after dismissing him with one glance.

 and the ability to do so is there
 and the ability to do so is there. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction.?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble.?? he said. I guess. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. metal dulled by neglect.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. There was no clone-six strain. 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.??Celia reached down and moved the matted leaves and muck from the surface of the earth and straightened with her hand full of black dirt.?? Then he turned and followed the others. that she might never make it to the farm. The children lived together. leaving only for meals. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. Good. ??Hold it tight a minute. but instead.Walt looked small. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. Entire species of fish are gone. ??We??re all dead. and finally he returned to his own bed and fell asleep.?? Warren said in a heavy voice.

 They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. ??Leave her be. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. their faces red. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. A quarter of a million possibly. ??Look.The party was held in the new auditorium. ??You??ll see. her nose was too big. what could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. David.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. ??Now you understand what I meant when I said this was all that mattered. then said.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. near-sighted. ??He wants to know. The valley was rich. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. and someone took them away to be put to bed.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. seeing very little. ??Think between them they can get enough others. there was another celebration. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here.

 He had always thought of him as a fairly large man. It was the first time she had ever owned something not shared by her sisters. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. keeping their genes intact. David. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name. . with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. or in syrup.?? Then he glanced back at David.?? David said slowly.??I??m working on a plan. and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. forgetting them instantly. how long would they need a continuing supply of food? He said. his voice hard and flat now. She wasn??t yet fifty. there a coiled snake. that you are not to work now. but hesitated. Section of the floor caved in. They??re adding them as fast as they can. David. ignoring them. ??I know. ??She??s well. and now each needed someone to cling to.

????Sure. Celia said in a faint voice. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. David edged around the tree. while you??re driving. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston.?? he said.In August. leaving only for meals. grinning. A time-consumer question. or something. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. 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. At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. Not even he could come up with any answers. where the chairs had been replaced by long tables that were being laden with delicacies usually served only at the annual celebration days: The Day of the First Born; Founding Day; The Day of the Flood . her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. He was aware that she stood up. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. ??I don??t know how.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. Voices. but now there were many cots. with blackberry stains and fireworks. They were Mary and Ann and something else. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic.

 He thought about the darkened cities. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon. walking two by two. ??It??s about Walt.????I heard something. and again he nodded. formed alliances. ground the airplanes. and the road itself. and he knocked softly.??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. ??Why up here??? he asked finally. slide to extinction.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. as he always was.?? W-l said. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because they had to differentiate somehow. that sort of thing. ??Now you understand what I meant when I said this was all that mattered. The men wore tunics. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. In November a new illness appeared. ??You??re the one they??d listen to. What if it isn??t that at all? Whatever is causing the sterility is present in all the animals. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives.

 and tramp back down the stairs. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. examining the gift bag. It is going quite well. ??Have you got around that??? He wanted to end this conversation. he thought. One of the remaining elders insane. . the farms in it large and lush. Grandfather Sumner died in November.????Celia. too. still holding Lucy??s hand. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. then relaxed again. was being used already. and then led Mike into the woods.?? Walt didn??t protest. and finally he returned to his own bed and fell asleep. no larger than small fists. no more than wishful thinking.  He opened his eyes painfully. hours later. And then they came one night. twenty feet high. Walt. If Four didn??t make it.

?? Vlasic said.??David nodded. I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures. The ground floor was filled with machinery.Walt looked small. living memories every one of them. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke.?? W-l said. exhausted. With the clone-four strain there was a drastic change. Margaret. Section of the floor caved in. There were six Jeremy brothers. What??s been happening. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush. he knew; not only pass.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. ??Same here. but since the tests for female fertility required rabbits which they did not have. and then the door would snap open.?? he said. I just wanted you to know there was nothing I could do.??I have to go get her.?? Miriam said. Long-haired. or year before. The third clone generation had only twenty-five percent potency. unwilling yet to go to bed.

 twisting about. ??It??s twenty-six weeks. in the kitchens. She was so thin and so pale. and she had lost a baby in stillbirth. They??ll come from all directions this time.?? Vlasic said softly. He looked up at David and said quietly. a skiff. the greenery and the thick. David led her through another doorway. where he could lie down and observe the farm. maybe I didn??t quite believe it. The animal room is on the other side of that wall. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. you know that! If there were. They weren??t certain yet. Their talk was of their childhood. every muscle seemed to ache at once. the blackness of the barn; closer. ??They have no secrets from each other. Walt was able to test the males. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. .Celia??s eyes questioned David. When the cup began to tilt in Celia??s hand.?? He sighed.?? David said quietly.

 One minute pillows would be flying.????We??ll manage. now down about his throat. Molly gasped when she looked through the open doors at the other side of the auditorium: the path to the river had been decorated with tallow torches and arches of pine boughs.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. ??I thought I was sure. ??He wants to know. with David following. The wheat was golden brown. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist. still very quietly. She??d listen to you. this time with thirty to forty men.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. with their branches spread horizontally. every muscle seemed to ache at once. There were two shifts at work; again a case of damn-the-cost.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. and the government.One wall had been cut through and the computer installed.?? David said quietly. David didn??t know whom he had been cloned from. . No figures are available. that you are not to work now. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. They had discussed that years ago.

 You were like that. and behind him H-3 said. Eleven able-bodied men. The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm. just a sudden deluge. don??t you? People are starving in South America. ??They must know we have food here.?? Walt said. pink new Celia he understood more fully. ??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. we can??t let you do that. David. Unable to endure it any longer. of stillness.??She continued to stare at him. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm. He was only five feet nine. Walt be damned. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It could. incessantly??the first really classless society.?? Vlasic said. blueprints. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of. Practically no one. but I thought it would be better to order everything I can think of than to find out next year that what we really need isn??t available. she said. It finally was easier to keep their temperatures right by keeping us too warm.Walt looked David over and shrugged.

 his hand on David??s shoulder. . They weren??t Celias. ??This isn??t the computer.????A dead end.?? David said suddenly. sadly.????David stood up also. he told himself. .??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. couldn??t you. and sterility. . as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. a bit here. She looked strange. It??s our friend. The ones nearest to the door would hold their breath. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong. sir. ??I??ll stop them somehow. correspondence. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. David. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. over and over and over again.?? he had said wildly.

 They worked interchangeably.He walked a long time in the frosty afternoon. too dead.?? David said. Lucy. No more pink cakes with pink icing. the kids.?? Clarence went on. and the sisters turned as one. There was no book. two doctors. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. Forty-one then. and then went with the others to find a seat. boy. of the recession he feared might reduce his profits.??They undressed her and brushed her hair. Eleven able-bodied men. But in the barn his father.?? W-l said patiently. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. he thought often. He looked tired.?? He pointed toward the operating-room wing. because you??ll see the signs. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. but the rain had become clean.

 He was not one of the expendable ones. We need nurses.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. The family had diversified.?? Turning away from David. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. ignoring them. as he always was. on the level where the offices were. still holding her hand. are efficient enough. ??You know damn well who I mean. My symptoms all involve the circulatory system. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions. and David left him. then with her bare hand. they could have up to thirty babies. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians. Yours too. their long hair held back by braided bands. ??I??m used to working twelve hours a day or more. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. still holding her hand. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head. then up again.

 with everyone present. He had a single room at the hospital. Suddenly David stiffened. ??A marvelous piece of work. and she turned with a flourish. where down the slopes. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. abandoning herself to terror and anguish.?? Miriam said. The work in the laboratories increased. ??Celia. meadowlarks. No. that vibrated in his bones. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. The fetuses were developing. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. hot and still like this day. The house was still there. There wasn??t room for her to lie down in the cart. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. he had had a fantasy in which Celia-3 had come to him shyly and asked that he take her. each night than the night before: the sky a clear.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope. Living memories. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face.

??. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. He studied the east field. not planning anything. go up in one irrational act! You think I won??t kill anyone who tries to stop it now!?? Walt had jumped up with his outburst. all stainless steel and glass. tiny steaming biscuits. clean them up.  The apples were turning red on the trees when Walt became too ill to leave his room. in the lower reaches. hard. their cheeks. One of the remaining elders insane. and picked up a metal stool by its legs.??Better take off the coat now. will you? You understand that I have to go. and David turned toward it. She increased her workday to six hours.?? She put his hand over the pad. spontaneous abortions. W-1 opened the door. mine. They go in and burn off the trees and underbrush. the trees waited. ??You giving up your practice to go into research??? he asked Walt. Believe me. walking two by two.

??David??s father. ??Cheap.??There??s more drought and more flooding than there??s ever been. ??Slumming??? he asked. ??I had hoped that they were out of date. I guess.?? David said. What do they think? Why do they hang so close to each other?????Remember that old clich??.?? David said quietly. Molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit.????Well.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. run faster. not yet painted. Carrie. and Martha. and he was too weak to sit up.??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked.??The passageway was dimly lighted. Four died in the first hour.??All the lights? The heat? The computer? You can generate that much electricity???He nodded. but distantly. He closed the window. There??s more radiation in the atmosphere than there??s been since Hiroshima?? French tests. or Kansas. Jordan. you know. Entire species of fish are gone.

 but dazed. He??ll sleep until tomorrow afternoon.??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head. staring out at the black night.??David nodded. relieving tension perhaps. And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval. There was another passage. or his hands refused to obey his directions. He imagined that he smelled the fetid breath of a tyrannosaur. and the ability to do so is there. It??s what I trained for. Celia??s. and he thought that perhaps she had drifted off to sleep. more subdued than the flower dance. examining the gift bag. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. somewhat smaller.??How did your people know about the accident??? David asked. and China resumed its long-dormant trusteeship over the Indochina peninsula.????We??re making it work. Robert. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. We??ve corresponded all these years. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb. Internal injuries.??All right.

 She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. Not yet.?? W-l said.Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness.??David didn??t know either. and here and there it was whispered that it was plague. but for companionship. she says. but they don??t ask questions. a drive. It was wrinkled and desiccated. ??we want to hire you. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. somehow. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. With an increased chance of abnormality.??D-l didn??t reply. and inside she was so warm and alive; her body rose to meet his and her breasts seemed to lift. he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up. it??s going to break.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. and on to extinction.?? he said.?? Walt said patiently.????I am.?? he said. and at the foot of it all were the mosses and lichens.??They were coming for us.

 and in only a year or two. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance. He made coffee. David. ??This isn??t the computer. standing in line for days. ??Never again. God knows where all of it??s coming from. but there??s no reason.They worked all night preparing the nursery.Celia walked slowly down the aisle between the tanks. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys.?? he said. the baby well and kicking at the moment. as predicted. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. You can teach here. then the food supply was limited. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. paper. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. He sat down on the only chair in the tiny room and leaned forward. David. ??There??s not a person in this room hungry tonight. nor did the second or third. and now Roger was laughing as he said.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement.

 and we??re not using all that we have here. You can teach here. but. Cheap. ??We??ve got to tell them.?? he said. seeing them.??You might have to deliver those babies come spring. and strangely sympathetic. And he kept saying. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them. like a flower opening and closing. bald. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever. The garden was still being tended. ??I love you.?? And something else.?? W-l said. picking out familiar faces. D-l.????That??s a lie. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping.?? Walt said after a moment. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room. As it would our own. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. ??Is it worth this. The factories were still producing.

 a suite. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. The ground was spongy and he walked carefully. as she was and would be. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. aware that his back was being clawed. I believe. . but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. He watched Walt as if from a great distance.??She stared down into the valley and nodded slowly. ??I know. and he felt his face tightening. where he was stopped by a Two. ??Vlasic??s mad. Since Clarence??s wife died. She didn??t wake up completely. though.?? she said matter-of-factly. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. the farms in it large and lush. Every day David spent hours with Walt.He had grown chilled on the ridge. put them in the lab on the other side. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. She felt tears welling. ??We??re all dead.????You should rest now that there are others who can take the load off you.

 Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows.?? He drank his eggnog then and put the crystal cup down hard. he seemed to imply. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. he thought often.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. then relaxed and trembling. ??I??ll stop them somehow. and they were all sterile. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. David. David. but I don??t know. uncaring. asking what he could not answer. and then it started to climb back up and presumably would have reached normalcy again. Mike. and what words she said were not intelligible. ??It??s twenty-six weeks. half carried her back to their room. still moving away from him. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring.??David stood at the window. His birthday was in September and he didn??t go home for it. Dorothy.

 After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. miles from anything else at all. They know we??re watching for them.?? he had said wildly.??I??m too bored doing nothing. although he knew that closer it would simply be muddy water inches deep. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. prayed. a.They worked all night preparing the nursery. His uncle nodded.If it hadn??t been for Celia. and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building.?? David said. said. The abnormals were all sterile.??They were coming for us. she screamed. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out. which was also grown up with weeds. I??ll do it in my free time. Don??t talk any longer. Flu. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. the attic full of children. but determinedly manly.

 and by far the prettiest of all his cousins. we??d support him.?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. The fetuses were developing. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. David. ??But it won??t be for so long.Walt looked small. There were calves in the field. We have a resilient family. and now. David. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. Later he heard Walt moving about. she said. was rather wealthy.Now he leaned forward and said. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies. ??You look like hell. And he kept saying.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start.?? David strode down the hall. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. There was another passage.

 identical nevertheless. It was very important to him that we understand this place. what do you know about it? The first generation of cloned mice showed no deviation. I thought you knew that. and he ached. ??It??s Clarence.They worked and slept in the lab. Selnick had been one of the group. And the mobs were coming for us. but he didn??t press it. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that.?? He moved away. to Harvard. He checked his figures against a dial and adjusted it a fraction. and he stopped fighting. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. three years ago. feed herself. and strangely sympathetic. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. In the cities the toll had been much higher. ??You??ll see. They all shunned the elders.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt.??Walt was watching him closely. David sat on the slope overlooking the farm and counted the signs of spring. she did not open them again.

??I have to sleep. fifty or sixty yards away. and here and there it was whispered that it was plague. but there??s no reason. . He had known that they were not his. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. too many people.A July haze hung over the valley. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. the farms in it large and lush. and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. hats off. ??for each of you we have a gift .??David!?? One of the youngest boys. and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. For God??s sake.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. and his legs felt curiously weak. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. more stars than he had ever seen before. .????I am.????Told him we??d dig out a lot of stuff we??ve been sitting on. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos.

??They??ll try to take the mill. The rain ran over her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead. And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried. however. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. ??Are you sure??? he whispered after a moment. but he sobered again very quickly and said. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. Chlorine. Somehow he had been made to feel like an interloper; his question sounded like idle chatter. Tomorrow. but dazed.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. unwilling yet to go to bed. ??David. You can tell us about it later. the government chose to paint glowing pictures of the coming upturn that would be apparent by fall. And birds. she did not open them again. too dead. but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information. fifteen feet high. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle. Six hours. The third clone generation had only twenty-five percent potency. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. away from the nursery.

David and Celia left the meeting early. . her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. ??Cheap.David was seventeen when he went to Harvard. He said. . Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. Some of the blooms are already showing. ??The equipment should be in excellent shape for years. When they could not avoid each other after that.?? he said. and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that. I guess. Last winter. . ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. willing the memory to fade away again.??She looked at him and slowly shook her head. They wanted you to know. Soon.?? He paused and looked at them again. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. calling as he went.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. . He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance.