“Hey, Kieran! Welcome back. June said you were away on business for a while. Did you get it all done?”
“The away part, anyhow.”
“So, Olympus again?”
“Sure. You’ve cut your hair. What happened to the ponytail?”
Patti took a glass and began filling it. “Oh, it just got to be too much bother. It just doesn’t hang right in the gravity.”
“So I take it Guinness has been behaving? He’s still taking you and Grace for walks?”
“Yes. He’s terrific. Half our friends are fighting over him now. Does that mean you haven’t seen them yet since you got back? How come?”
“I haven’t been back there. I’m checked in here right now.”
“Oh! That doesn’t mean that you guys are fighting or something, does it?” Patti looked horrified.
Kieran grinned and shook his head. “Nothing like that. I just have reasons for being here rather than there for a while.”
“Well, I’m glad about that. You two seemed to be right together.” Patti set the glass down with a coaster. “Although, something a bit odd happened. I don’t know if it was important or not, but Grace said that when she and another of the girls were out with Guinness, two guys in a car pulled up and wanted to know who the owner was. They sounded kind of . . . mean. Grace didn’t want to get into complications so she just said he was hers. Was that okay?”
“Hmm . . . Yes, sure.”
“Back in a moment.” Patti moved away to serve some other customers.
Kieran sat back on the stool to rest against a partition and looked around. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a good idea to walk around here brazenly as himself, he decided.
The bar was busier than what had been the norm. And there was an atmosphere of boisterous familiarity among the people present, as if most of them knew each other—unlike typical guests and travelers, who tended to confine themselves to ones, twos, and small groups. “Seems you’ve got a party going on here,” Kieran commented when Patti came back.
“People have been coming in from all over for some big wedding that’s being held off-planet,” she told him. “They’ll be leaving late tomorrow—but they’re loaded.”
“Who’s getting married? Any idea?”
“Hamilton Gilder’s daughter, Marissa. Where have you been? You know who he is, right? His face is on the net often enough.”
“The big chief of Zorken Consolidated, isn’t he? The construction and mining outfit.”
“Right. They have this place in orbit that’s swinging close by Mars right now. That’s where the wedding is going to be.”
“Who’s she marrying?” Kieran asked, although he already knew.
“Mervyn Quinn.” Who was a superstar of role-taking movies. “But his group is getting together over in Zerolon, somewhere—you know, the old tradition about staying separate beforehand. I guess they’ll be going up on a different ship.”
Kieran nodded, sipped his beer, and fell silent for a moment, as if digesting the new information. “What’s she like close up—the delectable Marissa?” he asked. “She looks pretty good in the shots I’ve seen of her.”
“You know, Kieran, I haven’t even seen her. She’s too special to be seen down here in the bar. They’ve taken a whole floor upstairs, and she practically stays in one of the suites up there—you know, with their own security people watching the doors and elevators.” Patti shook her head as she began replacing clean glasses in an overhead rack. “I don’t think I’d like to have to live like that, whatever she’s worth. I’d rather work down here and be able to talk to people like you.”
“And walk Guinness,” Kieran reminded her.
“Of course. Can you imagine Marissa Gilder being allowed out to do something like that?”
* * *
After he had finished his drink, Kieran sauntered around inconspicuously, taking in what there was to be seen, at the same time pondering on how to become invisible without losing touch of what was going on. There were groups of wedding guests everywhere, beginning the process of letting their hair down for the big occasion. Harried hotel staff bustled back and forth, while in private rooms teams of hired caterers, florists, suppliers, and buying agents organized the profusion of gifts and trappings that would be transported up to Asgard along with the guests. To relieve the air of business utility and work-a-day officiousness that normally reigned there, and create a festive mood that would bring alive reminiscences of Earth, a South Pacific theme had been decided on. Troupes of Hawaiian and Polynesian dancers and musicians had been imported for the event; the menus gave foretastes of dishes prepared from yams, tropical fruits, luau meats, brought to perfection with spicy ingredients from all over Oceania; there were more budding flowers from local hothouses and nurseries than probably existed in one place anywhere else on Mars.