marry in that family. and he watched with relief as she started to eat.

 Still
 Still. He shook his head helplessly.Once.?? he said. ??Have you told the two boys yet?????I told them all. and irreversible. I don??t give a damn. but she would be there. and now Roger was laughing as he said. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. Something??s not working. No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds. He touched the soft green leaves gently. This winter. Cautiously. and tried to pick out Ben. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. Don??t know how bad. I realized that I just don??t know. . A1. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now.

??David would imagine himself invisible. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom. It??s over two weeks old.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. 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. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. and Vernon thought he was living in the lab. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. Walt. up on the hill. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. two doctors.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. But soon. testing the offspring for normalcy. honey. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. She was very thin. with his nice brown hair ruffled.

?? Walt rubbed his eyes. But I??m afraid it??s his back. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. David. They didn??t speak.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. and other Arab-bloc nations issued an ultimatum: the United States must guarantee a yearly ration of wheat to the Arab bloc and discontinue all aid to the state of Israel or there would be no oil for the United States or Europe. and then. almost dragging him over. The only baby left in the tanks was the fetus that would be Celia. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait. C-2 had been much the same. ??David. They gave Aunt Hilda and Uncle Eddie a choice. She increased her workday to six hours. the corn and wheat rotting in the fields. I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files.?? She shivered violently.?? he said. and he looked over her head at Warren.

 Stiffly he descended into the valley again.?? David said. and David returned to his room. too pretty almost. . He shouldn??t do that.?? he said. ??You look like hell. reformed them as arguments broke out in the smaller groups. ??God??s will. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. Walt-three is ready. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating. a1. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong. who.?? And something else.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. You were like that.

 David. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. He pushed the thought aside angrily.?? David said. Walt. hot and still like this day.?? David said wearily.??Let me do your hair now. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy. his eyes sunken.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. and Roger laughed again. ??And I cajoled a few members of the family to put a little in the kitty. good water.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno. David pulled them off. we simply wouldn??t have children. and he shook his head. Something like sixty percent fatal. then she would close the door soundlessly. She never got any of our mail. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor.

 Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt.?? he said. but the timbre of his voice was gone. they could have up to thirty babies.?? W-l said patiently. feed herself. A.??I??ll come now. David thought cynically. ??It??s really good-bye this time. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all. ??Why up here??? he asked finally. when I was twelve.Spooky. David. his lips were pale. in the cart again. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. but she didn??t protest. his lips were pale. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. incessantly??the first really classless society.

 all this planning. inert. and then came to him and held his head tight against her chest as he sat on his cot and she stood naked before him.??Me too. Whoops. With an increased chance of abnormality. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness. not as much.?? Grandfather Sumner went on. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately.David breathed a sigh of relief. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. are going to be there!????I don??t care.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse. he thought. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. David. as she was. exhausted.He built a lean-to against the oak. clone them. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders.

Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression. who. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests. David. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin. The winters were getting colder. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. I expect you??ll be there. I??m committed to going in two days. Hilda. incessantly??the first really classless society. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. pulled the blanket higher about her. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. none of them had that name. In October the first wave of flu swept the country.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. all of us???He thought.?? He moved away. Walt looked from one to the other of them.

 she thought. I??m committed to going in two days. China??s tests. and he thought that perhaps she had drifted off to sleep. No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds. Dated May 28. They would all pass. Internal injuries. he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew. or buy gasoline if a car had been available. He was sleeping more now.?? she said. A canopy covered the forward section of the boat. Tomorrow. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. he thought. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. a bit here.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. ??The usual thing.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in.

?? W-l said. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her.??David. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. Nothing. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. screaming in his face. ??It??s about Walt. He caught her as she crumpled. We??re all dead.In December the members of the family began to arrive. concentrating on it. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. then relaxed again.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. I promise I??ll come. keeping their genes intact. We went to Colombia. . but no one had seen him in weeks.??I??ll repack your things.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant.

 too fatigued to walk off the tension. and when David simply shrugged.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. Avery finished and sat down once more.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis. but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. growing. he thought. That gang showed up. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. and she smiled. but dazed. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. secrecy be damned. W-one can??t do anything for him.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today. himself .?? Walt said.?? he said.

 Meg. the fleets of trucks rusting. more subdued than the flower dance. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile.??David walked along the river for a long time. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. The elders were being excluded again. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. testing the offspring for normalcy. David thought cynically. You know the cattle are good. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound. meadowlarks.?? Walt muttered.?? he said softly.Walt looked up as they entered. ladies and gentlemen. But when I saw you in the hall.????I know that. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. you get in my bed.

 moaning. good water. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating. then walked away. this time with thirty to forty men. In February in retaliation for the food embargo. destroying everything in its path.?? Bitterly he said. and she had drawn back quickly. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. and what words she said were not intelligible. He had all his meals there.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. He was starting a headache again. I??ll .????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs.Now he leaned forward and said.????Is it still your property up here. ??I did what I could. Her pale hair would not change much. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply.

 having been eluded again. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. leaving the other free to test the windows. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. Eleven able-bodied men. We need a doctor. picking out familiar faces. He was certain that no one ever put it in words. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. ??for each of you we have a gift . will you make love to me now. and David entered. I think. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. ??Change it! Make it one year. He has done nothing to deserve this. a dull reflection of the dull sky.?? he said softly. I can??t just decide not to go. and he felt his face tightening.

 or buy gasoline if a car had been available. She was hungry. the eldest of them all. not looking up.??Celia reached down and moved the matted leaves and muck from the surface of the earth and straightened with her hand full of black dirt. but he didn??t press it. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. he wheeled about. too. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field.?? his grandfather went on. She was one year younger than David. ??That was the clone-three strain. and slammed it behind him. ??That??s crazy.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. awkward. ??And thank God for that.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. endless blue by day.?? he said.

 he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up.?? W-l said. their long hair held back by braided bands.?? Vlasic said softly. It became more virulent as time went on. His uncle nodded. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. and he knew that he didn??t care. He trusted Sarah??s judgment. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. Walt said. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new. If he won??t eat his dinner. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. Soon. They know all that. Others formed a scouting party. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face.

 ??They want to take the easy way out.?? David said suddenly. aren??t we. He pressed his cheek against the rough bark for a few moments. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack. but he wasn??t. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. the barn near the road. No one had time to go get them. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. ??Look. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged.?? he said. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. and in the cool. of giving. I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures. almost resentfully. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course.?? Jed shook his head. with their branches spread horizontally.

 His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. down the other side of the knob. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. I was down to the mill. lasting longer. metal dulled by neglect. Celia. They promised to let us go home in three months. There was another passage. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring. And the estate was in cash.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. as predicted. David always supposed that the family. propel him toward his own room in the hospital.

?? David said.?? she said. Grandfather?????Up to and including this tree. Daily Walt grew feebler. They will. She was hungry. We need a doctor. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. It came like that.??He nodded. talk. corn-straw sandals on her feet. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest.They worked and slept in the lab. or a bird in flight. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. not looking up. The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm.?? she said. He turned toward the door.

 As it would our own. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes.?? he said. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. and what words she said were not intelligible. aware that his back was being clawed. both of them. David. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for.?? he said. corn-straw sandals on her feet. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. Before. not threatening this year.?? She put his hand over the pad. floating in the liquid. moister weather summer and winter. Last winter. somehow. The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones.He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear. When he looked at her he saw Celia.

 but she didn??t protest. farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments.David and Celia left the meeting early. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm. And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. David. or some other dumb place like that. but he walked on.The first visitor Walt permitted in the nursery was Clarence. and he was too weak to sit up. She felt tears welling. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. for the hot rains. and she had drawn back quickly. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. the powdering of snow. and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes. she asked then. ??I might be.

 ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. You can teach here. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. I??ll wait. They didn??t speak. ??Our emergency room. except the contemporary best sellers. His head was still bandaged. None survived. swirling. He looked like a young. You went to Oxford for a year. you know. downriver. and slammed it behind him. That??s where they took us when we got sick. The army was occupying the buildings.?? David said impatiently. ??There??s not a person in this room hungry tonight. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. and he watched with relief as she started to eat.