about Amy, a fear that all this money would evaporate as quickly as it had materialized, that there was some unannounced drawback, some evil catch that Ms Jensen had not warned him about. He looked at the contract lying on the bed beside him, and again read the warning on the first page.
He decided to follow its advice, and after searching around for his address book he put through a call to an old friend of his who practised in London as a solicitor.
john Wellesley was in a meeting when Nick telephoned, but returned his call a few minutes later. By a massive effort of will Nick had still only sipped his whisky once or twice. Every familiar instinct and habit urged him to drink himself into a horizontal position, but a harder centre warned that he needed to keep his wits about him.
He gave Wellesley a brief if slightly hysterical description of what had been offered to him.
Until he began speaking he had no real idea of the effect the news had had on him. He heard the words tumbling out, and he could hear that his voice was pitched several tones higher than normal. lt took a conscious effort to stop himself babbling.
Wellesley listened in silence, then said calmly, 'Is it, a Valencia contract?'
Nick took a breath, feeling giddy. 'I think so, yes. There's something about that on the front.'
'Is it thirtytwo pages in length?'
'Yes,' Nick said, riffling the sheets and looking at the number on the last one.
'I have to be sure about something, Nick. I know it sounds like an irrelevance, but 1 have to know. Are you asking me for informal advice on this contract, or do you want me to negotiate it on your behalf'
'Both, really. Advice first, 1 think.'
'Would you like to go away and calm down before 1 say any more?'
'Do 1 sound that bad, john?'
'I can't say I blame you. I've done several of these deals before, and they always seem to have the same effect.'
'All right. I'll try to stop gibbering.' Nick swigged the rest of his whisky, tried to concentrate on what Wellesley was saying.
'I'll make it easy for you. The bottom line is that it would be safe for you to sign the contract in the form in which they've handed it to you. There are international treaties that govern these deals. Are you prepared to submit to the electronic scanning did they describe that to you?'
'Yes.'
Acie Jensen had told him about it, but Nick had still been reeling from the news about the money. At times like that you tend not to pay close attention to the rest of what someone is saying.
'OK, so long as you know what's involved. 1 gather it's no more unpleasant than having your blood pressure tested, but 1 haven't done it myself so 1 can't be certain. 1 believe there's no physical risk, but the Valencia Treaty allows you to get medical advice without prejudicing the agreement.'
'I'm not too bothered about that.'
'OK. As for the money: which company is it?'
'They say they're Chinese, from Taiwan.
'Not the GunHo Corporation?' said Wellesley.
'Yes.'
'Congratulations. They're one of the biggest virtualreality players. You're home and dry, Nick. Their contract is always the standard one, so far as 1 know. From your description it sounds as if they're still using it. If they are, it's been tested in all the senior courts: the Supreme Court in the USA, the Appeal Court here, the European courts in The Hague and Strasbourg.'
'You seem to know a lot about it,' Nick said, impressed.
'As 1 said, I've worked on several ExEx contracts in the last couple of years. How much are they offering you?'
Nick told him.
'Not bad. In terms of the going rate, that's medium to high. What's it for?'
'The Gerry Grove shootings in Bulverton. My parents were killed.'
'Of course! 1 should have realized. Bulverton is Just about the hottest ticket in town at the moment.'
'I wasn't even here when it happened,' said Nick. 'I keep wondering if they've made a mistake. lt makes me nervous, in case it's all going to fall through when they find out.'
'That might have been a risk once. Until last year they only wanted people who actually took part in the events, or who were eyewitnesses. But they've been making big improvements in the software. If there are plenty of hearsay accounts, that's apparently good enough. The results wouldn't stand up in a court, but hell, this is rock 'n' roll, this is showbiz. You're living in your parents' house, aren't you?'
'They ran a hotel, which I've taken over.'
'What happened to your parents is probably why they
want you. As 1 understand it, the problem with Bulverton is that many of the best witnesses were killed on the day. it's partly why the virtualreality people have taken so long to get around to it. Look, we've gone over the ground, as far as I'm allowed. The Law Society rules say 1 can't promise you anything in advance, but would you like me to act for you?'
'Er, don't get me wrong,' Nick said, 'but if the contract's as safe as you say, would there be any point in that?'
