The Impossible Fortress(79)

We all shook hands again, and he vanished into the crowd.

Mary and I stared after him, dumbfounded.

“One month?” I asked.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I panicked.”

“One month to build a whole game from scratch? There’s no way. It’s impossible!”

“That’s what you said about machine language. But we figured it out. We could do it again.”

“It’s different now. I don’t even have a computer!”

Mary looked hopefully to her father, and Zelinsky looked hopefully to the rafters of the gymnasium, as if the perfect excuse might be written on the ceiling.

“Come on, Sal,” Tack said.

“Fine,” Zelinsky said. “You can use the showroom. But this doesn’t change anything.” He pointed a finger at me. “I still want you out by seven.”

And just like that, we were back in business.