“I’m afraid that my pod has been losing… losing… atmosphere. Not much…”
“Asako, darlin’,” Darla said. “Can’t you just get back inside?”
“I’m… I’m not…”
Adrenaline fried his nerves. “Asako!” he screamed. “I’m coming!” Scotty began to crawl around the hand- and footholds, swinging.
“I’m coming, too, Scotty.” Darla’s voice. “The two of us oughta be able to handle it.”
“Please…,” a whisper. “Don’t risk it on my account. Get back into the dome. Get our people away while we have the chance.”
“Will you shut up? We’re all making it out of here together.”
“I’m… afraid… not. Not this time… Scotty, I don’t know what demons trouble you, but that woman, that good woman you were speaking to sounds as if she loves you.”
He was almost in sight now.
“I love her, too.”
“Don’t let her go, Scotty. I haven’t been touched in so long… so long…”
“Asako!”
It took six minutes to reach her, by which time she sat lax and pale, unconscious in her pod.
Darla was approaching from the other side. “Pull. This way.”
The two of them began to leverage the pod up the side of the dome.
The eleven remaining members of Neutral Moresnot, plus Thomas Frost, had all collected in bubble 37-C. “Sensors say the dome has full integrity,” Shotz said.
“Why would they pull an alarm like that?” Fujita asked.
“To distract us,” Shotz said. “While they did something.”
“Maybe… something noisy?”
“Possible. Probable.” His mouth twisted, as if he were spitting out something toxic. “Dammit! Find them!”
Celeste clenched her fists. “I wish we could kill them,” she said.
“That time may come.”
He tapped fingers on the keyboard, and a display of the gaming dome appeared.
“There are a hundred and thirty-seven major bubbles in eight levels in the dome,” Celeste said. “We’ve cleared the top twelve, and unless they sneak back and get behind us, they’re still trapped below.”
“Yes. And as you say… as long as they don’t escape, we’re still on track.” Shotz yelled at his men. “Split into teams of two, and cover all the routes. Make your way down to the basement.”
A thoughtful pause. “And be careful.”
Huddled in bubble 45-D, the gamers jumped when the room reverberated with door-banging thuds.
“About time!” Wayne said. He looked through the plate, recognized Scotty, and released the emergency lock. The door cycled from red to yellow to green, and then opened.
Angelique threw her arms around Scotty. “You did it!”
“I can’t believe it,” Sharmela said. “This is fantastic. From bubble 45, we can get to…” Suddenly she looked around. “Hey! Where’s Asako?”
The realization hit the others like a bomb. “She’s… dead?”
Scotty nodded. “Her pod leaked. She didn’t tell us until it was too late to save her.”
“I can’t…” Maud was shaking. “I can’t do this.” She looked up. “We need to quit. Now. Surrender. They won’t hurt us.”
Scotty looked at Angelique. “We can vote on it. Who wants to go on, and who wants to stay? I can promise you that Asako didn’t die so that we could give up, but I won’t try to make up your minds for you.”
“I must go on,” Ali said. “They want to use me as a weapon against my father.”
“Mickey?”
The Brit shook his head. “If Maud stays behind, I have to stay with her,” he said.
“I can’t argue with that,” Angelique said. “Maybe someone else can. But… I want to go on.”
“Me, too,” Wayne said. “It may be crazy, but I’m not sure that if we give up now, we’ll be any better off than if they catch us later.”
“Could that be true?” she asked Scotty.
“Only Ali is really safe,” he said.
“And there’s another thing,” Wayne said
“And what is that?” Scotty asked.
“Let’s just say that there are people with a lot riding on this game. And if we can finish it…”
“But the IFGS has to have canceled!” Maud squawked.
“Well… yes. But there’s the IFGS, and then there is public opinion. If we finish it successfully, they will have to consider reinstating the points retroactively. It’s happened before: Remember the second Aztec game?”
Angelique nodded. “Tony McWhirter broke his leg. The IFGS demanded he leave, and his team refused. They canceled the game, but Dream Park and the Game Master kept it going.”
“I remember hearing about that,” Scotty said. “There was a write-in campaign? Forced the IFGS to change its ruling?”
“Exactly. Now listen,” Wayne said. “Do all of you realize that this is the greatest game ever? The only Dream Park game ever played for real? And we’re right in the middle of it. We can give up later, sure. But the longer we can keep going, the-”
“The more pissed the pirates will be,” Scotty said. “Look, I’m all for charging forward, but I’m not going to lie to you. Things will be better for all of you, if you’re caught, if you’re caught sooner rather than later. I’m betting on the whole enchilada. I think there’s a chance we can actually get the hell out of here.”
“Whatever!” Wayne said.
“I wish I could,” Maud said, a touch of wistfulness in her voice. “I’m just so scared.”
“Then use this!” Wayne said. “You’re gamers. Just… just think of it as part of the game. Play your role. Focus on that.”
“Maybe. Perhaps I can,” she said. Mickey kissed her cheek.
“You people are crazy,” Scotty said. “Sharmela?”
“Then I’m crazy, too. Listen. I won this trip, or I couldn’t have afforded any of it. My wife and I had to think long and hard about how to use this opportunity to get out of a real financial hole we’d dug ourselves into.” She gestured helplessly.
“And?”
“Fit/Fat. It was a miracle. We got in touch with the right person, and got corporate backing for my training, and the promise of a contract if I performed well. This means everything to us. It’s worth the risk.” She forced herself to smile. “So for a few more hours, I’ll pretend that it’s a game. Right? Everyone? We make that deal?”
Sharmela extended her hand. Ali slapped his down atop hers, followed by the others, except for Scotty.
“Scotty, please,” Angelique said. “So we’re a little nutty. That doesn’t mean we don’t understand the stakes.”
“Scott,” Ali said. “Either extend your hand, or you are terminated.”
Scotty squinted at him. “You are the biggest ass I have ever worked for,” Scotty said. “I think I’m starting to like you.” And extended his hand.
While the others talked and built up each other’s bravado, Scotty pulled Wayne aside. “A question.”
“Yes?”
“You wouldn’t, by any chance, have bet on yourself to win?”
Wayne’s eyes opened wide. “Why would you think that?”
“Dunno. Just a wild question. Is there a law against gamers betting on games?”
“Frowned on, but not exactly illegal unless they bet to lose,” he said. “That could be bad for the team.”
“I’ll just bet. I notice you didn’t answer my question.”
“Didn’t I?”
“Uh-huh. Well. Face or gut?”
