Gameprey

“Did they say why?”

Oscar shrugged. “They didn’t want anything about the game getting out was what they told him. I think it was a petty vengeance thing. He told them wait on the game; they told him he couldn’t use me.”

“Did he ask anyone else?”

“No. Pete wouldn’t have.”

“So he worked through the game engine problems himself?” Matt asked.

“Yes.”

“Did he say what they were?”

“We talked about it a little. What he was having was a bleed-over problem.”

“Bleed-over?”

“Sure. You have more than one player in a multi-user game, you have to build in boundaries so one player doesn’t affect the other player’s gameplay. What Pete was trying to do was isolate whole worlds, yet at the same time have them all remain accessible. So the concrete facts remain concrete. If he wanted to introduce a new creature or a new spell, he needed to be able to integrate as a sys/ops change, not have to write new programming for each offshoot a player had made. Understand?”

“Separate but equal,” Matt said.

“Kind of lame,” Oscar said, “but that’s the general idea.”

Matt remembered last night, when Peter Griffen and the dragon had invaded Maj’s veeyar. “Is it possible that the bleed-over you’re talking about could affect other games?”

“You mean the way they did at the convention today?” Oscar asked.

“Yes. I was in one of those games. I saw that dragon.”

Oscar grinned. “Yeah. A lot of people did. I’ll bet they never forget it, either. I never saw the bleed-over that Pete was talking about, but from his description that was exactly how it was. I was going to go over to him and talk to him about it. You could see the surprise on his face. He had no clue.”

“He thought he had the bleed-over fixed?”

“Pete had to have thought he had it fixed,” Oscar said. “Otherwise that game would never have seen the light of day.”

“He’d stop the release on Saturday?”

“In a heartbeat.”

That, Matt figured, might be a good reason for Eisenhower to get Peter out of the way. Maybe Peter figured the overlap into Maj’s veeyar was just a fluke, a small hiccup in the programming the night before. But there was no way to mistake what had happened at the convention.

“Pete didn’t know the bleed-over bug was still there,” Oscar said. “I’d bet my life on it.”

“Do you have any notes Peter sent you regarding the game engine bleed-over?”

“He called me last night,” Oscar said. “I wasn’t here because I was out wining and dining some game developers who are interested in some ideas I have. I think the message is still on my veeyar at home. Maybe I’ve got a few other e-mails still lingering around. A lot of Pete’s e-mail had jokes and stories in them that I like to read over occasionally.”

“Can you get whatever you have?”

“Sure. I talked to Pete last night after I got in. He thought he had it under control again then. We were going to get together after his presentation today. But that didn’t happen.” Oscar paused. “Do you think Pete’s okay?”

“So far,” Matt said, “there’s not any reason to think otherwise.”

Oscar nodded, but he didn’t look convinced.

Matt’s foilpack rang unexpectedly. He excused himself and opened it.

Megan’s face filled the vidscreen. “Trouble,” she said breathlessly. “Maj just ran out of the banquet room with a couple guys that looked as if they match the descriptions of the men who invaded her room last night. Leif went after them, too.”

“I’m on my way.” Matt stood up and headed for the door at a trot.

“Something wrong?” Oscar asked.

“A friend needs me.” Matt opened the door. “Download a copy of Peter’s e-mails and get it to me over at the Bessel Midtown front counter. I’ll meet you there.”

“If it will help find Pete, I’ll be there with bells on.”

“I think it will.” Then Matt was through the door, running for the stairwell that would take him down to the third floor where the above-street enclosed walkway was. He ran to the other hotel, not really noticing the shadows at the other end till one of them stepped out at him. Instinctively he tried to turn to defend himself.

Something crashed into the side of his face, detonating what felt like a small nuclear device on his right temple. His legs turned to jelly, and he went down. Falling over onto his back, he glanced up with double vision and saw the hard-lined shadow lean down over him.

“Stay out of this, kid,” a raspy voice advised. “You’re in way over your head.” The shadow raised its arm again, the blackjack showing this time.

When it landed, Matt lost consciousness, and he knew he wasn’t going to be able to help Maj.

18

“Go away, little girl, before you get hurt.”

Doubling her fists, Maj stared at the woman in front of her.

A cruel grin curved the woman’s mouth. Anticipation danced in the predatory amber eyes. “You’re making a mistake, Madeline Green.”

Maj knew the woman was using her name to try to shake her up. “Where’s Peter Griffen?”

Heavener, if that was the woman’s name, took a step forward, keeping her weight balanced and giving a clear indication of familiarity with martial arts. “Is that what he told you? That I know someone named Peter Griffen?”

“You’re at a game convention and you’re not going to know?” Maj countered. “Especially after today?” She glanced past Heavener to the two men in the hallway behind her. Farther back, Leif was just getting through the door, followed by three men who looked like hotel security officers in tuxedos.

The woman launched a front snap-kick without warning and a stiletto heel punched toward Maj’s face. There wasn’t any time to block the kick, so Maj slipped to one side, acutely aware that she was handicapped by heels and a cocktail dress herself.

Still in motion, Maj dropped down to the floor on her side and attempted a leg sweep, intending to knock the woman’s feet from under her. Instead, the woman performed a full somersault in the air. When she landed on her feet, managing to keep the high heels intact, her grin was even wider.

“You know how to play,” Heavener said, lifting her own hands and curling them into fists.

“Company,” one of the men called behind her.

“Cancel it,” Heavener snarled.

Both men flanking her pulled out oversized pistols and fired almost pointblank at Leif and the three security men. The glass door shattered as Leif and the security team went down.

The shrill scream of a security alarm knifed through the hotel lobby.

Holding her position, Heavener tilted her head and regarded Maj. “Your friends, no doubt. You are beginning to get annoying.”

“Wait till you really get to know us,” Maj said, wishing her voice hadn’t cracked so much when she’d said it.

“I guess we’ll forego this little pleasure.” Heavener dropped her fists and waved to the two men. One of them pointed his weapon at Maj.

Maj stepped back, knowing the guy who’d talked to her in the banquet room was gone. Heavener wouldn’t be able to catch him.