"George O. Smith - Counter Foil" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith George O)

"Well, let's find out if he's right."
The corridor was partly cooled from leakage from the air-conditioned apartments, but
contrast it was stifling enough to make Irma gasp. The interne had used foresight; the elevator d
was blocked open so that no one could call it away and tie it up. He held the "No Stops" button
the elevator dropped them smoothly to the stage below the first floor. Here the full heat of the
hit them as they made their way along a short corridor to the teleportransit booth.
The signal light turned green as soon as the interne inserted the credit key in the lock-register.
pressed the buttons with a practiced hand, then paused to check the number in the address read
carefully.
"Pays to be careful," be said.
"Ever goof?" asked the nurse.
"Not really bad," he replied turning the credit key. The green light changed to orange, wh
started the circuit-computer on its faster-than-lightning task of selecting the route from this en
station to the address in the read-out panel. The orange turned to red. "Um-m-m. Maternity see
to have another customer," he said. "We'll be on our way as soon as they get her out of the bo
and close the door." He looked at the number again.
"Worried?" asked the nurse.
"Not really worried," he replied. "But I've been thoughtful ever since I watched a hapl
well-dressed citizen trying to walk on air back to the diving exit they have over the ocean at Jo
Beach. He was still protest-ing and waving his brief case as he disappeared beneath the billo
wave."
"I hear you can watch about one per hour on a busy day," chuckled the doctor.
"Yeah," said the interne. He looked at the red light. "All right, all ready. Let's get cutting, huh?

Two men whose names are legion paused and stood in momentary indecision halfway betw
Father's Bar and Grill on Eighth Avenue and the kiosk that led down to the 14th St
Teleportransit Station. Habit clashed with common sense; there was also the reluctance to p
company.
"Fast one?"
"In this heat?"
"Father's is air-conditioned."
"So's my apartment. And there I can have the Little Woman construct me a cool, tall one whil
get out of these clothes and into something comfortable. Then I can sit on the terrace in shorts
have my drink in com-fort."
"You've got a point. No sense in leaving the office early if we don't take advantage of it."
They turned and headed for the kiosk. Down below, where the subway once rumbled, 1
Street Station was lined with booths, and before each booth was the start of a line-up of peo
The big rush hour hadn't started yet, but there were enough citizens in this area who had the kind
job they could leave early to avoid the big jam. There were quite a number who didn't have that k
of job, but they left anyway, hoping their dereliction would either be overlooked or forgotten
Monday morning.

The legion of citizens who left their jobs early to avoid the rush were not being watched by
Brother, but by an impersonal peg-count that drove a dial that indicated the number of comple
transits per minute. Beside the dial was a series of animated graphs that compared the day's tra
against yesterday's traffic, the same day a year ago, the maximum and minimum for this day
year, and the grand maximum and minimum for any day any year. All of the statistical gra
showed a sudden upsurge at the line denoting five o'clock, and the animated graph-line
displayed today's traffic was approaching a record.
Today's traffic had surpassed yesterday's for the past half hour, but this was not surpris