Roger emitted a long, low whistle. "It'll take years to screen all of
them, sir."

Hardy smiled. "Not really, Manning. The psychographs will eliminate the
hundreds of thousands of misfits, the men who will want to go for
selfish reasons, who are running away from the past, or are dissatisfied
with their lack of success in life and embittered because of failure. We
can expect many criminal types. Those will be eliminated easily. We have
set a specific quota from each of the satellites, planets, and asteroid
colonies. I have already established the stations for the preliminary
screening. We will screen the remainder until we have the required
thousand."

"What will our part be, sir?" asked Tom.

"Once each applicant has been approved by the psychographs, his
background will be thoroughly investigated. We may find criminal types
who show the blackest of careers, but who would turn over a new leaf if
given the chance and prove to be more valuable than men with the best of
backgrounds who merely want to get away from it all. We don't want that
kind of colonist. We want people who have faith in the project; people
who are not afraid of work and hardships. Your screening job will be
simple. Each of you has a special talent which Commander Walters feels
is outstanding. Corbett in leadership, administration, and command;
Manning in electronics; Astro in atomic power and propulsion. You will
talk to the applicants and give them simple tests. An important point in
any applicant's favor will be his ability to improvise and handle three,
four, or five jobs, where a less imaginative person would do but one.
Talk to them, sound them out, and then write your report. Captain Strong