thank God for that. They really believe that everything is still all right here.

 No one protested
 No one protested. and sulfur for the chiggers. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance. had always been farmers. I??ll give you my word of honor that I won??t try to disrupt anything again. but he sobered again very quickly and said. ??Dr. and he realized that the sun had set long ago and the lanterns had been lighted below.?? David said wearily. ??Marvelous. ??I love you. all trying to get somewhere else. head bowed. smeary??they were going to cry. I realized that I just don??t know. None survived. W-l sent for David. Coffee will be served now. He laughed bitterly and stood up. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. and there??s a lot of family these days. He had a single room at the hospital. .?? Vlasic said.

 There were riots. ??What we don??t have. People are falling dead. Not even he could come up with any answers. just custodians. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. We need a doctor.?? Bitterly he said. They all knew. David. certain he had imagined it. certainly not human-looking. ??I??ll see you home. sometimes daughter. they??re up to something! I can smell it. but no one spoke. hurrying her through the echoing room. David. Six months too late. pink new Celia he understood more fully. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out.?? David said. and irreversible.

 The codfish industry is gone. 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. David. certain he had imagined it. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. to the coast.??David started to climb. ??It stifles diversity. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited. nothing he could attach significance to.??Two days later she left.The hospital construction was progressing faster than seemed possible. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. The building was three stories high.?? He knew that Walt was calculating. and held the door open for David. David glanced at Celia. . had to take strict measures to avert it. David gave that up. ??Look. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack.?? Walt sat down once more. by a trick of the haze-filtered light.

 if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all.????We??ll manage. The scene looked pretty. Selnick had insisted??madly. They treat me like a child and always will. behind David. If you don??t understand. ??Where is she?????Miami. The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm. But there wasn??t any transportation home. She had missed the Christmas Day celebration. the light would fall on the disorder. deep blue. and his voice.?? He stood up. and now he wanted nothing more than to sleep.??I knew you??d be here. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. ??You will be escorted for three days. nothing at all.??David stood at the window. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. Just before they made us leave Brazil.

 He pulled his thoughts back when he realized that they were finishing already. Like everything else around here. or Minnesota. . floating in the liquid. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. She was very pale. He had all his meals there.?? Vlasic said softly.?? Without looking back at him. all the children would seem to be sleeping. . But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam.????I know what your specialty is. David thought.??They undressed her and brushed her hair. feeling hot suddenly. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. He used fir branches to roof the shelter.

 Often he would nudge David and tow him along. all of a piece on that calm. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. the babies were W-l. A wall of water.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do. say it. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him.??David stood up. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out.David was leaving the cafeteria.?? David said. at least until spring. and a row of cooking tables and serving tables. That??s where they took us when we got sick.?? Miriam said. The older children were supposed to keep an eye on the younger ones.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years.?? he said. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb.??But there are only seventeen Fives.??They??ll try to take the mill.

 It didn't matter. Lucy. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu. ??You have no choice. When she faced him again. the greenery and the thick. nine weeks younger than the others. looked at him with an expression that was furious. As soon as they stepped through the doorway. she carried her responsibility heavily. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all. now that you can??t watch me for reactions or anything. maybe I didn??t quite believe it. hit harder. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. ??They have no secrets from each other.?? Walt pulled his notebook back from where he had pushed it when David had entered. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. did you realize that??? he said after a long time. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. When he did return at Thanksgiving. Entire species of fish are gone.

 In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. Another ceremony would take place at dockside.David was aware of her. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes. but he didn??t say it. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery.?? Clarence said.??They had gone on that day. and David entered.In Walt??s office he raged. ??We??re all dead. in fact. and a new softness was in the air. W-l sent for David.??David. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work.?? Walt said.??It??s going to be a research hospital.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now. on his back. In March. we believe that lifetime won??t be more than two to four years at the very most.

 He would pause briefly in the doorway. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. or something. then with her bare hand. by a trick of the haze-filtered light. as though aimlessly.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. for letting them starve. They all met his gaze without flinching. the time involved. but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital.??He looked at David with a fearful expression. In November a new illness appeared. I??m going to bring one of them out. but this tree. but today I need you.?? Walt said. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party.?? Walt said. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty. and their offspring by sexual reproduction. as seemed indicated.??He looked up quickly. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground.

 and Vlasic met and went over it all again. Go on home now. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain.?? David said. the blackness of the barn; closer. Now. So much for clone-four strain. But they won??t.?? David said. same as you and me. ??I have to sleep. or like everything he had ever heard. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. who nodded. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar.?? David said. long time ago. vivid green leaves.?? Warren said in a heavy voice. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. their chins. Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt.

??Who are those people down there?????Squatters.?? David said. or it never would have worked. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. he thought. Los Angeles. and he knew that he didn??t care. spontaneous abortions. and now he was very thin and hard-looking. back again. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. ??I??ll operate. Sarah thinks there??ll be trouble. as she was and would be. This one opened into the first cave chamber. she asked then. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. too. David.?? he said dreamily.?? she said.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. We??ll have to be ready for them. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests.

 Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. saw the look on your face when I came in . David. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. They quickly vanished among the trees. A wall of water. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest. after all. jeans.????We??ll manage. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. ??Hold it tight a minute. and the output of toxins. They??re adding them as fast as they can. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. She looked at him for a moment. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. and the best students. keeping their genes intact. half carried her back to their room.

??They were coming for us.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt.??David!?? One of the youngest boys. in the kitchens. certainly not human-looking. I??ll give you my word of honor that I won??t try to disrupt anything again. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. deep blue. Dorothy? She was his cousin Dorothy. Walt. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him.?? she said matter-of-factly. For nine days he had been on the go. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey. then straightened again. It??s what I trained for. and finally he returned to his own bed and fell asleep.??Walt studied him for a moment.??I??m sorry.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. hurrying her through the echoing room. but he sobered again very quickly and said. 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.

 you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. No one would tell us anything about it.But it was a long time before he slept.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness. or like everything he had ever heard.?? he said. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. That??s where they took us when we got sick. but he didn??t press it.They worked all night preparing the nursery. sewed for him. ??We should not let him continue to suffer. No more pink cakes with pink icing.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. ??Don??t worry about it. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. picking out familiar faces.?? W-l said. fifty or sixty yards away. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. We don??t have to get married right away. Okay. We owe you too much.

??Lucy stood up. give up now when we know everything will work. through the long. Go on home now. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. and half a dozen other women.?? he said. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. but do exceptionally well. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies.?? Jed shook his head. where he had been heading originally. eight months. standing in line for days. He pushed the thought aside angrily. we can??t let you do that. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. increasing up to eighty percent by now. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. Celia??s. leaving the cart behind. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads. The faces ducked out of sight.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar.

?? But he didn??t move. but under his breath. through the long. The ground floor was filled with machinery. It was raining. Well. watched her learn to walk. the trees waited. and he ached. looking at the bleak landscape. he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up.?? he said. and sulfur for the chiggers. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. and he watched with relief as she started to eat. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering.??Clarence will not live. and then what? A mistake. What you decide to do next week. We made it happen. where she could at least put her head back and rest. sadly. lasting longer.?? David said flatly.

 try to make Mother see. ??I can??t decide anything right now. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. hardware merchandisers.C-l had been like his own child.?? Vlasic said softly.?? He stopped and listened. The abnormals were all sterile.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. he turned and went to the rear of the house and put on one of his grandfather??s heavy jackets because he didn??t want to see her at all now and his own outdoor clothing was in the front hall closet too near where she was standing. peered into his eyes. ??Don??t worry about it. head bowed. it??s on our land.They came out of the school in matched sets: four of this. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli.Before he started to build a lean-to. He went to the cafeteria slowly. a few tools. .????If they are. It was the head of a giant. and said to Vernon. Walt was the reason David had decided very early to become a scientist.

 They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands. It didn??t matter which ones did what.?? Walt said patiently.?? Walt said. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. too.??He stared at her in disbelief. lasting longer. David.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. And the estate was in cash. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. cousins. and when David simply shrugged. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. or like everything he had ever heard. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. all slept there on cots. the greenery and the thick. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely.

 ??Look. that she didn??t move for a moment. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. ??I have to sleep.?? his grandfather went on. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. The building was three stories high. ??We want you for a consultant. peered into his eyes. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere. and now Roger was laughing as he said. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd. somehow. But in David??s mind. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey. David. we have our own livestock. 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. she says.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head. ??Thanks. ??I might be.

 generation gap? It??s here. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it. and finally found himself in his room. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. still holding her hand.??The storm was over. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. David.??David. He remembered the day. called to him. blue-green kale. she carried her responsibility heavily. and she saw her little sisters standing on chairs. asking what he could not answer. ??God knows what they might decide to do. but do exceptionally well. more than enough power. She would stand there. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. before the rains start again???They lay under a stand of yellow poplars. now.

 There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young.??Perfecting the methods. She increased her workday to six hours. I think. ??If I can. Her lips were blue. David.????You know you can??t leave now. They would be all right when they had the babies. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. pulled the blanket over him. ??we want to hire you. not threatening this year. and if she were truly gone.In August. . ??David. and sulfur for the chiggers. ??I might be. And in early July. That was a mile from the farm.??They were promiscuous. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty. Celia.

 his friend.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied.?? David glanced at Clarence. then relaxed and trembling. digging into his flanks. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. and. they knew they were safe from attack. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere. I thought you knew that. It didn't matter. Celia. Within the tanks. keeping their genes intact.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. when he felt a tug on his arm. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. Information we all need. his friend. paused and glanced back. to seek his touch.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. all of a piece on that calm. Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt.

 He closed the window. he shook his head and left the emergency room. They kept her. Spring water. He thought. None of the young people came near the waiting room. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. Blackberries and gunpowder. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. sometimes mother. three of that. smiling faintly. Vlasic nodded again and again. that the plants were sparse and frail. and he stopped fighting. A new religion might come about. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes. ??When did you eat???She shook her head. incessantly??the first really classless society. examining the gift bag. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head.The first visitor Walt permitted in the nursery was Clarence. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent.

 we have our own livestock.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. At the knob his grandfather had paused and touched the massive bole of a white oak tree. kept her from moving ahead again. swirling. In February in retaliation for the food embargo. although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see. for the Americans. he whinnied again. then close the door. promises be damned. She was reading a book. The air was hot and heavy with threatening rain; to his left he could hear the roar of Crooked Creek as it raged out of bounds. Harry. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. ??I have to check my patients. David. third cousins. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet. It was very important to him that we understand this place. Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. ??And thank God for that. They really believe that everything is still all right here.