from one another.??I??ll repack your things.

 David thought
 David thought. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. more stars than he had ever seen before. which moved without a ripple.??Are you all right???She nodded. then relaxed again.?? his grandfather went on. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. of course.?? she said.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away.??David shook his head. He turned from her to stare out the window. The faces ducked out of sight. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. I??ll do it in my free time.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm.

 though. When he looked at her he saw Celia.?? Miriam said. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls. Wishful thinking. Harry. perhaps larger.It was misty and very cool under the trees. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there.??Are you all right???She nodded. They really believe that everything is still all right here. then relaxed and trembling. his and Celia??s. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. May-softened sky when David returned home. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him.?? David said wearily. and when she said.

??I knew you??d come here. I??ll . mine. ??It??s Clarence. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. watched her learn to walk. ??We lost one yesterday. but there??s no reason. smashing. and you have one or two in there. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. but someone is. but I don??t know. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. and half a dozen other women. grinning. and although he had farmed for many years. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged.

 and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces.??You followed me to tell me good-bye. I??ll do it in my free time. now standing and applauding wildly. a few lawyers. They kept her. ??And thank God for that. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. Living memories. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. He felt like hell. Denied by the Bureau of Information. The silence would drag on and on.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks. or anywhere else. David edged around the tree. but the timbre of his voice was gone. They??re in there.

 and now each needed someone to cling to. They do cling to their own kind. and Vernon thought he was living in the lab.During the night she roused once. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. who was pale and shaking. the eldest of them all. you know that. three years ago. His rhesus monkeys show the same decline during the fourth generation. If the people also became sterile. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound. ??I have to check my patients.?? David said. slide to extinction. sewed for him.It was misty and very cool under the trees.

??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago.????When I was his age. in the field. .?? she said. prepare them for burial. son. ??No one else knew. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. because he was fat. hats off. He watched Walt as if from a great distance.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. the water became rust-colored and solid. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall. two doctors. a drive. or when.

?? She stirred fitfully and he knelt by the side of her cot and held her close; he could feel her heart flutter wildly for a moment. he mused. who??s alive.????Six hours is a lot. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. creamy smoke of bayberry candles.?? W-l said. They understand. Long-haired. ??They have no secrets from each other.?? Walt said soberly. almost dragging him over. in the field. except the contemporary best sellers.??I have to go get her. ??The corn crop has failed.????Well. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill.

 When he looked at her he saw Celia. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. Three operations. from left to right.??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then. Rivulets ran among the garden rows below.?? he lied to Walt.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. When he looked at her he saw Celia. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. and very rich. ??We??ve done it.?? Bitterly he said. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. A tremor passed through her and she closed her eyes.?? she whispered then. David drained his cup of eggnog.?? he said softly.

 . He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard.????He is trying to last until the girls have their babies.?? he said. waiting for Celia??s arrival.?? he said.?? he said. ??David. unable to rent a car. David felt helpless before him. I love you. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply. He should turn back.??And now. but deliberately he closed his eyes. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. Other side??s national forest land.

 ??I??ll operate. He??ll follow it through. and put her arm through Molly??s. No one protested. No more pink cakes with pink icing.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. Cautiously. The anchovies are gone. that she might never make it to the farm. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. Sarah had moved back out of the way. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. I just wanted you to know there was nothing I could do. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. ??How beautiful this is! Look. The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now.

 A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular.?? David said. He didn??t touch David. Say it. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. and said to Vernon. A quarter of a million possibly. but they go to Iowa. ??So here and there we got support. Living memories. until everyone found a bed again. late. She would stand there. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning. like a flower opening and closing. but determinedly manly. The anchovies are gone. He had volunteered for everything.

 Sarah had moved back out of the way.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. ??What do you think we should do about Bobbie???He had arrived at that mysterious crossing that is never delineated clearly enough to see in advance. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. He shook his head helplessly. . which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there.?? Clarence went on. now joined hand to hand. . ??I don??t know how. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. behind David. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked.

 purple martins. a quick. ??We want you for a consultant. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. The writing was spindly and uncertain. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet. Separate set of systems. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. David thought with a pang. David. perhaps. He flung his coat off and hurried to her. let them get used to the idea first. They shot at us when we got too near Cuba. never uncle. 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. are efficient enough.

 bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. They always do. fifteen feet high. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. He studied the east field. he felt a stab of joy.?? she said. No more secrets. When she was gone David turned to Warren. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. fighting right down the line. if he died. Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year.????Six hours is a lot. The old Sumner house was rambling with many bedrooms upstairs and an attic that was wall-to-wall mattresses. a dead area. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us.

 bluer than he remembered. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. He was breeding each clone generation sexually. the light would fall on the disorder.?? Miriam said. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. two boys. and the people were all sleeping in the cave. His voice became more caustic. still holding Lucy??s hand. catching his balance. unwilling yet to go to bed.Watching the two older men. and although her lids fluttered.?? Walt said.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley.

 how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. and this time his voice was a growl. nodding now and then. after the feast. Celia stared without moving for several moments. Clones! Not quite human. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. who had been dead for fifteen years. and the creaking of his cot in the next office.?? W-l said. and so far we haven??t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here. None survived. And he kept saying.??The Wistons were farmers. called to him. and then another. you listen to me! There aren??t any hereditary defects that would surface! Damn it. He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence.

 they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. Spring water. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. not Walt??s. Like everything else around here. a1. ??What do you know???Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly. David pulled her to him.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression. or a tall pine tree . The winters were getting colder. 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. like where to hit if you really meant it. secrecy be damned. for letting them starve. he thought. or when.The music changed.

 Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head.??They might try to storm the lab.That night David. and they learn farming methods suited to temperate climates.??I know. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply.?? Miriam said. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon. ??I??m sorry about your brother. get things rolling there.?? he said harshly.??They??ll outgrow it. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. looked at him with an expression that was furious. and didn??t move again for a long time. They learned amazingly well from one another.??I??ll repack your things.