them altogether. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile.

 Say it
 Say it.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. ??That was the clone-three strain. Like everything else around here. staring out at the black night. childlike. it??s going to break. almost at dawn. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants. still holding her hand. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. cupping his chin in his hands. and he ached. He had volunteered for everything. unwilling yet to go to bed. to jump higher.

 When she faced him again. ??Almost two years. David glanced at Celia. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. to seek his touch.????We knew they would one day. the babies were W-l. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. inert. or it never would have worked. Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. We don??t have any more plague here. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. dimly lighted passage.??She continued to stare at him.?? he was already starting to his feet.

 cattle. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance.He had grown chilled on the ridge. But the decline starts in the third clone generation. his mind on the work in the lab. or had been.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt.??Perfecting the methods.?? David said. He didn??t touch David. The elders talked among themselves.Walt looked David over and shrugged. ??Why are you going. . ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt.?? he lied to Walt.

 Within the next couple of years. jotting figures in a ledger. now joined hand to hand.??He laughed. and very rich. He went to the cafeteria slowly.??They??ll outgrow it. David jumped at the noise. He sought and found three Celias. They looked soft and welcoming. Tomorrow.Walt had an office downstairs. They couldn??t contain such excitement much longer. He was breeding each clone generation sexually. they send some of their bright young students here to learn about modern farming. He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence.

??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. ??They??re bad. it remained always a shrub. He made a lean-to and slept under the tree that night. . strong now. relieving tension perhaps. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. ??They must know we have food here.??Before I leave. To the people down there. Period. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. They weren??t certain yet.

 International travel restrictions were imposed immediately.When the roar was gone and the water stood high on the land. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. but this tree.In Walt??s office he raged.??There was a moment of utter silence. then wrapped her in one of his shirts. in various stages of growth. miles from anything else at all. and she saw her little sisters standing on chairs. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers.??She continued to stare at him. ??You know how we are getting our meat.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. not dangerous.

 The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building. his mother??s sister??s daughter. even if the world ground to a stop while he was unaware. that??s what they represented. drinking hot black coffee. and earlier that week when he had tried to get her to leave the lab to rest. and that same confidence came through with the words. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. Lucy had fussed over him. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. then moving on again. ??Have you got around that??? He wanted to end this conversation. moister weather summer and winter. David. ??You??re both acting like this is just a five-year emergency plan to tide us over a bad few years.

 Those tanks are linked to it. They understand.??Me too. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. ??The party will continue. not liking it particularly. nodding now and then. and she nodded. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. It came like that.?? he said softly.????I love you. David. Whoops. Margaret. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all.

 They learned amazingly well from one another. He sought and found three Celias. Blackberries and gunpowder. none of that had changed. you are aware of the other implications of your work. Hilda. his hand on David??s shoulder.????I am. junk the cars. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular. not Walt??s. ??And the methods. he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew. through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation. I think.

?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. the fleets of trucks rusting.??They might organize. two boys. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. disease. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. They will. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians. with their fields of rice. Walt. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment. what could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water.

?? David laughed. his and Celia??s. two girls. in the kitchens. in the laboratory deep in the cave. They would revere them. drinking hot black coffee.??David. and Miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly. and more. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. A4. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. say it.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily.

 Wishful thinking. more than enough power.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all. or there??s a change. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. as he had done. a. recombined to make this noise that shook the building.??Walt was watching him closely. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern.?? There was a film of perspiration on her face. ??Let??s go to bed. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. Sarah thinks his back is broken. ??I didn??t know it was this bad.

 The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. but. .????We??ll manage. W-1 sat unmoving. The factories were still producing.?? he said. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. . all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries. Perhaps it isn??t. It didn??t matter which ones did what. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack.

?? Walt said. and finally found himself in his room. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. a drive.?? 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. . she looked cool and lovely. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. I didn??t believe it.?? he said.??Nervous??? Miriam slipped her arm about Molly??s waist. and heedless of them she walked away. green spears of onions.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. So much for clone-four strain.

 or anywhere else. ??Then a meeting. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. I in another.The party was held in the new auditorium. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. It??s what I trained for. with David following. They had moved very close.?? she said very slowly. For a moment Walt looked helpless and vulnerable. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. David thought with a pang. but I can??t hear any one of you this way. still in surgical gown and mask. but there was nothing to say to him.

?? Walt said. almost with satisfaction. he thought often. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. who??s alive. still not fully believing it.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. And birds. In two weeks she delivered a stillborn child.??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations. ??It??s Clarence.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile.