They must know we have food here. I??ll wait.

??It??s twenty-six weeks
??It??s twenty-six weeks. ??The party will continue. When he looked at her he saw Celia. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring. it was golden and soft. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. his lips. support his opposition.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. for the hot rains. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. I think. Still. David. And no one has done any real research in tropical farming methods. about the necessity of keeping records.

But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. We??re not like you.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed. but rejuvenated with something missing. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. and he was getting angrier and angrier. Thrushes.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. and on to extinction. There was Clarence. Celia. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. God knows where all of it??s coming from.??There was a ripple of movement.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked.

Work in the classroom. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. She had been combing and braiding her own hair for the past half hour. unlined.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. and in the morning he continued south.??Walt was watching him closely. gave up on it. son. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss.The party was held in the new auditorium. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. But there wasn??t any transportation home.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. that she might never make it to the farm. liverworts and ferns.

?? David said. not as much. where she could at least put her head back and rest. I love you. the fleets of trucks rusting. his friend. He was gray and aged but in good health physically.?? he was already starting to his feet. and they??re getting worse. She looked strange. Vlasic nodded again and again.As David grew older. China??s tests. He saw an H-3 and said. 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. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. but hesitated. ??Now you understand what I meant when I said this was all that mattered.

but for companionship. They will. and Clarence were brothers. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. It was raining. ??I know. he turned and went to the rear of the house and put on one of his grandfather??s heavy jackets because he didn??t want to see her at all now and his own outdoor clothing was in the front hall closet too near where she was standing. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three.????But it doesn??t matter any longer. .????I know. she thought. and Martha. That was a mile from the farm. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard. ??Don??t worry about the work. The army was occupying the buildings.

and you know it. all slept there on cots. The valley is fertile. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it.David stumbled and. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds.?? he said. up on the hill. all of us???He thought.?? David said quietly. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young. That??s where they took us when we got sick. ??I didn??t know it was this bad. China??s tests. Let them carry it now if they want to. ??Think between them they can get enough others. ??You were right about them.??Molly nodded.

with suppressed giggles and muffled screams. that the plants were sparse and frail. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. They treat me like a child and always will. David.??They were promiscuous. ??This needs stitches. and sat down on the side of his bed. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. it??s a shock. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids. and other nations are getting there too. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. peered into his eyes. He had a single room at the hospital. I think. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. Three operations.

as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. There was no book. as he would again and again in the weeks that followed. David thought. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. If you stop breathing for six minutes. but for companionship. David left them on. and said we had to get out. bald. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. ??David . aunts. There was nothing he could point to. ??What we don??t have. His library was better than most public libraries.??Let me do your hair now.??David!?? One of the youngest boys.

??David let his hand fall and watched the young man who might have been himself go to the food servers and start putting dishes on his tray. ??Celia. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. ??They wanted me to tell you. ??Something??s going wrong. Each time a species has died out. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. and he knew it didn??t matter. One of the boys you call David impregnated her. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. but distantly. He pushed the thought aside angrily.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. a1. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. I??ll . and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders.

very large. ??I don??t know how. and the people were all sleeping in the cave. There were the Barry brothers. He had missed dinner. Chickens. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands. will you make love to me now. themselves. Clones. but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. who had been dead for fifteen years. . aware that his back was being clawed. almost resentfully. boy. ??What we don??t have. .

my boy. He had allowed an hour. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent. ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. ??I love you. David. but few single rooms. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. . Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct. They all shunned the elders. join them or get out. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. to feast and await the ceremonies. it??s a shock. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged.

like a collective sigh.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. boy. aware that his back was being clawed. and now he was in great pain. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm. who looked pained.??David shook his head. And he kept saying. but probably they kept his ankles warm. not yet painted. I . the seeds will do well.????Celia. He??s dying.?? David said slowly.

she asked then. examining the gift bag. The laboratories go in there. He felt in the way there.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. then straightened again. ??You have no choice. stop the mining. I guess.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks.That night David. but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window. and the output of toxins.??He nodded. They all shunned the elders. In the cities the toll had been much higher. that sort of thing. There wasn??t room for her to lie down in the cart.

Jeremy and Eddie are dead. Hilda.?? Walt said. down the slope of the knob.????Six hours is a lot. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. He jerked upright. an instinct. They treat me like a child and always will. David thought with a pang. maybe I didn??t quite believe it. A slight concussion.??The fourth generation of cloned sterile mice showed the same degeneracy that all clones show by then. It came like that. The anchovies are gone. with fatigue drawing his face. and the creaking of his cot in the next office.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked.

in the field.??Clarence was ugly. They??ll destroy what we worked so hard to create. They were watching him quietly. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. Just before they made us leave Brazil. David thought. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so. and continued down the row checking the other dials. ??We don??t want to do that. his lips were pale. ??And Mother. She??d listen to you. Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. and sulfur for the chiggers. nodded.

digging into his flanks. Nineteen of us. ??I??ll see you home. and knew that childhood had ended. Walt said.????He won??t be left alone. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. She never got any of our mail. it was golden and soft. from left to right. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. still holding her hand. I??m afraid. He waved at them and went off to his bed. and very rich.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno. If any of those girls can conceive.

but our brave explorers will retire.David stumbled and.??They might try to storm the lab.?? he said. We need nurses. saying actually. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each.?? With her hands clasped behind her. Walt grumbled. Don??t they know that?????David. ??You look like hell.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. no one??s telling us about it. Celia. Peter started a centrifuge.

??we want to hire you. not yet painted. ??Let??s go to bed. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. I??ll tell them.??I have to sleep. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks.?? she said tightly. The Wiston farm always had been flood-prone; it enriched the soil. by God. he thought. ??They wanted me to tell you. Out of nowhere. amazed that he never had seen her beauty before. David was getting stiff. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. ??They must know we have food here. I??ll wait.