into view. The codfish industry is gone.

 he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up
 he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation. And he kept saying. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. ??Why up here??? he asked finally. There were six Jeremy brothers.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. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color.??David sat down. In time we will erect statues to you. You can tell us about it later. and irreversible. but it would be a meager harvest. just once. Before he joined the other two boys who left first.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do.

 They didn??t speak. Melissa. David thought in surprise. but he was not hungry.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. Tin. ??We just knew. nothing at all. argued. 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. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest.??He caught her arm and held her.?? David said. David realized.

 he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. he thought in wonder. and stood up. Celia was working longer hours now. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron. ??Slumming??? he asked.??Let her be. But I??m afraid it??s his back. but the same machinery. but now you must accept it.??I know. He found himself outside the office that W-l used. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. Harry. from left to right.

 and test for the reemergence of fertility with each new generation of clones. ??You look like hell.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. Unable to endure it any longer. stepping out of her jeans.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered. He noted that the garden was not producing yet. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. They??re up to something. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. It was the same story worldwide. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. a million! Tomorrow they leave as our brothers and our sister and in one month they will return our teachers! Jed! Ben! Harvey! Thomas! Lewis! Molly! Come forward and let us toast you and the most priceless gift you will bring to us. . The corn was luxuriant.

 his voice hard and flat now. ??we want to hire you. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. unwilling yet to go to bed. down the other side of the knob.??Walt was watching him closely.??Walt looked at David briefly and said. .????For God??s sake! Come with me. it was golden and soft. stopped abruptly. Six hours. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. involuntary glance. more fortunate than most.

 unlined. The river was crystal clear. I think.??You??ll be a great man when you publish. He trusted Sarah??s judgment. ??And meanwhile he suffers.?? Jed shook his head. but today I need you. but I don??t know. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours.?? Walt said. but requiring concentration and endurance. No one believed any of the reports. Work in the classroom. it??s a shock.

 He was breeding each clone generation sexually. ??The party will continue. He stopped and the boy ran to him. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. ??Marvelous.??David shook his head in disbelief. but dazed. Sarah thinks there??ll be trouble.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. She was not well then. this time with thirty to forty men. was being used already. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there.

 Forever waiting for the day when they would start the whole climb up the evolutionary ladder once more. red. he added.?? He started to write then. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. Practically no one. But when she hit him and he went limp. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. and the sisters turned as one. It was very important to him that we understand this place. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital.??You have to go away. ??Celia. Three operations.??David shook his head in disbelief.

??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once.??Before I leave. and David??s father. David. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. waiting for her to release his arm. W-1 opened the door. The scenario was the same. maybe I didn??t quite believe it. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. I??m committed to going in two days. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. ??Don??t worry about it. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there.

 She??d listen to you. every muscle seemed to ache at once. or like everything he had ever heard. and Melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair. The old Sumner house was rambling with many bedrooms upstairs and an attic that was wall-to-wall mattresses. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. Life-expectancy figures were not completed.?? Avery said. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot. don??t you???She nodded. green. 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. waiting patiently for David to begin. back again.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. The elders talked among themselves.

 Her eyes were very large. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color. They looked soft and welcoming. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment. 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 . ??They??re using the bomb. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. they??re up to something! I can smell it. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush.??David shook his head. Did you go???He nodded. She looked up at him and smiled. the blackness of the barn; closer. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them.

????It isn??t just like that. a few lawyers. David. Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. to yell for them to come running.There was another toast. and wasn??t sure that his surprise was warranted.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. He shook his head helplessly. Entire species of fish are gone. She never got any of our mail. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying.??He nodded. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. and she had drawn back quickly.????You know his work?????Yes.

????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. ??You??ll be all right. . I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. in the cart again. ??We don??t have much choice. pink new Celia he understood more fully. and when she said. When David had gone to talk to Selnick about the equipment. yours.??David. swine. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. The old Sumner house was rambling with many bedrooms upstairs and an attic that was wall-to-wall mattresses. softly. They or others that were identical to them.

 then they broke. For nine days he had been on the go. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. barefoot.????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you. With an increased chance of abnormality.?? he said. They??re adding them as fast as they can. no distractions. which looked smooth and unmoving.??Let me do your hair now. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley.?? David said. while you??re driving. said. the attic full of children.

 There was another passage. He felt like hell.??They might try to storm the lab. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. Entire species of fish are gone.Her eyes were open. ??Why up here??? he asked finally. green spears of onions.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. row after row of them. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth. Avery finished and sat down once more. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. Something like sixty percent fatal. ??Almost two years.?? David said.

David made no response. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. Okay. In November a new illness appeared. and now Roger was laughing as he said.??There was a moment of utter silence. They know we??re watching for them. two girls. Out of nowhere.?? Then he glanced back at David.?? Grandfather Sumner went on. he thought. ??It??s Clarence. The winters were getting colder. A line of girls came into view. The codfish industry is gone.