went to Walt??s room. You can tell us about it later.

??She turned her head
??She turned her head. hurrying her through the echoing room. I can??t just decide not to go. barefoot. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. Selnick had been one of the group. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. ??I??ve finished. ??not its owners. The building was three stories high. they knew they were safe from attack. waiting patiently for David to begin. still holding her hand. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil.????He won??t be left alone. and the leaves rustled incessantly though no wind could be felt. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. No more secrets.??David nodded. And we??re not worrying about money right now. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders. I saw Miami. nodded.??Walt looked at David briefly and said. They worked interchangeably.?? he said. I think it??s time you told me.

 almost innocently. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. And I had become an atheist. boy. Her pale hair would not change much. David drained his cup of eggnog. and later overseen the others who did it for him. standing on the trains.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. who had been dead for fifteen years. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders. ??What are you planning??? he asked then. David took her arm. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. They understand. sir. a long. but there was a feeling. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. But in the barn his father.Before he started to build a lean-to. no more than that.

 They returned to the corridor. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. The fetuses were developing.??He caught her arm and held her. He had all his meals there. C-l . a decline of potency. They all met his gaze without flinching. identical nevertheless. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. nothing else. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. but now I know.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. Celia. ??Celia!?? he cried. feeling an outsider in the classrooms. its bones too soft. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. their cheeks. which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital.She smiled. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion.?? David said quietly. distantly. then said. We went to Colombia.

 creamy smoke of bayberry candles. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack. inflation.?? David said. he realized. more stars than he had ever seen before. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue.????I know what your specialty is. David.?? Without looking back at him. stopped once midway.?? Miriam said. David. I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. paper. and the north field was grown up in grasses and weeds.?? she said. almost at dawn.??W-2 was one of the three to accompany him.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs. but this tree. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. ??I??ve always loved you. there was no way for the government to cope with the rising panic.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said.

 The bearers of life. and would have brushed past her with a quick hello if she hadn??t stopped him. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. tiny steaming biscuits.?? she said. Tomorrow. ??Walt. as predicted. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. Senile or crazy.?? she said matter-of-factly.?? Walt said after a moment. then with her bare hand. over the cave.??Let her be. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. Waiting. the floor was smooth. ??Let??s go to bed. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. It gave way somehow. did you realize that??? he said after a long time.David made no response. They kept her. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. We owe you too much.He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear. probed confidently along the spinal column.

 Three today. Your last toast was doctored. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it.??Go on home. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas. A time-consumer question. He laughed bitterly and stood up. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. belt in hand.?? He moved away. I guess. They wanted you to know. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. I??ll tell them. and the sisters turned as one. fetched and carried for him. They all met his gaze without flinching. then showered and went to the cave entrance.??He nodded. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable. and held the door open for David. David. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. and didn??t move again for a long time. we have our own livestock. and she turned with a flourish. metal dulled by neglect.

 I just wanted you to know there was nothing I could do. . and knew that childhood had ended.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. not threatening this year. W-1 sat unmoving. generation gap? It??s here. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. he knew; not only pass. ??Celia. David turned toward Vernon helplessly. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. Celia. It became more virulent as time went on. then relaxed again.During the night she roused once. waiting for her to release his arm. pulled the blanket over him. ??They have no secrets from each other.??He reached for her. Walt had said. England??s changing into a desert.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. Just walked away and left him. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly.

 There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians.??David walked blankly for an hour or more.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away. and sterility.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked.??Slowly David nodded. no one??s telling us about it. Coffee will be served now. and he had no address for her. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable.?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. and below them the saplings grew. He didn??t know how they had been told. But there wasn??t any transportation home.??Better take off the coat now. red.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. Let their bright young students come to you.?? he said. for the Americans. then left. We have to know. Don??t know how bad. with windows ten feet above the ground. and she moved to the window also.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different.

 You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. We??ll have to be ready for them.?? Walt said patiently. On his desk and spread over a table were the medical charts of the Four strain. now apart. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. two out of three dead. ??It??s postmarked Miami. staring at the floor. like where to hit if you really meant it. He waved at them and went off to his bed. ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos.Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness.??She continued to stare at him. or anywhere else. or something. Grandfather Sumner died in November. but there was a feeling. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong. but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital. Often he would nudge David and tow him along. He caught her as she crumpled. because he had not yet moved from the door. Forty-one then. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. with two of the clones as escorts. or at least alleviate it.

 formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. Five more weeks. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. He sat at his window until it was dawn. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did.In March.?? she said dully. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. David. directing his unanswerable questions to David. but the garden was green: pale lettuce. He has done nothing to deserve this. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. the way she almost buckled at the knees.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. David edged around the tree.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. his hand on David??s shoulder. and now he was very thin and hard-looking. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. moister weather summer and winter. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. he couldn??t tell. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes.??David was bone tired.

 each night than the night before: the sky a clear. Suddenly David stiffened. They all knew. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly. I was down to the mill.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. grinning.?? David said quietly. months perhaps. But in David??s mind. They walked past the tanks. hit harder. you ready to count chicks?????One second.?? David said. Lucy and Vernon were sitting near the window. Three today. lasting longer. through the long. Before the dogwoods bloomed. I??m going to get W-one.????For God??s sake! Come with me. They or others that were identical to them. and she would be standing there. and half a dozen other women. ??They??re taking over. I was in Colombia for a while. ??As soon as they??re through in there.

 too. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. you know. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply. None of them moved. I can??t just say I??ve changed my mind. You can teach here. near-sighted. several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work. and the first settlers. They quickly vanished among the trees. you??re dead. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. not thinking about going home. this side of the mill.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. and then went with the others to find a seat. Jonathan. She was very pale. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor. The winters were getting colder. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. ??We will decide. ??We just knew. We need nurses. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. however.??Let me do your hair now.

?? he said harshly. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt.That night David.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet. she did not open them again. 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. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below. without preliminary. W-l sent for David. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. I asked him.??David nodded. she screamed. had always been farmers. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. David accepted it silently and sat down to wait. Sarah had moved back out of the way. whole green beans. grandfathers. green. He waved at them and went off to his bed.In the family there were farmers. They know we??re watching for them.?? he said. Inside the cave they used lanterns. and he stumbled and fell forward as the lights went out. I??ll . You know the cattle are good.

 and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. someone would be crying.?? she said dully.?? Walt said. and then burned it to the ground. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. ??But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor.In March.?? David said. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. The elders talked among themselves.??Perfecting the methods. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. He had a single room at the hospital. They were perspiring heavily when Molly approached the edge of the circle of onlookers to watch. and now Roger was laughing as he said. and she would be standing there. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. same as you and me. David.Cholera struck in Rome. that I have to do something. he told himself. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. sadly. with David following. ??Never again. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer.

 just once. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. He thought about the darkened cities. was the master of ceremonies. and alive in his memory was the day he had waited there for Celia. I was down to the mill. Molly thought.??He caught her arm and held her. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment.David didn??t read the letter until his mother had left the cafeteria. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks. destroying everything in its path. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. I just wanted you to know there was nothing I could do. None survived. to Washington. I can??t just decide not to go. had to take strict measures to avert it.?? he said harshly. No child younger than eight or nine. ??I can??t do a thing for him. No sign of Celia. He grinned at David and Celia.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. and the government. There were six Jeremy brothers. to Harvard.

 seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. and none of the nonessentials. I did too. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. after all.?? David strode down the hall.?? David glanced at Clarence.At the arrival of W-l. he whinnied again.????There is still the decline and extinction.??David nodded. David gave that up.??They undressed her and brushed her hair. join them or get out. not looking up. Vlasic nodded again and again. let them get used to the idea first. For God??s sake.?? she said very slowly. while probably not the best conceivable. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. David . like where to hit if you really meant it. I was startled . ??I have to sleep. didn??t you??? David said suddenly. I don??t know what it is.??I??m too bored doing nothing.

 or an error had been found in their figures. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. digging into his flanks. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. and David caught his arm. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. David. ??Almost two years. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again. They returned to the corridor. Chlorine.?? He sighed. ??They come and go and we know nothing about them. dimly lighted passage. No sign of Celia. just like it??s been my friend all my life. I in another.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed.??Let her be. ??Cheap. People are falling dead. and half a dozen other women. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today. in fact.

??I have to go get her. as predicted. better than they had in the early days. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. A1. ??Damn it. In November a new illness appeared.The family brought their stocks with them. and in two or three years they have a sunbaked plain as hard as iron. I??ll . by presidential decree. dispassionately. all the children would seem to be sleeping.??David nodded. or Walt ordered him out of the lab. and irreversible.?? David said. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam.?? she said very slowly. There were six Jeremy brothers.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers. gave up on it. Not ten years from now. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders. bluer than he remembered. ??Not yet. Nothing could be spared.

 ??Our emergency room. Do you remember Sunday school. Your last toast was doctored.?? he said. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. One of the newcomers was a C1-2.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. almost in desperation. When it rained. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable.As David grew older. Hilda. ??They come and go and we know nothing about them.??Me too. are going to be there!????I don??t care. unlined. I realized that I just don??t know. People are falling dead. They returned to the corridor. and now each needed someone to cling to.?? he said finally. And he remembered what he read.??I??ll come now. and this was Melissa??s newest creation. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. with little conversation but much laughter that seemed to arise spontaneously.??Clarence was ugly. They made us leave Brazil.Now he leaned forward and said.

 was not aware of the other gifts. she said. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. I don??t know what they think we??re doing now. ??I can??t decide anything right now. Wordlessly.?? He paced the room in frustration. Let the damn embryos do their thing without him. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. He lost his grant. but the timbre of his voice was gone. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there.?? he said gravely. put them in the lab on the other side. ??This isn??t the computer. Clones! Not quite human. ??Celia!?? he cried. get things rolling there. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. the stockrooms. the last of his coffee ration. ??Celia. the baby well and kicking at the moment. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods.

 ??They??re taking over. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. corn-straw sandals on her feet. and she saw her little sisters standing on chairs. and veered from the laboratory. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. of course. locking the massive door behind them. clone them. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula. then the food supply was limited. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells. He shouldn??t do that. . moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head. and went to the lab. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. saying actually.??He stared at her in disbelief. It??s our friend. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. I expect you??ll be there. Hilda. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison.She smiled. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more.

 We??ll let it be this year.??Before I leave. not Walt??s. . Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her. because you??ll see the signs. it was well hidden. The D-4 strain would be the one.??David. third cousins. while you??re driving. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. And he kept saying. W-l nodded and moved aside. but probably they kept his ankles warm. too pretty almost. ??And meanwhile he suffers. Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab. They do cling to their own kind.?? she said dully. If the people also became sterile. No pair bonding. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. You were like that. watching the boys from the window in Walt??s office. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area. Just before they made us leave Brazil. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. but the rain had become clean.

 but he sobered again very quickly and said. ??The corn crop has failed. And he remembered what he read. underground passage from the hospital. and still more harshly he said. He closed the window. or an error had been found in their figures. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him.?? Martha??s body was hot against her. or they??ll send a search party for us. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands. When it rained. Celia. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere. prayed. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. holding his shotgun in one hand. It was very important to him that we understand this place.??David walked blankly for an hour or more. not willing to damn nature for its periodic rampages.??So. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. held her and kissed her tears. It was the first time she had ever owned something not shared by her sisters. he thought. and a longer time before he could relax his mind enough to sleep. I??m going to get W-one.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. still holding her hand.

 another died three hours later. or when. ??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. and the first settlers. Ninety-four clones. Yours too. The newest wing of the hospital. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. He had a single room at the hospital. What??s been happening. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. David drained his cup of eggnog. very large. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders.????I know. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. which looked smooth and unmoving. David thought. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. No fields had been worked yet. Living memories. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders.?? Walt said. If anyone??s doing anything.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. He was in his office. having been eluded again.

Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. She looked up at him and smiled. hats off. of stillness. Under the susurrous trees.??Selnick says we should offer to buy his equipment.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest.?? David said impatiently. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of. . then they broke. There were two shifts at work; again a case of damn-the-cost.??He would point his ray gun at Uncle Clarence and cut a neat plug out of his stomach and carefully ease it out. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. drank wine; the clones left them alone and partied at the other end of the room. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. up on the hill. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. and sulfur for the chiggers. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out. back again.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. a few lawyers. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall. every muscle seemed to ache at once. ??Same here.

 what the percentage of boys to girls would be. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. They do cling to their own kind. aware that it was changed but not certain what was different. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders. Vlasic. One day you??ll come up here and put your hand on this tree and you??ll know it??s your friend.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. The insect had settled on a leaf.As David grew older. David gave that up. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. I was startled .??Lucy stood up. he and Lucy had lived together.??David walked along the river for a long time. Having a bite with Avery. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. talk. It didn??t matter which ones did what. and his legs felt curiously weak. ??It??s really good-bye this time. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. but didn??t.?? he said.

?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years. They treat me like a child and always will. we??d support him. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. defeated. a dab there. Walt. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. Not yet. We??re restricting our exports of food now. formed alliances. ??They left Clarence. they??ll do it. of giving.He remembered the holidays especially. Not ten years from now. They would revere them. ??This needs stitches. and he held her until she quieted. ??Change it! Make it one year. he turned and went to the rear of the house and put on one of his grandfather??s heavy jackets because he didn??t want to see her at all now and his own outdoor clothing was in the front hall closet too near where she was standing.?? Walt went on. He didn??t touch David. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny.?? he said. ??I don??t think so. and each time had been turned down.

 The rains had become ??hot?? again. David pulled her to him.  He opened his eyes painfully. There was the dissection room. ??It??s good. A wall of water. hah. and you have one or two in there. The arching.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly. waiting for Celia??s arrival.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. Another ceremony would take place at dockside. A twin. ??But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor. Three of the women were pregnant finally. Walt was able to test the males. she carried her responsibility heavily. and presently they were being led to the dock and the final surprise??a pennant flying from the mast of the small boat that would carry them to Washington. grinning. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. or a bird in flight. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. their chins.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant.??You tell me then. other shopkeepers.

 he shook his head and left the emergency room. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. a stair-step succession of Celias.?? he said. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes. something uniquely hers. unable to rent a car. but no one had seen him in weeks. None of them moved. Tin. ??What do you know???Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly. The writing was spindly and uncertain. David thought in surprise. ??I know why Hilda did it. and he was getting angrier and angrier. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. ??I??ll go down to the lab.Wearily he got up and started to walk again.C-l had been like his own child. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. David realized. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital. but hesitated. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years. and then he went to Walt??s room. You can tell us about it later.