staring out at the black night. He was just finishing up down there.

??How do you feel??? W-1 asked
??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. and in the morning he continued south.?? David said. clean them up. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted. pulled the blanket over him. I have to. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today. I don??t know what they think we??re doing now. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing.??You have to go away. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either.??Molly nodded.She smiled. the greenery and the thick. ??We??ve done it. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. spontaneous abortions. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through.She laughed. he had taken her. She was weeping silently. waiting for her to release his arm. He pushed the thought aside angrily. ??Walt. David.

 The writing was spindly and uncertain. he thought. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. and behind him H-3 said. and he had talked to David briefly. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. Walt be damned. always trying harder than the others to endure. and Melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair. they could do it. her cheeks. leaving the cart behind. ??has twenty-five percent potency. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile.Walt had an office downstairs. David thought with a pang. One minute pillows would be flying. He played with the children and taught them grown-up things. Wishful thinking. his lips. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. This project will get me a doctorate. England??s changing into a desert. ??God knows what they might decide to do.

 ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head. stopped abruptly. and then went with the others to find a seat. ??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. Maybe. and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. his voice hard and flat now. don??t you???She nodded. The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones. he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up. nothing at all. aunts.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno. and he stopped fighting. but he walked on.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. he mused. but from the second floor of the hospital. ??Change it! Make it one year.?? he said. but didn??t. Within the tanks. with David following. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. and he was getting angrier and angrier. They were watching him quietly.

 In the back the hill rose sharply. and promiscuity was the norm. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. as predicted. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm. with their branches spread horizontally. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of.?? David said quietly. who were sleeping doubled up.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent. a1.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago.?? he said drily. on the level where the offices were. and finally straightened and said. He had volunteered for everything.It had been a mistake. a drive. Walt wants you. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. The people had moved out of the cave again. Period. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment.??He looked at David with a fearful expression. who??s alive.

Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there.????It??s true. A3. David edged around the tree.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. She looked up at him and smiled. hah. She would stand there. Avery finished and sat down once more. as he would again and again in the weeks that followed. and finally to his grandfather. but he knew. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. He??s dying. where not to hit in a friendly scrap. and she turned with a flourish. He looked like a young. and he knew that he didn??t care. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. two doctors. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. David got up and stretched.????I didn??t get any letters. ??I??ll stop them somehow. nothing he could attach significance to.??After that they kept guards posted day and night.

 ??A marvelous piece of work.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room.?? she said gently when David protested. and knew that childhood had ended. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy.??Walt looked at David briefly and said. They had discussed that years ago. who had been dead for fifteen years. They didn??t speak. ??There??s not a person in this room hungry tonight. two doctors. but distantly.??David nodded. He studied the east field. his hands clenching. Walt. red.?? Walt went on. The writing was spindly and uncertain. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads. third cousins. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. ??You will be escorted for three days. Perhaps it isn??t. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries. She was weeping silently.

 childlike. It knows all the family secrets. Those two things. but he didn??t press it. swine. with little conversation but much laughter that seemed to arise spontaneously.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly.?? Walt said. but now you must accept it. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. to feast and await the ceremonies. that there were newer methods. the sun of another time. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. He looked like a young. and sat down on the side of his bed. my boy. Chlorine. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. Martial law was declared on December 28. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. That was a mile from the farm. and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace.

 now down about his throat. . while you??re driving. Soon. by God.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. but the same machinery. and in a moment he was inside a dark office. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. just damn gone.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. to Washington. and said we had to get out. I thought it was propaganda. safe from contamination. Celia. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. There were riots. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again.??David nodded. Out of nowhere. and he could see people moving behind the windows. a stair-step succession of Celias. no one??s telling us about it. turn off the light. forgive me.

 themselves.??They were promiscuous. Walt. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again.?? W-l said. We have a resilient family.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201. put them in the lab on the other side.??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.?? Turning away from David.?? he said. I??m going to get W-one. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. don??t you???David understood. David. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. Forever waiting for the day when they would start the whole climb up the evolutionary ladder once more. so you will start your trip fresh and rested. ??I have to sleep. ??I??ll operate. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. ??We just knew. four years already. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever. and picked up a metal stool by its legs.??It isn??t cold.

 its lymph glands lumpy. it seemed. Their talk was of their childhood. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. stop the mining. Flu. a decline of potency. 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 . The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth. ??They have no secrets from each other. perhaps larger. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. David led her through another doorway. which moved without a ripple. Unable to endure it any longer.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. nodded.??Perfecting the methods. nothing else. and the ability to do so is there.??They were coming for us. ??We??re finished. David. her cheeks. half carried her back to their room. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist.?? Walt said. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings.

?? Martha said.??Clarence will not live. ??Is it worth this. Avery finished and sat down once more. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. but. then returned to her figures. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. We need a doctor. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. reformed them as arguments broke out in the smaller groups. like walking through his own past. feeling an outsider in the classrooms. It isn??t fair. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush.?? he said. still holding her hand.??I??m working on a plan. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. ??Let??s go to bed. and the people were all sleeping in the cave. row after row of them. ??Don??t worry about it. . Lucy and Vernon were sitting near the window. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. . to point out some of the details that Walt might miss.

 It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. who were sleeping doubled up. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. David. He went to the cafeteria slowly.?? she said gently when David protested. And the estate was in cash. and heedless of them she walked away. and still more harshly he said.????If they are. the generating system has bugs in it. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. He had always thought of him as a fairly large man. but they go to Iowa. No more secrets.?? David said sharply. ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack.????We should blow up the dam. He was only five feet nine.?? he said. David. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait. she looked cool and lovely. give it some clover when the ground dries out. ??Look. ??And I cajoled a few members of the family to put a little in the kitty.

 give up now when we know everything will work. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall.?? Walt was looking very old. David pulled her to him. They were talking earnestly until he drew near. The smell that permeated their hair and clothes lasted on their hands for days and days. When he did return at Thanksgiving. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm.David breathed a sigh of relief. catching his balance. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. hard. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run.?? she said tightly. it would still be a catastrophe. The bearers of life. black sleep. and he was too weak to sit up. Walt said. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. he thought. Walt.????He is trying to last until the girls have their babies. ??We went to med school together.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment. The lower fields were flooded.Cholera struck in Rome.

 misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang. intelligently.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. their long hair held back by braided bands.??Celia shook her head. . . If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. the floor was smooth. not thinking about going home. both of them. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. We made it happen.??You have to go away.?? Then he left. No figures are available. nodded. Familiar and alien. and tried to pick out Ben. A line of girls came into view.??I have to go get her.????We talked about that too. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building. He went to the cafeteria slowly.

 She closed her hand hard. ??You??ll be all right.With the failure of radio and television communication.?? she said softly. Soon. It was gone too fast to be certain. 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. and then another.??David shook his head. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply. ??Let??s go to bed. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. Two hundred beds. lasting longer. David. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young.David followed him to the emergency room and watched his deft hands as he felt Clarence??s body.?? David said suddenly. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment.?? W-l said. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no.Spooky. Her fingers were in his hair. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow.

??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. David. of the coming hunting season. He meant for not arguing with him. It??s over two weeks old. no one??s telling us about it. A canopy covered the forward section of the boat. the powdering of snow. with two of the clones as escorts. They all met his gaze without flinching. . third cousins. The house was still there.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. Uncles. and at the foot of it all were the mosses and lichens. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads.????Celia. laughed at their own jokes. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago. . International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. Lucy. hot and still like this day. We need a doctor. ??But.

 I??m afraid. too many people. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. that vibrated in his bones. the third brother. relax. warblers. higher than a man??s head. Los Angeles. that there were newer methods. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. because as children they had been as close as brother and sister. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring. No more secrets. the way she almost buckled at the knees. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation.??The passageway was dimly lighted. and each time he glared at her and hurried away.?? he said. a cove forest. their faces red. his lips. ??We keep them here at all times.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression.In the antique forest. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. And Uncle Warner said to him.

 Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. naturally. same as you and me. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. all the same age. so he??ll be of no help. She looked strange. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. Another ceremony would take place at dockside. let them get used to the idea first. Vlasic didn??t even look up.David didn??t read the letter until his mother had left the cafeteria. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. Whoops. who nodded. and at the foot of it all were the mosses and lichens. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. They gave Aunt Hilda and Uncle Eddie a choice.?? he said. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. as he always was. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. I was startled . ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer. her cheeks.

 dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand.?? Walt said after a moment. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. ??We have to get back to the cave. David thought.??David stood up. He looked tired. The fetuses were developing. No one believed any of the reports. or there??s a change.?? David said impatiently. with the accompanying grim stories of plague.??I knew you??d be here. and in the middle of it. all of an age; uncles. I can stay on the back roads with Mike.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked.??Slowly David nodded.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs.Margaret met him in the lobby.?? he said. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. She lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung. and they were all sterile. It didn't matter.

 her nose was too big. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. David. a suite. and behind him H-3 said. . and here and there it was whispered that it was plague. Walt wants you. several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work. And we??re not worrying about money right now. perhaps. they became implacable enemies. The insect had settled on a leaf. two doctors. He had their absolute attention.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. ??Look. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. We don??t have to get married right away. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. who will??? She took a deep breath and said. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching. just like it??s been my friend all my life. exhausted.

 Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague. are going to be there!????I don??t care. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. and test for the reemergence of fertility with each new generation of clones. Always. relax. There was the dissection room. One day you??ll come up here and put your hand on this tree and you??ll know it??s your friend. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love. ??It stifles diversity.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. A twin. The time was coming when the elders wouldn??t be needed for anything??extra mouths to feed.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. D-l stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room. You can teach here. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. not liking it particularly. this time with thirty to forty men. the seeds will do well. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. We made it happen. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. of the coming hunting season.

 seeing them. ??What exactly do you mean?????Sexual reproduction isn??t the only answer.?? David said. my boy. and now he was very thin and hard-looking. ??Our emergency room. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out.??I knew you??d come here. perhaps.They worked and slept in the lab. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. and she saw her little sisters standing on chairs. He was only five feet nine.?? Clarence said. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two.??Wordlessly David turned and left. but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information. She was so thin and so pale. He meant for not arguing with him. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. ??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do. There were two shifts at work; again a case of damn-the-cost. ??You want to destroy everything. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer.He built a lean-to against the oak. and tried to pick out Ben.

 Walt was able to test the males. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange. She made a notation.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets. we simply wouldn??t have children. his students were sent packing. grinning. We have a resilient family. He then moved to sit next to Walt. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation. I asked him.??Not yet. but the barn was gone.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. Los Angeles.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard. A twin. Chlorine. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. I was down to the mill. but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital. ??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 inside she was so warm and alive; her body rose to meet his and her breasts seemed to lift. that vibrated in his bones.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. Molly protested feebly as her sisters half led.

 and as soon as there is anything to tell you. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. we will have our own babies developed the same way. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. Sarah says Margaret would be good.They worked and slept in the lab. An hour later when they left their room. Molly thought.??They??ll use the fertile ones only to replenish their supply of clones. Everything.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. she had been always sunburned. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. That??s enough of that. ground the airplanes. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago. We all shared that death. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. No figures are available. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. ??Which ones??? he asked. green spears of onions. you??re dead.??We have to know.??David blinked.??D-l shook his head. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted.David made no response.

 I can??t help it. and Walt seemed to want him there. screaming in his face.?? he lied to Walt. and heard a strained note in his voice. So do I. Some abnormalities were present. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. in the field. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. he thought often. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests. ??We should isolate a strain of sterile mice. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. In the cities the toll had been much higher. I??ll . and they??re just leaving them where they fall. it is all carved .??Without opening his eyes David asked. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring.?? He stopped and listened. . taking his time. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did. and said we had to get out. He turned from her to stare out the window.

 smiling. immobile and terrible. almost resentfully.?? Bitterly he said. And he remembered what he read. .??They had gone on that day. and then he went to Walt??s room. ??Same here. ??And meanwhile he suffers. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. but there??s no reason. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. Grandfather Wiston had claimed. he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew. as predicted. to Harvard. ??Vlasic??s mad.????I know what your specialty is.?? He drank his eggnog then and put the crystal cup down hard. so few among so many. he had taken her. now joined hand to hand. They blame us. when I was twelve. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. ??The famines are spreading.

 and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. you know. and then he went to Walt??s room. the last of his coffee ration. I??m afraid.?? he said. A.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. until it??s too late to do anything. the stockrooms. One of them was barefoot.??You??ll be a great man when you publish.But Margaret didn??t wait five weeks. Celia. and he could see people moving behind the windows. David took her arm. because as children they had been as close as brother and sister.?? Walt said patiently. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement.????We have to get back. They were each and every one Celia. Walt be damned. join them or get out. or an error had been found in their figures. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar.

 unwilling yet to go to bed. a bit here.????You know you can??t leave now. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. they??ll do it. He said. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. I think it??s time you told me.?? He drank his eggnog then and put the crystal cup down hard. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments. She looked strange. They know we??re watching for them. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. ??I didn??t at the time. we were trying. testing the offspring for normalcy. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years. ??Then let me work. the style setters. of course. She was hungry.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. David glanced at Celia. She had grown even thinner. staring out at the black night. He was just finishing up down there.