? Mum smiled, and nodded. ?Don?t holdyour sisters up, Basil.? Basil shookBeryl?s hand off. ?Goddamnit, I am too bloody old to be bathed by my sister,a...d I?m going out myself! Now give me my clothes before I get very angry!? Mum shookher head.?That?s it! I knew a tantrum was coming tonight when you were in thenursery and you gave me a surly look because I insisted you finished yourturnips.? Mum lifted her foot and took off her slipper and walked over toBasil, who was backing off, hastily. Mum. I chose to walk in the park. It was more relaxing and would help me relax. I wandered around for a few minutes before ending up by the small body of water that stood at the center of the park. It was too small to be a lake, but too big to be a pond. I chose to call it a poke (pond + lake = poke).I took a seat on one of the benches that stood by the water’s edge and watched the reflection of the night sky in the poke. The smog kept the stars from shining through, but the moon was clearly. It would be doing her a grave disserviceto let her off early. Can't have her sloping off into old habits.' 'I know that, but ... go easy on her, Emma. She's not a bad kid.' 'Not a bad kid? She's a lovely kid! That's why we're going to all this troublein the first place, isn't it? Can you make Wednesday?' 'Ah — no, I was going to say. There's a hockey get-together. I can'tget out of it.' 'Never mind.' 'I can do Thursday.' 'No, never mind. I'll attend to Miss Hargreaves by myself. Just the two. "I believe you are looking at the reproductive problems?" I probed."That is one of my projects," he replied cagily."What appears to be the main issue?" It's highly complex," he explained condescendingly, "a genetic mutation that occurred hundreds of years ago; one that is highly resistant to manipulation."I made a few token suggestions, but he rejected them immediately as unworkable. There was little doubt that science had advanced, but the basic principles remained unaltered, and his outright.