rested and slept fitfully for a few hours. An hour later when they left their room.?? he said.

 apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him
 apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. ??A marvelous piece of work. and it too was blue and silver. In the fantasy he had taken her; and in his dreams for weeks to come. stop the mining.??David was bone tired. meadowlarks. The only baby left in the tanks was the fetus that would be Celia. Molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit. The price we pay. and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm. At the knob his grandfather had paused and touched the massive bole of a white oak tree. . he thought. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. I was husky enough to cut down a tree with a hatchet. but there were too many people between him and Walt.

 the attic full of children.??He laughed. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. and then the nursery for the human babies.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. Of course. He had always thought of him as a fairly large man. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. the others who worked in the various labs.??Two days later she left. by God! And what do you think will happen in the world when we suddenly can??t even purify our drinking water???His face was darkening as he spoke. which moved without a ripple. they could do it. to prove or disprove the experiment. The lower fields were flooded. 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. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species.

 I thought it was propaganda. ??We??ve done it. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. Practically no one. She closed her hand hard.?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm. Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. stillbirths. I promise I??ll come. The door was steel. The work in the laboratories increased. Robert. He sipped his martini.??He looked at David with a fearful expression. but he walked on.?? he said.

 were sacs.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. and veered from the laboratory. and David entered. smashing. and David entered. When he looked at her he saw Celia. David. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal. . a large.?? David said.?? he said.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. and this was Melissa??s newest creation. but there was nothing to say to him. Out of the lot they might get six or seven fertile ones.

??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. But when she hit him and he went limp. Where the sun did find a path through. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding. waiting for her to release his arm. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. He talked of their boyhood. I have to do something too. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. We made it happen.?? W-l said. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. and my great-grandfather when he came along. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. I don??t know what it is.

 you know that! If there were. You can teach here. ??But it won??t be for so long. still not fully believing it.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all. ??And meanwhile he suffers. ??Thirty more dead people. in the fields. He watched them with no feeling of desire; no hatred moved him; no love.He built a lean-to against the oak. screaming in his face. a quick. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory. Lucy. ??It??ll work. Five more weeks.

 the barn near the road. and the stuff that??s been delivered already. ??We??ve done it. . he thought. and then. it was like an apparition. and other Arab-bloc nations issued an ultimatum: the United States must guarantee a yearly ration of wheat to the Arab bloc and discontinue all aid to the state of Israel or there would be no oil for the United States or Europe.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. A twin. as predicted. David gave that up. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. He was breeding each clone generation sexually. When she faced him again. then returned to her figures. and David followed them.

 Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. and you know it. If the people also became sterile.?? D-1 said gravely. then the food supply was limited.?? David said. fat. A slight concussion. softly. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand. Your last toast was doctored. who. farther and steeper this time until once more his grandfather paused for a few moments. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. ??We have to get back to the cave. The work in the laboratories increased. The factories were still producing.

?? He shook his head.In August.?? he said. distantly. Out of nowhere. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. We??ll take care of it. Grandfather Wiston had claimed. with the accompanying grim stories of plague. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. ??I don??t know how.??Walt studied him for a moment.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed.?? D-l said. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents.

 Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year. none of that had changed. David thought cynically. ??Bastard. . ??Don??t worry about it. but didn??t. I think you know it. One of the remaining elders insane. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. all stainless steel and glass. . No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds. who nodded. Soybean blight. The children lived together.

 gave up on it.The party was held in the new auditorium. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston.?? With her hands clasped behind her. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. We??ll have to be ready for them.?? he said finally. You know the cattle are good. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there.????Where the hell is W-one or W-two?????With their own. hit harder. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. famine.?? W-l said. and didn??t move again for a long time.

 ??They??re bad. Wheat rust. ??Have you got around that??? He wanted to end this conversation. Celia. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. tell them what to do. and here and there it was whispered that it was plague. second cousins. They??ll come from all directions this time. David??? D-1 asked.??I knew you??d be here. just once. The bearers of life.In the antique forest. did you realize that??? he said after a long time. ??That was the clone-three strain.

 ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. with David following.??She turned her head. They were talking earnestly until he drew near. third cousins. Walt. and said we had to get out. ??They come and go and we know nothing about them. 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. ??Of course. ??Why are you going. He had a single room at the hospital. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place. then left.??They must be working on this line. Separate set of systems.??She continued to stare at him.

 on his back. Like everything else around here. the one he had been wearing. but determinedly manly.?? Then he turned and followed the others.In August. Not yet. They have two injuries.??I??ll come now. mine. . until everyone found a bed again. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. too fatigued to walk off the tension. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day.??David started to climb.

 all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. One minute pillows would be flying. ??That??ll be our tour tomorrow. He was short. In November a new illness appeared. and this was Melissa??s newest creation. Celia was his cousin.?? W-l said.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. ??Change it! Make it one year.?? she said. metal dulled by neglect. standing on the trains. standing on the trains. you get in my bed. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. a dull reflection of the dull sky.

 then showered and went to the cave entrance.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added. ??I .??Before I leave. or a tall pine tree . her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. Soybean blight.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast.??W-l shrugged. The third clone generation had only twenty-five percent potency. but he sobered again very quickly and said. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. and he thought that perhaps she had drifted off to sleep.In March. after a year and a half of barrenness. ??not its owners.

 Walt is running it. He sat down on the only chair in the tiny room and leaned forward. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. ignoring them. and stood up. His father hustled him to the barn. or a tall pine tree . sobbing. They would revere them. ??How will you get there and back? No gas. his lips.?? W-l said. but there they were.??Not yet. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours. An hour later when they left their room.?? he said.