"Kate Wilhelm - Baby, You Were Great" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilhelm Kate)

file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/Kate%20Wilhelm%20-%20Baby,%20You%20Were%20Great.Txt




Baby, You Were Great

by Kate Wilhelm

John Lewisohn thought that if one more door slammed, or one more bell rang, or one more voice asked
if he was all right, his head would explode. Leaving his laboratories, he walked through the carpeted hall
to the elevator that slid wide to admit him noiselessly, was lowered, gently, two floors, where there were
more carpeted halls. The door he shoved open bore a neat sign, AUDITIONING STUDIO. Inside he was
waved on through the reception room by three girls who knew better than to speak to him unless he
spoke first. They were surprised to see him; it was his first visit there in seven or eight months. The
inner room where he stopped was darkened, at first glance appearing empty, revealing another occupant
only after his eyes had time to adjust to the dim lighting.

John sat in the chair next to Herb Javits, still without speaking. Herb was wearing the helmet and gazing
at a wide screen that was actually a one-way glass panel permitting him to view the audition going on in
the adjacent room. John lowered a second helmet to his head. It fit snugly and immediately made contact
with the eight prepared spots on his skull. As soon as he turned it on, the helmet itself was forgotten.

A girl had entered the other room. She was breathtakingly lovely, a long-legged honey blonde with
slanting green eyes and apricot skin. The room was furnished as a sitting room with two couches, some
chairs, end tables, and a coffee table, all tasteful and lifeless, like an ad in a furniture-trade publication.
The girl stopped at the doorway, and John felt her indecision heavily tempered with nervousness and
fear. Outwardly she appeared poised and expectant, her smooth face betraying none of the emotions. She
took a hesitant step toward the couch, and a wire showed trailing behind her. It was attached to her head.
At the same time a second door opened. A young man ran inside, slamming the door behind him; he
looked wild and frantic. The girl registered surprise, mounting nervousness; she felt behind her for the
door handle, found it and tried to open the door again. It was locked. John could hear nothing that was
being said in the room; he only felt the girl's reaction to the unexpected interruption. The wild-eyed man
was approaching her, his hands slashing through the air, his eyes darting glances all about them
constantly. Suddenly he pounced on her and pulled her to him, kissing her face and neck roughly. She
seemed paralyzed with fear for several seconds, then there was something else, a bland nothing kind of
feeling that accompanied boredom sometimes, or too complete self-assurance. As the man's hands
fastened on her blouse in the back and ripped it, she threw her arms about him, her face showing passion
that was not felt anywhere in her mind or in her blood.

"Cut!" Herb Javits said quietly.

The man stepped back from the girl and left her without a word. She looked about blankly, her blouse
torn, hanging about her hips, one shoulder strap gone. She was very beautiful. The audition manager
entered, followed by a dresser with a gown that he threw about her shoulders. She looked startled; waves
of anger mounted to fury as she was drawn from the room, leaving it empty. The two watching men
removed their helmets.

file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/Kate%20Wilhelm%20-%20Baby,%20You%20Were%20Great.Txt (1 of 11)17-2-2006 2:47:11
 file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/Kate%20Wilhelm%20-%20Baby,%20You%20Were%20Great.Txt