"No need for embarrassment, Mr. Goemon. Sometimes it is simply easier to speak with someone a touch more... Well, [i]familiar[/i] is all," Galina said sedately, nothing in her placid demeanor and silken, melodic voice belying the sudden surge of regret that rose like bitter bile in the back of her throat
 
The truth of the matter was, sitting here with this well-spoken and courteous young spy from Japan? She was, of course, being far less than honest. Oh, Goemon was obviously a man in whose presence one might easily be charmed and disarmed, though letting one's guard down so far with this man was likely a [i]very[/i] unwise proposition. Even so, his appearance and easy manner truly did invite familiarity. But no matter Galina's claim to Goemon, the company of the 'familiar' was not at all what [i]she[/i] truly craved at least.

No, there was little she would not give to have even a broken, halting conversation concerning nothing of any grand importance at all. Perhaps small talk of the superb quality of the fresh greens in the salad, even aboard a ship; or maybe some discussion of the lovely baroque cherubs painted on the vaulted ceilings above? Or better still, perhaps no conversation at all, but simply silent yet incomparable company during an after-dinner turn about the [i]Empress'[/i] deck. 

Goemon was pleasant, yes, and could even become dangerously familiar if she were foolish enough to allow such a thing. But all his presence truly did was remind her of all she did [i]not[/i] have this very moment, of the genuinely decent and exceptional company she so deliberately betrayed for the sake of duty, the like of which she would surely never find again.

The wolf in the woman paced behind the cage of those darkly calm eyes, whining softly in her misery, worrying at the ache that she simple could not shake. And it was this torment roiling just beneath the surface of Galina’s serene aspect that simultaneously – and paradoxically – both distracted and focused her thoughts. While the woman mutely mourned, it was the spy whose designs took shape, the one constructive outlet left for her brilliant yet troubled thoughts.

And it was the spy Galina who agreed wholeheartedly with Goemon, that this was a [i]most[/i] strange and unprecedented arrangement. If this assignment had not been broached to her father through the most reliable of channels, the young woman might very well have burst into laughter at the absurdity of Goemon’s proposition, right then and there, courtesy be damned. The amount of trust it seemed she was expected to place in this stranger’s hands was near unprecedented in Galina’s experience.

But of course courtesy would not be damned, and most certainly not here in the grand elegance of the [i]Empress’[/i] dining room. And so Galina simply nodded and bowed politely as Goemon did once more before she spoke yet again. “So yes, an… Engineer, you said? I am afraid, Mr. Goemon, that the questions simply must continue, though I imagine that does not surprise you in the least. Of course I should very much like to know his name, and is he a passenger of the [i]Empress,[/i] or is he a crew member? What type of engineer is our dissatisfied defector?”

Galina dabbed gently at the corners of her mouth with her napkin before she spoke again, a nod of thanks to a server who passed, who filled first her wine glass, and then Klara’s and Goemon’s, with a lovely golden chardonnay. And when he had moved on to a different table, the young woman continued her query. “What country does this engineer hail from then, and to where shall he be sent – and did you say you had managed a way to remove him from the [i]Empress[/i]… While we are still at sea?”