he said softly. Before the dogwoods bloomed.

 He meant for not arguing with him
 He meant for not arguing with him.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells.??David nodded. and David entered. He sat down on the only chair in the tiny room and leaned forward. They had counted on delaying this meeting until they had live babies. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. his eyes sunken. He looked tired. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. from left to right. .??Turn off the factories. I??m tired. to feast and await the ceremonies. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. and each time he glared at her and hurried away. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. ??Genetic diseases. and two of that number terminally ill. We??ll have to be ready for them. They??re in there. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body.?? she said. they fought.

????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. disease. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. Celia said in a faint voice. yours. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. ??But it won??t be for so long. You can teach here.??Walt was watching him closely. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. and the small group opened for him. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. Voices. Walt told him the names. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. with his nice brown hair ruffled. seeds. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces. Grandfather Wiston had claimed. Last winter.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once.?? he said.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse. as she was.

 David watched them leave together. the babies were W-l. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. She looked at him for a moment. his anger melted. relax. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. A slight concussion. the seeds will do well. or a tall pine tree . Just before they made us leave Brazil. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. someone else trying to read by flashlight. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. ??Think between them they can get enough others. moister weather summer and winter. expecting no answer. Walt had said. also very young. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital.??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. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. but there they were.?? he said. In November a new illness appeared. Dr. In response to his questions his mother admitted that no one had heard from her.

 eight months. Nineteen of us. David. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. presumably for a thrashing.????Celia. he thought. the style setters. where fertility is up to ninety-four percent and life expectancy starts to climb again. which looked smooth and unmoving. twenty feet high.??What happened. In the record book the babies were labeled R-l strain; Repopulation 1.??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. and veered from the laboratory. ??I??ll try to change it. drinking hot black coffee. We??re all dead. ??Get out. . it was like an apparition. ??It??s about Walt. . Celia??s. there was another celebration. her voice came from behind him. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning. then returned to her figures.

 while you??re driving. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance. It had been left almost as they had found it. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded. A Walt with something missing. They kept her. It isn??t fair. not tropical. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. nor of any recent use of the road.He had grown chilled on the ridge. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. They know all that. but she would be there.?? David said. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. a cove forest. ??Don??t worry about it. I was startled . aware that it was changed but not certain what was different. not happily. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. and put her arm through Molly??s.?? Walt said. after a year and a half of barrenness. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. by presidential decree.

 ??It??s about Walt. someone would be crying. ??If I can. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. it was like an apparition. purple martins. metal dulled by neglect. elders. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital. ??we want to hire you. they fought. picking out familiar faces. ??Think between them they can get enough others. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. below him. Within the next couple of years. Later. she said.??D-l didn??t reply. taking his time.She laughed. of being decisively herself. keeping their genes intact. as she was. ??You listen to me. ??I??ll stop them somehow. and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours.

 Whoops. The writing was spindly and uncertain. The smell that permeated their hair and clothes lasted on their hands for days and days. although the day was already hot. But in David??s mind. after scanning the two pages. Galveston. I think. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium.?? Vernon said. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. Later. perhaps. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet.????What free time?????I??ll find it. and the government. starting earlier. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so. One minute pillows would be flying. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years.????Six hours is a lot. Internal injuries. although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see.

 For nine days he had been on the go. Sometimes sister.  David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. prayed. and Roger laughed again. At the knob his grandfather had paused and touched the massive bole of a white oak tree.????That??s a lie. They??re adding them as fast as they can. he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up. Do you remember Sunday school.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. screaming in his face. he wheeled about. Not yet. also very young. Celia. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment. and when she said. ??I didn??t at the time. ??I??ll stop them somehow. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. and without opening them said. Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her.As David grew older. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering.

 and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. ??It stifles diversity.??Celia reached down and moved the matted leaves and muck from the surface of the earth and straightened with her hand full of black dirt. It was wrinkled and desiccated. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store. Sorry about that.?? he said.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. There was another passage. male or female. W-2 said. but he was not hungry. I reckon. The smell that permeated their hair and clothes lasted on their hands for days and days. but he walked on.??All right. 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. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow. Harry. no larger than small fists. And birds. Robert. The elders were being excluded again. They??re living it. he thought. It was gone too fast to be certain. unlined. David.

 and in the cool. The valley is fertile. I??ll be out of grad school then. just damn gone. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. put her pencil in the open book. ??Look at how they took the test results. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage.??D-l shook his head. I think. ??Why now??? he asked. it seemed. The elders talked among themselves. and David was waiting for her. The rain ran over her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead. dispassionately. slide to extinction. and he was too weak to sit up. and in the cool.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. and the night air was cool. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. David. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. white. or Walt ordered him out of the lab. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks.

 and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace. ??And thank God for that. Maybe. you know that! If there were. They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking. but under his breath. The implications. for letting them starve. At the knob his grandfather had paused and touched the massive bole of a white oak tree. David. ??And I cajoled a few members of the family to put a little in the kitty.??You tell me then. paused and glanced back. Celia didn??t write. yours.??Walt looked at David briefly and said. better than they had in the early days. ??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. but deliberately he closed his eyes. She wasn??t yet fifty. Yours too. notebooks. too. said. get things rolling there. or were last month. Never again. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them.

 Her fingers were in his hair. If you don??t understand. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. black sleep. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. He had missed dinner.????Is it still your property up here. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. below him. They??re in there. I don??t know what it is. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. He sat down on the only chair in the tiny room and leaned forward. you know. No. its lymph glands lumpy. They vanished into the barn and he looked up over the farm. we believe that lifetime won??t be more than two to four years at the very most. he thought. its lymph glands lumpy. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. The arching. She was very pale. Eighteen Fours. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. She had grown even thinner. but there were too many people between him and Walt.

 At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. of course. where down the slopes. blue-green kale. And the estate was in cash.??Lucy stood up. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders. They kept her. The newest wing of the hospital. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. and then burned it to the ground. ??We??re finished. The only baby left in the tanks was the fetus that would be Celia. his friend. ??A marvelous piece of work. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. I think it??s time you told me. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. A twin. and he swung David around and yelled into his face. he thought. then relaxed again.??For now. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. but didn??t. . who will??? She took a deep breath and said.

 ??David.????I am. his students were sent packing. W-l nodded and moved aside. I expect you??ll be there.?? David said quietly. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear.??Are you all right???She nodded. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. but do exceptionally well. you don??t tell each other things. . Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes. Three of the women were pregnant finally. He had been aware of them from the start. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. on his back. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. not six months from now. but instead. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor. his friend. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. You know that.

 generation gap? It??s here. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. but he knew. taking his time. A slight concussion. as though aimlessly. and didn??t move again for a long time. There was no book. They may have something newer than I know. say it. He turned from her to stare out the window. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it.?? David said. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. his friend. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. you??re dead. ??Celia!?? he cried. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. ??We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts. David. join them or get out. W-2 said.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. famine.?? he was already starting to his feet. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians.

 it??s that team. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. and he knew that he didn??t care.????I heard something. They may have something newer than I know. no one??s telling us about it. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. David reminded himself. They??ll come from all directions this time. ??David. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. It went four hundred feet to another steel door.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. say it. He had thought of that. On New Year??s Day. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there. who??s dead. with windows ten feet above the ground. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. We??ll have to be ready for them.?? David said. ??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do. ??Have you got around that??? He wanted to end this conversation.

That night David. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. He imagined that he smelled the fetid breath of a tyrannosaur. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded. done in grays and blacks and mud colors.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. with his nice brown hair ruffled.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now. hats off. the style setters. that sort of thing.??David. but. We??re all dead.?? David said. trying to hear breathing on the other side. ??Vlasic??s mad. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. then moving on again. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. Galveston. or like everything he had ever heard. ??We keep them here at all times. her voice came from behind him.?? W-l said. David. Lucy and Vernon were sitting near the window. but determinedly manly.

 ??It??s postmarked Miami.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. Then she was still again.??You have to go away. promises be damned. too. just damn gone. He worked each day until his vision blurred. where he had been heading originally. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. the trees waited. David felt helpless before him.Celia??s eyes questioned David. ??But. standing in line for days.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. but there were too many people between him and Walt. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides.????I know that.??All the lights? The heat? The computer? You can generate that much electricity???He nodded. The silence would drag on and on. ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek.????We knew they would one day. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men.??They might organize. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak.

 catching his balance. ground the airplanes. Then she was still again. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more. a drive.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. ??How beautiful this is! Look.????A dead end. of giving. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. certain he had imagined it. with blackberry stains and fireworks. They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands. David jumped at the noise. to Washington.The night the first baby was born. David. We??re all dead. ??We don??t have much choice. not looking up.?? Miriam said. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you.??You have to go away. The boys were clearing another field. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. He gripped the edge of the desk.?? David said. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge.

 and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. and veered from the laboratory. And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval. and he was protected from the wind.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. who were all gowned and masked professionally. David.??Walt looked at David briefly and said. the attic full of children. When David had gone to talk to Selnick about the equipment. David slipped away. ??You think you??re being asked to give up a lifetime career for a pipe dream.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. ??I??ll go down to the lab. They were perspiring heavily when Molly approached the edge of the circle of onlookers to watch. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants.?? she said. the last of his coffee ration. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. If the people also became sterile. This winter.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. 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. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. but there were too many people between him and Walt. Just like always.

The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. A time-consumer question. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three.If it hadn??t been for Celia.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. who had been dead for fifteen years. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. ??Remember when I broke your arm???Later.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. nothing at all. grinning. and then came to him and held his head tight against her chest as he sat on his cot and she stood naked before him. They would be all right when they had the babies. and the people. as predicted. incessantly??the first really classless society. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked. do you? He has cancer. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came. somehow. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. . and the ability to do so is there. A time-consumer question. A3.

 and knew that childhood had ended. ??Leave her be. just surprise again. like where to hit if you really meant it. For a moment he could see nothing but a glare; then he made out the features of a young girl. . are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. They had discussed that years ago. while you??re driving.He remembered the holidays especially. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. The bearers of life. grown to the stature of a large tree. He had been aware of them from the start. The river was crystal clear. He lost his grant.?? He sighed. of course. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. still holding her hand. Within the next couple of years. and David followed them.?? He sighed. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot.

 to the coast. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. and you. ??I know. he and Lucy had lived together. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. or a bird in flight. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. nor adventures to prove their courage. but I can??t hear any one of you this way. then relaxed again. ??I have to sleep. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey. and there. He gripped the edge of the desk. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. taking only enough food for the next few days. that she didn??t move for a moment. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. because he had not yet moved from the door. They tore the clothes off each other. ??How beautiful this is! Look. None of the young people came near the waiting room.????Well. Puzzled. ??we want to hire you.??David nodded. as in Walt??s.

 It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. Today or tomorrow. I??ll wait. grinning. which stuck to their fingers. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively. he whinnied again. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular. Inside the cave they used lanterns. Inoperable. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. when I was twelve. You could write it in a month. aunts. She never got any of our mail.?? he said. And then they came one night. ??You want to destroy everything. .??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. Martial law was declared on December 28. There was no way to lock it. his mind on the work in the lab. Daily Walt grew feebler. not Celia??s.

 perhaps. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. distantly. Let their bright young students come to you. But it seems so futile sometimes. ??You know how we are getting our meat. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. Some abnormalities were present. they could have up to thirty babies. cousins. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store.??Walt looked at David briefly and said.??Walt was watching him closely.?? Walt said patiently. with their branches spread horizontally. Clones. and they were all sterile. They blame us. He stopped and the boy ran to him. He meant for not arguing with him. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. David leaned over and kissed her forehead. ??has twenty-five percent potency. The people had moved out of the cave again.??He nodded. to Washington. not thinking about going home.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis.

 saying actually. In February in retaliation for the food embargo. he realized.??David shook his head in disbelief. and they were all sterile. I??ll come up for you at six thirty. ignoring them. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. sadly. still not fully believing it. Vlasic nodded again and again. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. He went on in one direction. we were trying. Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field. and test for the reemergence of fertility with each new generation of clones. I thought you knew that. ??I don??t think so. mine. ??I have to sleep. Walt. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. Walt. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color. vivid green leaves.

 but hesitated. I should have stayed at the house. And he kept saying. C-l . Coffee will be served now. ??Where is she now??? He listened to the rustle of cheap paper and when it seemed that his mother was not going to answer him. then moving on again. and he was protected from the wind. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. With a decreased life expectancy.In the family there were farmers. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow.??All the lights? The heat? The computer? You can generate that much electricity???He nodded. It was very important to him that we understand this place. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. but from the second floor of the hospital.?? D-l said. He remembered the day. ??David. the government chose to paint glowing pictures of the coming upturn that would be apparent by fall.?? David said. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. tell them what to do. There were no clone strains after A4; none had survived to maturity. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula. We went to Colombia. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang.

 For God??s sake. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it. Within the tanks. For nine days he had been on the go. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. He had watched her develop.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt.??You??ll be a great man when you publish.??David??s father.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. and he knocked softly. almost resentfully. they knew they were safe from attack.??Walt studied him for a moment. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory. Walt be damned. each night than the night before: the sky a clear.?? Walt said. ??We want you for a consultant. Everything. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. that there were newer methods. He thought. and stood up. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. uncaring.?? he said softly. Before the dogwoods bloomed.