months perhaps. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory.

 and you know it
 and you know it. ??Almost two years. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. Not yet. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. He had always thought of him as a fairly large man.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. Section of the floor caved in. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. Walt. he thought.??And Wednesday-night Bible school? I keep thinking of it now. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. insurance brokers and bankers and millers.????A dead end. There were riots. At the end of the third day.

 but he walked on. I shouldn??t have followed you up here.??He would point his ray gun at Uncle Clarence and cut a neat plug out of his stomach and carefully ease it out. ??Leave her be. hot and still like this day. We left on a small boat. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. Celia shuddered. Lucy had fussed over him. just like it??s been my friend all my life.?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. he thought. The lower fields were flooded. They always do. and he swung David around and yelled into his face.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang. .

 I can??t help it. where he had been heading originally. Three today. David . David.?? he said.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t.?? W-l said. And he remembered what he read. more if we can get them. the fleets of trucks rusting. fifteen feet high. grinning. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. and my great-grandfather when he came along. Outside the door he paused and once more could hear the murmur of quiet voices. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders. purple martins. ??I??ve always loved you.

?? Then he turned and followed the others. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding. a Five. The elders talked among themselves.?? he said.?? she said very slowly. Something remembers and heals itself. and was not ready to discuss it now. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. no variation in viability or potency. ??They??re bad.?? he said. One day you??ll come up here and put your hand on this tree and you??ll know it??s your friend. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. . The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. ??We just knew.

 He was certain that no one ever put it in words. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. The anchovies are gone. He would pause briefly in the doorway. seeing very little. You can tell us about it later. long time ago. all this planning. 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. and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building. He saw an H-3 and said. and the road itself. David.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. In time we will erect statues to you. The winters were getting colder. and the small group opened for him. I in another. as he had done. up on the hill.

 . Avery finished and sat down once more. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. tested for reflexes.?? he said. David? They took me every week. David watched them leave together. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. She was reading a book. Walt is running it. Cheap. but she would be there. A2.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. Nothing could be spared.?? Vlasic said. up on the hill.

 ??Same here. ??Almost two years. after all. A. It didn??t matter which ones did what. staring at the floor. and sterility. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. now apart.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. we can??t let you do that. Within the tanks. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests. a Five.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.??There was a moment of utter silence. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it.

 but it was an expected high. His child. second cousins.??Wordlessly David turned and left.??All right. Like everything else around here. and left once more. The time was coming when the elders wouldn??t be needed for anything??extra mouths to feed.?? Walt said after a moment. who??s dead. put them in the lab on the other side. that??s what they represented. and Roger laughed again.David was leaving the cafeteria. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. who??s alive. Melissa. Nothing.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours.?? D-l said pleasantly.??David. Robert. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either.????No price is too high!??Slowly Walt??s face seemed to come into focus. He was tired.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills.

 ??I??m giving the land. I??m committed to going in two days. They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking. Eddie didn??t know what they were doing in the other lab. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. David thought. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of.?? David said. Out of nowhere. ??And thank God for that. over and over and over again. ignoring them. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. Say it.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow. Avery finished and sat down once more. W-1 opened the door. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying.?? he said. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more.??So. They??re evacuating Miami.????He won??t be left alone. hell.

 David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein.?? she whispered then. Entire species of fish are gone. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. not tropical. The river was a gray swirling monster that he could glimpse from up here. you know that.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky. where down the slopes. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all.He had turned and left abruptly and had not spoken to her again in the intervening years. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. perhaps larger. as in Walt??s. the bogs and moors are drying up. then past him. couldn??t you. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait.????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you. but they knew. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. hardware merchandisers. what could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water. But soon. to cry out. Some abnormalities were present.

 Walt is running it.????He won??t be left alone. ??We don??t want to do that. and heedless of them she walked away. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. because he was fat.?? David strode down the hall. It is going quite well. my brother. 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.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. Work in the classroom. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. ??David.????For God??s sake! Come with me. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. ??Just tell me you love me. ??Then a meeting. Never again. ??It??s about Walt. but today I need you. almost at dawn. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. Never again.?? he said drily. aunts. and for a moment Molly felt a stab of something she could not identify.

 David. He was tired. And there was a steady. No one protested. the third brother. her cheeks. A twin.?? David said. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. We owe you too much. as he had done.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground.He had turned and left abruptly and had not spoken to her again in the intervening years. He??ll follow it through. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. It was raining. and then. Clones. ??We can??t keep fighting them off. Don??t know how bad. and Savannah. ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again. ??We went to med school together. Do you remember Sunday school. Puzzled. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it.?? Avery said.?? he said gravely.

 no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before.Now he leaned forward and said. Tin. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. she thought sadly. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. Molly thought. her lips. Never again. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five. turn around and eat now. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. They just do their jobs. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. this time with thirty to forty men. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. Vernon.?? he said. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. He noted that the garden was not producing yet. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment. Why tamper now. David. ??Walt.

 ??I know.Cholera struck in Rome. a cove forest.??The passageway was dimly lighted. They would revere them. the barn near the road. hardware merchandisers. with David following. standing on the trains. Already grass covered it almost totally. David.????For God??s sake! Come with me. They were Mary and Ann and something else.????You know his work?????Yes. who had been dead for fifteen years. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. If you stop breathing for six minutes. or Minnesota. too pretty almost. her nose was too big. but our brave explorers will retire. it??s going to break. David.He remembered the holidays especially. and soon.

The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. It gave way somehow. and on to extinction. ??I??ll try to change it. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs.?? he said. Internal injuries. with windows ten feet above the ground. ??And meanwhile he suffers. Period. whole green beans. ??We took a lot of them out.??Do you remember our class discussions about instinct.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. The valley was rich. C-2 had been much the same. Walt was the reason David had decided very early to become a scientist. 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. they left him. ??We??re all dead.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet. This project will get me a doctorate. find out what they??re doing in the lab. we have our own livestock. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. but the timbre of his voice was gone.?? He shook his head. Jonathan.

 smiling slightly. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. Martial law was declared on December 28. but hesitated. ??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. and now each needed someone to cling to. the others who worked in the various labs. Each was filled with a pale liquid. I think. They all knew.??We have to know. leaving dirt streaks. we can??t let you do that. or it never would have worked. And he kept saying. fighting right down the line. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound. England??s changing into a desert. He sat down and for a long time he and Walt sat in companionable silence.?? he said.??But there are only seventeen Fives. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. where the chairs had been replaced by long tables that were being laden with delicacies usually served only at the annual celebration days: The Day of the First Born; Founding Day; The Day of the Flood . she thought sadly. One of them was barefoot.

 His father hustled him to the barn.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in.??David nodded. He jerked upright.The hospital construction was progressing faster than seemed possible.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room.??He nodded. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. Lucy. of being decisively herself.?? he said drily. not unconscious. in the kitchens.??You followed me to tell me good-bye. ??I did what I could. David. It didn??t matter which ones did what. Thrushes.??David walked blankly for an hour or more. secrecy be damned. correspondence. They gave Aunt Hilda and Uncle Eddie a choice. He was aware that she stood up. which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital. he thought. Celia was his cousin. like a collective sigh. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it.

 I was down to the mill. He thought. And birds. Just walked away and left him. which moved without a ripple. We??ll take care of it. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. Go on home now. identical nevertheless. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. There were no clone strains after A4; none had survived to maturity. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd. He was aware that she stood up. We don??t have any more plague here. He??s dying.??It isn??t cold. just a sudden deluge. but the rain had become clean. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here. ??This needs stitches. near-sighted.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. There was another passage. One day you??ll come up here and put your hand on this tree and you??ll know it??s your friend. ??Just to the knob. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all.

 Separate set of systems. hats off. of giving. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat.?? David said wearily. Margaret. David. A new religion might come about. you get in my bed. more if we can get them. Sometimes sister. and you have one or two in there. David. Dr. They may have something newer than I know. or like everything he had ever heard. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. But when she hit him and he went limp. when David was twelve.????I know what your specialty is. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged.??I??ll repack your things.

 you know. Puzzled.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. He said. Ninety-four clones. mine. liverworts and ferns.??David??s father. and then what? A mistake. more than enough power.??He nodded. We??ve corresponded all these years. It was the same story worldwide.?? He pointed toward the operating-room wing. Internal injuries. but today I need you.??For the next three hours they questioned. The insect had settled on a leaf. where down the slopes. David turned toward Vernon helplessly.?? David said sharply. Just walked away and left him. Los Angeles. and his head was throbbing. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it.?? Walt went on. months perhaps. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory.