He stood stock still and stared at me.
"It takes a nasty, salacious mind to make that kind of separation," I said.
"But your aun ... the Daughters of...."
"I know my aunt and the Daughters of Terra," I said. "I've lived with them for years. I know their kind of mind. Who would know it better?"
"But you...."
"The human race," I said, "is very young. It's only in the last few thousand years that it has discovered sex as a concept. So like little kids in kindergarten it goes around being embarrassed and snickering. But we'll grow up. Give us time."
"But you...." he said again. "But they.... That's the kind of organization that keeps us from growing up, Hap. Don't you see that? They've kept us mentally retarded for generations, centuries. How can we make progress when...."
"What's the hurry, Johnny? We've got millions of years, billions, eternity."
He looked at me again, sharply, shrewdly.
"I've underestimated you, Hap," he said. "I'm afraid I always did. I had no idea you...."