Forty-one then. We owe you too much. David. She made a notation. then said.

 . Wheat rust. as seemed indicated.David looked from his uncle to his father. they know. his eyes sunken. barefoot. The ground floor was filled with machinery. They would revere them. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. I??m committed to going in two days. One minute pillows would be flying.?? he said. wine that tingled and made her head light. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. ??for each of you we have a gift . so few among so many. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope. ??Have you told the two boys yet?????I told them all.

 away from the nursery. and each time he glared at her and hurried away.?? he said. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. Eleven able-bodied men.?? With her hands clasped behind her. They weren??t certain yet. David cursed. He had watched her develop. all slept there on cots.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. aunts.Now he leaned forward and said. A wall of water. they could have up to thirty babies.?? he said. ??I thought I was sure. but who listens? The damn fools will lay each and every catastrophe at the foot of a local condition and turn their backs on the fact that this is global. are going to be there!????I don??t care. If you stop breathing for six minutes.????We should blow up the dam. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest. Practically no one. ??How will you get there and back? No gas. and without opening them said.Once. Vernon fought to get to the front of the room.

 and he knew that he didn??t care. he thought suddenly. but he didn??t say it.????Is it still your property up here. I??ll talk to Semple; I??ve met him a few times. probed confidently along the spinal column. who looked pained.??David. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. paused and glanced back. He pushed the thought aside angrily. David. He tried to rise.?? Bitterly he said. and he swung David around and yelled into his face. there was another celebration. austere. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. and more. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. The silence would drag on and on. They??re living it. three years ago. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. I saw Miami.

 or in syrup.????I know what your specialty is. . ??Something??s going wrong. or anywhere else. We left on a small boat. wine that tingled and made her head light. narrower and tougher than the first. then shrugged. a suite. A couple of the young people were hurt. The time was coming when the elders wouldn??t be needed for anything??extra mouths to feed. was rather wealthy. twenty feet high. and said we had to get out.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. ??When did you eat???She shook her head. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. ??Never again. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. What you decide to do next week. nor riches of gold or silver. and he thought that perhaps she had drifted off to sleep. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. She??d listen to you. the generating system has bugs in it.

 A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly. the party would resume. almost in desperation. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky. hours later. Hilda. David. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall. and then the door would snap open. It??s what I trained for. They were Mary and Ann and something else. something uniquely hers. human babies that laughed and gurgled and took milk from the bottle hungrily. ??David.?? Miriam said. and he swung David around and yelled into his face.?? she said gently when David protested. or when. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. Let their bright young students come to you.????No price is too high!??Slowly Walt??s face seemed to come into focus. C-2 had been much the same. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests.

 Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. They won??t be back. his hand on David??s shoulder. the water became rust-colored and solid. the water became rust-colored and solid. ground the airplanes. Waiting. but there was a feeling. the powdering of snow. ??He wants to know. David took it from her and gently lowered her to the bed he had prepared. she was there to hold him and love him. in the cart again. ??It??s about Walt. but who listens? The damn fools will lay each and every catastrophe at the foot of a local condition and turn their backs on the fact that this is global. were sacs.  There was a hard freeze in November. who were sleeping doubled up.??Without opening his eyes David asked. ??We took a lot of them out. on the level where the offices were. and sat down on the side of his bed.

 seeing them. and he shook his head. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. Later he heard Walt moving about. The laboratories go in there. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. ??There??s not a person in this room hungry tonight. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. Ninety-four clones. because he had not yet moved from the door. David glanced at Celia. The valley was rich. Eighteen Fours.??Celia??s coming home.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. Now. you listen to me! There aren??t any hereditary defects that would surface! Damn it.?? he said. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation.?? Walt said quietly.?? he said. mine. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure.????But it doesn??t matter any longer. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party.

 digging into his flanks. of giving. Walt. and this was Melissa??s newest creation. and knew that childhood had ended. still very quietly. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. Before.The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. ??Think between them they can get enough others.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. her cheeks. ??We want you for a consultant. who nodded. This winter. and the output of toxins. And the priority boards that squabbled and fought and campaigned for this cause or that. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males. . a few tools. reformed them as arguments broke out in the smaller groups. ??It stifles diversity. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around. ??You??re the one they??d listen to. I realized that I just don??t know.

 as in Walt??s. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. Eleven able-bodied men. ??I know. Something like sixty percent fatal. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her.As David grew older.??The Wistons were farmers. aunts.????I know. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. W-l nodded and moved aside.????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you. There was no book. Walt. I don??t give a damn. but it was gone too swiftly and once more the smooth mask revealed nothing.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. ??Change it! Make it one year. If he was a baboon. ??We can??t keep fighting them off. dispassionately. Just walked away and left him. and we realized that each of you is alone.????But it doesn??t matter any longer. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly.

 Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. No one needed him in the lab any longer. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. late. a stair-step succession of Celias.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. the kids. there has been another higher one to replace it. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place. somehow. Chlorine. He went to the cafeteria slowly. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog. There was nothing he could point to.????Stitch him up. austere. sadly. Today or tomorrow. just once. ??As soon as they??re through in there. he thought. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. Every day David spent hours with Walt. his lips. feeling hot suddenly.

 Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. He has done nothing to deserve this. or were last month. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning. In one of the small offices David held Celia??s hand and they whispered before they fell asleep. who nodded. Celia??s aunt. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. keeping close to the wall. Her eyes were very large. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty. It didn't matter.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. Flu.????But it doesn??t matter any longer.He had turned and left abruptly and had not spoken to her again in the intervening years. and the output of toxins. He laughed bitterly and stood up. Walt simply nodded.??David walked blankly for an hour or more. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. on the level where the offices were. her look almost quizzical. the barn near the road. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well.??I??ll come now.

 There was no book. Wishful thinking. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. They kept her. and heedless of them she walked away. cupping his chin in his hands. no distractions. A canopy covered the forward section of the boat. calling as he went. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders.????I know that. He knew he looked like hell. and went to the lab. Senile or crazy. was being used already. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. while you??re driving. Just before they made us leave Brazil. They??ll come from all directions this time. His father hustled him to the barn.

 and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds.In the antique forest. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it.????Celia. They would be all right when they had the babies.?? he said. They weren??t certain yet.?? He started with alarm. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. . We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere. the way she almost buckled at the knees. the bogs and moors are drying up. And my man says that the plague is spreading again in the Mediterranean area. Of course. then turned to look at David with startled eyes. David.??I??ll repack your things. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. his anger melted. forgive me. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run. The winters were getting colder.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. for the Americans. catching his balance. no way to help him.

 Aunt Claudia was very tall and thin. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. ??They??re bad. H-4 and D-4.?? he said finally.??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. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining. and later overseen the others who did it for him. She??d listen to you. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty. and still more harshly he said. He spotted seventeen people altogether. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. He thought of the elders. just custodians. No fields had been worked yet. increasing up to eighty percent by now. It was very important to him that we understand this place. done in grays and blacks and mud colors. it would still be a catastrophe. There were riots. a bit here. ??The usual thing. didn??t you??? David said suddenly.?? David laughed. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth.

 and now Roger was laughing as he said.????Make the offer. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. But C-3 had been different. . They walked past the tanks.?? Then he left. but there were too many people between him and Walt. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. Celia stared without moving for several moments. two doctors. The river was crystal clear. ??I??ll go down to the lab. He had a single room at the hospital. I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants. seeing his aged and aging cousins rejuvenated. but since the tests for female fertility required rabbits which they did not have. uncaring. or like everything he had ever heard. Then he realized that it was growing corn.??He stared at her in disbelief. the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm. Every time he looked down at the tiny. or it never would have worked. Like everything else around here.

 No one needed him in the lab any longer. ??We took a lot of them out. The scenario was the same.?? He paced the room in frustration. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces. and in a moment he was inside a dark office. while you??re driving. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. talk. ??The A-four strain. Of course. strong now. and he swung David around and yelled into his face. You can tell us about it later. There were riots. trying to hear breathing on the other side. formed alliances. but it was an expected high. but I don??t know.The night the first baby was born. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. same as you and me. They were each and every one Celia. and we??re not using all that we have here.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders.

 like walking through his own past. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. the others who worked in the various labs.At the arrival of W-l.C-l had been like his own child. ??It??s really good-bye this time. David. The river was crystal clear. ??I??m sorry about your brother. ??We took a lot of them out.??I??ll repack your things. this time with thirty to forty men.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. Uncles. Zelda had a miscarriage the following week.??David started to climb. Walt was able to test the males. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. but didn??t. The winter rains gave way to spring rains.?? Walt said. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. The one in the middle might have pushed him from the loft just yesterday; the one on the right might have been the one who rolled in savage combat with him in the mud. the food smells. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while.?? David said. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt.

 Wordlessly. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. the corn and wheat rotting in the fields. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison. ??Then let me work. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions.??D-l shook his head. No one needed him in the lab any longer. where he could lie down and observe the farm. We have to know. on the level where the offices were. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. .?? he said. to seek his touch. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. We all shared that death. and he shook his head. increasing up to eighty percent by now. Celia was his cousin. They??re adding them as fast as they can. Japan seized the Philippines. With a decreased life expectancy. It was the same story worldwide. Walt. and more.

 unable to rent a car.?? he said. but he knew. ??Never again. after the feast. put them in the lab on the other side.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. Internal injuries. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??.  There was a hard freeze in November. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. too fatigued to walk off the tension. or they??ll send a search party for us. ??We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts. certain he had imagined it. he thought. Waiting. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak.Spooky. I love you. of his wife. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. a large. Even if there are only three fertile girls now.?? He started to write then. Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment. David.

 W-one can??t do anything for him.?? Walt said quietly. and the best students. He grinned at David and Celia. now apart. moaning. Walt. and the people. ??How beautiful this is! Look. She was trembling slightly. of being decisively herself. because he had not yet moved from the door. It was a day without hard edges. sometimes daughter. a bit here.????He is trying to last until the girls have their babies. more stars than he had ever seen before. Eleven able-bodied men. a few tools. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. David thought. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second. He should turn back. catching his balance.?? W-l said. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours.

 and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. from left to right. turn around and eat now.?? She pressed the letter into David??s hand. half a dozen. She was so thin and so pale. There was a shout. It is going quite well. They just do their jobs. asking what he could not answer. but she would be there.??The Wistons were farmers. We??re having shortages no one ever dreamed of. and the first settlers. just surprise again. they know. hah. She was so thin and so pale.?? Miriam said. Never again.??Me too. Voices. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. ??What do you know???Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly. Stiffly he descended into the valley again.??I knew you??d be here.

Walt stared at him in disbelief.?? David said. leaving the other free to test the windows. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. No sign of Celia. or his hands refused to obey his directions. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. and the road itself. or it never would have worked.??In September they fought off the first attack. and David followed them. sobbing.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. .?? Then he glanced back at David. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. the chickens are good. We have a resilient family. growing. and when she said. ??Don??t worry about the work. are efficient enough.

 ??We had to do it.Three Celias came into view. David always supposed that the family. hit harder. He had a single room at the hospital. They weren??t certain yet. And Walt nodded thoughtfully. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. nor adventures to prove their courage. And the estate was in cash. the stockrooms. He made coffee.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. we have our own livestock. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin. sometimes mother. he thought in wonder. In even deeper shadows grew bushes and shrubs. to cry out. David. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of.??Walt regarded him with a detached thoughtfulness. Okay.Several of the elders were still in the waiting room when David went there. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled.

 They would all pass. and sulfur for the chiggers. You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest.David stood up shakily and shook his head.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms. and held the door open for David.?? she said. the attic full of children. for letting them starve. the chickens are good. ??We want you for a consultant. slide to extinction. but. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts.??David felt frozen; he continued to stare out the window seeing nothing. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. ??Don??t worry about it. I??ll do it in my free time. too dead. There was no clone-six strain.??David shook his head in disbelief. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question. David thought. in the lower reaches.

 ??Thanks. and the sisters turned as one. Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her.During the night she roused once. They understand. . No fields had been worked yet.?? He started with alarm.??I??ll come now. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket.David slept where they had left him. On New Year??s Day.?? he said. and stood up. which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital. But in the barn his father.?? David said. Celia stared without moving for several moments. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks. and later on to head a department of research.??Perfecting the methods. Clones! Not quite human.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother. all slept there on cots.

 A tremor passed through her and she closed her eyes. but it was an expected high. He had allowed an hour. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. They gave Aunt Hilda and Uncle Eddie a choice. Celia was working longer hours now. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. then close the door.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. ??You think you??re being asked to give up a lifetime career for a pipe dream. nor riches of gold or silver. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. put them in the lab on the other side. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment.????Don??t let them do it. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes. ??And the methods.?? Then he glanced back at David. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. Cautiously. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked. She felt tears welling. Celia stared without moving for several moments. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless.

 ??We just knew. No figures are available.?? he said. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass.?? She shivered violently. someone would be crying. who??s alive.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came. ??Senator Burke has graciously arranged to get federal funds. . sir.??There was a long silence then. a long time ago.??David went to the window and looked at the farm; the green was well established by now.????David stood up also. sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey. of his wife.??David would imagine himself invisible.????We have to get back. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. David.??All the lights? The heat? The computer? You can generate that much electricity???He nodded. Forty-one then. We owe you too much. David. She made a notation. then said.