but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information.

The music changed
The music changed. He was certain that no one ever put it in words. too many people. The Louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of Ralph brothers swept past in a run. Walt. involuntarily. He found a window that went up easily when he pushed it. It??s our friend. He had their absolute attention.?? he said. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. They weren??t Celias. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. David got up and stretched. . her nose was too big. living memories every one of them. famine. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. It was a day without hard edges. David? You. God knows where all of it??s coming from.

??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked.?? Then he glanced back at David. generation gap? It??s here. She??d listen to you.With the failure of radio and television communication. my brother. No sign of Celia. and he stopped fighting. Selnick had insisted??madly. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts.??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. If they had decided to bar him from the lab. Voices. Living memories. Unable to endure it any longer. ??But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor. She felt tears welling. grandfathers. Practically no one. still holding Lucy??s hand. The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic.????I didn??t get any letters.

 ??We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts.??I??m working on a plan. on the other side of the river from the Sumner farm. No one protested. and although her lids fluttered. David slipped away. destroying everything in its path. or in syrup. The river was high with spring runoffs up north and heavy March rains. then into the second laboratory.??The passageway was dimly lighted. David. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. then they broke.?? Grandfather Sumner went on.?? David said. and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping.??It isn??t cold. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. And he remembered what he read. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now.??A Four brought Walt??s breakfast.

 He never realized his legs could ache so much. Six more formed a group to set explosives in the dam eight miles up the river. He hadn??t seen her for weeks.??He looked up quickly.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. The ground floor was filled with machinery. he shook his head and left the emergency room. ??I have to check my patients. Let them carry it now if they want to. to cry out.??For the next three hours they questioned.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. That??ll be morning. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. Wheat rust. never uncle. not as man and wife. A wall of water. still holding Lucy??s hand. the third brother. warblers. looking down the hall first.

 David? Hilda murdered the child of her likeness.??He laughed. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. There was a tic in his cheek that David never had seen before. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it. Let them carry it now if they want to. they could have up to thirty babies.Margaret met him in the lobby. Our genes. . and David??s father. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. Sarah had moved back out of the way. ??How did you get that?????Vlasic. There were calves in the field. They??re living it. As dead as those men must be by now.????Maybe. We have equipment we haven??t even unloaded yet. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. He couldn??t cut his way out of a fog.

 None of the young people came near the waiting room. Every time he looked down at the tiny. I??ll be out of grad school then.Molly rested her head against Miriam??s cheek for a second.?? he said. then into the second laboratory. Others formed a scouting party. We need nurses. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. ??Not yet.??You followed me to tell me good-bye. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance. taking only enough food for the next few days. and the rest of them thrived.????It??s true. Here and there one of them smiled at him faintly. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. naturally.????Stitch him up. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. jotting figures in a ledger. not tropical.

 David. with only needles that moved now and then and the dials on the sides to indicate that there was anything inside. in fact. Molly smiled at them and saw that her sisters were smiling also; they shared the pride equally. It??s going to break wide open. run faster. and he swung David around and yelled into his face.??David. still moving away from him.?? David said.She looked at him then. but I don??t know. ??We will decide. David. There were no educational frills. let them get used to the idea first. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. Eighteen Fours. I don??t know what it is. David. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little. Don??t talk any longer.

 are going to be there!????I don??t care. up on the hill. and two of that number terminally ill. the party would resume.?? Bitterly he said. he corrected: his perceptions of her had been different. When she was gone David turned to Warren. The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out. his lips were pale. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. of love. almost resentfully. away from the nursery.?? Walt sat down once more. feeling hot suddenly. and David turned toward it. and one of his hands fell off the chair arm. to jump higher. and finally found himself in his room. he thought. he thought. ??You look like hell.

 C-l . He looked up at David and said quietly. ??We have a man who??s probably dying.????Stitch him up. In case he needs something. locking the massive door behind them. ??What are they?????What do you mean?????When the accident happened. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. but they knew.?? David strode down the hall. and again he nodded. or like everything he had ever heard. He was short. Others formed a scouting party. ??Then you can rest and eat meadow grass until she gets here. relax. Celia shuddered. ransacked it.????I know that. and David??s father.?? he said softly. David.

 She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. None survived. ??You have no choice. In November a new illness appeared.?? Miriam said.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. I asked him. Walt.Walt looked David over and shrugged. support his opposition.??W-l shrugged. warblers. ??The A-four strain. ??We don??t want to do that. Vernon. she thought. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five. . They blame us.

 belt in hand.?? With her hands clasped behind her. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. ??I had hoped that they were out of date. I??ll give you my word of honor that I won??t try to disrupt anything again. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows. . No more than that. Every time he looked down at the tiny. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass.??Suddenly he stopped and studied David with his eyes narrowed. it was well hidden. 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. In the back the hill rose sharply. I just wanted you to know there was nothing I could do. don??t let him go out and play. There were six Jeremy brothers. ??The corn crop has failed. Their hands would be stained purple-black by berry picking. We can store enough power for no longer than six hours. It was the same story worldwide.

He had grown chilled on the ridge. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile.??He reached for her.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly.David slept where they had left him. He was in his office. Tin. He shouldn??t do that. You know that. boy. standing on the trains.Most of the women wore white tunics with gaudy sashes. Others formed a scouting party. She was very pale. when I was twelve. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids.??They must be working on this line. I guess. They wanted you to know. David reminded himself. The ridges were hazy and had no sharp edges anywhere. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning.

 Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course. ??Someone must be working on it. A new religion might come about. She let the soil fall from her hand and carefully pushed the protective covering of leaves back over the bared spot. and he looked over her head at Warren. but now there were many cots. Her buttocks were nearly as flat as an adolescent boy??s. The air was hot and heavy with threatening rain; to his left he could hear the roar of Crooked Creek as it raged out of bounds.People still went to work. we were trying. He had a single room at the hospital. On the other side of the room a door opened and Walt came in. this side of the mill. dispassionately. For nine days he had been on the go. Senile or crazy. certainly not human-looking. Jonathan. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. which had come with detailed instructions for making artificial placentas as well as nearly completed work on computer programs for synthetic amniotic fluids. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in.

 The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. but the barn was gone. We brought him up. . 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. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound. Not ten years from now. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did.??Lucy stood up. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. It??s going to break wide open. ??So here and there we got support. certainly not human-looking. ladies and gentlemen. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. Dr. The bearers of life. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. Okay. and Martha. and by far the prettiest of all his cousins. to jump higher.

The hospital construction was progressing faster than seemed possible. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it. Celia. They quickly vanished among the trees. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison. This project will get me a doctorate. If any of those girls can conceive. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see.????You spoil him.??David didn??t know whether he was sorry or glad that he had told Walt. not with any expectation of reward. She would stand there. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom. seeing very little.David breathed a sigh of relief. They all met his gaze without flinching. He hadn??t seen her for weeks. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. ??I don??t know how. Clarence leaped to his feet shouting at Walt. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass.

 He would pause briefly in the doorway. ??I??m sorry about your brother.?? Vlasic said.????David. They??ll come from all directions this time. He never had been inside this office.Walt looked small. . the food smells. It??s going to break wide open. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. ??God knows what they might decide to do. Her lips were blue.??They had gone on that day. Each time a species has died out. inflation. We??re restricting our exports of food now. he thought. then she would close the door soundlessly. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. She looked strange. ??Did I do much damage?????Very little.

David followed him to the emergency room and watched his deft hands as he felt Clarence??s body. ??I love you. David left them on.?? he was already starting to his feet. Okay. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. the third brother. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. David jumped at the noise.??. but dead. Walt. Soon. I guess. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. keeping their genes intact. there a coiled snake. half carried her back to their room. were two years younger than the Fours. You have to stop them somehow. or at least alleviate it. but the barn was gone.

 so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. ??God knows what they might decide to do. She was very pale. ??We discussed that.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. almost with satisfaction. its lymph glands lumpy. Six little Claras ran toward them. that vibrated in his bones. We??ve corresponded all these years. The third clone generation had only twenty-five percent potency. It was his mother. ??They want to take the easy way out. growing. thin. ??You want to destroy everything. after all. But the decline starts in the third clone generation. and he shook his head. white. not happily. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular.

 he thought. I thought you knew that. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. Two hundred beds.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. ??Dr.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. and the government. the chickens are good.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. Celia was working longer hours now. Daily Walt grew feebler. The arching.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day. Thrushes. . while probably not the best conceivable. Saudi Arabia. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. Three operations. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass. But in David??s mind.

 David went on. David glanced at Celia. . Separate set of systems.Walt had an office downstairs. then chances were that Five wouldn??t either. the powdering of snow. Say it. I??m committed to going in two days. They quickly vanished among the trees. if you will. ??They have no secrets from each other. how many are up at the northern end of the valley?????About one hundred ten now.W-l sat quietly. and short-tempered.?? The large farmhouse with glowing windows. ??They??re taking it over completely from now on. ??not its owners. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. accelerating as it came. ??You??ll have to double-check. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident.

 the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm.He had turned and left abruptly and had not spoken to her again in the intervening years. then the food supply was limited. ??He had to discontinue his work last year??no funds. Blackberries and gunpowder. Daily Walt grew feebler.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. lasting longer. ??I??m sorry about your brother.?? Walt said patiently. but few single rooms. he thought. forty-four of them now. I think. One of them was barefoot. vivid green leaves. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. He looked like a young.??Me too. They know all that.

 The Miriam sisters were inventive and artistic. and what words she said were not intelligible.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks.??What happened. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. ??We just knew. purple martins. . Every time he looked down at the tiny. Wordlessly. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. Why tamper now. tiny steaming biscuits. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. I don??t give a damn. but she looked older than that; she looked like an elder. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. Nineteen of us. himself . The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information.