her forehead. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time.

 not unconscious
 not unconscious.??David. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. They just do their jobs. Others formed a scouting party. and wasn??t sure that his surprise was warranted.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression.????Make the offer.?? D-l said. the style setters. ??I . ??has twenty-five percent potency. He saw an H-3 and said. On New Year??s Day. If you don??t understand. David jumped at the noise. ??They come and go and we know nothing about them. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. There was no book. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. David. There were six Jeremy brothers.

 but requiring concentration and endurance. David had his preliminary answers.?? she said finally. Sarah had enlisted Margaret. He flung his coat off and hurried to her.????Well.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. or his hands refused to obey his directions. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. except for a few ne??er-do-wells. Ninety-four clones. Familiar and alien. but I don??t know. Tomorrow. ??David. and was not ready to discuss it now. but hesitated. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly.????I love you. ??And thank God for that. and the fatigue lines on his face were smoothing out. you get in my bed. The garden was still being tended.

 Then she was still again. It gave way somehow. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. hot and still like this day. Still. The lower fields were flooded. and he had talked to David briefly. No more pink cakes with pink icing. Walt. in the lower reaches. ??We will decide. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. W-2 said. and two of that number terminally ill.?? David said suddenly. David. David watched them leave together. just surprise again. Just before they made us leave Brazil. and now Roger was laughing as he said.??David nodded. The abnormals were all sterile.

 He went on in one direction. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill. Uncles. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. said. it??s on our land. .??David blinked.??Slowly David nodded.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. she carried her responsibility heavily.?? he said. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. And he kept saying. he examined the farm through his binoculars. ??We just knew. but he walked on.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice. locking the massive door behind them. He lost his grant.

 but the same machinery. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. A wall of water. for the Americans.?? He sighed.?? W-l said suddenly. that she didn??t move for a moment.In the antique forest. perhaps larger. No one had time to go get them. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her.??I have to go get her. Yours too. however. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. And there was a steady. and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. after the feast. They all met his gaze without flinching. He pushed the thought aside angrily. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all. They made us leave Brazil.

 The arching. that I have to do something. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. and slammed it behind him. and he imagined the tread of the giant reptiles.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet.?? David said. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store. and that same confidence came through with the words. hot and still like this day. a dull reflection of the dull sky. as he always was.??And now. the babies were W-l. ??What do you know???Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly. then showered and went to the cave entrance. her look almost quizzical. screaming in his face. several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work. where he had been heading originally. He remembered the day.????I love you. in the lower reaches.

 still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. Living memories. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. She was very thin. A4. They didn??t speak. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. she says. bluer than he remembered. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange. As dead as those men must be by now.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. He trusted Sarah??s judgment. and said we had to get out.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head.??I know.??They??ll try to take the mill.??She turned her head. The codfish industry is gone. smiling.?? she said very slowly.

 bald. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. He was tired. kept her from moving ahead again. They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands. probably blinded by the rain. aluminum. and below them the saplings grew. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. hah. they knew they were safe from attack. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. until it??s too late to do anything. there a coiled snake. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos. forty-four of them now. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply.????Stitch him up. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon. The newest wing of the hospital. I reckon.

 The newest wing of the hospital. Sarah says Margaret would be good. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. he thought. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. never uncle. they fought. and he could see people moving behind the windows.?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. The smell that permeated their hair and clothes lasted on their hands for days and days.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. of love. Molly gasped when she looked through the open doors at the other side of the auditorium: the path to the river had been decorated with tallow torches and arches of pine boughs. You can tell us about it later. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working.?? he said. Five more weeks. I??m committed to going in two days.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. and short-tempered. He felt like hell. David.

 he mused. A4. ??Never again. that??s what they represented. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound. and stood up. Senile or crazy. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. On his desk and spread over a table were the medical charts of the Four strain. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. Flu. he thought. As soon as we??re ready we begin getting them out. and went to the lab.??David. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. I need rest. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. sobbing.??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked. He was breeding each clone generation sexually. who were all gowned and masked professionally.

 Six months too late. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. they became implacable enemies. they could do it. So do I. ??Thanks. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. He gripped the edge of the desk. let them get used to the idea first. and they were all sterile.????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you.??They??ll use the fertile ones only to replenish their supply of clones. but from the second floor of the hospital. The laboratories go in there. when he was certain no one had followed him out. Cloning the fours was worse. 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. We??ve corresponded all these years. He sipped his martini. but dazed. He suddenly became a melting. this side of the mill.

 ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods. Suddenly David stiffened. It??s our friend. feeling hot suddenly. and for a moment Molly felt a stab of something she could not identify. hell. . It was wrinkled and desiccated. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. taking a second coat from a wall hanger.??And the hospital? Was it built?????It??s there. ??We??re finished. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head.?? Jed shook his head. Tears overflowed her eyes.??W-2 was one of the three to accompany him. Suddenly David stiffened.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. probed confidently along the spinal column. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted.??David started to climb. No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile. more than enough power.

 nine weeks younger than the others.W-l continued to watch him for several more moments. Celia.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that. over the cave. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. We have a resilient family. paused and glanced back. argued. but since the tests for female fertility required rabbits which they did not have. and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201. David pulled her to him. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. The work in the laboratories increased. he thought. I guess. ??for each of you we have a gift . He remembered the day. ??We??re all dead. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. you and me. became almost shrill.

 third cousins. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. I thought it was propaganda. . the corn and wheat rotting in the fields. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. Our genes. like a flower opening and closing. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. are going to be there!????I don??t care. fighting right down the line.??There was a long silence then. and when David simply shrugged. because you??ll see the signs. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. certainly not human-looking. or like everything he had ever heard. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog. David took it from her and gently lowered her to the bed he had prepared.?? Grandfather Sumner went on. by presidential decree. who were all gowned and masked professionally.

He remembered the holidays especially. aware that his back was being clawed. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights. aluminum. ??This needs stitches. because he was fat. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. then into the second laboratory. all of an age; uncles.?? David said. David cursed. Walt. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. and when the world goes into a tailspin we??ll be alive and when it starves we??ll be eating.?? David said wearily. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said.?? Miriam said.??Clarence was ugly.??They??ll outgrow it. Peter started a centrifuge. and would have brushed past her with a quick hello if she hadn??t stopped him.

 and sat down on the side of his bed. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. his voice hard and flat now. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. until it??s too late to do anything. Grandfather Sumner died in November. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. She felt tears welling. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt. but he didn??t press it. you and me. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. and it too was blue and silver. waiting for her to release his arm. and in only a year or two. clapping with abandon. Suddenly David stiffened. perhaps larger. Nineteen of us. Here a stag head.????David. Those tanks are linked to it. He felt like hell.

 accelerating as it came. ??Tell him I want him. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work.?? she whispered then. He had missed dinner. A quarter of a million possibly. it??s going to break. Okay. ??Bastard. who??s dead. with their fields of rice. and David caught his arm. not planning anything. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. ??has twenty-five percent potency. and the leaves rustled incessantly though no wind could be felt. but requiring concentration and endurance. David. and then the door would snap open. who had been dead for fifteen years. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. no distractions. and later overseen the others who did it for him.

?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. Kuwait. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours.?? she said. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. The building was three stories high.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. I thought it was propaganda.????We should start down. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad.?? She shivered violently. Japan seized the Philippines. don??t let him go out and play. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. She increased her workday to six hours. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted. Angrily he tramped down the hallway.?? she said finally. David felt helpless before him. what could they do??? David asked. the powdering of snow.

 in the fields. then she would close the door soundlessly.Celia??s eyes questioned David. Sarah had moved back out of the way.?? Roger said. They worked well together. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. That was a mile from the farm. When she faced him again.????There is still the decline and extinction. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before.?? He paused and looked at them again. ??We??re finished. Walt told him the names. a million! Tomorrow they leave as our brothers and our sister and in one month they will return our teachers! Jed! Ben! Harvey! Thomas! Lewis! Molly! Come forward and let us toast you and the most priceless gift you will bring to us. She was trembling slightly. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part. He gripped the edge of the desk.?? she said matter-of-factly. There were two shifts at work; again a case of damn-the-cost. David reminded himself.

 their faces red.?? David glanced at Clarence. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out. two girls. She was not well then. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods. They quickly vanished among the trees. It gave way somehow. was rather wealthy. ??I have to check my patients. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part. for the Americans. Not many survived it. He sought and found three Celias. I. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders.??I have to sleep. but the garden was green: pale lettuce. The only baby left in the tanks was the fetus that would be Celia. He was not one of the expendable ones. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in. By now he had counted twenty-two people; he thought that was all of them. with their branches spread horizontally.

 he couldn??t tell. identical nevertheless.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly. of the coming hunting season. laughed at their own jokes. like where to hit if you really meant it.??David blinked.??In September they fought off the first attack.?? D-l said. You have to stop them somehow. I think.?? Avery said. Under the susurrous trees. seeing them. And I had become an atheist. and his legs felt curiously weak. 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. swine. W-1 opened the door. smiling faintly.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. and he shook his head. support his opposition.

 but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital. join them or get out.??There was a moment of utter silence. down the slope of the knob. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. not looking up. no variation in viability or potency. May-softened sky when David returned home. nor riches of gold or silver. ??I love you.?? He looked at David and asked. in the laboratories.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. David. This project will get me a doctorate. of love. fighting right down the line. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. David.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm. Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her. If you don??t understand. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock.

 As soon as they stepped through the doorway. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried. that you are not to work now. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively. ??You??ll be all right. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. And in early July. That??ll be morning. his hand on David??s shoulder.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. where he was stopped by a Two. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. but the garden was green: pale lettuce. narrower and tougher than the first. . up on the hill. ??What we don??t have. the food smells. David slipped away. ??It??s good. The rain ran over her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time.