“Dr. Brainard—Dr. Kennon,” Smalley said.
Kennon liked the man instantly. A plump, pink-cheeked man of middle age, with prematurely white hair, Dr. Will Brainard combined a fatherly appearance with an impression of quick intelligence. The fat that sheathed his stocky body had obviously not touched his mind. Brainard rose from the deep chair near the window where he had been sitting, knocked the ashes from his pipe, and bowed stiffly. His eyes—sharp points of blue in the smooth pinkness of his face—surveyed Kennon curiously.
“So you’re the young man who takes untrained pregnant women for rides in old-fashioned spacers,” he said. “Didn’t you know what would happen?”
“I was in a hurry, Doctor,” Kennon said.
“Obviously. Now tell me about it.” Brainard looked at the eager-faced interne standing behind Kennon. “That will be all, Smalley,” he said.
Kennon waited until the door closed. “Ordinarily,” he said, “I’d never have done a thing like that, but there were some very pressing reasons. However, I should have given her an injection of Somnol before we started. I’m criminally liable. If anything happens to her—” His voice was tight with worry.
“You’d give her an injection?” Brainard said. “I hope you didn’t mean that.”
“But I did, sir. I’ve given thousands of Lani injections.”
“What’s a Lani?”
“She is, sir. The impression has been that her race isn’t human.”