Norton, Andre - Anthology by Gates to Tomorrow (v1.0) Read Free Book Online

turned to the captain. "My brother tells the story that when
he was junior instrument officer on the Explorer II, some loose-minded spaceman
held up the paymaster when they were five light-years from the nearest planet.
He knew he couldn't get off the ship with the money. He just thought it would
be a good idea."
                   "Well, it would be a good idea, if he
could get by with it," Nord admitted. "Think how much currency those
big ships carry. It would make a man fabulously rich."
                   "Not just big ships. Do you have any idea
how much I have in my safe for the District Base at Lanvin?" Munroe asked.
                   Bickford, the air officer, leaned forward
eagerly. "How much do you carry?"
                   "I've got a million stellars!"
                   "A million
stellars!" Bickford's pale, blue eyes almost extruded. "Why,
that's a hundred million dollars."
                   Munroe nodded. "Captain, Mr. Bickford
knows elementary finance. Why can't he be supply officer for a while and let me
be air officer?"
                   "That's a good idea." Lesnau thought
aloud. "I'll be space surgeon, too. A complete rotation
of all officers. I've been worried about how Mr. Bickford handles the
air anyway. He's careless with our chlorophyl. You know air is rather important
to us."
                   "That last is a super-nova of
understatement," Dr. Stacker announced.
                   Bickford leaned across the table, his almost colorless, pale blue eyes were like tiny, venomous slits. "What
do you mean I don't handle the air properly?" His voice was a rasping
growl.
                   "Now, Mr, Bickford, don't get
spacey," Nord Corbett cautioned softly. "You know you were only being
kidded."
                   "Don't like to be kidded about my
detail," he answered testily. "Go on with the story." He jerked
his thin head toward Munroe.
                   "That's about all there was to it. Of
course he was caught and sent to the hospital." He turned to Dr. Stacker.
"What kind of illness is that anyway?"
                   The space surgeon put down his fork. "I
would diagnose such a case as being a psychopath."
                   "Just what is a psychopath?" Nord
asked.
                   "A psychopath is a person with a mental
defect, which prevents him from learning by experience. Such personalities are
usually brilliant, able to learn readily, but when it comes to living with
others, they are social failures. They are like children, mere emotional infants.Their conduct is ruled solely by impulse. They will
think over an idea for a second and then act without considering the
consequences to themselves or others. The professional criminal, the
pathological liar, the billionaire's son who is repeatedly fined for dropping
his yacht into a city, the swindler, kleptomaniac, pyromaniac, and moral degenerate
are all psychopaths."
                   "What causes them?" Nord inquired.
"And why let them on ships anyway?"
                   Stacker sighed. "I wish I could answer it
all for you. The psychopath can only be explained as a vestigial remnant of
man's evolutionary development. It is normal for an infant to live solely by
impulse, but as mentality develops, he learns to make adjustments to life
without the origin of too many conflicts. If, however, we lack the ability to
learn how to live with others then we will act as a very intelligent animal
would act. Just remember, captain, it is a mental condition, which is a stage
in man's phylogenetic development."
                   "Well, how can you tell a psychopath from
a normal lug?" Hardman interposed.
                   "That's easy," Lesnau broke in,
"we're not normal. Those on Earth are. If we were normal, do you think
we'd be out here ten light-years from