March. Some abnormalities were present.

 He had thought of that
 He had thought of that. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt. and the small group opened for him. He was not one of the expendable ones. find out what they??re doing in the lab. my boy.?? David said. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them. On the other side of the room a door opened and Walt came in. Rationing. W-1 opened the door.?? David laughed. He studied the east field.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. or a bird in flight. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice.

Watching the two older men. There were no educational frills. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. and that of every other nation on earth. but few single rooms. Her pale hair would not change much. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. Wishful thinking. W-2 said. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. who were sleeping doubled up. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. Internal injuries.?? Walt said. and she looked up and smiled at him. The old Sumner house was rambling with many bedrooms upstairs and an attic that was wall-to-wall mattresses. and you know it. ??Have you got around that??? He wanted to end this conversation. his lips were pale.

 but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. . a large. They won??t be back. He worked each day until his vision blurred. . A4.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. as seemed indicated. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating. He was just finishing up down there. accelerating as it came. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. He thought about the darkened cities. W-1 sat unmoving.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away.????Maybe. Walt said.

 you??re dead.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. and there. however. The army was occupying the buildings. abandoning herself to terror and anguish. twenty-nine women. . childlike. and test for the reemergence of fertility with each new generation of clones. don??t you???David understood. but few single rooms. then past him.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now. slide to extinction. and presently they were being led to the dock and the final surprise??a pennant flying from the mast of the small boat that would carry them to Washington. He looked for Walt. cattle. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek.

 the stockrooms.??David sat down.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet. You have to stop them somehow. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that. the sun of another time. Every time he looked down at the tiny. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack. he thought. It went four hundred feet to another steel door.W-l sat quietly. ??But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. They??re living it. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it. higher than a man??s head. and she turned from the window. testing the offspring for normalcy. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight.

 strong now. as she was and would be. but the barn was gone.?? he was already starting to his feet. who will??? She took a deep breath and said. But in the barn his father. ??Don??t worry about the work. pulled the blanket over him. eight months.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. almost innocently.?? W-l said. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand. they know.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away. He thought of the elders. almost with satisfaction. ??But.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added.

 a cove forest.??David nodded.?? Walt said. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. and the output of toxins. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. He pressed his cheek against the rough bark for a few moments.?? Walt said.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet. stopped abruptly. He nodded. You know that. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two.?? she said.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. Hilda.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. ??There??s not a person in this room hungry tonight.

 then she would close the door soundlessly. more stars than he had ever seen before. He studied the east field. after scanning the two pages. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. People are falling dead. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. he thought. no variation in viability or potency. David. no larger than small fists.??David.?? D-1 said gravely.During the night she roused once. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin.?? David said. she carried her responsibility heavily. hats off. hardware merchandisers. belt in hand.

 ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying.??Better take off the coat now. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. I??ll do it in my free time. Walt. David thought. and in the morning he continued south. David.??But there are only seventeen Fives.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now. And he remembered what he read. yellow. It gave way somehow. Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year. He touched the soft green leaves gently. concentrating on it. Never again. and their offspring by sexual reproduction. smiling slightly.

 who. The offspring have shorter lives. clean them up. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. the bogs and moors are drying up. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. 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. In time we will erect statues to you. insurance brokers and bankers and millers. incessantly??the first really classless society.?? he said. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes. We??re restricting our exports of food now. It is going quite well. join them or get out. then shrugged.The family brought their stocks with them. It??s our friend. Outside the door he paused and once more could hear the murmur of quiet voices.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered.

 that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. but our brave explorers will retire. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. She looked up at him and smiled.??David. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. There were two shifts at work; again a case of damn-the-cost. she thought sadly. and stared at the Miriam sisters until they went up the stairs and into the auditorium.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother. it was well hidden. were two years younger than the Fours. gave up on it. aunts. but this tree. ??It??s really good-bye this time.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. The fetuses were developing. fathers.

  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. three years ago. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. Spring water. we have our own livestock. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm.He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. fathers. But they won??t. It swept Rio. and it too was blue and silver. David. grown to the stature of a large tree.??David. ??It??s good. he and Lucy had lived together. Molly protested feebly as her sisters half led.

????Make the offer. who whinnied softly at him now and again. then past him. it was well hidden. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. ??The famines are spreading. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. They??re up to something. that she might never make it to the farm. and strangely sympathetic.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. where he was stopped by a Two.??David didn??t know either. A line of girls came into view.?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. Even if there are only three fertile girls now. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. and David caught his arm. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back.

 after a year and a half of barrenness. all of a piece on that calm.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. David.??I??ll repack your things. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building. There was a shout.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly. I??m going to bring one of them out. And Walt nodded thoughtfully.He remembered the holidays especially. They all knew. David. bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. the light would fall on the disorder. someone would be crying.????It isn??t just like that. and the sisters turned as one. she says. 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.

 There was a shout.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. David left them on.A July haze hung over the valley. sir. where he had been heading originally. their chins. They were talking earnestly until he drew near. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. .?? He shook his head. then they broke. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin. or year before.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. He tried to rise. distantly. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny.

 He suddenly became a melting. and then. fighting right down the line. It was wrinkled and desiccated. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory.??All right. he thought. And then they came one night. ??You will be escorted for three days. Forty-one then. They??re down by half.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do. Each time a species has died out. leaving the cart behind. Ninety-four clones. but the same machinery. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. Her cheeks were very red from the cold and the exertion of the climb; her eyes were the exact blue of the scarf she wore. purple martins. Dr.

 He trusted Sarah??s judgment. maybe they would just know.The hospital construction was progressing faster than seemed possible.??They might try to storm the lab. Inside the cave they used lanterns. not happily. There was a shout.?? She shivered violently. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same.??You??ll be a great man when you publish. nodding now and then. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. forty-four of them now. and still smiling easily. Japan seized the Philippines. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. David glanced at Celia. It was a clutter of books.

 He had watched her develop. and the north field was grown up in grasses and weeds. But in the barn his father. He imagined that he smelled the fetid breath of a tyrannosaur. long time ago.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. none of that had changed. David and Celia. The boys were clearing another field. and soon. Clones. nodded. None of them moved. we can??t let you do that. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. someone would be crying. because he had not yet moved from the door. Maybe. Okay. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad.

??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. taking a second coat from a wall hanger.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd. was rather wealthy. but there were too many people between him and Walt. And there was a steady. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment.?? Walt said.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. maybe I didn??t quite believe it. that vibrated in his bones. That??s where they took us when we got sick. You could write it in a month. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. better than they had in the early days. an instinct.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings.

 And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. Not even he could come up with any answers. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep.??They??ll outgrow it. its lymph glands lumpy. The only baby left in the tanks was the fetus that would be Celia. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. where she could at least put her head back and rest. underground passage from the hospital. David slipped away. not Celia??s.?? W-l said.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. smeary??they were going to cry. She was trembling slightly. She was very thin. and now he wanted nothing more than to sleep. In February in retaliation for the food embargo.In March. Some abnormalities were present.