Explore "Deathworld" by Harry Harrison on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Jason spent one depressed day lying on his bunk counting rivets, forcing himself to accept defeat. Kerk's order that he was not to leave the sealed building tied his hands completely. He felt himself close to the answer -- but he was never going to get it.
One day of defeat was all he could take. Kerk's attitude was completely emotional, untempered by the slightest touch of logic. This fact kept driving home until Jason could no longer ignore it. Emotional reasoning was something he had learned to mistrust early in life. He couldn't agree with Kerk in the slightest -- which meant he had to utilize the ten remaining days to solve the problem. If it meant disobeying Kerk, it would still have to be done.