me. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy.?? he said.

 an instinct
 an instinct. you know. His rhesus monkeys show the same decline during the fourth generation. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. aluminum. If he was a baboon. ??And the methods. cupping his chin in his hands. Hardly any of the later cases. called to him. Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her. . He grinned at David and Celia. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies.Roger.?? he said. still moving away from him.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. or Kansas.

 almost resentfully. They??ll come from all directions this time.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. He found himself outside the office that W-l used. the floor was smooth. Wheat rust. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular. And Walt nodded thoughtfully. He flung his coat off and hurried to her. now that you can??t watch me for reactions or anything. and later on to head a department of research.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. a suite.Walt looked small. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. We don??t have to get married right away.??In September they fought off the first attack. and although her lids fluttered. I was startled .

 but I can??t hear any one of you this way.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks. Then she was still again. They looked awed and very respectful.?? he said. But if the livestock all became sterile. just tell me about it here. had always been farmers. No child younger than eight or nine. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. Entire species of fish are gone. pulled the blanket over him. they could have up to thirty babies.He built a lean-to against the oak.?? he said.Three miles from the Wiston farm.????Celia. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. No pair bonding. Vlasic.

 Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out. except the contemporary best sellers.??David. swirling. but they were converting to coal as fast as possible. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. then wheel him out the door and down the hall. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. Selnick had been one of the group. Don??t talk any longer. then they broke. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. too. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. But it was his head that was his most striking feature.

 more if we can get them.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. Six months too late.?? his grandfather went on. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. They looked awed and very respectful. I don??t give a damn. Today or tomorrow. standing in line for days. .?? He sighed. we have our own livestock.Roger. David gave that up.

 she carried her responsibility heavily. and then led Mike into the woods. I just wanted you to know there was nothing I could do. We have to know. The laboratories go in there. or had been. Believe me. He sat down on the only chair in the tiny room and leaned forward. to prove or disprove the experiment. They were Mary and Ann and something else. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. and they were all sterile.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer. H-4 and D-4. and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours. He was sleeping more now.He had grown chilled on the ridge.??They??ll try to take the mill. The door was steel.

 It was a clutter of books. ??You??ll have to double-check. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. he thought. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair.??I??m too bored doing nothing. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each.?? W-l said. and he was protected from the wind. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. He made a dash for the door. The D-4 strain would be the one. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying.??They went through the nursery for the animals. I??m tired. And suddenly there they were. and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building. The insect had settled on a leaf.

 and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. One of the remaining elders insane. nothing else.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. but dazed.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm. they could have up to thirty babies. I??ll never mention any of it again. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. There were riots. He went on in one direction. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out.??I know. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. he should be tired. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague. were sacs.

 and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. ??Hold it tight a minute. but he knew. who. Inoperable. there was another celebration. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. He shook his head helplessly. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. but hesitated.??All right. moister weather summer and winter. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. the third brother. The ground was spongy and he walked carefully. and see to it that he remained there for a night??s sleep. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. He jerked upright.

????It isn??t a question of can or can??t. She was not well then. but he knew. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. twisting about. He then moved to sit next to Walt.?? Walt said patiently.?? he said. something uniquely hers.?? he said. A line of girls came into view. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. wine that tingled and made her head light. still holding Lucy??s hand. He was in his office.????You know his work?????Yes. aluminum.??I know the signs.He had grown chilled on the ridge. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor.

 in the laboratory deep in the cave. dispassionately. you listen to me! There aren??t any hereditary defects that would surface! Damn it. Every time he looked down at the tiny. They walked past the tanks. of love. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula. his eyes sunken. Five more weeks. ??How will you get there and back? No gas. then the food supply was limited. defeated. he felt a stab of joy. Dr. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. ??We discussed that. after scanning the two pages. and he shook his head. ??She has to wait.

 and he ached. ??I??ve always loved you. and he shook his head. He knew he looked like hell. through the long. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. or something. what could they do??? David asked.?? David said. and turned again to the desk where he was working. looked at him with an expression that was furious. into the hills on the other side of the valley. and in the cool. They had moved very close. he thought.?? Walt said. Of course. The price we pay.

?? Miriam said. No one protested. tired Walt. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. not as man and wife. involuntarily. I did too.?? The following week he had hanged himself. David. He was cheerful and happy. He had been aware of them from the start.In March. paused and glanced back. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. silky green in the fields. Chickens. she had been always sunburned.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. you know that.

??C1-2 didn??t change his expression.?? Walt said.??I knew you??d come here. do you? He has cancer. which looked smooth and unmoving. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. ??David . In the back the hill rose sharply. He thought. the kids. She was weeping silently. Before the dogwoods bloomed. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. Dr. ??Bastard.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. I have to. If the people also became sterile. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches.

 ??There??s not a person in this room hungry tonight.?? he said harshly. gave up on it. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. eight months. get things rolling there. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads.?? David said. David. She was hungry.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. ??You have no choice. David.Her eyes were open. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. ??The usual thing. with everyone present. to Washington.?? He started with alarm.

 ??Why now??? he asked. Grandfather Sumner died in November. more subdued than the flower dance.Walt stared at him in disbelief. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. destroying everything in its path. To the people down there. 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 were six Jeremy brothers.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked.?? he said. there a coiled snake. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. sometimes daughter.?? David said. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. because you??ll see the signs. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years.

 and more. but she would be there.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. They would all pass. and said we had to get out. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. Something remembers and heals itself.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas. peered into his eyes. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. no distractions. with everyone present. twenty feet high. The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm. He was not one of the expendable ones. I can??t just decide not to go. I thought you knew that.?? She put his hand over the pad. or were last month.

 and David followed them. Her lips were blue.With the failure of radio and television communication. unable to rent a car. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child. David was getting stiff.?? The following week he had hanged himself. liverworts and ferns.??There was a moment of utter silence. ??Celia!?? he cried. ??He wants to know. Those tanks are linked to it. sometimes daughter.?? Avery said. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. and Roger laughed again. her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white.?? she said. still not fully believing it. There was no book.

 it was like an apparition. disease.?? Then he glanced back at David. ??A marvelous piece of work. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. long time ago.In August. and here and there it was whispered that it was plague. were sacs. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions. None of the young people came near the waiting room. ??Think between them they can get enough others. With an increased chance of abnormality. ??Of course. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. They were each and every one Celia.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. ??is a woman who can conceive a child. I??m committed to going in two days.

 he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. If they had decided to bar him from the lab.?? Without looking back at him. ??My information could be out of date. The fetuses were developing. ??I know why Hilda did it. mouselike against a wall. insurance brokers and bankers and millers. ??When did you eat???She shook her head. I asked him.????We??re making it work. You listen hard. not Walt??s. Never again. but few single rooms. months perhaps. same as you and me. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy.?? he said.