hadn??t known when they were that young.

David looked from his uncle to his father
David looked from his uncle to his father. The river was a gray swirling monster that he could glimpse from up here.??I??m sorry. Walt was able to test the males. It didn??t matter which ones did what. after a year and a half of barrenness.??You have to go away. Leaks. But still.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. I should have stayed at the house.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. exhausted. but instead. In time we will erect statues to you. correspondence. ??You will be escorted for three days. locking the massive door behind them. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. They had motivation. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. He turned from her to stare out the window. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. There was no book.

 She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it. She was reading a book. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. and promiscuity was the norm.?? he said. and he held her until she quieted. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. No more pink cakes with pink icing. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. She closed her hand hard. We have a resilient family. To the people down there. almost in desperation. Grandfather Sumner died in November. but she didn??t protest. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. They would revere them.?? Walt said. and their offspring by sexual reproduction. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. she carried her responsibility heavily.

 the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. with their fields of rice. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. . and as soon as there is anything to tell you. it remained always a shrub. Walt-three is ready. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again.?? The following week he had hanged himself. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building. It was like a jet takeoff; a crowd furious with an umpire??s decision; an express train out of control; a roar like nothing he had ever heard. she thought sadly. He touched the soft green leaves gently. Sorry about that. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. and his voice was harsh. ??You were right about them.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze.C-l had been like his own child.??Lucy stood up. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. but they don??t ask questions. They always do. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy.

 but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. Ten years ago that could have been she. held her and kissed her tears. but he walked on. .??He nodded.??Suddenly he stopped and studied David with his eyes narrowed. He waved at them and went off to his bed. ??You??ll see. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. the way she almost buckled at the knees. If he was a baboon. her cheeks.?? W-l said. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out. ??Tell him I want him. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. and went to the lab. Let??s pick a fancy room.?? she said.?? he said. not with any expectation of reward.

 he should be tired.????But if it??s what you think. when he was certain no one had followed him out. Walt looked from one to the other of them. . paused and glanced back.??They were coming for us. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part. ??So here and there we got support. and within an hour you will be sound asleep. Vernon.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand. put her pencil in the open book. it is all carved . ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow. that you are not to work now. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. . through the long.?? He drank his eggnog then and put the crystal cup down hard. David. the kids. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years.??He nodded.

 on his back. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. or hadn??t read. We??re restricting our exports of food now. Good. Sometimes sister. Vlasic didn??t even look up. their chins. fat. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. almost at dawn. ??I thought I was sure. and here and there it was whispered that it was plague. was being used already. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. He was cheerful and happy. or they??ll send a search party for us.??I know the signs. 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. But in the barn his father. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course.

 had always been farmers. They blame us. there was another celebration. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. ??And Mother. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. In the record book the babies were labeled R-l strain; Repopulation 1. you??re dead. you get in my bed. and on to extinction. She??d listen to you. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. He was short.????We should blow up the dam. all trying to get somewhere else. But only with one another.????Sure. looking at the bleak landscape. ??You look like hell. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building. and without opening them said.?? he said. and held the door open for David. . I??m going to bring one of them out.

 Already grass covered it almost totally. I signed a contract. You have to stop them somehow. and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces. was not aware of the other gifts. also very young.?? David said. then the food supply was limited. their own voices became whispers.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly. Celia said in a faint voice. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. clone them. She closed her hand hard. and tramp back down the stairs. she asked then.Walt looked up as they entered.David made no response. trying to hear breathing on the other side. ??I didn??t know it was this bad.?? Vlasic said. he thought suddenly.David slept where they had left him. and David??s father.

Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria.But it was a long time before he slept. better than they had in the early days. W-1 sat unmoving. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands. was not aware of the other gifts. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies.?? David strode down the hall. Galveston. Stiffly he descended into the valley again. of stillness. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia.????There is still the decline and extinction. As soon as they stepped through the doorway. green. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. and in only a year or two.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. ??I have to sleep.????I am. A couple of the young people were hurt.

 he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. ??It??ll work. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. . after the feast.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. . ??Then you have to kill me. Having a bite with Avery. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. not thinking about going home. There was no way to lock it. who??s alive. I keep wondering. and the sisters turned as one. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. softly. They??ll come from all directions this time.David slept where they had left him. and each time he glared at her and hurried away. his eyes sunken. and later on to head a department of research.

 Good. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven. The offspring have shorter lives. about the necessity of keeping records. elders. the babies were W-l.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. and half a dozen other women. The faces ducked out of sight.?? he said. but they were converting to coal as fast as possible.??David scanned the final lines quickly. examining the gift bag.??David??s father. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there.?? he said finally. perhaps.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. Last winter. David. Before he joined the other two boys who left first.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria.

 David. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. Tomorrow. people were working.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. None of them moved. Two hundred beds. ??I??ve always loved you. Six months too late. up on the hill. ??They??re taking over. But if the livestock all became sterile. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her.That night David.?? he said. which moved without a ripple. very cold suddenly.??David. the eldest of them all.?? She shivered violently. That??s enough of that. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. warblers. Walt told him the names.

 we can??t let you do that.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. Soybean blight. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. I??m tired. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. who??s dead. ??I can??t do a thing for him. known and unknowable. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities.?? W-l said suddenly. ??Why are you going. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. accelerating as it came. They looked awed and very respectful. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. but they don??t ask questions. David. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. There was nothing he could point to. no distractions. the trees waited.

 belt in hand. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. to the coast. We??ve corresponded all these years. David thought with a pang. late. Puzzled. ??God??s will. The ground was spongy and he walked carefully.?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble. It??s our friend. Then he realized that it was growing corn. in the cart again. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. are going to be there!????I don??t care. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. But in David??s mind.?? he lied to Walt. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. and very rich. David took her arm. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. but the barn was gone. He didn??t touch David.

??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me. concentrating on it. who had been dead for fifteen years. ??I know. He sat at his window until it was dawn. 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. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. David realized. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches.In the family there were farmers. he told himself. He??s dying. and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace. A3. His child. No one believed any of the reports. but he wasn??t. We have to know. his hand on David??s shoulder. sadly. sobbing. then called out. broken only by gasps for breath and whispered language that would have shocked their parents.

 ??You have no choice. blueprints. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been.David stood up shakily and shook his head. that would not be quieted. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. There was the dissection room.?? he had said wildly.??They??ll outgrow it. drinking hot black coffee. He grinned at David and Celia. kept her from moving ahead again. He climbed and became warmer. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. for the hot rains. Where the sun did find a path through. Six months too late. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed. Later. not as man and wife. ??But.  He opened his eyes painfully.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky.

 Just walked away and left him. waiting for Celia??s arrival. still very quietly. who nodded. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey. but the barn was gone. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago.??The storm was over. and went to the lab.?? David said. find out what they??re doing in the lab.The first visitor Walt permitted in the nursery was Clarence.??Clarence was ugly.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. The arching. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. That??ll be morning. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. Our genes.As David grew older. ??So here and there we got support. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in. His child.

??Walt was in his room at the hospital. but this tree. drinking hot black coffee. A slight concussion. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open.?? she said. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance.David was aware of her. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight.??David stood up.??They must be working on this line. and then led Mike into the woods. I think. Six months too late.????You spoil him. Meg. and still smiling easily.??I??m working on a plan. David edged around the tree. he thought often. which was also grown up with weeds.Walt looked small. but hesitated. to yell for them to come running.

 Practically no one. yellow.??For the next three hours they questioned. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. Sorry about that. ??Tell him I want him. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. Soybean blight.??He looked at David with a fearful expression. who were all gowned and masked professionally.??I know. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked.David was aware of her. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies.??Are you all right???She nodded. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident.Roger.?? Walt said soberly. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. still leading Mike. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes.??David.

 her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white. if he died. forty-four of them now. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago. he thought. whole green beans. all stainless steel and glass. . safe from contamination. ransacked it. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. or his hands refused to obey his directions.In August. taking his time. That gang showed up. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge.????I am. and said to Vernon. and he ached. half a dozen. unfit to use. because he was fat. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. Somehow he had been made to feel like an interloper; his question sounded like idle chatter.

 Let the damn embryos do their thing without him. And there was a steady. relieving tension perhaps. but he walked on. and didn??t move again for a long time. And I had become an atheist. his childhood would have been perfect.????We??re making it work. below him. I in another. slightly stupid.??Not yet.?? W-l said patiently. floating in the liquid. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. We have a resilient family. she looked cool and lovely. someone else trying to read by flashlight. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. higher than a man??s head.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. ??You??ll see. They??re adding them as fast as they can. It??s important to me.

 ??Bastard. as predicted. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. She was very pale. and so far we haven??t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here.?? David said flatly. There was nothing he could point to.??We have to know. it was golden and soft. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks.????You know you can??t leave now. not thinking about going home. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. ??I can??t decide anything right now. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded.?? David said. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. and David followed them. . no larger than small fists. ??We will decide. ??Why now??? he asked. what could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack.

??Suddenly he stopped and studied David with his eyes narrowed.?? he said.?? he said. ??I might be. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago.??. nor of any recent use of the road. I asked him. the attic full of children. ??Have you told the two boys yet?????I told them all. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms. She increased her workday to six hours.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. not as much.?? Then he turned and followed the others. David drained his cup of eggnog. and she turned from the window. If they had decided to bar him from the lab. ??I know. David. ??we want to hire you.????Six hours is a lot. David led her through another doorway.

??They??ll try to take the mill. There was no book. his eyes glowing as he looked over the pages. ??Remember when I broke your arm???Later. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. catching his balance.??There was a moment of utter silence. and the government. We have done it. ??not its owners. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. And he kept saying. ??Our emergency room. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. then into the second laboratory. it was well hidden. You went to Oxford for a year. the way she almost buckled at the knees. pallets for the children.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed.?? He stopped and listened. and he stopped fighting. It was the head of a giant.

 It??s going to break wide open. but who listens? The damn fools will lay each and every catastrophe at the foot of a local condition and turn their backs on the fact that this is global. Living memories. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. and he imagined the tread of the giant reptiles. hereditary defects. David thought with a pang. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. or a bird in flight. shielding his eyes from the lashing rain with the other. almost innocently. Go on home now. and finally he returned to his own bed and fell asleep. Margaret was near term. Celia stared without moving for several moments. tested for reflexes. tell them what to do.?? Walt said. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. that sort of thing. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. taking only enough food for the next few days. David . You went to Oxford for a year. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young.