The Select by F. Paul Wilson Read Free Book Online Page B

those.
    Tim looked around for the proctor. She
was standing by her desk now, arranging her papers, preparing to
collect the test pamphlets. Tim slipped his answer sheet inside his
exam book, replaced his shades over his eyes, and waited. When her
back was turned he rose and, in one continuous movement, leaned
over Quinn's shoulder, blackened the B and C boxes next to
questions 201 and 202, then straightened and strode down the
aisle.
    My good deed for the
day .
    *
    Quinn stared down at the two marks Tim
had made on her answer sheet. He'd blackened in choices on two of
the three questions that had completely stymied her. What on God's
earth was the Kleederman equation? She'd never heard of
it.
    Obviously Tim had. Probably could tell
her the page and paragraph where he'd read about it. God, she
wished she had a memory like that. Wouldn't that be great? Like
having an optical CD-ROM reader in your head.
    She stared at those little blackened
boxes. They weren't her answers. She felt queasy about handing them
in.
    Instinctively, Quinn reversed her
pencil and moved to erase them. She had always done her own work,
always stood on her own two feet. She wasn't going to change that
now.
    Almost of its own accord, her pencil
froze, the eraser poised half an inch above the paper.
    Her whole future was at stake here.
This was real life. The nitty-gritty. Doing "good enough" wouldn't
cut it; there were just so many places the next class. Fifty, to be
exact. She had to score in the top fifty.
    The Kleederman questions could mean
the difference between acceptance and rejection.
    And she didn't have a clue as to how
to answer them.
    But still...they weren't her
answers.
    As she lowered the eraser to the
paper, the proctor's voice cut through the silence.
    "Time's up. Pencils down. Any more
marks and your test will be disqualified."
    *
    Tim stood with Matt around the central
pond and waited for Quinn to come out of the class building. A
chill wind had come up, scraping dead leaves along the concrete
walks. He pulled his jacket closer around him. Winter was
knocking.
    Finally she showed up, walking slow.
He wondered at her grim expression.
    "How'd you do?" Matt asked.
    Quinn shrugged. "You ever hear of the
Kleederman equation?"
    "Sure," Tim said. "It's—"
    "I know you did." The look she
tossed him was anything but friendly. "I want to know about
Matt."
    That look unsettled Tim. He'd thought
he'd be her knight in shining armor. What was eating
her?
    Matt scratched his head. "It has to do
with distribution of medical services among an expanding
population."
    "You've heard of it too? You've both
heard of it?" She shook her head in dismay. "Why haven't I? Three
questions and I couldn't even guess at an answer."
    "Cheer up," Tim said. "You got two of
them right, anyway. At least I hope they were right."
    Her head snapped up. Her expression
was fierce. Her eyes flashed as she looked into his.
    "No. You got two of them right. Not me. I
didn't have a clue. I don't hand in other people's work,
Tim."
    He groaned. "Oh, no. You didn't erase
them, did you?"
    There was pain in her eyes now. "No. I
didn't. And I'm not too proud of myself for that."
    She turned and walked off toward the
dorm. Tim started after her but stopped after two steps. He wanted
to be with her but what was the use? She'd put up a
wall.
    "You marked a couple of answers on her
sheet?" Matt said.
    "Yeah. They were blank.
Thought I was doing her a favor." He didn't want to show it—didn't
even want to admit it—but he was hurt , damn it "Boy, I just can't win
with her."
    "With 999 other people you'd be a
hero. But Quinn's got her own set of rules. You tested on her own
standards and she feels she failed."
    Tim was jolted. "Jesus..."
    "Didn't I tell you she's one of a
kind?"
    "You got that right. Kind of
old-fashioned, though, don't you think?"
    "Yeah," Matt said softly. "She's an
old-fashioned girl."
    "I didn't think there were any of
those left."
    To his dismay Tim realized he