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

the Army nurses for relief duty, till we catch up with ourselves? That would take
some of the pressure off and I'd a lot rather have the kids in the care of somebody
we didn't know for a few days than send up extra people on one-year contracts
when we do know they're not adequate.'
'It's a last resort, Tom. That's just what I'm trying to avoid. I'm hoping we won't
have to do that,' the General said ominously. 'Right now, this problem is in our laps,
and nobody else's. If we start asking for help from the Base staff, and get their
schedules fouled upтАФI tell you, Tom, we'll have all the top brass there is down on
us.'
'Of course,' he said. 'I wasn't thinking of that angle ...' But he let it go. No sense
trying to make any point against the Supreme Argument.
'Well, that's my job, not yours, worrying about things likethat,' the General said
jovially. But all the time, one finger, as if with an independent metronomic existence
of its own, kept tap-ping the pile of psych reports. 'But you know as well as I do,
we've got to start showing better results. I've talked to the Medics, and I'm talking to
you. Maybe you ought to get together and figure how to...
'No, I said I wouldn't tell you how to do your job, and I won't. But we've got to
have somebody on that December 8 rocket. That's the outside limit, and it means
you've got three weeks to find her. If nobody comes up, I don't think we'll have any
choice but to reconsider some of the rejects, and see if we can settle on somebody
between us.'
The General stood up; so did the Colonel. 'I won't keep you any longer, Tom. I
believe there's a youngтАФlady?тАФoutside waiting for you.' He shook his head. 'It's a
good thing I don't have to talk to them,' the General said feelingly.
The Colonel, again, agreed.
They both smiled.

The intercom phone on the Wac's desk buzzed. The girl sat up straight, watching.
The Wac picked up the receiver and listened and said crisply, 'Yes, sir,' and hung up
and pushed back her chair and went through the door behind the desk, into the
Colonel's office.
The girl watched, and when the door closed, her eyes mo,ved to the wall mirror
over the long table on the opposite wall, and she wondered if she would ever in her
life achieve the kind of groomed smartness the Wac had. She was pretty; she knew
that without looking in the mirror. But it seemed to her that she was bulky and
shapeless and unformed. Her hair was soft and cloudy-brownish, where the Wac's
was shiningly coifed and determinate in colour; and where the Wac was trim and
tailored, the contours of her own body, under the powder-blue suit, were fluid and
vaguely indistinct.
It's just a matter of getting older, she thought, and she won-dered what the Wac
would do in the spot she was in. But it wouldn't happen. A woman like that wouldn't
let it happen. Anybody who could keep each hair in place that way could keep
a hold on her emotions, too; or at least make sure it was safe, ahead of time.
The door opened, and the Wac smiled at her. `You can go in now, Mrs. Barton,'
she said, a little too kindly.
She knows! The girl could feel the heat flame in her cheeks. Of course! Everybody
here would know what was the matter with the girls who went in to see Colonel
Edgerly. She walked stiffly past the other woman, without looking at her.
`Mrs. Barton?' The Colonel stood up, greeting her. He was too young. Much too
young. She could never talk to him aboutтАФthere was nothing to talk about. She