"Jack Vance - Meet Miss Universe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

Research. Each case careful-ly duplicated home conditions of pressure,
temperature, gravity, radi-ation and chemistry for one of the contestants.
In most cases the adjustments were minor: the addition of a few percent of
sulphur dioxide to the atmosphere; the elimination of water vapor; regulation
of the temperature.
The interior of each vivarium simulated a landscape on the con-testant's
home planet. Case#21 was a lake of quicksilver, broken by carborundum crags.
The floor of Case #6 was crusted over with brown algae. A curtain of liverish
Spiratophore hung at the back; a long igloo of dried moss humped up at the
right.
Case #17 was upholstered with a brown shaggy fiber, like enormous-ly
magnified sponge. Hanging on hooks were massive toilet implements. This was
the vivarium in which Miss Mel would display her-self to the eyes of curious
Earth people.
Case #20 was a jungle of the red, yellow, blue and green vegeta-tion of
Veidranu... Case #15 de-picted the Martian desert, with the crystal curve of a
dome-wall at the back. Case #9 simulated a street in Montparnasse: plane
trees, a side-walk cafe, kiosks plastered with posters. This last was
Exposition headquarters for Miss Earth, Sancha Garay of Paris.
During the middle of January contestants began to arrive at Los Angeles
space-port. Hardeman Cly-dell, a judge, decided to see none of the off-world
beauties before the actual contest, and Tony LeGrand delivered official
greetings in his name.

Back at the Exposition office, he reported to Clydell.
"There's one or two cute ones among the humanoids. The others may be
beautiful in a technical senseтАФbut not for me."
Clydell looked curiously at a bruise on Tony's face. "Did you get in a
fight?"
"That's your friendly Miss Mel. She reached out to pat my cheek."
"Oh," said Clydell. "She's the big one, isn't she?"
"Big and rough. Miss Mel. Or better Miss Smell. Part elephant, part dragon,
part gorilla, part lion. And affectionate? Already she's invited me home for a
visit. I can stay as long as I want."
"No trifling with the ladies' affections," Clydell warned with a waggish
shake of the finger, and a mocking smile.
"I wouldn't mind trifling with Miss Veidranu or Miss Alschain . . ." He
handed Clydell a packet of blue-bound pamphlets.
"What am I supposed to do with these?" asked Clydell.
"Read them. It's information you'll need for the judging: a briefing on the
background of each of the contestants, a description of her home planet, and
most impor-tant, the standards on which she is to be judged."
"Well, well," said Clydell. "Let's see what we have here." He reach-ed in
his humidor for a cigar, push-ed it across to Tony.
"Not now, Chief. I've just had lunch."
 "That's when they're best!" Tony slowly selected a cigar. "Now,тАЭ said
Clydell, "to busi-ness." He glanced at a paper clip-ped to the cover of the
first pam-phlet.
"That's a master-list," said Tony. "We'll print 'em up in the bulk and give
them away to the audi-ence."