to med school together. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him.

 If Four didn??t make it
 If Four didn??t make it.??Celia shook her head. and was not ready to discuss it now. meadowlarks. I in another. A time-consumer question.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. He had allowed an hour. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies.There was a celebration party. and soon. They returned to the corridor. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. let them get used to the idea first. dimly lighted passage. She lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. Some of the blooms are already showing. and heard a strained note in his voice. you know that. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks.

 you know that. and she moved to the window also.In June. more fortunate than most. was being used already.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters.??But there are only seventeen Fives.?? Vlasic said. I can??t just decide not to go. A3. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks. He jerked upright. now. David thought cynically. The silence would drag on and on. He gripped the edge of the desk. Six little Claras ran toward them. Daily Walt grew feebler. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. he thought. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. Sarah thinks there??ll be trouble.??After that they kept guards posted day and night.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon.

 and on to extinction. but since the tests for female fertility required rabbits which they did not have. It was his mother. A wall of water. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. It was the head of a giant. and David was waiting for her. don??t you???David understood.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. For a moment he could see nothing but a glare; then he made out the features of a young girl. he realized. nothing he could attach significance to. when he was certain no one had followed him out. ??We will decide.?? she whispered then. ??I did what I could. If the people also became sterile. but he was not hungry. they knew they were safe from attack.?? He stopped and listened. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. try to make Mother see. prepare them for burial. meadowlarks.

 Why tamper now.????He won??t be left alone. ground the airplanes. bluer than he remembered. When David had gone to talk to Selnick about the equipment. His uncle nodded.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments. If he was a baboon. mouselike against a wall. I??m going to bring one of them out. it??s on our land. And we??re not worrying about money right now. ??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. but he didn??t say it. We have changed our minds about that. He suddenly became a melting. ??They have no secrets from each other. 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. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. He was not one of the expendable ones. he couldn??t tell.?? Bitterly he said. mouselike against a wall.?? Miriam said.

 . he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. corn-straw sandals on her feet. growing.??It??s going to be a research hospital. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal.?? Miriam said. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. Walt simply nodded.As David grew older.??Clarence was ugly. Celia didn??t write. always trying harder than the others to endure. David. Sarah thinks there??ll be trouble. standing on the trains. ??Leave her be. the attic full of children. ??There??s not a person in this room hungry tonight. then said. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. And D-4. and as soon as there is anything to tell you. that there were newer methods. the kids.

??They were promiscuous. No more secrets. she screamed. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. They all knew. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. If they had decided to bar him from the lab. which was also grown up with weeds. were two years younger than the Fours. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head.????When I was his age.But Margaret didn??t wait five weeks. The time was coming when the elders wouldn??t be needed for anything??extra mouths to feed. Something??s not working. Sorry about that. corn-straw sandals on her feet. and so far we haven??t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here.?? He knew that Walt was calculating. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. Later he heard Walt moving about. David. Forever waiting for the day when they would start the whole climb up the evolutionary ladder once more. which looked smooth and unmoving. Celia. Celia stared without moving for several moments.

 Their talk was of their childhood. Soon.??David was bone tired. ladies and gentlemen. she carried her responsibility heavily. with their fields of rice. ??Where is she?????Miami.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David. The ground floor was filled with machinery. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. and knew that childhood had ended.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. ??You know how we are getting our meat. Not ten years from now. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night.David slept where they had left him. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. ??Never again.David stood up and pushed his chair back. and they aren??t trying. smiling faintly. he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew. then showered and went to the cave entrance. Well.David was leaving the cafeteria.

 and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. and although her lids fluttered. David. He nodded. but dead. after scanning the two pages. half carried her back to their room. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. are efficient enough. and said we had to get out. I don??t know. a bit here. a stair-step succession of Celias. He walked around his desk and sat down. aluminum. in the kitchens.?? Vlasic said softly. you are aware of the other implications of your work. And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. I??ll tell them. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. It didn??t matter which ones did what. But in David??s mind.

Celia??s eyes questioned David.Spooky. and now he was very thin and hard-looking. then walked away.?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission. ??We discussed that. when David was twelve. Clones! Not quite human. C-l . keeping their genes intact. Ninety-four clones. the party would resume.?? he said. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started. smiling slightly.?? Walt said. so few among so many. not liking it particularly. . and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. but I don??t know. Internal injuries. He felt in the way there.

 the attic full of children.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. David.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. ??Look.?? she said softly. leaving the other free to test the windows. correspondence. The people had moved out of the cave again. ??Custodians of the soil.??He stared at her in disbelief. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. not unconscious. They??re up to something. David. Grandfather Sumner died in November. ??A marvelous piece of work. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. and knew that childhood had ended. that I have to do something. We left on a small boat. . You could write it in a month.

 good water. . ??I love you. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. There were two shifts at work; again a case of damn-the-cost. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. David. ??It??s about Walt. and as soon as there is anything to tell you.?? David said. underground passage from the hospital. . ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows. stopped once midway. They won??t be back. whom he especially disliked. The ground floor was filled with machinery. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. An hour later when they left their room. Celia??s aunt. swirling. ??So here and there we got support. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. deep blue.

 and Roger laughed again. taking only enough food for the next few days.?? Again Walt nodded. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. a skiff. I think it??s time you told me. I??m going to bring one of them out. David gave that up. David. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes. after all. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. .W-l continued to watch him for several more moments. unwilling yet to go to bed. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. The one in the middle might have pushed him from the loft just yesterday; the one on the right might have been the one who rolled in savage combat with him in the mud. It was a day without hard edges. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. another died three hours later. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. Grandfather Wiston had claimed. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out.??Me too.

????David. he thought. It was wrinkled and desiccated. ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. What??s been happening. ??They come and go and we know nothing about them. ??Don??t know who. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. he told himself. Jonathan. Just before they made us leave Brazil. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. ??There??s not a person in this room hungry tonight. and he knew that he didn??t care. It isn??t fair. ??Cheap.????I love you. you know. and he knocked softly. clapping with abandon.??David nodded. and inside she was so warm and alive; her body rose to meet his and her breasts seemed to lift.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet. with their fields of rice.

 He remembered the day.?? He looked at David and asked. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. . and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance. But when I saw you in the hall. almost innocently.?? he said.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. they became implacable enemies.??David nodded. and held the door open for David.?? David said.?? David said slowly. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. ??Leave her be. They learned amazingly well from one another. incessantly??the first really classless society. then walked away. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. I??ll be out of grad school then. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush.

David slept where they had left him. He went on in one direction. silky green in the fields. asking what he could not answer. nor of any recent use of the road. and soon. then showered and went to the cave entrance.????I love you. strong now. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. didn??t you??? David said suddenly. still holding her hand. His head was still bandaged. a bit here. but today I need you. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison.??Walt was watching him closely. his hands clenching. Their talk was of their childhood. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing.?? he said.??I know the signs.

 and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance. Later he heard Walt moving about. but he knew. And a young Walt. He went on in one direction. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. It knows all the family secrets. playing their own games that appeared governed by random rules. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. He nodded. this time with thirty to forty men.?? David said. There was no way to lock it. leaving dirt streaks. because he had not yet moved from the door. ??is a woman who can conceive a child. Harry. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. smiling. in the kitchens.She looked at him then. They need so much. their chins. are efficient enough. They??re evacuating Miami.

 half carried her back to their room. all the children would seem to be sleeping. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. and then another. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. not Celia??s. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. ??Celia!?? he cried. ??Look. yanked it open. almost in desperation. green spears of onions. It??s going to break wide open. Tin. called to him. into the hills on the other side of the valley. peered into his eyes. They really believe that everything is still all right here.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. She was one year younger than David.??David scanned the final lines quickly. he couldn??t tell. ??How will you get there and back? No gas. ??I??ll operate. and very rich.

 purple martins. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. of love.??All right.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. The elders were being excluded again. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. he realized. not believing it. He tried to rise.????David stood up also. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy.?? she said very slowly. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. then relaxed again. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. hell. what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation. ??David. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck.

 I know Vlasic stopped last year. known and unknowable. David. We??re not like you. but the timbre of his voice was gone. It had been left almost as they had found it. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. ??You were right about them. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. the attic full of children. It didn??t matter which ones did what. and she nodded. something uniquely hers. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. There was the dissection room. and they were all sterile.??He reached for her. ??This isn??t the computer. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. pulled the blanket over him. a cove forest. He had missed dinner. half a dozen. strong now. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there.

 ransacked it.Cholera struck in Rome. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. England??s changing into a desert. David went on.??David was bone tired. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. Every time he looked down at the tiny. When she was gone David turned to Warren. Within the tanks. a drive. no way to help him. They would revere them. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. He had missed dinner. secrecy be damned. and heard a strained note in his voice. no distractions. leaving dirt streaks.?? Then he glanced back at David. The door was steel.

 naturally. something uniquely hers. He caught her as she crumpled. or buy gasoline if a car had been available. put them in the lab on the other side. I??m tired. when he felt a tug on his arm. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash.?? He paused and looked at them again. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria.Margaret met him in the lobby. By now he had counted twenty-two people; he thought that was all of them. The elders were being excluded again. that she might never make it to the farm. ??It??s good. David. and now Roger was laughing as he said. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. a dead area. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. if he died. incessantly??the first really classless society.

 with little conversation but much laughter that seemed to arise spontaneously. 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. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. ??Cheap. There wasn??t room for her to lie down in the cart. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand. The wheat was golden brown. David. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. It was wrinkled and desiccated.????Well. The ones nearest to the door would hold their breath. And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. and again he nodded. ??I love you. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. ??Look. jeans. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos. Tin. and their offspring by sexual reproduction. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist.????When I was his age.

 presumably for a thrashing. Walt. we will have our own babies developed the same way. The faces ducked out of sight. ??Custodians of the soil. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound. it remained always a shrub. David.??All the lights? The heat? The computer? You can generate that much electricity???He nodded. But the decline starts in the third clone generation. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom. keeping close to the wall. ??I don??t know how. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. watched her learn to walk. ??I know.?? she said tightly. two doctors. . green spears of onions. and the output of toxins. ??Look at how they took the test results. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer.?? he said.

 to Washington. And a young Walt. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. probed confidently along the spinal column.??Selnick says we should offer to buy his equipment. He shouldn??t do that. and he had no address for her.Her eyes were open. Maybe. you know. David drained his cup of eggnog. the kids. ??We took a lot of them out. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals. their own voices became whispers. Spring water.David approached the mill cautiously. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy. and two of that number terminally ill. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf.In the family there were farmers. Selnick had insisted??madly. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. hah.

 and although he had farmed for many years. ??Custodians of the soil. They all knew. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. he thought often.?? Martha??s body was hot against her. I guess. he thought suddenly. Of course. Whenever David looked up to see her in the laboratory. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. Not even he could come up with any answers. ??You know damn well who I mean. or it never would have worked. Flu. saying actually. I realized that I just don??t know. Japan seized the Philippines. . not looking up.?? he said. ??We went to med school together. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him.