bad road to the dead river - 3. mr wilson

by nick nelson

part three of thirty-two

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

a silent maid took the professor’s hat, coat, and scarf , and the butler escorted hm down the hall to mr wilson’s study. mr wilson was seated alone in an armchair in front of a roaring fire. he rose, drink in hand, when the professor entered the room. “it was good of you to come, young man,” he smiled at the professor. “it is good of you to have me, sir,” the professor replied. “hot chocolate is your beverage of preference, if i recall.” “a hot chocolate would be very nice ,sir.” “bring us a pot of hot chocolate, nash, and a plate of muffins and scones.” “very good, sir.” the butler withdrew and closed the door behind him. mr wilson pointed to another armchair and the professor perched himself on it. “a pretty fire, eh?” mr wilson said as they waited for the butler. “i built it myself.” “it is quite impressive, sir.” “there is nothing quite so primally satisfying as a good roaring fire on a cold night. wine, women, beefsteaks, power, vengeance - all very well in their way, but nothing beats a good fire.” “if you say so, sir.” mr wilson chuckled softly and leaned back in his chair and they waited in silence until the butler brought the hot chocolate and scones and muffins. when the butler had once again closed the door , mr wilson’s face assumed a graver expression. “now, to business. i summoned you here because i wanted your perspective on some rapidly developing events - events which, as you may guess, have not made their way into the newspapers and may never do so.” “yes, sir.” mr wilson put his fingertips together and stared into the fire. “now, you know - or think you know - if you read the newspapers - what is the newspaper’s name again, that you are employed by?” “the federal-democrat, sir.” “of course, the federal-democrat, a so-called left-leaning paper, somewhat partial to the interests of the russian and mongol empires. in any event, the press in all its shades is reporting an increase in tensions between the teutonic federation and the anglo-saxon alliance, with the alliance professing to champion the independence of the small states between the teutons and the russians, eh?” “quite so, sir, although the russians themselves are taking a detached view, at least for the present. or, at least, so the papers say.” “exactly. so the papers say. but what do you think?’ “it is hard to imagine that the detachment is anything - anything at all, really. it can hardly even be called a ruse. but i do not think, sir, with all due respect, that you summoned me here to say so.” mr wilson smiled. “quite so. tell me, do you remember, or since you may be too young to remember, the late mr bryan’s views on the invasion of earth by entities from other planets, which caused so much amusement among his contemporaries.” “i have read of them, sir, and found them … quite intriguing, at least from the perspective of theory.” “i thought you might have. now what if i were to tell you…” 4. mr bryan's speech

bad road to the dead river - 2. the professor

by nick nelson

part two of thirty-two

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

dago red, as usual, was in no mood for small talk. he brought his little truck to an abrupt stop. tossed the three bundles of newspapers at the feet of the three boys, jumped back in his seat and drove off. a quick look at the ordinary sized headline - tensions mount - prez urges calm - showed that there would be no war, and no extra edition, at least until the afternoon. gus the greek, the oldest and strongest of the three boys, grabbed his bundle and hoisted it on his shoulder. “i’ll see you two kikes later.” he disappeared into the swirling snow. benny was left alone with the professor. benny would have liked to get going too, but he knew the professor always liked to talk for a while, and expound his views on the world situation, and benny, being naturally an easygoing sort, usually humored him. the professor was a couple of years younger than benny, small for his age, wore the thickest glasses in the world, and had strong opinions on a lot of subjects. whether he developed these opinions himself or was repeating what he heard from older people, was not something benny had ever wondered about. “well, prof, what do you think?” benny asked. “do you think we might get a war and some extras tomorrow?” the professor pulled his scarf away from his face. “ i think we better get a move on if we want to sell any papers before we are buried under five feet of snow.” “good thinking,” benny agreed readily. he headed uptown, to “his” spot in the sheltered entrance to the b train subway station. the professor was left at his own spot, on the corner in the wind and snow. but he did not have to wait long to sell his first paper. a long black limousine pulled up in front of him. the rear passenger side window rolled down anda familiar face looked out. “hello, kid.” “hello, lugg. what can i do for you today?” “mister w wants to see you. he is thirsting for your advice.” “what about these papers?” “i will give you the price of them all. “ “but - “ “i know, someone might complain to the paper if you ain’t here. we brought a ringer along, just like the last time.” another car pulled up behind the limo, and a voice shouted - “hey, kid, any time you want to sell a poor man a paper!” “sure, mister!” the professor hurried down to the car, ran around to the driver’s side, handed the driver a paper and collected his nickel . “sorry to keep you waiting, mister!” the professor backed off as the car roared away. when he got back to the limo, the “ringer”, a dwarf named grundy, was waiting to take the bundle of papers from him. the professor got in the back seat with lugg, and the limo moved smoothly away from the curb, turned around and headed bak out of town. “mister w must want my advice awful bad, to go to all this trouble.” the professor said to lugg. “maybe. who knows what he wants? just relax and enjoy the ride. the snow began to fall heavily, and the limo’s new high-powered windshield wipers were put to the test as they headed into the wind. 3. mr wilson

bad road to the dead river - 1. benny

by nick nelson

part one of thirty-two

to read prologue, click here

it looks awful cold out there, benny. and the sky is gray. you should check with mrs anderson to see if it going to snow.” “i’ll be all right, mom. it is either gong to snow or it isn’t. and mrs anderson probably isn’t up yet.” “she’s up. i can hear her.” benny laughed. “o k, maybe i will look in on her. this sure is good oatmeal, mom, the best ever. “ “make sure you tie your scarf nice and tight now, and i polished your crutch for you, so people can see it in the shadows as they drive by.” “aw, you didn’t have to do that. and most of my customers walk or take the trolley, they don’t drive, you know that.” “but you never know, some billionaire might be driving by and like your looks and give you a real job.” “selling the federal-democrat is a job, mom. maybe not the greatest job, but is a job.” “i want you to have a real job, in an office, where you wear a suit and tie and have a secretary.” “well, maybe someday.” benny finished his oatmeal and liked his spoon clean. he got up from the kitchen table and hobbled over to the low cupboard where he kept his jacket, cap, scarf and crutch. mrs bergdorf was looking out the window. “here comes the snow.” “then i guess i won’t have to bother mrs anderson,” benny said, as he wound his scarf around his neck, and adjusted his crutch under his left arm. “you could still ask her how much snow. and you should put on your gloves.” “i’ll think about it.” benny had gloves but only wore them when the temperature was below zero, because it was too hard to make change with them on. his mom rushed to open the door for him, and he went out into the landing and began clumping down the seven flights of stairs to the street. he paused before mrs anderson’s room on the second floor. there was a crack of light under the door. mrs anderson was the building’s resident witch. benny decided not to call on her. he could see for himself through the little window ion the landing that the snow was really starting to come down. and dago red, and not old sarge, would be on the truck today and he never waited even a second if a guy was a little late. the wind and snow hit benny in the face when he pushed the door open. he didn’t care. it promised to be a good morning to sell papers. war was in the air! it might even have been declared last night! there might even be an extra. he hurried down the street to the drop off spot on lexington. 2. the professor

bad road to the dead river - 0. prologue

by nick nelson

part zero of thirty-two

the space fleets and home fleets of the combined human empires had been wiped out. * it seemed just a matter of time before the humans were overrun. the only mystery was why the aliens had not simply blown the human headquarters to kingdom come and been done with it. the only explanation the humans could think of was that the aliens wanted to capture the last leaders or representatives of the human empires, to study for their own purposes. although the aliens, once they had made their real intentions known, had never shown any interest in capturing humans for any purposes, and had simply obliterated them. * the human armies had been reduced to two companies of infantry, which were attempting to protect the human headquarters. the headquarters was located in a valley somewhere east of suez, in the shadow of some mountains . the valley was enclosed on three sides by rivers, but these of course posed no obstacle to the alien armies. there were several castles on the plain, abandoned by humans centuries ago, and the aliens were quartered in them, and the only plan the humans had was to periodically attempt to attack and retake the castles. attempts which had not met with any success, or were expected to. morale among the human troops was low. * the time for recriminations among the humans had passed, and the representatives of the seven human empires were left to ponder what might have been, if they had met the alien threat in a different fashion. when the aliens had first appeared, the first instinct of each of the various human empires had been to attempt to align with the aliens, to gain advantage over their historic rivals. chancellor hitler of the teutonic empire, mr capone of the american empire, and ms x of the olduvai empire had been the most forthright - or at least the most obvious - in pressing their claims on the aliens, but the others - general khan of the golden horde, prince saladin of baghdad, ms nan of the pacific empire, and lady chiang of the middle kingdom - had also made their advances in less obvious or more subtle fashion. * but the efforts of all were thwarted - by the rise of the popular movement led by the lovely and charismatic joanie smith . joanie had, seemingly, come out of nowhere, to the consternation of the oligarchs and their lackeys. * 1. benny

me - a fragment

by nick nelson

my dad was bad, my mom was good we lived in a nasty neighborhood ruled by men who smoked cigars and read the racing form, not the stars dad was a man of few words and did not like to be disturbed he was the master of his space and of weakness showed no trace i see him sitting at his table upright as long as he was able to ride the tides of gin and beer pouring through him, year after year mrs johnson lived upstairs and we heard her saying prayers at any time of night or day to the lord she had a lot to say mrs morris lived across the hall - she was a total loss behind her door we heard her sighs was she a princess in disguise? i had ideas above my station and was filled with determination to climb the ladder of success to have white teeth and be well dressed to the library every night i went and long hours there i spent absorbing the wisdom of the ages from famous prophets, saints, and sages all my efforts were for nought everything i read i soon forgot with brains i was not blessed and i could not pass the tests invented by people in towers who must have spent long hours laughing at chumps like me whose failure was their destiny by day i worked at placing cans on shelves according to a plan devised by some faraway machine to do this job i was not keen though i had little enthusiasm i worked without obvious spasms of rage. rebellion, or hate and seemed to accept my fate it made my blood run cold to be always and forever told how lucky i was to be employed and not be swallowed by the void one day i went for a walk down along the docks the sky and water were gray civilization seemed far away and it still does in my head i feel a buzz that is all for today maybe some day i will find my way

the master

by nick nelson

the great emperor felt the earth trembling under his feet. he summoned his four wise counselors. why is the earth trembling under my feet? he asked the counselors. because a mighty army is approaching from the north, said the first wise counselor. what should i do? the emperor asked. raise a mighty army of your own, replied the first counselor. i already have a mighty army of my own, the emperor said. he turned to the second counselor and asked him - why is the earth trembling under my feet? because the great mountain to the west is beginning to crumble, said the second counselor, and when it is gone, floods of barbarians will overwhelm the kingdom. what should i do? the emperor asked the second wise counselor. bribe the chiefs of the barbarians with sacks of gold, the counselor replied. i am already doing that, said the emperor. they are already getting all the gold that all my slaves can mine. he turned to the third wise counselor and asked - why is the earth trembling under my feet? because a maiden is approaching from the east, said the third counselor. she is riding a mule, and she is bringing a message that will cause the earth and sky to split apart. what should i do? asked the emperor. should i have her intercepted, and hanged before she can deliver her message? the third counselor shook his head. the gods whose message she brings might not like that. perhaps you should wait, and hear the message that she brings, and hope that the earth does not split too close to your feet, and that the sky does not split too close to your head. you are not very helpful, the emperor told the third counselor. he turned to the fourth wise counselor, and asked him - why is the earth trembling under my feet? a master is approaching from the south, said the fourth counselor, bringing a message of his own. he should arrive in three days. perhaps we should wait to hear what he has to say. that sounds like good advice, said the emperor. we will meet again in three days. three days later, the emperor was again seated on his throne, with his four wise counselors beside him, and the master who had arrived from the south, a rather ordinary looking individual with a long gray beard, was brought before him. why is the earth trembling under my feet? the emperor asked the master. because the earth is under your feet, the master replied. the emperor was not amused. look here, fellow, he told the master, i have been listening to such so called pearls of wisdom from the likes of you all my weary life. i want something a little more definite. i think, the first wise counselor interposed, his celestial majesty would appreciate some specific ideas as to how to stop the earth trembling under his feet. oh, well, in that case replied the master, heed my words - first - gather all the frogs in the kingdom and have then turned into wolves. second - gather all the redhaired maidens in the kingdom and have them turned into lions. third - gather all the cats in the kingdom and have them turned into silver goblets. fourth - have all the water in all the rivers of the kingdom - that is quite enough, the second wise counselor interrupted. how do you imagine we are to do all that? why, said the master, do you not have magicians at your disposal? or at least one master magician? we thought that you were the master, said the third wise counselor. and that perhaps you could perform some magic? i am not the master, said the man who had been brought before the emperor and the four counselors. i am not a magician, and i am not even a magician’s apprentice. who then are you? the fourth wise counselor asked. i am only a poor peasant, and the master is only my dream. a dream? the emperor asked. yes, a dream i had thirty years ago, when i was just a poor goatherd’s assistant. i was caught in a rainstorm with the goatherd’s daughter, and he gave me a tremendous thrashing. when he was done i crawled beneath a pile of hay and began to dream… listen, and you can hear the raindrops falling…

the wanderer

by nick nelson

a farmer’s dog discovered a fox and chased it out of the farmyard and on to the high road. the fox climbed a tree on the other side of the road. the dog clawed at the trunk of the tree and barked at the fox. a wanderer came down the road, and encountered the dog and the farmer looking up at the fox in the tree. the wanderer said, if that dog were a cat, it could climb the tree. the wanderer passed on. the farmer and the fox watched him disappear down the road, in the direction of the mountain. the wanderer came to a house by the side of the road, that was on fire. a widow and her three children and a dog were standing outside the house, watching it burn. if the house had been made of water, the wanderer said, it would not have burned. the wanderer continued down the road. the widow and the children watched him go, but the smoke from the fire obscured his path. the wanderer came to another farmer, and yet another dog. they were gazing sadly at a barren field, whose wheat had been devoured by locusts. if the locusts had been rose petals, said the wanderer, they would not have devoured the wheat. the farmer nodded, the dog barked once, not very loudly, and the wanderer continued on his way. next the wanderer encountered a wise man seated on a rock, with a book in his hands. the wise man was weeping. nobody wishes to read my book, he said to the wanderer, though it filled with wisdom. if the book were a beautiful maiden, the wanderer replied, many would wish to look upon it. the wanderer moved on, the mountain was now casting its shadow on the road. finally the wanderer came to the mountain, where the road ended. a single locust was seated by the side of the road . if that mountain were a river, the wanderer said, and i were a bird, i would fly across it.