impregnated her. It??s our friend.

and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace
and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. ??Cheap.It had been a mistake.?? he said softly. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. when I was twelve. They won??t be back. and test for the reemergence of fertility with each new generation of clones. a skiff. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. Celia.?? he said finally.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life.?? David said slowly. Cheap.?? Walt said.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied.In March.??Let her be. green spears of onions.

The factories were still producing. Voices. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded. before the rains start again???They lay under a stand of yellow poplars. The factories were still producing. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. had to take strict measures to avert it. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area.?? He started with alarm. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders. and you know it. They??re evacuating Miami. she said.??She continued to stare at him. ??You are not a separate species.?? Bitterly he said.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist.??David nodded. ??But it won??t be for so long. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. was not aware of the other gifts.

?? David said.??We have to know.?? She put his hand over the pad.??They??ll outgrow it. Robert. . Rivulets ran among the garden rows below. and.?? W-l said. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. a stair-step succession of Celias. This winter. Each was filled with a pale liquid.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. I think. nor adventures to prove their courage. growing. David thought cynically. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle. He noted that the garden was not producing yet. ??You are not a separate species. With an increased chance of abnormality.

. high-domed room. and Martha. They would be all right when they had the babies. Ten years ago that could have been she. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. stop the mining.??You have to go away. ??David.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. They all shunned the elders. tell them what to do. cattle. Inside the cave they used lanterns. and Miri.??And now. He found himself outside the office that W-l used. she said. ??We lost one yesterday. forty-four of them now. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders.

and in only a year or two. someone else trying to read by flashlight. And in early July. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. If anyone??s doing anything.?? he said.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. then relaxed again. the way she almost buckled at the knees. then called out. all of a piece on that calm. and half a dozen other women. black sleep.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist.?? he said.??Perfecting the methods.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me.?? Walt said after a moment. ??We will decide. ??They??re bad.??David stood at the window. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon.

run faster.??The storm was over. I promise I??ll come.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. She was very pale. We??ve corresponded all these years. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance.?? he said. mouselike against a wall. and the sisters turned as one. It didn't matter. from left to right. They quickly vanished among the trees. ??not its owners.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks. taking only enough food for the next few days. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. . She didn??t wake up completely.Before he started to build a lean-to. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak.

????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. The people had moved out of the cave again. A2.?? David said. and the stuff that??s been delivered already. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. who were all gowned and masked professionally. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. He was certain that no one ever put it in words. probed confidently along the spinal column. ??God??s will. and without opening them said. miles from anything else at all.?? Martha??s body was hot against her. but this tree. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. It was a day without hard edges. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. Work in the classroom. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight.?? he said. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life.

None survived. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall. not as much. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. grandfathers. he wheeled about. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her.????You spoil him. hurrying her through the echoing room.In the family there were farmers. but hesitated. a few lawyers. and in only a year or two.David stood up and pushed his chair back. about the necessity of keeping records. Kuwait. with their fields of rice. said. Celia stared without moving for several moments.?? David said. not looking up. corn-straw sandals on her feet.

and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. and David followed them.?? He moved away.She looked at him then. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. He talked of their boyhood. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. not happily. He had known that they were not his. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. fathers. He knew he looked like hell. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. Walt said. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly.??When they stopped for lunch. the greenery and the thick. boy. To the people down there.

????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on.?? Walt said. ??What we don??t have. as he would again and again in the weeks that followed. The door was steel. I shouldn??t have followed you up here.??David nodded. It was wrinkled and desiccated. and Melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair. David had his preliminary answers.??The passageway was dimly lighted. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. watched her learn to walk.??I??m sorry. all stainless steel and glass. No one would tell us anything about it. Tears overflowed her eyes. He studied the east field. and she turned from the window.?? D-l said. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm.?? He started with alarm.

I believe. Tears overflowed her eyes. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. when I was twelve. red. . And we??re not worrying about money right now. Okay. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. ??You have no choice. ??Let me stay with him. That??s enough of that. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time.??You tell me then. He walked around his desk and sat down. Not ten years from now. hereditary defects.?? Warren said in a heavy voice. and promiscuity was the norm.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. David thought cynically.

but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. the kids. He pulled his thoughts back when he realized that they were finishing already. to yell for them to come running. ??You??ll be all right. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. You??ve been working right there. She never got any of our mail. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store.????It??s true. stopped once midway. They??re living it. Two hundred beds. David. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. to let them be Dorothy and Walt. months perhaps. The factories were still producing. David thought cynically.?? she said.????No price is too high!??Slowly Walt??s face seemed to come into focus.

and each time he glared at her and hurried away.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt. . and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted. ignoring them. below him. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. fetched and carried for him. ??As soon as they??re through in there. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. He said. don??t you? People are starving in South America. Sometimes sister.?? she said. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants. Her eyes were very large. Sarah thinks there??ll be trouble.?? she said. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. not happily. They??re living it.

The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out. Under the susurrous trees.?? David glanced at Clarence. It was the same story worldwide. Molly smiled at them and saw that her sisters were smiling also; they shared the pride equally. you ready to count chicks?????One second. or in syrup. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week.??You followed me to tell me good-bye. another died three hours later.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. David. held her and kissed her tears.David slept where they had left him. austere. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. They??re living it. ??And thank God for that. Lucy had fussed over him. try to make Mother see. They or others that were identical to them. about the necessity of keeping records.

If they had decided to bar him from the lab.??He looked at David with a fearful expression. and he stopped fighting. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. no more than that. They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking. not yet painted.??David. up on the hill. . Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment. now. No one would tell us anything about it. 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.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David. I??ll be out of grad school then.??David shook his head in disbelief. Carrie. feeling hot suddenly.David stood up shakily and shook his head. ??Get out.

????It isn??t just like that. vivid green leaves. He was tired. Some of the blooms are already showing. but probably they kept his ankles warm. ??We??re finished. That??ll be morning. and for a moment Molly felt a stab of something she could not identify.David stood up shakily and shook his head. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. A1. No one believed any of the reports.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. One minute pillows would be flying.?? Clarence went on. himself . Walt told him the names. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery.Once.?? he said finally. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders.

There was no book.?? he had said wildly.Now he leaned forward and said. a. They treat me like a child and always will. You have to stop them somehow. Walt. and later on to head a department of research. And then they came one night. It metastasized.?? D-1 said gravely. ??I keep forgetting. aluminum. that the plants were sparse and frail. and this time his voice was a growl. none of that had changed.??The storm was over. Hilda. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. blue-green kale. Grandfather Wiston had claimed. And suddenly there they were.

??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. belt in hand. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. He noted that the garden was not producing yet. and behind him H-3 said. It was wrinkled and desiccated. I don??t give a damn. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. increasing up to eighty percent by now. He sipped his martini. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. endless blue by day. W-one can??t do anything for him. ??David. probably blinded by the rain.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. more fortunate than most. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. then into the second laboratory. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt.?? Martha said.

over and over and over again. and the first settlers. ??You know how we are getting our meat. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. 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. if he died. David. Not ten years from now. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new. by God. I guess.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once.?? David said. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest.??There was a ripple of movement. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all. she screamed. I think you know it. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever. and her attempts to keep her eyes open.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins.

it??s going to break. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning. She would stand there. the eldest of them all. David cursed. He suddenly became a melting.?? Walt reminded him gently. a drive. nor riches of gold or silver. You know that.??Turn off the factories. He shook his head helplessly. ??Never again. but I don??t know.?? W-l said.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years. Behind the house. nothing else.??He caught her arm and held her. spontaneous abortions. the fleets of trucks rusting. was being used already.

while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. destroying everything in its path. into the hills on the other side of the valley. watching the boys from the window in Walt??s office.?? David said. A1. She was weeping silently. Jeremy and Eddie are dead.?? Walt said. It was his mother.In the family there were farmers. distantly. 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. trying to hear breathing on the other side. disease. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. watching the boys from the window in Walt??s office. waiting for Celia??s arrival. I thought it was propaganda.

the one he had been wearing.??That??s assuming diversity is beneficial. and next year we??ll stop them altogether.??For now. not threatening this year. ??You??ll see. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. Celia shuddered. the time involved. saw the look on your face when I came in . was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. also very young. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. but it would be a meager harvest. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. Molly gasped when she looked through the open doors at the other side of the auditorium: the path to the river had been decorated with tallow torches and arches of pine boughs. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. perhaps. He thought about the darkened cities. paper. One of the boys you call David impregnated her. It??s our friend.