"This might turn out to be more interesting than we thought. I wish there were more time to spend on him. But Merton called up again today to verify the ultimatum I told you about. We produce colonists by the time Hull Four is complete or they turn the personnel problem over to Winthrop--even after they saw Carnahan go to pieces before their eyes." "Has it ever occurred to you," said Bonnie slowly, "that we might just possibly be off on the wrong foot? How do you know that any of the colonists of Earth's history could have stood up to the demands of Serrengia? I'm beginning to suspect that the Mayflower's passenger list would have folded quite completely under these conditions. They had it comparatively easy. So did most other successful colonists." "Yes--?" said Ashby. "Maybe they succeeded in _spite_ of being rebels. If they could have come to the new lands without the pressure of flight, but in complete freedom of action, they might have made an even greater success." "But why would they have come at all, then?" "I don't know. There must be another motive capable of impelling them. In great feats of exploration, creation--other human actions similar to colonization--" "There are _no_ other human actions similar to colonization," said Ashby. "Surely you realize we're dealing with something unique here, Bonnie!" "I know--all I'm trying to say is there could be another valid motive. I think Mark Jorden's got it. There's something different about this test, and I think you ought to look in on it yourself." "What's so different about him?" "He doesn't act like the rest. He hasn't any apparent reason for being here." Ashby looked at the girl closely. She was one of his top staff members and had been with him from the beginning. The incredible strain of working day after day in the test pits was showing its effects, he thought. "I shouldn't have let you get started on this one," he said. "You're fagged out. Maybe it would be better to erase what we've done and start over, so that you can drop out." She shook her head with a quickness that surprised him. "I want to finish it, and see how Mark turns out. I'm so used to working with the bitter, anti-social ones that it's a relief to have someone who is halfway normal and gregarious. I want to be around when we find out why he's here." "Especially if he should go all the way to the end. But he won't--" * * * * *