The boy stopped and turned.
* * * * *
"Steven, I want to talk to you."
"It's no use, sir!"
"You're headstrong, Steven. You pit a few years' research against my
work of a lifetime. Once I respected you. I thought you would carry on
for me as I've carried on for the generations that came before me."
"I am, sir."
"You are not." The old man clutched at the boy's tunic and spoke
intensely. "You betray all of us. You will cut short a line of research
that promises the salvation of humanity. In five minutes you will wipe
out five centuries of work. You owe it to those who slaved before us
not to let their sweat go in vain."