 What motivates people like Zeckler to commit such crimes as he committed?
Letter of the Law by Alan E. Nourse The place was dark and damp, and smelled like moldy leaves. Meyerhoff followed the huge, bear-like Altairian guard down the slippery flagstones of the corridor, sniffing the dead, musty air with distaste. He drew his carefully tailored Terran-styled jacket closer about his shoulders, shivering as his eyes avoided the black, yawning cell-holes they were passing. His foot slipped on the slimy flags from time to time, and finally he paused to wipe the caked mud from his trouser leg. Quite suddenly the corridor took a sharp bend, and the Altairian stopped, producing a huge key ring from some obscure fold of his hairy hide. There was a startled gasp from within, and a skinny, gnarled little man suddenly appeared in the guard's light, like a grotesque, twisted ghost out of the blackness. Wide blue eyes regarded Meyerhoff from beneath uneven black eyebrows, and then the little man's face broke into a crafty grin. He executed a deep, awkward bow, motioning Meyerhoff into the dark cubicle. Interplanetary ruling. "It's about time you showed up!" cried the little man in the cell. Why, I've been in here for years—" "Look, Zeckler, the name is Meyerhoff, and I'm not your pal," Meyerhoff snapped. "And you've been here for two weeks, three days, and approximately four hours. Zeckler's face was dark with a week's beard, and his bloodshot eyes belied the cocky grin on his lips. "So Harry Zeckler's in a jam again," he said. "These overgrown teddy-bears don't know what brotherhood means, nor humanity, either. Bread and water I've been getting, nothing more, and then only if they feel like bringing it down." I sent an appeal to the Terran Consulate the first day I was arrested. I mean, all they had to do was get a man over here, get the extradition papers signed, and provide transportation off the planet for me.
 New interplanetary laws created more incentive to commit crimes in vulnerable areas than they offered protection from such crimes.
 New interplanetary laws created more incentive to commit crimes in vulnerable areas than they offered protection from such crimes.  Representatives from the Trading Commission set up an operation to hire and arrest con men in order to secure resources without being indicted.  The interplanetary laws made it easy for wealthy corporations and entities to prey upon those they considered less civilized and intelligent.  The Trading Commission offered monetary compensation for whoever was willing to secure unexploited trading ground on neighboring planets.