"On the contrary, I'd be delighted. Haven't had a thorough medical
checkup for years." On this cooperative note, Emrys Shortmire bowed and
left.
Hubbard sighed back against the velvet cushions of his chair--real
silk, for he was a very rich old man. Unfortunately, he could not doubt
that this was Jan Shortmire's progeny. But--and Hubbard sat upright--no
matter how much Emrys resembled his father, that was only one parent.
Who had the young man's mother been?
Quickly, Hubbard searched through the papers for the birth certificate.
The name was Iloa Tasqi. The nationality: _Morethan_.
No wonder the affair had been kept so secret. No wonder Emrys seemed
so strange and that Jan had lied about his previous visit to the dark
planet. Small wonder, too, that he'd had a son he was not aware of. Who
would have believed that human and Morethan could breed together? For
the Morethans, although humanoid, were not at all human.
So Emrys Shortmire was only half human. The other half was--well, the
vidicasts called it _monster_, and, now that he had met the young man,
Peter Hubbard was inclined to agree.