William Gaddis - J R

— Yes all right, can you simply tell me how you came up with the figure one thousand eight hundred six…

— Damages based on one hundred times holdings, Diamond was selling at eighteen and five-eighths, simple enough. Do you…

— But my God, one hundred times…!

— Probably because it was easy to multiply by so that’s why they claimed it. Do you know what I’m going to pay the name writer we’re commissioning to do this cobalt book? If I told you you’d cream your drawers, the point is the PR budget is my budget to make the best use of for the company I see fit while you pussyfoot around with your preciselys, I had a gal in here this morning with a topflight track record in curriculum management for the spot of project director the minute things get off the ground because this cobalt book is just a door opener and if you’re worried about another lousy eighteen hundred dollars, any time we can tie in with an old prestige publisher like Duncan and Company through this man Skinner I brought in to take us one step closer to what’s waiting out there for us in a field growing faster than…

— What’s waiting out there right now, Beaton said raising neither his voice nor his eyes to the calisthenic hazards beyond his desk — is Governor Cates, and if you think that he can be convinced that opening us up to hundred-times damage suits by every stockholder in sight is great PR, you’d better explain it to him yourself.

— You want me to tell you the reason you’re crapping your pants Beaton? It’s because you’re the one who left the barn door open on Monty picking up that stock option before he pulled out for Washington, and then liquidating everything to keep out of a conflict of interest, right? Without serving out the rest of the time with the company spelled out in the by-laws, just like they’ve got it right there in the letter. They’re a pretty savvy little bunch and you…

— And who ran around handing out proxy statements and copies of the by-laws, like joining a club boys and girls. This is Mister Moncrieff reporting to you for work, you’re the owners the rest of us only work here, your one share of Diamond stock means you can haul us on the carpet any time you think we’ve stepped out of line and the rest of that show you put on for them, if Mrs Joubert…

— Try to shoot her down with this Beaton and you’ll really come out with your ass in a sling, she’s got a pretty savvy bunch of kids there and she’s not far off base herself. I talked to her about it the last time she was in here and she…

— This suit? You’ve talked to her about this? His eyes came up as sharply as his fingers abruptly squaring the papers before him, to fix on the emergence of what at this, or any distance, appeared as gold carriage bolts holding the white cuffs to.

— It’s going to be the feature spread in the Annual Report isn’t it? Even finished the layout, just remember it’s her pet project and if you want to go in there and blow everything to the old man it’s your ass. There’s nothing there about any of this, just the kids buying the share but if she tells Cates with those eyes of hers about trying to give these kids a looksee at the system with a few corporate dollars to play with, he’ll nail you for pulling the rug out from under her and all the rest of us by leaving the door open, you’ll be lucky to get out of here with your…

— Don’t be, don’t be ridiculous a suit like this would never come to court. Leaving the door open, I won’t try to explain the technicalities the point now is simply that the precedent set by your, this authorization and payment might be construed as tacit admission of irregularities that could jeopardize our entire, excuse me. A button glowed. — Yes sir… He squared the papers again, standing, — and I think I can clear this up without bothering the Governor.

— And I think you better consider it cleared up right now, go after her with all your preciselys and if she thinks she’s made a booboo she’ll lay it all right in Uncle John’s lap. Beaton? he came on in the silent wake cutting across the carpet toward the door, — if it lands in his lap you’ll come flying out of that board room ass over teakettle… The carriage bolts shot unaimed from the acrylic barrels of his sleeves and, poised for the moment, he seemed to seek something vulnerable, as abruptly recovering a swift turn in stabs at the telephone. — Oh Carol I’m tied up here in Beaton’s office just want to know if there were any calls, oh and get me the name of that name writer Skinner was digging up… he’d reached the end of the cord and, turning to pace it back, raised his eyes toward the door, — give us a rundown of… what?

— Mister Davidoff did you want me to…

— What are you doing here I’m talking to you on the, never mind… he put down the phone forcefully — oh and Carol while you’re right here, he came on after her pulling the door closed behind them with an unfinished nod to the empty desk outside, — tell personnel to put a rush on processing the gal who was in here this morning for the project specialist spot in our shop, make sure they’ve got that recommendation on her in their folder the one I got from Mister Skinner…

— That got mugged in the elevator? We’re all scared to…

— Skinner yes, the publisher who was in here, he’s dug up a name writer for us who’s coming in this afternoon to touch base on this cobalt book and I want Eigen to check out his credits before he…

— Mister Eigen already left for the day, he went out with this man that…

— That Taiwan medical relief that’s right, took him out to tie one on.

— This man with these bandages on his eye and all, yes sir, they just went…

— Bandages and all what.

— No I meant like he was just kind of loud and walked funny, we were all scared to…

— Sounds like he tied one on before he got here, he passed her on the turn unlimbering his jacket — you can’t ever tell about these oh and Carol, the Annual Report feature on that field trip get the layout and captions together and that new set of pix we had airbrushed in to get across this whole inner city concept of wait what’s that…

— Oh that’s Mister Eigen’s I forget what you call them, from Mister Moyst Mister Davidoff, it came in around lunch.

— Eigen’s orders where have they been all this, oh Carol, he paused fighting out of his jacket to assail the manila envelope with the same vigor, sundering it across its face with — better be getting Moyst on the phone to stand by while I check out the, CIPAP they’ve got that in, Mister Eigen will rept McGuire AFB Wrightstown NJ NLT one thousand hours wait, here it ought to be, for air movement to Frankfurt, Germany on Flt K eight one one AMD WRI-FRF sounds like, get Moyst on the phone and that’s Colonel Carol not Mister Moyst or we’ll all be, make sure we have approval for commercial air here if they’ve stuck him with military air we might as well just get Miss Bulcke too will you? Beaton’s been trying to horn in as usual got her phoning Moyst to get these orders up here on the double try to flag her down before he and his buddy Cutler put us all up the, wait let me get through this, TC two hundred Indiv placed on TDY as indie RPSCTDY Eigen, Thomas, GS twelve Equiv they wouldn’t give him a thirteen Distribution: fifty Indiv Concerned he won’t need all those, five CG AMC, Attn: AMCAD-AO, Washington but where the, CIC: two XX four nine nine where did they put the, TDY to: West Germany, thence to where did they put Eigen will rept McGuire AFB Wrightstown just read that, the hiring of special conveyance here it is, special conveyance auth IAW Para three three c for use in, around and this is it, in, around and between TDY stations got Moyst on the phone there yet? Check out this term special conveyance when you get him if it doesn’t include commercial air he’s liable to end up riding in on a, oh and before you get Moyst just try Eigen at home, he may have just tell him I’ll give him a call as soon as I’ve put out these brush fires… and they looked from his receding back, fighting his tie loose up the hall, to the still face of the clock.