"The Planners by Kate Wilhelm" - читать интересную книгу автора (1969)

"Every time you scratch yourself, you lose this substance,"
Darin said. "Every time you lose a drop of blood, you lose it.
It is in every cell of your body. Sometimes we take a sample
of human blood for study, yes."
"And inject it into those animals?"
"Sometimes we do that," Darin said. He waited for the
next, the inevitable question, wondering how he would answer
it. Jacobsen had briefed them on what to answer, but he
couldn't remember what Jacobsen had said. The question
didn't come. Mrs. Whoosis stepped forward, staring at the
window.
Darin turned his attention to her; she averted her eyes,
quickly fixed her stare again on the chimps in the compound.
"Yes, Mrs. uh . . . Madam?" Darin prompted her. She didn't
look at him.
"Why? What is the purpose of all this?" she asked. Her
voice sounded strangled. The pimpled young man was inching
toward the next window.
"Well," Darin said, "our theory is simple. We believe that
learning ability can be improved drastically in nearly every
species. The learning curve is the normal, expected bell-
shaped curve, with a few at one end who have the ability to
learn quite rapidly, with the majority in the center vho learn
at an average rate, and a few at the other end who learn quite
slowly. With our experiments we are able to increase the
ability of those in the broad middle, as well as those in the
deficient end of the curve so that their learning abilities match
those of the fastest learners of any given group. . . ."
No one was listening to him. It didn't matter. They would
be given the press release he had prepared for them, written
in simple language, no polysyllables, no complicated sentences.
They were all watching the chimps through the windows. He
said, "So we gabbled the gazooka three times wretchedly
until the spirit of camping fired the girls." One of the com-
mittee members glanced at him. "Whether intravenously or
orally, it seems to be equally effective," Darin said, and the
perspiring man turned again to the window. "Injections every
morning . . . rejections, planned diet, planned parenthood,
planned plans planning plans." Jacobsen eyed him suspi-
ciously. Darin stopped talking and lighted a cigarette. The
woman with the unquiet hips turned from the window, her
face very red. "I've seen enough," she said. "This sun is too
hot out here. May we see the inside laboratories now?"
Darin turned them over to Stu Evers inside the building.
He walked back slowly to the compound. There was a grin
on his lips when he spotted Adam on the far side, swaggering
triumphantly, paying no attention to Hortense who was rock-
ing back and forth on her haunches, looking very dazed.
Darin saluted Adam, then, whistling, returned to his office.
Mrs. DriscoU was due with Sonny at I P.M.