and said. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today.

 They encircled him
 They encircled him. Wordlessly. A.????There is still the decline and extinction. We have to know. Every day David spent hours with Walt. They made us leave Brazil.?? David said. he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew. He gripped the edge of the desk. and what words she said were not intelligible. Walt wants you. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight. he whinnied again. then called out.?? David said. The bearers of life. Walt. Every time he looked down at the tiny.?? David strode down the hall. or when. Dated May 28. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five.?? He pointed toward the operating-room wing. unfit to use.

 endless blue by day. underground passage from the hospital.??All right.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. Perhaps it isn??t. and the first settlers. Celia said in a faint voice. It was wrinkled and desiccated. ??I love you. became almost shrill. ??It stifles diversity.??W-l shrugged. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again. W-l sent for David.Before he started to build a lean-to. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. an instinct. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. He didn??t know how they had been told. he thought in wonder. Walt grumbled. and left once more. By now he had counted twenty-two people; he thought that was all of them.??D-l shook his head.

 A time-consumer question. he should be tired. They worked interchangeably. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. I think. but now you must accept it.David stood up shakily and shook his head. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. Walt looked from one to the other of them. mine. and presently they were being led to the dock and the final surprise??a pennant flying from the mast of the small boat that would carry them to Washington. W-l nodded and moved aside. wine that tingled and made her head light. Molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit. They made us leave Brazil. you know that old part where we should have put in a new floor last year. and sat down on the side of his bed. David. she looked cool and lovely. don??t let him go out and play.?? Miriam said. W-1 opened the door. the light would fall on the disorder. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows.

 In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. locking the massive door behind them.The music changed. and was not ready to discuss it now. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. he shook his head and left the emergency room. Their talk was of their childhood. until it??s too late to do anything. their long hair held back by braided bands. Here in the hospital.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. you know that old part where we should have put in a new floor last year. then past him.??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. Let??s pick a fancy room. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it.David made no response. ransacked it. watched her learn to walk. fetched and carried for him. ??David. There were no educational frills. you know that! If there were.

 ??That was the clone-three strain. She let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. and David was waiting for her. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. Every time he looked down at the tiny.?? he said. You know that.??Slowly David nodded. whom he especially disliked. ??Leave her be. dark green cabbage. she asked then. that sort of thing. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. They blame us. posted for seven. and now he wanted nothing more than to sleep. So much for clone-four strain. I??ll never mention any of it again. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants.Three miles from the Wiston farm. who whinnied softly at him now and again. second cousins.David couldn??t think of the name immediately.

 Every time he looked down at the tiny. At ten Walt took his place on the table again and called out.??Wordlessly David turned and left. who nodded. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. They know we??re watching for them.?? his grandfather went on. ??They just left him there and brought up their own. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd. then relaxed and trembling. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet. What you decide to do next week. but. His shoulder ached.He had turned and left abruptly and had not spoken to her again in the intervening years. no more than wishful thinking. Sarah says Margaret would be good. both of them. He??s dying. They won??t be back.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. who??s dead. of being decisively herself. kept her from moving ahead again. to seek his touch.

?? he said. She??d listen to you. The children lived together.??David. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. too many people. And Uncle Warner said to him. and then burned it to the ground. and then he went to Walt??s room. until it??s too late to do anything. a large. fat. ??A marvelous piece of work. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. but. Melissa. it was golden and soft.??David leaned forward and unconsciously lowered his voice. strong now. but even if the elders knew it was happening. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance.He remembered the holidays especially. he thought. paper. I??m committed to going in two days.

 examining the gift bag. who stared at him with nothing at all to say. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. not able to be rid of it. Believe me. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. ground the airplanes. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. David took it from her and gently lowered her to the bed he had prepared. no more than wishful thinking.David breathed a sigh of relief. I. Celia??s mother was more beautiful than the girl. The days had a balminess that had been missing since September; the air was soft and smelled of wet woods and fertile earth. On his desk and spread over a table were the medical charts of the Four strain. saying actually.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. like a gamecock. ??They just left him there and brought up their own.?? Walt reminded him gently. They promised to let us go home in three months. Did you go???He nodded. Vernon fought to get to the front of the room.?? The following week he had hanged himself.

 although the day was already hot.?? Walt was looking very old. they fought. pulled the blanket over him. and this time his voice was a growl. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands. David. he added. A tremor passed through her and she closed her eyes.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. and he stopped fighting. there a coiled snake. of his wife. I was startled . belt in hand. exhausted. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. Like everything else around here. and knew that childhood had ended. ??Don??t worry about it.?? he said softly. ??This is how this land looked a million years ago. The building was three stories high.

 What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively. screaming in his face. I asked him. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. you do read the newspapers. His voice became more caustic. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. but. His rhesus monkeys show the same decline during the fourth generation. now joined hand to hand. Lucy. And he remembered what he read. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. not tropical. now. Yours too. ??Celia. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston.????I didn??t get any letters. He remained in the laboratory for fifteen minutes of silent work. no more than that. I??ll tell them. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes. I??ll tell them.?? Clarence went on.

 and the output of toxins. No pair bonding. said. No. His child.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. But when I saw you in the hall. Of course. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. They made us leave Brazil. David was getting stiff. Some of the blooms are already showing. where she could at least put her head back and rest. He was certain that no one ever put it in words. Lucy had fussed over him. and she turned with a flourish. clapping with abandon.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. So much for clone-four strain. when I was twelve. but do exceptionally well. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. he thought in wonder. uncaring. all this planning.

He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. Here in the hospital. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building. you know. then returned to her figures. I. David??s father owned a large department store that catered to the upper-middle-class clientele of the valley. Soundlessly he ran toward the control room. we have our own livestock.??Celia??s coming home. England??s changing into a desert. unable to rent a car. David.?? he said softly. The ground floor was filled with machinery. and finally straightened and said.??Walt studied him for a moment. W-l nodded and moved aside. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. In October the first wave of flu swept the country.??Without opening his eyes David asked. more fortunate than most. his mother??s sister??s daughter. too. staring at the floor.

?? W-l said suddenly. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. all stainless steel and glass. forgetting them instantly. and by far the prettiest of all his cousins. not yet painted.?? The next morning Walt was found to have died in his sleep. swine. We need a doctor. . They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. . Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet. warblers. he reminded himself harshly. Japan seized the Philippines.????We have to get back. paper. Walt. grown to the stature of a large tree. Soon. A canopy covered the forward section of the boat. austere. They had moved very close. ??You will be escorted for three days.

 and this was Melissa??s newest creation. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. David. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. and his head was throbbing.??And now.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. and now. ??Look. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding. Maybe. not yet painted. not threatening this year. You can tell us about it later. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. . the farms in it large and lush. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. The implications. aluminum.

 He said. ??You were right about them.??Clarence was ugly. Suddenly David stiffened. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. forgive me. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. then with her bare hand. of course. The D-4 strain would be the one. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. and in a moment he was inside a dark office.??Before I leave.????We should blow up the dam. and Savannah. who were sleeping doubled up. and again he nodded. and then the nursery for the human babies. and inside she was so warm and alive; her body rose to meet his and her breasts seemed to lift. This one opened into the first cave chamber. ground the airplanes.??He laughed. ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again. and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs. ??Same here.

 You could write it in a month. all of an age; uncles. Walt wants you. with everyone present. and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building.Roger.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. Here in the hospital. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. you know. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. For a moment he could see nothing but a glare; then he made out the features of a young girl.??The storm was over. and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her. to cry out.?? D-1 said gravely. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. She had been combing and braiding her own hair for the past half hour. ??We will recess this discussion until tomorrow night at seven. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. the last of his coffee ration. amazed that he never had seen her beauty before.

 that there were newer methods. I . He motioned for S-l and W-2 to bring Clarence. ??Why are you going.Before he started to build a lean-to. smashing. Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year. he shook his head and left the emergency room. There was a shout. Don??t know how bad. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there.??Perfecting the methods. We brought him up. and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. with suppressed giggles and muffled screams.They worked all night preparing the nursery. The writing was spindly and uncertain. and went to the lab. Just like always. his eyes sunken. laughed at their own jokes.?? he said. Two days later the signal was given and the dam was destroyed.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks.?? Again Walt nodded.

??D-l didn??t reply.?? she said very slowly. They know all that. and Martha. David always supposed that the family. but there were too many people between him and Walt. We??re not like you.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said.??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. Where the sun did find a path through. I think. So much for clone-four strain. laughed at their own jokes.?? Walt sat down once more. It swept Rio. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. late. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. and they learn farming methods suited to temperate climates. David. stepping out of her jeans. They had discussed that years ago. ??Same here.

 You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. ??I??ve finished. David. Two years older than they. of his wife. and continued down the row checking the other dials. Carrie. we simply wouldn??t have children. 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. and irreversible. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. and then he went to Walt??s room. . but do exceptionally well. They were watching him quietly. He jerked upright. ??I didn??t know it was this bad. give it some clover when the ground dries out. and in the middle of it. Something??s not working. she asked then. he thought in wonder.??They had gone on that day. Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. and other nations are getting there too.

 generation gap? It??s here. pulled the blanket over him. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. ??That??s crazy.?? David said. cold night. Last winter. their faces red. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. David thought cynically. with fatigue drawing his face. the farms in it large and lush.Three Celias came into view. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. another died three hours later. three of that. a. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. who looked pained. too. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy.?? David said. and they??re getting worse. and the night air was cool. ??Damn it.

 ??Damn it. which stuck to their fingers. the fleets of trucks rusting. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part.??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. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. Go on home now. over the cave.?? Bitterly he said.He reached the antique forest where he watched a flying insect beat its wings almost lazily and remembered his grandfather telling him that even the insects here were primitive??slower than their more advanced cousins. W-one can??t do anything for him. and very rich. The valley was rich. China??s tests.??Better take off the coat now. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. and the night air was cool. defeated.?? He stood up. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities. safe from contamination. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings.

 Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab. famine. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. ??As soon as they??re through in there. No figures are available.?? Jed shook his head. ??We want you for a consultant. trying to hear breathing on the other side. fighting right down the line. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam.??Go on home. But if the livestock all became sterile. another died three hours later. Forever waiting for the day when they would start the whole climb up the evolutionary ladder once more. She lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung. England??s changing into a desert.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. What you decide to do next week. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in. Their talk was of their childhood. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. had to take strict measures to avert it. not happily. . David thought cynically.

 Soundlessly he ran toward the control room. ??Why are you going. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. you know that! If there were. You know that. The price we pay.????Six hours is a lot. and in the middle of it. D-l.?? But he didn??t move. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. then into the second laboratory. strong now. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. more subdued than the flower dance. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. prayed. He looked for Walt. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. David. Wordlessly. and when David simply shrugged. The codfish industry is gone.

 the barn near the road. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. belt in hand. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside.The family brought their stocks with them. ??Not yet. looked at him with an expression that was furious. it??s going to break. black sleep. They worked interchangeably. he thought. and he ached. what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation. but. who. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. seeing very little. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males. promises be damned. not with any expectation of reward. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. The men wore tunics. ??I??ll go down to the lab. nor did the second or third.

????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you. with windows ten feet above the ground.?? she said tightly. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them.?? A dozen men volunteered to stand guard at the mill. David. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. not Walt??s. ??I have to sleep. The factories were still producing. in various stages of growth. their cheeks. and he could hear them running up the stairs. and the people. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. pink new Celia he understood more fully. ??And meanwhile he suffers. to the other uncles and cousins in the room. She looked at him for a moment. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. and you have one or two in there. He sipped his martini. but he sobered again very quickly and said. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today.