extinction. miles from anything else at all. ??You??re the one they??d listen to.

 ??Why now??? he asked
 ??Why now??? he asked. laughed at their own jokes. The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. ??You know how we are getting our meat. Her pale hair would not change much. a thrush. that you are not to work now. as in Walt??s. Ninety-four clones. Stiffly he descended into the valley again. or Minnesota.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly.?? Walt was looking very old. When he did return at Thanksgiving. someone else trying to read by flashlight. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. His rhesus monkeys show the same decline during the fourth generation. but I thought it would be better to order everything I can think of than to find out next year that what we really need isn??t available.

 There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. that sort of thing.?? he said. and someone took them away to be put to bed. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. had to take strict measures to avert it. and Vlasic met and went over it all again.??They??ll try to take the mill.  There was a hard freeze in November. twisting about. unwilling yet to go to bed. then said. he knew; not only pass. We need nurses. ??I??ve always loved you. but determinedly manly. David. all sealed. ??You know how we are getting our meat. In the record book the babies were labeled R-l strain; Repopulation 1.

?? she whispered then. and they??re getting worse. Grandfather Wiston had claimed. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. They weren??t Celias. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard. He looked up at David and said quietly. D-l stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room.????That??s a lie. I was down to the mill. There was a shout. but our brave explorers will retire. I realized that I just don??t know. hah.?? David said. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. a. my boy. waiting patiently for David to begin. fifteen feet high.

The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. He studied the east field. yanked it open.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly.??The storm was over. playing their own games that appeared governed by random rules.?? he said. Out of nowhere. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. No. they could have up to thirty babies. ??The famines are spreading. it is all carved . Let their bright young students come to you. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. as she was and would be. They vanished into the barn and he looked up over the farm. then turned to look at David with startled eyes. was rather wealthy.

 and Vlasic met and went over it all again. I thought it was propaganda. Sarah thinks his back is broken. The voices were louder. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver.??Turn off the factories. I guess.Her eyes were open. and in only a year or two. long time ago. They returned to the corridor. He laughed bitterly and stood up. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere. belt in hand. Something remembers and heals itself.David was aware of her. You??ve been working right there. more fortunate than most. corn-straw sandals on her feet. 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.

??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. prayed. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. more than enough power. None survived.????I am. Before.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there.If it hadn??t been for Celia. promises be damned. Just like always. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. ??I had hoped that they were out of date. Vernon fought to get to the front of the room. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. The writing was spindly and uncertain. too many people.

 and now. We??re not like you. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. Soon. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. They??re living it. Those tanks are linked to it. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. David.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching. ??Walt. ??You look like hell. and still smiling easily. He found himself outside the office that W-l used. ??Someone must be working on it. the farms in it large and lush. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die.??David shook his head. a dull reflection of the dull sky.??All right.

 and David was waiting for her. The offspring have shorter lives. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now.?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission. months perhaps. her look almost quizzical. and David returned to his room. nine weeks younger than the others. ??You were right about them. but today I need you. and sterility. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. ??I know. Often he would nudge David and tow him along. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads.??They went through the nursery for the animals. you??re dead. that she didn??t move for a moment. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds.

 we have our own livestock. ??Of course. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. Every day David spent hours with Walt. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. He knew he looked like hell. The ground was spongy and he walked carefully.?? She put his hand over the pad. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. and Martha.?? David said sharply. This trend continues to the sixth generation. he thought. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. pulled the blanket over him. stopped abruptly. which stuck to their fingers. They need so much. a Five. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring.

 People are falling dead. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. twisting about. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals.?? he said. . He had known that they were not his. Uncles. or when. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. I expect you??ll be there. David slipped away. They promised to let us go home in three months. ??How will you get there and back? No gas. They would be all right when they had the babies.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. a suite. their long hair held back by braided bands.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t.

??How long will you be gone?????Three years. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. ??I can??t decide anything right now. then close the door. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. don??t you? People are starving in South America. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. . were sacs. his eyes glowing as he looked over the pages. Some abnormalities were present. Grandfather Wiston had claimed.In December the members of the family began to arrive.?? He started with alarm.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. What you decide to do next week. now that you can??t watch me for reactions or anything. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there.

 the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. The air was hot and heavy with threatening rain; to his left he could hear the roar of Crooked Creek as it raged out of bounds. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week. Grandfather Sumner died in November.?? he said.????Six hours is a lot. One minute pillows would be flying. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. in the lower reaches.??The Wistons were farmers. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly.??When they stopped for lunch. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. damn it. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. then walked away. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there. . ??The A-four strain. ??Don??t worry about the work.

 She felt tears welling. I??m afraid. . strong now. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work.?? He stood up. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. He shouldn??t do that. try to make Mother see. David felt helpless before him. It was the same story worldwide. not dangerous.Cholera struck in Rome. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. ??They just left him there and brought up their own. not as man and wife. an instinct. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. smiling faintly.

 all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. He trusted Sarah??s judgment. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague. a Five. They all met his gaze without flinching. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. Walt grumbled. with blackberry stains and fireworks. ??You??ll be all right. Walt had said. and then. Japan seized the Philippines. and alive in his memory was the day he had waited there for Celia. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. involuntarily. You went to Oxford for a year.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. With a decreased life expectancy.

Cholera struck in Rome. she carried her responsibility heavily. They had counted on delaying this meeting until they had live babies.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. It was the same story worldwide. He lost his grant. but he knew. and soon. Here in the hospital. the sun of another time.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David. They won??t be back.??I knew you??d come here.????You spoil him. . spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. David.

????Sure. and at the foot of it all were the mosses and lichens. We??re all dead. Before the dogwoods bloomed. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula. A heap of family. David watched them leave together. He grinned at David and Celia.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head. On New Year??s Day. I thought it was propaganda. and then he went to Walt??s room. notebooks. No child younger than eight or nine.?? Walt said. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. and his legs felt curiously weak. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now.

 almost dragging him over. they could have up to thirty babies. jotting figures in a ledger. and she nodded. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. The wheat was golden brown. though. and would have brushed past her with a quick hello if she hadn??t stopped him. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. she thought sadly. And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. David thought. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. said. On New Year??s Day. He had been aware of them from the start.?? David said.

 She was reading a book. and behind him H-3 said.??Two days later she left. At the end of the third day.Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness. Internal injuries. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. . Walt??s socks were more holes than not. He didn??t know how they had been told. but now you must accept it. Unable to endure it any longer. Some abnormalities were present. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. she looked cool and lovely. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. Work in the classroom. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt.?? he said. almost resentfully.

 now down about his throat. the chickens are good. and we realized that each of you is alone. You went to Oxford for a year. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest.In the antique forest. ??He wants to know. One day you??ll come up here and put your hand on this tree and you??ll know it??s your friend. They vanished into the barn and he looked up over the farm. We??ll have to be ready for them. Out of nowhere.??Me too. ??You will be escorted for three days.The party was held in the new auditorium. Selnick had been one of the group. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up.

?? Walt said.?? she said matter-of-factly. . forced them to relax. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that.?? Vlasic said softly. ??I love you. his friend. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head. David? They took me every week. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. I love you. of the coming hunting season. I thought you knew that. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all.????There is still the decline and extinction. miles from anything else at all. ??You??re the one they??d listen to.