Grasping for the Wind

"Have you thought about your speech yet, Captain?"

He doesn't answer, and it doesn't surprise her. But she keeps on anyway. "The Prime Minister sent word he would be flattered if you delivered the eulogy yourself…"

"Tell him no." He sighs.

"Already did, sir." She smiles a little as he looks up at her, a cocked eyebrow in surprise. "I didn't think you'd be able to write two speeches at once."

He glares at her and slumps back into his chair, but she has a vague feeling that he's grateful. "Anything else you want to bother me with?" He asks.

"Nothing in particular." She remains at the door, quiet, attentive. "The men are behaving themselves as well as can be expected, the arrangements for the ship have mostly been completed, most of the dignitaries have given up trying to find you…"

A slight snicker breaks the silence, and she pauses in surprise. "Sir?"

"Nothing. Please, continue."

She stares a moment before regaining control. "Well… given up trying to find you… and… I have the charts on the new Vanships you requested." She places the file on his desk, doubting he'll even look at it. She's surprised to see a pile of papers, apparently he HAS been working on the speech. "Oh, and Admiral Mad-thane…"

"I told you to tell him no." There's faint irritation in his voice

"I did." She adds some irritation of her own. What kind of schemer does he take her for? "He says he won't take that answer unless you tell him yourself and stop sending your subordinates to take all the flak for you." She glares as he looks at her. "His words. Not mine."

He looks away in annoyance. "Fine. I suppose I'll have to go and talk to him myself then. Prepare a shuttle…"

"All the shuttles are being refitted, I'm afraid." She shakes her head. "For the funeral. If you want to look around, though, I could set aside one of the vanships for your…"

She stops, realizing what she just said.

Claus doesn't fly vanships anymore. Not since Lavie.

It had happened on a random flight, Tatiana knew. Just a simple run at their new home, exploring the mountains, doing turns… Enjoying the sky, like Claus and Lavie always did. And a little storm shouldn't have meant much to them, not to the two who traveled the Grand Stream.

But sometimes even the smallest dangers could catch you off guard.

Claus had left the region, of course. Even left the planet, using something they found on the EXILE ship. Alvis and Tatiana had come along, not so much to pilot as simply make sure he didn't kill himself. Claus took command of a new Silvanna-class airship and went wandering across the frontier. The empress had tried to move him to some easy post near his home, or to a court position where he could live peacefully, but in the end she could only assign Tatiana as XO to keep an eye on him, and hopefully bring him out of his grief.

So much for that idea. She's just reminded him of it all over again, and she can see by the way he's clenching the sides of the chair that he's not feeling any better about it.

There's not much she can say or do. And from the looks of Claus, she guesses there's not much he'd want to hear or see anyway. So as quietly and unobtrusively as possible she starts to open the door so she can leave.

She's nearly there when he speaks, his voice tight and controlled. "I will speak with Admiral Mad-Thane after the funeral, when the shuttles are available." He tells her. "And not before."

She nods and flees the room.

Yay. Please review. Anime forums aren't visited very often, and consequently the stories aren't reviewed very often. Be one of the chosen few. Review.

(Hah! That rhymes!)

I'm not actually certain if what I'm talking about in terms of the Exile ship is even possible, but I really wanted Claus back on Nestor, and the Exile ship was the only way I could do that.