Dia avoided his eyes, trying to seem distressed even though inside she was about to boil over with excitement. She was happy that the Admiral did not seem to have any kind of nefarious plan with respect to her and she just said her goodbyes. Shortly after he had left, she did as well.
Once outside, she started breathing deeply, trying to contain her emotions and find enough cold blood and clarity of mind to reason about the situation. She walked down the steps and bought a cup of iced coffee from a street vendor nearby, then came back to the steps and sat down. She was still trying to cool down while sipping her drink.
It was almost three in the afternoon on a Thursday, the typical time for a shift change in most workplaces in Gallia. It did not seem particularly appealing to her to stake Katsouranis out on the stairs of the library. She had no clue when his shift would begin or even if he still worked there. And then there was the case of her own security — she did not know if Admiral left without suspecting anything and if he did not leave someone to watch her.
She looked around but there was no one suspicious around her. The surreality of the situation started to seep into her, making her nervous and paranoid. Once she would have the ambassador with her, what then? What means did she have of leaving Gallia? She hadn't expected to progress so quickly.
There was the ship that brought her there, a dilapidated Camara-class freighter that the Custodi bought off some Junker on Crete precisely for her to arrive in Gallia without attracting any attention, but she did not plan that far ahead. The freighter was still in a hangar, a spot in which she rented immediately after coming to Gallia, untouched since she received a brand new Lynx NG from the IDF — and that she had to return once her contract was terminated. The Camara was their only hope off the planet and away from Gallia.
So that was that, then. Once a seed of a plan started to sprout, the tension started leaving her body. The caffeine also started doing its thing, and soon she lost herself in cheerful contemplation. She shook off, stood up and walked to a rubbish bin to dispose of the plastic cup which contained iced coffee just a moment ago.
She was so lost in thought that did not notice an olive-skinned, white-haired man carrying a messenger bag walking up the stairs, and she bumped into him.
