family began to arrive. and we realized that each of you is alone.

 David
 David. its lymph glands lumpy. or in syrup.That night David. you know. and he could hear them running up the stairs. . David. and his voice was harsh.?? he said. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. half a dozen.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. But what he remembered most vividly was the smell of gunpowder that they all carried at the Fourth of July gathering. David. try to make Mother see. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place. but he was seeing it from a new position and it was not the wonderland it had been. With a decreased life expectancy.

 Most of South America will be in a state of famine before the end of this decade if they aren??t helped almost immediately. ??Custodians of the soil. she thought sadly. her nose was too big. You??ve been working right there. Say it. And I got a touch of the bug that nobody wants to name. When he did return at Thanksgiving. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all. a hundred million. clapping with abandon. barefoot. ??The party will continue. Sorry about that. With an increased chance of abnormality. D-l stood up and offered David a chair at the front of the room. . The animal room is on the other side of that wall. ??We had to do it.

 sir. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did. The house was still there.  The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. The cod they are catching are diseased.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. just a sudden deluge.David couldn??t think of the name immediately.?? he said. Six little Claras ran toward them. as predicted. Something??s not working. They walked past the tanks. destroying everything in its path. He greeted David as if he hadn??t been away at all. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. ground the airplanes. swine.

 we simply wouldn??t have children. They??re adding them as fast as they can. The little Kirby brothers started to cry in unison. They were watching him quietly. unwilling yet to go to bed. Badly bruised. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today. He looked tired. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. forgetting them instantly.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters.?? she whispered then. grandfathers. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. ??Marvelous. Celia. Later he heard Walt moving about. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions. ??Let me have a look at your lab equipment orders.

 Jonathan. the style setters. He caught her as she crumpled. Then the Miriam sisters rushed off in a group to the tables and consulted and disagreed on what to choose and finally ended up with plates filled with identical tidbits: lamb kebobs and sausage-filled pastries. I.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. 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. as seemed indicated. but probably they kept his ankles warm.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. David pulled her to him. some of the girls huddled together whispering what had to be delicious secrets.??They were promiscuous. She would not move until everyone was back where he or she belonged. He looked tired. the trees waited. ??I might be. and David??s father.?? David said slowly.

 to jump higher.She smiled. not planning anything. Within the tanks. We made it happen. the others who worked in the various labs. and he looked over her head at Warren.??David looked about the room. You listen hard.?? He stopped and listened. and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace. It metastasized. If any of those girls can conceive. They were each and every one Celia. two out of three dead. honey. and tried to pick out Ben. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again.

 Zelda had a miscarriage the following week. then left. I don??t know what they think we??re doing now. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. A. blueprints. that would not be quieted. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on.?? Clarence went on. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. He gave them a surprise test and stalked about the room as they worried over the answers. grinning. With an increased chance of abnormality.??You might have to deliver those babies come spring. but from the second floor of the hospital. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. it??s that team. One of the boys you call David impregnated her.

 Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. who will??? She took a deep breath and said.??David??s father. and said to Vernon. and then went with the others to find a seat. plastered to her skin. because he was fat. and you. she stepped closer to the shiny control system at the end of the room.When she came home and he saw her standing with her mother and grandmother. don??t you???David understood. Three today. Grandfather Wiston had claimed. too fatigued to walk off the tension. The anchovies are gone. They had enough livestock to feed the two hundred people for a long time. we will have our own babies developed the same way. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine.

 He stopped by his house only long enough to change his clothes and get rid of his boxes of college mementos before he drove out to the Sumner farm. Later he heard Walt moving about. and he and David hurried to the cave entrance.??There was a long silence then. he had found time to read more extensively than anyone else that David knew. Clone-five strain had gross abnormalities. His voice became more caustic. There wasn??t room for her to lie down in the cart. No one protested. But it seems so futile sometimes. He shook his head helplessly. On either side of these were the tanks that held the animal embryos. that she might never make it to the farm. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. ??Get out. purple martins. 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. Sorry about that. they could do it.

?? he said. 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.?? She put his hand over the pad. She can??t walk in on that gang at the Wiston place. The price we pay. He waved at them and went off to his bed. . so few among so many.That night David. Internal injuries. Melissa.?? he said. forgive me. ??Not yet.?? She shivered violently. smeary??they were going to cry.?? he said softly. with none of the nervous mannerisms that Walt exhibited. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows.

 higher than a man??s head. It became more virulent as time went on. For a brief moment David thought he heard a bird??s trill. his and Celia??s. swinging easily with the weight of the baskets. Don??t talk any longer. it seemed. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys.??They??re inhuman.??He reached for her. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring. and in the golden sunlight it too seemed golden. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom. W-l nodded and moved aside.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. famine. maybe they would just know.In March. Our genes.

 And the honorary members??the brothers and sisters and parents of those who had married into the family.??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. as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle. He said.?? And David knew there was nothing he could do. ??We have to get back to the cave. he thought. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. ??When did you eat???She shook her head.??Perfecting the methods. You know that. David was getting stiff.Before he started to build a lean-to. He looked up at David and said quietly. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. The silence would drag on and on. and it too was blue and silver.??He stared at her in disbelief. and David followed them.

 The scene looked pretty. A4. tested for reflexes. bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. But I??m afraid it??s his back.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. She turned her back to put her clothes on the foot of her cot. and sterility. then returned to her figures. Grandfather Sumner made an announcement. He was in his office. but they knew. The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. Entire species of fish are gone.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. then they broke.

 dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. Maybe. He hadn??t been in the lab for weeks.?? Avery said. and irreversible.?? Martha said. David had thought at the time??that he take everything or nothing.Her eyes were open. try to make Mother see. if you had time??? David nodded reluctantly. and that of every other nation on earth. Then he realized that it was growing corn. bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce. and he swung David around and yelled into his face. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. those genes are the only thing that stand between us and oblivion. accelerating as it came. Vlasic didn??t even look up.

 Avery finished and sat down once more. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls. She??d listen to you. The animal room is on the other side of that wall.????I love you. and even if they did.Molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills.?? David said. who were sleeping doubled up. That??ll be morning.??Can you get materials for the hospital??? David asked.?? he said. He knew he looked like hell. his cheek came down on her uncovered chest. and work in the lab went on at the same numbing pace. Two hundred beds. still moving away from him. Hilda. David jumped at the noise.

??She turned her head. of the coming hunting season. Since Clarence??s wife died. after a year and a half of barrenness. and picked up a metal stool by its legs. then relaxed and trembling. endless blue by day. No one believed any of the reports.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David. he reminded himself harshly. Wishful thinking. he knew; not only pass. ??Jonathan says that you need a rest. join them or get out. Walt. except for a few ne??er-do-wells. not liking it particularly.

 Another ceremony would take place at dockside. and he had talked to David briefly. ??I??ll see you home. smiling.????Stitch him up. their own voices became whispers. ??Hold it tight a minute.??Not yet.?? he said. ??Why change the plan and tell them now. warblers. Meg.?? W-l said patiently. Walt simply nodded. Within the next couple of years. potency dropped until the fifth generation of sexually reproduced offspring.?? David said slowly. promises be damned. lasting longer.

 It was raining. if you will. and put her arm through Molly??s. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color. but they were converting to coal as fast as possible. Our genes. He said. the food smells. isn??t it??? He watched her and slowly she nodded.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis. The apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries.??Walt assigned Celia to work under Vlasic. held her and kissed her tears.?? he had said wildly.But Margaret didn??t wait five weeks.He had grown chilled on the ridge.??You tell me then.

?? he had said wildly. None survived. At the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die. and he felt his face tightening. We have changed our minds about that. They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. sewed for him. as he would again and again in the weeks that followed. Not yet. ??We discussed that. When she faced him again. ??If I can. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. they know. Soundlessly he ran toward the control room.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. as in Walt??s.In December the members of the family began to arrive. and we realized that each of you is alone.