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TWO PATHS IN THE WOODS
CHAPTER III

1230 PDT 2 JUNE
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA

     The sun drenched yellow facades of the two story buildings stood stolidly in the blasting heat.  Red tile roofs added charm to the scene, as did the eucalyptus and other trees.  Cicadas hummed in the bushes.  Strolling graduates and their families filled the walkways and spilled onto the grass.  The light blue sky was tinged with brown from the summer smog.  Cameras devoured miles of film that would rarely see the light of day once developed, but proudly kept, nevertheless.

     Walking to a van, a red headed group with a pretty young brunette in its midst loaded up.  The graduate got into the middle seat following the brunette.  The van headed out to Huntington Library to celebrate with lunch at the Tea Room.  Five minutes later, all but the brunette and the graduate were seated in the Tea Room's subdued elegance.  The couple walked out to the formal rose garden.

     They stepped into the rose covered gazebo.  The brunette sat carefully on the stone bench.  Hidden from outside eyes, the red-haired man knelt and held her hand. After a moment, she nodded her head, leaned forward, and kissed him.

     The December wedding was beautiful, but not attended by Martin Cofford.  He was busy attempting to purchase a ranch in Montana for the Wilderness League.  Unfortunately, shortly thereafter it was sold to a coal company.

0731 MST 1 JANUARY
WILDERNESS LEAGUE OFFICE
MCLEOD, MONTANA

     The A-frame was surrounded by snow.  Inside, there was a single open room lined by varnished logs.  Indian rugs covered the floor.  Leather couches and arm chairs were scattered about the room.  Bodies in various poses lay about on the furniture and the floor.  Alcohol containers, empty, and roach clips littered the room between the bodies.  Added to the smells of stale beer, burnt hemp, and sweaty bodies were the results of the uneasy stomachs of several of the drunks.

     Burt Lascom and Martin were the only two awake.  Neither had created many of the empties, and none of the roach clips had been through their hands.  They sat staring out the front window at the Absaroka Range to the southwest.

     Giving a sidling glance at the bodies, Burt shook his head. "This bunch is hopeless.  They're more interested in pleasure than anything else."

     Martin smiled broadly.  "You didn't seem to be unhappy about Lorraine being short sighted last night, if the sounds from the couch were any indication."

     Burt guffawed.  "I didn't think you were aware of anything but Bonnie."

     Still smiling, Martin said, "Some of us never allow ourselves to lose awareness of our surroundings."

     Burt punched his shoulder.  "I think you weren't paying attention to Bonnie because she's not Jenny.  And that's because you never got to her."

     "Not funny."  The smile had disappeared.

     "But true.  But that's not what we're here about."

     "You're right.  At least as to why we're here.  These slugs,"  he shrugged toward the bodies about, "don't have the brains to know what is really happening.  They worship the Earth Mother, and think they are being progressive by buying recycled paper.  They want to live in harmony with the Earth Spirit like the ancients.  But the ancients didn't do very well themselves.  Before the Conquistadors gave the Plains Indians horses, they ran buffalo over   cliffs.  What kind of harmony was that?"

     "None.  Which is all very interesting, but doesn't explain why you wanted to see me this morning alone."

     Martin was poker faced, now. "Well.  Let's just say we may be in agreement on many issues."

     "Or you've been thinking about what I said?"  Burt blandly looked out over the fresh snow.

     "Or I've been thinking about what you said."

     "So tell me about it."

     "You said there are some people that think Man is the worst thing that ever happened to this planet.  Well, I agree.  Not only have we wiped out whole species, but we destroy habitat.  Dragnets make seabeds sterile.  Our industrial farming methods reduce the variety of food, throwing whole eco-systems out of whack.  Where people live, predators can't.  Without predators, all of the other species down the chain have to rely on man to kill them.

     "And then there is the beauty of the world.  Rain forests slashed and burned. Bridges, roads, buildings, pollution.  If man became environmentally conscious today, the world would still be overcrowded and doomed to disaster.  Man has to be cut back below five hundred million, as it was before sixteen hundred."  Martin was sitting forward in a tense crouch.

     "So, what does that mean?"

     "Today's five and a half billion people can't survive without gas engine economy. If that can be brought down, five billion die of starvation.  There are only twenty years of oil in the ground.  But they have been saying there were only twenty years supply in the ground since the twenty's.  We have to attack the fields and refineries, before they find new supplies.

     "We have to accept the deaths of five billion people, but that doesn't bring the world into balance.  We need to get the population down to under one hundred million, a sustainable level without starvation and allowing for organic farming that doesn't destroy local balances.  If we can get our hands on a biological weapon, that would do it quickly.  Of course, we must stop population growth now.  U.N. sterilization.  Help the spread of AIDS by preventing normal quarantine methods.  But Earth must be returned to a natural state."

     Burt stared stolidly out over the pristine snow.  "Why shouldn't I think this is only temporary because of hurt feelings?  Isn't this just getting back at her, and when you find another sweetheart, you'll change?"

     Martin's face was stone.  "This's why we broke up.  She wanted children.  Just us wasn't enough for her.  I was even willing to get married to make her happy.  But she just didn't understand that man was ruining the Earth.  I loved her, but I would never give up the truth.  So, there is no chance that I'll turn back now."

     Burt nodded.  "Good enough for now.  Just don't go evangelical on us and try to convert everybody.  Even these 'good environmentalists' would walk out in a minute if they knew what the real plan was.  They'd probably think it was mass murder, not necessary to save this innocent planet and her species.  Tell them that animals have the same rights as man, and so shouldn't be killed to feed us.  Of course, if they thought it through, they'd realize that murderers and their accomplices must be put to death for justice sake.  But they don't even believe in the death of mad dogs who kill helpless children and women."  Burt shook his head.  "What we have to do is make them mad, and give them a religion based on worship of the Earth.  They start following that, and they'll be easy to lead."

     "That's obvious."

     Burt looked over at him coldly.  "I'm glad you think so.  But you better be clear about this.  Anyone of us in the Clearance Operation is expendable.  And I mean permanently.  If one of us is caught and can't get away, they must be silenced.  You think about it and let me know."  Burt got up, walked over to Lorraine and began to wake her up.