Though he briefly considers committing suicide in an airbus crash, Gris decides to go along with Heller's plans. Instead of just refusing to show up, or making up some story about secret Apparatus business keeping him at work, or anything like that. So around nine that evening Gris is uncomfortably clean and wearing a new one-piece dinner suit... wow, a formal dining jumpsuit? And the Countess is wearing clothes (and shoes!) that light up as she speaks. Stylish.
Heller drives as they head out for their night on the town, but instead of going straight to Joy City where the nightclubs are, Heller takes them instead to the luxurious highrises and penthouses of Pausch Hills (get it, like posh?). Gris needs a dinner date, you see, and Heller lands in front of a particularly impressive private residence long enough to pick up a cloaked and hooded passenger. This disguise is discarded almost immediately to reveal the most famous female in all of Voltar, the charming and gorgeous actress Hightee Heller.
Upon being informed that she's Gris' date, Hightee just gives him a quick nod before gushing over the Countess Krak, and telling Heller he has "the finest taste in the world!", and the girls touch hands and smile and talk about life back on Manco and it's clear they're already bestest of friends. Hightee is obviously trying to bond with her future sister-in-law, while the Countess comes dangerously close to revealing her true identity (which I can't blame you if you've forgotten about) as a circus performer and animal trainer. The whole time Gris is sitting there gibbering, terrified at the implied security breaches of Heller talking with his sister over the phone about this sweet girl he met in the secret Apparatus dungeons.
Then someone asks where they're going, and Heller reveals they're hitting the Artistic Club because everyone goes in masquerade. Ske of all people apparently picked out some masks for everyone - well, they're aren't so much masks as they are automated face-painters, you stick your face into them, pull the "heater string," and the paint is transferred onto your skin. Hightee's is a "sexy wood nymph," the Countess gets a lepertige because Hubbard is very proud of the animal he's created and all the symbolism regarding Krak's dangerousness, Heller becomes the "steelman" by having two stars drawn around his eyes, and Gris' facepaint makes him a hideous, bucktoothed demon.
So "disguised," the foursome lands in one of the busiest districts of Joy City, a place frequented by photographers and the press. Two of them are among the most recognizable faces in all of Voltar, while the other two could be executed if their boss finds out where they've been. They've got a dinner date... with disaster! And possibly wackiness. Suspenseful, deadly comedy.
We're two-thirds of the way through a book that's ostensibly about aliens infiltrating Earth, a cunning "satire" about our society and the CIA.
Back to Chapter One
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