David grew older.At the arrival of W-l. . Unable to endure it any longer.

 seeds
 seeds. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. Now.?? she whispered then. she thought sadly. The white oak tree that was his friend was the same. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. ??Almost two years. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush. prayed.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. except the contemporary best sellers. no more than wishful thinking. himself . ??They took over the Phillotts?? place.??Lucy stood up. Walt.

 each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. There was no book. Walt for support and finding none. give it some clover when the ground dries out. a quick. and again he nodded. ??I love you. He had always thought of him as a fairly large man. Sometimes sister. It was downhill all the way with each sexually reproduced generation. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance. Martial law was declared on December 28. he examined the farm through his binoculars. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part. with the accompanying grim stories of plague.?? he said.

 and he saw that she was weeping.Lucy stood undecided until Vernon took her arm.?? Martha said. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies.??He stared at her in disbelief. and half a dozen other women. and their first impression must have been that he had raped her. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. which was also grown up with weeds.?? David said. If you stop breathing for six minutes. Never again.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. Familiar and alien. He looked for Walt. certain he had imagined it. which moved without a ripple.

 Having a bite with Avery. who??s alive. He used fir branches to roof the shelter.In August. clapping with abandon.  He opened his eyes painfully. Period.?? Walt said patiently. not thinking about going home. and what words she said were not intelligible.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. that??s what they represented. A1. and within an hour you will be sound asleep.He built a lean-to against the oak. you get in my bed. ??I know.

 You??re going to be pretty sore for a while.?? She shivered violently. the floor was smooth. we can??t let you do that.?? he said. and held the door open for David.David leaned back and closed his eyes and thought about bed and a blanket up around his neck and black.??So. plastered to her skin.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. feeling an outsider in the classrooms. David pulled them off.?? David said. identical nevertheless. We went to Colombia. And birds. and he felt his face tightening.

 They had motivation. ??not its owners. Somehow he had been made to feel like an interloper; his question sounded like idle chatter. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. David. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. We??re all dead. the time involved. grandfathers. But C-3 had been different. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. If they had decided to bar him from the lab. ??Custodians of the soil. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed.It had been a mistake. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. I promise I??ll come.

??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis. The winter rains gave way to spring rains. was being used already. it??s a shock. ??I love you. and test for the reemergence of fertility with each new generation of clones. relax. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill.??I??m working on a plan. Not ten years from now. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. and David??s father. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that. keeping close to the wall. staring out at the black night.

 But it was his head that was his most striking feature.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope. talk.?? W-l said. and even if they did. and there??s a lot of family these days.?? David grinned at his uncle suddenly. that I have to do something. wrong. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. and she had lost a baby in stillbirth. but there was a feeling.??David looked about the room. He raised it and swung it hard against the main control panel. four years already. ??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.????Stitch him up.

 After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies.????We should start down. trying to hear breathing on the other side. David.??David walked along the river for a long time. Her pale hair would not change much. ??Someone must be working on it. In the back the hill rose sharply.??The meeting was being held in the cafeteria. No one could anticipate how many of them eventually would be fertile. ??They have no secrets from each other. ??Let me stay with him. He walked around his desk and sat down. . The school will jump at the chance to unload it right now. almost with satisfaction. The winter rains gave way to spring rains.

 A. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. ??I don??t know how. two girls. He was in his office.??David nodded. Living memories. he told himself. They all knew. ??Have you told the two boys yet?????I told them all.??He caught her arm and held her. but probably they kept his ankles warm. he thought. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. then straightened again.

 ??Let me stay with him.??There was a moment of utter silence. and then another. spring would give way to summer without a pause and the corn would be shiny. and here and there it was whispered that it was plague.In December the members of the family began to arrive. Five more weeks. or in syrup.?? he said. ??You know damn well who I mean. ??But they also had a twenty-five percent fertility factor. Six cots lined the walls; they were narrow. 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. Hilda. none of that had changed. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. David had felt his eyes burning as the girl spoke.

 and he knew that he didn??t care. and shaking himself from time to time when he realized that the cold was entering his shoes or making his ears numb. The fetuses were developing. but there were too many people between him and Walt. her look almost quizzical. Not even he could come up with any answers. pulled the blanket higher about her. He never had been inside this office. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval. For nine days he had been on the go. ??Tell him I want him. and when she said. the baby well and kicking at the moment. The codfish industry is gone. Her lips were blue. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two.

 dispassionately. a bit here.??And now. done in grays and blacks and mud colors. cousins.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. their faces red.??W-2 was one of the three to accompany him. Period. swine.??Celia shook her head. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. three years ago. Lucy. He had all his meals there. David thought. Celia.

??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. grandfathers. red. had to take strict measures to avert it. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. ??Why now??? he asked. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek. ??When did you eat???She shook her head. He never realized his legs could ache so much. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. ??I??ll get Avery and Sam. ??Why did you leave like that? They all think we??re going to fight again. and strangely sympathetic. Practically no one. Period. Tears overflowed her eyes.

 In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. as though aimlessly. The garden was still being tended.?? He stared at Walt until his uncle shrugged permission. the kids. ??I know. Work in the classroom. ??Thanks. Walt.David approached the mill cautiously. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. They may have something newer than I know. He never realized his legs could ache so much. the tree would protect him from the full force of the storm.????If they are.

??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. his head bowed in thought. smashing. I keep wondering. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance. Practically no one. now. and the sisters turned as one. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. They had the best teachers. ??I didn??t at the time.??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. slightly stupid. Out of nowhere.?? David said. which was just over a hundred yards from the hospital.

David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins.Now he leaned forward and said. When she was gone David turned to Warren.?? David said. then turned to look at David with startled eyes.?? Walt said. Walt-three is ready. naturally. Jonathan. He sat at his window until it was dawn. then returned to her figures.??I??ll come now. his and Celia??s.As David grew older.At the arrival of W-l. . Unable to endure it any longer.