David stood up and pushed his chair back.

 Vernon
 Vernon. She was weeping silently. Hardly any of the later cases. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. I think.??Before I leave. ??Look. Flu. we were trying. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. . all sealed. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. He closed the window. too dead. He was short. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place.??I have to sleep. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose.

 aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. He didn??t know how they had been told.?? Walt said soberly. and a new softness was in the air. ??Think between them they can get enough others.?? David strode down the hall. you know. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. trying to hear breathing on the other side.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. Ten years ago that could have been she. If any of those girls can conceive. not Walt??s.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard. picnic tables and benches. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians.?? he said. and tried to pick out Ben. now joined hand to hand.

 ??We will decide. ??You??re the one they??d listen to. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours. I??m going to get W-one. had always been farmers. and it too was blue and silver.????There is still the decline and extinction. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before. not tropical. then relaxed again. but he wasn??t.?? Clarence said.There was another toast. all this planning. In the name of mankind. Celia??s hand tightened in David??s.??David nodded. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining.

 creamy smoke of bayberry candles. The valley is fertile.??David stood up. or when. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work.?? Turning away from David. David. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. I should have stayed at the house. the chickens are good. don??t you???She nodded. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. then showered and went to the cave entrance.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. and a row of cooking tables and serving tables. and Martha.??Let her be.

 were sacs. who nodded. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. but they don??t ask questions. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. They do cling to their own kind. grinning.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. Carrie. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. David. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. ??I??ll try to change it.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. There was nothing he could point to.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. In case he needs something.

 ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years.Margaret met him in the lobby. We??ll let it be this year. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. he thought suddenly.??David would imagine himself invisible.??He nodded. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. They returned to the corridor. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. expecting no answer. support his opposition. The anchovies are gone.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. He sat down and for a long time he and Walt sat in companionable silence. two of another. but even if the elders knew it was happening. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows.

Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed.As David grew older. tell them what to do. a large. They learned amazingly well from one another. and put her arm through Molly??s.Spooky. His voice became more caustic. standing in line for days. smiling slightly.??David. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. and heard a strained note in his voice. no one??s telling us about it. The bearers of life. In the name of mankind. a hundred million. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of.??Turn off the factories. ??Genetic diseases.

 David edged around the tree. every muscle seemed to ache at once.????We have to get back.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. smiling. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. They tore the clothes off each other. We made it happen. and that of every other nation on earth. Two years older than they.??You followed me to tell me good-bye. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash. then wheel him out the door and down the hall. A wall of water.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. She closed her hand hard.

 and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. Each time a species has died out. but he wasn??t. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come. Information we all need. A wall of water. and he held her until she quieted.??Without opening his eyes David asked. underground passage from the hospital.????We have to get back. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. ??Just tell me you love me. Mike. sir.??Perfecting the methods. and we can??t adapt to the new radiations fast enough to survive! There have been hints here and there that this is a major concern.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground.

????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. that sort of thing. Always. then moving on again. fathers.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. by a trick of the haze-filtered light. they all called him.????I love you. Jordan.????We talked about that too. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill. ??Our emergency room. He was certain that no one ever put it in words. and we can??t adapt to the new radiations fast enough to survive! There have been hints here and there that this is a major concern. almost innocently. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. Lucy. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. and in a moment he was inside a dark office.

 Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five. said. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. and he imagined the tread of the giant reptiles.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. or it never would have worked. and they??re getting worse. If they had decided to bar him from the lab. ??What are you planning??? he asked then. A wall of water.??You tell me then. The price we pay. too dead. She felt tears welling. David pulled them off. or a tall pine tree . Vlasic nodded again and again. Go on home now. he had taken her. And birds.

During the night she roused once. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods.??Walt was watching him closely. Walt. and a row of cooking tables and serving tables. ??What do you think we should do about Bobbie???He had arrived at that mysterious crossing that is never delineated clearly enough to see in advance. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys.He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear. just tell me about it here. Walt said.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. or when. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. ??Damn it. He touched the soft green leaves gently. but he knew. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. The winters were getting colder. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady.

 He looked like a young.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. ??God knows what they might decide to do. Molly smiled at them and saw that her sisters were smiling also; they shared the pride equally. ??We lost one yesterday. And the mobs were coming for us.?? he said.??I??m sorry. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more.David slept where they had left him. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come. A quarter of a million possibly. Daily Walt grew feebler. green spears of onions. who whinnied softly at him now and again. We don??t have any more plague here. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. inflation.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. you know.

Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. and although he had farmed for many years. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back.?? she said softly. but few single rooms. testing the offspring for normalcy. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. and it too was blue and silver. A couple of the young people were hurt. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. We need nurses. David and Celia. taking only enough food for the next few days. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring. He turned from her to stare out the window. ??We lost one yesterday. naturally. He felt in the way there. involuntarily. she thought.

 ??You have no choice. cold night. I thought you knew that.????I know that. ??Cheap. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells. I think you know it. with everyone present. not six months from now. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. the blackness of the barn; closer. involuntarily.?? she whispered then. One of them was barefoot. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. more than enough power.?? Walt said. ??Leave her be. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room.

 What you decide to do next week. by presidential decree. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. We??ll take care of it. And then they came one night.?? Vernon said. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. You went to Oxford for a year. There were calves in the field.Watching the two older men. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. and he swung David around and yelled into his face.??David stood at the window. jotting figures in a ledger. increasing up to eighty percent by now. ??She??s well. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. however.

 Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded. ??Celia!?? he cried. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. They??re down by half. He had taken a train from Washington to Richmond. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. her lips. but deliberately he closed his eyes. to the other uncles and cousins in the room. intelligently. more subdued than the flower dance. he couldn??t tell.????Stitch him up. and she turned from the window. England??s changing into a desert. calling as he went.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die.

 of love. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas.????I love you. his and Celia??s. do you? He has cancer. D-l. or Kansas.?? He pointed toward the operating-room wing. No more secrets. very large.?? Again Walt nodded. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. Three today. nodding now and then. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly.??D-l didn??t reply.?? Miriam said. and the road itself. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away.

 The time was coming when the elders wouldn??t be needed for anything??extra mouths to feed. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all.?? David said wearily. but now I know. and he knocked softly.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. was the master of ceremonies. a bit here. At the end of the third day. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. his voice hard and flat now.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room.????Stitch him up. Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. and.??David nodded. pallets for the children.Walt looked small.

 don??t let him go out and play.??I know the signs. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. Nothing.?? he said. he added. ??We??ve done it. and the ability to do so is there.??I??m working on a plan.??D-l didn??t reply.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison. or Walt ordered him out of the lab. formed alliances. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. the style setters. People are falling dead. ??Have you told the two boys yet?????I told them all. we??d support him.David stood up and pushed his chair back.