The Barsoom Project

Marty was a beaten man. He hadn’t slept or eaten in at least thirty-six hours, and as far as Griffin was concerned, he might not for another thirty-six. Griffin wanted answers. Legality could be worked out in civil court later, if Marty survived to see a courtroom.

Millicent touched his shoulder, tried to calm him. “Griff-whatever there is to find out, we’re not going to get it like this.”

“Revenge has an undeserved bad name, these last few centuries. All right, Millie. Marty, what would you like to tell us?”

“It wasn’t money,” he said, and stopped.

They all watched as Marty weighed his options. Then a great shuddering sigh went out of him, and he said, “I know what it must look like. When it all started, I didn’t want to hurt the Park.”

Nobody said anything.

“You know what was happening. Cowles’s relatives were handling business in the Park, and in the company, and everything was falling apart. Then the woman came to me.”

“Tell us about her.”

“She called herself ‘Madeleine,’ but I never believed that was her name. She told me that she represented a group of investors interested in pumping some new blood into the company. They needed information before they made an investment like that. So I helped them.”

“Out of the goodness of your heart?”

“No-” He was reddening now. “You don’t have to talk to me like that. I’m talking to you without a lawyer here. I know what I did, and what happened was wrong. Maybe I’ve waited eight years for it to come back and settle with me. Let me talk.”

“Go on.”

“So I got money, and… other considerations.”

“She was very pretty.”

Marty flushed.

“I suppose you thought that putting live ammunition into the Game was just a practical joke?”

“No no no, that came later. But they had me then, Griff, I was in too deep, and besides… What was supposed to happen was, the stock would go through the floor and then someone would snap it up. I’d be moved up to executive level. Meanwhile I’d get rich by selling Cowles short. Griff, it was a monstrous bribe, and if I didn’t take it, Madeleine said they’d publish my unauthorized biography!”

He lowered his eyes. “I did what I thought I had to do. To protect myself, to protect the company from itself.”

Alex saw the tension hit Izumi’s face, and reacted just a half-second too late. The chunky Japanese moved with startling speed, and his fist took Marty in the face.

Marty’s head snapped back, and Tom’s hand blurred, formed into the deadly shuto position to strike into the exposed throat. But by that time Alex had responded, snatched the smaller man by belt and elbow, pivoted, and threw him into the wall. Tom Izumi bounced, came down balanced on the balls of his feet, eyes blazing.

“No!” Alex said, voice crackling with authority.

“It was an accident,” Izumi said hoarsely, hungrily. “Marty and I were just sparring around. It got a little heated. I slipped. Training accidents happen all the time!”

“No,” Alex said, the single syllable hanging in the air between them like a shield.

Marty was pawing at the blood on his face, terrified. “I… I think my nose is broken.” The words were mushy.

“I think you’d better talk anyway,” Vail advised warmly. “Otherwise, Alex and I may have to leave the room for a few minutes.”

Marty swallowed hard. “I didn’t mean for anyone to be killed. I thought… I thought… ”

He buried his face in his hands, and moaned. “I don’t know what I thought. They had me. Griff?” Marty’s eyes peered over his fingertips. “They didn’t lose. I didn’t lose. I stuck with Dream Park, and I did get moved up, and I did make money by selling short. And Madeleine’s people, they didn’t get Dream Park, but they must have made money from the stock they bought. It went up heavy when Cowles got the vacuum subway contract.”

Alex was pitiless. He threw a woman’s picture on the table. “Does this look familiar?”

Marty examined it: a pretty olive-skinned woman with a sensuous mouth. “Huh! Yes, that’s Madeleine! I should have wondered how you knew she was pretty.”

“Turn it over.” He did. On the opposite side was a picture of the same woman, her throat slashed from ear to ear. “Her real name was Collia Aziz. She was found in Altadena, in a trash dumpster, two days ago. Fekesh doesn’t take chances.”

Harmony looked sick, but managed to find words. “How did you communicate with this woman?”

“A telephone number.” He gave it to them, and Griffin noted it quickly. “To be used only in case of emergency,” Marty said miserably. “ She got in touch with me. Always. I never heard the name ‘Fekesh’ until Harmony tracked him down a year later.”

“But all of this time, you’ve spied for her.”

He nodded his head. “And every month an extra thousand finds its way into my bank. I have no idea how it gets there. It’s just there.”

“What happened with Michelle?”