Muir Woods Or Bust by Ian Woollen

Author:Ian Woollen [Woolen, Ian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / FIC000000 - General
ISBN: 9781603815987
Publisher: Coffeetown Press
Published: 2017-08-15T07:00:00+00:00

Again, night descended on them unawares. Synchronized fireflies winked in the gloaming. Amanda took Chum out to dinner, a rare achievement with a budding agoraphobe. She argued that they needed a change of scene to gain perspective on the situation. Chum argued that they needed to download every episode of Yosemite Yahoos and study them for insights into Doyle Wentworth’s personality.

Amanda acknowledged that was a good idea, but first, supper. They went to the Maroon Spoon, because Amanda liked the salads.

“Here’s my grand plan,” Amanda said. “Muir Woods is near San Francisco and also near the office of a startup called Transcendent Game Design. I know the president, Lawrence LaGrange. He owes me a big favor. We pitch our project to Lawrence and also look for your dad. Lawrence can be hard to contact. I do have his personal cell. It’s like putting out a plate of rice for a Tibetan deity. You leave a message, and he either calls back or he doesn’t.”

“Is this about going into business together?” Chum said, testing the coleslaw.

“I want you on board as my partner,” Amanda announced. “Combine our talents and we’ve got a surefire winner. The market is hungry. Your programming style is exactly what my project needs. We fly out to San Francisco, pitch the diagnostic game series, and use Phantom Vampire as a pilot.”

“And find my dad.”

“We can try.”

Chum chewed slowly. He’d always known that launching Phantom Vampire from the private confines of his bedroom would take some kind of divine intervention, and maybe this was it.

“We do need to get straight with each other on something important,” Amanda said.

“You’re worried that I’m a black hat,” Chum said. “You’re worried that I would get you in legal trouble.”

Amanda said, “You fit the profile, buddy. You’d be the number one suspect in the line-up. People are going to be putting a lot of money on us, and I don’t want to be spending it all on attorneys.”

Chum sipped his iced tea and mused, “I vividly remember the exact moment, probably about age four, when I realized that my parents could not see the thoughts inside my head. It was extremely liberating. There’s something similarly liberating in being able to travel wherever I want in cyberspace without anybody knowing. It’s nothing criminal. I’m not out to profit or hurt anyone.”

“But you get my concern?” Amanda asked.

“Yes, okay,” Chum assured her, “and meanwhile, as far as dropping everything and flying out to San Francisco, don’t you have a dissertation to finish?”

Amanda shrugged and smiled. “We’ve got to strike while the iron is hot. Lawrence LaGrange is loaded with venture capital dough, and we’ve got a concept that needs to get to the market now. Let’s jump on it. Do I need to front you money for plane tickets?”

“I’ve got plenty of cash in my mattress,” Chum said. “Just one other problem. I’ve never actually been on an airplane.”

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