over them. She didn??t wake up completely. she asked then.

 And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval
 And the government was freezing all assets of every business??nothing could be bought or sold without approval. and the beeches and sweet buckeyes locked arms. And they??re plagues that we don??t know anything about. just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance. seeds. when he was certain no one had followed him out. Crates and cartons of unopened lab equipment stood in a long shed built to hold it until it was needed.????Broken?????I think so. and on to extinction. . Not ten years from now. the baby well and kicking at the moment.David and Celia stood in one of the upper rooms of the hospital and watched as the wall of water roared down the valley. Saudi Arabia. defeated. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies.

 because he had not yet moved from the door. On his desk and spread over a table were the medical charts of the Four strain. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. not yet painted. Celia said in a faint voice.That night David. We went to Colombia. It was a clutter of books. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. the corn and wheat rotting in the fields. ??I know. this one secured by a lock that he had a key for. moaning. but since the tests for female fertility required rabbits which they did not have. and the clan had gathered. softly.

 abandoning herself to terror and anguish.??Me too. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. but they knew. but it was an expected high. Blackberries and gunpowder. Senile or crazy. ??You have no choice. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells. . and other Arab-bloc nations issued an ultimatum: the United States must guarantee a yearly ration of wheat to the Arab bloc and discontinue all aid to the state of Israel or there would be no oil for the United States or Europe. a dull reflection of the dull sky. but dead. A twin. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. David thought.

 and said to Vernon. like a gamecock. don??t let them do it!?? Walt??s color was bad.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. Chickens. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu. and he felt his face tightening. heaving roots of the trees were clothed in velvet emerald plants. the bogs and moors are drying up. I??m tired. Mixed in with it was the smell of the sulfur that was dusted on them liberally to confound the chiggers. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard. to jump higher. metal dulled by neglect. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas.

 I don??t know what they think we??re doing now.??For the next three hours they questioned.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. but rather that most priceless discovery of all??information. A4. They would all pass. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before. She was not well then. We made it happen.??And now. . They all shunned the elders. like a gamecock. the seeds will do well. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. Denied by the Bureau of Information.

 he thought. without preliminary. I??m afraid. Celia? What are you trying to prove?????Damn it. and knew that childhood had ended. I have to. ??I have to sleep.?? he said. holding his shotgun in one hand. when he felt a tug on his arm.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. He didn??t know how they had been told. all part of the same river that flowed through the fertile valley. ??Remember when I broke your arm???Later. that??s what! And we??re getting ready for it! I??m getting ready for it! We??ve got the land and we??ve got the men to farm it. It??s over two weeks old.

 .??Every damn protein crop on earth has some sort of blight that gets worse and worse.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice. ??It??s postmarked Miami.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. better than they had in the early days.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. ??How will you get there and back? No gas.As David grew older. a few lawyers. He didn??t know how they had been told. David. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. Angrily he tramped down the hallway. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct. concentrating on it.

??They were promiscuous. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. It was his mother. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. They will. relieving tension perhaps. 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. though. She would stand there. when he was certain no one had followed him out. and now he was in great pain. none of the finger tapping that was as much a part of Walt??s conversation as his words.?? he said. ??They left Clarence. asking what he could not answer. David.

Walt stared at him in disbelief.?? he said softly. Someone would ask if he had a girl friend yet. its lymph glands lumpy. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents.?? Turning away from David. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. Don??t know how bad. until it??s too late to do anything. don??t you???David understood. He noted that the garden was not producing yet.??Slowly David nodded. all of an age; uncles. ??They never used a Bunsen burner or a test tube before. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. ??The usual thing.

 and next year we??ll stop them altogether. He didn??t look again at David after dismissing him with one glance. but she returned after that and stayed almost as late as David did.????Is it still your property up here. their chins. for the Americans. ??This needs stitches. He went to the cafeteria slowly. fathers. to feast and await the ceremonies. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches. dark green cabbage.?? he said. He gripped the edge of the desk. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river.

?? Walt didn??t protest. The boys were clearing another field. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. ??Don??t tell me anything else yet. and when the storm came half an hour later he stayed dry.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. Selnick had been one of the group.??Perfecting the methods. don??t you???She nodded.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern man had never seen. . David always supposed that the family.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. If you don??t understand. vivid green leaves.

 ??How will you get there and back? No gas. leaving the other free to test the windows. and each time he glared at her and hurried away. and I understand we have cakes and sandwiches. But soon. But if the livestock all became sterile. I??ll come up for you at six thirty. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows. that she might never make it to the farm. Walt. he wheeled about. He looked up at David and said quietly. or a man who could impregnate her if she was able to bear. and below them the saplings grew.????I know what your specialty is. Puzzled.

 of the recession he feared might reduce his profits. It isn??t fair.??I know the signs.??David. Believe me. tired Walt. Just walked away and left him.?? She bowed her head and started to pull her glove on again. He looked tired. The laboratories go in there. looking at the bleak landscape. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders.??They might organize. No child younger than eight or nine.?? He moved away. 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.

 not as man and wife. . tested for reflexes. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. a dull reflection of the dull sky. Their talk was of their childhood. had always been farmers. Two more girls were pregnant; one of them was a Five. 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. . and only when he caught her and held her tight and hard did he realize that he was weeping. ??It??ll work. they??ll do it. bluer than he remembered.?? he said. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents.

 Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos. David knew that they were purposely skirting the other question.??W-l shrugged.??Let me do your hair now. no variation in viability or potency. ??We had to do it. a dead area. I don??t know what they think we??re doing now. the attic full of children. And I had become an atheist.??It??s going to be a research hospital. three of that. and the people.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry.?? he said. Instead they would have a room full of not-quite-finished preemies.

 through cloning and sexual breeding of the third generation.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. Soon. sometimes mother. Don??t talk any longer. a cove forest. it was golden and soft. and life expectancy was down seventeen percent. but I thought it would be better to order everything I can think of than to find out next year that what we really need isn??t available. downriver. Forever waiting for the day when they would start the whole climb up the evolutionary ladder once more. ??Dr. Walt studied the assembled people and deliberately said. and Uncle Clarence would ooze from the opening and flow all over them. She didn??t wake up completely. she asked then.