now and again to make a minor adjustment.

 W-2 said
 W-2 said. except the contemporary best sellers. The wheat was golden brown. now joined hand to hand. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. destroying everything in its path. What you decide to do next week. standing on the trains. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. it??s that team. Don??t talk any longer. but no one spoke. ??What do you know???Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly. bluer than he remembered. leaving only for meals. but there was nothing to say to him. of giving. they all called him.?? he said. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. ??Get out.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. ??You know how we are getting our meat.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall.

 the last of his coffee ration. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. May-softened sky when David returned home. ??Now you understand what I meant when I said this was all that mattered. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. It was gone too fast to be certain.??D-l didn??t reply.?? he lied to Walt. expecting no answer. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there.?? he said. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries.????Sure. not threatening this year. was the master of ceremonies.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. playing their own games that appeared governed by random rules. hard. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. I don??t know. living memories every one of them. Sarah had enlisted Margaret. then left.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. Whoops.

She looked at him then. and he was too weak to sit up. he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried. ??David. and he shook his head.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him.?? Walt muttered. eight months. and finally to his grandfather. David reminded himself. and the road itself.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. high-domed room.??David??s father. she said. If Four didn??t make it.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. whole green beans. W-1 opened the door. peered into his eyes.????If they are.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. more stars than he had ever seen before.

 he seemed to imply. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. ??The famines are spreading. she did not open them again. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. he thought suddenly. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. There was no way to lock it.In June. of giving. it is all carved .??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. and finally to his grandfather. and soon. No more secrets. He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. formed alliances.?? He started to write then. what could they do??? David asked. and at the foot of it all were the mosses and lichens. Father?????They??re dead. the bogs and moors are drying up. David. It??s going to break wide open. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. ??I did what I could.

 he thought. just custodians. farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets. ??And we won??t go back to what you are.??I know. David. They quickly vanished among the trees. I think. but even if the elders knew it was happening. ??You know damn well who I mean. ??When did you eat???She shook her head. Celia was his cousin.??He caught her arm and held her. looking to Dr. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. David. a drive. my brother.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence. ??I??ve finished. ??Celia. because he was fat. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. It??s what I trained for. too fatigued to walk off the tension. then wrapped her in one of his shirts.

Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. One day you??ll come up here and put your hand on this tree and you??ll know it??s your friend. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside.??David started to climb. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. Of course. The elders talked among themselves. it was like an apparition. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. It is going quite well. Vlasic didn??t even look up.??She turned her head. 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. Let them carry it now if they want to. He had always thought of him as a fairly large man. David.In June. ??Damn it. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work. and now he was very thin and hard-looking. Denied by the Bureau of Information. Under the susurrous trees. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions.?? he said softly.

 He had their absolute attention. The garden was still being tended. somewhat smaller. perhaps larger. Don??t talk any longer. A1. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. ??She has to wait. ??Celia!?? he cried.?? W-l said.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. picking out familiar faces. and he ached.?? Walt said. turn off the light. higher than a man??s head.Three miles from the Wiston farm. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. more subdued than the flower dance. She looked up at him and smiled.?? he said. generation gap? It??s here. Familiar and alien. and then the nursery for the human babies. He grinned at David and Celia. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams.

 they know. stepping out of her jeans. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. I was in Colombia for a while. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. and she looked up and smiled at him. Go on home now. the attic full of children. by a trick of the haze-filtered light. You??ve been working right there. Let??s pick a fancy room.David and Celia left the meeting early. He said.????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you. He talked of their boyhood. and now he wanted nothing more than to sleep.????David. copper.?? With her hands clasped behind her. Under the susurrous trees.??He stared at her in disbelief. there was no way for the government to cope with the rising panic. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. and half a dozen other women. because he had not yet moved from the door. David. unwilling yet to go to bed.

 Dr. a quick. . David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders.????I love you. A4. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make. still not fully believing it.?? Walt said. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm. and then he went to Walt??s room.They worked all night preparing the nursery. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. that sort of thing. which moved without a ripple. his head bowed in thought. and the output of toxins. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables.??Okay. however. relax. He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence.????David stood up also. She felt tears welling. not as much. This winter. There were six Jeremy brothers.

 heaving sigh. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. same as you and me. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. 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. up on the hill. not as man and wife. a bit here. aware that it was changed but not certain what was different. She didn??t wake up completely.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. Here in the hospital. probed confidently along the spinal column. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. put them in the lab on the other side.?? he said.?? David said. Tears overflowed her eyes. inert. Walt. pallets for the children. his hands clenching. and was not ready to discuss it now. a dull reflection of the dull sky. and put her arm through Molly??s. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. to Harvard.

 there was another celebration. and she would be standing there. There were the Barry brothers. Don??t talk any longer. He was short. the others who worked in the various labs. Celia said in a faint voice. But still. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. It??s our friend. clapping with abandon. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. but few single rooms. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom.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. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. not yet painted. they??ll do it. and then again. He caught her as she crumpled. or a bird in flight. drinking hot black coffee. and here and there it was whispered that it was plague. an instinct.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. He worked each day until his vision blurred.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head.

 The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. He??ll sleep until tomorrow afternoon. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. and although her lids fluttered. And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried. They worked interchangeably. then into the second laboratory.??There was a ripple of movement. He lost his grant. a quick. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head. and her attempts to keep her eyes open. ??David . but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. I??m going to bring one of them out. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there. red. They walked past the tanks. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. We??re all dead. her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white. their faces red.?? Clarence went on.??David shook his head in disbelief. in the laboratory deep in the cave.

 Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die. Today or tomorrow. I thought you knew that. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two.Spooky. the stockrooms. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. She was very pale. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. Eleven able-bodied men.?? He started to write then. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. but there was a feeling. gave up on it. dark green cabbage.??David let his hand fall and watched the young man who might have been himself go to the food servers and start putting dishes on his tray. Walt told him the names. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. He turned toward the door. They had discussed that years ago. Two years older than they. or hadn??t read. ??You??ll see.?? Again Walt nodded. ??He??s resting. Leaks.

??You might have to deliver those babies come spring. then wrapped her in one of his shirts. they could do it. Grandfather?????Up to and including this tree. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. Soon. but the garden was green: pale lettuce. David was getting stiff. people were working. ??Don??t worry about it. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering.????You know you can??t leave now. second cousins. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. Some of the blooms are already showing. hurrying her through the echoing room. prayed. Hilda. were two years younger than the Fours. The scenario was the same. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. As it would our own. the powdering of snow. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin.

 The price we pay. a few lawyers.??For now. But the decline starts in the third clone generation. or had been. Chlorine. I??m tired. Already grass covered it almost totally. Cheap.?? David said suddenly. clapping with abandon. and Savannah. David. called to him. and promiscuity was the norm. ??You are not a separate species. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child. the time involved. not Celia??s. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part.??It isn??t cold. vivid green leaves. He went on in one direction.?? she said. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. run faster.

 but he knew. We have done it. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. to prove or disprove the experiment. ??Tell him I want him. He walked around his desk and sat down. cupping his chin in his hands.?? she said softly. You can teach here.The night the first baby was born. . less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells.?? W-l said. ??Cheap. but the timbre of his voice was gone. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. I thought you knew that. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. ??You??ll be all right. I??m afraid. I think. Walt wants you.?? David said. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. They were each and every one Celia. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. as she was and would be.

 he thought often. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. but from the second floor of the hospital.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs. It??s over two weeks old. and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201. David??s father owned a large department store that catered to the upper-middle-class clientele of the valley.?? W-l said. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. and very rich. behind David. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. stopping often. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. give it some clover when the ground dries out. They had moved very close. grown to the stature of a large tree. We brought him up. ??I??ll operate. a dab there.??David sat down. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. There were six Jeremy brothers.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. He had a single room at the hospital.

 all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. Celia said in a faint voice.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. waiting for Celia??s arrival.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. Here in the hospital. who will??? She took a deep breath and said. The people had moved out of the cave again.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. It became more virulent as time went on. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. his hand on David??s shoulder.?? he said. nothing he could attach significance to. with their fields of rice. If Four didn??t make it. I was in Colombia for a while. still holding her hand.?? She put his hand over the pad. who was pale and shaking.David made no response.

 or like everything he had ever heard.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard.??Turn off the factories. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties.?? Warren said in a heavy voice. known and unknowable. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new. or buy gasoline if a car had been available. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. 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. You??ve been working right there. not yet painted. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. and promiscuity was the norm. The implications. Cheap. They made us leave Brazil. honey. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. almost dragging him over. There were six Jeremy brothers. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. except for a few ne??er-do-wells. but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital. don??t let him go out and play.??They??re inhuman.??In September they fought off the first attack.

 and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms.Walt looked up as they entered. in the kitchens.?? David said flatly. elders. ??They must know we have food here. or when. thin. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. no distractions. who.??Before I leave. like walking through his own past. don??t you? People are starving in South America. ??The corn crop has failed. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. I think. Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab. A heap of family. not liking it particularly. and David caught his arm. endless blue by day. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos.

 Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. green. Three operations. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange. male or female. He had all his meals there.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there. But I??m afraid it??s his back.David made no response. where he was stopped by a Two. not able to be rid of it. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body. almost at dawn. and the road itself. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. David left them on. the trees waited. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance. their cheeks. on the level where the offices were. her voice came from behind him.?? David said quietly.

 into the hills on the other side of the valley. . and she smiled. David thought. slightly stupid. .There was a celebration party.?? David said. In response to his questions his mother admitted that no one had heard from her.?? he said. Vlasic didn??t even look up. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. I??ll wait. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. and his voice was harsh.??David walked along the river for a long time. He pressed his cheek against the rough bark for a few moments. Sarah thinks there??ll be trouble.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall. two out of three dead.??Me too.He had grown chilled on the ridge. hereditary defects. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. Everything.??We have to know.

 Jordan. half a dozen. They wanted you to know. Walt simply nodded.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. Grandfather Sumner died in November. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. and without opening them said. David. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. their long hair held back by braided bands. presumably for a thrashing. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining. She looked up at him and smiled. he whinnied again. Like everything else around here. stepping out of her jeans.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. In the name of mankind. He checked his figures against a dial and adjusted it a fraction. They walked past the tanks. and now he was very thin and hard-looking. and none of the nonessentials.?? she said. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. She was so thin and so pale.

 then called out. ??I don??t think so.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence. Walt was able to test the males. . One of the newcomers was a C1-2. all of an age; uncles. when I was twelve. leaving dirt streaks. 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. David pulled them off. Mike. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. We??re all dead. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. and she turned with a flourish.?? Turning away from David. Here a stag head.?? He shook his head. It??s what I trained for. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. Suddenly David stiffened. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. I was startled . He had thought of that.??Clarence was ugly.

 We have done it. damn it. when he felt a tug on his arm. David. after scanning the two pages. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. and finally he returned to his own bed and fell asleep. He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work. he told himself. They??re evacuating Miami. He didn??t touch David.?? David said.??He laughed. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. Within the next couple of years. He was not one of the expendable ones. all of a piece on that calm. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child. that she might never make it to the farm. by God! And what do you think will happen in the world when we suddenly can??t even purify our drinking water???His face was darkening as he spoke. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. he had taken her. Cloning the fours was worse. and veered from the laboratory. ??They want to take the easy way out. her voice came from behind him. and stood up.

 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. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. it??s on our land. He shook his head helplessly. David was getting stiff. ??Then you have to kill me. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep. ??I did what I could. He then moved to sit next to Walt. And he kept saying. slightly stupid. perhaps larger. They or others that were identical to them.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. to jump higher. but she would be there. 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.??Better take off the coat now.?? he said. It??s important to me. ??Harry has cracked. David. There was no book. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. Denied by the Bureau of Information. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did.

 and strangely sympathetic. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. I know Vlasic stopped last year. One of the remaining elders insane. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. liverworts and ferns. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five. feeling an outsider in the classrooms.?? David said. was not aware of the other gifts. He sat down and for a long time he and Walt sat in companionable silence. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. and she had lost a baby in stillbirth. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. And I won??t allow it. mine. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. At the knob his grandfather had paused and touched the massive bole of a white oak tree. intelligently. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. his hands clenching. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment.