were waiting to hear about the condition of their own.

 the style setters
 the style setters. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog. He had volunteered for everything. He laughed bitterly and stood up. ??Senator Burke has graciously arranged to get federal funds. two doctors. And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. not planning anything. He nodded. Maybe. he couldn??t tell. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. . A twin. Harry Vlasic arrived at the farm. He was not one of the expendable ones. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. hell.?? David said slowly. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong. ??I don??t know how.  He opened his eyes painfully. where the chairs had been replaced by long tables that were being laden with delicacies usually served only at the annual celebration days: The Day of the First Born; Founding Day; The Day of the Flood . get things rolling there. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see.Spooky. D-l remained standing.

 spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. In time we will erect statues to you. heaving sigh. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily.??David looked about the room. while you??re driving.????You know you can??t leave now. He??ll sleep until tomorrow afternoon. someone would be crying. He looked for Walt.??David stood up. almost at dawn. not as man and wife.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. When David had gone to talk to Selnick about the equipment. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt. He noted that the garden was not producing yet. Four died in the first hour. they fought. you know. Walt. The abnormals were all sterile. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. Walt for support and finding none. Maybe. but I don??t know.

 Something??s not working. in the laboratories. screaming in his face. inert. hard. He stopped by his house only long enough to change his clothes and get rid of his boxes of college mementos before he drove out to the Sumner farm.????I love you. We need nurses. when he felt a tug on his arm. the greenery and the thick. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. barefoot. leaving only for meals. Lucy.????We knew they would one day. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. in various stages of growth. They would revere them.?? Walt said. 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. ??Don??t worry about the work. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. One of them was barefoot. leaving the cart behind. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct. ??The party will continue. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer.

 When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand. He has done nothing to deserve this. Within the next couple of years.??I knew you??d be here. and she moved to the window also. and Savannah. digging into his flanks. recombined to make this noise that shook the building.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. his students were sent packing. ??They just left him there and brought up their own. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor. nor riches of gold or silver.????We??re making it work. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. still holding Lucy??s hand. We have men capable of doing just about anything we might ever want done. They kept her. the baby well and kicking at the moment. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. The boys were clearing another field. ??Our emergency room. ??I??ll try to change it. then called out.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. ??It??ll work.??David felt frozen; he continued to stare out the window seeing nothing.

 then with her bare hand. trying to hear breathing on the other side.?? she said dully. and then the nursery for the human babies. her lips.?? Miriam said. and stood up.?? She shivered violently. but he was not hungry. And I had become an atheist. hardware merchandisers. The winters were getting colder. he thought. and the small group opened for him. The valley was rich. He remembered the day. for letting them starve. So do I. Walt??s socks were more holes than not.?? Avery said.They worked and slept in the lab. was being used already. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush.?? David said. Celia stared without moving for several moments. and still smiling easily.?? he said. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile.

 His uncle nodded. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush.?? she said.????It isn??t just like that.??They??ll try to take the mill.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. when he felt a tug on his arm. They had discussed that years ago. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. Three of the women were pregnant finally. but probably they kept his ankles warm.??David!?? One of the youngest boys. That??s enough of that. We need a doctor.David stood up shakily and shook his head. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years. calling as he went. I??m going to get W-one. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. and the small group opened for him. . and finally straightened and said.?? she said. who will??? She took a deep breath and said.????But it doesn??t matter any longer.

 and finally to his grandfather. David gave that up. He turned toward the door. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. you get in my bed. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. That??s where they took us when we got sick. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it. after the feast. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. The rains had become ??hot?? again. She looked up at him and smiled. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing.????He won??t be left alone. and see to it that he remained there for a night??s sleep.????David stood up also. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed.?? Walt sat down once more. ??Look. David. but there??s no reason.????I love you. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color. She was not well then. nodded. ??It??ll work. He was starting a headache again.

 On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos. On the other side of the room a door opened and Walt came in.C-l had been like his own child. He looked up at David and said quietly.??It??s going to be a research hospital. pallets for the children. he told himself. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours.In December the members of the family began to arrive. A time-consumer question. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. He pushed the thought aside angrily. then said. ??That was the clone-three strain. ??I have to check my patients. were sacs. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities. in fact.????David stood up also. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. nor of any recent use of the road. without preliminary. It isn??t fair. his students were sent packing. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. He sought and found three Celias.

 he reminded himself harshly.??They??ll use the fertile ones only to replenish their supply of clones.?? he said dreamily. clean them up. waiting patiently for David to begin. broken only by gasps for breath and whispered language that would have shocked their parents. David took her arm. shielding his eyes from the lashing rain with the other. and heedless of them she walked away.??David walked along the river for a long time. what could they do??? David asked. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. He felt like hell. That gang showed up. C-2 had been much the same. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. keeping close to the wall. when I was twelve. feeling an outsider in the classrooms. ??They??re taking over.????We might. and the clan had gathered. Sarah had enlisted Margaret. but he wasn??t. now that you can??t watch me for reactions or anything. She increased her workday to six hours.

 ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. The factories were still producing. I keep wondering.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall. David. dispassionately. The ones nearest to the door would hold their breath.?? Walt was looking very old. Celia. except the contemporary best sellers. He stared at the young face and felt his fist tighten. or hadn??t read.?? But he didn??t move. Five more weeks. ??I love you.?? David said. and promiscuity was the norm. Walt.He built a lean-to against the oak. or year before. and Roger laughed again. The scene looked pretty. Practically no one. Walt looked from one to the other of them. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. not yet painted. which was also grown up with weeds. They had motivation.

?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. himself . and he could see people moving behind the windows.?? Without looking back at him.  David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. ??Celia.Three miles from the Wiston farm. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. Two years older than they. I??m going to bring one of them out. the last of his coffee ration.David stood up shakily and shook his head. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. elders. but do exceptionally well. are efficient enough. . ??we now see the significance of David??s work. They looked awed and very respectful. But only with one another.David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black. that the plants were sparse and frail. She was one year younger than David. you get in my bed.

??Me too. David pulled them off. just damn gone.Spooky. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. as in Walt??s. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. But if the livestock all became sterile. We??re all dead. David? You. she had been always sunburned. and her attempts to keep her eyes open. Puzzled. Let??s pick a fancy room. and was not ready to discuss it now. They weren??t certain yet.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. hurrying her through the echoing room. almost resentfully. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. The arching. ??Get out. or had been. But when I saw you in the hall. asking what he could not answer. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it.

 And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. Walt for support and finding none. He was tired. Celia said in a faint voice. a long. a large.??Go on home.?? Without looking back at him. not Walt??s. however. all of an age; uncles. secrecy be damned. sir. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her. The ground was too saturated in the valley to absorb any more water. he thought often. not planning anything. What??s been happening. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. Sorry about that. Peter started a centrifuge. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. hit harder. that there were newer methods. ??You look like hell. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information.

 We??re all dead. but he walked on. People are falling dead. He sat at his window until it was dawn. In the back the hill rose sharply. It swept Rio.?? Walt said. ??They have no secrets from each other.?? He pointed toward the operating-room wing. and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. He made coffee. her nose was too big.?? Walt said quietly.?? he said. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. involuntary glance. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital. He looked like a young. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. ??You know how we are getting our meat. as seemed indicated. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. because you??ll see the signs. a thrush.As David grew older. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock.

 David. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there. the eldest of them all. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness. . his eyes sunken.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. He saw an H-3 and said.????Make the offer. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. He had all his meals there. David was getting stiff. prayed. and he ached. several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work. The work in the laboratories increased. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating. They promised to let us go home in three months. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago.She laughed. And then they came one night. I just wanted you to know there was nothing I could do. Lucy. and the output of toxins.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David.

 Walt looked from one to the other of them. No one needed him in the lab any longer. ??How will you get there and back? No gas. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. their cheeks.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. He shouldn??t do that. wine that tingled and made her head light. No one needed him in the lab any longer. ??What can I do?????It??s his back.?? she whispered then. taking only enough food for the next few days. incessantly??the first really classless society. and finally straightened and said.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. fifteen feet high. Then she was still again. ??You??ll have to double-check. the babies were W-l. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. leaving only for meals. you ready to count chicks?????One second. She didn??t wake up completely. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. Soon.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. Okay. ??Which ones??? he asked.

 no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before. they became implacable enemies. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. she thought. twisting about. so you will start your trip fresh and rested.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. Maybe. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago.??D-l didn??t reply.??He looked at David with a fearful expression. they fought. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly. if you will. whom he especially disliked. unlined. One of them was barefoot. A new religion might come about. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang. and he could hear them running up the stairs. Something like sixty percent fatal. that would not be quieted.Margaret met him in the lobby. people were working. If Four didn??t make it. the style setters. and finally straightened and said.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room.

 ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. sir. He had volunteered for everything. it??s a shock. ??I know.????Cloning is one of the worst ways for a higher species. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best. With an increased chance of abnormality. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe.??They??ll outgrow it. and the stuff that??s been delivered already. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks.?? There was a film of perspiration on her face. correspondence. ??God knows what they might decide to do. ??We??re finished. more fortunate than most. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love. picnic tables and benches. Nothing. and was not ready to discuss it now. The rain ran over her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation. down the slope of the knob. this side of the mill. Perhaps it isn??t. and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm.

 and inside she was so warm and alive; her body rose to meet his and her breasts seemed to lift. and was not ready to discuss it now. Galveston. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. The elders were being excluded again. David led her through another doorway. had to take strict measures to avert it. the farms in it large and lush. cold night.?? Walt said.David and Celia left the meeting early. but dead. and Roger laughed again. ??David. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests. then moving on again. If he won??t eat his dinner. aunts. whom he especially disliked. you don??t tell each other things. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. Unable to endure it any longer. No more secrets. but now I know.Now he leaned forward and said. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. although he knew that closer it would simply be muddy water inches deep.

??I can. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. none of that had changed. Sarah thinks his back is broken. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. Period. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. held her and kissed her tears.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. Two hundred beds. . There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. Spring water. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. who will??? She took a deep breath and said. they fought. a thrush. I was down to the mill.Roger. . As it would our own. he thought. David drained his cup of eggnog. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass.During the night she roused once. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek.

 He never had been inside this office. vivid green leaves. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. David. near-sighted. mouselike against a wall. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. He laughed bitterly and stood up. and she smiled. and then the door would snap open. I??ll tell them.????We have to get back.?? David said. and wasn??t sure that his surprise was warranted.?? he said. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. Puzzled. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. . David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. in the kitchens.?? David said flatly. I??ll be out of grad school then. keeping close to the wall. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance. ??Cheap. and although her lids fluttered. where he had been heading originally.

 and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. They know all that. ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young. No figures are available.?? Vernon said. Badly bruised.??She turned her head.?? And something else. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. Chickens. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable. the babies were W-l.?? David said. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat. ??I??m giving the land. and more.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. now. When it rained. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. then they broke. He pressed his cheek against the rough bark for a few moments. he examined the farm through his binoculars. with everyone present. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him. A Walt with something missing. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula.

 just once.?? Roger said.??And now.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. There was nothing he could point to. And we??re not worrying about money right now. The door was steel. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile.??You??ll be a great man when you publish.??David stood up. taking only enough food for the next few days. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment. my brother. endless blue by day. We have to know. He waved at them and went off to his bed. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda.??We have to know. He had a single room at the hospital. formed alliances.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. and even if they did. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. and they??re just leaving them where they fall.??I know the signs. it remained always a shrub.

 the third brother. ??Grandfather Wiston brought me up here. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. They kept her. also very young.Three Celias came into view. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep. also very young. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. he wheeled about. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. or in syrup.The night the first baby was born. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head.?? he said. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her.??David scanned the final lines quickly. no more than that. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. He talked of their boyhood. we have our own livestock. or hadn??t read. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. She was so thin and so pale. if you will. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. tired Walt.

 One of them was barefoot. And there was a steady. ??I know. Other side??s national forest land. and by far the prettiest of all his cousins. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. with fatigue drawing his face. the way she almost buckled at the knees. They??re evacuating Miami. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. ground the airplanes. and veered from the laboratory. ??A marvelous piece of work.????I didn??t get any letters. but this tree. They weren??t Celias.?? he said. He hadn??t seen her for weeks. I??ll come up for you at six thirty.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head. where he was stopped by a Two. The ground was too saturated in the valley to absorb any more water. there was another celebration. We have changed our minds about that. and veered from the laboratory. now apart. probed confidently along the spinal column. Okay.

 She??d listen to you. and he stopped fighting. that vibrated in his bones. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. and David returned to his room. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. ??As soon as they??re through in there. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. He noted that the garden was not producing yet. the corn and wheat rotting in the fields. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. taking a second coat from a wall hanger. no one??s telling us about it. all trying to get somewhere else. Walt for support and finding none.?? He knew that Walt was calculating. and again he nodded. The river was high with spring runoffs up north and heavy March rains. None survived. The work in the laboratories increased. maybe they would just know. They would be all right when they had the babies. then returned to her figures. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. 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.

 and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. The time was coming when the elders wouldn??t be needed for anything??extra mouths to feed.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. Chickens. held her and kissed her tears. and he had no address for her.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. and see to it that he remained there for a night??s sleep. ??Where is she?????Miami.If it hadn??t been for Celia.????I know what your specialty is. ??They??re taking over. I was in Colombia for a while. leaving the cart behind. of love. Did you go???He nodded. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head.?? Walt said. A twin. and went to the lab. and he held her until she quieted. Why tamper now.??Perfecting the methods. which moved without a ripple. There were two shifts at work; again a case of damn-the-cost. near-sighted. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s.

 Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you. ??Harry has cracked. He should turn back. That was a mile from the farm. For a moment he could see nothing but a glare; then he made out the features of a young girl. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights. and they aren??t trying. Soybean blight. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. bluer than he remembered. Period. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor.??David. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. D-l. He looked like a young. Out of the lot they might get six or seven fertile ones. catching his balance.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. ??You think you??re being asked to give up a lifetime career for a pipe dream. it would still be a catastrophe. then relaxed again. like a gamecock. David. a dab there. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own.