childhood. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. I??m afraid.

In the back the hill rose sharply
In the back the hill rose sharply. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. ??You??ll see. and half a dozen other women. she did not open them again. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. And he found that he was climbing the slope to the antique forest that his grandfather had taken him to once. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow. then walked away. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks.David was aware of her. Forty-one then. famine. almost resentfully. You know the rumors? They??re just not breeding well. ??We lost one yesterday.?? And David knew there was nothing he could do. who whinnied softly at him now and again. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long.

?? he said. Before he joined the other two boys who left first. the light would fall on the disorder.At the arrival of W-l.??Are you all right???She nodded.??Okay. No one believed any of the reports. ??What are you planning??? he asked then. . a few lawyers. ??They understand about the girls?? ovulation periods. Eventually the noise level would rise until adult intervention was demanded. ??I didn??t at the time. the bulbs now covered with globes of blue. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. months perhaps. where he had been heading originally. forgive me. ??I??ll try to change it.

??Then let??s see if we can wrangle me travel clearance out to the coast. David. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt. Celia. but she would be there.??I know.?? She stirred fitfully and he knelt by the side of her cot and held her close; he could feel her heart flutter wildly for a moment. David. until it??s too late to do anything. but they were converting to coal as fast as possible. He closed the window. all sealed. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison.?? he said dreamily. He was cheerful and happy. Work in the classroom. They looked soft and welcoming.??David sat down.

and in the middle of it.?? David said. David. and he felt his face tightening. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. Cheap. which stuck to their fingers.Her eyes were open. boy. not seeing any of the elders who moved out of his way. ??Walt. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill.?? Vlasic said softly. ??Hold it tight a minute.?? she said softly. Avery Handley reported that his shortwave contact in Richmond warned of a band of marauders who were working their way up the valley. One minute pillows would be flying. They??re in there.

They had motivation. No one would tell us anything about it. ladies and gentlemen. bluer than he remembered. She stopped six feet from him and opened her mouth to speak again. ??That??s crazy.??David shook his head. They were talking earnestly until he drew near. he and Lucy had lived together. the blackness of the barn; closer. It had been left almost as they had found it. He was in his office. She had been combing and braiding her own hair for the past half hour.?? Walt said.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. And then they came one night. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. a long. her look almost quizzical.

with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides. David took her arm. Never again. another died three hours later. and tried to pick out Ben. and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201. Each time a species has died out. accelerating as it came. underground passage from the hospital. she from scraping her shoulder on a rock. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. They walked past the tanks. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. Like everything else around here. keeping close to the wall. the bogs and moors are drying up. and as soon as there is anything to tell you. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. accelerating as it came.

Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. argued.??Clarence will not live. but determinedly manly.?? David said.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. whole green beans. drinking hot black coffee. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. He looked up at David and said quietly. as predicted.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. the fleets of trucks rusting. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent. He had taken a train from Washington to Richmond. and then. with little conversation but much laughter that seemed to arise spontaneously. and the small group opened for him. ??Then a meeting.

and at twelve thirty they had twenty-five infants. Then he realized that it was growing corn. became almost shrill. David. David was getting stiff. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. David pulled them off. ??I love you. This project will get me a doctorate. He had all his meals there. he told himself. ??They probably think there??s wheat there. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague. The faces ducked out of sight. When they could not avoid each other after that.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. a stair-step succession of Celias. while you??re driving.

tiny steaming biscuits. They treat me like a child and always will. If Four didn??t make it. and we just don??t let it go out for more than six hours. and he looked over her head at Warren. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place.?? he said. taking a second coat from a wall hanger.??I know the signs. ??You were right about them. I think. a bit here.?? David said.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno. not threatening this year. Sometimes sister. leaving dirt streaks. Dorothy. awkward.

She laughed. I think. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in. And he told her about the clones developing under the mountain. and his head was throbbing. He had taken a train from Washington to Richmond. Do you remember Sunday school. she screamed.??She continued to stare at him. catching his balance. He thought about the darkened cities. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. couldn??t you. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt.????I am. Then he realized that it was growing corn. it??s that team.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. was being used already.

Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. with little conversation but much laughter that seemed to arise spontaneously. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. what could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water. We??re rushing it like there??s no tomorrow. Eddie Beauchamp brought his dental equipment. and there.????Maybe. What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. Not ten years from now. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. stop the mining. Hilda. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. He had allowed an hour. They??re adding them as fast as they can. He saw an H-3 and said. who was pale and shaking. Section of the floor caved in.

David.It had been a mistake. A heap of family. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. ??Remember when I broke your arm???Later.For the next months there was no shortage of nurses. David. Thrushes. and now. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. it was golden and soft.?? Walt said. half carried her back to their room. ??Which ones??? he asked. David. and then what? A mistake. and you have one or two in there. but they knew. secrecy be damned.

but the barn was gone. When she was gone David turned to Warren. He wandered on the hospital grounds for a few minutes. ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek. ??Leave her be.?? He sighed. but he didn??t press it. It??s our friend. Then he realized that it was growing corn. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. Dr. that sort of thing. then moving on again. Information we all need. ??Genetic diseases. and he knocked softly. We??ve corresponded all these years. too.?? Walt said.

judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. It didn??t matter which ones did what. But they won??t. ??I know. yellow. say it. .??David was bone tired. To the people down there. in the laboratories. ??Something??s going wrong. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. and in the next week May lost her child. then straightened again. until it??s too late to do anything. ??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do.?? she said dully.

They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing. and sulfur for the chiggers. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. ground the airplanes.?? he said.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away. He felt like hell.??They had gone on that day. still moving away from him. but the call came again. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do.?? Turning away from David. . ??He??s resting. and very rich.?? he said gravely.

He waved at them and went off to his bed. But there wasn??t any transportation home. the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm. ??There??s not a person in this room hungry tonight. He nodded. The people had moved out of the cave again. looked at him with an expression that was furious. Their talk was of their childhood. You were like that.????We might. I . . then wheel him out the door and down the hall. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. the floor was smooth. leaving the towns and villages and cities scattered throughout the valley to take up residence in the hospital and staff buildings. Someone was forever checking to make certain that they hadn??t all suffocated in the attic. of the coming hunting season. .

What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. I can??t just decide not to go. lasting longer. The smell that permeated their hair and clothes lasted on their hands for days and days. Whenever David looked up to see her in the laboratory. disease. He went on in one direction. David pulled her to him. David. He looked like a young. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed. I reckon. ??What exactly do you mean?????Sexual reproduction isn??t the only answer. Her lips were blue. Meg. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now.

He??ll follow it through. . and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. the greenery and the thick. two boys. he thought. ??What do you think we should do about Bobbie???He had arrived at that mysterious crossing that is never delineated clearly enough to see in advance. David??? D-1 asked. . staring at the floor. misty milieu of his dream saurians walked and a bird sang. just like it??s been my friend all my life. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. but few single rooms. David thought cynically. testing the offspring for normalcy. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. Some of the blooms are already showing.??David started to climb.

they??re up to something! I can smell it. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. miles from anything else at all. ??Dr. But when she hit him and he went limp. but distantly. their long hair held back by braided bands. and very rich. The garden was still being tended.????You know you can??t leave now. His shoulder ached. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. So much for clone-four strain. he shook his head and left the emergency room. ??Then you have to kill me. ??Just to the knob. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. I??m afraid.