Thor appointed himself patrol leader of the bar crawl, and proceeded to prod the others. He first cornered Dagger in his room, who replied, “Thanks, but if I’m going to be shooting, I’d like to be as sober as possible.” His expression wasn’t exactly condescending, but Dagger was very much the psychotic loner. He almost turned into a cloistered monk before a mission, and wasn’t much of a partier afterwards. He’d been known to have three beers, once or twice. He’d even had an expensive shot of Earth whisky once. He wasn’t cheap, he was just a purist.

Tirdal was next, and looked somewhat confused. Behind him the lights were dim. His desk had been cleared and set with a small candlelike object, a book and some other items Thor couldn’t identify from the door. They were some kind of religious or personal gear, and Thor didn’t pry. It wasn’t politeness; he was embarrassed. To his inquiry about joining the entourage, Tirdal replied, “You wish for us to appear in public as a group, then attempt to find private entertainment, then return to little sleep?”

“That’s sort of it,” Thor agreed. “It’s supposed to be fun and help take the edge off.”

Tirdal appeared to consider it for a moment, then replied.

“My presence would create a disturbance among others that would not be helpful to you, I think. There will be nothing for me to do privately, and if left alone in public, there could be issues. As to ‘taking the edge off,’ I will meditate most certainly, and review recent events. I also need to study more of both human interaction and technical matters. So I think not. But I do thank you for the invitation. Perhaps when this is over the timing would be more appropriate.”

“Well,” Thor said, “if you want to observe human interaction, this would be the time.”

“I’m aware of that, and the idea is intriguing,” Tirdal replied. “But other considerations take priority. I hope, however, that everyone has a good time on your ‘bar crawl.’ ”