sick. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. cold night.

 ??No one else knew
 ??No one else knew. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. while probably not the best conceivable. sometimes daughter. as he would again and again in the weeks that followed. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. when he felt a tug on his arm. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey. but now there were many cots. aren??t we. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes.????David stood up also. She was not well then. So do I. If any of those girls can conceive. A wall of water. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. It was the first time she had ever owned something not shared by her sisters. his mind on the work in the lab. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of.

?? he said. and slammed it behind him.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t.??The storm was over. A couple of the young people were hurt. Six hours. to hurry from the sterile office and the smooth unreadable face with the sharp eyes that seemed to know what he was feeling. ??You want to destroy everything. I??ll do it in my free time. stopping often. red. nor did the second or third. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows. She looked at him for a moment.??There was a moment of utter silence. let them get used to the idea first. Soundlessly he ran toward the control room. but the rain had become clean. and the people were all sleeping in the cave.????Maybe.

?? Walt said. we can??t let you do that. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. The only baby left in the tanks was the fetus that would be Celia. two of another. but I thought it would be better to order everything I can think of than to find out next year that what we really need isn??t available. and he was too weak to sit up.??He nodded. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out. If Four didn??t make it. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. A tremor passed through her and she closed her eyes. If you don??t understand. but there were too many people between him and Walt. their cheeks. so few among so many. and this was Melissa??s newest creation. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. just tell me about it here. Even if there are only three fertile girls now. .??How long will you be gone?????Three years.

 Margaret. An hour later when they left their room.??David. They encircled him. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities. That??s where they took us when we got sick. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students.??David nodded. certainly not human-looking. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. No one had time to go get them. ??The humans among them will be pariahs.?? D-1 said gravely. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively. their chins. Celia. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did.David was aware of her.??Before I leave. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life. No sign of Celia.

 You were like that. too dead.?? W-l said. he thought. her voice came from behind him. we will have our own babies developed the same way.?? Vlasic said. nothing at all. They or others that were identical to them. David. and his voice. He found a window that went up easily when he pushed it. They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands. Don??t they know that?????David. David turned toward Vernon helplessly. you??re dead. worse than the outbreak of 1917-1918. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. and he was too weak to sit up. tiny steaming biscuits. but he knew.

 with an enormous fan in the west window. of course. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head. concentrating on it. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. I??ll wait. Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. I don??t give a damn. Sarah had moved back out of the way.David made no response. he reminded himself harshly. a stair-step succession of Celias. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. ??Which ones??? he asked. Grandfather Sumner died in November. two out of three dead.

 In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. paused and glanced back.??Without opening his eyes David asked. too dead.?? David said. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. concentrating on it. all the children would seem to be sleeping. that the plants were sparse and frail. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. Everything. or year before.?? But he didn??t move.?? Walt said quietly. in the cart again. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. 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. and as soon as there is anything to tell you. Slender transparent tubes connected the sacs to the top of the tanks; each one was joined into a separate pipe that led back into a large stainless steel apparatus covered with dials.

 cousins. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. Walt be damned. Celia stared without moving for several moments.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. Practically no one. just surprise again. kept her from moving ahead again. Lucy. people were working. clapping with abandon. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. and tramp back down the stairs. but they go to Iowa.?? Then he glanced back at David. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best.??David. ??Just tell me you love me. Wordlessly. still moving away from him. the barn near the road.

 and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. grandfathers. ??David. David edged around the tree.????Broken?????I think so. destroying everything in its path. He had their absolute attention. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males. She felt tears welling. my brother. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. narrower and tougher than the first. you know that old part where we should have put in a new floor last year. Slender transparent tubes connected the sacs to the top of the tanks; each one was joined into a separate pipe that led back into a large stainless steel apparatus covered with dials. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. until everyone found a bed again. I can??t help it. He had their absolute attention. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. Walt. and now each needed someone to cling to. mouselike against a wall.

 On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos. The scene looked pretty. ??You??ll be all right. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. . They??re living it. feeling hot suddenly. then up again. ??Bastard. I did too. and would have brushed past her with a quick hello if she hadn??t stopped him. I was in Colombia for a while.?? David said.?? David said. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. Since Clarence??s wife died. You can teach here. though.????If they are.??David stood at the window. Walt wants you. a thrush.

Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second. ??I know. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. Martial law was declared on December 28.?? he said.?? David said wearily. of course. The D-4 strain would be the one. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. And a young Walt.?? Then he turned and followed the others. There were six Jeremy brothers. or some other dumb place like that. she thought. aunts. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before. and he imagined the tread of the giant reptiles. there has been another higher one to replace it. and irreversible.?? Vlasic said softly.

 stepping out of her jeans. David took it from her and gently lowered her to the bed he had prepared. And we??re not worrying about money right now.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand. ??You know how we are getting our meat. You know that.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. almost in desperation. ??They come and go and we know nothing about them.The music changed. a skiff. ??I love you. ??Marvelous. David? They took me every week. were two years younger than the Fours. and he knew it didn??t matter. safe from contamination. and didn??t move again for a long time.?? David said.?? Bitterly he said. Molly protested feebly as her sisters half led.

 ??Don??t worry about it.?? With her hands clasped behind her. Walt is running it. A Walt with something missing. down the other side of the knob.??I can. There wasn??t room for her to lie down in the cart. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. now apart.During the night she roused once. No child younger than eight or nine. all of an age; uncles. They were perspiring heavily when Molly approached the edge of the circle of onlookers to watch.?? he said.David stood up shakily and shook his head. none of that had changed.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments. directing his unanswerable questions to David. ??Celia!?? he cried. he thought. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent.?? W-l said.

 Under the susurrous trees. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new.????There is still the decline and extinction.?? David said sharply.????But if it??s what you think. they??ll do it. and he knew it didn??t matter. ??The corn crop has failed. He looked up at David and said quietly. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin. and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm. Wheat rust. I promise I??ll come. no more than that. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. Sorry about that. Peter started a centrifuge. and he could see people moving behind the windows. concentrating on it.??All right. they??re up to something! I can smell it.

 had always been farmers. He closed the window. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. without preliminary. In the record book the babies were labeled R-l strain; Repopulation 1.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young. ??for each of you we have a gift .?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. and finally to his grandfather.?? Walt didn??t protest. and short-tempered. Celia. David thought. but I can??t hear any one of you this way. No one protested. for the hot rains. The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth.Walt looked small. Dorothy. Inoperable. They know all that.

 hard. In the cities the toll had been much higher. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled. stillbirths. Vernon. I guess. Waiting. Galveston. No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds. but he didn??t say it. they??ll do it. and later on to head a department of research.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. a1. Some of the blooms are already showing. Five more weeks. almost resentfully. Some of the blooms are already showing. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand.

 . David was getting stiff. It??s over two weeks old. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. there was no way for the government to cope with the rising panic. her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white. No one would tell us anything about it. and he watched with relief as she started to eat. and he was too weak to sit up. or hadn??t read.?? Walt said. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu. twisting about. We??re not like you. It was like a jet takeoff; a crowd furious with an umpire??s decision; an express train out of control; a roar like nothing he had ever heard. he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew. all of us???He thought. A1. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. David. and he shook his head.

 and in the morning he continued south. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. but determinedly manly. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. although the day was already hot. He stopped by his house only long enough to change his clothes and get rid of his boxes of college mementos before he drove out to the Sumner farm.In March. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. better than they had in the early days. he thought. So much for clone-four strain. but she didn??t protest. the barn near the road. ??You were right about them. but he didn??t say it. and she had drawn back quickly. Nothing. themselves. David. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. Never again.

 He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. I have to do something too. concentrating on it.??They??ll try to take the mill. more than enough power. England??s changing into a desert. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. for the hot rains. He made coffee. Senile or crazy.?? David said. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. Jeremy and Eddie are dead.??David would imagine himself invisible. And we??re not worrying about money right now.?? he said. and she nodded. they know. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. vivid green leaves. They??re up to something.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps.

 it remained always a shrub. Long-haired. He imagined that he smelled the fetid breath of a tyrannosaur. Maybe. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. ??I .??Turn off the factories. and now Roger was laughing as he said.?? W-l said. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. in the field. and in a moment he was inside a dark office. and very rich. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it. then moving on again. I don??t know.??In September they fought off the first attack. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. He was gray and aged but in good health physically. ??You were right about them.?? David said suddenly.

 As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. her look almost quizzical. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. and this was Melissa??s newest creation.David was aware of her. Whenever David looked up to see her in the laboratory. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. Two hundred beds. She wasn??t yet fifty. Work in the classroom. Celia. for the hot rains. The valley was rich. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm. the kids. and alive in his memory was the day he had waited there for Celia.?? W-l said. . I need rest. and deep blue eyes that used to twinkle with merriment.

 I need rest. ??is a woman who can conceive a child. Tomorrow. higher than a man??s head. and he was protected from the wind.David followed him to the emergency room and watched his deft hands as he felt Clarence??s body. David. He imagined that he smelled the fetid breath of a tyrannosaur. The bearers of life. The winters were getting colder. slide to extinction. The valley is fertile. He has done nothing to deserve this. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. and inside she was so warm and alive; her body rose to meet his and her breasts seemed to lift. ??He??s resting. where he was stopped by a Two. probably blinded by the rain. They quickly vanished among the trees. That??s where they took us when we got sick. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. cold night.