William Gaddis - J R

— He did yes, the other party appears prepared to raise his offer on the power company properties you mention, provided his earlier offer on the mining claims area is accepted in order to avoid what could become a costly and drawn out action threatening the validity of the claims themselves. Mister Crawley was particularly concerned about Mister Bast, he seems to take a great interest in him and stressed his wish to relieve Mister Bast of time-consuming complications, and since Mister Crawley appears to have substantial dealings both with J R Corp principals and the other party a Mister Stamper I believe, and is acting merely as go-between…

— Just brought in Stamper for window dressing Beamish, hunting crony of his see the big game film those two put together million zebras running for their lives you’d paint stripes on your ass and run too, rides around his end of Texas in a Cadillac can of beer in his hand answering police calls converted his old slave cabins to fancy guest cottages I just heard he got so mad when he saw his new tax assessment he went out and burned them all down, big overgrown kid never got past fourth grade Bast told me once the Boss never got out of sixth frankly sometimes I believe it, he runs that assay on the water at Wonder Brewery comes across smaltite traces and has Nonny put in for a mineral depletion allowance tipped his hand to the FDA coming down hard on cobalt safety levels now Milliken jumps in to protect home industry only thing they had besides sheep and Indians till he suddenly gets the idea his state is one big cobalt nickel arsenic deposit looks over the stockpile scene and hauls the Undersecretary up before his committee on the contract he negotiated for Typhon to set up this smelting operation in Gandia and buy it back as surplus, supply U S cobalt stockpile requirements from it and sell the nickel and anything else they come up with on the side wherever Pythian Overseas has a market, that’s who your other party in this deal is Beamish I’ve worked with Moncrieff nobody to tangle assholes with…

— No I had hardly considered the possib…

— Any cobalt in sight Typhon wants to sit on it pressure on them from Pythian has this war going in Gandia to secede Uaso province smelter minerals and all turn the whole thing into a company town, defense minister Doctor Dé steps over declares a republic and you get Broos speaking up in the Senate for self-determination for the people of this gallant little emerging nation, pleads for nonintervention and sponsors a bill prohibiting imports with Gandia as country of origin. Nowunda’s government trying to hold things together take help anyplace they can get it so Milliken votes for the Broos bill backs the U N resolution supporting Nowunda’s government and wakes up in bed with China Albania and…

— Mister Davidoff excuse me again for interrupting but as interesting as all of this is I believe we are straying from…

— Just getting to these bellies, Bast been at you about them yet?

— Mister Bast? about, bellies…?

— Pork bellies frozen dried may not know any more about them than I do the Boss has been hedging in them on the side must have Crawley up to his ass on margin some deal going on a trade if Nowunda holds out takes a stiff royalty on mineral exports solve this problem at Ray-X getting rhodium for thermocouples on these government fixed price contracts why the Boss pushed Haight so hard on these Pentagon research contracts had Ray-X borrow on the strength of them, put in later for a cost overrun and come out on top only problem was coming up with the products, got in a topflight R and D man through Mister Ten-forty worked with him for years says he has a topflight track record in the academic field looking for a place where his mind could turn loose and soar, all in that release on Frigicom oh Virginia told you to dig up that Frigicom release, got the City Council biting on the noise pollution end have to check it out with Washington work into this talk for the security analyst boys get me Colonel Moyst on the phone check his new number, Haight got him transferred over to procurement oh and Virginia that black still sitting over there looking at pictures thought we got rid of him doesn’t speak English what does he speak…

— It sounded maybe like French Mister Davidoff only I don’t know what French sounds like so…

— Get Skinner’s gal out there maybe she can parley vous find out what he’s doing here knock before you go in oh and Virginia, something here about a shipment from Hong Kong says plastic flowers must be those sweaters they sent that fiber over from Eagle for, get Hopper out of that whatever he’s eating long enough to find out who’s this on the phone, Moyst?

— No they said it’s for Mister Bast about these musicians that…

— Tell them to leave a number have Bast get back to them when he rolls in oh and…

— But Mister Bast is…

— Here better take it myself can’t tell what he, hello…? No he’s not what… Don’t worry about it just give me your figures probably be handling this end anyhow what… Taping the whole thing yes told him I thought we should get a topflight name band like the Boston Pops package deal wrap up the whole… Mister Bast said what? What’s he got against the Boston… make any piece of music sound like elephants doing what…? No no go ahead whatever he told you, he’s the… Wait what about rehearsal time what’s the going… don’t rehearse for recording sessions then how do they… get ninety dollars for the basic three hour session ought to wrap the whole thing up in one… what? Fifteen minutes of usable recording from each session why can’t… All right suppose they get twenty minutes suppose they get sixty what… Fifteen minutes maximum thought you just told me there’s no rehearsing what are they doing then playing with their… No no go ahead whatever he told you he’s the… Ninety-five men that brings it to zero, five, eighty-five fifty for each… what do you mean eighty-six forty five times nine is… Ninety-six thought you said Mister Bast wanted ninety-fi… the contractor gets paid double? How many… don’t know how long it is no he’s still… Well how long is a symphony give me a… just to give me a ballpark figure forty-five minutes that’s three of your three hour sessions eighty-six forty each brings us up around twenty-six thousand ought to cover the whole… without studio rental just your boys in the band add on… orchestra yes add on… what? Rental of instruments what do you mean your boys don’t even own… Look would I take on a job as a writer show up without a pencil? What’s the… kettledrum no I don’t own a kettledrum don’t play the kettledrum if I played the kettledrum I’d own a… think the Boston Pops has to go out and rent a kettledrum every time they play the Blue Danube? What do you… no whatever he told you don’t worry about it we’ll get back to you see what I mean Beamish, get local eight-o-one in there might as well just get a comb and toilet paper while you’re here get to Hopper on squashing that union injunction Shorter brought when the Boss pulled those looms out for South America, gave his boy that whole territory for Wonder Beer making such a mess of it the Boss wants this settled before we have to buy him out might want to bring Bast in on it knows the Eagle picture first hand thought I just heard him in there…

— I had thought I heard a piano, however…

— Must have come in while we were fixing Duncan up in the bedroom there see what it’s like running the store with an exec who…

— But do you mean Mister Bast is here? in there? playing the piano?

— In there playing the piano see what it’s like running the…

— Excellent just let me go in and speak with him it should take only a moment to clear up this…