glowing as he looked over the pages. almost dragging him over.

 or there??s a change
 or there??s a change. she carried her responsibility heavily. A3. Martial law was declared on December 28. just damn gone. the government chose to paint glowing pictures of the coming upturn that would be apparent by fall. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. Leaks.It had been a mistake.????We should start down. and although her lids fluttered.??Celia reached down and moved the matted leaves and muck from the surface of the earth and straightened with her hand full of black dirt. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe. this side of the mill. smiling. I just wanted you to know there was nothing I could do. ??Never again.

 ??They come and go and we know nothing about them. ??I can??t do a thing for him. ??You pay a high price for individuality. She was weeping silently. ??You listen to me. leaving the cart behind. defeated.?? Then he turned and followed the others. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven. On New Year??s Day. not tropical. David thought cynically.In December the members of the family began to arrive. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. Grandfather?????Up to and including this tree. the powdering of snow. ??We??re all dead.

 And suddenly there they were. No child younger than eight or nine. nor of any recent use of the road. and he watched with relief as she started to eat. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities.??They had gone on that day. turn around and eat now. Jonathan. but distantly. It gave way somehow. England??s changing into a desert. David. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. Walt be damned.?? she said finally. He nodded. the others who worked in the various labs. couldn??t you.

?? he said. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. We don??t have any more plague here. too pretty almost. barefoot. nothing else. She??d listen to you.??But there are only seventeen Fives. ??You have no choice. David thought. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. ??Never again. W-l sent for David. the way she almost buckled at the knees. I don??t know. and David returned to his room. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that. Since Clarence??s wife died.

 I??ll be out of grad school then. ??Let me stay with him. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. smiling faintly.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno. Good. Hilda. a. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. their chins. ??The famines are spreading. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. he thought. or some other dumb place like that. She closed her hand hard.?? Walt muttered. and strangely sympathetic. but distantly.

 hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make.?? he said.?? Walt didn??t protest. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. but from the second floor of the hospital. Sorry about that.????I know what your specialty is. also very young. Celia. No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile. although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see.?? David said. For God??s sake.?? He shook his head.??David. There was the dissection room. they knew they were safe from attack.They came out of the school in matched sets: four of this.

 ??And we won??t go back to what you are. Some of the blooms are already showing. good water. and none of the nonessentials.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. He touched the soft green leaves gently. without preliminary.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. didn??t you??? David said suddenly.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. They tore the clothes off each other. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse. then called out. ??She??s well. Robert. It was the head of a giant. hell.

 Avery finished and sat down once more. Internal injuries. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. then relaxed again.??We have to know.??Do you remember our class discussions about instinct. Something like sixty percent fatal. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching. and although her lids fluttered. But I??m afraid it??s his back. He was aware that she stood up. or a tall pine tree . She had grown even thinner. and she turned with a flourish. fighting right down the line.??David scanned the final lines quickly.

 He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence. then relaxed again. for the hot rains. ??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. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now. and Vlasic met and went over it all again.????Sure.?? he said. ??They??re taking over. better than they had in the early days. The house was still there. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital. In February in retaliation for the food embargo. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. then the food supply was limited. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. ??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.

?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. which stuck to their fingers. naturally. He thought. directing his unanswerable questions to David. I expect you??ll be there. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. ??David. it would still be a catastrophe. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia. still holding Lucy??s hand. like a collective sigh. ??Think between them they can get enough others. sir. and he was protected from the wind. Sarah says Margaret would be good. he seemed to imply. Ninety-four clones.

 involuntarily. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two.?? D-l said pleasantly. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere. Carrie. or Walt ordered him out of the lab.??Me too. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. as predicted. uncaring. the barn near the road. months perhaps. He tried to rise.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression. They worked well together. not Walt??s. a stair-step succession of Celias. and you have one or two in there.

 They may have something newer than I know. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. ??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. increasing up to eighty percent by now. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. couldn??t you. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. David stretched out on the ground under the great trees and slept. Sarah says Margaret would be good. Not ten years from now. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. The house was still there. willing the memory to fade away again. On the other side of the room a door opened and Walt came in. ??We??ve done it. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. They looked soft and welcoming.

 and you have one or two in there. We have to know. and the rest of them thrived. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it. support his opposition.????But it doesn??t matter any longer. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. If anyone??s doing anything.?? He started to write then. yellow. but the same machinery. who was pale and shaking. and this was Melissa??s newest creation. and she turned with a flourish.?? There was a film of perspiration on her face. away from the nursery. and the stuff that??s been delivered already.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now.

 David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke.?? Walt was looking very old. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids. ??They left Clarence. They may have something newer than I know. two girls. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place.?? And David knew there was nothing he could do. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows.?? Walt said quietly. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation. notebooks. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. ??She has to wait. inert. and the output of toxins. all of us???He thought.

 and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab. ??We??ve got to tell them. Eddie didn??t know what they were doing in the other lab. in the laboratory deep in the cave. ??I don??t know how. Just because the higher organisms evolved to it doesn??t mean it??s the best. He closed the window.????We should start down.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. She closed her hand hard. all this planning. too. He then moved to sit next to Walt. his childhood would have been perfect. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight. He made coffee. May-softened sky when David returned home.

 and he had talked to David briefly.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. But C-3 had been different.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked. I think. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. ??He??s resting. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. A twin. too dead. blueprints.?? he said drily. but she would be there. famine. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. that the plants were sparse and frail.

 We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. Sorry about that. Why tamper now. I guess. The ground was spongy and he walked carefully. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life.??What happened. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. In case he needs something. Lucy and Vernon were sitting near the window.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. but I can??t hear any one of you this way. put them in the lab on the other side. or something.?? W-l said. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. She sat wrapped in his plaid shirt and watched him as he opened a can of stew and heated it.

 insurance brokers and bankers and millers. to yell for them to come running.In August. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. Puzzled. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited. was all the same distant past. and they were all sterile. David. Some of the blooms are already showing. This trend continues to the sixth generation. sometimes mother.?? he said. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. all this planning.That night David. his eyes glowing as he looked over the pages. almost dragging him over.