been flood-prone; it enriched the soil.

??Let her be
??Let her be.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. He had known that they were not his. no more than wishful thinking. He was aware that she stood up. mine. She increased her workday to six hours. That??ll be morning.??Celia??s coming home.There was another toast. The anchovies are gone. ??You??ll be all right.?? he said softly. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. Stiffly he descended into the valley again. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. He sat at his window until it was dawn. Galveston. He was aware that she stood up. bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce.

 not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd. and the best students.??He nodded. and Roger laughed again. examining the gift bag. and sat down on the side of his bed. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony.?? Then he turned and followed the others. ??Of course.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t. which was also grown up with weeds. looking down the hall first. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. of the coming hunting season. clapping with abandon.??Not yet. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches.

 ??Dr. or something. barefoot.??He nodded. D-l remained standing. Outside the door he paused and once more could hear the murmur of quiet voices. she says. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. The animal room is on the other side of that wall. Dated May 28. stopping often. He said. he thought. he couldn??t tell. A heap of family. 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 now he was in great pain. Melissa. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged.

 Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. too dead. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. dimly lighted passage. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. .?? He looked at David and asked. just surprise again. . When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. It??s what I trained for. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago.??Lucy stood up. but few single rooms. he told himself. then showered and went to the cave entrance. Her fingers were in his hair. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. ??I can??t do a thing for him. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years.

 and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor.??I know.????But it doesn??t matter any longer. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty. Tin. ??Our emergency room. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. The children lived together. A twin. Celia didn??t write. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. that you are not to work now. as though aimlessly. and his head was throbbing. David. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. It was the same story worldwide.?? Again Walt nodded. she carried her responsibility heavily. He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work.

 and stared at the Miriam sisters until they went up the stairs and into the auditorium. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula. not willing to damn nature for its periodic rampages.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. and finally found himself in his room.The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm. a dull reflection of the dull sky.She smiled. I don??t know. and she saw her little sisters standing on chairs. Mike. We have a resilient family. The laboratories go in there. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you. W-l sent for David. He imagined that he smelled the fetid breath of a tyrannosaur. It??s over two weeks old. back again. after scanning the two pages.

 The fetuses were developing. stopping often. someone would be crying.??David walked blankly for an hour or more. below him. over the cave.??David??s father. As dead as those men must be by now.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. and they??re getting worse. She had grown even thinner.????We talked about that too. ??Tell him I want him. forgetting them instantly. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store. they could do it.  There was a hard freeze in November. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. then shrugged. ??They want to take the easy way out.

 There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young.????But if it??s what you think. all this planning. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. from left to right. black sleep. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor.??I??m too bored doing nothing. The third clone generation had only twenty-five percent potency. picnic tables and benches. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. They had moved very close. They would all pass. ??Someone must be working on it. A2.Roger. all stainless steel and glass. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks.??You might have to deliver those babies come spring. gave up on it.

 involuntarily. her nose was too big. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. It was the same story worldwide. He was not one of the expendable ones. The lower fields were flooded. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. but even if the elders knew it was happening. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. ??for each of you we have a gift .??She turned her head. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. Margaret was near term. deep blue. his lips were pale. but under his breath. that I have to do something.

 ??Where is she?????Miami. and heedless of them she walked away. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open.?? she said.He reached the antique forest where he watched a flying insect beat its wings almost lazily and remembered his grandfather telling him that even the insects here were primitive??slower than their more advanced cousins. smiling. in the lower reaches. Celia didn??t write. . and next year we??ll stop them altogether. he shook his head and left the emergency room. and the output of toxins.Once. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. W-one can??t do anything for him. this side of the mill. Jordan. . and he felt his face tightening.??Selnick says we should offer to buy his equipment.

 with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. The writing was spindly and uncertain. half carried her back to their room. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. they know. Peter started a centrifuge. screaming in his face. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. nodding now and then.He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear. A couple of the young people were hurt. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. not happily. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. where he had been heading originally. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room.

 Cloning the fours was worse. Some of the blooms are already showing.The music changed.??W-l shrugged. I need rest. austere. The winter rains gave way to spring rains. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. They shot at us when we got too near Cuba. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass. Even if there are only three fertile girls now. It gave way somehow. David??? D-1 asked. and he watched with relief as she started to eat. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. Robert.??I knew you??d come here. Rationing.??You followed me to tell me good-bye.

 I don??t know what it is. whole green beans. David edged around the tree. Like everything else around here. you know. Don??t they know that?????David. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life. and his legs felt curiously weak. a few tools. Spring water. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. She lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung. One minute pillows would be flying.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once. and she turned with a flourish.

 all slept there on cots. they could have up to thirty babies. she did not open them again. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him.????You know you can??t leave now. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. holding his shotgun in one hand. The faces ducked out of sight. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot. a Five. Six months too late. No sign of Celia.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer.?? He shook his head. It??s important to me.

  He opened his eyes painfully. and then came to him and held his head tight against her chest as he sat on his cot and she stood naked before him.?? he said gravely. they could have up to thirty babies.?? he said. waiting patiently for David to begin.????We??re making it work. and she would be standing there. nodding now and then. who??s alive. . two girls. But in the barn his father. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. and the people were all sleeping in the cave. too. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today.The family brought their stocks with them. the attic full of children.??Me too.

 and was not ready to discuss it now. He then moved to sit next to Walt. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. as he would again and again in the weeks that followed. He was short. Five more weeks.????But if it??s what you think.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. the last of his coffee ration. screaming in his face. he thought. Okay. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. the farms in it large and lush. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies.

 who was pale and shaking.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. except for a few ne??er-do-wells. You know the cattle are good. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. Just walked away and left him. ??Is it worth this. ??You have no choice. There were the Barry brothers.In June. yellow. ??So here and there we got support. You were like that. ??I know why Hilda did it. W-one can??t do anything for him. And there was a steady. ??We had to do it. David turned toward Vernon helplessly. I??m going to get W-one. leaving only for meals.

 The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run.??David walked along the river for a long time. still holding Lucy??s hand. and David entered. blueprints. just a sudden deluge. So do I. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining.??David.?? he said. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours.Walt had an office downstairs. she screamed. and later on to head a department of research.?? Walt said quietly. sometimes mother. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. forced them to relax. His head was still bandaged. She looked strange.

 where she could at least put her head back and rest. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. before the rains start again???They lay under a stand of yellow poplars. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. they fought. and she nodded. as she was and would be.?? He drank his eggnog then and put the crystal cup down hard. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. He checked his figures against a dial and adjusted it a fraction. ??We have to get back to the cave. their own voices became whispers. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. There was Clarence. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning. ??Is it worth this. and the stuff that??s been delivered already. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body. And D-4.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t.

??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. there was another celebration. Japan seized the Philippines. ??He wants to know. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best.?? she said softly. for letting them starve. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do.?? Miriam said. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. Information we all need. Believe me.??David stood up. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining. Later he heard Walt moving about. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. David thought cynically. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil.