A Space Oddessey 2061 Book 3 Chapter 52: On the Couch PART VII: THE GREAT WALL

A Space Oddessey 2061 Book 3 Chapter 52: On the Couch PART VII: THE GREAT WALL

I wish I'd studied some psychology, thought van der Berg; then I could explore the parameters of his delusion. Yet now he seems completely sane - except on that one subject. Though almost any seat was comfortable at one-sixth of a gravity, Floyd had tilted his to the fully reclining position and had clasped his hands behind his head. Van der Berg suddenly recalled that this was the classic position of a patient, in the days of the old and still not entirely discredited Freudian analysis. He was glad to let the other talk first, partly out of sheer curiosity but chiefly because he hoped that the sooner Floyd got this nonsense out of his system, the sooner he would be cured - or, at least, harmless. But he did not feel too optimistic: there must have been some serious, deep-seated problem in the first place to trigger so powerful an illusion. It was very disconcerting to find that Floyd agreed with him completely, and had already made his own diagnosis. 'My crew psych rating is Al plus,&…