A/N: Little bit of this old story. bro... the next book of this story is going to be so different, I think I am going to stop worrying about how far along I am and Just post this one 'til the end.

Forty Nine

"Hey there old man."

James looked up from his bottle of pop to find the cowboy trucker heading his way. "Wall. Howdy there, young feller." He drawled, exchanging an amused look with the man. In truth, they were probably pretty close in age, and the trucker chuckled as he extended a hand.

"Wanted to c'mover and say hello after the other day." The trucker said. "I was halfway outta the state, when a company rig broke down and they turned me back. More stuff for this place."

James looked around the dock, where there were trucks and men unloading everywhere. The pace on the pier had picked up incredibly, and he could almost sense panic from the workers around him. "Wonder what got em all in a hustle?"

The trucker looked surprised. "Didncha hear? Gov'mint tossing them outta here end of the week."

"Yeah?" Jim said. "Heard something like, but I didn't figure they'd really do it."

"Well, if they ain't, no one's told my boss. We got ten more trucks headed this way right now." The man said. "Hope you all got room for it."

Ten trucks worth? Two for each ship more than likely. James shook his head. The belowdecks area of the ship was a mess for sure, and just trying to keep it all straight had taken most of his day so far. "What you got now?" He asked. "Stuff for this one?" He pointed at the ship.

Obligingly, the trucker handed over his manifest. "You get nailed for messing with that little sissy boy the other day?"

"Naw." James studied the papers, noting again Tori's name on one side. "Got me moved over to this here tub." He indicated the ship with a motion of his head. "This here all for us?" He asked, flipping through to the last few pages and catching sight of something else. A tiny grin appeared on his face.

The trucker took back the manifest and examined it. "Far as I can tell, yeah." He agreed. "Where do you want it?"

"Right over there." Jim indicated a spot on the dock. "I'll have them boys move it all inside after."

"You got it." The trucker agreed. "Man, they got those people all riled up. What a mess." He watched as a group of ship personnel gathered near the stern of the vessel, along with a couple of suits all pointing and looking at the water behind the ship. "Well, let me get going. Be right back."

"Yeap." James finished up his pop and stood there in the shade, considering what to do next. A motion caught his eye and he half turned, surprised to see Ceci pulling up to the curb in the truck. He tossed the pop bottle in the trash and jogged over, leaning down to rest his elbows on the window sill and peer inside. "Hey there."

"Hi." Ceci reached and handed him something. "You forgot this, and our child has been trying to get hold of us."

"Aw, hell." James took the phone. "You call her?"

"No." Ceci glanced past him at the chaos on the dock. "I'd have to admit to causing this if I did."

"Cec…"

"Yes, I know. Our relationship is quantum leaps past what it was, Jim, but I'd still rather you did it." The slim, fair haired woman said. "Uh oh.. I better go. That guy knows me." She set a pair of wraparound sunglasses on her nose, and ducked behind James's bulk.

"Lord." Jim started dialing.

"You knew you married a leftist radical."

"Yeap, I surely did."

"Well, it could have been worse, Jim."

"Yeap. Jade coulda joined the Army."

"Pffft!"

Tori leaned back in the driver's seat of the rental, watching the somewhat boring bushes go by as they headed north. Next to her in the passenger seat, Jade was rattling away on her keyboard, pausing impatiently as she waited for her keystrokes to catch up with her over the cellular modem link. "What on earth did we do before cell modems?"

"Got lots of speeding tickets." Jade answered absently.

"Did you?" Tori adjusted the sun visor to block out the blast of golden light from the west.

"Uh huh." Her partner admitted. "For a while I almost gave up living in my place and thought about bunking at the office. There was space under my desk."

"Hm. Is that why you have a couch in your office now?"

Jade chuckled. "Yes, but not if you ask the majority of the small minded." She eased her leg straight, wincing a little as she banged her foot against the center console. "The sordid events everyone was convinced took place on that couch were legendary."

"Legendary?"

"Uh huh."

"How legendary?"

Jade paused in mid type, her eyes shifting from her laptop to Tori's profile. She could see the curve of her partner's jawline, and the slight bunching and relaxing of the muscles there that meant the question wasn't frivolous. "Um…" She tapped the side of her thumb against the wrist rest. "They were all fictional, Tor." She said. "The only person who's ever slept on that couch besides me is you."

"Oh."

Jade muffled a grin of her own and went back to typing.

Tori's face tensed into a sheepish grin, as she glanced at Jade. "Boy, do I have a green streak a mile wide, or what?" She sighed. "You know, I never really suspected that about myself until I met you."

"Well, given all the stories you've heard about me in that office, I can't say I blame you for wondering." Jade admitted. "But I have to admit that my reputation in that area was way overrated." She said. "I think it was easier for me to let everyone think I was out there having a wild and crazy time rather than them knowing the truth."

Tori thought back to her days in San Francisco before she'd met Jade. She'd had, she'd thought, a reasonable social life with her friends from the office, and near her apartment. They'd gone bowling, seen movies, played around at Dave and Busters – it hadn't been bad.

Except. "Nights are a lot more fun now."

Jade raised both eyebrows at her.

"No, I mean… I was always busy during the day." Tori explained, changing lanes to go around a very slow gasoline tanker. "Or around dinner, with the gang. But then I went home."

"Mm. Jade grunted. "Did your couch have torrid tales?" She asked, a little surprised at the fact that not only was it the first time she'd asked, it was the first time she'd wondered.

Tori pushed her sunglasses higher up on her nose. "You inaugurated that couch." She replied straightforwardly. "I don't think I did anything more risqué than eat crackers and cheese on it before that."

"Ah."

They were both silent for a while, immersed in their own thoughts while Jade continued pecking away on her keyboard. Outside the SUV, the scrub brush and occasional crab shack slowly gave way to ticky tacky tourist outposts that beckoned the unwary with deals on seashells and cheap t-shirts.

Tori passed the first few miles of them, then she pulled into one of the next parking lots. "Drink break. Want something?"

Jade put the laptop on the seat behind her. "Stretch my legs." She responded. "I've got a cramp."

"You going to go out there in your little booties?" Tori asked.

"Sure. They're not white socks with black sandals. No one'll think I'm a tourist." Jade opened the door and hopped carefully out. The bite on her foot was quite painful and somewhat swollen, and she had to limp to keep her weight off it. "At least not a Florida tourist."

"No, they'll just think you're from New Zealand." Tori got out on her side and closed the door, then jogged over to Jade's side as they walked towards the mini-mart. "How's the foot doing?"

"Sucks." Jade grunted.

Tori gave her a sympathetic rub on the back as they reached the door and entered. The mini mart was very mini, and not much of a mart, featuring a lonely coffee burner with a pot of burned coffee in it, a single refrigerator with Coke bottles, a rack of gum and bags of 1 day old doughnuts on the counter.

Without exchanging even a glance, Tori veered to the refrigerator case and grabbed two bottles of coke while Jade carefully skirted the doughnuts and examined the sparse choices of packaged snacks.

"Hi there ladies." The proprietor of the mart appeared from a tiny back room. "Can I get you something? We got a special on these doughnuts." He nudged one of the bags forward. "They're pretty good."

"No thanks." Jade responded briefly. "We… um.." She paused as Tori plunked two bottles of coke and two packages of Snowballs on the counter along with a five dollar bill. "have what we need."

The door opened and let in a blast of warm air and sunlight, along with a tall, burly figure. The newcomer paused as the door closed, revealing an intimidating biker image complete with mirrored shades.

The mart owner regarded him warily. "Howdy."

The man, however, was far more interested in Jade and Tori. He pulled off his sunglasses. "Hey guys! What's the odds, huh?"

"Hey, Tom!" Tori smiled. "What are the Odds? I can't believe you made it cross country. You here on your bike? Jade hasn't seen it yet."

"Sure am. How's the eye?" Their fellow kickboxing student asked her. "What brings you guys down here?" He tossed a five dollar bill down on the counter. "Pump two."

They walked outside together, and crossed the broken tarmac parking lot to where the gas pumps were. Tom's new Harley was huddling there in the sunlight, and drew an admiring whistle from Jade. "Nice." She complimented him. "I love the fish."

"Me too." Tom agreed, opening the gas tank and inserting the filler. "Some of the guys though they were too wussy, but you know what? Chicks dig it."

Well, it was hard to argue on that since both she and Tori were undeniably chicks, and they both did like them. "Great paint job… how is it to ride?" Jade said. "I rented one a few months back and liked how it handled, but it wasn't that long distance."

"I remember that." Tori murmured.

"Oh, it's great." Tom told her readily. "I thought it was gonna be a little tough on my..uh…"

"Buns." Tori supplied.

"Yeah, those too. But it's been cool." The man said. "Sure you don't wanna trade up to one, Tor?"

"Hm." Tori regarded the big bike wistfully. "They sure are cool." Her eyes went to Jade's face. "They just really pissed us off when we went to go buy one." She saw the faintest twitch at the corner of her partner's mouth, and sighed as she leaned against the pump.

"Well, you should go get one at bike week, like I did." Tom said. "Hey, speaking of, how'd the tat come out, Tor? Didja go through with it?"

Tori obligingly unbuttoned and pulled down the shoulder of her short sleeve cotton shirt, exposing the tattoo. "I did." She confirmed. "And you were so lying to me, Tom. It hurt like crazy. I think I made the poor guy deaf from my screaming."

Tom examined the tattoo, and then gave Tori a very respectful look. "Well.. uh.. mine was on my arm." He flexed his bicep, displaying a beautiful parrot. "I think it'd hurt a lot more right on your.. uh.." His eyes dropped to Tori's tattoo, then averted, as he blushed slightly. " You know what I mean."

Jade reached around Tori's shoulder and encircled her with both arms as she re-buttoned her shirt. "We know what you mean." She said. "And I'll keep that in mind when I go get mine done."

Tori turned and looked up at Jade in surprise.

"Anyway, hey, I'm glad I ran into you guys." Tom said. "Something sorta weird happened on Friday, and I don't really know what to make of it." He put the gas nozzle back in the pump and closed the gas cap. "I was at the bar and some women came up to me."

"That was weird?" Jade was aware of Tori's intense regard, but she merely laid her arm over her partner's shoulders and addressed Tom instead. "Why? You're not that bad looking."

Tom scratched his nose. "Well, this was kinda serious, you know? One of them said they were some kind of reporter or something, and they were asking questions about you guys, or mostly Tori, really."

It stopped being funny, and Tori stopped thinking about tattoos, no matter how startled she was. "What?" She turned around and faced Tom. "Questions about me?"

Tom had the grace to look both abashed and embarrassed. "Um.. about you and me, matter of fact."

"You and me what?" Tori spluttered. "You and me in kickboxing class, or drinking beer together?" She was aware suddenly of Jade's close presence behind her, and felt the warmth of her partner's hands as Jade put them on her shoulders.

"They had… you remember when I showed you the bike?" Tom seemed a little uneasy. "And we kinda.. you took that picture with me?"

Tori's eyes narrowed. "Yes."

"I guess I was showing it to the guys at the bar, and I guess…" He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I got it blowed up and one of the copies sorta disappeared."

Jade snorted softly, but didn't make any comment.

"Jesus." Tori exhaled. "Where did the reporters say they were from? Was it the Travel Channel?

Tom shook his head. "No, uh.. the Chronicle, you know? Some kind of story they were doing about the port, and some ships.. and I guess about you."

"And they have that picture, right?" Tori covered her eyes.

"I guess. They mentioned it, so.." Tom shrugged sheepishly. "I mean, no one thought much about it, Tori.. I knew it kinda went walking, but you know, it was a rocking picture, so.."

"Uh oh." Jade said. "How bad was this photo?"

"Me and Tom on the bike." Tori still had her eyes covered. "With me posing as a biker chick."

Jade sorted through that, and didn't find anything altogether that dangerous in it. "Okay." She said slowly. "So.. when was this?"

"When you were in New York." Tori sighed.

"Uh huh. Same night you got this?" Jade indicated the tattoo.

Tori nodded.

"It wasn't anything!" Tom spoke up suddenly. "All Tori was doing is giving me an ego shot on the damn bike.. we didn't do nothing!"

Jade looked at him. "I know that." She said. "Question is, what is it they're looking to illustrate using it?"

Tori put her hands on her hips and stared disgustedly at the broken tarmac. "I've had it." She finally said, turning and heading for the rental. "I'm quitting and becoming an itinerant poet. Then maybe no one will give a crap what I do." She opened the door and got in, slamming it behind her.

That left Jade and Tom facing each other across the Harley. Jade sighed, and produced a brief smile. "It's been a rough couple weeks." She said. "Last thing we needed is to get back to town and be greeted with a front page story."

Tom stuck his hands into the pockets on his jeans. "Jade, I'm real sorry."

"Wasn't anything you did." Jade shrugged. "What did you tell the reporters, anyway?"

"Not much." He admitted. "I just couldn't get what they were after, so they kinda just left when I wouldn't tell them me and Tori had been.. um… like, hanging out together or whatever."

"Yeah." Jade pushed her sunglasses up on her nose. "Well, thanks, Tom. Nice bike. Don't worry about the picture, okay?" She lifted a hand to wave goodbye and headed for the car. Circling the back of it, she got in the passenger side and closed the door, half turning in the seat to face the huddled, silent Tori. "Hey."

Tori sniffled, and wiped the back of her hand across her eyes. "I'm so sick of this."

Jade leaned further over the center console, and gently gripped Tori's forearm. "Tor?"

Tori sniffled again. "Yeah?"

"I'm sick of it too."

Tori took off her sunglasses and looked at Jade with tear moistened eyes. "I know it's chickenshit."

Jade shook her head. "Just human." She slid her grip down to clasp Tori's hand, then drew the hand up to kiss its knuckles. "Let's just go do what we need to do, then we can sit down and decide where we go from here."

Tori looked at her hand, now pressed gently against Jade's cheek. She gave the fingers clasping hers a squeeze, and exhaled, nodding a little in answer.

"Want me to drive now?" Jade asked. "I can try it left footed."

"No." Tori gathered her wits. "Just open my coke for me, and gimme a Snowball. I'll live." She started the car and put it in gear. "Jade, what are we going to do if that does end up on the front page of the Chronicle?"

"Won't." Jade was busy ripping cellophane with her teeth. "You're not a communist sympathizer. You might make the Business page though." She removed the soft, fluffy pastry form it's constriction and handed it over. "And if it does, we just deal with it."

Tori bit into the marshmallow top, tearing it apart ruthlessly. "How's WesTrek going to deal with their VP ops being a biker chick?"

"About like they did with their VP Ops being a gay redneck." Jade took a sip of Coke. "We'll all cope."

Yeah. Tori settled into her seat, gazing ahead into the slowly fading sunlight. "Know what I'm going to do if it happens?"

"What?"

"Frame a copy and send it to my Father."

"Ouch."

It was dinner time before they pulled into the driveway. Tori parked the Volvo and opened the door, sliding off the leather seat to the ground and stretching her back out. "Ugh."

"C'mon, Chino." Jade got out on the other side and opened the back door, allowing the Labrador to jump to the ground. She shouldered her laptop and waited for Tori to join her, then she limped up the steps to the front door of the house.

They had debated stopping at the port. Chino had tipped the balance, since neither of them wanted to leave their pet in the car while they checked on things and bringing her onboard the ship just wasn't an option.

Beside's it had been a long drive followed by a long flight… they were bushed.

Jade keyed the door open and entered, waiting for Tori to pass her by and then shutting the door. "You want to change, and we'll run over there?"

Tori dropped her briefcase and overnight bag on the love seat. "You want to hear the politically correct corporately responsible answer or the truth?"

"Me either." Jade limped past her and went into the bedroom. "Is there really a point? We're both fond of saying we can trust our people, aren't we?"

Tori trudged into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, removing a bottle of juice and pouring herself a glass. "Good point." She called back into the living room. "How about we commit to being there early tomorrow morning. We can assess what's going on, and decide what we want to do."

"Uh."

Tori took a sip of juice, and cocked her head. "Did you say something?"

"Uh."

Drawn by this odd utterance, Tori left the kitchen and entered the living room, finding her beloved soulmate sprawled on the couch regarding her injured foot with a frown. "What's wrong?"

"That." Jade pointed.

Tori walked over and sat down, cradling Jade's foot in her lap and examining it closely. "Oh." She grimaced. "Ow."

The foot was swollen and an angry red color. Jade folded her arms across her chest and glared at it. "Stupid god damned fish."

"Let me go get the antiseptic." Tori took hold of Jade's ankle when she started to pull the injured extremity away. "Or we could go see Dr. Dodie."

Jade sighed, but returned her leg to it's former position. Tori slipped into the bathroom and returned, setting the antiseptic bottle and cotton balls down as she prepared to tender first aid. Chino came over and started to help, licking Jade's face thoroughly with a serious expression.

"That's it, Chi. You keep mommy Jade busy while I do this."

Jade reached over the dog and picked up the mail on the coffee table, laying it on her stomach and flipping through it to distract herself. A Hammacher Schlemmer catalog caught her eye, and she opened it, browsing the pages idly. "Want a pair of space socks?"

Tori tweaked one of Jade's toes. "No, honey, I don't." She wiped around the fish bite carefully with her swab.

"Automatic vacuum cleaner?"

"For?" Tori looked around. "We have a cleaning service, remember?"

Jade sighed. "How about a train set?"

"You just like buying toys." Tori peered at the bites on the bottom of her partner's foot. "Jade, these really do look bad."

"Great."

"I don't know if Dr. Dodie was a horrible idea." Tori went on, with a slightly apologetic tone. "I know you don't like to, but I'd hate to see these really get infected, you know?"

"I've had my tetanus."

It was one of the few things they consistently fought about. Tori privately admitted. Jade hated doctors, and Tori both sympathized, and understood why she did. In fact, she wasn't fond of either thing herself, though in Dr. Dodie she'd finally found a doctor she not only trusted, but liked. But Jade could be pregnant right now, and she needed to think about that. She hadn't dived all weekend because of it. And infection is out of the question. "Jade."

"Okay."

Tori paused in mid breath, taken aback by the unexpected capitulation. She looked at Jade in surprise.

Jade shrugged a little. "It really hurts." She admitted. "And you're right – I don't want it to get worse if I have to spend the next week in hiking boots on the deck of some damn half assed cruise ship." She said. "So, if you want to give Steve a call, I'll go feed Chino."

Tori gave the long leg wrapped around her a gentle pat. "For being such a good girl, I'll take you out to dinner after he's done. How's that?"

Jade produced a charming smile. "Only if you promise to never, ever, ever tell anyone I was either good, or voluntarily went to the doctor."

"Deal."

Tori got up and edged between the couch and the coffee table, leaning over to give Jade a kiss on the lips. She stayed there almost long enough to get a crick in her back, then straightened up and headed for the phone.

Jade ruffled Chino's fur with one hand, and laid the other across her stomach. Aside from her foot really hurting, she also found herself completely unwilling to argue with Tori, especially since she knew Tori was right and she was only arguing because that's what she always did.

She felt a little adrift. She could feel changes coming, and the thought more excited her than frightened. But first, they did have this damn bid to get through, so she decided to focus on that for now. In the meantime, she would go and get her foot fixed up, and keep Tori from getting any more stressed than she already was.

"You hungry, Chi? You want some dinner?" Jade swung her legs over the side of the couch and got up, going to the kitchen with a very attentive Labrador now glued to her knee. "Let's go get you fed."

"Growf."

Dr. Dodie shook his head as he examined Jade's foot. "Munchkin, between the two of you, I swear I should just tie you up in hammocks for a month and not let you outside for a minute."

"Long as it's the same hammock." Jade replied benignly, her eyes closed and her hands folded over her stomach. "I'm cool with it."

Tori was loitering behind the examination table, leaning on her elbows. "Count me in too."

"Tch, tch. You wild children." The doctor finished his work and turned around to face Jade. "Honey, I'm going to have to give you a shot of antibiotic."

"Okay."

"Now, I don't want to hear all that guff about…" Dr. Dodie paused. "Scuse me?"

Jade shrugged. "Go ahead. Anything to make that damn foot feel better."

Her doctor and old family friend put his hands on his hips. "Who in the hell are you?" He asked. "You ain't no Jade West I know." He looked over at Tori. "You get her drunk before you brought her in here?"

"Nope." Tori idly played with a bit of Jade's hair. "Hasn't had a drop.. though that'll change when we get done." She gave the lock a tug, and was rewarded by Jade turning her head and peering up at her. "Jade's just come to her senses, right honey?"

"Right." Jade kept her eyes on Tori while Dr. Dodie prepared the shot, sense notwithstanding she never had liked to watch large pieces of sharp steel enter her body and didn't figure on starting any time soon, or now for that matter.

Tori stepped out with him and mumbled. "Is that antibiotic safe for… you know?"

"Dont' you worry, this one's safe. Moms get infections often.

Tori breathed out then headed toward her wife holding her hand.

Jade could sense the doctor's approach. Tori must have sensed it too, because she slid her hand forward and cupped Jade's cheek, a welcome warmth in the cool air of the office. Jade let herself get lost in the soft green eyes regarding her, and she didn't even feel the prick of the needle.

"Okay, there you go." Dr. Dodie wiped the area with a bit of cotton. "I'm gonna give you a prescription, too, you little rugrat. Wish you knew for sure what kind of fishie that was." He patted Jade's leg. "But you should be okay, long as you don't aggravate things."

Obligingly, Jade sat up and swung her legs off the table, leaning her weight on her hands as she watched Dr. Dodie potter about at his table writing her prescription. He was dressed in a short sleeve plaid shirt and Bermuda shorts, and hadn't bothered to assume his white coat or any propriety for his after hours patients. "Did you look at Tori's eye?"

Dr. Dodie looked over his shoulder. "C'mere, Tori."

Tori walked over to him and stood in the light, as he tilted her face a little towards him and studied her.

"I'd say her eye was brown." Dr. Dodie announced. "Just like the other one." He grinned at Tori, who grinned back. "No headaches or anything from it, young lady?"

"No.." Tori hesitated. "Well, not from that anyway. We've had a tough week."

His eyebrow rose. "It's Monday."

"Exactly."

Dr. Dodie patted her cheek. "Well, you take it easy, okay? Nothing in that crazy world of yours is worth getting sick over."

"You got that right." Jade limped over and laid a hand on Tori's shoulder. "So, take this stuff, and what else? Don't tell me to stay off it, Steve. I've got a damn ship I have to be crawling over the next couple of days."

Dr. Dodie frowned at her. "Honey, how do d'you expect that thing to heal if you're stomping all over with it? Any shoe you put on there's gonna hurt." He pointed out. "Less you want to go barefoot, like you used to."

"Still does." Tori teased gently. "But I'd never let her do it on that dock."

Jade sighed. "I'll figure something out." She took the prescription. "Thanks. Sorry to pull you out from dinner." She stuck the paper into her pocket as the doctor lead them to the back door, opening it so they could get out.

"No worries, rugrat." Dr. Dodie patted her on the back and headed for his open topped Jeep. "You take care." He said. "And keep off that foot!"

Jade got into the car, this time Tori's smaller blue one, and shut the door. She waited for her partner to get in on the driver's side and gave her a look. "I can't not go."

Tori started the car, then leaned on the steering wheel and regarded her. "Didn't you just agree with him that the job isn't worth your health?"

Blue eyes blinked unrepentantly. "No."

"No?"

"I agreed the job wasn't worth YOUR health."

"Jesus."

"Not hardly." Jade set her sunglasses onto her nose. "C'mon. We'll figure out something."

"Yeah." Tori put the car in gear, and pulled out of the driveway heading towards the beach. "I'm sure we will."

They ended up going by the port anyway. It was near nine o'clock, but the piers were bustling with activity and Tori had to steer around several groups of hurrying workmen as she edged her way towards their ship. The air was full of the sound of heavy machinery moving, the clank of cranes, the hoot of warning klaxons as huge pieces of steel swung overhead and the everpresent hiss of welding torches. "Looks busy." She commented.

"Very." Jade agreed, peering out the open passenger side window. "Are those protestors?"

"Yeah." Tori nodded. "Looks like it."

"Hmph."

Tori parked near their terminal, and got out, watching with some slight anxiety as Jade hopped out on her side and shut the door. "You going to be okay?"

"Fine." Jade put cautious pressure on her foot, and immediately regretted it. "Ow."

"Want to stay with the car, and let me run in?" Tori circled the Volvo and came to Jade's side, resting her hand on Jade's arm.

"No." Jade stubbornly started towards the pier, limping heavily. "C'mon, let's get this over with."

Tori followed her, trotting to catch up, then walking along at Jade's side. For once, she didn't have to stretch to keep up, and halfway there she put her hand on Jade's back, giving the surface a gentle rub with the edge of her thumb.

"That jerk at the restaurant aggravated me." Jade said, out of the blue.

"Yeah, me too." Tori agreed.

"He had no right to take it out on that waitress." Jade continued. "It wasn't her fault he split his pants."

"Too true."

"I wanted to kick him."

Tori patted Jade's back. "I know, honey, and I know you couldn't because your foot's hurt." She sympathized. "Anyway, I'm sure the karma will come back and bite him in the butt someday."

"Hmph."

Tori chuckled. "You're such a crusader. I love that about you."

"Me?" Jade hobbled up the steps to the terminal and headed for the doors. "I'm nothing of the sort. I just hate jerks."

Tori swatted her on the butt as she held the door open and let Jade enter ahead of her, glad when the somewhat clammy but welcome chill of the air conditioning beat back the mugginess of the evening air. The interior of the room was far more active than it had been previously, and they both paused in surprise as the chaos resolved itself. "Holy pooters."

The inside of the big terminal had been transformed from a dank, empty space to a bustle of activity, filled from back to front with people and gear they both recognized as belonging to WesTrek. "Well." Jade exhaled, and started forward, lifting a hand to wave as people began to recognize her. "We did call up the troops."

"Hey boss." Sinjin appeared from literally nowhere, carrying a spool of cable and a switch on one shoulder. "How's the goldfish nip?"

"Fine.. what's going on in here?" Jade asked, looking around. Boxes and boxes of gear were stacked against the walls, most unpacked with humming and blinking boxes propped up on every available surface. "Sinjin, the network goes inside the ship, yeah?"

"Lemme get rid of this." Sinjin trotted over and divested himself of his load, handing it off to a harried looking tech. "A ton of our stuff came in, but they ain't got no space for it yet."

"Ah." Tori walked over to a carton and examined the packing slip. "Yeah, I was expecting this today. Good." She looked over at Sinjin. "Guess they came through after all, no matter where they got it from."

Sinjin nodded. "Yeah, I talked to our guy today, just checking on stuff. He's still torked."

"Too bad." Tori put her hands on her hips. "So, you brought it all in here?"

"Nu uh." The MIS manager shook his head. "I got told it was coming in here, and that I was supposed to do something useful with it."

Jade cocked her head. "Who in the hell had the balls to tell you that?"

Tori was already smiling, half covering her face with one hand.

"Your dad." Sinjin cheerfully supplied. "I figured I'd better listen to him."

"My dad." Jade appeared to have developed a headache, from the way she was rubbing her temples. "Okay, fine. So you are…?"

"Setting up, burning in, and testing the network here." Sinjin said. "Configuring it after that, so when they do have someplace to put it, we'll be ready."

Jade absorbed that, then nodded. "Makes sense." She said. "John around?"

Sinjin pointed towards the entrance to the ship mutely. He watched Jade limp off, then turned to Tori. "Hey.. um… I got something kinda skanky to show you."

Tori tore her own eyes from her partner's retreating back, and focused on him. "Skanky?"

She followed Sinjin over to a pallet, which was covered with a gray, dusty tarp. Sinjin took hold of one end of it and pulled it free, exposing a stack of boxes. "Jade's old man dropped this over here too. Said it was delivered to us by accident, but we should just keep it hidden."

Tori looked at the packing slip. The receiving name was Telegenics. "This isn't ours."

"Yeah, I know." Sinjin agreed. "It's the same stuff we ordered, but its for those jerkwads down on the other ship." He pointed. "Got three more pallets full."

"The four orders."

"Yeah."

Tori walked to each pallet, and examined the labels. They were all identical. Proof of Telegenic's duplicity… or was it? Could that have been done by accident? "Sinjin, did you ever ask the goofball if they questioned those four orders?"

Sinjin walked over and leaned an elbow on the boxes. "Yeah, I did. He told me he was told to shut up and mind his own business, and just deliver what was ordered."

And didn't that just sound like Shari? Tori slowly let out a held breath. "Well well." She flicked her fingers against the cardboard, suddenly aware that she held the fate of the bids in her hands, at least the Telegenics one. There was no way for them to get replacement gear for anything less than truly exorbitant prices if this batch went missing, chiefly because they themselves dried up the channel.

What goes around, comes around. Wasn't that the saying? Didn't it serve Shari and Michelle right to have this happen after what they'd tried to do?

It was just good, hard business sense for Tori to keep these pallets right here, under cover, maybe filing a mis-delivery with the carrier that would take several weeks to resolve, right?

Absolutely.

"You have a really funny look on your face, chief." Sinjin commented.

"My morals are having a cat fight with my conscience." Tori let her hand fall. She turned and spotted a cluster of people near the office. "Now what?" She started towards the group, leaving the pallets behind for the time being.

Sinjin stood by and watched, until one of the techs came up next to him. "Hey." The tech said. "You show her these boxes?"

"Yeah." Sinjin nodded.

"What do you think she's gonna do with em?"

Sinjin scratched his neck. "I dunno." He admitted. "C'mon, we've got shit to do." He headed back towards the piled gear, shaking his head a little.

Jade limped up the gangway, wincing a little at both the pain in her foot and the glaring spotlights surrounding the pier. She could hear men cursing ahead of her, and suddenly in the rumble of sound she caught a familiar drawl.

She stopped at the top of the gangway, unable to go further due to the cram of boxes, people, gear, and packing material stuffed in the entrance. Briefly she paused, looking for a way around it, then she shrugged and tipped her head back a little. "Dad!" She let out a yell.

One hundred percent of the men inside the hold were men, and a statistically significant portion of them were fathers. However, only one answered. "Gigi, that you?" James yelled back. "Careful of that there mess, will ya?"

"What in the hell is all this crap?" Jade pushed against a box. "You building an ark in there?"

Abruptly a box moved, then disappeared, allowing James to stick his grizzled head into the hole it left. "Lord, I will tell you there are more stupid human beings inside this here boat than I met in all mah years in the Navy."

Jade leaned against the boxes. "What are you doing here?"

"Long tale, young lady." Her father said. "Anyhow, them folks are trying to get all this here new stuff up one bitty elevator and it ain't flying." He said. "You get them boxes inside? That's all your stuff, ain't it?"

"Yeah." Jade said. "My people are setting it all up and getting it ready."

"Yeap." Jim nodded again. "Folks seem like they know what's up inside there."

"Of course." Jade felt a prickle of pride. "Hey, why don't you put some of this packing crap out on the pier? You'd have more room."

Her father gave her a look. "Cause them there folks.." He pointed at a sextet of jacketed individuals watching the ship. "Do not want no garbage exiting this here vessel."

"Ah.." Jade exhaled. "EPA?"

"Yeap."

"How in the hell did they get into all this?" Jade wondered.

Jim cleared his throat. Jade looked at him. They exchanged knowing glances. Jade scrubbed her face with one hand, and mildly resented this additional complication to an already complex and morally questionable series of actions. "Christ."

"Well." Jim sighed. "Them boats are leaking."

"I know." Jade leaned against the side of the ship entrance. "But there are so many questionable things involved with this circus right now, if that gets out… I don't' know." She shifted her weight off her injured foot. "It's a mess."

James was watching her like a hawk. "Something hurting you?"

"I got my foot bit by a fish." Jade answered absently, her mind churning over the possibilities.

"How in the hell did that happen?"

"Long damn story." Jade turned and put her hands on the gangway railing. "All right, let's just do what we can, and make the best of it." She looked over her shoulder at him. "Thanks for watching out for us."

Jim regarded her. "You going inside there? Let you know when a body can move inside this place."

Jade nodded. "You need anything? Drinks or whatever? I saw our catering truck outside."

Jim grinned.

"I'll take care of it." Jade turned and made her way back down the ramp, wondering what possibly could happen next to screw up a situation already so screwed up it defied explanation.

Then she figured she'd better stop wondering in case it happened.