Philip squatted on his heels. He picked up the two refugees and looked them over.
"Both females," he announced briefly. "And both pregnant."
"Is he the father?"
"Who else? He'd see to that."
"And will they inherit his—his—"
"His 'super-ratism'? That's the whole point. That's the object of the entire experiment. They were going to try it soon."
The three white rats had scarcely moved. The two mothers-to-be had apparently fallen asleep. Only SK540 stood quietly eying the humans. When they left him to find a place where they could talk in private he did not follow them.
"It comes down to this," Philip said at the end of half an hour's fruitless discussion. "We promised him, or as good as. He believed us and trusted us.
"But if we keep to our promise we're really traitors—to the human race."
"You mean, if the offspring should inherit his brain-power, they might overrun us all?"