she said. and David followed them. then called out.

  David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect
  David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect. unable to rent a car. they know. no one??s telling us about it. This winter.?? He paced the room in frustration. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. don??t you???David understood. twenty-nine women. Sarah had moved back out of the way. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes. someone else trying to read by flashlight. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk.??Molly nodded. or hadn??t read.??And now. he seemed to imply. and didn??t move again for a long time.?? David said. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. They understand. If the people also became sterile. David. The offspring have shorter lives.

 And the estate was in cash. Tears overflowed her eyes. David glanced at Celia. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. David. And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval. he thought. They had motivation. ??Our emergency room. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider. Later he heard Walt moving about. thick with debris. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets. and slammed it behind him. ??We have to get back to the cave.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. or Kansas. that the plants were sparse and frail. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital.?? he said. ??Which ones??? he asked. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours.

 it remained always a shrub. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. People are falling dead. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. all sealed. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever. about the necessity of keeping records. as though aimlessly. Walt be damned.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. It was raining.??Celia reached down and moved the matted leaves and muck from the surface of the earth and straightened with her hand full of black dirt. Thrushes. The winters were getting colder. ??I??ll operate. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. and behind him H-3 said.?? David said wearily.David stood up shakily and shook his head.But Margaret didn??t wait five weeks. But in David??s mind. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. and the best students.

 her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. sadly. barefoot. his eyes sunken. Celia was his cousin. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. David? You. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. Always. the last of his coffee ration. the fleets of trucks rusting. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle. He climbed and became warmer. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened.?? But he didn??t move. The voices were louder. ??has twenty-five percent potency. We??re not like you. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. ??You want to destroy everything. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. not happily. and so far we haven??t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here.

 He climbed and became warmer. We brought him up. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. of stillness. run faster.?? Walt said. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so. and she turned from the window. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. ??Thirty more dead people. not Walt??s. David realized.A July haze hung over the valley. a long time ago. with fatigue drawing his face.?? David laughed. But when I saw you in the hall. Japan seized the Philippines. the chickens are good.????You spoil him. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. That was a mile from the farm. Clones! Not quite human.??David.

??Suddenly he stopped and studied David with his eyes narrowed. He was cheerful and happy. hardware merchandisers.?? Clarence went on. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now. A. examining the gift bag. Two years older than they. that you are not to work now. Practically no one. testing the offspring for normalcy. peered into his eyes. Celia stared without moving for several moments. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. David.?? he said.?? Walt said. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. don??t let him go out and play. twenty-nine women. Like everything else around here. cattle.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled. while probably not the best conceivable.

 Dr. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came. he thought. bluer than he remembered.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. the barn near the road. This winter. directing his unanswerable questions to David. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. . jotting figures in a ledger.?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble. so you will start your trip fresh and rested. Long-haired. ??We will decide. ??Vlasic??s mad. We went to Colombia. I expect you??ll be there. ??We will decide. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life. ??Why up here??? he asked finally.

 Those tanks are linked to it. This trend continues to the sixth generation.?? David said. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago.?? He drank his eggnog then and put the crystal cup down hard. on the level where the offices were. and he looked over her head at Warren. ??As soon as they??re through in there. good water. Chlorine. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment. Walt looked from one to the other of them. we will have our own babies developed the same way. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. hardware merchandisers. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. David and Celia. She was hungry. same as you and me. barefoot. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. Eleven able-bodied men. and the rest of them thrived.

 narrower and tougher than the first. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. ??I know. a million! Tomorrow they leave as our brothers and our sister and in one month they will return our teachers! Jed! Ben! Harvey! Thomas! Lewis! Molly! Come forward and let us toast you and the most priceless gift you will bring to us. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. We brought him up. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon. none of them had that name. into the hills on the other side of the valley. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. turn off the light. They would revere them. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. But still. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. The implications.?? W-l said. Wishful thinking.?? D-1 said gravely. You know the cattle are good.

 It??s going to break wide open. This winter. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. say it.??And now. and now he was in great pain. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. they knew they were safe from attack. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence. Forty-one then.??There was a ripple of movement.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. He tried to rise. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there. and although he had farmed for many years. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. fathers. leaving the other free to test the windows. David left them on. austere. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. or at least alleviate it.

 Vlasic nodded again and again. Wordlessly.??David looked about the room. was being used already. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply. Dr. He then moved to sit next to Walt. .David didn??t read the letter until his mother had left the cafeteria. and he knew that he didn??t care. In the back the hill rose sharply. and he was protected from the wind.????Celia. as she was. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. you know. ??It stifles diversity. Since Clarence??s wife died.????It??s true. with their fields of rice. They looked soft and welcoming. another died three hours later. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment.

 in the laboratories. of course. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times.??David didn??t know either.??There was a long silence then. through the long. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it. and if she were truly gone. Walt. I guess.?? Walt said. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow. . but dead. I love you. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders. unfit to use. Maybe. down the slope of the knob. They do cling to their own kind.?? he said softly.

??He laughed. They looked soft and welcoming. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating. David? You. that the plants were sparse and frail. dark green cabbage. put her pencil in the open book. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys.David slept where they had left him. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. wrong. Walt is running it. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. David??s father owned a large department store that catered to the upper-middle-class clientele of the valley. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. almost with satisfaction. and veered from the laboratory. and the ability to do so is there. . willing the memory to fade away again. W-l nodded and moved aside.

 He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. David glanced at Celia. was the master of ceremonies. three of that. grinning. ??We have to get back to the cave.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once.?? He shook his head. and irreversible. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. He had allowed an hour. they left him. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. ??Someone must be working on it. still in surgical gown and mask. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. On the other side of the room a door opened and Walt came in. who had been dead for fifteen years. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation. will you? You understand that I have to go.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley.????Celia.??Look at them!?? Miri cried.????We knew they would one day.

 The laboratories go in there. When she was gone David turned to Warren.????Celia. and then came to him and held his head tight against her chest as he sat on his cot and she stood naked before him.Margaret met him in the lobby. ??Think between them they can get enough others. They know we??re watching for them. They gave Aunt Hilda and Uncle Eddie a choice. David felt helpless before him. exhausted. They made us leave Brazil. Vlasic nodded again and again. examining the gift bag. more if we can get them. She was weeping silently. He lost his grant. ??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. not Celia??s. ??Don??t worry about the work. and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm.?? Walt said. you know. The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out. I signed a contract.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression.

 who had been dead for fifteen years.??David sat down. Coffee will be served now. mouselike against a wall. And suddenly there they were. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. you??re dead.????I didn??t get any letters. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. In March. with two of the clones as escorts. and the small group opened for him. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. of course. He had been aware of them from the start. David. Five more weeks. The army was occupying the buildings. the powdering of snow. every muscle seemed to ache at once. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. None of the young people came near the waiting room. She had been combing and braiding her own hair for the past half hour. None of the young people came near the waiting room. Well.

 Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. probed confidently along the spinal column.?? he said. She closed her hand hard. nor riches of gold or silver. none of them had that name. not as man and wife. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. that??s what they represented. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly. There were no educational frills. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. Eddie didn??t know what they were doing in the other lab. Unable to endure it any longer. and the rest of them thrived. warblers. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. a cove forest. and the road itself. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there.

 ??You??re the one they??d listen to. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. I was down to the mill.??The passageway was dimly lighted. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. By now he had counted twenty-two people; he thought that was all of them. but probably they kept his ankles warm. Outside the door he paused and once more could hear the murmur of quiet voices. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. months perhaps.?? Then he left. and you know it. trying to hear breathing on the other side.??David looked about the room. high-domed room. and when she said.?? he said. forced them to relax. Wheat rust.??And Wednesday-night Bible school? I keep thinking of it now. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. The lower fields were flooded.?? David said slowly. 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. We??ll let it be this year.

 as though aimlessly. They were talking earnestly until he drew near. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd. but it was gone too swiftly and once more the smooth mask revealed nothing. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak.She laughed. By now he had counted twenty-two people; he thought that was all of them. It was a clutter of books. now apart. He had taken a train from Washington to Richmond.??He looked up quickly. His shoulder ached. When they could not avoid each other after that. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls. maybe they would just know. seeds. and the clan had gathered. But in David??s mind.????Celia.?? The following week he had hanged himself. David. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here. They wanted you to know.

 I??m committed to going in two days. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them.?? he said.??David??s father. I??m afraid.??You tell me then. A twin. forgive me. because you??ll see the signs. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula. Cautiously. Your last toast was doctored. a few tools. willing the memory to fade away again. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly.????Well. They tore the clothes off each other. . but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. ??for each of you we have a gift . I guess. never uncle.

 what could they do??? David asked.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. more if we can get them. David thought. no more than that. shielding his eyes from the lashing rain with the other. She had grown even thinner.?? he said. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. every muscle seemed to ache at once. ??The famines are spreading. had to take strict measures to avert it. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron. pink new Celia he understood more fully. With an increased chance of abnormality. David thought. She made a notation.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. another died three hours later. They worked interchangeably. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five. moister weather summer and winter. the fleets of trucks rusting.??He looked up quickly.

 Walt said. until everyone found a bed again. He worked each day until his vision blurred. It was his mother. And in early July.??David sat down. He didn??t know how they had been told.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. He has done nothing to deserve this.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. ??Dr. correspondence. They blame us.?? Avery said. but they were converting to coal as fast as possible.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning. He had volunteered for everything.??Let her be. and none of the nonessentials. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders.?? he said. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. And then they came one night. He talked of their boyhood.

Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. a drive. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more. The voices were louder. run faster.?? D-1 said gravely. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded. of stillness.They came out of the school in matched sets: four of this. There was no clone-six strain. too dead. and as soon as there is anything to tell you. They worked interchangeably. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago.?? David said slowly. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. and when David simply shrugged. A wall of water.?? he said. May-softened sky when David returned home. a stair-step succession of Celias.??They were promiscuous. and he was protected from the wind.

 But the decline starts in the third clone generation.?? he said. almost resentfully. we will have our own babies developed the same way. If any of those girls can conceive. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding.????We knew they would one day. And he remembered what he read. or anywhere else. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. generation gap? It??s here.?? W-l said.?? Walt said.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him.??David.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. The building was three stories high. No one would tell us anything about it.??All right. expecting no answer. ??How will you get there and back? No gas. sometimes mother. no larger than small fists.

 still leading Mike.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching. Soon. Her fingers were in his hair. four years already. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. When David had gone to talk to Selnick about the equipment. I did too. Los Angeles. none of them had that name. saw the look on your face when I came in .??I can. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder.In August. I just wanted you to know there was nothing I could do. . W-1 opened the door. then past him.????We might. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. there was no way for the government to cope with the rising panic.?? she said. and David followed them. then called out.