Kokoschka concluded that Nina knew nothing about the bomb. Perhaps because in all the excitement they’d forgotten to tell her. He was tempted for a moment to put her in the picture, but tough girl Dana might have reasons for restricting the number of initiates. He was a chef, not a corrector of higher decisions, so he mumbled a word of thanks and decided to give Sophie Thiel at least an interim report.
As soon as Tim appeared in Gaia’s forehead again, the announcement came through:
‘As you will already have established, ladies and gentlemen, our schedule is rather disrupted, not least because Ganymede is late and we are unfortunately having problems with satellite communication.’ Dana’s voice sounded apathetic and toneless. ‘There is no need to worry, but I ask all of Gaia’s guests and staff members to make their way to the Mama Quilla Club at 8.30 p.m., where we will inform you about the latest state of development. Please be on time.’
‘That’s in ten minutes,’ Rebecca said in a thick voice.
‘Doesn’t sound good,’ muttered Chuck.
‘How come?’ Unimpressed, Miranda emptied down a bowl of cheese puffs. ‘She said there was no need to worry.’
‘Sure, that’s her job.’ Chuck rocked angrily back and forth, fists clenched, drumming arhythmically on the seat of his chair. ‘I’m telling you, she’s messing with us. I’ve been saying that all along!’
‘At least we’re going to be informed now,’ Aileen reassured him.
‘No, Chuck’s right,’ Olympiada observed listlessly. ‘The most reliable clue for an impending catastrophe is when higher authorities deny them.’
‘Rubbish,’ said Miranda.
‘No, we’ve got to assume the worst,’ Donoghue said to Olympiada.
Miranda plundered another bowl. ‘You guys are all so negative. Bad karma.’
‘Remember my words.’
‘Silly nonsense.’
‘I know this from my parliamentary work,’ Olympiada explained to her half-empty glass. ‘For example when we say we aren’t going to raise taxes, it means we are. And when—’
‘But we’re not in parliament,’ Tim replied, more sharply than he had meant to. ‘So far everything in this hotel has been organised very professionally, hasn’t it?’
She looked at him. ‘My husband is on Ganymede.’
‘So’s my wife.’
‘Okay, you lot can wait.’ Chuck jumped up and hurried to the stairs. ‘I’m going down there!’
‘Where’s Sophie?’
‘Mister Kokoschka!’ Dana glared at him. ‘How about being contactable for a change?’
Kokoschka flinched. He rubbed his big paws on his jacket and glanced around the control centre.
‘Sorry. I know we’re supposed to be meeting in the Mama Quilla—’
‘Get used to carrying your phone around with you. The question comes back to you. Where is Sophie?’
‘Sophie?’ Kokoschka started poking around in his left ear. ‘I thought she was here. Don’t know. Shall I start on the dinner? I’ve got to—’ He hesitated. The note seemed to be burning a hole in his jacket pocket. ‘You wouldn’t happen to know where Tim Orley is?’
‘What is this?’ A wrinkle appeared between Dana’s eyebrows. ‘A quiz show? Are we playing hide-and-seek?’
‘I’m just asking.’
‘Tim Orley should be in the bar. He went up there a few minutes ago.’
‘Okay, then—’ Kokoschka took a step back.
‘Stay where you are,’ Dana said severely. ‘Tell me again exactly where you looked this afternoon. Did you check the sauna too?’
‘Yep.’ He fidgeted around in the doorway, suddenly very worried about Sophie. What was going on?
‘Calm down,’ said Dana. ‘We’ll go up there together in a few minutes.’
The bar was filling up. Karla Kramp and Eva Borelius appeared on the stairs, followed by the Nairs and Finn, and blocked Chuck’s way as he came charging down as if pursued by the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.
‘Do you know anything?’ He flashed his eyes at them.
‘No more than you do, I should think.’ Eva shrugged. ‘They want to tell us something.’
‘I hope it’s nothing bad,’ said Sushma anxiously.
‘It’ll be more than the time of day, I can promise you that,’ blustered Donoghue. ‘Something’s happened.’
‘You think?’
‘Friends, why all this speculation?’ Nair smiled. ‘In a few minutes we will know more.’
‘In a few minutes we’ll hear a load of prepared blarney,’ Chuck bellowed. ‘I could tell by looking at Lynn and all those plaster saints. You can’t fool Chucky.’
‘Who says they’re trying to fool you?’ asked Finn.
‘My experience,’ snapped Donoghue. ‘My prostate!’
‘Have you had the golden finger?’
‘Now listen, young man—’
‘What are you getting worked up about? That they’re hiding something from us? They aren’t, you know.’
‘They aren’t?’ Chuck narrowed his eyes. ‘And how do you know that?’
‘My prostate!’ Finn grinned. ‘Claptrap, Chucky. If they wanted to keep something from us, they’d hardly have called a meeting.’
‘But I don’t want to know what just anyone gets to hear.’ Chuck struck his chest with his fist. ‘I want the whole truth, you understand?’ He pushed past them. ‘And first, I’m telling you now, I’m not letting that stupid skank of a hotel manager go up there, just so as you know!’
‘Tsk, tsk.’ Karla watched after him. ‘For a hotelier, he really sounds like a grumpy guest.’
‘We’ve got to get up there,’ said Heidrun.
She was half lying on top of Ögi, half beside him, with his hairy arm under her back. As if infected by the virus of infidelity, she had forced him to make love, to receive the antidote to her own lust, and it was at the sound of Dana’s voice that she had experienced an exorbitant neuronal firework, as if it had been sparked by the hotel manager’s monotonous voice. Whatever the reason for the disturbance, Heidrun was so furious with Dana that she chose to ignore the announcement, and proceeded to do just that for a whole six minutes, with Ögi’s fingers stroking the back of her neck.
‘What time is it?’ he asked.
She rolled reluctantly onto her back and glanced at the digital display above the door.
‘Four minutes before half past eight. We could still try to be on time.’
‘What, are you crazy?’
‘It’s what people generally expect of the Swiss.’
‘Time to demolish some clichés, perhaps?’ Ögi picked up a strand of her hair. Unpigmented keratin, but in it he saw white moonlight melting between his fingers. ‘Okay, maybe you’re right, we shouldn’t dawdle. People will be getting worried.’
‘About Ganymede?’
‘About whatever. It isn’t very comforting to be invited to this kind of meeting.’
‘Motormouth told us not to worry.’
‘And you couldn’t really say we had, could you?’ He grinned and sat up. ‘Come on, mein Schatz. Let’s get into social contract mode.’
With silent, sweating Kokoschka by her side, Dana was going up. The lift stopped at the fifteenth floor. Lynn joined them. She looked dreadful, as if she’d aged several years, hardly able to focus, her eyes darting unsteadily around. A curiously distant, sly-looking smile played around the corners of her mouth.