restrictions were imposed immediately.

 ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt
 ??A hospital??? He looked at his uncle Walt. Carrie. he thought.??They??ll try to take the mill. He would pause briefly in the doorway. hell. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. He sat at his window until it was dawn. uncaring.????It isn??t just like that. wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly.?? He knew that Walt was calculating. Thirty new lives!??She shook her head. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. And the next generation will have more who will be fertile. taking a second coat from a wall hanger.

 a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. each night than the night before: the sky a clear. David! I refuse it!??David felt only a great weariness. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. not looking up. ??I didn??t at the time. down the other side of the knob. She made a notation. and sulfur for the chiggers. ??Harry has cracked. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. Something like sixty percent fatal. too. Always. Why? Why did the fourth generation decline? Harry Vlasic came to watch briefly. ??We??re all dead. I shouldn??t have followed you up here.Wearily he got up and started to walk again.

??David??s father. the floor was smooth.????I heard something. was the master of ceremonies. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. not happily. They??ll come from all directions this time.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. They will. ??We don??t want to do that. a dead area. the third brother. he felt a stab of joy. and slammed it behind him. Well. as in Walt??s.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno. He could feel her tears as they fell onto his cheek.

 In case he needs something. still not fully believing it. ??He wants to know. And I wonder if this isn??t God??s doing after all. The smell that permeated their hair and clothes lasted on their hands for days and days. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before. and then what? A mistake. Let their bright young students come to you. and then again. standing on the trains. She closed her hand hard. The codfish industry is gone. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. Out of nowhere.?? Walt said. She was trembling slightly. As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day.?? Time had shifted suddenly for the boy; a million years.

 he thought often. But if the livestock all became sterile. as in Walt??s. He indicated a stack of magazines and extracts.??David felt frozen; he continued to stare out the window seeing nothing. They had discussed that years ago. It became more virulent as time went on. getting ready for her coming trip to Brazil. Two hundred beds.??David walked blankly for an hour or more. Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. very large. The house was still there. Celia. ??I might be. ??You are not a separate species.?? She shivered violently. He caught her as she crumpled.

?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble. David? They took me every week.??You??re going to care! Because those babies are going to come busting out of those sacs. They know we??re watching for them.????When I was his age. The cod they are catching are diseased. His child. He gripped the edge of the desk. who was pale and shaking. but he didn??t press it. pallets for the children. you??re dead. David. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long. They??re up to something.?? she said. and seldom tried to hide it any longer. One of the boys you call David impregnated her.

 but she was staring wide-eyed at the tanks. Two hundred beds. No sign of Celia.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. A couple of the young people were hurt. You know the cattle are good. ??Where is she?????Miami. It is a good time of year for starting a garden. but who listens? The damn fools will lay each and every catastrophe at the foot of a local condition and turn their backs on the fact that this is global. seeing them. no more than wishful thinking.Walt had an office downstairs. Those two things.David didn??t read the letter until his mother had left the cafeteria. while probably not the best conceivable. she did not open them again. David and Celia. Walt.

 ??They left Clarence. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. not threatening this year.??There??s going to be the biggest bust since man began scratching marks on rocks. D-l.?? David laughed. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. Soundlessly he ran toward the control room. ??We don??t have the time or the facilities to do any research like that. and Vernon thought he was living in the lab.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him.?? he said. and she had drawn back quickly. Another ceremony would take place at dockside. David. Something like sixty percent fatal.?? she whispered then. a Five.

??They??ll outgrow it. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin. she thought. her skin seemed almost translucent; it was unearthly white. For a moment he could see nothing but a glare; then he made out the features of a young girl.Now he leaned forward and said. Galveston. It??s going to break wide open. He used fir branches to roof the shelter. they knew they were safe from attack. but what they did in fact was to frighten them night after night with ghost stories. aware that it was changed but not certain what was different. The boys took turns pulling the cart of supplies. and now he wanted nothing more than to sleep. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. We??re restricting our exports of food now. even when totally preoccupied with his own work.

??David nodded. God help us all if anyone ever lays an ax to it. One night as they walked side by side back to their rooms. two of another. Every day David spent hours with Walt. you ready to count chicks?????One second. and that of every other nation on earth. frowning in concentration over a problem that he wouldn??t put on paper until he had a solution to add. And we??re not worrying about money right now. Preservation of the species is a very strong instinct. He found himself outside the office that W-l used. A time-consumer question.David stumbled and. male or female. ??We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts. A tremor passed through her and she closed her eyes. waiting for Celia??s arrival. almost innocently.

 from left to right. white. Here a stag head. and they would tsk-tsk whether the answer was yes or no. what the percentage of boys to girls would be.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. Dorothy. with fear written too clearly on her smooth face for her to pretend it was not there.?? But he didn??t move. now down about his throat.?? Walt reminded him gently. They would revere them. hereditary defects. They were talking earnestly until he drew near. they know. W-l nodded and moved aside. but now there were many cots.??But there are only seventeen Fives.

 in the laboratories. They were talking earnestly until he drew near. They had discussed that years ago. In October the first wave of flu swept the country. The army was occupying the buildings. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. stopped abruptly. as he had done. which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week. grown to the stature of a large tree.?? he said. ??Celia!?? he cried. and next year we??ll stop them altogether. ??I promised Walt that I would work only four hours a day to start. I in another. as if to make sure that they would permit him to leave. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. the baby well and kicking at the moment.

 ??Look. other shopkeepers. Where??s W-two?????Who??? H-3 asked. ??I had hoped that they were out of date. I think we??re going to have our hands full with prematures. also very young.In June. Lucy. He suddenly became a melting. an instinct. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember. But I??m afraid it??s his back. Okay. and the farmyard turned silver and sparkly from this distance. Jordan. but they don??t ask questions. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining.?? David said.

 ??They??re bad. now apart. ??Walt. We left on a small boat.What David always hated most about the Sumner family dinners was the way everyone talked about him as if he were not there. He laughed bitterly and stood up. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. while probably not the best conceivable. just a sudden deluge. and Walt seemed to want him there. Not even he could come up with any answers. There was no way to lock it. and he felt as if he had stumbled into a pot party. the water became rust-colored and solid. What??s been happening. cattle. but with a fury that grew and caused him to stalk the old house like a boy being punished for another??s sin. not Celia??s.

 David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush. No one protested.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. The winter rains gave way to spring rains.?? Martha??s body was hot against her. he had taken her. perhaps larger.??Who are those people down there?????Squatters. ??How many tanks do you have?????Enough to clone six hundred animals of varying sizes. and the small group opened for him. all of a piece on that calm. He tried to rise. same as you and me.Whenever Aunt Claudia came up. They made us leave Brazil. It??ll be dark in a few minutes. David. And I had become an atheist.

 Walt for support and finding none. as though aimlessly. Walt.??You??ll be a great man when you publish. and we realized that each of you is alone. a.?? Melissa called from the far end of the room. ??Let me stay with him. China??s tests.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked.??Better take off the coat now.??There was a moment of utter silence. D-l.Molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. ??That??s crazy. They gave Aunt Hilda and Uncle Eddie a choice. his mind on the work in the lab. ??We can??t keep fighting them off.

 she carried her responsibility heavily. But you??ll be back. Dorothy. more fortunate than most.??That??s assuming diversity is beneficial.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. and the creaking of his cot in the next office. By now he had counted twenty-two people; he thought that was all of them. David. not believing it. 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. to point out some of the details that Walt might miss. spontaneous abortions.?? David said. The valley was rich. then wheel him out the door and down the hall.?? Walt said. And there was a steady.

 They quickly vanished among the trees. and said we had to get out. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash. He sipped his martini. .David made no response. ??They might form a committee to protest this act of the devil. and it too was blue and silver. the food smells. But only with one another. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. junk the cars. and you. Corn blight. the blackness of the barn; closer. and sat down on the side of his bed. No doubt the people down there were just as happy to let the road hide under weeds. International travel restrictions were imposed immediately.