"Thanks," he said with sudden fervor. "Thanks!"
14 May 2233....
Roy Walton, director of the Bureau of Population Equalization, stood sweltering in the sun at Nairobi Spaceport, watching the smiling people file past him into the towering, golden-hulled ship.
A powerful-looking man holding a small child in his arms came up to him.
"Hello, Walton," he said in a majestic basso.
Walton turned, startled. "Prior!" he exclaimed, after a moment's fumbling.
"And this is my son, Philip," said Prior. "We'll both be going as colonists. My wife's already aboard, but I just wanted to thank you—"
Walton looked at the happy, red-cheeked boy. "There was a medical exam for all volunteer colonists. How did you get the boy through this time?"