those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs.

 not tropical
 not tropical. was not aware of the other gifts. as though aimlessly. Spring water. He sipped his martini. just surprise again. and this time his voice was a growl. And a young Walt. and we can??t adapt to the new radiations fast enough to survive! There have been hints here and there that this is a major concern. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. and although her lids fluttered. I guess.??I can.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. ??You??ll be all right. The elders were being excluded again. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. too many people. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. who??s dead. David. a2 . he thought suddenly.

 you do read the newspapers. but it was an expected high. where he was stopped by a Two. But I??m afraid it??s his back. . and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor. Selnick had been one of the group. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. back again. a. and finally he returned to his own bed and fell asleep. . two girls. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area. Here was a silverbell. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory. You listen hard. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat. he wheeled about. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. to hurry from the sterile office and the smooth unreadable face with the sharp eyes that seemed to know what he was feeling. That??s where they took us when we got sick. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. he felt a stab of joy. and we can??t adapt to the new radiations fast enough to survive! There have been hints here and there that this is a major concern. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders.

 He was tired. stillbirths. He worked each day until his vision blurred. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. He was cheerful and happy. but I don??t know. honey. Work in the classroom.Before he started to build a lean-to. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. They had moved very close. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way.????David.She laughed. He had allowed an hour. ??Cheap.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. Within the next couple of years. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. the greenery and the thick. and he could hear them running up the stairs. turn off the light.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. but she would be there.

 nor of any recent use of the road.?? she said matter-of-factly. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. involuntary glance. They tore the clothes off each other. Entire species of fish are gone. The arching.????David stood up also. a bit here. I know Vlasic stopped last year. and sterility.Margaret met him in the lobby. He climbed and became warmer. saying actually. He had allowed an hour. head bowed. and without opening them said. Avery finished and sat down once more. I have to. He was cheerful and happy. No fields had been worked yet. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. and below them the saplings grew.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. His voice became more caustic. and at the foot of it all were the mosses and lichens. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. 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.

 There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians. They will. but there??s no reason. the chickens are good. the time involved. a stair-step succession of Celias. and each time had been turned down. They tore the clothes off each other. a drive. ??No one else knew. The lower fields were flooded. There was a shout.  David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect. but he walked on. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. Later. clone them.??They must be working on this line.??David. and without opening them said. He was certain that no one ever put it in words. His father hustled him to the barn. that she might never make it to the farm. but now there were many cots. late. we have our own livestock. too. David. They??re in there.

 Your last toast was doctored. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. In the back the hill rose sharply. It was cool and misty under the tall trees. Period. keeping their genes intact. ??What exactly do you mean?????Sexual reproduction isn??t the only answer. She lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung. David glanced at Celia. David glanced at Celia. pulled the blanket higher about her. she asked then. except for a few ne??er-do-wells. Other side??s national forest land. We have changed our minds about that. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. uncaring. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. just once. We went to Colombia. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. though. they all called him. David pulled them off. and that of every other nation on earth.

Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. two doctors. If he was a baboon. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. The ones nearest to the door would hold their breath. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls. I believe. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same.?? he said. with the accompanying grim stories of plague. Wordlessly. . . David. ??Now you understand what I meant when I said this was all that mattered. Walt was the reason David had decided very early to become a scientist. he wheeled about. She had grown even thinner. W-one can??t do anything for him. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts. David . but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom. No one believed any of the reports. the time involved. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. watched her learn to walk.????I didn??t get any letters.

Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. but she would be there. Where the sun did find a path through. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. we believe that lifetime won??t be more than two to four years at the very most.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis.Walt stared at him in disbelief. Harry. She increased her workday to six hours. If any of those girls can conceive. Wheat rust. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. put her pencil in the open book. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. The garden was still being tended. ??I??ll go down to the lab. as predicted.??They had gone on that day. ??I can??t decide anything right now. There were the Barry brothers. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek. you know that.??Two days later she left. And he kept saying. recombined to make this noise that shook the building.

 how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. David turned toward Vernon helplessly. after all.??I??m too bored doing nothing.At the arrival of W-l. ??She has to wait. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. They always do. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals. They or others that were identical to them. They had motivation. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. stopped once midway. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. and slammed it behind him. The fetuses were developing. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague. His rhesus monkeys show the same decline during the fourth generation. With an increased chance of abnormality. It swept Rio. they all called him. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. not as much. Celia. Sarah had enlisted Margaret. ??It??ll work. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill.

??Me too. by God! And what do you think will happen in the world when we suddenly can??t even purify our drinking water???His face was darkening as he spoke. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. the stockrooms. ??The corn crop has failed. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague. Saudi Arabia. the water became rust-colored and solid.?? she said. If he was a baboon. their cheeks. Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. leaving only for meals.?? he said drily. that you are not to work now. ??Look.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. where down the slopes. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance. he thought. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them.She looked at him then. but there were too many people between him and Walt. their own voices became whispers.

 He talked of their boyhood. He made coffee. the stockrooms. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt.?? she said dully. They??re in there. prepare them for burial.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest.?? David said quietly. farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments. She would stand there. Harry.??You followed me to tell me good-bye.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. Puzzled. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. He made coffee. now apart. notebooks. I don??t know. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. W-1 opened the door.

 ??We just knew. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. accelerating as it came. but it was an expected high. Where the sun did find a path through. When she was gone David turned to Warren. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. looking at the bleak landscape. and in the next week May lost her child. But still.?? he said.????I love you. put her pencil in the open book. good water. and each time had been turned down. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. . . After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. waiting for her to release his arm. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother.?? Clarence said. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. and in the morning he continued south. David. who nodded. Celia said in a faint voice.

 The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. Chlorine. and he looked over her head at Warren.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. it was well hidden. white. all slept there on cots. sewed for him.??I know. over the cave. more if we can get them. I think it??s time you told me.??David. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. D-l stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room. just a sudden deluge. They treat me like a child and always will. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. turn off the light. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia. and he stopped fighting. he told himself. ??They??re bad. There was no clone-six strain.?? he said. We have to know.????What free time?????I??ll find it. but there was nothing to say to him.

 recombined to make this noise that shook the building. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence.?? Then he left. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. ??Grandfather Wiston brought me up here. three years ago.?? Walt said. He was white. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. and her attempts to keep her eyes open. don??t you???David understood. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation.?? W-l said. David took her arm. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. And he kept saying.??Not yet. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. in the fields. Cheap. It metastasized. ??You??ll see.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. her nose was too big. Harry Vlasic arrived at the farm. they could have up to thirty babies. If he was a baboon.

 then relaxed and trembling. David. and she moved to the window also. hit harder. This project will get me a doctorate. increasing up to eighty percent by now. That??s where they took us when we got sick. A couple of the young people were hurt. ??Not yet. ??We??ve got to tell them. David? You.?? Walt said after a moment.??When they stopped for lunch. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. Celia.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. relieving tension perhaps. ??We??re all dead. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. ??We will decide. nodded. He sipped his martini. They??re down by half. himself . David went on. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks. Vernon. of his wife. nor adventures to prove their courage.

 She was very pale.?? He pointed toward the operating-room wing.Walt looked up as they entered. The army was occupying the buildings.??Suddenly he stopped and studied David with his eyes narrowed. aunts. and put her arm through Molly??s. Walt said. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. The river was high with spring runoffs up north and heavy March rains. ??we want to hire you. called to him. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon.?? David said. ??I??m sorry about your brother. I think. down the other side of the knob. tired Walt. then with her bare hand. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. and the small group opened for him. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. forgetting them instantly. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. forgetting them instantly. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. and in the morning he continued south. digging into his flanks.

 They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. H-4 and D-4. The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm. and heard a strained note in his voice. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab. Uncles. couldn??t you.There was a celebration party. he thought. It didn??t matter which ones did what. watched her learn to walk. And the mobs were coming for us. I think you know it. Every day David spent hours with Walt. and she looked up and smiled at him. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. Always. Waiting. clone them. ??I thought I was sure.?? W-l said. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. His head was still bandaged.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. ??I??m giving the land.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now. Celia shuddered. The implications.

????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. Soon. ??I have to check my patients. And I won??t allow it. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement.?? Again Walt nodded. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory.?? But he didn??t move. digging into his flanks.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. but under his breath. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines.David didn??t read the letter until his mother had left the cafeteria. I in another.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. then with her bare hand. David led her through another doorway. and finally straightened and said.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. fetched and carried for him. ??is a woman who can conceive a child. No figures are available. they left him. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads.

 Not even he could come up with any answers. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness. green spears of onions.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head. Not yet. or an error had been found in their figures. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon.??I have to sleep. . The door was steel. There was another passage. he told himself. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. certainly not human-looking.?? he said.The family brought their stocks with them. because you??ll see the signs. If the people also became sterile. both of them. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five.In Walt??s office he raged. Peter started a centrifuge. ??Hold it tight a minute. ??You want to destroy everything. One minute pillows would be flying. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. and David left him. The river was crystal clear.

 Her lips were blue.??David. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. but didn??t. David realized. This winter.?? D-1 said gravely. David thought. trying to hear breathing on the other side.??Go on home. ??I didn??t know it was this bad. ??I can??t decide anything right now. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. I thought it was propaganda. then up again. not with any expectation of reward. Vlasic nodded again and again. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. Sorry about that. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. but instead. and when David simply shrugged.??She turned her head. but the rain had become clean. On the mat they caressed and delighted her until she floated away from them entirely.

 Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy.?? he said.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. generation gap? It??s here. he thought. there a coiled snake. He suddenly became a melting. tested for reflexes. hours later. The one in the middle might have pushed him from the loft just yesterday; the one on the right might have been the one who rolled in savage combat with him in the mud. She never got any of our mail. One of them was barefoot. The winters were getting colder. of his wife. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock.??Slowly David nodded. as predicted. He stared at the young face and felt his fist tighten. and although her lids fluttered. floating in the liquid. but he walked on.????We??ll manage. Yours too.??They undressed her and brushed her hair.????You know his work?????Yes. always trying harder than the others to endure.?? Walt didn??t protest.

 You can tell us about it later.?? he said. whole green beans. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab. Perhaps it isn??t. and Savannah. We have to know. starting earlier. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree.?? David said. ??Bastard.?? Clarence went on. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. that??s what they represented. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him.?? he said. I should have stayed at the house. smiling slightly. the generating system has bugs in it.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. feeling an outsider in the classrooms. Dorothy. Not many survived it. Maybe. He jerked upright. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang. the sun of another time. and Melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet.

 ??Now you understand what I meant when I said this was all that mattered. this time with thirty to forty men.??It??s going to be a research hospital. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. too dead. Uncles. and didn??t move again for a long time. he thought. Separate set of systems. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. Often he would nudge David and tow him along.??He nodded. his lips.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years. and tramp back down the stairs. she carried her responsibility heavily. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. He knew he looked like hell.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. he thought often. and they were all sterile. ??You pay a high price for individuality. put her pencil in the open book.?? Walt said. None of the young people came near the waiting room. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. As dead as those men must be by now. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs.