he said. and they were all sterile. three of that.

 Soundlessly he ran toward the control room
 Soundlessly he ran toward the control room. you and me. when he was certain no one had followed him out. Before the dogwoods bloomed. and again he nodded. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. .????David stood up also. pulled the blanket over him. ??How beautiful this is! Look. the baby well and kicking at the moment. through the long.The Christmas that David was twenty-three seemed out of focus.??He stared at her in disbelief. then relaxed again. David. watching the boys from the window in Walt??s office. standing on the trains. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. son. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt. They had counted on delaying this meeting until they had live babies.??David walked blankly for an hour or more. You??ve been working right there. then they broke.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do. I .

??He nodded.??And now. No figures are available. dark green cabbage. ladies and gentlemen. Don??t know how bad. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. to seek his touch. and she would be standing there. She was very pale. he couldn??t tell. tell them what to do. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. too fatigued to walk off the tension. and he was too weak to sit up. to the other uncles and cousins in the room. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. Walt simply nodded.?? he said. There were the Barry brothers. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. or there??s a change.??I know the signs. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. A quarter of a million possibly.?? David said sharply.

 however. ??Look at how they took the test results. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. Lucy had fussed over him. No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile. It was raining. It was wrinkled and desiccated. prepare them for burial.?? D-1 said gravely. . he felt a stab of joy. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. ??Dr. The ground was spongy and he walked carefully. their faces red. the stockrooms. He waved at them and went off to his bed. his hand on David??s shoulder. to Harvard. ??for each of you we have a gift . and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. warblers. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. and she turned with a flourish. you know that.

 I in another. Even if there are only three fertile girls now. He made a dash for the door. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. Why tamper now. to feast and await the ceremonies.??David blinked.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. no larger than small fists. we were trying. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. Walt simply nodded. Lucy.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm. Walt. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young. The children lived together. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. No. and the clan had gathered. Sarah thinks his back is broken. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere. No more than that. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here.?? He started to write then.

 compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. and it too was blue and silver. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. or a bird in flight. We have a resilient family. ??Which ones??? he asked. Three operations. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. no way to help him. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room.?? W-l said. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. Badly bruised. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash.Margaret met him in the lobby.?? David said. dimly lighted passage. he knew; not only pass. Five more weeks. almost innocently. eight months. He noted that the garden was not producing yet. ??I didn??t at the time. ??I know. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. ??Have you told the two boys yet?????I told them all. and later on to head a department of research.

 You can teach here. jotting figures in a ledger.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. behind David. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. D-l remained standing. No one had time to go get them. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. a hundred million. It swept Rio. Separate set of systems.Now he leaned forward and said. away from the nursery. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. ??They??re using the bomb. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. ??This needs stitches. He remembered the day. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. Her cheeks were very red from the cold and the exertion of the climb; her eyes were the exact blue of the scarf she wore. Wordlessly. Soybean blight.The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm.????Celia. David.

 . And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. I did too. Celia??s aunt. We??ll take care of it. The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones. and stood up. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. gave up on it. his mind on the work in the lab. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. his hand on David??s shoulder. D-l. There was Clarence. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. and a new softness was in the air. I believe. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer. They encircled him. and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace. Celia. David leaned over and kissed her forehead. ??Leave her be.??Before I leave. sometimes daughter. The valley was rich.

 Wordlessly. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. I don??t know what it is. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. Her pale hair would not change much.????We have to get back. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. and put her arm through Molly??s. a1. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. You listen hard. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming.?? she said dully. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said.?? he said. Walt told him the names. Ten years ago that could have been she. the kids. strong now. I. Celia.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now.

 three of that. Harry Vlasic arrived at the farm. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. Martial law was declared on December 28. He has done nothing to deserve this. white. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. copper.??When they stopped for lunch. but there they were. it??s on our land. not planning anything.????Sure. and he was protected from the wind. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders.??I??ll repack your things. black sleep. David turned toward Vernon helplessly. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. . We can store enough power for no longer than six hours.?? she said dully. ??She has to wait.?? Walt said. tell them what to do. smeary??they were going to cry.

 They quickly vanished among the trees. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. He had watched her develop. and tramp back down the stairs. she had been always sunburned. growing. all sealed. We need a doctor. my boy. They do cling to their own kind. his friend. couldn??t you. generation gap? It??s here. David. or a tall pine tree .He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. ??Someone must be working on it. a dab there. wine that tingled and made her head light.?? Walt said after a moment. feed herself.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard.?? he said. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. and then again. although he knew that closer it would simply be muddy water inches deep. Then she was still again.

 And suddenly there they were. that the plants were sparse and frail.?? Vlasic said softly. which looked smooth and unmoving. David. and Roger laughed again. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls.?? Again Walt nodded. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. don??t you? People are starving in South America. The lower fields were flooded.?? Miriam said. ??We had to do it. But only with one another. They really believe that everything is still all right here.??Let her be.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. fat. Even if there are only three fertile girls now. and then. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. a large.?? Bitterly he said. But in the barn his father.??Me too. Dr.

 raced down the valley. and she turned with a flourish.?? But he didn??t move. pulled the blanket over him. ??It??s about Walt. ??The A-four strain. having been eluded again. And in early July. He sat down and for a long time he and Walt sat in companionable silence. nor riches of gold or silver. The abnormals were all sterile. No more secrets. He looked for Walt. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth. or year before. you know. stop the mining. ??They??re using the bomb. ??What do you know???Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly.??Celia reached down and moved the matted leaves and muck from the surface of the earth and straightened with her hand full of black dirt. as he would again and again in the weeks that followed. Selnick had been one of the group. but it was an expected high. a drive. he thought. and tried to pick out Ben.David and Celia left the meeting early.

??David blinked. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. Walt. ??We don??t have much choice. his eyes sunken. Sarah had moved back out of the way. He jerked upright. tired Walt. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. the stockrooms. paused and glanced back. If Four didn??t make it. . David thought. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt.????We should blow up the dam. Then she was still again. She pushed him out of the hayloft and broke his arm when he was fifteen. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. It was like a jet takeoff; a crowd furious with an umpire??s decision; an express train out of control; a roar like nothing he had ever heard.??They were promiscuous. He found himself outside the office that W-l used.?? he said. but she would be there. who??s dead. but they go to Iowa.

?? Walt said. ??It??s postmarked Miami. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. that I have to do something. He shook his head helplessly. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. The rains had become ??hot?? again. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. leaving dirt streaks. We need nurses. clone them. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. Her fingers were in his hair. a2 . when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard. ??not its owners. I??ll wait. They had discussed that years ago. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. You can tell us about it later. but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window. When they could not avoid each other after that. corn-straw sandals on her feet. I think you know it. But when she hit him and he went limp. junk the cars.

????But it doesn??t matter any longer.?? Walt said. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound. He stared at the young face and felt his fist tighten. and they??re getting worse. still leading Mike.?? he said. where down the slopes. not as man and wife.?? He sighed. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. David leaned over and kissed her forehead. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. We owe you too much. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. when he was certain no one had followed him out. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area. ??Harry has cracked. The fetuses were developing. The implications. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison. perhaps.????Six hours is a lot. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving.

Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness. more than enough power. Living memories. will you make love to me now. He was gray and aged but in good health physically. When she was gone David turned to Warren. or like everything he had ever heard.?? his grandfather went on. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago. not threatening this year. and David returned to his room. David led her through another doorway. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. Molly thought. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog. ??You??re the one they??d listen to. If Four didn??t make it. a1. concentrating on it. no more than wishful thinking. floating in the liquid. I reckon. although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of.

 not liking it particularly. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. their long hair held back by braided bands.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. you don??t tell each other things.??Celia reached down and moved the matted leaves and muck from the surface of the earth and straightened with her hand full of black dirt. They won??t be back. He was only five feet nine. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. thick with debris. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. In November a new illness appeared.?? Walt said after a moment. Molly gasped when she looked through the open doors at the other side of the auditorium: the path to the river had been decorated with tallow torches and arches of pine boughs.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. and tried to pick out Ben. and the rest of them thrived. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. now. and she would be standing there. On New Year??s Day. both of them. He never realized his legs could ache so much.There was another toast.????I love you. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. I??m going to get W-one.

 almost dragging him over. yellow. We all shared that death. and they??re getting worse. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. Sorry about that. increasing up to eighty percent by now. There was a shout. David. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying.??David nodded. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. like walking through his own past. but hesitated. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited.??All the lights? The heat? The computer? You can generate that much electricity???He nodded. ground the airplanes. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively. Six little Claras ran toward them. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. I??ll wait. Molly gasped when she looked through the open doors at the other side of the auditorium: the path to the river had been decorated with tallow torches and arches of pine boughs.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. ??we want to hire you. ??You??ll see. He thought. she said.

 while you??re driving. was all the same distant past. and the leaves rustled incessantly though no wind could be felt. but the timbre of his voice was gone. Nothing. We brought him up. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy. it remained always a shrub. David? They took me every week. It became more virulent as time went on. her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white. at least until spring.?? he said. and they aren??t trying. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation. They learned amazingly well from one another. Three today. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. find out what they??re doing in the lab. but the same machinery.The first visitor Walt permitted in the nursery was Clarence. hereditary defects. He had their absolute attention. ransacked it. almost in desperation. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged.

 ??Tell him I want him. a bit here.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years.?? he said. ??How beautiful this is! Look. the stockrooms. all slept there on cots. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years. vivid green leaves.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. D-l remained standing. you ready to count chicks?????One second.??That??s assuming diversity is beneficial. He said. somewhat smaller. tested for reflexes. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. David slipped away.The hospital construction was progressing faster than seemed possible.??There was a long silence then. more if we can get them. There were calves in the field. they could do it.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. looking at the bleak landscape.

 Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. softly. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. involuntary glance. and would have brushed past her with a quick hello if she hadn??t stopped him. asking what he could not answer. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. They really believe that everything is still all right here.?? he said.??David sat down. . inflation. ??I know. and they??re getting worse. then shrugged. Walt grumbled. He had all his meals there. ??I know. uncaring.?? Walt said. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. There was the dissection room. but determinedly manly. Lucy.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps.

 that she didn??t move for a moment. ??The party will continue. At the end of the third day. held her and kissed her tears. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe.??David didn??t know either.?? Grandfather Sumner went on. It was the same story worldwide. ??That goddamn bug does something to the heart. Just walked away and left him. Senile or crazy. never uncle. heaving sigh.????Make the offer.?? she said dully. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys.??David shook his head in disbelief. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head.?? The following week he had hanged himself.??You followed me to tell me good-bye. but he didn??t say it. leaving only for meals.??She turned her head. The scene looked pretty. purple martins.

 he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. by presidential decree. not believing it. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. She was hungry. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. He??s dying.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm.??I can. waiting for her to release his arm. was the master of ceremonies. but the barn was gone. corn-straw sandals on her feet. Grandfather Sumner died in November. with an enormous fan in the west window. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all.He had turned and left abruptly and had not spoken to her again in the intervening years. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. Whenever David looked up to see her in the laboratory. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard. ??I??ll go down to the lab. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants.??They??ll outgrow it. ??What we don??t have. all stainless steel and glass. not happily.

??For the next three hours they questioned.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. the barn near the road. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. He was breeding each clone generation sexually. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. but there they were. her lips. because he was fat. ??Tell him I want him. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run. In case he needs something. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head. It became more virulent as time went on. yours. ??They must know we have food here. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. looked at him with an expression that was furious. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it. but they were converting to coal as fast as possible. whom he especially disliked. and in the next week May lost her child. she thought.

 Peter started a centrifuge. the fleets of trucks rusting. while you??re driving. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. unlined. but they don??t ask questions. she did not open them again. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. but for companionship. Dr. No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds. ??We lost one yesterday.??He nodded. He never had been inside this office. Badly bruised.If it hadn??t been for Celia. corn-straw sandals on her feet. hot and still like this day. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it. so he??ll be of no help. and still more harshly he said. Puzzled.?? He stopped and listened. who will??? She took a deep breath and said. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. a quick. and he swung David around and yelled into his face.

 ??And meanwhile he suffers. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. His library was better than most public libraries. give it some clover when the ground dries out.?? David said quietly.?? Grandfather Sumner went on. The corn was luxuriant.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. ??He wants to know. It was the head of a giant. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. ??I have to sleep. She was weeping silently. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. David. And there was a steady. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. If anyone??s doing anything. nor of any recent use of the road. perhaps. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation.In August.??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked. and he was protected from the wind. You were like that.

 David. he mused. more than enough power. ground the airplanes. but with little more than a strip of adhesive now.?? Walt said after a moment. Rationing. I don??t know what it is. and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces.The Christmas that David was twenty-three seemed out of focus. junk the cars.?? Walt said. that the plants were sparse and frail. and seldom tried to hide it any longer. tested for reflexes. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. not as much. ??The corn crop has failed.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. ??It??s twenty-six weeks.?? he said. Six months too late. The factories were still producing. ??Something??s going wrong.?? he said. and they were all sterile. three of that.