William Gaddis - J R

— market situation offer…

— offer no convincing evidence of the kind that has characterized long-term deter… A light glowed. The pencil stopped.

— Ever see your father with that butterfly net, Amy?

— Senator Broos returning your call, sir.

— long-term deterioration…

— Broos? Hold on a minute. Come in Beaton. Amy? Just sit still for a minute. Broos…?

— deterioration. In the past…

— Finish that up outside Dave. Broos? Beaton’s right here yes, what’s the story down there…

Davidoff avoided Beaton’s approach with a badly choreographed sidestep, recovered his balance as Beaton drew a chair to the desk and his evenly dulled black shoes neatly together without a glance up from the papers he opened before him.

— Hold on. What time is my plane?

— What airport, said Cates behind her.

— I don’t know sir.

— Well you’d better know, damn cab fare to Kennedy’s twice the fare to LaGuardia.

— Yes sir.

— They want to know if there’s any way we can put off signing this contract till next week, Moncrieff’said away from the phone. Beaton leaned close and spoke in a low tone. — Hello? No it’s impossible, my resignation here’s effective at the close of today’s business, hold on… a light glowed and he handed over the phone.

— It’s General Blaufinger sir.

— Tell him to hold on.

— He’s a damned old woman, Cates muttered making figures on the back of an envelope.

— He’s calling from Bonn sir.

— Let him hold on… he recovered the phone, — Broos? Where’s the problem… Have you got a copy of it in front of you? All right first, in clause four. For the purposes of cobalt stockpiling, national security and so forth and so forth, that during the life of this contract as stated in clause one supra the government hereby agrees to purchase from Typhon International five point two thousand tons of contained cobalt annually, at the guaranteed price of four dollars sixty seven cents per pound, now. Down in seven. In order to expedite this and so forth and so forth the government agrees to advance to Typhon International the sum of thirty-nine point seven million dollars to construct a smaltite processing plant for the extraction of contained cobalt and then down in eleven, the government agrees to sell, at cost, to the processing plant to be erected operated and so forth by Typhon International in the country of Gandia, sufficient smaltite ore to yield at a minimum the amount of contained cobalt as set forth in clause four supra and for which purposes this contract shall be deemed to be… what? Because if they wanted to buy nickel they would have said nickel. They didn’t come to us to buy nickel. They didn’t come to us to buy iron or arsenic they came to buy cobalt and cobalt occurs in smaltite, if we come across nickel or iron or anything else in the ore reduction that’s… well let them scream giveaway they… I know he does, I say if we spell things out here we’re the ones who are shouting giv… No he’s right here…

— Broos…? the phone came up clenched to a deaf ear, — no damn time to start nitpicking, if this contract’s not signed sealed and delivered while Monty’s still running things here his signature on it’s no more damn good than Jefferson Davis,’ already got enough damn problems leftwing press adding two and two getting five sounds like a few blacks jumped the gun over there blew up a damn bridge or something, Blaufinger on the phone here first damn thing he’ll want to know’s if there’s any talk about sending in troops to stabilize the situation. The answer’d better be we’re damn well not and I want Frank Black to make that good and damn clear to the press corps down there and anybody else that noses in hear me? Civil war breaks out seceding this Uaso province it’s nobody’s business but these damn Africans’, we can’t get in there and support secession don’t mean we want some damn fool introducing a resolution on the floor supporting the established government either hear me…? he hunched further getting the phone to his other hand, — what’s that…? getting it clenched to his other ear. — You do some arm twisting get that damn resolution tacked on there hear me? We’re the ones that’s building the damn smelter the government’s not, we’re the ones taking the chance they’re not, you hear me…? and the phone came tendered at arm’s length where Miss Bulcke caught it. — You hear that Beaton?

— Excuse me sir General Blaufinger is still…

— Here I’ll take it.

— Mister Moncrieff is on the line now, thank you for wait…

— Hello, General…?

— Beaton you hear that? Resolution exempting private investment in a hazardous business climate you make damn sure that’s cleared up before Monty signs, hear me?

— Rumors General, just rumors, we… three planeloads? No they couldn’t be ours, the whole… but half the armies over there have US stamped all over them there’s no reason to be afraid the… no of course not General I didn’t mean to imply… Yes I know you did General even our own history books treat it as a brilliant campai… I’ve never discussed it with General Box no, but… Yes I’m sure he would General but we want him out of there right after this groundbreaking, these reports have already jeopardized the contract and if you can’t restrain Doctor Dé until we have the… now just a minute General, we…

— Damn brown nose here give me that… Blaufinger? if you can’t sit on this thing till this damn contract’s wrapped up we’ll lose the whole shooting match, damn left wing… what? Not talking about a shooting match no damn it I’m talking about this contract, if… Couldn’t sign it till these cobalt stockpile requirements were raised could we? What the devil you think Broos’ Armed Services Committee’s been… well that’s the damn difference between this country and yours, don’t think Pythian’s mentioned in the damned contract do you? can’t tell them where to buy the damn ore can we…? That’s the damn point where the devil else can they get it… don’t know no wait a minute, Monty? Anything in this contract about management services…? Hello? Not a damn thing no, what’s… by God no put in something like that we’ll have the Pythian interest in Typhon spread all over the damn front page… No and I want to be damn sure we don’t, this Doctor Dé goes off half cocked again lets his black boys run around blowing up bridges before we settle this end of things you’ll have this whole damn third world backing Nowunda leftwing press line up behind them leave us sitting with a wish in one hand and… well you sit on him, hear me…? and the phone came up offered nowhere. — Squeezing out the last damn drop wants Pythian to get the contract for management services on this smelter like hiring your uncle to do your damn laundry…

— Nothing we can do about it I’d just like to see him off our board, this Doctor Dé they dug up for defense minister’s the worst fraud you could…

— Damn it Monty don’t own them you can’t trust them, get out there you have to take what you can get…

— sit on, auf ihm sitzen…?

— I know it that’s what I don’t like about the whole…

— mein Onkel soll meine Wäsche waschen…?

— Here somebody hang this damn thing up! Beaton? Where’s the notes on this hearing.

— Yes sir I think you have them right there sir.

— I do not have them right there sir! I have this damn Endo decree and a lot of fool nonsense on this alleged conspiracy to fix prices of materials supplied to the cable industry right there sir!

— Yes sir I, we thought Mister Moncrieff might want to review the material contained in the indictment in case any questions arise at his confirmation hearing relating to…