There was a squeal of horror from one of the women.
“Ugh! It gives me the creeps just to think about it! You must be terribly brave.”
Sullivan looked quite surprised.
“I’d never thought about that,” he said. “Of course, I take suitable precautions, but I’ve never been in any real danger. The squids know that they can’t eat me, and as long as I don’t go too close they never take the slightest notice. Most sea-creatures leave you alone unless you interfere with them.”
“But surely,” someone asked, “sooner or later you’re bound to run up against one that thinks you’re edible?”
“Oh,” replied Sullivan airily, “that happens now and then.
I try not to hurt them, because after all I’m anxious to make friends. So I just turn the jets full on and it usually takes only a minute or two to pull free. If I’m too busy to stop and play, I may tickle them up with a couple of hundred volts. That settles the matter and they never bother me again.”
You certainly met some interesting people at Rupert’s parties, thought George as he moved on to the next group. Rupert’s literary tastes might be specialized, but his friendships were wide-ranging. Without bothering to turn his head, George could see a famous film producer, a minor poet, a mathematician, two actors, an atomic power engineer, a game warden, the editor of a weekly news magazine, a statistician from the World Bank, a violin virtuoso, a professor of anthropology and an astrophysicist. There were no other representatives of George’s own profession, television studio design — which was a good thing, as he wanted to get away from shop. He loved his work; indeed, in this age, for the first time in human history, no one worked at tasks they did not like. But George was content to mentally lock the studio doors behind him at the end of the day.
He finally trapped Rupert in the kitchen, experimenting with drinks. It seemed a pity to bring him back to earth when he had such a far-away look in his eye, but George could be ruthless when necessary.
“Look here, Rupert,” he began, perching himself on the nearest table. “I think you owe us all some explanation.”