The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Measure of a Man, by Randall Garrett,
Illustrated by Martinez

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Title: The Measure of a Man

Author: Randall Garrett

Release Date: January 3, 2008 [eBook #24135]
Most recently updated: January 14, 2009

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

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Transcriber's note:

This etext was produced from _Astounding Science Fiction_,
April, 1960. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence
that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.

THE MEASURE OF A MAN

by

RANDALL GARRETT

Illustrated by Martinez

_What is desirable is not always necessary, while that which is
necessary may be most undesirable. Perhaps the measure of a man is
the ability to tell one from the other ... and act on it._

Alfred Pendray pushed himself along the corridor of the battleship
_Shane_, holding the flashlight in one hand and using the other hand and
his good leg to guide and propel himself by. The beam of the torch
reflected queerly from the pastel green walls of the corridor, giving
him the uneasy sensation that he was swimming underwater instead of
moving through the blasted hulk of a battleship, a thousand light-years
from home.

He came to the turn in the corridor, and tried to move to the right, but
his momentum was greater than he had thought, and he had to grab the
corner of the wall to keep from going on by. That swung him around, and
his sprained ankle slammed agonizingly against the other side of the
passageway.

Pendray clenched his teeth and kept going. But as he moved down the side
passage, he went more slowly, so t