"Encounter, The by Kate Wilhelm" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nebula Award Stories 7)

two men scrutinized her. It was impossible to guess her age in that
pose, with only the dark clothes to go by.

"Ma'am, are you all right?" the agent asked finally.

"Yes, of course. Like the gentleman, I didn't care to wade through the
snow. I can wait here."

She raised her head and with a touch of disappointment Crane saw that
she was as nondescript as her clothing. When he stopped looking at
her, he couldn't remember what she looked like. A woman. Thirty.
Thirty-five. Forty. He didn't know. And yet. There was something
vaguely familiar about her, as if he should remember her, as if he might
have seen her or met her at one time or another. He had a very good
memory for faces and names, an invaluable asset for a salesman, and
he searched his memory for. this woman and came up with nothing.

"Don't you have nothing with you that you could change into?" the
agent asked peevishly. "You'd be more comfortable down at the diner."

"I don't have anything but some work with me," she said. Her voice
was very patient. "I thought I'd be in the city before the storm came.
Late bus, early storm. I'll be fine here."

Again his eyes swept through the dingy room, searching for something
to say, not finding anything. He began to pull on his coat, and he
seemed to gain forty pounds. "Telephone under the counter, back
there," he said finally. "Pay phone's outside under a drift, I reckon."

"Thank you," she said.

The agent continued to dawdle. He pulled on his gloves, checked the
rest rooms to make sure the doors were not locked, that the lights
worked. He peered at a thermostat, muttering that you couldn't believe
what it said anyways. At the door he stopped once more. He looked
like a walking heap of outdoor garments, a clothes pile that had
swallowed a man. "Mr.-uh-"

"Crane. Randolph Crane. Manhattan."

"Uh, yes. Mr. Crane, I'll tell the troopers that you two are up here.
And the road boys. Plow"ll be out soon's it lets up some.

They'll keep an eye open for you, if you need anything. Maybe drop
in with some coffee later on."

"Great," Crane said. "That'd be great."

"Okay, then. I wouldn't wander out if I was you. See you in the
morning, then. Night."