Tori just getting more and more entrenched in this family unit. The Wests are marvelous people. I love them so much.


Nine


Tori 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 Jade's face as the commander talked, and Tori smiled too, charmed at the uncharacteristic, almost adolescent expression it gave her wife.

"So what's old Gerry's beef, Jade?" Jeff asked around a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "He got a surplus he needs to spend somewhere?"

"Nah." Jade 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, till I walked in that office and found out who it was that was putting a mine in old Albert's pants."

Jade sighed. "I should have just come to see you first." She gave Tori a rueful look. "It would have saved both of us some time, and half a bottle of tylenol."

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." Jade reassured him. "He and mom are living on a boat near my place, if you can believe it."

"Aw." Jeff smiled. "He got back with your mamma? Damn, I am so glad to hear that, Jade. It about killed him to leave that last time with her so mad." He stopped awkwardly, and glanced at Tori. "Pardon me, Jade.. I didn't mean to bring all that up here… "

"It's okay." Jade's blue eyes twinkled gently. "Tori knows my parents very well."

"That's right." Tori spoke up for the first time. "We have their phone number if you'd like it.. I bet d.. Mr. West 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, Jade, listen.. Chuckie's coming at the end of the week, why don't we all get together and have a night out? I know he'd love to see you, and me and Barbara would give up a month's pay to see Jim and Cec."

Ah. Jade's memory pricked her suddenly, as she recalled Charles Ainright, Jeff's son who was her age, and growing up one of her closer friends. Tall, cute Chuckie, with his blond crewcut, 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 till 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." Jade allowed. "I'll see what I can arrange for Friday.. how's that? I think mom and dad will 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." Jade nodded. "I was just going to show Tori around the place."

"Good deal." The commander gave Tori a friendly nod, then walked past and clapped Jade on the shoulder. "See you tomorrow, Jade. Drive safe, y'hear?"

"Thanks, Uncle Jeff." Jade 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 brown eyes watching her. "Hm. That was a surprise."

"Mm.. yeah. I gathered." Tori cupped her chin in one hand. "He seems nice, though."

Jade leaned back and exhaled, scratching her neck with one hand. "He is… 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?" Tori teased, having noted the faint blush that colored Jade's face at the mention of the name. "Sounds like he liked you."

Jade's face scrunched up into a half amused, half embarrassed scowl. "Yeeeahh… he um… "

"Another crush?" Tori laughed.

"Not exactly. " Her wife admitted. "My first boyfriend. He was my high school prom date."

Tori's brown brows shot up in silent amazement.

"I was young, and still pretty clueless." Jade folded her arms, and sighed. "But we had a good time together." She added. "I know my folks will be glad to see them."

Tori sipped her ice tea thoughtfully. "He's pretty Republican, isn't he?"

Jade nodded, her lips twitching.

"Want me to find something else to do that night?" Tori offered with quiet grace.

Jade gazed sightlessly at the center of the table for a long moment, her brow slightly wrinkled in thought. Then she drew in a breath, and met Tori's eyes. "No. I really don't."

"Fair enough." Tori accepted the answer. "C'mon… as long as I'm here, I want to see this BX thing you mentioned, and 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."

"Sure, we'll go to the NEX." Jade stood, and they put their trays away, then left the cafeteria, aware of the curious eyes that followed them.


"Good morning, Ms. Tori." Mayte looked up as Tori entered her office, giving her boss a bright smile. "Did it go okay yesterday?"

"Sort of." Tori 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 Jade's, so things smoothed out after lunch." Remarkably so, in fact. Jade had gotten all the data she needed or asked for, and they'd retired 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 Jade sat down to digest the information they'd gleaned. Tori 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 two of the marketing sessions, at nine and ten, and the operations meeting at one." Mayte answered promptly. "Mrs. Anderson, from the new company we are buying cable from is also due to be here at three."

Tori exhaled. "Okay." She spared a moment of envy for Jade, 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?"

"Of course." Mayte's voice floated after her. "Would you like some cafecito? I was just about to get some."

"Yes." Tori 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, it's cool surface warming against her legs as she nudged her computer on, and investigated her inbox. "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 studying, she nodded, and picked up her pen, signing off on the papers and checking the totals carefully.

Rob 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. Tori had disagreed, considering 386 DX systems that still ran Windows 8 to be something along the lines of what she'd use as a doorstop.

But Rob had said no.

So Tori had reviewed the accounting software they were using, and called the vendor, discovering a new, upgraded version with lots of nifty new things and reports they just couldn't live without. She'd told Rob, and he'd agreed. "Great. "She'd said. "Now you can put in your order for new systems, because this software only runs on windows 11."

"Heh." Tori put the folder into her outbox. "Accountants… fastest way to their heart 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 the voice inside, then opened the door and slipped inside. She crossed the wooden floor quickly, and put the folder down on her bosses 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 Jade West. 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 Stanford." She paused. "BS in Computer Science, with an emphasis in programming and Coding top in her class. Founder of WesTrek while in college."

"Mmph." Albert studied the contents of the folders, flipping through transcripts and documentation. "Wonder why she never… oh. Did you see these ASVAB scores?"

"Yeah. Did you see what program she was qualifying for?"

His eyes flicked over the papers. "Ah hah. Wanted to follow in daddy's footsteps, but he was a SEAL. I get it. She's probably got a grudge the size of a flat top." He chuckled dryly. "She seems the type."

"She passed the physical." Perkins commented.

"Mm." Her commander prowled through the papers, then selected a black and white photo, examining it curiously. An adolescent Jade West stared dourly back at him, dark hair half obscuring the pale eyes, her lean body encased in a tight, sleeveless black shirt and well used fatigue pants. "Scary." He flipped the picture over to her.

Perkins picked it up and studied it. "Very." She tossed it back. "What are we going to do about her?"

The commander sorted through the papers. "Can we keep her out of the inside systems?"

A shake of her head. "Probably not. Based on the questions I was getting, I'm going to guess she actually knows her way around a programming language. I could try to throw a pile of code at her, but I don't' know how long that would hold her up."

"Give it a try." Commander Albert sighed. "I'll see what else I can do.. .get everything you can and stick it behind the number six firewall. We need to find something to distract her." He closed the folder and pushed it back across the desk. "The timing just sucks."

"You told Scrooge you had it under control." Perkins reminded him, in a worried tone.

"That was before I found out she grew up with Dudley Do Right's kid." He snapped back. "I didn't figure it'd be a problem getting her thrown out of here.. now we have to find another way." He sighed. "What about the other one?"

"We got lucky there." The lieutenant smiled. "She's Holly Vega's daughter."

Their eyes met. "No shit?" The commander's eyebrows lifted.

"No shit, no sir." Perkins said. "I thought you'd be glad to hear that."

Albert leaned back in his chair, and laced his fingers behind his head. "I guess we don't need to worry about her, then. I don't think she's coming back here anyway." He exhaled. "But that might be the leverage I need… I'll have to call Scrooge. He'll know if we can use it."