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

"Fourth one so far," Herb grunted. "Sixteen yesterday; twenty the day before тАж all nothing." He gave
John a curious look. "What's got you stirred out of your lab?"

"Anne's had it this time," John said. "She's been on the phone all night and all morning."

"What now?"

"Those damn sharks! I told you that was too much on top of the airplane crash last week. She can't take
much more of it."

"Hold it a minute, Johnny," Herb said. "Let's finish off the next three girls and then talk." He pressed a
button on the arm of his chair and the room beyond the screen took their attention again.

This time the girl was slightly less beautiful, shorter, a dimply sort of brunette with laughing blue eyes
and an upturned nose. John liked her. He adjusted his helmet and felt with her.

She was excited; the audition always excited them. There was some fear and nervousness, not too much.
Curious about how the audition would go, probably. The wild young man ran into the room, and her face
paled. Nothing else changed. Her nervousness increased, not uncomfortably. When he grabbed her, the
only emotion she registered was the nervousness.

"Cut," Herb said.

The next girl was brunette, with gorgeously elongated legs. She was very cool, a real professional. Her
mobile face reflected the range of emotions to be expected as the scene played through again, but
nothing inside her was touched. She was a million miles away from it all.

The next one caught John with a slam. She entered the room slowly, looking about with curiosity,
nervous, as they all were. She was younger than the other girls had been, less poised. She had pale-gold
hair piled in an elaborate mound of waves on top of her head. Her eyes were brown, her skin nicely
tanned. When the man entered, her emotion changed quickly to fear, and then to terror. John didn't know
when he closed his eyes. He was the girl, filled with unspeakable terror; his heart pounded, adrenalin
pumped into his system; he wanted to scream but could not. From the dim unreachable depths of his
psyche there came something else, in waves, so mixed with terror that the two merged and became one
emotion that pulsed and throbbed and demanded. With a jerk he opened his eyes and stared at the
window. The girl had been thrown down to one of the couches, and the man was kneeling on the floor
beside her, his hands playing over her bare body, his face pressed against her skin.

"Cut!" Herb said. His voice was shaken. "Hire her," he said. The man rose, glanced at the girl, sobbing
now, and then quickly bent over and kissed her cheek. Her sobs increased. Her golden hair was down,
framing her face; she looked like a child. John tore off the helmet. He was perspiring.



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