“Not at all, Max… just showing Richard here some new toys he might find useful in the field.” There was something in her tone as she answered that Kransky hadn’t expected — something that almost sounded like guilt — although the man for the life of him couldn’t understand why that might be the case: the encounter had been entirely innocent as far as he was aware.
Thorne raised an eyebrow. “You need to watch yourself, major: surround yourself with machine oil and military hardware and she’ll be putty in your hands!”
“Did you actually want anything, or are you just looking for someone to annoy?” Eileen shot back with a sharp look of warning in her eye, seeming to Kransky to have taken the remark far more seriously than it’d clearly been intended.
“Well, a bit from ‘Column A’ and a bit from ‘Column B’,” Thorne grinned broadly, showing no intention of heeding the early warning signs in Eileen’s tone and body language, although he was receiving them loud and clear. “I did want to remind you that we need to sit down with Hal regarding a proper review of British armaments production: it’s probably time we got our arses into gear over that.” The characteristic grin faded somewhat and his voice took on a far more kindly tone as he finally decided it’d serve no further purpose to continue annoying a close friend. “Other than that, I was just spare of something to do for an hour or so and thought I’d wander about spreading some good cheer.”
“Can you be serious for once in your bloody life, Max?” Eileen snapped angrily in return, brushing past him and stalking away. The reaction left Thorne as stumped for an explanation as Kransky, and as they watched her storm off, the American turned his eyes back to his CO and found Thorne staring back at him with a far more serious gaze.
“Just what did you do?” Thorne inquired thoughtfully, automatically deciding to accord blame elsewhere.
“Not me, buddy,” Kransky stated quickly, shaking his head and raising both hands. “Everything was fine before you showed up.”
“Yes… I saw how ‘fine’ things were,” Thorne agreed with a faintly sly smile, the tone indicating he’d taken the wrong inference from that remark, although it was unclear whether his misinterpretation was intentional. “Not that it’s any of my business,” he added quickly, his expression suggesting something otherwise “but what exactly was going on as I arrived…?”
“She was a little upset is all,” Kransky replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable and exasperated rather than actually annoyed by the vague insinuation. “We got to shootin’ the breeze in general, and she started to think about missing the future you people left. She just got a bit upset,” he repeated with a shrug, trying to retain the appearance of innocence. He knew from observation that Thorne was also feeling some effects of stress for some reason or another, and decided to go ‘on the offensive’ just enough to force the other man into retreat. “You telling me you ain’t feeling like you’ve left somethin’ behind?” This time it was Kransky’s turn to raise an eyebrow as he put forward that friendly challenge.
“Me?” Thorne affected to almost laugh at the idea, mostly managing to be convincing. “The only thing that annoyed me about leaving 2010 was that I’m not going to get to find out what happens to Sookie and Bill.” Although Kransky had no idea what the man was talking about, he could tell an outright lie when he heard one. He also knew that meant he’d accomplished what he’d set out to do in gently getting Thorne to back off, and as such he decided not to call him on it.
“Taking into consideration nothing was going on here,” the American began after a breath, and Thorne’s expression became mildly expectant as he thought he saw what was coming, which he did. “Was there ‘someone’ she left behind in the future…?”
There was a long pause as Thorne sized up exactly how to answer that one. There were a number of replies he could give, with varying levels of detail and honesty, but in the end he decided Eileen’s past was her own business. If she and Kransky were becoming friends, as it appeared they were, he might well find out a few things eventually anyway, but in Thorne’s opinion that was her choice to make, not his. That the option of remaining silent was also to his own benefit was of course of no consequence to Max Thorne as he finally spoke.
“No — she didn’t leave anyone behind.” That was the truth, but it was also only half the story, and he suspected Kransky could probably work out the rest if he wanted to. “Eileen was career military,” he continued, “and that’s no easy thing for a lot of women, particularly when you’re as smart and as capable as she is. Most guys aren’t as smart as she is, and she doesn’t tolerate fools all that well.” He shrugged. “She likes you, I know that much, but exactly how she likes you isn’t for me to call. If you’re interested in her, that’s pretty much between the two of you, but I am her friend, and the commanding officer here, so if something does happen, I’d hope you were — what’s the saying? — operating with honourable intentions…”
“Whoa — no need to turn serious on me there, Max!” Kransky held up a hand and gave a lopsided grin as he shook his head. “She’s a great girl, but we’re friends and that’s all. As her friend and the CO, you’ve got every right to look out for her, but don’t be concerned: regardless of anything else, I’ll be back in the field soon enough and I can’t afford to get involved with anyone.” He took a breath. “Besides, I’m not all that sure she’d be interested in me as anything other than a friend anyhow.”
“Has she told you that?” Thorne was genuinely interested now, and Kransky had trouble keeping a smug grin from flickering across his features: the loaded remark had obtained exactly the reaction he was looking for.
“Not… in so many words…” He answered slowly, considering his response with care. “But you don’t last as long as I have in my line of work without being able to read people well, either up close or through a rifle scope. I think she’s got a lot on her mind at the moment, and maybe more than just being here with Hindsight.”
“Yeah, well it’s a lot to take no matter how much so-called preparation they gave us,” Thorne turned his head to stare off once more in the direction of the hangar doors and Eileen’s departure. “Guess I’d better go and apologise…”
“Might be a good idea,” Kransky agreed, nodding solemnly.
Kransky also actively searched for Eileen Donelson later that day, as the sun was lowering on the western horizon and the threat of a chill was beginning to creep into the air. With their varied daily schedules, the officers of the Hindsight Unit generally ate at different times, and he wasn’t able to catch up with her until after his evening meal. It had taken some time, but he eventually located her down on the wharf at the main naval base, seated alone on a thick, wooden bollard by an empty part of the dock as base operations went on about her.
Although things might well slow down at night, an installation as important as that at the Scapa Flow anchorage rarely ceased operations altogether, and that evening was no exception. There was enough general lighting to clearly illuminate the area, and the numerous jetties and piers were strewn with the signs of wartime operations. Oil drums and supply crates of varying sizes were stacked all about in piles, along with machinery, loading cranes and other equipment.