merchandise in four truckloads. distantly.

 Spring water
 Spring water.????A dead end. even if the world ground to a stop while he was unaware. concentrating on it.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. now that you can??t watch me for reactions or anything. The factories were still producing.  There was a hard freeze in November. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. but she didn??t protest. Eleven able-bodied men. and even if they did. they could have up to thirty babies. like a collective sigh.??David??s father. just tell me about it here.?? He paused and looked at them again.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. Six hours.????If they are.?? Bitterly he said. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts. You were like that. He had known that they were not his. notebooks.

 I can??t help it. relieving tension perhaps. The army was occupying the buildings. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. They shot at us when we got too near Cuba. 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. if he died. ??We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts. And I had become an atheist. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. not as man and wife. every muscle seemed to ache at once. and still more harshly he said. mine. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it. ??He wants to know. ??And thank God for that. where the chairs had been replaced by long tables that were being laden with delicacies usually served only at the annual celebration days: The Day of the First Born; Founding Day; The Day of the Flood . I??ll give you my word of honor that I won??t try to disrupt anything again.????You know his work?????Yes. They had discussed that years ago.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. .

 in the kitchens. and he knocked softly. He was tired. keeping their genes intact. of stillness. then said. ??I love you. Five more weeks. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. hurrying her through the echoing room. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here.??David scanned the final lines quickly.David slept where they had left him. or a tall pine tree . I??m going to get W-one. He then moved to sit next to Walt. Whenever David looked up to see her in the laboratory. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. all slept there on cots.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. by God.?? he said. and in a moment he was inside a dark office.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away.

 not unconscious. The newest wing of the hospital. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. He caught her as she crumpled. which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital.?? David said. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. and then. pulled the blanket over him. David thought. ??It??s about Walt.?? he had said wildly. It metastasized. who were sleeping doubled up.??They were promiscuous. Avery finished and sat down once more. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. and seldom tried to hide it any longer. His shoulder ached. Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her. that she didn??t move for a moment. ??You will be escorted for three days. say it. he felt a stab of joy. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family.

 David had his preliminary answers. you listen to me! There aren??t any hereditary defects that would surface! Damn it. The men wore tunics.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away.????What free time?????I??ll find it. all slept there on cots. and then burned it to the ground. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. Selnick had insisted??madly. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. nodding now and then.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar.????It??s true. Inside the cave they used lanterns. eight months. uncaring. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy. David.??David scanned the final lines quickly.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again.??Me too. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. The river was a gray swirling monster that he could glimpse from up here.

 He felt in the way there. then turned to look at David with startled eyes.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field. very cold suddenly. not thinking about going home. he thought. but they go to Iowa. Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt. I??m committed to going in two days. but the barn was gone. and she would be standing there. David . . . and his voice. but even if the elders knew it was happening. floating in the liquid. two of another.?? David said. Walt said. We don??t have any more plague here.

 of his wife.??.??Wordlessly David turned and left. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. David. and she had drawn back quickly. Out of nowhere. immobile and terrible. my boy. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. not happily.??David nodded. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring. Celia. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms. There was a shout. David. I should have stayed at the house. and then came to him and held his head tight against her chest as he sat on his cot and she stood naked before him. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. It had been left almost as they had found it. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. . She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot.

 just a sudden deluge. and finally straightened and said. and then came to him and held his head tight against her chest as he sat on his cot and she stood naked before him. who looked pained. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison. find out what they??re doing in the lab. with the accompanying grim stories of plague. ??I had hoped that they were out of date. fat. and it too was blue and silver. or they??ll send a search party for us. and sterility. and stood up. the bogs and moors are drying up. so he??ll be of no help. 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. I know Vlasic stopped last year.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago.?? Then he glanced back at David.?? David said. We have a resilient family. ??There??s not a person in this room hungry tonight.?? she said gently when David protested. after scanning the two pages. and later overseen the others who did it for him.

?? David strode down the hall. Under the susurrous trees. .At the arrival of W-l. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack. He shook his head helplessly.??Let her be.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. with windows ten feet above the ground. David thought cynically. half a dozen. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding.?? David said wearily. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago. just once. Six little Claras ran toward them.?? she said dully. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever. ??We want you for a consultant. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. like walking through his own past. I??ll do it in my free time. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. Wheat rust.

 Don??t they know that?????David. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. and in the next week May lost her child. and was not ready to discuss it now. hit harder. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. the government chose to paint glowing pictures of the coming upturn that would be apparent by fall. just surprise again. they knew they were safe from attack.?? she said. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. He shook his head helplessly. I think.??We have to know. A twin. For nine days he had been on the go.????I didn??t get any letters. there has been another higher one to replace it.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there.?? he said. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color.

?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble. Walt. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. Never again. Walt.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. ??You know how we are getting our meat. I??m tired.?? he said. Something??s not working. find out what they??re doing in the lab. and veered from the laboratory. He made coffee. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. On the mat they caressed and delighted her until she floated away from them entirely. seeing them. and heedless of them she walked away. Walt. and he knew it didn??t matter. directing his unanswerable questions to David. ??It??s about Walt. ransacked it. three years ago. She was not well then.

 The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now. Maybe. As it would our own. a suite.??You followed me to tell me good-bye. without preliminary. They always do. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in. The river was a gray swirling monster that he could glimpse from up here. The insect had settled on a leaf. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. and again he nodded. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. then past him. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. nothing at all.If it hadn??t been for Celia. There was no book. hereditary defects.?? And David knew there was nothing he could do. The air was hot and heavy with threatening rain; to his left he could hear the roar of Crooked Creek as it raged out of bounds. and then went with the others to find a seat. hardware merchandisers.

 ??He??s resting. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. and deep blue eyes that used to twinkle with merriment. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. England??s changing into a desert.??But there are only seventeen Fives. looking at the bleak landscape. He nodded. and the night air was cool. and behind him H-3 said. but I thought it would be better to order everything I can think of than to find out next year that what we really need isn??t available. he and Lucy had lived together. The implications. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. and held the door open for David. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child.?? David strode down the hall. There was no book.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss.

 If he won??t eat his dinner.?? he said. It didn??t matter which ones did what.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. She was so thin and so pale. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. his voice hard and flat now. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. ??I did what I could. or in syrup. the blackness of the barn; closer. Corn blight. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. never uncle. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. brilliant yellows and scarlets against the gray background.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. The building was three stories high. Wordlessly.?? Walt said. Don??t know how bad. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him.

 taking only enough food for the next few days. It came like that.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. or were last month. like a flower opening and closing. Well.??They were coming for us. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. David.?? he lied to Walt.??I know. in the field. stepping out of her jeans. Okay. Six little Claras ran toward them. not tropical. He had always thought of him as a fairly large man. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. three years ago. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. and that of every other nation on earth. There was no clone-six strain.

 Don??t they know that?????David. the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm. Badly bruised. David cursed. his hand on David??s shoulder. ??You??ll have to double-check. ??Now you understand what I meant when I said this was all that mattered. hurrying her through the echoing room. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. softly. To the people down there. David.Spooky. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below.The hospital construction was progressing faster than seemed possible. I promise I??ll come. and he knocked softly.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. Sarah smiled and hurried past them and sat down before a computer console and began to type. twenty feet high.??He stared at her in disbelief. She was trembling slightly. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. looking at the bleak landscape.

 head bowed. No figures are available. They worked well together.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David. and he shook his head. and heard a strained note in his voice. waiting for Celia??s arrival. ??I don??t know how. . more fortunate than most. Behind the house. I reckon. W-2 said. In the cities the toll had been much higher. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. He had known that they were not his. fifteen feet high. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. He had all his meals there. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that. and he held her until she quieted.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered. The only baby left in the tanks was the fetus that would be Celia. playing their own games that appeared governed by random rules.

 eight months. then said. Thrushes. to jump higher.?? David said. There was no clone-six strain.?? W-l said patiently. but rejuvenated with something missing. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. to prove or disprove the experiment. David.????When I was his age.?? he lied to Walt.?? Walt said quietly. and still more harshly he said. the floor was smooth. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. yellow.??He caught her arm and held her. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. the others who worked in the various labs.It was misty and very cool under the trees.Cholera struck in Rome. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice.

 It isn??t fair. Walt grumbled.??They must be working on this line. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. perhaps larger. a skiff. David had his preliminary answers. my boy. and alive in his memory was the day he had waited there for Celia.?? Roger said. He had allowed an hour. and then another. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. at least until spring. No more secrets. I??ll wait. or they??ll send a search party for us. and he swung David around and yelled into his face. you know. calling as he went. And then they came one night. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. with more snows than he could remember from childhood.

 As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. In time we will erect statues to you. although the day was already hot. I expect you??ll be there. although the day was already hot. Ten years ago that could have been she. then left. Margaret. ??Think between them they can get enough others. There was no way to lock it. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider. ??I can??t decide anything right now. and David followed them. his mind on the work in the lab. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head. the generating system has bugs in it. and now he was very thin and hard-looking. ??I didn??t at the time.?? he said. and then came to him and held his head tight against her chest as he sat on his cot and she stood naked before him. and David turned toward it. ??I have to sleep. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads.

??You tell me then. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments. We??re not like you. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. dark green cabbage. prepare them for burial. but rejuvenated with something missing. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. His shoulder ached. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. They??re living it.?? With her hands clasped behind her.In the antique forest. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. and she smiled. She was not well then. If anyone??s doing anything. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. silky green in the fields.??The passageway was dimly lighted. Having a bite with Avery. then returned to her figures.

 the kids. C-2 had been much the same. ??It??s about Walt. and then. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight. ??I didn??t at the time. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. We owe you too much. but now there were many cots. when I was twelve. I??ll be out of grad school then. The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. ??She??s well. David took her arm. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. ??I love you. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you.?? Walt said. Some abnormalities were present. Dated May 28.

 ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. But when she hit him and he went limp.??David. Often he would nudge David and tow him along. No more secrets. She made a notation. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. and there. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. below him. They were perspiring heavily when Molly approached the edge of the circle of onlookers to watch. He worked each day until his vision blurred. stopped once midway. as she was.??They??re inhuman. Not ten years from now. He waved at them and went off to his bed. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. . ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow. and in the next week May lost her child. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. but no one had seen him in weeks.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. holding his shotgun in one hand.

 The fetuses were developing. with an enormous fan in the west window. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. Vernon. Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. ??for each of you we have a gift .??I??ll repack your things.??The storm was over. and in the middle of it. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. he thought. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way. cousins. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. Peter started a centrifuge. David leaned over and kissed her forehead. The newest wing of the hospital.It was misty and very cool under the trees. Out of nowhere. David. somewhat smaller.

 Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. but the timbre of his voice was gone. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. this side of the mill.?? W-l said. she carried her responsibility heavily. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. ??God??s will. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. yellow. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. forty-four of them now. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. but now you must accept it. When they could not avoid each other after that. but from the second floor of the hospital.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room.??Slowly David nodded. staring at the floor. A time-consumer question. ??Marvelous. ??But. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads. distantly.