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in return she now turns a blind eye to some of my little projects.”
    “It sounds like there’s a lot of blindness going around,” I said.
    “It’s very convenient. And we get to have lunch just the two of us.” She squeezed some lemon juice on a large piece of smoked salmon. “This is quite a spread, Matt. I’ve never seen a waiter more attentive.”
    “Well, it seems they’ve … heard of me.” I shook my head humbly. “You know, my little adventure aboard the
Aurora
, and all.”
    “It was my adventure, too,” she said, rather put out.
    “Ah, but you didn’t defeat Vikram Szpirglas in single-handed combat on the ship’s tail fin, did you.”
    “You told me he slipped.”
    “Well, I gave him a good shove.”
    “Hmm.” She narrowed her nostrils for a moment—an old trick of hers when she wanted to put someone in their place—but then she smiled. “I missed you these two weeks. So, how was your training tour? You’re back early.”
    “Ah, well, there’s a story to that.”
    “Was the ship as horrible as you thought it would be?”
    “Much worse.” I smiled. I’d been dying to tell her all about my ill-fated flight aboard the Flotsam.
    “Can’t wait,” she said. “And I have some exciting news too!”
    “Well, you go first,” I said, practising gentlemanly restraint.
    “You sure?”
    “Go ahead.”
    I didn’t actually think she’d take me up on it, but she did. She reached inside her aviatrix jacket and took out a folded newspaper.
    “You haven’t seen today’s Global Tribune, have you?” When I shook my head she opened the newspaper and laid it flat on the table. In amazement and dismay I stared at the headline:
    Hyperion
sighted
    Beneath it, an artist had drawn a rendition of the famous ghost ship.
    I’d been scooped.
    “Apparently,” Kate said, “some cargo ship spotted it over the Indian Ocean. Isn’t that fabulous?”
    I grabbed the paper. Someone aboard the Flotsam must have sold the story to the newspapers for quick money. Captain Tritus would be furious; he’d told his crew to keep it secret, for he intended to salvage the
Hyperion
as soon as his ship was repaired. Given the Flotsam’s condition, that wouldn’t be any time soon.
    “I remember my grandfather telling me about the
Hyperion
,” Kate said. “Have you heard of her?”
    “I saw her,” I said, still reading.
    “What?”
    “I was on that cargo ship.”
    Kate snatched the paper away from me.
    “The Flotsam,” I told her. “That was my training ship.”
    “No!”
    Immediately I felt better, just looking at the astonishment on her face.
    “You saw the
Hyperion
?”
    I nodded, took a slow sip of my champagne, and put the glass down carefully, savouring the moment. Here I was, dining in the fanciest restaurant in Paris, drinking the finest champagne in the world, and, best of all, seated across from a dazzling young lady, who was hanging on my every word.
    “I was going to tell you right away, but you said you had exciting news.”
    “You should’ve just told me to put a cork in it.”
    “I’ll remember that next time.”
    Between us, we’d pretty much finished off the salmon and the salad. The waiter whisked away our plates, and I’d scarcely taken three breaths before new ones were set before us.
    “Arctic char,” Kate said in delight.
    I looked over her shoulder to see Chef Vlad peeping out through the doorway. He smiled, gave a little wave, and disappeared back into the kitchen.
    “Tell me everything,” Kate commanded, and set to her meal.
    In between bites of my delicious duck, I told her the whole story, glad that we were seated a ways off from the other diners. I didn’t want anyone else hearing. Every time the waiter came near to see how we were doing, Kate dismissed him with a little imperious wave. She was a very satisfying audience, I must say, her big brown eyes never straying from me as I spoke. Halfway through my story she took my hand under the table, and the unexpected warm