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either with expandable silicone rods, or as many as sixteen sequentially motor-driven, heated silicone undulant pads.”
    “Do I want to hear this?”
    “I dunno, do you?”
    Toni thought about it for a second. “Sure. Never let it be said that after I got married and had a child I automatically turned into an old stick-in-the-mud.”
    “The folks who are really into this call the sex devices McCleans.”
    Toni finished the carrot, reached for another, and raised one eyebrow.
    “It’s from an old limerick, according to Jay.”
    “You don’t need to keep saying, ‘according to Jay.’ I’ll take your word for it.”
    “Um. According to—I mean, you know about haptic mice and input pens and such. The McCleans came out of research for blind computer users. The top-of-the-line units have oral/genital/anal plugs or cavities, depending on the users’, ah, physical configurations and desires. The headsets come with Aromajet’s DigiScents modules that can mimic certain body smells. They call these ‘reekers.’ There is a tongue wafer from Taste-the-Real-Thing-dot-com that is electronically controlled to offer various tastes, and naturally, they call these ‘droolers.’ ”
    “Reekers and droolers,” she said. “Sounds like some kind of medical condition.”
    “Or a law firm,” he said.
    “Um. Anyway, the best units include form-fitting memorymesh that can apply pressure in various ways, heat or cooling along any of the mesh ladders, along with vibrations.”
    Toni disposed of the second carrot, then went to work on a sweet purple onion. She said, “So you plug into a high-tech vibrator, or one into you, depending on your gender, slip into some mesh thingee that is really comfortable, dial up the taste and smell of warm whatever, and join your unseen loved one on a beach in VR somewhere?”
    “That’s what I am given to understand, yes.”
    “And how is it compared to the real thing?”
    “Well, according to Jay—and I am in no way otherwise knowledgeable about this, believe me—it’s not as good as the real thing, but it’s better than being alone. And in some cases, there are sensations available you can’t get with a real partner. The Electric Tongue can actually deliver enough low-amperage-but-high-voltage to make your hair stand up. Then there is the lifelike vibrating anus . . .”
    “Yuck! This sounds totally disgusting!”
    “Well, sure,” he said, “because you have me . You are forever spoiled for other men and machines.”
    That cracked her up, as he knew it would.
    “Say, fellow, is that a banana in your sarong, or are you just happy to see me?”
    “It’s a banana.”
    She laughed, and somehow his sarong fell down again.

8

    Nicasio, California

    The night was cool, but not too cold, and the winding and hilly road fairly quiet. The target and his bodyguards were on their way back from visiting some movie people who had a place in Lucas Valley. Santos didn’t know a lot about movies, he did not spend much time in theaters, but this place, a ranch hidden from the road, was apparently pretty famous.
    Santos had picked several places along the route where he could make his move, some better than others, but all should be workable if he did what he needed to do.
    The limo passed his position, and he waited until it was a half-mile ahead of him before he started the big motorcycle’s engine and pulled out behind the car. There was no worry that he would lose them, for he knew where they were going.
    They weren’t going to get there, though.
    Thirty minutes later, the limo approached his primary location choice. But there was a car pulled off on the shoulder on the dark stretch of road, a big American sedan, just sitting there. He didn’t see anybody silhouetted in the vehicle, but that did not matter.
    It was a complication, and he let the limo drive past.
    Five minutes past that, the secondary site loomed, but this time, the traffic was heavier than he’d expected.
    The third