bipeds. Six fingers on one hand means 12 on two—and almost a mortal certainty that the beings so equipped by nature will be using the duodecimal system, in many ' ways the most convenient of all. In the duodecimal system, 'one thousand' is not 10 times 10 times 10, but 12 times 12 times 12—which comes out as 1728 exactly in our decimal system.
'As you said, 'one thousand' of the going unit is the price of a being's life. Someone paid 'one thousand' gold martians by an Arcturian would have 1728 in his pocket according to our count.
'The size of Pa's purse seemed to me an odds-on indication that he was in the pay of the Arcturians war party. Incidentally, he must have felt very smart getting that extra 728—a more principled beast-criminal would have scorned to profit from a mere difference in numerical systems.'
The Young Captain took some time before he answered. He smiled incredulously more than once, and once he shook his head.
Finally he said, 'And you asked me to go ahead, Scan, and make my accusation, with no more indication than that?'
'It worked for you, didn't it?' the Old Lieutenant; countered briskly. 'And as soon as Fa started to confess, you must have known I was right beyond any possibility of doubt. Telepaths are always truth-tellers.' The Young Captain shot him a very strange look. 'It couldn't be, Sean—?' he said softly. 'It couldn't be that you're a telepath yourself? That that's the alien thought system you've been studying with your Martian witch doctor?'
'If it were,' the Old Lieutenant replied, 'I'd tell—' He stopped. He twinkled. 'Or would I?'
