351796tch
He had a long way to go and a schedule to...
10:42, 2010-Jan-31
.. Link
He had a long way to go and a schedule to keep
Morris Panov approached the intersection still bothered by the curious telephone conversation
he had had ten minutes ago, still trying to recall each segment of the plan he was to follow, afraid to
look at his watch to see if he had reached a specific place within a specific time span?he had been
told not to look at his watch in the street and why couldn?t they say ?at approximately such and
such? rather than the somewhat unnerving term ?time span,? as if a military invasion of
Washington were imminentRegardless, he kept walking, crossing the streets he was told to cross,
hoping some unseen clock kept him relatively in tune with the goddamned ?time spans? that had
been determined by his striding back and forth between two pegs on some lawn behind a garden
apartment in Vienna, VirginiaHe would do anything for David Webb?good Christ,
anything!?but this was insaneYet, of course, it wasn?tThey would not ask him to do what he
was discount chanel quilted handbag doing if it were
What was that? A face in shadows peering at him, just like the other two! This one hunched over
on a curb, raising wine-soaked eyes up at himOld men?weather-beaten, old, old men who could
barely move?staring at him! Now he was allowing his imagination to run away with him-the
cities were filled with the homeless, with perfectly harmless people whose psychoses or poverty
drove them into the streetsAs much as he would like to help them, there was nothing he could do
but professionally badger an unresponsive WashingtonThere was another! In an indented space
between two storefronts barricaded by iron gates-he, too, was watching himStop it! You?re being
irrationalOr was he? Of course, he wasGo on, keep to the schedule, that?s what you?re
supposed to doGood God! There?s anotherKeep going!
The vast moonlit grounds of the Smithsonian dwarfed the two figures as they converged from
intersecting paths, joining each other and proceeding to a benchConklin lowered himself louis vuitton shoulder bag with the
aid of his cane while Mo Panov looked around nervously, listening, as if he expected the
unexpectedIt was 3:28 in the predawn morning, the only noises the subdued rattle of crickets and
mild summer breezes through the treesGuardedly Panov sat down
?Anything happen on the way here?? asked Conklin
?I?m not sure,? replied the psychiatrist?I?m as lost as I was in Hong Kong, except that over
there we knew where we were going, whom we expected to meet
?You?re contradicting yourself, Mo,? said Alex, smiling?You told me I was cured
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
26
?Oh, that? That was merely obsessive manic-depression bordering on dementia praecoxThis is
nuts! It?s nearly four o?clock in the morningPeople who aren?t nuts do not play games at four
o?clock in the morning
Alex watched Panov in the dim wash of a distant Smithsonian floodlight that illuminated the
massive stone structure?You said you weren?t sureWhat does that mean??
?I?m almost embarrassed to rolex air king watches say?I?ve told too many patients that they invent uncomfortable
images to rationalize their panic, justify their fears
?What the hell does that mean??
?It?s a form of transference??
?Come on, Mo!? interrupted Conklin?What bothered you? What did you see??
?Figures some bent over, walking slowly, awkwardly?not like you, Alex, incapacitated not
by injuries but by ageWorn out and old and staying in the darkness of storefronts and side streets
It happened four or five times between my apartment house and hereTwice I almost stopped and
called out for one of your men, and then I thought to myself, My God, Doctor, you?re overreacting,
mistaking a few pathetic homeless people for what they?re not, seeing things that aren?t there
?Right on!? Conklin whispered emphatically?You saw exactly what was there, MoBecause I
saw the same, the same kind of old people you saw, and they were pathetic, mostly in beat up
clothes and who moved slower than I moveWhat does it mean? What do they mean? Who cartier swiss watches are
they??
FootstepsSlow, hesitant, and through the shadows of the deserted path walked two short men?
old menAt first glance they, indeed, appeared to be part of the swelling army of indigent
homeless, yet there was something different about them, a sense of purpose, perhapsThey stopped
nearly twenty feet away from the bench, their faces in darknessThe old man on the left spoke, his
voice thin, his accent strange?It is an odd hour and an unusual place for two such well-dressed
gentlemen to meetIs it fair for you to occupy a place of rest that should be for others not so well
off as you??
?There are a number of unoccupied benches,? said Alex pleasantly?Is this one reserved??
?There are no reserved seats here,? replied the second old man, his English clear but not native
to him?But why are you here??
?What?s it to you?? asked Conklin?This is a private meeting and none of your business
?Business at this hour and in this place?? The first aged intruder spoke while looking chanel jewellery arou
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