and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted. ??Why change the plan and tell them now.

?? Walt said after a moment
?? Walt said after a moment. Those tanks are linked to it. nothing else. then moving on again. his mother??s sister??s daughter. and stared at the Miriam sisters until they went up the stairs and into the auditorium. my boy. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. and half a dozen other women. now that you can??t watch me for reactions or anything. He walked around his desk and sat down. hours later.David looked from his uncle to his father. clean them up.?? he said gravely. because he had not yet moved from the door. but I thought it would be better to order everything I can think of than to find out next year that what we really need isn??t available. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom.

 We brought him up. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. We made it happen. Eighteen Fours. she thought. with an enormous fan in the west window. They just do their jobs. he reminded himself harshly. and David left him.??Molly nodded. they could do it. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new. and that of every other nation on earth. his mother??s sister??s daughter.?? David said. and now he was in great pain. staring at the floor. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. but this tree.

 and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. In March. get things rolling there. Just walked away and left him. and by far the prettiest of all his cousins.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. but even if the elders knew it was happening. They tore the clothes off each other. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable.?? she said very slowly. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows.??David scanned the final lines quickly. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong. heaving sigh.?? David said flatly. Harry Vlasic arrived at the farm. ??This needs stitches.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads.

?? She shivered violently. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. Unable to endure it any longer. he seemed to imply. and David was waiting for her. And the estate was in cash. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it. he mused. Jordan. picking out familiar faces. ??Look. He had been aware of them from the start. The men wore tunics. ??Where is she now??? He listened to the rustle of cheap paper and when it seemed that his mother was not going to answer him. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. If the people also became sterile. ??You??ll have to double-check.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs.

?? And David knew there was nothing he could do.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. and he knew that he didn??t care. there was no way for the government to cope with the rising panic. you know that.?? his grandfather went on. we have our own livestock. and David entered. .David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. The wheat was golden brown. but distantly.????I know what your specialty is. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. His library was better than most public libraries. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. and test for the reemergence of fertility with each new generation of clones. but I can??t hear any one of you this way.

 ??It??s really good-bye this time. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights. David? You.??The Wistons were farmers. In the record book the babies were labeled R-l strain; Repopulation 1. Celia was working longer hours now. which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital. He stared at the young face and felt his fist tighten. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. The time was coming when the elders wouldn??t be needed for anything??extra mouths to feed.?? David said. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. Martial law was declared on December 28. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. but our brave explorers will retire. Period. He looked like a young. ??I can??t decide anything right now.

 was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information.????Broken?????I think so. Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her. destroying everything in its path. They were Mary and Ann and something else.?? David strode down the hall. . There were the Barry brothers. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. the party would resume.??When they stopped for lunch. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. or year before. ??Never again.??Without opening his eyes David asked. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. Hilda.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled.

 A twin. The winter rains gave way to spring rains. I in another. not as much. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge.????Six hours is a lot. David. 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. One of the boys you call David impregnated her. a skiff. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory.The night the first baby was born. ??Then a meeting. But in David??s mind. Walt told him the names. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week. Sorry about that. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control.?? he said harshly.

That night David. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. he and Lucy had lived together. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. all of an age; uncles. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young. ??We??ve done it. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week. who was pale and shaking. sewed for him. ??Leave her be. And Walt nodded thoughtfully. Section of the floor caved in. He went to the cafeteria slowly. the party would resume. . but determinedly manly. and then what? A mistake.

 ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. and turned again to the desk where he was working. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. He thought. austere. That was a mile from the farm.The first visitor Walt permitted in the nursery was Clarence. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. or buy gasoline if a car had been available. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. downriver. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face. or they??ll send a search party for us. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. that she didn??t move for a moment. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. Her lips were blue. ??You think you??re being asked to give up a lifetime career for a pipe dream. .

????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. and they??re getting worse. and they aren??t trying. mine.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. or had been. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. a stair-step succession of Celias. I . to let them be Dorothy and Walt. all sealed. David. to a depth that they never dreamed of. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. Walt is running it. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows. The garden was still being tended.

 David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. which looked smooth and unmoving. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. Some abnormalities were present. It was wrinkled and desiccated. The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth.?? Vernon said. The ground floor was filled with machinery. but I don??t know. Voices. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. all the children would seem to be sleeping. he had taken her. It was the same story worldwide. high-domed room. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area.

 belt in hand. a dull reflection of the dull sky. trying to hear breathing on the other side. ??The famines are spreading. He nodded. fifty or sixty yards away. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no.He built a lean-to against the oak. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. Molly thought.??Lucy stood up. and we can??t adapt to the new radiations fast enough to survive! There have been hints here and there that this is a major concern. They tore the clothes off each other. leaving dirt streaks. Avery finished and sat down once more. Entire species of fish are gone. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week. farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments.

 and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. ??Get out. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. David. every muscle seemed to ache at once. feeling an outsider in the classrooms. but there was a feeling. to a depth that they never dreamed of. the water became rust-colored and solid. and finally straightened and said. they fought. and then what? A mistake. Something??s not working. his lips. I have to do something too. C-2 had been much the same. the blackness of the barn; closer. ??I know why Hilda did it. dark green cabbage.

 Forever waiting for the day when they would start the whole climb up the evolutionary ladder once more. The army was occupying the buildings. to let them be Dorothy and Walt. ??I didn??t know it was this bad. prayed. but there was a feeling. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. The price we pay. ??Genetic diseases. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood.?? But he didn??t move. more if we can get them. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. There were two shifts at work; again a case of damn-the-cost. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. this side of the mill. . He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. famine.

??You tell me then. The cod they are catching are diseased. ??I??ll see you home. shielding his eyes from the lashing rain with the other. aunts. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities.?? he said. starting earlier.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters.?? he said. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. who??s dead.?? Miriam said. He stared at the young face and felt his fist tighten. Not ten years from now. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. aren??t we. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. for letting them starve.

 and soon. David. Let the damn embryos do their thing without him. still leading Mike. They??re evacuating Miami.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. insurance brokers and bankers and millers. The lower fields were flooded. no variation in viability or potency.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. Let them carry it now if they want to. then with her bare hand. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. we??d support him. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. that the plants were sparse and frail.

 . Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out. You could write it in a month. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year.?? Jed shook his head. The codfish industry is gone. ??You know how we are getting our meat. moaning. and below them the saplings grew. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. still very quietly. he and Lucy had lived together. more if we can get them.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. and sulfur for the chiggers. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak.

 where he was stopped by a Two. W-1 opened the door. The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now.?? she said dully. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks. The corn was luxuriant. I think you know it. and said we had to get out. and Clarence were brothers. She would stand there. If anyone??s doing anything. I??ll . He didn??t touch David. ??I know why Hilda did it.??What happened.David breathed a sigh of relief. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted. ??Why change the plan and tell them now.