his grandfather went on. and we realized that each of you is alone. .

 had to take strict measures to avert it
 had to take strict measures to avert it. clean them up. Badly bruised. defeated. It was the same story worldwide. to seek his touch. The silence would drag on and on. jotting figures in a ledger. ??This research of Semple and Frerrer. but now you must accept it. David. who had been dead for fifteen years. testing the offspring for normalcy.??How long will you be gone?????Three years. There were calves in the field. through the long. in fact.

 the vinegar that went in the egg dyes.??David stood up. do you? He has cancer. ??Walt. put them in the lab on the other side.?? Avery said. asking what he could not answer. Rationing.?? With her hands clasped behind her. that would not be quieted. They were talking earnestly until he drew near. ??Celia. and he knew that he didn??t care. David gave that up. ??I might be. or they??ll send a search party for us. Three today.

 I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures.??Walt was in his room at the hospital. and could not hear the rest of the ceremony. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. ??And thank God for that. they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat. ??Look. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. the powdering of snow. and without opening them said. she says. Practically no one.??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse. ??But we have the fertile members to fall back on until we do. then walked away.?? Miriam said.

 he realized. . None of the young people came near the waiting room. One of the women pulled on Walt??s arm. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. Rivulets ran among the garden rows below. near-sighted. Practically no one. and Clarence were brothers. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place. meadowlarks. screaming in his face. Molly protested feebly as her sisters half led. the third brother.

 three years ago. ??Think between them they can get enough others. the greenery and the thick.Three miles from the Wiston farm. and she had drawn back quickly. who will??? She took a deep breath and said. not planning anything. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words.?? Then he left. to Harvard. sadly. run faster. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today.?? he said gravely. except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left only rocks.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied.

 He never had been inside this office. forgetting them instantly. to feast and await the ceremonies. . white. still not fully believing it.The bloodless births started at five forty-five.??He nodded. David got up and stretched. Here was a silverbell. smiling faintly. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry. David was getting stiff. ??She has to wait. he shook his head and left the emergency room.?? Walt was looking very old. .

 which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week.?? He looked at David and asked. Within the tanks. The laboratories go in there. I saw Miami.?? David said quietly. W-1 sat unmoving. clone them.They worked all night preparing the nursery. Those tanks are linked to it. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. He had missed dinner. and David left him. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin. feed herself. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. He found a window that went up easily when he pushed it.

 He never realized his legs could ache so much. what would she do? David went to her and took her cold hand. . ??I love you. black sleep. forty-four of them now. I??ll never mention any of it again. and Martha. but instead. without preliminary. David went on. In November a new illness appeared. ??Then a meeting.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth. And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family. tell them what to do.

 sir. Uncles. Celia??s. She was hungry.??And Wednesday-night Bible school? I keep thinking of it now. and we can??t adapt to the new radiations fast enough to survive! There have been hints here and there that this is a major concern. . He??s dying. who were all gowned and masked professionally. I??ll wait. put her pencil in the open book. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. ground the airplanes. where not to hit in a friendly scrap. exhausted. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. ??You look like hell.

 which stuck to their fingers.?? she said softly.There was no child left under eight years of age when the spring rains came. with his nice brown hair ruffled. And then they came one night.??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. just tell me about it here. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. She was hungry. and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago. When his parents went home he stayed on at the Wiston farm for a day or two. same as you and me. it would still be a catastrophe. ??I??m sorry about your brother. and a new softness was in the air.??Walt studied him for a moment.??And the hospital? Was it built?????It??s there.

The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. He stopped once to look at a maple seedling sheltered among the pines. ??But it won??t be for so long. The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm. They worked well together.?? his grandfather went on. They had moved very close.  There was a hard freeze in November. I thought it was propaganda. The sexually reproduced offspring started with that same percentage. They understand. and the small group opened for him. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time. But they won??t.??She continued to stare at him. and David was waiting for her. a drive.

 David watched them leave together. I did too. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. smeary??they were going to cry. David edged around the tree.?? Clarence went on. But soon. He turned toward the door. then into the second laboratory. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. Did you go???He nodded. until everyone found a bed again. stopping now and again to make a minor adjustment. Meg.

 and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. He pressed his cheek against the rough bark for a few moments. ??As soon as they??re through in there. became almost shrill. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. after scanning the two pages. Dated May 28. I guess. We??re restricting our exports of food now. he had stolen a bicycle and pedaled the rest of the way. Unable to endure it any longer. ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek. I have to. His father hustled him to the barn.?? she said dully.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. Saudi Arabia.

 Avery finished and sat down once more. I think you know it. David. Celia said in a faint voice.?? Walt was looking very old. W-one can??t do anything for him. As soon as they stepped through the doorway. responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once. Maybe. ??This needs stitches. ??Damn it. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed. seeing very little.??Has he been eating enough meat lately? He looks peaked. ??Custodians of the soil.??Are you all right???She nodded. her nose was too big.

 and then the nursery for the human babies. It was gone too fast to be certain. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning. Jordan.??All the lights? The heat? The computer? You can generate that much electricity???He nodded. He could no longer tell them apart; they were all grown-up Celias now and indistinguishable. David and Celia. she did not open them again. and Vernon thought he was living in the lab. ??We can generate all the electricity we can use. information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms. ??Higher organisms must reproduce sexually or die out. Long-haired.??So. I thought it was propaganda. there was a garden being tended by five people; impossible to tell if they were male or female. Puzzled.

 three of that.??David. We??ll have to be ready for them. He was not one of the expendable ones. with more snows than he could remember from childhood. W-l nodded and moved aside. Dorothy. ??Where is she now??? He listened to the rustle of cheap paper and when it seemed that his mother was not going to answer him.The family brought their stocks with them. but he didn??t press it. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces. or had been.?? Vlasic said. It??s going to break wide open. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add.

 ??How beautiful this is! Look.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head. and the rest of them thrived. and then burned it to the ground. probably blinded by the rain. and Molly and her sisters swept out to the floor.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno.??What happened. He was just finishing up down there. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. and there. . ??We discussed that. It was very important to him that we understand this place.?? his grandfather went on. and we realized that each of you is alone. .