noon
I packed three changes of clothes and a toothbrush in my shoulderbag and checked out of my suite at the Polynesian at ten a.m. , then met Jeanine and Dan at the valet parking out front . Dan had a runabout he 'd picked up with my Whuffie , and I piled in with Jeanine in the middle . We played old Beatles tunes on the stereo all the long way to Cape Canaveral . Our shuttle lifted at noon . The shuttle docked four hours later , but by the time we 'd been through decontam and orientation , it was suppertime . Dan , nearly as Whuffie-poor as Debra after his confession , nevertheless treated us to a meal in the big bubble , squeeze-tubes of heady booze and steaky paste , and we watched the universe get colder for a while . There were a couple guys jamming , tethered to a guitar and a set of tubs , and they were n't half bad .