"P. J. Plauger - Child of All Ages" - читать интересную книгу автора (Plauger P J)

Child of All Ages
P. J. PLAUGER
P. J. Plauger Is a relative newcomer within the genre. He was first generally heard of when he received
the John W. Campbell, Jr. Award for Best New Author so recently as Aussiecon, 1975тАЩs World
Science Fiction Convention.

He has a Ph.D. in nuclear physics, worked for over five years as a тАЬcomputer scientistтАЭ (the quotation
mark are his own) at Bell Laboratories, and is now a consultant in data processing for a New
York-based firm which specializes in advanced seminars. As Vice President of Technical Services for
that company (Yourdon inc.), he is in charge of the technical staff, the in-house computer, and the
technical quality of the companyтАЩs courses. The job has sent him to Europe and Australia at regular
intervals, which, he says, he thoroughly enjoys.

тАЬSadly,тАЭ he further says, тАЬthis leaves me very little time for writing sf, which I also enjoy, or for making
color prints in my darkroom, or for building electronic toys, or for doing a million other things in which I
delight. I, consider myself a natural philosopher, and I want to do everything.тАЭ

He now lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan within rock-throwing distance of the Hayden
Planetarium, and is sometimes at home. His award-winning story appears in this collection only because
one phone call caught him with a day to spare before he left for Tahiti (for a rest) and then Australia (the
workaday life again).

Science fiction by hoary tradition acknowledges no limits to its province as to space or time, but
PlaugerтАЩs Corollary must surely be: Peripatetic people write about peripatetic people.

The child sat in the waiting room with her hands folded neatly on her lap. She wore a gay print dress
made of one of those materials that would have quickly revealed its cheapness had it not been carefully
pressed. Her matching shoes had received the same meticulous care. She sat prim and erect, no
fidgeting, no scuffing of shoes against chair legs, exhibiting a patience that legions of nuns have striven, in
vain, to instill in other children. This one looked as if she had done a lot of waiting.

May Foster drew back from the two-way mirror through which she had been studying her newest
problem. She always felt a little guilty about spying on children like this before an interview, but she
readily conceded to herself that it helped her handle cases better. By sizing up an interviewee in advance,
she saved precious minutes of sparring and could usually gain the upper hand right at the start Dealing
with тАЬproblemтАЭ children was a no-holds-barred proposition, if you wanted to survive in the job without
ulcers.

That patience could be part of her act, May thought for a moment But no, that didnтАЩt make sense.
Superb actors that they were, these kids always reserved their performances for an audience,- there was
no reason for the girl to suspect the special mirror on this, her first visit to Mrs. FosterтАЩs office. One of
the best advantages to be gained from the mirror, in fact, was the knowledge of how the child behaved
when a social worker wasnтАЩt in the room. Jekyll and Hyde looked like twins compared to the personality
changes May had witnessed in fifteen years of counseling.

May stepped out of the darkened closet, turned on the room lights and returned to her desk She scanned
the folder one last time, closed it in front of her and depressed the intercom button.

тАЬLouise, you can bring the child in now.тАЭ
There was a slight delay, then the office door opened and the child stepped in. For all her preparation,