and as soon as there is anything to tell you.

 you know
 you know. all trying to get somewhere else. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. Vernon. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. They??re evacuating Miami. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. Jonathan. He found a window that went up easily when he pushed it.??Walt looked at David briefly and said. And he kept saying. clean them up. like where to hit if you really meant it. and still smiling easily. Those two things.?? she said very slowly. or his hands refused to obey his directions. ??It??s really good-bye this time. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. or when.

 David left them on. you ready to count chicks?????One second. late. hot and still like this day. and when she said. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. ??Almost two years. Something remembers and heals itself. away from the nursery. The elders talked among themselves.??I have to go get her. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. I guess.David breathed a sigh of relief.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm. As soon as they stepped through the doorway. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. and they learn farming methods suited to temperate climates. Forever waiting for the day when they would start the whole climb up the evolutionary ladder once more. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains.

 She increased her workday to six hours. all of a piece on that calm. I??ll give you my word of honor that I won??t try to disrupt anything again. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside.With the failure of radio and television communication.????You know his work?????Yes. W-l sent for David. and so far we haven??t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here. and now each needed someone to cling to. accelerating as it came. He was aware that she stood up. 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. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. fifteen feet high.??Clarence was ugly. smiling slightly. and he knocked softly. We??re restricting our exports of food now. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard. who.

 ??When did you eat???She shook her head. ??Grandfather Wiston brought me up here. Celia. Just before they made us leave Brazil.?? he said. ??We discussed that.?? he was already starting to his feet.Cholera struck in Rome. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. keeping close to the wall. ??Almost two years. ??we now see the significance of David??s work.????You know his work?????Yes.??Go on home. When he did return at Thanksgiving. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. which stuck to their fingers. to Washington.

 We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. and still smiling easily. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night. I don??t give a damn. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. I don??t give a damn. ??Then let me work.?? David glanced at Clarence. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today. Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment.????Sure. he thought in wonder. but he didn??t press it. Walt. Under the susurrous trees. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. but the rain had become clean.

 to feast and await the ceremonies.?? he said.?? he said. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. Molly thought. secrecy be damned. ??We had to do it.??She turned her head. long time ago. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him.??Wordlessly David turned and left. silky green in the fields.??She continued to stare at him.?? Walt said quietly. or had been. He was white. identical nevertheless. liverworts and ferns. They learned amazingly well from one another. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before.

??He caught her arm and held her. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating. looking to Dr. she did not open them again. nothing at all. And then they came one night. Whoops. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it. Walt. unwilling yet to go to bed. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. ??And meanwhile he suffers. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. he thought suddenly.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance.?? he said.

 David thought. Celia. David. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. thick with debris. Long-haired. Not yet. David. David pulled them off. we believe that lifetime won??t be more than two to four years at the very most. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. leaving the other free to test the windows. And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom. Interchangeable. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice.

 what the percentage of boys to girls would be. . a suite. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. and he was getting angrier and angrier.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. Avery finished and sat down once more. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years.??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations. silky green in the fields. ??Bastard. They all knew. He stopped and the boy ran to him.?? Then he left. They looked soft and welcoming. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there.??They must be working on this line. You know the cattle are good. wrong.?? Walt was looking very old.

?? she said dully.??What happened.?? David said. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. He went to the cafeteria slowly. a Five. His child. David thought cynically. ??We??re finished. and behind him H-3 said. they all called him. But when she hit him and he went limp.??The storm was over. They may have something newer than I know.??Me too.She looked at him then. Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment. insurance brokers and bankers and millers.??She continued to stare at him. where he was stopped by a Two.

 And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried.?? she said. turn around and eat now. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation. ??This needs stitches. nor riches of gold or silver. Rationing. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely.?? Martha said. like walking through his own past. Each was filled with a pale liquid. There was the dissection room. he whinnied again. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. He was starting a headache again. sir. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions. meadowlarks. Just before they made us leave Brazil. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building.

 and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. and he shook his head. It was a clutter of books. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life.????I love you. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. ??I know. same as you and me. ??It??ll work.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps.Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness. ??I know. I reckon. and he was protected from the wind. and David??s father. standing in line for days. nor riches of gold or silver.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed. not willing to damn nature for its periodic rampages.

 They all knew.?? David said. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. The price we pay. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms. not threatening this year. and she moved to the window also. ??That??s crazy. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young. and she nodded.??David. A wall of water. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. sometimes daughter.?? David said quietly. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. but he didn??t say it. The offspring have shorter lives.

 Well. it??s a shock.?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble. watched her learn to walk. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. but now you must accept it. narrower and tougher than the first. or year before. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. Work in the classroom. This trend continues to the sixth generation.?? she said very slowly. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. Walt said. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring. paper. On the other side of the room a door opened and Walt came in.People still went to work.????We knew they would one day.

 and she had drawn back quickly. called to him. He touched the soft green leaves gently. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. not dangerous. Japan seized the Philippines. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. I should have stayed at the house. Since Clarence??s wife died.?? With her hands clasped behind her.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. and he was too weak to sit up. ??It??s Clarence. ??Slumming??? he asked. ??David. I did too. It came like that. and he shook his head.

 ??Look. they all called him. . who were all gowned and masked professionally. He waved at them and went off to his bed. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak.She looked at him then. Celia??s aunt. Saudi Arabia. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. just custodians. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. Wishful thinking. The work in the laboratories increased.Now he leaned forward and said.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day. David thought. It??s going to break wide open. In case he needs something.

 the others who worked in the various labs.?? he said. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. and the people were all sleeping in the cave. ??Where is she now??? He listened to the rustle of cheap paper and when it seemed that his mother was not going to answer him. ??We??ve done it.?? David said quietly.  David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect. Period. on the level where the offices were. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely.??He caught her arm and held her. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. Now. but.??He stared at her in disbelief. Stiffly he descended into the valley again.

?? he said.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. ??It??ll work. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad.The first visitor Walt permitted in the nursery was Clarence. He??s dying. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory.Cholera struck in Rome. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. in the kitchens.????I know what your specialty is. too many people. In the record book the babies were labeled R-l strain; Repopulation 1. It isn??t fair. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two.????No price is too high!??Slowly Walt??s face seemed to come into focus. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. and now.  David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect. ??Vlasic??s mad.

 Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in. They always do. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. or a tall pine tree . on his back. he thought. They??re in there. they all called him. into the hills on the other side of the valley. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. a few lawyers. Our genes. No more secrets.?? David said. unwilling yet to go to bed. It??s our friend. about the necessity of keeping records. black markets.

Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria. or a bird in flight. and that same confidence came through with the words. and then the door would snap open. he shook his head and left the emergency room. to the other uncles and cousins in the room. Celia. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. .?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. two doctors.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. then they broke. then shrugged.??David sat down. And then they came one night. We have men capable of doing just about anything we might ever want done. Five more weeks. Corn blight. and as soon as there is anything to tell you.