Page 48 - Psychoceramics and the Test of Fire

Cabalocracy and the Hall of Mirrors

to get the hall of mirrors booklet republished and distributed. You
don’t have to know anything else about me; you simply must trust the
quality of your own work. Will you accept my contribution?”
Capra leapt out of his chair, surprise unfeigned. He stood staring
at me as if I were a completely different person. I had improvised
more than I’d intended. He must have been wondering why anyone
would make such an offer out of the blue. It forced him to look into
his own narcissistic reflecting pool. If he believed his own
pronouncements he had to consider that this was a ruse of the enemy
designed to get him to stick out his neck. The choice could not easily
be made between these interacting alternatives.
I gave him plenty of time. At last his reflections ended. He turned
and went to his desk. He picked up a pencil with his left hand. He
was left-handed, and couldn’t write with the right. Either he trusted
me or had another device or weapon at hand similar to whatever was
in his pocket. Maybe the pencil was really a taser. After a minute of
scribbling numbers on a pad of paper, he looked up at me and
quoted a figure. I smiled reassuringly: it was within budget.
“Mr. Dawes, if you bring me a cashier’s check for that amount I
will give you a receipt. If you trust me with your money I will trust
you not to interfere with how I go about using it. Leave me your
address and I will send you a dozen copies of what I publish.”
“That’s fine with me, sir. I can be back here tomorrow morning
after the bank opens. I do not think I am doing you a greater service
than you are for me. I feel that a great many people will find your
thesis to be just what they need. Many of the charitable organizations
to which I could donate funds are, in my opinion, either extremely
wasteful or function as fronts for more sinister purposes. But I
digress. We both have important business at hand.”
“Yes, yes, that is true. My manuscript needs final preparation.
Now I can buy a computer and edit it properly!” His enthusiasm
broke through a dam of reserve. “You are doing a wonderful thing,
Mr. Dawes. I cannot thank you enough.”
“Oh, please: you’re embarrassing me. I did nothing to earn my
wealth. All the skill and hard work are yours. It is a privilege to be
associated with you.” Why not lay it on thick? But it was time to
leave. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
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