"Mack Reynolds - Ability Quotient" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reynolds Mack)

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Ability Quotient by
Mack Reynolds
PART ONE
Chapter One
Bert Alshuler said, "The one thing I learned in the army that was worth
learning was never to volunteer."

Professor Katz did his rueful smile. "I was in Korea," he said. "It seems
a long time ago, and, of course, it was." It would have been difficult to put
your finger on the professor's age; he might have been in his early sixties,
his late seventies. His hair was gray, rather than white, and he was vitally
alert.

The younger man didn't respond to the smile. "Then you should know."

Leonard Katz shifted in his chair, leaned forward and touched the tips
of his fingers together. He said, "It's not exactly a matter of volunteering…
ah… Alshuler. You were selected."

"By whom?"

"By the computers of the National Data Banks."

"Why me?"

"Remember the tests you took, immediately before release from the
military?"
 "How in the hell could I forget? They must have taken at least two
weeks. Why, I couldn't figure. We were getting out of the army, not in. It
was just two more weeks of typical army snafu."

"They were compiling your Ability Quotient," the professor told him.

"Never heard of it."

"Very few have. At this stage of the game, we who are on the project are
keeping it minimized."

Bert Alshuler recrossed his legs. He was beginning to become intrigued.
"Kay," he said. "Tell me about the Ability Quotient tests. Something like
I.Q.?"