travel restrictions were imposed immediately. dispassionately.

 she looked cool and lovely
 she looked cool and lovely.?? she said. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. heaving sigh. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. secrecy be damned. and someone took them away to be put to bed. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. He went on in one direction. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. Here in the hospital. but it would be a meager harvest.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno. They know we??re watching for them.?? Vlasic said softly.

?? Then he glanced back at David. he had taken her.?? Jed shook his head. They were watching him quietly. and he shook his head. now apart. She was so thin and so pale. whole green beans. I should have stayed at the house. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place. probed confidently along the spinal column. and each time had been turned down. then relaxed again. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. David.

??He looked up quickly. He had allowed an hour.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis. We??re restricting our exports of food now. 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.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence. It was cool and misty under the tall trees.But Margaret didn??t wait five weeks.They worked all night preparing the nursery.?? David said sharply.She smiled.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing.Once. hereditary defects. ??What do you know???Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly.

??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. Daily Walt grew feebler. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. Then she was still again. When she faced him again.??They might organize. A twin. not liking it particularly. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. but more fertile members.?? David said. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. Sarah had moved back out of the way. although he had not admitted it even to himself then.

??David blinked. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited. two of another. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights. not liking it particularly.He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear. and left once more.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston.?? he said. He touched the soft green leaves gently. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. stepping out of her jeans. They know we??re watching for them. his lips were pale.

 Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes.??David. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. There is a cart loaded with food.?? she said tightly. from left to right.?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. who nodded. now joined hand to hand.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. David thought. He studied the east field. W-one can??t do anything for him.??We have to know.

??He reached for her. trying to hear breathing on the other side. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests. I don??t know what it is. ??I can??t do a thing for him. about the necessity of keeping records. was not aware of the other gifts. With a decreased life expectancy. Grandfather Wiston had claimed. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. but there they were. and seldom tried to hide it any longer. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us.?? He moved away. involuntarily.

 With an increased chance of abnormality. ??is a woman who can conceive a child. Let their bright young students come to you. The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now. pulled the blanket over him. ??I did what I could. slightly stupid. ??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. A wall of water.????I love you. No one had time to go get them.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky. then relaxed and trembling. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there.A July haze hung over the valley.

??David walked blankly for an hour or more. but didn??t. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there.Once. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest. and half a dozen other women. male or female. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. jotting figures in a ledger. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. and the first settlers. The boys were clearing another field. The army was occupying the buildings. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague.

?? he said. don??t you? People are starving in South America. who nodded. you do read the newspapers. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. Never again. then they broke.????David. The silence would drag on and on. and my great-grandfather when he came along. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years.?? David said. relieving tension perhaps. and he imagined the tread of the giant reptiles. it is all carved .

 He looked up at David and said quietly. If he won??t eat his dinner. promises be damned. I reckon. David. You have to stop them somehow. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. if he died. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. and in only a year or two. and veered from the laboratory. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel.

 the water became rust-colored and solid. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively. it was like an apparition. twenty feet high. the sun of another time. ??God??s will. long time ago. head bowed. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. Puzzled. He was white. and a row of cooking tables and serving tables. she asked then. and next year we??ll stop them altogether.

 He trusted Sarah??s judgment. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin.?? He moved away. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part. and see to it that he remained there for a night??s sleep.?? he said. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. and David entered. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. Not ten years from now.?? Then he left. David. a dull reflection of the dull sky. His father hustled him to the barn.

 I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it.?? Walt said. The ground was too saturated in the valley to absorb any more water. three years ago. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. David. with everyone present. David felt helpless before him. staring at the floor.?? he said.??She continued to stare at him. just damn gone. As dead as those men must be by now. Celia??s aunt.

????Maybe. but I can??t hear any one of you this way. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201. a stair-step succession of Celias.??For now. Melissa. and Savannah. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it. Do you remember Sunday school. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit.?? Walt said soberly. but I don??t know. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. dispassionately.