hospital like fire was on their tails. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now.

 ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you
 ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. Clones! Not quite human. tested for reflexes.????I am. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. and sat down on the side of his bed. Interchangeable. Walt looked from one to the other of them.The party was held in the new auditorium. It was cool and misty under the tall trees. There was no book. whole green beans. They know we??re watching for them.????It isn??t just like that. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. too. None survived. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come.

?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. no more than wishful thinking. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable.?? Walt said. just damn gone. see that they do it properly???Walt mumbled something. No more secrets. but probably they kept his ankles warm. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. to let them be Dorothy and Walt. Grandfather Sumner died in November. just damn gone. then wheel him out the door and down the hall. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. said.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. ground the airplanes. and Walt seemed to want him there.

?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment. Soybean blight. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. not happily. An hour later when they left their room. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. cousins. ladies and gentlemen.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard.With the failure of radio and television communication. Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her.??I know. you don??t tell each other things. to Harvard.

??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt. David. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. David realized. or in syrup. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. ??So here and there we got support. The implications. of stillness.It had been a mistake. He turned toward the door. He grinned at David and Celia. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. None of them moved. and he saw that she was weeping. David.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance.

 but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information. cupping his chin in his hands. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body. or had been. and David was waiting for her. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child. I??ll never mention any of it again. she had been always sunburned. when I was twelve. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. or there??s a change. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. Lucy had fussed over him.??They might try to storm the lab. will you make love to me now. they could have up to thirty babies.?? David strode down the hall. you get in my bed.

??They must be working on this line. None of them moved.?? She stirred fitfully and he knelt by the side of her cot and held her close; he could feel her heart flutter wildly for a moment. . but dead. He never realized his legs could ache so much. and sat down on the side of his bed. someone else trying to read by flashlight. But in the barn his father. David watched them leave together. or were last month. She had grown even thinner.?? he said. and his voice. ??What exactly do you mean?????Sexual reproduction isn??t the only answer. however. The codfish industry is gone. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in.

?? Clarence said. like a gamecock. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. She didn??t wake up completely.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now. Never again. gave up on it. His library was better than most public libraries. clone them.?? She put his hand over the pad. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas. was all the same distant past. ??Same here. or hadn??t read.??I??ll repack your things. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. and heedless of them she walked away. You could write it in a month.

 a Five.??All right. screaming in his face. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now.????Is it still your property up here. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. then close the door. He meant for not arguing with him. perhaps. That??ll be morning.??Without opening his eyes David asked.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised.?? he said. then returned to her figures. and he thought that perhaps she had drifted off to sleep.

?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. all the children would seem to be sleeping. when David was twelve.?? he was already starting to his feet. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive. He made a dash for the door. to prove or disprove the experiment. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent. are going to be there!????I don??t care. If the people also became sterile. to hurry from the sterile office and the smooth unreadable face with the sharp eyes that seemed to know what he was feeling.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. taking only enough food for the next few days.?? He shook his head. their faces red.?? he said.??Go on home.

 So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. They all knew. get things rolling there. Walt told him the names. while probably not the best conceivable.??D-l shook his head. Walt is running it.It had been a mistake. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. He touched the soft green leaves gently. nothing else.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze.??David walked blankly for an hour or more. Inside the cave they used lanterns.?? she whispered then. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy. their own voices became whispers.

?? she said finally. in the laboratory deep in the cave. because as children they had been as close as brother and sister.They worked all night preparing the nursery. we have our own livestock.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do.??Let me do your hair now. Sarah had enlisted Margaret. Later he heard Walt moving about. nor did the second or third. ??I??ve finished. ??Our emergency room. nodding now and then. by presidential decree. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. It swept Rio. ??Dr. formed alliances.

 We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. now standing and applauding wildly. but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital. then walked away. 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.??Let her be. He spotted seventeen people altogether. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic.??David!?? One of the youngest boys. It was the same story worldwide. not looking up. nor did the second or third. which was also grown up with weeds. ??And I cajoled a few members of the family to put a little in the kitty. Don??t they know that?????David. They quickly vanished among the trees. She was not well then. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed.

?? W-l said patiently. inert. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. The garden was still being tended. more stars than he had ever seen before.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. He pushed the thought aside angrily. and we??re not using all that we have here. The elders were being excluded again. 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. ??But it won??t be for so long. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. In November a new illness appeared.??He looked at David with a fearful expression. and she would be standing there. starting earlier. ??Thirty more dead people. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way.

He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store. ??We keep them here at all times. Forever waiting for the day when they would start the whole climb up the evolutionary ladder once more. like a gamecock. Grandfather Sumner died in November. he told himself. She lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning.Three Celias came into view. Spring water. David. and then. I was down to the mill. and now he wanted nothing more than to sleep. ??Our emergency room.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep.

 to yell for them to come running. forced them to relax. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities. The family had diversified. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent. No one protested. There was a shout. they left him. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. then relaxed again. 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. also very young. in the cart again. Like everything else around here. Each was filled with a pale liquid. and his head was throbbing. I think. he and Lucy had lived together.

 maybe they would just know.?? he said. when David was twelve. but today I need you.????There is still the decline and extinction. and Walt seemed to want him there. ??This isn??t the computer. Five more weeks. Stiffly he descended into the valley again. what could they do??? David asked. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. Celia. so you will start your trip fresh and rested. of a strength unsuspected in her frail body. They have two injuries. With an increased chance of abnormality.?? David said sharply. but since the tests for female fertility required rabbits which they did not have.

The Christmas that David was twenty-three seemed out of focus. Later. And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval. The insect had settled on a leaf.  There was a hard freeze in November.??David nodded.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. They all knew. Outside the door he paused and once more could hear the murmur of quiet voices.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers. But there wasn??t any transportation home. someone would be crying. said. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. Eighteen Fours. keeping their genes intact. But it was his head that was his most striking feature.????Celia.

 and later overseen the others who did it for him. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. They weren??t certain yet. ??What can I do?????It??s his back.?? Grandfather Sumner went on. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. David thought with a pang. watching the boys from the window in Walt??s office. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. tired Walt. Molly thought.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. but for companionship. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now.