case that
need investigation." Brainard took a standard hospital form from his
desk. "Mind if I ask you some questions, Doctor?"

"Not at all but you are due for some unpleasant shocks as you go through
that form."

"I believe I can survive them," Brainard said dryly.

"This is professional confidence--" Kennon began.

"Of course, of course," Brainard said impatiently. "Now let's get on
with it."

* * *

"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.

"Hmm--I see. Yes, it's possible. On Alpha V the colonists grew from
infancy to maturity in fifteen years."

"And wasn't Heaven one of our early colonies?"

"Yes--it was established after the Great Schism near the end of the
First Millennium--when science and religion split irrevocably on this
world. We packed the whole lot of them off to a world of their own where
they could develop as they pleased. They called it Heaven--odd name for
a fogworld--but there's