Guest Night on Union Station by E. M. Foner Page B

the station. The Galaxy room seating is some kind of plastic stuff that looks like stone, and it’s all supported by carbon fiber webbing that’s hung off of the station spokes. I’ve been under there a number of times helping with props and scenery changes for the productions the girls were in when they were younger.”
    “You’re serious?” Daniel felt like the weight of a Verlock amphitheatre had been lifted from his shoulders. “How’s the access?”
    “There are four passages to get from the stage to the galleries under the seats,” Donna said, working from memory. “Visitors normally enter and exit the Galaxy room on the same deck as the convention center, which brings them into the seating area about two thirds of the way up. But half of the seats and all of the stage are really on the deck below, and you can tell the people who reserved booth space to have their stuff delivered to the lower level, so they don’t have to carry it down the stairs.”
    “It’s almost perfect, then. The only thing I have to worry about is salesmen fighting over the prime space on the stage.”
    “You haven’t talked to the vendors about their booth space yet?”
    “I figured I’d do it when they arrived,” Daniel said. “Isn’t that how these things always work?”
    Donna stared at the junior consul incredulously. “You don’t remember all of the planning we did for the last trade show?”
    “I remember you and the ambassador talking about moving around tables and which vendors to put next to each other,” Daniel said nonchalantly. “I thought all that rearranging furniture and telling people where to sit was just something women do for fun.”
    “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Kelly said, emerging from her office. “Are you finalizing the floor plan for the show?”
    “Daniel just reconfirmed the reservations and we were about to get started on the trade show booth assignments,” Donna replied. “He decided to hold the whole conference in the Galaxy room and to use the floor space under the seating for the show and the smaller conference sessions. We’ll probably go half and half, since the area under the seats is so large, and the convention center supplies all the temporary walls you want to create different-sized spaces.
    “Good idea,” Kelly said. “The Empire really whacks you for the first day of any rental, so doing it all in the one room should save a bundle. Am I still on the hook for the keynote?”
    “Well, they’re expecting you,” Daniel said, after a brief hesitation to marvel at how smoothly Donna had covered for his mistake. “If you don’t think you can do sixty minutes, we can…”
    “Sixty minutes?” Kelly interrupted, her voice rising an octave. “Do you know how many words that is? My weekly reports only average around five minutes, and besides, you’re the one who’s supposed to be the expert on these people and their communities. What can I possibly talk about for an hour?”
    “I was going to suggest that you find some people to act as an economic development panel, and then you could do a little introduction and moderate the discussion. The one thing I’m sure of is that the attendees are more interested in business than politics.”
    “How am I supposed to find a panel of human economic and business experts on one week’s notice?” Kelly demanded disingenuously, watching Donna out of the corner of her eye.
    “Was that a rhetorical question, or were you requesting a favor?” Donna inquired sweetly.
    “If you get me Stanley and the girls, I’ll owe you big.”
    “Isn’t three from one family being a little greedy?”
    “They all have different last names now so it won’t be obvious,” Kelly replied. “Maybe I can get Blythe to wear a disguise so people won’t notice that she and Chastity are sisters. She is a spy after all.”
    “I guess I can get you my father-in-law and either Shaina or Brinda,” Daniel offered. “That covers retail