"I've never heard of him." And the left hand's utilijems fell from
Sollenar's lips again. He enjoyed such toys. He raised his right hand,
sheathed in insubstantial midnight-blue silk in which the silver
threads of metallic wiring ran subtly toward the fingertips. He raised
the hand, and touched two fingers together: music began to play behind
and before him. He made contact between another combination of finger
circuits, and a soft, feminine laugh came from the terrace at the other
side of the room, where connecting doors had opened. He moved toward
it. One layer of translucent drapery remained across the doorway,
billowing lightly in the breeze from the terrace. Through it, he saw
the taboret with its candle lit; the iced wine in the stand beside it;
the two fragile chairs; Bess Allardyce, slender and regal, waiting in
one of them--all these, through the misty curtain, like either the
beginning or the end of a dream.
"Mr. Ermine reminds you the appointment was made for him at the Annual
Business Dinner of the International Association of Broadcasters, in
1998."
Sollenar completed his latest step, then stopped. He frowned down at
his left hand. "Is Mr. Ermine with the IAB's Special Public Relations
Office?"
"Yes," the voice said after a pause.
The fingers of Sollenar's right hand shrank into a cone. The
connecting door closed. The girl disappeared. The music stopped. "All
right. You can tell Mr. Ermine to come up." Sollenar went to sit behind
his desk.
* * * * *
The office door chimed. Sollenar crooked a finger of his left hand, and
the door opened. With another gesture, he kindled the overhead lights
near the door and sat in shadow as Mr. Ermine came in.
Ermine was dressed in rust-colored garments. His figure was spare,
and his hands were empty. His face was round and soft, with long dark
sideburns. His scalp was bald. He stood just inside Sollenar's office
and said: "I would like some light to see you by, Mr. Sollenar."
Sollenar crooked his little finger.
The overhead lights came to soft light all over the office. The crystal
wall became a mirror, with only the strongest city lights glimmering
through it. "I only wanted to see you first," said Sollenar; "I thought
perhaps we'd met before."
"No," Ermine said, walking across the office. "It's not likely you've
ever seen me." He took a card case out of his pocket and showed
Sollenar proper identification. "I'm not a very forward person."
"Please sit down," Sollenar said. "What may I do for you?"
"At the moment, Mr. Sollenar, I'm doing something for you."
Sollenar sat back in his chair. "Are you? Are you, now?" He frowned at
Ermine. "When I became a party to the By-Laws passed at the '98 Dinner,
I thought a Special Public Relations Office would make a valuable asset
to the organization. Consequently, I voted for it, and for the powers
it was given. But I never expected to have any personal dealings with
it. I barely remembered you people had carte blanche with any IAB
member."
"Well, of course, it's been a while since '98," Ermine said. "I imagine
some legends have grown up around us. Industry gossip--that sort of
thing."
"Yes."
"But we don't restrict ourselves to an enforcement function, Mr.
Sollenar. You haven't broken any By-Laws, to our knowledge."
"Or mine. But nobody feels one hundred per cent secure. Not under
these circumstances." Nor did Sollenar yet relax his face into its
magnificent smile. "I'm sure you've found that out."
"I have a somewhat less ambitious older brother who's with the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. When I embarked on my own career, he told me
I could expect everyone in the world to react like a criminal, yes,"
Ermine said, paying no attention to Sollenar's involuntary blink. "It's
one of the complicating factors in a profession like my brother's, or
mine. But I'm here to advise you, Mr. Sollenar. Only that."
"In what matter, Mr. Ermine?"
"Well, your corporation recently came into control of the patents
for a new video system. I understand that this in effect makes
your corporation the licensor for an extremely valuable sales and
entertainment medium. Fantastically valuable."
* * * * *
"EmpaVid," Sollenar agreed. "Various subliminal stimuli are broadcast
with and keyed to the overt subject matter. The home receiving unit
contains feedback sensors which determine the viewer's reaction to
these stimuli, and intensify some while playing down others in order to
create complete emotional rapport between the viewer and the subject
matter. EmpaVid, in other words, is a system for orchestrating the
viewer's emotions. The home unit is self-contained, semi-portable and
not significantly bulkier than the standard TV receiver. EmpaVid is
compatible with standard TV receivers--except, of course, that the
subject matter seems thin and vaguely unsatisfactory on a standard
receiver. So the consumer shortly purchases an EV unit." It pleased
Sollenar to spell out the nature of his prize.
"At a very reasonable price. Quite so, Mr. Sollenar. But you had
several difficulties in finding potential licensees for this system,
among the networks."
Sollenar's lips pinched out.
Mr. Ermine raised one finger. "First, there was the matter of acquiring
the patents from the original inventor, who was also approached by
Cortwright Burr."
"Yes, he was," Sollenar said in a completely new voice.
"Competition between Mr. Burr and yourself is long-standing and
intense."
"Quite intense," Sollenar said, looking directly ahead of him at the
one blank wall of the office. Burr's offices were several blocks
downtown, in that direction.
"Well, I have no wish to enlarge on that point, Mr. Burr being an IAB
member in standing as good as yours, Mr. Sollenar. There was, in any
case, a further difficulty in licensing EV, due to the very heavy cost
involved in equipping broadcasting stations and network relay equipment
for this sort of transmission."
"Yes, there was."
"Ultimately, however, you succeeded. You pointed out, quite rightly,
that if just one station made the change, and if just a few EV
receivers were put into public places within the area served by that
station, normal TV outlets could not possibly compete for advertising
revenue."
"Yes."
"And so your last difficulties were resolved a few days ago, when
your EmpaVid Unlimited--pardon me; when EmpaVid, a subsidiary of the
Sollenar Corporation--became a major stockholder in the Transworld TV
Network."
* * * * *
"I don't understand, Mr. Ermine," Sollenar said. "Why are you
recounting this? Are you trying to demonstrate the power of your
knowledge? All these transactions are already matters of record in the
IAB confidential files, in accordance with the By-Laws."
Ermine held up another finger. "You're forgetting I'm only here to
advise you. I have two things to say. They are:
"These transactions are on file with the IAB because they involve
a great number of IAB members, and an increasingly large amount of
capital. Also, Transworld's exclusivity, under the IAB By-Laws, will
hold good only until thirty-three per cent market saturation has been
reached. If EV is as good as it looks, that will be quite soon. After
that, under the By-Laws, Transworld will be restrained from making
effective defenses against patent infringement by competitors. Then
all of the IAB's membership and much of their capital will be involved
with EV. Much of that capital is already in anticipatory motion. So a
highly complex structure now ultimately depends on the integrity of the
Sollenar Corporation. If Sollenar stock falls in value, not just you
but many IAB members will be greatly embarrassed. Which is another way
of saying EV must succeed."
"I know all that! What of it? There's no risk. I've had every related
patent on Earth checked. There will be no catastrophic obsolescence of
the EV system."
Ermine said: "There are engineers on Mars. Martian engineers. They're a
dying race, but no one knows what they can still do."
Sollenar raised his massive head.
Ermine said: "Late this evening, my office learned that Cortwright Burr
has been in close consultation with the Martians for several weeks.
They have made some sort of machine for him. He was on the flight that
landed at the Facility a few moments ago."
Sollenar's fists clenched. The lights crashed off and on, and the room
wailed. From the terrace came a startled cry, and a sound of smashed
glass.
Mr. Ermine nodded, excused himself and left.
--A few moments later, Mr. Ermine stepped out at the pedestrian level
of the Sollenar Building. He strolled through the landscaped garden,
and across the frothing brook toward the central walkway down the
Avenue. He paused at a hedge to pluck a blossom and inhale its odor. He
walked away, holding it in his naked fingers.