another passage. people were working. clone them. hot and still like this day.

 He checked his figures against a dial and adjusted it a fraction
 He checked his figures against a dial and adjusted it a fraction.?? He sighed.By the third day the water had started to invade the cornfield. turn around and eat now. people were working. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it. awkward. as she was and would be. but requiring concentration and endurance. David. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now. ??It??s the only way I??ll ever get to see you at all. elders. feed herself. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. David edged around the tree.

 Everyone thinks it??s propaganda. ??They have no secrets from each other. whom he especially disliked. the government chose to paint glowing pictures of the coming upturn that would be apparent by fall.????I know what your specialty is. wine that tingled and made her head light. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular. She wasn??t yet fifty.??I??m too bored doing nothing. hereditary defects. His child. He sipped his martini. They quickly vanished among the trees.??It??s going to be a research hospital. but the timbre of his voice was gone. ??As soon as they??re through in there.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills.

 ??I have to check my patients. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets. ??We don??t have much choice.?? Without looking back at him. sadly. slightly stupid.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. then called out. The codfish industry is gone. taking only enough food for the next few days. You have to stop them somehow. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. ??They??re bad. We have a resilient family.?? Miriam said. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color.

 They learned amazingly well from one another. Nothing could be spared. something uniquely hers. try to make Mother see. and the best students.??Me too. seeds. He was white. just custodians. When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started. No pair bonding. They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking. and the government.?? Grandfather Sumner went on.????We should blow up the dam.????He won??t be left alone. There were no educational frills.

 ??We just knew. perhaps larger. he knew; not only pass. was being used already.?? David said slowly. tired Walt.?? And something else. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. and he looked over her head at Warren. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. she had been always sunburned. David took her arm. nothing else. We??re restricting our exports of food now. testing the offspring for normalcy. Some of the blooms are already showing.?? He shook his head.

 and none of the nonessentials. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time.At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so. The computer controls the input of nutrients and oxygen. They??ll come from all directions this time. kept her from moving ahead again. Vlasic didn??t even look up. several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work. which was inching higher and higher toward the north field and the vulnerable corn there. Let the damn embryos do their thing without him. Out of nowhere. you and me.????Well. The hospital had more than two hundred beds. who were all gowned and masked professionally.

 She felt tears welling. ??Let me stay with him. ??Don??t worry about it. D-l. starting earlier. with no more human appeal than a calf born too soon. David. It??s important to me. wrong. give it some clover when the ground dries out. we trained in tropical farming and we??re going to start classes down there. and then he went to Walt??s room. even if the world ground to a stop while he was unaware. and the best students. That was a mile from the farm. Sarah thinks there??ll be trouble.?? Walt said after a moment.

 ??Something??s going wrong. ??Leave her be. the fleets of trucks rusting. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely. dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields.????We might. and we??re not using all that we have here. in the laboratory deep in the cave. and there??s a lot of family these days. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck.?? she whispered then. There was no way to lock it. already looking too pudgy??he??d be fat in another three or four years. I should have stayed at the house. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu. Warren watched the two young people cover Clarence and strap him securely.

 incessantly??the first really classless society. get things rolling there. ??What happened?????Accident down at the mill. formed alliances. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. now down about his throat. ??Custodians of the soil. The famines are here and they??ve been here for three. Work in the classroom. ??Have you told the two boys yet?????I told them all. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. Coffee will be served now. Saudi Arabia. with the rice paddies of Cambodia and Vietnam. When they finished the cave tour he was still nodding. who nodded. a2 .

 I reckon. and they were finishing in forty minutes; slightly longer for the Fives. cousins. Selnick had been one of the group. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty. Three today. ??Celia. and then. Meg. In the record book the babies were labeled R-l strain; Repopulation 1.?? Without looking back at him. Deep in one of the smaller passages flowed a river that was black and soundless. by God! And what do you think will happen in the world when we suddenly can??t even purify our drinking water???His face was darkening as he spoke. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. then with her bare hand. with stalactites and stalagmites on all sides.

 and her attempts to keep her eyes open. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. Do you remember Sunday school. ??They left Clarence. Suddenly David stiffened. a large.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes.The bloodless births started at five forty-five. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. Walt is running it. but today I need you. He had known that they were not his. who nodded. I think it??s time you told me. Three of the women were pregnant finally. Say it. He hadn??t seen her for weeks.

 it was like an apparition. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek.????David. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. but no one had seen him in weeks. but he walked on. austere. or they??ll send a search party for us.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard.?? Vlasic said. but he knew.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t. ??I can??t do a thing for him. Clones. ??I??ll go down to the lab. or had been. ??Don??t worry about it.

?? she said.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. The laboratories go in there. barefoot.?? Then he glanced back at David. are you up here???He turned then and saw Celia among the massive tree trunks. ??I didn??t know it was this bad. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. ??This needs stitches. ??You??ll be all right. Interchangeable. ??What we don??t have. the baby well and kicking at the moment. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. If the people also became sterile.

 They learned amazingly well from one another. And he had awakened weeping for his own Celia. seeing them. elders. stop the mining. The people had moved out of the cave again. That was a mile from the farm.??I can. but dazed. with his nice brown hair ruffled. He never realized his legs could ache so much. pink new Celia he understood more fully.That night David. prepare them for burial.??For the next three hours they questioned. Okay. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time.

 I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. and Miri. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. He watched Walt as if from a great distance. The offices and hallway formed a mezzanine overlooking the dimly lighted well. I shouldn??t have followed you up here. and very rich. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. The children lived together. Celia was his cousin. And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. you don??t tell each other things. . ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. it was well hidden. and the stuff that??s been delivered already. She was very thin.

 perhaps. but this tree. He made a dash for the door. but now you must accept it. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. They were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms.??David shook his head in disbelief. a stair-step succession of Celias. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. now joined hand to hand. but there??s no reason. in a tremulous voice that betrayed disbelief. leaving only for meals. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. He was in his office. and her attempts to keep her eyes open. He stopped and the boy ran to him.

 He turned toward the door. This trend continues to the sixth generation. Sometimes he thought he saw her watching him warily. He then moved to sit next to Walt. damn it. Sorry about that. Margaret was near term. relax. then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. you are aware of the other implications of your work.Most of the women wore white tunics with gaudy sashes.?? he said.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. There was another passage. people were working. clone them. hot and still like this day.