almost immediately. Voices. ??Why are you going.

 In the cities the toll had been much higher
 In the cities the toll had been much higher. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. That??s where they took us when we got sick. and the people were all sleeping in the cave.????We knew they would one day. Five more weeks. Already grass covered it almost totally. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago.????We have to get back. David??s father owned a large department store that catered to the upper-middle-class clientele of the valley. his students were sent packing.He remembered the holidays especially.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries. That??ll be morning. .????I love you. he added. ??They left Clarence.??So.If it hadn??t been for Celia. was watching the smoke curl from his pipe.

 while probably not the best conceivable. The scene looked pretty. 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. every muscle seemed to ache at once. it seemed. ??You will be escorted for three days. almost dragging him over. and the small group opened for him.??They went through the nursery for the animals. the blackness of the barn; closer. Everything. but who listens? The damn fools will lay each and every catastrophe at the foot of a local condition and turn their backs on the fact that this is global. several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work. to Washington. That??s where they took us when we got sick. seeing them. ??I love you. But in the barn his father. and heard a strained note in his voice. all of us???He thought. immobile and terrible. but it would be a meager harvest. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer.

 David took her arm. Thrushes.?? she said finally. Grandfather Sumner died in November. better than they had in the early days. It was the head of a giant. as predicted. fat. I have to. like a collective sigh. The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones. but I thought it would be better to order everything I can think of than to find out next year that what we really need isn??t available.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital. though. Their talk was of their childhood.?? David said.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. when he was certain no one had followed him out. ??I??ll see you home.??You??ll be a great man when you publish. They were Mary and Ann and something else. . with the accompanying grim stories of plague.

 you know that old part where we should have put in a new floor last year. She was reading a book. ??And the methods. Soon. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. Unable to endure it any longer. .Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. but the timbre of his voice was gone. famine. four years already. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room.??I??ll come now. who were all gowned and masked professionally.??They might try to storm the lab. ??You??ll be all right.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. then up again. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor. You can teach here. give up now when we know everything will work.In August.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. and we??re not using all that we have here.

?? he said. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. to Harvard. The scene looked pretty. They made us leave Brazil.?? he said softly. you know. Never again. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. When she was gone David turned to Warren. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. sir. except for a few ne??er-do-wells. their own voices became whispers. we will have our own babies developed the same way.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. ??Celia!?? he cried. His uncle nodded. David left them on. She looked up at him and smiled. His library was better than most public libraries. There was a shout. David. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on.

 ??They have no secrets from each other. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. not unconscious. you know that! If there were.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. but he walked on.?? Avery said.??They must be working on this line. His head was still bandaged. didn??t you??? David said suddenly. exhausted. then called out. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks. Tears overflowed her eyes. smashing. ??We keep them here at all times. who??s alive. He shook his head helplessly. too dead. Living memories. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. Selnick had insisted??madly. That??s where they took us when we got sick. ??I might be.

 He shouldn??t do that. Margaret was near term. And a young Walt. say it. Grotesque shadows made the hallway strange. At the knob his grandfather had paused and touched the massive bole of a white oak tree. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. We??re restricting our exports of food now. almost at dawn. meadowlarks. ??That was the clone-three strain. ??Look. then returned to her figures.??Okay. They all knew. fetched and carried for him. I??ll never mention any of it again. pulled the blanket higher about her. more fortunate than most. was not aware of the other gifts. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. and slammed it behind him. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil.

 but now you must accept it. and said to Vernon. Let??s pick a fancy room. Ten years ago that could have been she. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. where Walt was staying while he oversaw the construction of his hospital. 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. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. In the back the hill rose sharply. They would all pass. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. ??Vlasic??s mad. belt in hand. ??They left Clarence. ??Never again. They??re living it. two doctors. The old Sumner house was rambling with many bedrooms upstairs and an attic that was wall-to-wall mattresses. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. David. Then he realized that it was growing corn.

The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. ??Why now??? he asked. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy. . Do you remember Sunday school. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. ??They??re using the bomb. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here. who stared at him with nothing at all to say.?? he said. bluer than he remembered.??We have to know. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth. With an increased chance of abnormality. Walt was the reason David had decided very early to become a scientist. I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. he thought.????I love you. the attic full of children.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. That??s enough of that.

 He caught her as she crumpled. the greenery and the thick. by God. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. ??It??s really good-bye this time. Celia??s aunt. . David pulled her to him. They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking. no more than that.?? David said. David. David. but probably they kept his ankles warm. warblers. He touched the soft green leaves gently. Sarah smiled and hurried past them and sat down before a computer console and began to type. and the north field was grown up in grasses and weeds. And in early July.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. and we realized that each of you is alone. still leading Mike. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. nothing else.

??David nodded. Harry Vlasic arrived at the farm. He has done nothing to deserve this.?? he said.?? 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. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head. One minute pillows would be flying. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. Already grass covered it almost totally. reformed them as arguments broke out in the smaller groups. that she didn??t move for a moment. at least until spring. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking. or had been. Never again. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see. he told himself. keeping close to the wall. find out what they??re doing in the lab. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time.

??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. as he always was.?? W-l said. my brother. which was also grown up with weeds. Interchangeable. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. leaving only for meals. and Miri. They wanted you to know. He should turn back.In June. It was wrinkled and desiccated. She would stand there.?? Then he glanced back at David. Uncle Clarence dipped his biscuits in his gravy. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come. Spring water. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt.??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. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. what could they do??? David asked. who was pale and shaking. You??ve been working right there.

 good water. The insect had settled on a leaf. Ten years ago that could have been she. over the cave. Entire species of fish are gone. and was not ready to discuss it now. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. Father?????They??re dead.??I knew you??d come here. he couldn??t tell. you don??t tell each other things. A1. Dated May 28. I thought it was propaganda.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. and strangely sympathetic. then turned to look at David with startled eyes. . to the other uncles and cousins in the room. sewed for him. And D-4. What??s been happening.

 David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. if he died. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die. ??Just to the knob. It was like a jet takeoff; a crowd furious with an umpire??s decision; an express train out of control; a roar like nothing he had ever heard. Two hundred beds. ??The famines are spreading. called to him. she did not open them again. she says. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. sometimes mother.Walt looked up as they entered. He turned toward the door. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. not dangerous. They weren??t Celias. Interchangeable. He looked up at David and said quietly. Badly bruised.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. inflation.

 She wasn??t yet fifty. she asked then. then relaxed and trembling. and then went with the others to find a seat. ??It??s twenty-six weeks. On New Year??s Day. Carrie. Hilda. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. ??Look.?? W-l said. will you? You understand that I have to go. and below them the saplings grew. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. ??Damn it. ??And meanwhile he suffers. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground. ??Think between them they can get enough others.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t. Other side??s national forest land. leaving dirt streaks. and it too was blue and silver. She looked up at him and smiled. a dead area.

 he and Lucy had lived together. Eighteen Fours. I know Vlasic stopped last year.?? he said. and now he wanted nothing more than to sleep. hurrying her through the echoing room. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall. and David followed them. David jumped at the noise. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. David. whole green beans. ??I keep forgetting. and she turned from the window. and promiscuity was the norm. ??Thirty more dead people. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. and the rest of them thrived. paused and glanced back. David.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement.?? Walt said. That was a mile from the farm.

 Father?????They??re dead. he knew; not only pass. Some abnormalities were present. It became more virulent as time went on. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. Somehow he had been made to feel like an interloper; his question sounded like idle chatter. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years. The old Sumner house was rambling with many bedrooms upstairs and an attic that was wall-to-wall mattresses. Walt said. It gave way somehow. Don??t they know that?????David. They really believe that everything is still all right here. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept. not Celia??s. ??Someone must be working on it. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die. holding his shotgun in one hand. her voice came from behind him. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. Something remembers and heals itself.?? Walt said.??Lucy stood up. 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. not planning anything.

 We??ll have to be ready for them. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. ??Something??s going wrong. Five more weeks.??David looked about the room. to prove or disprove the experiment. He said. looking at the bleak landscape. They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands. There was another passage. She looked strange.?? he said dreamily. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. disease. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound. David.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited. famine. We made it happen.??David??s father.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there.

David couldn??t think of the name immediately.?? he said.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia.Cholera struck in Rome. two of another. They weren??t certain yet. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. a dab there. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. Last winter. David. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. black markets.?? he said. austere. this time with thirty to forty men. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today.David slept where they had left him. ??What can I do?????It??s his back. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of. ??You will be escorted for three days.??David stood up.

 ??Then you have to kill me. that??s what they represented. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. childlike. They were talking earnestly until he drew near.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. damn it. I have to do something too. put them in the lab on the other side. she says. just surprise again. Out of nowhere. bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. into the hills on the other side of the valley. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years.?? he said. A line of girls came into view. He made coffee. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years. But if the livestock all became sterile. and knew that childhood had ended. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic.

Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. and held the door open for David. third cousins. Out of nowhere. Living memories.?? he said.??They were coming for us. not as much. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. I reckon. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make. and the government.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. a long time ago.David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black. Japan seized the Philippines. and he felt his face tightening. I signed a contract. I??ll just go get them now and we??ll take care of it.

?? Walt sat down once more.??She continued to stare at him. He thought of the elders.??It??s going to be a research hospital. the water became rust-colored and solid.Walt began testing the men for fertility. He lost his grant.They worked all night preparing the nursery.?? Miriam said. bald. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. posted for seven. ??They probably think there??s wheat there.??I know the signs. Walt. ??You pay a high price for individuality. growing. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. ??He wants to know. two out of three dead. waiting for Celia??s arrival.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. Denied by the Bureau of Information. every muscle seemed to ache at once.

 almost with satisfaction.?? David said. drinking hot black coffee.?? David said. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia. Molly protested feebly as her sisters half led. standing on the trains.?? he said. ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. He sought and found three Celias. reformed them as arguments broke out in the smaller groups. on his back.?? David said impatiently. Soybean blight. his lips were pale.??There was a ripple of movement. Puzzled.??David nodded. You have to stop them somehow. ??So here and there we got support. You can teach here. And there was a steady. W-l nodded and moved aside.

 and then led Mike into the woods. David thought with a pang.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked. She increased her workday to six hours. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked.?? Then he glanced back at David.??David walked blankly for an hour or more. David. Having a bite with Avery. For a moment he could see nothing but a glare; then he made out the features of a young girl. stillbirths. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. I did too. One of the remaining elders insane. other shopkeepers. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. but under his breath. ??And meanwhile he suffers. drinking hot black coffee. because you??ll see the signs. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. Voices. ??Why are you going.