Mount Dragon

Levine ascended the stairs. one other doorman opened the gilt glass doorways, and the sounds of a string quartet got here floating graciously out to satisfy him. getting into, Levine stood for a second within the vivid lighting fixtures of the inn foyer, blinking. Then, all at once, a bunch of journalists was once crowding round him, a barrage of flashbulbs exploding from each side. “What’s this? ” Levine requested. recognizing him, Toni Wheeler, the media advisor for Levine’s starting place, bustled over. Elbowing a reporter apart, she took Levine’s arm. Wheeler had seriously coiffed brown hair and a sharply adapted go well with, and he or she regarded each inch the public-relations expert: poised, gracious, ruthless. “I’m sorry, Charles,” she acknowledged speedy, “I desired to let you know yet we couldn’t locate you anyplace. There’s a few very important information. GeneDyne—” Levine noticed a reporter he well-known, and his face broke right into a large smile. “Evening, Artie! ” he cried, shrugging clear of Wheeler and retaining up his arms. “Glad to work out the Fourth property so lively. one after the other, please! And Toni, inform them to chop the song for a second. ” “Charles,” Wheeler stated urgently, “please pay attention. I’ve simply discovered that—” She was once drowned out through the journalists’ questions. “Professor Levine! ” one individual begun. “Is it true—” “I will decide upon the questioners,” Levine broke in. “Now, all of you be quiet. You,” he acknowledged, pointing to a lady in entrance. “You begin. ” “Professor Levine,” the reporter referred to as out, “could you complicated at the accusations approximately GeneDyne made within the final factor of Genetic coverage? It’s being stated that you've a private vendetta opposed to Brentwood Scopes—” Wheeler abruptly spoke up, her voice slicing in the course of the air like ice. “One moment,” she acknowledged crisply. “This press convention is ready the Holocaust Memorial award Professor Levine is ready to obtain, now not in regards to the GeneDyne controversy. ” “Professor, please! ” cried a reporter, unheeding. Levine pointed at another individual. “You, Stephen, you shaved off that very good mustache. a classy miscalculation in your half. ” A ripple of laughter went in the course of the crowd. “Wife didn’t love it, Professor. It tickled the—” “I’ve heard sufficient, thanks. ” there has been extra laughter. Levine held up his hand. “Your query? ” “Scopes has referred to as you—and I quote—‘a harmful enthusiast, a one-man inquisition opposed to the clinical miracle of genetic engineering. ’ Do you've gotten any remark? ” Levine smiled. “Yes. Mr. Scopes has consistently had a fashion with phrases. yet that’s all it's. phrases, jam-packed with sound and fury…You all know the way that line ends. ” “He additionally acknowledged that you're attempting to deprive numerous humans of the clinical merits of this new technology. Like a therapy for Tay-Sachs illness, for instance. ” Levine held up his hand back. “That is a extra critical cost. I’m now not inevitably opposed to genetic engineering. What i'm opposed to is germ-cell remedy. you recognize the physique has different types of cells, somatic cells and germ cells. Somatic cells die with the physique. Germ cells—the reproductive cells—live ceaselessly. ” “I’m uncertain I understand—” “Let me end.