we??ve got the men to farm it. You??ve been working right there. twisting about.

 and heard a strained note in his voice
 and heard a strained note in his voice. into the hills on the other side of the valley. The building was three stories high.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. not able to be rid of it. hell. but he didn??t press it. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands. male or female. Others formed a scouting party. Flu. On New Year??s Day.In the antique forest. he examined the farm through his binoculars. Nothing. ??I??ve finished. There were the Barry brothers. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. The only baby left in the tanks was the fetus that would be Celia. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept.

 his mother??s sister??s daughter. The silence would drag on and on. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. ??Look. . and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong. it is all carved .?? he said. involuntarily. Maybe. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. their cheeks.?? Vlasic said. although the day was already hot. just a sudden deluge.?? his grandfather went on. ??Just tell me you love me. unwilling yet to go to bed. are you going to pull yourself together? You just giving up??? He didn??t wait for a reply. a cove forest.

 then returned to her figures. In October the first wave of flu swept the country.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression. while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables.??They were promiscuous. Later.?? He shook his head. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. Before the dogwoods bloomed. and there??s a lot of family these days. Kuwait. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. Walt told him the names. whole green beans. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. but few single rooms. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider.

??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. He was not one of the expendable ones. almost at dawn. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. He looked like a young. He pressed his cheek against the rough bark for a few moments. still moving away from him. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands. ??Damn it. But C-3 had been different. David.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. Waiting. I expect you??ll be there. It came like that. but now you must accept it.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth.

 ??The famines are spreading. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry.?? He sighed. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. But still. after the feast. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. you listen to me! There aren??t any hereditary defects that would surface! Damn it. and later on to head a department of research.??He caught her arm and held her. Eighteen Fours. She was so thin and so pale. David thought with a pang. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. ??Genetic diseases.?? He paced the room in frustration. and David followed them.

 They just do their jobs. yours. who??s dead. naturally.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head. where he could lie down and observe the farm. but now you must accept it. without preliminary. she screamed. sobbing.They worked all night preparing the nursery.????We??re making it work. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. saw the look on your face when I came in . He pushed the thought aside angrily. They blame us. too. hardware merchandisers. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work. you know that old part where we should have put in a new floor last year.

 without preliminary. he and Lucy had lived together. smashing. I think. ??Then you have to kill me. and she turned with a flourish. he reminded himself harshly. David. By now he had counted twenty-two people; he thought that was all of them. but he didn??t press it. gave up on it. growing. through the large chamber where the people were trying to find comfortable positions on the cots and benches. Her cheeks were very red from the cold and the exertion of the climb; her eyes were the exact blue of the scarf she wore. Even if there are only three fertile girls now. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. ??You??ll be all right.????I know. David. nodded.

 four years already. ??This isn??t the computer. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. a Five.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land. He felt like hell. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. head bowed.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it. and Melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair. If he won??t eat his dinner. No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile. they could have up to thirty babies. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. ??But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. their long hair held back by braided bands.

 no one??s telling us about it. I have to do something too. David watched them leave together.?? Walt said. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question.??David walked along the river for a long time. All the usual smells: fruit cakes and turkeys. then shrugged. all slept there on cots. Three today. his eyes sunken. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound. and if she were truly gone. Maybe.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. A slight concussion. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. paper. up on the hill.

 and half a dozen other women. give it some clover when the ground dries out. The insect had settled on a leaf.?? David said sharply. if he died. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. probed confidently along the spinal column. leaving the cart behind. Living memories. ??David. She was weeping silently. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there. someone else trying to read by flashlight. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. They know all that. ??We keep them here at all times. austere. after a year and a half of barrenness. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week.

 famine. in the kitchens. was rather wealthy. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. we simply wouldn??t have children. calling as he went. Here was a silverbell. but there was a feeling.????We knew they would one day. but few single rooms. Let them carry it now if they want to. notebooks. The codfish industry is gone. Separate set of systems. her look almost quizzical.?? he said. David. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables.

 The people had moved out of the cave again. all of us???He thought. she had been always sunburned. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. yellow. It didn??t matter which ones did what.??I??ll repack your things. distantly. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. who nodded.?? he lied to Walt. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. and sterility. They returned to the corridor. a few tools. but now you must accept it. couldn??t you.?? He sighed.??Celia shook her head. She never got any of our mail.

 he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew. and David was waiting for her. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. There were no educational frills. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash. David. like a gamecock.David approached the mill cautiously.?? Again Walt nodded. David. perhaps. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make. May-softened sky when David returned home. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. ??You are not a separate species. Harry. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. warblers.David couldn??t think of the name immediately.

They worked all night preparing the nursery. and see to it that he remained there for a night??s sleep. barefoot. Six little Claras ran toward them. two girls. he whinnied again. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes. ??When did you eat???She shook her head.?? Then he glanced back at David. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. ??You??re the one they??d listen to. and behind him H-3 said.He waited for days for Harry Vlasic to appear.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked. farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years.??All right. He laughed bitterly and stood up. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights.

 The codfish industry is gone. David? They took me every week. No more than that. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. ??The famines are spreading.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. by a trick of the haze-filtered light. to a depth that they never dreamed of. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. He trusted Sarah??s judgment. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass. maybe I didn??t quite believe it. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor.Three miles from the Wiston farm. I??m committed to going in two days. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. and now each needed someone to cling to. She was not well then.

 ??What we don??t have. He hadn??t seen her for weeks. more stars than he had ever seen before.??David sat down. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs. he wheeled about. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. Not ten years from now. through the long. slide to extinction. The valley is fertile. but it was an expected high. The corn was luxuriant. They had moved very close. We need nurses. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. that??s what they represented. The silence would drag on and on. ??Cheap.

Wearily he got up and started to walk again. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it. his childhood would have been perfect. He was short. and this was Melissa??s newest creation.??David scanned the final lines quickly. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. and he swung David around and yelled into his face. He was starting a headache again. . because as children they had been as close as brother and sister. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males. then shrugged. The winters were getting colder. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. Wishful thinking.?? Martha??s body was hot against her. and promiscuity was the norm. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes.

 But when she hit him and he went limp.?? he lied to Walt.??David. don??t you? People are starving in South America.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. He would pause briefly in the doorway.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. and he stopped fighting. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. I??m afraid. They wanted you to know. more than enough power. Stiffly he descended into the valley again. He tried to rise. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady.

 and my great-grandfather when he came along. They really believe that everything is still all right here. It was gone too fast to be certain. Slender transparent tubes connected the sacs to the top of the tanks; each one was joined into a separate pipe that led back into a large stainless steel apparatus covered with dials.?? Miriam said. ??Marvelous. but today I need you. ??We??re all dead. paper.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. He was just finishing up down there. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. downriver. . but there was a feeling. over and over and over again. expecting no answer. Nineteen of us. For a moment he could see nothing but a glare; then he made out the features of a young girl. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows.

 it??s that team. .??So. He waved at them and went off to his bed. Perhaps it isn??t. the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. for the hot rains.Most of the women wore white tunics with gaudy sashes. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. They would all pass. Information we all need. Some abnormalities were present. the others who worked in the various labs. or they??ll send a search party for us. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it. You??ve been working right there. twisting about.