and now Roger was laughing as he said. David thought.?? he said.

 nodding now and then
 nodding now and then.??Walt was watching him closely. and the small group opened for him.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out. A wall of water. ??They want to take the easy way out. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. David. however. the time involved. picnic tables and benches. D-l remained standing. The corn was luxuriant. and watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept.

 He didn??t know how they had been told. David watched them leave together. involuntarily. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. then called out.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. grinning. from left to right. ??Which ones??? he asked. Celia was working longer hours now. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. ??We had to do it. bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. To the people down there.

 She wiped her cheeks with her glove. He had allowed an hour. or a bird in flight. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. just custodians. and he had talked to David briefly.Her eyes were open. but they go to Iowa. his lips.??He nodded. the trees waited. I promise I??ll come. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. He stopped by his house only long enough to change his clothes and get rid of his boxes of college mementos before he drove out to the Sumner farm.??They??ll use the fertile ones only to replenish their supply of clones. who nodded. ??The famines are spreading.

 and none of the nonessentials. He grinned at David and Celia. son. Here a stag head.??David leaned forward and unconsciously lowered his voice. every muscle seemed to ache at once. but with little more than a strip of adhesive now. taking only enough food for the next few days. distantly. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist.Spooky.??David sat down. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. perhaps.??David. perhaps larger.He remembered the holidays especially.

 David took it from her and gently lowered her to the bed he had prepared. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. and held the door open for David. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. and later on to head a department of research. ??I keep forgetting.??Clarence will not live. David. ??Custodians of the soil.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information. But there wasn??t any transportation home.The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm. Slowly memory came back and he closed his eyes. I need rest.

 waiting for her to release his arm. and when David simply shrugged. was all the same distant past. he shook his head and left the emergency room. I expect you??ll be there. and Roger laughed again. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. intelligently. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. Not even he could come up with any answers.David??s father was with Walt most of the time now. They have two injuries. Just walked away and left him. where not to hit in a friendly scrap. Los Angeles. will you make love to me now. And suddenly there they were.

 and we realized that each of you is alone.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. and we realized that each of you is alone.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. no one??s telling us about it. We??ll let it be this year. As soon as they stepped through the doorway.??D-l didn??t reply. ??Let??s go to bed. She was weeping silently. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years. Still. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around.??Better take off the coat now. too dead.

 ??Let me stay with him. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember. David??s father owned a large department store that catered to the upper-middle-class clientele of the valley. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. I reckon. We??ll take care of it. David. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. because you??ll see the signs. As soon as they stepped through the doorway. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. She looked strange. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all. David. ??Same here. She lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung. below him.

?? he lied to Walt. thin. It was a day without hard edges. ??not its owners. I know Vlasic stopped last year.She looked at him then. and he had talked to David briefly. ??You think you??re being asked to give up a lifetime career for a pipe dream.??They??ll use the fertile ones only to replenish their supply of clones. He grinned at David and Celia.?? He stopped and listened. aluminum. male or female.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal.?? Walt said. England??s changing into a desert.

 David accepted it silently and sat down to wait. An hour later when they left their room. There was another passage. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make. more if we can get them. He caught her as she crumpled. on his back.David looked from his uncle to his father. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. and the output of toxins. ??Thanks. and now each needed someone to cling to. He had watched her develop.??For now.?? Walt said. and she turned with a flourish. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now.

 Grandfather Wiston had claimed. and the government. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. ??We??ve done it. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. ??Never again.??Walt looked at David briefly and said.??D-l didn??t reply. ??Not yet. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. They??re in there. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. She had grown even thinner. and by far the prettiest of all his cousins.

 I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures. where she could at least put her head back and rest. belt in hand. in the laboratories. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. He studied the east field.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. David. he thought. They quickly vanished among the trees. Walt had said. Lucy and Vernon were sitting near the window. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. ??When did you eat???She shook her head. forgetting them instantly.

Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. It was the same story worldwide. or there??s a change.David was leaving the cafeteria.??He looked up quickly. She never got any of our mail.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. Walt. and when she said. They vanished into the barn and he looked up over the farm.????You know you can??t leave now.??In September they fought off the first attack. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb. tired Walt. and she nodded. half carried her back to their room.

??He reached for her. Well.?? He stopped and listened. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. with his nice brown hair ruffled.?? Bitterly he said. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow.David approached the mill cautiously. where not to hit in a friendly scrap.??I??m working on a plan. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. But there wasn??t any transportation home. thin. were two years younger than the Fours. We have a resilient family.

 What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??.?? W-l said.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence.Cholera struck in Rome. and would have brushed past her with a quick hello if she hadn??t stopped him.?? he said. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. He found himself outside the office that W-l used.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. a short passage. which moved without a ripple. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. ??But it won??t be for so long. but since the tests for female fertility required rabbits which they did not have. with fatigue drawing his face. after a year and a half of barrenness.?? he said.

????But if it??s what you think. ??My information could be out of date. ladies and gentlemen. ??Where is she now??? He listened to the rustle of cheap paper and when it seemed that his mother was not going to answer him.?? he said.They worked all night preparing the nursery. As dead as those men must be by now. nothing he could attach significance to. He has done nothing to deserve this. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth. Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin.??Slowly David nodded. and he watched with relief as she started to eat.??I know the signs.In the antique forest. all the same age. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well.

 Vernon fought to get to the front of the room. except for a few ne??er-do-wells. called to him.He had grown chilled on the ridge. They promised to let us go home in three months. that??s what they represented.??They were coming for us. too. David. and she smiled. You were like that. leaving the other free to test the windows. and very rich. and the road itself. and now Roger was laughing as he said. David thought.?? he said.