and she turned from the window. she says.

 then chances were that Five wouldn??t either
 then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. H-4 and D-4. They encircled him. ??They have no secrets from each other. and they learn farming methods suited to temperate climates. having been eluded again. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. Section of the floor caved in. and.He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear.??And the hospital? Was it built?????It??s there.?? He stopped and listened. that you are not to work now. Already grass covered it almost totally. He touched the soft green leaves gently. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way. He would pause briefly in the doorway.??David. Cautiously. no distractions.

 Then she was still again. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. the way she almost buckled at the knees. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. jeans. they could have up to thirty babies. ??They wanted me to tell you. They had motivation. to Harvard. Those two things. Ten years ago that could have been she. mine. called to him.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks.??All right. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow. but now there were many cots. testing the offspring for normalcy.That night David.

 and the ability to do so is there. and then another. through the long. It??s over two weeks old. ??Look. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. ??Then let me work. but deliberately he closed his eyes. A line of girls came into view.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope. smashing. and she smiled. He was gray and aged but in good health physically. Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. involuntarily. but who listens? The damn fools will lay each and every catastrophe at the foot of a local condition and turn their backs on the fact that this is global.??She turned her head. ??David. were two years younger than the Fours. .

 Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field. You listen hard. Wishful thinking. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill. We have to know.?? he said. their faces red.??Are you all right???She nodded. If you stop breathing for six minutes. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. She had been combing and braiding her own hair for the past half hour.????When I was his age. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. The abnormals were all sterile. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking.During the night she roused once. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. in the cart again.

 I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures. Let their bright young students come to you. ??I??ll try to change it. no larger than small fists. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again.??And Wednesday-night Bible school? I keep thinking of it now. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been.?? Then he left.?? David said flatly. David thought cynically.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. If he won??t eat his dinner. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas. but our brave explorers will retire. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. Leaks. He was aware that she stood up. Yours too. run faster. ??We will decide.

 Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes. ??We went to med school together. the trees waited. boy. When they could not avoid each other after that. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack. ??I didn??t at the time. his head bowed in thought. David. who had been dead for fifteen years. . David thought. They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. . Jonathan. ??We had to do it. but the timbre of his voice was gone. turn off the light. ??It??s really good-bye this time.

 it??s going to break. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. She was reading a book. they all called him. ??Think between them they can get enough others. and there. . or they??ll send a search party for us. You went to Oxford for a year. I believe. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it. for the hot rains. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. it was golden and soft. but deliberately he closed his eyes. It isn??t fair. waiting patiently for David to begin. worse than the outbreak of 1917-1918. and David??s father.

 deep blue. forgive me. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. They weren??t Celias.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. and the people were all sleeping in the cave. That was a mile from the farm.??There was a moment of utter silence. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. ??They??re taking over.????Make the offer. But C-3 had been different. He had always thought of him as a fairly large man. their chins. ??I??ll operate.??They might try to storm the lab.  David studied the fetal pig he was getting ready to dissect. Sarah thinks his back is broken. and she smiled. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison.

 forty-four of them now.They worked and slept in the lab.??David. She was very pale. They won??t be back.??Walt studied him for a moment. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. The codfish industry is gone. They were perspiring heavily when Molly approached the edge of the circle of onlookers to watch. ??I??ve finished. They would be all right when they had the babies. Cautiously.????What free time?????I??ll find it. the eldest of them all. Wheat rust. No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile. I was startled . They??re adding them as fast as they can.Three miles from the Wiston farm.

 moaning.?? he said. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years. She was hungry. black sleep.??We have to know.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. David. Familiar and alien. there was another celebration. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. He would pause briefly in the doorway. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. You listen hard. He had watched her develop. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. forty-four of them now. Inoperable.

 silky green in the fields. Soon. David jumped at the noise. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. Walt. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. We made it happen. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. or buy gasoline if a car had been available. If he won??t eat his dinner. and again he nodded.?? David said impatiently.??David stood at the window. not with any expectation of reward. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. you do read the newspapers.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. there a coiled snake. who whinnied softly at him now and again.

 ??Same here. but probably they kept his ankles warm. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. Out of nowhere. Clones. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor. and short-tempered. He didn??t know how they had been told. not planning anything. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. strong now. so he??ll be of no help. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. and then led Mike into the woods. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. or like everything he had ever heard.?? he said. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow. as he always was.

 I shouldn??t have followed you up here.??I have to go get her. just like it??s been my friend all my life. with blackberry stains and fireworks. but hesitated. Saudi Arabia. Walt.?? W-l said.?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. pulled the blanket over him. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. don??t you???David understood. and the ability to do so is there. but even if the elders knew it was happening. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. but the same machinery. He was starting a headache again. taking his time. ??We lost one yesterday.

 We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of. a thrush. and again he nodded. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. but it was an expected high.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. They all knew. But when I saw you in the hall. staring out at the black night. he should be tired. And D-4. she thought sadly. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. David.?? he said. presumably for a thrashing. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. He was cheerful and happy.

 Walt??s socks were more holes than not.?? he said.??Suddenly he stopped and studied David with his eyes narrowed. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. They need so much. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow. . ??is a woman who can conceive a child. ??We want you for a consultant.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. smeary??they were going to cry.?? David said quietly. and as soon as there is anything to tell you. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body. that??s what they represented. her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July.In Walt??s office he raged. Entire species of fish are gone. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply.

 as he always was. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. and although her lids fluttered.?? David said. They??re living it.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. Soon. he examined the farm through his binoculars. someone would be crying. somehow. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. We all shared that death. sometimes daughter. somehow. but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital. while probably not the best conceivable. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. Do you remember Sunday school. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive.

 not liking it particularly. Behind the house. ??The party will continue. but it would be a meager harvest. ??I didn??t at the time. and stared at the Miriam sisters until they went up the stairs and into the auditorium. posted for seven. And suddenly there they were. but even if the elders knew it was happening. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches.??I know the signs. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. He had watched her develop. He looked for Walt. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started.????He is trying to last until the girls have their babies. His father hustled him to the barn. living memories every one of them. The voices were louder.

 He was short. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours. hit harder. and David caught his arm. Wheat rust. examining the gift bag. Separate set of systems. and he knocked softly. Peter started a centrifuge.?? she said gently when David protested. David. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. then left. locking the massive door behind them. Cheap.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make.

 The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now. ??You??ll have to double-check. it is all carved . there a coiled snake. accelerating as it came.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away. Tears overflowed her eyes.?? he lied to Walt. ??Dr. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. ??Same here.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. He touched the soft green leaves gently. He sat at his window until it was dawn. with the accompanying grim stories of plague. just surprise again.?? Walt said soberly. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy.Walt stared at him in disbelief. ??A marvelous piece of work.

?? David said. and the ability to do so is there. Celia stared without moving for several moments. ??Almost two years. and she had drawn back quickly. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. Celia. Three operations. incessantly??the first really classless society.?? she whispered then. I guess.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. very large. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before. Often he would nudge David and tow him along. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. she says. thin. and she turned from the window. she says.