The doorman grunted. "Wait a minute." He put in a call to the penthouse apartment. The idea of a twelve-year-old visitor must have amused the girl. He brought back an invitation for Ron to enter her home. Ron stepped off the elevator, and his stomach was churning. What would she say when she saw him? Would she believe his story? Would she help him find an answer? Adrian came to the door herself, and the amusement was evident on her long, smoothly-planed face. Her auburn hair was swept back in Grecian ringlets, and the gown she wore was blindingly white. "Come in, dear," she said, smiling. The effect of looking up at the girl, now a sort of giantess in his eyes, made Ron dizzy. He swayed against the doorframe, and her cool fingers steadied him. "You poor boy," she crooned. "Come inside." She half-carried him to the downy sofa. For a full minute, he was too choked to speak. She offered him a glass of milk, but he asked for water. She brought some to him, and he coughed. "Now," the girl said, spreading the wide skirt over her knees, "just what was it you wanted to tell me?" "I--" "Come now." She smiled endearingly, and brushed back the hair from his forehead. "You must have had something on your mind." "Yes," he said at last, his voice strained. "Yes, Adrian. I--I'm Ron...." "What?" "I'm Ron Carver! No, listen, I'm not mad. It's really me, Ron!" She had stood up, shocked. Then she laughed. "Adrian, listen to me! Something happened to me when I returned from Andromeda. I don't know what. I found myself at a boy's home near Spring Harbor." "Now, really! This is the craziest--" "I know it's crazy!" He wiped his forehead in an adult gesture. "But it's true, Adrian. I've been--changed somehow. I don't know why. But it's something to do with Dr. Minton." She sat down again, limply. Then she studied his face, and for a moment, Ron thought she was seriously considering his predicament. But then the laugh started again, the same slightly off-key laugh Ron remembered. "Adrian, you must believe me! I can prove it! Just listen to me for a moment!" She stopped the laugh and grew serious, her eyes caught by the intensity of his own. "All right," she whispered. "I'll listen...." "My name is Ronald Carver. I'm thirty years old. I'm a Captain of the Walder Space Transport Company. I have been in the Andromeda system for the past five years. I returned to Earth--" he stopped, and swallowed hard. "I don't know exactly when. I went to see Dr. Minton, an old friend and a physician. He examined me, and then--" She stared, fascinated. "And then I was a child! A child of twelve, in a home for boys. I ran away from there this morning, and came looking for Dr. Minton. I've been told that he's in Washington. I must get to him. I must find out what's happened to me--" She was shaking her head, slowly, eyes still fixed on his face. He got up from the sofa and came towards her. His small hand reached out and patted the fine bones of hers.