Уильям Берроуз: Nova Express

"What you are offering me is a precarious aqualung existence in somebody else's stale movie-Such people made a wide U turn back to the '20s-Besides the whole thing is ridiculous-Like I send back word from Mercury: `The climate is cool and bracing-The natives are soo friendly'-or `On Uranus one is conscious of a lightness in the limbs and an exhilarating sense of freedom'-So Doctor Benway snapped, `You will simply send back spitting notice on your dirty nova activity-It is ridiculous like when the egg cracks the climate is cool and bracing’-or `Uranus is mushrooming freedom’-This is the old splintered pink carnival 1917-Sad little irrigation ditch-Where else if they have date twisting paralyzed in the blue movies? — You are offering me aqualung scraps-precarious flesh-soiled movie, rag on cock-Intestinal street boy smells through the outhouse.’ "

"I am empowered to make the offer not assess its validity."

"The offer is declined-The so-called officers on this planet have panicked and are rushing the first life boat in drag-Such behavior is unbecoming an officer and these people have been relieved of a command they evidently experienced as an intolerable burden in any case-In. all my experience as a police officer I have never seen such a downright stupid conspiracy-The nova mob operating here are stumble bums who couldn't even crash our police line-up anywhere else-"

This is the old needling technique to lure a criminal out into the open-Three thousand years with the force and it still works- Winkhorst was fading out in hot spirals of the crab nebula-I experienced a moment of panic-walked slowly to the tape recorder-

"Now if you would be so kind, Mr. Winkhorst, I would like you to listen to this music and give me your reaction-We are using it in a commercial on the apomorphine program-Now if you would listen to this music and give me advantage-We are thinking of sullen street boy for this spot-' I put on some Gnaova drum music and turned around both guns blazing-Silver needles under tons focus come level on average had opened up still as good as he used to be pounding stabbing to the drum beats-The scorpion controller was on screen blue eyes white hot spitting from the molten core of a planet where lead melts at noon, his body half concealed by the portico of a Mayan temple-A stink of torture chambers and burning flesh filled the room- Prisoners staked out under the white hot skies of Minraud eaten alive by metal ants-I kept distance surrounding him with pounding stabbing light blasts seventy tons to the square inch-The orders loud and clear now: "Blast-Pound-Strafe-Stab- Kill "-The screen opened out-I could see Mayan codices and Egyptian hieroglyphs-Prisoners screaming in the ovens broken down to insect forms-Life-sized portrait of a pantless corpse hanged to a telegraph pole ejaculating under a white hot sky-Stink of torture when the egg cracks- always to insect forms-Staked out spines gathering mushroom ants-Eyes pop out naked hanged to a telegraph pole of adolescent image-

The music shifted to Pan Pipes and I moved away to remote mountain villages where blue mist swirled through the slate houses-Place of the vine people under eternal moonlight Pressure removed-Seventy tons to the square inch suddenly moved out From a calm grey distance I saw the scorpion controller explode in the low pressure area-Great winds whipping across a black plain scattered the codices and hieroglyphs to rubbish heaps of the earth-(A Mexican boy whistling Mambo, drops his pants by a mud wall and wipes his ass with a page from the Madrid codex) Place of the dust people who live in sand storms riding the wind- Wind wind wind through dusty offices and archives-Wind through the board rooms and torture banks of time-

("A great calm shrouds the green place of the vine people.")

Inflexible Authority

When I handed in my report to The District Supervisor he read it through with a narrow smile-"They have distracted you with a war film and given false information as usual-You are inexperienced of course- Totally green troops in the area-However your unauthorized action will enable us to cut some corners- Now come along and we will get the real facts-"

The police patrol pounded into the home office of Lazarus & Co-

"And now Mr. Winkhorst and you gentlemen of the board, let's have the real story and quickly or would you rather talk to the partisans?"

"You dumb hicks."

"The information and quickly-We have no time to waste with such as you."

The D.S. stood there translucent silver sending a solid blast of inflexible authority.

"All right-We'll talk-The cyclotron processes image — It's the microfilm principle-smaller and smaller, more and more images in less space pounded down under the cyclotron to crystal image meal-We can take the whole fucking planet out that way up our ass in a finger stall-Image of both of us good as he used to be-A stall you dig-Just old showmen packing our ermines you might say-"

"Enough of that show-Continue please with your statement."

"Sure, sure, but you see now why we had to laugh till we pissed watching those dumb rubes playing around with photomontage-Like charging a regiment of tanks with a defective slingshot."

"For the last time out of me-Continue with your statement."

"Sure, sure, but you see now why we had such lookout on these dumb rubes playing around with a splintered carnival-Charging a regiment of tanks with a defective sanitarium 1917-Never could keep his gas — Just an old trouper is all"-(He goes into a song and dance routine dancing off stage-An 1890 cop picks him up in the wings and brings back a ventriloquist dummy.)

"This, gentlemen, is a death dwarf-As you can see manipulated by remote control-Compliments of Mr. & Mrs. D."

"Give me a shot," says the dwarf. "And I'll tell you something interesting."

Hydraulic metal hands proffer a tray of phosphorescent meal yellow brown in color like pulverized amber — The dwarf takes out a hypo from a silver case and shoots a pinch of the meal in the main line.

"Images-millions of images-That's what I eat- Cyclotron shit-Ever try kicking that habit with apomorphine? — Now I got all the images of sex acts and torture ever took place anywhere and I can just blast it out and control you gooks right down to the molecule — I got orgasms-I got screams-I got all the images any hick poet ever shit out-My Power's coming — My Power's coming-My Power's coming-" He goes into a faith healer routine rolling his eyes and frothing at the mouth-"And I got millions and millions and millions of images of Me, Me, Me, meee." (He nods out-He snaps back into focus screaming and spitting at Uranian Willy.) "You hick-You rat-Called the fuzz on me-All right-(Nods out)-I'm finished but you're still a lousy fink-"

"Address your remarks to me," said the D.S.

"All right you hick sheriffs-I'll cook you all down to decorticated canine preparations-You'll never get the apomorphine formulae in time-Never! Never! Never!" — (Caustic white hot saliva drips from his teeth-A smell of phosphorous fills the room)-"Human dogs"-He collapses sobbing-"Don't mind if I take another shot do you?"

"Of course not-After giving information you will be disintoxicated."

"Disintoxicated he says-My God look at me."

"Good sir to the purpose."

"Shit-Uranian shit-That's what my human dogs eat-And I like to rub their nose in it-Beauty-Poetry-Space-What good is all that to me? If I don’t get the image fix I'm in the ovens-You understand? — All the pain and hate images come loose-You understand that you dumb hick? I'm finished but your eyes still pop out-Naked candy of adolescent image Panama- Who look out different? — Cook you all down to decorticated mandrake-"

"Don't you think, Mr. D, it is in your interest to facilitate our work with the apomorphine formulae?"