The Darfsteller by Walter M. Miller Jr

Author:Walter M. Miller Jr [Miller, Walter M. Jr]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sci Fi & Fantasy Novelette
Publisher: Astounding Science Fiction
Published: 1953-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

At five minutes till six, Rick Thomas and a man from the Smithfield depot climbed down out of the booth, and Jade pressed forward through the crowd to question him with her eyes.

“The tape,” he said. “Defective”

“But it’s too late to get another!” she squawked.

“Well, it’s the tape, anyway.”

“How do you know?”

“Well-trouble’s bound to be in one of three places. The doll, the tape, or the analogue tank where the tape-data gets stored. We cleared the tank and tried it with another actor. Worked O.K. And the doll works O.K. on an uninterpreted run. So, by elimination, the tape.”

She groaned and slumped into a seat, covering her face with her hands.

“No way at all to locate another tape?” Rick asked.

“We called every depot within five hundred miles. They’d have to cut one from a master. Take too long.”

“So we call off the show!” Ian Feria called out resignedly, throwing up his hands in disgust. “Refund on tickets, open tomorrow.”

“Wait!” snapped the producer, looking up suddenly. “Dooch-the house is sold out, isn’t it?”

“Yah,” D’Uccia grunted irritably. “She’sa filled op. Wassa matter with you pipple, you don’ getsa Maestro fix? Wassa matter? We lose the money, hah?”

“Oh, shut up. Change curtain time to nine, offer refunds if they won’t wait. Ian, keep at it. Get things set up for tonight.” She spoke with weary determination, glancing around at them. “There may be a slim chance. Keep at it. I’m going to try something.” She turned and started away.

“Hey!” Feria called.

“Explain later,” she muttered over her shoulder.

She found Thornier replacing burned-out bulbs in the wall fixtures. He smiled down at her while he reset the clamps of an amber glass panel. “Need me for something, Miss Ferne?” he called pleasantly from the stepladder.

“I might,” she said tersely. “Did you mean that offer about standing in for dud mannequins?”

A bulb exploded at her feet after it slipped from his hand. He came down slowly, gaping at her.

“You’re not serious!”

“Think you could try a run-through as Andreyev?” He shot a quick glance toward the stage, wet his lips, stared at her dumbly.

“Well-can you?”

“It’s been ten years, Jade … I-”

“You can read over the script, and you can wear an earplug radio—so Rick can prompt you from the booth.”

She made the offer crisply and matter-of-factly, and it made Thorny smile inwardly. It was theater-calmly asking the outrageously impossible, gambling on it, and getting it.

“The customers-they’re expecting Peltier.”

“Right now I’m only asking you to try a runthrough, Thorny. After that, we’ll see. But remember it’s our only chance of going on tonight.”

“Andreyev,” he breathed. “The lead.”

“Please, Thorny, will you try?”

He looked around the theater, nodded slowly. “I’ll go study my lines,” he said quietly, inclining his head with what he hoped was just the proper expression of humble bravery.

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