"We already have a sci-fi show for that night. I wanted historical. And I thought the first episode would be in the can by now."

"But it would be historical, Lou," Maria said patiently, carefully avoiding the fact the first episode wasn't even written let alone filmed. "It would just be historical fiction."

"Well, of course it's fiction," Lou replied. "It's for television! But that doesn't mean we can't be as historically accurate as possible."

Kendal choked on his coffee. Maria turned to watch. He managed to stop the coughing eventually and cleared his throat, although he had nothing to add to the looking glass conversation. When he didn't die on the spot, Maria returned her attention to C. Lou. "It would certainly give us the freedom to bring in more action."

"Action is good. I want lots of action...but I don't know. We already have a sci-fi show for that night."

"Which makes it the perfect lead-in."

"I don't know, Maria. The viewers might get tired of it and tuned away in the middle of Star Trak. Too much of a good thing, you know."

"Sci-fi popularity is on the rise now, Lou," Maria countered.

"Really?"

"Yes," Kendal agreed. "It is. There's a whole channel dedicated to it now."

"A geek channel?" Lou breathed. He leaned back in his chair and swivelled to face the plate glass window. "Must be the video game crowd. The demographics are changing faster than I thought."

"You could have Sci-Fri-Day," Maria pointed out.

"That's good. I like that. Appeal to the Trakkies in our viewing audience. Hmmm...I still don't know. I had my heart set on doing something with clout...with class. Something Emmy-worthy. This—"

"...would be a metaphor for today's society," Kendal pointed out. "The war in Iraq...the Iraqi people fighting for freedom against terrorism."

"Oh, thanks for reminding me, Ken. Maria, I think we need a couple of good old fashioned terrorist bombings in the story. You figure out where best to put them."

Maria could think of a few good places to put terrorist bombs, but she simply gritted her teeth, smiled, and said, "Right, Lou."

Apparently dismissing Maria from his thought for the moment, Lou said, "I don't know, Kenny. I don't want to make political statements with this show. It's history."

"You can't make political statements from Gelderon, Lou. What you do is present a story that symbolizes the real history. The science fiction aspect would be minimized. There would be just enough to whet the Trakkie audience's appetite for Star Trak, while continuing to maintain an historical look and feel. The critics and Emmy voters will recognize the importance of what you're saying. They'll catch things that will pass over the heads of the average audience member. And yet, the average Joe-on-the-street will still want to watch because the fantasy aspect allows him a little escapism."

Maria rolled her eyes at this speech, but made no comment.

"Hmmm...." Lou's eyes had glazed over after Kendal's first sentence. After that, all he heard was ...real history. Whet the audience's appetite. Critics and Emmy voters will recognize the importance. The Average Joe will still watch.

The buzzer on Lou's desk went off, rousing him from his reverie. Tim's voice said, "Lou, your 4:00 is here."

Dropping his feet on the floor and standing briskly, Lou walked around to the front of his desk saying, "I'll let you know. Sorry, but this meeting is important. Can't be put off again. I'll give you a call."

And with that, Maria and Kendal found themselves in the waiting room again.