Finally, the lights went out again. Instead of resuming the play, however, we had a flash of the face of the President of Terra. He spoke very seriously, very earnestly—and I had to sit through it after Suzi had switched on the sound again. He pointed out at some length that we all must maintain faith and calm and hold in our hearts the image of the champion of the Solar System, our own Terran Gladiator, Jak Dempsi.
The President's face faded and was replaced with a still of mine.
The audience rose to a man, faced our box and applauded like crazy. I had a sneaking suspicion that the show wasn't going to go on as long as Suzi and I were there.
I said, "Let's get out of here before that autorch—" but I was too late. It started blaring The Solar System Forever before we reached the door. Everybody was singing too, which made it worse. I hadn't known before that it had words.
Otherwise, it was a successful evening. Particularly after I convinced the Solar System League officers that there was no need for around a dozen of them to be stationed in my apartment. I told them that they could patrol the corridors, my roof, and the street outside to their hearts' content, but my apartment was out. The officer in charge took another look at Suzi and evidently decided I was probably right—there are things more important than personal safety.
The rest of the evening was spent by Suzi proving that she still loved me. She offered some excellent evidence. Anyway, it satisfied me....
I was awakened again the next morning by Mari Nown who, as he had the morning before, was waving a sheet of newspaper before my eyes. This could grow into a very unpleasant habit.
But at least he wasn't hopping this time. In fact, he seemed quite pleased with himself.
I turned over on my other side and growled, "Go away, I was having a beautiful dream about Suzi."