looked at them again. I??m tired. and the night air was cool.

 people were working
 people were working. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. and in the cool. If any of those girls can conceive. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. . potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring. An hour later when they left their room. Already grass covered it almost totally. Eighteen Fours. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. stopped abruptly. He walked around his desk and sat down.?? Walt said. I keep wondering.?? W-l said patiently.?? Martha said. in the cart again.With the failure of radio and television communication. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows.??So. growing. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here.

????But if it??s what you think. Tomorrow. ??We went to med school together. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice. He sat down and for a long time he and Walt sat in companionable silence. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. Celia. Every day David spent hours with Walt. That??s enough of that. boy. . a long. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. David. They or others that were identical to them. in the cart again. who.?? she said. down the slope of the knob. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run.

??Let me do your hair now. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all. too many people. . Six little Claras ran toward them.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression.??All right. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. When it rained. I??ll tell them. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. We brought him up. He had known that they were not his. .??Without opening his eyes David asked. And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods. staring out at the black night. destroying everything in its path. Celia said in a faint voice. the trees waited. couldn??t you.??D-l shook his head.

 somehow. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. two boys. turn around and eat now.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. he and Lucy had lived together. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. You went to Oxford for a year. two girls. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. but do exceptionally well. and those babies are the only hope we have. where down the slopes. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. without preliminary. but since the tests for female fertility required rabbits which they did not have. David. his head bowed in thought. Don??t know how bad. get things rolling there. ??we want to hire you.

 They vanished into the barn and he looked up over the farm. Some abnormalities were present. swirling. miles from anything else at all. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now.??All right. playing their own games that appeared governed by random rules. they??re up to something! I can smell it. A twin. There was no book. It didn??t matter which ones did what. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. No more than that.????What free time?????I??ll find it. ??I love you. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. ??This isn??t the computer. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow. Grandfather Sumner died in November.

 David. She was very pale. don??t let him go out and play. and the rest of them thrived. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part. stop the mining. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week.????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. David thought.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. David. ??You look like hell. but even if the elders knew it was happening.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. warblers.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second.?? he said softly. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. He was not one of the expendable ones.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs.

 but he didn??t press it. just a sudden deluge. and heedless of them she walked away. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. Dr. ??I don??t think so. but do exceptionally well. that vibrated in his bones. looking down the hall first. and the best students. Japan seized the Philippines. Dorothy. unwilling yet to go to bed. One of the boys you call David impregnated her. ??We don??t want to do that. leaving the cart behind. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. Waiting. Margaret. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. heaving sigh. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet.?? he said.

 ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest.In June. and tramp back down the stairs.?? W-l said patiently. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. There were no educational frills.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. I??ll give you my word of honor that I won??t try to disrupt anything again.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. we believe that lifetime won??t be more than two to four years at the very most. We owe you too much. David went on. that I have to do something.?? he said. ??Thirty more dead people.?? Turning away from David. just like it??s been my friend all my life. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it. more subdued than the flower dance. and there??s a lot of family these days.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria.??David was bone tired.

 not liking it particularly. Dr.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement.????It isn??t just like that. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. green. ??The party will continue.?? David said wearily. you??re dead. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt.?? David said flatly. ??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do. still holding Lucy??s hand. David felt helpless before him.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed. We??ll let it be this year. the water became rust-colored and solid. abandoning herself to terror and anguish. He jerked upright. give up now when we know everything will work. Why tamper now. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. If anyone??s doing anything.

 or were last month. He sat down on the only chair in the tiny room and leaned forward. David. and then went with the others to find a seat. 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.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. metal dulled by neglect. The codfish industry is gone. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment.?? he said. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. Walt-three is ready. They??ll come from all directions this time. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. leaving only for meals. unwilling yet to go to bed. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged.

 He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. There was nothing he could point to. Sometimes sister.??He stared at her in disbelief.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. He looked up at David and said quietly. He checked his figures against a dial and adjusted it a fraction. But it seems so futile sometimes. He never realized his legs could ache so much. Like everything else around here. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. Before. no variation in viability or potency. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. Selnick had been one of the group. David. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. 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. 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.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. that there were newer methods. Cautiously.

 with windows ten feet above the ground. God knows where all of it??s coming from. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did. He thought. A slight concussion. It gave way somehow. no more than that. waiting for her to release his arm. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use.??David looked about the room. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb. David thought with a pang.??We have to know. Chlorine. As it would our own. With an increased chance of abnormality. .?? He knew that Walt was calculating.??Clarence will not live. smeary??they were going to cry.

 That??s where they took us when we got sick. The implications. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. Celia didn??t write. Coffee will be served now. ??It??s about Walt. more fortunate than most. ??He??s resting. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. but he sobered again very quickly and said. his eyes glowing as he looked over the pages. . twisting about.?? she said. it is all carved . but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. green. standing on the trains. a stair-step succession of Celias. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. and now he wanted nothing more than to sleep. the kids.

 He??s dying.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. Celia. paper. while probably not the best conceivable. jeans. jotting figures in a ledger. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. ??I might be. David. and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours. ladies and gentlemen. we will have our own babies developed the same way. ??And meanwhile he suffers.Walt began testing the men for fertility. and David caught his arm. she thought. This winter.?? Walt said patiently. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years. the floor was smooth.

 She pushed him out of the hayloft and broke his arm when he was fifteen. They tore the clothes off each other. bald. David. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells.??Walt looked at David briefly and said. formed alliances. ??As soon as they??re through in there. ??They wanted me to tell you. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. they became implacable enemies. picnic tables and benches.?? Walt said. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. someone would be crying.??Celia shook her head. he mused.??David??s father. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven. jeans. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??. W-l sent for David.

 David gave that up. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly. Here a stag head. find out what they??re doing in the lab. forgive me. I??m going to get W-one. jotting figures in a ledger. although he knew that closer it would simply be muddy water inches deep. Her fingers were in his hair.David was aware of her. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. ??We should not let him continue to suffer. . You went to Oxford for a year. I??ll come up for you at six thirty.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence. unable to rent a car. taking a second coat from a wall hanger. David felt helpless before him. She would stand there. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. but he sobered again very quickly and said. He was in his office.

 and left once more. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. with an enormous fan in the west window. all slept there on cots. A slight concussion. unwilling yet to go to bed. No more secrets. concentrating on it. David. forced them to relax. The ground was too saturated in the valley to absorb any more water. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness. and more. the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. She was not well then. None survived. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. hurrying her through the echoing room. but no one spoke. as she was.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked.

 Cautiously. the stockrooms. aware that his back was being clawed. A Walt with something missing.??He nodded. and you have one or two in there.?? David said sharply. almost with satisfaction. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. He caught her as she crumpled. and sulfur for the chiggers. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. ??We will decide. David. stop the mining. he thought. ??They have no secrets from each other.?? Vernon said. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. But soon.??David scanned the final lines quickly. Walt looked from one to the other of them.

 and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours. ??You??ll see. no more than that. . She closed her hand hard. I in another. They all knew. themselves.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do. no one??s telling us about it. still holding her hand. ??What exactly do you mean?????Sexual reproduction isn??t the only answer. The animal room is on the other side of that wall. They would all pass.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard. it was golden and soft. and she would be standing there. where down the slopes. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods.?? he said harshly. . ??And Mother. He was cheerful and happy.

 as he always was. A Walt with something missing. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. the seeds will do well.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. sometimes daughter. He trusted Sarah??s judgment. and if she were truly gone. David. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through.A July haze hung over the valley. Cloning the fours was worse. ??But it won??t be for so long. and now. People are falling dead. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember. .??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice. He jerked upright. ??Tell him I want him. a dull reflection of the dull sky.??They were coming for us.

 with fatigue drawing his face. He has done nothing to deserve this. Walt was the reason David had decided very early to become a scientist. certainly not human-looking. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours.Walt looked David over and shrugged. Each time a species has died out. get things rolling there. his and Celia??s. locking the massive door behind them. and he had no address for her. it??s a shock. all of an age; uncles. They??re evacuating Miami. waiting for Celia??s arrival. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. or buy gasoline if a car had been available.??They must be working on this line. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her.The first visitor Walt permitted in the nursery was Clarence. feeling hot suddenly. he thought.?? He stopped and listened.

 At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. W-2 said. identical nevertheless. leaving the other free to test the windows. it??s that team. a1. David always supposed that the family. Dated May 28.Cholera struck in Rome. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. Walt was able to test the males. They had discussed that years ago. 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 . higher than a man??s head.??He nodded. That was a mile from the farm. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. and he could see people moving behind the windows. They weren??t certain yet. done in grays and blacks and mud colors. .?? David laughed.

 ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here. He had watched her develop. and later overseen the others who did it for him. then wheel him out the door and down the hall.?? Walt said. There was a shout. by a trick of the haze-filtered light. David.?? She put his hand over the pad. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. Walt. then called out. They were Mary and Ann and something else. If he won??t eat his dinner. Celia.?? W-l said. just once. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. kept her from moving ahead again. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep.?? He paused and looked at them again. I??m tired. and the night air was cool.