A couple of breakfasts and back to yhe ship.

Fifty Three

Jade spent a good while after she woke before dawn just relaxing in the darkness, her eyes mostly closed as she listened to the soft cycling on the air conditioner. It was comfortable in the bedroom, the conditioner putting enough chill into the air to make the warm waterbed surface under them feel good and there was a sense of peace in the townhouse that was very appealing.

It certainly was appealing to Jade, who was perfectly content to lie there and enjoy it as she pondered the coming day.

"Meatballs." Tori muttered, under her breath. "Banana compote."

Jade's eyebrow twitched and she turned her head slightly to get a better view of her still sleeping yet surprisingly chatty partner. "Tor?" She whispered.

"Pencils don't do it." Tori insisted.

Instantly, Jade's mind was alive with possibilities and she tried to figure out what Tori was dreaming of. Pencils? Meatballs? What was banana compote, anyway? "Toooori" She warbled softly. "I loooooovvveee you."

Very slowly, a brown orb appeared, focusing on her and visible in the low light from the clock. "I thought I heard a gopher."

"Hi."

Tori rolled over onto her left side and snuggled back up to her partner. "Honey, you can wake me up saying you love me any day of the week." She uttered. "But did you have to do it before sunrise?"

"What were you dreaming about?"

"I wasn't." Tori shook her head, then paused. "Why? Was I babbling again."

Jade chuckled.

"Y'know, Jade… I never used to talk in my sleep before I met you." Tori complained. "I'm sure my brother and sister would have mentioned it."

"How do you know?" Jade asked, reasonably. "You guys didn't sleep in the same bed, didja?"

Tori's face scrunched up. "Eeeewww…. Jade! No!" She poked the taller woman in the ribs. "But Trina and I went to camp together." She explained. "I never would have lived it down if I talked in my sleep. What was I saying?"

"Gettysburg Address."

Tori chewed on her lip. "Can't believe I actually remember that. Must be subliminal." She shook her head and closed her eyes.

Jade put her arm around Tori and exhaled. "You were actually talking about meatballs and bananas."

Tori opened one eye again. "Together?" She asked, a touch hesitantly. "Hmm. Maybe I was dreaming I was pregnant."

Jade considered the question. "Did you want to be?" She queried cautiously, her mind flashing back to a certain dream she'd had near the beginning of their relationship.

"Not unless you're volunteering to make me that way."

Jade's eyes widened slightly. "I think we need to go back to sleep."

"Good idea." Tori gave her a pat on the belly. "Unless you want to go take a test."

"I don't want to move.," Jade said as she pulled the covers up and tucked them around Tori's shoulders. They had at least an hour before it was time to get up, and she intended on using every minute of the time productively. Peace settled back down over the room after a moment.

It didn't last that long. "Tor?"

"Mm?"

"You know, everything is gonna change if I am pregnant, right"

"Babe are you scared?"

"I don't think I can do it."

"Sure you could." Tori gave her another comforting pat. "You can do anything you put your mind to. I have total confidence in you."

Silence fell for another brief moment. Then Jade cleared her throat gently. "I just want to put off thinking about it a little longer."

Tori chuckled throatily, her shoulder shaking. "You know, I do remember what I was dreaming about." She admitted. "I was organizing a pot luck for our office."

"Ah. That's where the pencils came in." Jade mused.

"No one knew what to bring. No one had any idea of what the heck was going on.. it was like a teacher's workday in Idiotville." The brunette complained. "I'm glad you woke me up. I was just getting to the point where I was going to start…"

"Throwing food?" Her partner suggested. "Seems to be a standard practice in our circle."

"Ahem."

They both chuckled. Then Tori sighed. "Well, I'm up now." She lamented. "You?"

"Yeah."

"How about we have a biscuit on the porch and watch the sun rise, then go over to the gym?" Tori said. "I grabbed a new flavor coffee at the market the other day and I've been meaning to try it."

It sounded pretty appealing to Jade, who gave up on her snoozing plans with only a faint regret. She reached over and turned on the bedside lamp, which produced a soft glow calculated not to shock the eyeballs. Tori had selected the appliance, replacing a somewhat brighter one that had been a holdover from Aunt May's day. "Go go go."

Tori waited for Jade to roll up out of the waterbed before she followed suit, rubbing her bare arms as the chill air hit them. She grabbed the shirt Jade tossed her out of mid air and slipped into it, then briefly wished for a pair of slippers as she followed Jade out of the room.

Chino was already waiting at the back door, tail wagging gently as they entered the kitchen. Jade detoured to let the Labrador out, and she paused on the steps to watch the pre-dawn stars twinkle in the soon to be lightening sky.

The air was crisp but full of moisture, and the scent of salt water and grass was thick in it. Jade sucked in a lungful, almost able to taste the richness on the back of her tongue as a breeze brushed over her body. She could remember air like this as part of her world from the time she was old enough to recognize anything, and she spared a brief moment of nostalgia for a time when all it would have meant was another lazy day full of thunderstorms and dust, and maybe some coconuts to break open.

With a faint sigh, she turned and leaned on the door jamb, watching Tori as she measured coffee from a lidded container into their coffee machine. Despite the faded shirt and sleep disheveled hair, or maybe because of it, she found herself smiling at the sight.

"So." Tori leaned on the counter and watched the water start to percolate through the grinds. "We've got an executive meeting at nine. What's the angle you're going to put on that, Jade?"

"Shh." Jade circled her and kissed her on the back of the neck. "I don't want to talk about angles until we're in the car on the way there."

Tori turned her head and peered up at her partner. "Just trying to mentally prepare." She protested mildly. "It's going to be a free for all, y'know."

"I know." Jade rested her chin on Tori's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. We'll just take it as it comes. Now.." She bumped her lightly. "What was that about sunrise and a cookie?"

"A biscuit." Tori bumped her back with a tolerant grin. "I think I have some whole wheat crackers we could try."

Jade snorted.

"Yeah, okay. Grab the banana nut cakes from the fridge and I'll get the coffee." Tori acknowledged. "And I'll figure out something safe to talk to you about."

Jade paused in the middle of removing a package of muffins, and looked at her. "That's not what I.."

Tori raised her eyebrows.

"Tor, it's going to be an entire day of that crap. Any reason to start it early?" Jade asked plaintively.

"Yes." Tori looked back at her seriously. "I want to be ready for it, and I want a comfort level with how you feel about all this stuff before we go in there. It would make me feel a lot better."

Jade blinked. "Oh."

"You asked." The brunette shrugged slightly, a faint twitch starting at the corners of her mouth. "But I like being able to answer you honestly, and not have either of us freak out, you know that?"

On the verge of slightly freaking out, Jade relaxed, instead. "Yeah." She agreed. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking." She put the muffins down and removed a package of whipped cream cheese, setting it down as well. "Story of my life lately."

"That's the second time you said that recently." Tori poured the now finished coffee into a carafe and snagged two cups. "C'mon." She led the way to the sliding glass doors to their porch and paused, as Jade reached past her to unlock them and push them open.

They walked outside and settled down at the table, the sound of the surf now more audible as a fairly strong breeze fluttered their shirts against their bodies. "Oo." Tori set her burden down and walked to the balcony, enjoying the fresh air.

Jade took a seat at the table and poured out two cups of the coffee, fixing Tori's and setting it next to the other chair. She removed a muffin from the container and cut it in half, studiously covering both the flat surfaces with cream cheese.

Tori came over and sat down, taking her cup and sipping at it. "Thank you."

Pale blue eyes flicked up and regarded her. "You're welcome." She handed Tori half the muffin and took the other half for herself. "You know something?"

Tori nibbled at her muffin. "You have no clue what you're going to do in that meeting." She stated, eyes twinkling very gently. "I figured that out while we were walking out here.. because if you did know what you were going to do, you'd have said it already instead of pushing me off since yesterday."

Jade took a bite of her muffin, more than a little disconcerted. "Um.."

"Am I wrong? It's okay if I am. I was just.." Tori half shrugged. "You know." She slid one foot under the table and rubbed Jade's with it. "I don't want to rattle you, hon. I just feel rattled myself, and I hate that."

Jade, of course, hated it also. She wasn't really feeling rattled as much as she was feeling like she was not in control of whatever was going on, which she hated even more. Things were happening that surprised her, and knocked her off guard, and it was difficult to keep having to adjust her inner plans to account for totally bizarre…

Off balance. It struck a chord somewhere, and suddenly Jade remembered exactly why she hated feeling that way, and exactly when she'd been taunted about her reaction to it. "Huh."

"Jade?"

Everything had conspired lately against her… but was it just the vagaries of fate, or did she detect a subtle, long fingernailed hand behind it?

"Hello, Jade?" Tori reached over and curled her fingers around Jade's wrist. "Earth calling?"

Jade cocked her head to one side. "I was just remembering something." She murmured. "Anyway, yeah, I think you're right, Tor. I mean.. I know basically what we're gonna do." She leaned her elbows on the table and nibbled her way around the edge of her muffin. "We're gonna cancel that meeting."

"Uh?" Tori got caught in mid-sip. "What?"

"You and I are just going to concentrate on the ship." Jade said firmly. "We've got a project to complete, and the rest of the stuff going on can wait. Rob can handle his security breach, and our security department can handle the cleaning staff."

Tori rested her chin on her fist. "Um… okay."

"It's a distraction." Jade looked her right in the eye. "Someone's trying very hard to keep you, and I, off blance, and not concentrating on this project." She bit her muffin in half, and watched crumbs litter the table. "We're not going to let them do that any more."

Mental whiplash was no kinder than the physical kind, Tori discovered. She studied her partner for a minute, then merely shook her head. "Whatever you say, boss." She replied. "So, you want me to send a note to.."

"The girls?" Jade said referring to their assistants. She sounded much more decisive now. "Yes. Tell them we'll be at the ship all day, and nothing short of a squall better interrupt us." She sliced the other muffin in half and adorned it, then nudged Tori's hand. "C'mon.. we've got crunches to do, treadmills to pound… start chewing."

Obediently, Tori did, glad at least that some sort of direction seemed to be coming back into her partner's attitude. Whether that direction was going to take them both right off the road into the water, she didn't know, but heck.

Life was short. Enjoy the cream cheese while you could.

Tori crossed the baked, white concrete between the terminal and the ship, glad she'd put her sunglasses on as the sun reflected off the pale surface unmercifully. She was dressed in a pair of well broken in jeans, work boots, and a plain red pocketed t-shirt and she blended in with the thick crowd of workers clustering around the ship entry in a state of controlled panic.

She had left Jade in the terminal, her partner intent on taking control of their office and everything that was processing through it. Unable to put her own boots on because of the swelling of her injured foot, Jade had reluctantly agreed to let Tori take charge onboard, and work with the install team.

Tori knew, of course, that beach sandals or no, Jade would eventually break the rules and ramble after her, but for now she proceeded on the assumption that everything would be up to her to coordinate. They had a lot to do, and she felt relatively focused and ready for it. "Morning, guys."

Two of her IT techs turned, hearing her voice. "Morning, ma'am!" The both chorused. "Wow, what a mess, huh?"

"You got it." Tori paused, seeing what appeared to be a logjam at the top of the gangway. "What's going on in there?"

"Oh.. " The taller of the two, a slim dark haired man named Carlos, grinned. "There's this guy up there who's yelling because we keep getting our stuff before he gets his. The man in charge inside I think likes us."

"The big guy?" Tori hazarded a guess, holding a hand up over her own head.

"Si." Carlos nodded. "He sent up all the cabling patches to the main floor just now, and this other guy was waiting for some plugs and he had a fit."

"You know who that big guy is, don't you?" Brown eyes twinkled.

"No." Carlos shook his head, and his companion did also. They were both fairly new hires, juniors in Sinjin's expansive department.

"C'mon." Tori led the way up the gangway, nudging past a few construction workers with quiet apologies. At the top she managed to squeeze past a man in a hard hat with a bristling red beard, ignoring his glare as she hopped onto the deck to see what was going on.

Carlos and his friend followed her, standing cautiously behind her as they got clear of the hatch.

"Ah do not care." Jim was standing, with his arms crossed over his broad chest, legs spread in front of a stack of boxes. "These here boxes go in whatever the hell order ah want them to."

Facing him was a lean man in an electrican's union t-shirt, with a tool belt and a bad attitude. "Listen buddy, I'm gonna kick your ass if you don't cough up my stuff, unnerstand?"

Jim just looked at him and smiled. "We ain't got no time here for fun."

"You think it's funny?" The man advanced aggressively.

"Ah think you're an ass." Jim pointed at the narrow stairwell with one thumb. "So get your silly ass up them stairs fore I toss it overboard. Your damn stuff went up half an hour ago."

The man glared at him, but headed for the door. "You aint' seen the last of me. That's for sure."

The logjam broke and men started across the deck again, milling around and heading for various boxes and crates. Tori scooted through them and headed for James instead, cautiously followed by her techs. "Hey! Morning!"

Jim turned at the familiar voice. "Wall! Morning there, kumquat." He produced a grin for her. "You're an early bird."

Without hesitation, and despite all the commotion, Tori walked up and gave him a big hug. "Boy, I'm glad you're here." She remarked. "Are you causing trouble taking care of us?"

Her father in law chuckled, a low, rumbling sound.

Tori turned to the wide eyed techs. "Guys, this is James West." She explained. "Jade's daddy." She clarified, after a second. "Dad, this is Carlos and Jason, who work for us."

"Howdy." James greeted them amiably.

"Hi." Carlos responded.

"Hello." Jason added, from his safe position behind Tori. "Nice to meet you."

Tori couldn't decide if the two were more intimidated by James's size, or the fact that he was Jade's father. She gave them a tolerant grin, and pointed. "Go on upstairs.. I'll meet you up there." She waited for them to retreat, then turned back to Jim. "Having fun?"

Jim looked around, then back at her. "Little bit." He acknowledged. "My kid here?"

"Yep.. in the building." Tori pointed over her shoulder. "We've got a lot of work to do today."

"You get all that stuff settled up last night?" James asked curiously. "Sounded like a rat in a teakettle all what was going on."

How would a rat get into a teakettle? Tori wondered. "More or less." She said. "What's going on in here today? Seems like a lot of people are pissed off."

"Wall." Her father in law folded his arms again. "Folks don't like to naturally take turns, see, and in this here little box, ain't no way anything gets done unless folks do." He walked over and kicked a pallet. "Problem was, feller who was in here fore I was just let all this stuff show up any the hell way, and it was a big old mess."

Tori looked around, realizing the cargo space was far more organized than it had been the last time she'd seen it. Pallets were lined up against the walls in orderly rows, each with a label on them, and men with pallet jacks were moving them out in a regular sequence. "Ah!"

"Folks don't like waiting." Jim shrugged.

"Especially when you put all our stuff first? Tori elbowed him gently in the side.

Blue eyes blinked innocently at her. "Aint mah fault all them gizmos of yours come in labled and regular, when the rest of this here gunk we got to rip open to see what it is." He protested mildly. "I just get that there easy stuff out mah way first, that's all."

"Ahh!" Tori put a hand over her chest. "My anally retentive labeling system. At last, someone appreciates it!" She smiled broadly. "I'm vindicated!"

James chuckled. "Ah do like it." He agreed. "Bout good enough for the Navy."

Tori took that as the compliment it obviously was, and grinned. "Thanks." She said. "Okay, I'm going to get working… if you need anything, I'll be upstairs, and Jade's over there terrorizing everyone in case you hear yelling coming from the shore side area."

James patted her on the back and sent her on her way. He waited for her to disappear up the stairs, before he returned his attention to the loading dock, observing the orderly movement with a judicious eye. "Hey, you all." He called over to two men standing near the far wall. "Watch this here thing. I'll be right back."

He walked across the gangway and down to the dock, ambling across the open space with a deceptive stride. Two forklifts dodged him, and he sped up a little as he made his way up the walk to the back of the terminal.

Ducking inside the door, he looked quickly around. It was almost as full of frenetic, yet purposeful motion as the ship hold, only here the bodies rushing around were covered in polo shirts and pressed chinos and the smell was of copper and new plastic rather than sump oil.

It was cool in here, too. James appreciated that. He'd spent enough time in his life in places were air conditioning was unheard of to appreciate it now that he could pretty much have it at will. After a career spent in the military, he'd discovered that directing his own life, and his own comfort was actually a pretty damn nice thing.

Ah. His eyes found what they were looking for. On the far side of the large room there was a large desk like area, raised up a foot or so, giving it a commanding view of the entire space.

Jade had taken it over, and was perched on a stool behind the counter, her laptop on one side of her and a pad of paper in front, her head bent over it as she wrote. James found himself smiling at the sight, gazing at his daughter fondly as the head propped on one fist echoed a much earlier mental image he had of her.

He remembered watching her sit at the counter in their tiny kitchen down south in just such a pose, pouring over a comic book or a new magazine as she waited for them to have dinner. The look of absorbation hadn't changed, or the rapid flicking as her eyes scanned across her subject with an intense focus he'd recognized as something he'd seen in himself, on occasion.

It had always made him feel good, that echo. Jim knew he wasn't a stupid man, but he knew as well he wasn't no scientist and he'd taken a lot of pride in his daughters accomplishments specially knowing he'd contributed to a bit of it in his own way.

Mah kid. He smiled, watching Jade shift restlessly as she wrote, recognizing the fidgets as well.

"All right." Jade finished writing, and straightened, ripping the top sheet off the pad of paper and handing it to a waiting tech. "Get these units together, and get em on a flatbed. We'll start at the top of the ship and work down."

"Not from the bottom first, ma'am?" The tech queried. "Wouldn't it be easier?"

Jade leaned on her arms and pinned him with a cool, blue stare. "You think it's gonna be easier to carry those things up eleven flights of metal stairs now, or this afternoon?"

The tech looked at the list, then at Jade. "Oh." He scratches his jaw sheepishly. "Sorry, yeah. You're right.. no elevators in there, huh?"

"No."

"Gotcha..on the way, ma'am." The tech trotted off with his list.

Jade shook her head and went back to her pad, then paused and turned her head, as though sensing her father's eyes on her. "Hey." She put her pencil down as she spotted him.

"Hey there, Gigi." James came over and rested his forearms on the desk. "How are ya?"

Jade drummed her thumbs on the bad faux wood formica. "Wanting this damn circus to be over. How's it going in there?"

"Not bad." Her father said. "Saw Tori go on up in there. She all right with them guys?" He expressed a little doubt. "Got some roughneck types up in them spaces up a ways."

Jade frowned. "My guys?" She asked incredulously. "Dad, most of them won't even cough hard in her presence."

"Naw.. them contractors." James shook his head. "Lectricans and what all." He glanced around. "Not these here fellers. I figure they ain't most of em dangerous as bugs."

No, probably not. Jade glanced at the back door. "Well." She drummed the table again. "There's always a chance, I guess, but she's got some of the techs with her, and I'm not gonna be the one to tell her she can't be in there."

"Heh." James chuckled shortly. "Well, I'll keep an earbug out." He turned and looked around. "How's your laig?"

"Ick." Jade answered honestly. "Thanks for asking."

James gave her arm a pat. "We'll get this thing done, Gigi. Don't you worry." He turned and headed for the back door, threading his way through the techs who all turned and looked after him.

Jade exhaled. She pulled her phone out and tapped out a message, then unclipped her cell phone as it rang and checked the caller ID.

Rob.

With a sigh, she answered it.

"Okay, let's start with the number one room." Tori threaded her way through the hall, dodging rolls of carpet and stacks of steel supports. The two techs followed obediently after her, carrying the first of their heavy pieces of gear between them.

The hallways flickered with intermittent power, and they were full of workers all trying to get their part of the job done at the same time and mostly in the same space. Tempers were hot, the air was hotter, and Tori already felt sweat making her t-shirt cling to her torso.

Not a nice feeling. Tori had never enjoyed sweating, though she didn't mind it in small doses, as when she was in the gym, or if they were outside on the beach. But she liked the opportunity to be limited and have copious amounts of some kind of water at close hand.

At first, she'd thought she was being just too preppy about it, and for a while after they'd moved in together, she hadn't said anything about it one way or another to Jade, until she realized one morning that it was so muggy outside the windows in the town house were completely fogged over.

"Ugh." Tori pressed her hands against the sliding glass doors, feeling the chill of them against her skin. "I'm sweating already."

Jade walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder at the misty scene. "Ah. Summer."

Well, Tori told herself, buck up. It's only an hour, and you can't show your northern stripes yet. She straightened up a little and pushed off from the window. "Time's a wasting." She started for the door, only to be brought up short as Jade caught her around the waist with one long arm. "Urf?"

"You want to go running in that?" Jade queried.

Tori peeked up at her. "Um… there's a choice?"

Jade leaned her arms on Tori's shoulders and gazed into her eyes. "Sure." She said. "There's no rule that says we have to do anything we don't want to do, Tor."

"I thought you liked running."

"I like fitting into my clothes." Jade replied frankly. "Only idiots like spending the morning in air thick enough to make soup from, running in circles."

"Ah." Tori felt better. "So you don't like sweating that much?"

"I don't like sweating at all." Her new partner grinned. "Or didn't the 65 degree constant AC in here tip you off to that?" She indicated the windows. "How about we go swimming instead?"

"Swimming?"

Jade nodded. "The big pool's great for laps."

Cool water and Jade in a bathing suit. Hm. "You don't think I'm a wuss?" She demurred. "Or a pathetic snowbird?"

Jade snickered. "We could start the morning off right and skinny dip."

"C'mon." Tori turned her back on the fogged window, feeling much friendlier to the humidity all of a sudden. "Race you to the pool."

"Ma'am?"

Tori looked up and wiped the smile off her face, along with a healthy dose of perspiration from her forehead. "Sorry. What?"

"We have to take this up stairs, right?" The man asked. "Like, by walking?"

Tori gave him a sympathetic look, as they edged past stacks of metal poles. "Unfortunately, yeah." She said. "I'll give you guys a hand going up with it." She offered. "I know it's heavy."

The nearer tech released one hand off the switch and waved it at her. "Oh, no..no, that's okay, ma'am. We're fine! Honest."

"Yeah." The other tech grunted. "We can handle this."

Tori gave them both a dubious look, and kept her comments to herself. She led the way to the wide, center stair case and started up it, turning to keep an eye on the two techs with their burden as they trudged upward.

The steps had been stripped of carpet, and were a treacherous combination of cracked wood and treading strips. Tori could feel her boots sticking to them a little, and she kept her eyes on the ground trying to spot dangerous items like upward facing nails.

She was fairly sure her thick soled shoes would stand up to it, but given the accumulated grime in the stairwell, a puncture could possibly indeed be life threatening.

A new frame had been welded in place for a handrail, but the top was still just open metal studded with bolts. Tori was very cautious in taking hold of it, and as she climbed upward, the light started dimming so she retrieved her flashlight from her back pocket and turned it on. "Careful." She warned. "I think they're welding up here."

"Great." One of the techs muttered.

Tori paused on the landing, as her phone chirped. "Okay, let's break for a rest here a second." She stepped to one side of the landing and pulled the device out, as the techs let the switch rest on the steps. They were sweating, and breathing hard, and Tori debated as to whether she should call them on their macho.

Hey. Watch out for the tradesmen in there. Dad says they look like a rough bunch.

Tori regarded the note quietly. What exactly was Jade saying? That she was in danger, or were they in danger of getting knocked on the head and the switch swiped? She tapped out just that question and waited, keeping one eye on the techs.

He couldn't give a rats ass about the guys or the switch.

Ah. Tori looked around, but they were alone in the stairwell, and though she could hear workmen above them, so far everyone she'd seen had completely ignored her. I'll keep my eyes open. She assured her partner. You're gonna need to send me more little macho boys, though. Mine are giving out already.

She closed the device and put it away. "Ready?" She asked the techs. "Sure you don't want me to grab a corner of that?"

The techs hesitated, then moved over to allow her to join them on one side of the switch. Tori took hold of a curved bit of metal and they lifted together, then started slowly up the stairs.

"So, what's the story." Jade pressed the cell phone against one ear, as she reviewed a list of newly uncrated equipment. "John, did we get a case of fiber patch?" She called out. "If we did, find it!"

"Will do.." The addressed tech trotted off in search.

"I have just finished interviewing my four senior auditors." Rob said. "Three of them, I have no doubt about. They were as puzzled as to what was going on as I was."

"Uh huh." Jade scanned the list again. "And the fourth?"

"The fourth one has admitted to being the person who started that activity last night." Rob answered calmly. "I have terminated them, and begun legal proceedings."

Jade blinked. "You did.. they did?" She blurted. "Just like that?"

"Just so." Rob agreed. "It was Adriene Blatklo, and she was unrepentant. Apparently there was some money involved in asking for the information." The Finance VP said. "She has retained a lawyer already, and apparently believes we will not pursue the matter."

"Hell with that."

Rob snorted. "You may say that again, my friend. I got off the phone with Hamilton before I called you. At any rate, apparently that hole is closed, and have you heard anything more from our obnoxious friend from last night?"

"No."

"Excellent." Rob said. "I will say this, Adriene rather arrogantly informed me that I should not be surprised if she was the only one to be approached. Apparently our freeze on salaries is rather well known in the outside at the moment."

"Great." Jade sighed. "Well, I can't worry about that right now, Louis. I've got a project to bring in."

"I will let you get to it then." Rob said. "Have you spoken with Alastair?"

"No." Jade made a note on the page. "You want to call him? I'm busy." She glanced at her messages app, which had flashed with a notification..

There was a significant pause, then Rob cleared his throat. "Of course. It is my department, after all."

"Great. Tell him I say hi." Jade said. "Talk to you later." She hung up firmly, and read Tori's note and answered it, then reviewed the response. "Uh huh."

Bodies she had plenty of. "Sinjin!"

Sinjin swerved and headed across the room to where she was sitting. "Yes, boss?" He leaned his arms on the counter. "Like your cubby here."

"Tori needs help inside." Jade said. "Get a half dozen guys and send them up to the deck eleven closet." She directed. "I don't want to hear she was lugging that damn gear around, got me?"

Sinjin grinned. "Do I get to tell her that?"

"NO." Jade glared at him.

"Ma'am." John trotted up with a box. "Here's the fiber patches.. should I bring them to Ms. Vega?"

"Yes." Jade pointed to the door, then turned her eyes back on Sinjin. "Have you sent those guys yet?"

"I'm going." Sinjin backed off. "Hey you want some coffee or something?"

Jade's eyes narrowed. " You insinuating I need some?"

The MIS chief grinned. "I'm outta here, boss. You sound like the good old days." He turned and headed towards a group of technicians clustered around some boxes, grabbing some by the arm and calling others over.

Jade leaned back on her stool and pondered that, then she returned her attention to the list of items. Tori had done a very good job of ordering, and it looked like nothing had been left off the list. Most of their gear was in, and things were progressing fairly well.

She tapped a pencil on the counter and tried to figure out what to do next.