Ethics of Madness, The
Author:
Publication date:
1967-04
Publication type:
Short Story
Published:
Worlds of If, April 1967
Opus No.:
18
Setting:
Known Space: Prototype
I.U.C.:
K.S. 21a (2425)
Characters:
Douglas Hooker;
Greg Loeffler
Summary:
Published in Worlds of If, April 1967. Douglas Hooker is a potential paranoid. At 60+ he has behaved himself and kept close to medical treatment all his life, not realizing that his "autodoc" has malfunctioned. When his brain patterns start altering, unnoticeably at first, he concludes that he has done nothing and achieved nothing in his life, thanks to a vast conspiracy against him... so he decides to steal an interstellar ramship.
Notes:
First description of Plateau. Dates and technology make this story inconsistent with Known Space chronology. Chronologically this is the last story set in pre-hyperdrive Known Space.