按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
d by extreme population pressure on Old Home Terra； and made possible by two new factors： the Libby…Sheffield Para…Drive as it was Iqiown then （not a 〃drive〃 in any true sense； but a means of manipulating n…dimensional spaces）； and the first （and simplest） of effective longevity techniques： new blood grown in vitro。 … …
The Hw；ard Families caused this to happen simply by escaping。 The short…lived humans back on Terra； still convinced that the long…lived families possessed a 〃secret；〃 set。 about trying to find it by wide and systematic research； and； as always； research paid off serendipitously； npt with the nonexistent 〃secret〃 but with something almost as good： a therapy； and eventually a sheaf of therapies； for postponing old age； and for extending yigor； virility； and fertility。 …。
The Great Diaspora was then both necessary and possible。
The Senior's great talent （aside from his ability to lie extemporaneously and convincingly） seems always to have been a rare gift for extrapolating the possibilities of any situation
…then twisting it to suit his own purposes。 （He calls it： 〃You have to have a feeling for what makes the frog jump。〃 Psychometrists who have studied him say that he has an extremely high psi talent expressed as 〃forerunners〃 and 〃luck〃…but what the Senior has to say about them is less polite。 As a record…keeper； I refrain from opinion。）
The Senior saw at once that this benison of extended youth； although promised to everyone； would in fact be limited to the powerful and their nepots。 The billions of helots could not be allowed to live beyond their normal pan； there was no room for them…imless they migrated to the stars； in which case there would be room for each human to live as long as he could manage。 How the Senior exploited this is not always clear； he seems to have used several names snd many fronts。 His key corporations wound up in the ~ands of this Foundation； then ove the
Foundation and the Howard Families to Secundus…at his behest； he having saved 〃the best real estate〃 for his relatives and descendants。 Sixty…eight percent of those then liv。ing accepted the challenge of new frontiers。
Our geic debt to him is both indirect and direct。 The indirect debt lies in the fact that migratio~i is a sorting device； a forced Darwinian selection； under which s？perior stock goes to the stars while culls stay home and die。 This is true even for those forcibly transported （as in the twenty…fourth and twenty…fifth centuries）； save that the sorting then takes place on the new pla。 In a raw frontier weaklings and mis… fits die； strong stock survives。 Even those who migrate voluntarily still go through this second drastic special selection。 The Howard Families have been culled in this fashion at least three times。
Our geic 〃debt〃 to the Senior is even easier to prove。 Part of it needs only simple arithmetic。 If you live anywhere but on Old Home Terra…and you almost certainly do if you。 read this； in view of the present miserable state of 〃The Fair Green Hills of Earth〃…and can claim even one member of the Howard Families among your ancestors…and most of you can…then you are most probably descended from the Senior。
By the official Families' genealogies this probability is 87。3 percent。 You are descended from many other twentiethcentury members of the Howard Families； too； if you are descended from any of them； but I speak here only of Woodrow Wilson Smith； the Senior。 By the Crisis Year 2136 nearly one…tenth of the youngest generation of the Howard Families were descended from the Senior 〃legitimately〃…by which I mean that each linking birth was so recorded in the Families' records and ancestry confirmed by such tests as were available at the time。 （Even blood typing was not known when the breeding experiment started； but the culling process made it strongly to a female's advantage not to stray； at least not outside the Families。）
By now the cumulative probability is； as I have said； 87。3 percent if you have any Howard ancestor…but if you have a Howard ancestor from a recent generation； your probability climbs toward an effective 100 percent。
But； as a statistician； I have reason to believe （backed by puter analyses of blood types； hair types； eye color； tooth count； enzyme types； and other characteristics responsive to geic analysis ）…strong reason to believe that the Senior
has many descendants not recorded in genealogies； both inside and outside the Howard Families。 …
To put it mildly； he is a shameless old goat whose seed is scattered all through this part of our Galaxy。
Take the years of the Exodus； after he stole the New Frontiers。 He was not married even once during those years； and ship's records and legends based on memoirs of that time suggest that he was； in an early idiom； a 〃woman hater；〃 a misogynist。
Perhaps。 Biostistical records （rather than genealogies）； when analyzed； suggest that he was not that unapproachable。 The puter that analyzed it offered to bet me even money on more than one hundred offspring fathered by him during those years。 （I refused the bet； that puter beats me at chess even though I insist on a one…rook advantage。）
I do not find this surprising； in view of the almost … pathological emphasis placed on longevity among the Families at that time。 The oldest male； if still virile…and he certainty was…would have been subjected to endless temptation； endless opportunity； by females anxious to have offspring of his demonstrated superiority…〃superiority〃 by the only criterion the Howard Families respected。 We can assume that marital status would not matter much； all Howard Families marriages were marriages of convenience…Ira Howard's will insured that…and they were rarely for life。 The only surprising aspect is that so few fertile females managed to triy him any thousands were willing。 But he was always fast on his feet。
As may be… If today I see a man with sandy red hair； a big nose； an easy disarming grin； and a slightly feral look in his gray…green eyes； I always wonder how recently the Senior has passed through that part of the Galaxy。 If such a stranger es close to me； I put my hand on my purse： If he speaks。 to me； I resolve not to make wagers or promises。
But how did the Senior； himself only a third…generation member of… Ira Howard's breeding experiment； manage to live and stay young hi？ first three hundred years without artificial rejuvenation？
A mutation； of course…which simply says that we don't know。 But in the course of his several rejuvenations we have learned a little about his physical makeup。 He has an unusually large heart that beats very slowly。 He has only twentyeight teeth； no caries； and seems to be immune to infection。 He has never had … surgery other than for wounds or for
rejuvenation procedures。 His reflexes are extremhly fast… but appear always to be reasoned； so one may question the correctness of the term 〃reflex。〃 His eyes have never needed correction either for distance or close work； his hearing range is abnormally high； abnormally low； and is unusually a