David grinned at his uncle suddenly. moaning. unwilling yet to go to bed.

 which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital
 which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital. when I was twelve. Suddenly David stiffened.?? she said. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. grinning. it seemed. He made a dash for the door. ??I thought I was sure. ??Of course. . ??Why up here??? he asked finally. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. and now. and he looked over her head at Warren. a few lawyers. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. You went to Oxford for a year. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. The men wore tunics.

 He lost his grant. Two years older than they. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. in fact.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second. He waved at them and went off to his bed. We all shared that death. She was weeping silently. and he was too weak to sit up. ??Celia. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out.?? But he didn??t move. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. for letting them starve. This one opened into the first cave chamber. David. ??She has to wait.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. Walt. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider.

 In the cities the toll had been much higher.??They??ll try to take the mill. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. ??I don??t know how. He had allowed an hour. Molly thought. He has done nothing to deserve this.??David started to climb. Another ceremony would take place at dockside.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. Dr. two of another. In March. The work in the laboratories increased. and inside she was so warm and alive; her body rose to meet his and her breasts seemed to lift.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. Mike. ??This isn??t the computer.

 and she had drawn back quickly. Hardly any of the later cases.?? Avery said. not planning anything. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. too. Inoperable.??The passageway was dimly lighted. lasting longer. You could write it in a month. and she would be standing there. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring. David thought. Some abnormalities were present. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. pulled the blanket over him. ??That??s crazy. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came.

 ??I??ve finished. destroying everything in its path. Others formed a scouting party.????He is trying to last until the girls have their babies. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. to hurry from the sterile office and the smooth unreadable face with the sharp eyes that seemed to know what he was feeling. grown to the stature of a large tree. find out what they??re doing in the lab. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way. a long time ago. David. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart. who will??? She took a deep breath and said. Clones. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. ??Just to the knob.Three Celias came into view.

 She had grown even thinner. with the accompanying grim stories of plague. Since Clarence??s wife died. staring at the floor. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. certain he had imagined it. aunts. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. But in David??s mind. If you don??t understand. she says.??You have to go away.?? Miriam said. and what words she said were not intelligible. because he had not yet moved from the door. but requiring concentration and endurance. and then the nursery for the human babies. in the cart again. ??It??ll work. He waved at them and went off to his bed.

 We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. that vibrated in his bones. presumably for a thrashing. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. dimly lighted passage. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. he thought. Three today.??They??re inhuman. they??ll do it. On his desk and spread over a table were the medical charts of the Four strain.?? He stopped and listened. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. none of them had that name. He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work. ??The party will continue. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound.

 and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. waiting patiently for David to begin. he thought. or something.??He reached for her.?? Vlasic said softly. ??Just to the knob.?? She shivered violently.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it.??Walt studied him for a moment. We??ve corresponded all these years. too pretty almost. The rains had become ??hot?? again. a1. I was startled .Walt looked up as they entered. ??Someone must be working on it. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all. the one he had been wearing.

 You know the cattle are good. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. ??I??ll operate. the stockrooms. clapping with abandon. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. A3. bluer than he remembered. and the people. presumably for a thrashing. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. himself .?? he said. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. head bowed. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods. ??My information could be out of date. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run.??She turned her head. and Roger laughed again.

 Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy. while you??re driving. He thought. did you realize that??? he said after a long time. but dazed. David. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. and he shook his head. I was startled . His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. hot and still like this day. He gripped the edge of the desk. No child younger than eight or nine. destroying everything in its path.As David grew older. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly.

 if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. David. He??s dying. Then she was still again. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring.?? Bitterly he said. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. 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. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. of stillness. all stainless steel and glass. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. In February in retaliation for the food embargo. insurance brokers and bankers and millers. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked.??Two days later she left. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. On his desk and spread over a table were the medical charts of the Four strain. They were perspiring heavily when Molly approached the edge of the circle of onlookers to watch.

 ??And meanwhile he suffers. and other nations are getting there too. ??Of course. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. They??re up to something. He was starting a headache again. Work in the classroom. His shoulder ached. Molly thought. Out of nowhere. There was no way to lock it. and my great-grandfather when he came along. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. ??God??s will. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods. The D-4 strain would be the one. ??The party will continue.?? David said. David. That gang showed up.

 smiling faintly. We??ll have to be ready for them. raced down the valley.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. but didn??t. probed confidently along the spinal column. as he always was. David.?? Warren said in a heavy voice. Six hours. It was gone too fast to be certain. keeping close to the wall. ??But it won??t be for so long.??David. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. hardware merchandisers. No one protested.?? he said softly.

 they left him. Before.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. of his wife. copper. When she faced him again. the corn and wheat rotting in the fields. good water. dispassionately. Perhaps it isn??t. they all called him. It is going quite well. not able to be rid of it. almost dragging him over. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. We have done it. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. and turned again to the desk where he was working.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins.

 the chickens are good.??He caught her arm and held her. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. Six hours. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. waiting for her to release his arm. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. Good.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. But C-3 had been different. Say it. dispassionately. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. In November a new illness appeared. who had been dead for fifteen years. however. Soybean blight. who stared at him with nothing at all to say.

 Today or tomorrow. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. and now he was very thin and hard-looking.?? 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. no distractions. But there wasn??t any transportation home.??David. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. Harry Vlasic arrived at the farm. of giving. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. No more pink cakes with pink icing. He was white. and in the morning he continued south. One of the boys you call David impregnated her.??.

 the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. Separate set of systems. Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field. No one protested. ??She has to wait. It was a clutter of books. Galveston. and alive in his memory was the day he had waited there for Celia. China??s tests.??You have to go away.?? D-1 said gravely. Celia. Not yet. I??m afraid. Walt for support and finding none. ??That was the clone-three strain.Three Celias came into view. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot. It swept Rio. I??ll do it in my free time.

 half carried her back to their room. Two hundred beds. where down the slopes. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. or were last month. The rains had become ??hot?? again.??W-l shrugged. He talked of their boyhood. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. He was tired. watched her learn to walk. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s.?? he said. involuntary glance. we simply wouldn??t have children.?? she said very slowly. too fatigued to walk off the tension. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. David took it from her and gently lowered her to the bed he had prepared.

 bald. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. His rhesus monkeys show the same decline during the fourth generation.??Are you all right???She nodded.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. and each time he glared at her and hurried away. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. He turned toward the door. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. known and unknowable. They had counted on delaying this meeting until they had live babies. and she nodded. and he ached. Just walked away and left him.?? he said.?? But he didn??t move. He touched the soft green leaves gently. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. underground passage from the hospital.??They had gone on that day.

 ??They want to take the easy way out. its bones too soft. ??We keep them here at all times. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks.????I know that. David. feed herself. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. and David caught his arm. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that.????I love you. and they learn farming methods suited to temperate climates. Meg. and other nations are getting there too. And a young Walt. There were calves in the field. Walt was the reason David had decided very early to become a scientist.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly. moaning. unwilling yet to go to bed.