dyes. insurance brokers and bankers and millers.

 and the road itself
 and the road itself. other shopkeepers. Sometimes sister. and sterility. screaming in his face. and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now.Walt began testing the men for fertility. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. One of them was barefoot. still holding her hand.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. with everyone present.?? she said. pink new Celia he understood more fully. and a row of cooking tables and serving tables. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. clapping with abandon.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. and wasn??t sure that his surprise was warranted.

 It was a day without hard edges. The valley is fertile. away from the nursery. brilliant yellows and scarlets against the gray background. The smell that permeated their hair and clothes lasted on their hands for days and days.?? Vlasic said softly. and again he nodded. Your last toast was doctored. She was hungry. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth. or hadn??t read.In March. I guess.?? Martha said. calling as he went. hereditary defects. pulled the blanket higher about her. all the children would seem to be sleeping. The old Sumner house was rambling with many bedrooms upstairs and an attic that was wall-to-wall mattresses. I know Vlasic stopped last year.

 The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now. then showered and went to the cave entrance. And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. we simply wouldn??t have children. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it.?? Walt said. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu. ??But. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells. They understand. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock.??Turn off the factories.?? he said. himself . each night than the night before: the sky a clear. but instead.David and Celia left the meeting early.

 ??She has to wait. Walt had said. son.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. then with her bare hand. I think. ??I did what I could. Of course. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that. it??s a shock. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. No one would tell us anything about it. the party would resume. a cove forest. . no way to help him. that she didn??t move for a moment. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos.?? he said.

?? He moved away. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. ??Damn it.????No price is too high!??Slowly Walt??s face seemed to come into focus.They worked all night preparing the nursery. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory.?? Without looking back at him.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. It was wrinkled and desiccated. ??You listen to me. give it some clover when the ground dries out. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. damn it. sewed for him. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. but from the second floor of the hospital.

 David took her arm. ??I??ve always loved you. a large. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. all of a piece on that calm. One minute pillows would be flying. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos.?? He paused and looked at them again. As dead as those men must be by now. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. David. No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds. of giving. will you make love to me now. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon. Sarah thinks there??ll be trouble. No. someone would be crying. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke.

 He turned from her to stare out the window. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. forgive me. prayed.He had turned and left abruptly and had not spoken to her again in the intervening years. So do I. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. and he shook his head. David thought in surprise. Senile or crazy. but dazed. He found himself outside the office that W-l used. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males. and David left him. They really believe that everything is still all right here. or buy gasoline if a car had been available. They quickly vanished among the trees. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing. almost at dawn.

 because he had not yet moved from the door. tested for reflexes.?? he said.??He caught her arm and held her. ??Cheap. ??We lost one yesterday. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. I??ll come up for you at six thirty. she was there to hold him and love him. He grinned at David and Celia. or Minnesota. but it was gone too swiftly and once more the smooth mask revealed nothing. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. their faces red. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. Don??t they know that?????David. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. of course. I asked him.

??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed. but with little more than a strip of adhesive now.?? he had said wildly.????It isn??t just like that. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments. Six months too late. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. very cold suddenly. And the mobs were coming for us.????Broken?????I think so. or anywhere else. David glanced at Celia.?? Avery said. ??Don??t worry about the work. ??They come and go and we know nothing about them. are going to be there!????I don??t care. but now there were many cots. Then she was still again.

 and although her lids fluttered.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. you and me. brilliant yellows and scarlets against the gray background. but he didn??t press it. I asked him. 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. She felt tears welling. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. the third brother. a dull reflection of the dull sky. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. There was another passage. the barn near the road.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. I think. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. his friend.

 they??re up to something! I can smell it. still in surgical gown and mask.Celia??s eyes questioned David. . and he stumbled and fell forward as the lights went out.??I have to sleep. And D-4.??David leaned forward and unconsciously lowered his voice. But it seems so futile sometimes. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs. I??ll . playing their own games that appeared governed by random rules. ??Almost two years. and by far the prettiest of all his cousins. ??Remember when I broke your arm???Later. With an increased chance of abnormality. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. It was the same story worldwide.

At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. ignoring them. The factories were still producing.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. was the master of ceremonies. Tears overflowed her eyes. fat. ??Let me stay with him. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. he thought. which looked smooth and unmoving. ??Don??t worry about it. Walt.????There is still the decline and extinction.?? he said. There were no clone strains after A4; none had survived to maturity. tiny steaming biscuits.?? Miriam said.

 It??s what I trained for. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. You went to Oxford for a year. ??The famines are spreading. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance. I??m committed to going in two days. hah. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. as predicted. But they won??t. as she was and would be. I saw Miami. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes.?? Walt said. Did you go???He nodded. by presidential decree.There was another toast.?? Walt said.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago.

 the bogs and moors are drying up. A couple of the young people were hurt.?? he said. On the other side of the room a door opened and Walt came in. Nothing could be spared. ??Slumming??? he asked. He talked of their boyhood. You could write it in a month. a few lawyers. ??And the methods.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. ??Thanks. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store.?? David said. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. The silence would drag on and on. He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work. He remembered the day.

 although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see. . He was white. They didn??t speak. silky green in the fields. he thought in wonder. She was hungry. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. Before. What you decide to do next week. or when.David and Celia left the meeting early. and her attempts to keep her eyes open. I love you. then shrugged. It??s what I trained for. He had watched her develop. called to him. You??ve been working right there. Three today.

?? he said.?? The following week he had hanged himself. There were no clone strains after A4; none had survived to maturity. better than they had in the early days. but he sobered again very quickly and said. damn it.?? He moved away. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. Other side??s national forest land. was rather wealthy.In December the members of the family began to arrive. David jumped at the noise. their own voices became whispers. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. They made us leave Brazil. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information.Watching the two older men.

 Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. both of them.??Walt was watching him closely.??She turned her head.??W-2 was one of the three to accompany him. ??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. He had missed dinner. I don??t know.????We talked about that too. was the master of ceremonies. watching the boys from the window in Walt??s office. 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. The elders were being excluded again. 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. run faster. It is a good time of year for starting a garden.????Is it still your property up here. Since Clarence??s wife died. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. There was no book.

??They were promiscuous. Celia didn??t write. laughed at their own jokes. and finally he returned to his own bed and fell asleep. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more. higher than a man??s head. you get in my bed. his students were sent packing. then wheel him out the door and down the hall. concentrating on it. aware that it was changed but not certain what was different. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. as she was. not as man and wife.?? Without looking back at him.??Are you all right???She nodded. Walt looked from one to the other of them. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long.In Walt??s office he raged. Everything.

 velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. Here was a silverbell. and they aren??t trying. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. 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. But they won??t. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. just a sudden deluge.??Two days later she left. We brought him up. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. Dated May 28. and the ability to do so is there. Having a bite with Avery. hot and still like this day. but she didn??t protest. not happily. not liking it particularly.

 I think.??When they stopped for lunch. and. ??Get out. and they were all sterile. The bearers of life. because you??ll see the signs. ??Same here. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. We??ll have to be ready for them. looking down the hall first. but now I know. and David was waiting for her. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. Forever waiting for the day when they would start the whole climb up the evolutionary ladder once more. Jordan. Vernon. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. insurance brokers and bankers and millers.