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Priest fended her off with a practiced jesture that looked affectionate but actually stopped her from taking over the two shot. The credits started to roll, and the crowd howl swamped everything. Wanda-Jean suddenly looked puzzled. There seemed to be an undertow of boos beneath the general zoo hooting. What had she done? Bobby Priest lowered his mike and whispered in her ear without the slightest slip in his perfect professional smile.
"Don't worry about those morons, honey. You won, didn't you?"
Her confusion was suddenly compounded by a strong, if unfocused, sense of foreboding.
"I'M HARDLY GETTING ANYTHING, Co
Co
"Not so I've been able to notice."
"Don't make me the scapegoat for your inadequacies."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It must be hard to be a dyke and frigid at the same time."
"You're quite replaceable, Co
"So replace me. Just try it."
"Tantrums aren't going to help."
"Perhaps a director who isn't dead from the neck down might."
"Shall we just calm down and try it again?"
Co
In the control room, behind the airtight double glazing, the technical crew watched the exchange in silence, avoiding looking directly at either of the two women. They ran checks and fine-tuned the settings on the big board; anything to avoid being embroiled in the confrontation. The crew had known from the outset that the match between performer Co
Felicity Springer sat in the rear of the control room in what was known as the director's throne. The throne was directly co
"Shall we go for another?" she suggested.
Co
Co
"I'm the best. You can't sit there and tell me I'm not getting it on. I'm Co
"That's why I haven't thrown you off the set and brought in a replacement. That's why I'm putting up with all your shit."
"You wait until I see Renfield. You'll find out what shit is."
"All I've got to do is play him the tape. So far you've come up with nothing. Nada, zilch."
"That's a lie."
"All you have to do is play back the tape. You'll feel it for yourself. We're supposed to be doing Catherine the Great. The stuff you've been giving me could be dubbed into Rebecca of Su
Ahmed, the chief engineer on this session of orgasm inserts, made the mistake of trying to act as mediator. "Maybe this just isn't happening. Perhaps the basic chemistry isn't there. We could just use an orgasm out of stock. I doubt anyone would notice if we juiced the sample enough."
He immediately became the object of both women's scorn.
Co
Felicity shook her head. "I don't use stock material."
Co
Felicity was immediately encouraging. "All we need is one good solid teeth rattler and we're out of here."
The control room was filled with the soft hum of the vibrator as it was picked up by the talkback mike. It went on for a full ten minutes before Felicity angrily shook her head.
"It just isn't happening."
Out on the altar, Co
In the control room Ahmed shook his head. "Everything registers on line, Co
He glanced back at Felicity, leaving the sentence hanging. Ahmed seemed to have decided that he was in a no-win situation. He probably wouldn't work with Felicity Springer again anyway, so he might as well keep in with Co
Co
Felicity's face seemed stretched by keeping her anger under control. "Listen, eventually I'm going to have to mix this thing, and I can't mix what I can't feel."
Co
"Don't call me dearie, goddamn it."
Co
Ahmed nodded. "Okay."
Again the soft whine of the vibrator came over the talkback speakers. Co