Beast Machine (40 page)

The sound of the doorbell
had almost become a natural sound to McCarthy. He reached the front
door, a behemoth of a door. There was no peep hole in the door for
him to check the visitor’s appearance. He stopped and breathed in
deeply. The doorknob turned quickly and McCarthy flung the door
open with great strength.

“
Hello, do you need
something?” said McCarthy gruffly.

He was greeted by the white
haired man that had talked to Jeffrey before the debate in Bella
Vista, albeit Jeffrey paid no attention to the man on that night.
McCarthy glared at the man until he spoke.

“
Ah, yes, finally someone
answered!” said the white haired man. “Glad to stop that infernal
doorbelling!” The white haired man laughed. “Where is Chairman
Obelis? I’m a big fan and supporter of his! I’d like to speak to
him, directly.”

“
Sorry, he’s not in,”
replied McCarthy. “Do you want to leave a message? I will get it to
him immediately.” McCarthy was drawn to the man’s wonderful blue
eyes. They seemed familiar to him somehow. He shook his head before
returning to glaring at the white haired man.

“
I’m going to need to speak
to him directly. It’s very dire.”

“
I’m sorry but he’s not in.
Like I said, do you want to leave a message? I promise it’ll get to
him as soon as possible. That means very quickly!” McCarthy’s smarm
began to turn on. “Now move along old man.”

“
He
is
in. I would like to speak to him.
Now.” The white haired man’s tone changed from a gentle, easy-going
voice to a deep threatening voice. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I
just want to talk to him. It’s important.”

“
I’m sorry!” said McCarthy
loudly. “He is not in! What do you not understand about that? Am I
going to have to escort you off the premises?”

The white haired man
laughed. “I’d like to see you try, but I know he’s in there. I want
to speak to him now.”

“
I told you no!” screamed
McCarthy. “Get out of…”

“
Let him in, butler,” said
Chairman Obelis from inside the house. “He appears to be just a
supporter of mine and,” Chairman Obelis breathed loudly,
“harmless.”

McCarthy put his head
inside the house, “Are you sure, sir?”

“
Yes, let him in,” relayed
Chairman Obelis.

“
Fine,” replied McCarthy.
He poked his head back outside. “He is here after all! What a
surprise to me! Come on in, I guess!” He opened the door and bent
down. His hands pointed to the inside of the house, as he was
trying his best to imitate a real butler. “Wipe your
feet.”

“
Thank you, boy,” said the
white haired man. He rolled his eyes at McCarthy and stepped
inside. “Wow, what a place you’ve got here! I figured it’d be more
modest, but it still is rather a warm home.”

“
Thank you,” said Chairman
Obelis. He approached the man and sent out his hand. The man
gripped Chairman Obelis’ hand tightly. The embrace and handshake
lasted longer than most handshakes as each man stared the other
down and never broke eye contact.

“
It’s a pleasure!” said the
white haired man. “You can call me Bob. I’m a big fan. Real big
fan, Mr. Obelis!” The handshake finally ended.

“
What are you doing here,
Bob?” asked Chairman Obelis. “Do you need some political signs or
shirts? I can have my assistant grab some for you. For free of
course!”

Bob laughed, “Oh no, no,
no. Thank you for the offer, however.” He smiled large then lick
his lips slightly. “I just came by to drop off a tip your
way.”

“
A tip?” said Chairman
Obelis. This was perplexing to Chairman Obelis. He cringed at the
confusion of the moment.

“
Yes,” replied Bob. “A tip.
I would like to tell you about the tip … alone, if I could.” Bob
had lost all his friendly mannerisms. “I don’t think these… lessers
need to hear about this.” Bob stared through Chairman Obelis. His
blue eyes nearly convinced Chairman Obelis.

“
No, uh,” stammered
Chairman Obelis, “I must have these two men within proximity of me
whenever a visitor, er, supporter is near. Just protocol, Bob. I’m
sure you understand.” Chairman Obelis nodded at Bob, trying to
think of ways to rid himself of this white haired, blue eyed man
quickly.

“
Well fine,” replied Bob.
He walked further into the house, into the parlor where a brown
leather couch resided. “I’m gonna sit down if you don’t mind.” He
tapped on his knees after he sat down. “Bad knees.”

Chairman Obelis, Jeffrey
and McCarthy hesitantly followed Bob into the room. Chairman Obelis
sat down in a brown leather sofa chair close by the brown leather
couch. McCarthy and Jeffrey stood in the foyer.

“
What’s this tip, Bob?”
Chairman Obelis asked. “Is the FBI spying on me? Is there some
journalist trying to get some dirt on me? What’s your
motivation?”

Bob laughed roughly. “I
have no motivation yet, Mr. Obelis.”

A loud phone ringer went
off.

BUZZZT, BUZZZT.

“
Jeffrey,” said Chairman
Obelis, “Please go get that. Um, butler you stay here,
please.”

Jeffrey nodded and scooted
off to answer the phone. McCarthy nodded, but had to pick his
underwear out of his ass before he could return to paying
attention. Bob and Chairman Obelis did not notice McCarthy
adjusting himself inappropriately during their talk.

“
Go ahead please,” said
Chairman Obelis. He left his bored look on as he felt no reason to
fully entertain this interloper.

“
Well,” began Bob, “I am a
big supporter of yours and want you to succeed.” Chairman Obelis
nodded. “There is a group in this state, part of Southwyck’s
constituency, which wants to take you down. They prefer not to kill
you, but they will if they run out of options.”

McCarthy laughed. Not at
what Bob was saying, but at the flatulence that was building up
inside of him.

“
Of course, I expected
that,” said Chairman Obelis. “Did you want anything to
drink?”

“
No, thank you,” said Bob.
“This group is comprised of mostly gas and oil presidents,
executives and heirs. It’s really the only big business left in
this state, aside from those incestuous Teltons and their retail
stores.”

“
Ah,” said Chairman Obelis.
“I think I know who you’re talking about.”

“
Possibly,” said Bob, “but
do you know how desperate they are?”

Chairman Obelis knocked his
head left and right.

“
They don’t want you dead,
like I said, but they aren’t afraid of disposing of you until after
the election is over. Hiring men to kidnap you, taking you out of
the state and stashing you in a warehouse, a basement, or a hotel
somewhere. They want you to be gone so Southwyck, that impotent
dunce, can help pave a way to a capitalist dream state for them.
They want the people by the balls. Word is, funnily enough, that
they want to eventually secede because federal officials refuse to
help them anymore, but even these twits don’t realize how absurd
that sounds.”

“
Aside from the kidnapping,
which I’m not worried about, I already
know
about all these things, Bob.
You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.”

“
They hired me to kidnap
you.”

Chairman Obelis laughed
loudly. McCarthy laughed loudly, though released a small amount of
his disgusting flatulence during his laughing. McCarthy figured
that sound would somehow cover smell.

Bob smiled, “I know, it’s
hilarious, but I’m not going to do that.”

“
What are you here for
then?” asked Chairman Obelis. “Quite frankly, this… this small
ordeal is just befuddling. I’m glad you aren’t a stalker, a
real
assassin or a
Jehovah’s Witness. I’m, also, glad that you helped show that my
security systems are clearly faulty and we will fix those soon.”
Chairman Obelis cracked his knuckles. “So we won’t have another
disturbance like this.”

“
I’m here to tell you that
I will handle this group of spoiled oil and gas men.”

“
Oh?”

“
I’m not going to kill
them, but I will get them off your back to make your ascension to
governor much easier.” Bob rubbed his lips with his right hand.
“This will give you more time to… to focus on more important
things… like the state of Arkansas, and current problems that
afflict ail the people in the country. More time to focus on
your
true
goals.
Without any interruption from these men.”

“
You don’t have to do
this,” said Chairman Obelis. His eyes tightened. “I have a
good
feeling that I’ll win
this thing. With relatively ease too.”

“
Absolutely,” replied Bob.
“I know you have certain strategies in place, what successful
politician doesn’t? I just figured I should introduce myself and
let you know what I will be doing. You know, as a supporter of
yours.” Bob laughed and stood up. “I must be going, however. I have
to plan how I’m going to properly deal with those oil and gas
men.”

Chairman Obelis stood up
and shook Bob’s hand again. “It was a pleasure, Bob. I hope to see
you again, just not at my home. Never here.”

A speaker in the ceiling
directly above Chairman Obelis and Bob rang out, “Sir, you need to
come to the war room now. It’s an emergency.” It was Jeffrey and he
had a touch of panic in his voice, an often occurrence.

Chairman Obelis sighed and
looked at Bob, “Sorry about this, I must be going. My assistant
gets frazzled over the littlest things. He probably broke a
computer keyboard again. I’ll have my butler lead you outside. He’s
an old idiot, but he manages.” Chairman Obelis glared at McCarthy,
who was digging at his underwear once again. Embarrassed slightly,
the old senator stopped digging at his anus.

“
Thanks again, Mr. Obelis,”
nodded Bob. He watched Chairman Obelis leave the parlor. “So, which
way do I go, butler?”

“
Um,” said McCarthy. “I,
uh, I… let’s go this way, Bob.” McCarthy led Bob to the front
door.

McCarthy opened the door
and stated, “Have a nice day.”

“
Have to tie my shoes,”
said Bob. He bent down in the doorway. While tying his shoes, Bob’s
shirt collar pulled down slightly on his neck. McCarthy looked down
and noticed something weird about Bob. There was a tattoo on Bob’s
neck.

Bob stood up and brushed
his pants. “You have a nice day too, butler.”

“
Was that a tattoo on your
neck, Bob?” asked McCarthy.

“
Oh this thing,” smiled
Bob. He grabbed his collar and pulled it down. “It’s something I
got many years ago. It’s a syringe.” He rubbed his finger on it. It
was nearly full of a blue ink.

McCarthy’s eyes widened. He
removed his sunglasses and then began to shake. “You’re… You’re
Malthus! You’re Malthus! Get away from me!” McCarthy pointed at the
white haired man that calls himself Bob. “Get out of here! I know
who you are! Help! Obelis!”

A curiously evil grin
filled the face of Bob, “Oh yes, Joe, it was a pleasure seeing you
again. We’ll see each other once more in the future, I’m sure.” He
put his hand on McCarthy’s shoulder and squeezed tightly. McCarthy
became immobile. “Now don’t go and tell Chairman Obelis that you
saw me. Otherwise I’d have to kill you, kill him and kill anyone
else that finds out. And that wouldn’t be any fun, seeing as
I
need
Obelis to
become governor and eventually president.”

McCarthy’s eyes darted from
left to right quicker a ping-pong ball in a championship
bout.

“
Now, I haven’t done this…
this tactic on a human in a few decades, but you should be able to
move in about an hour or two. Or not – I don’t care.” Bob pushed
McCarthy out of the door’s way and shut it.

-----

Meanwhile, Chairman Obelis
finally made it to the war room.

“
What is it Jeffrey?” asked
Chairman Obelis.

“
Sir,” replied Jeffrey.
“There’s been a death at the mine. Self-inflicted.”

Chapter 36
Upgrade

Gora began to slide
Owlbert’s prosthetic wings onto his now featherless arms. The wings
were made out of a lightweight carbon fiber composite that Gora had
lying around from another project. Before she was able to put the
prosthetic wings on Owlbert, she had to go through the process of
removing any and all feathers that could possibly cause the
prosthetic wings to malfunction. Owlbert was none too happy about
being plucked like a turkey.

“
Ow,” chirped Owlbert after
every plucked feather. “Ow, Frau Gora, ow! Gentle ja?!”

“
I’m trying to be as gentle
as possible, damn it,” said Gora as she continued the process of
plucking feathers. Her tongue jutted out of her mouth as she
focused. “It’s not like fur – I can’t just shave them
off!”

“
Ow!” cried Owlbert. “Ow,
ow, ow! Gentle!”

After sliding on the
prosthetic wings, Gora tightened them together with lightweight,
but sturdy, strings made of a synthetic polymer, likely firm latex.
The strings rested on Owlbert’s still feathered back.