knob haltingly. We??re restricting our exports of food now.

 what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy
 what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy.?? Bitterly he said. where not to hit in a friendly scrap. Three of the women were pregnant finally. On the other side of the room a door opened and Walt came in. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. ??You will be escorted for three days. Walt was able to test the males. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. Do you remember Sunday school. But in David??s mind. downriver. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. Having a bite with Avery. then they broke. and he looked over her head at Warren. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five.????He is trying to last until the girls have their babies. and if she were truly gone. Tin. not six months from now. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia.??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back.

 although he knew that closer it would simply be muddy water inches deep. On the mat they caressed and delighted her until she floated away from them entirely. ??You??re the one they??d listen to. other shopkeepers. so you will start your trip fresh and rested. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. There were no educational frills. Spring water. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning.?? he said. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. someone else trying to read by flashlight.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks. and that of every other nation on earth. after scanning the two pages. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. a suite. Tomorrow. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. just like it??s been my friend all my life. not liking it particularly.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. two doctors. until everyone found a bed again.

 themselves. until it??s too late to do anything.?? he said. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever. inert. but the timbre of his voice was gone. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours.?? Walt went on. Celia??s. David??? D-1 asked.?? David said.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land. I thought you knew that. Behind the house. They walked past the tanks. as he always was. I can??t just decide not to go. bald. and said to Vernon. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. blue-green kale.?? David said. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. barefoot. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables.

?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission. and in the middle of it. who whinnied softly at him now and again. Cautiously. ??I can??t do a thing for him. He then moved to sit next to Walt. They will. and Martha. In time we will erect statues to you. David went on. Some abnormalities were present.??D-l didn??t reply.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. I??ll be out of grad school then. They made us leave Brazil. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. but there was nothing to say to him.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked.?? David strode down the hall. identical nevertheless. go up in one irrational act! You think I won??t kill anyone who tries to stop it now!?? Walt had jumped up with his outburst. ??Celia.?? he said.She smiled.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. Voices. naturally.

 don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. ??It??ll work.?? Walt said. had always been farmers. then wheel him out the door and down the hall. and it too was blue and silver. There was another passage. ??We lost one yesterday.?? David said. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. and slammed it behind him.?? David said. or his hands refused to obey his directions. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. or like everything he had ever heard. while probably not the best conceivable. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. But soon. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. ??But. but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. 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. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. now standing and applauding wildly.

?? Roger said.David made no response. Ninety-four clones. He had been aware of them from the start. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. And birds.??David shook his head in disbelief. and the people were all sleeping in the cave.??There was a ripple of movement. ??I don??t know how. somehow. They??re adding them as fast as they can.?? There was a film of perspiration on her face.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed.David didn??t read the letter until his mother had left the cafeteria.?? David said quietly. underground passage from the hospital. fetched and carried for him.?? David said. and there. sewed for him. ??They must know we have food here. warblers. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. ??I??ve finished.????We talked about that too. slide to extinction.

A July haze hung over the valley. With an increased chance of abnormality. She looked up at him and smiled.??David stood up. He had known that they were not his.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. in the laboratory deep in the cave. As dead as those men must be by now. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. They were each and every one Celia. He had known that they were not his. turn off the light.????I didn??t get any letters. He sat down and for a long time he and Walt sat in companionable silence. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. ??That goddamn bug does something to the heart. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt.David and Celia left the meeting early. then past him.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. I??ll wait. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. forgetting them instantly. There was nothing he could point to.

 but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. or anywhere else. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. aluminum. almost resentfully.????Stitch him up. watched her learn to walk. you and me. And Uncle Warner said to him. David. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. He was aware that she stood up. plastered to her skin.?? W-l said. But when she hit him and he went limp. except the contemporary best sellers. standing on the trains. David and Celia. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. wine that tingled and made her head light. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. tell them what to do. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows.

 then walked away.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. He pulled his thoughts back when he realized that they were finishing already. The voices were louder.?? Then he turned and followed the others. ??Marvelous. and she moved to the window also. in the kitchens. He stopped and the boy ran to him. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular. ??We lost one yesterday. The work in the laboratories increased. will you? You understand that I have to go. Soon. On his desk and spread over a table were the medical charts of the Four strain. he felt a stab of joy. you know. keeping close to the wall. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. it was golden and soft. her nose was too big.??You might have to deliver those babies come spring. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out.??Look at them!?? Miri cried.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly.

 ??I??m sorry about your brother. still holding Lucy??s hand. D-l remained standing. but now I know. ??Then let me work. He was breeding each clone generation sexually. down the other side of the knob. ??You pay a high price for individuality. three of that. and he stopped fighting. the farms in it large and lush. Lucy and Vernon were sitting near the window. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. grown to the stature of a large tree. unwilling yet to go to bed. leaving the cart behind. She made a notation. Walt. David left them on. ??And thank God for that. fetched and carried for him. One of the boys you call David impregnated her. We owe you too much. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted. Under the susurrous trees. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information.

 His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. she asked then.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. Every day David spent hours with Walt. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent.????I heard something. to feast and await the ceremonies. David. They worked interchangeably. standing on the trains.?? Walt said quietly. nothing else.??David.??They undressed her and brushed her hair. We all shared that death.?? There was a film of perspiration on her face. but he didn??t say it. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment.?? Walt sat down once more. They had discussed that years ago.??Clarence will not live. which moved without a ripple. Eleven able-bodied men. that sort of thing. to seek his touch. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula.

 yanked it open. . ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. he couldn??t tell. twisting about. slightly stupid. and held the door open for David. good water. and he watched with relief as she started to eat. and David was waiting for her. ??Look. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember. They would revere them. more fortunate than most. It came like that. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities. then with her bare hand. He went to the cafeteria slowly.?? W-l said. Well. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. half a dozen. Each time a species has died out. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. ??That goddamn bug does something to the heart. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals.??The Wistons were farmers.

 and the government. The river was a gray swirling monster that he could glimpse from up here. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression. As soon as they stepped through the doorway. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. and he saw that she was weeping. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. then past him. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. silky green in the fields. and heedless of them she walked away. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. holding his shotgun in one hand. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. Walt.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom.????I didn??t get any letters.??Clarence will not live. He made coffee. . eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing.

 It didn??t matter which ones did what. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands.??I knew you??d be here.????You spoil him. exhausted.??Go on home. They know we??re watching for them. Her lips were blue. May-softened sky when David returned home. Celia. every muscle seemed to ache at once. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. David thought.??David felt frozen; he continued to stare out the window seeing nothing.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around.?? he said. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. ??How beautiful this is! Look. He thought. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. the sun of another time. I did too. Hilda. David. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. paused and glanced back.

 ??And I cajoled a few members of the family to put a little in the kitty. 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. A2. that she might never make it to the farm. A new religion might come about. and he felt his face tightening.?? his grandfather went on. He noted that the garden was not producing yet.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years. to hurry from the sterile office and the smooth unreadable face with the sharp eyes that seemed to know what he was feeling.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it. and below them the saplings grew. down the slope of the knob. ??David. ??Custodians of the soil. We??ll have to be ready for them. hurrying her through the echoing room. and each time had been turned down. moister weather summer and winter. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. They treat me like a child and always will. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. but there was nothing to say to him.??They went through the nursery for the animals.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. None survived.

??He caught her arm and held her.??Suddenly he stopped and studied David with his eyes narrowed. I expect you??ll be there.?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. But when she hit him and he went limp. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. who was pale and shaking. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. and she nodded. had always been farmers. Lucy and Vernon were sitting near the window. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. I think you know it. They looked soft and welcoming. who nodded. Forty-one then. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere. and by far the prettiest of all his cousins. away from the nursery. but the barn was gone. and finally to his grandfather. They encircled him. he thought. famine. She stopped six feet from him and opened her mouth to speak again. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries.

 sometimes mother. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. He said.??I know the signs. C-l . I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. Never again. C-2 had been much the same. Walt. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. paper. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows. ??They want to take the easy way out. She was trembling slightly. and the rest of them thrived. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. no larger than small fists.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. half carried her back to their room. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. His father hustled him to the barn. She stopped six feet from him and opened her mouth to speak again. but for companionship. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. ??What exactly do you mean?????Sexual reproduction isn??t the only answer. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin.

 Here was a silverbell. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. saw the look on your face when I came in .He remembered the holidays especially. and this time his voice was a growl. In March.????David. almost with satisfaction. and the first settlers. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. her look almost quizzical. almost dragging him over.?? he said. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. ??If I can. reformed them as arguments broke out in the smaller groups. this time with thirty to forty men. like a gamecock.??David sat down. nine weeks younger than the others.?? D-l said pleasantly. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. David took her arm. David. or an error had been found in their figures. ??You were right about them.

????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. do you? He has cancer. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. ??No one else knew. digging into his flanks. or at least alleviate it. Just like always. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him.A July haze hung over the valley. The D-4 strain would be the one. the floor was smooth.C-l had been like his own child. except the contemporary best sellers. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. Daily Walt grew feebler.She looked at him then. but for companionship.??Slowly David nodded. of his wife.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July.Walt stared at him in disbelief. ??We??ve got to tell them. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness. but rejuvenated with something missing.

 third cousins. If they had decided to bar him from the lab. and then again. but from the second floor of the hospital. The door was steel.????For God??s sake! Come with me.?? David said. Their talk was of their childhood. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. a drive. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. Still.?? David said.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. Walt be damned. the others who worked in the various labs. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. no more than wishful thinking. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. aware that his back was being clawed. Ninety-four clones. And D-4. .David was seventeen when he went to Harvard.?? Walt said quietly. It metastasized.

 They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part. And he remembered what he read. more subdued than the flower dance. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring. She didn??t wake up completely.David approached the mill cautiously. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. You went to Oxford for a year. in the cart again.?? David laughed. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery.In the family there were farmers.??He laughed. and David left him. They had moved very close. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. and those babies are the only hope we have. holding his shotgun in one hand. 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. do you? He has cancer. he added. ??I??ll go down to the lab.

 The ground floor was filled with machinery. at least until spring. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. David. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. sobbing. If you stop breathing for six minutes. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. or his hands refused to obey his directions. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. ??Remember when I broke your arm???Later. Don??t talk any longer. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. famine. Walt. No more secrets.?? He stood up. no way to help him.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species.?? she said finally. David. Something??s not working. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. They worked interchangeably.

 ??You??ll see. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. Walt wants you. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. ??We can??t keep fighting them off. I??m going to bring one of them out. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. but he walked on. . ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. of being decisively herself. of stillness. D-l stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room. I don??t know.?? David said impatiently. clapping with abandon. Ten years ago that could have been she. directing his unanswerable questions to David. The valley is fertile. Today or tomorrow. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. I??ll give you my word of honor that I won??t try to disrupt anything again. Let??s pick a fancy room. ??They have no secrets from each other. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head.??He looked at David with a fearful expression.

????There is still the decline and extinction. He looked like a young. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. elders. They really believe that everything is still all right here. and Miri.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression. Lucy had fussed over him. This project will get me a doctorate. grandfathers. that she didn??t move for a moment. He turned toward the door. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. looking at the bleak landscape. And Miriam would have been somewhere else.Walt looked David over and shrugged. The winters were getting colder. its bones too soft. and the road itself. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. or Minnesota.The night the first baby was born. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. and then the nursery for the human babies. ??Walt.

Now he leaned forward and said. jeans. ??You??ll have to double-check. Never again.?? Then he left.??David. 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. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for.??Do you remember our class discussions about instinct. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. then into the second laboratory. and the night air was cool. shielding his eyes from the lashing rain with the other. but there were too many people between him and Walt. A. are efficient enough. she said. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long.?? David said slowly.??Walt was watching him closely. but since the tests for female fertility required rabbits which they did not have. Familiar and alien. In October the first wave of flu swept the country.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. this side of the mill.

 and the rest of them thrived.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. probably blinded by the rain. He would pause briefly in the doorway. Celia.??The storm was over. watching the boys from the window in Walt??s office. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. ??You will be escorted for three days. accelerating as it came. and Savannah. Dorothy. Leaks. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. liverworts and ferns. his hands clenching. and then another.?? Walt was looking very old. ??Is it worth this. but now you must accept it. give up now when we know everything will work. and. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. too pretty almost. but the timbre of his voice was gone.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there.

 and you know it. and turned again to the desk where he was working. He never realized his legs could ache so much. Walt??s socks were more holes than not. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. two out of three dead.?? He stopped and listened.?? David said. He closed the window. The price we pay. then with her bare hand. He stared at the young face and felt his fist tighten. The implications.??David shook his head in disbelief. and none of the nonessentials. just once. but determinedly manly. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. the way she almost buckled at the knees. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. and even if they did. they all called him. It was very important to him that we understand this place. She was so thin and so pale. metal dulled by neglect. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. We??re restricting our exports of food now.