I cursed profusely. Wasn't the power company supposed to give us warning before a blackout? We had one of those special cut-rate contracts - we got a discount on our power, but had to shut everything down if there was a crisis.
Fortunately, we had a good UPS on the servers, and it would keep the backup running smoothly until the generator kicked in. As the generator rumbled to life, slowly, like a bear waking from hibernation and very angry about it, I phoned the power company rep - a guy named George who thought he had an excellent sense of humor - hoping to get this sorted out. Backups or no backups, with no power in the morning we'd be shot to hell.
Busy, of course. I hung up the phone, wondering if our data lines worked as well as the phone. Perhaps I could e-mail them... Suddenly, the phone rang. I picked it up, hoping it would be the power company calling back, but it sure wasn't George.
The voice on the other end of the line was female, soft, smooth and sultry. I'd seen a lot of 1940's detective films, and knew this meant trouble. The mysterious caller introduced herself. "_____________" |
