Dalgetty assesses the people in the Mermaid Tavern:
engineers
rec girls
a biochemist
a clerk
caissoniers
a maintenance man
a computerman
a tank pilot
a diver
a sea rancher
stenographers
tourists
chemists
metallurgists
others unclassifiable
the group with the man that he has come to spy on
The sensitive man discerns Bancroft's group in their darkened coral grotto by distending his pupils, thus transforming the Tavern's muted light into a harsh glare that gives him a headache which he blocks from consciousness. Sitting in the empty grotto next to Bancroft's, Dalgetty:
leans back against the coral;
closes his eyes;
makes an effort of will;
directs his mind along required paths;
hears voices and other sounds increase to a crescendo;
filters out most of the racket;
hears Bancroft's group;
eavesdrops;
is startled by "'HELLO, THERE, MISTER!!!'" (p. 105) when a rec girl joins him.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Plainly, those "rec girls" were, candidly put, prostitutes.
And Dalgetty should have first made sure he would not be interrupted by one of those rec girls. I don't think a professional like Flandry would have made that blunder.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Dalgetty had had to order a rec girl. Otherwise, he would not have been allowed to use a party booth.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Now I get it, that clarifies what otherwise seemed odd to me.
Ad astra! Sean
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