The Convention

Jane Niles stepped into the Dealer Room and looked around. She was amazed at the activity going on. Everywhere she looked, there were people buying and selling a wide range of merchandise, from 8x10's to videos to toys to fan magazines to jewelry. She couldn't believe her show, "Project: Wormhole", had generated so much interest.

The crowd was varied as well. Some looking like any one who might come in off the street but many in their own versions of the uniforms worn on the show, both by project members (khaki slacks with a navy polo shirt and a navy short jacket adorned with the Project logo), and some of the more popular enemy races like the Kraken.

Jane was one of the costars of the hit syndicated sci-fi series "Project: Wormhole." It was loosely based on the movie "Wormhole" from almost a decade before. The movie had done so-so at the box office but very well on video and cable. That caused the producers, who had made box-office blockbusters (like the alien invasion movie "Spring Training" ) and bombs (like the American version of "Gamera"), to license the rights to the concept to a new production company, Chameleon. The show had taken off and was now ready to start it's fourth season under the newer production company. The movie's creators, on the other hand, were busy trying new series' for Fox that never lasted more than half the season.

The series centered on an artificial wormhole created in a government lab that allowed a special team of research scientists to travel across time and space to have new, exciting adventures every week.

Jane played Doctor Therese Rutherford, the chief scientist at the Project. The doctor was a quantum physicist with a medical background. She was a well-respected member of the project and had helped save the survey team several times through various ingenious methods (few of which could ever work in real life). The woman had no apparent social or personal life and rarely even smiled in the show.

While in character, she wore her long, auburn hair tied into a tight bun with severe glasses and a long, shapeless lab coat over the standard Project uniform and came across as stern and forbidding. In real life, Jane was a very pretty, charming lady with near-perfect eyesight. She laughed and told raw jokes and thoroughly enjoyed herself. She also dressed in more complimentary clothes off-camera that tended to show her shapely figure. Unfortunately, lately, her personal life was even less exciting than the non-existent love life of her television character.

Hers was only a recurring role originally, not a series regular. Her character only rarely traveled through the wormhole. She mainly had to stay at the Project and wait for the survey team to return. Recently, however, due to fan insistence, her character was being developed and used more. Her hair was also a little looser and her glasses were a softer, rimless style.

She stopped at one of the many booths that featured commercially licensed toys and memorabilia from her show. Looking at a collection of action figures based on the show, she saw one of her character. It was six inches tall and wore the standard white lab coat and black-framed glasses. This was the first time Jane had seen her toy. She was fascinated.

"How much for the Dr. Rutherford figure?" she asked.

The goateed young man behind the table, wearing a t-shirt that said "E.T. Go Home" replied, "All the figures are $6.00." Then he added in a stage whisper, "I should charge more for the Rutherford. They're hard to come by."

"Why is that?" Jane asked.

"The toy people didn't think she'd sell that well and didn't make too many of them. The demand is higher than they expected and they have to go back to press or whatever they call it," the dealer replied.

Noting the dealer tag showing his name was Dave, Jane asked, "Why is it so popular, Dave?"

Dave smiled and said, "Wait a minute..." He walked behind the partition at the rear of his booth and came back a moment later. Handing Jane an unpackaged figure, he said, "Look under the lab coat..."

She smiled and took the six-inch figure from Dave and pulled the small cloth coat back. The figure was molded in the Project uniform. She was surprised but somewhat complimented to see that the figure was quite well proportioned. "She's rather busty, isn't she?"

Dave snorted and said, "Yeah! That's why she sells so well. You know the girl who plays her on TV? I don't think she's that stacked."

Jane smiled and said, "You never know. Oh, do you have the Amelia Tripp figure too?"

Jane left the booth with the action figures for the two main women on the show thinking, 'Sandy's going to love this. Her action figure is less developed than mine.' Then she glanced down at her well rounded chest and added with a chuckle, 'Just like real life.' Of course, her shorter stature did tend to emphasize her attributes.

Sandy Carson was the show's star. She played Amelia Tripp, the survey team leader. When the series premiered John O'Toole played the lead, Robert E. Anthony. He had to leave when another pilot he filmed was picked up and had a contract that had been signed earlier. His other show didn't last more than half a season but by then the fan reaction to a female lead had assured his character's fate as an occasion guest star, which he had agreed to originally to get out of his contract with Chameleon Productions.

Jane wasn't in on the planning sessions when it became clear John wasn't coming back, but she heard what had happened. The producers were dead set on getting another male lead, but the creative team finally convinced them that a strong female lead could work. They pointed to the success of "Xena" and "Star Trek: Voyager" as their arguments. She had hoped her character would also benefit but she remained in "co-star" status with gradually increasing screen time.

Still it gave her time to do other work, including movies of the week for Lifetime and other production companies as well as the occasional big-screen appearance. Recently, she had the feeling that she was on the verge of a big change in her professional life. A larger role on the show perhaps?

As she walked through the dealer room, she continued to be fascinated by the wide range of memorabilia was for sale. She had attended a "Star Trek" mini-con with her roommate in college, but that long-ago con was nowhere near as big as this one.

She stopped at a small booth manned by a young girl with long, curly, dark red hair. She was selling fanzines from various shows. Jane saw one with the "Project: Wormhole" logo and an original drawing of the cast on the cover.

"Hmm. 'Project: Wormhole' eh? Original fiction?"

The girl, who looked to be around twenty, looked at Jane and became nervous. Jane tried to give her a reassuring smile and saw from her tag that her name was Erin.

"Hi Erin. These look interesting. How much are they?" Jane asked.

"Uh, I, uh, you're the doctor on the show...Oh no."

The girl was obviously upset. Jane tried to sound comforting as she asked, "What's wrong, hon?"

"These," she said, indicating the fanzines. "You're probably going to sue for copyright infringement. Oh God, I told Nat we shouldn't come here."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm on the show but I'm not worried about these. I think it's flattering that people like the show enough to write their own stuff. This one looks interesting." Jane picked up a small digest-sized 'zine with scanned images of herself and Sandy in a rather intimate position on the cover. It was titled "Amelia and Therese: The Secret In The Project."

"How much is this?" Jane asked, her eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Oh no. You wouldn't like that." Erin was horrified. "It's really bad."

"Well, I think it looks very interesting. How much?" Jane persisted with a smile.

Erin closed her eyes and almost whispered "It's three dollars."

"Well, here you go," Jane said with a wider smile as she handed the girl three singles.

Erin took the money and and slipped the 'zine into a paper bag and handed it to Jane without meeting her eyes.

"Thank you, Erin. I know I'll like it." Jane smiled as the pretty girl looked up at her. Erin blushed and a sprinkle of freckles appeared across the bridge of her nose.

Jane waved and walked on through the dealer room.

"Excuse me?" a timid voice said. Jane turned and saw a teenage boy staring at her nervously.

"Yes?"

"You're Jane Niles. I've seen you on the show and on those 'Inner Sanctum' episodes you did. You're even prettier in real life," the boy hesitated, as if embarrassed by his speech.

"Well, thank you very much. May I ask who you are?" Jane had made a very favorable reputation in fandom as a gracious lady who hadn't let her celebrity status go to her head.

"I'm, uh...I'm Steve. Steve Birk. Would you sign, uh..." He paused as he fumbled nervously with his backpack. "Damnit. Where is...here it is. Would you sign this?" It was one of the action figures of her character still in the blister pack.

"Certainly. Should I make it out to you?" At Steve's nod, she signed the cardboard backing "To Steve, Thanks for watching and keep enjoying the show. Jane Niles" Below her signature she added a heart-shaped smiley face, her unofficial trademark. "Here you go Steve."

"Oh wow. Thank you! This is so cool!" He was staring at the toy package as if it were the Holy Grail. Janet felt flattered.

She suddenly found herself engulfed by fans. She tried to sign as much as she could and say hello to everyone but it was quietly getting out of hand.

A security guard came up and said, "Excuse me, Ms. Niles, but there's someone in the lobby for you. If you'll follow me, please."

The guard led her out to the lobby of the hotel and Jane saw her friend and costar Sandy Carson. The tall blonde was smiling at her.

"Girl, you do get yourself into trouble, don't you?" Sandy said.

"Thanks, Sandy. It was a little overwhelming. I'm not used to being noticed." Jane looked back at the room, "They didn't recognize me until that kid saw me and then..."

"Hey, what do you expect? It's a con full of Wormies. Of course they're going to recognize you. C'mon, we have that thing in the place that we have to...you know."

Jane grinned at her friend. Sandy was an intelligent woman but sometimes found herself at a loss for words. "Lead on, MacDuff," Jane said. She handed Sandy the Amelia action figure, "Here, I thought you might like this."

"Wow! Thanks. I haven't seen the new ones yet," Sandy said.

They were participating in a panel discussion in one of the exhibit rooms. The panel was supposed to include Thomas Craig who played the alien survey team member Ckaj but he was delayed and wouldn't be in until later that afternoon. David Jensen, who played Matthew Spencer on the show, was also absent due to a bout with the flu. The panel members would be Sandy, Jane, Gary Hansen, who played project head David Donaldson, and one of the show's producers, Phil Domico.

Jane sat at the table at the head of the room. Sandy sat down next to her. The two men on the panel were already there. So was a sizable crowd.

Jane opened her action figure package and placed the doctor on the table before her. Sandy saw that and smiled as she did the same thing.

Phil said, "Hi everyone. Welcome to our little get together." The joke brought the expected laughter from the audience. "So, I'm Phil Domico. I'm one of the producers of 'Project: Wormhole' which is a nice way to say I'm the guy who has to come up with the money to pay for the show. I'm sure you know the others up here, Sandy, Gary, and Jane. Unfortunately, David Jensen is sick with the flu and Tom Craig missed his flight so you're stuck with us."

The crowd didn't seem to mind, since Sandy was the most popular person on the show, at least according to the demographics the production team often reviewed. Gary and Jane were almost as popular, with Gary as the cuddly father figure and Jane as the voice of reason on the series.

"Alright then. Anyone have any questions?" Phil asked.

"Yes, I have one," a heavyset man with a scraggly goatee stood up. "This is for Jane Niles. In your first episode, the show's second, a Kraken was escaping from custody and threw itself into the wormhole. You prevented Robert Anthony from shooting it. You said that the bullet would just ricochet off the event horizon of the wormhole. Then in the fourth episode of the third season, a guard shot at a survey team member who was possessed by a Kraken as he jumped through the wormhole. How do you justify the statement you made on the earlier episode with the events of the later episode?"

Sandy looked down at the table with a wicked smile on her face, obviously amused by the position Fanboy put Jane in. Jane sat there and said, "Well, the guard was at a better position to penetrate the field with his shot. Robert was at an angle to the wormhole and the bullet would just ricochet off the field, now wouldn't it?" She smiled sweetly and Fanboy sat down stunned that she, a mere actress, had outsmarted him.

After that, the questions continued but they were more about the stars and how they did their jobs. Many were just people saying they were one of the panelists' biggest fans and they were so happy to finally see them in real life.

One of the last questions was asked by an older woman who stood up and asked, "Are there any plans to introduce romance onto the show?"

Phil thought for a moment and said, "There has been some discussion but nothing really has developed. At one point, we were thinking about working on a romantic angle between John O'Toole's character and Sandy's until John was forced to leave our show for the other hit he was on." Everyone laughed at that bit of sarcasm. "But, a little romance for Sandy might prove interesting. Who do you think she should hook up with? Ckaj? Matthew? Maybe David?"

A voice from the back said, "Doctor Rutherford."

There was a pause and then the crowd began applauding. There were shouts of "Yeah!" and "Great idea!" Sandy looked at Jane with a bemused half-smile and Phil was momentarily at a loss for words.

Finally he said, "Well, folks. That's an interesting idea but I don't..."

Additional yells rang out. "C'mon!" "Show some courage!" "Just do it!"

Jane scanned the crowd and saw her nervous friend Erin in the back blushing furiously. She thought she recognized that voice. Jane smiled to herself, 'I have to see that young lady again.'

Phil finally got the crowd under control with a promise that they would consider it. The panel went on for another few minutes before they finally had to call a halt to it, so the volunteers could set up a screening of the original movie.

As Jane and Sandy followed Phil and Gary out a back entrance away from the crowd in the lobby. As the men headed for the lobby bar, Sandy said, "Well, that was unexpected."

"Not necessarily," Jane countered. "You know there is a large amount of female slash fiction out there from the show."

Sandy rolled her eyes, "Jane, look, they will never go for it. I wouldn't want to either. I didn't think you would be interested in trying something so personal on television."

Jane replied, "How would it be any different than a hetero actor making love on any TV show you want to name?"

"Because you've kept your sex life to yourself," Sandy said. "If you were out there..."

"You know I don't publicize it but I don't hide my preference for women either," Jane said as they got on one of the elevators. After the doors closed and the car started to rise, she continued, "Listen, you're probably right. It won't happen. Anyway, I'll see you later. I want to take a short nap before the cocktail party."

Exiting the elevator, she waved as she walked down the hall to her room.

"How about we grab some dinner first?" Sandy called after her.

"Okay, but you're buying. You're the star!" Jane yelled back with a laugh.

Once inside, she stripped off the blouse and slacks she was wearing. She rarely wore any underwear so she stood in front of the rooms mirror and ran her hands over her quickly bared flesh. She was a couple of years past thirty and still had a full firm figure. Regular exercise kept her in good shape and also kept her sizable breasts from sagging.

She cupped them and pinched the nipples before grabbing the complimentary hotel robe.

She planned to take a shower and wear a slinky dress to the party later. 'That might require panties,' she considered as she pulled the fluffy robe over her curvy figure.

In the meantime, she wanted to relax a bit. Jane got comfortable on the bed, leaning against the headboard as she looked over her purchases. She pulled the lab coat off the plastic toy and again admired the design. Idly fingering her action figure, she began to read the fanzine she picked up.

The first story was about a sexual encounter between Therese Russell and Amelia Tripp. It was quite steamy in Jane's opinion. 'This is downright hot!' she thought, feeling a pleasant tingling between her thighs.

She continued to caress the figure with one hand while she held the 'zine in the other. She got about halfway through the story when she dropped the 'zine, untied her robe, and began to finger herself.

Her pussy was almost very wet and she slid a finger in as her thumb began to caress her clitoris. She was moaning in pleasure and thrust another finger into herself. Soon, while still caressing the figure with her other hand, she came.

Still not completely satisfied, she looked at the figure. There was a knob on the back of the head for her hair bun and prominent boobs on the front. She smiled wickedly at her thoughts.

She stuck the figure in her mouth and sucked and licked it before placing it against her still hot pussy. She slowly slid it in and gave a loud sigh. The protrusions rubbed against the sensitive walls of her vagina, sending little waves of pleasure coursing through her.

The hand that had been busy down there was still wet with her first orgasm. She began to pinch and pull on her nipple with her wet fingers. Before long, she thrust the figure deep inside herself and came in a bigger, more satisfying orgasm than before.

She lay back with the figure still embedded inside her and dozed off. She was awakened by a knock on her door.

"Hey Jane? You in there? Jane?" It was Sandy. What the hell was she doing here? Looking over, Jane saw from the bedside clock that it was after 6 o'clock.

"Yeah, Sandy. Give me a minute!" Jane began to get up and, remembering her figure, pulled the doctor doll out of her still damp mound. Tightening the belt of the robe, she opened the door.

From the puzzled expression on her face, Sandy noticed the faint aroma in the room but merely said, "Phil would like to see us before the party. I guess you're not ready to grab some dinner first?"

"Oh God, Sandy. I fell asleep and didn't even realize it was so late. You look great, by the way!" Jane stepped back into the room and Sandy followed her. The tall blonde was wearing a navy midi that accentuated her blue eyes and light hair.

"Let me grab a quick shower and we can go. You want to wait here? Don't worry, I'm not doing my hair..."

Sandy nodded and sat down to wait. As she heard the water begin to run in the bathroom, her eyes traveled over the room. She noted the 'zine laying on the bedspread, the toy figure near it, and a small scrap of white cloth she determined was the toy's lab coat on the floor.

Sandy was interested in what the fans thought and did enjoy the occasional fanfic that came through the studio. As she picked it up, she noticed a small damp patch on the spread and a light sheen on the action figure.

Turning the fanzine in her hands, Sandy looked at the cover. She was very surprised to see the women in such an intimate embrace. Somewhat shocked but intrigued, she sat and began to thumb through the 'zine.