The air down here must be thinner than it was up in the dome. Jake was having trouble with his breathing.
Coughing again, he hurried up to the villa along its simulated path, climbed the five steps to knock on the authentic oaken door.
After nearly a half minute he heard shuffling footsteps from inside. In another half minute the door opened a few inches. “What ... what ... what do you wish, sir?” A very ancient robot butler, his silvery head tarnished, his dark suit frayed, appeared in the opening.
“My name’s Jake Cardigan. I’m an operative with the Cosmos Detective Agency in Greater Los Angeles,” he said. “I’d like to see Miss Kittridge.”
“I’m ... I’m not certain that’s possible. Allow ... allow me to determine if Miss Kittridge is ... is receiving visitors this evening.” He started to shut the door and turn away.
Jake gently nudged the door wider open with his foot. He stepped across the threshold and into the shadowy foyer.
“It’s all right, Edward.” She was standing on a low step of the wide, curving staircase. She held a lazgun pointed at Jake. “I’m Beth Kittridge.”
It was Beth. Alive again and looking exactly as she had the last time he’d been with her. “I was hired to find you by your insurance company,” he explained, moving nearer to her. “I thought you might be here. Quite a few things have happened since you left Acapulco, and it’s safe to come home now.”
The frown faded from her face and she took a few steps toward him. “Jake Cardigan,” she said slowly and thoughtfully. “Yes, my father—when I still had faith in him—spoke highly of you. Your record as a cop wasn’t all that admirable toward the end, but we concluded you’d been framed.” She nodded, smiling quietly at him. “Yes, I think I can trust you.”
“You can, yeah.”
She lowered the gun to her side, moving even closer to him. “You know,” she said, “I have the feeling we’ve met somewhere before.”
Jake grinned at her. “Matter of fact, we have,” he said. “Let me tell you about it.”
Acknowledgments
WRITING A BOOK IS both an agony and an ecstasy. Wrestling with an empty page and a barren brain is the agony. Putting a period on the last sentence of a well-constructed paragraph is the ecstasy. Between the two lies the abyss of the novel. In order to cross that crevasse, I needed help.
Ron Goulart, a wonderful writer, showed me the way out and showed me the way in to completing the novel. He did an enormous amount of work and I shall be grateful to him for a long time to come.
In addition, I’d like to express my gratitude to Susan Allison, Roger Cooper and Chris Schillig at G. P. Putnam’s for their help.
Acknowledgment should also be extended to my agents, Ivy Fisher Stone and Fifi Oscard in New York; and to my good friend and agent from that organization, Carmen La Via, for his dedication and know-how in making this idea become a reality.
A Biography of William Shatner
William Shatner (b. 1931) is a celebrated Canadian actor, author, and film director known for his irreverent charm and his star turn as Captain Kirk on the first Star Trek television series, as well as many other roles.
Shatner was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. He majored in economics at McGill University and upon graduating took a job as the business manager at Montreal’s Mountain Playhouse, where he also pursued classical Shakespearean training. In 1954, Shatner began performing at Canada’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival, appearing in Henry V, Oedipus Rex, and Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great—the play in which he would make his Broadway debut in 1956, as the understudy for Christopher Plummer.
After his first film appearance, in MGM’s The Brothers Karamazov (1958), and roles in the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone, Shatner was cast in NBC’s Star Trek, playing the courageous, unpredictable Captain James T. Kirk. Though cancelled in 1969 after three seasons, Star Trek became a cult hit in syndication, leading to an animated series and a number of spin-off television series and movies. Shatner starred in seven Star Trek films beginning with Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979.
Shatner went on to star as a veteran police sergeant in T. J. Hooker (1982–86) and as aging trial lawyer Denny Crane in Boston Legal (2004–08). He has also remained in the public eye with frequent television guest appearances.
Shatner has published a number of novels, most notably TekWar (1989), a science-fiction thriller that inspired eight sequels as well as video games and a television series. His autobiography, Up Till Now, was published in 2008. He has also released three musical albums, including the infamous The Transformed Man (1968), which introduced Shatner’s unique spoken-word style, and the critically lauded Seeking Major Tom (2011).
In 2012, Shatner returned to Broadway after a fifty-year absence, in Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It, a one-man show based on his life and work. After a three-week run in New York City, he took the show on the road, touring around the country. When he isn’t working, Shatner and his wife, Elizabeth, divide their time between Southern California and Kentucky.
After graduating from McGill University in 1952, William Shatner began participating in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. This headshot dates from his early days with the festival. (Photo Courtesy of William Shatner.)
Star Trek, the iconic science-fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise and its crew, led by Captain James T. Kirk, played by Shatner. The series first aired between 1966 and 1969. Shatner’s voice-over before each episode explained the starship’s mission: “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” This photo shows the crew from the original Star Trek. (Photo courtesy of Photofest, Inc.)
Shatner’s debut musical album, The Transformed Man, was released in 1968 while he was still starring in Star Trek. The concept album combined famous pieces of poetry with pop lyrics; for instance, Shatner read Bob Dylan’s lyrics alongside Shakespeare’s verses. (Photo courtesy of Universal Music Enterprises.)
To help the Gorilla Foundation raise awareness for their endangered species campaign, Shatner met Koko, the gorilla who became the foundation’s ambassador, in 1988. Koko can understand more than 1,000 signs based on American Sign Language and more than 2,000 English words. Shatner was awed by the strength of this imposing and powerful animal and considered meeting her a truly amazing experience. (Photo courtesy of William Shatner.)
Shatner recorded his second musical album, Has Been, in 2004. Produced and arranged by Ben Folds, the album featured Shatner’s prose-poems as well as guest appearances from Aimee Mann, Nick Hornby, Lemon Jelly, and Joe Jackson. In 2007, choreographer Margo Sappington used the album for a ballet called Common People. Shatner filmed documentary footage of their collaboration and released a film called William Shatner’s Gonzo Ballet in 2009. (Photo courtesy of Shout! Factory, LLC.)
In 2004, Shatner joined the final season of the legal drama The Practice and won an Emmy for his role as law firm partner Denny Crane. In a 2004 spin-off, Boston Legal, Shatner continued to play Crane, winning a Golden Globe and another Emmy in 2005. He was nominated for several more Emmys before the show ended in 2008. This photo shows the crew of Boston Legal. (Photo courtesy of Photofest, Inc.)
Shatner and his wife, Elizabeth, with their horses. Shatner spends much of his spare time breeding and showing American saddlebreds and quarter horses. (Photo courtesy of Andrew McPherson.)
Shatner with his champion American saddlebred stallion, Sultan’s Great Day. (Photo courtesy of William Shatner.)
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or me
chanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1989 by William Shatner
cover design by Jason Gabbert
978-1-4532-8677-7
This edition published in 2012 by Open Road Integrated Media
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TekWar Page 21