The doctor pressed his fingertips to the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes with a heavy sigh.

It was true. It would have his name on it as the initial investigator, and as the medical expert who concluded the project. His name. Forever tied with this one revelation. He would be remembered for as long as the human race was alive. Down in the history records. Right there with the men and women who discovered electricity, who decoded the human genome, who went to Terra's moon, who made critical advancements in space flight, and who discovered each of the six colony planets.

Dr. Seoffrey Garban, a name that would become famous throughout the human portion of space. He couldn't stand it.

"Doctoh?" He looked up, meeting the brilliant yellow eyes of his patient. He couldn't smile. "Doctoh." She frowned. "You a unhappy. You have eeched a concluzun?"

"...my dear girl," he said, and his voice broke as he laid a gloved hand on her shoulder. "This is the end of a long road for both of us. I... can only thank you... for being a volunteer for my research from the very beginning. You--"

"Quit peeching," the young woman said, touching his wrist gently. "What is the eesult?"

Dr. Garban straightened, forcing his shoulders square. He lifted his hand and tapped her cheekbone with one fingertip. "The results. The chemical composition of your bones has altered 18% from normal human composition. You..." His voice had been strong, but it faltered. "Your people... are no longer capable of reproducing with the humans of Terra or other colony worlds outside your own." He watched her eyes and her face shift as the light of comprehension dawned. "The Sintans are... no longer just an ethnicity. You are... a different species, now. No longer human."

She stiffened and touched her palm to her cheek, narrow fingertips tracing the line of her brow. "But we don't... we don't look that diffent," she murmured. "Just the eyes, you know?..."

"And the teeth," Dr. Garban said gently, "and your nails and hair. Sintan eyes... it's been five generations since a native was born without yellow eyes. The hair follicle distribution across your bodies has gotten more even, less patchy, over the generations, as well. It is more fur-like than hair-like, and it doesn't grow as long. Your nails are small and sharp, not square. And your teeth..."

He hadn't expected her to go into denial, but her eyes flashed as she locked gazes with him. "Ow teeth! Just because we have fo o five sets doesn't mean anything! Most humans these days get the thed set befo they die!"

"Charah..." His voice was still kind and patient, if weary. "Your teeth are chemically different. They don't harbor plaque or the typical mouth afflictions that the rest of us suffer. They don't chip or rot or break nearly at all. Like your bones, they have changed." The doctor paused and allowed his tone to deepen, solemnly. "The final piece of evidence was testing the DNA of you and a handful of other Sintan women and men to see if you could still reproduce with off-worlders. It wasn't possible."

Her hands were shaking, and she clasped them tightly together, then linked her ankles and tucked her legs under the high cot on which she was sitting. She was still in the white robe of a patient, covered from neck to calves and wrist to wrist, and she looked very young for a moment. "You a ... you a shoo. Positive? The is no mistake?"

Dr. Garban clasped her shoulders. "My dear Charah, I am certain. I wouldn't dare tell you if I hadn't already begun the report for the scientific journals. I am that sure."

She dropped her head. "A we... aliens, then? To the human ace?"

"No. No, not yet." He forced a smile. "My report will be geared towards establishing your people as a variant of humans... as equals and still a part of our organization. You and the other volunteer patients will be granted special protections as needed. This... it won't be as bad as you fear, Charah. That I promise."

Already, she was regaining her composure, and the few tears that had fled down her face were wiped away. She looked up, eyes narrowed. "I will hold you to that pomise, doctoh."

He put forth his best smile, and he nodded as though he believed his own oath.