, changed, stepped down into the water and gritted her teeth then moaned. Carlos grinned, "Told you."

Lily arched a brow and leaned closer "I'm not a noctis cape."

Carlos shrugged and looked around "Don't tell the researchers it feels good or they will vampire us all."

Robin looked at Mary Ann, who was floating like a dead woman on her back, "Good then?" Was she changing? Is she asleep?

Amy lay down and put her head in Taylors lap "Nap."

Taylor pouted "And if I wanted to nap too?"

The researchers looked at their instruments and got busy. The trucks, and now two trains, one pulled by a Baldwin VO 1000 in haze gray, picked up the pace dumping things in the dock.

Mr. Carmichael had found some old friends in the crowd from different shops and they were all hanging around shops of the same nature as they had worked in answering questions and dispelling, well, idiocy from people who couldn't read the very informative signs. One of the tiny female welders had told her boss and now those elderly men and women were in issue work pants, shirts, boots, and hard hats. They were loving life and having a ball explaining things.

Including the changing room with the baskets hanging in the ceiling and the shower rooms and why they were used. Nobody wanted to go home with red lead and all the other stuff all over them right? The women and girls were amazed when women their mothers and grandmothers age showed them the best way to pack one of those baskets and all the stuff in it. The world war period correct items not including a bra brought on another whole discussion.

The men and boys generally disappeared to the other shops again at that point. Or the cafeteria where they could select from a war period correct menu for pretty cheap prices really. Not like Disney World, and no admittance fee either, this was great!

The boatwrights had a group five people deep in front of it watching a tiny admiral's barge or captains gig made of mahogany and teak be put together. One of the dads asked "How much would one of those cost." He was told a price and said "I can write you a check?"

The shipwright Docent laughed "Not sold in stores."

Mr. Dad was a persistent cuss though "But you have a store?" The Docent blinked.

Jeff broke out all the cameras and had the entire AV club and the marketing classes hard at work.

Haze Gray

Emily looked in the PR office where the nervous employee of that office had led her and blinked at Glenn Chambers frozen in front of a bank of monitors that were all showing industrial training films? That one putting those guns together was fascinating. Who knew they heated some parts and cooled other parts and put them inside each other like that? That was a big pit too. Those cranes as well. Huh, look at that, a double base powder mill. Holy crap that powder grain filled that girl's hand? Were those cotton gloves? "Well, it's how he wants to spend his Sunday?" The Sunday PR duty officer nodded skeptically.

Haze Gray

Amy snapped her head up at the whistle and splash, splashes. She blinked as a dog climbed in her lap and lick attacked her face. A bigger splash happened and Rachels head appeared. Rachel, what in the world? "Who's a pretty girl?" Amy mushed the dogs face and then spluttered when she got licked.

"Don't let her just lick you. She's the alpha of this bunch of mutt water dogs. They got a bunch of Boydkin Spaniel in them, I think. They came from a kill shelter in South Carolina. Somebody down there sent a whole truckload of them. Shelter ran out of money and was going to have to put them all down."

Taylor looked around blinking, there were a lot of dogs, and they were fast in the water. "Salt water won't hurt them?"

"Some got cuts and stuff, might be good for them."

Amy looked around "Lots of new people. Maybe I should run a quick clinic. You have any more new dogs? I'll do them first. The yeomen can work on billing right Lisa?"

Rachel shrugged "Get em all the time. Ones and twos. Not trucks full like these ones. One Oh Three down." The dog jumped off of Amy back into the water and swam around wriggling. Then charged off after a work boat sprinkling dog food in the water.

Lisa surfaced, when had she dived? "Sure, Medicare rates? Tricare if they are retirees, I guess. VA for disabled Vets maybe. Let me look it up."

Amy shrugged "Do your FAR FAC thing and bill it as humanitarian assistance."

"Not a declared disaster area."

Taylor looked at Leslie who was wide eyed "What is even happening right now?"

Leslie shook her head. Eric laughed "We are going to the dogs?"

Haze Gray

Taylor watched the video. Videos. The AV and Marketing people had watched the crowd watching it and made some quick edits to cut down on the droopy eyelids and wandering attention. Jeff leaned over "We got enough for a whole series, twenty, thirty hours. All the different shops and those older folks explaining. Its great stuff."

Taylor shrugged "Well, my part is OK." She looked at her PAO who nodded 'Hey.' Taylor shrugged "So there you go, get the others approval before you show theirs. All that parahuman stuff is from Chambers? Does anyone know if that is even more than wild ass guesses?" She winced at the protest from the researchers "OK, not so wild? Lisa? Is she still in the dock?"

AN Idea credit on Winged One arglebargling Void goes to Kaiya Azure. Thanks for that seed.