Odysseus stayed at the table as Savi led the other four from the dining room, down hallways lighted only by the diminishing lightning, up a glass-covered escalator that wound around the Golden Gate tower, and down a long corridor to a series of bubble-rooms at the highest point on the north tower. These sleeping rooms were not physically attached to the tower top, only to the glass corridor that had bridge steel as its south wall, and the sleeping cubbies themselves protruded precariously into space, like clusters of green grapes.
Savi was offering them all separate sleep-bubbles, and gestured Hannah into the first room along the corridor. The young woman hesitated at the entrance to the small space. Inside the sleeping cubbie, even the floor was transparent, so that Hannah took one step forward and then hopped quickly backward into the relative solidity of the carpeted access hall.
“It’s perfectly safe,” said Savi.
“All right,” said Hannah and tried again. The bed was set against the far wall and there was a privately partitioned toilet and sink space near the corridor wall, ensuring privacy from the viewpoint of the other sleep bubbles, but elsewhere the curving walls and floor were so clear that you could look down eight hundred feet to the lightning-illuminated stones and hillside directly below.
Hannah walked gingerly across the clear floor and settled gratefully onto the solid shape of the bed. The other three laughed and applauded. “If I have to go to the toilet in the night, I may not have the nerve to cross that floor again,” said Hannah.
“You’ll get used to it, Hannah Uhr,” said Savi. “You may close and open the door by voice command and it is keyed to your voice only.”
“Door, close,” said Hannah.
The door irised closed. Savi dropped them off one at a time in their cubbies—first Daeman, who staggered to his bed with no apparent fear of the empty space under his feet, then Harman, who wished them both good night before ordering his door closed, then Ada.
“Sleep well, my dear,” said Savi. “The sunrises here are rather beautiful and I hope you enjoy the view in the morning. I shall see you at breakfast.”
There were fresh silk sleeping clothes set out on her bed. Ada went into the toilet area, took a quick hot shower, dried her hair, left her clothes on the counter next to the sink, dressed in the silk sleeping gown, and returned to the bed. Once under the covers, she turned her face to the wall and looked out at the mountain peaks and cloud tops. The thunderstorm had passed on to the east now, the lightning illuminated the receding clouds from within, and now the nearby peaks and grassy saddle were illuminated by moonlight. Ada looked down at the roadway and stone ruins so far below. What had Odysseus said about that place? That it was inhabited only by jaguars, chipmunks, and ghosts? Looking at the ancient pale-gray stones in the moonlight, Ada almost believed in the ghosts.
There came a soft tapping at her door.
Ada slipped from the bed and tiptoed across the cold floor, setting her fingertips against the irised metal. “Who is it?”
“Harman.”
Ada’s heart thudded in her chest. She had been hoping, silently wishing, that Harman would join her tonight. “Door open,” she whispered, stepping back, noting in the wall’s reflection how milky her arms and thin gown looked in the moonlight.
Harman stepped just inside and paused as Ada whispered the door closed again. Harman was wearing only blue silk sleep garb. She waited for him to embrace her, to lift her in his arms and carry her to the soft bed against the clear, curved wall. What would it be like, she wondered, to make love as if one were floating above these clouds, these mountains?
“I needed to talk to you,” Harman said softly.
Ada nodded.
“I think it’s important that Odysseus be in the right place the next few weeks,” he said. “And I don’t think that Hannah’s mother’s cubbie is the right place.”
Feeling foolish, Ada folded her arms across her breasts. She imagined that she could feel the cold night air of the high mountains through the glass under her feet. “You don’t know what Odysseus wants to do or why,” she whispered.
“No, but if he’s really Odysseus, it may be very important. And Savi’s right . . . Ardis Hall is the perfect place for him to meet people.”
Ada felt anger coil in her. Who was this man to tell her what to do? “If you think it’s so important that he be hosted somewhere,” she said, “why don’t you invite him to your home as your guest?”
“I don’t have a home,” said Harman.
Ada blinked at this, trying to understand. She couldn’t. Everyone had a home.
“I’ve been traveling for many years,” said Harman. “I own only what I carry, except for the books I’ve collected, which I store in an empty cubby in Paris Crater.”
Ada opened her mouth to speak but could think of nothing to stay. Harman took a step closer, so close that Ada could smell the male and soap scent of him. He had also showered before coming to her room. Will we make love after this conversation? thought Ada, feeling her anger slip away as quickly as it came.
“I need to go to the Mediterranean Basin with Savi,” said Harman. “I’ve been hunting for a way to get to the e- and p-rings for more than sixty years, Ada. To be so close . . . well, I have to go.”
Ada felt the anger flare again. “But I want to go with you. I want to see this Basin . . . find a spaceship, go to the rings. It’s why I’ve helped you the last few weeks.”
“I know,” whispered Harman. He touched her arm. “And I want you to go with me. But this thing with Odysseus may be important.”
“I know, but . . .”
“And Hannah just doesn’t know that many people. Or have the space to host visitors.”
“I know, but . . .”
“And Ardis Hall would be perfect,” whispered Harman. He released his soft hold on Ada’s arm but still held her in the grip of his gaze. Ada was aware of the stars beyond the clear, curved ceiling above them.
“I know Ardis Hall would be perfect,” said Ada. She felt sad and torn between imperatives and people. “But we don’t even know what this Odysseus wants . . . or who he really is.”
“True,” whispered Harman. “But the best way to find out would be for you to host him while I hunt for a spaceship in the Mediterranean Basin. I promise you that if I find one that can get us to the rings, I’ll come get you before I go there.”
Ada hesitated before speaking again. Her face was raised slightly toward Harman’s, and she had the feeling that if they did not speak, he would kiss her.
Suddenly lightning flashed and thunder from the receding storm shook the green-glass structure. “All right,” Ada whispered. “I’ll host Odysseus and have Hannah as my helper at Ardis Hall for three weeks. But only if you promise to take me to the rings if you find a way to get there.”
“I promise,” said Harman. He did kiss her then, but only on the cheek, and only the way her father might have, Ada thought, if she had ever known her father.
Harman turned as if leaving, but before Ada could command the door to iris open, he turned back toward her. “What do you think of Odysseus?” he asked.
“What do you mean? You mean, do I think he’s really Odysseus?” Ada was confused by the question.
“No. I mean what do you think of him? Are you interested in the man?”
“Interested in his story, you mean?” said Ada. “He’s intriguing. But I’ll have to hear what he says before I decide whether he’s telling the truth about things.”
“No, I . . .” Harman stopped and rubbed his chin. He seemed embarrassed. “I mean, do you find him interesting ? Are you attracted to him?”