y for you to see
them. It would take too long. And we want to get back out into space."
He paused. "We can brief you."

"About your going back into space.... I'm not sure we can allow it."

"Our answer's very simple. There's a button, under my thumb, on the
arm of this chair. A little pressure. Carbon monoxide. It would be
quick."

"Your idea?"

"Yes. A matter of preserving our integrity. We'd rather die than face
the horrors of life on Earth."

* * * * *

Halter turned to the semi-circle of faces. "And you've all agreed to
this--this suicide?"

The captain cut in. "Of course. I realized years ago that the only
place we could live was in space, in this ship."

"When did your crew realize this?"

"After a couple of years. I told them over and over again, day after
day. After all, I am captain. I dictate the policy."

"You've come back. You're in port. You're not in complete command."

"I'll always be in command."

"Perhaps," said Halter quietly. "However, we can come back to that.
Please brief me on the records."

Captain McClelland's face hardened as he turned to Dr. Anna Mueller.

She explained, "We regained consciousness twenty-four hours after
Captain McClelland used the shock gun on us. By then, our metabolisms
were high enough to keep us conscious and alive. We could lift
nutrition and water capsules to our mouths. We could press the button
to activate the exercise mechanisms in our bunks. The output of the
air machines was cut down until there was just enough to keep us alive
and thinking clearly.

"At intervals of several days, during our exercise and study periods,
Captain McClelland turned up the air. We slept. And we dreamed. The
dreams are recorded in full. When we could face them, they were played
back to us. Our thoughts were played back, too. I conducted group
therapy among us. We all grew to understand each other and ourselves,
intimately, and now, in relation to our environment, we're perfectly
adjusted."

"Did Captain McClelland join you in group therapy?"

"No."

"Why?"

"He was already perfectly adjusted."

* * * * *

She frowned faintly, glanced at the captain. "When we were conscious,
we studied from the library of microfilm. We read all the great
literature of Earth. We watched the great plays and pictures and the
paintings and listened to the music. Sometimes our thoughts were
hateful. There was self-pity a