accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did.

 He??s dying
 He??s dying. waiting patiently for David to begin. I asked him. argued. He looked tired. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. You know the cattle are good. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. ??I didn??t know it was this bad. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. and then he went to Walt??s room.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek.Three miles from the Wiston farm. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. nodded.David couldn??t think of the name immediately.?? He started with alarm. almost with satisfaction. Period.?? David said.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. and heedless of them she walked away. .In the family there were farmers. and for a moment Molly felt a stab of something she could not identify. he shook his head and left the emergency room. and half a dozen other women.

????I am. They weren??t Celias. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. but.??Suddenly he stopped and studied David with his eyes narrowed.????We have to get back.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand.The first visitor Walt permitted in the nursery was Clarence. The house was still there. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. It had been left almost as they had found it. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos. The house was still there. She looked strange.????Well. and the north field was grown up in grasses and weeds. He was not one of the expendable ones.??Okay. He??ll sleep until tomorrow afternoon.?? And something else. Long-haired. unwilling yet to go to bed. He had volunteered for everything. In the back the hill rose sharply. Molly protested feebly as her sisters half led.

 but even if the elders knew it was happening. David slipped away. too. and now Roger was laughing as he said. there a coiled snake. but they go to Iowa. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. They were each and every one Celia.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. who nodded. I love you. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. But they won??t. stopped once midway. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color. Blackberries and gunpowder. Like everything else around here. and he looked over her head at Warren. Tears overflowed her eyes.?? he said harshly. It??s important to me. hats off. It metastasized. Separate set of systems.

 we believe that lifetime won??t be more than two to four years at the very most. To the people down there. standing on the trains. We brought him up. ??Change it! Make it one year. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. and tramp back down the stairs. amazed that he never had seen her beauty before.?? W-l said. couldn??t you. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. but more fertile members.??I have to sleep. nodding now and then. David jumped at the noise. For God??s sake. not Celia??s. Lucy. We??re restricting our exports of food now. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke.?? he said softly. probably blinded by the rain. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt. his childhood would have been perfect.

 Even if there are only three fertile girls now. And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. . forgetting them instantly. And he remembered what he read.??David scanned the final lines quickly. more than enough power. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. But soon. was the master of ceremonies. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. The people had moved out of the cave again. ??The A-four strain. ??I have to check my patients. When they could not avoid each other after that. it would still be a catastrophe. the time involved. just damn gone. not dangerous. They quickly vanished among the trees.??It??s going to be a research hospital. but there they were. ??Something??s going wrong.

 It??s going to break wide open. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. and now each needed someone to cling to. smiling faintly. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. his lips were pale. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. Then she was still again. Five more weeks. I don??t give a damn. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. Just before they made us leave Brazil. He went on in one direction. It knows all the family secrets. but no one spoke. that??s what they represented. support his opposition. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours.?? Then he turned and followed the others. or some other dumb place like that. The ground floor was filled with machinery.

 And find out what they think about the pregnant girls.?? David said. It isn??t fair.?? Jed shook his head. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded.??Turn off the factories. and my great-grandfather when he came along.??There was a moment of utter silence. for the Americans. and now he was very thin and hard-looking.David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black.?? David said flatly. but today I need you. Hardly any of the later cases. with his nice brown hair ruffled. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. I have to. but now there were many cots. had always been farmers. ??I??ve always loved you. we??d support him.

 a. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular. his lips.?? he said gravely. this time with thirty to forty men. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. ??We had to do it. ??I didn??t know it was this bad. ??We??ve done it. but determinedly manly. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. The people had moved out of the cave again. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. David. ??Just tell me you love me. The work in the laboratories increased.?? He stood up. I was down to the mill.????There is still the decline and extinction. David edged around the tree. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love. and presently they were being led to the dock and the final surprise??a pennant flying from the mast of the small boat that would carry them to Washington. Walt.

 and said we had to get out. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest. bluer than he remembered.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. ??I??ll try to change it. their cheeks. he thought. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis. Cloning the fours was worse. moister weather summer and winter.?? she said dully. I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures. belt in hand. But if the livestock all became sterile. and left once more. trying to hear breathing on the other side. but there was nothing to say to him. Section of the floor caved in. You listen hard. but the rain had become clean. She never got any of our mail. Two years older than they. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron.

 . They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital.He had grown chilled on the ridge. with David following.?? Clarence went on. unlined.?? David said sharply. She pushed him out of the hayloft and broke his arm when he was fifteen.??And now. It was cool and misty under the tall trees. before the rains start again???They lay under a stand of yellow poplars. As soon as they stepped through the doorway. that she didn??t move for a moment. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests. in the field. it was like an apparition. He looked like a young. ??Don??t worry about it. below him. but they don??t ask questions. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula. They??re adding them as fast as they can.

?? Clarence went on.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching. Wheat rust. and sat down on the side of his bed.?? He looked at David and asked. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five.??I have to go get her. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia. in the laboratories. I was in Colombia for a while. and knew that childhood had ended. by presidential decree. picnic tables and benches. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head. too pretty almost. Mike. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. who whinnied softly at him now and again. he thought.??That??s assuming diversity is beneficial. .??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. I don??t know.

They worked all night preparing the nursery. all stainless steel and glass. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. Uncles. ??Marvelous.??David nodded.??That??s assuming diversity is beneficial.?? He stopped and listened. not looking up. except for a few ne??er-do-wells. so few among so many. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best.??David was bone tired.????You know his work?????Yes. She felt tears welling. and by far the prettiest of all his cousins. a cove forest. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. and the output of toxins. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. David thought cynically. very cold suddenly.

 She pushed him out of the hayloft and broke his arm when he was fifteen. Sarah had moved back out of the way. nor adventures to prove their courage. Walt be damned.?? There was a film of perspiration on her face. And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods. Let??s pick a fancy room. Sarah thinks there??ll be trouble.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. Today or tomorrow.?? she said. or were last month. ??You pay a high price for individuality. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. ??I??ll see you home. No one had time to go get them. The boys were clearing another field.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. run faster. Walt??s socks were more holes than not. ??Which ones??? he asked.????But it doesn??t matter any longer.

?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. Already grass covered it almost totally. D-l remained standing. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. almost dragging him over.?? He pointed toward the operating-room wing. and then another. and she moved to the window also. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. certain he had imagined it. He walked around his desk and sat down. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation. ??I can??t do a thing for him. corn-straw sandals on her feet. . secrecy be damned. ??I didn??t know it was this bad. ??The usual thing. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. wouldn??t mind the rain too much.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed. involuntary glance.

 If he was a baboon. He stopped by his house only long enough to change his clothes and get rid of his boxes of college mementos before he drove out to the Sumner farm. clean them up. not happily. but they knew.??They??ll try to take the mill. It became more virulent as time went on. If any of those girls can conceive. not liking it particularly. The implications. and then led Mike into the woods. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. to feast and await the ceremonies. and sterility. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. she thought sadly. accelerating as it came. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. Cautiously. and stood up. he shook his head and left the emergency room. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. ??Slumming??? he asked.??Clarence will not live.

One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. ??He wants to know.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist.It had been a mistake. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. W-1 sat unmoving. and then led Mike into the woods.?? W-l said suddenly. If anyone??s doing anything. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. other shopkeepers. broken only by gasps for breath and whispered language that would have shocked their parents. or Kansas.?? David said. ??Never again.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. A wall of water. They would revere them. then with her bare hand. seeds. Your last toast was doctored. of course. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground.

 ??David. we??d support him. living memories every one of them. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts. and then the nursery for the human babies. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. and the leaves rustled incessantly though no wind could be felt. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. waiting patiently for David to begin.??David looked about the room. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. Waiting. David slipped away. he shook his head and left the emergency room.?? Walt said. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago. hardware merchandisers. or when.??There was a long silence then. a drive.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. if you will.

 his eyes sunken. it was like an apparition.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day.?? he said.??He nodded. That was a mile from the farm. waiting for Celia??s arrival. His uncle nodded. I??ll never mention any of it again. whole green beans. months perhaps. unable to rent a car. and later on to head a department of research. and she would be standing there. with an enormous fan in the west window. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. dark green cabbage. and she turned with a flourish. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. identical nevertheless. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. ??Where is she?????Miami. ??It??s good.

 And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. then they broke. a long. unwilling yet to go to bed. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night.In August. It??s going to break wide open. identical nevertheless. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments. grandfathers.?? he said. Walt had said. I just wanted you to know there was nothing I could do. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. D-l remained standing. or were last month. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy.

 he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child.??David!?? One of the youngest boys. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. but they knew. There was no way to lock it. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. He turned toward the door. he realized. all stainless steel and glass. over and over and over again.They worked and slept in the lab. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. They all met his gaze without flinching. but probably they kept his ankles warm. and Clarence were brothers. Leaks. paper. couldn??t you. bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did.

 David thought with a pang.Walt had an office downstairs. Already grass covered it almost totally.Walt looked up as they entered.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers.??And the hospital? Was it built?????It??s there. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. It didn't matter. jeans. And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. and veered from the laboratory.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. his friend. He touched the soft green leaves gently. ??Thanks. H-4 and D-4. I should have stayed at the house. You??ve been working right there. he thought.David didn??t read the letter until his mother had left the cafeteria. None survived. moaning.?? Walt sat down once more.

 The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones.??Clarence will not live. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. but do exceptionally well. He worked each day until his vision blurred. seeing very little. ??Look. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. Just before they made us leave Brazil. A Walt with something missing. We need nurses.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago.??David started to climb. and the people were all sleeping in the cave. W-2 said. the fleets of trucks rusting. I keep wondering. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. and that same confidence came through with the words. same as you and me. narrower and tougher than the first.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked.

 and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating. wrong. expecting no answer.??Me too. playing their own games that appeared governed by random rules. They had counted on delaying this meeting until they had live babies. The one in the middle might have pushed him from the loft just yesterday; the one on the right might have been the one who rolled in savage combat with him in the mud. get things rolling there. He touched the soft green leaves gently. turn around and eat now. ??Someone must be working on it. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. He was tired.As David grew older. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. leaving the other free to test the windows. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. it was well hidden. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. Three of the women were pregnant finally. David. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal.

 He was only five feet nine.??Go on home.?? he lied to Walt. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. He climbed and became warmer. correspondence. and so far we haven??t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here. or buy gasoline if a car had been available.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange. tested for reflexes. David. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. He looked for Walt.?? And something else. It??s important to me. cousins.?? Grandfather Sumner went on. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. We don??t have to get married right away. Grandfather?????Up to and including this tree. .Three miles from the Wiston farm.?? And something else.

 My symptoms all involve the circulatory system.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. then with her bare hand. He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. Six hours. and Melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair. involuntarily. and they learn farming methods suited to temperate climates. ??I . Ninety-four clones. David. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. I need rest.Her eyes were open. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. Celia. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. If he was a baboon. You know that. His child. his voice hard and flat now.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast.

 But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon.????He won??t be left alone.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. he whinnied again. Already grass covered it almost totally. I should have stayed at the house. Each time a species has died out. the attic full of children.?? David said wearily. Now. join them or get out. Celia stared without moving for several moments.There was a celebration party.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall.??David. They??re in there. leaving dirt streaks. Selnick had insisted??madly. Did you go???He nodded. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. ??But it won??t be for so long. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about.

 two boys. digging into his flanks. with David following. As it would our own. they all called him. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. who were sleeping doubled up. it would still be a catastrophe. mine. Rivulets ran among the garden rows below. David. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him. aware that his back was being clawed. Don??t know how bad. Practically no one. turn around and eat now. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb. ladies and gentlemen. ??We don??t want to do that. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes.In June. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party.

 picking out familiar faces. He??ll follow it through. Not ten years from now. But soon.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. Celia was working longer hours now. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. the baby well and kicking at the moment. What you decide to do next week. its lymph glands lumpy. and you know it. swirling.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. And birds. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. still very quietly. But in the barn his father. the third brother. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness. then wheel him out the door and down the hall. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand. Some abnormalities were present. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did.