Breeder ReactionMarks, Winston K. (Winston Kinney)
Science
Breeder Reaction
Marks, Winston K. (Winston Kinney)
Science fiction; Short stories
"That's my secret," she said, squinching her eyes at me like a
fun-loving little cobra. "My brother is assistant head chemist, and
he's worked up a formula of fission products we got from the Atomic
Energy Commission for experimentation."
"Fission products!" I said. "That stuff's dangerous!"
"Not this formula," she assured me. "Bob says there's hardly any
radiation to it at all. Perfectly harmless."
"Then what's it supposed to do?" I inquired naively.
She stood up, placed one hand on her stomach and the other behind her
head, wiggled and stretched. "Atummyc Bath Powder will give milady
that wonderful, vibrant, _atomic_ feeling," she announced in a voice
dripping with innuendo.
"All right," I said, "that's what it's supposed to do. Now what does
it really do?"
"Smells good and makes her slippery-dry, like any other talcum," she
admitted quite honestly. "It's the name and the idea that will put it
across."
"And half a million dollars," I reminded her. "I'm afraid the whole
thing is a little too far off the track to consider at this time. I'm
here to make a new lipstick go. Maybe later--"
"I appreciate that, but honestly, don't you think it's a terrific
idea?"
"I think you're terrific," I told her, raising my left eyebrow at my
secretary, "and we'll get around to you one of these days."
"Oh, Mr. Sanders!" she said, exploding those big eyes at me and
shoving a half-folded sheet of paper at me. "Would you please sign my
interview voucher?"
In Madame Elaine's organization you had to have a written "excuse" for
absenting yourself from your department during working hours. I
supposed that the paper I signed was no different from the others.
Anyway, I was still blinded by the atomic blast of those hazel eyes.
After she left I got to thinking it was strange that she had me sign
the interview receipt. I couldn't remember having done that for any
other department heads.
I didn't tumble to the pixie's gimmick for a whole month, then I
picked up the phone one day and the old man spilled the news. "I
thought you were making lipstick over there. What's this call for ad
copy on a new bath powder?"
The incident flashed back in my mind, and rather than admit I had been
by-passed I lied, "You know the Madame. She always gets all she can
for her money."
The old man muttered, "I don't see taking funds from the lipstick
campaign and splitting them off into little projects like this," he
said. "Twenty-five thousand bucks would get you one nice spread in the
Post, but what kind of a one-shot campaign would that be?"
I mumbled excuses, hung up and screamed for the pixie. My secretary
said, "Who?"
"Little sexy-eyes. The Atomic Bath Powder girl."
Without her name it took an hour to dig her up, but she finally popped
in, plumped down and began giggling. "You found out."
"How," I demanded, "did you arrange it?"
"Easy. Madame Elaine's in Paris. She gave you a free hand, didn't
she?"
I nodded.
"Well, when you signed your okay on the Atummyc--"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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