“Felt as if the chick was really in your arms, didn’t it?” Hayden asked.
“In my arms? Father, I could feel her flesh and smell her perfume. Hayden, you’ve got something here that...”
“That’s only half of it, Van,” Hayden said proudly. “Remember, we call this Individual Sensory Productions. Just a second.” He leaned back and pressed a button on the arm of his chair. Above the music drifting from the speaks, came a well-modulated feminine voice.
“Yes, sir?”
“Rhonda, would you come in a moment, please?”
“Certainly, Mr. Thorpe.”
Hayden leaned forward again and said, “My secretary, Van; I think you’ll be more than a little surprised by what she has to say.”
Van nodded and waited for the door to slide open. When it did, a tall brunette entered, carrying a small stenotab. Her hair was piled high on her head, accentuating her height, in the fashion most tall girls affected. She wore her breasts pitch black, matching her hair, with silver sequins scattered from each nipple in a haphazard smear. Her skirt was long, but slit up the center and revealing laced, transparent underwear. She walked across the room in long-legged strides, sitting in a chair next to Hayden. She crossed her legs and poised her slender, well-manicured fingers over the keys of the stenotab, ready for dictation.
“No,” Hayden said, “I just wanted you to tell Mr. Brant something.”
“Yes, sir,” she said. She arched her brows, batted her lashes over the auburn contact lenses she wore. “What was it, sir?”
“You saw the Indi-Senso we ran yesterday, didn’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you remember the love scene?”
A pulse in her throat quickened, and she lowered her eyes, “Yes, sir.”
“Will you describe it to Mr. Brant, please?”
“Well, I... that is, sir... I...” She looked to Van, hopefully.
“Really, Hayden,” Van said, “there’s no need to get Ree about this. I saw the scene, and I...”
“Please, Van,” Hayden said, holding his hand up like a traffic robot. “I have no intention of intruding on your privacy, Rhonda, believe me. I want typical audience reactions, and you’re one of the few women who saw the Senso. Would you describe the love scene?”
The girl wet her lips, batted her lashes again, sucked in a deep breath and said, “Well... it was set on a balcony...”
“Yes?”
“And... and it was a starry night...”
Van remembered the balcony, and he remembered the stars. He also remembered how crisp and clean the air had smelled. The stars had shone like brittle glass in an immensely black sky, and there had been a quiet feel of peace over the land. The hero had taken the girl into his arms, and Van had actually felt the pressure of her breasts, the silkiness of her hair. He’d smelled the musky fragrance of her perfume, tasted the faint mint flavor of her lipstick. It had been an experience, all right, one of the best Sensos he’d ever seen. But he was beginning to wonder just why Hayden was putting his secretary through a personal inquisition.
“The... the girl went into the boy’s arms,” Rhonda said. “And then he kissed her.”
“Yes, go on.”
“I... his face was rough, as if he had shaved but not too closely. There was the smell of aftershave on his face, I remember, and an old leather smell about him, somehow. You know what I mean. A very... masculine smell.”
Van looked at the girl in astonishment, beginning to understand just exactly what Hayden had accomplished.
“His arms were very strong,” she said. “They’d been coated with alcojel, you know the odor. He’d been smoking before that, and I could... could taste the tobacco on his mouth. It... it was very nice.” She paused, seeming to wander into a reverie. “Very nice.”
“Thank you, Rhonda,” Hayden said. “You may go now.” She rose, uncrossing her legs and striding across the room. Hayden could hardly contain himself until the door slid shut behind her. “Well, Van?” he asked, a smile mushrooming over his face.
“I don’t believe it,” Van said. “It was a put-up job.”
“God’s truth,” Hayden said soberly. “The gal saw the show yesterday. I haven’t chopped with her since.”
Van digested this for about three seconds. “Father,” he said, “you’re a crazy, drug-loving, psyched-up illidge, but I love you I This will set the industry...”
“...solid. Just what I said. Individual Sensos, Van. The men live a completely different experience than the women. I’ve brought viewpoint to the Sensos, Van. It overwhelms me when I think of it. I’m a genius!”
“Genius! You’re going to be a millionaire, you crazy stud. You’re going to have more money than Fort Knox!”
Hayden turned suddenly to his assistant. “Take a powder, Lawrence.”
“Yes, sir,” Lawrence answered obediently. He walked to the door and left soundlessly. Hayden’s face turned suddenly serious.
“You think I’ve got something, Van?”
“Got something? Hayden, this is the most terrific thing I’ve ever...”
“I need money,” he said quickly.
He shocked Van for a moment. Hayden had been producing Sensos for a long time now. If there was anyone Van thought was comfortably fixed, it was Hayden Thorpe. “You’re kidding,” he said.
“No. No, I’m straight, Van.”
“Money? You?”
“My habit is long and strong,” he said. “Corradon.”
“Oh,” Brant said, understanding at once. Corradon was a synthetic drug. It cost a hell of a lot, even now that narcotics were legal. A Corradonict needed a pile, and he needed a pile measured in miles.
“This thing is the biggest,” Hayden said. “There’s plenty in it for both of us. You back me, Van, and we’re wedded.”
“Five-five?” Van asked.
“You know the idea itself rates a seven-three,” Hayden said. “At least a six-four, anyway.” He shrugged and spread his hands wide. “Without the moo, though, I’ve got nothing. You back me, and I’ll make it an even split. Five-five. Grooved?”
“How much do you need?”
“Two stones.”
“What!”
“I thought I could get by on one, but it’s impossible. Even cutting to the marrow, it would come to at least a stone and a half.”
Van shook his head. “I haven’t got that kind of money, Hayden.”
“How much can you raise immediately?”
“Nine hundred gee. Maybe.”
Hayden nodded. “That’s not bad; that’s only a gee short of a stone. Can we raise the other million?”
“Hayden, that’s a hell of a lot of moo.”
“Goddamnit, I know it, father. Do you think I’d have come to you if I could’ve raised it myself? Van, this is the biggest thing on the scene. You want to make some money, you’ve got to invest some. I thought you had connections.”
“I do, I do. But...”
“Do you want in or not? I came to you first because I know you and I like you. You want to be a ten-percenter all your life? You can cut loose of all your scribes, once this thing hits the market.”
He looked at Brant, saw the dubious look on his face, and said, “Did you see the stars in that chick’s eyes when she described the mush to you? You ever see anyone look like that talking about an ordinary Senso? Hell, Van, you saw the show yourself. Was it, or wasn’t it?”
“It was.”
“Did it fix you?”
“It fixed me. It was doom. But two stones...”
“You said you could raise close to one. That leaves a million to go. If you can get the nine hundred gee by the end of the week, we can start production. We’ll need another gee or so by the end of the month, and the remainder for the ballyhoo just before release. That won’t be too close. Six months, at least.”
“How long did it take you to make the pilot?” Van asked.