User:DoctorWho42/By Right of Succession

"By Right of Succession" is a short story by American author Barry N. Malzberg as K. M. O'Donnell. It was first published in the October 1969 issue of If.

Publication history
"By Right of Succession" was first published in the October 1969 issue of If. In 1969, it appeared in the book Final War and Other Fantasies.

Plot
Carson notices the motorcade is on schedule. He levels his aim and takes two shots. Carson sees his second shot take. Cheering begins. He works his way down the Depository via ladders. On the fourth floor, he throws his hat into the crowd. On the third, his rifle. On ground level, two policemen escort him into a limousine. The limousine proceeds at 80-90 miles per hour to the hospital. He feels fine. He begins to think he won't feel fine during the Inquisition. Carson notices the policeman resembles who he shot. He seems rather lifelike for a robot. He asks for a cigarette. The policeman rebuffs Carson's request. Carson asks about the schedule. The policeman says they're maybe five minutes ahead. Carson gets anxious. The policeman tells him it almost always works out this way. They make up for lost time by sticking him in the anteroom of the hospital a little longer. The policeman tells Carson he's doing fine. Carson tells the policeman he enjoyed the shooting. The policeman tells him he should give up smoking. He remarks everyone who participates feels like the centre of things when they're not. When Carson asks, the policeman says they're not supposed to talk. Carson sits back and reflects how peculiar the ritual was. Before he can ask, they arrive at the emergency entrance of the hospital. He resists leaving the limousine. He'd rather sit for five minutes but the policemen force him out. He walks towards it but they hit him and say to use the service entrance. They put him in an anteroom and throw him a carton of cigarettes and some matches. He waits and smokes watching the day shift into night. He wonders what's next. A robot shows up in his cell. Carson pleads with it but the robot remarks they're already ten minutes behind. Carson continues to plead but the robot tells him they must meet with the widow now. They bring her in. In an instant, they are at the airport, a plane, then they inaugurate him. He wakes up in a coffin with a million eyes staring at him. He sees himself floating in a tank. Carson is overwhelmed. He is surrounded by technicians as they remove wires, tensors, and needles from him. They fill him with stimulants as he leaves the tank and breaks into a full run back to the White House. Next week, he would be in office for six months. He hopes they'll scale back the treatment to once a week.

Reception
In its 1969 reprint for Ace Books's Barry N. Malzberg collection Final War and Other Fantasies, the author remarked "I am not entirely satisfied with it."