Klaus, with Secretary-General Jayewardene and Barbara flanking him, stared into the early morning fog. Barbara thought he was already imagining himself in Talas, already deciding what needed to be done there—he certainly was no longer fully present here. One of the ground crew came up to them. “We’re ready, sir. You need to be on board before they can start the engines.”

Klaus nodded. Barbara clutched at his arm, turning him. “Be careful,” she told him. “Let me know if you need anything, and I’ll get it to you. But…” She sighed. “Please be careful.”

He smiled at her, the lines of his face crinkling with the gesture. “I will,” he told her. “We’ll stay in close touch; you get things moving here, and we’ll take care of Talas.”

Barbara clutched his arm tighter. Behind Klaus, she saw Jayewardene step politely back a few steps and engage the ground crew leader. “Klaus, I don’t like this. I agree that I should stay here, that this is where I’m needed more, but I don’t like it.”

His hand stroked her cheek, and she leaned her head over to trap his fingers against her shoulder. “I don’t like it either. But I’ll be back soon.”

She wished she could be certain of that, but her stomach was roiling in protest. She lifted up on toes and brought her lips to his. The kiss began as gentle and quick, but she found herself pressing more tightly against him, and the kiss became more urgent and desperate. Her eyes were tearing and when she blinked, twin streaks of wet rolled down her face. “Mein Liebling,” he whispered, pulling back from her. “Don’t worry.”

Barbara brought her heels down to the tarmac. She wiped at the betraying moisture on her face, sniffing. “I’m not. I’m sorry…”

Klaus shook his head. “Don’t apologize.” He bent his head down and kissed her forehead this time. “This will be over soon. I promise you. You … you are better at what’s required here than I am. Me … I’m better at what will need to be done there. It’s why we are a good pair, nein? A good team.”

She laughed, once. “Then go do it,” she told him. She took his hand, pressing it with hers, then let it drop. Klaus nodded. Taking a long breath, he glanced at Jayewardene. “Secretary-General,” he said. “We’ll handle this.”

“I have every confidence in that,” Jayewardene answered. And with that, Klaus strode toward the stairs leading up into the plane. He moved quickly up them, two at a time. At the top, he waved back at them once, then entered the plane. The ground crew pushed away the stairs; someone inside the plane shut the door, and the turbojet engines began their slow whine as they warmed up. A wash of hot air blasted Barbara and Jayewardene as the jet slowly turned and began to taxi toward the runways.