What?
"Put on your catcher's mask, Halloway."
Oh. The mask slides down over my face. Like that. The captain comes rushing up, eyes hot green and angry.
"Doctor, what's this infernal nonsense?"
"You wanted Halloway able to do his work, didn't you, captain?"
"Yes, but what in hell've you done to him?"
Strange. As they talk, I hear their words flow over my head like a wave dashed on a sea-stone, but the words drain off, leaving no imprint. As soon as some words invade my head, something eats and digests them and I think the words are something else entirely.
The psychiatrist nods at me.
"I couldn't change his basic desire. Given time, yes, a period of months, I could have. But you need him now. So, against all the known ethics of my profession, which say one must never lie to a patient, I've followed along in his own thought channel. I didn't dare frustrate him. He wanted to go home, so I let him. I've given him a fantasy. I've set up a protective defense mechanism in his mind that refuses to believe certain realities, that evaluates all things from its own desire for security and home. His mind will automatically block any thought or image that endangers that security."
The captain stares wildly.