Options by Robert Sheckley

Author:Robert Sheckley [Sheckley, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

25. The Emergency Supply Service

“We supply what you need when you need it,” Mr Monitor said.

“That is exactly the kind of service I need,” said Mishkin.

“Of course you do. Everybody does. In today’s world of increasing complications it’s really too much to expect people to solve their own problems. They wouldn’t have time left to do anything else. People should do their thing. Our thing is supplying what is needed to solve other people’s problems. Your thing is presumably something else. We do our thing and you are able to do your thing. That leaves everybody happy.”

“It sounds too good to be true,” Mishkin said.

“It is,” Mr Monitor said.

“The thing I need,” Mishkin said, “is a spare engine part, number L-1223A.”

“To hear is to obey. Are you prepared to pay for this thing?”

“Charge it to my account.”

“You are a customer after my own heart. One spare engine part number L-1223A, coming up.”

Mr Monitor showed Mishkin his write-ups in The New York Times, New York Magazine, and the Village Voice. All of them were raves. What better recommendations could anyone ask? Mr Monitor departed.

Mishkin sat down on a stump and waited. After a few hours he heard the noise of a motorcycle. He saw a man in a fringed leather jacket and a chamois beanie come riding through the forest. Strapped to the back of the motorcycle was a large parcel.

Fifty yards from Mishkin the motorcyclist ran across a land mine. The man, the cycle, and the package were blown to bits.

“Easy come, easy go,” Mishkin said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.