Page 34 - Demo

Natch!20sheet this way and that trying to ascertain the proper direction.%u201cToward the pampas. At this point, we have no way of knowinghow far or how fast it will travel. We%u2019ll be monitoring thesituation closely but bear in mind that it%u2019s likely that the designprocess will need to remain somewhat fluid until we can say withcertainty where and when it will stop and what that may meanfor the resulting climate.%u201dThe stump grumbled at this news. It was hard enough todesign a massive new ecosystem when all the variables werefixed. Now they were going to be asked to design withoutprecisely knowing the climate and/or the potential neighbors.%u201cWhat%u2019s the second condition?%u201d Gad asked, looking up from hispad. Except for me and the two new interns, he was the only onetaking notes. %u201cYou said there were two caveats.%u201d Betty and Nateshared a meaningful look, neither of them wanting to be the oneto break the news. Finally, seeing that Nate was not going to doit, Betty blurted it out.%u201cWe%u2019ll need to find a place in the design for the Homps.%u201d%u201cOhhh!%u201d A chorus of groans, hisses, %u201care you kiddings?%u201d and oneor two f-bombs whirled around the stump.%u201cBut they were the ones who created this mess in the firstplace!%u201d Jinx, who usually didn%u2019t say much in these meetings,expressed aloud what everyone was thinking.%u201cAre they still technically Homo sapiens?%u201d Will looked up for thefirst time.%u201cThat%u2019s true,%u201d Gad caught Will%u2019s train of thought. %u201cThe Hompshad to adapt quite a bit after the last cataclysm. Those that areleft are scattered on the plains and foothills of the Far North.What were you folks calling them the other day?%u201d He looked atFate.%u201cHomo toastidos!%u201d They responded and the whole roomcracked up. Even Nate, who didn%u2019t usually care for suchjocularity, couldn%u2019t entirely repress a chuckle. He recognized, as