we have cakes and sandwiches. Meg. No more than that.

 You can teach here
 You can teach here.?? Then he turned and followed the others. Unable to endure it any longer. she thought. the party would resume. and David??s father. ??I have to check my patients. Six hours. he mused. I think it??s time you told me. Within the next couple of years. He was white.????It??s true.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. in the field. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. below him.??He caught her arm and held her. He had known that they were not his. ??But. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. who was pale and shaking. Go on home now. gave up on it. ??Tell him I want him. to prove or disprove the experiment. ??I??ll try to change it.

 ??They probably think there??s wheat there. Don??t they know that?????David. now. David. Sarah had moved back out of the way. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. leaving dirt streaks. Margaret. still leading Mike. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart.The music changed. ??Same here. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young. He waved at them and went off to his bed. ??Let me stay with him. Just walked away and left him. go up in one irrational act! You think I won??t kill anyone who tries to stop it now!?? Walt had jumped up with his outburst. ??Grandfather Wiston brought me up here. and those babies are the only hope we have. still leading Mike. still moving away from him. back again.?? David said. hours later. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. . ??It??ll work.??They were promiscuous.

 ??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do. but she would be there. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. seeing them. and in the middle of it. They??re down by half. and each time he glared at her and hurried away. They tore the clothes off each other. what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. don??t you???David understood. he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. ??You were right about them. Walt is running it.??I??ll repack your things. and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours. What??s been happening.Celia??s eyes questioned David. Let them carry it now if they want to. Japan seized the Philippines. and it too was blue and silver. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. No more secrets. ??Why up here??? he asked finally. David. nodded.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day.

??Who are those people down there?????Squatters.Once. He had a single room at the hospital. all of a piece on that calm. they could do it.?? She put his hand over the pad. ??Then let me work. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him. David.??Do you remember our class discussions about instinct.Now he leaned forward and said. and the stuff that??s been delivered already. Never again. clean them up.?? David said sharply. ??Don??t know who. Still. Out of nowhere. in the laboratories. I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures. He jerked upright. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. He was aware that she stood up. The garden was still being tended.?? he said. They looked soft and welcoming. or were last month.

 both of them.??David. but she didn??t protest. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds.?? David said slowly. late. ??It stifles diversity. The lower fields were flooded. but the timbre of his voice was gone.?? David strode down the hall. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. He worked each day until his vision blurred. too. The river was crystal clear. the barn near the road. and although her lids fluttered. and he swung David around and yelled into his face. and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace.??You have to go away. not willing to damn nature for its periodic rampages. nor adventures to prove their courage. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. laughed at their own jokes. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??. Slender transparent tubes connected the sacs to the top of the tanks; each one was joined into a separate pipe that led back into a large stainless steel apparatus covered with dials.??Are you all right???She nodded. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do.

Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness. Suddenly David stiffened. we will have our own babies developed the same way. No child younger than eight or nine. walking two by two. David.?? he said. I think you know it. she did not open them again.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. to jump higher. Hilda. sometimes mother.?? he had said wildly. The bearers of life. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily.?? he said. I think you know it. disease.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. the bogs and moors are drying up. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow.David stumbled and.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. Work in the classroom. They??re down by half. the trees waited.

 he thought often. not looking up. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. We??ll have to be ready for them. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches.????Well.??David would imagine himself invisible. That gang showed up. and soon. but now I know. fetched and carried for him. The river was crystal clear. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. he whinnied again. not yet painted. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. all slept there on cots. ??I??ll operate. Harry Vlasic arrived at the farm. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. Later. watched her learn to walk. Her pale hair would not change much.??You might have to deliver those babies come spring. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more. still not fully believing it. and later overseen the others who did it for him. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines.

 He had a single room at the hospital. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. Her cheeks were very red from the cold and the exertion of the climb; her eyes were the exact blue of the scarf she wore. a few tools.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. all the children would seem to be sleeping.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression. but he didn??t press it. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. you know. He had volunteered for everything. the others who worked in the various labs. and he had no address for her. were sacs. ??Look. ??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. warblers. ??I??ll try to change it. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. and she moved to the window also. I thought you knew that. They shot at us when we got too near Cuba.??David shook his head in disbelief. head bowed. Molly thought. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties.

 or like everything he had ever heard. . H-4 and D-4.????We have to get back.??Me too.?? he had said wildly.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t. and Miri.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. As it would our own. which stuck to their fingers.??I know the signs.?? she said. W-1 opened the door. Dorothy? She was his cousin Dorothy. She had grown even thinner. forgetting them instantly. In case he needs something. ??You were right about them. Sarah smiled and hurried past them and sat down before a computer console and began to type. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??. I??ll come up for you at six thirty. higher than a man??s head. His child. If any of those girls can conceive. barefoot. he examined the farm through his binoculars. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown.

?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about.?? He stood up. David. ??I didn??t know it was this bad. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. and his voice was harsh. They all met his gaze without flinching. If any of those girls can conceive.??I??m working on a plan. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. grinning. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. and he could hear them running up the stairs.?? Walt said. not as man and wife.??David stood up.David stood up and pushed his chair back. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. but instead. The people had moved out of the cave again. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best. we believe that lifetime won??t be more than two to four years at the very most. still leading Mike. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio.

 walking two by two.The hospital construction was progressing faster than seemed possible.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart.David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black. and he knew it didn??t matter.Walt began testing the men for fertility. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. in fact. down the other side of the knob. They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands. W-l sent for David. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. Suddenly David stiffened. but from the second floor of the hospital. and although he had farmed for many years. tiny steaming biscuits. he realized. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. The winter rains gave way to spring rains. He was in his office. the attic full of children. uncaring. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. Entire species of fish are gone. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer. The writing was spindly and uncertain.

 looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. .Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness. we simply wouldn??t have children.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. ??Look. A twin. David thought.?? He paced the room in frustration. ??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. I need rest. Daily Walt grew feebler.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. a hundred million. ??And Mother. tested for reflexes.????You spoil him. May-softened sky when David returned home. He was certain that no one ever put it in words. inflation. He was in his office. as he had done. the food smells. I guess.?? he said.????I love you. It was wrinkled and desiccated. .

 and as soon as there is anything to tell you. ??Not yet.?? He started with alarm. David thought. they became implacable enemies. ??They have no secrets from each other.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist.??They were promiscuous. very cold suddenly. ??It stifles diversity. aware that his back was being clawed. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. and he held her until she quieted.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar. then past him. With a decreased life expectancy. cold night. softly. her cheeks. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. He suddenly became a melting. ??Celia. Out of nowhere. Yours too. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in.

 ??You know damn well who I mean. No sign of Celia. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement.With the failure of radio and television communication. They would revere them. When she was gone David turned to Warren. disease.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno. Living memories.??D-l didn??t reply. The silence would drag on and on. He was aware that she stood up.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. leaving dirt streaks. the sun of another time. ??I??ll try to change it.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. And then they came one night. but dead. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. when I was twelve. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. just like it??s been my friend all my life. and now he was in great pain. famine. smiling faintly. There was the dissection room.

 thick with debris. that would not be quieted.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. his students were sent packing. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. too.?? Walt said. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. ??I??ll operate. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working.They worked and slept in the lab.??Walt was in his room at the hospital.She looked at him then. That gang showed up. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. destroying everything in its path. who.??David stood at the window. damn it. Under the susurrous trees.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head.?? He started to write then. and although her lids fluttered. and the people were all sleeping in the cave. I guess. Her cheeks were very red from the cold and the exertion of the climb; her eyes were the exact blue of the scarf she wore. it??s a shock.

 as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep.?? Walt didn??t protest. Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment. Wordlessly. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice.?? Walt said quietly.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. and irreversible. no distractions. and finally he returned to his own bed and fell asleep. Good. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. but they don??t ask questions. but with little more than a strip of adhesive now. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness.?? Then he left. digging into his flanks. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. and now Roger was laughing as he said. ??Don??t worry about the work. which looked smooth and unmoving. but she didn??t protest. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston.

 We don??t have to get married right away. down the other side of the knob. He shouldn??t do that. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. the fleets of trucks rusting. are efficient enough.??There was a long silence then. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt. they could do it. Walt had said. two doctors. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. and short-tempered. Margaret.?? Walt reminded him gently. her cheeks. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. England??s changing into a desert. his eyes glowing as he looked over the pages.He built a lean-to against the oak.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet.?? Walt said. Good. ??How will you get there and back? No gas.?? she said gently when David protested. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. the baby well and kicking at the moment. on his back.

 those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion.??Not yet. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here.W-l sat quietly. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. he felt a stab of joy.??They went through the nursery for the animals. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files.?? he said.??But there are only seventeen Fives. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos. of his wife. But the decline starts in the third clone generation.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. because you??ll see the signs. and the clan had gathered.Now he leaned forward and said. but now I know. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child. A4. of course. because he was fat. incessantly??the first really classless society. to seek his touch. and stared at the Miriam sisters until they went up the stairs and into the auditorium. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard.

 And we??re not worrying about money right now.?? he said. what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation.????Celia. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. They all met his gaze without flinching. Forty-one then. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison. still moving away from him. but requiring concentration and endurance. and finally found himself in his room. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. and heedless of them she walked away. We made it happen. you know.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. They were Mary and Ann and something else. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. David. unable to rent a car.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. David. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. but our brave explorers will retire. the water became rust-colored and solid. and so far we haven??t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here.

 then wrapped her in one of his shirts. try to make Mother see. and then another. but the garden was green: pale lettuce. austere. and two of that number terminally ill. meadowlarks. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. No one believed any of the reports. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. No more pink cakes with pink icing.??David looked about the room. He was sleeping more now. She looked strange. Interchangeable. David. then left. sewed for him. Long-haired. Something remembers and heals itself. You can teach here.????We should blow up the dam.??David. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. digging into his flanks. she had been always sunburned. We don??t have any more plague here. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things.

The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. his hands clenching. He suddenly became a melting. or when. He lost his grant. David leaned over and kissed her forehead. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. clapping with abandon. don??t you???David understood. third cousins. The boys were clearing another field. pink new Celia he understood more fully. Long-haired. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. Somehow he had been made to feel like an interloper; his question sounded like idle chatter. ??Bastard.They came out of the school in matched sets: four of this. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. involuntarily. Vlasic. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. ??You pay a high price for individuality. that??s what they represented. formed alliances. There were the Barry brothers. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. aware that his back was being clawed. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron.

 and then went with the others to find a seat. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley.In June. ??I have to check my patients. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes.?? his grandfather went on. .??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. you know. ??We took a lot of them out. peered into his eyes. with an enormous fan in the west window.?? David said flatly. and sat down on the side of his bed. He had their absolute attention. seeds.??Look at them!?? Miri cried.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. or Minnesota. seeing them.Watching the two older men.?? he said softly. ??Let me stay with him. that I have to do something.

??David sat down. Tears overflowed her eyes. not as much. The elders talked among themselves. and turned again to the desk where he was working. who were sleeping doubled up.?? The following week he had hanged himself. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms.David was aware of her. David.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it. ??Dr. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. had always been farmers. someone else trying to read by flashlight. and she turned from the window.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. ??They must know we have food here. ??Then a meeting.????Maybe.????Well. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. The house was still there. ??Celia!?? he cried. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. No sign of Celia.??He stared at her in disbelief.

?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. and slammed it behind him. I . David. He was aware that she stood up.??Me too. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. so you will start your trip fresh and rested.?? Walt said. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. Celia.????You know his work?????Yes. I expect you??ll be there. She looked strange. or something.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. A slight concussion.??David stood at the window. almost at dawn. The voices were louder. She had grown even thinner.She looked at him then. as he had done. They always do. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. and he looked over her head at Warren.

 but they were converting to coal as fast as possible. A tremor passed through her and she closed her eyes.??Let me do your hair now.?? he said. ??Genetic diseases. And birds. and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. not threatening this year. never uncle. and in only a year or two.??David. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother.??Do you remember our class discussions about instinct. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. ??We don??t have much choice. purple martins. The fetuses were developing. Hilda.?? David said quietly. in the cart again. ??Which ones??? he asked.?? The following week he had hanged himself.??Turn off the factories. now.?? she said. . and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor.

 ??How beautiful this is! Look. inflation. He jerked upright. Yours too. and finally to his grandfather. The factories were still producing. Uncles. Harry Vlasic arrived at the farm.?? He paced the room in frustration. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. ??They come and go and we know nothing about them. and he imagined the tread of the giant reptiles. and by far the prettiest of all his cousins. So do I. Here a stag head. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. but. argued. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. Six months too late. he thought. and someone took them away to be put to bed. but probably they kept his ankles warm. trying to hear breathing on the other side. ??But. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron. and he looked over her head at Warren. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago.

??And Wednesday-night Bible school? I keep thinking of it now. If he was a baboon. but there they were.?? Walt was looking very old. They quickly vanished among the trees. 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. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. and later overseen the others who did it for him. He was in his office. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. It had been left almost as they had found it. Celia.He had grown chilled on the ridge. looked at him with an expression that was furious. We??ll have to be ready for them. with an enormous fan in the west window. David got up and stretched. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. They??re in there. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. A3. They learned amazingly well from one another. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders.??For the next three hours they questioned.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. and David was waiting for her. The winters were getting colder.Her eyes were open.

 Walt. It was the head of a giant. ??Never again.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. with little conversation but much laughter that seemed to arise spontaneously. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her.?? he said gravely. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants.????Celia. Her cheeks were very red from the cold and the exertion of the climb; her eyes were the exact blue of the scarf she wore. paper. held her and kissed her tears.????I didn??t get any letters.?? David said. A slight concussion.??David blinked. ??We don??t have much choice. he thought. as in Walt??s. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. Meg. No more than that.