The Blonde Plutoz lunched in style at the Grand, compliments of the management.
Whether the management, at the moment consisting of the secretary robot and a few confused department heads, really felt bad for the girls' sake was not a matter of concern anymore. The rockers had decided to stay.
A classy lunch and the promise of money tomorrow was acceptable, but the clincher was the sense of satisfaction from knowing they helped a family of aliens - secondary staff, as the bot had put it - to stay in their jobs. The town was tough, conditions tight and the spinning money wheel that was the life of Toss Vague-Ass spun unevenly for all but a few.
"Well, that wasn't bad," said Zana as she wiped her mouth with the cloth napkin and reached for a toothpick. "I almost feel like a star of some kind."
"You are a star of some kind," Rivqua said, scraping up the last of an exquisite dessert with an unpronouncable name. By a naturally occuring chemical reaction the stuff actually lit up when you ate it and made the inside of your mouth glow blue for several seconds.
"Time to get busy I guess."
"Not quite yet," Rivqua said, looking around for a waiter. She fancied another round of the luminescent delight. She smiled big across the table and Zana shook her head at the sight.
A small rehearsal followed the delayed star treatment. They wanted to fine-tune some weak spots in the show. A couple of less than perfect changes between numbers and a costume issue that just had to be ironed out, literally. None that the audience noticed but still bugged the artists. As they do, such details.
The Grand Galactica ballroom was packed out that night. Apparently the rumours of wobblies going on with the Blonde Plutoz engagement hadn't gone far. Or if they had, people wanted to find out why and perhaps this was the last chance.
It was a clear warm night and everyone seemed in the mood to be entertained by a colourful show and great tunes. A group of high-power Toss Vague-Ass luminaries sat around a large table near the stage and made a whole lot of noise, even before the curtains parted. When the house lights dimmed they got louder still.
The music kicked off and the curtains got moving. Metro's rolling beat had people on their feet by the second bar. A world of pulsating brightness unfolded. Circling beams cut through the haze and lasers danced, spraying patterns all over the ballroom. On the riser Rivqua gave her sister's hand a quick squeeze as if to say, 'I'm glad we stayed, here we go!' And out of the floor two larger-than-life figures rose into the mayhem. The VIPs roared along with most everybody else.
About halfway in to the first verse, Zana thought she noticed someone familiar at the big table up front. It almost threw her off. She couldn't be sure, the lights blazed in her eyes, but she nodded to Rivqua to look. Rivqua shielded her eyes and squinted, making it part of a dance move. And was almost thrown off the first chorus.
There he was. But it couldn't be! It was impossible! Yet... it had to be.
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