Уильям Берроуз - Nova Express

"Controller is woman-Probably Italian-Picked up a villa outside Florence-And a Broker operating in the same area-Concentrate patrols-Contact local partisans — Expect to encounter Venusian weapons-"

In the months that followed we turned up more and more coordinate points. We put a round-the-clock shadow on The Green Boy and traced all incoming and outgoing calls. We picked up The Broker's Other Half in Tangier.

A Broker is someone who arranges criminal jobs:

"Get that writer-that scientist-this artist-He is too close-Bribe-Con-Intimidate-Take over his coordinate points-"

And the Broker finds someone to do the job like: "Call `Izzy The Push,' this is a defenestration bit-Call `Green Tony,' he will fall for the sweet con-As a last resort call `Sammy The Butcher' and warm up The Ovens-This is a special case-"

All Brokers have three-dimensional underworld contacts and rely on The Nova Guards to block shadows and screen their operations. But when we located The Other Half in Tangier we were able to monitor the calls that went back and forth between them.

At this point we got a real break in the form of a defector from The Nova Mob: Uranian Willy The Heavy Metal Kid. Now known as "Willy The Fink" to his former associates. Willy had long been put on the "unreliable " list and marked for "Total Disposal In The Ovens." But he provided himself with a stash of apomorphine so escaped and contacted our Tangier agent. Fade out.

Uranian Willy

Uranian Willy The Heavy Metal Kid. Also known as Willy The Rat. He wised up the marks. His metal face moved in a slow smile as he heard the twittering supersonic threats through antennae embedded in his translucent skull.

"Death in The Ovens."

"Death in Centipede."

Trapped in this dead whistle stop, surrounded by The Nova Guard, he still gave himself better than even chance on a crash out. Electrician in gasoline crack of history. His brain seared by white hot blasts. One hope left in the universe; Plan D.

He was not out of The Security Compound by a long way but he had rubbed off the word shackles and sounded the alarm to the shattered male forces of the earth:

THIS IS WAR TO EXTERMINATION. FIGHT CELL BY CELL THROUGH BODIES AND MIND SCREENS OF THE EARTH. SOULS ROTTEN FROM THE ORGASM DRUG, FLESH SHUDDERING FROM THE OVENS, PRISONERS OF THE EARTH COME OUT. STORM THE STUDIO –

Plan D called for Total Exposure. Wise up all the marks everywhere. Show them the rigged wheel of Life-Time-Fortune. Storm The Reality Studio. And retake the universe. The Plan shifted and reformed as reports came in from his electric patrols sniffing quivering down streets and mind screens of the earth.

"Area mined-Guards everywhere-Can't quite get through-"

"Order total weapons-Release Silence Virus-"

"Board Books taken-Heavy losses-"

"Photo falling-Word falling-Break Through in Grey Room-Use Partisans of all nations- Towers, open fire -"

The Reality Film giving and buckling like a bulkhead under pressure and the pressure gauge went up and up. The needle was edging to NOVA. Minutes to go. Burnt metal smell of interplanetary war in the raw noon streets swept by screaming glass blizzards of enemy flak. He dispersed on grey sliding between light and shadow down mirror streets and shadow pools. Yes he was wising up the marks. Willy The Fink they called him among other things, syndicates of the universe feeling for him with distant fingers of murder. He stopped in for a cup of "Real English Tea Made Here" and a thin grey man sat at his table with inflexible authority.

"Nova Police. Yes I think we can quash the old Nova Warrants. Work with us. We want names and coordinate points. Your application for Biologic Transfer will have to go through channels and is no concern of this department. Now we'll have a look at your room if you don't mind." They went through his photos and papers with fingers light and cold as spring wind. Grey Police of The Regulator, calm and grey with inflexible authority. Willy had worked with them before. He knew they were undercover agents working under conditions as dangerous as his own. They were dedicated men and would sacrifice him or any other agent to arrest The Nova Mob:

"Sammy The Butcher," "Green Tony," "Iron Claws," "The Brown Artist," "Jacky Blue Note," "Limestone John," "Izzy The Push," "Hamburger Mary," "The Subliminal Kid," "The Green Octopus," and "Willy The Rat," who wised up the marks on the last pitch. And they took Uranus apart in a fissure flash of metal rage.

As he walked past The Sargasso Café black insect flak of Minraud stabbed at his vitality centers. Two Lesbian Agents with glazed faces of grafted penis flesh sat sipping spinal fluid through alabaster straws. He threw up a Silence Screen and grey fog drifted through the café. The deadly Silence Virus. Coating word patterns. Stopping abdominal breathing holes of The Insect People Of Minraud.

The grey smoke drifted the grey that stops

shift cut tangle they breathe medium

the word cut shift patterns words

cut the insect tangle cut shift

that coats word cut breath silence

shift abdominal cut tangle stop word

holes.

He did not stop or turn around. Never look back. He had been a professional killer so long he did not remember anything else. Uranian born of Nova Conditions. You have to be free to remember and he was under sentence of death in Maximum Security Birth Death Universe. So he sounded the words that end “Word” —

Eye take back color from “word” –

Word dust everywhere now like soiled stucco on the buildings. Word dust without color drifting smoke streets. Explosive bio advance out of space to neon.

At the bottom of the stairs Uranian Willy engaged an Oven Guard. His flesh shrank feeling insect claws under the terrible dry heat. Trapped, cut off in that soulless place. Prisoner eaten alive by white hot ants. With a split second to spare he threw his silver blast and caught the nitrous fumes of burning film as he walked through the door where the guard had stood.

"Shift linguals-Free doorways-Cut word lines-Photo falling-Word falling-Break Through in Grey Room-Use partisans of all nations- Towers, open fire -"

Will Hollywood Never Learn?

"Word falling-Photo falling-Break through in Grey Room-"

Insane orders and counter orders issue from berserk Time Machine-

"Terminal electric voice of C-Shift word lines- Vibrate `tourists.' "

"I said The Chief of Police skinned alive in Baghdad not Washington D.C."

"British Prime Minister assassinated in rightist coup."

"Switzerland freezes all foreign assets-"

"Mindless idiot you have liquidated the Commissar-"

"Cut word lines-Shift linguals-"

Electric storms of violence sweep the planet-Desperate position and advantage precariously held-Governments fall with a whole civilization and ruling class into streets of total fear-Leaders turn on image rays to flood the world with replicas-Swept out by counter image-

"Word falling-Photo falling-Pinball led streets."

Gongs of violence and how-Show you something- Berserk machine-"Mr. Bradly Mr. Martin" charges in with his army of short-time hype artists and takes over The Reality Concession to set up Secretary Of State For Ruined Toilet Workers paid off in SOS-The Greys came in on a London Particular-SOS Governments fade in worn metal dawn swept out through other flesh-Counter orders issued to the sound of gongs-Machine force of riot police at the outskirts D.C.-Death Dwarfs talking in supersonic blasts of Morse Code-Swept into orbit of the Saturn Galaxy high on ammonia-Time and place shift in speed-up movie-

"Attack position over instrument like pinball-Towers, open fire-"

Atmosphere and climate shifted daily from carbon dioxide to ammonia to pure oxygen-from the dry heat of Minraud to the blue cold of Uranus-One day the natives forced into heavy reptile forms of overwhelming gravity next floated in tenuous air of plaintive lost planets-Subway broke out every language-D took pictures of a million battle fields-"Will Hollywood never learn? — Unimaginable and downright stupid disaster-"