"Yes. The fact was mentioned. McAllen admitted he could do no less than
vote for this one himself. However, the next motion to receive a majority
was, in effect, a generalized agreement that men with such ... ah ...
highly specialized skills as Barney Chard's and with comparable
intelligence actually would be of great value as members of the
association, if it turned out that they could be sufficiently relieved of
their more flagrant antisocial tendencies. Considering the qualification,
the psychology department could hardly avoid backing that motion. The same
with the third one--in effect again that Psychology is to make an
unprejudiced study of the results of Dr. McAllen's experiment on Base
Eighteen, and report on the desirability of similar experiments when the
personality of future subjects appears to warrant them."
"Well," Fredericks said, after a pause, "as far as the association
goes, Ollie got what he wanted. As usual." He hesitated. "The other
matter--"
"We'll know that shortly." Simms turned his head to listen, added in a
lowered voice, "They're coming now."
* * * * *
Dr. Stephen Spalding said to Simms and Fredericks: "Dr. McAllen agrees
with me that the man we shall be looking for on Base Eighteen may be
dead. If this is indicated, we'll attempt to find some evidence of his
death before normal ecological operations on Eighteen are resumed.
"Next, we may find him alive but no longer sane. Dr. Simms and I are
both equipped with drug-guns which will then be used to render him
insensible. The charge is sufficient to insure he will not wake up
again. In this circumstance, caution will be required since he was
left on the Base with a loaded gun.
"Third, he may be alive and technically sane, but openly or covertly
hostile to us." Spalding glanced briefly at each of the others, then
went on, "It is because of this particular possibility that our
contact group here has been very carefully selected. If such has been
the result of Dr. McAllen's experiment, it will be our disagreeable
duty to act as Chard's executioners. To add lifelong confinement or
further psychological manipulation to the five solitary years Chard
already has spent would be inexcusable.
"Dr. McAllen has told us he did not inform Chard of the actual reason
he was being marooned--"
"On the very good grounds," McAllen interrupted, "that if Chard had
been told at the outset what the purpose was, he would have preferred
killing himself to allowing the purpose to be achieved. Any other
human being was Chard's antagonist. It would have been impossible for
him to comply with another man's announced intentions."