They found a pair of seats together and strapped themselves in.
“But she wasn’t certain that she ought to go … what with her father’s death only a few weeks ago.”
Leaning back in the padded chair, Leoh said, “Well, if she’s, not there, you can spend hours telling her all about the party.”
The Watchman’s lean face broke into a toothy grin. “I hadn’t thought of that. . . .”
The shuttle filled quickly with noisy party goers and then took off. It flew like a normal rocket plane to the top of the atmosphere, then boosted swiftly to the satellite. The party was well under way when Hector and Leoh stepped from the shuttle’s air lock into the satellite.
It was a huge globular satellite, with all the interior decks and bulkheads removed so that it was as hollow as an enormous soap bubble. The shell of the “bubble” was transparent, except for small disks around the various air locks.
There must have been more than a thousand people present already, Leoh guessed as he took a first look at the milling throng floating weightlessly through the vast globe. They seemed to be suspended over his head, many of them upside down, others hanging sideways or calmly drifting along and gesturing, deep in conversation. Most of them held drinks in sealed plastic squeeze containers with straws poking out from their tops. The crowd formed a dizzying kaleidoscope overhead: brilliant costumes, flashing jewelry, buzzing voices, crackling laughter, all mixing and gliding effortlessly in mid-air.
Leoh put a hand out to Hector, to steady himself.
“Must be some sort of grav field along the shell,” the Watchman said, pulling one boot tackily from the floor.
“For the fainthearted, I suppose,” Leoh said.
The other shuttle passengers were streaming past them and launching themselves like swimmers away from the air lock, coasting gracefully up into the huge chamber.
Looking around, Leoh saw refreshment bars spotted along the shell, and more floating overhead. He turned back to Hector and said, “Why don’t you go look for Geri, and I’ll try to find Harold.”
“I sort of think I should stay close to you, Professor. After all, my job is to, uh, that is….”
“Nonsense! There are no Kerak assassins in this crowd. Go find Geri.”
Grinning, Hector said, “All right. But I’ll be keeping one eye on you.”
With that, Hector jumped off the floor to join the weightless throng. But he jumped a bit too hard, banged into a rainbow-clad Acquatainian who was floating past with a drink in his hand, and knocked the drink, the man, and himself spinning. The drink’s cover popped open and globules of liquid spattered through the air, hitting other members of the crowd and breaking into constantly smaller droplets. A woman screamed.
The Acquatainian righted himself immediately, but Hector couldn’t stop. He went tumbling head over heels, cleaving through the crowd like a runaway chariot, emitting a string of, “Wh .. . whoops … look out. .. gosh … pardon me . . . watch it. . . .”
Leoh stood rooted to his spot beside the air lock, staring unbelievingly as Hector barreled through the crowd. The weightless guests scattered before him, some yelling angrily, a few women screaming, most of them laughing. Then they closed in again, and Leoh could no longer see the Watchman. A trio of servants took off after him, chasing across the gigantic globe to intercept him.
Only then did Leoh notice a servant standing beside him, with a slim belt in his hands. “A stabilizer, sir. Most of the guests have their own. It is very difficult to maneuver weightlessly without one … as the Star Watchman is demonstrating.”
Leoh accepted the belt, decided there wasn’t much he could do about Hector except add to the confusion, so he floated easily up into the heart of the party. The sensation of weightlessness was pleasant, like floating in a pool of water. He got himself a drink in one of the special covered cups and sucked on the straw as he drifted toward a large knot of people near the center of the globe.
Suddenly Hector pinwheeled past him, looking helpless and red-faced, as a couple of servants swam after him as hard as they could. The party goers laughed as Hector buzzed by, then returned to their conversations. Leoh put out a hand, but the Watchman was past and disappeared into the crowd again.