Wisant. Glad to have you here.”
Gabby smiled at him timidly. “I’m glad to be here too—I think. Yesterday . .Her voice trailed off.
"Yesterday you were a wild animal,” Beth Wisant said loudly, "and you killed a pillow instead of your father. The doctor will tell you that’s very good sense.”
Dr. Snowden said, "All of us have these somatic wild animals—” (He looked at Dave) “—these monsters.”
Gabby said, “Doctor, do you think that Mama calling me so long ago can have had anything to do with what happened to me yesterday?”
"I see no reason why not,” he replied, nodding. “Of course there’s a lot more than that that’s mixed up about you.”
"When I .implant a suggestion, it works," Beth Wisant asserted.
Gabby frowned. “Part of the mix-up is in the world, not me.”
“The world is always mixed up," Dr. Snowden said. “It’s a pretty crazy hodge-podge with sensible strains running through it, if you look for them very closely. That’s one of the things we have to accept.” He rubbed his eyes and looked up. "And while we’re on the general topic of unpleasant facts, here’s something else. Serenity Shoals has got itself one more new patient besides yourselves—Joel Wisant.”
"Hum," said Beth Wisant. "Maybe now that I don’t have him to go home to, I can start getting better.”
“Poor Daddikins,” Gabby said dully.
“Yes," Snowden continued, looking at Dave, “that last little show you put on at the Tranquility Festival—and then on top of it the news that there was an outbreak here— really broke him up.” He shook his head. “Iron perfectionist. At the end he was even demanding that we drop an atomic bomb on Serenity Shoals—that was what swung Harker around to my side.”
“An atom bomb!” Beth Wisant said. “The ideal”
Dr. Snowden nodded. “It does seem a little extreme.”
"So you class me as a psychotic too,” Dave said, a shade argumentively. "Of course I’ll admit that after what I did—” Dr. Snowden looked at him sourly. “I don’t class you as psychotic at all—though a lot of my last-century colleagues would have taken great delight in tagging you as a psychopathic personality. I think you’re just a spoiled and willful young man with no capacity to bear frustration. You’re a self-dramatizer. You jumped into the ocean of aberration— that was the meaning of your note, wasn’t it?—but the first waves tossed you back on the beach. Still, you got in here, which was your main object.”
“How do you know that?” Dave asked.
“You’d be surprised,” Dr. Snowden said wearily, “at how many more-or-less sane people want to get into mental hospitals these days—it’s probably the main truth behind the Report K figures. They seem to think that insanity is the only great adventure left man in a rather depersonalizing age. They want to understand their fellow man at the depths, and here at least they get the opportunity.” He looked at Dave meaningfully as he said that. Then he went on, “At any rate, Serenity Shoals is the safest place for you right now, Mr. Cruxon. It gets you out from under a stack of damage suits and maybe a lynch-mob or two.”
He stood up. “So come on then, all of you, down to Receiving,” he directed, a bit grumpily. “Pick up that junk you’ve got there, Dave, and bring it along. We’ll try to hang onto the harness—it might be useful in treating gravitational dementia. Come on, come on!—I’ve wasted all night on you. Don’t expect such concessions in the future. Serenity Shoals is no vacation resort—and no honeymoon resort either!— though . . 7 (He smiled flickeringly) . . though some couples do try.”
They followed him down the sandy hill. The rising sun behind them struck gold from the drab buildings and faded tents ahead.
Dr. Snowden dropped back beside Dave. "TelL me one thing,” he said quietly. “Was it fun being a green demon?” Dave said, “That it was!"
DAMNATION
Gabby smiled at him timidly. “I’m glad to be here too—I think. Yesterday . .Her voice trailed off.
"Yesterday you were a wild animal,” Beth Wisant said loudly, "and you killed a pillow instead of your father. The doctor will tell you that’s very good sense.”
Dr. Snowden said, "All of us have these somatic wild animals—” (He looked at Dave) “—these monsters.”
Gabby said, “Doctor, do you think that Mama calling me so long ago can have had anything to do with what happened to me yesterday?”
"I see no reason why not,” he replied, nodding. “Of course there’s a lot more than that that’s mixed up about you.”
"When I .implant a suggestion, it works," Beth Wisant asserted.
Gabby frowned. “Part of the mix-up is in the world, not me.”
“The world is always mixed up," Dr. Snowden said. “It’s a pretty crazy hodge-podge with sensible strains running through it, if you look for them very closely. That’s one of the things we have to accept.” He rubbed his eyes and looked up. "And while we’re on the general topic of unpleasant facts, here’s something else. Serenity Shoals has got itself one more new patient besides yourselves—Joel Wisant.”
"Hum," said Beth Wisant. "Maybe now that I don’t have him to go home to, I can start getting better.”
“Poor Daddikins,” Gabby said dully.
“Yes," Snowden continued, looking at Dave, “that last little show you put on at the Tranquility Festival—and then on top of it the news that there was an outbreak here— really broke him up.” He shook his head. “Iron perfectionist. At the end he was even demanding that we drop an atomic bomb on Serenity Shoals—that was what swung Harker around to my side.”
“An atom bomb!” Beth Wisant said. “The ideal”
Dr. Snowden nodded. “It does seem a little extreme.”
"So you class me as a psychotic too,” Dave said, a shade argumentively. "Of course I’ll admit that after what I did—” Dr. Snowden looked at him sourly. “I don’t class you as psychotic at all—though a lot of my last-century colleagues would have taken great delight in tagging you as a psychopathic personality. I think you’re just a spoiled and willful young man with no capacity to bear frustration. You’re a self-dramatizer. You jumped into the ocean of aberration— that was the meaning of your note, wasn’t it?—but the first waves tossed you back on the beach. Still, you got in here, which was your main object.”
“How do you know that?” Dave asked.
“You’d be surprised,” Dr. Snowden said wearily, “at how many more-or-less sane people want to get into mental hospitals these days—it’s probably the main truth behind the Report K figures. They seem to think that insanity is the only great adventure left man in a rather depersonalizing age. They want to understand their fellow man at the depths, and here at least they get the opportunity.” He looked at Dave meaningfully as he said that. Then he went on, “At any rate, Serenity Shoals is the safest place for you right now, Mr. Cruxon. It gets you out from under a stack of damage suits and maybe a lynch-mob or two.”
He stood up. “So come on then, all of you, down to Receiving,” he directed, a bit grumpily. “Pick up that junk you’ve got there, Dave, and bring it along. We’ll try to hang onto the harness—it might be useful in treating gravitational dementia. Come on, come on!—I’ve wasted all night on you. Don’t expect such concessions in the future. Serenity Shoals is no vacation resort—and no honeymoon resort either!— though . . 7 (He smiled flickeringly) . . though some couples do try.”
They followed him down the sandy hill. The rising sun behind them struck gold from the drab buildings and faded tents ahead.
Dr. Snowden dropped back beside Dave. "TelL me one thing,” he said quietly. “Was it fun being a green demon?” Dave said, “That it was!"
DAMNATION
Similar Books
