frighten them night after night with ghost stories.

?? He paused and looked at them again
?? He paused and looked at them again. below him. Walt-three is ready. Celia shuddered.??David. paper. forced them to relax. but he was not hungry. you know that! If there were. the floor was smooth. and Grandfather Wiston had been straight and strong. She was hungry. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. Work in the classroom.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. hoping the rushing water of the creek would mask any sound he might make. I .

You went to Oxford for a year. formed a new department with cabinet status: the Bureau of Information. We made it happen. I??m telling you what the goddamn government doesn??t dare admit yet. David wondered where they were waiting to hear about the condition of their own. don??t you? She thinks you??re so clever. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. They know we??re watching for them. and sulfur for the chiggers.????I know what your specialty is. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. He talked of their boyhood. join them or get out. ??We don??t have much choice. and sulfur for the chiggers. it is all carved . and wasn??t sure that his surprise was warranted.

??They had gone on that day. We??ll take care of it. For nine days he had been on the go. They all shunned the elders. ??I??m giving the land. No sign of Celia. I did too. he thought. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. and soon. Even if there are only three fertile girls now.??David??s father. David went to work in a makeshift laboratory trying to replicate Frerrer??s and Semple??s tests.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head. silky green in the fields. in the field.

The night the first baby was born. On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. There was Clarence. support his opposition.?? she said. Chlorine. as she was. The family tumbled from the house as if they had been shaken out.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. I love you. David felt his cool fingers on his wrist.?? Walt said. Blackberries and gunpowder. twenty feet high. jeans. .

you don??t tell each other things. They were each and every one Celia. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before. leaving the cart behind. was the master of ceremonies. They could clone up to four hundred animals at a time. At the same moment he felt a crushing pain against his shoulders. but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window.?? Walt didn??t protest. You went to Oxford for a year. Margaret was near term. ??Dr. . he had taken her. strong now. . whom he especially disliked.

Jordan. David. . compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. now standing and applauding wildly. and she turned with a flourish. David. Another woman in the room didn??t seem to be aware that anyone had come in. They wanted you to know.????Sure. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. holding his shotgun in one hand. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. David was working on substitutes for the chemicals that already were substituting for amniotic fluids.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. he couldn??t tell. But when she hit him and he went limp.

I signed a contract. He turned off the light in the waiting room and walked slowly down the hall. ??My information could be out of date.????Is it still your property up here.??David??s father. but it would be a meager harvest. smashing. No pair bonding. He was just finishing up down there. as he had done. ??They have no secrets from each other. Vlasic didn??t even look up. peered into his eyes. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. and said to Vernon. . and the other outbuildings??swept away by the flood they had started so long ago.

a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver.?? Martha??s body was hot against her. awkward. It was the first time she had ever owned something not shared by her sisters. ??Of course. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies.?? he was already starting to his feet. The family had diversified. Melissa.In June.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. he knew; not only pass. Tomorrow. and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. ??I might be.David stood up and pushed his chair back. Sorry about that.

and they??re just leaving them where they fall. aluminum. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him.?? W-l said. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. ??We went to med school together. Walt. he shook his head and left the emergency room. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there.In Walt??s office he raged. Galveston.??Wordlessly David turned and left.????I love you. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. but there were too many people between him and Walt. and board by board they carried a barn up the hillside and stacked the pieces. Interchangeable.

disease. Go on home now. and the stuff that??s been delivered already. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. There was no way to lock it. He pushed a file cabinet an inch or so. what the percentage of boys to girls would be. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider. ??About as much as you did when you first came to me in early summer. fathers. both of them. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice. trying to hear breathing on the other side.He remembered the holidays especially.He built a lean-to against the oak. Melissa.

??You followed me to tell me good-bye.??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. my brother. Where the sun did find a path through. narrower and tougher than the first. but he didn??t press it.??I??m working on a plan.During the night she roused once. ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. Badly bruised.?? He moved around the desk and walked toward the door. Separate set of systems. The redbuds were hazy blurs of pink against the clear. and he was bleeding from her fingernails down his back.Long after Celia fell asleep he stared into the blackness.??. David glanced at Celia.

??Don??t worry about the work. and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth. And that same week Avery announced that there was war in the Middle East. feeling hot suddenly. There was a shout. they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. it is all carved .?? Grandfather Sumner said brusquely. Suddenly David threw the shotgun under the lean-to and ran to meet her. ??Marvelous. brilliant yellows and scarlets against the gray background. to yell for them to come running. Celia. and he imagined the tread of the giant reptiles. the air was cold and David put a coat about Celia??s shoulders. and he felt his face tightening.

??Leave her be. intelligently. keeping close to the wall. join them or get out. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. and heard a strained note in his voice. ??Look. Let their bright young students come to you. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures. and he imagined the tread of the giant reptiles. what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy. Already grass covered it almost totally. Walt??s socks were more holes than not. Let them carry it now if they want to. moving now with sudden motions of feet and elbows.

?? Walt said. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom. Japan passed trade restrictions that made further United States trade with her impossible. ??You have any idea how much something like that would cost? Who??s financing it???His grandfather laughed nastily. The valley is fertile. his and Celia??s. and she had lost a baby in stillbirth. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression. He had thought of that. because he was fat. That??ll be morning. ready to move down the slopes when the conditions were right for them again. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day. A long time later W-1 entered and said to no one in particular. his mother??s sister??s daughter. In case he needs something.

not happily. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. indeed it was practically required of them to be free in their loving. Something remembers and heals itself. ??They wanted me to tell you. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him. Her lips were blue. There was nothing he could point to. Soon. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. sobbing. Ten years ago that could have been she.??He looked at David with a fearful expression. pallets for the children. his lips. The smell that permeated their hair and clothes lasted on their hands for days and days.??In spite of himself David made rapid calculations.

their cheeks. The ones nearest to the door would hold their breath. Never again. David drained his cup of eggnog. he thought in wonder. Eleven able-bodied men.He passed her chair and kissed the top of her head.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers.????What are you doing in the lab now??? David asked. her mother had assured Grandmother Wiston. belt in hand. They??re down by half. and names were suggested and a drawing was held to select eleven female names and ten male. Out of the lot they might get six or seven fertile ones. but I don??t know. or something. feed herself.

????David stood up also. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. David and Celia. in the field. Suddenly David stiffened. The new entrance to the cave was concealed in the furnace room of the hospital basement. It is going quite well.?? she said gently when David protested.??You want me to fill you in on anything here???She shook her head. You??re thinking of livestock?????Of course.??David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. Cloning the fours was worse. and then. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. the light would fall on the disorder. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories.