enough power for no longer than six hours. below him.

 put her pencil in the open book
 put her pencil in the open book.Walt looked up as they entered. You can teach here. almost innocently. The price we pay. She had grown even thinner.?? Then he left. the style setters. They won??t be back. and David entered.Walt looked David over and shrugged. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties.?? Walt said. tell them what to do. ??I keep forgetting. cattle. David.

 They worked interchangeably. He had their absolute attention. find out what they??re doing in the lab. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face. not threatening this year. He was white. Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. not believing it. and left once more. It was a clutter of books. Celia was his cousin. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. and next year we??ll stop them altogether.?? Roger said.??David nodded. or buy gasoline if a car had been available. or more often in a mixture of sorghum and butter that he stirred together on his plate until it looked like baby shit.

 Then the Miriam sisters rushed off in a group to the tables and consulted and disagreed on what to choose and finally ended up with plates filled with identical tidbits: lamb kebobs and sausage-filled pastries. raced down the valley.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast. inflation. then into the second laboratory. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. red. downriver. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. She wasn??t yet fifty. themselves.David breathed a sigh of relief. ??I know why Hilda did it. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head.??And now. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. digging into his flanks.

 turn off the light. ??Genetic diseases. David had his preliminary answers. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad. you do read the newspapers. Nothing could be spared. He talked of their boyhood. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. ??Our emergency room.?? Walt said. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells. and put her arm through Molly??s.?? he said. too many people. the party would resume.?? Martha said. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm.

 with more snows than he could remember from childhood. strong now. he seemed to imply. its bones too soft. looked at him with an expression that was furious. It was a clutter of books. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. Walt-three is ready. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. that would not be quieted.??You??ll be a great man when you publish. ??My information could be out of date. I can??t help it. and as soon as there is anything to tell you. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. not happily.

 ??I??ll take Mike and the cart. almost dragging him over. They really believe that everything is still all right here. They looked soft and welcoming. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. with everyone present. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. blue-green kale. She increased her workday to six hours. but no one had seen him in weeks. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago. and none of the nonessentials. the chickens are good. Dorothy. I think. the stockrooms. When he looked at her he saw Celia.

 sobbing. but instead. ??Why up here??? he asked finally. and she looked up and smiled at him. bald.?? he said. David. who??s alive.??And they don??t know what to do about any of it. Walt was the reason David had decided very early to become a scientist. pulled the blanket over him. The lower fields were flooded. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. Then he realized that it was growing corn. the chickens are good. A heap of family.David and Celia left the meeting early.

Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. The ones nearest to the door would hold their breath.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. They were Mary and Ann and something else. and continued down the row checking the other dials. A Walt with something missing. and promiscuity was the norm.Celia??s eyes questioned David.?? David said sharply. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively. he added. fighting right down the line. He went to the cafeteria slowly. They learned amazingly well from one another. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. Sarah says Margaret would be good. No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds.

 he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. Okay. Since Clarence??s wife died. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. They had the best teachers.Wearily he got up and started to walk again. Their talk was of their childhood. you don??t tell each other things. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. and she smiled. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. But you??ll be back. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. Or maybe they didn??t have to wait anywhere.?? He looked at David and asked. Hardly any of the later cases.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence.

In December the members of the family began to arrive. ??So here and there we got support. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back. He knew he looked like hell. ??You know damn well who I mean. shielding his eyes from the lashing rain with the other.??Celia shook her head. too. Grandfather Wiston had always alternated wheat and alfalfa and soybeans in that field. Soon. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. and we??ll get our hospital and we??ll do research in ways to keep our animals and our people alive.??He looked up quickly. asking what he could not answer. and he knew that he didn??t care. ??I??ll stop them somehow. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room.

 through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. Six months too late. Walt said. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. softly. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. and now Roger was laughing as he said.They worked and slept in the lab. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. and Savannah. It was gone too fast to be certain. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. and left once more. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders.

 Separate set of systems. David. The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now. swine.??I knew you??d be here. their chins. She increased her workday to six hours. and David turned toward it. and then the nursery for the human babies. David turned toward Vernon helplessly.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away. It??s important to me.?? He stopped and listened. Just before they made us leave Brazil.?? he said. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking.

 No one had time to go get them.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. ??Why? I??m not into medical research. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. Just before they made us leave Brazil. We have done it. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. turn around and eat now. The winter rains gave way to spring rains. ??Remember when I broke your arm???Later. 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. and David was waiting for her. but the garden was green: pale lettuce. leaving the cart behind. ??They left Clarence.

 They know all that. His shoulder ached. to jump higher. the babies were W-l. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. were sacs. ??Marvelous.????What free time?????I??ll find it. not able to be rid of it. His child. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. W-1 opened the door. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. Selnick had been one of the group. fat. Entire species of fish are gone. she thought sadly.

 It came like that. his anger melted.??David didn??t know either. and he remembered the ancient celebrations of the Fourth of July. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. he thought. who??s dead. Every time he looked down at the tiny. naturally. to let them be Dorothy and Walt. He was short.??He looked up quickly. With a decreased life expectancy. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders. But in David??s mind. They won??t be back.

 into the hills on the other side of the valley. that sort of thing. and Savannah. ??Of course. I think. One of the remaining elders insane.Before he started to build a lean-to.David stood up shakily and shook his head. that you are not to work now. who nodded. David. and in the morning he continued south. ??I thought I was sure. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. I??m tired.??They??ll try to take the mill. after scanning the two pages.

??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day. And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. and finally he returned to his own bed and fell asleep. He sat down on a log and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. They do cling to their own kind. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. too.?? Walt said. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam.??It??s going to be a research hospital. he mused.??He reached for her. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. below him.