Chapter 167 Scheisse

• "How can you be so sure?"
• The question hung in the air like a noxious gas, something you wanted to ignore but couldn't. In Tycho Deep's recycled and renewed atmosphere, odors were nearly eliminated except in the public parks where the scents of flowers and growing things predominated. In private apartments like Silver Eagle's, there was a greater variety depending on whether the occupants liked to cook, or had hobbies which could generate fumes either pleasant or annoying. Raising flowers at home was a popular past-time, so a wide range of scents could be found going from one place to another. A number of artists' homes held the odor of paints and solvents, though the occupants barely noticed them after long years of familiarity.
• In the boys' apartment, the usual odor of fresh cooking and plants had a faint undercurrent of nervous sweat and just a hint of sexual arousal. Two-Sapphire's unexpected arrival had prevented any sort of clean-up beyond a quick brush with a damp cloth. When the Director of the Luna offices of the Hallbach-Sommers Combine asked—or demanded in this case—entry, no one denied him. In a purely social situation, time would have been made for such amenities, but the `thal's visit was far from social. In fact, the boys had been surprised to see no Security people at all despite the urgent tone of the older `thal's first words over the commlink.