“Thanks.”
“Nothing to it.”
Brenda said, “Looks like we’ll be here a long time.”
“Good,” said Oxnard. “It’ll give me a chance to ask you some questions about a new idea of mine.”
“What’s that?” Gabriel asked.
Oxnard scratched briefly at his nose. “Oh, it’s just a few wild thoughts I put together... but it might be possible to produce a three-dee show without using any actors. You....”
“What?” Gabriel looked startled. Brenda pursed her lips.
Oxnard nodded as they walked. “After watching how pitiful Dulaq is as an actor, I got to thinking that there’s no fundamental reason why you couldn’t take one holographic picture of him—a still shot—and then use a computer to electronically move his image any way you want to... you know, make him walk, run, stand up, sit down. Some of the work they’ve been doing at the VA with hemiplegics....”
Gabriel stopped and dropped his suitcase to the floor. Brenda and Oxnard took a step or two more, then turned back toward him.
“Don’t say anything more about it,” Gabriel warned.
“Why not?” Oxnard looked totally surprised at his reaction. “You could do away with....”
“He’s right,” Brenda agreed. “Forget about it. You’ll produce nothing but trouble.”
Oxnard stared at them both. “But you could lower the costs of producing shows enormously. You wouldn’t have to hire any act....”
Gabriel put a hand over his mouth. “For Chrissake, you wanna start a revolution in L.A.? Every actor in the world will come after you, with guns!”
Oxnard shrugged as Gabriel took his hand away. “It’s just an idea... might be too expensive to work out in real-time.” He sounded hurt.
“It would cause more trouble than it’s worth,” Brenda said, as they resumed walking. “Believe me, a producer would have to be utterly desperate to try a scheme like that.”
: : : : : :
HONOLULU PINEAPPLES WIN EIGHTH STRAIGHT,
38-6
QB Gene Toho Passes For Three Scores
: : : : : :
Gregory Earnest stood beside the reclining plush barber chair, watching the skinny little old man daub Francois Dulaq’s rugged features with makeup.
“What is it this time, Francois?” he asked, barely suppressing his growing impatience.
Dulaq’s eyes were closed while the makeup man carefully filled in the crinkles at the corners and painted over the bags that had started to appear under them.
“I gotta leave early t’day. Th’team’s catchin’ the early plane to Seattle.”
Earnest felt startled. “I thought you were taking the special charter flight, later tonight. You can still be in Seattle tomorrow morning, in plenty of time for the game.”
“Naw... I wanna go wit’ th’guys. They’re startin’ t’razz me about bein’ a big TV star... and de coach ain’t too happy, neither. Sez I oughtta get t’ th’ practices... my scorin’s off and th’ guys’re gettin’ a little sore at me.”
“But we can’t shoot your scenes in just a few hours,” Earnest protested.
“Sure ya can.”
Earnest grabbed the nearest thing at hand, a tissue box, and banged it viciously on the countertop. Dulaq opened one eye and squinted at him, in the mirror.
“Francois, you’ve got to understand,” Earnest said. “We’ve stripped your scenes down as far as we can. We haven’t given you anything more complicated to say than ‘Let’s go,’ or ‘Oh, no you don’t.’ We’re dubbing all the longer speeches for you. But you’ve got to let us photograph you! You’re the star, for goodness’ sake! The people have to see you on the show!”
“I ain’t gonna be a star of nuthin’ if I don’t start scorin’ and th’ team don’t start winnin’.”
Earnest’s mind spun furiously. “Well, I suppose we could use Fernando to stand in for the long shots and the reverse angles, when your back’s to the camera.”
“He still limpin’?”
“A little. That was some fight scene.”
“Dat’s th’ only fun I’ve had since we started dis whole show.”
The makeup man pursed his lips, inspected his handiwork and then said, “Okay, mon ami. That’s the most I can do for you.”
