The Barry brothers exchanged glances, then reluctantly nodded and Barry said, "Agreed. We manage him or get rid of him."

The doctors returned to Barry's office, where Mark was waiting for them. He was standing at the window, a small dark figure against the glare of sunlight. He turned to face them, and his own face seemed featureless. The sun touched his hair and made it gleam with red-gold highlights.

"What will you do with me?" he asked. His voice was steady.

"Come over here and sit down," Barry said, taking his place behind the desk. The boy crossed the room and sat on a straight chair, perching on the extreme front of it, as if ready to leap up and run.

"Relax," Bob said, and sat on the edge of the desk, swinging his leg as he regarded the boy. When the five brothers were in the room it seemed very crowded suddenly. The boy looked from one to another of them and finally turned his attention to Barry. He didn't ask again.

Barry told him about the meeting, and watching him, he thought, there was a little of Ben, and a little of Molly, and for the rest, he had gone into the distant past, dipped into the gene pool, had come up with strangers' genes, and he was unlike anyone else in the valley. Mark listened intently, the way he listened in class when he was interested. His grasp was immediate and thorough.

"Why do they think what I did was so awful?" he asked when Barry became silent.

Barry looked at his brothers helplessly. This was how it was going to be, he wanted to say to them. No common grounds for understanding. He was an alien in every way.

Suddenly Mark asked, "How can I tell you apart?"

"There's no need for you to tell us apart," Barry said firmly.

Mark stood up then. "Should I go get my stuff, bring it to your place?"

"Yes. Now, while the others are in school. And come right back."

Mark nodded. At the door he paused, glanced at each in turn once more, and said, "Maybe just a tiny, tiny touch of paint, on the tips of the ears, or something…?" He opened the door and ran out, and they could hear him laughing as he raced down the hall.

Chapter 21

Barry glanced about the lecture room and spotted Mark in the rear, looking sleepy and bored. He shrugged; let him be bored. Three of the brothers were working in the labs, and the fourth was busy in the breeders' quarters; that left the lecture, and Mark had to sit through it if it killed him.