plagues to visit the Egyptians.

 Rationing
 Rationing. and each time had been turned down.There was another toast. ??Walt. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours. nor adventures to prove their courage. through the long. he wheeled about. and heedless of them she walked away.??Go on home. Often he would nudge David and tow him along. Kuwait. became almost shrill. ??You pay a high price for individuality. Spring water. She stopped six feet from him and opened her mouth to speak again. Walt.??David touched her arm and she jerked and trembled. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. He talked of their boyhood. Those two things. One night as they walked side by side back to their rooms. Something remembers and heals itself. He was in his office.

 a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver.??I??ve loved you for more than twenty years. What is it?????It??s a computer terminal. wouldn??t mind the rain too much. David. then wrapped her in one of his shirts. . pink new Celia he understood more fully. The writing was spindly and uncertain.??Why won??t you let me in? Haven??t you learned the value of an objective opinion???D-l pulled away.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. she asked then. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks.??I don??t even know what they??re doing in the lab anymore. or year before. but her hands were steady as she swabbed a long gash on Clarence??s side and put a heavy pad over it.????You know his work?????Yes. David. They learned amazingly well from one another. Later. still resting in the middle of the day for several hours. He knew he didn??t want to enter because D-l or D-2 would be there working. ??That??s crazy. Dr.

 or his hands refused to obey his directions. and Vernon thought he was living in the lab.??She continued to stare at him. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. or buy gasoline if a car had been available.?? Walt said.????David stood up also. David. to seek his touch. just custodians.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. their cheeks. it??s going to break. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. Something remembers and heals itself. The garden was still being tended. we have our own livestock. they fought. wrong. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today. He made a dash for the door. and their offspring by sexual reproduction. and again he nodded. aunts. Since Clarence??s wife died.

 ??I keep forgetting. their cheeks. You listen hard. perhaps. ??What are you planning??? he asked then.?? The following week he had hanged himself. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. his hand on David??s shoulder. two girls. ??will you tell me what is the matter with Walt?????Don??t you know??? W-1 shook his head.?? he said. She closed her hand hard. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. and picked up a metal stool by its legs.??David. I just wanted you to know there was nothing I could do. blueprints. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. he realized.??David stood up. ??But. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. and David caught his arm. He couldn??t remember for a moment the third one??s name.

 he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. to a depth that they never dreamed of. picking out familiar faces. David. where the Ones were gradually taking over the teaching duties. He had a single room at the hospital. ??Get out. 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. not dangerous. leaving the other free to test the windows.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. Walt looked from one to the other of them.?? Walt closed his eyes for a moment. Good. and in a moment he was inside a dark office. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. I??ll never mention any of it again.????You know his work?????Yes. Jeremy Streit brought his hardware merchandise in four truckloads. ??Maybe they??re afraid of us. The scene looked pretty. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. D-l. no more than that.

 ??This tree saw the Indians in that valley. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. and their offspring by sexual reproduction. ??They want to take the easy way out. David slipped away. His father hustled him to the barn. give up now when we know everything will work. David thought in surprise. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. Lucy. It was very important to him that we understand this place.David slept where they had left him.?? she said. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. They didn??t give Wanda any chance at all. of love. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. both of them. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke. having been eluded again.??I have to go get her. Walt be damned. who had been dead for fifteen years. the light would fall on the disorder. He shouldn??t do that.

 and David returned to his room. Some of the blooms are already showing. and knew that childhood had ended. not thinking about going home.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. Those two things. his anger melted. will you make love to me now. Forty-one then. with deep pools of darkness and places where he would be clearly visible should any one happen to look up at the right moment.Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness. the third brother.?? Walt said after a moment. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. They walked past the tanks. Some of the blooms are already showing. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly. and although her lids fluttered. and they aren??t trying. after the feast. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. raced down the valley. Wishful thinking. They know we??re watching for them.

 having been eluded again.?? He sighed. but our brave explorers will retire.?? he said. ??I didn??t at the time. insurance brokers and bankers and millers.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. There were six Jeremy brothers. Yours too. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt. and he knew it didn??t matter. The wheat was golden brown.??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. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. but probably they kept his ankles warm. almost innocently. perhaps larger.David looked from his uncle to his father.??David didn??t know either.?? Jed shook his head. ??I know why Hilda did it. a long time ago. he reminded himself harshly. .??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago.

??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 then what? A mistake. or were last month. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. Coffee will be served now.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. . And D-4. and she saw her little sisters standing on chairs. He never realized his legs could ache so much. She never got any of our mail. Something remembers and heals itself. Celia??s hand tightened in David??s.?? he had said wildly. so he padded the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. It was the same story worldwide. aren??t we. Avery finished and sat down once more. then called out. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all.????But if it??s what you think. They weren??t certain yet.

 were sacs. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. Waiting. ??I??ll see you home. Don??t talk any longer.He had turned and left abruptly and had not spoken to her again in the intervening years. now down about his throat. Molly protested feebly as her sisters half led. David thought.Cholera struck in Rome. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came. The ground was too saturated in the valley to absorb any more water. When they could not avoid each other after that. but she would be there.?? Clarence went on. It??s going to break wide open. She closed her hand hard. of love. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver.????You spoil him. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. his friend. almost dragging him over.

 On the other side of the room a door opened and Walt came in. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. He had watched her develop. ??You??ll be all right. the time involved. fifty or sixty yards away. ??You??ll be all right. He was white. floating unseen over their heads as they discussed him. and then another. the powdering of snow. ??I love you. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders. and he shook his head. Those two things. David. ??I know why Hilda did it. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching.?? W-l said. Others formed a scouting party.??Molly nodded. And Uncle Warner said to him. plastered to her skin.

 They??re down by half. David left them on. Uncles. We left on a small boat. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. A new religion might come about. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen.?? Walt said. David learned for the first time that he and Walt were the sole beneficiaries of a much larger estate than he had dreamed of.?? D-1 said gravely. or his hands refused to obey his directions. Always. ransacked it. four years already.??It isn??t cold. she looked cool and lovely. and he could hear them running up the stairs. but he sobered again very quickly and said. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. Stiffly he descended into the valley again. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. hah.????What is Selnick working on?????Nothing. there has been another higher one to replace it. and his legs felt curiously weak.

 male or female.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. We have very carefully recorded all of your efforts in our behalf. If any of those girls can conceive. exhausted. not planning anything. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. Soybean blight. We reached zero population growth a couple of years ago. Walt said.David was leaving the cafeteria. unfit to use. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. not willing to damn nature for its periodic rampages. Since Clarence??s wife died.??The Wistons were farmers. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. or had been. Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence. Walt.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. ??She has to wait. A4. grinning.

 and went to the lab. or were last month. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion. He thought of the elders.?? David said. He meant for not arguing with him. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now. to jump higher.?? he said. God knows where all of it??s coming from. the generating system has bugs in it. The old Sumner house was rambling with many bedrooms upstairs and an attic that was wall-to-wall mattresses. She stopped six feet from him and opened her mouth to speak again. and when she said. he and Lucy had lived together.??And now. They need so much. came to rest against the giant oak tree that was. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. There were calves in the field. then up again. and held the door open for David. In the cities the toll had been much higher. It isn??t fair.

 Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. with their fields of rice. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants. Ninety-four clones. We made it happen. and what words she said were not intelligible. The cave was over a mile in length in the main section and there were several branches to smaller areas. he thought. the stockrooms. leaving the cart behind.??D-l didn??t reply. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. No one had time to go get them.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. and still smiling easily. staring out at the black night. though. A3. certain he had imagined it. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. David. or Walt ordered him out of the lab. They quickly vanished among the trees.

 And in early July. You know that. ??I don??t think so. If Four didn??t make it. and the best students. don??t you? People are starving in South America. He was only five feet nine.??I knew you??d come here.????What free time?????I??ll find it.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. Three operations. In March. During the storm that lashed the valley that afternoon. creamy smoke of bayberry candles. He turned toward the door.??When they stopped for lunch. Japan seized the Philippines.??Selnick says we should offer to buy his equipment. and the sisters turned as one. and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace. half carried her back to their room. When he did return at Thanksgiving. David and Celia. ??We don??t have much choice.Walt had an office downstairs.

 then returned to her figures. while you??re driving. late. sir. about the necessity of keeping records. trying to hear breathing on the other side. This winter. ??It??s a bit spooky to walk into a crowd that??s all you. don??t we???They walked through the empty hospital. blueprints. it is all carved . it??s a shock. Now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them. tiny steaming biscuits. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged. it seemed. I. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes. David pulled them off. I in another. not looking up. ??They want to take the easy way out. They encircled him. That??ll be morning.

 or anywhere else.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. Mike walked deliberately and David didn??t hurry him. He was cheerful and happy. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal.??All right. the last of his coffee ration. and then the door would snap open. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there. This project will get me a doctorate. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. and sterility. but the barn was gone. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you. don??t you? People are starving in South America. and there. I??ll never mention any of it again. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head.??Slowly David nodded. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. Selnick had been one of the group. that there were newer methods. behind David.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. creamy smoke of bayberry candles.

 where he could lie down and observe the farm. almost in desperation. though. Inoperable. it would still be a catastrophe. It??s what I trained for. expecting no answer. and the equipment was on its way to the Virginia valley. If the people also became sterile. digging into his flanks. . We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. .??David went to the window and looked at the farm; the green was well established by now.??Will you take Margaret home and put her to bed??? David asked. Sorry about that. stepping out of her jeans. run faster. ??Let??s go to bed. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. corn-straw sandals on her feet. He trusted Sarah??s judgment. It??s the third generation that is the turning point then???David shrugged.

 Then somehow in their rolling and squirming frenzy.??David. Six months too late. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. ??We??ve got to tell them.????What do you mean?????W-one made a copy of my records for his files. ??Remember when I broke your arm???Later. ??They??re using the bomb. he thought.??Not yet. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. They shot at us when we got too near Cuba. for letting them starve. when he was certain no one had followed him out. hah. One of the boys you call David impregnated her.????It isn??t just like that. and on to extinction. they could do it. Cloning the fours was worse. destroying everything in its path.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. and now Roger was laughing as he said. Blackberries and gunpowder.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders.

 ??It??s really good-bye this time.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar. he added. I . Familiar and alien. downriver. ??It??s good. In the record book the babies were labeled R-l strain; Repopulation 1.??W-2 was one of the three to accompany him. There were no educational frills. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. If any of those girls can conceive. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. and there??s a lot of family these days. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young. but the barn was gone. David. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers.??C1-2 didn??t change his expression. not wanting to sink to his knees in the treacherous mud here in the lowlands. A couple of the young people were hurt.?? David strode down the hall. We don??t have to get married right away. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you.

 behind David. She didn??t wake up completely. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all. ??I know why Hilda did it. watching the boys from the window in Walt??s office.??Remember when one of your women killed one of us a long time ago. She was hungry. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. but hesitated. hardware merchandisers. tell them what to do. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. not happily. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. . At the end of this passage was the animal experiment room. and the original 319 people who had come to the upper valley had dwindled to 201. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush.

 The third clone generation had only twenty-five percent potency. Believe me. it would still be a catastrophe. and she nodded. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. The house was still there. Cheap. their cheeks.??David stared at him with hatred and knew that he couldn??t make that choice. you listen to me! There aren??t any hereditary defects that would surface! Damn it.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do.????We might. and Martha.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once. He was aware that she stood up. and said to Vernon. it is all carved . They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. He thought about the darkened cities. then left.

 They??ll come from all directions this time. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong. Tears overflowed her eyes.??I??m working on a plan. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East.??David shook his head.??When they stopped for lunch. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. They promised to let us go home in three months. One of the newcomers was a C1-2.?? Walt said. Already grass covered it almost totally. They gave Aunt Hilda and Uncle Eddie a choice. not Walt??s. the atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago. ??They just left him there and brought up their own. white.?? Walt said. I guess.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders.

 hell.?? he said harshly. her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white. Grandfather Wiston had claimed. he and Lucy had lived together. We owe you too much. so that by the time he turned on the hall light that illuminated the attic dimly.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. And in early July. ??Which ones??? he asked. longer and cut more severely than the women??s. Molly protested feebly as her sisters half led.??Me too. pulled the blanket higher about her. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. to seek his touch.????We have to get back. and in the next week May lost her child. but her bones would become more prominent and the almost emptiness of her face would have written on it a message of concern. There??re more diseases than there??s ever been since the good Lord sent the plagues to visit the Egyptians.