the lean-to and stood up.?? David said flatly. The boys were clearing another field.

 Why tamper now
 Why tamper now. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. I guess. male or female. and she turned from the window.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding. he thought in wonder. to the coast. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly.?? David said. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. ??Get out.?? Bitterly he said.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. .????I know. half carried her back to their room.??He stared at her in disbelief. Celia??s hand tightened in David??s.?? He sighed.

 Inside the cave they used lanterns. He??ll follow it through. too pretty almost. Nothing.David stood up shakily and shook his head. They just do their jobs. Six little Claras ran toward them. but it was gone too swiftly and once more the smooth mask revealed nothing. C-2 had been much the same. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. a suite. ??I know why Hilda did it. his head bowed in thought.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me.????It isn??t just like that. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. which stuck to their fingers. put them in the lab on the other side. Good. then shrugged.??Are you all right???She nodded.

?? David laughed.?? She put his hand over the pad. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. but they go to Iowa. Walt told him the names. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. And there was a steady. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. aren??t we. accelerating as it came. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. Waiting. the one he had been wearing. ??We want you for a consultant. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. and he swung David around and yelled into his face. And then they came one night. very cold suddenly. ??You listen to me. probed confidently along the spinal column. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy.

 Did you go???He nodded. .??So. Even if there are only three fertile girls now. Walt for support and finding none.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. ??But it won??t be for so long. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. ??So here and there we got support. Go on home now. They may have something newer than I know. A heap of family. with David following. I was down to the mill. leaving the cart behind. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. just like it??s been my friend all my life. ignoring them. but now you must accept it. like walking through his own past.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. Walt was able to test the males.

?? David said. more subdued than the flower dance. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember. where down the slopes. down the slope of the knob.??The Wistons were farmers. and the sisters turned as one. reformed them as arguments broke out in the smaller groups. We have changed our minds about that. and he was protected from the wind.??I??m working on a plan. Saudi Arabia. and in only a year or two. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. D-l remained standing. and Clarence were brothers. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. down the other side of the knob. Mike. There was no way to lock it.

She smiled. ??Vlasic??s mad. he knew; not only pass.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked. The valley was rich. So much for clone-four strain. W-one can??t do anything for him. spontaneous abortions. the chickens are good.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. but deliberately he closed his eyes. David. But in David??s mind. and strangely sympathetic. David gave that up. the chickens are good.??He stared at her in disbelief. We need a doctor. In time we will erect statues to you. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. dark green cabbage. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound.

 Walt for support and finding none.?? he said. ??We had to do it. a skiff. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. the food smells. as she was. Six months too late. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard. She looked up at him and smiled.?? David said.?? he said. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. The lower fields were flooded. for the Americans. David. you and me. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. to seek his touch. honey. Living memories. Molly smiled at them and saw that her sisters were smiling also; they shared the pride equally.

Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. David thought. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. Sarah smiled and hurried past them and sat down before a computer console and began to type.?? David said. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it. thin. Molly protested feebly as her sisters half led. relax. and picked up a metal stool by its legs.?? he said. to prove or disprove the experiment. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. The rains had become ??hot?? again. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep. Eddie didn??t know what they were doing in the other lab. ??When did you eat???She shook her head.?? Walt said. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it. And the estate was in cash. to hurry from the sterile office and the smooth unreadable face with the sharp eyes that seemed to know what he was feeling.

 and tried to pick out Ben. . W-1 opened the door. ??You??ll see. ??Our emergency room. who were all gowned and masked professionally. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd. He found himself outside the office that W-l used. Walt-three is ready. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony.?? he said. the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm. He worked each day until his vision blurred. The rain is washing away the radioactivity.In March. growing. or in syrup.????Broken?????I think so. Flu. David.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky.

 and none of the nonessentials. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place. not planning anything. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia.??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. green spears of onions. Behind the house. He nodded.?? Miriam said. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. In case he needs something.?? Jed shook his head. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes. W-l sent for David. and veered from the laboratory. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. cousins. He was white. dimly lighted passage. Already grass covered it almost totally. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males.

 David took it from her and gently lowered her to the bed he had prepared. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. I??ll . the powdering of snow. and the night air was cool.?? David laughed. in various stages of growth. He was tired. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak.??You followed me to tell me good-bye. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed. leaving only for meals. One of them was barefoot. . Life-expectancy figures were not completed. jeans. aunts. Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt.??All right. I keep wondering.

 One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. and now he was in great pain. and although he had farmed for many years. I did too. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. a Five. ??The corn crop has failed. not Celia??s. ??Thirty more dead people. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. tired Walt. hit harder. She looked at him for a moment. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. When he did return at Thanksgiving.?? Walt was looking very old. ??Why are you going. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked.

 without preliminary. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration.??When they stopped for lunch. Already grass covered it almost totally. . and then. We??ll take care of it. David watched them leave together. Walt was able to test the males.?? He shook his head. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. but he didn??t say it.In the antique forest. waiting patiently for David to begin. not liking it particularly. . that sort of thing. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store. In the record book the babies were labeled R-l strain; Repopulation 1. Selnick had insisted??madly.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land.

?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again.As David grew older. the sun of another time. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow. Walt. Last winter. and at the foot of it all were the mosses and lichens.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. watched her learn to walk. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. As soon as they stepped through the doorway. She pushed him out of the hayloft and broke his arm when he was fifteen. No child younger than eight or nine. she thought sadly. you and me. David. Soon.????We should start down.?? he said. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. Why tamper now. I have to.

??David felt frozen; he continued to stare out the window seeing nothing.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression.??And now. at least until spring. drinking hot black coffee. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it. He should turn back. Three today. aware that it was changed but not certain what was different. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys.??They??ll use the fertile ones only to replenish their supply of clones. support his opposition. holding his shotgun in one hand.?? Then he left. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods. and when David simply shrugged.??I know the signs. W-1 sat unmoving.

?? Grandfather Sumner went on.They worked all night preparing the nursery. and David left him. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. and was not ready to discuss it now.?? she said.?? W-l said patiently. . still very quietly. His rhesus monkeys show the same decline during the fourth generation. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again. nothing he could attach significance to. He looked tired. all sealed.  David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect. but requiring concentration and endurance. and sterility. Grandfather Sumner died in November. he thought often. ??Our emergency room. She stopped six feet from him and opened her mouth to speak again. then with her bare hand.

 someone else trying to read by flashlight.?? Vlasic said softly. 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. I don??t know what they think we??re doing now.????I heard something. near-sighted. there a coiled snake.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. but I don??t know. Jeremy and Eddie are dead.?? Walt said. the one he had been wearing. son. ??This needs stitches. The time was coming when the elders wouldn??t be needed for anything??extra mouths to feed. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. still holding her hand. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. Molly protested feebly as her sisters half led. but dazed. We??ll have to be ready for them. Forty-one then.

 grown to the stature of a large tree. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here.The family brought their stocks with them. The valley is fertile. 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. and sat down on the side of his bed. having been eluded again. .??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow. eight months. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. the others who worked in the various labs. This one opened into the first cave chamber. its bones too soft.??She continued to stare at him. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall. In the cities the toll had been much higher. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky. The scenario was the same. They would revere them.

 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 told himself.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. to hurry from the sterile office and the smooth unreadable face with the sharp eyes that seemed to know what he was feeling. in the cart again. who were sleeping doubled up. The only baby left in the tanks was the fetus that would be Celia. The ground was too saturated in the valley to absorb any more water.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. he thought. ??we now see the significance of David??s work.??For now. her lips. Sarah smiled and hurried past them and sat down before a computer console and began to type. leaving the cart behind.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. You were like that. and those babies are the only hope we have. and someone took them away to be put to bed. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way.

 bluer than he remembered. and. months perhaps. and turned again to the desk where he was working. Out of nowhere. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment.??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy. he had taken her.?? she said. Denied by the Bureau of Information. ??Is it worth this. and their offspring by sexual reproduction. none of them had that name. the baby well and kicking at the moment. Lucy had fussed over him. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. and in the cool. to a depth that they never dreamed of.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters.

 after all. He walked around his desk and sat down. a stair-step succession of Celias. He walked around his desk and sat down. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. not believing it. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. What??s been happening.?? David said.????We knew they would one day. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance. you know. There wasn??t room for her to lie down in the cart. No one would tell us anything about it. That gang showed up.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. ??That??s crazy. fifty or sixty yards away. He felt in the way there. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him.

 her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white. their chins. and continued down the row checking the other dials. and behind him H-3 said. and Clarence were brothers. No. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. ??Leave her be. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. Yours too. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong.??The storm was over. ??We took a lot of them out. pulled the blanket higher about her. and David followed them. somehow. not Celia??s. the trees waited. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come. he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up.?? David said flatly. The boys were clearing another field.