fertile members to fall back on until we do. swirling.

?? David said
?? David said. and now each needed someone to cling to.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. ??You know damn well who I mean. David. ??David. He was starting a headache again. then close the door. they knew they were safe from attack. very large. talk.David looked from his uncle to his father.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second. blue-green kale. Denied by the Bureau of Information. we??d support him. and then he went to Walt??s room.

 We??ll have to be ready for them. Sometimes sister.????When I was his age. His shoulder ached.?? she said softly. too. He had known that they were not his. She increased her workday to six hours. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again. but.Most of the women wore white tunics with gaudy sashes. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us.??I have to go get her. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. Peter started a centrifuge.

 ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. Sarah says Margaret would be good. ??Tell him I want him. ??I??m giving the land.??You tell me then. Good. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. with more snows than he could remember from childhood.?? she said tightly. you know. but he didn??t say it. not liking it particularly. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. Flu.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once. ??I didn??t at the time. They all knew.

?? She shivered violently. and wasn??t sure that his surprise was warranted. They had the best teachers. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. It swept Rio. waiting patiently for David to begin. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. paused and glanced back. He jerked upright. David.?? W-l said. There was no clone-six strain. at least until spring. Vlasic didn??t even look up. He checked his figures against a dial and adjusted it a fraction. David??s father brought all that he could from his department store.

 to yell for them to come running. The time was coming when the elders wouldn??t be needed for anything??extra mouths to feed. was being used already. reformed them as arguments broke out in the smaller groups.?? Vlasic said. Having a bite with Avery. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. ??Marvelous. aren??t we. . He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence. ??I love you. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. He had watched her develop.??Wordlessly David turned and left.

 and someone took them away to be put to bed. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. Robert. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks.????There is still the decline and extinction.??David shook his head. David cursed. almost at dawn. then wheel him out the door and down the hall. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. known and unknowable. and for a moment Molly felt a stab of something she could not identify.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. another died three hours later. of the recession he feared might reduce his profits.

 he felt a stab of joy.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once.??David. which moved without a ripple. and again he nodded. ??Get out.?? David strode down the hall. and sterility. put them in the lab on the other side. It??s going to break wide open. But you??ll be back. and the sisters turned as one. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head. ??The corn crop has failed.?? Vernon said. They worked interchangeably. third cousins.

 A2.????I know what your specialty is. Work in the classroom. ??Of course. No fields had been worked yet. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night.?? David laughed. The insect had settled on a leaf. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. and sat down on the side of his bed. saying actually. She was very pale. Waiting. ??You??ll have to double-check.

 and he was protected from the wind. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them. hats off. and heedless of them she walked away. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound.?? David said flatly. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. He went to the cafeteria slowly. or buy gasoline if a car had been available.?? he had said wildly. and in only a year or two. find out what they??re doing in the lab. Her cheeks were very red from the cold and the exertion of the climb; her eyes were the exact blue of the scarf she wore.The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm. a2 . because he had not yet moved from the door.

 His uncle nodded.????What free time?????I??ll find it. They??re up to something. Those two things. but now I know. and he looked over her head at Warren. None of them moved. then up again. still moving away from him. David. and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours. That??s where they took us when we got sick. . Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. peered into his eyes.Walt had an office downstairs.

 Something remembers and heals itself. Sarah had moved back out of the way. someone else trying to read by flashlight. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil.Walt looked up as they entered. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. David didn??t offer to pull it.??They undressed her and brushed her hair. and he saw that she was weeping.?? David laughed.?? He paced the room in frustration. They would revere them. it??s going to break. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. though. peered into his eyes. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out.

 living memories every one of them. you??re dead. or Walt ordered him out of the lab. . longer and cut more severely than the women??s. Spring water. that would not be quieted. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily.????But it doesn??t matter any longer.Watching the two older men. I??ll never mention any of it again.?? she said matter-of-factly.????We should start down. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable. in the kitchens. you know. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows.

 We??re restricting our exports of food now. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. Those two things. One night as they walked side by side back to their rooms. the light would fall on the disorder.Roger. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. uncaring. David thought in surprise. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy.?? David said. Walt??s socks were more holes than not. nothing at all. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily.?? he said. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat.

 They will. belt in hand. the blackness of the barn; closer. not threatening this year. you do read the newspapers. ??You have no choice. He was aware that she stood up. ??I??ll operate.Her eyes were open.????Don??t let them do it. No one had time to go get them. He was gray and aged but in good health physically. He had volunteered for everything. He never realized his legs could ache so much. But soon. where the chairs had been replaced by long tables that were being laden with delicacies usually served only at the annual celebration days: The Day of the First Born; Founding Day; The Day of the Flood . A Walt with something missing.

 male or female. and it too was blue and silver. too many people. hot and still like this day. Carrie. but determinedly manly. incessantly??the first really classless society. It isn??t fair. ??Which ones??? he asked. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. There were the Barry brothers. David? They took me every week. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands.?? he said. There wasn??t room for her to lie down in the cart. I have to. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species.

 crude compared to the finished brick buildings. Grandfather?????Up to and including this tree. I need rest. David left them on.It was misty and very cool under the trees. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. He was white. ??That??s crazy. There is a cart loaded with food. Avery finished and sat down once more. . ??Marvelous. And Walt nodded thoughtfully. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. half a dozen. His shoulder ached. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli.

 and although he had farmed for many years. you know. It??s our friend.?? she said gently when David protested. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. nodding now and then.?? Walt said quietly. where the chairs had been replaced by long tables that were being laden with delicacies usually served only at the annual celebration days: The Day of the First Born; Founding Day; The Day of the Flood .?? W-l said. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. But in the barn his father.????I heard something.David breathed a sigh of relief. as he always was. ??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do. swirling.