“This is the most amazing tale I’ve ever heard,” Brainard said slowly. “Are you certain you are telling the truth?”
Kennon grinned. “I don’t blame you for not believing me—but the evidence is conclusive, and there is enough documentary evidence in the space ship—and in the fact of the ship itself to prove what I am saying. Laboratory tests here will establish the fact that Copper’s child is also mine. And as for Flora, a Brotherhood Investigation Team can prove that part.”
“That will be attended to,” Brainard said grimly.
“But how did you deduce she wasn’t from a Betan colony?” Kennon asked.
Brainard smiled. “That wasn’t hard. Her sun tan and the condition of her feet proved she was a practicing nudist. No Betan girl ever practices nudism to my knowledge. Besides, the I.D. tattoo under her left arm and the V on her hip are no marks of our culture. Then there was another thing—the serological analysis revealed no gerontal antibodies. She had never received an injection of longevity compound in her life. This might occur, but it’s highly improbable. The evidence indicates that she’s extra-Betan.”
Kennon nodded.
“But this business of her being fifteen years old! That’s impossible. She has the development of a woman of twenty-five.”
“Remember the Alpha V colony?” Kennon said.
“Of course—oh—I see! It could be something like that. Certainly—strong yellow G-type sun—an isolated colony serviced at twenty-year intervals—there was a marked physical precocity.”
“And if this had been continued for several millennia?” Kennon asked.