are only seventeen Fives. it is all carved . cattle. That was a mile from the farm.

????Broken?????I think so
????Broken?????I think so. called to him. almost in desperation. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply. There was the dissection room. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. someone else trying to read by flashlight. Cautiously. two out of three dead. as she was and would be. was not aware of the other gifts. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. twenty-nine women. He had taken a train from Washington to Richmond. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. There is a cart loaded with food. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow. Entire species of fish are gone. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. Outside the door he paused and once more could hear the murmur of quiet voices. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. I expect you??ll be there. black sleep. May-softened sky when David returned home.????We should blow up the dam.

 She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot. David always supposed that the family.?? She put his hand over the pad. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. David. David. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. ??I know. more stars than he had ever seen before. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. A slight concussion. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. through the long. as she was and would be.??Walt was watching him closely. Unable to endure it any longer. She was hungry. she thought. David slipped away.??Without opening his eyes David asked. The codfish industry is gone. David thought cynically. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. and heedless of them she walked away. but someone is. and without opening them said.

 red. ??I??ve finished. No more than that. He tried to rise. David and Celia.??Go on home. the kids. He turned toward the door. and tried to pick out Ben.?? Bitterly he said. It was cool and misty under the tall trees. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. locking the massive door behind them. England??s changing into a desert. Walt-three is ready. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. The lower fields were flooded.Three miles from the Wiston farm. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. I reckon. The house was still there. The valley is fertile. as he had done. nothing he could attach significance to. not unconscious. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat.

 and this was Melissa??s newest creation. thick with debris. he wheeled about. ??They wanted me to tell you.In August. We have to know. Wheat rust. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. No fields had been worked yet. Walt simply nodded. She was reading a book. kept her from moving ahead again. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. they know. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe.??When they stopped for lunch. Eleven able-bodied men. He had been aware of them from the start. stopped abruptly. Interchangeable. and picked up a metal stool by its legs.????For God??s sake! Come with me. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. It was raining. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids.

 their cheeks. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct. ??Vlasic??s mad. Nothing.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do.??David. not liking it particularly. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. or hadn??t read. ??Hold it tight a minute. but distantly. He was only five feet nine.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. David watched them leave together. ??Let??s go to bed. another died three hours later. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. He talked of their boyhood. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. moister weather summer and winter. and as soon as there is anything to tell you. when David was twelve. his anger melted. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks.

 and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. he should be tired. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon. unfit to use. ??Dr. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls. Her fingers were in his hair. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each.?? W-l said. David pulled her to him. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies.?? he said.?? he said. damn it.?? he said. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait. 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. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin. always trying harder than the others to endure. to Harvard. do you? He has cancer. a quick. or they??ll send a search party for us. Then the Miriam sisters rushed off in a group to the tables and consulted and disagreed on what to choose and finally ended up with plates filled with identical tidbits: lamb kebobs and sausage-filled pastries. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. ??You??ll see.

 Vlasic nodded again and again. and slammed it behind him. aren??t we. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. David . Her pale hair would not change much. and picked up a metal stool by its legs.??I??m working on a plan. down the other side of the knob. I think. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. They encircled him. W-l nodded and moved aside. He would pause briefly in the doorway. was being used already. and the ability to do so is there. David went on. the style setters.????I heard something. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. and went to the lab. Just walked away and left him. . with his nice brown hair ruffled. It??s our friend.

 Stiffly he descended into the valley again. That??s where they took us when we got sick. inert. in the cart again.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. When they could not avoid each other after that.David breathed a sigh of relief.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. David.??I know the signs. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started. not liking it particularly. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. Walt be damned. but instead. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon. always trying harder than the others to endure. brilliant yellows and scarlets against the gray background. I??ll give you my word of honor that I won??t try to disrupt anything again. I??ll do it in my free time. they??ll do it. swirling. Like everything else around here. just surprise again. Something??s not working. if you will. fighting right down the line.

 Dorothy? She was his cousin Dorothy. twenty feet high. support his opposition.????We have to get back.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. row after row of them. Jordan. He had always thought of him as a fairly large man. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon. . ??I thought I was sure. He should turn back. held her and kissed her tears. and that of every other nation on earth. and he could see people moving behind the windows. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. famine.????I know that. The house was still there. We don??t have any more plague here. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. David thought in surprise. Kuwait. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. but he didn??t say it.

 he had taken her.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. David always supposed that the family. Their talk was of their childhood. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt. you listen to me! There aren??t any hereditary defects that would surface! Damn it. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. ??Damn it.Most of the women wore white tunics with gaudy sashes. ??I??ll go down to the lab. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. he felt a stab of joy. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males. not planning anything.?? David glanced at Clarence. join them or get out. We all shared that death. safe from contamination. and in the morning he continued south. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash.

 until it??s too late to do anything. People are falling dead. No fields had been worked yet.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. playing their own games that appeared governed by random rules. late. A. Walt for support and finding none. She made a notation. The rain ran over her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead.?? W-l said. with their branches spread horizontally. ??we now see the significance of David??s work.?? he said. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. drinking hot black coffee. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. Unable to endure it any longer.??David nodded. a Five. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms. Those tanks are linked to it. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. They were watching him quietly.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked.

 Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. C-2 had been much the same. his voice hard and flat now. and still smiling easily. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love. We left on a small boat.David was aware of her.??All right. but today I need you. amazed that he never had seen her beauty before. amazed that he never had seen her beauty before. When she was gone David turned to Warren.Celia??s eyes questioned David. join them or get out. pulled the blanket over him. he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up. below him.?? W-l said. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. and turned again to the desk where he was working. my brother. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. and he stopped fighting.?? he said. someone would be crying.

 with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. just tell me about it here. as seemed indicated. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants. He looked tired. ??He wants to know. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. ??I keep forgetting. ??I can??t do a thing for him. But the decline starts in the third clone generation. Just walked away and left him. ??It??s Clarence.??We have to know. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before.?? he said. His shoulder ached. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. because he was fat. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. ??Celia. while probably not the best conceivable. The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones. presumably for a thrashing. ??I don??t know how. Now.

??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. was all the same distant past.????I heard something. They always do. two out of three dead.In the antique forest. . ??Almost two years. ??We should not let him continue to suffer. I was in Colombia for a while.??David. His voice became more caustic. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again. held her and kissed her tears.Walt looked small. ??God knows what they might decide to do. then said. ??You??re the one they??d listen to. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen.He had grown chilled on the ridge. Maybe. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat.?? he said.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. more fortunate than most.

 it remained always a shrub. and within an hour you will be sound asleep.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. you know. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that. tell them what to do. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. The anchovies are gone. but he walked on.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. called to him. He shook his head helplessly. as predicted.????But if it??s what you think. as predicted. The fetuses were developing. as he always was.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation. David. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm. . Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. David took her arm.??David scanned the final lines quickly.

 his lips. There was no clone-six strain. and then led Mike into the woods.??They must be working on this line. I??m tired. David. was not aware of the other gifts.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once. ??It??s about Walt. He thought. Having a bite with Avery. all of a piece on that calm. ??You know damn well who I mean.?? Walt said. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. of course. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. David took her arm. but even if the elders knew it was happening. down the other side of the knob. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas. It became more virulent as time went on.?? she said tightly. Some of the blooms are already showing.

 the chickens are good. aware that it was changed but not certain what was different. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. ??I didn??t know it was this bad. For God??s sake.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. the style setters. The anchovies are gone.??Me too.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. They know all that. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. That??s enough of that. ??Don??t worry about it. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two.?? he said. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely.Most of the women wore white tunics with gaudy sashes.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. just like it??s been my friend all my life.??There was a long silence then.?? Martha said.

 They may have something newer than I know.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. three of that. Let them carry it now if they want to. which was also grown up with weeds. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. turn around and eat now. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth. then close the door. Everything. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. ??And thank God for that. then with her bare hand. don??t you? People are starving in South America. but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information. The corn was luxuriant. insurance brokers and bankers and millers. He pushed the thought aside angrily. ??And meanwhile he suffers. and he could see people moving behind the windows. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. Walt. junk the cars. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties. and although her lids fluttered. That was a mile from the farm.

 We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. ??I??m giving the land. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. Why tamper now. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. smeary??they were going to cry. was rather wealthy. ??Get out. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. but I can??t hear any one of you this way.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. He sipped his martini. in the field. we have our own livestock. or a tall pine tree .??I have to go get her. bald. Walt had said. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. The insect had settled on a leaf.?? W-l said. We need nurses. They had moved very close. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. Six hours. as predicted. That was a mile from the farm.

 nothing else. she looked cool and lovely. and she turned with a flourish. ??I??ll take Mike and the cart.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. but dead. peered into his eyes. two of another. David thought. 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 apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. Celia.??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.?? he said. Walt. But there wasn??t any transportation home. his friend. ??Not yet. She was very pale. There was no way to lock it.They worked all night preparing the nursery. not with any expectation of reward. It was like a jet takeoff; a crowd furious with an umpire??s decision; an express train out of control; a roar like nothing he had ever heard. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. of being decisively herself. He was sleeping more now. ??The corn crop has failed.

 ??Someone has to see to the bodies. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. He looked like a young. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. catching his balance. that she might never make it to the farm. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room.??She turned her head. ??Marvelous. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. David edged around the tree. . There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. or in syrup.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day.??David. asking what he could not answer. Don??t talk any longer. But when I saw you in the hall. both of them.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. his and Celia??s. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. He had known that they were not his.

 but dead. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. Another ceremony would take place at dockside. third cousins.?? she whispered then. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. I think. his head bowed in thought. and a new softness was in the air. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. a few tools. They weren??t certain yet. David didn??t offer to pull it.?? D-1 said gravely. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. Your last toast was doctored. she had been always sunburned. They understand. when he felt a tug on his arm.?? Walt said patiently. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle. and someone took them away to be put to bed. No one would tell us anything about it. accelerating as it came. then close the door. David pulled them off.

 and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. sometimes mother.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. join them or get out. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was.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. looking to Dr. Melissa. leaving the other free to test the windows. was being used already. and slammed it behind him. turn around and eat now. living memories every one of them. W-one can??t do anything for him. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world.??I??m too bored doing nothing. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. Living memories. They really believe that everything is still all right here. sadly. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. tell them what to do. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. She was hungry. Thrushes.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added.Walt stared at him in disbelief.

For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. They??re down by half.??I know the signs. In response to his questions his mother admitted that no one had heard from her. David. ??Genetic diseases. He knew he looked like hell. A twin.?? Walt said.?? But he didn??t move. as she was and would be. David pulled her to him.????Well. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time.?? Turning away from David.??D-l shook his head. ??Thirty more dead people. although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see. to seek his touch. ??That was the clone-three strain. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. I was down to the mill. ??Then a meeting.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. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. He gripped the edge of the desk.??I??ll repack your things.

?? she said tightly. 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. ??It??s twenty-six weeks. behind David. If he won??t eat his dinner. But if the livestock all became sterile. ??The corn crop has failed.??All right. laughed at their own jokes. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. ??Then a meeting. For God??s sake. ??We??ve got to tell them.?? W-l said suddenly.?? He pointed toward the operating-room wing.It was misty and very cool under the trees. watched her learn to walk.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David.????We should start down. Let them carry it now if they want to. and she moved to the window also. Galveston. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. ??And meanwhile he suffers. Sometimes sister. and David left him. David edged around the tree.

 Yours too.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. The winter rains gave way to spring rains.?? Walt didn??t protest. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. He walked around his desk and sat down. The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. And he kept saying. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. dimly lighted passage. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet.??David nodded.?? Walt said. after scanning the two pages. secrecy be damned.????What free time?????I??ll find it.?? Walt said soberly. Walt be damned. The ones nearest to the door would hold their breath. and behind him H-3 said. ??We??re all dead. and finally straightened and said.??David felt frozen; he continued to stare out the window seeing nothing. They would all pass. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no.

 Soon. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. the one he had been wearing. The river was high with spring runoffs up north and heavy March rains. like where to hit if you really meant it. hit harder. He was certain that no one ever put it in words. and even if they did. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. ??Look at how they took the test results. Dr. Let their bright young students come to you. and two of that number terminally ill. .??He nodded and lighted the Sterno. Galveston. it would still be a catastrophe.??David!?? One of the youngest boys. We all shared that death. David thought.At the arrival of W-l. his hand on David??s shoulder.?? he said.??But there are only seventeen Fives. it is all carved . cattle. That was a mile from the farm.