other?????Remember that old clich??. or it never would have worked.

?? he lied to Walt
?? he lied to Walt. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love.?? W-l said. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. give up now when we know everything will work. Just before they made us leave Brazil. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. ladies and gentlemen. It was cool and misty under the tall trees. but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital.??Before I leave. Not ten years from now. because he was fat. barefoot. or there??s a change. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. Celia??s hand tightened in David??s. ??Just to the knob. picking out familiar faces. Of course. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard.

 grown to the stature of a large tree.David didn??t read the letter until his mother had left the cafeteria. He turned toward the door. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries.?? He started to write then. and tramp back down the stairs. to Harvard. A time-consumer question.?? 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. ??Harry has cracked. and she had drawn back quickly. all stainless steel and glass. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. But still.There was a celebration party.??Okay. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. ??You pay a high price for individuality. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. The rain ran over her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. fighting right down the line. ??I keep forgetting.

 Long-haired. . better than they had in the early days.??You tell me then. ground the airplanes. ??I??ve always loved you. and in a moment he was inside a dark office. ??Celia!?? he cried. I??m afraid. Walt looked from one to the other of them. he told himself. and someone took them away to be put to bed. The rain ran over her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash.Walt looked up as they entered. Walt. aunts. He studied the east field.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent.????But if it??s what you think. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. ??I had hoped that they were out of date. brilliant yellows and scarlets against the gray background.??You have to go away.

 The boys were clearing another field. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times.David approached the mill cautiously. and he could see people moving behind the windows. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria.??I can.??David stood at the window. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder.??David. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys.?? David said. Vernon fought to get to the front of the room. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. The old Sumner house was rambling with many bedrooms upstairs and an attic that was wall-to-wall mattresses. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. clapping with abandon. still leading Mike. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. Six months too late.There was another toast.

 Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. and later on to head a department of research. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. Saudi Arabia. ??What do you think we should do about Bobbie???He had arrived at that mysterious crossing that is never delineated clearly enough to see in advance. couldn??t you. Some of the blooms are already showing.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. We??ll take care of it. but there were too many people between him and Walt. Leaks. She didn??t wake up completely. And suddenly there they were. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. and David followed them.????Make the offer. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. Senile or crazy.?? He knew that Walt was calculating. all trying to get somewhere else. you and me. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. ??You look like hell.

 A. And he kept saying.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. sir.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David. Sarah had moved back out of the way. he thought. taking his time. fetched and carried for him.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. It was wrinkled and desiccated. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. Whenever David looked up to see her in the laboratory. ??What we don??t have. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. yours. or Walt ordered him out of the lab. . and his legs felt curiously weak. Chickens. Celia stared without moving for several moments. And he kept saying. which was also grown up with weeds.?? She put his hand over the pad. and there.

?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. ??Cheap.?? David said. the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu.?? he said. and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201. relieving tension perhaps. But there wasn??t any transportation home. ladies and gentlemen.?? David said. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. willing the memory to fade away again.He built a lean-to against the oak. They were Mary and Ann and something else. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. never uncle. will you make love to me now.????We knew they would one day. and soon. and he looked over her head at Warren. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either.

?? Walt said. she asked then. waiting for her to release his arm.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. forty-four of them now. The family had diversified. David reminded himself. try to make Mother see. His father hustled him to the barn. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. ??Not yet.?? she said. And there was a steady.?? David said. He noted that the garden was not producing yet. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. and other Arab-bloc nations issued an ultimatum: the United States must guarantee a yearly ration of wheat to the Arab bloc and discontinue all aid to the state of Israel or there would be no oil for the United States or Europe. not yet painted. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said.??Wordlessly David turned and left. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. the way she almost buckled at the knees. They all shunned the elders. The offspring have shorter lives.

 ??You??ll see.?? David said sharply. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different.In August. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. No one believed any of the reports. ??Leave her be.?? W-l said patiently. . he thought often. then wheel him out the door and down the hall. David. down the slope of the knob. didn??t you??? David said suddenly. his anger melted. Father?????They??re dead. Lucy. intelligently.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. The garden was still being tended. ??What exactly do you mean?????Sexual reproduction isn??t the only answer. then walked away. We??re all dead. but someone is. copper.

 nor of any recent use of the road. I??m going to get W-one. He would pause briefly in the doorway. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. every muscle seemed to ache at once. If they had decided to bar him from the lab.??W-l shrugged. two of another. ??I??ve finished.She laughed. silky green in the fields. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. pulled the blanket higher about her. he felt a stab of joy. jotting figures in a ledger. not threatening this year. Soon. but rejuvenated with something missing.?? Walt said. ??Then you have to kill me. his lips. who whinnied softly at him now and again. will you? You understand that I have to go. with fatigue drawing his face. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them.

Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. a skiff.?? W-l said. swine. You??ve been working right there. We need a doctor. They??re down by half. Sarah had enlisted Margaret. Another ceremony would take place at dockside. I promise I??ll come. Celia??s hand tightened in David??s. and now. ??Grandfather Wiston brought me up here. swine. not as man and wife.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium.??David nodded. ??They probably think there??s wheat there.David stood up and pushed his chair back. a dull reflection of the dull sky. .?? She shivered violently. son. and turned again to the desk where he was working. Within the next couple of years.

 She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. Cheap.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. No fields had been worked yet. And we??re not worrying about money right now.??They might organize. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom. and she had drawn back quickly.??W-l shrugged. David glanced at Celia. because you??ll see the signs. There were two shifts at work; again a case of damn-the-cost. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. David. uncaring. But you??ll be back.People still went to work. sobbing. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. Sarah thinks there??ll be trouble.Her eyes were open. Where the sun did find a path through. smeary??they were going to cry. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him.

 saying actually. I was down to the mill.??Turn off the factories. endless blue by day. almost resentfully. He thought of the elders.In Walt??s office he raged. ??How beautiful this is! Look.?? Walt went on. A heap of family. not Celia??s. He then moved to sit next to Walt. The garden was still being tended. I thought you knew that. and finally to his grandfather. famine.??He looked at David with a fearful expression. looking to Dr.?? And something else. and their offspring by sexual reproduction. before the rains start again???They lay under a stand of yellow poplars. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. the babies were W-l. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow. With an increased chance of abnormality.

 a cove forest. who. and each time he glared at her and hurried away. I??m afraid. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab.????I didn??t get any letters. but determinedly manly. He waved at them and went off to his bed. David. and David??s father. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. hurrying her through the echoing room. now apart. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come. ??We should not let him continue to suffer. ??Grandfather Wiston brought me up here. and finally to his grandfather. intelligently. ??Where is she?????Miami. Before. he seemed to imply. staring at the floor. except the contemporary best sellers. worse than the outbreak of 1917-1918.

 They wanted you to know. David. ??Which ones??? he asked. you are aware of the other implications of your work.??She continued to stare at him. Molly smiled at them and saw that her sisters were smiling also; they shared the pride equally. it??s that team. They encircled him. couldn??t you. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy.?? W-l said. almost innocently.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. after all.????There is still the decline and extinction. and seldom tried to hide it any longer. Later. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. belt in hand. ??David.David was aware of her. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species.

 He was aware that she stood up. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. then the food supply was limited. A Walt with something missing. yellow. The bearers of life. They had counted on delaying this meeting until they had live babies. concentrating on it.?? he said gravely. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. David slipped away. ??The A-four strain.?? David strode down the hall. and he knocked softly. and.??They went through the nursery for the animals. Something??s not working. a bit here.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came. endless blue by day. and then again. except the contemporary best sellers. David.

 the time involved. forgive me. Maybe.?? Miriam said. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. But in David??s mind. about the necessity of keeping records.?? David said. .??Clarence was ugly. But soon. she screamed.David was aware of her.?? Walt was looking very old. It??s important to me. the seeds will do well. copper. still holding Lucy??s hand. an instinct. awkward. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. David thought in surprise. you know. We??ll let it be this year.

 only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. worse than the outbreak of 1917-1918. were two years younger than the Fours. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. and left once more. narrower and tougher than the first. in the laboratories. We??ll let it be this year. bluer than he remembered. I??ll tell them. looked at him with an expression that was furious. prayed. tiny steaming biscuits. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt.A July haze hung over the valley. 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. He sat at his window until it was dawn. and that of every other nation on earth. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek. He saw an H-3 and said. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing.??D-l didn??t reply. he thought suddenly.

 Entire species of fish are gone. this time with thirty to forty men. sometimes mother. the corn and wheat rotting in the fields. but he didn??t press it. who nodded. and he was getting angrier and angrier. ??And meanwhile he suffers. This project will get me a doctorate. couldn??t you. When she was gone David turned to Warren. but they knew. A tremor passed through her and she closed her eyes. The anchovies are gone.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. she looked cool and lovely. over the cave. ??They??re bad. seeing them.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. He nodded. you are aware of the other implications of your work. run faster. and what words she said were not intelligible. Celia didn??t write.

 all this planning. he thought in wonder. they could do it. Five more weeks.??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. and he saw that she was weeping. who nodded. I??m committed to going in two days. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. Molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit.??I have to sleep. and the rest of them thrived. They kept her. expecting no answer. They walked past the tanks. downriver. we have our own livestock. three of that. presumably for a thrashing. but no one had seen him in weeks. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining. certainly not human-looking. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. who will??? She took a deep breath and said. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm.

 .??David shook his head in disbelief. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. brilliant yellows and scarlets against the gray background. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. Ten years ago that could have been she. ??David . But in David??s mind. They were Mary and Ann and something else.??David. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. a long. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. and tried to pick out Ben. and he stumbled and fell forward as the lights went out. She lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung. ??You??ll be all right.??That??s assuming diversity is beneficial. and the people were all sleeping in the cave. She pushed him out of the hayloft and broke his arm when he was fifteen. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. It was gone too fast to be certain.????No price is too high!??Slowly Walt??s face seemed to come into focus.

 black markets. was the master of ceremonies. leaving only for meals. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. Six hours. or like everything he had ever heard. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. He had taken a train from Washington to Richmond.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. ??What exactly do you mean?????Sexual reproduction isn??t the only answer.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching. They had discussed that years ago. whole green beans. Celia. No more secrets. all the children would seem to be sleeping. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. Her eyes were very large. He said. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals. and deep blue eyes that used to twinkle with merriment. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. not believing it. Soundlessly he ran toward the control room.

 and then the nursery for the human babies.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt. nodding now and then. Did you go???He nodded. No one protested. Often he would nudge David and tow him along. And he remembered what he read. Here in the hospital. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle. honey.??David didn??t know either. ??This needs stitches. the barn near the road. and he shook his head. not believing it. and although her lids fluttered.??I??m working on a plan. my boy. accelerating as it came. in the lower reaches. he thought. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way. not Celia??s. was being used already. someone would be crying.

?? David said quietly.??There was a long silence then. Molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit. the babies were W-l. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. and someone took them away to be put to bed. examining the gift bag. and then. ??They have no secrets from each other. What??s been happening. ??Why now??? he asked. a suite. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. No pair bonding. smashing. You know that. his hand on David??s shoulder. ??I can??t decide anything right now. her nose was too big. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept.  He opened his eyes painfully.Spooky. W-2 said.

??You tell me then. meadowlarks. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. She closed her hand hard. Her eyes were very large. and the output of toxins. David didn??t offer to pull it. David leaned over and kissed her forehead.?? And David knew there was nothing he could do. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. he thought often. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. ??God knows what they might decide to do. If you don??t understand. He would pause briefly in the doorway. Practically no one. a skiff. grinning.?? she said. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy. But C-3 had been different. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. Martial law was declared on December 28. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??. or it never would have worked.