“Most of them, no. However, I did get some information on Eisenhower Productions that was very interesting.” Leif took another bite.
“Okay, consider the time limit on the dramatic pause over,” Matt advised. He sat in the floor as well, the right side of his face a mask of purple bruising.
“If you’d looked at the business history of Eisenhower Productions two years ago,” Leif said, “you’d have felt certain the corporation was about to go under. They hadn’t had a solid hit title in four years. With the inflated cost of doing business after having a few profitable years, they’d cut designers and programmers from the payroll.”
“That’s stupid,” Andy snorted. “If you can’t make anything, how are you supposed to sell anything?”
“They tried to make it by just publishing games independent designers came up with. That didn’t work out too well. The guys at the top of the corporation were coasting, getting by on residuals from earlier games that still sold. Frankly, they were on a slow boat to bankruptcy.”
“But two years ago,” Maj said, “something happened.”
“Peter Griffen approached them and started negotiating the release of Realm of the Bright Waters. He’d put together concept art, computer graphics, the story line, and some gameplay. They knew they had a winner on their hands. The only sticking point was that Peter would be the one to set the actual release date. However, at that time Eisenhower was two months away from insolvency.”
“They didn’t tell Peter that,” Maj said.
Leif shook his head. “It would have been suicidal on their part. Peter was even picking up the tab for most of the development so he could maintain control over the game. They didn’t try to buy out any more of the interest than Peter was willing to sell.”
“Because they didn’t have the money,” Megan said.
“Bingo. However, they weren’t going to survive. They were desperate, so they started trying to find someone else to pick up their tab while they waited on Peter.”
“Why should anyone touch them?” Matt asked. “All they’d have to do was wait them out, let their contract and deal go south, then go to Peter.”
“Right,” Leif agreed. “And I’ll bet the CEOs and production managers handling the deal were on the verge of total melt-downs. Here was a goose that laid golden eggs, and they couldn’t even wait around for the first one to drop.”
“Why did Peter pick Eisenhower Productions?” Maj asked. “There were probably other corporations just as approachable.”
“There were,” Leif agreed. “It was just luck of the draw. However, the funding they got is like a national secret. Two years ago somebody poured a mountain of liquid cash into Eisenhower’s coffers. That’s how they were able to do all the marketing for the game today, and how they were able to shore up Peter when his money ran dry.”
“It’s a wonder Eisenhower didn’t try to strong-arm Peter when he was down,” Andy said.
“The way I hear it,” Leif replied, “they did. Only Peter stood his ground, offering to shut the game down till he did other work to pay for it, or take a loan out for the necessary funding from them. They gave him the funding and at a decent interest rate.”
“Where did the other cash come from?” Maj asked.
Leif shrugged. “No one knows. But that’s what they’re telling me happened.”
“Someone believed in Peter’s game,” Catie commented. “That’s the only thing that would have made them invest.”
“But why do it secretly?” Megan asked. “Why not just step forward, buy Eisenhower Productions out if the game was that good, and restructure the deal with Peter? This other corporation could have put pressure on Peter, put him in court with no money, and taken what they wanted.”
Andy shook his head. “Sheesh, you’re beginning to sound like a financial adviser.”
“Profit Channel on HoloNet,” Megan replied. “As the daughter of a writer, you’d be surprised how much extraneous information you pick up.”
“Because whoever invested wanted Peter handling the game,” Leif said.
“Yet Eisenhower wouldn’t let Peter bring Oscar Raitt in when there were game engine design problems. Oscar told me that cost another two months of time to straighten out.”
“It meant one less person they’d have to control,” Leif pointed out. “And evidently this mystery fund-raiser has money to burn.”
“Delaying a return on an investment isn’t good business,” Maj said.
“It is if the business isn’t ready but you know it will be good.”
Maj turned the possibilities over in her mind, trying to fit the pieces together. “They had more at stake than just the money.”
“What?” Matt asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. But I think if we find out, all of this is going to make sense.”
“Well,” Matt said, “you can understand why the Eisenhower execs would start panicking when Peter mentioned pulling the game. They were about to see their reprieve yanked away from them.”
“Can you trace the money Eisenhower got?” Maj asked Leif.
“I’m trying now. Dad even let me borrow the resources of a couple of his key people who are really good at this kind of thing. If it’s there, they’ll find it. But I’m betting there’s no trail. They’re good, these people.”
“And they’re probably the people Heavener is working for.” Maj had filled the group in on the woman at the beginning of the meeting. “If we can find one trail, we’re going to find them all.” She glanced up at the HoloNet display in the corner.
“But you’ve got to ask yourself,” Matt said, “what the tie is between a freelance industrial spy and an online game.”
No one had an answer, but Maj was deep in thought, thinking about the bleed-over that had occurred. She watched the holo with interest. The hole’s sound was muted, but the picture was clear. Thousands of fans were already in the convention center downstairs, buying the Realm of the Bright Waters game launch on the Net the next morning. The Guinness Book of World Records was already on hand to watch history in the making as the game sold in the convention, in stores across the country, and over the Net.
“How is it going?” Catie nodded at the marketing representative currently testing Maj’s flight-sim. The man sat in an implant chair provided by the convention at a demonstration booth she’d rented for two hours.
Maj shrugged and willed herself not to pace. It was hard because, as tense as she was, her body craved movement. “Okay. I guess.” She paused. “I don’t know. This waiting is killing me.”
“Lighten up.” Catie smiled. “You knew this was going to be the hard part. This isn’t like showing the sim to Matt.”
Maj exhaled. “I know. I told myself that, but it’s different actually living it.”
“So who is this guy?”
Maj looked at the card the man had given her. “Harold J. Dawkins, Fortress Games. He’s a producer.”
“Meaning he can license your sim for the company.”
Maj nodded.
“Fortress is a big name. I didn’t know you had them on your list.”
“I didn’t,” Maj replied. “He just walked over a few minutes ago and asked me if I had the time to let him run through it. Two other reps didn’t show up, so it was no problem.”
Catie crossed her fingers and showed them to Maj, smiling.
Maj tried to ignore the butterflies beating their little brains out in her stomach. “Has Leif found out anything about Eisenhower’s mystery investor?”
“No. Roarke and Matt are busy trying to trace Oscar Raitt’s movements. They found his plane ticket reservation from Sea-Tac, and they’ve located the shuttle driver who brought Raitt into the hotel. However, the hotel’s stance is that if a guest isn’t registered in their computers, that person was never a guest. Holmes has put a detective on the investigation as well, but Matt doesn’t think they’re going to find anything.”