noon
* * * * * The Martian Room , fifteen stories down , was a big place , occupying almost half of the floor space of one corner tower . It had been fitted to resemble one of the ruined buildings of the ancient and vanished race of Mars who were the ancestors of Terran humanity . One whole side of the room was a gigantic cine-solidograph screen , on which the gullied desolation of a Martian landscape was projected ; in the course of about two hours , the scene changed from sunrise through daylight and night to sunrise again . It was high noon when they entered and found a table ; by the time they had finished their dinner , the night was ending and the first glow of dawn was tinting the distant hills . They sat for a while , watching the light grow stronger , then got up and left the table . There were five men at a table near them ; they had come in before the stars had grown dim , and the waiters were just bringing their first dishes . Two were Assassins , and the other three were of a breed Verkan Vall had learned to recognize on any time-line -- the arrogant , cocksure , ambitious , leftist politician , who knows what is best for everybody better than anybody else does , and who is convinced that he is inescapably right and that whoever differs with him is not only an ignoramus but a venal scoundrel as well .