chairman 20 - showdown

by fred flynn

part 20 of ?

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the long black limousine rounded the curve of the abandoned highway. the blue sedan was up ahead, just where it should have been. the limo was on manual. montgomery sat in the front seat, operating the vehicle with an old-fashioned steering wheel. montgomery did not believe for one minute that central’s agents in the sedan did not know he was following them, but you had to humor the bow tie people at control. control vs central! for all the marbles! bring it on! communication with control was off - he had been told to turn it on “only in an emergency”. what did that mean? everything was an emergency. life against death, control against central, montgomery against the world. did the people in control think he, montgomery, who had seen and done things too terrible even to have names, could not handle it? the landscape changed. the flat plains on the right gave way to thick woods. now the sedan would turn into a side road. montgomery touched the control panel and the limo speeded up to get closer to the sedan. another curve on the road and the sedan disappeared. was it waiting for him just around the bend? but montgomery was waiting for this just this moment. he pulled over and stopped the limo. he took his old knife, willie, and the new blaster control had given him - which he did not really trust and had not even given a name - out of the front compartment and slipepd both into his belt. he double checked that the limo was not giving off any signals. he got out. he entered the woods. next

chairman 19 - montgomery

by fred flynn

part 19 of ?

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a long black limousine pulled up in front of the flower shop. the limo was overseen by walt montgomery, a big man with a small head. he wore a blue chaufeur’s uniform two sizes too small for him and stared straight ahead with a surly expression.at the rain drops hitting the windshield. beside him sat wally montgomery - no relation - a small young man wearing a sailor suit and languidly licking a chocolate chip ice cream cone. behind them in the rear seat sat wallace montgomery - no relation to walt or wally - a central bureaucrat of savage temper and overweening ambition. walter put his head out the window of the limo. carol the h r person had just turned to al the textile salesman to respond to his suggestion that they enter the flower shop to get in out of the rain. excuse me, walter asked, but would you folks like a lift? this rain is predicted to take quite a violent and unpredictable turn. how can that be predicted if it is unpredictable? carol replied casually. wally laughed so hard he almost dropped his chocolate chip ice cream cone in his lap. even saturnine walt managed a slight smile amounting to little more than a grimace. who the devil are you anyway? al the textile salesman demanded angrily of walt. who am i? i am montgomery. and you, my friend, do not know enough to get in out of the rain. this retort was delivered with such force that no one present exhibited the least urge to either laugh or smile. next

chairman 18 - the looks of this

by fred flynn

part 18 of ?

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after agents dworkin and khayyam left with eddie 1, charles ashley picked his phone up off the table and tapped on it. a picture came up on it of eddie 1 getting into the back seat of the sedan and agent dworkin shutting the rear door of the sedan on him and getting into the front seat herself. the picture closed in on eddie’s head and then on the contents of his brain. charles put the phone back down on the table, with the scan of eddie’s brain running. we will give them thirty minutes. thirty minutes, eddie 2 repeated. where were we? joey asked. charles was telling a story, eddie 2 said. i was? charles asked. what was it about? i can’t remember, eddie 2 admitted. neither can i, joey said. why don’t you start a new one? why don’t you start a new one? charles asked. i told the last one before this. all right, i guess it is my turn, eddie 2 said. go for it, charles told him. eddie 2 took a small deck of playing cards out of his shirt pocket. he quickly shuffled it and put three cards face up on the table. the seven of spades. the three of diamonds. and the six of hearts. i don’t like the looks of this, eddie 2 said. we only have twenty-seven minutes left, charles told him. just do it. all right, here goes. a textile salesman named al, and a corporste h r person named carol , are waiting for a bus outside a flower shop owned by a woman named fatima. it starts to rain. we better get inside, al says to carol. but just then - next

chairman 17 - the highway

by fred flynn

part 17 of ?

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the unmarked sedan headed down the broad empty highway. to the left, an endless flat plain stretched out. on the right. a mountainside blotted out the sky. eddie was in the back seat. it was comfortable. agents dworkin and khayyam were in front, with dworkin in front of the main information panel. where are we going? eddie asked. for a ride, agent khayyam answered. all right, eddie thought, if they want to be that way. instead of saying, a ride to where? he said - i did not know the highway could be so open - i thought the roads were all filled with cars 24 hours a day. that is what they want you to think, khayyam replied. you got to know where to look, dworkin said. and what to look for. i don’t see anything, eddie told her. it must be because i do not know where to look. did you see that rabbit? khayyam said. it was a hare, dworkin told him. whatever it was, i didn’t see it, eddie admitted. there was nothing, dworkin said. we were just testing you, to see if you would say you saw it. is that what you do, test people? eddie asked. what did you think we did? khayyam laughed. are you going to test me when we get where we are going? you don’t know the half of it, khayyam said, glancing over his shoulder at eddie. but not by us, dworkin added. by real full time testers. we hope you don’t mind, khayyam said. i don’t mind at all, eddie told him. all of life is a test. i welcome it. the agents looked at each other and laughed. be that as it may, khayyam said, if you want to see something, when we get around the mountain, you will see something. next

chairman 16 - going along

by fred flynn

part 16 of ?

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eddie had a hard time understanding what charles ashley and joey were going on about. charles was talking about bertrand russell and star trek and the ottoman empire and joey replied to everything charles said with - i’m not good at math - and i don’t believe in it. and eddie smith 2 kept laughing in that ingratiating way he had and saying - what a pair! what a pair! take three of a kind to beat a pair like this! finally eddie 1 could not take it any more and he blurted out - why don’t you just call bertrand russell up and ask him? charles ashley and joey turned and looked at him. who are you? charles demanded. yes, and who asked you to sit down here? joey asked. and are you going to buy something? charles asked. you can’t just sit down there without buying anything - the management will think we are associating with bums. and we are not going to buy you anything, in case that is what you thought - whoever you are, joey added, gee, i am sorry, eddie mumbled. hey, eddie, don’t mind those guys, agent dworkin put in from the adjacent table, come over and sit with us. yes, and we might even buy you a cup of something, agent khayyam said, because we are good people. what could eddie do but take up their offer? he got up and moved to the next table as charles and joey resumed their palavering and eddie 2 kept chuckling and slapping the table. let me go buy something, eddie told the two agents . i would not want to sit here like a bum. agent khayyam looked at agent dworkin. no need for that, unless you want to take it with you. i thought we might go for a little ride. that sounds good to me, agent dworkin agreed. what could eddie do but go along? he was just a go along type of person. next

chairman 15 - a nice day

by fred flynn

part 15 of ?

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may we help you? yes, i have an appointment in room 796 at 9 am. there is no room 796 in this building. i was told to come here at 9 am by mr charles ashley. nobody by that name has an official position in this building. this is the central building, is it not? no, it is the taj mahal. was that an attempt at humor? there is no such thing as an attempt at humor. humor is self-contained. is this the central building? yes. yesterday mr charles ashley told me to come here at 9 am to room 976 . yesterday, not today? that is correct. there is no room 796 in this building today, or a mr charles ashley holding any official position. i think i begin to understand. it took you long enough. so i am free to go? nobody seems to be stopping you. thank you. have a nice day. our shift is almost over. we will spend the day resting. i hope you enjoy your rest. thank you for your considerate attitude. * eddie wandered aimlessly down the avenue until he reached his destination. he went inside. charles ashley, eddie smith 2, and joey were seated at a table just inside the door, engaged in an animated conversation. there was an empty seat at the table and eddie sat down at it. he noticed agents dworkin and khayyam at an adjacent table, staring into space and stirring their cups of coffee with plastic spoons. outside on the avenue it started to rain. next

chairman 14 - appetite

by fred flynn

part 14 of ?

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eddie’s mom watched with a puzzled expression as eddie shoveled his blueberry pop tarts into his mouth with unusual vigor. you seem to have a better appetite than usual this morning. are you planning to exercise, or work it off some way? no, but it might be my last chance at real food for a while. and why would that be? do you think i am going to stop feeding you? because i have to go back to central for a final hearing - i told you that yesterday when i got home. i guess i did not understand what you were talking about. you know that happens sometimes. where did you think i was yesterday? looking for a job. i hoped that was where you were. no, i was interviewing people, for material for my proposal - isn’t the proposal to get a job? i didn’t hear that. i was interviewing people for my proposal and i was interrupted by some goo - some officials from central and taken downtown for questioning. you mean they arrested you? it was not exactly arresting like you see on an old show. i don’t think they do that any more. they don’t. i guess i am not up to date. maybe i never have been. they do not have to arrest people, because they can keep track of everybody every minute of the day. what they do and say, and most of what they think. oh. well i never think bad thoughts so i guess i am safe. and you should be too. different people have different thoughts on what bad thoughts are. it is too bad everybody can’t just get along and think the same good thoughts. be that as it may, i have to go back to central this morning for a final hearing. how final is final? nobody seems to know. that sounds pretty final. do you want some more coffee before you go? next