Dan bent down and felt the wide thick mat which had been spread out to prevent Lyla hurting herself during her convulsive thrashing about. “That looks fine,” he said. “Where can I connect my recorder?”
“We’ll be recording everything ourselves, naturally,” Ariadne said. “And we have first-class facilities.”
Dan gave her a brief professional smile. “I’m sure you have. I’d still like to make a tape of my own. Copyyou know.”
“Oh. Oh, yes-of course. Well, anywhere on the wall, then.” Once more Ariadne’s eyes flitted around the room. Watching, Reedeth had the distinct impression that she was stalling, delaying the start of the proceedings. Had she had second thoughts about her plan?
Suddenly she relaxed, and in puzzlement he changed cameras for a more general scan. Just inside the door, which was still sliding closed, was standing a newcomer, who looked as though he had three heads. On his shoulhe was wearing a pair of eye-following stereovicameras like extra skulls of polished metal. And the half-concealed face between them, crossed by a tonguetip-controlled switchbar, belonged to.
Matthew Flamen! Reedeth jolted forward in his chair. Although he was seldom able to watch the Flamen show, being at work on all the five days when it was transat noon, he had met the vu-man twice directly following his wife’s commitment.
Was she here? Reedeth scanned the audience and at once spotted her familiar casque of dark brown hair, far to the back in an end seat. He saw Flamen wave to her, but she gave him a perfectly blank stare, and after a moment of astonished hesitation he continued towards the front of the room. There Ariadne presented him to the pythoness and her mackero, and words were exwhich were tantalizingly out of range of the pickups.
Turning away, Flamen began to discharge self-seekmikes like so many kids’ balloons, adjusting each to the flotational index of the air so it would maintain a constant height below the ceiling. Was his arrival chance or premeditation? And what did Mogshack think about a spoolpigeon turning up fully loaded with outside broadequipment?
Reedeth gave a sudden cynical chuckle and asked his desketary both questions. The answers-especially the one concerning the motives which had driven Mogshack to seek the publicity-proved beyond the slightest doubt that Madison had eliminated all the censor-circuits while he was at it.
He was still chuckling when the dismaying thought crossed his mind that perhaps he wasn’t the only peron the staff whose desketary had been unexpectedmodified by Madison. He asked about that too, and was assured that so far this one was unique. Greatly relieved, he turned his attention back to Ariadne.
“I hardly need to introduce Mr. Matthew Flamen,” she was saying loudly and clearly; she must have turned the pickups to full gain. “His face and voice are probably familiar to you from his five-times-weekly spool-pigeon show on the Holocosmic network. He’s asked perto record this afternoon’s performance by Lyla Clay for possible eventual transmission on his show, but naturally I must ask whether anyone here objects to-”
The sound dropped suddenly and the desketary said, “Dr. Mogshack is canvassing the staff also to see if they have any objections. Do you, Dr. Reedeth?”
Reedeth hesitated. “No objection,” he said after a pause. It was the safest course. If Mogshack had already consented there was no point in starting an argument.
Evidently no one else registered an objection either, for the next thing that happened was that Lyla Clay said something very softly to Ariadne, fingering her yash, and Ariadne glanced at two or three of the paseemed to debate a point with herself, and finally shrugged. Lyla tossed the yash aside with what appeared to Reedeth to be a moue of distaste, and stood revealed in nothing but a pair of abbreviated Nix.
“Hmmm.!” Reedeth muttered. “That mackero of hers is a very lucky man!”
Several of the male patients, and two lesbian ones, fidgeted in their chairs in a way that suggested they were equally impressed.
The next thing that happened, however, was merely that Lyla set off on a tour of the room in total silence, briefly studying each of the people present-including, to his obvious dismay, Flamen. She seemed nervous, Reedeth judged, and took a long time about her task.