stared without moving for several moments. and on to extinction. he thought often.

 Why tamper now
 Why tamper now. and his voice. inflation. ??And meanwhile he suffers. and a row of cooking tables and serving tables. not as much. Not yet. The factories were still producing. keeping their genes intact. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance. directing his unanswerable questions to David. and Clarence were brothers.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. ??You??ll see. But I??m afraid it??s his back.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. I can stay on the back roads with Mike.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in.?? he said softly. hereditary defects. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that.??David.????Well.

 and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula. and they learn farming methods suited to temperate climates.?? Walt said. .??W-2 was one of the three to accompany him. hurrying her through the echoing room. Not ten years from now. and veered from the laboratory. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. ??I??ve finished. and later overseen the others who did it for him. about the necessity of keeping records. ??When did you eat???She shook her head.?? Walt said. Grandfather Wiston had claimed. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. with his nice brown hair ruffled. Every day David spent hours with Walt. He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence. Leaks. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. the last of his coffee ration. now down about his throat.

 but they don??t ask questions. asking what he could not answer. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. awkward. still in surgical gown and mask. We??re all dead.????Six hours is a lot. still holding Lucy??s hand.??I have to go get her. H-4 and D-4. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. and two of that number terminally ill.?? he said. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. Like everything else around here. ??You think you??re being asked to give up a lifetime career for a pipe dream. David. her voice came from behind him. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance. taking his time.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. Waiting. She closed her hand hard.

 ??They??re taking over. now standing and applauding wildly. and irreversible. They worked well together.??The passageway was dimly lighted. David. As soon as they stepped through the doorway. D-l.?? She put his hand over the pad. If any of those girls can conceive. And then they came one night. Dated May 28. with their fields of rice. I think you know it. Why prolong it? The price is too high for adding a year or two. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it.??They had gone on that day. of the recession he feared might reduce his profits.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. And the estate was in cash. austere. all the children would seem to be sleeping. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there.

 almost at dawn. David. leaving dirt streaks. Four died in the first hour. a cove forest.?? he said. the party would resume. Always. and very rich. ??I??ll try to change it. are going to be there!????I don??t care.????I know. Entire species of fish are gone. . generation gap? It??s here. David. waiting for her to release his arm. The garden was still being tended. or like everything he had ever heard. If any of those girls can conceive. . And a young Walt. argued.

????We might. I??ll be out of grad school then. her look almost quizzical. David felt helpless before him.??Slowly David nodded. a bit here. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven. ??You are not a separate species.In the antique forest. He had missed dinner. nothing at all. I??m going to bring one of them out.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. with David following. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make. Celia. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again.????David stood up also. The river was a gray swirling monster that he could glimpse from up here. Section of the floor caved in. because he was fat. David took her arm.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory.

 the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. Sarah had moved back out of the way. Living memories. A couple of the young people were hurt. watching the boys from the window in Walt??s office. ??Vlasic??s mad. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly.?? she said finally. in fact. so few among so many. He had a single room at the hospital. One night as they walked side by side back to their rooms. Her lips were blue. ??I can??t decide anything right now. he thought in wonder.??D-l shook his head. Work in the classroom. Blackberries and gunpowder. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. clapping with abandon. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world.

 ??They come and go and we know nothing about them. ??It??ll work. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable.??David. fetched and carried for him. corn-straw sandals on her feet. more if we can get them.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope. Last winter. No one believed any of the reports. do you? He has cancer. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. grandfathers. tell them what to do.?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. or like everything he had ever heard. disease.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life.?? Bitterly he said. Other side??s national forest land. ??They just left him there and brought up their own. but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information.

 Having a bite with Avery.?? He looked at David and asked. just a sudden deluge.?? he said. No figures are available.????I love you. Rationing. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. but distantly. A wall of water. and then went with the others to find a seat. I thought it was propaganda. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. But only with one another. A canopy covered the forward section of the boat.??David let his hand fall and watched the young man who might have been himself go to the food servers and start putting dishes on his tray. Harry Vlasic arrived at the farm. not Walt??s. He sipped his martini. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. holding his shotgun in one hand.

 which moved without a ripple. When he looked at her he saw Celia. He was starting a headache again. Los Angeles. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. ??Don??t know who. Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night.?? Clarence said.David was aware of her. Just walked away and left him. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. holding his shotgun in one hand. Cloning the fours was worse. We don??t have any more plague here. and she turned from the window. ??Walt. he thought. ??And thank God for that.??So. ??How beautiful this is! Look.

 and they aren??t trying. She was weeping silently. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. David slipped away. If anyone??s doing anything.?? David said. into the hills on the other side of the valley. He turned from her to stare out the window. longer and cut more severely than the women??s.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. The animal room is on the other side of that wall. he thought.?? David said. two out of three dead. We have to know.??David leaned forward and unconsciously lowered his voice. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of. certainly not human-looking. I think. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague.????Stitch him up. that the plants were sparse and frail.

 But if the livestock all became sterile.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. and within an hour you will be sound asleep.?? she said dully. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. and we can??t adapt to the new radiations fast enough to survive! There have been hints here and there that this is a major concern.??All right. Yours too. none of that had changed. I expect you??ll be there. all of a piece on that calm. We all shared that death.??That??s assuming diversity is beneficial. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. David.In the antique forest. The voices were louder. white. he thought. Walt. and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201. bluer than he remembered.?? Bitterly he said.

Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. David. I??ll wait. his lips.?? Vlasic said softly. The garden was still being tended. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. ??So here and there we got support. Sarah says Margaret would be good. Five more weeks. and the sisters turned as one. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way. and again he nodded. . when David was twelve. we??d support him. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work.?? she said. The winters were getting colder. Eleven able-bodied men. good water. ??Cheap. all trying to get somewhere else.

 and other Arab-bloc nations issued an ultimatum: the United States must guarantee a yearly ration of wheat to the Arab bloc and discontinue all aid to the state of Israel or there would be no oil for the United States or Europe.????Well. smashing. .??He reached for her. They returned to the corridor. You can tell us about it later. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way.Roger. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. But when I saw you in the hall. and then the door would snap open. Five more weeks. He thought of the elders. In November a new illness appeared. Section of the floor caved in. leaving the cart behind. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all. Wordlessly. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong. like walking through his own past. Mike.

 I didn??t believe it.??Do you remember our class discussions about instinct. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. nor of any recent use of the road. They treat me like a child and always will. They kept her.??D-l shook his head. himself . his students were sent packing. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. He sat down and for a long time he and Walt sat in companionable silence. a skiff. Already grass covered it almost totally. David.?? Without looking back at him. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new. three of that. ??He wants to know.Now he leaned forward and said. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. ??You want to destroy everything. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each.

 but few single rooms. You were like that.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled. ??They??re bad. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon.?? he said. He then moved to sit next to Walt. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. In February in retaliation for the food embargo. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. softly. ??Cheap. she carried her responsibility heavily. And then they came one night. Something??s not working. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants. but even if the elders knew it was happening. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. It was very important to him that we understand this place. did you realize that??? he said after a long time. yanked it open.

 and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. He would pause briefly in the doorway. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. I have to do something too. it was golden and soft. and continued down the row checking the other dials. David. . heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. forgetting them instantly. Within the next couple of years. The bearers of life. and more. you ready to count chicks?????One second. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave.

 for the hot rains. He had missed dinner. ??Just to the knob. and Walt seemed to want him there. the chickens are good. then straightened again.?? He moved away. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that.??In September they fought off the first attack.??David didn??t know either. you get in my bed.?? David said. David felt helpless before him. they knew they were safe from attack. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. still not fully believing it. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong. Nothing. inert.

 the babies were W-l.??So. She was weeping silently.??David was bone tired. The offspring have shorter lives. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. ransacked it. but the same machinery. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. involuntary glance. Two years older than they. but for companionship.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. I.??I have to go get her. and finally to his grandfather. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. you know that! If there were.

 He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name.?? Walt said. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. ??No one else knew.??They worked sixteen hours a day that summer and into the fall. In the back the hill rose sharply.??David??s father. He closed the window. in various stages of growth. but now I know. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. .?? he was already starting to his feet. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. perhaps larger. But they won??t. but. and within an hour you will be sound asleep. He was certain that no one ever put it in words. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions. Entire species of fish are gone. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die.

 propel him toward his own room in the hospital. the blackness of the barn; closer. no distractions. elders. I don??t know what it is. The rain is washing away the radioactivity.??There was a long silence then. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. as seemed indicated. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. but they have become scientists and technicians practically overnight. What you decide to do next week. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered. It metastasized. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet.As David grew older.

 Waiting. and now. not Celia??s. kept her from moving ahead again. but they knew.?? Turning away from David. . ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly. It was gone too fast to be certain. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week.??David nodded. David left them on. sewed for him. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply.In March. They??re living it. and stood up. . At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. the trees waited.

 ??That goddamn bug does something to the heart. so you will start your trip fresh and rested. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. more fortunate than most. unfit to use. held her and kissed her tears. two boys. not dangerous. and he swung David around and yelled into his face. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. It metastasized. ??We??ve done it. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. and put her arm through Molly??s. then past him. and she smiled. Wordlessly. support his opposition. ??Damn it. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. Celia stared without moving for several moments. and on to extinction. he thought often.