"H. L. Gold - And Three to Get Ready" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gold H. L)

AND THREE TO GET READY . . .

By H. L. Gold

Ask a psychiatrist if any of his patients' strange stories could possibly be true and more than
likely he'll give you the raised eyebrow. In that case, ask him to read Mr. Gold's spine-chilling
yarn about the man who claimed he could kill simply by wishing the victim's death. It's a sure
cure, we think, for skepticism, no matter how you interpret the ending.
. . . Not only is H. L. Gold responsible, as editor, for the rocket-like rise of the science fiction
magazine Galaxy, but he has written over five million words of slick, pulp and radio literature тАФ
by sheer bulk alone enough to grind facets of brilliance in whatever he does these days.

Usually, people get committed to the psycho ward by their families or courts, but this guy came alone
and said he wanted to be put away because he was deadly dangerous. Miss Nelson, the dragon at the
reception desk, put in a call for Dr. Schatz and he took me along just in case. I'm a psycho-ward orderly,
which means I'm big and know gentle judo to put these poor characters into pretzel shapes that don't hurt
them, but keep them from hurting themselves or somebody else.
He was sitting there, hunched together as if he was afraid that he'd make a move that might kill
anyone nearby, and about as dangerous-looking as a wilted carnation. Not much bigger than one, either.
Maybe five-four, 125 pounds, slender shoulders, slender hands, little feet, the kind of delicate face no
guy would ever pick for himself, but a complexion you'd switch with if you've got a beard of Brillo like
mine that needs shaving every damned day.
"Do you have this gentleman's history, Miss Nelson?" asked Dr. Schatz, before talking to the patient.
Her prim lips got even tighter. "I'm afraid not, Doctor. He . . . says it would be like committing
suicide to give it to me."
The little fellow nodded miserably.
"But we must have at least your nameтАФ" Dr. Schatz began.
He skittered clear over to the end of the bench and huddled there, shaking. "But that's exactly what I
can't give you! Not only mineтАФanybody's!"
One thing you've got to say for these psychiatrists: they may feel surprised, but they never show it.
Tell them you can't eat soup with anything except an egg-beater and they'll even manage to look as if they
do that, too. I guess it's something you learn. I'm getting pretty good at it myself, but not when I come up
against something as new as this twitch's line. I couldn't keep my eyebrows down.
Dr. Schatz, though, nodded and gave him a little smile and suggested going up to the mental hygiene
office, where there wouldn't be so many people around. The little guy got up and came right along. They
went into Schatz's office and I went to the room adjoining, with just a thin door I could hear through and
open in a hurry if anything happened. You'd be surprised how seldom anything does happen, but it
doesn't pay to take chances.
"Now, suppose you tell me what's bothering you," I heard Dr. Schatz say quietly. "Or isn't that
possible, either?"
"Oh, I can tell you that," the little guy said. "I just can't tell you myтАФmy name. Or yours, if I knew it.
Or anyone else's."
"Why?"
The little guy was silent for a minute. I could hear him breathing hard and I knew he was pushing the
words up to his mouth, trying to make them come out.
"When I say somebody's name three times," he whispered, "the person dies."
"I see." You can't throw Dr. Schatz that easy. "Only persons?"
"Well . . ." The little guy hitched his chair closer; I heard it shriek and grate on the cement floor.
"Look, I'm here because it's driving me nuts, Doc. You think I am already, so I've got to convince you
I'm not. I have to give you proof that I'm right."