"Judith Merril - Project Nursemaid" - читать интересную книгу автора (Merril Judith)

'All right, so it's still the way we have to run it. Nobody asked you. Nobody asked
me. And I'll say this, Tom, in all fairness, you've done a fine job on one end of it.
We're getting the babies, and we're delivering them too ...'
'That's more your work than mine, Hal,' the Colonel lyingly demurred.
'Teamwork,' the General corrected. 'Not yours or mine, but both of us giving it
everything we've got. But on this other business, now, TomтАФ' His finger tapped a
reprimand on the sheaf of papers under his hand. 'тАФWell, what comes first, Tom,
the chicken or the egg? All eggs and no hens, it just won't work.'
The General stopped the chuckle, and the Colonel followed suit.
'The thing is, now we've got the bastardsтАФand I mean no dis-respect to my
uniform, Colonel, I'm using that word literallyтАФnow we've got 'em, what're we going
to do with 'cm?'
His fingers continued to tap on the pile of reports, not im-patiently, but with
emphasis.
'I don't say it's your fault, Tom, you've done fine on the other end, but if you're
going to bounce everybody who can pass the physicals, and if everyone who gets
by you is going to get blacked out by the medics, wellтАФI don't know, maybe the
specs were set too high. Maybe you've got toтАФwell, I don't want to tell you how to
do your job, Tom. I don't kid myself about that; I know I couldn't fill your shoes if I
tried. All I can do is put it squarely up to you. You've got the figures there in front of
you. Cold figures, and you know what they mean.'
He stopped tapping long enough to shove a neatly typed sheet an inch closer to
the other man. Neither of them looked at the sheet; both of them knew the figures by
heart. 'Out of three hundred and thirty-six applicants so far, we've accepted
thirty-eight. We've had twenty-one successful Sections to date,' the General intoned. '
'And six of those have been successfully trans-ported to Moon Base. Three have
already come to term, and been delivered, healthy and whole and apparently in good
shape all around.
'Out of one hundred and ninety-six applicants, we have so far accepted exactly
threeтАФone, two, threeтАФfoster parents. Only one of those is on the Base now. She's
been on active duty since the first deliveryтАФthat was August 2z, if I remember right,
and that makes twenty-five days today that's she's been on without relief.
'Mrs. Kemp left on the rocket this morning. She'll be on BaseтАФlet's seeтАФ' He
shuffled rocket schedules and Satellite-Moon Base shuttles in his mind.
'тАФWednesday, day after tomorrow. Which makes twenty-seven days for Lenox. If
Kemp's willing to walk in and take over on a strange job, Lenox can take a regular
single leave at that point; more likely she'll have to wait for the next
shuttleтАФthirty-one days on duty, Torn, and most of it carrying full responsibility
alone. And that's not counting the two days she was there before the first delivery,
which adds up toтАФlet's seeтАФthirty-three altogether, isn't it?'
The Colonel nodded soberly. It was hard to remember that the General happened
to be right, and that the figures he was quot-ing were meaningful, in terms of human
beings. Carefully, he lowered mental blinds, and managed to keep track of the recital
without having to hear it all. He knew the figures, and he knew the situation was
serious. He knew it a good deal better than the General did, because he knew the
people as well as how many there were ... or weren't.
More women on more rockets would make the tally-sheet look better, but it
wouldn't provide better care for the babies; not unless they were the right women.
He waited patiently for a break in the flow of arithmetic, and tried to get this point
across. 'I was thinking,' he began. 'On this leave problemтАФcouldn't we use some of