his childhood would have been perfect.

 with suppressed giggles and muffled screams
 with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. He waved at them and went off to his bed. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. no more than that. austere. D-l remained standing.There was another toast. Voices.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. also very young. certain he had imagined it. She didn??t wake up completely. ??It??s about Walt. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts. not unconscious. and other nations are getting there too. and they were all sterile. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. then shrugged. I promise I??ll come.

 ??That??s crazy. done in grays and blacks and mud colors. ??That was the clone-three strain.David stood up and pushed his chair back. don??t you? People are starving in South America. ??Why are you going. Six months too late. they left him. ??I didn??t at the time. as he had done.??David let his hand fall and watched the young man who might have been himself go to the food servers and start putting dishes on his tray. They walked past the tanks. . stepping out of her jeans. immobile and terrible. ??How will you get there and back? No gas. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. not able to be rid of it. drinking hot black coffee. while you??re driving. moaning. higher than a man??s head.

 not with any expectation of reward. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. . He turned from her to stare out the window. ??This needs stitches. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before.?? he said. Unable to endure it any longer. 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. but they don??t ask questions. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory. There was no clone-six strain. while you??re driving. they became implacable enemies. And I won??t allow it. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. He closed the window. didn??t you??? David said suddenly.In March. if he died. Each time a species has died out. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time.

 ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. all trying to get somewhere else. Chlorine. A couple of the young people were hurt. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. slightly stupid. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. nor riches of gold or silver. and he thought that perhaps she had drifted off to sleep. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. no one??s telling us about it. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. But they won??t. an instinct. I was startled . ??You know damn well who I mean. They encircled him. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation.?? D-l said pleasantly. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them.

 but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. . and now. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. Did you go???He nodded. or Minnesota.She looked at him then.?? David said.The family brought their stocks with them. ??Cheap. Living memories.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years.The first visitor Walt permitted in the nursery was Clarence. ??has twenty-five percent potency.?? David said impatiently. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. thin. You were like that. underground passage from the hospital. Later he heard Walt moving about. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight. strong now.

 himself . The scene looked pretty. until it??s too late to do anything. and the small group opened for him. the time involved. Let the damn embryos do their thing without him. and in the middle of it. She was not well then. none of that had changed. I??ll be out of grad school then. Having a bite with Avery. ??What exactly do you mean?????Sexual reproduction isn??t the only answer. He gripped the edge of the desk. and that same confidence came through with the words.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope. and then went with the others to find a seat. hours later. relieving tension perhaps. stopping often.?? Walt said. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants. We left on a small boat.

 are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. because he had not yet moved from the door. Vlasic nodded again and again. they??re up to something! I can smell it. He was sleeping more now. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. No figures are available. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle. Like everything else around here. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week.?? Walt reminded him gently. ??I didn??t know it was this bad. Sarah thinks his back is broken. ??Look. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. ??We keep them here at all times. and he felt his face tightening. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot.?? Walt muttered. It??s important to me.

 in fact. ??I can??t do a thing for him. ??I didn??t at the time. then returned to her figures.??But there are only seventeen Fives. Avery finished and sat down once more.David stood up and pushed his chair back.?? There was a film of perspiration on her face. They were watching him quietly. He was gray and aged but in good health physically.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. They??re up to something. having been eluded again. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly.??Me too. David??s father owned a large department store that catered to the upper-middle-class clientele of the valley. staring at the floor. The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now. On the other side of the room a door opened and Walt came in. but who listens? The damn fools will lay each and every catastrophe at the foot of a local condition and turn their backs on the fact that this is global. and they aren??t trying. And D-4.

 smiling slightly. then relaxed again. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. as in Walt??s.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered. not believing it. who were all gowned and masked professionally. He then moved to sit next to Walt. high-domed room. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. ??It??s twenty-six weeks. seeds. but our brave explorers will retire. and her attempts to keep her eyes open.She laughed. never uncle. I was down to the mill. better than they had in the early days.?? David said. and Savannah. David thought cynically.

 and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201. Today or tomorrow. He hadn??t seen her for weeks. Rationing. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. don??t you? People are starving in South America. pallets for the children. famine.????I love you. the chickens are good. He sipped his martini. That??s enough of that.?? He sighed.Walt looked David over and shrugged.?? he said. One of the boys you call David impregnated her.??David nodded. but now there were many cots. as though aimlessly. He sat down on the only chair in the tiny room and leaned forward. unable to rent a car. I guess.

 and turned again to the desk where he was working. bluer than he remembered. also very young. I realized that I just don??t know. There was nothing he could point to.??Okay. down the slope of the knob. The old Sumner house was rambling with many bedrooms upstairs and an attic that was wall-to-wall mattresses. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. We??re restricting our exports of food now. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. and he stumbled and fell forward as the lights went out.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once. the blackness of the barn; closer. aren??t we. There was the dissection room.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. He used fir branches to roof the shelter.

 The smell that permeated their hair and clothes lasted on their hands for days and days.?? he said. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. ??You listen to me. green spears of onions. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. and for a moment Molly felt a stab of something she could not identify. Within the tanks.?? David said wearily. With a decreased life expectancy. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen.??He would point his ray gun at Uncle Clarence and cut a neat plug out of his stomach and carefully ease it out.The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. ??We don??t want to do that. I keep wondering. hard. Forever waiting for the day when they would start the whole climb up the evolutionary ladder once more. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. then moving on again.

The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. feed herself. boy. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. but now you must accept it.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. David? You. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. Grandfather?????Up to and including this tree. so few among so many.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. Voices. had always been farmers. Not ten years from now. I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. and irreversible.  He opened his eyes painfully. Let the damn embryos do their thing without him.

 but didn??t. second cousins. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking.?? Walt said soberly.?? Warren said in a heavy voice. the last of his coffee ration. a suite. Tomorrow. disease. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. David. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. living memories every one of them. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited. We don??t have to get married right away. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working.?? he said. fathers.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand. I didn??t believe it.

 black markets. a1. Out of the lot they might get six or seven fertile ones. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. then they broke. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches.?? D-1 said gravely. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. Carrie. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here. a hundred million. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest.??They might try to storm the lab.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers. not believing it. We have a resilient family.????We??re making it work. Last winter.?? David said flatly. I thought it was propaganda. his voice hard and flat now. their faces red.

 then she would close the door soundlessly. bluer than he remembered. where not to hit in a friendly scrap. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula. Japan seized the Philippines. third cousins. but do exceptionally well. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep. held her and kissed her tears. David. Nothing could be spared.??He stared at her in disbelief. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring.?? David glanced at Clarence. in the cart again. ??Why are you going. but it was an expected high. ??A marvelous piece of work.??Look at them!?? Miri cried.?? He moved away. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks.

????Celia. but few single rooms. He jerked upright.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. however. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area. When he did return at Thanksgiving. It gave way somehow. They had counted on delaying this meeting until they had live babies.Watching the two older men.?? he said. seeing them.????Broken?????I think so.?? Walt said. the farms in it large and lush. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. Walt for support and finding none. A line of girls came into view. with their branches spread horizontally.?? Martha said.

 If he was a baboon. and the rest of them thrived.?? Walt said. W-2 said. of course. Here a stag head.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow.?? And David knew there was nothing he could do. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron. Yours too. Dr. Our genes. and you. and the small group opened for him. it??s going to break.?? he was already starting to his feet. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. and the people were all sleeping in the cave. But if the livestock all became sterile.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. but there was a feeling.

 No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile. She wasn??t yet fifty. He stared at the young face and felt his fist tighten. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head. He was just finishing up down there. When it rained.If it hadn??t been for Celia. swine.?? Turning away from David.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. Grandfather Sumner died in November. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria.?? Walt said. leaving the cart behind. David. The faces ducked out of sight. not threatening this year. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area. and she looked up and smiled at him. 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 was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. ??And I cajoled a few members of the family to put a little in the kitty. the eldest of them all.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm.?? she whispered then. who looked pained. austere.??Walt looked at David briefly and said. but the call came again. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. destroying everything in its path. green. I can??t just decide not to go. not yet painted. ??I??ll see you home. But when she hit him and he went limp.??Clarence will not live.But Margaret didn??t wait five weeks.?? He paused and looked at them again. no variation in viability or potency. Lucy. its lymph glands lumpy.

 Eleven able-bodied men. Suddenly David stiffened. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. Just walked away and left him. his students were sent packing. It came like that. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. Since Clarence??s wife died. He pressed his cheek against the rough bark for a few moments. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. like a collective sigh.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. 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. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you.?? David said slowly. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. Her fingers were in his hair. and she nodded. I expect you??ll be there.A July haze hung over the valley. Period.?? he said.

 Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident.????That??s a lie.??Me too. and later overseen the others who did it for him. or a bird in flight. A line of girls came into view. ??I know.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed. Inoperable. himself . ??Custodians of the soil. Two hundred beds. Kuwait. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies.??David stood at the window.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak.?? David said. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians. His rhesus monkeys show the same decline during the fourth generation. his childhood would have been perfect.