“Is that so, ma’am…? If you’ve all the answers already, you don’t need any confirmation from me, do you?” Thomas’ reply was almost petulant. He didn’t like being spoken to by a woman in such a manner, regardless of rank.
“Don’t get smart with me, soldier!” Donelson hissed sharply. “You’ll keep your answers straight and to the point, or I’ll have you up on a charge as soon as look at ye!” The venom in her reply rattled the corporal somewhat, and knocked any remaining arrogance out of him in an instant. “If I’m right about what’s been going on, it’s vitally important we get the problem fixed up quickly; for Air Vice Marshall Thorne’s sake and ours!” Her eyes narrowed as she went directly for the ‘kill’. “How long’s he been drinking at night?”
“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about, ma’am,” Thomas stammered.
“Yes you do, corporal,” she countered, not letting up. “Understand this: I’ve known our CO for over ten years, and I’ve gotten to know him one hell of a lot better than you ever will! He’s a good man — a great man — but he’s had problems in the last few years that it seems he hasn’t completely resolved yet. Added to that are the pressures of the last few months, and his first command under combat… none of which are small issues either! He’s already showing difficulties in making decisions that are affecting this unit, and his judgement will continue to be severely impaired and become far worse unless this is resolved. This base has suffered enough already… I need to know what’s going on!”
“There’s nothing I can tell you that you don’t already know, ma’am, if you know the CO as well as you say,” Thomas’ tone was one of resignation, yet he still couldn’t bring himself to implicate his commanding officer.
“How long…?” The seriousness of her expression required a straight answer and Thomas gave one.
“As long as I’ve been assigned to him…”
“Thank you, corporal…” She paused for a moment before adding: “… I appreciate your honesty… and your obvious loyalty… the air vice marshal could do a good deal worse for an orderly.” But as she turned and walked away, Cecil Thomas felt as if he’d just been handed thirty pieces of silver.
Eileen found Richard Kransky walking alone among the rows of new graves at the Lyness Naval Cemetery, preoccupied with his own thoughts as he stopped to read the words on some of the headstones at random. He wore his usual khaki fatigues under a camouflage-patterned combat jacket, but for a change he was completely without weapons, although his radio remained clipped to his belt. The lack of a rifle over his shoulder somehow made his appearance seem almost alien or unreal.
“Got time for a word, Richard?” Eileen called softly from a distance as she walked up the slight incline from the naval base. “…If I’m not coming at a bad time…?” He turned toward her with a start, almost as if she’d actually caught him by surprise.
“What…? No… of course not,” he replied quickly as he realised who it was, barely managing a thin smile. “Glad of the company.” The time following the raid hadn’t been a good one for any of those who’d survived, and Eileen’s unexpected appearance now left him strangely shaken and cognisant of how lost in his own thoughts he’d actually been: no one should’ve been able to approach that closely without detection.
“Have you seen Max?” Eileen began, trying to hide her discomfort as she drew near, but Kransky didn’t have to stretch his imagination for the reasons behind the question as he noted the look on her face.
“Not for a while.” He replied honestly. “Alec and Evan were helping him reposition the radar units and one of the Tunguskas, but that was a few hours ago.”
“Any idea where I might find him… you do know what goes on around here most of the time…”
“If I knew about what went on around here, Drews, Cassar and Clarke and the rest of the men here would still be alive today,” he said softly, his eyes lowering slightly and his voice turning a little hollow. Eileen was glad he’d deliberately not mentioned Nick Alpert, who’d been a good friend for a long time, or she mightn’t have been able to contain the tears that welled up within her the moment the other’s names had been spoken.
“You know there was nothing more that could’ve been done,” she said with equal softness, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and nodding sadly as she saw the look in his eyes. “And I know that doesn’t make it any easier… c’mere, laddie…!” She insisted suddenly, deciding both of them needed a hug, and pulled him close to embrace the man. The gesture was greatly appreciated, and the pair remained together for some time, allowing simple human contact to help assuage their feelings of sadness and loss a little.
“I know this won’t make him feel any better,” Kransky began, “but tell him from me that losing men’s lives never gets any easier…o matter how many times it happens…” As she stared up at him, Eileen suddenly realised the man somehow knew exactly what she suspected of Max Thorne’s problems.
“Taking them doesn’t either, does it, Richard?” She queried gently, stepping back from him slightly but holding both his hands in hers between them. The time they’d spent working together during the time at Hindsight so far had produced strong feelings on both sides, and their close friendship contained a great deal that both had chosen to leave unsaid.
“No… that doesn’t either…” He said simply after a long pause indeed. Kransky wasn’t the type to cry all that often, regardless of the circumstances, and he was mightily glad of that at that moment. “That never does… ever…”
The following silence between the two was palpable in the extreme, and recognised a great deal of feeling on both sides that’d never been given voice or expression. Eileen reached up for a moment and brushed an imaginary hair from the man’s cheek, the intimacy of her touch in a ‘grey’ area somewhere between innocent friendship and the ‘something more’ that both felt.
“Why is it, mister…” she began, almost smiling for the first time “…that in all these weeks, you’ve never made a pass at me?” Eileen hadn’t been blind to some of the feelings he’d shown for her, and she couldn’t honestly say that at least some of those feelings weren’t reciprocated on her part.
“I’ve sometimes seen Max down near the Martello Tower at Hackness when he feels like a little privacy,” Kransky’s answer came with an ironic smile, and she knew that remark hadn’t been a change of subject. What he’d said was as clear and perceptive an answer to her question as any might’ve been.
In a moment of instinct rather than conscious thought, Kransky lowered his head just enough as Eileen again stepped in close and lifted to touch her lips softly against his, the movement so quick and so light it’d almost never happened.