The Golden Age of Science Fiction 11 by Various

Author:Various [Various]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Halcyon Press Ltd.
Published: 2010-04-20T07:00:00+00:00

IV

The primary function of personality is self-preservation, but personality itself is not a static but a dynamic thing. The basic factor in its development, is integration: each new situation calls forth a new adjustment which modifies or alters the personality in the process. The proper aim of personality, therefore, is not permanence and stability, but unification. The inability of a personality to adjust to or integrate a new situation, the resistance of the personality to unification, and its efforts to preserve its integrity are known popularly as insanity. —Morgan Littlefield, Notes on Psychology.

“Hoskins!”

Paresi grabbed the Captain’s arm and spun him around roughly. “Captain Anderson! Cut it!” Very softly, he said, “Leave him alone. He’s doing what he has to do.”

Anderson stared over his shoulder at the little engineer. “Is he, now? Damn it, he’s still under orders!”

“Got something for him to do?” asked the doctor cooly.

Anderson looked around, at the controls, out at the sleeping mountains. “I guess not. But I’d like to know he’d take an order when I have one.”

“Leave him alone until you have an order. Hoskins is a very steady head, skipper. But just now he’s on the outside edge. Don’t push.”

The Captain put his hand over his eyes and fumbled his way to the controls. He turned his back to the pilot’s chair and leaned heavily against it. “Okay,” he said. “This thing is developing into a duel between you and those … those colleagues of yours out there. I guess the least we … I … can do is not to fight you while you’re fighting them.”

Paresi said, “You’re choosing up sides the wrong way. They’re fighting us, all right. We’re only fighting ourselves. I don’t mean each other; I mean each of us is fighting himself. We’ve got to stop doing that, skipper.”

The Captain gave him a wan smile. “Who has, at the best of times?”

Paresi returned the smile. “Drug addicts … Catatonics … illusionaries … and saints. I guess it’s up to us to add to the category.”

“How about dead people?”

“Ives! How long have you been awake?”

The big man shoved himself up and leaned on one arm. He shook his head and grunted as if he had been punched in the solar plexus. “Who hit me with what?” he said painfully, from between clenched teeth.

“You apparently decided the bulkhead was a paper hoop and tried to dive through it,” said Paresi. He spoke lightly but his face was watchful.

“Oooh….” Ives held his head for a moment and then peered between his fingers at the darkness. “I remember,” he said in a strained whisper. He looked around him, saw the engineer huddled against his chessboard. “What’s he doing?”

They all looked at the engineer as he moved a piece and then sat quietly.

“Hey, Hoskins!”

Hoskins ignored Ives’ bull voice. Paresi said, “He’s not talking just now. He’s … all right, Ives. Leave him alone. At the moment, I’m more interested in you. How do you feel?”

“Me, I feel great. Hungry, though. What’s for chow?”

Anderson said quickly, “Nick doesn’t want us to eat just now.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.