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So beautiful together. If he could have reached them, he d have killed them both
with his bare hands. He was in company, he had to look pleased. Late that night
he went up to the Tarom roof (the only privacy available). The Rijksmuseum was
strung with fairylights; there were people skating in the dark. He smashed the
disc, ground it under his heel, then crawled around picking up the fragments,
because this was all he had left of his darlings; and cried, and cried, and cried.
The Conference came to an end. The grey lady might remain until deep waters
drowned her, but the cheap hotels were emptying, hippy caravanserai were
being dismantled. All the coverage was retrospective now. Tell us, Mr Preston? Who came out on on
top, the Celtics or the technos? Where s the next round
going to be held? What has the Conference achieved? Where are we going? Six
o clock one morning, in the rain, Ax sat on a bench looking up at the house
where Rene Déscartes had once stayed, in hiding from the world. Everyone in this
town except me is thinking about business. . . But Ax had no philosophy to fill his
empty head. Throwing the Sweet Track Jade into the sea had been a cowardly
childish gesture. He knew he had to go back to England and resign, make it
official, and then what?
He had no plans.
I m over, he thought. I m finished, and this is how it feels.
Later he met Lurch for breakfast in the Ekeko café at the Tropen. The US
Correspondent was staying at the Amstel Inter Continental, a fact she d
touchingly tried to keep from her impoverished European pals. The Light Hall
was being prepared for a new exhibition. They took a nostalgic stroll through the
dioramas, this entrancing giant dolls house so haunted by the great dying: the
slaughtered forests, the bleached corals, the eroded soils. The dancing, the
funerary rites: everything must go. She asked him about Sage and Fiorinda.
Everyone did that, naturally. The hot couple of the hour
?They have a pact not to write about the relationship, don t they? How does
that work? I mean, all musicians write love songs. Is it legally binding?
?I don t know how it works. I don t write lyrics, I m out of it. ?What about ?Heart On My Sleeve??
How can Fiorinda think that isn t about
sex?
?It s the relationship that s off-limits, sex is okay. Or it could be, added Ax, for
whom the topic was galling as well as miserable, ?she thought it was about
someone else.
?Where did you think you were heading, setting up the Rock and Roll Reich?
?Lurch, to tell the truth, a lot of things happened by chance.
?But you did have a ground plan?
?Are you recording? I suppose you are, since you record everything. Look,
why don t you give me a list of the questions, and we ll work something out.
Takes one to know one. He had spotted at their second meeting that she had a
gizmo of somekind in her head. Eyesocket cam, probably. ?I m sorry, she said,
crestfallen. ?I should have asked permission.
?Well, it s customary. But don t worry about it, I don t mind.
So Ax talked about the Rock and Roll Reich, and the poisoned world, and
the music, and Utopia. Luckily people need to be good to each other, it s as
natural to us as greed and murder, arguably more natural, by a small but vital
margin, or we wouldn t have this problem as there would not be several billions
of us. . . . They had settled in the Yemen exhibit, a peaceful little upper room
with dark red velour couches around the walls.
?What about the music, is it still important? Or has it become irrelevant? ?I ve been thinking about that.
Ax turned the ring on his right hand,
wondering if this inteview would ever be published. He didn t see how. ?I think
it s important, because when we need to prove we have the right to lead, we
present our credentials by getting up on stage. By our mastery of the music, our
skills, and passion and knowledge. . . Rock music is about self-expression, which
has its dangers, but it s an improvement on who has the biggest war-chest.
?But can that kind of power endure? Will the Reich last a thousand years?
?I never expected it to last. Something will survive. Nature is profligate, a lot
of wonderful things are ephemeral, doesn t mean they re not worthwhile
He was thinking of the love affair. The American girl nodded respectfully.
?What will you do with this? I thought you weren t allowed to re-import any
kind of digital device once you ve taken it out of quarantine. Won t your gizmo
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