t of him. "Of course, at the age of sixteen, one perhaps can't be
expected to foresee all of the possible consequences.

"So let us consider the two seventeen-year-olds who caused something
of a sensation in Florida when they used the Branski-Baker method of
genetic exchange to breed a quite fabulous species of winged
alligator. Several of these so called 'alli-bats' escaped into the
everglades, but it is doubted that they will be able to reproduce
themselves. At least there is _some_ doubt."

The senator reached for his drink and sipped it thoughtfully. He was
beginning to see Roger's gang's misadventure in a new light. But it
was an unfamiliar light, one that would take him a while to become
accustomed to.

"Perhaps the most startling case of all," Ambly went on, "concerns the
Nuclear Fission Society of Urania, Nevada. It is not a well publicized
fact that this quasi-academic group of adolescent physicists was
exposed in the act of assembling an elementary but workable atomic
bomb. Many of the elders in this fast-growing little community are
engaged, as you no doubt know, in atomic development of one sort or
another. It seemed that this interest had trickled down to their
offspring, who showed an impressive amount of ingenuity in getting the
necessary materials. Fortunately, one youngster asked his father
entirely too many questions concerning the actual fabrication of
fission weapons. The man investigated and--"

"Now, wait a minute," Duran interrupted, wondering momentarily if the
whole tale might not have been a hoax. "How much of this am I really
expected to believe?"

"It's all fact, Vance," Governor Gorton responded solemnly. "Fritz has
a couple of scrapbooks I'd like you to look at some time. Each case is
pretty well authenticated. But the important thing is the pattern.
It's really sort of frightening in a way."

"Many similar incidents have no doubt occurred of which I have no
record," said Ambly. "I'd estimate that ninety percent of such cases
are suppressed, either in the interest of national security or because
the children's parents are sufficiently influential to have the story
squelched."

"Just as we'd have sat on this one," added Gorton, "if the dang thing
hadn't actually been shot off."

Duran smiled inwardly at the picture evoked by the Governor's
metaphor. However, he had to admit that the press would in all
probability not have learned about the rocket at all, had it been
discovered pri