"Kevin O'Donnel Jr. - The Journeys of McGill Feighan 03 - Lava" - читать интересную книгу автора (O'Donnell Jr Kevin)

all the uproar?"
Walking Mule flipped his braids back over his shoulder, then nodded to
the display screen. "The honchos dreamed up a new comp plan."
"They're always doing that."
"Yeah, yeah, they areтАФbut this one here is what they call a competitive
rating system. The score you get figures your schedule, the number of times
you Fling a day, and how much you get paid for each Fling."
Feighan gaped.
"Come on over, take a looksee for yourself." He led Feighan through the
crowd by the elbow. "Remember that clause in our contracts, the 'You Get
Exactly What You Earn' clause? Somebody finally wrote thatтАФ" He pursed
his lips in mock-prissiness: " 'quality control program to establish norms for
Flinging. ' And they invoked that clause. Here's height above ground and
velocity at moment of materialization." His stubby forefinger tapped a line
on the screen. "Point-oh-one centimeters up is now the norm for h-over-g;
velocity norm they reckon at one centimeter per second. You hit those
numbers bang between the eyes, they'll pay you $7.93 for that Fling. Do
better, they pay you more; worse, less."
"Seven-ninety-three a Fling? I never calculated it outтАФwhat are we
making now?"
"Seven-ninety-two point-seven." He smiled. "Naw, I didn't work that one
out in my head: it's right up top there."
"So if you hit the norm, you're making exactly what you are now?"
"You got it. But if you don't, you make less."
 "That rots!"
"And that's just for openers. They are listing us in order of accuracy; list
changes once a month. High man on the totem pole gets his choice of shifts
for the next month, then number two picks his, and then number three, and
so on down the lineтАж here's the list." He called it up on the screen.
Feighan raised his eyebrows. "I'm Number One, huh?"
"You always were a meticulous sumbitch. But don't let it go to your head,
boyтАФyou might get paid more, and you do get to set your own hours, but
you are going to have to work a little some harder than, say, your
roommate, who came in twenty-third."
"Out of twenty-three, huh?" Then he frowned. "What do you mean, work
harder?"
"What I said: See, along with the higher pay per Fling goes more Flings
per day." He leaned forward to examine the number after Feighan's name.
"See here, now? They cut your rest time to 255 secondsтАФyour daily quota's
now a hundred and twelve."
"Uh-uh." He peered at it himself, not believingтАФ "One hundred twelve a
day!"
"Yup.".
He shook his head. "No way. Walking Mule, I can't do that many. I do
ninety-six and I'm really tired; after nine days on I'm wiped! Who do they
think I am, Superman or something? I can't do it."
Walking Mule tapped himself on the chest. "I know that. You know that.
Everybody in this here room knows thatтАФbut Director Davis can't seem to
get it through his thick head that Flinging's harder work than riding fence in
a blizzard. Which figures, since he ain't got even a trace of Talent."