He put his arms around her waist again. “I’ve been thinking,” he said, carefully. “When you get back. Maybe we should change it up a little.”

“Change?” she said.

“I’m getting tired, Angel. I’ve saved the world I don’t know how many damned times, and, fuck, it just needs saving again by the next weekend. How much is enough?”

“Maybe you need a vacation.”

“Yeah, a long vacation.”

“How about in beautiful, sunny downtown Talas?”

She was gratified at the smile that lifted his craggy, slightly mismatched features. “Maybe,” he said.

“Good-bye, darling.”

She kissed him again, a quick kiss this time because she didn’t think she could just walk away from another long one.

He let her go. She turned and walked away. She looked back as she left the lounge. He was still watching her. He lifted a hand and she blew him a kiss and then went down a branch of the corridor and was gone from his sight.

The tarmac stretched out into darkness from the yawning, huge mouth of the hangar, the lamps lining the taxiway blurred in fog. The eastern horizon was lightening as dawn approached. Around the Committee’s private Concorde, workers were loading the last of the equipment and supplies. The Committee team, with the exception of Klaus, was already on board. The pilots could be seen in the cockpit, making last-minute checks.

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.”