Death Dream Read Online Free PDF Page B

snags."
    "You're saying you've hit a serious snag?" Glass snapped, frowning.
    Muncrief put up his hands as if to shield himself from a blow. "No! Not really. It's not serious in the technical sense. It's just that we're running closer to the deadline than I thought we would and more money would allow us to put more people on the problem."
    "Three million dollars more," Toshimura repeated.
    "It's small change." Muncrief glanced from one face to another.
    "It's blackmail," said Swenson. "Or extortion, at the least."
    "It can't be done," said Glass sternly.
    Waggling one hand, Muncrief replied, "Aw, come on! We're so close to success, you can't throw in the towel now."
    "It isn't a matter of giving up, Kyle," Glass said. "You're over-budget and we're over-committed."
    "What's another three mill?" Muncrief pleaded.
    "We do not have an unending supply of funds," said Swenson. "We would have to go out and raise that three million from other sources."
    "What other sources?"
    "Sony has expressed an interest," Toshimura said. "And I am told, there has also been an expression of interest from the Disney people."
    "Oh no!" Muncrief almost leaped out of his seat. "No you don't! I didn't start this company to sell it out to Disney, goddammit! Or Sony either."
    "A partnership would make sense," Swenson said.
    "No!" Muncrief slammed a hand on the table. "No partners. I told you that when we started this venture."
    "You were not over-budget then."
    "No partners. No selling out."
    "In that case," Swenson barely suppressed a bitter smile, "no additional funding."
    "But—"
    "Kyle, you can't have your cake and eat it too," said Max Glass. "If you want the additional three million, you've got to let Disney or Sony or one of the other big boys buy into Cyber World."
    "And lose control of my own company."
    "There is an alternative," said Toshimura.
    Muncrief looked into his image on the life-sized screen, sitting in his office in Tokyo.
    "You could finish your work without additional funding," Toshimura said. "You could open Cyber World on schedule—and within the budget you now have available to you."
    Muncrief began to shake his head. "I just told you that—"
    "It's either that or open up this venture to a partnership," said Swenson.
    Muncrief looked toward Glass.
    "That's the long and short of it, Kyle. you can't have it both ways."
    Gritting his teeth, Muncrief said, "Okay. Okay. You want to play hard ball, we'll play hard ball. I'll open Cyber World on schedule—with the baseball game. If I have to lay off three-quarters of the staff here, if I have to hock my testicles, I'll get it done."
    Toshimura gave him a thin smile.
    "That's the spirit," said Glass.
    "April first," Swenson repeated.
    Once the three wall screens had gone opaque, Muncrief mopped his face with a handful of Kleenex. Victoria Kessel, who had been sitting at the far end of the conference table, unseen by the investors, arched a brow at her boss.
    "Do you really intend to hock your testicles?" she asked.
    "If I have to," Muncrief said, pushing his chair back from the table.
    "I've got a better solution."
    "Vickie, I've told you before, I'm not interested in a government contract."
    "We need the cushion, Kyle. We can't operate on this shoestring for much longer."
    "I don't want a government contract!" he snapped" "Take money from the blasted government and they tie you up with all their everlasting red tape."
    "This wouldn't be an ordinary kind of government procurement. It would come straight from the White House," Vickie said. "Believe me, Kyle, they don't want to get wrapped up in red tape, either."
    "Yeah, sure."
    "Kyle, they don't want anybody outside the White House to get a whiff of this. Not even the Congress. It's discretionary money, straight out of the Oval Office. Nobody will be looking over your shoulder."
    He tried to scowl at her but it didn't work.
    "They'll pay well and the work shouldn't be all that difficult. It could be the cushion you need."
    "I don't