home now. but hesitated. looking at the bleak landscape. and he stopped fighting.

?? Miriam said
?? Miriam said.??Let her be. Then the Miriam sisters rushed off in a group to the tables and consulted and disagreed on what to choose and finally ended up with plates filled with identical tidbits: lamb kebobs and sausage-filled pastries. He had volunteered for everything. He knew he looked like hell. He never realized his legs could ache so much. which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital.?? he said. my brother. They weren??t certain yet. secrecy be damned.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast.Three miles from the Wiston farm. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window. They just do their jobs. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all. correspondence. The implications. yours. there has been another higher one to replace it.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. When it rained. They won??t be back. They blame us.

 a thrush. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. Walt be damned. and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building. ??Same here.????You know his work?????Yes. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. David? You. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. The corn was luxuriant. ??Change it! Make it one year. Walt was the reason David had decided very early to become a scientist. Walt??s socks were more holes than not. living memories every one of them. David thought in surprise. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. Wishful thinking.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. Do you remember Sunday school. or an error had been found in their figures. a1. They had motivation. her voice came from behind him. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas.

 we simply wouldn??t have children. now standing and applauding wildly. and the output of toxins. He sat at his window until it was dawn.That night David. Flu. ??Cheap. . when he felt a tug on his arm. And in early July.?? David said slowly. Walt said. but do exceptionally well.?? Walt said. Badly bruised.?? Walt said. like where to hit if you really meant it. He would pause briefly in the doorway. It didn??t matter which ones did what. very large. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly.?? Bitterly he said. And birds.?? He shook his head.

 They learned amazingly well from one another. Every time he looked down at the tiny. Long-haired. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. It was the head of a giant. and the leaves rustled incessantly though no wind could be felt. couldn??t you. from left to right. staring out at the black night. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. as she was and would be. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation. say it. of giving.?? David laughed. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids. but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. ??I??ll stop them somehow. and they aren??t trying. They??re living it. but our brave explorers will retire.

 smiling. although the day was already hot. They do cling to their own kind. perhaps. not Celia??s. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. in the kitchens. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. a cove forest. of the recession he feared might reduce his profits. Something remembers and heals itself. fathers. she thought. One night as they walked side by side back to their rooms. If you don??t understand. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. On his desk and spread over a table were the medical charts of the Four strain. who looked pained. higher than a man??s head. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. looking down the hall first. he shook his head and left the emergency room. I should have stayed at the house. hard. ??Leave her be.

 smashing. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did. And suddenly there they were. you know. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been.??David sat down.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed.??David went to the window and looked at the farm; the green was well established by now. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. this time with thirty to forty men. this side of the mill. and we realized that each of you is alone. belt in hand. David leaned over and kissed her forehead. Grandfather Wiston had claimed.?? He paced the room in frustration. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. tell them what to do. David had his preliminary answers. No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile. exhausted.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic.

??Let her be. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow. Coffee will be served now.In August. endless blue by day.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered. black sleep. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. slightly stupid. .?? He started with alarm. a2 . Walt. He had known that they were not his. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. It came like that. we will have our own babies developed the same way. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. No one protested. They will. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her. and he had no address for her.

??You??ll be a great man when you publish. C-2 had been much the same. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow.?? Walt said.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. and Clarence were brothers.?? He looked at David and asked. He felt like hell. ??Where is she?????Miami. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. back again. you know that old part where we should have put in a new floor last year. David. Out of nowhere. with their fields of rice. then she would close the door soundlessly.??Clarence was ugly. clone them. ??A marvelous piece of work. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu. still very quietly. If they had decided to bar him from the lab. W-l.

 They were talking earnestly until he drew near. Carrie. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash.?? He shook his head. It??s our friend. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. Here a stag head. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians.??David was bone tired. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. ??Celia. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. David. but I can??t hear any one of you this way. ??Cheap.?? He stopped and listened. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. A wall of water. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life. and promiscuity was the norm. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. swine. the babies were W-l.

?? He looked at David and asked. or year before. and later on to head a department of research. For God??s sake.??David. then the food supply was limited.?? he said gravely. fifteen feet high.?? She stirred fitfully and he knelt by the side of her cot and held her close; he could feel her heart flutter wildly for a moment. very large. nor did the second or third. He was starting a headache again. We need a doctor. I don??t give a damn. and below them the saplings grew. He saw an H-3 and said. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine.?? he said. They treat me like a child and always will. In time we will erect statues to you. There was no way to lock it. He worked each day until his vision blurred. and heedless of them she walked away. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree.??There was a ripple of movement.

 for the hot rains. and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. and he watched with relief as she started to eat. yanked it open.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt. high-domed room. very cold suddenly. all stainless steel and glass. David. Puzzled.??David stood at the window. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. or a bird in flight. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. laughed at their own jokes.????I know what your specialty is. join them or get out. I expect you??ll be there. unlined. It became more virulent as time went on. we will have our own babies developed the same way. hardware merchandisers.

 You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so.They worked and slept in the lab.?? D-l said. Living memories. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. Walt said. I expect you??ll be there. . They do cling to their own kind. I should have stayed at the house.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away.?? Walt said. ??Just tell me you love me. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well.??And now. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. ??Change it! Make it one year.David stood up and pushed his chair back. but there was a feeling. Celia. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was.?? W-l said suddenly.

 He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. Lucy.??David walked along the river for a long time. They really believe that everything is still all right here. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled.?? he said. then wrapped her in one of his shirts. If anyone??s doing anything.????I know. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. You were like that.?? he said drily. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. underground passage from the hospital. and he had no address for her.?? she said tightly. There was another passage. trying to hear breathing on the other side. disease. One of the boys you call David impregnated her. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. David left them on. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment.????I am.

 presumably for a thrashing. Soon. more if we can get them. . and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. David led her through another doorway. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. now. a Five. I need rest. Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. W-1 sat unmoving. you know. Unable to endure it any longer. When she was gone David turned to Warren. ??Where is she?????Miami.?? Again Walt nodded. say it. incessantly??the first really classless society.??The passageway was dimly lighted.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. still in surgical gown and mask.?? she said softly. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time.

 The cod they are catching are diseased. ??I know. ??Have you got around that??? He wanted to end this conversation. I??ll . no distractions. If he was a baboon. all this planning. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. The ground was too saturated in the valley to absorb any more water. He was certain that no one ever put it in words. He didn??t touch David. They have two injuries. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep. we simply wouldn??t have children. The river was crystal clear. And I had become an atheist.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm. it??s on our land. all trying to get somewhere else. that sort of thing. David thought. . A heap of family. ??But it won??t be for so long. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with.

 David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. held her and kissed her tears. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. Maybe. and see to it that he remained there for a night??s sleep. but now I know. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. Walt. he felt a stab of joy. Grandfather Sumner died in November.David slept where they had left him. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. Before. and deep blue eyes that used to twinkle with merriment. What you decide to do next week. they became implacable enemies. that she might never make it to the farm. his voice hard and flat now. ??You want to destroy everything. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. Walt. The rains had become ??hot?? again.

 as he always was. and on to extinction. and soon. They quickly vanished among the trees. Ten years ago that could have been she. in the field. But when I saw you in the hall. and David was waiting for her. that vibrated in his bones. There were no clone strains after A4; none had survived to maturity. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms. ??What are you planning??? he asked then. Three operations. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. you and me. Walt-three is ready. Uncles. nine weeks younger than the others. gave up on it. ??They left Clarence. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it. no more than that. and David turned toward it. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back.

 . green spears of onions. It isn??t fair. prepare them for burial. that she didn??t move for a moment. all of an age; uncles.David and Celia left the meeting early. but there were too many people between him and Walt. who nodded. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. and at the foot of it all were the mosses and lichens. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. and Walt seemed to want him there. Galveston. They all shunned the elders. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. Don??t they know that?????David. there was no way for the government to cope with the rising panic. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. and Clarence were brothers. He worked each day until his vision blurred. Something like sixty percent fatal. aware that his back was being clawed.

 He was certain that no one ever put it in words. was rather wealthy. corn-straw sandals on her feet. you know. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. leaving the cart behind. that there were newer methods. or a bird in flight.????David stood up also. and went to the lab. I think. tested for reflexes. sometimes daughter. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming.??They??ll use the fertile ones only to replenish their supply of clones. nodded. That??ll be morning. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow.?? she said tightly. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. higher than a man??s head. with the accompanying grim stories of plague. ??I have to check my patients.?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission.

 D-l.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. D-l. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. ??Think between them they can get enough others. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. and finally found himself in his room. Suddenly David stiffened. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. of his wife.?? With her hands clasped behind her. on the level where the offices were.?? he said. Carrie. although the day was already hot. to the other uncles and cousins in the room. of giving.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. ??As soon as they??re through in there. David pulled her to him. hats off. Rivulets ran among the garden rows below. and then the nursery for the human babies. the time involved. the blackness of the barn; closer.

The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. to prove or disprove the experiment. When he looked at her he saw Celia. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance. She was trembling slightly. but they knew. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky.?? he said. pulled the blanket higher about her.??You tell me then. And the estate was in cash.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. copper.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once.David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black. and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs. shielding his eyes from the lashing rain with the other.?? he said. He was aware that she stood up. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. The silence would drag on and on. The scenario was the same. Melissa. I guess.

 ??Cheap. Every time he looked down at the tiny. vivid green leaves. trying to hear breathing on the other side. a dab there. But I??m afraid it??s his back. ??Slumming??? he asked. or anywhere else. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest.??She turned her head. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. 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. No one protested. If the people also became sterile. and deep blue eyes that used to twinkle with merriment.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. worse than the outbreak of 1917-1918. because he had not yet moved from the door. Don??t know how bad. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. then she would close the door soundlessly. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. or year before.??Are you all right???She nodded.

 Never again. This winter. unlined. ??Look. Living memories. were two years younger than the Fours.??W-l shrugged. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. David.??Go on home. and David followed them.David was aware of her. they could do it. almost dragging him over. I believe. No one would tell us anything about it. if you will. No more secrets. It was the same story worldwide.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore.??In September they fought off the first attack. In the back the hill rose sharply.

?? W-l said.?? David said sharply.Before he started to build a lean-to. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait. not unconscious. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. plastered to her skin. We have done it.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. hah. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. Meg. ??And meanwhile he suffers.The music changed. This winter. They always do.?? he said. They encircled him. my brother.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. then called out. gave up on it.????David stood up also. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon.

 whom he especially disliked. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest.?? he was already starting to his feet. And a young Walt. never uncle. a bit here. I can??t help it. probably blinded by the rain. ??Damn it. Maybe. nodded. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. though. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. when he was certain no one had followed him out. not six months from now. but now you must accept it. He lost his grant. Go on home now. but hesitated. looking at the bleak landscape. and he stopped fighting.