Americana

with the clawprints and scent.

'Quincy, why don't you start the ball rolling?' I said.

'The Navaho project.'

'The Navaho project,' I said.

'There are long- and short-range problems,' Quincy said. 'Who's going out there, for how long, and will the Indians cooperate? I've been in touch with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.'

'We both have.'

'They'd like to know more before they commit.'

'The Indians don't want pity,' I said. 'They want dignity.'

'I got the same impression. We must have talked to some of the same people.'

'They don't want pity in any shape or form. They want dignity. I think Richter can tell us more about that. Richter actually knows an Indian. Old fraternity brother.'

'We're not actually in touch anymore. It's been more than fifteen years since college and I didn't really know the gentleman all that well. He was a nice quiet boy. I definitely remember that much about him. He was five-ten or eleven, weighed about one-sixty, lean as a whip, not an ounce of fat on him. He wasn't actually copper-colored if I remember correctly. If I remember correctly he was actually only three-eighths Indian. Three-eighths or four- eighths Indian. Crow I think he was. Crow or Blackfoot. But he was definitely one of the nicest, quietest fellas you'd ever want to meet. That much I'm sure about. It's absolutely vivid in my mind.'

'Would you say this man wanted pity or dignity?'

'Dignity, Dave. There's not the slightest doubt in my mind. It was definitely dignity.'

'Go, Quincy,' I said.

'The thing of it is: Who's going out there, when, and for how long? If we want blizzards we want to get cracking. We want to get this thing nailed to the mast before any more grass grows under our feet.'

'I've been in almost constant touch with the weather bureau,' I said. 'I'm trying to pin them down on some kind of long-range forecast for that sector of the country.'

'What sector?' Jones Perkins said.

'Where the Navahos are.'

'Where are they?'

'Quincy, you're the geography expert.'

'Look, it's not as though we'll have any trouble finding them. The reservation is bigger than some states. It's even bigger than some countries, some of the smaller postage-stamp kingdoms in Europe. There's no doubt in my mind that it's bigger than Monaco for instance.'

'Central Park is bigger than Monaco,' Reeves Chubb said.

'Cocksucker,' Quincy muttered.

'It's out around Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and/or Colorado, ' Paul Joyner said. 'I happen to know that for a fact.'

'Right,' I said. 'And as I understand it the area has some fine cliff dwellings and pueblo ruins that we can use as natural backdrops. Monument Valley, in point of fact, lies right within the boundaries of the reservation, or so I've been led to believe. It's a stark, beautiful, moonscape-type place.'

'Why do we want blizzards?' Warburton said.

'We want to show that despite all the problems, they're making progress. Blizzards are one of the problems.'

'I shouldn't have thought you'd need a blizzard. Poverty and disease speak eloquently in their own right.'

'It can't do any harm,' Quincy said.

'Ted may have a point,' I said. 'The other major thing that pertains to me directly is the 'Soliloquy' thing. Everything is fine on that score. The show has been an airtight lead-pipe cinch from the very outset. Critics have loved it, by and large, and mail has been running four-to-one pro.'

'I've never liked that title much,' Reeves Chubb said. 'It's pseudo something or other. I brought it up at dinner the other evening. We have some house guests out and I wanted to get their thinking on it. I taped the whole discussion in case you, Dave, or you, Quincy, wanted to hear it. They're an extremely well-informed couple. Kate and Phil Thomforde. He's done things with McAndrew at Amherst.'

'Weede thought up the title.'

'Did I?' Weede said. 'One of my less resounding successes apparently, at least as far as Mr. Chubb is concerned. Regrettably, Dave, I don't think the program will survive. Sometimes it's difficult to break new ground without getting dirt in somebody's eye. The sponsor has chosen not to renew and there's been no interest elsewhere. Dave, you know I always go to bat for my people and I assure you this instance was no exception. I tried my damnedest to get Larry Livingston upstairs to convince Stennis to let the network pick up the tab. Livingston said quite frankly-and you have to admire his honesty-that the show is a crashing bore. He said there was no point in seeing Stennis about it because Stennis-and this mustn't go any further than this room-Stennis has problems of an entirely different kind. The show was good. I say that unequivocally. But Chip Moerdler over at Brite-Write said it wasn't selling any ballpoint pens. In this business you have to learn to expect disappointments. But don't go away mad, David. We have every intention of putting your not inconsiderable talents to further and better use. I'll be telling you more about this as soon as the Navahos are in the can.'

'Chip Moerdler is a thundering ignoramus,' Warburton said. 'I've had dealings with that man. He wouldn't know quality if it struck him a blow in the solar plexus.'

'Well and good,' Weede said. 'But you can't argue with a sales chart. Now I think we had better press on. There's one more bit of business that concerns you, Dave. That's the laser beam project.'

'I've given Carter Hemmings a free hand with that. He seems to be something of an expert on the subject and I thought it was about time he got his feet wet. He's several years older than I am, you know, and sometimes it's best, for the sake of a man's morale in a case like this, to let him develop something on his own. It's always somewhat embarrassing for me to explain to Carter why he isn't included in these Friday meetings of ours. His impatience is understandable and I'm sure it won't be long before he joins us in solemn conclave. At any rate, Weede, Carter said he's got the laser beam thing hammered into top shape. When I spoke to him last evening he said he wanted to see you about it first thing in the morning. He said it's in absolutely stunning shape. Virtually ready to go.'

'He didn't talk to me.'

'I guess I'll have to resort to pressure.'

And then, for no reason at all, I slid my foot several inches across the rug, and kicked over the empty coffee cup beneath Richter Janes' chair. I put my heel on it and crushed it. Nobody seemed to notice. I felt sick and exhausted. I wanted to be back in Meredith's warm musky bed, lost in the hollow of her breasts, swimming through fish-silver rooms, fathomless, deep in the shipwreck of sleep. I wanted to be with Sullivan in some lunar western wilderness, listening to Mingus on the car radio, and Ornette Coleman with his paintbrush horn, and Sullivan's arms crossed on her chest in sarcophagus fashion, her invisibly taped features; going flat-out across the northern plains, climbing, Bartok in the Rockies, cowboy songs and the nasal grassy drawl of banjos, and there is Oregon, the seal- slick distant sea. That's what I wanted. But I sat in Weede Denney's huge office, in the blue chair by the window, feeling sick and exhausted.

'Now it's time to hear from our resident China-watcher. Look smart, Mr. Chubb. How is the China thing coming along?'

'Weede, it's shaping up as the best public affairs series I've ever been involved in. I've already discussed it with seven or eight top people in the State Department. I've got calls in to six universities and two foundations. I've been putting in nights and weekends. My secretary has some kind of female thing and I've had to borrow Chandler Bates' secretary from time to time. The material is rolling in. Did you know that China had mastered most of the arts and sciences at a time when the Europeans were still combing fleas out of each other's hair? My wife thinks I'm working too hard. This is a big opportunity for us. China is a riddle. It's an enigma. Everything is being typed up. Mao Tse-tung and his followers walked six thousand miles to a mountain stronghold when what's his name was chasing them. The Chink with the wife who went to Wellesley. As soon as all the stuff is typed up and proofread and mimeoed, I'd like to get everybody's opinion on how it looks. Chandler Bates' secretary is slow so I don't know when it'll be ready. I'm very excited about this series. The Yangtze River is three thousand four hundred and thirty miles long.'