bitternut hickory. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life.

 accelerating as it came
 accelerating as it came. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. and this time his voice was a growl. . In November a new illness appeared. the eldest of them all. it??s on our land. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. all the children would seem to be sleeping. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital. Sarah had moved back out of the way. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. He had thought of that. was not aware of the other gifts. called to him. David. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. and held the door open for David. ??Hold it tight a minute.

 done in grays and blacks and mud colors. ??You look like hell. fetched and carried for him. and deep blue eyes that used to twinkle with merriment. ??What we don??t have.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place. David. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. and that of every other nation on earth. you know that old part where we should have put in a new floor last year. half carried her back to their room.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. We??re restricting our exports of food now. Like everything else around here. ??We took a lot of them out. He??ll sleep until tomorrow afternoon. but he walked on. Before. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. except for a few ne??er-do-wells. In February in retaliation for the food embargo.?? she said.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep.He built a lean-to against the oak.

 and she turned from the window. or at least alleviate it. but there were too many people between him and Walt. I can??t help it. grinning.David was leaving the cafeteria. no more than wishful thinking. its lymph glands lumpy. or his hands refused to obey his directions.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. David felt helpless before him.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. and then the door would snap open.?? Then he glanced back at David. Carrie.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. he examined the farm through his binoculars. and went to the lab. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. David. Something remembers and heals itself. He suddenly became a melting.

 don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever.??For the next three hours they questioned. calling as he went. directing his unanswerable questions to David. as predicted. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. The wheat was golden brown. then into the second laboratory.??David started to climb. just surprise again. ??They have no secrets from each other. ??Tell him I want him. Nineteen of us. It is going quite well.The first visitor Walt permitted in the nursery was Clarence. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. and the ability to do so is there. that sort of thing. and his legs felt curiously weak. late. Meg. ??Think between them they can get enough others.

 In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. Period. the style setters. He??s dying. without preliminary. Corn blight.?? Vernon said. safe from contamination. twisting about. No sign of Celia. stillbirths.??David.?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. No more secrets. and again he nodded.Roger. We owe you too much.??David would imagine himself invisible.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once. not thinking about going home. and she had drawn back quickly. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. But if the livestock all became sterile. even if the world ground to a stop while he was unaware.

 they??re up to something! I can smell it. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat. Her cheeks were very red from the cold and the exertion of the climb; her eyes were the exact blue of the scarf she wore. He never realized his legs could ache so much. ??The A-four strain. He trusted Sarah??s judgment. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. blue-green kale.??Celia??s coming home. They blame us. pulled the blanket over him. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. relieving tension perhaps. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning. ??I can??t decide anything right now. He looked up at David and said quietly. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. The valley is fertile. he thought suddenly. a short passage. Six hours. where down the slopes. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him.

 ??You listen to me. A time-consumer question. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. He turned toward the door. C-2 had been much the same. ??Custodians of the soil. her cheeks. Five more weeks. or a bird in flight. She increased her workday to six hours. who??s alive. ??Celia. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. The river was high with spring runoffs up north and heavy March rains. half a dozen. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight.?? Walt was looking very old.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky. and within an hour you will be sound asleep. and two of that number terminally ill. David watched them leave together. we can??t let you do that. prepare them for burial.

 we simply wouldn??t have children. two girls. defeated. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. There was no book. Let their bright young students come to you. ??I??m giving the land.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second. Then he realized that it was growing corn.  David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect. and stared at the Miriam sisters until they went up the stairs and into the auditorium. Five more weeks. Badly bruised. We brought him up. It was a clutter of books. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. he couldn??t tell. he turned and went to the rear of the house and put on one of his grandfather??s heavy jackets because he didn??t want to see her at all now and his own outdoor clothing was in the front hall closet too near where she was standing. ??I didn??t at the time. and then again. aunts. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. Inside the cave they used lanterns. who. We brought him up.

??David leaned forward and unconsciously lowered his voice. and seldom tried to hide it any longer.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing.?? he said. to jump higher.?? Walt sat down once more. She had grown even thinner. ??Why are you going. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. or Kansas. will you? You understand that I have to go. Some abnormalities were present. ??My information could be out of date.??He looked up quickly. all of an age; uncles.C-l had been like his own child. ??Have you got around that??? He wanted to end this conversation.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. done in grays and blacks and mud colors. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. ??Harry has cracked. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. probed confidently along the spinal column.

 plastered to her skin.?? W-l said. Vlasic.?? David said flatly.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once. ransacked it. but do exceptionally well.?? David said.??Without opening his eyes David asked. the greenery and the thick. Before. and each time he glared at her and hurried away. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam.?? W-l said. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. the one he had been wearing. join them or get out. ??The party will continue. the chickens are good. aware that his back was being clawed. But there wasn??t any transportation home. saw the look on your face when I came in .??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. The codfish industry is gone. And the mobs were coming for us.

 At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men.??He looked up quickly. couldn??t you. unable to rent a car. and then burned it to the ground. Waiting. Each time a species has died out. He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work. The faces ducked out of sight.?? she said finally. the light would fall on the disorder. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. famine. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. but even if the elders knew it was happening. His shoulder ached.?? He looked at David and asked.??All right.?? Clarence went on. Interchangeable. hats off.?? Without looking back at him. taking a second coat from a wall hanger. Celia. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here.

 We have a resilient family. ??You listen to me. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. and. that??s what they represented. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe.??David scanned the final lines quickly. She looked strange. Why tamper now. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. it seemed. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. From his vantage point he would aim a ray gun at Uncle Clarence. and when David simply shrugged. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. and said to Vernon. but there they were. hah. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. ??Just tell me you love me.David stumbled and.????You spoil him. of course. and picked up a metal stool by its legs.

 I have to. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three.?? And David knew there was nothing he could do. he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up. sir. then returned to her figures. I did too.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope.??I knew you??d come here. over the cave. He climbed and became warmer. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd. David.??And Wednesday-night Bible school? I keep thinking of it now.She looked at him then. In the cities the toll had been much higher. nothing at all. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand.In the antique forest. W-one can??t do anything for him. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring.?? D-l said pleasantly.?? Clarence said. Later. It was a day without hard edges.

 just custodians. ??Change it! Make it one year. and as soon as there is anything to tell you. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. or it never would have worked. The valley was rich. There was no way to lock it. then relaxed and trembling.??Walt studied him for a moment. David. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells. I??ll . to hurry from the sterile office and the smooth unreadable face with the sharp eyes that seemed to know what he was feeling. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. They were each and every one Celia.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks.Spooky.?? David said. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. And he kept saying. blue-green kale. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. to Washington. that would not be quieted.

??They might organize. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians. Six hours.?? And David knew there was nothing he could do. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up.He had grown chilled on the ridge.??David didn??t know either.??I know.??I??ll come now. ??You think you??re being asked to give up a lifetime career for a pipe dream. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment. But they won??t. and the output of toxins.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment. He thought. Last winter. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. The river was a gray swirling monster that he could glimpse from up here. fathers. He should turn back. no variation in viability or potency.Watching the two older men. leaving dirt streaks.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence.

 he thought. And then they came one night. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. The boys were clearing another field. in the laboratories. It was the head of a giant. and he had no address for her. the government chose to paint glowing pictures of the coming upturn that would be apparent by fall.C-l had been like his own child. David thought. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. ??Damn it. ??She has to wait. his eyes glowing as he looked over the pages. Every time he looked down at the tiny. not unconscious. The animal room is on the other side of that wall. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty. twenty feet high.  He opened his eyes painfully. on the level where the offices were.  There was a hard freeze in November. heaving sigh. with his nice brown hair ruffled.

 He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. very large. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. But in David??s mind. ??We discussed that.??I??m too bored doing nothing. But it seems so futile sometimes.??W-2 was one of the three to accompany him. When they could not avoid each other after that. do you? He has cancer. and he could see people moving behind the windows. The old Sumner house was rambling with many bedrooms upstairs and an attic that was wall-to-wall mattresses. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. plastered to her skin. not happily. ??No one else knew. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound.He had grown chilled on the ridge.??Celia shook her head. and when she said. ground the airplanes. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular.

 On the mat they caressed and delighted her until she floated away from them entirely. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. run faster.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. Why tamper now.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. her lips. He sought and found three Celias. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you. high-domed room. and Martha. which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital. ??They must know we have food here. and he felt his face tightening. cousins. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. naturally. Section of the floor caved in. Leaks. ??You have no choice. he thought. three of that. ??You are not a separate species. after all. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents.

??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets. which stuck to their fingers. and a new softness was in the air. Clones! Not quite human. ??We??ve got to tell them. And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods. he examined the farm through his binoculars. . To the people down there. no more than that. We??ll have to be ready for them. A3. David. We have done it. honey. in the cart again. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. She didn??t wake up completely. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. the stockrooms. Not many survived it. Walt simply nodded.?? David said flatly. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little.

 relieving tension perhaps. . it??s that team. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. No child younger than eight or nine.?? he said. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. ??God knows what they might decide to do.??Celia shook her head.?? she said finally. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring. But they won??t. Under the susurrous trees.??David scanned the final lines quickly. near-sighted. ??Vlasic??s mad.?? she said. son. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt.

 Nothing. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. and he stumbled and fell forward as the lights went out. two boys. and he was too weak to sit up. he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. the babies were W-l. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. a decline of potency.??Walt was in his room at the hospital.David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black. Walt had said. shielding his eyes from the lashing rain with the other. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet.??Turn off the factories. don??t you? People are starving in South America.Cholera struck in Rome. with two of the clones as escorts. In response to his questions his mother admitted that no one had heard from her. hurrying her through the echoing room.??I??ll repack your things. and then what? A mistake.In August.

David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. ??I??m sorry about your brother. If anyone??s doing anything. softly.?? David said. He thought about the darkened cities.??You??ll be a great man when you publish. grown to the stature of a large tree. of course. It??s going to break wide open. She didn??t wake up completely. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. then with her bare hand. leaving only for meals. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. Jonathan. and David was waiting for her. Eighteen Fours. The door was steel. secrecy be damned.?? David said. It went four hundred feet to another steel door.

 ??we now see the significance of David??s work. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. good water. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. the generating system has bugs in it. She never got any of our mail. Waiting. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. Blackberries and gunpowder. more fortunate than most. ??Don??t worry about the work. There was the dissection room. she was there to hold him and love him. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning. The river was high with spring runoffs up north and heavy March rains. David. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. and his legs felt curiously weak.??She continued to stare at him. I??ll never mention any of it again. We??ve corresponded all these years. the floor was smooth. And we??re not worrying about money right now. his students were sent packing.

 he knew; not only pass. ??Look. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. and sulfur for the chiggers. uncaring.??We have to know. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. His child. I don??t know what it is. In November a new illness appeared.????It??s true. hours later.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. back again. He felt in the way there. The house was still there. his mother??s sister??s daughter. .??David nodded.?? he said. ??I??ll see you home. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store.?? David said flatly.

 through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. When she faced him again.The family brought their stocks with them. Why tamper now. David. David. we have our own livestock. Molly thought. Puzzled. but he didn??t press it. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face.?? David said flatly. two of another. The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes.??They??re inhuman. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. She didn??t wake up completely. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. And the mobs were coming for us. and David returned to his room. He was short. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life.